NEW ITEMS!
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| PRACTICE PLANNER - LAMINATED, SPIRAL-BOUND WEALTH OF HANDY INFORMATION FOR EVERY DOUBLE-WING COACH | THE HOCKEY STICK - DVD SHOWING HOW I COACH DOUBLE WING QB'S | BLOCKING - THE OLD SCHOOL WAY- DVD SHOWING HOW I TEACH IT | |||
| $39.95 - 4 for $120 - order or get more info | $39.95 - order or get more info | $39.95 - order or get more info |
2112 CLINICS NOW FIRM!
| ATLANTA CLINIC SATURDAY, FEB 25 HILTON GARDEN INN ATLANTA AIRPORT NORTH 3437 Bobby Brown Parkway East Point GA 30344 1-404-477-6600 |
CHICAGO CLINIC SATURDAY, MAR 10 HILTON GARDEN INN MIDWAY AIRPORT (Same location as last year) |
PHILADELPHIA CLINIC SATURDAY, MAR 24 HILTON GARDEN INN FORT WASHINGTON, PA (Same location as last year) |
PROVIDENCE CLINIC SATURDAY, APRIL 7 SHERATON AIRPORT BOSTON POST ROAD WARWICK, RI (Same location as last year) |
CLINIC INFO: For a portion of this year's clinics, I'm going to be employing a slightly different format this year in that I'm asking coaches to volunteer to share with the other coaches by diagramming and discussing one or more of the following:
(1) a favorite play;
(2) a favorite pass play;
(3) a favorite variation of a standard base play;
(4) a favorite long yardage play;
(5) a favorite 2-point play.
(2) a favorite pass play;
(3) a favorite variation of a standard base play;
(4) a favorite long yardage play;
(5) a favorite 2-point play.
Obviously, these would be plays that are currently a part of a coach's offense, plays that he has personally used, and not something he's been doodling on place mats at restaurants while his wife keeps the kids occupied.
Any coach planning on attending a clinic is invited - encouraged - to take part. It doesn't matter what age kids you coach! But I do ask that you first submit your idea(s) to me in advance so that we can resolve any possible duplicates. In the case of duplicates, I'll have to go with the first one submitted.
I'd figure on maybe 30 minutes presentation time, depending on how many coaches take part and how many plays a coach presents.
I want the format to be as much as possible like what goes on in an after-clinic hotel room - relatively informal - which means that I want the emphasis to be on drawing a play up right there on the board and explaining it in detail, which I am convinced encourages other coaches to ask questions.
For that reason, I don't want anything pre-prepared (if there's such a word) - definitely not PowerPoints or handouts. I don't particularly care about video one way or the other, but if there is any video, in the interest of keeping things moving it may have to be shown later to those interested. If need be, we may have to set aside a time for video, but I definitely don't want it to be the featured portion of a coach's presentation.
There will be a prize for everyone who volunteers to present ("Trophies for Everybody!"). And although I realize that having a winner also means there will be disappointed losers, there will also be a Grand Prize for "Best in Show."
If you're planning on attending a clinic, I invite you to contact me if you'd like to participate. coachwyatt@aol.com
AND EVEN IF YOU'S RATHER NOT PARTICIPATE, NOT PROBLEM - YOU'LL STILL COME AWAY FROM THE CLINIC WITH A LOT OF GREAT IDEAS FROM SOME OF THE BEST DOUBLE WING COACHES IN THE BUSINESS!
*********** Signing Day has come and gone, and as usual, every FBS school "got the kids we wanted," "filled all our needs," and is "really excited" about "the best group since we've been here."
Now comes the Unrecruiting: bringing all those kids, who've had smoke blown up their butts since they were eight or nine, down to earth, and convincing them that whatever game they've been playing up to now, from this point on they'll be playing a team game.
Also having to compete against some pretty good football players for a spot in the starting lineup
I anticipated this with Tuesday's quote, by Kay Hymowitz: "Many children who are convinced they are little geniuses tend not to put much effort into their work." Substitute "God's gift to football" for "little geniuses," and some of those recruits are going to be in for a big surprise.
*********** FROM A NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION RELEASE: A record-breaking 49,699,419 fans attended college football games this season, according to a report published by the NCAA. College football has seen attendance records broken in five of the last six seasons. FCS and Division II bested records set in 1994 and 2007, respectively, and Division III hosted its most fans since 1978. Michigan, which won its 14th straight attendance title, set the all-time mark for individual schools by hosting 112,179 fans per game over eight home dates. Five FBS schools topped 100,000 fans per game, and the SEC led all conferences for the 14th consecutive season.
*********** An NFL Super Bowl Commercial will spend 60 seconds showing us all the wonderful things that the NFL has done over the years to promote player safety.
This from a league that let its players play in the Pro Bowl without mouthpieces, pays no attention to how their helmets are fitted, and allows them to play without hip, thigh or knee pads.
From the sound of it, the NFL even seems to take credit for outlawing the flying wedge, which was banned more than 20 years before the NFL was even founded.
Partly, the message is aimed at soccer moms, who increasingly in our society, even when there's a "man" in the house, make the decision to allow a boy to play football.
Partly. But cynics among us might also suspect it's an attempt to begin softening up potential jurors for the day when all those lawsuits by former players make it to the courts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/sports/football/nfl-to-address-head-injuries-in-commercial.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha27
*********** In this story about the return to normal life of a severely-burned Afghanistan combat veteran, it turns out that not all rich people ("folks," as Our President likes to say) are evil...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/us/for-soldier-disfigured-in-afghanistan-a-way-to-return-to-the-world.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
*********** I'd never thought of it this way, but a guy who identified himself as a Korean War-era Marine wrote to the editor of our local paper in defense of the Marines who tinkled on the Taliban and reminded readers that "we have not won a war since we started fighting fair."
*********** Georgia Tech assistant Todd Spencer has had to "resign" for what evidently were violations of the NCAA rules against texting recruits, and as a result the Yellow jackets could find themselves with some big problems. I have known Todd Spencer since the early 80s, when I was working at Rich Brooks' Oregon camp, and he was fresh out of college at Pacific Lutheran. He's been to a lot of places since then, but in his stops at Oregon State (under Jerry Pettibone) and Navy and Georgia Tech (Paul Johnson) he's developed a reputation as one of the top triple-option line coaches in the business. The problem for Georgia Tech is that you can't just get on the phone and hire yourself another offensive line coach, as you could if you were running a more conventional offense. That's also going to be a problem for Todd as well, because the high degree of specialization of his expertise means he can't just get on the phone and get himself another job as a line coach.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7529412/georgia-tech-assistant-todd-spencer-resigns-text-violations
*********** Anybody out there know of a college kid who's trying to line up a summer job? Tell them to go to China. After listening to Our President go for the teenage vote by telling us that a college education is a necessity, I was especially interested in a somewhat related article in Thursday's New York Times. Any of you who know a college kid who can't find summer employment might find it highly interesting to know that there is a government (that means it uses your taxes) program that brings foreign college kids to the United States from countries such as China for stays of as long as four months so that they can learn about American culture. And also take a job that could have gone to an American kid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/us/company-firm-banned-in-effort-to-protect-foreign-students.html?pagewanted=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23
*********** I heard a guy on a cable news channel refer to the Florida Panhandle as "The cracker counties, if you will." He skated off, scot-free. I guess the most I can hope for is that he might be sitting on a barstool in Panama City when a clip of what he said flashed on the screen overhead (fat chance they'd be looking at a liberal news channel) and somebody down at the end of the bar says, "Hey - wasn't that you just said that on TV?"
*********** An ESPN recruiting genius talking about Rutgers' recruiting success said, "They have now become the program to beat in the state of New Jersey."
Huh? Well, I would hope so, since Rutgers is the only FBS program in the state of New Jersey.)
*********** If you're not into sad sports stories, you probably won't want to read about Greg Cook, who died last week at 65.
He was a college star at Cincinnati, and was drafted by the Bengals, then coached by the great Paul Brown, whose offensive coach was the legendary Bill Walsh.
Walsh once told NFL Films that Cook, who combined "the size and strength of a Terry Bradshaw" with the "instincts and feel of Joe Montana," could very well be "remembered and noted as the greatest quarterback of all time.”
Except... partway through the 1969 season, he went down under a tackle and suffered a shoulder injury - a torn rotator cuff - that went undiagnosed and untreated. He tried to return and play through the pain, but was never the same again. After a number of surgeries, he returned to play just one game in 1973 and was released. Such was the state of sports medicine at the time.
Here's a very interesting sidelight, written on a New York Times blog by Andy Barral...
In 1970, when it was
determined that Cook would not be available, Walsh redesigned the
Bengals’ offense around the strengths of their new starting
quarterback, Virgil Carter. Although he didn’t have anything
resembling Cook’s powerful arm, Carter was smart, mobile and
accurate on short- and medium-distance throws. Walsh’s new
offense featured high-percentage, ball-control passing primarily to the
tight ends and the backs out of the backfield. Thus, what would later
be known as the West Coast offense was born.
On another note, Greg Cook's coach at Cincinnati was Homer Rice, who with Cook as his quarterback in 1968 combined a triple option running game with a drop-back passing attack to lead the nation in passing and finish eighth in total offense, breaking seven NCAA records. It was that spectacular season that led Coach Rice to write his book, "Homer Rice on Triple Option Football" (Parker, 1973). It is a classic, and it probably would be enough for someone wanting to coach a split-back veer attack - anyone, that is, willing to play it with three wides, and no TE. (Remember, he had Greg Cook throwing the ball.)
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/greg-cook-the-story-of-an-n-f-l-shooting-star/
*********** Coach,
Your notes on the Vietnam War are striking. My father is an Army combat veteran of the war, having been stationed in Dong Ha along the DMZ for most of 1969. When my brothers and I were growing up we never heard a peep about what he did there, only about the guys he met and clearly cared about while he was far from home. Over the last few years he has opened up a little bit about what his duties involved. And he has told me more than once that those were his finest hours. Remarkable words from a remarkable man.
On a less somber note, I am happy to tell you that after a painfully empty two year absence I am back in the business of coaching football. I have taken the head coaching position at Rockville High School - a homecoming of sorts, because that is where I worked for Coach Tom Dunn from 1995-2004 before going to Tolland High for the 2005 season. I have begun putting together a young and enthusiastic staff and will begin the offseason workouts next Monday. I am excited to start over and I'm looking forward to the challenge of restoring a once proud program that hasn't had a winning season since 2004 and is coming off of back to back 1-9 seasons. I am grateful to finally be able to "get after it" again.
Yours in coaching,
Patrick Cox
Tolland, Connecticut
Coach,
Glad you enjoyed that. It was sent to me by one of the Black Lions. Those guys don't open up to just anybody, as you can imagine based on your experiences with your own dad.
Congratulations on the new assignment! My prediction is that after the layoff you will be even more effective than before because you've had time to reflect on what's good and what's not so good, what's worth keeping and what's not, what to spend time on and what not to.
Once a coach always a coach and all that - but nice to have you back.
*********** Sunday, in Indianapolis, it may be the Super Bowl, but today, in Philly, it's WING BOWL 20!
It's normally not our policy to encourage or promote gambling by publishing odds or point spreads, but this is Philly, and this is Wing Bowl...
Rick The Manager: 100-1
Snack Jack : 75-1
*The Ukraine Train: 75-1
Freak Of Nature: 50-1
Hot Pockets: 50-1
*Elmer Fudd: 50-1
*The Rooster: 40-1
*King Kong: 35-1
Not Rich: 35-1
*Mr. 1%: 30-1
Nick Papagorgio: 25-1
Damaging Doug: 20-1
Kenso Kevin: 20-1
Iceman: 20-1
Oink Oink: 18-1
Boring John: 15-1
US Male: 10-1
Gentlemen Gerry: 9-1
*Skin & Bones: 8-1
*Stevil Kanevil: 8-1
*Eaterama: 7-1
Quazy: 5-1
El Wingador: 4-1
*Chilita: 3-1
*Takeru Kobayashi: 2-1
Jonathan ‘Super’ Squibb: 2-1
*denotes first time participant
Snack Jack : 75-1
*The Ukraine Train: 75-1
Freak Of Nature: 50-1
Hot Pockets: 50-1
*Elmer Fudd: 50-1
*The Rooster: 40-1
*King Kong: 35-1
Not Rich: 35-1
*Mr. 1%: 30-1
Nick Papagorgio: 25-1
Damaging Doug: 20-1
Kenso Kevin: 20-1
Iceman: 20-1
Oink Oink: 18-1
Boring John: 15-1
US Male: 10-1
Gentlemen Gerry: 9-1
*Skin & Bones: 8-1
*Stevil Kanevil: 8-1
*Eaterama: 7-1
Quazy: 5-1
El Wingador: 4-1
*Chilita: 3-1
*Takeru Kobayashi: 2-1
Jonathan ‘Super’ Squibb: 2-1
*denotes first time participant
Close to 20,000 crazyass Philadelphians will spend Thursday night doing God-knows-what until the doors of the Wells Fargo Center open. At 5:30 AM.
SportsRadio 94WIP, sponsor of Wing Bowl (hard to believe this is Wing Bowl 20) offers these "friendly reminders)...
The parking lots surrounding the Wells Fargo Center will open at 4 a.m.
To enter the parking lots you must have a ticket to the event. Those without tickets will be turned away.
Doors to the Wells Fargo Center will open at 5 a.m.
All patrons are subject to a search for contraband
Bottles, cans or outside food will be NOT be permitted into the Wells Fargo Center
Ticket checks will be conducted at entrance lines outside of the Center.
DO NOT GO TO WELLS FARGO CENTER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A TICKET – YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EVEN ENTER THE PARKING LOTS!
Any open fires will be extinguished and tickets confiscated from those who are cited for violating the city ordinance on tailgating.
To enter the parking lots you must have a ticket to the event. Those without tickets will be turned away.
Doors to the Wells Fargo Center will open at 5 a.m.
All patrons are subject to a search for contraband
Bottles, cans or outside food will be NOT be permitted into the Wells Fargo Center
Ticket checks will be conducted at entrance lines outside of the Center.
DO NOT GO TO WELLS FARGO CENTER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A TICKET – YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EVEN ENTER THE PARKING LOTS!
Any open fires will be extinguished and tickets confiscated from those who are cited for violating the city ordinance on tailgating.
Check out...
Tasteful photos of Wingettes http://wingbowl.cbslocal.com/#ixzz1lGvdQDSA
The legendary El Wingador showing how to eat wings like a champ!http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/wingbowl/
*********** Whew. You'd think that Navy's Ken Niumatalolo would have seen that memo from the AD (or the Superintendent) to be careful what he says about the impact on Navy's schedule of joining the Big East…
By Andrea Adelson
ESPN.com
Now that Navy is set to join the Big East for football in 2015, several big questions face the academy as it considers the future of its long-running rivalries.
Among the biggest is where the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy fits on the program's priority list. Would the Trophy, given annually to the winner of the series between Navy, Army and Air Force, take a back seat to winning a Big East title?
"To me, moving into the conference, our first goal in our program is always to beat Army. Then our next goal should be to win the conference," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said Tuesday in a phone interview.
"If it gets to the point because of scheduling conflicts that we can't play everybody and the schedule is going to become an issue, the Army game will never go anyplace. I'd rather keep Army and Notre Dame and not worry about the Commander-In-Chief's trophy. We're in a conference now. So we need to try to win a conference championship."
Niumatalolo emphasized he speaks for himself on this topic, and it has not come up during discussions with athletic director Chet Gladchuk or Superintendent Rear Admiral Michael H. Miller.
"That's me as the head football coach talking. I know our athletic director and our superintendent will say that will never happen. If it gets to the point where they force our hand and we have to drop some of these games, I would say Army and Notre Dame don't go anywhere."
ESPN.com
Now that Navy is set to join the Big East for football in 2015, several big questions face the academy as it considers the future of its long-running rivalries.
Among the biggest is where the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy fits on the program's priority list. Would the Trophy, given annually to the winner of the series between Navy, Army and Air Force, take a back seat to winning a Big East title?
"To me, moving into the conference, our first goal in our program is always to beat Army. Then our next goal should be to win the conference," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said Tuesday in a phone interview.
"If it gets to the point because of scheduling conflicts that we can't play everybody and the schedule is going to become an issue, the Army game will never go anyplace. I'd rather keep Army and Notre Dame and not worry about the Commander-In-Chief's trophy. We're in a conference now. So we need to try to win a conference championship."
Niumatalolo emphasized he speaks for himself on this topic, and it has not come up during discussions with athletic director Chet Gladchuk or Superintendent Rear Admiral Michael H. Miller.
"That's me as the head football coach talking. I know our athletic director and our superintendent will say that will never happen. If it gets to the point where they force our hand and we have to drop some of these games, I would say Army and Notre Dame don't go anywhere."
Middies, if by some chance you wind up not dropping Air Force, your coach has just elevated the intensity of the rivalry in a way Air Force couldn't have paid you to do.
*********** "What do you think about a state association forcing schools to buy a particular brand of football?" asked my friend Greg Koenig, of Beloit, Kansas, as he showed me a letter sent out by his state association...
January 31, 2012
To: KSHSAA Member School Principals & Athletic Directors
From: Gary Musselman, Executive Director
Mark Lentz, Assistant Executive Director
Subject: 2012 State Football Playoffs – Wilson Game Ball Agreement
The conclusion of the 2011 KSHSAA football season brought an end to an agreement our Association had with Spalding to provide new game balls for teams participating in our football playoff contests. In seeking to continue this or a similar program, we found companies only willing to consider agreements requiring mandatory use of their ball in our playoff football games. Our November survey of the 144 schools that qualified for our 2011 football playoffs indicated 80+ percent of those schools currently choose to play with Wilson brand footballs, with the GST – F1003 being the overwhelming ball of choice.
Given that fact, the KSHSAA has entered into an agreement with Wilson to provide the GST - F1003 football to schools participating in football playoff (regional, sectional, sub-state and state final) games beginning in 2012. As before, each school participating in any of these four playoff rounds, will receive one new football for each round. Playoff teams in these games are now required to play with a Wilson ball, but are not required to play with the new footballs shipped to your school for that playoff round (we understand coaches will likely want to play with a ball that has already been broken in).
Under the agreement, use of a Wilson football will be mandatory in these four rounds of KSHSAA football playoff games beginning with the 2012 season. We are providing advance notice to athletic directors and coaches so you can plan ahead. Please understand KSHSAA game officials will be accountable to enforce the requirement that all game balls in the specified playoff games, are Wilson footballs bearing the NFHS authenticating mark.
NFHS approved Wilson balls permitted for use in post season games include:
Wilson F1003 GST
Wilson NCAA F1001
Wilson NCAA F1005
Schools may play with any brand of game ball they choose in the 9 games of the regular season and Bi-district games.
To: KSHSAA Member School Principals & Athletic Directors
From: Gary Musselman, Executive Director
Mark Lentz, Assistant Executive Director
Subject: 2012 State Football Playoffs – Wilson Game Ball Agreement
The conclusion of the 2011 KSHSAA football season brought an end to an agreement our Association had with Spalding to provide new game balls for teams participating in our football playoff contests. In seeking to continue this or a similar program, we found companies only willing to consider agreements requiring mandatory use of their ball in our playoff football games. Our November survey of the 144 schools that qualified for our 2011 football playoffs indicated 80+ percent of those schools currently choose to play with Wilson brand footballs, with the GST – F1003 being the overwhelming ball of choice.
Given that fact, the KSHSAA has entered into an agreement with Wilson to provide the GST - F1003 football to schools participating in football playoff (regional, sectional, sub-state and state final) games beginning in 2012. As before, each school participating in any of these four playoff rounds, will receive one new football for each round. Playoff teams in these games are now required to play with a Wilson ball, but are not required to play with the new footballs shipped to your school for that playoff round (we understand coaches will likely want to play with a ball that has already been broken in).
Under the agreement, use of a Wilson football will be mandatory in these four rounds of KSHSAA football playoff games beginning with the 2012 season. We are providing advance notice to athletic directors and coaches so you can plan ahead. Please understand KSHSAA game officials will be accountable to enforce the requirement that all game balls in the specified playoff games, are Wilson footballs bearing the NFHS authenticating mark.
