(UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) 
November
28, 2003 - "Nothing on earth consumes
a man more quickly than the passion of resentment."
Friedrich Nietzsche
2003 CLINIC NEWS & SCENES : CHICAGO - ATLANTA TWIN CITIES click here for info ----->>>>> 
<<<<<-----click
here for info
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: He's the one holding the football. He's
George Munger, the head coach of Pennsylvania from1938
through 1953, and that's his staff - his entire staff. In
the years after World War II, that was all it took. He
fielded one of the best teams in the country, year in and
year out, playing in front of some of the largest crowds in
the country.
George Munger was born well-to-do and attended Philadelphia's prestigious Episcopal Academy, where he captained unbeaten football teams in both his senior and junior years, played on league champion basketball and baseball teams, and set school records in the pole vault, high jump, discus and javelin. So much of an impact did his high school football coach have on him, that he later said, "When I was 15, I knew I wanted to be a coach."
He went on to the University of Pennsylvania - Penn, not Penn State - where he starred in the backfield, and gained renown in track, winning the decathlon at the 1931 Penn Relays.
After graduation, he returned to Episcopal Academy as a teacher and football and track coach, then returned to Penn in 1936 as director of freshman athletics.
In 1938 he was named head coach at Penn, and for the next 16 years, he would build Penn into an eastern power second only to Army. For several years while he was at the helm, Penn led the nation in attendance. In the early days of television, Penn jumped in with both feet and allowed all its home games to be televised, building an even greater following in southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey.
George Munger was an unbalanced line single-winger, whose teams were noted for their hard-nosed play on both sides of the ball.
He compiled a record of 82-42-10, and coached 16 All-Americans. Some of his better known players were, naturally, tailbacks - Frank Reagan, Anthony "Skippy" Minisi and "Reds" (in Philadelphia, for some reason, a red-headed guy is not called "Red") Bagnell. Bagnell one held NCAA records for 490 yards total offense in one game (214 rushing, 276 passing), and 14 straight completions in the same game.
But his best-known player was a giant World War II vet from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a steelworker' son named Chuck Bednarik. Bednarik was a standout at single-wing center and linebacker on defense, and he would go on to become one of the all-time greats of professional football.
His best team was his 1947 squad, whose unbeaten record was marred only by a 7-7 tie with Army. No other eastern team gave Army the problems that Penn did - he was 4-8-2 overall against Army, and two of the losses were by a single point. He was 9-5-2 against Navy. His 1940 team lost only to Michigan, 14-0, and his 1941 team lost only to Navy, 13-6.
Problems began to arise when a former Minnesota governor named Harold Stassen - yes, the guy who bcame famous for running unsuccessfully for president of the US - became president of the University of Pennsylvania. Stassen had grandiose plans to turn Penn from an eastern giant into something on the order of the Minnesota powerhouses of Bernie Bierman before the way, and hired a high-powered AD with orders to create a schedule designed to bring Penn national prominence. It was called Victory With Honor. We'd still pretend to be an Ivy-type school, and we wouldn't break any rules, but we'd schedule the best, and we'd kick their ass.
That Penn did, as opponents such as Notre Dame, Georgia, Cal, Michigan and Ohio State began to appear on the schedule.
All well and good - but then Stassen moved on, and so did his AD, and a new president and a new AD determined that it was in Penn's best interest as a university to join the soon-to-be-formed Ivy League. That meant doing away with athletic scholarships. Unfortunately, there was that schedule, agreed to years in advance, to be played...
In 1953, he had his only losing season. He started out with wins over Vanderbilt and Penn State, but lost to Cal, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Army. A win over Navy and a season-ending tie with traditional rival Cornell left Penn 3-5-1.
And that's when he said to hell with it. Actually, he was far too polite and dignified to put it that way, but he saw what was coming. He was going to have to pursue Victory With Honor while demonstrating to the rest of the Ivies that Penn was really going to abide by the spirit of the Ivy Agreement. He was going to have to play out the 1954 schedule - including Duke, Navy, Penn State, Notre Dame and Army - with a handful of scholarship players. In protest, he resigned.
(He would prove to be a man of foresight, when his successor, Steve Sebo, came in and went 0-18 over the next two seasons, before he finally got to play an honest-to-God Ivy League schedule.)
Wrote sportswriter and football historian Allison Danzig, Allison Danzig - "One of the most successful or coaches, Munger is also one of the most respected and best-liked - by his players; by newspaper, radio and television men; and by his fellow-coaches, who elected him president of their association... He had a keen sense of humor that never failed him in any situation, no matter how dark the outlook. he never had an alibi for defeat, never laid the blame on his men or criticized them for their failures or mistakes. High principles, personal integrity, and faithfulness to the responsibility of guiding young men, in the development of their character as well as of their physical skills, marked him and the assistants whose loyalty he commanded - particularly Rae Crowther and Paul Riblett. His honesty, good humor and cooperation made him the particular favorite of sportswriters assigned to report on his teams."
