HOME

BACK ISSUES - OCTOBER 2002

 
October 29- " A conservative is a liberal who got mugged last night." Frank Rizzo, who rose from police chief to Mayor of Philadelphia
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO

 

 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")
 

 

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: This is from a 1964 Baltimore Colts' program. At the time, he was considered to be one of the greatest linemen ever to play the game. He may still be.

After high school in Toledo, Ohio, he went to Ohio State where he was a two-time All-American, playing both offense and defense, as required under the rules of the time. In 1956, he won the Outland Trophy, awarded to the outstanding college lineman.

He was the Colts' Number One draft choice in 1957, and proved to be one of the best choices the team ever made. He played 11 years for the Colts, and in one eight year span, from 1958 through 1965, he was named All-Pro eight times and played in eight Pro Bowls. The first four of those occasions, he made it as a tackle; the second four, as a guard.

He was considered the indispensible man in the front wall that provided John Unitas his protection. At 6-3 and 275, very big for that time, he was the one the Colts ran behind when they needed the tough yards, and he was the guard who did most of the trapping and led most of the Colts' sweeps.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973, the first year he was eligible; his presenter was his old college coach, Woody Hayes.

*********** I'm not going to say that football is big in Georgia. I'll let you visit this site - http://www.4shotsports.com/artman/publish/article_233.shtml - read the article about Millers Grove MIddle School, coached by Kevin Latham, and decide for yourself.

*********** Anybody see Bryan Dawkins sucker-punch Ike Hilliard on Monday Night Football? It was a gruesome hit, typical of the kind of helmet-and-shoulder, arms-at-the-side shot that defensive backs have begun taking on unprotected wide receivers lately, and this one was especially ugly because it took place quite some time after Hilliard could be considered a pass receiver. This is a horrible example for kids. I have to say that at first, as Dawkins lay there afterwards, I found myself saying "serves you right," and almost hoping that one of these days, one of those sneak hitters will get hurt enough to bring the league to its senses. Dawkins, got up. Hilliard was unable to finish the game. Dawkins should be suspended without pay until Hilliard is healthy enough to return.

*********** I don't know if this is just a rumor but... supposedly the State Department employee who issued passports to 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the 9-11 attack on America has received a $15,000 "performance bonus."

*********** The American news media have solved the illegal alien problem - by eliminating them entirely. Don't know whether you read about young Mr. Malvo, the sniper's apprentice, but he is in this country illegally, and yet he is consistently referred to as a "Jamaican national." Problem solved.

See how easy that was? I just take this "illegal alien" here ... sprinkle a little magic dust on him... say the magic words ("BRAINWASH THE PUBLIC") ... and... POOF! He's a "Jamaican national."

Whoa! Where'd that illegal alien go? That's great! How'd you do that?

*********** "give me a break -- the single largest problem with this country today (with the exception of single parent households) is our "open gates" mentality towards immigration. I'm sick of the "we're all from somewhere else" garbage, along with the melting pot bullshit. Yeah, when the country was first being settled/civilized, it was open season -- a great place for Christians to call home without fear of persecution for practicing our religion. But when they came here, they learned our language, worked their ass off, fought for our flag -- all with zero guarantees! Now, folks stroll across the border with their hand out and get pissed when our teachers don't speak "their" language!" NAME WITHHELD

*********** Bellingham, Washington, up near the Canadian border, is, um, a strange place. It is loaded with all sorts of weird types. So when I heard that John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo , the strange pair who terrorized the Washington, D.C. area, had spent some time there, I wasn't surprised.

Turns out the kid attended Bellingham High School, without providing any proof of citizenship or any proof that he'd ever attended school anywhere. In fact, he probably furnished a phony address, since he was living in a homeless shelter. Now, wouldn't that alert your suspicions?

But no-o-o-o-o-o. Nobody said anything. We hear all the time about how much it costs a state's taxpayers to educate each kid, but this one just walked in and they rolled out the welcome mat.

Not that it would have done any good to call the Bellingham police. It has been established, at least to my satisfaction, that there is a direct correlation between secure borders and national security, but in a disgraceful display of disregard for our safety, most police departments in the United States refuse to enforce immigration law.

They say they don't have the time. They do, however - in Portland at least - have the time to dress up as hookers and arrest "johns."

*********** Hannah Parks, a Bellingham woman who hung around with the much-travelled Johnny Muhammad, was identified in newspaper stories as a "street singer." (In Bellingham, you can call yourself a street singer and people won't snicker. It's that kind of place.)

According to an article I read, she sings songs "about social issues, such as consumerism, greed, and women who wear too much makeup."

Wow! Why didn't somebody tell me about her? Where can I get a CD?

*********** Have you wondered why the press has not alluded to the "strangeness" of the relationship between the snipers? If it had been 2 white males, would their homosexuality have been mentioned? Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey

I have. This is one of those things that the main line news media have refrained from touching, including continuing to call the kid a "Jamaican National," when in fact he is a frigging illegal alien.

Think of all the angles to this story - illegal immigration, black rage, homelessness, gun control, the death penalty, Louis Farrakhan, Islam, treating juveniles as adults (if, in fact, the punk is a juvenile), the stereotypes of the maladjusted veteran, our open concept of what constitutes a "family," politicians fighting over jurisdiction, etc., etc. And, on top of that, a weird sort of Batman-and-Robin relationship.

*********** OK -- how long before we hear "oh..that poor 17 year old is just a misguided child" -- and "oh, that poor desert storm vet is a victim of society" --- I guarantee it's comin'.

17 year old "child" my ass -- I was 17 when I was spending the night in a hole that I dug on Parris Island -- I wasn't a "child" and neither were any of the other 17/18 yr olds that were there with me!

How 'bout we turn those 2 loose in a fenced in area and let the victims families hunt them? a "little" radical, but I like it!

see ya Coach, Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas

*********** Remember back before bums became "homeless?" Before shackups became "domestic partners?" Before illegal aliens became "undocumented workers" or "foreign nationals?" Before ex-cons became "ex-offenders?" You get the idea.

So I had to laugh when I read an interview in the Morning Herald, of Hagerstown, Maryland with a Hagerstown man who was the night custodian at the rest stop in Myersville, Maryland where the M & M boys - Muhammad and Malvo - were nailed. He expressed relief at realizing how close he came to being shot himself, since part of his job is to go around to parked cars and shine his flashlight inside - looking for what he called "undesirables."

*********** Which one do you think will be there for America when America needs him?

Will it be the hip Hollywood mogul who donates money to liberal causes, and tells the rest of us that we're bigoted and narrow-minded because we say screw world opinion, it's okay to eat animals, domestic partnerships are perverse and a woman's "right to choose" ends when she decides to have unprotected sex with a guy. He made his money sitting by the side of the pool dreaming up sitcoms about shoeless, toothless hillbillies from Appalachia...

Will it be the learned Ivy League professor who thinks all evil can be traced to our founding fathers, who says that all the world's ills can be cured if we will just submit to government by the United Nations, and knows he can always get laughs from his impressionable students by making fun of backwoods, Southern types and their antiquated, conservative Christian values...

Will it be the elite member of the news media, the TV anchor who refuses to wear an American flag pin in his lapel because he doesn't want to appear to be "taking sides," who interviews other elites and then deduces from those interviews that the "America people" share his liberal views, who refers sneeringly to the "Christian right", and never condescends to set foot in the rural South...

Or will it be that Kentucky truck driver - the very sort of person the Hollywood writer, the Ivy League professor and the TV anchor love to ridicule - the one who spotted the snipers' car in Maryland, and says that if he's paid any of the reward money, it ought to go to the families of the snipers' victims?

*********** Good news from the Washington, D.C. Area - "Coach Wyatt, James Madison practiced outside on Friday for the first time in three weeks.We will play four games in the next two weeks to get all the regular season games completed. It has been a very 'unusual season' to say the least. I'll keep you posted. God Bless you and your family." Gordon Leib, James Madison High School, Vienna, Virginia

*********** Bob Griese was not at his best on Saturday. He was at his worst when he began belittling the Notre Dame passing game (at the time, the Irish were ahead of Florida State and its vaunted passing game, 27-10). Just as he was blathering about Tyrone Willingham being a Bill Walsh disciple, and how coach Willingham would "get to the West Coast offense sooner or later," the Irish, ahead 27-10, lined up in the I-formation and sent Grant off tackle for 26 yards and another running touchdown.

*********** USC had first-and-goal on the Oregon five. And three times the Ducks defenders stuffed the run. And then Aloti Ngata, Oregon's 6-4, 330-pound defensive tackle, ran right over the Trojan trying to block him, stuck up a hand, and blocked the fourth-down field goal attempt.

I heard someone mention that the kid may be the reincarnation of The Fridge. I think he may be a whole lot better. It may at some point occur to the Ducks' offensive staff to take a look at him in the offensive backfield, because while in high school, he played rugby for a Utah team that won a national junior championship.

*********** I devoted a bit of space to John Lambert's unfortunate experience last week, when he ran into the perfect storm - when a lack of coaching ethics coincided with ignorant officials, and an opponent's defenders were allowed to attack his fullback at the knees.

John, the coach at La Center, Washington, won a big one Friday night to run the Wildcats' record to 5-2. This week, John wrote, opponents played fair and the officials knew the rules. (Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?)

"I talked to the refs about the blocking rule," he wrote. "They said 'of course it is illegal' and apologized for the refs last week that missed it. Ilwaco wasn't doing it anyways, but they did get called on it once. In fact, one of my assistant coaches heard their coach yelling at their DE to get low on the SP...the kid yelled back that he couldn't."

*********** If you wondered why Joe Paterno and Joe Tiller, among other Big Ten coaches, are complaining about the officiating, you must have missed seeing the Florida State receiver who caught a pass, ran two steps and fumbled, and Notre Dame recovered - and it was called an incomplete pass. By a Big Ten officiating crew.

*********** A Florida State receiver caught a pass for a first down and, not trusting the officials to give us the sign, jumped to his feet and very dramatically gave the sign himself. He was right in front of the official. Bingo. Unsportsmanlike conduct.

While FSU coach Bobby Bowden brought the young man to the sideline and administered a little "coaching," play-by-play announcer Brad Nessler said, "I don't know why he'd do that."

Answered his partner, Bob Griese,"You know why they do it? Because they see it on Sunday afternoon and Monday night."

Oh, thank you, Bob Griese.

And thank you so much, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, and FOX for always following up a play with a closeup of the antics of the guy who just made the play, so that our younger players can study and perfect their celebrations and dance moves.

*********** I swear I heard Madden say this. One of the good things about Donovan McNabb is that, "when he runs, he runs fast." This from the guy consistently rated TV's best color analyst. (By other TV types.)

*********** Disclaimer: I am not a Notre Dame fan. I rooted for Notre Dame when Ara Parseghian was their coach, and I rooted for Notre Dame when Ron Powlus was their quarterback. But I am an admirer of Tyrone Willingham and what he and his staff are accomplishing this year.

But I don't see how they can be ranked as low as they are, unless of course, Florida State is not that good, in which case, Miami needs to be knocked down a peg or two, also. I mean, Miami had trouble with FSU in Miami, winning by the margin of a last-play missed field goal, while Notre Dame went into Tallahassee and kicked Florida State's ass.

It was fortunate for the Irish that they did put a hurting on FSU, because their previous week's victim, Air Force, went up to Laramie and lost to a sub-par Wyoming team, 34-26 - in front of 15,022.

*********** It is important to note that for all the grief he deservedly caught, former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie caught a lot of it for moving Arnaz Battle to wide receiver when he returned from a wrist injury.

*********** Lynn Swann asked Coach Willingham if he was going to come out with a more wide-open offense against Florida State. Ty told him, "we're going to open with what we call an 'appropriate' offense."

*********** There is absolutely no greater waste of time and resources on earth than the sideline reporters' interviews of opposing coaches before and after halftime. There isn't a coach in America dumb enough to say anything interesting or controversial, so what we get is canned and bland.

*********** Riddell came out with the "Revolution" helmet, in acknowledgement of the fact that a large percentage of concussions result from blows to the side of the head. On Saturday, I saw a Michigan player, Cato June, get trundled off to the hospital after a brutal hit from, er, "the side." It was a crackback, and if it wasn't illegal - no penalty was called - it was very, very, very close.

Now, we all know that the most vicious hits in football come on those "maybe" clips that a defender doesn't see coming. I'm seeing a lot of marginal calls in which the announcer says, "his head was in front" - but it wasn't. So why aren't they looking at outlawing any contact that doesn't clearly take place from the front ?

*********** It's pleasing to me to learn that the Pac-10 Conference is going to outlaw those annoying "Thunder sticks" that the weenies use to amplify their clapping. It does seem a damn shame that spectators have to use their hands to clap, and so I have come up with a couple of business ideas. "MISTER CHEER" is a pocket-sized cassette player capable of playing applause at varying volumes. It also has a "Boo!" setting. My other business, CLAP 4-U, is aimed at the rich stiffs who stand around in the luxury boxes chatting over their wine and cheese while the game goes on, ignoring their responsibility to cheer. I have been able to work out an arrangement with a local homeless shelter which enables me to provide busloads of real, live "Clappers" to the holders of luxury boxes. The Clappers will occupy the seats in the front row of each box, and on cue from one of my employees down at field level, will cheer loudly. There will be no cost whatsoever to the spectators or the colleges, because I have been able to sell advertising on the backs of the Clappers' tee-shirts.

*********** At the same time, on side-by-side TV's, Iowa had an unexpected 34 points on Michigan and Notre Dame had an unexpected 34 points on Florida State.

*********** Talk about side-by-side TV's: I was watching Stanford-UCLA on one set, and Nebraska-Texas A & M on the other. Three of the four coaches are reported to be in trouble: Bob Toledo of UCLA, Frank Solich of Nebraska, and R.C. Slocum of Texas A & M.

The fourth, Stanford's Buddy Teevens, ought to be. With 6:19 left in the game and UCLA ahead, 25-18, Stanford faced 4th-and-1 on its own 30. The QB came up under center, and when UCLA's defense refused to flinch, he had to waste a precious time out. So Stanford huddled on the sideline, and came back out and damned if the QB wasn't under the center again. And this time, they snapped the ball and went for it - and got zip.

UCLA ran three plays - and another 1:20 off the clock - then kicked a field goal to go up by 10, which considering how lame Stanford was on offense, was more than enough to slam the door on the Cardinal.

*********** Tough first start for LSU QB Marcus Randall. He goes into Auburn and throws four interceptions and the Tigers (Auburn) ound the Tigers (LSU) 31-7.

*********** Did you see the incident between the Lakers' Rick Fox and the Kings' Doug Christie? Fox got a smack in the jaw - he asked for it after taking a shot at Christie - but what followed, as Fox went after Christie down in the bowels of the arena, looked like the sort of thing you'd expect at a heavyweight championship weigh-in.

*********** Do you laugh the way I do when young Mr. Ford, CEO of the motor company that bears his family's name, delivers the pitch for Mustang, and says, "If I could only have one car for the rest of my life..."

*********** No doubt at some point in your coaching career, you told a kid to "hit anything that moves." Mike Curtis took the advice to heart. On the telecast of the Colts-Redskins game Sunday night, they showed key moments of the some past (Baltimore) Colts-Redskins games, one of which was the time between plays when a nut-case fan came down out of the stands at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium and scooped up the game ball. Uh-oh. Not so fast. Mike Curtis was playing middle linebacker for the Colts, and, seeing something moving, he hit it. Hard. Nailed the poor bastard.

Asked afterwards why he did it, he said to the reporter, "What would you do if somebody came into your office and stole your typewriter?"

*********** I wonder what they'd have said if he'd completed it? Following a failed two-point conversion by the Colts, one of the guys in the booth gave a great demonstration of excess, gushing, "Peyton Manning may be the smartest, hardest working quarterback ever to play this game..."

*********** I saw field goal after field goal being kicked Sunday because the teams had no confidence in their short game, and I saw the Lions lose any chance of coming back against the Bills when they couldn't make a fourth-and-one down at the end. So here's my question - when is some offensive genius in the NFL going to startle the football world by introducing the concept of the "one-yard offense?" (Did the Double-Wing cross your mind?)

*********** Dick Vitale was at the Notre Dame-Florida State game, cheering for the Irish. Both of his sons-in-law, we were told, were "involved in sports" at Notre Dame. Somebody help me here - I think one of them is Ron Powlus, who started at QB under Lou Holtz and Bob Davie. I would definitely call that "involved."

*********** I can guarantee you that the Colts are an act that won't play in Los Angeles. They really suck. They even looked as if they forgot that the second part of a hook-and-ladder is a lateral, not a handoff. Is it that they want to move out of Indianapolis, or is it that the fans of Indianapolis are sick of them?

Peyton Manning may be getting poor protection, but it sure looks as if he's becoming gun-shy. On several occasions Sunday night, he missed an open receiver, point-blank. And Edgerrin James (14 carries for 33 yards) has turned into the highest-paid dancer in all of showbiz. Ricky Williams (the Texas Tech Ricky Williams) came in for him and it looked like substituting a throughbred for a mule.

*********** Say this for the NFL - it taught Spurrier that runnin' ain't all bad. How's this? 37 carries, 165 yards, 4.5 yards per carry.

*********** TBS really does have a hard time distinguishing between sports and entertainment. Following Saturday's game, we were invited to watch "Lethal Weapon," followed by "an encore presentation of this game."

*********** If the pros are looking at Stanford offensive tackle Kwame Harris, they're going to have to project how he'd do if he ever lined up legally, on the line of scrimmage.

*********** If it was gut-check time for the Washington Huskies Saturday, they're probably still checking. Don't let Saturday's 27-16 score fool you - Arizona State kicked their ass all the way back to Seattle. The score was 27-3 with under four minutes to play, when Washington's starters - Neuheisel kept them in, well after Arizona State started substituting - scored twice against ASU's reserves. The final Husky touchdown came with :51 left, and the Huskies followed with an onside kick.

*********** No mater what Kirk Herbstreit says, the option ain't exactly dead. Not just yet. Alabama scored two of its three offensive touchdowns against Tennessee on option plays, and Nebraska got enough production from Jammal Lord - 30 carries for 159 yards - to defeat Texas A & M.

*********** I think the best team in the country with two losses is Alabama. The Tide's two losses were to unbeaten teams - to Oklahoma by 10, and to Georgia by two. Saturday must have been satisfying to Bama defensive coordinator Carl Torbush, who was let go at North Carolina two years ago. While his Alabama defense was holding Tennessee to 59 yards rushing in 36 carries, North Carolina was taking a 31-0 shellacking from Wake Forest, and falling to 2-8.

*********** With a little Grecian Formula, Colorado State's Sonny Lubick, who is rapidly becoming the star of Thursday night football, could pass for Joe Paterno.

*********** In case baseball wonders why it's got problems... (1) games are running 1-1/2 hours longer than they did 20-30 years ago - and nobody wants to do anything about it because - the TV people are happy! They can get more commercials in! (2) a manager (Lou Piniella) can announce that he wants to be closer to his family, and upstage the series itself with his shameless dickering; (3) one of the managers (Dusty Baker) of one of the Series teams (San Francisco) is widely rumored - during the Series itself, for pete's sake! - to be headed elsewhere as soon as the Series is over.

*********** The more football I watch, the more convinced I am that most high school coaches couldn't possibly tell you why they just called that last play, other than "seemed like a good idea at the time."

I am also amazed at the number of coaches who will not repeat a successful play.

A friend told me of the "offensive genius" (his words) who came out against him with trips to one side and a split end to the other, then emptied his backfield by sending the one back in motion - and ran a sneak. It was good for 50 yards.

Did I say "good?" He never ran it again.

*********** There were a total of 10 quarterbacks playing in the NFL Sunday who were not starting a month ago.

*********** And for this we bought Personal Seat Licenses? Yo, Carolina Panthers fans - great game, huh? Tampa Bay 12, Carolina 9. That's seven field goals. And if you like 'em lo-o-o-ong... five of them were 39 yards or more. Oh- you say you paid to see football...

*********** You wrote,  " If both Ohio State and Notre Dame make it, I'd have a three-way Kansas plan playoff (with Oklahoma), loser out." I probably ought to know this, but what is a "three way Kansas plan playoff"?

"Kansas Plan" was the name originally given to the overtime plan, the one now used at the college level, when it originally swept though the various states at the high school level. As I understand it, it was so-called because Kansas was the first state to employ it, but since headquarters of the National Federation of HS Associations (as well as the NCAA) used to be in Kansas, it is safe to assume there was some connection.

Prior to the Kansas Plan, various means were used to attempt to settle ties without having to employ overtime. Texas at one time used a three-step plan for breaking ties: (1) penetrations inside the other team's 20-yard line; (2) First downs; (3) Total yardage.

The Kansas Plan is used out here in the Northwest on occasion to settle three-way ties for playoff spots. All three teams show up at a neutral site. Coin toss determines which team gets the first-round bye. (Let's say it's Team C) Team A then plays Team B, ball on the 25, first and 10. Loser out. If the purpose is to eliminate one of the three teams, then the winner and Team C go on. If the purpose is to eliminate two of the teams, then the winner of the first game plays Team C and the winner of that game goes on. I have heard of cases where they have used this format and employed double elimination. (It may not be the greatest way of settling a three-way tie, but it beats having the principals or AD's get together and toss a coin, which is not unheard-of.)

In the case of the colleges, the winner of the Team A vs Team B game would go on to the Fiesta Bowl and play Team C for the "Tostidos National Championship."

*********** Encore Performance - Take my word for it... You have GOT to see this --- http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm

*********** General Jim Shelton, Honorary Colonel of the 28th Infantry Association - think of it as the Black Lions' alumni - has made it his life's cause to keep alive the memory of the brave men who fought under him in Vietnam. And a major part of his cause has been a relentless campaign to convince those on high that Clark Welch deserves the Medal of Honor. It has not been an easy fight - the Army requires witnesses, and most of the witnesses to Mr. Welch's bravery were killed - but a combat veteran doesn't quit, and the General soldiers on. Many of you have heard me mention Mr. Welch. You might almost think of him as the Black Lion's Black Lion. Men who have known him - combat infantrymen themselves - speak of him with awe. General Shelton's MEDAL OF HONOR RECOMMENDATION appears on another page on this site.

Mr. Welch now lives in Florissant, Colorado, up in the Rockies about 30 miles west of Colorado Springs. Last weekend, I was directed to a wonderful article about Clark Welch by Lou Gonzalez, which appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette. Through arrangement with the Gazette, I have permission to post the article for your enjoyment and enlightenment. If you like reading heroic tales, you don't want to miss this: CLARK WELCH - RELUCTANT HERO

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

The Division had a standing SOP that each battalion would send out three ambush patrols per night, one from each rifle company. I told the CO, "Sir, I don't think we should do that tonight. The men have had no time to prepare, no rest, and we don't really have any intelligence. Also, I've been told there are old, unmarked French mine fields out around here. I don't think we should do it."

He said, "What makes you think you have the authority to change the Division SOP? If the General were to come in here tonight or tomorrow morning and ask me about our ambush patrols what would I tell him? I want three ambush patrols out tonight."

I then said, "Sir, that is absolutely crazy. The Division SOP is not a replacement for common sense. Putting ambush patrols out here under the circumstances doesn't make any sense!"

He said, "Godammit, 3, are you going to do what I tell you or not? Everytime I tell you something you have a better idea. Now execute my orders."

"Yes, sir!" I was furious, literally in a rage. I went to each rifle company commander and told them to have an ambush patrol ready to go out in one hour. Each one in turn told me I was crazy, and I in turn hammered each one of them, basically with "Shut up and do it."

I then went and found the sergeant who had shown me around the positions earlier. I asked him, "Do you know how to get out through the barbed wire around the perimeter? We have three ambush patrols that have to go out."

"What?" he said. "Sir, are you crazy? You can't send ambush patrols out through here tonite."

I said, "Look sergeant, I don't need advice. What I need is someone to show me a way out through the wire. Can you help me?"

He said, "I've never been out through there but there is a path. I'll try."

I said, "Great, meet me here at 2145 and we'll give it a shot."

At 2145 the three ambush patrols, one from each company, five men each with a sergeant in charge, were standing by waiting for instructions. They were loaded down with claymores, ammo, grenades, and one machine gun per patrol. I showed each patrol leader where I wanted his patrol located. They had to be far enough apart so they wouldn't come in conflict with each other in the event that the ambushes were sprung.

Actually, I thought ambush patrols by SOP were a good idea. They added security, kept the enemy off balance, and give us some of the initiative. Properly rested and prepared they were an excellent tactical tool. But not this deal tonite. It made me so mad I couldn't think straight myself, and the patrol leaders just weren't mentally ready to do the job. I told them I would lead them out through the wire.

I didn't tell them that I had no idea how to get out myself. I introduced them to the sergeant, adding that the sergeant knew the area (which he did not). We moved out between the bunker line. There was some ambient light, enough to silhouette the bunker line to our rear and the pickets holding the barbed wire to our front. When we reached the wire I was ready to go into shock. It was covered with KUDZU and other green vines.

The sergeant whispered to me that he had found the path. I moved to his position and he pointed to two pickets. "I think that's the way out. Just follow this line of pickets and I think that's the safe lane."

I turned to the lead patrol leader and told him, "Pass it on- move slow, quiet, single file. When we get through the wire I'll count each patrol off. Follow me."

I started to move slowly down through the line of pickets with 15 men behind me. I was scared to death. I had always tried to picture myself as a heroic figure. Now I was there, and I didn't feel heroic. Every small sound was intensified 100 times. My throat and mouth were so dry I couldn't swallow, and every muscle in my body was tense. I was like a slowly moving, coiled spring. It seemed that we were about halfway through the wire (that is I was about halfway through) and the last man was just entering the wire. As I moved my leg forward I felt what seemed to be a trip wire. POP! an explosive sound, and a cry rushed from my dry throat "AWWW!"

Every man went down in unison. I knew I was dead. Suddenly, a bright light flashed out in the wire, blinding us. A familiar sight - I had popped a trip flare intended to give warning in case the enemy tried to come up through the safe lane. I went to my knees and just stared at the light. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, and as I turned I saw the sweat on the faces of the men behind me, gleaming in the bright light.

Here we were in the middle of a mine field in Vietnam at l0 o'clock at night, and I literally felt naked as if I had been caught naked in the street. But I also began to breathe again as the bright light of the flare suddenly subsided. I became conscious of my own breathing and I took several deep breaths. I wondered how many VC had seen us standing out there in the mine field with our asses hanging out. I was sure that every VC within a hundred miles had seen us and were laughing at us right now. "Stupid Americans can't even get through their own mine field without setting off their own trip flares. Well shit, let's go ambush them now."

COACHES WHO SIGNED UP FOR THE BLACK LION AWARD : WHEN YOUR SEASON IS OVER AND YOU HAVE SELECTED YOUR BLACK LION (ONE PLAYER PER TEAM) PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR LETTER OF NOMINATION (explaining why you believe your nominee represents the spirit of the award - leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and an unselfish devotion to the team) to: coachyatt@aol.com.

AFTER YOUR LETTER OF NOMINATION IS RECEIVED, YOUR AWARD CERTIFICATE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR ADDRESS. THE CERTIFICATE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU, AND NOT TO YOUR PLAYER.

BE SURE TO ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR MAILING. THERE IS NOT MONEY IN THE PROGRAM'S BUDGET TO OVERNIGHT AWARDS.

CERTIFICATES WILL BE READY FOR MAILING SOME TIME IN MID-NOVEMBER.

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED THIS YEAR)
 
 

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 

BE INFORMED! HOT WEATHER FOOTBALL TIPS

(THERE IS PLENTY MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE WEB IF YOU DO A SEARCH ON "HEAT STROKE")

 
October 25- " A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." Jackie Robinson
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")
 

 

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: Norm Snead played quarterback in the NFL for 16 years, with five different teams. He had the misfortune of playing for some less-than-outstanding coaches on some unbelievably poor clubs. In his entire 16-year career, he played on only three winning teams.

For years, he served as the example of how to ruin a QB by throwing him to the wolves as a rookie. Selected number one out of Wake Forest by the pitiful Washington Redskins, he started as a rookie quarterback on a team with no running backs, no receivers. He was big and not very mobile, which was a real shame, because he had no protection, either. They didn't keep a record of sacks then, but it would be worth NFL Films' while to go back and see if he didn't set some sort of record for being sacked. The Redskins were 1-12-1, and didn't pick up their single win until the final game of the season, when they beat the Cowboys.

 
After three losing seasons in Washington, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sonny Jurgenson. In seven seasons in Philly, he played on exactly one winning team.

He was traded to the Vikings, and alternating at QB with Bob Lee and Gary Cuozzo, helped the Vikings to an 11-3 season under Bud Grant.

The following season, he was traded to the Giants, who went 8-6 in 1972, his first year there. Unfortunately, the Giants were a road team in 1973 and 1974, playing "home" games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. They were horrible, finishing 2-11-1 in 1973 and 2-12 in 1974.. He played the 1975 season with the 49ers, and shared quarterbacking duties with, of all people, Steve Spurrier.

Following a brief spell with the Giants, Norm Snead retired in 1976.

*********** Just to clear something up...

Norm Snead has long suffered from comparisons with Sonny Jurgenson, the other quarterback in the trade that sent him from the Redskins to the Eagles.

The conventional wisdom that the Eagles were snookered is to a large extent a myth.

It is simply not fair to say that Jurgenson did more for his team - that he did more for the Redskins than Snead did for the Eagles.

Sonny has far better career stats, but you could make a case for the fact that his best year was before the trade. It was 1961, his first season as a starter, three years before the trade. The Eagles were loaded that year - they were the defending NFL champions, and Jurgenson had taken over the starting QB job from Norm Van Brocklin - who'd moved on to coaching the Vikings. Throwing the ball all over the place, he led them to a second-place division finish and a win over the Lions in the mostly-forgotten Runnerup Bowl. He led the NFL in completions, passing yardage, and touchdown passes.

But the fact is that while the Redskins put up some impressive passing numbers with Jurgenson at quarterback, they didn't have a winning season until 1969, six years after the trade, when Vince Lombardi arrived on the scene and they went 7-5-2. This despite the fact that Jurgenson had two of the most exciting receivers in the game at that time, both Hall of Famers - Bobby Mitchell, who was there when he arrived, and Charley Taylor, who was a rookie in 1964, Jurgy's first year there. Jurgenson's numbers really took off in 1966-67-68, when his coach was former Browns' great Otto Graham, a quarterback himself who really believed in the passing game, but the Redskins still didn't win.

But only with the arrival of George Allen in 1971 - along with a host of very good football players - - did Jurgenson play on a championship Redskins team. And despite all his career stats up to that point, he didn't play that much for Allen. Allen preferred a guy named Bill Kilmer, the classic "he can't do anything but beat you" kind of quarterback. The Redskins played in NFC championship games in 71, 72, 73, 74. In every one of those seasons, Kilmer played far more than Jurgenson. In 1972, they made it to the Super Bowl season, but Jurgenson threw only 59 passes all season, and he didn't play a down in the Super Bowl. By 1975, Jurgenson was gone, and a young guy who'd come down from Canada was starting to get some snaps behind Kilmer. A guy named Joe Theismann.

Snead, meanwhile, found no Bobby Mitchell or Charley Taylor waiting for him when he arrived in Philadelphia. In fact, he arrived there as Tommy McDonald, the guy who had been Jurgenson's best receiver - and only deep threat - was on his way to the Cowboys. Nonetheless, Snead played on a winner in Philadelphia before Jurgenson did in Washington. After going 6-8 and 5-9 in Snead's first two seasons, the Eagles managed a 9-5 season in 1966. How any Joe Kuharich-coached team ever did that is a mystery to me, but it had nothing to do with a wide-open offense - of their four top receivers, number one was the tight end (Pete Retzlaff), number two was also their leading rusher (Tim Brown) and number four was their fullback (Earl Gros). Only number three, Fred Hill, could be called a "receiver." The Eagles' receiver corps didn't include anyone who could in any sense of the word be considered a deep threat. Not that Snead was a big favorite in Philly. He handled most of the snaps in 1966, but Kuharich, not one to worry much about his quarterback's confidence, gave more than a third of the snaps to King Hill and Jack Concannon.

My point - Sonny was a hell of a passer. He has the numbers to prove it. But he had the receivers, too. I mean, Mitchell, Taylor, Jerry Smith, Pat Richter... In terms of leading a team to victory though, how much did he accomplish?

On the other hand, consider poor Norman Snead and the dog-ass teams he played on, first in Washington and then in Philadelphia. I have no doubt that Norm Snead would have quarterbacked George Allen's Redskins to the Super Bowl. Even played in it.

Meanwhile, Joe Kuharich, given enough time, would have had no problem screwing up Sonny Jurgenson. Or, for that matter, Johnny Unitas.

Correctly identifying Norm Snead - Joe Daniels- Sacramento... Mark Kaczmarek- Davenport, Iowa... Scott Russell - Potomac Falls, Virginia... Mike Framke- Green Bay, Wisconsin... Mike Benton- Colfax, Illinois... Dave Potter- Durham, North Carolina... John Zeller - Sears, Michigan... David Crump- Owensboro, Kentucky ("I haven't thought about him in a long time, but playing for bad teams and taking a beating reminds me of him. You are really making me reach back into my memory bank for this one.")... Steve Fangman- St. Charles, Missouri... Eric Heckman- Rockville, Maryland... Steve Staker - Fredericksburg, Iowa... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... JOhn Muckian- Lynn, Massachusetts... Pete Porcelli- Lansingburgh, New York... Jack Tourtillotte- Boothbay Harbor, Maine... Mike O'Donnell - Pine City, Minnesota... Glade Hall- Seattle ("The only Deacon quarterback to earn All-America honors")... David Maley- Rosalia, Washington... John Reardon- Peru, Illinois... Bert Ford- Los Angeles ("Thats Norm Snead! He spoke at the year end banquet for the youth team I played on. Yes, they used to do that.")... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois(" This week's subject was easy for me. He's Norm Snead. I remember my days in the Philadelphia area when this guy was blamed for the poor record of the Eagles (pronounced, "Iggles" by the locals). The Sonny Jurgenson trade was equated to the Cub's Lou Brock trade as one of the worst of all time.")...

*********** Take my word for it... You have GOT to see this --- http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm

*********** General Jim Shelton, Honorary Colonel of the 28th Infantry Association - think of it as the Black Lions' alumni - has made it his life's cause to keep alive the memory of the brave men who fought under him in Vietnam. And a major part of his cause has been a relentless campaign to convince those on high that Clark Welch deserves the Medal of Honor. It has not been an easy fight - the Army requires witnesses, and most of the witnesses to Mr. Welch's bravery were killed - but a combat veteran doesn't quit, and the General soldiers on. Many of you have heard me mention Mr. Welch. You might almost think of him as the Black Lion's Black Lion. Men who have known him - combat infantrymen themselves - speak of him with awe. General Shelton's MEDAL OF HONOR RECOMMENDATION appears on another page on this site.

Mr. Welch now lives in Florissant, Colorado, up in the Rockies about 30 miles west of Colorado Springs. Last weekend, I was directed to a wonderful article about Clark Welch by Lou Gonzalez, which appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette. Through arrangement with the Gazette, I have permission to post the article for your enjoyment and enlightenment. If you like reading heroic tales, you don't want to miss this: CLARK WELCH - RELUCTANT HERO

*********** I always look forward to news from Don Shipley. Don's dad, the late Dick Shipley, played guard on Maryland's 1953 national championship team, and was my coach for two years when I played for the Frederick, Maryland Falcons. (Yes, the same Frederick where they nailed the two "alleged" snipers.) We were pretty damned good if I do say so. We were 21-2 in the two seasons I played for them. I admired Dick and enjoyed playing for him, and when I became a coach myself, I patterned a lot of what I did initially after what I'd seen him do. One of my teammates was a guy named Clarence Thomas, who had been a teammate of Willie Lanier on some very good Morgan State teams. Clarence and I and our wives became good friends. He became a high school coach, then head coach at Bowie State, and eventually became head coach at Morgan State - succeeding his coach, the legendary Earl Banks - before moving west to become coach at Pomona-Pitzer in California. When he began coaching in Finland in the off-season, he put me in touch with some people over there, and in my third year in Finland, we actually got to coach against each other twice on the other side of the globe (we split). Don, knowing of my regard for John Unitas, wrote me this:

To commemorate the unveiling of the John Unitas statue at Ravens Stadium this past Sunday, the Baltimore Sun did a special insert (fittingly, Section U) on John Unitas. One of the articles was called "19 Touched by 19," brief profiles of everyday people who had first-hand contact with him. Here's one from an area high school coach named Dave Dolch, which includes a reference to a Clarence Thomas with Morgan State who I assume is the former Falcon:

Dolch's last season as the quarterback at Northeast High was 1972, Unitas' final year in Baltimore. A decade later, his coaching career got a boost from Unitas, whom Dolch had met through Jim Hindman, his coach and mentor at Western Maryland College. That year, their paths crossed one more time as Dolch prepared for his newest assignment, as the varsity coach at St. Paul's.

"In 1982, John and Morgan State coach Clarence Thomas came to Queen Anne's High on the Eastern Shore and spent an entire day with our football team, a fantastic gesture that the people here still remember," Dolch said.

"This summer, I was pulled out of a classroom and handed a phone. The man on the other end said, 'My father said my son needs to play for you.' I had no idea who it was. It was John Unitas Jr. The oldest grandchild, John Constantine Unitas III, is one of the quarterbacks on our JV"

Pretty cool, eh? I seem to recall that the two of you stay in touch, so perhaps you can pass it along. Don Shipley, Falls Church, Virginia

*********** Terrorists may have killed a couple thousand Americans in the World Trade Center bombing, and scarcely a week goes by that a dozen or so innocent Israelis aren't killed by a suicide bomber. Most recently, hundreds of vacationers were killed in Bali.

Yet there are still among us substantial numbers of Americans who can't bring themselves to become angry with the terrorists. They can't summon any emotion stronger than grief.

Maybe this'll get them mad-

The Melbourne (Australia) Age reported that when Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesian radical Muslim leader was asked if there was anything he wished to say to the families who lost loved ones in the Bali nightclub bombing, he answered, "My message to the families is please convert to Islam as soon as possible."

Bastard! It's one thing to kill hundreds of innocent people, but on top of all that, did you have to be insensitive, too?

This could send the weenies to the streets, pleading with the President to nuke Islamic nations. This is, after all, America in the Twenty-First Century, where insensitivity is a worse crime than murder.

*********** Tony Bavaro died last week of cancer in Danvers, Massachusetts. He was 64. I never knew the man. I heard of his two sons, former NFLers Mark and David, but I didn't know their dad was special until I read the story Lou Orlando sent me, a story by Bill Kipouras that appeared in the Salem News. I thought he was worth telling you about, because Tony Bavaro was the sports parent of your dreams.

Tony Bavaro was a good athlete himself, a star end at Holy Cross who was good enough to be drafted by the 49ers, before a knee injury dashed any hopes of a pro football career. So he settled instead for a life as a high school history teacher in Malden, Massachusetts, and as a husband and father of two sons and a daughter.

"His whole life was his family and his kids," his college teammate (Holy Cross) and long-time friend, Dick Berardino, now Red Sox player development consultant and spring training coordinator, told Kipouras. "He was proud to have two sons play in college, Mark at Notre Dame and David at Syracuse, then in the NFL. And he was equally proud to have his daughter Robin do so well. But I never ever heard him brag about their accomplishments. Basically, that was him. A very unassuming and humble guy who never drew attention to himself."