NFHS approved Wilson balls permitted for use in post season games include:
Wilson F1003 GST
Wilson NCAA F1001
Wilson NCAA F1005
Schools may play with any brand of game ball they choose in the 9 games of the regular season and Bi-district games.
I replied,
I think it sucks. Washington's association, the WIAA, has been getting away with this scam for years. It just so happens that after Pope Franjo sent me a recent article about Wilson's high-handedness in Ohio, I'd already written something on the subject...
By: Jim Siegel
The Columbus Dispatch - January 27, 2012 16:01 PM
Sen. Cliff Hite’s effort to recognize the Wilson football as the official football of the state of Ohio was fumbled this week. Or, one might say Hite was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Hite, R-Findlay, in December introduced Senate Bill 274 to recognize the football, which is manufactured at the Wilson Sporting Goods factory in Ada, within his district.
The bill was scheduled for its first hearing this week, but was pulled from the committee agenda after, Hite said, he was informed the bill could have a legal or perception problem in that it was promoting a for-profit, private company.
Hite, a former high school football coach and quarterback for the University of Kentucky, said that issue had not occurred to him. He just wanted to recognize that the football used at all levels of play, including the NFL, was made in Ohio.
Hite said he may still do a ceremonial resolution, perhaps connecting it the Super Bowl, where the Wilson ball has been used in every game.
Here in the Great Evergreen State we can use any
(NFHS-approved) football we wish during the season. But caveat
emptor, because come playoff time, we can only use the state-approved
brand. Nice of the state to use the participating schools as its
stooges so it can wring more money out of football. The Columbus Dispatch - January 27, 2012 16:01 PM
Sen. Cliff Hite’s effort to recognize the Wilson football as the official football of the state of Ohio was fumbled this week. Or, one might say Hite was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Hite, R-Findlay, in December introduced Senate Bill 274 to recognize the football, which is manufactured at the Wilson Sporting Goods factory in Ada, within his district.
The bill was scheduled for its first hearing this week, but was pulled from the committee agenda after, Hite said, he was informed the bill could have a legal or perception problem in that it was promoting a for-profit, private company.
Hite, a former high school football coach and quarterback for the University of Kentucky, said that issue had not occurred to him. He just wanted to recognize that the football used at all levels of play, including the NFL, was made in Ohio.
Hite said he may still do a ceremonial resolution, perhaps connecting it the Super Bowl, where the Wilson ball has been used in every game.
It's a real power - and money - grab by your association. They make it sound as if they're just "continuing a program," but you just KNOW they're getting something from Wilson. (Not that the brand matters. In our state it's Baden.) It's as sleazy a practice as basketball coaches pocketing a shoe company's money in return for forcing their players to wear the company's shoes. The players get nothing for their role, which is exactly what the Kansas schools get in the case of football. But at least the basketball players get their shoes free; the state associations not only have the gall to tell you that you have to use a particular company's balls - but you have to buy the balls!
Football is almost certainly a state association's biggest moneymaker, and they're doing their damnedest to squeeze every nickel out of it - so they can spend the money on minor sports tournaments and trophies. (I realize how politically incorrect it is to use the term "minor sports.") Yes, they say the rule is only for the playoffs, but any coach who thinks he has an outside chance of making the playoffs is smart enough to figure out that at some point he ought at least to be practicing with - and breaking in - the balls his team's going to be required to use in the playoffs. So... Ka-ching!
It is a true monopoly at work here, an ugly way to make money off the effort of the schools, the kids and the coaches. It's bad enough that the state associations pocket all the proceeds of the playoffs while giving the participating schools barely enough to reimburse them for their expenses, but then to force the teams to use a ball because the manufacturer paid the association to do it is almost criminal.
When you get right down to it, except for the state association's monopoly (like the NCAA, they'll try to tell you that all they really are is an association of schools), it wouldn't take that much for the playoff schools to arrange their own games, hire the officials, pay the teams' expenses, and then disburse the gate proceeds as they see fit. (Which might or might not include paying for the state golf tournament or the girls' wrestling tournament or the soccer playoffs.)
And then like a true bureaucracy, after a few years they'll get rich and powerful enough to start their own association, and hire their own Executive Director, and they'll go out and solicit money from sporting goods manufacturers to provide the "Official Playoff Ball of the Kansas Football Association."
*********** Beloit, Kansas' Jacob English signed Wednesday with the Wyoming Cowboys; it's been fun over the last four summers to watch Jacob grow into a dominant 6-4, 260 pound offensive and defensive linemen. Here, Jacob and his coach Greg Koenig are interviewed...
http://www.catchitkansas.com/videobeta/4148668e-d288-404b-8087-874470e1a8ca/Sports/Signing-Day-Jacob-English-of-Beloit
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012 - "Many children who are convinced they are little geniuses tend not to put much effort into their work." Kay Hymowitz, Manhattan Institute
Ah, the Pro Bowl - football played with union work rules.
A peek at the future of our game, once the government imposes all the regulations that Congressmen (and the NFLPA) would like, all in the name of safety. (You think it can't happen to football? Study the history of boxing in America.)
The celebration of waste and excess that was the Pro Bowl was enough to make a liberal out of me. Well, sort of. But I mean, what if the always image-conscious NFL had saved all the money it took to stage that farce and instead donated it to some charity?
And then there was the "football game" itself, as the announcers insisted on calling it. Not so long ago, I said that I found the high-scoring Washington-Baylor game exciting, and people ragged me for it. Okay, okay - I agree with them that the defenses in that game weren't what they ought to have been, but at least they were facing offenses that were going at full speed.
In the Pro Bowl, offenses weren't going close to full speed, but even so, the defenses still weren't up to the job.
Linemen? Might as well have left them all home. Standup dummies would have moved better, and eaten a lot less. I actually felt bad for the defensive linemen, as they came to a stop and leaned against the "blockers." It had to be killing them not to be able to sack those quarterbacks.
And then there was Cam Newton, who did his damnedest to make the whole deal look like sandlot ball, shirttail out and hanging so low it covered his butt. No way it came out by accident. I used to go nuts about that when I coached minor league ball - I used to tell the players that to the guy in the seats, the difference between a sandlot game that he could watch for free and a minor league game that he'd pay to watch was often as simple as the way the teams dressed. And nothing says "sandlot" as loudly as a shirttail hanging out. (To think that the NFL, which once actually employed former players to make sure before every game that every team was uniformly attired, would allow that bush-league stunt.)
Newton played the way he dressed - poorly. Trust the fans of Hawaii, who know football when they see it: they weren't seeing it, and they knew it, and they booed Newton's play, bad even by pro bowl standards.
Not there wasn't some good that came out of the game: no one was hurt. So the NFL did answer a lot of its critics by demonstrating that with certain, uh, "adjustments" to the game, football can, indeed, be made injury free.
*********** No comment yet on the weird story out of New Haven about Patrick Witt, the Yale quarterback whose decision to play in the Yale-Harvard game instead of interviewing for the Rhodes Scholarshp was one of the feel-good stories of the last football season...
*********** The11th Single Wing Conclave will be held Friday, March 9th & Saturday, March 10th at King's College, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
If that didn't happen to be the date of my Chicago clinic, I'd be there.
I spoke there a few years ago, and I had a great time. Those single-wing guys are great people, and always willing to help each other.
All necessary information can be found here...
http://forums.delphiforums.com/SingleWing/messages?msg=13476.1
or here...
https://www.facebook.com/events/329145667107889/
*********** My son, Ed, introduced me several years ago to Paul Roos, an Australian footballer who has since gone on to quite a career as coach of the Sydney Swans. "Roosie" is married to an American woman, and he knows something about the US, and for some time now he's been enamored of the idea of finding "footy" talent in the US.
Roosie has just taken his first step in that direction, with the signing of an American basketball player...
http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/7106/newsid/128185/default.aspx
*********** It was pretty shameless of the White House to have Warren Buffet's secretary as a prop at the recent State of the Union address. Now, she's catching some grief for letting herself be used like that, and well she should. Mr. Buffett, one of America's wealthiest men, created something of a sensation when he said that his secretary was taxed at a higher rate than he was. Well. That was all the disingenuous members of the news media needed, as they cranked out their stories aimed at firing up America's economic illiterates at the unfairness of it all. And soon enough, all over America, it was "Mabel, it says here that Warren Buffett's secretary pays more in taxes than he does!"
Seems to me that you ought to have to show that you know the difference between taxes and tax rates in order to vote, but that ship sailed long ago.
I said that the lady earned the grief she's getting for her political stunt, and here's why: apart from the fact that although Mr. Buffett paid millions in taxes (yes, he was taxed at a lower rate than his secretary) and his secretary paid a lot less, it turns out that the lady was a poor example to use. A Forbes Magazine estimate of her income, based on the tax rates she's said to pay, indicates that she makes between $200,000 and $500,000 a year.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/01/25/warren-buffetts-secretary-likely-makes-between-200000-and-500000year/
*********** Navy's AD and football coach explain the thinking behind their move to the Big East and the first conference membership in the school's long athletic history.
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/nas/2012/01/25-29/Shifting-football-landscape-forced-Navys-hand.html
*********** A New York Health Department ad warning about the dangers of diabetes shows an amputee who presumably lost his leg to the disease - but didn't, really.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/nyregion/in-health-dept-ad-photoshop-not-diabetes-took-leg.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha29
*********** A Mustang, Oklahoma ninth-grader snapped a photo of a sleeping substitute teacher last Friday and was suspended for using a cellphone in school. No word on what happened to the sub.
http://www.koco.com/news/30302312/detail.html#ixzz1kh9TIhaa
*********** "I just wish that I could have an easier road in life," said Lawrence Taylor, latest celebrity guest on the new hit TV show, "T.O.'s Pity Party."
*********** He didn't say whether she was a blonde...
My favorite morning radio guy, Bob Miller, said he had taken his grandkids to get their hair cut late Sunday afternoon, and as he waited, he noticed that the Pro Bowl was on the TV set.
He's no more a fan of the Pro Bowl than I am, and he said that since he was the only one in the waiting area, he asked one of the "barbers" (a woman, of course) if it would be okay, since no one was watching the "football game," to change the channel so he could watch the Oregon-Oregon State basketball game.
When she hesitated and said, "I really shouldn't…" he asked what the problem was.
"Well, duh," she told him. "It's the Super Bowl!"
*********** How important is a quarterback's coach? Oh, only about as important as a golfer's personal pro.
The pro game today is all about the quarterback. You got one - you got a chance. You don't - you're dog food.
Yet there's Pittsburgh, throwing Roethlisberger's offensive coach, Bruce Arians, over the side. Like Roethlisberger or not, you have to admit that he's one of the NFL's top quarterbacks - especially when healthy - and you'd think they'd have say down with him and tried to explain what they were up to.
By Scott Brown and Shawn McCullough, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
HONOLULU —
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has questions about the direction of the
Steelers' offense, and he plans to seek out team president Art Rooney
II when he returns to Pittsburgh after playing in the Pro Bowl on
Sunday night.
"When I get back I'm going to go up to Mr. Rooney's office and ask him what he wants from me, what he wants from this offense, because I think that's a viable question for him," Roethlisberger said Thursday in an exclusive interview with the Tribune-Review following a light Pro Bowl practice. "He's our owner and our boss, so I really would like to know kind of what he wants and where he sees our offense going because I'd like to tell him where I see us going."
The offense has become perhaps the biggest question mark in an offseason full of them for the Steelers.
Bruce Arians, who has a close relationship with Roethlisberger, will not return after serving five seasons as the Steelers' offensive coordinator. The Steelers said Arians retired, but Arians said earlier this week that his contract had not been renewed.
Arians was supposed to go to Hawaii as Roethlisberger's guest for the Pro Bowl, but pulled out after everything went down with Steelers.
"When I get back I'm going to go up to Mr. Rooney's office and ask him what he wants from me, what he wants from this offense, because I think that's a viable question for him," Roethlisberger said Thursday in an exclusive interview with the Tribune-Review following a light Pro Bowl practice. "He's our owner and our boss, so I really would like to know kind of what he wants and where he sees our offense going because I'd like to tell him where I see us going."
The offense has become perhaps the biggest question mark in an offseason full of them for the Steelers.
Bruce Arians, who has a close relationship with Roethlisberger, will not return after serving five seasons as the Steelers' offensive coordinator. The Steelers said Arians retired, but Arians said earlier this week that his contract had not been renewed.
Arians was supposed to go to Hawaii as Roethlisberger's guest for the Pro Bowl, but pulled out after everything went down with Steelers.
*********** In view of the fact that only a few years ago Rice was wrestling over whether to continue playing football, it was nice to read this announcement in the American Football Foundation's newsletter…
Rice held a town hall meeting last week celebrating improvements to the south end of Rice Stadium. Rice University President David W. Leebron addressed the more than 400 fans in attendance. The project includes construction of new football locker rooms, coaches' offices, a hall of fame display, rehabilitation area, training room and strength and conditioning space.
*********** Coach Wyatt,
I was just reading your news and I saw your question about whether Swarthmore still plays football. As a former Swarthmore football player, I am sad to say that the Garnet Tide no longer competes, as the Board of Trustees or some fancy named committee did away with football after the 2000 season as a means "adding further diversity" to the student body, assuming the misguided notion that admitting 20 football players in every freshman class was somehow making the campus homogenous, or that by admitting said football players, purple haired gay trumpet players would be excluded, and we know that no small, private, elite liberal arts college is complete without its purple haired gay trumpet players.
What's particularly galling about the situation was that I worked as recruiting consultant for them in 1997-1998, doing a lot of the grunt work like making phone calls, updating the recruiting database, visiting players at the their schools, representing the school at college nights, and hosting open houses. The kids that I personally recruited that ended up coming, and there were about 10 of them, would have been seniors in 2001, and I stood there and parroted the company line to them and their parents about how the college was committed to rebuilding the program and fielding a winning team (when i was hired in Fall 1997, Swarthmore was coming off of back to back 0-10 seasons), and then not even 4 years later the school was folding up the tent. To this day, I have only spoken to a few of those guys, as I really wouldn't know what to say to them. I'm sure they don't hold me responsible for what happened, but I still gave them my word and that proved to be not worth much.
Anyway, I hope that you and Mrs. Wyatt are doing well.
Sincerely,
Francis Amar
Woodstown, New Jersey
Hi Coach,
Great to hear from you!
To say the least, I am impressed by the fact that you attended Swarthmore. I know how a school with Swarthmore's academics struggled on the football field, which is why I used it!
It is a shame that Swarthmore has joined that tiny group of elite schools that choose not to play football and, in my opinion, to reduce by maybe 90 per cent their attractiveness to normal American young men. Not that that's necessarily any concern for schools such as Reed, Whitman, Haverford and Swarthmore, but as a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist, it would give me the creeps to be at a college that didn't have a football team.
I have watched the anguish of the young men associated with the program at Western Washington, a once-proud program whose president, under the guise of saving money, shut it down a couple of years ago. If their purpose was in any way related to promoting "diversity," they must have had "purple haired gay trumpet players" in mind, because at that largely-white college in a largely-white state, a great number of the black students on campus were football players!
You obviously were not to blame for what the administration did, but as the front man for them, you were their face, so I can understand your feelings. In another life, I was a salesman, and I know how tough it is to have to be the one to deliver bad news to a customer.
We're doing well, and I hope to see you again one of these days.
***********Dennis Cook, of Roanoke, Virginia sent me a link to an article in which a Virginia Tech study suggests that little kids may take more - and harder - hits to the head than previously thought…
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/304108
But lest we act in haste to emasculate our game, he also sent me another note, about the great Red Grange, considered by many to be the person who more than any individual brought pro football to the masses…
“In his senior
year, his team won every game but one in which they lost 39-0 to Scott
High School in Toledo, Ohio. Knocked out in this game, Grange remained
unconscious for two days, having difficulty speaking when he
awoke.”
If he played in today’s era, he would never have been allowed to play again.
If he played in today’s era, he would never have been allowed to play again.
You're right, I said.
Somehow, Red Grange survived the knockout and a long career in college and pro football, and managed to live to the age of 87, enjoying good health until his last year of life. But that wouldn't matter to the people who'd like to end our game.
Just think of how his life (not to mention the game of football) would have been changed if he'd been told that that was it for him - no more football.
*********** Coach,
Be careful with your ideas; they might already be implemented. Some group started a state championship for the youth levels in Maryland around the time I got out of coaching youth football. In 2011, they had 29 champions! Four different divisions based on the program size and levels of competition in your home league, and up to eight age levels in each division
(http://www.marylandyouthfootball.com/ and http://public.teamzonesports.com/marylandyouthfootball . I don’t know about buying the opportunity to coach, but each team must pay for the opportunity to participate. Of course, you can also buy video of the games, tee shirts, and so forth plus the parents have to pay admission to the games. I think the championship games were played the weekend before Christmas.
Adults can make youth sports a challenge… then you’re reminded about Craig James (Craig James: The Most Hated Man in Texas [http://www.thepostgame.com/commentary/201201/craig-james-most-hated-man-west-texas]).
Best regards,
Jim Runser
Westminster, Maryland
Hi Jim,
I guess you can't blame people for seeing opportunity where you and I see only crazed, overly-ambitious, egotistical stage parents, willing to do anything they can to give their kids an edge in the race to a college scholarship.
Loved the article on Craig James. I wonder where they found the two per cent of Texans who like him.
*********** Not to say that tennis players are better athletes than football players, but on Sunday I watched the replay of two of the best tennis players in the world going toe-to-toe in the finals of the Australian Open, for nearly six hours.
Let me repeat that: six hours. Six solid hours of tennis, five sets in all, with maybe a five minute break between sets, in the 90+ degree heat and humidity of Melbourne.
The match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic was an athletic contest on the order of the boxing matches I remember as a kid - Rocky Graziano and Tony Zale, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler, Gene Fullmer and Carmen Basilio, Sugar Ray Robinson and anybody
As I watched, as the farce that was the Pro Bowl played on the other screen, I thought about cosseted, pampered pro football players coming off the field after one series of downs and heading right for the oxygen mask. And I thought of the excuses the college announcers begin to make when a game goes into overtime and the players, we are told, are so-o-o-o-o tired.
Yes, there are many very good athletes playing football, and as professionals, many of them keep their bodies in top condition. But even given the ability to hit with Nadal or Djokovic, there's not a football player in the entire NFL who could have hit with either one of them for five hours.
*********** "INSIGHT BOWL LOSING TITLE SPONSOR" read the headline. Not to say that some companies might be wasting advertising dollars, but I read all the way through the article and I'll be damned if I could find anything about who the title sponsor of the "Insight" Bowl was..
*********** A really strange beer commercial from Deschutes Brewing Company
http://blog.seattlepi.com/beerblotter/2012/01/24/the-new-deschutes-video-is-genius-its-weird-its-over-the-top-its%E2%80%A6%E2%80%A6/
Deschutes is located in Bend, Oregon and makes one of my favorite craft brews - Mirror Pond Pale Ale.
Look at the video and see if you can figure out why such a pretty girl would deface her body with NBA hieroglyphics.
*********** Hi Coach Wyatt,
I spent more time than ever this past season trying to teach the fundamentals of tackling. At the start of the season, it was amazing to see how many kids could easily and naturally duck their head, lead with their helmet, leave their feet or attempt the "armless" tackle.
The sad part of this is that I am getting these kids at 10 or 11 years old. They already have developed the unsafe and ineffective skills of modern day tackling.
My intial observation was that our team was not overly talented. My thought was, if we happened to have a tough season, I could take some solace knowing that the boys were taught correct fundamentals. Of course, as kids like to do...they surprised me just a bit....went 11-0 and won the Tampa Bay Region in Pop Warner. The only negative of the season being that I told the kids they could shave my head if they went undefeated. They did...and retaliated on my scalp with a near religious fervor!!! & I walked around with a hat on most days for the next couple of weeks...pictures being withheld as to not scar future generations.
Trying to do some research on who actually tackled well is troubling, too. You Tube is littered with video ensembles touting the "Hardest Hits." Even Dan Dierdorf, during last week's NFC Divisional Game, stated after a play, "That's the way you hit," on what he should have deemed an improper tackling technique.