One of the most famous of those sportswriters, Grantland Rice, wrote, "he has been one of the most consistently successful coaches I know. (He) keeps on winning most of his share, quietly, simply, before seventy thousand to seventy-seven thousand spectators, season after season, with no alibis for defeat or gloating for his success...
He was, indeed, loved by his players. He was cool and calm, and insisted that they call him by his first name, a practice unheard of in those days.
He never coached again. He was a man of many interests, and kept quite busy teaching at Penn and running his summer camp in New Hampshire.
In 1954, he was elected President of the American Football Coaches Association. In 1976, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Coahc Munger died in 1994.
After his retirement, he told an alumni group, "I was called a Boy Scout coach. Well, if being close to my players, my team and my school means that I was a Boy Scout, then that's what I was, and I'm proud of it."
(An interesting sidelight concerns the coach on the right in the photo. His name is Rae Crowther (rhymes with "brother") and he was considered to be one of the finest line coaches in the country. You may know the name because of the tackling and blocking sled with he invented, and the company he founded to manufacture it. Chances are very good that at some point in your football career, you hit a Crowther sled.)
Correctly identifying George Munger - Christopher Anderson- Cambridge, Massachusetts ("I'm going for the Single Wing Exacta - Crisler, Caldwell, Evashevski and George Munger, another name I wouldn't know except for your site.")... Joe Daniels- Sacramento... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana ("No better picture in football than Chuck Bednarik tackling Frank Gifford")... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... John Bothe- Oregon, Illinois... Mike Foristiere- Boise, Idaho... Jim Shelton- Englewood, Florida... Steve Staker- Fredericksburg, Iowa... John Muckian- Lynn, Massachusetts... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois...
*********** "George Munger was indeed a gentleman. I may have told you this story. Three Franklin (New Jersey) High School stalwarts were invited to the 1953 Penn /Cornell football game on Thanksgiving Day.. (Don Kovach, Bob Gunderman, and yours truly) Don Kovach's dad, Al Kovach, an auto mechanic and owner of his own gas station (AL'S CITIES SERVICE) went with us. We were in a room at Penn and Coach Munger came into the room. Our high school coach, John Kolibas, who had been a great guard for Temple when they really played big time football, introduced each of us, and we shook hands with the affable Coach Red Munger, a real thrill. Then Al shook Coach Munger's hand and Coach Munger went to his knees. He said, "We'll take you".and Al laughed like a banshee. Al's hands were like steel. Coach Munger just laughed like hell. Penn could have used all of us cause after 1953 they were never the same . I enjoyed your rundown on Coach Munger who was a real gentleman." Jim Shelton, Englewood, Florida
*********** Coach when Penn "de-emphasized" football and moved into the Ivy League, were the Alums and Fans luke-warm about the move ? I have heard over the years that they were reluctant to join the Ivie they were such a national power. my father was telling me tonight he remembers in the late 40's Georgia beat Penn 16-6 and people around the country took that as a big upset,sounds funny by the land scape of College Football as it presently is, in this day and age. John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts
Philadelphia fans were really pissed when Penn de-emphasized. Penn was big-time then, much bigger than the Eagles - even though the Eagles had won the NFL title in 1948 and 1949, they were drawing crowds of 35,000 or less to old Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, while Penn was selling out and drawing twice that to Franklin Field. In fact, the biggest thing that ever happened to the Eagles was when they managed to persuade Penn to allow them to play in Franklin Field. From that point, they started to become the biggest thing on the Philadelphia football scene.
You might say that Penn was dragged kicking and screaming into the Ivy League by their new president, Gaylord Harnwell, and their new AD, Jeremiah Ford. From the standpoint of overall university prestige, there is no question that it was a great move. But from the standpoint of big-time college football in Philadelphia, it brought down the curtain.
Your dad's memory is pretty good. I happened to be at the game he mentioned - Georgia-Penn, in 1952. That was their first and only meeting. Georgia won, 34-27 and, yes, it was considered something of an upset, at least to Philadelphians. The great shock to everyone on hand was Georgia's passing game, built around its great quarterback, a guy named Zeke Bratkowski (NFL fans will remember him with the Pack). Bratkowski's favorite receiver was a guy named John Carson, who also went on to a good NFL career. Believe me, 34 points against one of George Munger's teams was a huge amount. In fact, it was the fifth-highest total ever scored against one of his teams, behind Army (62 in 1944, 61 in 1945), Michigan (41 in 1944) and Cal (35 in 1951).
(It should be pointed out, as a measure of just how good those Army teams were, that in 1944-1945 Penn shut out six of its other opponents, and held five others to a single touchdown.)
Which gets me to this point: George Munger was one hell of a defensive coach, too. In more than half of the games he coached (75 of 134), Penn's opponents were held to one touchdown or less. 30 of those games were shutouts.
The 27 points Penn scored against Georgia were the most they ever scored in a losing effort. Penn didn't normally need to score a lot of points to win. Only three other times in George Munger's career - besides that Georgia game - did Penn score 20 points or more yet lose - Army (26-20 in 1948), Pitt (22-21 in 1949), and Cornell (29-21 in 1949).