"He was truly a class act," Kipouras wrote. "He was the ultimate sports parent, as his wife Chris said. He'd go to the football games, sit off to the side, and not make a single criticism. 'That was Tony,' close friend Mickey Ouimette said. 'I knew him almost 40 years and coached the boys in youth football. He'd drop them off at the Highlands School, observe practice and never say a word. He knew more about football than I could have wished, but not once did he ever offer any suggestions.'

"Certainly, Tony was instrumental in the type of kids and competitors his football sons became. Ernie Smith, then the Danvers High football coach, said the degree of toughness that Mark and David displayed was derived from Tony, in a good way. Smith could not recall Mr. Bavaro even missing a practice when Mark and David were at Danvers High. 'He was simply a great parent and supported the Danvers High athletic program. Not just football, either. He was a regular at the baseball and hockey games,' Smith said."

David Bavaro remembered that his dad "meant everything to us, was always kind, always positive, always encouraging," whether it was playing pepper with his sons in the back yard in baseball season, tossing the football around in the fall, or just being the role model that made him so greatly respected.

"He was probably what every kid would want for a dad," David said. "Every time I'd hear bout people talking about how parents should be like or whatever, I'd always think of my dad. He always fitted the mold they were talking about. More importantly, he was also a father figure for kids I knew who didn't have fathers, or had fathers who died early. He was there for everybody."

Recalled Mark, former Notre Dame and new York Giants' star tight end, "I'd attribute my success to my father. There were others on the periphery," he told Kipouras, "but he was the main influence for David and me. It all started with my father and was maintained by my father, and it will always be my father. Obviously, he was proud of his kids and what they achieved. But I think he took just as much pride in his grandchildren, having the whole family around. He loved that. His family and friends, that's all he wanted out of life. He was the one and only role model for us."

His wife, Chris, told Bill Kipouras, "He'd watch games, and was never someone to try and tell a person what to do. All he did was encourage Mark and David to be team players. He wasn't showy ... and as a father, he was the best. He got some wonderful letters from former students who heard he was sick, kids who had families of their own now. They wrote to tell Tony how grateful they were for the role he had played in their lives. They said they had tried to model themselves as the role model he was. It was very touching. He was very loved, not the least bit pompous. He was the anchor for us all."

*********** What is with the Hyundai commercial where the little witch being sold a car keeps hitting the salesman in the chest and saying, "Shut up?"

*********** My totally unsolicited take on the BCS-

Oklahoma is probably the best. There is still the Big 12 championship to get through, but they're probably good enough to make it through. One flaw - wins over Tulsa, UTEP, South Florida. What do they prove?

Miami still cruises through that cake Big East, although Tennessee in Knoxville could be a test, and they play Va Tech at the end. That game is in Miami, though.

Georgia has had too many close calls. They'll get theirs one of these days. They've still got Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi and Auburn (although they've also got Vandy and Georgia Tech) and, of course, the SEC championship game. They will lose before it's over.

Ohio State still has Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue and Michigan (and Illinois). I predict one loss in there. If they don't lose, they belong in the title game.

Notre Dame has to go to Florida State and USC. BC is fairly safe. They don't even have to send their varsity to Navy and Rutgers. If they arrive in the Coliseum unbeaten, it wouldn't be the first time USC messed up a Notre Dame season.

Virginia Tech still has Pitt, Virginia and Miami, and maybe West Virginia, which has been coming on, but they've also got Temple and Syracuse. And, of course, they finish at Miami.

As always, there will be no Pac-10 team in there.

My pick is..... Miami and Oklahoma. Unless Ohio State or Notre Dame make it out unbeaten, in which case I'd throw Miami overboard on strength of schedule (I mean, Florida A & M? UConn?). If both Ohio State and Notre Dame make it, I'd have a three-way Kansas plan playoff (with Oklahoma), loser out.

CHECK! Is it too late to throw North Carolina State in there? After watching what they did to Clemson, I have to say that if they win out (they still have Florida State) they could belong.

*********** Not saying that the Mountain West Conference sucks this year, but in third place, behind Air Force (6-1 overall) and Colorado State (6-2) is San Diego State - 2-5 overall.

*********** Police hate responding to domestic disturbances. School teachers who break up fights are beginning to find out why - no matter what they do, they're going to be wrong, and they're going to wind up the villains.

You know how it is at a lot of schools - the "academic" teachers look down their noses at the football coach. Until there's a fight that needs breaking up, that is. Then, they're glad you're around. As all of us learn, though, there is an art to breaking up fights. And it's getting trickier all the time.

It was 1980, and it was my first day on the job as a teacher and coach at Hudson's Bay High School, in Vancouver, Washington. "Bay" was a good school, but we had a very rough element, too, and on the very first day, a fight broke out in the gym. I was in the weight room, adjacent to the gym, and when someone said there were two kids fighting, I raced out to break it up. But Bob Parsons, the PE department chairman, was already out in the gym, and when he saw me hurrying, he got one of those, "You're new around here, aren't you?" smiles on his face and said, "What's your hurry? Take your time." Bob's theory, which I came to subscribe to, was that as long as there was no weapon involved and it was only two guys, they'd get tired soon enough if you just let them fight. Oh, you had to make it look as if you were breaking it up. But you did it slo-o-owly.

A couple of high school teachers in Montgomery. Alabama, probably wish they'd done it ver-r-r-ry slowly. As a result of their stepping in and breaking up a lunchroom fight, the two teachers were arrested and now face trial on harassment charges brought by the mother of one of the participants. Thomas Goodson, a teacher and assistant football coach at Jefferson Davis High School, and Truman Sullivan, an ROTC instructor, were arrested on Sept. 3 for alleged harassment, four days after they broke up a fight between two students.

According to the two teachers, Goodson had to break up the fight three times before one of the participants finally said he didn't want to fight any more. But when the other fighter continued throwing punches, Goodson said he restrained him until the boy's teacher could arrive to escort him from the lunchroom. But the boy broke away from that teacher, Goodson said, and charged at Goodson. That's where Sullivan joined in, taking the boy to the ground and applying a head lock on him to restrain him until the school's "resource officer," a Montgomery policeman, could arrive.

Goodson said the student was out of control, and he believes that if he and Sullivan hadn't restrained the boy, the situation could have escalated.

At a meeting the next week attended by the two teachers, the school's principal and the boy's mother, Sullivan and Goodson explained what happened and then, according to Sullivan, the mother pointed her finger at them and said she would have them both arrested.

Sullivan said the mother then signed a warrant for the teachers' arrest, and the resource officer told Sullivan the two teachers would have to turn themselves in. That evening, Goodson and Sullivan each got $250 in bail money together and drove downtown and turned themselves in at the city jail. There, they were booked, fingerprinted, frisked, photographed and placed in a cell for more than five hours, they said. "We thought we were going to pay our bail and leave," Sullivan said.

Authorities say that anyone can sign an arrest warrant for anyone else as long as they have some connection to a specific incident, even if there was not an investigation by a law enforcement agency or a police report.

The two teachers are scheduled to be tried in Montgomery Municipal Court on February 7.

Their principal and the superintendent of the Montgomery County School Board have expressed their support, and the two men are being defended by a lawyer paid for by the Alabama Education Association.

Said the police spokesman, "The question is, `Was it too much force?' and that's where the municipal judge will render a decision."

"The parents believe that too much force was used and the school system doesn't."

*********** Roger Kelly, of Delta, British Columbia, has to remember where he is when he's coaching football.

Roger, a former PR director of the Canadian Football League's B.C. Lions, is now a Vancouver stockbroker, but he is also a football coach. For several years now, he has been successfully running the Double-Wing with his youth team, but this year he has also been helping out at a local high school.

Here's his schedule: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he's with his youth team; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he's with the high school team.

It's even tougher than it sounds: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he's coaching Canadian rules (12 men, and all that); Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he's dealing with American-type rules.

*********** An Oregon court has ruled that schools can require athletes to undergo drug testing. This was a great disappointment to the people who'd brought a law suit, a couple of parents whose daughter didn't get to play on her high school volleyball team because as a matter of principle, they'd refused to let her be tested.

Why do I think that there are thousands of kids in the Washington, D.C.- Maryland - Virginia area, kids who missed practice and games - homecomings, even - because of circumstances beyond their control, who would have a hard time sympathizing with that one high school girl who insisted on challenging the rules?

*********** The SCAPEGOAT OF THE WEEK award goes to Troy State offensive coordinator John Shannon, who was fired this week with four games left to play. See, it was his fault that all the Troy State offense could do the past two weeks was score eight points against Mississippi State and seven against Marshall ("15 points combined," is how the school's press release must have read, because that's the way all the newspapers printed it.)

Hey, wait a minute - Troy State is upset over a mere fifteen points combined against Mississippi State and Marshall? Am I missing something? What the hell is Troy State doing even playing Mississippi State and Marshall?

Troy State's only wins have come against Southern Utah and Austin Peay, both Division I-AA. This week is homecoming. The opponent is a real powerhouse. Florida Atlantic. Troy State will probably score 30 or 40 points, and everybody will go up to coach Larry Blakeney afterwards and pat him on the back and congratulate him on the great offensive turnaround.

Maybe they ought to wait another week, till they've tried out their new, energized offense against Arkansas.
 

*********** Adam Schefter interviewed John Elway recently, in the Denver Post:

Adam Schefter: How does John Elway spend his dream day?

John Elway: On a golf course and shoot 59.

AS: That's it, 59?

JE: OK, 57. That's the record.

AS: And who would be in the dream foursome?

JE: You know what, I'd have my dad there and my sister there for two of them (John Elway's dad, Jack, and his twin sister, Jana, both died in the last year - HW). And then the third one would be George W. Bush. I like George Bush.

AS: What do you like about him?

JE: I like the fact he's not as much a politician and he's more of just a real guy. You feel like when he talks, he means what he says.

*********** Coach, I was thinking about you and thought I would write to let you know how things are going. We are currently 5-0 with 3 regular season games left. Our showdown will be the last of those three. We won this week 41-0. My o-line is in Hog Heaven. They realize what a special thing it is they do. Every week we have a different coach or two approach us and tell us we have the best line they've ever seen. We have been installing the Jet series to roll out in the playoffs. My boys picked it up in two days. Jack Gregory is coaching in Grand Prairie (just down the road from me) and we have become friends. He has been a great help. Everything we try has worked so far. We installed 6G and 7G a couple of weeks ago and scored with it this week. The trap has been devastating. Our biggest play has been wedge. My son is the B-back and he had 133 yds on 17 wedges last week. This offense, the guys on the DW board and especially your help has meant more to my boys than you'll ever know. They believe in themselves and believe in the system. I think we are unstoppable at this point. Thanks for making a difference in all our lives. I hope you can come back to Texas this year. Thanks! Jimmy Glasgow, Arlington Optimist 6th Grade Highlanders, Arlington, Texas

*********** Maybe they thought that with all the CEO's being trotted off to jail, with all the media focus on Martha Stewart, this one would slip under the radar screen, but Microsoft, which has been accused by its competitors of all sorts of slimy tactics, hit a new low last week.

Maybe you've seen some of the ads Apple's been running in its "I've Switched" campaign. Ordinary people from various walks of life tell how they switched from a PC to a MacIntosh, and how much better computing has been since they switched. And they sign off by telling us who they are and what they do for a living.

The campaign must have been irking the folks up at Microsoft headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. I can just see them now -

THE SETTING: Several bright young people sit around a conference table. They are multicultural, multiethinic and multiracial, not to mention sexually diverse. Starbucks coffee containers and bottles of water sit on the table. They have just finished watching a MacIntosh "I've Switched" commercial.

FIRST BRIGHT YOUNG PERSON: "Hey! Why don't we run a campaign just like that?"

SECOND BYP: "Yeah! Great idea! But wouldn't people think we copied it from Apple?"

THIRD BYP: "So what? I mean, we basically copied their windows-based operating system and got away with it, didn't we?"

FOURTH BYP: "Cool! Anybody know where we can find a dissatisfied MacIntosh user? There's got to be one out there somewhere"

Silence all around.

To tell you what the sneaks actually wound up doing, let me quote David Pogue, in the New York Times:

"On October 9, the company posted a testimonial on its Web site called 'Confessions of a Mac to PC Convert.' It was a first-person account by a 'freelance writer' about how she had fallen in love with Windows XP, which she compared to a Lexus. 'I was up and running in less than one day, Girl Scout's honor,' burbled the attractive, 20-something brunette in the photo.

"There was only one problem: She doesn't exist.

"A with-it member of Slashdot.org, the popular hangout for articulate nerds, happened to notice that the woman's picture actually came from GettyImages.com, a stock-photo agency. Ted Bridis, an Associated Press reporter, took it from there. Amazingly, he tracked authorship of the article to Valerie Mallinson, a public-relations woman hired by Microsoft to write the story."

Word of the deceit got out fast, and once the marketing geniuses at Microsoft realized that they were being skewered on countless Web sites, they pulled the ad. But it was too late - the damage was done. More and more people - count me as one of them - enlisted in the army of Microsoft haters.

Can you believe those phonies?

Pogue asks, "What does all of this say about a company's corporate psyche that it feels the need to fabricate evidence of the public's love?"

Or is it maybe something else? Pogue suggests arrogance. "The company thinks it can get away with anything," he writes. "This time, at least, it's wrong."
 
*********** Grant Martinsen, 73, the retired head football coach at Grants Pass, Oregon High School, is a serious fisherman. This past Monday, while fishing on the Rogue River near Gold Beach, Oregon, he caught a serious fish - a 71-pound, eight-ounce Chinook salmon. With a fly. It is a record for the Rogue River, larger than a 66-pound, eight-ouncer caught near the same spot this past August, and may very well be a world record for the largest salmon ever taken with a fly.
 
He landed the fish with a little help from another fisherman, then loaded it into his pickup and drove to the Rogue Outdoor Store where, store owner Jim Carey told the Portland Oregonian's Bill Monroe, "You should have heard the brakes squeal on passing cars when we pulled that thing out of that little pickup. There might have been some four-letter words, too."

*********** Bob Herbert wrote in the New York Times of what he called a nasty exchange at one of the regular briefings conducted by the Charles Moose, chief of the Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department. A reporter demanded to know why Chief Moose spoke "courteously, even respectfully" to the sniper.

When the chief answered that he tried to speak respectfully to everyone - even to the reporter - the reporter replied, "Well, the sniper's a killer, chief."

*********** With the news media out here flushed with excitement over the fact that the Beltway Sniper was a local guy, I turned on the TV Thursday to find out the latest. I learned that they'd caught a couple of people, and saw their Caprice being loaded into a van.

And then, they switched us back to our regular programming.

It was a local chit-chat show, with the two hosts - male and female - sitting in a living room-type set and talking to some ditzy female about a book she'd written - some kind of self-help book for women.

I swear I heard her saying, "If you can get in touch with yourself from the inside-out...."

(CLICK)

*********** PART ONE (THIS APPEARED TUESDAY): Here we go again. My former assistant John Lambert had his problems last Friday night with the same coaches I had problems with three years ago, and for the same reason - they are teaching their kids to attack the fullback's knees. Some of you have seen video of it at my clinics.

But John was prepared for it, because he knows the rule is there to protect his kid - has even been beefed up in the last two years - so he reminded the referee of what was going on.

The official responded that the Fullback, because he is so close, is in the free blocking zone.

Well, duh. Of course he is in the free blocking zone. So what? As so often happens in high school football, the officials didn't know the rule.

What the rule says is that both participants in the block below the waist must have been - not just in the free blocking zone - but on the line of scrimmage.

(RULE 2, SECTION 17, ARTICLE 2 - "Blocking below the waist is permitted in the free-blocking zone when the following conditions are met: (a.) All players involved in blocking are on the line of scrimmage and in the zone at the snap. (b.) The contact is in the zone

Blocking below the waist in any other circumstances is illegal. It's called against offensive players all the time, but it's important to understand that a block is a block whether it's thrown by an offensive player or a defensive player.

And "all players involved in blocking" means (1) those doing the blocking and (2) those being blocked.

PART TWO: And then the triumphant coach shot off his mouth to his local paper. I was lucky enough to get a copy:

"We have a defensive scheme that we've run for several years and that works very well if the kids execute it properly," the coach told the reporter.

Grrrr. Yeah, their "defensive scheme" sure works very well - at least, when the referees are ignorant of the rules or decide not to enforce them. The "defensive scheme" consists of attacking the kickout blockers at the knees. But not from the front, either, where the blocker can at least see it coming - they bait the blocker by having a defender appear in front of him, then cut his knees from the side with a blitzing linebacker. It is ugly.

I went through this crap with him three years ago, and once the officials finally started to nail his ass and his kids were forced to play by the rules, it was lights out for them. I really thought that would be the end of it.

A couple of my players' dads had some fairly serious words with his defensive coordinator afterward. The fullback's dad was one of them. He is a pretty big guy, and, I would imagine, pretty handy. It wouldn't have pleasant if his kid had been hurt by the illegal tactics that they were teaching. And, evidently, still are.

To say the least, I am very disappointed in the head coach, who has been a very successful coach in these parts. But his self-congratulatory tone in the newspaper article certainly seems to indicate that he knows exactly what is going on. Those kids are not doing it on their own. It is being taught. There is only one word for that.

You know, I have a defensive scheme, too. It "works very well" against passing teams -"if the kids execute it properly":

we man-up on all their eligible receivers, and at the snap, we take them to the ground and hold them there...

*********** If there are any college coaches reading this and you're thinking about emulating Rick Neuheisel and, uh, doing some "creative recruiting", I think you ought to know that the new president of the NCAA, Miles Brand, is the same Miles Brand who as president of Indiana University had the cojones to stand up to Bobby Knight.

*********** More on the Cornhuskers' non-matching jerseys, in the classic 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma game...

" Coach, I love watching that '71 game! Although I do not have the answer to that question, I also noticed how some of the helmet stickers do not match. Some have the classic N others, a NU similar to the... gulp, OU logo. As the game progresses I love seeing Jeff Kinney's jersey shred into pieces of nothing. His shoulder pads are flapping around as he rumbles all over the field. Sigh.. the good ole days... even though I wasn't even around. Sam Knopik, Kansas City (formerly of Omaha, Nebraska)

"Dollars to doughnuts NU had tearaway jerseys. Probably didn't make them with stripes because they were a disposable item." Jerry Lovell, Bellevue East HS, Bellevue, Nebraska

(That was my guess. I actually had a guy say they were too cheap - a rag-tag outfit. And he was a Nebraska guy. I said, yeah - they were only National Champions those years, drawing 70,000+ per game. Plus national television appearances. Plus bowl appearances every year. HW)

*********** "Did I mention we had 3-5 inches of snow locally yesterday? Little early I think. Reminds me of my youth in the U.P. (Michigan's Upper Peninsula, for those of you who are not "Yoopers"- HW) and trick-or-treating with a snowmobile suit under my costume." Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin

*********** "I forgot to tell you, when Len Casanova died a few weeks ago - I remember reading a story - When he was the Head Coach at Santa Clara after WWII he had a team full of ex GI's. They had a powerhouse team that got invited to the Orange Bowl to face the "Bear" and Kentucky, so Santa Clara heads out by train, took em' like six or seven days to get there. At each stop they would practice in the morning and party like " Wild Men" at night. They had a "BLAST" on the cross country trip. Meanwhile the " Bear" ( who was like a 3 TD Favorite) was holding three a days right up to game day almost. His assistants (I believe Paul Dietzel and Charlie McClendon were two of them) were warning him that "he might be over working the boys". FINAL SCORE- SANTA CLARA 21 KENTUCKY 13. I think Bear's assistants might have been right ! - John Muckian Lynn, Massachusetts.

*********** Dear coach- thank you for the tapes it has helped my team here in Chicago a lot. We are South Conference champs and getting ready for the playoff.  If we do not win another game we have passed the goal I have set for the team, to just make the playoffs, not win a conference.  I have one week to get ready for the playoffs. If you have any new ideas about changing some of the offense please send some it to me.   Again thank you for the information you sent me - it won me a conference.  YOUR FRIEND FOR LIFE, MICHAEL D. GLENN

Coach Glenn - Congratulations on a fine season! I'm sure that the offense helped, but I'm sure that it was more than the offense. I'm sure that you did a good job with coaching, too, which includes teaching offense, defense, kicking, blocking, and tackling, putting the players in the right spots, and applying organization, discipline, and motivation.

To be frank, I don't think that this is the time to change anything. I think that there is very little chance that you will be able to do anything new nearly as well as the things that have got you to where you are!

I am pleased and flattered that you consider me a friend. HW

*********** I have much more to share with you about this season. Like for example can you believe that our head coach NEVER and I mean NEVER did he once practice BLOCKING and TACKLING during the regular season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable.

And he wonders why he found himself always yelling and screaming at the kids for not blocking and tackling anyone in the games. I keep telling him we need to be constantly be working on these things. But I guess he thinks he knows it all. NAME WITHHELD

You've learned a valuable lesson from this experience. You've learned that there are actually some people who don't coach blocking and tackling - and if you do, when you play them you will kill them. HW

*********** If Iowa beats Michigan this week, it will be because of Brad Banks. Over the past several years, nothing has hurt Michigan more than a mobile quarterback. John Zeller, Sears, Michigan

*********** Hugh: As an aside to New Mexico running some Single Wing. I forgot to mention that I had gone to the home opener for Northern Illinois against Wake Forest and the Demon Deacons spent most of the first half running a base Wing-T.......weakside belly lead, etc.etc....In the second half they went to a one back set and threw the ball but it was textbook wing-t football most of the first quarter. Northern had a tough time adjusting but ended up winning the game in OT. Bill Lawlor, Hoffman Estates, Illinois

*********** Our sideline official in our win Friday told me our motion simulates a snap and he said he was going to call it if we continued to do so...I asked him what rule is it that says that, he said it was the rule on motion...I responded with Rule 7-2-7 states that any player player not on the line of scrimmage may be in motion at the snap so long as it is only 1 man in motion and he is not going towards the opponents goal to which he replied it may not read that way, but i am going to call it that way...needless to say I was not happy and told him he couldn't make up rules and call them, it isn't his job to interpret, it is his job to enforce and if he called that penalty on us once he would have to throw me out of the game. We won 54-0 and were never called for illegal motion, or simulating a snap! Maybe he listened... Brad Knight, Galva-Holstein, Iowa (Tell ya what - this "simulating the snap" business really does leave it up to the official's interpretation, which is scary! HW)

*********** Hello, Coach. This is Stephen Whitley, football coach and AD at Pamlico County Middle School in Bayboro, NC. If you remember, I ordered your "Dynamics.." tape and playbook. This was my first year running your double wing. First, let me tell you that in the last two years our football team was 1-13. We had scored three TD's in those two years combined. This year we finished 5-2. Last night we played our last game against the 1st place team who was 6-0. We beat them 32-0. Had we won one of the games we lost, we would have been in 1st place. We are a very small school playing against large schools.

I appreciate what you do and thank you for your help. I am not a "true" football coach. I'll be the first to admit that to anyone. For the first time in ten years, though, I can't wait 'til next year! Thanks again, Stephen Whitley, Bayboro, North Carolina (I don't know what you mean by "not a 'true' football coach," but if you care about your kids and you're teaching them to do the right thing and holding them to high standards of conduct and teaching them good work habits and sound fundamentals and inspiring them to play hard for their team and their teammates and sending them away loving the game and wanting more, you are a football coach. I get the impression that you are doing those things.)

*********** Coach Wyatt, I wanted to give you an update on the Gorham Middle school team in Gorham Maine. My first season as head coach, we went 2-7 and that next spring you spoke to us and we switched to the Double Wing.

The first year with the Double Wing we went 7-3 and made the playoffs, last season we went 11-0 scoring 382 points and allowing 18. This season we are 8-0 so far scoring 281 points and allowing 80. We really understand the portion of the offense we run and it makes it really fun to coach as its a science as far as what plays I call when the other coach changes his defense.

Today was a wet muddy day and both our QB's are tiny and have small hands. Fumbling was a problem with them so I put in Wildcat at halftime and moved my A back in beside my B back and put my second A back into the game. We went in at halftime up 8-0 and at the end of the 3rd quarter running Wildcat we were up 28-0. I would recommend this to anyone with big fast backs that the defense is keying on. It also makes fumbling the snap no problem because as you say in the book, a low snap on the ground is easily handled by the left the right backs lined up like short stops. The defense can't see the snap, they can't key the QB's motion and by the time they see the left or right back running 6 or 7 G he is gone. Thanks, Mark Marquis, Head Coach, Gorham Grizzlies 7th and 8th Grade Football Team, Gorham, Maine

*********** This is my third year with the double wing. Our division this year is 12-13 year olds. Our first couple games we struggled with new and hurt players and had to make a switch at QB because we kept fumbling our snaps. Our last three games are another story, we won 40-8, 24-0, 34-0. The offense is clicking with enormous confidence which is making the defense play even better. The 40-8 game was even more special because the coach before the game was heard saying, "That offense won't work at this level." After holding at our 1 yard line late in the game, I call 88 power believing that they know we'll go up the middle and it goes 99 yards to put us up 40-8. How many points do you have to score in a game before it gets recognized as an offense that is working? By the way, I haven't heard a word from the other coach since. There may be games that just don't go our way for one reason or another but the fact remains, this system can and will work as long as you give it the chance. Thanks Coach Wyatt for all you do. Ron Young, Wellington, Florida

*********** The Governor of Illinois has ordered clemency hearings for 139 men and three women on death row. They have been convicted - by juries - of killing more than 250 people. I can only imagine what the surviving relatives of their victims will go through, as the cases are reopened.

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

The Division had a standing SOP that each battalion would send out three ambush patrols per night, one from each rifle company. I told the CO, "Sir, I don't think we should do that tonight. The men have had no time to prepare, no rest, and we don't really have any intelligence. Also, I've been told there are old, unmarked French mine fields out around here. I don't think we should do it."

He said, "What makes you think you have the authority to change the Division SOP? If the General were to come in here tonight or tomorrow morning and ask me about our ambush patrols what would I tell him? I want three ambush patrols out tonight."

I then said, "Sir, that is absolutely crazy. The Division SOP is not a replacement for common sense. Putting ambush patrols out here under the circumstances doesn't make any sense!"

He said, "Godammit, 3, are you going to do what I tell you or not? Everytime I tell you something you have a better idea. Now execute my orders."

"Yes, sir!" I was furious, literally in a rage. I went to each rifle company commander and told them to have an ambush patrol ready to go out in one hour. Each one in turn told me I was crazy, and I in turn hammered each one of them, basically with "Shut up and do it."

I then went and found the sergeant who had shown me around the positions earlier. I asked him, "Do you know how to get out through the barbed wire around the perimeter? We have three ambush patrols that have to go out."

"What?" he said. "Sir, are you crazy? You can't send ambush patrols out through here tonite."

I said, "Look sergeant, I don't need advice. What I need is someone to show me a way out through the wire. Can you help me?"

He said, "I've never been out through there but there is a path. I'll try."

I said, "Great, meet me here at 2145 and we'll give it a shot."

At 2145 the three ambush patrols, one from each company, five men each with a sergeant in charge, were standing by waiting for instructions. They were loaded down with claymores, ammo, grenades, and one machine gun per patrol. I showed each patrol leader where I wanted his patrol located. They had to be far enough apart so they wouldn't come in conflict with each other in the event that the ambushes were sprung.

Actually, I thought ambush patrols by SOP were a good idea. They added security, kept the enemy off balance, and give us some of the initiative. Properly rested and prepared they were an excellent tactical tool. But not this deal tonite. It made me so mad I couldn't think straight myself, and the patrol leaders just weren't mentally ready to do the job. I told them I would lead them out through the wire.

I didn't tell them that I had no idea how to get out myself. I introduced them to the sergeant, adding that the sergeant knew the area (which he did not). We moved out between the bunker line. There was some ambient light, enough to silhouette the bunker line to our rear and the pickets holding the barbed wire to our front. When we reached the wire I was ready to go into shock. It was covered with KUDZU and other green vines.

The sergeant whispered to me that he had found the path. I moved to his position and he pointed to two pickets. "I think that's the way out. Just follow this line of pickets and I think that's the safe lane."

I turned to the lead patrol leader and told him, "Pass it on- move slow, quiet, single file. When we get through the wire I'll count each patrol off. Follow me."

I started to move slowly down through the line of pickets with 15 men behind me. I was scared to death. I had always tried to picture myself as a heroic figure. Now I was there, and I didn't feel heroic. Every small sound was intensified 100 times. My throat and mouth were so dry I couldn't swallow, and every muscle in my body was tense. I was like a slowly moving, coiled spring. It seemed that we were about halfway through the wire (that is I was about halfway through) and the last man was just entering the wire. As I moved my leg forward I felt what seemed to be a trip wire. POP! an explosive sound, and a cry rushed from my dry throat "AWWW!"

Every man went down in unison. I knew I was dead. Suddenly, a bright light flashed out in the wire, blinding us. A familiar sight - I had popped a trip flare intended to give warning in case the enemy tried to come up through the safe lane. I went to my knees and just stared at the light. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, and as I turned I saw the sweat on the faces of the men behind me, gleaming in the bright light.

Here we were in the middle of a mine field in Vietnam at l0 o'clock at night, and I literally felt naked as if I had been caught naked in the street. But I also began to breathe again as the bright light of the flare suddenly subsided. I became conscious of my own breathing and I took several deep breaths. I wondered how many VC had seen us standing out there in the mine field with our asses hanging out. I was sure that every VC within a hundred miles had seen us and were laughing at us right now. "Stupid Americans can't even get through their own mine field without setting off their own trip flares. Well shit, let's go ambush them now."

COACHES WHO SIGNED UP FOR THE BLACK LION AWARD : WHEN YOUR SEASON IS OVER AND YOU HAVE SELECTED YOUR BLACK LION (ONE PLAYER PER TEAM) PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR LETTER OF NOMINATION (explaining why you believe your nominee represents the spirit of the award - leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and an unselfish devotion to the team) to: coachyatt@aol.com.

AFTER YOUR LETTER OF NOMINATION IS RECEIVED, YOUR AWARD CERTIFICATE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR ADDRESS. THE CERTIFICATE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU, AND NOT TO YOUR PLAYER.

BE SURE TO ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR MAILING. THERE IS NOT MONEY IN THE PROGRAM'S BUDGET TO OVERNIGHT AWARDS.

CERTIFICATES WILL BE READY FOR MAILING SOME TIME IN MID-NOVEMBER.

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED THIS YEAR)
 
 

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 
October 22- " "A good coach makes his players see what they can be, rather than what they are." Ara Parseghian
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")
 

 

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: He played quarterback in the NFL for 16 years, with five different teams. He had the misfortune of playing for some less-than-outstanding coaches on some unbelievably poor clubs. In his entire 16-year career, he played on only three winning teams.

For years, he served as the example of how to ruin a QB by throwing him to the wolves as a rookie. Selected number one out of Wake Forest by the pitiful Washington Redskins, he started as a rookie quarterback on a team with no running backs, no receivers. He was big and not very mobile, which was a real shame, because he had no protection, either. They didn't keep a record of sacks then, but it would be worth NFL Films' while to go back and see if he didn't set some sort of record for being sacked. The Redskins were 1-12-1, and didn't pick up their single win until the final game of the season, when they beat the Cowboys.

 
After three losing seasons in Washington, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for Sonny Jurgenson. In seven seasons in Philly, he played on exactly one winning team.

He was traded to the Vikings, and alternating at QB with Bob Lee and Gary Cuozzo, helped the Vikings to an 11-3 season under Bud Grant.

The following season, he was traded to the Giants, who went 8-6 in 1972, his first year there. Unfortunately, the Giants were a road team in 1973 and 1974, playing "home" games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. They were horrible, finishing 2-11-1 in 1973 and 2-12 in 1974.. He played the 1975 season with the 49ers, and shared quarterbacking duties with, of all people, Steve Spurrier.

He retired following a brief spell with the Giants in 1976.

*********** Give credit to Tyrone Willingham of Notre Dame for a masterful job of planning and preparing.

On defense, his kids were way too quick for Air Force and way too strong - the Air Force backs and receivers simply could not sustain their blocks. And since Air Force had nothing in the way of a counter game, and gave up on the fullback very early, for Notre Dame it was mostly a matter of flying to the football - of stretching out the double option and forcing QB Chance Harridge to pitch. And every time he pitched, it seemed, there was #20, the Notre Dame free safety, meeting the pitch man at the line of scrimmage.

On offense, I wonder how many people appreciate what Coach Willingham did. What he did was call an old-fashioned game, not unlike a Double-Wing coach. He was willing to play "boring" football, because that was the best way to win the game. He took what was there, again and again, and didn't risk stopping himself by trying to get cute. His kids were able to block the Air Force defense, so he ran right at them.

The game was hardly proof that the Air Force offense doesn't work, or that Notre Dame had some magical scheme that now anybody can expect to adopt and then go out and beat Air Force. What it was was a classic illustration of the fact that no matter how good you might be, there are times when that's just not good enough - when the other team is well-prepared and just plain better than you are.

*********** Quick - somebody name me the last college team to run a single wing offense.

Did somebody say Tennessee? Nope. You sir - you say Princeton? Nope. I heard somebody back there say UCLA. Nope. Not Rutgers, either. And no, not Denison, or Colorado College, or Lenoir-Rhyne.

What if told you it was New Mexico? In 2002?

It's true. Cole Shaffer, a former player and assistant of mine who lived for a time in Albuquerque and whose folks are New Mexico grads, sent me an amazing newspaper article.

Two weeks ago, hit with an injury to their only experienced quarterback, the University of New Mexico Lobos took advantage of a bye week to install a basic single-wing attack.

"We think it can be effective at this level because a lot of (defensive coaches) have never tried to defense it," said New Mexico coach Rocky Long. "A lot of defensive coordinators around the country probably don't even know what it is."

Long, who played single-wing tailback as a high school player in Cucamonga, California, said he and his staff had discussed the single wing last summer, when they realized that if anything were to happen to their only experience quarterback, Casey Keller, they would be left with two backups who were more suited to a running-type offense.

"Since we had the bye week and we were struggling on offense," Long said, "we thought it would be good to do something that nobody else does so that it would at least force the other team to spend practice time on it."

With the single wing, said Long, "You get more blockers to one side than they have defenders. If they shift more defenders to one side, then you run counter plays and play-action passes to take advantage of it or you shift your (backs) from one side to the other and snap it before they can shift."

So how did it work?

With starter Kelly banged up and the other backup suspended for a game, backup quarterback Justin Millea rushed for 148 yards, including a 73-yard run, in 20 plays - 10 of them as a single-wing tailbac - , as the Lobos defeated UNLV, 25-16. Millea helped engineer a 90-yard drive in the second quarter; his 148 yards rushing was the most by a Lobo quarterback in 29 years, and his 73-yard touchdown run was the longest by any New Mexico player since 1997. His performance earned him Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Coach Long said that the single wing worked well enough against UNLV for the Lobos to keep it in their game plan this past weekend against Utah State, and said that the single wing - or at least the threat of it - would likely remain a part of the offense for the rest of the season.

Now, before you youth coaches start mailing off your single wing playbooks to Coach Long, I should tell you that it sounds as if the Lobos were back to running their regular offense this past weekend, though, because I read the name "Casey Kelly" in the game reports. Justin Millea, last week's Conference Offensive Player of the Week, didn't have a carry.

Not that there was anything wrong with the New Mexico offense: the Lobos ran 81 plays for 483 yards (263 rushing) in an overtime to Utah State, 45-44. (It must have been a hell of a game. New Mexico had gone ahead, 38-31 after returning an interception 59 yards for a touchdown with 25 seconds left, but Utah State tied the game and sent it into overtime with a TD on the last play of regulation time. The Lobos lost it when they missed a PAT).

I'd like to be able to tell you more about the Lobos and the single-wing, but for some reason, the Albuquerque Journal people seem to think that guys like me will actually pay them money to peruse their site, and I am doing my little part to prove them wrong. (And to think that the people in New Mexico complain that the rest of us know little about their state, and sometimes seem to think it's a foreign country or something. Maybe it's because their largest paper doesn't realize that nobody else in the rest of the United States is interested in paying to read about what's going on in New Mexico.)

*********** Coach- I've been in the coaching game on and off for 20 years. I have seven consecutive years of youth coaching. Historically, I have been an "I" formation guy running inside and outside zone blocking schemes.

I told my assistants that I have never had more fun coaching offense than I had this year. Your package is so easy to teach and so flexible that it allows for easy adjustments while still maintaining the integrity of the package.

Opposing coaches and officials are always amazed at how these kids are able to pull, trap and execute in this offense. I know things are going great when parents from the other team are screaming 'WATCH THE COUNTER' even though we have only been running 88/99 POWERS down the field.

I look forward to your 2003 clinic schedule. I am planning to attend a spring session.

Sincerely, Michael Rutherford, Leawood, Kansas

*********** In the entire Albany, New York area, the leaders in rushing stats are both Double-Wingers: Lansingburgh and Queesnbury are numbers one and two in rushing (2865 for Lansingburgh, 2048 for Queensbury) and rushing touchdowns (49 for Lansingburgh, 32 for Queensbury).

*********** Joey H was sweet again today (roughly 200 yards passing) and the Lions are flat out playing good solid football. Coach, they ran for 200 yards today! Imagine that, a balanced offense. He had some hiccups but all in all, not to bad. There isn't a one single girl in the state of Michigan who doesn't want to be Mrs. Joey H. He is bombarded by date requests at the Lions' office, and by companies wanting him to promote their stuff. To his credit, he will not pump anything because he does not want to be anybody's shill. One play today, he got toasted by Brian Urlacher and bounced right back up and patted him on the back ala Brett Farve. He owns this town already and the future finally looks bright here in Motown. Have a great week coach! Dave Livingstone, Troy, Michigan

*********** The next time the yahoos holler at you to kick it deep... With some 25 seconds left in the half Sunday, the Rams had just kicked a field goal to go ahead of the Seahawks, 13-7. And then they kicked it deep. And Maurice Morris returned it 97 yards, and the Seahawks went into the locker room with the lead, 14-13.

*********** Woody Paige of the Denver Post was interested in taking a unique look at the Air Force-Notre Dame game. He wanted to find a bar where the patrons would be Air Force fans, and he found one in Knob Noster, Missouri, where Whiteman Air Force base, home of the B-2 bomber, is located.

He found Players sports bar, where a large group of Airmen were watching the game on a big-screen TV.

"You can tell who's from the base," the manager, a woman named Collette told Paige. "They have short hair, and they don't have pierced tongues. And they call me 'Ma'am,' not 'Hey, you.' So I'm an Air Force fan."

*********** A week or so ago, my headline quote came from the great Joe Foss- "Those who lived have to represent those who didn't make it." This is what drives men like Jim Shelton and Tom Hinger to make sure that so long as they draw breath, the memory of the men they served with - the Black Lions who didn't make it - will never fade. My admiration for those men and their devotion to their fallen mates is what drives me to assist them with the Black Lions program.

October is always an especially poignant time for Jim and Tom and others who lived, because on October 17, 1967, in Vietnam, their unit was chopped to pieces in an ambush at a place called Ong Thanh.