I did, however, find one particular SOB ( I dont think he'd mind that description). He's an all-time great, who I had trouble finding film of him where he didn't wrap his arms or lead only with his helmet...and, oh yeah, he was also about the most feared guy in the NFL...Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus. Tell me what you think. On numerous tackles, he looks like he is trying to twist the shoulder pads off the opposing runner, like the technique you describe in "Safer & Surer Tackling."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxR9qYSHt8U&feature=related
Honorable mention to Ray Nitschke...
-
Ed Campbell
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2012 - "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." Dale Carnegie
*********** POOR T. O. In his own words, "I don't have no friends."
Assuming that that means he doesn't have any friends, that's too bad.
All those years, how were all his teammates to know that his acting like a selfish, self-promoting team cancer was really a desperate call for help?
As if being friendless weren't bad enough, he's also broke. That can happen when you sire four kids by three different women, all without benefit of wedlock (needless to say), and those mommas know that you're a highly-paid pro football player.
The result? $44,600 a month in child support. (think of it - a month!) That's enough to put anybody in the poorhouse.
Maybe if he tells the judge he's now playing arena football, he can get the child support cut back to $35,000 a month.
*********** Sent to me by a good friend...
A little history most people will never know.
Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall----
"Carved on these walls is the story of America , of a continuing quest to preserve both Democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream." ~President George Bush
SOMETHING to think about - Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.
There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.
The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.
Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.
The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.
For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
Please pass this on to those who served during this time, and those who DO Care.
God Bless our Troops and Veterans
"Carved on these walls is the story of America , of a continuing quest to preserve both Democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream." ~President George Bush
SOMETHING to think about - Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.
There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.
The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.
Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.
The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.
· There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.
· 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.
· 8,283 were just 19 years old.
The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.
· 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.
· 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.
· One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.
· 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam .
· 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam .
· 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.
· Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.
· 54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.
· 8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.
· 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.
· Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.
· West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
· The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.
· The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
· The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.
· The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.
· 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.
· 8,283 were just 19 years old.
The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.
· 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.
· 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.
· One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.
· 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam .
· 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam .
· 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.
· Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.
· 54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.
· 8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.
· 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.
· Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.
· West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
· The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.
· The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
· The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.
· The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.
For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
Please pass this on to those who served during this time, and those who DO Care.
God Bless our Troops and Veterans
*********** So Navy will join the Big East for the 2015 season.
Great move by Navy. This gives them a few years to somehow recruit BCS-type talent. We will see whether they can do that, but in the meantime, they have taken a significant step toward assuring their future as an FBS school. Air Force is okay, too.
Meantime, I am distressed at the way Army, with its learning-on-the-job AD, a boy named Boo, has painted itself into a corner.
They've lost nine straight to Navy, and just when it appeared they might be closing the gap, this threatens to open it up even more.
I'm afraid that this independent stance of theirs (they can't seem to forget their unfortunate attempt at conference membership a few years back, when they played in Conference-USA) effectively consigns them to seeking refuge in the MAC (they play so many MAC schools that they might as well be a member as it is) or stumbling around for a couple of years looking for FBS opponents before ultimately tiring of the search and dropping down to FCS.
(Famed author John Feinstein, who knows both Army and Navy a lot better than I do, disagrees with me - http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/navy-to-big-east-is-a-step-in-wrong-direction/2012/01/25/gIQAz3ZxQQ_story.html
*********** I've noticed several times over the last few months you have mentioned about offensive linemen locking legs on field goal attempts. And I noticed you mentioned it again today. Perhaps you are unaware that this rule is different on the NFL level than it is on the college and high school levels and that it's perfectly legal for linemen in the NFL to lock their legs in this fashion.
Andy Driver
Sanford, NC
Andy,
I did my research and it is, indeed, a different rule. Right there in the NFL Rule Book: "interlocking legs are permissible."
You are right and I have been wrong. Apologies to my readers, and thanks to you for pointing thus out.
So now there's another NFL rule that needs changing. Fat chance.
*********** On the subject of NFL rules changes… while eliminating the interlocking of legs on kicking teams, I'd also go after the undue influence of the field goal by proposing allowing 12 men on defense on field goal attempts. (Which would immediately send certain coaches to the drawing board looking for ways to get a 13th man on the field.)
*********** I had to laugh at Our President boasting how he'd hammer all those corporate executives that ship jobs overseas, while there in the audience as his special guest sat Mrs. Steve Jobs, widow of the late CEO of Apple, one of the largest American outsourcers of jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=all
Take the time to read the article and you'll understand something Our President doesn't seem to understand - he could have threatened Apple executives with prison sentences and it wouldn't have kept those jobs home.
*********** The US Women's soccer team has won consecutive games against opponents from small, Latin-American countries by 14-0 and 13-0. Beating Guatemala 14-0 and The Dominican Republic 13-0 is about as praiseworthy as Alabama beating Swarthmore in football (if Swarthmore still plays football).
Except for one major difference. The US women's coach encouraged her players to keep scoring.
But had Saban kept his starters in and continued to give the ball to Trent Richardson as the score mounted into the 70s or 80s, there'd have been calls for his head. Why, think of those poor Swarthmore players, having to go through life after having undergone such a traumatic experience.
Interesting, isn't it, that a tough, manmaker of a game like football has "mercy rules," while soccer has made no move to keep the scores down. (No move that I'm aware of, I should say, because I've made a few mistakes lately, and as closely as I follow soccer, I may have missed this.) But I mean, if football players can be damaged by being beaten by lopsided scores, shouldn't we really be concerned about the same thing happening to the sort of guys who fake injuries and go by one name?
I've thought about this, and I think that the reason lies in their origins.
Soccer is a poor man's game. Always has been.
Football, on the other hand, descended from rugby, which for all its rough play has generally been considered a gentleman's game. Named for the elite school in Rugby, England where it got its start, it spread to American and Canadian colleges where its rules were tweaked and twisted to the point when it began to take on the character of today's American football and its close cousin, Canadian football.
And while soccer was being played mostly by first- and second-generation immigrants, football was a sport played at elite colleges. And although, as an offshoot of rugby, it remained a rough-and-tumble game, it also retained the gentleman's sense of sportsmanship and fair play. Ascribed to football was the ability to "build character" - to impart to its participants the noble qualities of a gentleman.
But that was then. Old fogies like me, who remember the days when football really did seem to combine physical challenge with character building, deplore today's game and its almost-total absence of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct.
This is not to say that there aren't those coaches, mostly at the high school level and below, who still treat it that way, but at its higher levels, football is a professional game, driven by money and greed, and increasingly played by ruffians and coached by moral midgets.
Not much sense fighting it - it's a reflection of the overall coarseness that characterizes our society, and it's here to stay.
Just don't run up the score, because it's not sportsmanlike. (Whatever the hell that means nowadays.)
*********** Hey- did you see the Steelers dumped Bruce Arians? Its tough to question steeler mgmt, as they've been so good over the years...but, this one puzzles me on multiple levels.
Ed Campbell
Land o' Lakes, Florida
So they didn't renew his contract, eh? Makes sense to me.
I mean, what kind of offensive coordinator was Arians, anyhow, to go out and deliberately injure his quarterback's ankle to the point where he's as immobile as Tom Brady - without Brady's offensive line? And then tear up Rashard Mendenhall's knee? And keep Hines Ward limping on the sidelines most of the season?
All joking aside, it sounds like panic to me. Or, since it's being attributed to Art Rooney II's desire to be more of a "blue-collar" team, it represents a new level of ownership interference, a micromanagement unheard of in the days of the original Mister Rooney, who wouldn't dream of messing with the football operations (even when they were really, really bad).
*********** Steelers' fans beat up on former OC Bruce Arians…
http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/31683-about-the-bubble-screen
They're all worked up about his supposed over-reliance on the bubble screen.
I personally dislike the play as just one more way the acceptance of holding has pervaded our game, but no one can dispute its effectiveness, at least at the college and high school level. For an awful lot of today's pass-first teams, it is, in effect, a running play, and a staple one at that.
Its intent, as many writers note, is to get the ball in the hands of "playmakers," speedy wide receivers who need only to break one tackle and it's all over (especially as poorly as NFL defensive backs tackle). It's been helped immeasurably by the "blocking" of the other receivers, whose ability to sustain their "blocks" is a miracle to behold for us old-timers who know how difficult a job that is when you're not allowed to hold.
I'm not surprised that Pittsburgh fans don't like it. That's because in my opinion, something seems to be missing when the pros run it. Like so many aspects of offense, colleges do a much better job executing the bubble screen.
I suspect part of the reason is that many colleges employ superior offensive schemes, but another reason that I've harped on for some time is that the NFL field has shrunk in terms of the size and speed of the players, and even with those absurdly-narrow hashmarks, there isn't as much room to operate on the outside.
(Thanks to Pope Franjo)
*********** Hugh,
"I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit" Amos 7:14 (KJV)
Maybe the Colts used Jim Tressel as a smokescreen to cover Irsay's intentions? I was convinced you were correct about Jim Irsay following in his father's footsteps.
Peyton is gone. Irsay wants to clean house. Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star, of whom I am most certainly am NOT a fan (he is far too biased towards IU against Purdue), describes Peyton as "confused." Perhaps "disoriented" is a better word, but we understand the idea. I'd like to see Irsay offer Peyton perhaps a small chunk of ownership of the team after he retires as a Thank You gift.
Coach, I love your writings and perspective. Keep on doing what you're
doing.
Jim Franklin
Flora Indiana
Jim, It is almost eerie how closely this is beginning to resemble Old Man Irsay's dismantling of the Colts and alienation of the fans of Baltimore.
Not to disparage the new head coach, who seems like a good man with good credentials, but he's stepping into a terrible situation. How can a kid like Andrew Luck have a reasonable expectation of stability with an organization that's just undergone a purge, a new coach who's never been a head coach before - and a defensive-oriented guy at that - and now Peyton Manning's having gone public with his concerns and "young" Irsay calling Manning a "politician?"
Another Irsay parallel - the old man cast Unitas aside.
"The horseshoe always comes first," said Jim Irsay. I loved that one. That's like a corrupt politician draping himself in the flag.
I would have substituted another word for horseshoe - one also starting with "horse."
*********** Coach - nice tribute to Coach Paterno.
On Coach Sherman - his firing is a huge travesty! I've lost all respect for A&M. First, the BS whining about the Longhorn Network when they were given the chance to join..then, leaving the Big 12 because they don't get any "respect". Hell - beat Texas on a consistent basis and you will get all the respect in the world! Last straw is firing a really, really, really good Coach and good man.
This guy is all class, and represented what the Aggies "say" they are all about. But in the end, just another program who puts $'s above what's best for the student body, much less the athletes. BTW - don't confuse me as a Longhorn homer. I'm not. In fact, I like it when teams like Tech and A&M spank them (especially when they aren't
competing for a natl championship).
The NFL has lost me as a true fan, and I'm slowly drifting from D1 football. I long for the days when the players really represented the schools, and the schools played games that were a road trip away for the students and Coaches stayed with a program for 10+ yrs (without making 5m per yr).
Don't know how I went from "shame on A&M for firing Sherman to this long rant! Lol.
Seeya - Scott Barnes
Rockwall, Texas
*********** As selective as we are in choosing our Navy SEALS, as hard as we train them, as valuable as they are to our nation's security, I can't believe we would risk even one of them by sending them into f--king Somalia to rescue two civilians, only one of whom was an American, who had voluntarily put themselves in harm's way. I mean, it's not as if they had been snatched off the deck of a cruise ship. Oops- wrong metaphor.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have plenty of experience with sending highly-trained Army helicopter pilots on risky missions to rescue mountain climbers - intrepid adventurers who set out boldly, but then, when they get in too deep, expect the government to bail them out. From time to time, bills are proposed in state legislatures requiring those requiring such rescuer efforts to pay for the cost.
So I wondered - was it really worth the risk of parachuting SEALs into Somalia? Was it worth endangering the life of one Navy SEAL? Were we really prepared to see an American dragged him through the streets of Mogadishu.
Why in the world would we do such a thing?
I pondered this while watching the State of the Union address, taking place - by the highest of coincidence - just after the successful completion of the SEALs' mission.
Never mind. I just answered my own question.
*********** Hugh,
Just read a post on another site from a coach gushing that his 8th grade DW team from Connecticut won the "National Championship" in Florida. "National Championship!!!" EIGHTH graders??? Did you know that in Ohio there is a group sponsoring a "State" Championship for SIXTH graders?! Pretty soon we'll be able to watch a live telecast of a Kindergarten Championship game! Unbelievable.
Joe Gutilla
Austin, Texas
Joe,
Not sure where it's going to stop.
Funny you mentioned it, because I've been working on something for 6-7-8th graders, and so long as you can keep this between you and me...
My business plan is based on a national middle-school playoff, with teams from the West, the Midwest, the South (including Texas) and the East.
For the semi-finals and final, I already have a cable channel lined up and sponsors ready to go. I also have a site ready to go - I can't tell you where just yet - and a major hotel ready to house the teams and coaches.
I plan to put coaching jobs up for bids. I figure that a head coaching job, with the prestige and national TV face-time it brings, ought to go for $5000 or so and a coordinator's spot should go for $3000 and a position coach's spot for at least $2,000. Each team will be required to have at least five assistants. Coaches will be required to pay for their air fare, meals and lodging. We will provide them with coaching gear at cost (courtesy of an unnamed apparel manufacturer).
Players will be required to bring their own gear (our apparel manufacturer will provide the game jerseys at cost) and pay for their own transportation, meals and lodging. We require that at least one parent or responsible adult accompany each player, and we will offer up to six members of the family the same discounted rate as the kids. Kids will be required to pay $1,000 each in "tuition fees" and "exposure fees" to cover the costs of providing them with clinics put on by real NFL players, plus exposure to the dozens of high school coaches who'll be on hand to watch!
I am currently looking for "General Managers," regional franchisees who will be in charge of hiring coaches and signing up 35-40 players (talent doesn't matter as long as their parents have the money to pay their expenses). You will receive 20 per cent of coaches' and players' fees, plus 10 per cent of all air fare, hotel charges and meals paid for by your coaches, your players and their families. I figure that it ought to work out to at least $15,000 - not bad for a part-time job.
Right now, to get in on the ground floor, it'll cost just $10,000 for the franchise. Based on my projections, you'll more than make that back in your first year. And then as we grow - I expect to have at least twice the number of teams in three years - you will have twice the income, plus the opportunity to share in the profits of the company (whose name I'm not at liberty to reveal) by bringing in more franchisees.
What an opportunity to cash in on something that you and I both know is about to blow sky-high. The future is unlimited. We know what parents are willing to spend for their kids' advancement. And parents' egos aren't affected by recession.
Maybe you'd be interested in being General Manager of the South team. Can I put your name down?
***********
My favorite airline - by far - is Alaska Airlines, which mainly flies
up and down the West Coast. On a couple of occasions, when I was
served a meal, I happened to notice a very tasteful "prayer card" on my
tray, containing a biblical verse.I used to wonder how they got away with it. It was just a matter of time, I figured, before the vocal minority had its say, and Alaska would cave.
Cave they did Wednesday, when they announced the end of the practice, saying the decision was made out of respect for those passengers who objected.
The practice had been going on since the late 1970s, but since 2006, when Alaska discontinued meal service in the coach cabin, the prayer cards have only been given to first-class passengers.
Alaska spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said the airline heard from customers who preferred not to mix religion with transportation. The decision, the company said, reflects respect for the diverse religious beliefs and cultural attitudes of Alaska Airlines’ customers and employees.
“Some customers were comforted by the cards and some didn’t feel religion was appropriate on the plane and preferred not to receive one,” Egan said.
*********** Coach,
"Practice Without Pads' -
Once again, you have hit a HOME RUN, or should I say, SCORED A TOUCHDOWN! GREAT VIDEO!
We are starting a JUNIOR TEAM here in Napoli, Italy and have about 25-30 Under 18 year olds now ... our goal is 50 Total by June and 75 Total by September ... since Napooli is about 5 million, you would think we could do it!!! We are hitting the schools and gyms (and other sports arenas) with about 10,000 Flyers this month.
I just viewed your video and am meeting with our Junior Coaches this weekend (we have a kind-of coach, a couple of parents who played and several current players who want to start coaching when they are through playing). We get 2 hours 2 days per week before our Senior Practice and I am there to supervise ... I try to COACH COACHES, give structure and ideas, and motivate the players while letting the "coaches" learn to coach ... as you know, THAT CAN BE TOUGH! ... I STRUGGLE not butting in! I am going to show them the video this weekend and am instructing them to USE YOUR IDEAS ... they are already excited about seeing the DVD and are very eager to learn. THAT IS A GOOD SITUATION!
The Senior Team is starting back up ... had about a little over 30+ at our first practice ... hope to average 40 at each practice. WE WILL SEE ... you also know how that is ... NUMBERS ARE THE KEY HERE IN EUROPE ... just like in the USA. We have an 8 game schedule and MAKING THE PLAYOFFS is our #1 GOAL ... we also have a game AND practice scheduled with Adrian College (DIII from MI) ... THAT SHOULD BE INTERESTING!!!
Looking forward to the other videos I got from you! THANKS ... and keep up the GREAT WORK!
GO BRIGANTI!
Coach Steve Fickert
Naples, Italy
Coach,
I'm very glad to hear that you're able to make use of "Practice Without Pads" in coaching your coaches.
As you know, that is a HUGE challenge when you're coaching overseas and nobody knows a fraction of what you know. And yet, you have to start somewhere to develop some help.
Numbers are big. Not just numbers, though - NUMBERS AT PRACTICE!
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2012 - "Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good. " Joe Paterno
Joe
Paterno is gone, and I am not only diminished by his death, but also
deeply hurt at the thought of the torment that great man must
have suffered in his final days on earth.
Most important, I was proud to see it done without chicanery or scandal.
In all those years I met him just once, but nevertheless, like so many millions, I knew him. I knew him, I respected him, and I loved him. His influence on me was profound. An unmatched combination of coaching ability, morals, strength of character, intellect and personality, he was a beacon to me.
Of course he had his faults, but at risk of sounding reverential - "God is no respecter of persons" - I believed in Joe Paterno and what he was doing, and I will believe until I die.
Lines from the West Point alma mater come to mind...
And when our work is done,
Our course on earth is run,
May it be said, "Well done,
Be thou at peace."
Our course on earth is run,
May it be said, "Well done,
Be thou at peace."
May God rest his soul.
*********** A gallery of photos from Joe's last days...
http://www.centredaily.com/2012/01/22/3062519/remembering-a-legend.html
*********** Bob Smith passed away last week. Perhaps I should say, "Mister Smith."
Bob was a teammate of mine on the Frederick (Maryland) Falcons in 1968 and 1969.
He was a remarkable person in many ways. He was a native of little Walkersville, Maryland, from one of the few black families in town, and he went to college at Morgan State, in Baltimore.
He'd never played football before trying out with the Falcons. Walkersville High didn't have a football team, so he played soccer there, and then at Morgan State.
He was an exceptional athlete (his younger brother, Gordon was pretty good, too - he played basketball at Cincinnati at that time), and I was really shocked at how quickly Bob seemed to understand the game. He was smart and hard-working and very coachable, and managed to get a fair amount of playing time as a running back and on special teams.
He was also remarkable because he was a school teacher in the Frederick school system, an elementary PE teacher, and a rarity at that time in that he was a black man teaching in a largely-white school.
My own four kids loved him, and so did the kids he taught.
We players would all get a good laugh at our games when a large and vocal contingent of Bob's students would attend, and as we'd take the field, they'd vie to get his attention, leaning over the bleacher railing and hollering "Mister Smith! Mister Smith!"
When Don Shipley, the son of our coach, Dick Shipley, wrote to give me the sad news that Bob was dying, he added,
"I was in first grade at lily white North Frederick Elementary School when he first became gym teacher there in 1966, and at that early age I remember all of us thought it was awesome to do calisthenics and play dodgeball and kickball with a brother with a 'fro. Earlier this month I got together with several friends from those years and he was among those we reminisced about (growing up in Frederick is pretty cool in the way that everyone stays in touch and remembers everything from back in the day). I think it was you or one of the other players back then who joked that you thought for awhile there that his first name was actually Mister!"
Think one man can't make a difference? How can you measure the contribution a man of Bob Smith's character made to improving race relations in a small town not all that far removed from segregation?