*********** I remember "Concrete Charlie" Bednarik took a shot at Penn State along the Lines " Who the Hell is Penn State!! I remember when Penn St. wasn't much " Now I thought Penn St. had pretty good football before Rip Engle and Paterno arrived and those guy's just took it to the next level, but going by Bednarik's remarks, I took it as the Penn program was superior to the Penn St back in the Munger era. Would that be a fair assessment ? John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts
Chuck's comment reflected the sense of athletic superiority felt by most Philadelphians back in the days when he was playing. Philadelphia was - maybe still is - an especially provincial sports town, and Philadelphians considered themselves to be at the center of the solar system.
In addition, where Penn and Penn State were concerned, there was the Big City vs. Country Cousins syndrome as well. The same thing could be found, I'm sure, in any state where the big-name university is located in a big city, and the "cow college", (which usually has "State" or A & M" after its name), is situated - usually for some long-ago political reason - way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. I see it now in my adopted home state, where the people at the University of Washington look with scorn on the Washington State folks.
(Penn - the University of Pennsylvania - is not, by the way, a state school. Despite the name, it is a private university.)
I grew up in Philadelphia during a time when it was at its most provincial. Penn was a power, and I must admit that for years, I lived with the same sense of superiority that Chuck voiced. Who the hell was Penn State? Nobody I knew ever mentioned Penn State, except for the occasional wise-cracking teacher who would tell us that at the rate we were going, we'd end up not at Penn State but at State Pen. Ha, ha. Actually, I'm not sure, growing up, that I ever knew anybody who had even been to State College, much less gone to college there. All I knew was that it was somewhere "upstate."
Chuck Bednarik can be forgiven his perception, because for one thing, during his years at Penn, the two teams never met. And it was true that Penn State, with a far smaller stadium and much less drawing power, was definitely playing a weaker schedule than Penn.
But I've done some research, and it pretty much debunks the myth, one that I have to confess I bought into, that up until Penn de-emphasized in order to join the Ivy League, it was the power and Penn State was something less.
The truth is that over the years Penn did have a far higher profile, but Penn State was pretty good in its own right. For example, in 1947, the same year that Penn went unbeaten, Penn State also went unbeaten, went to the Cotton Bowl and tied SMU. (Can you say Doak Walker? Can you say Wally Triplett, Penn State star who was the first black man to play in the Cotton Bowl?)
Penn State had some good teams, and some very good players such as Lenny Moore and Roosevelt Grier, but the problem was, they were pretty much overlooked by big-city Eastern writers - I mean, there was Penn, playing within walking distance of downtown Philly, in front of 70,000+ every Saturday - and on TV yet - and there was Penn State, the cow college, hours and hours (pre-Interstate) from any major eastern metro area.
No doubt the fact that Penn consistently led the nation in attendance had a lot to do with Philadelphians' sense of superiority. Penn could draw those big crowds, which enabled it to pay the guarantees to bring in the big name opponents. No home-and-home arrangements, either. You want to play us? You come to our place.
And then there was the power of the eastern press, much more influential than it is today. If a strong team from elsewhere in the country wanted to be seen by the people who wrote for the big eastern papers and the national magazines, Penn, with its 77,000-seat Franklin Field, was the best place to be seen. (Red Grange, although already a great national hero, hadn't truly proved himself - in the eyes of eastern sportwriters - until Illinois came east to play Penn and he ran wild at Franklin Field.)
Home field advantage? In their 47 meetings, Penn played at Penn State just once. That was in 1934. (I can't imagine what the people at Penn were thinking when they agreed to make that one trip upstate.) The two schools met six times while George Munger was coach, and all the games were played in Philadelphia.
Penn and Penn State haven't played each other since 1958. In the series, Penn State overall is 18-25-4 against Penn, but the figure is misleading - the series started out 0-15 in Penn's favor. That's going all the way back to 1887, when Penn was already an eastern power, and Penn State was playing games against the likes of Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall and Swarthmore. In 1889, Penn State lost to Lehigh, 106-0.
No doubt, a trip to the big city to play a big-name school in front of a real crowd was a big deal for the country kids from State College, but they paid a severe price for their exposure to the big time - they were shut out in 10 of those first 15 games, and scored just 21 points in all.
Actually, even in that 16th game, played in 1909, the best Penn State could manage was a 3-3 tie. But they were quickly put back in their place the next year, losing 10-0, and not until their 18th meeting did Penn State finally beat Penn. (No doubt there was some serious celebrating in Philadelphia that night!)
I'm sure that that early image of Penn State futility remained indelibly in the minds of many Philadelphians, but beginning with that first tie in 1909, the series record is actually 18-10-4 in Penn State's favor.
(In fairness, the last five meetings of the two teams, arranged years in advance when both programs were strong, wound up being played between a Penn State program on its way to national prominence, and a Penn program that had descended to Ivy League level - and wasn't even doing all that well there.)
So I would say to get a true indication of the competitive balance between Penn and Penn State over the years you would need to throw out those 15 early games when Penn State was a wannabe, and those last five games when Penn was overmatched. That would make the tally 13-10-4, favor Penn State.