Last week, Jim, former Delaware football player, retired US Army General, and honorary colonel of the 28th Infantry (Black Lions) Association, was with Tom at Fort Jackson, South Carolina - home of the the Black Lions - to attend a memorial service for the Black Lions killed at Ong Thanh. At left, General Shelton is shown addressing the officers and NCO's of the Black Lions, telling them about the brave men who died in combat 35 years ago last Thursday - representing those who didn't make it.

He was kind enough to share with me the story he told of one of those Black Lions...

I am the Storyteller. I tell stories of brave men who sacrificed themselves for their comrades and their country.

Ray Neal Gribble was a man like you and me. He was 6'2" tall and a handsome man. He was 23 years old, and married to his high school sweetheart. He had been chosen as a squad leader because of his leadership ability. He was a Specialist Fourth Class, a draftee.

As the operations officer I got around to all the Black Lions companies. I watched leaders operate with their men. Ray Neal Gribble stood out as a leader. You could tell by the way his men performed. Their weapons were clean, their positions were well prepared.

One evening just at dusk I came upon Ray Gribble quietly reading the Bible to 3 or 4 of his men. As nighttime grew near the fear of the darkness affects all men.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil--for thou art with me--thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."

I needed an RTO. My man was going home. I asked Captain Jim George to release Ray Gribble to Battalion HQ to be Dauntless 3 Romeo, RTO for the Battalion S3. Cpt George protested losing this good leader. I felt he had done his job well as a squad leader and I needed a man who knew the jungle and what was going on and who could render reports and assert himself on the radio when he had to.

It was a demanding job but it was safer than a squad leader's job. The battalion HQ in the jungle was vulnerable to attack, but we always traveled within the security of the rifle companies.

Ray Gribble became my RTO. He did an excellent job for about ten days. Whenever he had the chance he would stop by A Company to see his old squad. Then one day he said to me, "Sir, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, go ahead", I said.

"Sir," he said, "I need to go back to my squad. They are getting screwed up. I need to go back to A Company."

I said, "I need you here You've served your time down there. The battalion needs you here!"

He looked into my eyes with a hurt expression on his face. Tears began to roll down both his cheeks. He said, "Please, sir- I need to go back to my men!"

"I am the good shepherd. I know mine--and mine know me. And I will lay down my life for my flock".

Ray Neal Gribble was scared in the jungle. We all were. Brave men conquer their fear and do their job. Brave men think and care about their comrades. Ray Neal Gribble taught ME that!

He knew what it was like in Muncie, Indiana in the spring. Fresh green grass, the smell of rain, milkshakes, laughter, a loving wife, clean sheets, freedom to do what you wanted. In the jungle he did what he felt he needed to do. He wasn't superman. But he knew what he had to do.

"I am the good shepherd. I KNOW MINE--AND MINE KNOW ME. And I will lay down my liife for my flock"

This was a man! His selfless act has inspired me to try to be a man like him. I was a 32 year old professional soldier. A Major. He was a 23 year old draftee. His example of courage and selflessness has inspired me for 35 years. What he did, as far as I'm concerned, is what IT is all about! To me, Ray Neal Gribble is immortal. A man above men.

I am the Storyteller. I tell stories of men of courage, bravery and sacrifice.

"No man hath greater love than he lay down his life for his men"

I tell the story of Ray Neal Gribble, Squad Leader, Company A, 2d Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Killed in action. 17 October 1967.Vietnam. May he rest in peace. Amen"

*********** I was watching a high school game Friday night. Both teams were undefeated, but one had pretty much faced a cake schedule while the other had played some tough teams. It was apparent immediately that there was a vast difference in the two teams, the one that had faced poorer opposition basically powerless to stop the other. In fact, twice the better team had long touchdowns called back, only to come right back and score again, on the very next play.

The weaker team did manage to score twice - once on a kickoff return, and once on a pass up the middle when the coverage went to sleep - but otherwise, it was a slaughter. So the winning coach, being the gentleman that I know him to be, pulled his starters when the score got to 59-14 around the end of the third quarter. Fair enough. There would have been squawking from the other team if he'd left them in.

But the coach of the other team didn't reciprocate. He left his starters in. And playing against the other team's second- and third-stringers, they managed to come up with a couple of feel-good scores. They were delighted, of course.

So was I when, with a minute to play and the loser's starters still in the game, the winner's fourth-stringers punched in a score. Final: 66-28.

*********** Coach, Great piece on Brett. Welcome aboard! It's amazing when I reflect on his career and realize how far he has come since arriving in Green Bay. Not only has he developed into a Hall of Fame QB but he has matured so much as a man too. Your depiction captured the essence of Favre. We've also noticed that Brett is having fun again like he used to when he was a 3-time MVP. The slump took a little out of him. Great to see him back although it helps to have receivers who can get off the LOS and don't quit on routes. Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin

*********** Coach, It has been a while since I have corresponded and I hope that all is well with you. Kudos on the excellent job you do on your website. Your NEWS is always enlightening and as a fellow coach I appreciate your promotion of this great sport. I believe you provide an indispensable service to football coaches around the country.

When I last corresponded I had taken an assistant job at a local private high school. This past summer I received a call from Chuck Tilley - former coach of the Cheektowaga Warriors - the team my former team (Amherst) combined with in the camp you ran for us a few years ago. Chuck was leaving Cheektowaga and taking over the program at Tonawanda, another Buffalo suburb. He called and offered me the chance to run the offense for Tonawanda this season, so I jumped at the opportunity.

We are 7 games into the season and have managed a 4-3 league record - losing only to three teams ranked in the top 10 small schools (625 or lower enrollement) in Western NY (#2,#5 and #6). This past week we carded our 4th win, and rolled up 371 rushing yards as our B back ran for 246 and 5 scores. Our kids are playing tough football and adjusting well as this is the third different coaching staff they have played for in the last three years. At any rate, we have qualified for the class B bowl game - which pits the 3rd and 4th place teams from the two B divisions against one another in a two game playoff format - essentially determining fifth place overall for the class. That will be game 9 of the season.

This week we will be attempting to slay Goliath as we match up in one of the oldest rivalry games in Western NY - the Tonawanda vs. North Tonawanda game - affectionately referred to as the T-N-T game in these parts. North Tonwawanda is currently ranked as the #1 school in the LARGE school division for WNY as they are 7-0, and headed to the playoffs as the #1 seed in class AA. North Tonawanda enrollment: 1435, Tonawanda enrollment: 598. This should be a lot of fun. As it was explained to me when I started coaching here - this is a school where you can finish 1-7 and as long as the win was over NT it is considered a successful season. The game usually draws 3000-5000 fans, which is huge for a WNY high school game. By the way, NT runs mainly the Air Force triple option offense so the game clock may never stop during this week.

Anyway, I am also writing to order a copy of your latest video. I will be sending a check in the mail today. If you could send the video to the following address that would be great. I was planning to wait until after the season to order, but with the possibility of games 9 and 10 this year I decided to get it sooner. Thanks again for the great service you provide. Coach Jason Beckman, Amherst, New York  

*********** Hugh, I was watching the 1971 Oklahoma/Nebraska game on ESPN Classic over the weekend. I noticed that the Nebraska lineman and tight ends had Red Striping around their shoulders(UCLA type ringlets) but the backs and receivers did not have any stripes. Was there any significance to this back then?? Seems very "un-Nebraska-like" to differentiate their players like that. Just wondering if you had an answer. Bill Lawlor, Hoffman Estates, Illinois (That's a new one on me. If there are any Cornhuskers reading this, though, they'll know. Nothing happens in or to Nebraska football that they don't know about! PS - and I ain't buyin' any stories that they were just too poor to afford matching jerseys. They were National Champions in 1970 and 1971. HW)

*********** It's called class... When Oregon's Joey Harrington was drafted Number 1 by the Detroit Lions, we Northwesterners heard nothing but positive things from the kid. No complaints. Nothing bad about the city of Detroit, nothing bad about having to play for one of the worst teams in football. All positive. Even his mom was quoted as being delighted to learn that Northwest Airlines flies non-stop from Portland to Detroit. Now (knock on wood) it appears that his positive approach, free of slams against the city or his teammates, may be starting to pay off. If it does, and the Lions start to win, you can be sure that Joey Harrington will be, well, lionized. He will own the town.

And then there's Byron Leftwich, of Marshall. Good quarterback and all that, but I predict that he's headed for problems as a pro. He was on a radio talk show in Columbus, and he said, "I have this nightmare that Paul Tagliabue comes to the podium and says, "With the first pick, the Cincinnati Bengals select..."

*********** Marcel Youngs, of Lansingburgh, New York tied a New York state high school record Friday night when he scored eight touchdowns in Lansingburgh's 68-8 win over Ravena.

*********** They interviewed Darryl Hill on the sideline at the Maryland-Georgia Tech game Saturday night.

Lee Corso, who as an assistant on Tom Nugent's staff recruited him to Maryland, told him, "Young man, I'm proud of you."

Darryl Hill told him, "Coach - I'm 60 years old!"

In 1963, when Darryl Hill ("first Negro ever to wear Maryland's football colors," they wrote in that year's Street & Smith's) became eligible after transferring to Maryland from the US Naval Academy, he became the first black player to play on a Southern team. Well, technically, since there are those who consider West Virginia to be southern, Darryl Hill was one of three black players to break ground in the South that year, since WVU, then part of the Southern Conference, fielded guard Roger Alford and fullback Dick Leftridge.

"These Negro footballers," wrote Jack Horner in Street & Smith's, "are sure to be forerunners of others now that segregation barriers have been lifted in the two southern-dominated conferences.

He got that right. Darryl Hill caught 43 passes that year, scoring eight touchdowns and kicking seven PAT's. Leftridge was West Virginia's leading rusher. The next year, there were more black players in the ACC. "They became immediate stars, to pave the way for others," wrote Street & Smith's in 1964.

But that first year, the Terps played at South Carolina (then a member of the ACC), at Duke (well, actually, they played the game in Richmond), at Wake Forest and Clemson. As you might imagine, Mr. Hill was not exactly greeted warmly in places that had not yet integrated their teams, and he said he especially remembered the hard time the students in Winston-Salem gave him when the Terps showed up to play Wake Forest.

And then the Wake Forest captain came over and shook his hand, and personally apologized, saying how embarrassed he was."You could have heard a pin drop, " Mr. Hill remembered.

He said he never forget the captain's name. It was Brian Piccolo, whose early death from cancer, and his friendship with Gayle Sayers, was the subject of "Brian's Song," a real tear-jerker of a movie.

"I cried when Brian Piccolo died," Mr. Hill said, "and I cried when I saw the movie."

*********** "I am getting more and more weary of the sh-- I see on the tube with these pro players.

"It used to be that we high school coaches could coach and pay attention to the X's & O's instead of the mom's & dad's and the college scholarships their kids will miss out on if we don't coach right or use the right offense and the kids we coach who feel it should be all right to wear a doo-rag or adorn themselves so as to bring attention to their game, let alone the celebrations and the taunting and stuff that the NFIOA rules people have to make rules about that didn't appear years ago.

"Part of coaching is to teach kids that the type of things we see on Sunday are wrong and have no place, but come on- Every week we could spend hours on the stuff they see and what I'm sure they comment among themselves about or even do their own little celebrations in their cliques if they watch games together on Sundays! I can just see it now, TO breaks out in a celebration after taunting the defender as he walks backward in to the endzone and the idolizing high schooler gets up (around his buds) and does his thang in front on them!

"It makes me sick." Don Capaldo, Keokuk, Iowa

*********** "I was just writing to give you an update on how our season has been progressing. On 10/5 Corning West defeated Owego Free Academy 33-14 as C-back Chris Clark broke runs of 80, 55, and 7 yards for touchdowns. A-Back Brian Schuler also scored on a 26 yard run. We played the game with our 2nd string quarterback who was told that he was the starter on Friday at 4:15 pm during pre-practice, because the 3 year starter was going to be suspended for 3 days, effective immediately. This kid had never taken a snap at QB until this year, he's big and slow, but has a cannon for an arm, and he is left handed. We fell behind early but he immediately responded with a TD pass on 58 Black-o. This really rallied the team. To make things more exciting my B-Back was ejected for knocking a kid to the ground and when he tried to get back up, he knocked him down again. The official said that he was being too physical and that he wasn't really involved in the play at that point in time. So, what do we do - I put my C-back at B-back and he ran wild. The interesting thing is, is that he has never had a snap at FB - ever. This is proof again that the offense is not QB intensive and the simplicity of the numbering scheme is amazing.

"Which brings me to our next game, which was Friday 10/11, Corning West 40 Elmira Southside 7. We've won 3 in a row and are rolling. We played without our B-back in this one, so I moved Chris Clark to B-back from C-back, and moved some Wingbacks around in the line-up. I started Dan Giannone, our 2nd string QB and he did it again. He threw for a 44 yd. TD on Blue-Blue in the 1st half and we never looked back. I played him the entire 1st half, and 4th quarter. Once again Chris Clark amassed 143 rushing yards on 20 carries, and Brian Schuler had 114 yards on 10 carries and one TD reception. We rushed for 429 yards. We are now 4-2. Talk to you soon. I hope that all is well. Mike Johnston, Corning West HS, Painted Post, New York

*********** Coach Wyatt. Greetings from the state of (Keep your head down) Virginia. Can you believe what is going on here? Football players are distraught in that area. All football games ,and alot of practices have been cancelled. The seniors are just seeing their seasons fade away. That is the least of the suffering. So many innocent victims. It is a shame. A great tragedy. For us men in this area it is really frustrating cause we feel we are being attacked, and are not able to fight back. Armando Castro, Roanoke, Virginia

*********** Let's hear it for those so-called war lovers who make it possible for us to sleep at night. With the Washington area under virtual lockdown and high school teams travelling as much as 150 miles away to play games, the Army, in a marvelous gesture, arranged to lay out nine football fields on the parade ground at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, so that area youth football games could go on. Thanks to the men and women of the US Army, games that wouldn't have been played otherwise - 111 of them in all - went on non-stop Saturday.

*********** Not that much good will ever come from the horror of an entire metropolitan area being terrorized by a gunman, but evidently little kids at school are finally learning that "Mr. Policeman" is their friend.

*********** Coach -- The reason I won't go to an NFL game is because of rowdy beer drinkers. Took my son to a Green Bay - Chicago game last year saw 3 fights near us and heard much vulgarity, but the worst part was driving home with all the drunks. It's much safer in my Family room and easy chair. Doug Gibson , Naperville, Illinois

*********** I don't think that college players are supposed to wear jewelry, but down under his pads, wear you can't see them, Washington linebacker Ben Mahdavi wears his late grandfather's World War II dog tags.

*********** Here we go again. My former assistant John Lambert had his problems last Friday night with the same coaches I had problems with three years ago, and for the same reason - they are teaching their kids to attack the fullback's knees. Some of you have seen video of it at my clinics.

But John was prepared for it, because he knows the rule is there to protect his kid - has even been beefed up in the last two years - so he reminded the referee of what was going on.

The official responded that the Fullback, because he is so close, is in the free blocking zone.

Well, duh. Of course he is in the free blocking zone. So what? As so often happens in high school football, the officials didn't know the rule.

What the rule says is that both participants in the block below the waist must have been - not just in the free blocking zone - but on the line of scrimmage.

(RULE 2, SECTION 17, ARTICLE 2 - "Blocking below the waist is permitted in the free-blocking zone when the following conditions are met: (a.) All players involved in blocking are on the line of scrimmage and in the zone at the snap. (b.) The contact is in the zone

Blocking below the waist in any other circumstances is illegal. It's called against offensive players all the time, but it's important to understand that a block is a block whether it's thrown by an offensive player or a defensive player.

And "all players involved in blocking" means (1) those doing the blocking and (2) those being blocked.

*********** Maybe you remember my telling you last winter about seeing "Go Tigers!", the well-done documentary about football in Massillon, Ohio. Kyle Wagner, who coaches in Canada - at Jasper Place High School in Edmonton, saw "Go Tigers!" recently, and noticing that the Massillon team said a pre-game game, he asked, "Do most schools (in the U.S.) have team prayers and such?  Being at a public school I thought that was odd.  Is it part of the culture (high amount of religious people in that area) or do most schools in the states do this?  I don't have an opinion one way or the other but I was curious."

I wrote him: It is common in most places for there to be an element of prayer - asking for protection. It does seem to be a unifying thing. I suppose it has something to do with our still generally being a religious people, and something to do with a connection to our history of combat and football's distant relationship to real combat. While there are places in the United States that are definitely more religion-oriented than others, I think that a somewhat spritual attitude among football players is fairly typical anywhere here.

*********** I was reading an article about the recent lockout of the West Coast ports. It dealt with the impact of the lockout on truckers.

It told of the truckers stranded with their loads when there was no way to load them onto ship.

These were guys who who missed their families. They were camping in their sleeper cabs, passing the time the best they could. One guy rented a motel room and several of them used it to shower. A few of them even managed to slip out to attend a baseball game while others watched their trucks for them.

But they had a job to do and they were going to make sure they got it done.

You had to be impressed with the dedication of these men - the pride they took in their jobs.

One of them, who I'm willing to bet either grew up on a farm or had a good high school football coach, explained why he wasn't going anywhere- "This load is my responsibility."

*********** The New York Jets, determined to finish first in something, unveiled their new all (dark) green uniforms Sunday and immediate shot past the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL's Ugliest Team competition.

*********** It used to be that when it became known that a school teacher was "involved" with a student, he'd sometimes be fired, but more often he'd be "reassigned." He'd be transferred to another school, and that would be that. Now, of course, the law gets involved, as well it should.

In Eugene, Oregon, after a fifth-grader had endured a year of being bullied by a some of his classmates, his mother went to school officials before the start of this year to ask that something be done to protect her son. She even provided the names of the kids who had been attacking her son.

But on October 2, her son came home and told her that three of the kids had beaten him up on the school bus on the way home.

And whaddaya know? The incident was caught on tape, by a camera installed in the bus. The tape, which was shown on "Good Morning America," clearly shows the little bastards taking turns punching and kicking the boy.

The tape also shows that the bus driver did absolutely nothing.

The driver was reassigned.

*********** I heard Dan Fouts say on the USC-Washington game that the NCAA was going to have to move the free kick line (the kickoff line) back - "they're just not getting any kick returns."

The problem with moving the ball back, as the pros have found, is that the onside kick, under any but desperation conditions, has become about as common as a squeeze bunt in major league baseball.

I propose another solution.

I say, kick off from the 40. And in the event of a kick that goes into (or beyond) the end zone, bring the ball out to the 35.

Unfortunately, along with my main proposal, to limit players to one kick - of any sort - per game, it would put a lot of plackicking specialists out of work.

Pity.

*********** For me, Rule Number One of football coaching, has always been this: The Team Comes First. No Man is Indispensible. A team can overcome the loss of anyone. The instant you choose to do something wrong, you take the first step in removing yourself from the team.

It is important that you believe this, especially when it's put to the test.

Sometimes your players, even good ones, will do stupid things, and they have to be punished for them. Sometimes the punishment takes the form of suspension from school. or for a game. Or for the season. This sort of thing is not just confined to poorly disciplined teams, either, or to teams whose playoff chances are gone, whose players adopt a "what the hell?" attitude.

It has happened this season to some of the best people I know, people who have been hit hard by the misconduct of players they'd been counting on. I have to remind them that it's not their fault, and they shouldn't waste a lot of time soul-searching - wondering where they've gone wrong. As coaches, you do your best and hope for the best, but there are lots more influences on kids nowadays than just their football coaches. Even in the best of families, despite the parents' best efforts, kids will sometimes do wrong. (I asked one of them, how do you think God feels, when He sees some of the things we do?)

And on top of the anger and disappointment and sense of failure, there are the pressures on the coaches to look the other way: they're seniors... it's not fair to the rest of the kids on the team... the community won't support it... etc., etc. Their parents may even get a lawyer.

To me, the important thing is to be the leader - to be the one person able to see past the next game - what will you have after that game is over? Will you have a program that stands up for what's right, no matter what the cost, or will you have a program with a moral compass that spins at 78 rpm - where kids feel free to test the rules whenever they're tempted?

I have sent this along to a couple of coaches, men who have taken the strong moral stand in these matters, in the hope that it might help give them added strength in tough times:

Following a loss at Hawaii late last season, several Air Force players missed curfew.

When coach Fisher DeBerry got word of it, he called his player together, and challenged their honor. He demanded that those who violated the curfew identify themselves. Twelve players stood up, and each was suspended for the Falcons' season finale against Utah.

Five of those suspended were five starters and the team was already hit hard with injuries, so with a record of 5-6, and a season finale coming up against bowl-bound Utah, a losing record appeared certain. It would be the Academy's first losing seson since 1993, and only its third in DeBerry's 18 years at Air Force.

In a culture that gives everybody a second chance, a culture in which a defense attorney will ask for clemency for a murderer because "he's never been in trouble before," DeBerry's handling of the situation seemed unusually harsh. To those who believe that far worse transgressions than breaking curfew should be overlooked if punishing the offenders could cost the team a win, it was insane.

But to DeBerry, it was a simple matter of carrying out his overall mission - to prepare his players to defend their country. And in keeping with his mission, the suspensions were necessary to help the players realize they are accountable.

And in a fairy-tale ending, the Falcons pulled out a 38-37 upset win to finish the season 6-6.

"It was a great learning experience for our team,'' DeBerry said after the game. "I hope they learn from this experience that the team comes first. The lessons are a lot more important than the outcome of the game."

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

The Division had a standing SOP that each battalion would send out three ambush patrols per night, one from each rifle company. I told the CO, "Sir, I don't think we should do that tonight. The men have had no time to prepare, no rest, and we don't really have any intelligence. Also, I've been told there are old, unmarked French mine fields out around here. I don't think we should do it."

He said, "What makes you think you have the authority to change the Division SOP? If the General were to come in here tonight or tomorrow morning and ask me about our ambush patrols what would I tell him? I want three ambush patrols out tonight."

I then said, "Sir, that is absolutely crazy. The Division SOP is not a replacement for common sense. Putting ambush patrols out here under the circumstances doesn't make any sense!"

He said, "Godammit, 3, are you going to do what I tell you or not? Everytime I tell you something you have a better idea. Now execute my orders."

"Yes, sir!" I was furious, literally in a rage. I went to each rifle company commander and told them to have an ambush patrol ready to go out in one hour. Each one in turn told me I was crazy, and I in turn hammered each one of them, basically with "Shut up and do it."

I then went and found the sergeant who had shown me around the positions earlier. I asked him, "Do you know how to get out through the barbed wire around the perimeter? We have three ambush patrols that have to go out."

"What?" he said. "Sir, are you crazy? You can't send ambush patrols out through here tonite."

I said, "Look sergeant, I don't need advice. What I need is someone to show me a way out through the wire. Can you help me?"

He said, "I've never been out through there but there is a path. I'll try."

I said, "Great, meet me here at 2145 and we'll give it a shot."

At 2145 the three ambush patrols, one from each company, five men each with a sergeant in charge, were standing by waiting for instructions. They were loaded down with claymores, ammo, grenades, and one machine gun per patrol. I showed each patrol leader where I wanted his patrol located. They had to be far enough apart so they wouldn't come in conflict with each other in the event that the ambushes were sprung.

Actually, I thought ambush patrols by SOP were a good idea. They added security, kept the enemy off balance, and give us some of the initiative. Properly rested and prepared they were an excellent tactical tool. But not this deal tonite. It made me so mad I couldn't think straight myself, and the patrol leaders just weren't mentally ready to do the job. I told them I would lead them out through the wire.

I didn't tell them that I had no idea how to get out myself. I introduced them to the sergeant, adding that the sergeant knew the area (which he did not). We moved out between the bunker line. There was some ambient light, enough to silhouette the bunker line to our rear and the pickets holding the barbed wire to our front. When we reached the wire I was ready to go into shock. It was covered with KUDZU and other green vines.

The sergeant whispered to me that he had found the path. I moved to his position and he pointed to two pickets. "I think that's the way out. Just follow this line of pickets and I think that's the safe lane."

I turned to the lead patrol leader and told him, "Pass it on- move slow, quiet, single file. When we get through the wire I'll count each patrol off. Follow me."

I started to move slowly down through the line of pickets with 15 men behind me. I was scared to death. I had always tried to picture myself as a heroic figure. Now I was there, and I didn't feel heroic. Every small sound was intensified 100 times. My throat and mouth were so dry I couldn't swallow, and every muscle in my body was tense. I was like a slowly moving, coiled spring. It seemed that we were about halfway through the wire (that is I was about halfway through) and the last man was just entering the wire. As I moved my leg forward I felt what seemed to be a trip wire. POP! an explosive sound, and a cry rushed from my dry throat "AWWW!"

Every man went down in unison. I knew I was dead. Suddenly, a bright light flashed out in the wire, blinding us. A familiar sight - I had popped a trip flare intended to give warning in case the enemy tried to come up through the safe lane. I went to my knees and just stared at the light. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, and as I turned I saw the sweat on the faces of the men behind me, gleaming in the bright light.

Here we were in the middle of a mine field in Vietnam at l0 o'clock at night, and I literally felt naked as if I had been caught naked in the street. But I also began to breathe again as the bright light of the flare suddenly subsided. I became conscious of my own breathing and I took several deep breaths. I wondered how many VC had seen us standing out there in the mine field with our asses hanging out. I was sure that every VC within a hundred miles had seen us and were laughing at us right now. "Stupid Americans can't even get through their own mine field without setting off their own trip flares. Well shit, let's go ambush them now."

COACHES WHO SIGNED UP FOR THE BLACK LION AWARD : WHEN YOUR SEASON IS OVER AND YOU HAVE SELECTED YOUR BLACK LION (ONE PLAYER PER TEAM) PLEASE E-MAIL YOUR LETTER OF NOMINATION (explaining why you believe your nominee represents the spirit of the award - leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice, and an unselfish devotion to the team) to: coachyatt@aol.com.

AFTER YOUR LETTER OF NOMINATION IS RECEIVED, YOUR AWARD CERTIFICATE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR ADDRESS. THE CERTIFICATE WILL BE MAILED TO YOU, AND NOT TO YOUR PLAYER.

BE SURE TO ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR MAILING. THERE IS NOT MONEY IN THE PROGRAM'S BUDGET TO OVERNIGHT AWARDS.

CERTIFICATES WILL BE READY FOR MAILING SOME TIME IN MID-NOVEMBER.

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED THIS YEAR)
 
 

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 

BE INFORMED! HOT WEATHER FOOTBALL TIPS

(THERE IS PLENTY MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE WEB IF YOU DO A SEARCH ON "HEAT STROKE")

 
October 18- "On a day when acts of heroism were the rule, rather than the exception, his stood out." Dave Berry, on the bravery of Don Holleder
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY:

Joe Foss was a World War II Marine flying ace and a winner of the Medal of Honor (seen around his neck in the photo at far left). He served as Governor of South Dakota for two terms, and as President of the National Rifle Association. He has been active with Campus Crusade for Christ. He was the first Commissioner of the American Football League, (succeeded by Al Davis).

 

Correctly identifying Joe Foss: Kevin McCullough - Culver, Indiana... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... Scott Russell- Potomac Falls, Virginia... Dave Potter- Durham, North Carolina... Joe Daniels- Sacramento... Mark Kaczmarek- Davenport, Iowa... Mike Framke, Green Bay, Wisconsin ("What a tough S.O.B.!!!")... Steve Fangman- St. Charles, Missouri... David Crump- Owensboro, Kentucky ("a true American hero in any category that one can name.")... Greg Stout- Thompson's Station, Tennessee... John Muckian- Lynn, Massachusetts... Jack Tourtillotte- Boothbay Harbor, Maine... Mike O'Donnell - Pine City, Minnesota... John Zeller, Sears, Michigan... Steve Staker- Fredericksburg, Iowa...

HONORING MAJOR DON HOLLEDER AND THE BRAVE MEN WHO DIED WITH HIM IN VIETNAM, ON THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF ONG THANH - OCTOBER 17, 1967

Yesterday, October 17, 2002, marked the 35th anniversary of the Battle of Ong Thanh in Viet Nam, in which numerous American soldiers, members of the storied Black Lions, lost their lives in an ambush. Among those killed was former Army All-American football player Don Holleder, shot by a sniper while charging into the jungle to rescue wounded comrades.

The photo on the upper left shows Don Holleder as a West Point cadet. It's from the Yale-Army game program November 5, 1955, his senior year. In the 1955 team photo on the right, Don Holleder is seated in the front row between teammate Don Satterfield and captain Pat Uebel. (He wears the number 16 which he was given his senior year, after agreeing to switch to quarterback from tight end/defensive end, where he had been an All-American as a junior.)

The photo at the bottom is of Major Don Holleder's name on "The Wall" - the Vietnam Memorial, surrounded by the names of the men he died with that day.

Anyone who coaches and plays the game of football should hear - and pass on to others - the story of Don Holleder and what he did for the sake of his team and, later, his comrades in arms. He should stand as a symbol to young men everywhere of the unselfishness and devotion to duty that characterizes a truly great football player and a truly great American.

I urge you to read about him. (READ ABOUT DON HOLLEDER) If you already have, read it again! You'll feel better about your country and about the game that you coach. And you'll realize that what you do as a coach is important.

America needs more men like Don Holleder. As you coach young American men, help keep his memory and his spirit alive by instituting the Black Lion Award on your team. In the memory of Don Holleder and the men of the Black Lions who died with him on October 17, 1967 - 35 years ago - the Black Lion Award was established in 2001, the 100th anniv ersary of the formation of the 28th Infantry - the fabled Black Lions of Cantigny. It is meant to honor young football players nationwide who have displayed the character of a Don Holleder. It is given and funded by the 28th Infantry Association and its individual members.

If you didn't sign up for the Black Lion Award this year, make sure you sign up next year. I can't imagine why anyone who leads young men wouldn't.

BLACK LIONS COACHES - when your season ends, be sure to (1) SELECT YOUR AWARD WINNER, and (2) SEND ME AN E-MAIL NOMINATING HIM and (3) SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS, WHERE WE WILL MAIL THE CERTIFICATE - Letters of nomination may be posted on this site along with the recipient's name, and will be shared with Don Holleder's former comrades and his family. Major Holleder's former wife wrote to tell me that his family would be thrilled to learn of this "living tribute to his memory."

*********** John Lambert, head coach at La Center, Washington, and his wife, Kerry Lynn, are the proud parents of twins. Little Thomas and Mary Lambert joined older sister Jane last Thursday, and Dad celebrated by going out and turning the Double-Wing loose on neighboring Woodland. The 31-8 La Center win was its first over Woodland in 40 years.

*********** Australian Rules football player Jason McCartney's condition is critical, with burns to more than 50 per cent of his body. The Kangaroos defender's condition deteriorated overnight, a spokeswoman for a Melbourne hospital said.

My son lives in Australia and my daughter-in-law is Australian, and I am enraged by the vicious attack on the Balinese nightclubs which killed, maimed and burned so many innocent people, the greatest number of them Australians.

Bali is to Australians as Hawaii or Jamaica or Baja California are to Americans - an exotic, tropical place where you go to get away along with lots of others just like you who have the same idea. It is traditional for sports teams and their closest followers to take end-of-season trips together, and Bali is a favorite destination. The bastards who carried out the bombing aimed it at Australians, and more than likely knew that rugby and Aussie rules players would be visiting.

It is fair to say that the bombing is Australia's 9-11. True, it is on a lesser scale, but Australia is a smaller country, and not used to being a target. It has had an unbelievable effect on Australia, whose people consider themselves far removed from the center of world affairs - for better or worse - and could fairly be summarized as easy-going. But now, the peace of a peace-loving people has been shattered.

Which leads up to a question. We hear constantly about how important "world opinion" is, and how our popularity is way down among our so-called "allies." France, where tens of thousands of American soldiers are buried after giving their lives to liberate the sorry French from the Nazis, buys oil from Saddam Hussein and so has no interest in helping us; Germany, which after starting World War II and causing all those American deaths was rebuilt and shielded from Russia with American taxpayers' dollars, thinks it is clever to ridicule our President. Canada, our close neighbor to the north, prefers to play neutral, perhaps in hopes that the terrorists living there will leave it alone and move on to the United States.

That leaves, basically, the U.K. and Australia. Yes, the Aussies have stuck by us. The attack in Bali was largely motivated by Australia's involvement as a "Crusader" (as Osama bin Laden puts it) in its involvement in East Timor, but there is no question that a secondary reason was Australia's support of the United States, including the sending of a force to Afghanistan.

It is all over the Australian newspapers. Still. But here, I peruse the newspapers, and find nothing. I find an article here and there about Indonesia finally waking up to the fact that it may, indeed, harbor terrorists, as we've been insisting, but where is the sense of indignation that a true friend has been violated?

Where are the stories in our papers about the enormous effect this had on our friends?

I'm told that at last year's Australian Rules Grand Final (their Super Bowl), which took place not long after 9-11, Australians waved American flags and played the Star Spangled Banner, out of respect for the thousands killed in the attack. Out of respect for America's loss. My son told me that upon learning that he was American, total strangers would say, "I'm so sorry." They cared that much.

So my question is, why don't we seem to care? Why do we seem to be ignoring one of our true friends in its time of pain? I read that a few Americans were killed in Bali, but otherwise, the victims were "mostly foreigners." Is that all? The people who have stuck by us, at great cost to their own security, are dismissed as "foreigners," and somehow unworthy of our further interest?

I wish it were in my power to apologize for our national self-obsession. I would like to say, on behalf of Americans who don't understand Australia's pain because we are at the mercy of what our media choose to feed us, I'm so sorry.

*********** Coach, It's a stormy afternoon today (Wednesday), no practice, so I took the older kids to our community center to show them some of last week's game film and go over a few things.

After 30 minutes the kids get too antsy so I switched to Dynamics IV. I showed them the power plays and the B back plays. Then I went to the Stack plays. They enjoy running Tight Stack 88 S.P. and I told them we are going to start on Tight Stack 3 trap 2 and Tight Stack 22 wedge.

When it was time to go home and parents were popping their heads in I told kids they could leave. Not one player would go and I had to play more of Dynamics IV. When I finally shut the tape off the kids all began applauding. It was amazing. They love the offense and you should know the impact it had. Thanks, Dave Marcotte, Seabrook, New Hampshire

*********** I made a huge mistake. I said that De La Salle, of Concord, California, has a 144-game win streak going. That is incorrect. De La Salle has only won 130 straight. At the rate they're going, it'll take them another year to get to 144. I think I'll leave my original sentence the way I wrote it, because I have a feeling that in another 14 games, it'll be correct. De La Salle hasn't lost a game in over 10 years.

*********** My friend Jack Reed, who's written a book about clock management, probably didn't get the Oregon State-Arizona State game last Saturday night. It's just as well. He'd have had a brain hemorrhage watching the way the Beavers butchered the job of managing the final seconds.

Down 13-9, the Beavers were driving, with under two minutes to play. And then a receiver caught the ball a yard inbounds, and evidently thinking he was Bronko Nagurski, tried running over three defenders instead of ducking out of bounds. He should have been instructed to get out of bounds, but instead was tackled inbounds, and time out had to be called to stop the clock.

The Beavs worked their way to the Arizona State 15 with 55 seconds to play, where they called their last time out. On second and goal, Quarterback Derek Anderson threw incomplete, stopping the clock. On third and goal, Anderson, who should have been instructed not to take a sack, tried to escape the rush - by running to his left. Anderson, who is 6-6 and not the most nimble QB you've ever seen and, like most right-handers doesn't throw well when he's running for his life to the left, took a sack, a 19-yard loss all the way back to the 34. With approximately 40 seconds showing, Anderson went over to the sideline where he and coach Dennis Erickson talked. And talked. And talked.

"The clock's running," my wife said, as if she were the only person who knew.

"Hey," I told her. "Erickson knows what the hell he's doing."

I mean, like Erickson - or one of the nine assistant coaches on his staff, plus assorted graduate assistants, trainers, managers, players and sideline hangers-on - couldn't see that the clock was running.

But the clock continued to run as they chatted, and as Anderson sauntered out onto the field. And it continued to run as he lined up in shotgun formation. And as Anderson shouted something to his center, the Beavers, like a fighter who takes the count while sitting on the stool in his corner, ran out of time.

Erickson didn't help matters any when he talked to the papers afterward. "I don't know if Derek was confused or making a read or what." he said. "We should have been on the ball right away, and there is no excuse for what happened."

Now, I do agree with Coach Erickson on the last point. There is no excuse for what happened. But it sure sounded as if he was pinning it on the kid.

And doggone if I wasn't down at our hardware store on Sunday and a couple of the guys at the counter ahead of me were talking about the Beavers' loss, and blaming it on the quarterback. Not exactly a shrinking violet, I chipped in with, "That's on the coach all the way. Time management is the responsibility of the coach."

They looked at me as if to say, "who the hell are you?" and turned and walked out the door, shaking their heads and saying, "yeah, right."

*********** In the war between the America that once was and the America the libs would like it to be, I live behind enemy lines, and occasionally I like to share with you some of what passes for thinking here in the People's Republic of the Northwest. A guy wrote in to the Vancouver, Washington paper telling about a recent "candidates forum" he'd attended, where he put a question to a candidate for the state legislature: "I understand that you are not in favor of choice. In your term as a state legislator, you have voted against a woman's right to choice, voted against allowing the taxpayers to approve gasoline taxes, blah, blah, blah...Why is it that you are so against people being allowed to choose?"

The guy said he was shocked at the candidate's response.

What the candidate said, in essence, was that the people voted him into office knowing full well where he stood on those issues.

(Which, last I heard, was the way it's supposed to work in those places that still have representative government.)

*********** Mike Gottfried, the last human being left on earth who thinks that the NFL's overtime system is better than the colleges' (actually, it's the high schools' overtime system, but if we let that get out, the pros would never adopt it), made a lot about how tough the college's system is on the players. I was watching Arkansas and Tennessee go into six overtimes, and the whole time Gottfried harangued us about how kids were going to get hurt and, of course, the teams would be so-o-o-o tired out that they wouldn't be worth a damn next week.

Hmmm. Maybe he's right. Let's take a look and see for ourselves.

So Tennessee travelled to face Georgia, between the hedges, and took the undefeated Bulldogs to the wire before falling, 18-13. Without their starting quarterback.

Arkansas, meanwhile, travelled to Auburn and ended the Tigers' 4-game win streak, 38-17.

*********** Kenoy Kennedy, the human dive bomber, was suspended by the NFL for one game for the brutal hit he put on Dolphins' wide receiver Chris Chambers, who was defenseless.

Here's one vote for a suspension for Kennedy's coach, Mike Shanahan (who was indignant at the time over the penalty called against Mr. Kennedy) and another for the officiating crew for not immediately ejecting Kennedy from the game.

And a third vote for a rule that in some way deals with these guys who are pinning their arms against their bodies and turning themselves into projectiles - great for hurting a receiver who doesn't know it's coming, not worth a damn as a tackle.

They are sucker-punching. They are shooting fish in a barrel.

*********** John Madden was talking about T.O. and his incessant bitching about not having enough balls thrown his way, and he said something like there being a fine line between being a real competitor and wanting to win, and being selfish.

To which I would add, there's a fine line between being able to call the game objectively, and receiving income from a video game that promotes itself by showing an animated Randy Moss - complete with antics and trash-talking.

And Coach Madden, you done crossed the line.