When it finally came time for Walkersville High to start up football, Bob was the principal's choice as its first head coach. Wrote Stan Goldberg in the Frederick News-Post, just days before Bob died,
More than 40 people applied
for the Walkersville job in 1977. Principal Arnold Fleagle didn't want
football at the school, but had it forced on him by the community. He
wanted to pick someone he felt he could trust as head coach and that
was the 32-year-old Smith, a physical education teacher at North
Frederick Elementary school at the time.
"You can look all over the state and not find a better person capable of working with young people than Bob," Fleagle said.
"You can look all over the state and not find a better person capable of working with young people than Bob," Fleagle said.
God bless Mister Smith.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=130303
*********** All the media guys tell me that those were two really, really exciting games Sunday, so I have no choice but to accept their verdict.
Thank God for the media. Without their guidance, I'd be sitting here writing about how f--king boring it was watching a big stiff named Brady, protected from harm by grappling linemen, stand flat-footed and shoot fish in a barrel. But no, they told me that was exciting - really exciting - so what else am I supposed to think?
Stupid me. I kept watching, hoping I'd see Ray Lewis take one good, clean shot at Mr. Priss. (Never gonna happen.)
*********** "Wind Beneath My Wings" played in the background, as assorted groups of NFL players (and a few cheerleaders) called on people at their homes, their offices, their restaurants, to show what down-to-earth millionaires they really are.
It was a spot for nfl.com. "WE PLAY FOR YOU," was the way they explained it. Yeah, right. In your dreams.
Guarantee you, they had to pay those divas to make that spot. Believe me - they don't do anything for nothing.
*********** The Patriots-Ravens game was over maybe three minutes when we were told, "Don't miss out on this great opportunity!"
Huh? What opportunity?
Why, the opportunity to get "a piece of Patriots' history!"
Huh?
"It's the official Patriots' hat and tee shirt worn by coaches and players during the post-game celebration!"
*********** In filing for divorce, Deion Sanders' soon-to-be former wife said he "suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder."
Narcissistic? Deion? Who knew?
All this time, he's done such a masterful job of concealing it from the public!
*********** Hello Coach
My name is Jonto "Mook" Swift I coach Pop Warner Football with the NW Raiders out of Philadelphia, PA. I attended the clinic you did in Ft Washington in 2010. In 2010 I took an undersized team of 8 year olds to the championship running nothing but the core plays in the DW system. I did such a good job with these kids I was moved up to the Jr. Midget level which is the 12-13 year old kids, 2 weeks before the season started so I had to scrap everything they were doing and install the DW. We made it to the semi finals running these same plays in the system as the 8 yr olds the season prior, but now I have a lot of time to prepare for the next coming season and I am confident in my kowledge of the core plays to feel as tho I can add some more stuff from the system into my playbook. My OC that I picked is a former QB. He did a great job of learning the system but with him being a former QB he loves to pass. With this being said, I was unable to attend last years clinic, but I was told that you did a presentation on some pass plays out the DW called 88 Brown and 99 Black. My playbook that I have does not have these plays in it is there a way I can get a copy of these plays from you? Please let me know!
Coach Swift,
Nice to hear from you, and nice to hear that you've had success.
88 Brown was Red-Red and 99 Black was Blue-Blue.
I did that because I was getting sick of my B-Backs coming to a stop to pass-block instead of going aggressively for the contain man and so I wanted a pass that would give that contain man the same look on 88 Super Power as on 88 Brown. That way if he came worried about containing the QB he would be an easy kickout block on Super Power, but if he stays at the line trying to wrong-shoulder on Super Power it would be easy for the QB to break containment on 88 Brown.
We release both the playside wingback and TE on 88 Brown. One of them runs a "3" (a Corner) and one runs a "1" (an out). The wider of the two runs the first number called, so if we say "88 Brown 3-1", the wider of the two runs a "3". If we were to say "88 Brown 1-3," the wider of the two would run a "1".
The left (X)end runs a post-cross (also called a Dig). We use tags to throw to a specific receiver: 88 Brown X Corner, 88 Brown X Post, 88 Brown Y Cross, etc.
Here's a brief look...
http://www.coachwyatt.com/DWbasicNBpractice/DWbasicNBpractice.mov
*********** In "defending" marriage against gays, it seems to me we are defending a castle on the outside while allowing it to crumble on the inside.
The latest census shows that we are approaching an America in which fewer than half of all adults are married, and young people, especially in the lowest socioeconomic castes, increasingly feel no need to marry. I'm certainly not arguing in favor of gay marriage, but it does seem to me that those who fight like hell against it ought also to be directing their attention to unmarried heterosexuals and the babies they produce.
*********** I will vote for the candidate - Democrat, even - who runs on a platform that includes making it illegal to use any celebrity to "perform" the national anthem before a televised sports event.
Or making it illegal for the national anthem to be sung before a sports event by anyone other than a service academy glee club or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Amazing - we'll rush to pass laws making flag burning illegal, yet stand idly by like sheep while our national song is desecrated.
I could argue that the distortion of our national anthem as a career-enhancer and resume-builder is no more patriotic than burning a flag to show disagreement with government policies.
I'm tellin' ya, guys - bit by bit, we're surrendering to the great unwashed and unlettered the things that have made our nation special.
*********** So the Ravens made the PAT, but a flag was thrown. Yet rather than wait and see whether the penalty was against the Ravens, the Patriots' defenders just ran off the field. Hmm, I thought. Now how in the hell could they have known it was against them, when the ref hadn't even given a signal yet?
Actually, I knew right away how they knew, and so when the ref told us what it was - 12 men on the field - it was clear why they'd run off: they knew they'd been caught cheating.
Not that anything will happen to their coach, who had no scruples whatsoever about cheating opponents, fans, and those who still think the game is on the up-and-up. No, sir. That coach is so highly thought of at NFL headquarters that back when he was caught spying on other teams, Commissioner Goodell must went ahead and destroyed the evidence.
***********
Gosh - wasn't that Giants' field goal at the end suspenseful? (See the
photo at left, as they lined up for the attempt.) I wonder if
those same officials whose vision is so acute they can see a tap on a
receiver's arm 5.5 yards downfield are ever going to notice the illegal
leg-locking that takes place on most NFL field goal teams? Yes,
the Ravens lost because of a missed field goal, but we can't let that
obscure the fact that NFL field goal kickers enjoy an 80 per cent
overall success rate. (it's higher still close-in, at the range shown
at left.) Part of the problem is that with those linemen thatched
tougher the way they are up front, and with defenders prohibited from
launching off the backs of their own linemen, there is less than a one
per cent chance of a kick's ever being blocked. Even Belichick, with 12
men on defense, can't come close.*********** Football fundamentals on display Sunday... Jim Harbaugh is a hell of a coach, but he really ought to spend some money on a special teams coach who doesn't simply assume that his return men already know how to carry a football.
*********** You may have seen this too..
It was such a shocking display of good, sound, fundamental football - in an NFL game, no less - that, not sure of what I had just witnessed, I turned to my wife and asked, "Did he really use his arms?"
"Yes," she said, "and kept his feet going, too!"
Replay confirmed it.
Holy sh--, I thought. A good, sound tackle! And in an NFL game!
It was the 4th quarter of Sunday's late game, and 49ers' linebacker Patrick Willis hit a ball carrier square in the chest, kept his head up, used his arms, drove his legs, and put the ball carrier on his back.
Wow. A real tackle. The kind that real pro football players used to make all the time.
*********** The Harbaughs can put the scrapbooks away; the networks won't be needing those baby photos of John and Jim for another year. Just think - a mere six points - two lousy field goals - is all that stood between us and two weeks of non-stop, wall-to-wall interviews of the Harbaugh family by gushing female reporters.
*********** Didja see the Niners' Kendall Hunter run a sort of Liz-Stop 88 Special Power for a nice gain?
*********** Coach, I'm not claiming the gift of prophecy and it's not a done-deal just yet,
but:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7486645/indianapolis-colts-interview-jim-tressel-coach-job-reports-say
Also, I sent an e-mail to Morgan Burke, the AD at Purdue, suggesting that they look at Tom Bradley for their open DC position. He answered back, which was surprising.
I really hope to see you whenever you hold your clinic in Chicago. I do
want to hear what you have to say.
Jim Franklin
Flora Indiana
Just further confirming my theory that Young Irsay is his father's son...
Before drafting John Elway, Bob "The Drunk" Irsay went out and hired a
former college coach, Frank Kush...
It wound up costing him - and Baltimore fans - the services of Elway.
So put yourself in Andrew Luck's shoes...
Would you want to commit your future to a bad football team whose management
is in total disarray?
*********** Thanks to Todd Bross of Union, Maine and Ned Griffen of New London, Connecticut for tipping me off to a very impressive letter sent by recently- ousted Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman to Texas high school coaches...
http://smartfootball.com/grab-bag/former-texas-am-coach-mike-shermans-letter-to-texas-high-school-coaches
Guy definitely has it together. Makes you wish your son could play for him. Now, if he just coulds beaten the Horns...
*********** Seven former pro football players are suing the NFL, claiming league officials conspired to hide evidence that linked concussions to dementia and brain disease,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/nfl-concussions-lawsuit-players-evidence-head-injuries_n_1220166.html
*********** I watched Jerry Della Femina being interviewed and started to laugh. He's an old geezer now, but he was once a legendary wise guy in a business that prizes wise guys. A poor kid from Brooklyn who built a New York ad agency into one of the most influential in the business, he was once known as the Madman of Madison Avenue. He wrote a book about his experiences in the ad business, and took its title from a comment he made at a brainstorming session at his agency. Try as they might, no one had been able to come up with an ad slogan for the new client, a Japanese automobile manufacturer. It was a tricky assignment: World War II was not that far in the past, and besides, no one at that time associated the word "quality" with Japanese products. Della Femina, always the wisecracker, broke the silence by saying, "How about, 'From those wonderful folks who gave you Pearl Harbor?'"
*********** As you know we are running the DOUBLE WING as our sole Offense this year. We have (3) and actually (4) VERY GOOD RBs/FB (THEY ARE OUR BEST PLAYERS ON OFFENSE) ... we have a National Team TE ... as usual NOT ENOUGH LINEMEN ... a bunch of short, squatty, FAIRLY MOTIVATED players (young and old) ... we have (3) WRs, who are GREAT GUYS, COME TO PRACTICE ALL THE TIME (and you know what a problem that can be here in Europe), are small (and cannot play any other position ... they ran the SPREAD here last year ... I moved 3 other WRs to DBs and they will work out well there).
HERE IS MY QUESTION: What to do with the (3) WRs left ... play some (1) TE and (1) WR, some SPREAD with (2) WRs??? ANY SUGGESTIONS? My ultimate GOAL is to run a SPREAD OPTION in years to come like GEORGIA TECH & NAVY ... lots of reasons, BUT THAT IS IN THE FUTURE!
I have run some SPREAD and ROY/LEE and OVER/UNDER in the past ... HOW MUCH SHOULD I USE!!! Here is ANOTHER little tid-bit ... WE ONLY PLAY 10 MINUTE QUARTERS!!! So the NATIONAL TEAM TE will end up playing NT, MLB or DE, too!
Steve Fickert
Naples, Italy
Coach, The 10-minute periods deal is tough. To me, that's all the more reason to run a ball-control offense. I know of youth teams, where they play eight-minute quarters, that have put on drives that ate up entire periods.
If I were in your shoes, first of all I'm not sure how you could combine the Tony Franklin stuff with the Double Wing. First of all, the line structure and play is so different, and second of all, I can't imagine that anyone, especially in Europe, couldn't use more practice time getting better at the Double Wing. With those guys, I think that running one offense to near-perfection is going to be a great accomplishment.
Second of all, with your situation, I would consider a spread package and a tight package.
Or better yet, play with one split end - you've already run ROY/LEE, OVER/UNDER - and run them in and out so you always have a fresh one in the game. (Better to have just one guy bitching about not catching passes than two.)
*********** Seems that Craig James, the ultimate Parent From Hell, has told conflicting stories under oath…
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/craig-james-made-conflicting-sworn-statements-regarding-mike-leach-2012-01-20
*********** Hilarious. I like Charles Payne, Fox business reporter, but he got so wrapped up in telling how as a kid he learned good work habits that he inadvertently dropped an F-bomb on the air...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/fox-business-charles-payne-f-bomb_n_1187065.html
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012 - "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln
***********
Shortly after the Penn State scandal broke, I came across this ad, and
thinking that it had the potential to embarrass Penn State, I
called AD Dave Joyner's office - and emailed him - in the belief he
might want to look into it. I mean, did you catch that "using the same locker rooms" line? Any fool can see where that one could be headed.
That was four weeks ago, and I've yet to hear any word from AD Joyner's office. That's understandable, of course - he has been a bit busy.
But I thought I'd do a little checking, and I'll be damned - not only hadn't the ad not been taken down, but now they've actually begun to advertise a 2012 Penn State Football Fantasy Camp.
I'm not saying that the camp wouldn't be a lot of fun, but after what's gone down at Penn State, does the word "Fantasy" strike anyone else besides me as a bit creepy?
http://www.pennstatefantasycamp.com/
*********** Don't know whether you watched the Republican debate from Charleston, South Carolina Thursday night, but the National Anthem was sung by a chorus from The Citadel. It was beautiful and without affectation, and the audience enthusiastically joined in.
*********** My friend and fellow coach Jack Tourtillotte is a Mainer, which means he understands harsh winters, so you'd think things must have been pretty bad here in Southwest Washington, when Jack would write to ask how we're dealing with the weather. I had to tell him...
Your concern is appreciated.
The local TV stations, as they always do, went nuts, with the customary on-the-scene reporters in their Columbia Sportswear get ups standing on freeway overpasses and telling us that, unless we absolutely had to go out, to stay home. Also scenes of fools in grocery stores stocking up on milk and toilet paper. But in the Portland area, it was the usual teaser and we didn't get much snow.
We received a piddling 2 or 3 inches. Wet and heavy enough to break off some tree branches (and make the evergreen limbs droop down in the path of our Dish receiver) but otherwise we were unaffected. A day later and it's about gone. That was our snow for the winter.
On the coast (Ocean Shores!) they had high winds and more snow than we got. Snow on the coast is a rarity.
Less than an hour to the north and east of us - they had more than a foot of snow. In the Seattle area, they had a lot of snow. Ice, too. That's what made the network news. Seattle is the tail that wags the Washington dog.
I sure do miss snow.
The local TV stations, as they always do, went nuts, with the customary on-the-scene reporters in their Columbia Sportswear get ups standing on freeway overpasses and telling us that, unless we absolutely had to go out, to stay home. Also scenes of fools in grocery stores stocking up on milk and toilet paper. But in the Portland area, it was the usual teaser and we didn't get much snow.
We received a piddling 2 or 3 inches. Wet and heavy enough to break off some tree branches (and make the evergreen limbs droop down in the path of our Dish receiver) but otherwise we were unaffected. A day later and it's about gone. That was our snow for the winter.
On the coast (Ocean Shores!) they had high winds and more snow than we got. Snow on the coast is a rarity.
Less than an hour to the north and east of us - they had more than a foot of snow. In the Seattle area, they had a lot of snow. Ice, too. That's what made the network news. Seattle is the tail that wags the Washington dog.
I sure do miss snow.
This not to say that my wife and I will not accept cash donations to help us get through the winter.
*********** "Hey baby, what I love about sports is the fact people can debate about who's best." Dick Vitale - USA Today, Tuesday, January 17
Hmmm. And here I thought the beautiful thing about a playoff - like the one basketball has - was that it settles those arguments.
*********** "I think the self-esteem gurus led us to believe we could hand our children self-esteem on a silver platter through our praise, through our words. And we thought ... almost the definition of being a good parent was to keep handing the self-esteem to our child. But it doesn't work that way." Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University.
*********** It's that time again…
The Super Duper Cypress Hollow Super Bowl Pool
Created and administered by the Mayor of Cypress Hollow, South Carolina, the Honorable Tom (LT) Grady
If you care to enter, print and fill out the form below and send it along with $5 to
Tom Grady
43 Cypress Hollow
Bluffton, South Carolina 29909
(Tom, a Vietnam Black Lion and a childhood neighbor of my wife, is reasonably trustworthy. He assures me you'll receive most of your money if you win)
Instructions—Circle
or write your answers in the spaces provided. Each question has a
point value. The winner will be the person with the highest
number of points. There will be more than one winner based on the
number of people who participate. There will be a winner for the
lowest number of points scored. It’s only right! Put
your name on your entry and give it to The Mayor of Cypress
Hollow. Winners will be notified by The Mayor. All
decisions are final. Contestants who question the judgement of
The Mayor will be eliminated. Questions?
1. The Lead Announcer’s shirt will be
1. White
2. Colored
3. Striped
4. Two-Tone 2 Points
2. The National Anthem will be sung by
1. One Person
2. Two People
3. Three or more people 2 Points
3. _______________ will wear the white shirts 3 Points
4. The coin toss will be won by_______________ 4 Points
5. The kick-off will go
1. Right to left on the TV screen
2. Left to right on the TV screen 2 Points
6. The kick-off will be returned
1. 0-10 yds. or touchback
2. 10-20 yds.
3. 20-25 yds.
4. 25 yds. + 2 Points
7. The first commercial following the kick-off will feature
1. An Automobile
2. A Soft Drink
3. A Beer
4. A Computer or Software
5. A Fast Food
6. A Snack Food 4 Points
8. The first offensive play will be
1. A pass
2. A run 2 Points
9. The first touchdown will be
1. A Pass
2. A Run
3. A fumble recovery
4. An intercepted pass 3 Points
10. The First pass completion will be to
1. A wide receiver
2. A tight end
3. A back 2 Points
11. The first penalty will be called against_______________ 3 Points
12. The first penalty called will be for
1. 5 yds.
2. 10 yds.
3. 15 yds.
4. 15+ yds.
5. Half the distance to the goal 2 Points
13. The first time-out will be called by_______________ 3 Points
14. The first automobile commercial will be for
1. Ford
2. GM
3. Chrysler
4. Japanese Make
5. European Make 4 Points
15. The first 1st Down will be made by_______________ 3 Points
16. The first team to punt will be_______________ 3 Points
17. There will be a total of ______ punts.(Closest wins) 2 Points
18. The first fair catch of a punt will be by(team)_______________ 2 Points
19. The first team to sack the QB will be_______________ 2 Points
No Sacks 2 Points
20. The first team to fumble will be_______________ 2 Points
No Fumbles 2 Points
21. The team leading at the half will be_______________ 2 Points
Tied at the half 2 Points
22. There will be a total of _____fumbles
1. 0
2. 1
3. 2
4. 3 or more 2 Points
23. The total number of interceptions will be
1. 0
2. 1
3. 2
4. 3 or more 2 Points
24. If there is an interception, the first will be by(team)_______________ 2 Points
25. The first field goal will be made by(team)_______________ 2 Points
No Field goals 2 Points
26. The first team to score will be_______________ 4 Points
27. The last team to score will be_______________ 4 Points
28. The first team to cross the 50 yard line will be_______________ 3 Points
29. There will be _____passes thrown.(closest) 3 Points
30. The last play of the game will be
1. A run
2. A pass
3. A field goal
4. A touchdown
5. A safety
6. A kneel down 4 Points
31. _______________(team) Will have the ball at the end of the game 5 Points
32. The winner will be_______________ 5 Points
33. The total points scored will be__________(closest) 5 Points
34. The MVP will be_______________ 5 Points
BONUS
The exact score will be(Team and Score)__________________________ 5 Points
1. The Lead Announcer’s shirt will be
1. White
2. Colored
3. Striped
4. Two-Tone 2 Points
2. The National Anthem will be sung by
1. One Person
2. Two People
3. Three or more people 2 Points
3. _______________ will wear the white shirts 3 Points
4. The coin toss will be won by_______________ 4 Points
5. The kick-off will go
1. Right to left on the TV screen
2. Left to right on the TV screen 2 Points
6. The kick-off will be returned
1. 0-10 yds. or touchback
2. 10-20 yds.
3. 20-25 yds.
4. 25 yds. + 2 Points
7. The first commercial following the kick-off will feature
1. An Automobile
2. A Soft Drink
3. A Beer
4. A Computer or Software
5. A Fast Food
6. A Snack Food 4 Points
8. The first offensive play will be
1. A pass
2. A run 2 Points
9. The first touchdown will be
1. A Pass
2. A Run
3. A fumble recovery
4. An intercepted pass 3 Points
10. The First pass completion will be to
1. A wide receiver
2. A tight end
3. A back 2 Points
11. The first penalty will be called against_______________ 3 Points
12. The first penalty called will be for
1. 5 yds.