Therefore, despite Chuck Bednarik's dismissive remarks about Penn State, the Lions generally proved to be plenty for Penn to handle. I have no doubt that Penn State coaches were able to get those country kids plenty fired up for their visits to play the boys from the big city.
*********** Coach, I attended the Colorado High School Athletic Association Football Committee meeting in Denver yesterday. It was a good experience to see how things are decided for all of us by the association. Anyway, it looks like they are going to make a very positive change in one of our practice rules. Since I have been coaching in Colorado (14 years), we have not been allowed to use hand-held shields or any type of dummies for the first two days of practice. That will be changing next fall. While we still won't be allowed to use sleds or have player-to-player contact, we will be allowed to use dummies and hand-held shields to teach blocking and tackling on those first two days. The players can not wear pads on those first two days. On the third day, they can be in full uniform, but they are still not allowed to have player-to-player contact. However, we can use sleds on the third day.
Anyway, this rule change will be much better in allowing coaches to teach blocking and tackling during the first two days of practice. I think I will be ordering your PRACTICE WITHOUT PADS video very soon! Happy Thanksgiving! Greg Koenig, Las Animas, Colorado
*********** Little League dad Mike Mock is scouting around for a team that his kid, Chance, can play on. Little League dad Mike Mock's kid, Chance, is the Texas Longhorns' quarterback. Used to be, that is, until a few weeks back, when he was replaced by Vince Young.
So dad, apparently, started checking out Chance's "options."
But he wants everyone to know that Chance really wants to stay at Texas.
"He wants to graduate from the University of Texas," Mike Mock said. "He wants the T ring and to go out on Senior Day with his parents. But he also wants to fulfill the chance to go to the next level. To do that, he needs playing time. So he's going to explore his options."
Dad says Chance has three options: to stay at Texas and hope he gets enough playing time next season behind Vince Young to show the NFL what he can do; jump to the NFL after this season; or transfer to another school where he can play more.
"It's going to be totally his decision," Dad said. "All I'll help him with is information. I'll just be dad. ... No one has made contact about anything. I have personally asked around about some of these schools in Division I-AA, but Chance has not talked to anyone. He doesn't want to be distracted."
Distraction? What distraction? You're only playing Texas A & M on Friday, so what distraction?
While Dad is checking around, and Chance is playing the role of the real team man, Longhorns' running back Cedric Benson is being properly tolerant. He said he understands.
"I don't blame the guy," Benson said. "You have to do what's best for yourself.
Wow. Team first. Don't want to be judgmental, do we? After all, that could be us someday.
"I don't blame the guy." Uh, isn't that what kept Clinton in office?
Disgusting.
*********** HIllary may have thought she was making points by going to Afghanistan for Thanksgiving (of course, come to think of it, there wasn't much family to stay home for), but President Bush did her one better. He passed up turkey dinner at his Texas ranch and flew - 27 hours - to surprise U.S. troops in Iraq. Stepping off Air Force One at Baghdad Airport on Thursday, he told the troops there that he was "just looking for a warm meal."
*********** "We must protect this house!" shouts the guy in the Underarmour commercial.
Great idea. May I suggest that you guys start to protect it by marrying all those "fiancees" of yours, so all those kids you fathered can have a man around the place?
*********** Darrell Dickey, the North Texas Coach, wore a "Gallery Furniture" hat on the sidelines during his team's nationally-televised game against New Mexico State. What - he couldn't find his Preparation H hat?
*********** If what I read is true, the slimiest f--ker in college sports has to be the president of Auburn. While supposedly debating whether to retain Tommy Tuberville or turn him loose (at a cost to Auburn of $3 million), the creep interviewed Bobby Petrino of Louisville. (1) Cool, Petrino, cool. Interview for a guy's job before he's even been fired; (2) Watch your back, Tommy.
*********** I told you that La Center, where I once coached, had made great strides from the days when I coached there, when kids thought it was cooler to run cross-country that it was to play football. Now, the La Center Wildcats are getting ready to play in a state semi-final game on Saturday.
What I didn't do was tell you about some of the weird-ass people who live and work in that little town.
The basketball team has won a couple of state titles, and the football team has developed quite a following, and as a result there are some people in town who entertain the motion that they live in West Texas or some such place. "We shut down the town for just about anything sports-related," the mayor, Liz Cerveney, told the Vancouver Columbian.
Well, she'd better not shut the town down entirely this Saturday, because from what I read, there will be a lot of families looking around for something to do.
That's because La Center's band isn't going to the game. I know what you're thinking - you're thinking that some stupid administrator forgot to order a bus for the band members, and now they're not able to go to the game, and, boy, are their parents pissed.
But, no - nobody's that stupid. If the band all came down with E coli and only three kids were able to play, the school still would be expected to get them there. In this case, apparently not all the band members are able to play at the game, so - I'm guessing - the band director went crying to the principal that he was going to be hurting in the woodwind sectionand not at full strength, and the principal decided that the band shouldn't have to play without everyone there.