*********** Surprise!

The Portland Trail Blazers, who never used to have to beg people to buy tickets, have adopted a marketing campaign somewhat on the order of "An Army of One." Its theme is something like, "Selling you, one fan at a time," and it involves little episodes in which individual Trail Blazers, in disguise, pay surprise visits to peoples' houses. Once allowed in the door, they strip down to their basketball togs and do various things like jamming the ball through the chandelier, etc.

Better lock up your wives and daughters, fellas, because for some reason known only to God and the Trail Blazers, one of the guys who's going to be showing up at somebody's door is Ruben Patterson. Yes, Ruben Patterson, the sex offender. Patterson, who was "moved" out of Seattle by the Super Sonics after essentially copping a plea on a charge of forcing his kids' nanny to "pleasure" him, is required by Oregon law to register as a sex offender.

*********** There was an article in the Wall Street Journal not long ago about bank robberies. Seems they're on the increase in America. The FBI, which has plenty on its table without having to chase bank robbers all over hell's half acre, says it's the fault of the banks. The banks agree.

Huh? Yup. Banks would prefer that bank robbers come in quietly and take the money with a minimum of fuss and leave quickly, before anyone gets hurt. It's true. They don't want armed security guards, and they don't want shootouts, because a customer's liable to get hurt, and then they'll get sued and it'll really cost them money.

So the banks' dirty secret is that they are willing to tolerate a bank heist here, and holdup there. I mean, they won't rob all of our branches every day, will they? Bank robberies are being looked at as just another cost of doing business.

Which got me thinking about passing teams. You ever notice how those guys hold?

It's not necessarily being taught, although I have heard stories from more than one coach about a**hole opponents who teach their kids illegal tactics and brag about it by saying "it isn't holding if you don't get caught."

But where it's not being taught, it's being condoned, and not corrected. I guess the idea is that officials wouldn't dare make a travesty of the game by calling holding on every play, so if we can get away with it, an occasional penalty is the price we pay for giving our quarterback the protection he has to have if we're going to have a passing game.

Like bank robberies, it's just another cost of doing business.

*********** Because there is the possibility that the Washington, D.C. sniper may be using a white van or truck of some sort, police have been paying special attention to white vans and trucks, pulling them over and checking out the drivers.

Now those guys in white vans know what it's like to be young, and male, and Middle-Eastern and Muslim - to have strangers look at them with suspicion; to be pulled over merely because of the way they look...

Hey! Wait a minute! That's profiling! What right do they have to single out white vans? Where is the ACLU?

Time to bring in Norman Mineta, Secretary of Transportation. He's the guy responsible for our airport security system. His family was interned during World War II, and he's dedicated to make sure there's no discrimination going on in our search for terrorists in airports. He'll know what to do.

Put him in charge and in very short order, he'll have the police pulling over blue Buick Regals and black Honda Gold Wings, as white vans go whizzing by.

(All in the interest of fairness and non-discrimination, you understand. That's much more important than our safety or our national security.)

*********** If you want to find out how many stupid people there are in this world, try doing something that is totally different from anything they've ever seen before. Especially if it challenges their very core beliefs.

The stupidity and rejection we face is not even close to what Galileo, Robert Fulton, Billy Mitchell and God knows how many others have faced.

Not to mention the Lord Jesus Christ.

*********** I can't believe Terrell Owens copied my practice of carrying a pen in his sock. I do it here at work too. When I send out a disk to get printed I pull out my Sharpie and autograph it. Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin (Collector's Edition Double-Wing tapes will go on sale November 1, in time for the Christmas rush. Personally autographed by Coach Wyatt, they will sell for just $20 above listed price. Coach Wyatt will also carry a Sharpie in his socks to all clinics, and will personally autograph 8 x 10 glossies of himself - suitable for framing - which will be on sale in the back of the room as you leave. HW)

*********** I have heard people say that the NFL, for various reasons, has a new class of fan (if you can use the word class in any way to describe these people).

More and more, they are the losers in the Coors Light commercials.

They go to the game for the same reason they go to a concert. They don't go to be spectators; they go to be participants - to be part of the show. That requires getting drunk and rowdy, painting themselves and carrying signs (you ever sit behind one?), and hollering vulgarities to the point where they drive old-style fans away.

There is so much non-football time that management stimulates them non-stop with loud, piped-in music between plays and "cheerleaders" on the Jumbotron screen.

These guys have sunk a lot of money into tickets (basically, they have been gouged) and they are going to get their money's worth. Like most young people, they have Texas-sized senses of entitlement, which confers on them the right to be boorish, even if it means throwing beer bottles or booing Tom Couch.

I hate to admit it, but these a**holes probably think Terrell Owens is cool..

*********** Great story on the team from Alabama. Amazing!!!! Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho

*********** Hey Hugh, Haven't spoken to you in a while. Just thought I would update you on our season. I'm coaching the Midget team this year, 13,14, 15 yr olds. We are 7-0 and have our last regular season game this weekend against another 7-0 team that has not been scored upon yet. Should be a good one.

My old team the jr midgets are 6-0-1. Their only tie was a 24-24 game in which neither team could stop the other one.

Our Pee Wee team is 5-2 and our Jr pee wee team is 6-1. All the Chariho Cowboys teams are running the DW.

I took a job as head Coach of a HS Freshmen team this year also. I stick with the Varsity offense (Wing T). But I did throw in Tight 2 wedge. The team loves it. We were down 28-22 with 2 minutes remaining last week and had a 4th down and 2 from our own 28 yard line, so I called out to run wedge and call a time out. Wouldn't you know it the fullback broke out of the wedge after picking up between 3 and 4 yards and went the distance to tie the game! We did run in the conversion and win the game. Gotta love it.

Hope all is well with you Coach, Ken Brierly, Carolina, Rhode Island (Ken's kids two years ago won the New England championship and made it to the National Pop Warner semifinals at Disney World. HW)

*********** Coach Joe Daniels, of Sacramento, who I swear is not on my payroll and is not related to me, sent this to the folks at ESPN:

Your announcers need to go back and LEARN what a GOOD and PROPER tackle is. Any tackle where a player leads head first and head down is not only bad technique but dangerous and possibly lethal...when your announcers gush how great these tackles are, young viewers get the wrong idea and emulate. If you need to know what a proper tackle is , I suggest the following source www.coachwyatt.com. Buy the video and have ALL of your announcers and reporters watch. There's nothing worse than hearing former players tell that a crappy dangerous tackle is great.

*********** Hi Coach, Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. Thanks for the play and the no huddle information. I am at --------- Middle School and am the Middle School Head Football Coach. I am running the high school coach's offense but couldn't resist putting in the wedge before our third game. After the game (our first win of the year and the school's first since 2000) our starting fullback's postgame comment about the wedge was "Coach, two wedge rocks!" NAME WITHHELD

*********** Glad you got the Packers/Patriots lateral blunder in. I was stunned that not one person did anything for so long. in HS and college they'll pick up it whenever it's close. NFL Mental Midgets. It was an impressive win for the Pack though because they are decimated by injuries. Plus, the TV talking heads didn't make mention of it, the Packers starting center, Mike Flannigan switched to LT after the starter went down in the first quarter. Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin

the Coach's wife's card... Cut it out ... Don't let her leave home without it

HOW LUCKY FOR US THAT YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT FOOTBALL! IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE COACHING STAFF CAN USE YOUR HELP! BE AT PRACTICE MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH YOUR OFFENSE AND YOUR DEFENSE AND A PRACTICE PLAN, AND THE TEAM WILL BE YOURS FOR TWO HOURS! (REMEMBER TO BRING ASSISTANTS.) IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR HOME PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN GIVE IT OUT TO FANS AND PARENTS

*********** Not to compare the most vicious attack on American soil with something as trivial as sports, but a year after 9-11, New York sports fans are suffering. Their teams have let them down, big time.

"I'm not that old, but it's never been as bad as this," a 22-year-old truck driver told the New York Times. "The Mets stink, the Yankees stink, the Knicks stink &emdash; well, the season hasn't started yet, but they're already stinking. And the Jets &emdash; geez, they're terrible. It seems like all of the New York teams have lost their heart."

He didn't mention the Giants, an uninspiring 3-3. Or the Rangers and Islanders, both off to bad starts.

Oh well - you can always drive over the Jersey and watch the Nets.

*********** Coach Wyatt, I had a great time watching the Air Force dismantle BYU. On Saturday, I was indulging myself in college football (something I rarely get to do because not only do we usually play on Saturdays, I'm also scouting future opponents or watching our game tape).

But we were rained out on Saturday, so I turned to the TV to get my football fix. By the time the AF/BYU game came on Saturday night (10pm EST), my girlfriend Deirdre had pretty much grown weary of the whole thing. "Another game? Do we have to watch this one, too?" I explained to her why THIS matchup (AF/BYU) was so interesting (passing team vs. rushing team) and how AF's ground game was so great, what a tremendous job Fisher DeBerry has done there, etc. Even though the game wasn't even close, she was transfixed by the way The Force ran all over BYU. She was really into it! She said she'd never seen a college team be able to run the ball continuously and not be stopped. I explained how effective a "contrarian" offense can be, when defenses aren't used to stopping a rarely-seen offense. As I said, she found the game a lot of fun to watch (as did I). How many 52-9 games can you say that about? Dave Potter, Durham, North Carolina (Hey- I like Tyrone Willingham, but I sure would like to show all those spread-it-out-and-open-it-up guys out there that there are other ways to win football games, and and Air Force win over Notre Dame might convince one or two of them. HW)

*********** I had a first this weekend. The team that we were playing had their DLine playing a good yard off of the LOS. I called Tight 2 Wedge and Tight RIP 5X like 8 straight times. The parents on the other team starting chanting "Boring, Boring, Boring." On the 8th or 9th play we scored on a 12 yard run. Needless to say the chants stopped. The next time we had the ball we ran Tight RIP 88 SP for a 40 yard gain. Didn't hear much from them the rest of the day. Rich Gray, Colorado Springs, Colorado (Like it's your job to entertain the opposing team's fans. They want entertainment? Let them go home and watch "Friends." HW)

*********** My son, Ed, has the great job of hosting a weekly NFL Highlights show - on Australia's SBS network, so he gets to see a fair share of what;s going on over here. (This year, for the first time, he even gets to see one college game every week). He writes, "I think I've been underappreciative of how good Brett Favre really is. After watching him closely this year, I think he's really something special. Competitive, quick release, tough, good arm, good leader. Nothing new really, I just think I was such a fan of Elway's that I never gave Favre his 'props.'"

My response: I am beginning to think that Brett Favre in many ways is the reincarnation of John Unitas. They both came into the pros as unheralded, working-class kids, from southern schools that don't always get the respect they deserve.

Like Unitas, Favre is tough, he loves to compete, he has the total respect of his teammates, he wins, he's not into stats, he is in control of the team and he's smart enough to call his own plays.

Like Unitas, Favre doesn't take himself too seriously. Like Unitas, he seems to be playing because he loves the game, not because he is after money or fame and glory. Like Unitas, he can shake off the bad play and not let it affect him, and he can put winning and losing into perspective.

And this is important - after Mike Holmgren left for Seattle and Favre went into a mild slump, some people said that was because Holmgren had made him what he was and Favre was lost without his mentor. But interestingly, it is Holmgren who has suffered most from the breakup. Favre, meanwhile, has reached the point where coaching seems immaterial to him, as it became with Unitas. Like Unitas, he has become a coach on the field, quite an accomplishment in these days when coaches are such control freaks that some quarterbacks are operated like little radio-controlled airplanes.

In fact, the more I think about it, the eerier the comparison gets. I think, without realizing it, I have become a major Brett Favre fan.

*********** You think you ain't being watched?

I came across an interview in Texas Monthly Magazine (thanks to Scott Barnes for putting me onto it) with a quarterback from Lufkin, Texas who is now a frosh at A & M. I guess he was very heavily recruited, and they asked him if he had considered going to Texas.

Without hesitation, the kid said, no - not after the way they treated Major Applewhite.

*********** My starting C Back fumbled the first 2 times he carried the ball in the 1st quarter. He spent the rest of the half next to me on the sidelines...good kid, just needed to learn that it was not HIS ball, it was the TEAM'S, and he apologized to me and to them...would bet it won't happen again! NAME WITHHELD (This is what I mean by establishing a "zero tolerance for fumbles" policy on your team. If instead you make excuses or accept excuses, you will keep getting fumbles, and you will probably blame your losses on bad breaks.)

*********** You guys who've attended my clinics and my references to giving our offense a fancy name will understand the meaning of the following:

"Several people have come to me and said, what a difference this O is this year, now that we are spreading it out and running the 'West Coast Multiple Wing.' My Mom used to say, 'Ignorance is bliss'". Frank Simonsen, Cape May, New Jersey

*********** Coach Wyatt, I had an interesting conversation with a staff member who has a son at one of our local high schools. She lamented what a poor decision the head coach made in the previous game. With 2:30 minutes remaining the coach decided to go for it on 4th down at the opponents 5 yard line. They needed 1 yard for a first. The score at the time was 14-13. They didn't make a 1st and this person suggested that a field goal would have been the wise choice. I laughed and said if they had made the 1st down and then scored a td we wouldn't be having the conversation. A few days later my own team faced almost the exact situation. The score was 0-0 late in the game and a field goal would have given us the lead. Instead we went for the first down. We made it and scored. No one ever questioned me about why we went for it. Some times the players must take it upon themselves to win games with a defensive stop or play to keep a drive alive. I try never to second guess myself. In the course of a season there are probably some calls you wish you had't made, but that's the way it goes. When you are way ahead no one seems to care. Dan King, Evans Georgia (If it works, you're a genius. If it doesn't you're a fool. I personally think that it's sort of a copout to go for the field goal, because if it misses, the coach can always blame the kicker. Or the holder. Or the snapper. Or the kid who missed his block. HW)

*********** I really like Joe Paterno. I've always considered him one of my coaching role models. But I think he's going a bit too far this time. He already got a Big Ten officiating crew fired, and now he's crying about calls in the Michigan game. Funny, in his book he said that things like that were part of the game. John Zeller, Sears, Michigan  (I don't know what's gotten into him, but I do know that by all accounts, he's once again the Joe who used to win all the time, instead of the kinder, gentler Joe he'd begun allowing himself to be over the last few years. I don't think it was a good idea to chase the officials after the Iowa game, but I don't like to watch officials screw up a game and then race off the field as if they're leaving the scene of an accident before the police arrive. The blown sideline call against Penn State in the Michigan game makes me agree with coach Paterno and Joe Tiller of Purdue that with everything that's at stake, officials to have to be held more accountable, and that it's time for instant replay. HW)

*********** I used to work on the eastern edge of Baltimore, in a neighborhood called Highlandtown ("Hollandtown" in Baltimorese). Between us and downtown lay East Baltimore. East Baltimore 35 years ago was not what you would call a resort. East Baltimore was classic ghetto. It was rough then, and it's rough now.

How rough? How about killing a mother and her five kids as they lay asleep, because she had the audacity to try to chase drug dealers away from the street corner in front of her house?

They said they'd get her. "They said stuff like if she ever came out on the streets they were going to kill her," a nearby resident said.

They'd tried to get her once before. That was a couple of weeks ago, when somebody threw two molotov cocktails through their front window. The woman's husband managed to put that fire out.

This time, though, they didn't fail. They set fire to the house and got six people - all but the woman's husband, who is burned critically.

In one of those statements that make you wonder if you're living on the same planet as some of these guys, a Baltimore fire department spokesman said, "Arson is something we're looking at."

*********** So starved have Detroit fans been for even the faintest glimmer of hope from their Lions that Joey Harrington has really got them juiced. It's not that he has single-handedly turned anything around - it's just that since he became the starter a few weeks ago the fans - and the players themselves - suddenly seem to think that at least they have a chance.

How big is this? At the "Roar and More shop" in Ford Field, they sold 650 Harrington Number 3 were during the Lions-Saints game, his first start..

Mike O'Hara, in the Detroit News, wrote about the demands on Harrington's time. Everybody wants a piece of him. But Joey Harrington has his feet on the ground. Knowing the kind of people he comes from, that's the way it's going to stay.

A PR assistant in the Lions' front office told O'Hara that the team gets five to 10 calls a day from people asking for Harrington's time, or his endorsement of their product.

O'Hara writes, "He can have a spa, a pool table, a big-screen television or other items for free. All he needs is to endorse the product. Harrington has passed on all of them."

Says O'Hara, "He doesn't want his personal life to become a walking chain of testimonials for where he eats, sleeps and gets his hair cut. In fact, he picked out a nondescript barbershop. He does not have his picture on the wall.

"'I don't want to be the spokesman for everything," Harrington said. "When I walk into the barbershop, I don't want it to be, I cut Joey Harrington's hair.' I want it to be, 'Hey, Joey, good to see you.'"

*********** Wouldn't you find it hard to believe that a loser of an ex-coach, who only got his job because no one better applied, who once in the job proved himself to be pathetically incompetent to the point where he was finally run out of town, would now be the biggest and loudest critic of the present coach? So why is anybody listening to Jimmy Carter?

*********** You said the reason you went to the SW for a game was to take advantage of a new rule that protects your center on a kicking play, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE RULE? Because I ran a DW formation with the QB 7 yards deep on a 2nd and 4 play this weekend, I was throwing my "one pass a game play" and my center just got creamed, I chewed the ref, but he said I was mistaken, He stated that that rule ONLY APPLIES TO A KICKING DOWN AND A KICKING FORMATION. I told him I thought every down was a kicking down if I wanted to punt!!!! But he said I was wrong and to stop talking about it!!!! Anyhow, how exactly is the rule stated????

Rule 2-14-2 - "A scrimmage kick formation is a formation with at least one player 7 yards or more behind the neutral zone and in position to receive the long snap. No player may be in a position to receive a hand-to-hand snap from between the snapper's legs."

Rule 2-30-14 - "In a scrimmage kick formation, the snapper remains a snapper until he has had a reasonable opportunity to regain his balance and protect himself or until he blocks or moves to otherwise participate in the play."

Nowhere does it say anything about a "kicking down" or "kicking situation."

*********** Hugh, I was reading the paper last night and I saw that an article stated that some newspapers in the country now are announcing same-sex commitments or marriages or something like that. Is the ultra conservative Oregonian doing this? Of course I say this sarcastically. Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho

The New York Times started doing this a few weeks ago. Actually, many papers all over the US are doing it. Their point is that all they are doing is announcing something that is a fact, not taking a position on it either way.

My position is that it puts a homosexual relationship on the same footing as a lawful marriage.

*********** Coach Wyatt, I was watching the Fox Northwest Sports Report last Sunday and it showed a top-five football hit 'highlights' package from last weekend's games with Van Earl Wrong (I mean, Wright) commenting. Included were a couple NFL spearing plays in which Wright said, "That's football," in an allegedly somber tone. He never criticized the players' method of 'tackling'. If I was photogenic enough to be on TV, I would have said this following the spearing lowlights: "There's a warning label that's on every helmet. Please read it. It tells you what you shouldn't do with the helmet while playing. Showing this top five list of hits is pure garbage." Likely, I would have been looking for a new job the following day.

 
In 1995, there was an Idaho high school football playoff doubleheader in Moscow, Idaho. Jim Upshaw (my play-by-play broadcast partner) and I would air the second game on radio. While preparing for that game, there was a spearing foul called on one of the teams during the first game. I told Upshaw, "Holy s---, a ref had enough balls to call a spearing penalty?" I should have given that official a game ball for calling that foul. Unfortunately, spearing is prevalent in all levels of football, not just the NFL. David Maley, Rosalia, Washington (I can't remember the last time I saw a spearing call. It seems to be like the death penalty - it is supposed to be a deterrent, but nobody's willing to use it to find out if it really is. HW)

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt (If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

The Division had a standing SOP that each battalion would send out three ambush patrols per night, one from each rifle company. I told the CO, "Sir, I don't think we should do that tonight. The men have had no time to prepare, no rest, and we don't really have any intelligence. Also, I've been told there are old, unmarked French mine fields out around here. I don't think we should do it."

He said, "What makes you think you have the authority to change the Division SOP? If the General were to come in here tonight or tomorrow morning and ask me about our ambush patrols what would I tell him? I want three ambush patrols out tonight."

I then said, "Sir, that is absolutely crazy. The Division SOP is not a replacement for common sense. Putting ambush patrols out here under the circumstances doesn't make any sense!"

He said, "Godammit, 3, are you going to do what I tell you or not? Everytime I tell you something you have a better idea. Now execute my orders."

"Yes, sir!" I was furious, literally in a rage. I went to each rifle company commander and told them to have an ambush patrol ready to go out in one hour. Each one in turn told me I was crazy, and I in turn hammered each one of them, basically with "Shut up and do it."

I then went and found the sergeant who had shown me around the positions earlier. I asked him, "Do you know how to get out through the barbed wire around the perimeter? We have three ambush patrols that have to go out."

"What?" he said. "Sir, are you crazy? You can't send ambush patrols out through here tonite."

I said, "Look sergeant, I don't need advice. What I need is someone to show me a way out through the wire. Can you help me?"

He said, "I've never been out through there but there is a path. I'll try."

I said, "Great, meet me here at 2145 and we'll give it a shot."

At 2145 the three ambush patrols, one from each company, five men each with a sergeant in charge, were standing by waiting for instructions. They were loaded down with claymores, ammo, grenades, and one machine gun per patrol. I showed each patrol leader where I wanted his patrol located. They had to be far enough apart so they wouldn't come in conflict with each other in the event that the ambushes were sprung.

Actually, I thought ambush patrols by SOP were a good idea. They added security, kept the enemy off balance, and give us some of the initiative. Properly rested and prepared they were an excellent tactical tool. But not this deal tonite. It made me so mad I couldn't think straight myself, and the patrol leaders just weren't mentally ready to do the job. I told them I would lead them out through the wire.

I didn't tell them that I had no idea how to get out myself. I introduced them to the sergeant, adding that the sergeant knew the area (which he did not). We moved out between the bunker line. There was some ambient light, enough to silhouette the bunker line to our rear and the pickets holding the barbed wire to our front. When we reached the wire I was ready to go into shock. It was covered with KUDZU and other green vines.

The sergeant whispered to me that he had found the path. I moved to his position and he pointed to two pickets. "I think that's the way out. Just follow this line of pickets and I think that's the safe lane."

I turned to the lead patrol leader and told him, "Pass it on- move slow, quiet, single file. When we get through the wire I'll count each patrol off. Follow me."

I started to move slowly down through the line of pickets with 15 men behind me. I was scared to death. I had always tried to picture myself as a heroic figure. Now I was there, and I didn't feel heroic. Every small sound was intensified 100 times. My throat and mouth were so dry I couldn't swallow, and every muscle in my body was tense. I was like a slowly moving, coiled spring. It seemed that we were about halfway through the wire (that is I was about halfway through) and the last man was just entering the wire. As I moved my leg forward I felt what seemed to be a trip wire. POP! an explosive sound, and a cry rushed from my dry throat "AWWW!"

Every man went down in unison. I knew I was dead. Suddenly, a bright light flashed out in the wire, blinding us. A familiar sight - I had popped a trip flare intended to give warning in case the enemy tried to come up through the safe lane. I went to my knees and just stared at the light. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, and as I turned I saw the sweat on the faces of the men behind me, gleaming in the bright light.

Here we were in the middle of a mine field in Vietnam at l0 o'clock at night, and I literally felt naked as if I had been caught naked in the street. But I also began to breathe again as the bright light of the flare suddenly subsided. I became conscious of my own breathing and I took several deep breaths. I wondered how many VC had seen us standing out there in the mine field with our asses hanging out. I was sure that every VC within a hundred miles had seen us and were laughing at us right now. "Stupid Americans can't even get through their own mine field without setting off their own trip flares. Well shit, let's go ambush them now."

 

*********** Last year, several coaches were able to contact Black Lions vets living near them to present the Black Lion Award at their team's banquet. Some invited them to attend a game, and still others asked them to say a few words to their kids. One coach even invited a Black Lion to talk to his classes about Vietnam.

TIME'S RUNNING SHORT... Thanks to the efforts of some great people, the Black Lion Award was established last year. I can't imagine why a coach wouldn't want his kids to be trying to win the Black Lion Award. It's not too late to sign up for this year. E-mail me now.

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

Now, thanks to Ed Burke, executive director of the 28th Infantry Association, I have a state-by-state list of Vietnam-era Black Lions., and if you contact me, I will be happy to give you the names of some of these brave men who live near you.

***********Cave Spring Stampede 37-0 over Cave Spring Crusaders.Highlight of the day for me was seeing last years Black Lion Award winner with it on his right shoulder.Also we ran the wedge for 4 minutes,and 26 seconds.Couple of first downs and almost had ball the entire 4th quarter. Armando Castro- Roanoke, Virginia

Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED SO FAR - 34 STATES ARE REPRESENTED - IS YOURS?
 

*********** At the Parents' meeting, I explained that I do not give out individual awards (like stars on the helmets and such), but that I do give one award, and explained the Black Lion award. P.P.S. Know of any Black Lions around this area? Jody Hagins, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Good question - I have requested a listing of the members of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - by location. If I am successful, I should be able to furnish you names of men to contact to help present your award. HW)

*********** Hugh, Sign me up. I can't believe I haven't read through this stuff yet. It sounds like a great thing to get the kids thinking right. You can use me as your contact person Thanks. Larry Harrison, Rockdale Bulldogs 135-lb. Div.1 , Conyers, Georgia  

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 
October 15 - "Virtuous motives, trammeled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness. A sincere love of peace is no excuse for muddling hundreds of millions of humble folk into total war. The cheers of the weak, well-meaning assemblies soon cease to count. Doom marches on." Winston Churchill, in his first speech as Prime Minister, 1940
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY:

World War II Marine Ace; Governor of South Dakota; President of the National Rifle Association; Active with Campus Crusade for Christ; first Commissioner of the American Football League, (succeeded by Al Davis). OH YES- Did I mention that that star hanging from the ribbon around his neck in the photo at the far left is the Medal of Honor? Now 87, he is one of only 140 or so living winners of the MOH.

TWO COACHES WEIGH IN ON THE SUBJECT OF JOE THEISMAN, TACKLING EXPERT...

*********** Hugh-   I am furious right now!  I am watching the Miami - Denver game and this a**hole Kennedy who plays for Denver just hit a receiver in the head with his helmet.  This guy was fined $10 grand a week ago for a similar offense.  The Miami receiver is out for the game.  Why the hell is Kennedy still in the game?!!!  If I was Kennedy's coach he would be, but the rules should allow the officials to throw this bastard out!  It was deliberate!  I love hard hitting physical play as you know, but this is just bullsh**! Al Andrus - Salt Lake City, Utah PS I have lost respect for Shanahan! He acted like "why the penalty?"

Couldn't agree with you more.

The worst was the way that a**hole Theisman defended him. ("That's the way he tackles," I heard him say.)

Yeah, that's the way he tackles. With his arms at his side.

I swear, the NFL is right in there with the makers of Madden 2003, Madden himself, and the Coors Brewing Company as evil influences on our kids and on our game. HW

*********** I'm currently watching the Broncos - Dolphins Sunday night game, and have to comment on the dirty shot a Broncos' d-back got away with in the first half.

If you weren't watching, a Broncos' d-back speared (contact with the top of the helmet) one of the Dolphin's receivers, Chris Chambers, who had to be helped from the field, and is unlikely to return tonight. My wife says she heard that the same guy, #28, had been fined $10,000 last week, for a similar hit.

The great one, Joe Theisman, explained, (I swear to God he said this) that this situation causes quite a problem for coaches. He said that while they want to make sure that they put a lick on receivers, they don't want to do this with their shoulders, because they might blow one out. Where are the lawyers (Johnnie Cochran, etc.) when they say this stuff? Don't they watch these games?

So I suppose it is better to take a chance on being paralyzed for life, or as we have discussed before, be liable for some high school kid, (that doesn't have a 22" neck, and gifted genetically, and were instructed by the idiots on tv as to the proper way to tackle) being paralyzed, because Tim Brandt, Keith Jackson, or Joe don't know any better, can't pay this much attention to small details, or frankly don't care.

I have always thought Joe, and his buddy Paul, are stupid jackasses, but this really takes the cake. If these guys are getting paid, I think I have a future in broadcasting. If anyone knows someone at ESPN tell them I am available for an audition at the end of the current high school season, and will deliver a better product for a lot less money.

Until the NFL stops this policy of small fines (try to defend these amounts in court), and starts to suspend these jerks, and their coaches, for as long as the injured player is out, the game we love is at great jeopardy, and I'm not sure that anyone could defend the current NFL policy. I can't believe anyone that experiences a serious injury, at lower levels, doesn't add the NFL to the list of plaintiffs. Maybe they already do. Tom Compton, Durant, Iowa

(Excellent point - I really do consider the NFL and its henchmen, the TV announcers who say what the NFL wants them to say if they want to keep their jobs, to be Public Enemy Number One of the rest of us who coach the game of football. It is absolutely unconscionable for the NFL to try to buff its image with all those corny United Way spots, while out on the field they're setting up younger kids - and their parents and coaches - for the heartbreak of catastrophic injury. If an NFL coach stood on the sideline and smoked, do-gooders would raise hell about the example he was setting for kids. Yet week after week, NFL "tacklers" lead with their heads, and the ignoramuses in the booth continue to say "nice tackle." And Chris Berman glorifies "Big Sticks." For all the publicity they give their charitable acts, all the good acts they do are as nothing compared to the possibility of a serious injury to just one young athlete trying to emulate the pros. HW)

*********** I love the big fuss created by the professional Italian-Americans who told Mayor Bloomberg of New York that he couldn't bring along two actors from "The Sopranos" to march with him in Monday's Columbus Day Parade.

The parade is a very big deal in New York, and evidently the parade sponsors felt that allowing actors who portray gangsters to march in it would just confirm what they think the rest of us Americans think - that all of our fellow Americans of Italian ancestry are either mobsters or mob wannabes.

I had to laugh, because not so long ago I'd read an article in the Wall Street Journal about Italian-Americans being upset about the way they're being portrayed on TV.

But not by the Sopranos. No, it was those phony Italian doofuses in the Olive Garden commercials ("when you're here, you're family") who wave their hands a lot when they talk - which is a lot - and make countless references to "family", and eat a lot and get all excited about "real Italian" meals at Olive Garden.

Yeah, real Italian. Formula meals devised in some corporate test kitchen in the Midwest, meals that at any particular moment in time are being prepared exactly the same way and served exactly the same way, in the same weighed-and-measured portions, at hundreds of Olive Gardens near malls all over America.

The commercials are full of comparisons to momma's cooking - comparisons that would enrage any self-respecting Italian mother - but the commercial that really got the writer gnashing his gnocchi was the one where some old Italian guy, making his first visit to America, is taken to dinner at the Olive Garden. That, the writer said, is something that no self-respecting Italian-American would ever do.

Like visiting Maine and going to a Red Lobster.

I do not have the fluency in Italian to say what I can imagine the old gentleman would say, upon being served one of their "real Italian" specialties, but my guess is that roughly translated, it would be something like, "what the f--k is this?"

*********** I heard a Portland radio sports guy reading the sports to us and telling us that the Dolphins won Monday night thanks to a last-second field goal by Olindo Mayor.

*********** The Twins are gone. Not the Coors Light Twins, unfortunately, but the Minnesota Twins.

*********** Randy Moss was interviewed before the game Sunday, and he cut the interviewer short by saying, "I gotta warm up with my quarterback." Did you get that? "My" quarterback? Don't you love these guys who talk about "'my' offensive linemen?"

Meantime, no need to worry about who's going to step up when Moss is ready to step aside. Here's Washington's Reggie Williams, discussing his game-winning reception against Arizona: "Big time players make big-time plays."

*********** And then there's Terrell Owens. First he bitched about only having three passes thrown to him in the first half against the Seahawks Monday night.

Then he caught a touchdown pass, and to show what a self-occupied ass he is, he bent over in the end zone, extracted a pen from inside his sock, and in full view of the crowd, autographed the ball he'd just caught. (Now, why do I think he won't be donating the ball to a kid with leukemia?)

*********** The Terrell Owens Team Player Award goes this week to wide receiver Andrae Thurman of Arizona. With the Wildcats ahead 28-26 in the fourth quarter and driving, Jason Johnson completed a pass to Bobby Wade down to the Washington 36. First down, Wildcats. But wait - what's Thurman doing over there, celebrating while standing over Husky defender Derrick Johnson, who was injured on the play? Uh-oh. The ref saw it. Fifteen yards against the Wildcats for taunting. They didn't get the first down and had to punt. The punt went into the end zone, and on the second play from the 20, the Huskies' Cody Pickett hooked up with Reggie Williams on an 80-yard pass play that won it for Washington.

*********** Few things are more devastating to a football team than a blocked punt or a kickoff return for a touchdown, which is why I think that if teams don't work on anything else in the area of special teams, they simply must be able to get off a punt and cover a kick.

Prime example - A kickoff return led to Iowa's trouncing of Michigan State. MSU put on a nice drive to take an early lead on Iowa. And then, Iowa's Jermelle Lewis returned the kickoff. 94 yards. One play. Game tied. Just like that.

And from there, it was all downhill for the Spartans.

*********** I'm not a believer in spooky things, or anything like that, but...

A couple of weeks ago, when I heard the news of Leon Hart's passing, I thought it would be a good time to make Jim Martin my "Legacy" person. After all, he'd played on the other end of the line from Hart for four years, and despite the considerable shadow cast by Leon Hart, the last lineman to win the Heisman Trophy, Jim's play didn't go unnoticed.

So I put him on my site, and it was gratifying to me, having known Jim briefly back in the mid-1970's, to see how many guys had heard of him or had taken the time to find out about him.

And so... I picked up last Friday's paper and read that Jim Martin, 78, "a former pro football player," had died last Wednesday in Corona, California. That was all it said.

*********** UCLA's Bob Toledo is one of four current Pac-10 head coaches to have served as Oregon's offensive coordinator (Arizona State's Dirk Koetter, Cal's Jeff Tedford, and Oregon's Mike Bellotti are the others), and he remembered attending the 1995 Rose Bowl, when Oregon and his old boss Rich Brooks played Penn State, and thinking, "they can't maintain this thing."

He meant that he didn't see any way that Oregon could hang in there, year after year, against the much-better-funded USC's, UCLA's and Washingtons. Yet, the Ducks have done that and more, setting the standard of play in the Pac-10 ever since.

It's due in large part to the influence of one man, Nike founder and Oregon alumnus Phil Knight. Mr. Knight has been, to put it mildly, kind to Oregon athletics.

Looking back at what's happened since the Rose Bowl, Toledo said, "It's a credit to them, and to the best owner in college football, Phil Knight."

*********** This is an amazing story.

Last Tuesday, I got a call from Barry Gibson, a high school coach in Ardmore, Alabama. It's his first year at Ardmore, and he was looking for something to get his team started.

Ardmore is in north Alabama, right on the Tennessee line, and Coach Gibson stepped into the state's longest losing streak. Despite the chronic losing, though, the town's fans continued to pack the stands on Friday night, which is one of the main things that attracted Coach Gibson, a native Mississippian, to Ardmore.

He was calling because he thought the Double-Wing concept might help his kids be competitive; he gave me a purchase order for some of my materials, and then we spoke a little over the phone, going over some of the basics.

He said he was going to run the Double-Wing this Friday night. He had Tuesday and Wednesday to put it in, and Thursday to walk though it. What the hell, I thought- nothing to lose.

Imagine my shock when I checked an Alabama Web site for HS scores Friday night and saw ARDMORE 28, WEST LIMESTONE 7. Impossible, I thought.

And then the phone rang on Sunday. It was Coach Gibson, and basically, here's the scoop:

Yes, indeed - Ardmore won. And ended a 33-game losing streak. Think of that. The last time this year's seniors last won was back in the middle of their freshman season.

Running just five plays, Ardmore had 400 yards of total offense, 384 of them on the ground. On their opening drive of the game, they went 80 yards for a score. They punted just once. Passing was effective when it had to be - 1 for 1 for 16 yards and a key first down on fourth and long.

Ahead 14-7 at the half, Ardmore came out and dominated in the second half, holding the ball for all but a minute of the third quarter, and limiting West Limestone to a total of 18 offensive plays for the entire half. Once, faced with a fourth-and-two on their own 38, they went for it and made it (trap).

"The community went crazy," Coach Gibson said. He said fans kept coming up to him, saying "What was that offense?" and "We love it!"

He said that on his Saturday morning radio call-in show (remember, this is Alabama, where football is big), one caller wanted to know, "Coach, are you gonna stay with that offense?"

"There's a lot of happy folks here," Coach Gibson told me. "The state's longest losing streak is finally over, due to the Double-Wing."

WHOA--- not so fast. There's no question that it made a difference. Maybe a big difference. As Coach Gibson said, "you gave me a hammer." But I'm here to tell you that Coach Gibson knew what to do with the hammer. The offense was a tool, and he knew how to use it.

*********** Who the hell, exactly, is Harry Belafonte, a calypso singer, to cast aspersions on Colin Powell, a great American, using analogies from slavery times to refer to him as the kind of slave who gets better treatment for himself - who gets to live in the house - by bowing and scraping for the master?

Where do Harry Belafonte and others like him get off, saying (quite rightly) on the one hand that black people can do the job if they're given the chance, and then, when a black man is appointed to the Supreme Court - the Supreme Court of the United States, for God's sake - assail him for not "being black" because he dares to disagree with them?

Isn't it racism of the worst sort to say that you aren't really black unless you go along with some stereotyped idea of what a black person should think and say? Isn't this denying a black person the fundamental right to think, to believe, to do what he thinks is best for him and his family? Is a black man on the Supreme Court supposed to take orders from Headquarters?

I wouldn't want to compare anything to the hopelessness of slavery, but isn't it a form of modern-day slavery to limit young black people to only those life choices, that conduct, approved by the Harry Belafontes? How tough is it for young people when they are constantly bombarded by the likes of Mr. Belafonte with the message that it is more important to "be black" than to think for themselves, and to be successful in a useful and productive way?

How damaging is it to young black people to suggest that if they aspire and strive to be anything other than a professional athlete or an entertainer, a community activist or a politician (Democratic, of course) they are selling out?

Don't these people think that just like Colin Powell, white people and black people alike have to do what the boss asks them to do? Would it be appropriate to condemn a white man who does what his black boss wants for not "acting white?"

Consider Tyrone Willingham, head football coach at Notre Dame. He is in the highest-profile college coaching job in America, but make no mistake, he has a boss to please. He will please his boss by winning games, and winning with honor and dignity. "Being black" is not part of his job assignment. He happens to be a black man with a job to do. Maybe some people once saw it as a white man's job. Maybe some people still do. No matter. Tyrone Willingham has the job, and he's not going to keep it by worrying about whether he's being "black enough."

I think that the vast majority of Americans - black and white - would laugh at Harry Belafonte if he were to criticize Tyrone Willingham for doing anything other than what he does best, coaching Notre Dame to victory, and showing people everywhere - black and white - that he can do his job as well as anybody in his profession.

*********** There are only four black head coaches in Division I-A, and only two of them - Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame and Bobby Williams at Michigan State - are in places where they have the things they need to win. Unfortunately, things aren't going well this year for Coach Williams and the Spartans.