2. 10 yds.
3. 15 yds.
4. 15+ yds.
5. Half the distance to the goal 2 Points
13. The first time-out will be called by_______________ 3 Points
14. The first automobile commercial will be for
1. Ford
2. GM
3. Chrysler
4. Japanese Make
5. European Make 4 Points
15. The first 1st Down will be made by_______________ 3 Points
16. The first team to punt will be_______________ 3 Points
17. There will be a total of ______ punts.(Closest wins) 2 Points
18. The first fair catch of a punt will be by(team)_______________ 2 Points
19. The first team to sack the QB will be_______________ 2 Points
No Sacks 2 Points
20. The first team to fumble will be_______________ 2 Points
No Fumbles 2 Points
21. The team leading at the half will be_______________ 2 Points
Tied at the half 2 Points
22. There will be a total of _____fumbles
1. 0
2. 1
3. 2
4. 3 or more 2 Points
23. The total number of interceptions will be
1. 0
2. 1
3. 2
4. 3 or more 2 Points
24. If there is an interception, the first will be by(team)_______________ 2 Points
25. The first field goal will be made by(team)_______________ 2 Points
No Field goals 2 Points
26. The first team to score will be_______________ 4 Points
27. The last team to score will be_______________ 4 Points
28. The first team to cross the 50 yard line will be_______________ 3 Points
29. There will be _____passes thrown.(closest) 3 Points
30. The last play of the game will be
1. A run
2. A pass
3. A field goal
4. A touchdown
5. A safety
6. A kneel down 4 Points
31. _______________(team) Will have the ball at the end of the game 5 Points
32. The winner will be_______________ 5 Points
33. The total points scored will be__________(closest) 5 Points
34. The MVP will be_______________ 5 Points
BONUS
The exact score will be(Team and Score)__________________________ 5 Points
*********** The Walter Camp Football Foundation hosted the Walter Camp Weekend from Thursday through Saturday in New Haven, Conn. Honorees included Player of the Year Award winner (and 2008 National Football Foundation National High School Scholar-Athlete) Andrew Luck, Man of the Year Award recipient Harry Carson, a 2002 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from South Carolina State, Distinguished American Award honoree Floyd Little, a 1983 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Syracuse, and Alumni Award winner Chris Spielman, a 2009 College Football Hall of Fame inductee from Ohio State.
*********** I couldn't make this up. Los Angeles, home of the US porn film "industry," now requires male actors in porn films to wear condoms.
Fees charged to filmmakers will pay for the cost of enforcement.
"Enforcement," eh?
From this point, you are free to use your imagination regarding surveillance, raids, inspections, evidence, lineups, etc.
*********** Not long ago I told a young coach, trying to turn around a perennial loser, that he was quite likely in a place where he had no chance of succeeding. Not only wasn't his AD supporting him - he wasn't even talking to him.
Shortly after that, he got handed the ace of spades. Didn't even get the "going in another direction" talk.
Maybe that's because that "other direction" now appears to mean bypassing the usual search-and-hire process and simply appointing a member of the school administration, who just happens to be a former coach.
What do you think the chances are that this move has been in the works for months?
*********** According to a New York Daily News poll, 89 per cent of people asked "Do you think TSA agents do a good job?" said "No." A whopping six per cent (consisting, I suspect, of TSA agents and their families) answered "Yes." The remaining five per cent were undecided (someone probably needs to tell them what "TSA" is. Or how it's spelled.)
*********** An article in Thursday's New York Times on the violent and vicious drug war in Mexico happened to mention, deep down in the story, that Mexico authorities were being assisted by US "drug agents and military advisers."
WTF? Military advisers? Isn't that how we got started in Vietnam?
*********** Good grief. Art Schlichter (that's pronounced "SHLEES-ter") is in trouble again. I really don't have time to cover all the "mistakes" the guy has made, from the time when he first came into Ohio State as a quarterback who could lead the Buckeyes to the national championship, to the latest episode in which he violated conditions of his bond in a fraud case by testing positive for cocaine and refusing to submit to urine tests.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/former-ohio-state-quarterback-art-schlichter-arrested-on-bond-violation-011912
*********** A few weeks ago there was an article in our local paper about an area girl who'd gone off to play college basketball, where her promising career was interrupted first by a knee injury before her sophomore year and then, oops - pregnancy.
"It's pretty unreal, I guess," she told the paper. "I don't know how to explain it."
What do you say to that, you crusty old farts out there who don't think we should be teaching safe sex to third graders?
*********** Just in case you thought that you were the only one who thinks today's parents and kids tend to be a bit selfish…
There's a nice article in this week's Sports Illustrated about Elena Delle Donne, a great basketball player who is chiefly responsible for the fact that Delaware's women's basketball team is nationally-ranked, for the first time in its history.
You'd think that this could be leveraged into a recruiting edge for the Blue Hens, but you'd be wrong.
Delaware coach Tina Martin said that, rather than wanting to play with one of the best players in the game, "more than you think, kids or their parents have said no to coming here because they think Elena's going to get all the touches."
Yeah. Don't go to North Carolina, because they've got that Jordan kid...
*********** Coach Wyatt,
In the past I have asked you football related questions... but now I need to ask your advice on something else :-)
You travel the US for your clinics every year and often post on News You Can Use about when you eat great food :-)
My girlfriend and I are planning a holiday to the US... Probably 2 weeks (in 2013) of driving about doing cool stuff, but not touristy cool stuff...
We need your advice/suggestions on places we should consider going...
Things we want to do:
Watch some small-college football (thinking nearly full, but smallish sadium, not sure what level would be best for that)
Eat lots of great food... lots of proper American BBQ, steak, ribs, wings, pancakes... you know, proper American stuff that Americans eat, not touristy cr@p :-)
If we could time it up with some NASCAR or take in a state fair that has deep-fried everything that would be great...
Thing is though the US is kind of big and we're having trouble narrowing down where we want to go...
So far we thinking "somewhere in the south... that isn't Florida" but that still a large region :-)
We're thinking of making the trip in October time and idealy would like to go somewhere where the weather will still be warm-ish
(another plan is to go in Mid-summer, we aren't even sure what time of year would be best :-))
Any thoughts on this subject you could send our way would be most appreciated!
Thanks
Ben Armstrong
Berkshire Renegades, UK
Hi Ben-
Glad to help.
My suggestion would be to go south in the fall. It's still warm then. The summer heat can be tough, and besides, there's no football.
Others might argue for other places in the South, but my center of operations would be Durham, North Carolina. Here's why -
1. Served by a decent-sized airport. Raleigh-Durham (RDU) which connects to any place in the country and - depending on what happens to American Airlines - a daily non-stop to London.
2. At the intersection of several interstate highways - roughly halfway between Washington DC and Atlanta - 4-1/2 hours to DC, 6 hours to Atlanta. Mountains 3 hours in one direction, ocean 2 hours in the other.
3. Five major football schools within a short drive - Duke, East Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Wake Forest
4. Lots of lower-division football schools also within a short drive - Catawba, Davidson, Lenoir-Rhyne, North Carolina Central, North Carolina A & T, Wingate. Oops - almost forgot Elon. My grandson, Matt, who goes there, wouldn't like that. And a little bit farther west, Appalachian State. I'm sure I've missed someone else.
5. Lots of Friday night high school games, too.
6. NASCAR has races in October at Charlotte and Martinsville. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a little over 2 hours away, and Martinsville, Virginia is a little under 2 hours.
7. The North Carolina State Fair is in Raleigh, 1/2 hour away, and it's held in October.
8. Great food, southern and otherwise. Durham and Raleigh, with their major universities and multinational corporations are fairly cosmopolitan, with all kinds of cuisine represented, but when I go there, I "go local." That means barbecue and ribs and brunswick stew. The BBQ is mostly pork, and you are almost on the dividing line between eastern and western North Carolina BBQ. (I can explain.) Lexington, NC claims to be the "Barbecue Capital of the World." It's an hour and a half away. When I'm visiting Durham, I start my day with a sausage biscuit or a ham biscuit (or both) and grits at Biscuitville, a local chain. Best biscuits in the world.
9. My daughter and son-in-law live in Durham. They would be very helpful.
Hope this can help. I've definitely convinced myself If it weren't for those damn hot, humid summers, we'd probably live there ourselves.
*********** I often enjoy browsing through one or another of my football books, and in going through Paul Dietzel's "Call Me Coach," I came across this story from his days as head coach at Army…
During my times at
West Point, Army football received generous treatment from the New York
papers. The only difference was that in 1948 when I was the plebe
line coach Army football was on the front page. Four years later
when I came back as Colonel Blaik's offensive line coach with Vince
Lombardi coaching the offensive backfield, news of Army football
had moved back to about page three. The New York professional
teams had crept onto the front page.
When I returned in 1961 as head coach, Army football was back on about page five or six. In hopes of remedying the situation I decided to continue the Bull Pond encampment that Colonel Blaik had started years before. I invited all the New York sports press including Tim Cohane, Til Ferdenzi, Red Smith, Allison Danzig, the renowned sports cartoonist Willard Mullin and Fred Russell of the Nashville Banner.
Freddy had always been a great jokester. Years earlier he arranged to have Vanderbilt coach Red Sanders put in jail as a joke and then confessed to the prank much later. I knew Freddy was flying up for our retreat so I made arrangements to give him a welcome that would be a taste of his own medicine.
Right next to Bull Pond was a firing range where they fired the big howitzers. Bill Battle in his uniform as Officer of the Day met Freddie in New York City and drove him up to West Point. As they came by the firing range some of our coaches who were hiding began firing off big blockbuster firecrackers. Bill quickly stopped the car and said "I didn't know they were firing here today! They didn't tell us they were firing! What's the matter with these people? Let's get out of here!"
Then Bill jumped over a pile of dirt and into a trench. Freddy was right behind him. I had our regular cameraman capture the entire "bombardment" episode on film.
While our coaches were firing off the blockbusters they threw handfuls of rocks and gravel into the air in the vicinity of Freddie and Bill. Bill apologized to Freddie and said "I hope they don't get more accurate!" Freddy by now was pretty worried. After about 5 minutes of the "shelling," our coaches stopped. Bill said, "It's time. They only fire for a few minutes at a time, so let's get out of here while they've stopped, and I'll take you on out to Bull Pond."
They get back in the car and proceed to Bull Pond, where Bill just drops him off without saying a word.
Freddy of course tells us about the shelling in vivid detail. Then I said, "I heard the firing, but I didn't know they were firing today or we wouldn't have driven you through there."
"Well, they are firing, and we had to get out of the way," Freddy said excitedly.
Meanwhile our photographer developed the film and spliced in the introduction that I already prepared. That evening after dinner and drinks we sat down for movies like we always did. Everyone was prepared for our usual fare of one of Tim Cohane's favorite Susan Hayward films, but on the screen appears the title "Freddy visits West Point." The next thing you see is gravel flying and Bill and Freddy running and jumping into the ditch. Every once in a while you could see Freddy peeking out over the top of the trench. It was hilarious! The film concluded with, "This is the End. Happy you're here, Freddy." We turned off the projector and Freddie was completely flabbergasted. We laughed about it many times since. I'm sorry he's no longer around to share the memory as he was a fantastic gentleman. a splendid writer and a wonderful friend.
When I returned in 1961 as head coach, Army football was back on about page five or six. In hopes of remedying the situation I decided to continue the Bull Pond encampment that Colonel Blaik had started years before. I invited all the New York sports press including Tim Cohane, Til Ferdenzi, Red Smith, Allison Danzig, the renowned sports cartoonist Willard Mullin and Fred Russell of the Nashville Banner.
Freddy had always been a great jokester. Years earlier he arranged to have Vanderbilt coach Red Sanders put in jail as a joke and then confessed to the prank much later. I knew Freddy was flying up for our retreat so I made arrangements to give him a welcome that would be a taste of his own medicine.
Right next to Bull Pond was a firing range where they fired the big howitzers. Bill Battle in his uniform as Officer of the Day met Freddie in New York City and drove him up to West Point. As they came by the firing range some of our coaches who were hiding began firing off big blockbuster firecrackers. Bill quickly stopped the car and said "I didn't know they were firing here today! They didn't tell us they were firing! What's the matter with these people? Let's get out of here!"
Then Bill jumped over a pile of dirt and into a trench. Freddy was right behind him. I had our regular cameraman capture the entire "bombardment" episode on film.
While our coaches were firing off the blockbusters they threw handfuls of rocks and gravel into the air in the vicinity of Freddie and Bill. Bill apologized to Freddie and said "I hope they don't get more accurate!" Freddy by now was pretty worried. After about 5 minutes of the "shelling," our coaches stopped. Bill said, "It's time. They only fire for a few minutes at a time, so let's get out of here while they've stopped, and I'll take you on out to Bull Pond."
They get back in the car and proceed to Bull Pond, where Bill just drops him off without saying a word.
Freddy of course tells us about the shelling in vivid detail. Then I said, "I heard the firing, but I didn't know they were firing today or we wouldn't have driven you through there."
"Well, they are firing, and we had to get out of the way," Freddy said excitedly.
Meanwhile our photographer developed the film and spliced in the introduction that I already prepared. That evening after dinner and drinks we sat down for movies like we always did. Everyone was prepared for our usual fare of one of Tim Cohane's favorite Susan Hayward films, but on the screen appears the title "Freddy visits West Point." The next thing you see is gravel flying and Bill and Freddy running and jumping into the ditch. Every once in a while you could see Freddy peeking out over the top of the trench. It was hilarious! The film concluded with, "This is the End. Happy you're here, Freddy." We turned off the projector and Freddie was completely flabbergasted. We laughed about it many times since. I'm sorry he's no longer around to share the memory as he was a fantastic gentleman. a splendid writer and a wonderful friend.
*********** The cowardly actions of the Italian cruise ship captain (unless you believe his story about being falling into a lifeboat) brought to my mind a story that I remember from when I was a young boy - the drama of a ship captain named Kurt Carlsen who risked his life rather than leave his distressed ship, the Flying Enterprise. It was 1952, and in those simpler days, we still had real heroes, not millionaire athletes and entertainers - and Captain Carlsen was a real hero. When his ordeal finally ended and the Flying Enterprise went to the bottom, he was brought to America and given that great tribute - the ticker-tape parade in New York City.
http://www.deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/flying_enterprise/fe_mainpages/fe_mainpage.htm
*********** My son, Ed, sent me a great interview of a fellow Stanford grad named J. J. Lasley. Once a "Best in the West" high schooler in the LA area, and then a standout running back at Stanford, he's now a highly successful real estate developer in Southern California. In the interview, he reflects on his climb from life in South Central LA , with a single mother on welfare, to his attending a Cahtolic high school on scholarship, to his career at Stanford - and what going there has meant to him. If nothing else, it is a strong testimonial to the importance of a great parent, and of giving a promising kid a chance.
http://stanford.scout.com/2/916178.html
Some excerpts...
I would say Crespi
(Crespi-Carmelite in Encino, CA, where Lasley earned six letters while
carrying a 4.2 GPA!), my high school, saved my life. Stanford offered
me opportunity that I would have never have gotten in my life. It has
been a Godsend that I was able to go to both schools.
Q: How did Crespi "save your life"?
A: Long story short, I grew up in South Central (Los Angeles), my mom and I. We were on welfare, the whole thing, gangs, people were getting shot. I am the only one that made it out of my crew of about 15 friends. I am the only one that is still alive and functioning. My mother was smart enough to get me to understand how important school and grades were. I was getting straight A’s and we literally barnstormed Crespi. During my eighth grade summer, she made me put in a collared shirt and tucked it in and we went over there. We did not know anybody, but we went and met with the principal. After three hours of meeting with the principal and academic advisors, they were so impressed with her and I guess my transcript that they offered me the scholarship to go to their high school. They did not even know at that point that I played any sports. I think they could tell from my build.
Q: And this was just all on the good work of your mom?
A: Literally on the word of my mom and my transcript, and I spoke pretty well. They said “okay. let’s give this kid a chance”. I was one of three black kids at the school, so that probably had a little something to do with it as well. But they saved my life. It got me to the point where we won the CIF championship. It got me to the point where people were looking at me for what I was doing on the football field. I got offers from everywhere from Notre Dame to Harvard to USC and everything. Once Stanford called, my mom said “you are going to Stanford.” I had a choice - if I wanted to push it and go to Notre Dame or USC, she would have let me. I pretty much decided to go to Stanford because of the opportunity it would give me.
Q: I would guess when getting recruited that is a mighty big phone call to get. An opportunity from a Pac-10 program and if you don’t make it to the NFL, you have a Stanford degree. That has to be tough to say “no” to?
A: Absolutely. That is why I wanted to go to Stanford. One twist of an ankle in preseason and you could never play football again. Then what? USC is a great school if you want to stay on the west coast. Harvard is a great school obviously, but it probably is not going to get me into the NFL. Stanford has both. I can travel the world, I can get a job anywhere in the world, but I can also be in the Pac-10 and get a real look (from the NFL). In fact when I got there they were 0-9-1 if I remember right with Jack Elway (actually they were 3-6-2 but winless in the last five games). So I had a feeling that I might be able to get on the field sooner. People would say “why do you want to go there when they are losing?” I would say, “yeah, but I might be able to play as a freshman.” It does not matter how good the team is, I will make it better. As a young kid, you think as soon “as I get there I’ll make it better”.
I have one story I laugh about. Spring of 1990. I saw Glyn Milburn had just transferred, this, that and the other, and I go from starting tailback to third-string fullback. I am thinking, okay, this isn’t working. John Lynch was fourth-string quarterback. At one practice, both our starting strong safety and free safety got injured. So John and I were talking after practice. I said, “dude, I’ll go play safety.” He said “me too.” I said, “so let’s go in there together.” So John Lynch and I together walked into Denny Green’s office and said we wanted to play safety. He said that sounds great, go talk to your position coaches.
So I go talk to Coach (Tyrone) Willingham and he says “no”. Lynch goes and talks to the quarterback coach, who I believe at that time was Guy Benjamin [Ed. Actually, it was Ron Turner - Benjamin joined the Walsh staff in 1992], and he says “okay”. So to make a long story short, they keep me at fullback and I get my short look in the NFL and Lynch goes to safety and he plays forever. (laughter) (Lynch retired this year and is now broadcasting for FOX). Hey, it is all timing. I am not saying it could have been me. But if they had put me at strong safety, I could still be in the league and be Troy Polamalu. One small little turn of events could have changed everything.
I was mad at Coach Willingham for that. But he made it up to me later. My first year, I got a look in Green Bay . I ended up not making the team and got cut. And that was fine. I jumped on the U.S. National Rugby team. I was not getting paid much, but got free stuff, got to go to Hong Kong and Japan . And then Coach Willingham called me the next year, their first year in Minnesota . Not that he owed me but he knew the kind of person that I was and he wanted to at least give me a shot of bringing me into camp. And it just so happened that I was in incredible shape from playing rugby, a whole different shape.
So I showed up in Minnesota early and I was running after practice every day. I was there with Terry Allen and Robert Smith and some of those guys and because I was a rookie there, they did not want to get out-worked. So by the end of the first week of practice all the running backs were running gassers after practice just because that is what I was doing. I just brought all these intangible things to the team. I ended up making the team but then got injured and got put on the injured reserve. So my whole NFL career never really happened. I am not mad at anyone for that, but it is pretty interesting how things go.
Here is another good story. During my recruiting trip, Larry Smith had just won the Rose Bowl with Arizona and the next year he was at USC. So he recruited me at USC. I was sitting at the desk across from him on my recruiting trip to SC. I was going to be going to Stanford the next weekend on my recruiting trip. So Larry Smith says, “I am going to be very honest with you kid. If you come to USC we are going to change you to strong safety, you probably won’t play your freshman year, but you will probably be able to get in after that. You will start for at least two years and maybe three and you are a strong safety in the NFL. You will probably win a Rose Bowl here and you will probably play strong safety in the NFL.” I said, “Thank you very much Coach Smith, but I want to be a running back, I am going to stay a running back.”