This is not, I should add, the principal I worked for. That guy was a stud. He would have sat the band director down and said, "The community funds the music program, and part of your job is making sure a band is at major events like this. The community expects it, and I expect it, so one way or another, we will have a band there."
But this principal (I could tell you from personal experience what a worm he is, but I'd like to think I'm a good enough writer that you will be able to figure this out for yourself) said, "It's Thanksgiving weekend. So many kids have previous responsibilities with their families. There was no way to put a band together."
Nope, no way. No one else in the state will be able to do it, either, I'm sure. There won't be another school in the state that will have a band there Saturday, because you know how it is with high school kids - they're all spending the day - all day Saturday - with their families.
He said that the band, with 60 members, could find only 21 kids who could commit to play at Saturday's game, and with only a third of the band members there,"the product would suffer."
Yeah, like people really care about your "product." Like it's a band competition, not a football game, and everyone's paid just to hear you. Now, I have checked with my music consultants (well, actually my daughter, who played in the Fort Vancouver High School band), who advises me that that is a crock of sh--. That if they have a drum and a couple of trumpets, they can fill in with some other instruments and they're pretty much in business.
Football parents, needless to say are pissed because they have been dissed. (As you can see, I am experimenting with composing rap.) The principal can understand their feelings, he says, but he has also received calls from parents of band members, expressing their support, their appreciation, for his decision.
"The band kids feel as bad as anybody," he said. "Most of them enjoy watching the game, and they love to play."
But, he said, "Family comes before other activities."
Say, family? Now, I gar-on-tee yo' ass, those La Center kids are like kids everywhere - they ain't gonna be spending Saturday with their families. Chances are, most of them will be at the football game, looking on.
*********** Hi Coach, Coach Ron Young here from Wellington, FL. Here is a quick summary of our year.
10-0 regular season outscoring opponents 318-44. Breezed through the playoffs going 3-0, 88-12. Capping off with a Superbowl win with a 34-0 triumph. Our Superbowl was over by the 1st quarter up 20-0 and just before half-time I was instructed by our league president to call off the dogs, stop passing and take it easy the rest of the game. I had to punt for the first time all year in this game (a 20 yard punt into the endzone) or we would've scored again as even the backups were able to move the ball fairly easy with this system. We also gave them the ball for the 2nd half kickoff even though we were supposed to get it. Our team is the Wellington Semipro Dolphins (12-13 year olds), a draftable recreational league where every player must start on offense or defense and play the entire game there.
This is my 4th year with this system, 1st as head coach in this league. I have often wondered why others won't try this system. It is basically foolproof if you can just follow the tapes and be patient. And if someone does encounter a problem you are there with an open ear to help (I know this to be true because I have contacted you by email and via phone). A very easy system to teach and all I have used is the basic set including dynamics of the double wing. You have put together a very special thing. Here is the real kicker. It has enabled me this year to have every child on our team run the ball at least two times. One of the kids fathers came to me the following week and thanked me for letting his son run the ball. He also said he knows his son doesn't have many skills, won't play football in high school and doesn't spend much time with him because of work. He said the smile on his kids face after the game was priceless and just about brought a tear to my eye. This 12-year old child ran a tight 2 wedge for an extra point. Our 14-0 record was nice but hearing things like this makes the season a mute thing. This is what your system allows. It allows not so talented kids to be talented and talented kids to be exceptional. I thank you again and again for putting this system together for us people who aren't of the closed mind.
Thanks again, Coach Ron Young, Wellington Semipro Dolphins, Wellington, Florida
*********** I got the impression, from what they said, that that halftime "show" at the Lions-Packers game was brought to us by United Way. (At least that's what they said.) Wow. Sure was nice of them. At least you know if you donate money to them, they're not just throwing it away - by giving it to groups like those homophobic Boy Scouts.
*********** Hello Coach. Happy Thanksgiving first off. Second I just wanted to say thanks for all the help you gave me this year. I attended your seminar in King of Prussia this year and learned an aweful lot. This was my first year running the double wing and it worked beautifully. We actually had other teams arguing on the field with each other they were so frustrated. There were times when the opposing coach would say watch #25 our C back and they still could not stop the play. Things like that make a coach fell good inside. I intend to run the double wing again next season and attend your seminar if it is in my area. Again thanks a bunch and Happy Holidays. Robert Boyle, Southern Regional Pop Warner, Manahawkin, New Jersey
*********** The principal at Kennewick, Washington High School took a look at the first performance of the play the school's drama students were putting on, and said, "No more."
He had made the mistake of trusting the drama teacher to choose something suitable for a high school performance, and out of all the plays that have been written since man first put pen to papyrus, she (now, why do I think the drama teacher was a "she"?) chose "The Breakfast Club."
Maybe you've seen the movie. It was about a bunch of high school misfits assigned to do detention on Saturday. The language was rather crude, about what you'd expect to hear in the school halls - from the girls.