But while people are looking askance at the lack of black head coaches in Division I-A, they ought to pay at least as much attention to the fact that when a black man does get the job, as often as not he's sent to the back of the bus (a reference to the days of the segregated South, when black people were required by law to sit in the rear of buses).

If you question the analogy, check out the places willing to hire a black head coach - Temple, Wake Forest, Ohio University, Oklahoma State. Stepping stones, possibly, but places where traditionally it's been hard for anybody to win. The other two current black head coaches in Division I-A are at San Jose State and New Mexico State. It has been hard to win there, too. So if Fitz Hill fails to win at San Jose State, and Tony Samuel fails to win at New Mexico State, is that it for them? Does that mean they can't coach? Does that mean they couldn't win at places where they'd have a better shot?

Seems to me that the Black Coaches' Association missed a big chance after the 1994 season when Bill McCartney resigned at Colorado and the Buffalos made what I would consider to be a "white guy" hire.

A key member of Coach McCartney's staff was a guy named Bob Simmons. A black guy. He'd paid his dues. He'd spent eight years coaching linebackers at West Virginia, and seven years at Colorado, coaching outside line backers and then the defensive line. He had the support of many of the players. But no-o-o-o-o..... instead, the Buffs hired a young, good-looking white guy who'd been on the staff exactly one year - a guy named Rick Neuheisel.

We all know what a wonderful, warm feeling the Colorado people now have when they think of Rick Neuheisel and the fact that thanks to him they're now on NCAA probation.

Bob Simmons, meanwhile, settled for next-best, and took the head coaching job at Oklahoma State. He did a good job there, nearly winning as many games as he lost. The Cowboys finished 8-4 in 1997, his third year there, and he was named Big XII Conference Coach of the Year. But as everyone else who's ever coached at OSU has learned, no matter how much success you have, it is hard to sustain it when you're facing people with the resources of Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska - to name just a few. After six seasons, Coach Simmons was gone.

(For those of you who are keeping score at home... Bob Simmons is now coaching linebackers at Notre Dame, under Tyrone Willingham.)

*********** What ever happened to good old-fashioned rage?

Chief Moose, of Montgomery County, Maryland, has been on the tube quite a bit during the sniper crisis. I know him well. Before taking over the Montgomery County job, he was Chief of Police in Portland. He still has a little of the accent of his native Mississippi, but you could tell from some of the things he said last week that his stay in pitty-patty Portland had its effect on him.

After the shooting of a school kid, he called the shooter "mean-spirited." Mean-spirited? Are you kidding me? That's the kind of sociobabble we hear when someone says "hurtful" (more sociababble) things about someone else.

And then, as if he was dealing with someone who just needed a little counseling to turn him from a life as a sniper into a more productive pursuit, he said - yes, I actually heard a police officer say this - whoever is doing this "should re-think what they're doing."

"Mean-spirited... re-think what they're doing." Has all this sensitivity training turned our police officers into social workers?

*********** If there is one thing that high schools in America are in agreement on, it is certainly not how to handle training rules violations. Scott Russell, from Potomac Falls, Virginia is a native New Jerseyite, and he sent me an article from his home in Morris County in which, based on interviews with school administrators, there are as many different policies as there are school districts.

One district kicks a kid off the team the first time he's caught using or possessing drugs, alcohol or tobacco. Another district suspends a kid from the team for 10 days for the first offense, 25 days for the second offense, and so forth.

The argument goes back and forth between zero tolerance - getting rid of the kid to show we mean business - and giving him (or her) the second chance that at some point since 1787 seems to have become a constitutional right.

And then, of course, there are those who struggle with whether the point is to punish the offender or act as if we're dealing with a hard-core addict and refer him or her to treatment, much in the same way as we send teenage speeders to traffic school. (Talk about a joke.)

And, of course, it is somehow hoped that the threat of harsh punishment will deter most kids from breaking training rules.

This whole issue has become as big as it is not only because parents are bigger jerks than they used to be, but also because coaches aren't as tough as they used to be - probably because they've gone up against too many of the jerk parents and the spineless administrators who won't stand up to them.

The problem with kicking a kid off the team is that while sometimes you're grateful for the chance to get rid of a jerk, in many cases it is better that the kid remain under a coach's control rather than to cruise the streets after school.

I always maintained that I could handle it inside the family. I believe that anything that can be accomplished by kicking a kid off the team - or referring him to treatment - can also be accomplished by bringing him in to school at 6 AM every morning for two or three weeks to run sprints.

I advocate giving the kid the choice of leaving the team or doing the work. So long as he keeps up, he can practice and play as usual. The first time he misses an "appointment" he is off the team. Simple as that. That, in effect, was his second offense.

One problem, of course, is the phonies who run the various treatment scams that these kids are referred to. My proposal would cost them business.

*********** Are you getting tired of ABC's first games on Saturday going extra-long, so that they join the game you want to see "in progress?"

*********** Had to love Keith Jackson's throwaway line when talking about Oregon's great running back, Onterrio Smith, who originally was recruited by Tennessee: "Started out at Tennessee... didn't like it there..."

Uh, Keith, I'm sure that somebody told you what happened. As most of us understand it, there was a marijuana incident of some sort that Tennessee decided it didn't want any more of. Maybe it was the mistake of an immature kid, a California street kid away from home.

Whatever - it doesn't seem fair to smirch Tennessee by stating that it was just a matter of Onterrio Smith's not liking it there.

*********** There has to be some bad blood between Oregon and UCLA, if only because Oregon's defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti once served in the same capacity for UCLA's Bob Toledo, who publicly berated him after a game in which the Bruins' defense performed poorly. Aliotti was gone after that season.

So Saturday, you had to wonder about the thinking behind UCLA's first touchdown. Operating out of a one-back set, UCLA quarterback Corey Paus leaned over to the right and cupped his hands to shout signals over the noise of the crowd... and while he was doing so, the ball was direct-snapped to the tailback, who threw for a touchdown.

*********** UCLA came across as a bunch of whiners after the loss to Oregon.

And then there was this quote by Phil Snow, Bruins' defensive coordinator:

"They won the war. I don't know if they won the battle."

Now, what the f--k do you suppose that meant?

*********** The Patriots' fans really bailed out early Sunday. Of course, the weather sucked, but so, unfortunately, did the Pats. It's easy to condemn the fans, but they paid well for their seats and they're free to do as they wish with them. In fact, as much as they paid for those seats, they no doubt felt they were entitled to a better performance than what they got on Sunday, and many of them showed their displeasure by walking out. It is a problem that NFL teams will increasingly face as their ticket prices keep skyrocketing.

*********** The NFL looks especially drab and colorless after you've watched Georgia in its bright red play Tennessee in its white-and-bright orange.

*********** Oregon's left guard had two holding calls against him in the first quarter, and trust me - he was really holding. With arms extended and hands attached to the defender's pads, he looked as if he was driving a car in a video arcade. Suggestion: make offensive linemen wear those thumbless boxing gloves.

*********** Haloti Ngata (pronounced "NAH-ta") plays on the defensive line for Oregon. He is a true freshman. He is 6-5, 330. He comes from Salt Lake City, where last year he was Utah's Gatorade Player of the Year, and he wound up at Oregon after first committing to Nebraska and then backing out, then choosing Oregon over BYU, the choice of most of his family, members of the LDS Church.

Saturday, against UCLA, was his first significant action. Whew! This kid can play! Several times he ran right over the UCLA player blocking him. At least once, I saw him split a double-team and surprise the runner with the hardest tackle he'll ever run into. And, in a game won by the Ducks by a single point, 31-30, a lot has been made about the Ducks' 59-yard field goal on the last play if the first half, and the missed Bruin field goal attempt at the end, but it is just as easy to say that the crucial winning edge was provided when the kid leaped up (we're talking 6-5, 330, remember) and blocked a PAT.

*********** Interestingly, when Oregon lined up for a 59-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, UCLA not only didn't have anyone back to return, but the Bruins didn't rush, either. As a result, a low-trajectory kick that might have otherwise been blocked made it through, and ultimately proved the difference in a 31-30 Oregon win.

*********** Pitt, down 7-6 in the fourth quarter, in a game that could go any way, forgot to protect the ball. And fumbled on their own 12. And Notre Dame punched it in. Game Over.

*********** UCLA's wide receiver Craig Bragg caught nine passes for 230 yards against Oregon. On one unforgettable play, he made a one-handed catch of a flanker screen with his right hand and went the distance. He never touched the ball with his left hand.

*********** If you happened to see Keenan Howry's punt return against UCLA on the highlights, I hope you saw the Oregon blocker flatten the UCLA punter.

*********** You notice the way The Donald (Donald Trump) holds the Big and Tasty in the McDonald's commercial? It looks as if he's never held a real, honest-to-God hamburger in his life.

*********** I'm sorry, TV guys - I have two TV's and a remote, and the instant your sideline bimbo - or bozo - starts interviewing somebody while the game is going on, I hit the "mute" button.

*********** Any clever saying, repeated long enough, becomes a cliche and deserves to be trashed. I am referring to "burning" timeouts. It's not clever any more, guys. Hasn't been for a couple of years now.

*********** If you turned off Texas Tech-Iowa State at halftime because it was 3-3 and you wanted to see some offense... final score was Iowa State 31, Texas Tech 17.

*********** A ringing endorsement of our system... USC came out against Cal in what we would call "Slot formation," and sent four receivers out. The color analyst, whose name I didn't catch, said, "You think this isn't hard to cover?" He explained how, with everybody in tight like that, the four receivers could all spray out.

*********** If there is a better high school team in America than DeLaSalle, of Concord, California, you will have to show me its 144-game win streak, which DeLaSalle has been willing to risk against all comers. This year, De La Salle has already travelled to Hawaii and beaten island power St. Louis Prep, and this past weekend, beat USA Today-ranked Long Beach Poly.

*********** Enjoy life, you Iowans. Both Iowa and Iowa State were on TV, both played at home to packed houses, and both won convincingly.

*********** Chance Harridge, Air Force QB from Bonaire, Georgia (how do they keep getting those wishbone quarterbacks out of Georgia?) ain't no hook-slider. This kid can give it to you tricky, or he can run right over you. For those of you not lucky enough to see the Air Force-BYU game Saturday night (10 PM in the East is only 7 PM out here), the Falcons killed BYU. I know it's hard to believe of a team that plays Air Force every year, but the Cougars looked as if they'd never seen a wishbone attack before. Air Force ran 79 plays and gained 386 yards. They didn't lose a fumble or an interception, and had three penalties for 30 yards.

I like Tyrone Willingham and I think this year's Notre Dame story is something special, but I have a feeling I'll be pulling for the team that proves you can win the old-fashioned way.

By the way, for those of you considering running the Air Force Wingbone... you will notice, if you watch closely, that the Falcons make extensive of the blocking below the waist - even the knees - that we are prohibited from doing.

*********** Ahead of Florida 27-6 late in the game, LSU lined up for a field goal, and then faked it, the holder going off right tackle for the killer touchdown. The LSU coaches probably thought Steve Spurrier was still coaching Florida.

*********** I heard a female sideline reporter saying that a player "had his bell rung." I'm sorry, but that's jock talk. Jocks tend to minimize injury. I don't think that people who haven't played or coached the game should engage in the jargon of the jocks. And I think we're way past the point where we should be so lightly referring to a head injury.

*********** Memo to TV directors: enough, already, with the close-ups of the punter's face. You guys ever heard of fake punts? You missed at least one on Saturday.

*********** Score from Washington Class 2A last Friday - Elma 91, Tenino 0. Halftime: Elma 71, Tenino 0

*********** Why, you witch... I saw the lovely Leslie Visser interviewing the Rams' Isaac Bruce. She asked him, "In any way, has Mike Martz lost this team?"

Now, what a hell of a question to ask a player. To Bruce's credit, he handled the question beautifully, with an emphatic "No."

And, in view of the Rams' convincing win over the previously undefeated Raiders, using a third-string quarterback, the lovely Ms. Visser looked like a damn fool. A meddling fool at that.

*********** You can say what you will, but I would call LA a football town... UCLA played Oregon in the Rose Bowl, in front of 68,882. Across town, at roughly the same time, USC played Cal in the Coliseum and drew 63,113.

*********** A lot of the NFL uniforms have been darkened to the point where they look as if they've just played a game in a downpour. The Patriots, the Seahawks, the Bills, the Patriots, the Eagles - those teams and more have been drained of color and brightness. The Raiders never did have any, but at least they're true to their silver and black.

Now, if there is an uglier college uniform than Pitt's (sorry - "Pittsburgh's") I have yet to see it. But it occurs to me that maybe they're using it as a recruiting tool - "Come to Pitt, kid, and you'll look like you're playing on an NFL team."

*********** A Double-Wing coach told me about watching another DW team whose fullback lines up rather deep. As a result, they don't have much success running Super Power, but they do have good kids and they do a good job of coaching them, and they are winning.

Needless to say, people will do things that they think they should do, and as long as it works, more power to them.

But for every coach like that, who tinkers and is successful, there is another one who doesn't know a whole lot about offensive football and doesn't have the kids, either, but thinks maybe he can help his cause by maybe moving the fullback back a little, or opening up the splits some, or not pulling linemen, etc.

And then when he has the results we all could have predicted, he tells everybody that the Double-Wing doesn't work. And the people who whipped his butt go on the Web and explain how they have had "great success" against the Double-Wing.

*********** There are innumerable fools who go to college for four years and never get an education, instead taking something called "journalism," so that they can work for newspapers and radio and TV stations, and pose as intelligent people.

One little example: sent to Somerset, Pennsylvania to cover the shooting of a film about last summer's miraculous coal mine rescue, one young reporter asked, in all innocence, "what's coal used for?"

*********** Lemme see if I understand this... you say it's about equality... that a woman can do a sideline announcer's job as well as a man... that those women really know their football. That it's time we stopped thinking of women as mere sexual objects. Blah, blah, blah. Okay, then - so why all the skin showing?

*********** Stanford likes to act high and mighty, and talk about all the national championships it has won in sport such as water polo. But even Stanford is going to feel the pain at some point of crowds of 30,000. That's how many showed up Saturday to watch the Cardinal play Washington State. The Cougar players said the crowd was so dead it was hard to maintain intensity. By the time Stanford finally scored a touchdown, with 5:50 left, to make it 36-11, I think it is safe to say that a substantial portion of the original 30,000 were already home soaking in their hot tubs.

*********** Mississippi State's Jackie Sherrill can't be a happy guy. First he gets reprimanded by the SEC for publicly criticizing the officiating of the Bulldogs' loss to South Carolina, and then the Dog barely get by Troy State, 11-8.

*********** Temple has already been disinvited out of the Big East.

Saturday's Big East results: Temple 17, Syracuse; West Virginia 40, Rutgers 0.

Attendance at Temple: 17,220; Attendance at Rutgers: 12,937

Temple is now 2-4; Rutgers is 1-3, its only win over winless Army.

Did the Big East get its teams mixed up?

*********** I watched the QB throw a pass to a back swinging wide to his left. It was clearly a backward pass, and the back had trouble handling it. He was hit and fell to the ground, and even though there was no whistle, everyone on both teams gave up. NOT A SINGLE GUY WENT AFTER THE BALL, JUST ON THE CHANCE THAT IT MIGHT BE A FREE BALL (IT WAS). Finally, after what seemed like a half a minute, one guy went after the ball. How could that happen? I wondered. How could anybody be that inattentive?

And then I realized - these were pros (Green Bay vs New England).

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt(If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

I then got up and headed for the TOC bunker and as I got about 10 feet away another burst of tracers sprayed around me. I dived for the bunker entrance, and the adrenalin must have been really working. My head squarely matched up with the 10 inch diameter log over the entrance to the bunker. Fortunately, my helmet hit the log, not my head, but I thought I had been blown up. I saw stars and collapsed in the hole.

A few moments later the battalion communi cations officer, a salty old captain, dived on top of me. We looked at each other, and both started laughing -hysterically. He then went for one of the radios. I laid there for a moment in the dark of the bottom of the hole. I looked up and saw a face glowing in the dark above. It was the face of my brother, Ned. He had been killed in an automobile accident in 1960, seven years before, when I had been a lieutenant in Korea. His face was clear to me there -glowing -and he was smiling. It was only for an instant.

The communication's officer's voice on his radio broke my trance. I got on the battalion operations net and called the companies. I told them, "open fire - open fire. Don't just sit there - open fire - drop some rounds down the mortar tubes - do something."

The enemy fire had ceased. It had only been about five minutes since the claymores had gone off. But no one -no one inside our perimeter had fired a round. Here we were -a whole infantry battalion, locked and loaded. Nine mortars ready to fire. And we hadn't fired one round in return fire. Unbelievable! And now -after I had called on the radio -still no fire. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fire my .45 cal pistol from the center of the perimeter.

I got on the brigade operations net. I called, "Dagger 3, Dagger 3, this is Dauntless 3, over." The reply, "Dauntless 3, this is Dagger 6, can you give us a sitrep?" It was Colonel Chuck Thebaud, the 2d Brigade Commander. I had worked for him in a past assignment and it was good to hear his voice.

I said, "Dagger 6, Dauntless 3. We have been attacked by unknown size enemy force with claymores and automatic weapons. Request gunships and flareship."

He asked me if we had casualties and I told him I did not know but I would call him back. He told me, "take it easy, help is on the way."

I then received a report that one man had been killed and several others wounded. I called back to Dagger and asked them to send a dustoff (aeromedical evacuation chopper) to our location ASAP.

As I looked from my hole I saw someone about 50 meters away holding up a large flashlight. I didn't think that was very smart. I ran over to the light and shouted, "hey you dumb bastard, shut that light out."

The reply came back, "fuck you. Who the hell are you?"

I replied, "I'm Major Shelton, Dauntless 3 -who are you?"

He said, "I'm Captain Swink, the battalion surgeon, and I need the light."

I said, "OK" and went back to the radio.

I had never met the battalion surgeon, Jim Swink. After this battle I was to learn that he was the same Jim Swink who was an All American tailback at Texas Christian University in the early 50's when I was playing in college at Delaware. His picture had been on the cover of every football magazine in the country. He had gone to medical school after TCU and was serving his time in the Army when he was sent to RVN. He had gone immediately to treat the wounded that night and had been hit by small arms fire in the shoulder. He continued to treat the wounded although he was wounded, and when I had called to him he was bleeding from the wound. He received a Silver Star for his cool actions that night, working with the wounded though wounded himself.

*********** Last year, several coaches were able to contact Black Lions vets living near them to present the Black Lion Award at their team's banquet. Some invited them to attend a game, and still others asked them to say a few words to their kids. One coach even invited a Black Lion to talk to his classes about Vietnam.

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

Now, thanks to Ed Burke, executive director of the 28th Infantry Association, I have a state-by-state list of Vietnam-era Black Lions., and if you contact me, I will be happy to give you the names of some of these brave men who live near you.

***********Cave Spring Stampede 37-0 over Cave Spring Crusaders.Highlight of the day for me was seeing last years Black Lion Award winner with it on his right shoulder.Also we ran the wedge for 4 minutes,and 26 seconds.Couple of first downs and almost had ball the entire 4th quarter. Armando Castro- Roanoke, Virginia

Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED SO FAR

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 
October 11 - "Those who lived have to represent those who didn't make it." Joe Foss
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: John Mackey remains the most exciting tight end I have ever seen play.

He was one of the long line of outstanding Syracuse running backs, and like the Orange's all-time great Jimmy Brown, he hailed from Long Island's Nassau County.

But in the NFL, the Baltimore Colts' Don Shula took advantage of his great size and speed to turn him into an end - a tight end. Shula's first hint of where Mackey belonged may have been his performance in the East-West All-Star game, where he starred in the East's win by catching five passes, including touchdowns of 69 and 41 yards. Along with Mike Ditka of the Bears and Ron Kramer of the Packers, he became the prototype tight end.

He was a great blocker, but it was as a receiver that he proved to be the perfect complement to the precise routes of Raymond Berry and the deep threat of Lenny Moore. His powerful running after he caught the ball, combined with his great speed, was a sight to see. Mackey was extremely hard to bring down, and it was not unusual to see him carrying one or two defenders downfield on his back. ("The lucky ones fall off," joked Colts' coach Dick Bielski at the time.)

Selected as a number two draft choice, in his rookie season with the Colts he caught 35 passes for 7 touchdowns, and averaged 20.7 yards per catch. On a team with two other future Hall of Fame receivers in Berry and Moore, he was voted to the Pro Bowl.

In his 10-year career, Mackey caught 331 passes for 5236 yards - an average of 15.8 yards per catch - and 38 touchdowns.

In 1966, he caught 50 passes for 829 yards. Nine of his receptions went for touchdowns, and as an example of the kind of big-play potential he represented, six of them were 50 yards or longer - he had receptions of 89, 83, 79, 64, 57 and 51 yards. On the 79-yarder, he knocked over three Bears, including Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, on his way to the end zone.

He was named to five Pro Bowls, and in 1969 was voted the tight end on the NFL's 50th anniversary team.

He was the first president of the NFL Players Association following the 1968 merger of the NFL and AFL, and he successfully challenged the so-called Roselle rule, under which a team signing a free agent was required to compensate the player's old team, usually by a draft choice awarded by Commissioner Pete Roselle. His argument was that a team's fear of having to give up a high draft choice had the effect of restricting a player's right to market his services, and the courts agreed.

John Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, the second tight end to enter (Ditka was first). He made the Hall in his last year of eligibility. The delay in honoring such a great player was almost certainly a result of his activities as a union member.

Every year, The John Mackey award is given in his name to the top tight end in Division I football.

Correctly identifying John Mackey - John Muckian- Lynn, Massachusetts... Al Andrus - Salt Lake City, Utah ("This is a gimme for me because I have been a Rams fan since about 1969 and this guy killed the Rams on several occasions. At about 6'2" and around 220 lbs. he would be a rather average running back by today's standards. But, he could block with the best of them, and run downfield and beat DB's with ease. Most of the time he was running over them. In my opinion, he is probably the best tight end to play the game. His name is John Mackey, and he helped Johnny Unitas to the "Hall of Fame".")... Steve Staker- Fredericksburg, Iowa... Keith Babb- Northbrook, Illinois (Thanks for an easy one this week. John Mackey was a devastating force on the football field and I'll always remember his catch of a deflected pass in Super Bowl V for a 75 yard TD against 'America's Team'. Even though Mike Ditka deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, I always thought John Mackey deserved to be the first tight end to be inducted. The man was awesome!")... John Bothe- Oregon, Illinois... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... Greg Stout- Thompson's Station, Tennessee... Mike Foristiere- Boise, Idaho... Dave Potter- Durham, North Carolina ("As soon as i saw the picture, I knew it was John Mackey. Wow, what a player.")... Mark Kaczmarek- Davenport, Iowa ( "As a Cheesehead, I hated those Colts and especially Mackey who seemed to be able to rip the Pack to shreds.")... David Crump- Owensboro, Kentucky- ("To me he was the best tight end the pro game will ever see! He was faster and stronger than Ditka or Kramer. I have seen him make some fantastic plays on many a Sunday afternoon!")... Mick Yanke- Cokato, Minnesota... John Reardon- Peru, Illinois... Jack Tourtillotte- Boothbay Harbor, Maine ("in my humble opinion the greatest tight end ever.")... Mike Framke- Green Bay, Wisconsin... Mark Rice- Beaver, Pennsylvania ("At 230 lbs he ran harder than any of these 275 lbers playing the position today.")... Joe Gutilla- Minneapolis ("He was certainly one of the first TE's to redefine the position. He was simply a magnificent athlete. Size, strength, speed, hands, graceful, and TOUGH. Not to mention a very classy human being.")... Randy Zak- West Seneca, New York ("It's John Mackey! Finally there is one I remember---he used to kill the Bills!")... Tom Hinger- Auburndale, Florida... Dave Livingstone- Troy, Michigan... David Maley- Rosalia, Washington... Ron Timson- Umatilla, Florida ("He was the first tight end I remember who caught and ran like a wide receiver, but had the physical prowess to run over defensive backs and linebackers. He was certainly one of the greatest and became the prototype TE.")... Dan Dubowski- Erie, Pennsylvania... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota...

*********** Say a prayer, if it's in you, for Joe Foss, a great American. Mr. Foss is 87, and he's gravely ill in a Michigan hospital. A World War II Marine fighter pilot, Mr. Foss ranked second in the number of Japanese plane shot down and was awarded the Medal of Honor. At the age of 42, he was elected Governor of South Dakota, where he served for two terms. He served as the first Commissioner of the American Football League and later as President of the National Rifle Association. In the meantime, he hosted "The American Sportsman," a hunting and fishing show in TV. A chapter in Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation" is devoted to him. In these times,when America needs more Joe Fosses, it is sad to think that he is gone, there will be no replacement for him.

*********** Coach Wyatt, I would like to sign up for the Black Lion Award again this year. Also I would like to tell you about the game we had this past week.

EJ Horton who is our C back rushed for 313 yards on 14 carries. Our B back Jasmine Alexander (6'1 265) rushed for 160 on 10 carries. Our A back Ondra Bowser rushed for 126 on 9 carries. We played everybody and rushed for a total of 717 yards on 50 carries. This is 2nd all time for the state of NC. We missed the record by 30 yards! EJ was named the North Carolina 1A player of the week. The beauty of your offensive system is the simplicity of the blocking systems. We can show a ton of different looks while keeping the blocking schemes the same. Now my kids have a desire to break the record and our line has gained a sense of pride in what they do. Thanks again for all your help. Talk to you soon, Chris Davidson, Head Football Coach, Columbia High School (I take a certain amount of pride in what Chris Davidson's done, because he was right there when I first introduced this system at another coach's program. He was tight end coach on Doug Moister's staff at Abington, Pennsylvania, and the next year he moved on to take the head coaching job at Phillipsburg-Osceola High in Central Pennsylvania. I drove up and gave him a hand for a couple of days. I have enjoyed telling the story about Chris' AD taking a look at the Double-Wing and making Chris promise that if he didn't have 300 yards rushing after three games, he'd at least take a look at the I-formation. P-O had 300 yards rushing after the first game! Since then, Chris has married and started a family and moved to eastern North Carolina where, to say the least, he is running the Double-Wing. HW)

*********** If by some chance you still don't believe that professional athletes are making too much money, try this...

Vin Baker, who recently joined the Celtics, paid new teammate Kedrick Brown $10,000 to give up jersey number 42.

*********** It took me four years to figure out why Jim Lambright was fired at the University of Washington. Lambo didn't meet the unofficial standards at the UW: He didn't win 9+ games on a regular basis and was too ethical and moral unlike his predecessor (Don "The Dawgfather" James) and successor ("Slick" Rick Neuheisel). It doesn't look like The Barb will win Pac-10 athletic director of the year . . . damn! David Maley , Rosalia, Washington (Although I disagree on Don James - I have great respect for the man - I do have to agree on Neuheisel. he cheated at Colorado, and he hit the ground cheating at Washington. Now that he's not allowed to recruit, I don't know what's left for him to do, since he can't coach, either - anybody still doubt that he was cheating when the officials caught Washington with 12 men on the field against Michigan? As for athletic director Barbara Hedges - her hire as basketball coach hasn't played a game yet and already an assistant coach has been caught cheating. Makes a Washingtonian real proud! HW)

*********** "Dear Coach Wyatt, Freshman football team, Lawrence, KS, Southwest Junior High School. During our previous seven years, we averaged 16 points per game. I purchased some of your tapes, attended the Minneapolis clinic, and switched to the double wing this year. We are 4-0 in 2002 (our first 4-0 start ever) and are averaging 37 points. The kids are excited, and I'm enjoying coaching more than I have in years. I'm already thinking about next year, when I'll really know what I'm doing. Your approach is a sound one, and I have fully committed to your system." Sincerely, Skip Bennett, Lawrence, Kansas

*********** "Coach Wyatt, Thank you for your DW system. The system and your tapes have been very helpful. I am a first year head coach of a 9,10,11 year old youth team. We are a very young team with 9 out of my 15 players 9 years old. The DW offense has us starting the season at 3-0 and outscoring our opponents 74-13. Everyone involved with the team loves the DW offense. The players are having fun and we keep improving every week." Coach Jim Faust, Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania

*********** Coach Wyatt, We had a great victory yesterday due in part to the Double Wing offense. Our starting QB was injured in last weeks game and his replacement is a 95lb 7TH grader. He took his lumps last week, but we still managed to win the game. With just a week to prepare (actually 3 practice days) we decided to run power instead of super power and to run from both over slot and under slot verses our opponents 4-3. We moved the ball consistently and finally got the wedge to go for some good yardage. I find the 2 wedge sets up the 29 G-O. We did not throw a pass. The most exciting part of the victory was the play of the defense. We tackled well, forced and recovered a couple of fumbles, and intercepted the one pass that they attempted. Our opponents had won their fist two games by scores of 32-0 and 48-0! Our score yesterday Frontier 14, Amherst 8. Their Td occurred after we gave them good field position on our 30 yard line. It was 4th down and three to go. I chose to punt. It was a bad kick and only made it back to the scrimmage line. Of course if we went for it and didn't make it I would have felt worse. they went ahead 8-0 and we had to fight back. We broke a couple of 88 and 99 powers from the over slot and under slot formations. It pays to be patient and just keep at it. We almost always got some positive yardage and eventually we broke one for the TD. Late in the 4th quarter our defense made a couple of nice stops inside our 15 yd line to give us the ball with less than 2 minutes to play. We found ourselves in a 3-12 situation after our C-back fumbled and recovered his own fumble. I didn't want to think about having to punt that close to our goal line. I called the same play again. He got the 12 yards and another 40 on top of that! With less than a minute to go we ran a wedge, took a delay of game penalty (to use up more time rather than snap the ball), and then just took a knee. What a great feeling. Don Gordon Frontier Middle School, South Deerfield, Massachusetts

*********** "Our season at West Seneca East is going well. Varsity has been very competitive, lost a few heart breakers and are now 2-3. We at the JV level are currently 5-0, and the kids are loving the double wing. We finally had to coach the linemen NOT TO GIGGLE when we called 'wedge'! "Randy Zak, West Seneca, New York

*********** Last week, Coach Jason Sopko, in Forest City, Iowa, was caught in a dilemma. On Wednesday night, two girls at the high school had been in a serious accident; one of them was killed. What do you do? What do you say to your kids? Do you even play? We exchanged e-mails. My thought was that it was important for the kids to be involved in any decision to play or not play, but that a coach could guide their thinking, pointing out to them that one of the lessons football teaches is that when we're knocked down, we have to get up. Somebody has to be strong. Well, they went ahead and played, and the short story is that Forest City, previously winless, won in overtime. Coach Sopko was nice enough to email me back, telling me what happened:

Coach Wyatt - About last week and the death in our school. It happened on a Wednesday night. Thursday was a long day in the HS and MS. I teach in the middle school, which is connected. I had many, many FB players come down just to talk and get out of the HS for awhile. They kind of let the kids go to classes, but weren't worried if they stayed in the halls or library, talking and grieving with one another. MS day went on as usual, but some knew the girls and it was hard for some of the 8th grade girls and boys. Everyone who needed to could talk to pastors, etc.

As far as our team - the girls who were in the accident were Sophomores. I let the Sophomore boys have the option to practice on Thursday and play their game on Friday. They were supposed to play before the varsity game, but that was cancelled. The other school was real good about it. I don't think there was ever a question that we would play the varsity game. I talk several times throughout the year about FB being a place where for 2 hours in the day you can come out on the field and put everything that happened in the day behind you. I was able to read the team so as to not say that and have them think that I was trivializing what happened, but instead I related it to other things. We talked about how you are only given so many opportunities and never know when it may be your last play, or even day. We talked about how, after a tough loss, the sun will come up and time moves on, and we must move on.

There was going to be a school bus from another town showing up and they were going to be ready to play a game. We needed to put something on the back burner and needed to use the emotion that was already with us and focus it on every play.

During the 2nd quarter, we lost our starting QB to a shoulder injury. He was also our kicker. Early in the 4th quarter, on 4th and 5, our senior WB broke for a 17 yard gain on G-O, was tackled and severely hyperextended his knee. He had to be carried off.

We capped that 18 play, 8:30+ drive with a 3 yard TD out of stack with a back-up WB scoring to Tie the game. ( I mentioned that our QB was also the kicker. He came out at halftime without his helmet and shoulder pads. As that long drive went on, I knew that we were going to have to go for 2. But I thought, "why can't he kick????" I asked the team Doc, who was the kid's dad, if he could kick, he looked at me funny and said "I guess so," so the kid ran to the locker room, got his stuff, kicked the pat to tie with 5+ min left in the 4th and kicked a field goal to win it for us in OT.)

What a story eh? I told the team on Monday that there were sooooooo many times we could have folded and used any number of excuses and folded in the game, and everyone in the community would have understood. (wrongly so, from a coach's point of view) But they dug deeper (cliche) and found a way to win. I told them that last week, being a football player with all that happened, was worth at least 5-10 years of life experience in overcoming difficult adversities, and that no one else in our school would ever know about it. I was very proud of the boys.

*********** I received a call a week or so ago from Mike Lindstrom, a former player from my days at Hudson's Bay High in Vancouver, Washington. Mike was a linebacker who could knock your ass off. Mike's now in his thirties, and with a son of his own, Brian, he finds himself coaching football, so I sent him a copy of "Safer and Surer Tackling." You may remember my mentioning in the tape that after a couple of years of playing for me, after doing form tackling drills day after day after day, I was confident that any of my former players could teach tackling. Mike watched the tape and wrote me:

"Dear Coach Wyatt, Awesome tape coach, I watched it with my wife last night and the first thing out of her mouth was 'I want Brian to watch this tape!'

"It's exciting to watch some of the drills you taught us, it brought back some great memories.

"You are correct in saying that any of your players can teach tackling because you pounded it into us everyday. It has become second nature for me."

*********** Don't know whether you heard them mention on Sunday that Giants' offensive coordinator Sean Payton had pared down the game plan. Supposedly, he'd trimmed 50 or 60 plays, getting them down - I swear they said this - to 140 or 150 plays. Uh, not to say that maybe they still have too much offense, but with a running game that's producing only 2.9 yards per attempt, and a passing game that has twice as many sacks (8) as touchdowns (4) and nearly twice as many interceptions (7), it would appear as if they might be caught up in the old grab-bag game.

*********** I watched the Raiders' Charlie Garner streaking to a touchdown, and the replay showed Jerry Rice "throwing a block" downfield. Truthfully, he was just leaning against a defensive back, who seemed to be leaning against him. Question: as many restrictions as they place on defensive backs' hitting receivers, why didn't this guy knock Rice's block off once he became a blocker?

*********** Charlie Garner broke away for a long score against Buffalo Sunday, and limped to the bench afterwards. The report from the sideline guy was that he'd possibly pulled a hamstring.

I heard Randy Cross (he's the guy with the pretty pompadour) say, "maybe he ran too fast." I swear I heard him say that.

Can't you just see yourself telling some kid to stop dogging it, and he turns to you and says, "Coach - I'm trying to save my hamstring."

*********** Life is good. Thanks to the Louisville-Memphis game on Tuesday night, we will have had football of some sort on the tube every day, from last Thursday through next Monday, with the exception of Wednesday. That's 11 out of the last 12 days. Got to do something about those damn Wednesdays...

*********** I have always considered Mike Gottfried to be one of the top football analysts in the business, but at halftime of Tuesday's Memphis-Louisville game, he was so sure of his righteousness in his objection to college football's overtime - he thinks the NFL's overtime is just fine, even if only one team gets a shot at scoring - and so obnoxious in his reaction to Bob Davies' argument in favor, that I saw him in a way I'd never seen him before. He really acted like a jerk when someone disagreed with him.

*********** Alex Flanagan, ESPN's Tuesday night Sideline ditz, shared with us her halftime chat with Louisville coach John L. Smith - "I asked him, 'why has Memphis been so effective on defense?'' He said, 'Alex, it's not so much that Memphis has been effective on defense. We just haven't been executing on offense.' Back to you guys."

And to think - for that kind of brilliance, she gets paid as much for one game as some of you get for coaching an entire season.

(It ticks me off that Andy Rooney thinks he's the first guy who ever spoke out against the sideline bimbos. Who needs them? What do they contribute? Of course, it hurts me to admit that I'm not as sexist as I like to claim I am - I think the sideline bozos are a terrible waste, too. Are you kidding me? Adrian Karsten? Eric Dickerson? Dr. Jerry Punch? Quote me: the only sideline reporter worth a damn is Lynn Swann. )

*********** Ever notice how many of ESPN's "Big Sticks" are cheap shots? At least half of them are shoulder-and-forearm-shots to the head of defenseless receivers, involving absolutely no risk to the player delivering the hit. They're like shooting fish in a barrel.

*********** Give Cleveland's kicker some credit. He risked his hide against Baltimore Monday night to recover his own onside kick.

*********** I hope they weren't serious.

Alex Flanagan, faithful sideline reporter, told us that the biggest job of Memphis' offensive coordinator is making sure QB Danny Wimprine goes to class. She said he calls the kid every morning, and if he doesn't answer the phone, why, the coach, a grown man with a college education and a responsible job, probably a family, too, goes over and knocks on the door and wakes up the precious 21-year-old.

That had to be a joke. No coach in his right mind would let a story like that get out about his program.

*********** Say this for Memphis - their helmets are just about the best-looking blue I have ever seen.

*********** William Green of the Browns failed to make a yard on third and one Sunday, and Theisman went nuts, calling it a "substitution error" on the part of the coaches. His argument, see, was that Green is inexperienced - he's only a rookie. Yeah, Joe. He's been playing running back for - what? - seven or eight years or so? I guess he'd never run straight ahead before coming to the NFL.

*********** A question I get asked with depressing frequency: What do you do when they shut down your super power?

Stock answer: Assuming a relative equality in personnel, there has never been a play that couldn't be stopped.

That is why there are traps, counters, sweeps and play-action passes.

 

the Coach's wife's card... Don't let her leave home without it

HOW LUCKY FOR US THAT YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT FOOTBALL! IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE COACHING STAFF CAN USE YOUR HELP! BE AT PRACTICE MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH YOUR OFFENSE AND YOUR DEFENSE AND A PRACTICE PLAN, AND THE TEAM WILL BE YOURS FOR TWO HOURS! (REMEMBER TO BRING ASSISTANTS.) IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR HOME PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN GIVE IT OUT TO FANS AND PARENTS

*********** Is the lack of a piece of identification a civil rights issue? Huh? Are black and Hispanic citizens somehow being deprived of the opportunity to obtain photo ID?

Should anybody be allowed to vote if he won't answer "yes" to a simple question asking whether he's a citizen? Huh?

Squawks are coming from so-called "civil rights" groups, upset at a bill in Congress attempting to put an end to growing election fraud by plugging some of the damnedest leaks you've ever heard of. The professional civil rights people complain that some of the bill's provisions will make it "harder for people to register and vote."

I would respond by saying, "Harder? Harder than what?"

One of the bill's provisions would require that first-time voters who register by mail produce some form of identification, like a photo ID card, a bank statement or a paycheck. Well, duh. You have to have government-issued photo-ID to get on a plane. Should voting be easier than flying?

Another provision would require all mail-in registration forms to include the question, "Are you a citizen of the United States of America?" with check boxes to answer yes or no. I mean, if somebody is too dumb to figure that one out, why would you want them voting? (Listen, that was a rhetorical question. The answer is, because they'll vote Democrat.)