I grew up walking distance from USC so I wanted to feel like I was going away to college so I was going to go ahead and go to Stanford. And he said thank you very much for being so candid. We shook hands and we let it go. My freshman year I had that killer game against USC, scored a touchdown, a hundred and something yards, Larry Smith comes up to me after the game. He finds me on the field, he says J.J. Lasley, “I just wanted to say I was wrong. You are an incredible running back and you can play running back in the NFL.” He actually said he was wrong. Then two and a half years later, I was begging to play safety!
Q: Why did Willingham say “no” to the position change?
A: We had Ellery Roberts, we had Glyn Milburn, we had me and we had “Touchdown Tommy” Vardell. Of those four, I was the only one with a defensive mentality, meaning I was the only who liked to hit. Glyn does not like to hit and that was fine. Tommy, who outweighs me by 30 pounds, did not like to hit. Now, he hit when he had to hit. And everybody knows how hard it is to bring him down, but he did not “like” to hit. I “liked” to hit. I literally was a defensive player playing running back. So they all knew that so they moved me to fullback in 1991. I thought this was a good idea team-wise but just not for my career. But basically I was playing fullback at 200 pounds and I was lead blocking for Tommy Vardell who is 235 and I am faster than he is. So how does that work? Well, Lasley likes to hit a lot harder. Guess what, Lasley will go through the hole and hit a linebacker at 235 pounds and clear the hole for Tommy. Now, you have Tommy Vardell, who did run a legit sub-4.6, coming through the hole with a 10-yard run-up and nothing but a DB trying to make a tackle. I think he scored whatever it was 24 or 26 touchdowns that year? (20, but it goes up as the years pass!) I think I lead-blocked for almost every one of those. Again, lead-blocking did not do much for my career as a running back, it did not really help me get to the NFL, but we won a bunch of games and became Pac-10 co-champions and went to two bowl games.
Q: How did Crespi "save your life"?
A: Long story short, I grew up in South Central (Los Angeles), my mom and I. We were on welfare, the whole thing, gangs, people were getting shot. I am the only one that made it out of my crew of about 15 friends. I am the only one that is still alive and functioning. My mother was smart enough to get me to understand how important school and grades were. I was getting straight A’s and we literally barnstormed Crespi. During my eighth grade summer, she made me put in a collared shirt and tucked it in and we went over there. We did not know anybody, but we went and met with the principal. After three hours of meeting with the principal and academic advisors, they were so impressed with her and I guess my transcript that they offered me the scholarship to go to their high school. They did not even know at that point that I played any sports. I think they could tell from my build.
Q: And this was just all on the good work of your mom?
A: Literally on the word of my mom and my transcript, and I spoke pretty well. They said “okay. let’s give this kid a chance”. I was one of three black kids at the school, so that probably had a little something to do with it as well. But they saved my life. It got me to the point where we won the CIF championship. It got me to the point where people were looking at me for what I was doing on the football field. I got offers from everywhere from Notre Dame to Harvard to USC and everything. Once Stanford called, my mom said “you are going to Stanford.” I had a choice - if I wanted to push it and go to Notre Dame or USC, she would have let me. I pretty much decided to go to Stanford because of the opportunity it would give me.
Q: I would guess when getting recruited that is a mighty big phone call to get. An opportunity from a Pac-10 program and if you don’t make it to the NFL, you have a Stanford degree. That has to be tough to say “no” to?
A: Absolutely. That is why I wanted to go to Stanford. One twist of an ankle in preseason and you could never play football again. Then what? USC is a great school if you want to stay on the west coast. Harvard is a great school obviously, but it probably is not going to get me into the NFL. Stanford has both. I can travel the world, I can get a job anywhere in the world, but I can also be in the Pac-10 and get a real look (from the NFL). In fact when I got there they were 0-9-1 if I remember right with Jack Elway (actually they were 3-6-2 but winless in the last five games). So I had a feeling that I might be able to get on the field sooner. People would say “why do you want to go there when they are losing?” I would say, “yeah, but I might be able to play as a freshman.” It does not matter how good the team is, I will make it better. As a young kid, you think as soon “as I get there I’ll make it better”.
I have one story I laugh about. Spring of 1990. I saw Glyn Milburn had just transferred, this, that and the other, and I go from starting tailback to third-string fullback. I am thinking, okay, this isn’t working. John Lynch was fourth-string quarterback. At one practice, both our starting strong safety and free safety got injured. So John and I were talking after practice. I said, “dude, I’ll go play safety.” He said “me too.” I said, “so let’s go in there together.” So John Lynch and I together walked into Denny Green’s office and said we wanted to play safety. He said that sounds great, go talk to your position coaches.
So I go talk to Coach (Tyrone) Willingham and he says “no”. Lynch goes and talks to the quarterback coach, who I believe at that time was Guy Benjamin [Ed. Actually, it was Ron Turner - Benjamin joined the Walsh staff in 1992], and he says “okay”. So to make a long story short, they keep me at fullback and I get my short look in the NFL and Lynch goes to safety and he plays forever. (laughter) (Lynch retired this year and is now broadcasting for FOX). Hey, it is all timing. I am not saying it could have been me. But if they had put me at strong safety, I could still be in the league and be Troy Polamalu. One small little turn of events could have changed everything.
I was mad at Coach Willingham for that. But he made it up to me later. My first year, I got a look in Green Bay . I ended up not making the team and got cut. And that was fine. I jumped on the U.S. National Rugby team. I was not getting paid much, but got free stuff, got to go to Hong Kong and Japan . And then Coach Willingham called me the next year, their first year in Minnesota . Not that he owed me but he knew the kind of person that I was and he wanted to at least give me a shot of bringing me into camp. And it just so happened that I was in incredible shape from playing rugby, a whole different shape.
So I showed up in Minnesota early and I was running after practice every day. I was there with Terry Allen and Robert Smith and some of those guys and because I was a rookie there, they did not want to get out-worked. So by the end of the first week of practice all the running backs were running gassers after practice just because that is what I was doing. I just brought all these intangible things to the team. I ended up making the team but then got injured and got put on the injured reserve. So my whole NFL career never really happened. I am not mad at anyone for that, but it is pretty interesting how things go.
Here is another good story. During my recruiting trip, Larry Smith had just won the Rose Bowl with Arizona and the next year he was at USC. So he recruited me at USC. I was sitting at the desk across from him on my recruiting trip to SC. I was going to be going to Stanford the next weekend on my recruiting trip. So Larry Smith says, “I am going to be very honest with you kid. If you come to USC we are going to change you to strong safety, you probably won’t play your freshman year, but you will probably be able to get in after that. You will start for at least two years and maybe three and you are a strong safety in the NFL. You will probably win a Rose Bowl here and you will probably play strong safety in the NFL.” I said, “Thank you very much Coach Smith, but I want to be a running back, I am going to stay a running back.”
I grew up walking distance from USC so I wanted to feel like I was going away to college so I was going to go ahead and go to Stanford. And he said thank you very much for being so candid. We shook hands and we let it go. My freshman year I had that killer game against USC, scored a touchdown, a hundred and something yards, Larry Smith comes up to me after the game. He finds me on the field, he says J.J. Lasley, “I just wanted to say I was wrong. You are an incredible running back and you can play running back in the NFL.” He actually said he was wrong. Then two and a half years later, I was begging to play safety!
Q: Why did Willingham say “no” to the position change?
A: We had Ellery Roberts, we had Glyn Milburn, we had me and we had “Touchdown Tommy” Vardell. Of those four, I was the only one with a defensive mentality, meaning I was the only who liked to hit. Glyn does not like to hit and that was fine. Tommy, who outweighs me by 30 pounds, did not like to hit. Now, he hit when he had to hit. And everybody knows how hard it is to bring him down, but he did not “like” to hit. I “liked” to hit. I literally was a defensive player playing running back. So they all knew that so they moved me to fullback in 1991. I thought this was a good idea team-wise but just not for my career. But basically I was playing fullback at 200 pounds and I was lead blocking for Tommy Vardell who is 235 and I am faster than he is. So how does that work? Well, Lasley likes to hit a lot harder. Guess what, Lasley will go through the hole and hit a linebacker at 235 pounds and clear the hole for Tommy. Now, you have Tommy Vardell, who did run a legit sub-4.6, coming through the hole with a 10-yard run-up and nothing but a DB trying to make a tackle. I think he scored whatever it was 24 or 26 touchdowns that year? (20, but it goes up as the years pass!) I think I lead-blocked for almost every one of those. Again, lead-blocking did not do much for my career as a running back, it did not really help me get to the NFL, but we won a bunch of games and became Pac-10 co-champions and went to two bowl games.
*********** "The Giants are on their way to the Super Bowl!" announced Joe Biteme, Big Time Sports Fan, to a San Francisco audience. Uh, Joe, the San Francisco Giants play baseball.
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/01/18/bidens-oops-moment-in-sf-giants-on-their-way-to-super-bowl/
*********** A school administrator is a school adminsitrator. That means that even in Utah, one of the nation's most conservative states, if you're looking for common sense, the last place to look is school administration...
DRAPER, Utah (CBS Las Vegas) – One Utah school district believes a cougar mascot would be insensitive to women.
The Canyons School District overrode the students top choice of a cougar mascot for their high school that is to be completed in 2013.
Would-be Corner Canyon High School students chose the Cougars as their mascot — a name principal Mary Bailey said carries an ugly connotation that is disrespectful to women.
In popular culture, the cougar is a sexually aggressive middle-aged woman who attracts younger men.
The school board, which consists of six men and one woman, thought the Charger would be more appropriate, which was on the ballot but failed to appeal to students as the cougar had.
*********** My son, Ed, finds that thanks to ESPN, life in Australia no longer isolates him from live American sports as it once did. Part of the reason, though, is that the time difference really favors American college football.
For example, ESPN Game Day, which comes on in the US at 10 AM Eastern time on Saturday, comes on at 2 AM Sunday, Melbourne Time. That's a little early.
The early Saturday game - usually a Big Ten game - comes on at 4 AM. Still a bit early.
But soon, depending on whether they're becoming fans of "gridiron," as it's called Down Under, people begin to get up, and there's another game waiting for them - usually a Big 12 game.
And following that one, at 10:00 Sunday morning, comes the one that we get here in the US in prime time. That's no big deal to me - that's when the early NFL games come on eery Sunday out here in the Pacific Time Zone.
And if there's a Saturday night Pac-10 game that week, they'll see it at 1:30 or so on Sunday afternoon.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012 - "It
is only the underdog that believes in equality. it is only the
Mob that seeks to reduce all humanity to one dead level for it is only
the mob that would gain by such leveling." H. L. Mencken
Here's how it works: there are 35 bowl games. You're given 35 chips (real or imagined), worth from 1 to 35 points each. (To save you the calculation, they're worth 630 points total, if that matters.)
You must wager a different chip on each of the 35 games. (Wagers are even-up. The gamblers' spread is not taken into account.)
If your team wins, you win the number of points wagered. If your team loses, you lose all the points.
Obviously, you would want to bet the "35" chip on a sure thing - Boise State over Arizona State, say. And you would want to save the "1" chip for a game of less certain outcome, such as LSU-Alabama, or Stanford-Oklahoma State.
Seems to have potential as football's answer to March Madness. ("December Delirium?")
*********** The archdiocese of Philadelphia has had to downsize once again, and this time the axe has fallen on two long-storied high schools. Monsigner Bonner: gone. West Catholic: gone.
My father went to West Philly High and West Catholic was a big rival.
Very sad. I go back to Philly and I'm constantly reminded of all the things that aren't there.
http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/frank_fitzpatrick/20120112_Giving__Em_Fitz__Fading_Philadelphia_sports_memories.html?jCount=2&#comments
*********** You got to love Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter. Living with the kind of weenie politicians we have out here in the Portland area, any politician who will call an a**hole an a**hole is my kind of politician.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120112_Nutter_expletive_for_shooters_gets_on_TV.html?submit=Vote&mr=1&oid=1&137187133=Y&pid=137187133&cid=8500281
*********** Have you seen this yet? Might already be viral. If so, sorry... If not, I look forward to reading your dissertation!
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tim-tebow-game-winning-touchdown-illegal-163812959.html
Sam Knopik
Kansas City, Missouri
Coach,
I agree with Pereira and disagree with the author.
I'll bet that at least once in every game I can point out a lineman - usually a left tackle - who is clearly not on the line.
True but does that make it OK?
You taught me to be pretty literal concerning the rules such as holding, free blocking zone and being on the LOS by breaking the belt of the center.
Of course it's wrong. It is a disgrace. I can't believe that the author watched all the games he claimed to have watched and never saw an infraction comparable to Denver's. I see things every bit as bad - or worse - every time I watch a pro game. So I can't get excited about Denver's play being called illegal.
it bothers the hell out of me to see the way officials ignore the rules. I believe in the sanctity of the rules and it is getting more and more difficult every year to be a trict practitioner and watch the stuff that goes on.
As often as not a lineman, usually the left tackle, is in the backfield, the better to prepare for the speed rush off the edge.
Frequently, you can tell whether a play is going to be a run, and which way it's going, by spotting which side is bowed (it's going the other way.)
I see guys line up as what we might call slot receivers, except that it is impossible to tell which of them is on the line and which isn't. (You can almost bet that there are coaches taking advantage of the officials' casual approach to this.)
I watch every lineman on a field goal team interlocking legs, when only the guards and center may do so.
I see teams line up and snap quickly without being set for ONE FULL SECOND.
And then there's holding.
Now you got me started. I think I need a drink.
***********
I hope that those who claimed that the Broncos' final touchdown last
week against the Steelers was illegal because there weren't seven men
on the line took a good look at the alignment of the offensive tackles
on most of the teams that played this past weekend. On the left
is a screen shot of the Giants' alignment on a fourth quarter
play Sunday. Left tackle is close. Right tackle?
Not even.***********Good morning, Coach.
A play question for you: on one of the football coach discussion boards I look at every now and then, (a coach) is talking about a play he runs called 66 G-B Lead. He says he runs it in place of 66/88 Super Power. For the life of me, I cannot picture the blocking on this.
Are you familiar with this play, and if so could you tell me what the heck the blocking rules would be?
It's just 6-G blocking with the QB tossing and the B-Back leading through.
I call it Super 66-G. We ran it a bunch this year. If you don't have a strong B-Back to run a consistently powerful Super Power, it still enables you to run off-tackle. (Of course, if you run some other system, the "G" play is not a part of your arsenal, so this doesn't help you much.)
You can hand off, which we first did when I introduced the play back in 2002 at Rich Central High, outside Chicago, but you can't toss it (as e do now) unless you use the hockey stick.
*********** Coach Wyatt,
I am the coach of a youth 5th/6th grade team. We have been running the DW for the past 3 seasons with incredible result and I'm sold on it. I'm trying to get our high school coach to give it a try he is currently running a spread which he does not have the talent for hence an 0-9 season. We've talked about the DW but I believe he thinks it's strictly a youth style offense. I have e-mailed a couple of high school coaches that I have found that run the DW for some testimony but I could sure use a few more names of high school coaches that are currently running the DW.
I believe if I showed him some written (e-mails) of current coaches willing to sharing their success stories in 2011 I could possibly sway him. The reason this is so important to me is that my son (8th grade) will soon be playing for him and I don't want my son to have to live the rest of his life knowing as a high school football player he went 0-9. Anything you can do would be great.
Coach, I don't know anything about your situation and so I hope you'll understand my reluctance to get involved.
It has been my experience, based on my dealings with many other coaches in your position, that no coach can be "sold" on the Double Wing. (Or, for that matter, any other offense.) He has to "buy" it - that is, it has to be HIS decision, something that HE arrives at ON HIS OWN. It's no use to show him videos or send him recommendations or newspaper articles.
It's human nature. It's like being told to eat your vegetables because they're good for you.
There appears to be an insecurity issue here. He evidently is more comfortable going 0-9 with a "grownup" offense that everybody runs than he would be taking a chance on being criticized for running something that he considers to be a youth offense, especially at the suggestion of a youth coach.
There may be more to it than that, but even if there are other objections, that is good enough for him.
Finally, there is the real concern that even if he were to buy in, he might not be able to convince his staff, and a divided staff is sure to sink the Double Wing.
However, if you can somehow arrange for it to be HIS idea, you have a chance.
Here's a suggestion: You didn't say where you live, but if you can persuade him to attend one of my clinics, invite him to attend as my guest. Tell him you'd just like him to invest a day of his time to investigate an idea. Maybe meeting up with some real flesh-and-blood Double Wing high school coaches will reassure him.
*********** Our dumbasses are dumber than your dumbasses…
A LaPine, Oregon driver got two years in prison for hitting and killing a bicyclist while texting his girlfriend, who was sitting next to him at the time.
*********** In case you thought football coaches were the only ones who embellished their resumes…
In Missouri, a Republican candidate for governor admitted that it may have been misleading for him to state in his online bio that he had a bachelor's degree in economics when it was actually in home economics.
*********** Coach Wyatt,
I'm really enjoying your Dynamics of the DW DVD. I'm just into like chapter 10 but I was wondering your thoughts on flipping the OL? I know several youth coaches that run DW do it. What are your thoughts and suggestions on flipping the OL at the MS level?
Thanks
Coach,
Not to say it isn't being done, but I don't personally have any dealings with any coaches running my system who flip-flop the line.
This is not to say that if I were doing something else I wouldn't consider it, but my absolute number one goal in teaching my offense is not to confuse kids, especially the linemen, and in my experience it is confusing to a kid to have to play both sides of the line.
I can't coach anybody else's team for them, but for me, I have been coaching this offense in one form or another since 1982, and I have never seen the need to do it.
There are lots of ways to skin a cat, and I'm not going to say it can't be done and then have someone show me that it can. But for me, the advantages don't justify my changing.
*********** In case you think coaches have taken over too much of the game of football (as I do), Johnny Bench, Hall of Fame catcher, noted the way the game of baseball has changed, especially the way managers now call pitches from the dugout.
As a catcher, he said, "I called every pitch and made most of the pitching changes. If I'd glance over at Sparky (manager Sparky Anderson) in a certain way, he'd know it was time to get somebody up in the bullpen. We'd go to the mound, and he'd look at me, and I'd tell him whether the guy was OK or not. That's fair. The catcher is in the middle of everything. He sees it best."
*********** When the news came last week that Mark Speckman had resigned at Willamette University, about an hour south of where I live in Salem, Oregon, everyone knew that it was not your classic forced resignation. Not Mark Speckman. And sure enough, one day after the news of his resignation, Coach Speckman was announced as head coach at Menlo College, in California, which he once attended, back when it was a two-year school.
Coach Speckman did a tremendous job in his 17 years at Willamette, where his Fly offense brought him success on the field and acclaim from other coaches far and wide.
He has always been very well thought of in the Northwest, and it is sad to see him leave. He has been helpful and willing to share, and it has been amusing to those of us who live out here to watch a big-time game and see something that definitely came from Mark Speckman.
http://www.oregonlive.com/collegefootball/index.ssf/2012/01/willamette_football_coach_mark_1.html
*********** If a jury won't get them, maybe a banker will.
While O.J. is making license plates in a Nevada prison, a bank is foreclosing on his Florida home.
*********** Coach,
Coach Latta is correct. Not a boring game at all. Defense is what wins championships. As a DWinger , I thought it was perfect.
RTR! Hope to see you in ATL.
Chris Hilliker
Paul W. Bryant High
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Coach,
One of the games I'm proudest of is the 1989 Maple Bowl, when my team won the National Championship of Finland. (I've always maintained that the key to winning a national title is to find a small enough nation.)
The opposing team, the Helsinki East City GIants, had a very good defense, but not much of an offense. My team, the Munkka Colts, had a high-scoring offense, but of all games, my QB, Vellu Kallislahti, had a sore arm and couldn't throw, and my beast of a running back, Timmo Everi, was hurt and couldn't play. So we had no offense, either.
The game was, to put a nice touch on it, a "defensive struggle." Finally, in the fourth quarter, we blocked a punt in their territory, and after failing to move the ball, kicked a field goal.
The final score was 3-0.
One of the radio announcers, who was also the head of the national association (Suomen Amerikkalaisen Jalkapallon Liitto), said that we'd set back Finnish football ten years. (Only later did I find out that they'd only been playing American football for ten years!)
Didn't bother me. It was a win. It was a thing of beauty. We were national champions.