Yup - maybe it depicts the real world, but as long as coaches have to watch their mouths on the sidelines, I have a problem with kids swearing in a school production. So did the principal, who said, "The explicit language and sexual innuendoes violated school district policies," adding that from now on, "all the plays are going to go across my desk so I have a chance to see it before it goes to production."
There was the usual hue and cry about censorship, about reining in the kids' creativity.
"Yes, it was a little controversial," agreed the mother of one of the actors. But, she argued, it's the kind of stuff that really happens in the real world. After all, she added, "They're almost adults!"
Yeah, almost. Until the mean old coach yells at them because they were late for practice. Then they're your poor, defenseless little boys.
*********** Coach Wyatt; Give yourself some credit for what's happening at LaCenter. Before you got there coaches were begging their a.d.s to get the Wildcats on their schedules. Not anymore. The turnaround is amazing. I hope you still feel a strong connection there. The coach from Rochester commented in our local newspaper after the Wildcats beat them pretty bad that "LaCenter runs the double wing. We had no way of stopping it." Mike Voie, Winlock, Washington (Coach Voie is very kind. He and I had at it a few times. HW)
*********** UCLA's Dan Guerrero, still in his first year as a real AD at a real school (with football 'n' everything) is trying to put positive spin on his decision to fire Bob Toledo and replace him with Karl Dorrell, who may or may not be a good coach but has yet to provide much evidence that he is. Guerrero recently praised Dorrell for establishing a "foundation for the future."
Toledo was fired after finishing 7-5 last year. Not just fired, though. Humiliated. Guerrero refused to let Toledo coach his team in a bowl game, as if he were a child molester or drug dealer. UCLA won that bowl game, and most of the starters returned this year. With them, Dorrell went 6-6, and just got humiliated himself - by USC.
Some foundation, Dan.
*********** Hi coach how's everything going. I am just emailing you about our season here in Chicago with my youth team at Hubbard Field. Well last year was my first year with the dwing and we ended the regular season with a record of 8-1 - the only loss was in the championship game. Pretty good for the first time running the dwing. so I knew something was missing so I went to your clinic and found what was missing and that was to believe in the offense no matter what and practice, practice and practice. So I did, and now this year we are CITY CHAMPS. Pretty good for a team that has only been in this league for 4 years. Thanks to you and the way you have explained the dwing to me I now believe in this offense. So when you come back to the Chicagoland area please let me know so I can attend your next clinic with some of my coaching staff. They are believers too. So thanks again for everything and I am looking forward to defending our crown. Your friend forever, coach Michael d. Glenn, Chicago - CITY CHAMPS
*********** "a picture to go with that sled. Ray Crowther/ I hated that damn sled and so did my back/ but it damn well made me a better player/ and to tell the truth a lot coaches would benefit their players if they would use it." Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho
*********** Every year, I would tell my classes a tear-jerker about this poor kid who needed to get a 3.0 in my class to get into the college of his choice, but he was only going to get a 2.0.
I would point to another kid and say, "Brad, you've got a 4.0 in here. A 3.0 won't kill your overall average. How about if we take a point from you and give it to him."
It didn't matter which 4.0 student I would ask. Year after year, the response was always the same. The kid would get highly indignant that I'd even suggest such a stupid thing and say, "No way - I earned that!"
*********** Now, you know I have no use for those women sideline reporters - sideline bimbos - but I do have to give Heather Cox her props. During a break in the action in the North Texas- New Mexico State game, she took a lesson in place-kicking from New Mexico State's kicker, and she actually looked pretty athletic in putting it through
*********** Bob Davie was talking about whether Notre Dame would join a conference. "Notre Dame is arrogant," the former Notre Dame coach told a nationwide ESPN audience. "I don't mean that in a bad way," he quickly backpedalled, suddenly aware that there is no way you can call someone arrogant (full of unwarranted pride and self-importance; overbearing; haughty) and not mean it in a bad way.
*********** So this asshole Muhammad goes out with his little buddy and kills people in cold blood (not to mention turning the lives of people within a hundred miles of Washington, D.C. upside-down). And a jury convicts him of murder. And then recommends the death penalty.
Why? According to some jurors, it was because he didn't show remorse.
Did you catch that? He didn't show remorse. If he'd only done that, all would have been forgiven!
Makes me think of the I-can-save-them-all school principal - we've all had one - who sends that manipulative little jerk back to your room without any punishment at all, because, she says, she had a "good talk" with him, and now he realizes what he's done, and how many people he's hurt, and blah, blah, blah.
This is the Feminized States of America, and we are so-o-o-o into feelings that what this Muhammad guy did doesn't seem to matter nearly so much as how he feels about it now. And the way he feels is not the way we want him to feel!
So he gets the chair - but not because he killed innocent people at random, condemning their loved ones to lives of misery. Oh, no. What he did was far worse than that. He didn't show remorse!
If he had, they probably would have voted to allow him conjugal visits with his little buddy.
*********** Speaking of coaches allowing players to call him by first name, have you seen the ESPN Magazine article on Frosty Westering? Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin
I am reasonably close to the PLU scene and I have a lot of admiration for Frosty.