In addition, the bill says that an application for voter registration "may not be accepted or processed by a state" if a person with a driver's license fails to write the license number on the form.

But even the slightest little test of civic competency is treated by civil rights groups as if it's the return of the poll tax.

Lloyd J. Leonard, legislative director of the League of Women Voters of the United States (hey - how come they have to hire a man to do their work?), uses terms like "a device for disenfranchising people," saying that "voter registration drives will become much more difficult to pull off" because the sponsors would have to obtain more information from potential voters.

I mean, what would you like us to do, Lloyd - start handing out ballots on the streets of Beijing?

*********** "The biggest thing to me is that I'm hurt, I've got a broken hand, so don't kick me when I'm down," he said. "They always talk about us being a family, but now they're trying to push me away from the family." Latrell Sprewell, noted expert on families.

*********** A 36-year-old guy in Milwaukee was attacked and killed recently by a pack of wild animals.

You, depending on how liberal and "sensitive" you are, might call the animals "children." True, they were of the species Homo Sapiens. And at least one of them was only 10 years old. But "children?"

Yeah, yeah. I know. The guy had it coming. A kid had hit him with an egg, and he'd punched the kid in the mouth. So what could the kid do but round up a gang of his buddies, who picked up anything they could use as a weapon, chased the guy home and beat him to death?

Quite a change from "back in our day." First of all, we wouldn't have thrown an egg at a 36-year-old guy without carefully calculating the odds against his catching us. We had to be very careful when we screwed around with adults. "Back then," in the early 50's, a 36-year-old guy was almost certain to be a World War II vet, and he wasn't about to take any crap off a punk kid. That was the chance we knew we were taking if we threw a snowball at a car. He was almost certain to stop the car and chase us. That was part of the fun of it, of course, because we knew that if he ever caught one of us, he'd slug us. And that would be that. Tit for tat. Served us right. We had it coming. Part of the game.

That was definitely not a society overly given to tolerance of bad kids. (Yes, there were such things as "bad kids" then. Everybody knew it and accepted it. No excuses. The socio-babble term "juvenile delinquent" was just creeping into the vocabulary, but society wasn't yet ready to listen to theories about what "caused" young men to do bad things.) The idea of mass retaliation against an adult by a mob of kids was unthinkable.

Yeah, "children."

The savagery with which they pursued the man to his front porch and beat him senseless, the delight one of them took in holding him in a headlock like the ones he'd seen on WWE so others could beat and kick him, and the conscienceless detachment they showed afterwards, in going about their business - some of them sittin down to chicken dinner - marks them as something other than the sort of beings most of us think of when we use the word "children."

Witnesses watched the kids lie in wait for the guy. They watched the attack. And they did nothing. I suspect that was because they were themselves terrified of the little monsters.

And after all that, the "father" of the 10-year-old told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Kids are going to be kids."

That thought should scare you at least as much as any domestic terrorism.

*********** "This past Friday night I had the great thrill of watching my kid accomplish every offensive lineman's dream. Nicholas has played offensive line his entire HS career and at 5'9", 190 pounds, he obviously has to have some guts to go up against kids who sometimes outweigh him by 90 - 100 pounds. Anyway, late in the 1st quarter of Friday's game, Glenbard North (Nick's HS) lined up in trips left and tried to throw a bubble screen to their fleet tailback. The tailback dropped the pass which was ruled a lateral by the officials. As the ball lay on the ground, Nicholas didn't hear a whistle so he came hustling over from his right guard spot, scooped up the ball, broke a tackle and scampered down the sideline 52 yards for a TD. As you may imagine, I went nuts. The nice thing is the high school regularly broadcasts the games on their local cable outlet, so I got to watch 'the play' (as it's now known in our home) a number of times this weekend." Keith Babb, Northbrook, Illinois

*********** I have a big grin on my face after seeing the Bears fake the field goal and break out into the Lonesome Polecat --- Too bad they didn't execute and play a better game. The Bears should be playing as well as Rich Central. Doug Gibson, Naperville, Illinois

*********** Keep reading the papers. If things break right for me, I may have a good shot at the Nobel Peace Prize. (You know, the same one that Bill Clinton thought he had locked up, until Yassir Arafat let him down.)

I have proposed to President Bush a way that will not only remove Iraq's threat to our security, but at the same time remove a "root cause" of terrorism by eliminating a major reason for the Islamic fundamentalists' hatred of us. I'm still waiting to hear something, but I don't see how Mr. Bush can pass on an opportunity to achieve world peace without shedding blood. His popularity would soar and his re-election would be assured.

Here are the bare bones of the plan: Saddam would turn over his weapons to the United Nations, in return for our pledge not to attack him.

That's essentially the way it is right now, you say.

True. And that's been the problem. There's nothing in it for Saddam, or at least for the people in the Islamic "Street," where little children are being taught that we are the Great Satan. To do something about that - to ensure a lasting peace - is going to take some sacrifices on our part.

First, President Bush will formally admit in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly that what the Islamic fundamentalists have been saying is, unfortunately, right - we have become a Godless society. He will admit that we have been waging war on other cultures, just as surely as if we had bombed them, by exporting the degradation and filth of our movies, TV shows and music. He will apologize and pledge to do better. And to show that we are repentant, he will invite UN inspectors into the United States, and give them absolute censorship power over all beer commercials, rap videos, NFL cheerleaders' costumes, and teenage girls' everyday school attire.

Make the world safer! Clean up American culture, too! How can it miss?

*********** While the wussies in our schools are doing everything they can to eliminate competition from our childrens' lives, a**hole adults are doing all they can to give competition a bad name, too.

In the last three weeks...

In Florida, where as everyone knows an election win is not necessarily a win, two teams with records of 6-0 and 5-1 are now 2-4, having to forfeit four games each after learning, four weeks into their seasons, that each one had a player who signed up to play for them without informing them that he'd played for another league team last year. League rules require a player transferring teams to get a "release" from his original team. An administrative slip-up results in teams that won on the field being given losses; teams that lost on the field being given wins. (Must be how Floridians learn that there's no election result that can't be overturned.)

In Maryland, a coach slugs the son of the rival coach. He is banned from coaching by the league, but the County Parks and Recs supervisor orders him reinstated, and accuses the league officials of assorted misconduct. Meantime, league officials point out that the banned coach and the County supervisor are buddies. (Maryland's politics are only a cut below New Jersey's.)

In Oregon, a league commissioner, deciding that the Double-Wing's shoeshine block is dangerous, decides to tinker with the rules of the game of football and outlaw it. Despite all the work and research by learned people that goes into rules changes, this one man decides to outlaw blocking below the waist (or knees, or however he phrased it). But, uh oh - the Law of Unintended Consequences again. Evidently it didn't occur to him that officials might apply the rule to defenses, too, and a team whose defenders were required to stand up found itself getting wedged to death. When they protest the loss, he upholds the protest and makes the two teams play again on a Monday, even though that means requiring 13-year-old kids to play two games in the space of three days. (This is a guy who's worried about the kids' safety.)

In New Jersey, coaches are caught switching kids' birth certificates. They admit it, but attempt to justify it by saying that if they hadn't done it, there wouldn't have been enough kids for a team. (See, they only did it for the kids.)

In Illinois, two youth coaches are charged with attacking a 19-year-old referee. One coach is "alleged" to have objected strenuously to a call, earning an unsportsmanlike conduct foul. When he threw the penalty flag at the official, he was ordered off the field, whereupon he "allegedly" belly-bumped the ref. The second coach joined in, berating the official and "allegedly" shoving him. Why a 19-year-old referee? Other league officials had refused to work these coaches' games.

************ Just once I'd like to see them interview the mother of a young person arrested for one atrocity or another and hear her say, "The little bastard. He's just no good. I could have told you years ago that something like this was gonna happen."

************ Malcolm X was a self-educated man. He used the time he spent in prison as Malcolm Little, a common criminal, to read everything he could get his hands on, and ultimately, after considerable intellectual exploration, years and years later, he discovered Islam. He tells of the long journey to his conversion in "The Autobiography of Malcolm X."

But that was then, and this is now - this is the microwave age.

According to news reports, one of the young men arrested recently as a suspected member of a terrorist cell became a convert to Islam after seeing the movie, "Malcolm X."

Fast food for the brain.

*********** ESPN's "The Season" - a weekly look at the SEC - is so-o-o-o cool.

*********** Remember how I asked you about coaching in today's society? Well the kid who sort of sparked that message (and I tried to get rid of, without support however) struck again. I was told during our game he continually flipped the bird at our insignia on his helmet (so the fans could see) and get this.... HE CLAPPED WHEN THE OTHER TEAM SCORED -- THAT LITTLE SH-- WAS ROOTING FOR THE OTHER TEAM!!!!! I wanted to kick his butt right there. I told the head coach something must be done (he should never be allowed to play a school sport again). Can you believe that crap? NAME WITHHELD

That little sh-- is a traitor to your cause. If he hangs around, he will be a cancer.

Do you mean to tell me that none of the other kids on the team saw that? If other kids know about it and don't do anything about it, I would say you have a serious leadership problem.

But, of course, this is America in the twenty-first century, and everybody has a right to express an opinion, and tolerance and non-judgmentalism are the cardinal virtues.

I, for one, would not be at all judgmental if one of the kids on the team were to smack that punk in the mouth.

The one thing he could be good for would be to serve as an example of what happens to people who act like that, because he has got to go.

This will be a real test of your head coach. HW

*********** After Lansingburgh (NY) High's 60-6 win over Broadalbin-Perth last Friday night, Gregory G. McNall wrote in The Gloversville (NY) Leader-Herald

Lansingburgh IS that good.

Very rarely in this media-hyped age - when the talented are almost always over-exposed - does a team fully live up to the hype.

Lansingburgh does.

The Broadalbin-Perth football team saw Saturday what Cohoes, Hudson, Schalmont and Watervliet had already witnessed. The Patriots played a hard-nosed, spirited game and never gave up from the opening kickoff to the closing whistle, but the Knights cruised, 60-6, in a Capital Conference matchup.

Lansingburgh is that good.

"It's not really a surprise," said Broadalbin-Perth coach Rick Snyder. "It was a delicate thing in practice this week because we talked to the kids about not quitting - whatever happened in the game - and running to the sideline after plays. I was afraid about getting them psyched out before the game even started, but they came out, played hard and were never intimidated.

"They [Lansingburgh] are just a great team. I'm very, very proud of my kids. We got a great amount of leadership today and showed a lot of pride."

Lansingburgh was led by the three-headed running monster that has ravaged the rest of Section II this season. Marcel Youngs ran for 236 yards on just nine carries, while Kareem Jones added 207 yards on only eight carries and fullback Shonte Freeman bowled his way to 120 yards on 16 carries.

Jones scored on carries of 54, 34 and 55 yards, to go along with a 74-yard kickoff return, while Youngs had touchdown runs of 41 and 10 yards and Freeman scored from 22 and 15 yards out.

*********** Talk about a class act. Don Capaldo, of Keokuk, Iowa, built a football program in a basketball town. He is taking this season off (although he was tempted by an offer to spend the year back East at a strong Double-Wing program) and enjoying leisure time that he never knew existed.

But he wanted to retain a little contact with the program at Keokuk yet not be seen as interfering with the new coach, and he found a great solution: thanks to his efforts, the Black Lion Award is a very big deal in Keokuk, with a full page in the program explaining the award and its meaning, and Don has agreed to administer the Black Lion Award for the team, including locating and contacting a Black Lion veteran to present the award at the team's banquet.

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt(If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

I then got up and headed for the TOC bunker and as I got about 10 feet away another burst of tracers sprayed around me. I dived for the bunker entrance, and the adrenalin must have been really working. My head squarely matched up with the 10 inch diameter log over the entrance to the bunker. Fortunately, my helmet hit the log, not my head, but I thought I had been blown up. I saw stars and collapsed in the hole.

A few moments later the battalion communi cations officer, a salty old captain, dived on top of me. We looked at each other, and both started laughing -hysterically. He then went for one of the radios. I laid there for a moment in the dark of the bottom of the hole. I looked up and saw a face glowing in the dark above. It was the face of my brother, Ned. He had been killed in an automobile accident in 1960, seven years before, when I had been a lieutenant in Korea. His face was clear to me there -glowing -and he was smiling. It was only for an instant.

The communication's officer's voice on his radio broke my trance. I got on the battalion operations net and called the companies. I told them, "open fire - open fire. Don't just sit there - open fire - drop some rounds down the mortar tubes - do something."

The enemy fire had ceased. It had only been about five minutes since the claymores had gone off. But no one -no one inside our perimeter had fired a round. Here we were -a whole infantry battalion, locked and loaded. Nine mortars ready to fire. And we hadn't fired one round in return fire. Unbelievable! And now -after I had called on the radio -still no fire. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fire my .45 cal pistol from the center of the perimeter.

I got on the brigade operations net. I called, "Dagger 3, Dagger 3, this is Dauntless 3, over." The reply, "Dauntless 3, this is Dagger 6, can you give us a sitrep?" It was Colonel Chuck Thebaud, the 2d Brigade Commander. I had worked for him in a past assignment and it was good to hear his voice.

I said, "Dagger 6, Dauntless 3. We have been attacked by unknown size enemy force with claymores and automatic weapons. Request gunships and flareship."

He asked me if we had casualties and I told him I did not know but I would call him back. He told me, "take it easy, help is on the way."

I then received a report that one man had been killed and several others wounded. I called back to Dagger and asked them to send a dustoff (aeromedical evacuation chopper) to our location ASAP.

As I looked from my hole I saw someone about 50 meters away holding up a large flashlight. I didn't think that was very smart. I ran over to the light and shouted, "hey you dumb bastard, shut that light out."

The reply came back, "fuck you. Who the hell are you?"

I replied, "I'm Major Shelton, Dauntless 3 -who are you?"

He said, "I'm Captain Swink, the battalion surgeon, and I need the light."

I said, "OK" and went back to the radio.

I had never met the battalion surgeon, Jim Swink. After this battle I was to learn that he was the same Jim Swink who was an All American tailback at Texas Christian University in the early 50's when I was playing in college at Delaware. His picture had been on the cover of every football magazine in the country. He had gone to medical school after TCU and was serving his time in the Army when he was sent to RVN. He had gone immediately to treat the wounded that night and had been hit by small arms fire in the shoulder. He continued to treat the wounded although he was wounded, and when I had called to him he was bleeding from the wound. He received a Silver Star for his cool actions that night, working with the wounded though wounded himself.

*********** Last year, several coaches were able to contact Black Lions vets living near them to present the Black Lion Award at their team's banquet. Some invited them to attend a game, and still others asked them to say a few words to their kids. One coach even invited a Black Lion to talk to his classes about Vietnam.

TIME'S RUNNING SHORT... Thanks to the efforts of some great people, the Black Lion Award was established last year. I can't imagine why a coach wouldn't want his kids to be trying to win the Black Lion Award. It's not too late to sign up for this year. E-mail me now.

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

Now, thanks to Ed Burke, executive director of the 28th Infantry Association, I have a state-by-state list of Vietnam-era Black Lions., and if you contact me, I will be happy to give you the names of some of these brave men who live near you.

***********Cave Spring Stampede 37-0 over Cave Spring Crusaders.Highlight of the day for me was seeing last years Black Lion Award winner with it on his right shoulder.Also we ran the wedge for 4 minutes,and 26 seconds.Couple of first downs and almost had ball the entire 4th quarter. Armando Castro- Roanoke, Virginia

Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED SO FAR - 34 STATES ARE REPRESENTED - IS YOURS?
 

*********** At the Parents' meeting, I explained that I do not give out individual awards (like stars on the helmets and such), but that I do give one award, and explained the Black Lion award. P.P.S. Know of any Black Lions around this area? Jody Hagins, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Good question - I have requested a listing of the members of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - by location. If I am successful, I should be able to furnish you names of men to contact to help present your award. HW)

*********** Hugh, Sign me up. I can't believe I haven't read through this stuff yet. It sounds like a great thing to get the kids thinking right. You can use me as your contact person Thanks. Larry Harrison, Rockdale Bulldogs 135-lb. Div.1 , Conyers, Georgia  

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 
October 7 - "There is no substitute for having to pay the price in order to determine how much something is worth." Thomas Sowell
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: He remains the most exciting tight end I have ever seen play.

He was one of the long line of outstanding Syracuse running backs, and like the Orange's all-time great Jimmy Brown, he hailed from Long Island's Nassau County.

But in the NFL, the Baltimore Colts' Don Shula took advantage of his great size and speed to turn him into an end - a tight end.. Along with Mike Ditka of the Bears and Ron Kramer of the Packers, he became the prototype tight end.

He was a great blocker, but it was as a receiver that he proved to be the perfect complement to the precise routes of Raymond Berry and the deep threat of Lenny Moore. His powerful running after he caught the ball, combined with his great speed, was a sight to see. He was extremely hard to bring down, and it was not unusual to see him carrying one or two defenders downfield on his back. ("The lucky ones fall off," joked Colts' coach Dick Bielski at the time.)

In his rookie season with the Colts, he caught 35 passes for 7 touchdowns, and averaged 20.7 yards per catch. On a team with two other future Hall of Fame receivers in Berry and Moore, he was voted to the Pro Bowl.

In his 10-year career, he caught 331 passes for 5236 yards - an average of 15.8 yards per catch - and 38 touchdowns.

He was named to five Pro Bowls, and in 1969 was voted the tight end on the NFL's 50th anniversary team.

He was the first president of the NFL Players Association following the 1968 merger of the NFL and AFL, and he successfully challenged the so-called Roselle rule, under which a team signing a free agent was required to compensate the player's old team, usually by a draft choice awarded by Commissioner Pete Roselle. His argument was that a team's fear of having to give up a high draft choice had the effect of restricting a player's right to market his services, and the courts agreed.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, the second tight end to enter (Ditka was first). He made the Hall in his last year of eligibility. The delay in honoring such a great player was almost certainly a result of his activities as a union member.

Every year, an award is given in his name to the top tight end in Division I football.

*********** Remember this, the next time you hear the wailing about our precious liberties being sucked from us, all in the name of national security, by that evil George Bush and his wicked henchman John Ashcroft...

Marie Josee-Travis, a native Canadian, recalled in the Wall Street Journal last week that some thirty years ago, Canada was in danger of being split it two. Quebecois separatists, intent on forcing the separation of French-speaking Quebec from English-speaking Canada, were conducting a campaign of domestic terrorism. They had killed a provincial official and kidnapped a British diplomat. They were blowing up mail boxes, acts of terrorism designed to kill innocents.

They claimed that they were victims - that the English-speaking majority was treating them like "the white Negroes of America."

The Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, wasn't buying. To him, they were terrorists, period. He was himself a native of Quebec, and he was a former civil rights lawyer, and he knew that this was no civil rights issue. These people were conducting war on his country, and he knew he needed to take warlike action to fight them.

He invoked the War Measures Act, which among other things meant sending federal troops into Quebec and giving the police broad powers to search and to arrest.

The press cried about the squashing of individual liberties, and asked him how far he was prepared to go in this war of terrorism.

His answer: "Watch me."

*********** Maybe you read about how the arrest of the ("alleged") terrorists picked up in Portland last week all started about 20 minutes' drive to the east of where I live, in Skamania County, Washington. Skamania County is wild and sparsely populated. It was September 13, 2001, and a woman called the County Sheriff's department to say that she heard automatic weapons fire coming from a nearby gravel pit. It's hunting country, and she was used to hearing shots from time to time, but she knew that what she was hiring was not hunting rifles.

In a county in which guys are more inclined to wear camouflage coats and baseball caps, you can imagine what went through the mind of the deputy who arrived on the scene, when he saw a group of men in robes and what he described as "Middle Eastern head coverings" firing a variety of non-hunting weapons. He got ID's and wrote a full report, and later, when he saw the name of one of them in the paper, realized that he needed to notify the Federal Task Force.

I suggest that they dress exactly as they did that day, and meet me at about 11 PM this Friday night at the Spar Tree Inn in Stevenson, Washington, the county seat of Skamania County.

*********** Following the arrest of the young marksmen, the usual "we are the real victims" bullsh-- started coming from the local mosque. "We feel targeted," said one local woman. I wanted to say to her, A--hole, I sure hope you do. Why are you still wasting your time playing victim, instead of condemning these lice who are painting the target on you?

*********** One of the young Islamic-type men found shooting in a rural Washington gravel pit was a creep named Ali Khalid Steitye.

Steitye, an ex-con, was arrested last October (not long after 9-11, and not long after the incident in the gravel pit) on gun and fraud charges when US ATF agents caught him with a loaded handgun, an assault rifle with four clips of 30 rounds each, and roughly 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Good job, Feds. Got your man.

A search of his house turned up $20,000 in cash (don't we all have that kind of money lying around?), and a calendar with September 11 circled in red (no doubt he had a dentist's appointment that day). Oh yes, and they also found evidence that he was a sympathizer of Hamas, the Palestinian group that's been responsible for suicide bombings in Israel.

But after all that, a U.S. District judge (female) gave the guy 2-1/2 years in prison. Not exactly a long time, considering how patient those bastards were in their planning of the 9-11 attack.

Prosecutors argued that his Hamas connections should have gotten him a longer sentence, but the judge explained her reasoning.

"Mere political thought," she said, "Cannot be the basis for sentencing someone. That's not the country we live in."

To which I would say, "Madame Justice, with all due respect, you are full of sh--. That, unfortunately, is the county we now live in. Or maybe you can explain to me why I could silently punch a guy in the mouth and merely get fined, while I could punch the same guy in the mouth while saying 'Faggot!' and get charged with a "hate crime" - and get 2-1/2 years."

*********** "It's a men's club. It's a congregation of men who enjoy being around each other. Suppose they let three women in. What would the difference be? Nothing would change. That leads me to think: Why do it?" An unidentified member of Augusta National Golf Club

*********** MONDAY NIGHT MELISSA: "Well, Al, he has a dislocated left ankle. He's out for the rest of the night."

*********** The Big 10 is going to start running out of officials if they keep firing crews the way they should. This past week, Purdue's shotgun quarterback turned to the referee and called a time out, as the ball was whistling past his ear and far downfield. The referee seemed not to have noticed that the ball had already been snapped, and awarded the time out.

*********** Ole Miss beat Florida with defense. They sure didn't do it with offense. The Rebels' Eli Manning had completed six of six for 63 yards to get them to the Gators' three. From there, Ole Miss took three pops straight ahead, and then one almost straight ahead, and they weren't much closer after four downs.

*********** This from Craig James: "Did you see how he hit him high? That's not a tackle! Get him around the legs!" Now what, exactly, would Craig James, a guy who is several years out of the game and last played defense in high school, know about tackling?

*********** I was watching on two sets, side by side, and within mere minutes of each other, Purdue and Florida, both passing teams, were called for having only six men on the line of scrimmage. Ever notice how far back those tackles line up?

*********** Purdue actually showed an unbalanced I formation in some running situations.

*********** It's a good thing for Iowa that they beat Purdue. It's hard to believe that Iowa fans, not exactly used to a lot of winning over the last several years, could already be spoiled by this year's success, but just one week after the Hawkeyes' exciting overtime win at Penn State, the "fans" sitting right behind the Iowa bench were giving their players bloody hell when they fell behind Purdue.

*********** To give you an idea of how badly Dartmouth-by-the-Bay (Stanford) sucked against Notre Dame - Stanford's Player of the Game was an offensive tackle.

*********** It was very moving for me to see the Stanford kids lined up to hug Tyrone Willingham after the game Saturday.

*********** In keeping with the trend toward darkening of American football uniforms, UCLA's powder blue has now disappeared, and the Bruins in their away uniforms look like Army or Purdue.

*********** The mighty Huskies of Washington, whose major achievement going into Saturday's game was a near-win against Michigan (pissed away by the coaching staff) could manage only 42 yards rushing, and fell to Cal. It was Cal's first win over Washington since 1976 (Don James' second year at Washington) and the Huskies' first loss in Seattle since 1999.

*********** Washington State had first-and-goal from the USC one on two different occasions. The first time, they came up dry on four downs. The second time, it took them three downs to score.

*********** Your assignment: watch #75, Oklahoma's right offensive tackle, and tell me the next time you see him on the line of scrimmage.

*********** Is Artie Gigantino trying too hard to be Lee Corso?

*********** Got to love Saturday night overtimes! Last week it was Auburn-Syracuse; this past week it was Washington State-USC and Arkansas-Tennessee!

*********** I KNOW HE'S GOT SOME, UH, ISSUES, BUT... If I were starting a football team, I would build it around Ray Lewis. He is absolutely the best all-round player in football, and he really is an old-fashioned player in the sense that he demands that his teammates play hard, and he doesn't take anything less than their best. With Ray Lewis on my team, I wouldn't worry about whether my players were motivated.

*********** "Coach Wyatt, Last Friday we played Cameron, also a double wing team. We played a 4-4 and a 6-2 against them and they played a 5 front against us. We both knew each other well as we play every year and have both run the double wing the past 5 years. They beat us 14-0 as we turned the ball over several times inside the 10 yard line and had some key mental errors and penalties. What it really came down to was they were more physical on the line of scrimmage and executed better. There was no magic defense on either side. I have heard of and seen the magic defenses but it always comes down to talent and execution." Coach Keith Lehne, Grantsburg High School, Grantsburg, Wisconsin

*********** You would have to be a coach - and not a parent or a casual fan - to understand this. It's one of the things that young coaches who think it's so cool to emulate the pros just don't seem to understand. Galva-Holstein, Iowa, is now 5-0. G-H Coach Brad Knight admits that for him, the ground game is the most effective way to go. He said the father of one of his assistants summed up what most of us know: "The passing game is great - it's the catching game you need to work on!"

*********** "Coach, Thought I would drop you a note to tell you how we are doing this year. I am still coaching 8-9 yr olds in Huntsville, AL in the Monrovia community. I had nine returners to this team and 17 new players. We are 7-0, 1700+ yrds rushing, 36 TDs. I still run two completely separate offensive platoons, which I change in total at halftime, and all of my eight backs have scored a rushing TD except one of my QBs.

"There are also two of my buddies that coach in Huntsville who have ordered your material because of the success we had last year. Also a guy in CA that I have been trying to help via e:mail ordered your Dynamics tape.

"Since I understand the system a bit better this year, I was able to add a few more plays than I had last year. I now run Tight Rip 58 Black, Tight 2 Red/Blue, Tight Rip 43 tackle trap, Tight 49-C, Tight Rocket/Lazer 38/29 Reach and we have even pulled off several conversions with Tight Rip Stop 47-C Shuffle Pass. I agree that Tight Rip/Liz 88/99 power, Tight Rip 47-C, Tight Rip Red-Red, Tight 2 Wedge would be enough for me to win with, but it's fun seeing the kids execute the new plays.

"Since we were known last year for 88-Power, that's what everyone works to stop (I have read your statements in regard to this). We have been killing them on Tight Rip 47-C, Tight 49-C, 2-Wedge and 3-Trap 2 (and on 88 -Power).

"Your system is great and it has really been easy adding these new plays. Thanks Again," Stuart Whitener, Monrovia White Panthers, Huntsville, Alabama

*********** The top four scorers in the Albany, New York area are from Doubl-Wing teams Lansingburgh and Queensbury: 1 Marcel Youngs Lansingburgh 110; 2 Shonte Freeman Lansingburgh 94 ; 3 Kareem Jones Lansingburgh 88; 4 Will Groff Queensbury 76

(In passing, Lansingburgh is ranked 54th and Queensbury is 55th)

*********** "Coach, I just wanted give you update on how our team is doing this season. We played the # 20 ranked team in USA Today (Gilman School ) yesterday at Curley. Our kids played extremely well in a 30 - 20 defeat. Gilman has three players who are MAJOR COLLEGE prospects with offers from Notre Dame, Florida State and Stanford. Gilman has defeated Dematha, Urbana HS (which had a 50 game winning streak in the state of Maryland) 41-6 and several other strong schools by blowouts. We were down by 10 points with 7 minutes left in the game. This with a quarterback who is limited throwing football. We rushed for 278 yards, while completing only one pass. We are currently 3-2, averaging around 300 yards per game rushing and scoring close to 30 points per game. Our JV team is undefeated at 4-0. They defeated a very strong Gilman JV team 22-0 on Thursday. Those critics who say you can't win or compete against the big schools running the Double Wing should ask our kids. Gilman school had two defensive ends both over 6'5'' /250 and a 280 pound defensive tackle. The have a D-back, Ambrose Wooden who was clocked at a 4.3 - 40 at the Ohio State Camp. We may have 2- 1-AA prospects, with 9 players going both ways. The offense started to wear Gilman down in the 4th quarter. They were confused defensively and frustrated by the fact that we were moving the football on the ground. Gilman knew we were limited throwing the football, but we still managed to keep them guessing. I'm really proud of players and coaches and want to thank you for designing a great offense." Sean Murphy, Head Football Coach, Archbishop Curley HS, Baltimore, Maryland

*********** "Coach, We purchased your tackling video and are 1/2 way through our 1st season of using it. It really has improved our tackling!

"As I'm sure you know, a coach doesn't need a tackling video to get his best 2 or 3 kids to tackle. They do it naturally. What the video does do is show how to get ALL of the kids to tackle.

"That had always been my problem. In years past, after one of my studs ran over those guys, they wanted nothing to do with tackling someone who was going to hurt them. Now they learn how to do it correctly. And they enjoy it . Thanks again." Marlowe Aldrich, Billings, Montana

*********** "When I was a senior at Augustana (IL) College in 1988 we were playing a crucial conference game at Millikin University, another team that knows how to run the ball. Several of our players had long cleats on, including me, and were ordered to take them off right before kickoff. Our QB was stretching out at midfield while Carl Poelker, the Millikin coach, spotted long cleats on our him While conferencing with the officials. We barely made it back to the game field by kickoff.

"Needless to say our coach, Bob Reade, was not a happy man. In our film session on Monday Coach Reade scolded us and said he would return all the national championship trophies Augie had won, 4 at the time, if he felt they were earned with an illegal edge in equipment or through the use of steroids. Being a member of the AFCA rules committee at that time, with Tubby Raymond and others, he was especially sensitive to the rules and ethics.

"That situation made an impact on me and many of my teammates and it is very important that all victories here at Oregon are earned above board and with honor and sportsmanship. I hope every coach has had a lesson like that in his career." John Bothe, Oregon, Illinois (Coach Bob Reade was one of Illinois' greatest high school coaches at Geneseo High, and then became one of the greatest of all college coaches, at Augustana. HW)

*********** Rich Gannon is a very good football player. But he is also a hook-slider. What an abomination that rule is. Sunday, Gannon sat in the pocket for three or four seconds and then decided to run. He is a very dangerous runner. But at the instant he ran into trouble, he hook-slid. I mean, he was down on the deck like that. And the Bills' London Fletcher hit him as he slid. Not hard. It was more like covering him than hitting him. But BAM! 15 yards against Fletcher. Personal Foul. "Hitting the quarterback after he slides."

Can you believe that crap? The old geezers didn't wear dresses. We all used to hold our breaths whenever Unitas ran, because we knew what might happen to him. Wonder what Unitas thought about hook-sliding?

*********** A question I get asked with depressing frequency: What do you do when they shut down your super power?

Stock answer: Assuming a relative equality in personnel, there has never been a play that couldn't be stopped.

That is why there are traps, counters, sweeps and play-action passes.

 

the Coach's wife's card... Don't let her leave home without it

HOW LUCKY FOR US THAT YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT FOOTBALL! IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE COACHING STAFF CAN USE YOUR HELP! BE AT PRACTICE MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH YOUR OFFENSE AND YOUR DEFENSE AND A PRACTICE PLAN, AND THE TEAM WILL BE YOURS FOR TWO HOURS! (REMEMBER TO BRING ASSISTANTS.) IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR HOME PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN GIVE IT OUT TO FANS AND PARENTS

*********** Coach -- I have to admit -- before I met you and started reading your stuff every week -- AND -- buying your Safe Tackling tape, I would have thought "yeah..this Coach is right on" -- but now, all I thought when I read this article was "wow..this kid is going to get seriously injured -- AND -- this Coach better have a good lawyer! You've taught me a lot, Coach -- Thanks. Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas (who sent me the following article, which I've had to alter to remove names):

(Coach X) shows a visitor to the (School Y) fieldhouse a football helmet, complete with the dings and pockmarks of a half-season of play.

"That's a football player's helmet," the coach says.

He then pulls out (Player Z's) ugly helmet, its once-smooth exterior a distant memory, its purple paint gouged off in big chunks, its white facemask battered.

"Now THAT'S a hitter's helmet."

(Z), the (Y) middle linebacker, just sits there, nodding in a matter-of-fact manner that camouflages the controlled fury he exhibits on the football field.

"I'm hoping they'll let me keep that helmet," he says.

He is playing with a pinched nerve in his back. Once this season, he suffered a stinger during a collision that left him momentarily without feeling in his feet.

You can't recognize the ignorance in others until you know something yourself.

*********** C-ya... The faculty of Gardner-Webb University has voted no confidence in the school's president, M. Christopher White, after he admitted to circumventing the school's honor code to maintain the eligibility of a basketball player. "The honor of the university is at stake, and it needed to be reasserted by the faculty," said Phillip Williams, assistant vice president for academic affairs. "There is no justification for bending the honor code in this way. I'm distressed for Dr. White and his family, and this is a painful situation, but these are core values at this university that simply cannot be compromised."

Knowing the price that George O'Leary had to pay, I would insist that such dishonesty at the highest level - the level that passes judgment on George O'Leary and you and me - calls for thirty lashes. Well laid-on. By George O'Leary.

*********** Regarding the teacher's strike in International Falls. I grew up in Littlefork, MN ( 10 miles south of I.F. ) still have a lot of family up there. It is a very tough union town, there are still hard feelings over the strike 10 years ago. Last fall the voters passed an operating levy last fall for textbook and technology upgrades. This will probably kill any chance for future referendums.

The players are conducting practice at the local community college fields. A sheriff's deputy, who was a volunteer assistant is supervising the practices. The kids conduct practices without knowing if they will get to play again. The head coach and assistant coaches have not crossed the picket lines. The head coach Stu Nordquist is on the state's all time wins list, 34 years 233 wins. Other than having a player pass away, that would be about the worst thing to deal with as a coach. I think I would keep working if I was a coach, the kids made a commitment to you, it would seem like you are walking out on them.

Already, the Broncos lost their big game with Proctor ( other conference favorite ) their homecoming game Friday past, the teachers and board did not settle this Sunday during a mediation session. No new talks have been scheduled, so this Friday looks in doubt as well.

10 years ago the strike occurred in the winter, and the extra curricular activities continued, but they were picketed, so this time the administration said no sports. The shitty thing is both sides are using the kids, as leverage, both sides know how big football is up there. Take care, Mick Yanke, Cokato, Minnesota

*********** Your boy, Joey Harrington, is making the Detroit Lions a bunch of happy campers. You ought to see what the other players say about him to reporters. Bill Livingstone, Troy, Michigan

*********** Talk about a class act. Don Capaldo, of Keokuk, Iowa, built a football program in a basketball town. He is taking this season off (although he was tempted by an offer to spend the year back East at a strong Double-Wing program) and enjoying leisure time that he never knew existed.

But he wanted to retain a little contact with the program at Keokuk yet not be seen as interfering with the new coach, and he found a great solution: thanks to his efforts, the Black Lion Award is a very big deal in Keokuk, with a full page in the program explaining the award and its meaning, and Don has agreed to administer the Black Lion Award for the team, including locating and contacting a Black Lion veteran to present the award at the team's banquet.

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt(If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

I then got up and headed for the TOC bunker and as I got about 10 feet away another burst of tracers sprayed around me. I dived for the bunker entrance, and the adrenalin must have been really working. My head squarely matched up with the 10 inch diameter log over the entrance to the bunker. Fortunately, my helmet hit the log, not my head, but I thought I had been blown up. I saw stars and collapsed in the hole.

A few moments later the battalion communi cations officer, a salty old captain, dived on top of me. We looked at each other, and both started laughing -hysterically. He then went for one of the radios. I laid there for a moment in the dark of the bottom of the hole. I looked up and saw a face glowing in the dark above. It was the face of my brother, Ned. He had been killed in an automobile accident in 1960, seven years before, when I had been a lieutenant in Korea. His face was clear to me there -glowing -and he was smiling. It was only for an instant.

The communication's officer's voice on his radio broke my trance. I got on the battalion operations net and called the companies. I told them, "open fire - open fire. Don't just sit there - open fire - drop some rounds down the mortar tubes - do something."

The enemy fire had ceased. It had only been about five minutes since the claymores had gone off. But no one -no one inside our perimeter had fired a round. Here we were -a whole infantry battalion, locked and loaded. Nine mortars ready to fire. And we hadn't fired one round in return fire. Unbelievable! And now -after I had called on the radio -still no fire. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fire my .45 cal pistol from the center of the perimeter.

I got on the brigade operations net. I called, "Dagger 3, Dagger 3, this is Dauntless 3, over." The reply, "Dauntless 3, this is Dagger 6, can you give us a sitrep?" It was Colonel Chuck Thebaud, the 2d Brigade Commander. I had worked for him in a past assignment and it was good to hear his voice.

I said, "Dagger 6, Dauntless 3. We have been attacked by unknown size enemy force with claymores and automatic weapons. Request gunships and flareship."

He asked me if we had casualties and I told him I did not know but I would call him back. He told me, "take it easy, help is on the way."

I then received a report that one man had been killed and several others wounded. I called back to Dagger and asked them to send a dustoff (aeromedical evacuation chopper) to our location ASAP.

As I looked from my hole I saw someone about 50 meters away holding up a large flashlight. I didn't think that was very smart. I ran over to the light and shouted, "hey you dumb bastard, shut that light out."

The reply came back, "fuck you. Who the hell are you?"

I replied, "I'm Major Shelton, Dauntless 3 -who are you?"

He said, "I'm Captain Swink, the battalion surgeon, and I need the light."

I said, "OK" and went back to the radio.

I had never met the battalion surgeon, Jim Swink. After this battle I was to learn that he was the same Jim Swink who was an All American tailback at Texas Christian University in the early 50's when I was playing in college at Delaware. His picture had been on the cover of every football magazine in the country. He had gone to medical school after TCU and was serving his time in the Army when he was sent to RVN. He had gone immediately to treat the wounded that night and had been hit by small arms fire in the shoulder. He continued to treat the wounded although he was wounded, and when I had called to him he was bleeding from the wound. He received a Silver Star for his cool actions that night, working with the wounded though wounded himself.

*********** Last year, several coaches were able to contact Black Lions vets living near them to present the Black Lion Award at their team's banquet. Some invited them to attend a game, and still others asked them to say a few words to their kids. One coach even invited a Black Lion to talk to his classes about Vietnam.

TIME'S RUNNING SHORT... Thanks to the efforts of some great people, the Black Lion Award was established last year. I can't imagine why a coach wouldn't want his kids to be trying to win the Black Lion Award. It's not too late to sign up for this year. E-mail me now.

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

Now, thanks to Ed Burke, executive director of the 28th Infantry Association, I have a state-by-state list of Vietnam-era Black Lions., and if you contact me, I will be happy to give you the names of some of these brave men who live near you.