If I were a big Bama fan, I'd be saying the same thing!
See you there!
*********** Coach Wyatt,
Sorry to bother you but I'm really into the Dynamics DVD since I'm off today. My QB that is coming back isn't exactly fast but he is smart so I'm guessing I should use the hockey stick method with him instead of having him block? But if the CB is making the tackle I can change and have him go make the block? Also, the 6/9 call is made by both WB's on every play correct? On power/super power if the TE has a 6 tech double with WB and if 9 tech TE blocks down and WB reads up correct?
Thanks,
Quincy Bell
McLeansville, North Carolina
Coach, You are right regarding your QB.
You should have a coach watching that corner. If he is ducking inside, you should run 88 Super Power Keep Right and have the QB keep. (The trick here is to make sure that on every Super Power he runs his hockey stick as if he were keeping.)
And of course you should run 88 Brown (Roll-out pass) because this can put him in a jam.
Another way to get that corner out of your hair is to run 88 Super-O from "OVER" formation. When you line up your X (left) end wide to the right, that corner has to go out with him. Just make sure that you only pull your left guard ("Super-O") and not the tackle because you no longer have that tight end on the backside to take care of people who might chase your pulling tackle.
The 6-9 call (or "ON" or "OFF" as we call it) is made by the TE.
Here is a Quicktime Movie that illustrates it. You'll probably need Quicktime Player - if you don't have it you can get it free at apple.com
http://www.coachwyatt.com/88SPONorOFFcallppt/88SPONorOFFcallppt.mov
*********** John Lambert, head coach at La Center, Washington High School, sent me the following story...
Archbishop Murphy High School, a small Catholic school in Everett, Washington, has enjoyed good success since it started football several years ago, under the direction of a longtime Coach named Terry Ennis, who sadly died four years ago with a lot of coaching still in him. Things have not exactly fallen off since then - AMHS made it to this year's state 2A final game. But under the surface, according to an article in the Everett Herald, there is trouble.
To sum up, the head coach sent an e-mail to parents, informing them that as part of a "much needed change of direction," he had asked for the resignation of a very popular, but controversial, assistant.
"With this change in our staff," he wrote, "I intend to terminate a disruptive sub-culture that has developed during my four-year tenure as head coach."
He went on to say, "Next year's staff will learn to not be jealous or seek unwarranted control and power."
In summation, "With this change, I hope to build a staff that works together without any coach wanting the credit for our success on or off the field."
Pretty strong language, that.
Unfortunately for the coach, there were a few problems that he must not have foreseen - evidently the discharge of the assistant had to be cleared with the AD, and hadn't been. So, too, with the email to the parents, which hadn't been cleared.
The head coach is now on administrative leave. I can't imagine why he would think it was smart to suggest that by eliminating a certain assistant he had terminated a "disruptive subculture," but apparently the community is now split into two groups, one which supports the head coach (if he's still the head coach), and the other which feels that the deposed assistant (if he's actually been deposed) was the real brains of the program all along.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120111/SPORTS01/701129963/1004/SPORTS#Email-reason-for-leave
***********
Last summer, my wife and I were on our way from Beloit, Kansas to
Manhattan, Kansas, and our route took us through Leonardville,
and past Riley County High School, whose most famous alumnus is the
Packers' (and former Kansas State Wildcat) Jordy Nelson. We
stopped for a moment in tiny Leonardville to take a photo of Jordy's
place, Nelson's Landing.His three teams - high school, college and pro - are represented on the banners in the windows.
My friend Greg Koenig, of Beloit, sent me a great article about Jordy Nelson and Nelson's Landing , and the time he brought some teammates home for a visit:
Jordy and his wife, Emily, live in Green Bay, but they get back to the small town with a population of less than 500 every now and then. Before last season, Jordy even brought some of the other Packers wide receivers with him and they had quite an experience.
"We had a blast acting the fool. We did farming things," Greg Jennings told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"We got to see how they artificially inseminate cows. We actually did it. You've got to stick your hand in there. It was nice and warm."
*********** Judging by the play this past weekend - did the NFL make it illegal for defensive backs to use their arms when tackling and just not tell the public?
*********** When the offense makes a big play and there's an offside penalty against the defense (which the offense obviously is not going to take), why do we then have to waste time watching the referee signal the penalty, tell us what it was, and tell us that it's been declined?
*********** Jacoby jones? Sheesh - tries to field a bouncing punt with a man in his face, loses the ball and gives the Ravens first and goal on the Texans' two.
*********** Ed Reed landed hard and had to be helped off the field. As Dan Dierdorff noted, like most defensive backs he wasn't wearing any pads from the waist down.
*********** As the Patriots' lead built over the Broncos, Phil Simms could have been flagged for taunting: "All you people at Penn State that have been complaining about the hiring of Bill O'Brien," he said - "do you like what you see?"
Simms was implying, of course, that new Penn State head coach O'Brien, finishing up his first year as offensive coordinator of the Patriots, would soon enough be doing the same thing in Happy Valley. (Notre Dame fans, it should be noted, were once tantalized in the same way by the prospect of Charlie Weis' bringing the Patriots' magic to South Bend.)
Well, uh, yeah, I thought. Sure, I like what I see. I like that quarterback, that Brady guy. And I like the protection he gets, so he can stand back there all day, untouched and flat-footed, until somebody gets open. And I like that big kid from Buffalo, Grontkowski. And that little guy, Welker.
Golly. You mean that's what we're going to see?
*********** Before this season, Alex Smith was just an afterthought, the guy that 49ers feared they would be forced to go with if they couldn't find another quarterback. They couldn't, and 49ers' fan worst fears were realized - Alex Smith would have to be the man. Yet here the 49ers are in the NFC championship game, with Alex Smith at quarterback, and not just in a maintenance-man role, either. Against the Saints Saturday, he threw two passes on the 49ers' final drive that were as sharp and precise as any you'll ever see.
How about a shout-out for a guy named Geep Chryst, whom most of you have probably never heard of, but who's listed as the 49ers' quarterback coach -
http://www.49ers.com/team/coaches/geep-chryst/3ac62f4d-a289-46f6-bc9f-031f34771f8c
*********** Harbaugh vs Harbaugh in the Super Bowl would be a story for the ages. And both of them sons of a long-time coach!
*********** The Troy Fighting Irish couldn't survive the combined shocks of an early 22-0 deficit and the loss of their quarterback, and lost to the Carolina Eagles, 22-12, in the national semi-pro championship game in Homestead, Florida.
http://troyrecord.com/articles/2012/01/15/sports/doc4f13a830e5604665681431.txt?viewmode=fullstory
*********** Hey Coach Wyatt - this is Coach Lee Dugas in Ohio. I attended your clinic in Durham, NC - 5 years ago. I am getting ready to start up a Semi-Pro Football Team here in central Ohio - and am seriously considering running the Single Wing in lieu of the Double Wing.
However I do have a couple of questions - I was wondering if you might can help me with.....
#1) Line splits? Are they foot to foot as in the DW - or do they have more splits?
#2) I keep seeing 2 backs lined up behind the center...and it appears that the center snaps the ball to either the left or right back. How does this happen? Is the center actually snapping the ball on an angle, or is he snapping consistently to the same place - directly behind him and depending on the play called - the respective back knows to step in front of the ball and go with it? I guess this kind of bewilders me?
Thanks,
Coach Lee Dugas
Mount Vernon, Ohio
Coach,
Several years ago, after having run the Wildcat for a few years, I had the privilege of speaking with a coach named Jerry Carle, who for a long time ran the single wing at Colorado College.
He was very gracious and helpful, and to answer your questions, here were a few key things he told me:
Like us, he ran with tight splits.
Like us, he had twin tailbacks, side-by-side behind the center. His instructions to the center were not to worry about who got the ball, but just to snap it straight back - he figured that if those two guys back there were smart enough to get into Colorado College, they were smart enough to figure out who gets the ball. I've adopted that approach and found that it works very well. I think that the center has enough to do. Obviously, the deeper your twin tailbacks are, the greater the likelihood that the snap will be off-target. (I do think that a two-handed snap seems to provide more accuracy.)
Unlike us, he never had one of the twin tailbacks kick out on power plays. He would have a blocking back do so, if he had one, or when he ran from his Double Wing (which looked very much like our Wildcat except that his tailbacks were deeper) he would "G" block it. And then, instead of kicking out, his lead back would always run to the outside, for influence, and then get into position for a pitch upfield.
That ought to help.
*********** Everything comes at a price… Southwest has built an entire advertising campaign around its "Bags Fly Free" policy, but it's only fair to point out that Southwest is also the leader in mishandled luggage.
*********** In the manner that we stand by our children, I'll continue to admire and stand up for Joe Paterno, even if he has done wrong - which I don't happen to believe - and so I appreciate Sally Jenkins' considerate treatment of the man and his condition in her reporting of her interview of him. Her father, if you didn't know, is the great Dan Jenkins, a football writer's football write with a great respect for the game and the people who built it. Sally Jenkins is her father's daughter.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/joe-paternos-first-interview-since-the-penn-state-sandusky-scandal/2012/01/13/gIQA08e4yP_story.html
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012 - "If you're not paying attention, it's your patriotic duty not to vote!" John Stossel
Talk about Lucy pulling the ball every time Charlie Brown tries to kick it - Brown did the exact same thing to Yale once before, back in 2008. (Maybe he was put up to it by Harvard in order to screw up the Yalies. Naah. They're fully capable of doing that without any help.)
You would think, though, after what the Yale AD's been through, that during the interview he'd have asked Brown something on the order of, "Now, look… before we offer you the job… this time… you're really serious about it, right?"
Is it too late to call Tom Williams and bring him back on some sort of probation?
*********** Alabama is the best team on the country - period.
*********** Coach,
Couldn’t agree more with you about Brent Musburger’s ‘announcing’ of the game- he is so consumed with himself and the tidbits of information that the producers collected for him that he sometimes forgot that there was a ball game.
I couldn’t disagree with you more about the ‘excitement’ factor. It’s like the DW coach that ramrodded an opposing team that had superior athletes with wedge and superpower all night -yet won an ‘ugly’ game- (BTW I’ve yet to see an ugly win when a team I am coaching or pulling for wins).
The opposition coach told our DW friend: ‘you just set football back 60 years.’
After the game the DW coach told the coach of the other team (and his own QB’s dad) “It’s not my job to try to please the crowd or the daddies and certainly not the other coach’s standard for what he thinks constitutes ‘football’. It’s my job to give my team the best chance to win the game with what we have and how we match up.’
Coach, you are a DW guy! Where’s the love for good ol fashioned football?
(BTW Trent Richardson had 96 yards rushing vs. the number 2 rushing and total defense in the country and set the all time record for season rushing at Alabama.)
I was so tired of hearing about the ‘honey badger’ and how LSU was going to paralyze the BAMA defense with the option (or whatever that was they ran) that I know the men on the BAMA team were.
Total domination. National Champs. Roll Tide.
All the other ‘offensive-minded’ people – eat your heart out!
RTR
Emory Latta
Dothan, Alabama
P.S.- I will try to be in ATL in FEB!
Coach,
Bama is the National Champion and deservedly so.
But by any standards except those of a Bama fan, it was a horrible game. I certainly do not expect you to have to apologize for that.
Yes, I am a Double Wing guy but I can't stand to watch offensive ineffectiveness in any form, Double Wing or whatever, and that's what we saw Monday night. As a coach and as a fan, I like to see touchdowns.
Alabama did all they had to do to win, and I admired the play of the QB. I really liked the play-calling.
LSU? That's another story. Definitely, many of LSU's offensive problems were attributable to Alabama's defense. But in my opinion, LSU did not come to play on offense. They were poorly prepared, and the game was poorly managed, and at some point, they folded. In the case of their quarterback, who did not some things that can't be explained, I think that point came one the first or second play of the game.
What bothered me most of all (other than the whole overstaged production, including Musburger's non-stop blather) was watching the body language of the LSU players on the sideline, including the fabled Honey Badger. After all the lip-flapping that had gone on, it was impossible to misinterpret: I quit.
Hope to see you in Atlanta.
Congratulations. Roll Tide.
*********** Hugh,
First time in a long time I fell asleep during a national championship! If I wanted to watch a guy kick five scores I would have watched a soccer game! Had Alabama's Richardson not scored his touchdown near the end of the game I would have snoozed through the whole thing. Wow, what a miserable way for the college football season to come to an end.
Bowl games. It is my humble opinion that the recession and economy had little to do with the poor attendance figures, and lack of butts in the seats. More like too many bowls, with too many mediocre teams playing in them. It's what happens when oversaturation waters down the end product, and I believe that teams with winning records should be the ONLY teams invited to play in a bowl game (12 game regular season - qualify with a minimum 7-5 record). Finally... only the following bowls, (and cities), should be "destinations": Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sun Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Peach Bowl, Gator Bowl, Orange Bowl. Honolulu, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, Orlando, and Charlotte. No bowl game should be played north of the Mason-Dixon line. The only bowls with conference tie-ins should be the Rose Bowl (Pac 12-Big 10), Fiesta Bowl (Pac 12-Big 10), Cotton Bowl (Big 12-SEC), Sugar Bowl (Big 12-SEC), Gator Bowl (ACC-Big East/Ind.), Orange Bowl (ACC-Big East/Ind.). The remaining bowls would take the best of the rest.
BCS - Take the top 4 teams in the country at the end of the regular season... play two semi-final games... and the winners play for the national championship.
National HS all-star games - What a joke. Show me the money!!
Have a great clinic season!
Joe Gutilla
Austin, Texas
Joe, Too bad. I was just about to show you the money by asking if you'd be interested in coaching one of the teams in the GoDaddy.com Rivals/Scout Super-Duper Elementary School All Star Football Classic at Disney World Presented by Coach Wyatt. We'll have two teams of elite players carefully selected by noted draft authority Mel Kiper, Jr.
Oh, well.
*********** Good morning, Coach.
Hope all is well with you (and Mrs. Wyatt)!
What a stinker of a game.
I got so tired of listening to Musberger and Herbstreit prattle on about how amazing the defenses were. My sone Jacob and I started picking one offensive lineman to watch each play (LSU or Alabama – whoever was on offense) and keeping track of how many missed blocks there were. We were both disgusted by the offensive line play. Yes both LSU and Alabama have great defensive teams, but when offensive linemen just stand there and grab jersey, it’s no wonder the offense can’t move the ball.
On a different note - we saw the Connell video several days before it went viral and gained all the national attention. Caleb’s roommate at Northwest Nazarene U graduated from Connell two years ago, and he sent us the link to watch. He told us that he played basketball there his freshman through junior years, but did not play his senior year because of those two kids in the video. According to him, he was tired of “getting the crap beat out of me” every day at practice, and the Coach “praising those guys” for playing like that. The video also made for some interesting discussions at our local basketball officials meeting this past Sunday!
DJ Millay
Vancouver, Washington
***********Hey Coach - sitting here watching the game, wondering how these teams can possibly recruit with their old traditional uniforms?
By the way - I think you know I despise all things Okie, but I would put some serious money on OSU against either of the teams playing tonight.
The Cowboys were just crazy good this year - not sure why they didn't get more attention, except for the fact the Big 12 sucked.
Geaux Tigers!
Scott Barnes
Rockwall, Texas
Coach,
Not only are they able to recruit with those retro uniforms, but they are able to OVER-recruit!
And over-sign - http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2011/10/the-oversigning-bowl
They sign more kids than the NCAA permits, then run off some of the current players that they don't want around. Real meatball stuff.
Oklahoma State was good, but only a hair better than Stanford - it that.
I think that either one of them could have beaten LSU the way LSU played against Bama, but I do think that Bama was the best in the US this year.
I also think that it is unreasonable to ask a bunch of high school or college kids to have to play somebody twice. Or to ask a nation of fans to have to watch the two teams play each other twice.
*********** Maybe the BCS thinks its only job is to pit #1 against #2, but after a look at the TV ratings of the big game, which not so coincidentally have plummeted in conjunction with the dominance of the SEC, they'd better realize that their real purpose is to give the public something it wants to watch, and this year they didn't do it.
*********** WTF? Stanford misses a field goal in overtime and drops three spots in the final AP poll. LSU gets run out of the Superdome and merely drops one place.
*********** Reggie McKenzie's first act as GM of the Raiders - in fact, I'm not sure he was even officially on the job yet - was to fire Hue Jackson as head coach. After one…f--king… season.
Why, sure. I mean all Jackson did, without benefit of the usual pre-season workouts or training camp, was go 8-8, the Raiders' best record since 2002. And he did it after losing his quarterback, Jason Campbell, and having to go with Carson Palmer, a instant-acquisition from Cincinnati who had zero acquaintance with the system or his new teammates.
Yes, you could blame Jackson for the Raiders' lack of discipline, their tremendous number of penalties, but if he had been able to undo all those years and years of Raider mentality in just one season, he'd have been a candidate for Coach of the Year.
*********** This is not an appeal to vote for Mitt Romney. I go back and forth. But it does pain me to think that Mr. Romney is likely to be attacked - ridiculed - for his religion. Since living in the West and teaching and coaching in several schools out here, my wife and I have come to know many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the Mormons - and without exception we have been impressed by the kids and their families and the values they espouse. We are not LDS ourselves. This is not an appeal to vote for Mitt Romney or to join the LDS Church, but simply our declaration that we would have no reservations about entrusting an LDS member with the Presidency.
“I would say this to any evangelical group in America: our country would benefit from a good dose of Mormon values, and I don’t think that’s something we ought to apologize for or feel we have to explain away.” Mark DeMoss, an advisor to Mitt Romney, and an evangelical Christian.
*********** Coach Wyatt,
Coach, I just read this article over at smartfootball.com;
http://smartfootball.com/gameplanning/why-every-team-should-install-its-offense-in-three-days-and-other-political-thoughts-about-successful-offense
Do you think this could be done with the double wing?? Would you take a jab at it??
Thanks,
John Carbon
Panama
Coach, I can - and do - install everything in three days. I've done it for years, since 1982. Our first three days have always had to be non-contact, so it made sense to concentrate that time on offense, anyhow.
After that, once contact is allowed, you have to devote time to defense, too, and since most of us have players go both ways, we no longer have an entire practice to work just on offense.
What Halgorsen and Leach preach in terms of limiting the assignments for each position makes great sense, but the reality for most of us is that we don't have a playmaker at every position.
*********** So a guy named Ryan Grigson has been hired by the Colts to be their GM, the one who has to hand the black spot to Jim Caldwell, and then say to Payton Manning, "Uh, Payton, we're going to go in a different direction" (translation: "We're, um, not going to, um, pay you that $28 million you've got coming").
Hate to disappoint all you Indianapolis fans out there, but back in Philadelphia, where Grigson has been working as Director of Player Personnel, judging by reactions on Philly.com, it doesn't sound as if the fans are exactly despairing over his loss...
*** This guy has to be the
biggest secret in Philadelphia sports. Who is he? When you think of the
Eagles and their personnel moves, you think of Andy, Joe, and Howie,
but I've never read or heard anyone include the name Ryan. And he was
hired as a GM of an NFL team.
*** Matt Millen was also hired as the GM of an NFL team.
*** How can anyone be worried about losing anyone that has to do with players we drafted.
*** And why is this such a big loss? Have the Colts looked at several of our recent drafts? We'd be better off with a trained monkey. Bye Ryan!!!!!
*** "He's somebody that I relied a lot on as an evaluator," said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. "Really someone who had a hand in every aspect of our football operation for a long time." Garbage in, garbage out.
*** everyone connected, even marginally, to the last two drafts need to be fired anyway. so good riddance loser.
*** Matt Millen was also hired as the GM of an NFL team.
*** How can anyone be worried about losing anyone that has to do with players we drafted.
*** And why is this such a big loss? Have the Colts looked at several of our recent drafts? We'd be better off with a trained monkey. Bye Ryan!!!!!
*** "He's somebody that I relied a lot on as an evaluator," said Eagles general manager Howie Roseman. "Really someone who had a hand in every aspect of our football operation for a long time." Garbage in, garbage out.
*** everyone connected, even marginally, to the last two drafts need to be fired anyway. so good riddance loser.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/137151323.html
*********** Coach,
Been thinking about the wedge a lot recently and trouble shooting why it wasn't as productive as I hoped.