But he is one of a kind. That stuff works for Frosty, because he is who he is. But lemme tell you - I have seen some of his former players who are now coaches take that "attaway" business and try to apply it at other places, exactly as Frosty does it, and it sure looks phony to me.
I think they fail to understand one of the cardinal rules of coaching: Be Yourself.
*********** Dear Coach, I have a 10 year old daughter who has played on a select soccer team and I can say it was not a good experience. The coach basically told us after the fall season that he couldn't work with our kid. He said she was immature and was always goofing around and seemed too preoccupied with the after game drinks and cookies. This was when she was 8. He didn't want her to play for the spring season. (She was on a 10 and under team and was the youngest player.)
I considered my options. Be a quitter or put up with this *ss for 3 more months. He couldn't kick her off the team because she made the team during a summer tryout. He couldn't add players unless someone quit. We tried to keep my daughter out of the mess. We never criticized the coach during the season.
This past fall my daughter played soccer for the rec league. She led the league in scoring and her team won the league championship. She has been recruited for another traveling team. These teams want the kids year round and there is no time for other sports. My wife and I decided to let our daughter play basketball and we won't let her try out for another select team.
In our area they also allow "guest" players during soccer tournaments. To me that means "hey we know you practice every day and paid your money, but we have to win this tournament and you aren't good enough."
During our middle school's last soccer season several of the boys who play on select teams left our practice early and didn't show up for a game because it conflicted with their other teams schedule. I would have showed them the door right then, but our soccer coach is rather spineless and just shrugged his shoulders. ( Please withhold my name if you reproduce this document on your web site) (Imagine- an 8-year-old who is immature and always goofing around! HW)
*********** Coach Wyatt, Here is a copy of an email I wrote on Coach Creehan's behalf. I just wanted to let you know that I am totally supportive of your efforts. Despite the fact that we are among the league leaders in scoring on an annual basis and the clinics always have sessions on how to defend the wing-t, people still think that it is old-fashioned. Isn't it ironic that many colleges and almost every pro team run the flanker in motion, hand off to the back and fake reverse (just like bucksweep) and the professionals do not seem to have the first clue on how to defend it. I am certain that Coach Creehan will bring back systematic football to West Point and be a nightmare preparation for their opponents. Have a great Thanksgiving, Paul Muench, Fayetteville-Manlius High School, Manlius, New York
Update: Not to be pessimistic but to be realistic, but according to Denny himself, it does not appear that he is on the "A" list at Army. In my opinion, his being on the staff at Army this year may have hurt him as least as much as it helped him. True, people at West Point did learn who he was, and his special teams' performance has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal season; but unfortunately, his being a member of staff - even though for only one year - that now appears fairly certain to take Army to an all-time record 13 losses in one season, causes him to suffer from quilt by association in the eyes of the Army faithful who are practically chanting "throw them all out."
There has been a lot of speculation among Army fans about big names such as Coughlan, Davie and Slocum, none of whom in my humble opinion would be worth a sh-- at West Point, but so long as they're taking advice from Bill Parcells, anything is possible. Fortunately, though, two promising names do keep popping up: one is Charlie Taafe, a two-time CFL Coach of the Year who is now the offensive coordinator at Maryland, and several years ago was Jim Young's offensive coordinator when he introduced the wishbone at Army; the other is Don Patterson, a West Point grad who along with numerous coaching greats coached served on Hayden Fry's staff, both at North Texas and at Iowa, and has done an exceptional job in five seasons as head coach at Western Illinois.
*********** Next time you hear about an athlete using drugs and broads ("escorts") and God knows what else, and someone says, "So?" Ask him if he's seen Lawrence Taylor lately.
*********** Hey Boyz II Men - I guess nobody down in Dallas had the guts to tell you, so here goes - next time, take those f--king hats off when you sing our national anthem.
*********** Coach Wyatt, I would like to again thank you for introducing me to the DW. I was 14-48 as a Head Coach (pre-DW) and 36-18 regular season and 3-5 in the play-offs the last 5 years. I have had 5 straight winning seasons and 5 straight play-off years.
See you at a clinic this year. Let me know where you would like me to speak. Thanks Again. Steve Jones, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
*********** Coach Wyatt, How right you are!
I just read your little piece on Dick Vermiel and how popular he is in Philly, even today. He still gets talked about on the local sports radio talk shows! (610 WIP) And if you drive down I-95, on some bill board you are very likely to see his face advertising Blue Cross and Blue Shield Health Insurance as you pass through Philadelphia. And if not on bill boards, you might see him on television promoting the same thing.
Philly just loves him! But won't it be interesting if the Chiefs play the Iggles in this year's Super Bowl?? Wonder if he'll be loved as much then?? Hmmmmm.
Mike Lane, Avon Grove, Pennsylvania PS- Have a Happy Thanksgiving coach!!!
*********** The girls volleyball team at a suburban Portland high school needed to win the last two games of the season to qualify for the playoffs. They won the first, and, wait - they won't be going to the playoffs after all.
Seems that during the national anthem, sung by a couple of high school girls, the team sang along, but deliberately sang several notes off-key.