***********Cave Spring Stampede 37-0 over Cave Spring Crusaders.Highlight of the day for me was seeing last years Black Lion Award winner with it on his right shoulder.Also we ran the wedge for 4 minutes,and 26 seconds.Couple of first downs and almost had ball the entire 4th quarter. Armando Castro- Roanoke, Virginia

Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED SO FAR - 34 STATES ARE REPRESENTED - IS YOURS?
 

*********** At the Parents' meeting, I explained that I do not give out individual awards (like stars on the helmets and such), but that I do give one award, and explained the Black Lion award. P.P.S. Know of any Black Lions around this area? Jody Hagins, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Good question - I have requested a listing of the members of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - by location. If I am successful, I should be able to furnish you names of men to contact to help present your award. HW)

*********** Hugh, Sign me up. I can't believe I haven't read through this stuff yet. It sounds like a great thing to get the kids thinking right. You can use me as your contact person Thanks. Larry Harrison, Rockdale Bulldogs 135-lb. Div.1 , Conyers, Georgia  

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 
October 4 - "Nothing is more fatal than a dodge. Wrongs will be forgiven, sufferings and losses will be forgiven or forgotten . . . but anything like a trick will always rankle." Winston Churchill, 1906
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")

*********** CORRECTION: Thanks to a question from a youth coach (whom I won't name on the chance that his opponents might be peeking), I have found an error in the playbook. On page 51, the quarterback's instructions should read, "Reverse out to 5 (five) o'clock" not 3 o'clock, as it now reads. Please make the change in your book. I apologize for the error.

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: For four years at Notre Dame, they played at opposite ends of the line; in the photos shown here, they are at opposite ends of the same row of the 1952 Detroit Lions' team photo. That's Leon Hart, who passed away last week, on the left; he looks as if he's wearing shoulder pads, but he's not. He was that big. The player on the right is a big man, too - he only looks a trifle smaller in comparison to his 6-4, 260-pound teammate. He's Jim Martin.

Jim Martin went to Cleveland's East Technical High, famous for producing track greats Jesse Owens and Harrison Dillard.

At 19, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the South Pacific where he won a Bronze Star for Valor.

After college, he wound up at Notre Dame, part of an amazing class of athletes that would not lose a game in four years. Only ties with Army (0-0 in 1946) and USC (14-14 in 1948) marred the Irish record during that time, as they won national titles in 1946, 1947 and 1949, and finished second in 1948. There are those who claim that the 1947 was the greatest college team of all time.

During their first two years there, Notre Dame was never once behind in a game!

This week's player played on the opposite end of the line from Hart for four years. He himself was an All-American, as were no fewer than eight of his teammates: Hart, George Connor, Ziggy Czarobski, Bill Fischer, Johnny Lujack, Emil Sitko, George Strohmeyer and Bobby Williams. Two of those players - Lujack, in 1947, and Hart, in 1949, won the Heisman Trophy.

As a pro rookie in 1950, he played on the Cleveland Browns' championship team in their first year in the NFL; traded to Detroit after one season, he stayed with the Lions for 11 seasons, playing on three NFL championship teams.

At one time or another during his NFL career, Martin played six different positions: Center, Guard, Offensive Tackle, Defensive End, Outside Linebacker and Middle Linebacker. Actually, by today's standards, it would be seven, since he also place-kicked. (He kicked 56 field goals in his career, and once told me that he learned to be a place-kicker with his wife holding for him.)

He finished out his career in 1963 after brief stops in Baltimore and Washington, and then, after 14 years in the NFL, went into coaching. After a season at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, he moved on to Idaho State, but after a year there was hired by his old teammate, Joe Schmidt, to coach the defensive line for the Lions. (One of the players he coached was the legendary Alex Karras, a very good football player who gained even more fame as an an actor - remember Mongo, in "Blazing Saddles?")

He coached with the Lions for seven years, until Schmidt resigned and the staff was let go, and after a year in business, was hired by another former Notre Damer, Dick Coury, to coach the offensive line for the Portland Storm in the World Football League. After a rough first year, the Storm went out of business (along with most other WFL clubs), and a new ownership group tried reviving the team for another go as the Portland Thunder. Dick Coury moved on, but Jim Martin was retained.

That's where our paths crossed. I was assistant general manager and PR director of the Thunder, and Jim was our offensive line coach. We were not exactly a top-heavy organization, so everyone worked pretty closely and we all got to know each other pretty well. If I had to characterize Jim in a few words, I would say he was truly a Man's Man.

The offensive linemen loved him. The amazing thing was that six of the players who had played with him on the Storm hung around Portland after the Storm folded, in hopes of playing for him again. They were a tight bunch, and he had a nickname for every one of them. He called Alan Graf "Walrus," for his drooping mustache. (Graf, a former USC linemen, was even then getting started in the movies, playin bit parts. He has since done okay. You may have seen his name if you stick around to watch movie credits, because among other jobs, he was stunt coordinator for "We Were Soldiers" - if you saw the movie, you realize that it involved some serious stunt work.)

I will never forget the time in 1975 when we were flying back from an away game. No charters for us - we flew commercial everywhere we went. The one concession we made for the bigger guys was that we'd buy three seats for every two of them. We had to stop someplace - I think it was Milwaukee, but it doesn't matter - and a bunch of the guys got off (there wasn't a lot of thought given to security in those days, other than being careful not to say the word "bomb" loud enough for anybody to hear you) to walk around.

When everyone re-boarded, someone mentioned that J.J. was missing. "J.J." was a little running back named J.J. Hartstein, who supposedly played at Arizona State, although I could find no record of it. (When you've coached minor league football, as I had, where players customarily, uh, "embellish" their backgrounds, you tend to do some checking.)

He was quite a character, and it was not surprising that he would be the one missing. He was also well-liked, and Jim Martin, evidently feeling a personal obligation to worry about the lost sheep, stood up and notified the flight attendants (they were still called stewardesses then) that J.J. was not on board, and we couldn't leave without him.

Naturally, they asked him to sit down, but he refused to do so, saying "We can't leave without J.J."

The flight attendants gave up and headed toward the front of the plane.

Soon enough, someone from the airline a bit more official boarded the plane and came back to our section. He walked up to Jim, who stood there in the aisle, and started to give him the, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to sit down" speech that I'm sure all airline personnel learn by heart in training.

The guy was normal-sized, maybe 5-11 and 175 pounds or so. Jim Martin was at least 6-3, at least 250, and hard. He was 51 at that time, and I think we could easily have sneaked him into a game without anyone noticing. He inched closer to the guy, close enough so the guy could feel his breath on his forehead. His face grew red and the veins in his neck were bulging and he gritted his teeth. I looked down and noticed that his fists were clenched. "We're not goin' anywhere without J.J.," he snarled.

Oh, sh--. I thought. We're going to be spending the night here.

But as the guy turned to get the air marshals or whatever the hell they called them back in those days, he bumped into none other than J.J. Hartstein.

"What's going on?" J.J. asked.

"Hey - where the hell have you been?" at least a dozen voices asked at the same time.

"Up front. Talking to a girl I met."

End of story. The airline guy, spared the confrontation, shrugged his shoulders and left. J. J. went back to the girl, Jim Martin sat down, and we took off.

Correctly identifying Jim Martin - Keith Babb - Northbrook, Illinois - ("The end opposite of Leon Hart in those glory years of Notre Dame football was Jungle Jim Martin. Not only was he co-captain of the 1949 team, he won the George Gipp award given to Notre Dame's most outstanding athlete in 1949 - the same year Hart won the Heisman. While researching Mr. Martin, I found the following story that I thought you might enjoy. This could only happen at Notre Dame: " <http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/reflect/martin.html> )... Kevin McCullough- Culver, Indiana... Adam Wesoloski- Pulaski, Wisconsin... Scott Russell- Potomac Falls, Virginia... Greg Stout- Thompson's Station, Tennessee... Steve Staker- Fredericksburg, Iowa... Mark Kaczmarek- Davenport, Iowa... John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts... Michael Morris, Huntsville, Alabama... Mike O'Donnell- Pine City, Minnesota... Joe Daniels- Sacramento...

*********** Oregon football - football in general - lost a great human being, with the passing this week of Len Casanova, long-time coach of the Ducks. Coach Casanova was 97.

Cas was the guy who brought Oregon football into the modern era, and when he retired after 16 seasons as the Ducks' coach, he never left Eugene. His former players revered him. I never met anyone who knew him who didn't love him.

Two of his former players - Mel Renfro and Dave Wilcox - made it to the Pro Football hall of Fame. Four of his former players - John Robinson, John McKay, Gunther Cunningham and Jack Patera - became NFL head coaches. McKay and Robinson made USC a national power. Another of his players, Bruce Snyder, went on to coach at Cal and Arizona State. One of his assistants, George Seifert, won two Super Bowls with the 49ers.

Coach Casanova always said that he believed his role as his players' coach was to "take care of them academically and athletically and to be there for them. I was always interested in their personal life, how they were getting along, making sure they didn't get into trouble. I just wanted to be around them."

"He genuinely cared about us as players," Coach Robinson remembered. "He would get on our butt if we didn't go to church, and if you didn't go to school, he would darn near punch you out. That was the type of man you were dealing with. He was just a guy you didn't want to screw up with. "

"He had so much goodness in him," recalled Joe Schaffeld, who played under Coach Casanova and later coached defensive linemen at Oregon for more than 20 years. "The main fact was that he cared about you. It didn't matter if you were on the first or third team, he cared. The more you knew him, the more you respected him. He'd watch over you, and five, 10, even 20 years later, if things were not right, he'd let you know."

Oh, he could be firm. "You would rather get in trouble with your parents or the president of the University, said Hall-of-Famer Wilcox. "When Cas called you into his office, it was serious."

But his players loved him so much that in 1985, Schaffeld, Wilcox and other former Ducks raised $50,000 to pay off the mortgage on their old coach's house, and send Coach Casanova and his wife on a trip to Europe.

Coach Casanova wasn't a bad fund-raiser himself. It was said that no one had the heart to say no to him, so the Oregon athletic department frequently used him as its "closer." A story is told of the time Cas and associate AD Hern Yamanaka called on a wealthy alum, who knew they were coming and met them at the door with a check for $5,000. The story goes that Coach Casanova tore up the check, smiled, and said, "I came here for $10,000."

In 1991, the University opened the Casanova Center, an impressive athletic complex that overlooks the stadium. When Herb Yamanaka took him on a tour of the building after its completion, he turned to his old friend and, Yamanake recalled, said, "What the hell'd you do this for?"

His teams were known for their toughness and soundness. "People say the game has changed now," he said in 2000, "but to me it's still a game of tackling and blocking." He used to tell his blockers to hold their fists against their chests and use their arms as if they were flippers on a pinball machine.

Perhaps the highest point of his career was a loss. Heavy underdogs to Number-one ranked Ohio State in the 1958 Rose Bowl, the Ducks took the Buckeyes to the wire, losing only 10-7. So gallant was the underdogs Ducks' performance, he recalled later, that "at the end of the game, I think we even had Ohio State people cheering for us."

Perhaps the greatest tributes to Coach Casanova came from Rich Brooks and Mike Bellotti, the two coaches who have built Oregon into a national power.

Brooks had some tough going when he first arrived at Oregon. "Cas was extremely supportive and helpful to me in my 18 years at Oregon," he said, "particularly in the early years, when things weren't going so well. When people were taking shots, he was always there with an arm around you, a pat on the back, and a kind word for you."

Said Bellotti, the current Ducks' coach, "I learned how you care about people in the role of a football coach from him. Len Casanova is a guy I have tried to emulate as a coach."

*********** With the hurricane bearing down on Louisiana, area high school games have been called off. But LSU still plans on playing Saturday night. Meantime, I wonder about all those partyers who normally start rolling into the Tiger Stadium parking lot on Thursday. Will they still show up as usual?

Meantime, I heard on ESPN that Nebraska, badly in need of good news, got some when it learned that tailback Thunder Collins would be eligible for this week's game. (Uh, does anybody else think it's strange that a guy is just unquestioningly called "Thunder?" Used to be that you earned a nickname. I think of an earlier Cornhusker nicknamed Thunder Thornton. What has this guy Thunder Collins done?)

But actually, the best news that Nebraska got was that McNeese State, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, had managed to beat the hurricane out of town and will be in Lincoln Saturday to play the Cornhuskers.

*********** A coach wrote me and asked if I was interested in seeing some Double-Wing-killer defense that some guy had posted on the Web. I declined, and here's what I wrote:

To be honest with you, I don't spend any time at all on those posts. Everybody on there has had "great success" against the Double-Wing thanks to hs miracle defense. Yeah, and he can also show you how to grow hair, lose weight and hit a golf ball straight.

In the last ten years or so, I have coached against some very good coaches who have spent a lot of time studying what we do, discussing what we do with other very good coaches and taking their best shot at us. Some have succeeded at times, some haven't.

Double-Wing teams do lose. It happens.

Other Double-Wing coaches I know have had pretty much the same experience.

There really isn't anything new or exciting that hasn't been tried against us.

What it comes down to is what I have said for years- the team that does the best job of stopping the Double-Wing is the Double-Wing team itself. The best way to stop the Double-Wing is by turnovers, foolish penalties, and dumb-ass calls. They are all within the power of the Double-Wing coach to control. No offense in the world innoculates a coach against having to work hard and work smart to keep his team from beating itself.

Given that you're not going to beat yourself, the best defense is a sound, well-coached, proven defense with good people at every position. It doesn't matter whether it is a 4-4, 4-3, 6-2, 6-3, 6-5, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 7-1 - if they are well-prepared and have better people than you have, or your team is not well prepared and you don't manage the game well, you are probably going to lose.

When that happens, the winning coach may very well head directly to the Web and boast that he's had "great success" against the Double-Wing with his miracle scheme; the losing coach may very well blame his defeat on the defensive scheme.

Moral: "There are no miracle coaches, and no coach has any great secrets or any unsolvable plays that make him successful. The successful coaches are those who know how to handle men, who pay great attention to a thorough teaching of the rudiments of the game, who have a comparatively few basic plays which they can teach their teams to execute flawlessly, and who have good material to work with." Glenn S. "Pop" Warner, "Football for Coaches and Players" 1927

*********** This was sent to me by a friend in Canada. He received it from a fellow high school coach who sent it to all coaches in his league:

My friends...File this in your "take it for what its worth" box

I thought I had seen it all .. but.. Last night... Last 35 seconds of the game ....We had just scored a "self respect" touchdown on what I assume was their backups on defence to bring the score to 30 - 20 in their favor,

35 seconds or so left... so most teams would take the ball and down it .. shake hands and go home.. right??

Of course, now we have our THIRD string players in ... (2 girls playing corner..)

They come out with their starting offense and beats one of my girls for a 60 yard touchdown pass... not a little flare pass but a 30 yard over-the-top bomb..

On the following kickoff .. I asked the ref how much time was left.. he said TWELVE seconds.. they kick off.. we immediately take a knee to stop the clock.. and proceed to attempt 2 long bombs of our own.. but of course didn't make it..

Oh and .. you gotta know that the final score was thirty-EIGHT - 20. They kept their first string in after their touchdown and ran a 2 point convert and beat the same girl on a pass. With (by this time) TWELVE seconds left in the game..

Maybe I'm getting too old for this..

*********** Don't know whether you saw, but I guess Joe Pa didn't get that letter of reprimand put in his file.

*********** There's an old saying that the lie travels a thousand miles while the truth is still lacing up its boots.

A couple of weeks ago, the Portland Oregonian gave space on its op-ed page to a guy named Steven Simpson, identified only as "a high school teacher" from Snoqualmie, Washington. Mr. Simpson used the valuable space to attack football.

I haven't the slightest idea what this individual's credentials were for being given space normally accorded to national columnists, or why an unknown high school teacher from 200 miles away would be given such a platform, but his two main arguments were that football promotes violence in those who play it, and that football is overly dangerous.

It's easy to dismiss the former argument, because whether football promotes violence in the people who play it is merely a matter of opinion on which we disagree. I grant that I am unable to produce facts to refute the charge, but I don't have to. The burden of proof is on Mr. Simpson, the one making the claim, and the fact is that no proof exists to support it.

On the latter point, however - that football is overly dangerous - he did offer his readers with some "proof." It had shock value, but it was grossly wrong.

Mr. Simpson wrote, "according to the Brain Injury Association, 20 per cent of all high school players (I assume he meant high school football players) sustain brain injuries each season."

Now, merely applying the test of reasonableness to such a figure, it is absurd on its face. If one player in five were to sustain a brain injury every season, there would be serious calls for shutting down our game. Reluctantly, as a former coach who now coaches other coaches, I might even find myself joining in the chorus. But it's just not so.

I am only one coach, but in 25+ years of coaching high school football, fewer than five of my players have exhibited symptoms of even Grade-1 (least severe) concussions. None required hospitalization. None experienced a recurrence. And my experience is not unusual. During that time, I have seen the game grow safer, as equipment has improved, rules promoting safe play have been instituted, and coaches have been better trained in issues of safety.

Suspicious, I went to the Brain Injury Association's site, where I found the statement in question. It was a flat-out statement of fact, supported only by a footnoted reference to an undated article by couple of neurologists, Drs. Rosenberg and Kelly, entitled "Diagnosis and Management of Concussion in Sports." An extensive search came up with articles by the doctors in question, but the statistics were not theirs; they, in fact, were citing figures from a study roughly 20 years old.

So Mr. Simpson was getting his figures third-hand - from a site which got its figures from an article, which apparently got its figures from a 1983 study. The doctors quite rightly used the best figures available to them at the time; the Brain Injury Association, however, had no business citing a secondary source - the doctors' article - to support its figures. The responsibility of a researcher is to cite the primary source - in this case, the same study the doctors relied on.

(I must admit I became somewhat suspicious of the reliability of the Brain Injury Association as an authority, when I read the helpful hint just under the "20 per cent" statistic: "A helmet helps prevent a brain injury from occurring.)

There was one place where I knew I could get a straight answer - the University of North Carolina's National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, the nation's leading clearing house for information on serious brain and spinal injuries. Dr. Fred Mueller, its executive director, is the person most prominently quoted nationally on issues of football safety.

I had corresponded with Dr. Mueller in the past, and I knew that he of all people would be able to tell me if there was any truth to Mr. Simpson's figures. Dr. Mueller went to work immediately, and here was his response:

"I just talked to Kevin Guskiewicz, one of the top football concussion researchers in the country and he told me that the concussion rate in high school football across the country is at 5 and 1/2 to 6%. The actual percentage is 5.6%. It is nowhere near the 20% you mentioned.

"Also if you look at my web site www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi look at the football report from 1931 to 2001 and it will show you how the number of brain deaths have been reduced dramatically from the 1960's."

The Five-to-six per cent figure sounds more reasonable to anyone who has spent time around the game. One concussion of some degree per season for every 16-20 players. Two in the course of a season on an average-size squad of 33-40 players. Not to minimize those injuries, because every brain injury must be taken very seriously, but that doesn't exactly indicate a level of risk comparable to the one Mr. Simpson almost gloatingly portrayed to the Oregonian's readers.

It is obvious that Mr. Simpson, armed with the statistic he wanted, didn't see any need to dig any deeper than the headline on the Brain Injury Association's page. And the Oregonian was taken in by Mr. Simpson. And, worst of all, as a result of the article, so were the Oregonian's readers, who trust a paper to get it right.

I suspect that in the aftermath of the tragic death of a little 10-year old girl in Illinois, they were receptive to printing an anti-football article. There was quite a bit of piling on taking place.

I wrote the Oregonian that in a time of near-hysteria, the reading public depended on a newspaper to check its sources, which meant checking the credentials of Mr. Simpson, and the reliability of his figures.

I wrote that they owed an apology - conspicuous and prominent - to their readers and to those of us who find ourselves having to defend our game against the likes of Mr. Simpson.

Their response was to direct me to the Brain Injury Association's erroneous statistic.

They couldn't have been less interested in Dr. Mueller's figures debunking it.

They gave my rebuttal a brief posting on their online "letters to the editor."

Thanks a lot. The truth is still lacing up its boots.

*********** Sometimes you want to throw your hands up and say, "what's the use?" Oregon law prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to find or detain people whose only crime is a violation of immigration law. ("Only crime?")

*********** When Stanford basketball player Kasey Jacobson, who left to join the circus, er, NBA, started out a sentence by saying, "Me and Coach Montgomery..." Bud Geracie of the San Jose Mercury News commented, " he should have stayed in school."

*********** If you doubted that a large number of teenagers are out of control...

Oregon, like many other states, has placed restrictions on young first-time drivers. Since it did so, in 2000, the number of accidents involving 16-year-old drivers in which there has been a fatality or an injury has dropped by one-third.

Nevertheless, despite the law, which says that 16- and 17-year-old drivers may not transport anyone younger than 20 - unless they're immediate family members - until they've had their licenses for six months, there are still plenty of kids willing to defy the law and tempt fate. Last month one of them, despite having had his license less than two months, killed himself and a friend, and injured four other kids. None of the kids was older than 17.

At the heart of the problem are parents who seem either willing to abet the lawbreaking or helpless to control their own kids. One parent of a friend of the dead teenagers said the new law is tough on parents.

"How do you as a parent enforce it?" she asked the Portland Oregonian. "Do you follow them? That is not reasonable."

Tsk, tsk. What's a mother to do?

*********** Coach Wyatt, I just wanted to let you know that I we won our first game of the season last night 14-8. It was my first win as a head coach after being an assistant for 13 years. We ripped a 50 yarder on 3 trap @ 4 and scored on 47 XX and 99 power. The other team was keying on our A back and was playing a junk overloaded defense away from the A back to take away the 88 power play. This made it easy to run counter plays! Thanks for the encouragement. I heard their coach keep saying, " we have to stop that wing T formation." I kept telling their chain crew that we don't run wing t its called the double wing! We also were able to run a little stack I formation that the kids loved! Dan King, Riverside Middle Eagles, Evans Ga

*********** I think the kids might have a case if they claimed entrapment....

Last Friday, game day, our local newspaper, the Vancouver Columbian, chose to feature a kid from one of the area high schools who had a real quandary last summer - whether to stay at that high school, Battle Ground High, for his senior year, or transfer to another area high school, Mountain View High, whose wide-open passing attack might better showcase him to the colleges.

The kid is a 6-5 tight end, and I gather he is a decent football player.

Transferring, where sports are concerned, is not all that easy in Washington. The kids' parents - or at least one of them - must move into the new school's district, and the kid must live there.

It appears that mom and dad may have shopped him around a little, but after talking with his coaches and "recruiters," the kid decided to stay at Battle Ground. (Question: what "recruiter" from any reputable college, who intended to continue recruiting in this area, would have recommended that he transfer?)

Meantime, though, guess who Battle Ground was playing Friday night, the day the story appeared? You guessed it - Mountain View, the school that he'd talked about transferring to. (Which, of course, was what made it such a juicy story for the Columbian's reporter.)

Not only that, but the game was a sort of game-of-the-week deal, played in Portland's PGE Park, and the geniuses in Portland, who evidently don't know a whole lot about high school kids, put the Mountain View student section right behind the Battle Ground bench.

And the Mountain View kids, being normal kids and having read the article in the morning paper, evidently gave it to the kid in question pretty good, maybe even using some foul language. And who should be covering the game, down on the Battle Ground sideline, right in front of the Mountain View kids, but a reporter from the Columbian.

And that is how the Columbian managed to get two stories for the price of one, first running a story that riled the Mountain View kids by glorifying a rival who, it could be argued, dissed their school, then running a second story, a full-length column in Wednesday's sports section, ripping the Mountain View kids for their lack of sportsmanship at the game.

*********** It took quite a performance to overshadow Centralia, Washington's Chris Hamilton, who completed 22 of 32 for 438 yards and 4 touchdowns last Friday night. But Jonathan Stewart did just that.

Stewart, a sophomore running back from Timberline High of Lacey, had rushed for 270 yards in each of his first two games.

Last Friday, against Centralia, he kicked it up a notch, carrying 31 times for 422 yards and eight touchdowns.

*********** Only in New Jersey...

Rutgers, the state university, continues to sag in the polls. With only one win - over winless Army - and facing the distinct possibility of going winless the rest of the way, school officials have announced that if the Scarlet Knights are more than 14 points behind West Virginia at halftime this Saturday, they will be replaced.

One rumored replacement: the New York Giants' Super Bowl champions of 1990, last New Jersey football team to win anything.

Members of the 1990 Giants are said to be interested.

*********** If you could eavesdrop on the prayers of a 64-year-old football coach you would hear "...and thank you, Lord, for not letting Al Gore steal the election. Amen."

*********** I was going through some old magazines, and I came across "Colts 1972," The Baltimore Sun's pre-season look at the Colts. Naturally, there was an article about John (yes, John - nobody in Baltimore called him Johnny) Unitas, by long-time Sun sports writer Cameron Snyder.

Snyder talked about what a straight arrow Unitas was - "He doesn't smoke, doesn't overeat, doesn't keep late hours and drinks nothing stronger than beer."

But this one cracked me up. At a time when young men were letting their hair grow past their shoulders, Unitas remained hard-core, "He frowns on long hair," Snyder wrote.

In the locker room after a Colts' game, he once told Robert Kennedy's young son, "Get your hair cut or you'll look like the rest of the Kennedys."

*********** Barbara Streisand stood up in from of a gaggle of Democrats recently and extracted millions of dollars in donations from them by singing for them and reciting Shakespeare. Well, it wasn't actually Shakespeare. More like Fakespeare. See, she's a busy person, and she couldn't be bothered with actually reading the works of the Bard, so she (or more likely a speechwriter) located a "Shakespeare" passage someplace on the Web, and - since she also couldn't be bothered with checking it for its authenticity - went ahead and ran with it.

Here's what she said...

"So, in the words William Shakespeare,
'Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor,

for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind…

'And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so.

'How do I know?

'For this is what I have done.

'And I am Caesar."

Imagine - that was written over 400 years ago… It's amazing how history without consciousness is destined to repeat itself."

Yeah, Barbara - imagine. Shakespeare sure could see right through this George W. Bush guy, couldn't he?

Except that the passage, so very convenient and timely, is - like you - a total phony.

So how come the media let you get away with this but they crucify George O'Leary?

*********** The administrators got Bobby Valentine.

Just two years after he'd taken the Mets to their second consecutive playoff appearance - their first such back-to-back finish in team history - he finished out of the running and thereby gave the administrators the reason they needed to get rid of him.

Believe me, most coaches - and baseball managers - don't get fired for losing. They get fired because they did or said something that pissed somebody off, and losing gives that somebody the excuse to fire them.

This year, the Mets finished last in the National League East, their first below- .500 finish in six seasons, and despite owner Fred Wilpon's repeated insistence that Valentine would be retained for the final year of his contract, Wilpon waited just two days after the end of the season to fire his manager.

A major reason was Valentine's desire for more input in team decisions., and when he finally spoke up, Wilpon responded to his request by saying that he could not operate that way. Valentine said he then told Wilpon, "Maybe you should." Uh, oh. Valentine admitted that the comment was not appreciated. Well, duh. Everybody knows you can't talk that way to rich, powerful bastards who are used to being surrounded by lickspittles.

All that owner needed was for Valentine to lose, and the Mets, a bunch of unmotivated dopers, cooperated, going into a total swoon in August.

"In the end, I'd like to think that probably my undoing was I had to be me," Valentine told the New York Times. "When I was in those meetings for the last seven years, I nodded. I finally decided not to nod anymore. It wasn't a good thing because of what happened. But I feel good about it."

Valentine said he called his son, a student at SMU, to tell him about his firing before he could read it in the paper. He said his son, who knew what he'd been going through this season, told him, "Congratulations."

"Is that the perfect word or what?" Valentine said. "Congratulations."

Any coach who's ever been let go after a season of hell knows what his son meant.

*********** Seattle's WNBA team, the Storm, tried a "your money back if not completely satisfied with your WNBA experience" promotion last season.

After the Storm defeated Indiana 63-51, a couple asked for their money back. They said they thought Seattle should have won by more.

***********After 25 years as a head baseball coach at three different Oregon high schools, Dave Gasser of Lake Oswego's Lakeridge High is hanging 'em up. He is only 50, but he says it is time. When a guy who has won three state titles in the state's highest classification talks about the problems of coaching today, people need to listen.

"I am a dinosaur," he told Brian Meehan of the Portland Oregonian. "I can't even recognize the landscape of youth sports now. And I don't endorse the model. Year-round specialization, picking elite teams at an earlier and earlier age. I don't understand how that is good for young boys and girls.

"There are empty baseball fields all over the city of Portland, and it saddens me. I'll get back into baseball someday, but only if I can find a place where I can help kids have a good time.

"The problem is now, I don't know where that place is."

the Coach's wife's card... Don't let her leave home without it

HOW LUCKY FOR US THAT YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT FOOTBALL! IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE COACHING STAFF CAN USE YOUR HELP! BE AT PRACTICE MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH YOUR OFFENSE AND YOUR DEFENSE AND A PRACTICE PLAN, AND THE TEAM WILL BE YOURS FOR TWO HOURS! (REMEMBER TO BRING ASSISTANTS.) IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR HOME PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN GIVE IT OUT TO FANS AND PARENTS

*********** Coach Wyatt, I dunno what prompted the idiots on Sunday night's ESPN broadcast of the Vikings/Seahawks game to turn the show into a Randy Moss lovefest but I can't EVER recall such brown-nosing by the media towards some goof punk athlete. They were sucking up to Mr. Moss as if Randy was taping the game to see what was being said about him. Amazing. And let's not even get into the quality of the game's commentating... About the only thing as bad as that trio in the booth is the Seahawks uniforms. Yeech! --Dave Potter, Durham, North Carolina BTW--Shaun Alexander was outstanding, though. I couldn't believe that Holmgren wouldn't let Shaun carry it on 4th down, inside the 10, with less than 3 minutes left so that the 'hawks could "ice" the game with a field goal. Double yeech!

*********** Air Force entered Saturday 3-0 and ranked last in passing in 1A. They left Saturday 4-0 ranked 25th in the polls and still dead last in passing. Someone needs to tell Coach DeBerry that unless he starts passing he won't be very successful. Kirk said so, so it must be the truth. While I'm on the soapbox, someone should have told Bear he could have won more championships had he installed the west coast attack. Also, Switzer and Osborne could have been coaching legends if they just opened it up more.... Nebraska's lack of speed this year seems to lend itself to the fact that the bluechip players are leaning towards the wide open schools for that chance to get their name in the marquee lights. I hope that the lure of fame and fortune has not overshadowed character, principles, and championship football, but the me, me, me attitude of some of today's athletes has me wondering. More observations later. Thanks for a great website, Coach Jeff Baggett Cleveland, Tennessee

*********** Coach, My son and I read your report about the team losing its game by allowing a kickoff return with almost no time left.(Snatching a loss from the hands of victory). We would like to report a different story line. Facing an opponent with a running back MUCH faster than any player on our team we began the game with a successful onside kick. (20 yard bloop kick to the side lines and race to the ball.) We scored and traded touchdowns for the rest of the half. The score was 13 to 13 and they ran out of time with the ball on our ten yard line. We scored on the opening drive of the second half and then kicked the first of three consecutive successful onside kicks. They had the ball for under one minute in the second half. Natick (110 lb) 31, Framingham 13. Natick is now 3 and 1. John Riley Assistant Coach, Natick, Massachusetts

*********** I received a nice letter from a young woman who introduced herself as the girlfriend of another youth coach I happened to know, telling me that she is now helping to coach a youth team. She said in one sense it is an advantage to her not to know that much football because she is completely open-minded, unburdened by any misconceptions. She mentioned that she intends to be a "sponge" where football knowledge is concerned. You guys probably think I'm probably opposed to her coaching, but, HA! You're wrong. Here's what I wrote:

It's nice to meet you.

As you may or may not know, I am a sexist by some people's definitions. I could care less. I do not think that girls should play football with boys. But - I am all in favor of girls playing football against each other, and I am not opposed to women coaching boys.

I do not think that it is necessary to have played the game - or to be male - to be a good coach.

I believe that my wife would be an outstanding coach. She knows her football and she is a good teacher. And she would not be a yeas man - I know she would give it to me straight if she saw me doing something that she didn't think was smart.

The daughter of a good coaching friend in California - one of the greatest coaches I've ever known - has been a defensive coordinator of a youth team in Orange County. How could his daughter not be a good coach?

So welcome to the club. Be patient with those kids, and don't try to fool them, but be alert for the slightest sign that they are improving so you can point it out to them and build their confidence.

And, as you already seem to know, be a sponge.

*********** There are fewer and fewer opportunities for men to walk-on at colleges and universities, as more and more men's teams are required to impose strict roster limits in order to comply with the Clinton-administration interpretation of Title IX as mandating equal male and female athletic participation. While on the one hand coaches of women's teams often have to wander their campuses in search of more players, many men's teams have had to give up the traditional practice of filling out rosters with "walk-ons" - unrecruited athletes who may or may not ever get to play in games.

It's either reduce the number of men, or find some way of enticing women to play something.

So an article in the Wall Street Journal this week told of the latest stunt devised by college administrators to try to please the fools from the federal government who insist that the ratio of male and female athletes at a college must be roughly comparable to that of the student body as a whole: more and more colleges are giving out athletic scholarships - to females, of course - for bowling.

*********** Coach I have an extensive football program collection,that includes Notre Dame programs from the 40's mostly vs. Army at Yankee Stadium. For each Irish player they give his photo, home town, high school and his nationality. For example, with Leon Hart I believe they had him down as part German, part Czech or some Slavic origin. Anyway if a school did that today the ACLU and the rest of those Liberal A**holes would go crazy, but like my father tells me that was common back then and no one had a problem with it. And besides most of the kids playing today don't know what the hell they are anyway. Coach, another reason not to watch Pro Football: Suzy Kolber. That broad drives me up the wall. Her and her overly gushing style makes me VOMIT !!! - John Muckian, Lynn, Massachusetts

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished and it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com) All monies generated after costs go equally to the Black Lions and the 1st Infantry Division Foundation.

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt(If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

I then got up and headed for the TOC bunker and as I got about 10 feet away another burst of tracers sprayed around me. I dived for the bunker entrance, and the adrenalin must have been really working. My head squarely matched up with the 10 inch diameter log over the entrance to the bunker. Fortunately, my helmet hit the log, not my head, but I thought I had been blown up. I saw stars and collapsed in the hole.

A few moments later the battalion communi cations officer, a salty old captain, dived on top of me. We looked at each other, and both started laughing -hysterically. He then went for one of the radios. I laid there for a moment in the dark of the bottom of the hole. I looked up and saw a face glowing in the dark above. It was the face of my brother, Ned. He had been killed in an automobile accident in 1960, seven years before, when I had been a lieutenant in Korea. His face was clear to me there -glowing -and he was smiling. It was only for an instant.

The communication's officer's voice on his radio broke my trance. I got on the battalion operations net and called the companies. I told them, "open fire - open fire. Don't just sit there - open fire - drop some rounds down the mortar tubes - do something."

The enemy fire had ceased. It had only been about five minutes since the claymores had gone off. But no one -no one inside our perimeter had fired a round. Here we were -a whole infantry battalion, locked and loaded. Nine mortars ready to fire. And we hadn't fired one round in return fire. Unbelievable! And now -after I had called on the radio -still no fire. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fire my .45 cal pistol from the center of the perimeter.

I got on the brigade operations net. I called, "Dagger 3, Dagger 3, this is Dauntless 3, over." The reply, "Dauntless 3, this is Dagger 6, can you give us a sitrep?" It was Colonel Chuck Thebaud, the 2d Brigade Commander. I had worked for him in a past assignment and it was good to hear his voice.

I said, "Dagger 6, Dauntless 3. We have been attacked by unknown size enemy force with claymores and automatic weapons. Request gunships and flareship."

He asked me if we had casualties and I told him I did not know but I would call him back. He told me, "take it easy, help is on the way."

I then received a report that one man had been killed and several others wounded. I called back to Dagger and asked them to send a dustoff (aeromedical evacuation chopper) to our location ASAP.

As I looked from my hole I saw someone about 50 meters away holding up a large flashlight. I didn't think that was very smart. I ran over to the light and shouted, "hey you dumb bastard, shut that light out."

The reply came back, "fuck you. Who the hell are you?"

I replied, "I'm Major Shelton, Dauntless 3 -who are you?"

He said, "I'm Captain Swink, the battalion surgeon, and I need the light."

I said, "OK" and went back to the radio.

I had never met the battalion surgeon, Jim Swink. After this battle I was to learn that he was the same Jim Swink who was an All American tailback at Texas Christian University in the early 50's when I was playing in college at Delaware. His picture had been on the cover of every football magazine in the country. He had gone to medical school after TCU and was serving his time in the Army when he was sent to RVN. He had gone immediately to treat the wounded that night and had been hit by small arms fire in the shoulder. He continued to treat the wounded although he was wounded, and when I had called to him he was bleeding from the wound. He received a Silver Star for his cool actions that night, working with the wounded though wounded himself.

*********** Last year, several coaches were able to contact Black Lions vets living near them to present the Black Lion Award at their team's banquet. Some invited them to attend a game, and still others asked them to say a few words to their kids. One coach even invited a Black Lion to talk to his classes about Vietnam.

TIME'S RUNNING SHORT... Thanks to the efforts of some great people, the Black Lion Award was established last year. I can't imagine why a coach wouldn't want his kids to be trying to win the Black Lion Award. It's not too late to sign up for this year. E-mail me now.

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

Now, thanks to Ed Burke, executive director of the 28th Infantry Association, I have a state-by-state list of Vietnam-era Black Lions., and if you contact me, I will be happy to give you the names of some of these brave men who live near you.

***********Cave Spring Stampede 37-0 over Cave Spring Crusaders.Highlight of the day for me was seeing last years Black Lion Award winner with it on his right shoulder.Also we ran the wedge for 4 minutes,and 26 seconds.Couple of first downs and almost had ball the entire 4th quarter. Armando Castro- Roanoke, Virginia

Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED SO FAR - 34 STATES ARE REPRESENTED - IS YOURS?
 

*********** At the Parents' meeting, I explained that I do not give out individual awards (like stars on the helmets and such), but that I do give one award, and explained the Black Lion award. P.P.S. Know of any Black Lions around this area? Jody Hagins, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Good question - I have requested a listing of the members of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - by location. If I am successful, I should be able to furnish you names of men to contact to help present your award. HW)

*********** Hugh, Sign me up. I can't believe I haven't read through this stuff yet. It sounds like a great thing to get the kids thinking right. You can use me as your contact person Thanks. Larry Harrison, Rockdale Bulldogs 135-lb. Div.1 , Conyers, Georgia  

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

 
October 1 - "We shall pay any price... bear any burden... meet any hardship... support any friend... oppose any foe... to assure the survival and success of liberty." President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, older (and braver) brother of Teddy Kennedy, Senator from Chappaquiddick
 
SCENES FROM 2002 CLINICS- ATLANTA - CHICAGO - SOUTHERN CALIF - BALTIMORE - DURHAM - TWIN CITIES - PROVIDENCE - DETROIT - DENVER - SACRAMENTO - PACIFIC NORTHWEST - BUFFALO
 E-MAIL ME GAME REPORTS, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN MAINTAIN A WEEKLY "WINNER'S CIRCLE" PAGE - PLEASE KEEP GAME REPORTS SHORT AND TO THE POINT - GAME DESCRIPTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO ONE PARAGRAPH OF REASONABLE LENGTH (THIS WEEK'S "WINNER'S CIRCLE")

*********** CORRECTION: Thanks to a question from a youth coach (whom I won't name on the chance that his opponents might be peeking), I have found an error in the playbook. On page 51, the quarterback's instructions should read, "Reverse out to 5 (five) o'clock" not 3 o'clock, as it now reads. Please make the change in your book. I apologize for the error.

A LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: For four years at Notre Dame, they played at opposite ends of the line; in the photos shown here, they are at opposite ends of the same row of the 1952 Detroit Lions' team photo. That's Leon Hart, who passed away last week, on the left; he looks as if he's wearing shoulder pads, but he's not. He was that big. The player on the right is a big man, too - he only looks a trifle smaller in comparison to his 6-4, 260-pound teammate.

He went to Cleveland's East Technical High, famous for producing track greats Jesse Owens and Harrison Dillard.

At 19, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the South Pacific where he won a Bronze Star for Valor.

After college, he wound up at Notre Dame, part of an amazing class of athletes that would not lose a game in four years. Only ties with Army (0-0 in 1946) and USC (14-14 in 1948) marred the Irish record during that time, as they won national titles in 1946, 1947 and 1949, and finished second in 1948. There are those who claim that the 1947 was the greatest college team of all time.

During their first two years there, Notre Dame was never once behind in a game!

This week's player played on the opposite end of the line from Hart for four years. He himself was an All-American, as were no fewer than eight of his teammates: Hart, George Connor, Ziggy Czarobski, Bill Fischer, Johnny Lujack, Emil Sitko, George Strohmeyer and Bobby Williams. Two of those players - Lujack, in 1947, and Hart, in 1949, won the Heisman Trophy.

As a pro rookie in 1950, he played on the Cleveland Browns' championship team in their first year in the NFL; traded to Detroit after one season, he stayed with the Lions for 11 seasons, playing on three NFL championship teams.

At one time or another during his NFL career, he played six different positions: Center, Guard, Offensive Tackle, Defensive End, Outside Linebacker and Middle Linebacker. Actually, by today's standards, it would be seven, since he also place-kicked.

*********** Excuse me while I go fwow up. I just got finished watching the Denver Broncos, down 11 to the Ravens at the two-minute marker, face a third-and-one at the Baltimore 27. So what do they do? Why, they do what any NFL team does on third-and-one: they throw. Ooops. Incomplete. So now, facing fourth-and-one - they try a 44-yard field goal. And miss!

Did you catch that? They would rather try a f--king field goal than get a yard!

Imagine! Fourth and one to win the game and they don't have the guts to go for it!

And of course, Madden and Michaels, the shills in the booth, explained the logic behind the decision: "they're going to have to get a field goal at some point anyhow."

Uh, yeah, fellas. And they're also going to have to get a touchdown at some point. And with under two minutes to play, they ain't gonna get too many more chances to get down that close.

*********** Gosh, does this mean we can't trust ESPN to give us our sports straight? Randy Moss refused to answer questions at a news conference, then submitted later to a much-hyped "exclusive interview" on ESPN, as Andrea Kramer lobbed softballs at him, a la Barbara Walters. You don't suppose ESPN paid for his silence at the news conference, to save his "story" for the interview, do you? They wouldn't do that, would they? They have too much integrity, don't they?

Or do they? Consider the way ESPN tried to whitewash Mr. Moss on Sunday night....

*********** Did any of you catch the way Suzy-Q Kolber led off her interview with Vikings' coach Mike Tice (on the subject of Randy Moss' recent misconduct) Sunday night? "Mike, most people don't know both sides of the story..."

Are you sh---ing me? "Both sides of the story?" What two sides? It f--king happened, and everybody knows what happened.

Anybody who's ever taught in public schools and has to deal with today's parents has been through the "two sides to every story" crap that's been foisted on us by the anti-authoritarian, non-judgmental crew. You know how it goes - you call home to tell what the little darling did in class today, and Mom says, "That's not what he says."

Or you tell the principal what a kid did, and he (or she) says, "Let's hear his side of it."

My wife - a woman of stones, by the way - has been teaching long enough to know not to buy that nonsense. When she calls home about a problem and a mother (it rarely seems to be a father, by the way) starts in with the "that's not what he says," line, she cuts it off right there by saying, "There aren't two sides to this. I'm telling you what happened."

*********** Hi Coach, I just had to stay up late last night to watch the Seahawks beat the Vikings. The Vikings sure looked like a team that was not focused on football. Gee, I wonder why? And how about some of the statements made by the crack TV commentators. In response to the crowd booing Randy Moss, one of the announcers actually said, "I don't believe you should boo a guy unless you know all the circumstances." Come on, what else is there to know? Randy was told he couldn't turn where he wanted to so he got pi**ed off and tried to run the poor lady over. Not that it would matter but, he still has yet to apologize to her. They are also referring to Randy's attempt to run someone over as a "traffic incident". I'll tell you what, if I was the owner of the Vikings, I'd be asking for a rebate on my $75 million after Moss dropped 4 passes in a row. Granted, some of those catches were tough but, for $75 million and an $18 million signing bonus........... Donnie Hayes, Farmington Hills, Michigan

*********** As a lifelong Vikings fan, it's hard for me to rip on my own team, but Randy Moss just makes me sick. Did you notice the comment last night where one of the announcers said, "Moss is one of the few receivers in the league that doesn't look the ball into his hands?"

Then they showed him catching a ball, and not looking it in. It's no wonder he drops so many catchable passes. He is a selfish person who can't be coached and the league would be better off without him. Maybe he should go join the NBA. He would fit right in with those guys. Mike Benton, Colfax, Illinois

*********** "Coach -- don't know about you, but I think our law enforcement agencies need to quit wasting time on low level criminals like the anthrax perp --- they need to find the guy who's been plaguing this country for several years now -- I'm talking about the guy who keeps running around the country "setting up" our heroes by planting drugs in their cars and homes -- Randy Moss is the most recent victim ("it's not MY weed") -- but the list of victims is endless -- it's time this country applies the resources needed to put a stop to these setups of innocent victims like Mr. Moss!! " Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas

*********** To Ole Red McCombs: Hail's far, Red, you don't need no Randy Moss to get your butt beat, 45-17. Cut his ass loose and save you enough money to build that stadium that those Minnesota taxpayers won't build you.

*********** I asked Coach Greg Stout, in Tennessee, how he'd have liked being the high school basketball coach in West Virginia who had both Randy Moss and Jayson (White Shadow) Williams on the same team. He replied:

Either the HS coach of Moss and Williams is a saint or added to the problem, I don't know the facts. You know Moss had to have issues when he got kicked out of FSU.

I admire coaches that make the tough decisions to bench players for discipline reasons. It makes a lasting impression on the kids that are basically good but just messed up. It is too bad that even at the youth and MS level there are some that are already incorrigible. How do these kids get so bad and hateful so young? I know parenting is a major factor, but some of these kids are hardcore. Just venting.

ALONG THOSE SAME LINES... from Coach Scott Barnes, again - "Coach -- I know you've read all the game stuff already about the Florida State loss (to Louisville), but one story I read from the AP had a final statement that I REALLY liked -- and might be the key to why these guys in Louisville might have been able to pull off such an upset!

"Leading Louisville receiver Dontay Spillman did not play. He was suspended for disciplinary reasons by Smith."

I don't know anything about Coach Smith or the Louisville team, but it looks to me like the guy has stones! Going into a huge game, he keeps his top receiver out of the game because of disciplinary reasons -- didn't compromise for the game! I love it.

(I've never seen a study on it, but I suspect that teams often play better when a star is held out for disciplinary reasons. HW)

*********** Now aren't you glad you don't have to coach people like this?

Wrote Jean-Jacques Taylor, in The Dallas Morning News, "Larry Allen didn't like playing left guard in offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet's offense. So the Cowboys made wholesale changes in their offensive line Thursday to accommodate the seven-time Pro Bowl player."

Allen has moved from from left guard to right tackle, Solomon Page from right tackle to right guard, and Kelvin Garmon from right guard to left guard.

 

*********** The great Tom Landry used to stand on the sidelines in a suit. White shirt. Tie. Hat.

Last night, Ravens' offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh didn't even bother to shave.

*********** Madden used Madden 2003 last night to show us how the Ravens' radical new "3-4" defense is designed to keep blockers off Middle Linebacker Ray Lewis.

Sure looked like a 5-3 to me.

*********** From my son-in-law, Rob Tiffany, in Houston:

Due to the popularity of the television Survivor shows, Texas is planning to do its own show, entitled Survivor - Texas Style.

The contestants will start in Dallas, travel to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, over to Houston and down to Brownsville. They will then proceed up to Del Rio, on to El Paso, then to Midland, Odessa, Lubbock and Amarillo. From there, they'll proceed to Abilene, Fort Worth and finally back to Dallas!

Each will be driving a pink Volvo with a bumper sticker that reads:

"I'm gay and I'm a vegetarian."

"I voted for Al Gore."

"George Strait Sucks!"

"Hillary in 2004!"

"I'm here to confiscate your guns!"

The first one to make it back to Dallas alive wins.

(Scott Barnes suggests, as a tie-breaker, "Real football is played with a round ball.")

*********** The Broncos of International Falls (Minnesota) High have outscored opponents 112-13 this year, yet they are 3-2 on the season.

How can that be, you ask?

Well, a week ago last Friday, the 100 union teachers of International Falls went out on strike, and the football players, who had worked hard all week, were deprived of the chance to play the game scheduled that night.

And forced to forfeit.

Ditto this past Friday night.

The last teachers' strike in International Falls was in 1992. Then, the school board allowed some teams to compete out of town, but things grew ugly when picket signs appeared, and strikers took photographs of athletes.This time around, the school board ruled that no activities would be held.

Tom Kalar, teacher and president of the local teachers' union, said he sympathizes with the athletes.

"But I guess we'd like them to look at it this way: if they have, and many of them do, a part-time or a summer job, we're sure they would be upset if all of a sudden they were asked to take a cut in pay," he said. "And under the school district's proposal, because of inadequate insurance coverage, that's exactly what's happening to many of our members."

Said Jay Boyle, a senior lineman and team captain, "Teachers are saying we'll be able to make up school days we miss, but we can't make up these games. Every time we don't play it's a forfeit. We train all year for football and we're losing our senior season."

And they always say they're in it for the kids.

*********** A high school coach who has had some pressure to open it up has stuck to the Double-Wing, and writes, "We threw 15 times and completed 6 but would have completed 12 were it not for 3 drops and 3 flat out lousy throws on wide open receivers - BIG TIME wide open because the corners were playing 2 by 2 off our wings ... this by the kids who complained bitterly to the HC after our first scrimmage when all we did was run 88SP. 2 of the drops were "gator" armed - i.e. no guts - with no one within 10 yards." (I love irony - I think it's hysterical that you might have been 12 for 15 passing, except for miscues - from the same kids who thought you should have been passing more. HW)

*********** The Vikings' Michael Bennett was carrying the football loosey-goosey, away from his body.

Paul Maguire, to his credit, pointed that out and said Bennett was going to have to do a better job of protecting the football.

But genius Joe Theisman, ever ready with an excuse, said, "he's still young and learning."

Yeah. Young and learning. He's in his second year in the NFL; he played - what? - two or three years of college at Wisconsin; probably played three years of high school ball, maybe a freshman or JV year, and perhaps middle school and youth football before that.

Are you telling me that nobody has coached him? Nobody in all that time insisted that he carry the football responsibly?

Hmmm. Why is it that you and I can do it and pro coaches can't?

*********** Are those gloves Michael Ricks is wearing? Or mittens?

He has dropped two TD passes in the last two weeks. When you play for Detroit, you'd better catch every damn thing you can. Is this a regular thing with him?

*********** Wow. Some roll. They wrapped up the tape replay of the Washington-Idaho game with a graphic headed by "Huskies on a Roll!", followed by the list of the Huskies' three straight victims: San Jose State, Wyoming and Idaho.

*********** Is this what we get when we expand the college season to 12 games? We are at least four games into the season, and yet this past weekend we were still getting games like this: Washington-Idaho... Georgia-New Mexico State... UCLA- San Diego State (we got that stinker on TV)... Oklahoma-South Florida (likewise)... N.C. State-UMass... Texas A & M-Louisiana Tech... Maryland-Wofford... MIssouri-Troy State... Arizona State-Stanford (What's that? You say Stanford is not a D-IAA team? Wow. Coulda fooled me.)...

The strangest one to me was Virginia Tech-Western Michigan. The Hokies actually travelled to Kalamazoo to play the game.

*********** Very clever of Syracuse's Paul Pasqualoni to leave R. J. Anderson in at QB and let Auburn get overconfident.

To tell the truth, for a while there I thought maybe he was trying to lose. Why else would he have waited until there were only seven minutes left in the game to put in Troy Nunes?

Anderson left having completed 5 of 18, including two very costly interceptions.

All Nunes did was complete 7 of 8 for 70 yards and a TD, driving the Orangemen to a tying score with 0:23 remaining.

*********** Auburn's Carnell Williams is something special. He carried 37 times for 187 yards against Syracuse, and scored the winning TD in the third overtime by kicking it into another gear when two Syracuse defenders clearly had the drop on him.

*********** How'd you like to have one of your former players on the sideline at one of your games and have him thrown out of the stadium for riding the officials?

That's what happened to Joe Paterno, when he made the mistake of letting Lavar Arrington down on the field.

What a jerk.

Aw, c'mon, Wyatt. The guy was just being emotional.

Yeah, right. Emotional. I plead "self-centered."

Permit me to introduce into evidence the following pre-game interview with Mr. Arrington, asked to compare his current Coach, Steve Spurrier, with his college coach, Joe Pa.

Steve lets you "express your individuality," he said. Lets you "express yourself," see.

"Joe's more... I hate to say it... team-oriented."

Can you believe that? He actually said that. "I hate to say it." That egotistical, pampered ass thinks it's a condemnation of a coach to call him "team-oriented."

I wouldn't be ashamed to have that carved on my headstone.

*********** I was talking over the weekend with Mike Lindstrom, a former player who's got kids of his own and is coaching one of them on his youth football team. He told me about his younger brother, Shawn, who's now 24 years old and a New York City firefighter. He knew from the time he was in high school that that's what he wanted to do, and started taking the right courses and worked as an EMT.

Four years ago, he and a buddy moved to Staten Island, new York, and he got a job working on an ambulance until he could qualify as new York City resident.

He graduated from firefighter's school in the first class to graduate after 9-11.

*********** Oh,ye of little faith... the crowd of 108,000 in State College had begun to trickle out when Penn State began the last-minute comeback that sent the game with Iowa into overtime.

*********** Iowa's coach Kirk Ferentz isn't too Pittsburgh... After beating Penn State, he told the interviewer, "I'd like to say hello to my parents and my high school coach in Pittsburgh... they couln't (that's the way a lot of Pittsburghers say it) make it."

*********** Any of you watch Joe "Flash" Paterno chasing after those officials after the game? (Any of you ever been tempted to do that?)

Wonder if Coach Paterno was called into the principal's office Monday morning and told that the next time he does that they'll put a letter of reprimand in his file.

*********** Thank you, oh thank you, ESPN2, for giving us that very exciting UCLA-San Diego State game.

And TNN - I know you're new to college football - but, um, most college fans aren't really interested in watching Oklahoma against South Florida.

*********** Arizona State-Stanford observations:

  • Somebody is doing a very good job of teaching Arizona State players to tackle
  • Stanford's AD was the AD at Dartmouth when Stanford coach Buddy Teevens was a successful coach there, which no doubt was a major factor in his hiring Teevens at Stanford. Teevens showed Saturday that he hasn't lost his touch.- he fielded a very good Dartmouth team Saturday. Trouble is, they had to play Arizona State. That was the most uncompetitive Stanford team I have ever seen. They played like a buncha pussies.
  • Teevens learned how to handle quarterbacks from Steve Spurrier, who, you might recall, ran off quite a few blue chippers at Florida. In a pre-game interview, Teevens actually sounded as if he likes the idea of having a "quarterback controversy," saying, "When guys have an opportunity to compete, you create an environment where you elevate their level of play." That's debatable, of course, but I don't think he exactly elevated the play of the rest of the team when he pulled starter Chris Lewis in favor of his backup, who didn't move the team either.
  • Never a word about why Lewis was pulled, either, raising once again the big question - why the f--k do they pay sideline reporters?
  • Tyrone - All is forgiven. Please come back. The weather's a lot nicer. And sooner or later, Notre Dame chews everybody up. What's that? You say Stanford's coming to play you? Next week? Ulp.

*********** Yeah, but wait till next year...

Oregon State tight end Jermaine Jackson, one of many Los Angeles-area athletes on the Beavers' roster, explained why he decided to go north:

"At least once a year, I can go home and beat UCLA or USC."

*********** When the news was announced that Rutgers had taken an early - a very early - 7-0 lead over Tennessee, one of the announcers on one of the games I was watching said, "Time to take a picture of the scoreboard."

*********** Joe Tiller's wife was interviewed in the stands at the Purdue-Minnesota game. She was asked why she was sitting down in the stands, and not up in one of the luxury boxes, where surely, as the head coach's wife, there was a spot for her.

She sounded like the wife of every coach's dreams:

Because, she said, "there's some fools down here that like to boo."

The wife of a coaching friend of mine can say "amen" to that. She was at a game recently and had had enough of one woman who was making disparaging remarks about her husband. She turned to the woman and said something to the effect that she didn't appreciate what the woman was saying, and the woman responded by saying, "I've been watching football for 15 years, and I know more football than your husband."

Now, this lady is classy, and she undoubtedly handled it well, but she was bothered by the incident.

Another guy's wife was confronted in town by some ***hole who told her that he husband's team "looked like sh--." Mr. Fashion Designer was referring to the fact that the opponents all had better-looking socks than her husband's kids.

I sure hope the guy's wife gave it to him good. One thing a lot of these yokels do is underestimate the toughness of a coach's wife, and her devotion to her husband. What makes these ***holes think that they can say anything they want to a coach's wife? Don't they realize that these women are in it as deep as their men are?

Feel free to print this card and cut it out so your wife can hand it to the next person who gives her any crap:

*********** Hello Coach, Just thought I would let you know the kids are really starting to understand and execute the offense. I am so proud of these kids. This is my fourth year coaching at East, the second year as head coach.. My team last year went 0-8. Most of the games were over by half time. None of the kids I have on this team have won more than one or two games in a season. We are four and two now and have locked up the third seed for the upcoming play offs. The kids are really starting to believe in themselves and play with confidence and heart. We have only lost one fumble this season and it was on a bad qb center exchange. We work on the ball handling drills you recommended almost every practice. I really raise heck with the kids when we put the ball on the ground in practice. Boy, do expectations pay off. You can almost bet that you will get a couple of turn overs every game you play at this age group except when you play us. Thanks!! Ted Quinton, Grand Junction, Colorado

*********** Coach, I always love reading your news and insightful thoughts. Nice story on Leon Hart. His son and grandson are part of the Troy Cowboys so this was obviously a tough week. If Joey H wanted to be the guv of Michigan, he would win in a landslide right now. Detroit is hockeytown, but everyone who lives in SE Michigan know it's all about football here. Nowhere else (that I can think of) can, in one weekend have 110,000 people in Ann Arbor, 80,000 in East Lansing, and another 70,000 at Ford Field for the Lions, and the Lions have stunk since Hart played. It's about a fifty mile radius, coach. Anyway, Joey was sweet yesterday. The real deal and for his age, very heady. Dave Livingstone, Troy, MIchigan

*********** Creative scheduling will get you some wins, but it will only take you so far... USC went into its game against Oregon State Saturday 2-1. But the Trojans had played Auburn, Colorado and Kansas State. The Beavers, 4-0, went into the game nationally-ranked and with high hopes of beating USC in Los Angeles for the first time in a couple of generations. But they'd played Eastern Kentucky, Temple, UNLV and a below-par Fresno State.

The result of the two different scheduling strategies became quickly apparent, as USC delivered the absolute worst ass-kicking you can administer and still beat a team only 22-0. Looking like the Trojans of John McKay and John Robinson, they beat the Beavers to a pulp.

There aren't many people in America who can coach the passing game any better than OSU's Dennis Erickson, but when the day was over, the Beavers had more yards in penalties (116) than they did passing (80).

*********** If you have any feel for history, you've got to like the fact that Kentucky has a pretty decent wide receiver named Aaron Boone.

*********** Dan Fouts to former teammate John Jefferson during the Arizona State-Stanford game: "When they freed up the arms of the big fat guys, it helped pitch and catch, didn't it?"

*********** It was a great day for the state of Iowa Saturday, with Iowa's win over Penn State and Iowa State's win over Nebraska.

The Iowa State students showed admirable restraint, standing around the perimeter of the field, just waiting for the game to end so they could go out and celebrate ("It's like New Year's Eve, waiting for the ball to drop," said one of the announcers). When they finally did pour onto the field, it was a glorious scene, all red and gold.

My wife watched and said, "Do you think the Iowa people are happy for them, or are they like Duke-Carolina?"

Haw! I laughed, and pointed to the bumper sticker on the wall of my office, the one shown here. I bought it when I was in the Quad Cities several years ago.

 

 

***********Speaking of Iowa State-Nebraska... It can't be a lot of fun in Lincoln right now, but at least the Huskers do get a chance to find a QB against McNeese State this week (now, how'd they find a D-IAA team with an open date this deep in the season?). And the schedule isn't a killer until three of the last four weeks, when they catch Texas, Kansas State and Colorado. And at least, they get Texas and Colorado in Lincoln.

*********** There was a huge drunken riot in the streets of Eugene, Oregon this past weekend. It had nothing to do with the resident anarchists, who export trouble all over the Northwest. Oh, no - this was just drunken young males - Coors-lightists, if you will.

Monkey see, monkey do.

Trust me - we will all live to regret that "barbarians, boobs and beer" advertising campaign that Coors Light has been running during pro football games.

*********** We are doing the DW at the 8 to 12 yr old levels at our Pop Warner organization. During the course of your offensive workout, what percentage of time would you spend in Team, Group, Individual work?

At least at first, I would spend all my time in team work.

There are numerous reasons, including the most important - I can't be in more than one place at a time, and I know what I want. Chances are, with a youth team, there may be only one of you who knows exactly what he wants,

As we get better - the assistants, that is - I will begin to break briefly into two groups - linemen and backs & ends. This is the time to work on linemen's stances and first steps, etc., and on backs' and ends' timing and ball-handling and fumble prevention. This is also when I install passes.

But I will not get out of "team time" until I have confidence that assistants know what they are teaching and why they are teaching it and how to teach it. If they don't, there is no chance I will do away with team time just to keep assistants happy. My obligation is to the kids. I will not let them be poorly coached.

Naturally, you're a better coach if you have good assistants. But if you don't, remember that it is a lot easier to keep that team together right from the start than it is to break into groups and then discover that some of the kids are either not being taught or, worse yet, are being taught the wrong thing. What results is that when you come together as a team, the kids who know what they're doing are going to be held back by the ones who don't. And now you have the hassle that no coach needs - that of worrying about pissing off an assistant by taking the kids back from him.

I have gone an entire season and never once broken into groups.

What a great point - keep them in team for the benefit of your inexperienced assistants! Very important in our youth league since I'm one of the very few football people in this town. Important not only so they can learn but also they teach kids the wrong thing when you're not around! Bad habits are tough to break!

Just so I have it right - you could be in Team the entire practice just moving kids in and out of positions running play(s)?

That is exactly right.

Ideally, I would have coaches in charge of certain positions - making substitutions, making small corrections, etc. - which is how I can observe that they are learning, too. With linemen, for example, I would start out by having them check stance and alignment; with backs I would want them to concentrate on ball handling and ball-carrying.

I would oversee the whole deal - did we get off on the count, was the backfield action correct, did we make the handoff correctly, did we block correctly at the point of attack, did the back run where he was supposed to run, etc.

A good use of assistants in that situation is rather than hold the whole team up while making a correction, to instead substitute for the kid, and then have an assistant take him off to the side and give him a little one-on-one teaching.

*********** I am a Head Coach in ---, Canada and I see that you have run some clinics up here in the past. I was wondering if you have any information or even playbooks for sale for 12 man Canadian football. I am looking for something different to run on offense and I would like to research the Double wing some more. Thank you for your valuable time.

While I don't have anything specifically on Canadian Rules football, several teams in Canada are running my system successfully.

The principle employed by all of them involves running the system exactly as it is run in 11-man, and then using the 12th man to advantage. The three basic ways the 12th man has been employed are (1) as a wide receiver, forcing defenses to cover with two, or one-and-a-half men, or else taking their chances with man-for-man coverage; (2) as an I-back, giving the running game the added threat of everything an I-formation tailback can do plus the ability to send him in motion; (3) as an extra offensive lineman, giving you the ability to run normal double-wing plays to one-side and unbalanced plays to the other.

*********** Well, duh...

The sheriff of Grant County, Washington, way the hell and gone out in the desert in the middle of the state and far from any of the state's population centers, says that hip-hop concerts result in more crimes than other types of concerts.

*********** In 2001 the average corporate CEO's total compensation package was $11 million, approximately 500 times what the average hourly wage earner made.

I keep reading about corporations defending the outrageous sums of money being paid to their top executives. The defense usually takes one of three forms: (1) we have to pay that much to attract top people; (2) we have to pay that much to retain our top people; (3) you get what you pay for.

In rebuttal, I submit this for your consideration:

The Commandant of the Marine Corps runs a highly-professional, highly-proficient organization that employs some 170,000 people and does what it is expected to do. He is responsible for a budget of $13+ billion annually. He has been with the same organization for more than 20 years. He has worked his way up through the ranks and he knows what it is like to be the lowest of the low, because he once was one himself. He is paid $163,177 a year - about 13 times the pay of the lowest private in boot camp.

I rest my case.

*********** Ken Goe, of the Portland Oregonian, does an excellent weekly Pac-10 Football page. Ken is a really good football writer (you may remember that a few years ago his son, Justin, then a JV player at a local high school, made a miraculous recovery from a life-threatening injury ) whom I got to know when I was doing color analysis of Portland State games and he was the Oregonian's man on the beat. For a liberal-leaning paper that editorially is anti-football (or anything else masculine) and goes overboard to promote soccer and women's sports, it is amazing that they'd turn Ken loose to do this weekly roundup. He is making the most of the opportunity.

A week ago, he wrote about some of the things Jeff Tedford has done to try to turn around the program at Cal. Tedford was Mike Bellotti's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon, where he got a lot of credit for helping develop Joey Harrington. And Cal, as you all know, was on life support.

A story he told Ken is something every coach should pay attention to.

He told Ken about the first thing he did upon taking over at Cal. Meeting individually with every player, "I asked each player to name three leaders on the team, and nobody could do it. I was shocked. Even the seniors knew there was a problem. Part of it was the seniors didn't feel eligible to be leaders because they hadn't had any success.

"So part of the solution was educating them that it isn't necessary to have won games. Leadership is all the things that happen in meetings, in the weight room, in the classroom, and how they conduct themselves."

Ah, but here's the part that I think a lot of coaches seem not to understand. I hear them say, over and over, "I hope we can find some senior leadership," and many of them are smart enough not to let nature take its course - they work hard at actually developing leaders.

But that's only part of it. Most coaches ignore the other end of the chain - the guys whom you want to be followers. In addition to developing leaders, you have to make it possible for them to exercize that leadership - you have to convince the rest of the guys that it is in their interest to submit.

"The whole team had to buy into it," Tedford said. "Part of it is accepting leadership. I wanted to create an atmosphere where we would all get along."

(By the way, Ken writes, "Justin is doing great. He is helping coach at Putnam -- he's the guy that keeps the playcards for the scout team and makes sure everybody is lined up correctly." He added, "I have been meaning to tell you how wonderful it was that you put stuff about Justin on your website after his injury. We heard from football coaches and teams across the country, and still do hear from some of them." My thanks to those of you who took your time to write to encourage Justin, and to commiserate with Ken, a dad who was hurting.)

*********** Former Senate majority leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has compared the job of getting senators to work together to loading bullfrogs in a wheelbarrow. Nobody was better at the job than Lyndon Johnson.

Johnson Senate majority leader before he became President, was definitely what you would call a "My-way-or-the-highway" majority leader, the sort you didn't want to cross. He would have used a pitchfork to load the frogs, if that's what it took.

He knew every senator's weakness, and wasn't above using it to his advantage. It's said that the 6-3 Johnson once grabbed Rhode Island Senator Francis Pastore, a much shorter man, by the coat lapels and lifted him up onto his tiptoes in order to make himself better understood.

Robert Caro, in his latest volume (his fourth) of his biography of Mr. Johnson, tells of the time the Senate was about to vote on a key bill, and Johnson desperately needed Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey's vote. Trouble was, Mr. Humphrey was in an airplane, stuck in an air-traffic holding pattern and unable to land in Washington.

Mr. Johnson, Caro writes, shouted to a clerk, "Get National Airport!", meaning the control tower.

Put through to the tower, Johnson shouted, "Damn it! I've got a senator up there. He's two hours overdue, and I want him down quick!"

He was told that there were a lot of planes stacked over National Airport.

At that, writes Caro, Johnson's voice grew quiet and threatening.

"Well," he said, "You better be goddamned sure none of those planes comes in before his comes in."

Within an hour, Senator Humphrey had landed and been sped to the Capitol in a police car, where his vote gave Senator Johnson the victory he needed.

*********** In biology, they call it symbiosis: Nike shoes account for roughly half of Footlocker's sales; Footlocker accounts for roughly a quarter of Nike's domestic sales.

*********** #1) Four starters on a high school football team decided a while ago to have a little "fun" by going around town at 2 am and destroying mailboxes with a baseball bat. If you were HC of these kids, what would your reaction be in terms of discipline, etc.?

Coach- you will be caught between the "this is why we shouldn't have football in our town"types and those who say "what they do outside of football has nothing to do with football." My concern is that so long as there are people who will use an incident like this to attack football itself, then it has everything to do with football.

Especially since football is new there, this is one of those moments when you have an opportunity to determine the future course of the football program. Either you deal with the first incident firmly and decisively - and conspicuously, so everybody knows that you did - or you will spend the rest of your career there dealing with out-of-control kids.

I think the coach has to bring those kids in - fast - and give them a choice - repair and apologize plus punitive running every morning (or some such), or you don't play. Screw the parents. Where were they when their kids were out driving around at 2 in the morning bashing mailboxes?

*********** He calls it "fact-finding." I call it "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."
 
Representative Jim McDermott, from some damn place in my own Washington State, is on pace to become the Hanoi Jane of this generation. Visiting Iraq last week, he came to the conclusion that the Iraqis were believable, but not our president. The problem is not Uncle Saddam, see. The problem is that evil George Bush, who as we all know is a Republican. According to McDermott, the President of the United States, who is not to anyone's knowledge looking for an aspirin factory to bomb in order to distract the public from oral sex he's getting in the Oval Office, is willing "to mislead the American people" about the need to go to war. ("Mislead?" Isn't that what McDermott's lying buddy Clinton did?)
 
McDermott, in Iraq with another super patriot, Democrat David Bonior of Michigan, expressed hope that an inspection plan can be worked out that's satisfactory to Saddam Hussein, even if it doesn't provide everything that President Bush insists on. NOW do you younger guys see why we couldn't "win" in Vietnam? (Honest, I didn't vote for this creep.) CONGRESSMAN MCDERMOTT'S OFFICE: 202-225-3106; SEATTLE OFFICE: 206-553-7170/ HIS FAX NUMBER: 206-553-7175

*********** For years, Jim Shelton, one of my Black Lions friends, has been at work on a book on his experiences in Vietnam, with special emphasis on the bloody Battle of Ong Thanh, in which so many Black Lions died, Don Holleder along with them. It is finished nd it can be purchased. Titled, "The Beast Was out There," by James M. Shelton, its subtitle is "The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh Vietnam October 1967" and it is published by Cantigny Press, Wheaton, Illinois. (630-668-5185; Email: fdmuseum@tribune.com)

Jim has been kind enough to provide me with early drafts, and I have read most of it with great interest. It provided me with a very interesting look at the inner workings of an Army under combat conditions, and although Jim would eventually rise to the rank of Brigadier General before retiring, it is not written in the jargon that military people often seem to use when communicating with each other. In the interest of complete authenticity, the description and the dialogue can get gritty. Here's an excerpt(If you can't deal with the way real people sometimes talk under less than ideal conditions, consider yourself forewarned.)

I then got up and headed for the TOC bunker and as I got about 10 feet away another burst of tracers sprayed around me. I dived for the bunker entrance, and the adrenalin must have been really working. My head squarely matched up with the 10 inch diameter log over the entrance to the bunker. Fortunately, my helmet hit the log, not my head, but I thought I had been blown up. I saw stars and collapsed in the hole.

A few moments later the battalion communi cations officer, a salty old captain, dived on top of me. We looked at each other, and both started laughing -hysterically. He then went for one of the radios. I laid there for a moment in the dark of the bottom of the hole. I looked up and saw a face glowing in the dark above. It was the face of my brother, Ned. He had been killed in an automobile accident in 1960, seven years before, when I had been a lieutenant in Korea. His face was clear to me there -glowing -and he was smiling. It was only for an instant.

The communication's officer's voice on his radio broke my trance. I got on the battalion operations net and called the companies. I told them, "open fire - open fire. Don't just sit there - open fire - drop some rounds down the mortar tubes - do something."

The enemy fire had ceased. It had only been about five minutes since the claymores had gone off. But no one -no one inside our perimeter had fired a round. Here we were -a whole infantry battalion, locked and loaded. Nine mortars ready to fire. And we hadn't fired one round in return fire. Unbelievable! And now -after I had called on the radio -still no fire. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't fire my .45 cal pistol from the center of the perimeter.

I got on the brigade operations net. I called, "Dagger 3, Dagger 3, this is Dauntless 3, over." The reply, "Dauntless 3, this is Dagger 6, can you give us a sitrep?" It was Colonel Chuck Thebaud, the 2d Brigade Commander. I had worked for him in a past assignment and it was good to hear his voice.

I said, "Dagger 6, Dauntless 3. We have been attacked by unknown size enemy force with claymores and automatic weapons. Request gunships and flareship."

He asked me if we had casualties and I told him I did not know but I would call him back. He told me, "take it easy, help is on the way."

I then received a report that one man had been killed and several others wounded. I called back to Dagger and asked them to send a dustoff (aeromedical evacuation chopper) to our location ASAP.

As I looked from my hole I saw someone about 50 meters away holding up a large flashlight. I didn't think that was very smart. I ran over to the light and shouted, "hey you dumb bastard, shut that light out."

The reply came back, "fuck you. Who the hell are you?"

I replied, "I'm Major Shelton, Dauntless 3 -who are you?"

He said, "I'm Captain Swink, the battalion surgeon, and I need the light."

I said, "OK" and went back to the radio.

I had never met the battalion surgeon, Jim Swink. After this battle I was to learn that he was the same Jim Swink who was an All American tailback at Texas Christian University in the early 50's when I was playing in college at Delaware. His picture had been on the cover of every football magazine in the country. He had gone to medical school after TCU and was serving his time in the Army when he was sent to RVN. He had gone immediately to treat the wounded that night and had been hit by small arms fire in the shoulder. He continued to treat the wounded although he was wounded, and when I had called to him he was bleeding from the wound. He received a Silver Star for his cool actions that night, working with the wounded though wounded himself.

*********** Last year, several coaches were able to contact Black Lions vets living near them to present the Black Lion Award at their team's banquet. Some invited them to attend a game, and still others asked them to say a few words to their kids. One coach even invited a Black Lion to talk to his classes about Vietnam.

TIME'S RUNNING SHORT... Thanks to the efforts of some great people, the Black Lion Award was established last year. I can't imagine why a coach wouldn't want his kids to be trying to win the Black Lion Award. It's not too late to sign up for this year. E-mail me now.

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

Now, thanks to Ed Burke, executive director of the 28th Infantry Association, I have a state-by-state list of Vietnam-era Black Lions., and if you contact me, I will be happy to give you the names of some of these brave men who live near you.

***********Cave Spring Stampede 37-0 over Cave Spring Crusaders.Highlight of the day for me was seeing last years Black Lion Award winner with it on his right shoulder.Also we ran the wedge for 4 minutes,and 26 seconds.Couple of first downs and almost had ball the entire 4th quarter. Armando Castro- Roanoke, Virginia

Hello Coach....I hope this finds you well. I'd like to enroll my team for the 2002 season and the Black Lion Award. I told my kids last night the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions, and introduced last years award winner Jeff Ball. He'll be wearing the Black Lion patch on his jersey this year. John Urbaniak- Hanover Park, Illinois

The Hanover Park Hurricanes, of Hanover Park, Illinois, are once again a Black Lions team! Last year's Black Lion Award winner, Jeff Ball, is shown at left with his coach, John Urbaniak. Jeff holds the trophy he won for being named MVP of last weekend's Hurricane Bowl. Note the Black Lions regimental patch that he proudly wears on his jersey!

HELP HONOR OUR VETERANS AND KEEP OUR COUNTRY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!

TEACH YOUR KIDS ABOUT REAL HEROES -

AND HONOR THE PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM WHO MOST REPRESENTS THE VALUES OF OUR REAL HEROES
(ALL TEAMS, FROM THE YOUTH LEVEL ON UP, ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE)
 
  
(SEE THE LIST OF TEAMS REGISTERED SO FAR - 34 STATES ARE REPRESENTED - IS YOURS?
 

*********** At the Parents' meeting, I explained that I do not give out individual awards (like stars on the helmets and such), but that I do give one award, and explained the Black Lion award. P.P.S. Know of any Black Lions around this area? Jody Hagins, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (Good question - I have requested a listing of the members of the 28th Infantry Association - the Black Lions - by location. If I am successful, I should be able to furnish you names of men to contact to help present your award. HW)

*********** Hugh, Sign me up. I can't believe I haven't read through this stuff yet. It sounds like a great thing to get the kids thinking right. You can use me as your contact person Thanks. Larry Harrison, Rockdale Bulldogs 135-lb. Div.1 , Conyers, Georgia  

BECOME A BLACK LIONS TEAM - SIGN YOUR TEAM UP FOR 2002!

(IF YOU WERE ENROLLED IN 2001, YOU MUST RE-ENROLL)

BE SURE TO E-MAIL ME - coachwyatt@aol.com - AND ENROLL YOUR TEAM FOR 2002!

"NO MISSION TOO DIFFICULT - NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT - DUTY FIRST"

inscribed on the wall of the 1st Division Museum, at Cantigny, Wheaton, Ilinois
THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

THE BLACK LION AWARD

(FOR MORE INFO)

BONUS - As a bonus to coaches who've supported me in the past - in other words, if you've attended one of my clinics or purchased any materials from me - e-mail me for the address of the pages on which I have described our no-huddle system. If all you do is use it in practice, you will save a lot of practice time just by not huddling!

ADDED BONUS - (Consider it a free upgrade!) This is for Double-Wing coaches only. If - but only if - you have bought Dynamics of the Double Wing - video or playbook - or attended one of my clinics over the last three years, you are eligible to view and print or download a new, not-in-the-playbook play, in the same format as the playbook, that was included in the booklets I handed out at this past spring's clinics. It combines both power and misdirection. It has been field-tested and is easy to incorporate into your present system. e-mail me for the address of its page