For that, and for what school officials called "inappropriate team cheers," they were forced to forfeit that game, which they had won, as well as the next game.
I wouldn't have made them forfeit. I'm old school. I'd have spanked their asses, something their mommies and daddies should have done years ago.
But it does bring up the question --- is it possible to play a game - any game of any sort, at any level of competition, anywhere in America - without the national anthem? I mean, will the pillars of our nation crumble? I'll put my patriotism alongside that of most patriotic Americans, but God, I hate having to listen to young women - it's always females - who think they are auditioning for a recording company while we stand there waiting to play a ball game.
*********** I don't quite know how to say this, but... if you saw Michigan State's first touchdown against Penn State, during which two Penn State defensive backs played two-hand touch with a Spartan receiver (and one of them didn't even touch him) you are closing in on the answer to why Joe hasn't been winning. I still think you're the man, Joe, but I'm not sure about your staff, and I do have two questions - Who recruited those clowns? Who coaches them?
"The
Beast Was out There," by General James M. Shelton,
subtitled "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the
Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" is available
through the publisher, Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois.
to order a copy, go to http://www.rrmtf.org/firstdivision/
and click on "Publications and Products")
Or contact me if you'd like
to obtain a personally-autographed copy, and I'll give
you General Shelton's address. (Great gift!) General
Shelton is a former wing-T guard from Delaware who now
serves as Honorary Colonel of the Black Lions. All
profits from the sale of his books go to the Black Lions
and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation, , sponsors of
the Black Lion Award).- I have my copy. It is
well worth the price just for the "playbooks" it contains
in the back - "Fundamentals of Infantry" and
"Fundamentals of Artillery," as well as a glossary of all
those military terms, so that guys like you and me can
understand what they're talking about.
Coaches - Black Lions teams for 2003 are now listed, by state. Please check to make sure your team in on the list. If it is not, it means that your team is no enrolled, and you need to e-mail me to get on the list. HW
--- GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD --- HONOR BRAVE MEN AND RECOGNIZE GREAT KIDS
SIGN UP YOUR TEAM OR ORGANIZATION FOR 2003
"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"
inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM
THE BLACK LION AWARD
***********
At Left, Adam Furr, of Elmwood-Brimfield, Illinois, is shown
receiving his Black Lion Award from US Army Sergeant Doug
Bleyaert. As part of Adam's Black Lion Award nomination, his
coach, Todd Hollis, wrote.
A
native of Detroit, Evashevski attended the University of
Michigan where he won three letters each in football and
baseball, and captained the football team his senior
year. He started out as a center in Coach Fritz Crisler's
unbalanced single wing, but was switched to blocking back
after his freshman season. The single wing blocking back
was often referred to as the quarterback, but not only
did he have to call plays, back in those days before
coaches could send in plays, but he had to do heavy-duty
blocking on every play. There was little glory in the
single-wing quarterback position. The man he did most of
his blocking for was Old Number 98, Tom Harmon. The famed
Harmon of Michigan. Harmon made all-American, and won the
Heisman Trophy in 1940, and our man gained some measure
of renown because it was impossible to see what Harmon
had done without also seeing what his blocking back had
done.
***********
I'd like you to meet MY Black Lion. Excuse me - OUR Black
Lion. Madison High School, Portland, Oregon. In the photo,
that's my head coach, Tracy Jackson, and Madison High's
award winner, Trevor Buffington.
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: If he weren't dated by the offense he
coached, Charlie Caldwell almost certainly would mark
himself as a man from another era by his outfit in the
photo at left - he is shown in the typical coaching
attire of the post-war years. Back then coaches, perhaps
because they never knew when they might need to
demonstrate a point, routinely wore football pants and
shoes to practice.
A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Clarence Stasavich is one of the last
men to coach the single-wing at the college level. His
career record was 170-64-8 (RUNNING THE SINGLE WING) and at
the time of his retirement following the 1969 season, only
Bear Bryant of Alabama and John Vaught of Mississippi among
active coaches whose win totals exceeded his.
***********
Coach Wyatt, This photo is the fruit of your teaching and my
labor. We won this game 19 to 7. That's my big head, bottom
left. Coach Jason took these for me this weekend (11/01/03).
Under 99 Power was the play call, or was it 3 Wedge?
***********
Coach Wyatt, We had our football banquet for our Heritage
Middle School football team last night (Sat.). We had a
great season at 8-2 (county co-champions). While we are not
a traditional DW team, we do run a power running game with
DW blocking.
***********
(LEFT) Congratulations to Coach Fred Braswell and the Cedar
Grove Middle School Wildcats, Double-Wingers and undefeated
champions of DeKalb County (suburban Atlanta) Georgia. Cedar
Grove has not lost in the regular season in two years, and
its only loss during that time was in last year's playoffs,
to another Double-Winger, Millers Grove. This year, Cedar
Grove got revenge by defeating Millers Grove in the
semi-finals. In the photo, Coach Braswell is at the right of
the trophy, and defensive coach Kenny Hillman is on the
left.