Up here (Canada) we have to give a yard neutral zone to the defense. With our Oline and additional yard back (hand to the Center's heel), could that been too much space giving the dline ample time to recognize and dive at our feet?
I ran across this quote the other day and it rang true like a bell:
"Its easy to coach when you're undefeated. When you have 23 guys on the roster and your struggling to win a game, that's when you find out what your made of."
Coach,
The extra yard could possibly account for a part of your problem, although I would think there might be more here. It could very well be that certain defenses are so concerned about your wedge that they are sacrificing their linemen in order to try to stop it (in which case they are unable to pursue or pass rush). On the other hand, if they really are "reading" - waiting until they see your charge before diving to the ground - they can't be charging very hard.
If you'd care to send me a DVD I'd try to take a look at it.
The quote is good. As the years have gone on and I've realized that I'm not Superman, and defeat is actually possible, it's made me realize that you have to work backward - you have to plan for the eventuality that you might lose. That means that you have to put a lot of effort into building a climate of trust and respect and unselfishness, so that, should things get tough, you'll still have a team!
*********** Bad enough some of our Marines in Afghanistan killed some of the enemy without first reading them their tights or employing some form of non-lethal restraint, but then they had to go and piss on the bodies. Omigod.
The Taliban are reportedly shocked by the atrocity, which I can certainly understand, because it's not as if they did anything to earn our contempt, like planting IEDs to maim and kill our soldiers.
Our officials are aghast and apologetic. Our news media refer to it a desecration (without bothering to look up the meaning of the word), making it sound as if it's the second coming of Lt. Calley at My Lai (look it up if it doesn't ring a bell).
Yessir - make sure we win diplomatic points by rushing to punish those Marines, before the Taliban goes out and plants more IEDs, and our good friends the Pakistanis decide to start providing support to our enemies.
Semper Fi, Devil Dogs!
*********** Coach Kaz - Mark Kaczmarek, of Davenport, Iowa writes…
Thought you might enjoy a statement that a friend of mine wrote regarding criticisms of Tebow by some people:
"Let me get this straight, you score a touchdown and then dance, point at yourself, gyrate, raise your arms in self-promotion and it is called celebration. You bow to a knee and humbly thank your Creator and it is called cramming your religion down everyone's throat?"
*********** Hello Coach Wyatt,
Checking in with you for several reasons, first Happy New Years; and second which is more important I am giving you an update on my status. This morning (Monday the 9th) I took my first two "crutch-less" steps which at this stage in my recovery is still bit ahead of schedule but I'll take it and take everything a day at a time and a step at a time.
I also hadn't had the time to personally and individually reply to everyone (YET), but I will and in the meantime I wanted to publicy thank the specific coaches listed below for reaching out to me via email or phone call and for their stories, some similiar to mine and basically just for their genuine support and of course I will begin with you and then:
Jason Clarke
Richard Scott of the Santa Clarita (CA) Wildcats
Michael O'Donnell of Rush City HS, Minnesota
Dave Kemmick of Lancaster, PA
Todd Hollis of Elmwood HS, Illinois
Clay Harrold of North Cedar HS, Stanwood, Iowa
Richard Golden
P.J. Hedrington, Shenandoah, Iowa
Jason Doyle, MD
Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho
Derric Johnson, MD
Greg Koenig, Beloit, Kansas
Richard Scott of the Santa Clarita (CA) Wildcats
Michael O'Donnell of Rush City HS, Minnesota
Dave Kemmick of Lancaster, PA
Todd Hollis of Elmwood HS, Illinois
Clay Harrold of North Cedar HS, Stanwood, Iowa
Richard Golden
P.J. Hedrington, Shenandoah, Iowa
Jason Doyle, MD
Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho
Derric Johnson, MD
Greg Koenig, Beloit, Kansas
I will keep you posted on my progress but I have been positive and upbeat every day since my accident and that won't change. My drive and faith will have me back on both feet soon and without rushing things I will be at a clinic (or two or three) :-) this year.
Again, thank you to everyone for their prayers, support for reaching out and I close with that quote from "It's a Wonderful Life"....."No man is a failure who has friends."
My deepest regards,
Brian Mackell
Glen Burnie, Maryland
(I personally want to thank those members of our coaching fraternity who helped Coach Mackell in the aftermath of his automobile accident by writing to him. HW)
*********** Back when Mouse Davis was coaching at Portland State, the big halftime show, since Portland State had no band, was Safeway's "Kicking for Steaks." Bush league all the way. Women from the crowd would come down to the field and line up to have a go at kicking field goals. A successful kick was worth a steak at Safeway.
The "stakes" (no pun intended) were a little higher Monday night at halftime of the ALLSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE FREE WORLD game, but the sight of someone kicking for a prize was just as bush. What - they could't find a couple of Pee Wee teams to play?
Next year, if they can find a corporate sponsor, I fully expect them to have a half-and-half drawing.
*********** Hugh; I you think some of the coaching searches are strange, check out the hire at Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach. Fired David Bennett who started the program from scratch (7-4) this season and replaced him with a guy who had only volunteered (past 2 years) since 1883. No head Coaching experience ever. Shows that money talks loud.
David Maness
Union, South Carolina
Coach,
It is a very interesting story, and I have to admit that it's a real crap shoot.
At one point Joe Moglia, the guy they hired, was a coach just like the rest of us, but he left coaching and went out and earned a pile of money, and now it remains to be seen whether he can still coach.
And considering the hard feelings over letting Coach Bennett go, it's not going to be easy.
*********** After Bryan Schottenheimer, offensive coordinator of the Jets, benched malcontent wide receiver (a redundancy, that) Santonio Holmes in the Jets' last game because of Holmes' attitude and "body language," it was generally acknowledged that they were definitely not going to be able to work together. One of them had to go.
Not Holmes. Holmes' contract is so excessive, the Jets' contractual obligations to him so outrageous, that no NFL general manager in his right mind would take him in a trade.
Well. That was simple, wasn't it?
On Wednesday, Schottenheimer resigned. I mean, coaches are a dime a dozen, right? But a wide receiver who's a cancer in the locker room? Well, those guys don't grow on trees.
So here are my questions: where was the general manager in all this? Wasn't there ever a point at which someone - anyone - in the Jets' organization stopped salivating and asked, "But what if we have to get rid of this guy?"
*********** Bob Costas had a great idea for NFL overtime. It is so simple: play an extra 10 minute period. No sudden-death. If the game is still tied, play another 10-minute period. And so forth.
*********** (You wrote) Worst of all, there is the opportunity for dishonesty. Anyone who has played in small towns understands the off-the-field relationships that sometimes exist among coaches and the people they do business with, who also happen to be local officials. There are places where I've played over the years where we've had a long scoring play called back after an official threw a flag back upfield for a nonexistent penalty. You swear when you look at the film that the guy is waiting to see if your kid is going to score before reaching for his flag.
Coach,
This is exactly how it felt this year against ------ ------. I blackballed the official.
Hope all is well.
John Irion
Queensbury, New York
*********** Coach,
I am calling the Purdue AD's office today and BEGGING them to hire Tom Bradley. Both Bradley and Jim Haycock of Ohio State are available, but I expect Haycock to go to Indy when the Colts hire Jim Tressel. Purdue fired its DC shortly after the Little Caesar's Bowl. A LOT of Hoosiers don't like Coach Danny Hope, and Tom Bradley would give Purdue some needed adult supervision.
Jim Franklin
Flora Indiana
Jim
I think Tom Bradley would be an asset to any program. I just can't imagine the pain he's felt after playing at Penn State (where his brothers played also) and then coaching there for 30-some years. It's all he's known. He had a rough go in his four games as a head coach, but there were serious issues distracting the team and he went up against four teams whose overall record was 39-15.
I feel really terrible for him.
*********** Coach - what a great history lesson on the Colts! I wasn't sure where you were going with the story, but the way you tied it all back together with Luck was a terrific piece of journalism. I'm serious - one of the best pieces I've seen. Nice work!
"Before we give any coaching awards to the Denver staff for "adapting" their offensive scheme to better suit Tim Tebow's talents… does it
seem to you that they've gone back to the same old sh-- of trying to get him to throw from the pocket?".
I was definitely one of the guys giving Fox the nod for Coach of Year honors when they came out running triple option football. It was so fun to watch them have success, going counter to the prima donna wide receiver based schemes we watch on Sundays. But here we are, back to watching a traditional "pro style" offense (and a bad one, at that). My guess is that it is being forced by John Elway.
Recall that little Jack (Elway) was QB of our biggest rival when I was coaching the Hawks in Parker, Colorado. They (the Eagles) were a well coached team with very talented kids. The championship always seemed to go through the Eagles. In one of my final seasons, we found ourselves in a playoff game against little Elway's team.
This time, for some reason, big Elway (John) was on the sideline and obviously calling the shots. My Hawk team was having a very good day, and I was watching John get extremely frustrated with our offense (Double Wing). At one point, after my kids executed a good wedge, he threw his clipboard and yelled across the field, "That's not even a football play!!".
We all sort of laughed, but I called a time out and told my offense that we were going to run the wedge until we scored a touchdown so don't even wait for the play to be called. Just run the play, line up and run it again..and keep doing it until you cross the goal line. The boys
loved that idea and scored in 3 plays.
I thought John might just cross the field and try to kick my ass after that! Ha! I really liked him as a player, but he certainly didn't respect the DW and I doubt he respects the triple option in the NFL. We all know that it's "not even a football play"!
Good reading today, Coach. Thanks.
Scott Barnes
Rockwall, Texas
*********** Read a great article on a great coach - a feature story on Kansas State's Bill Snyder
http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201201/bill-snyder-and-magic-manhattan
*********** I heard Nick Saban say something I really liked, on the importance of focus - "See a little, see a lot... See a lot, see nothing"
*********** A nice story about the Giants' Victor Cruz, and the little Catholic high school he came from, no longer in existence, in Paterson, New Jersey.
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2012/01/giants_victor_cruz_is_a_walkin.html
*********** Coach Wyatt, I have ordered quite a bit of material from you in preparation to go to the double wing for the 2012 season. I have a coach who was at another school who ran your offense. We have run the wedge play for the past 2 years using the double wing principal.
My question is in your offense you run it at 2 or at 3. We have been running it at 0. Why do you run in at 2 or 3 and have you ever ran it at 0? What are your thoughts of wedge at 0?
Coach,
It's not that important what you call your wedge.
We haven't ever used "Zero" in our terminology, although we have the capability. The 2 or 3 in the Wedge call designates the side of the QB on which the ball is to be handed off, and also it designates the playside: we are going to wedge on the first down defender on or to playside and that's where we run at.
Check the wedge progression on the Old School Blocking DVD.
I hope that clears it up.
TIP: You want to make sure that the other school was running the most up-to-date version of the offense.
The key thing with a wedge has always been to wedge on a down linemen.
This is counterintuitive to a lot of guys who don't understand the principles of the wedge as they were developed by the old single wing guys, and so they will wedge against a bubble. Not smart, because the uncovered man fires out, faster than the covered men on both sides of him, immediately creating a gap at the point of attack and inviting penetration.
*********** A few days ago I wrote about meeting, years ago, with a Cowboys' scout named Jim Valek. Shortly before that, though, he'd been head coach at the University of Illinois, where he'd been caught up in one of those deals where the previous coach had cheated, and Jim was the guy who was on hand when the punishment went down. Things did not go well for the Illini, but Jim was a loyal Illinois guy, and he did his best to keep the ship on course.
At the time of his death in 2005, several of his former players recalled him fondly. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090905aaf.html
One of them was Doug Dieken, a tight end under Valek who went on to a great 14-year career at offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns.
"He was a man that was thrown
into a situation that a lot of people probably wouldn't have taken. It
was kind of a no-win situation and we were about to go on probation,
but he never looked at it that way. He looked at it as you just go out
there to play as well as you can for as long as you can, and hopefully
we will win some football games. We didn't win many, but it wasn't
because of his coaching as much as the situation we were in.
"He had that truck driver kind of mentality where you thought this guy was just hard-nosed and mean, but the bottom line is that he wanted football to be more than a game. He wanted it to be a family and both Coach and his wife Lois were always generous with his house and we loved going over there for Lois' famous lasagna.
"We were getting ready to play Ohio State and we were staying at Allerton the night before the game when one of the assistant coaches, Ellis Rainsberger, grabbed me and said that Coach Valek was fired and would be let go after the game.
"He gave us a speech before the game and told us how much he appreciated us and how he appreciated that we always tried hard. After the game I asked the coaches to leave the meeting room and I stood up and said, `As far as I am concerned, Coach got a bad deal and he isn't responsible to the situation we are in. The University of Illinois fight song says we're loyal, and if coach isn't going to be here on Monday, then we aren't going to be here on Monday.' I asked for a show of hands of who was with me and every guy in that room raised his hand.
"After we sent a letter, Coach Valek was retained, and the next week we went over to Purdue and beat them---we gave Coach the game ball.
"I don't know if you need a better example of how Jim Valek was respected by his players."
"He had that truck driver kind of mentality where you thought this guy was just hard-nosed and mean, but the bottom line is that he wanted football to be more than a game. He wanted it to be a family and both Coach and his wife Lois were always generous with his house and we loved going over there for Lois' famous lasagna.
"We were getting ready to play Ohio State and we were staying at Allerton the night before the game when one of the assistant coaches, Ellis Rainsberger, grabbed me and said that Coach Valek was fired and would be let go after the game.
"He gave us a speech before the game and told us how much he appreciated us and how he appreciated that we always tried hard. After the game I asked the coaches to leave the meeting room and I stood up and said, `As far as I am concerned, Coach got a bad deal and he isn't responsible to the situation we are in. The University of Illinois fight song says we're loyal, and if coach isn't going to be here on Monday, then we aren't going to be here on Monday.' I asked for a show of hands of who was with me and every guy in that room raised his hand.
"After we sent a letter, Coach Valek was retained, and the next week we went over to Purdue and beat them---we gave Coach the game ball.
"I don't know if you need a better example of how Jim Valek was respected by his players."
*********** From the same NCAA that couldn't find anything wrong with the way Cam Newton wound up at Auburn...
Coach, I wanted to share with you one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. I got a note today from the University of Minnesota football program regarding providing an item for Neal's cancer benefit. The answer was "no" as it violates NCAA rules. They said that the family would be profiting from it and since Neal has a high school aged sibling, that sibling would be profiting. I was stunned but not surprised. What a joke.
Chris Harvey
St. Clair, Minnesota
***********
Coach-I am not sure if you will be able to open this picture, but it is
a shot of NFL Star Troy Polumalu's "tackle" just before the 2
minute warning at the end of the 1st half in Denver Sunday. Wow!
Not a great shot for the young players out there.Take care,
Mike Bordeau
Plattsburgh, New York
Coach,
Saw the same thing.
It's one of the reasons why I have such a difficult time watching the NFL for any length of time.
The NFL is about as useful as the NBA in showing youngsters how to play a sport, yet there it is, the standard by which all of the rest of us coaches are judged.
Next thing you know, fathers will be asking us why we don't teach the "ostrich tackle."
How about Denver's offense? They do a half-ass imitation of what even small colleges do routinely and the media go nuts. Imagine! Option!
You just watch - one of these days, someone is going to line up in Double-Tight, Double-Wing, with a defensive back (who played QB in college) under center, and they'll run Super Power, and they'll score, and they'll have some special name for it ("Scrum?") and the reporters will gush over how innovative it is, and within a matter of weeks, everybody will have their own "Scrum" package. Sports Illustrated will run an article on it, and the guys on Sunday morning will demonstrate how it works (not knowing anything about the subject hasn't stopped them yet), and soon experts will be debating whether it's here to stay...
*********** The basketball coach at LaCenter, Washington High School when I was football coach there was a guy named Forbes Lapp. He was a heck of a coach who brought structure and discipline to a place that was as bad at basketball when he arrived as it was in football when I arrived. He took the Wildcats to a state title while I was there. He was about my age, and like me an old-school guy, and like me an easterner. He was native of The Bronx - never lost the accent - who had hit many stops along the way.
Eventually, he crossed some of the wrong people, and got the "going in another direction" exit interview.
Since leaving LaCenter, he coached at a small private high school in Portland, until this past year, when he landed a job at Heritage High School, a large suburban Vancouver school in need of a rebuild. They sure got the right guy. Fortunately, they looked past his age. (Did I say that he's 74 years old?)
The other night, Heritage played Camas. Camas' coach is 23. (One of those last-minute hires, when a head coach resigns just before the season.)
Wrote the Vancouver Columbian's Paul Valencia, "Two coaches with more than five decades worth of basketball coaching experience met each other on the court for the first time. Of course, one coach has 53-1/2 of those years…"
Forbes says he continues to coach because if he didn't, his wife would divorce him. He dismisses any "genius" talk by saying, "After 54 years, if you don't know basketball, you don't know what the hell you're doing."
*********** In yet another example of the copulation of entertainment and sport, Alex Baldwin, denigrator of just about everything I believe in and a guy a can't forgive for breaking his promise to leave the country if George W. Bush was elected President, has been selected to host a Football Oscars-type show the night before the Super Bowl
*********** The Troy (New York) Fighting Irish play in Florida Sunday for what is billed as the AAA Semi-Pro National Championship. Coached by longtime Double Winger Pete Porcelli, the Fighting Irish are running our system, but in deference to what players and expect to see at that level, they're doing so with two split ends. Coach Porcelli discussed hi offense at last year's Providence clinic, and I hope he'll return to do the same this year.
http://troyrecord.com/articles/2012/01/12/sports/doc4f0e73b3e926d634352452.txt?viewmode=default
*********** Sent to me by Richard Scott, or Santa Clarita, California, to show the dangers of even getting close to a soccer "match."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ACcNOlN4rw&feature=youtu.be
(For a moment there, I was concerned that Coach Scott had begun watching soccer.)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012 - "A man always has two reasons for what he does - a good one, and the real one." J. P. Morgan
THE ATLANTA CLINIC WILL TAKE PLACE SATURDAY, FEB 25
AT THE HILTON GARDEN INN ATLANTA AIRPORT NORTH
3437 Bobby Brown Parkway
East Point GA 30344
1-404-477-6600
more info
*********** Football expert Beano Cook used to be totally predictable whenever asked to pick the winner of year's Penn State-Maryland game. He'd always pick Penn State. And he'd always explain why.
"Penn State will beat Maryland," he would say. "Why? Because Penn State always beats Maryland."
And it was true. Penn State, you see, was Penn State. Maryland? Maryland aspired to be Penn State, but could never seem to get it right.
You can't say that Maryland
didn't try. They almost got there under Ralph Friedgen, a Maryland guy
who loved his school and gave it nine years of good coaching. But last
year, right after he'd been named ACC Coach of the Year, Maryland's
genius AD, a self-proclaimed "good-to-great" guy, fired him.
And Friday, in one fell swoop, Penn State unceremoniously dumped long-time assistant Tom Bradley, a Penn State guy who'd steered them through the mess of the Sandusky scandal, and in so doing took a giant step toward becoming… Maryland.
*********** National Championship, eh? Well, Alabama is probably the best team, but God, what an awful game. Dull and uninspiring even by NFL standards. Easily the worst of the bowl games.
Imagine, after all the exciting bowl games that went before it, this one was held out as the best that college football has to offer.
The real irony is that after all the controversy over whether Alabama belonged in the game - I still don't care for rematches - LSU was the team that looked out of place.
Give all the credit in the world to Alabama's defense, but there wasn't a team in the Pac 12 or Big 12 with less going for it offensively than that LSU team.
It couldn't possibly have been an exciting game, based on the whole idea of a rematch of a 9-6 game being forced on a national audience. If SEC people like games like that, welcome to them, but there are those of us who have been spoiled by the bowl season, and we weren't fooled by what we saw. There used to be people in boxing called matchmakers - guys whose job was to put together exciting bouts so that the public would pay to see them. They would never have matched two defensive guys, neither of whom could throw a punch. The BCS may have matched #1 and #2, but in terms of putting together an interesting game, they totally blew it.
It was too bad that on one play near the end of the game LSU's defense got caught inside and gave up the game's only touchdown because I would have loved listening to the BCS suits trying to spin another five field goal game.
Les Miles Coach of the Year, eh? Wouldn't you think a Coach of the Year would have walked out on the mound and asked that quarterback for the ball?
Did I say quarterback? Seemed like from the first series, when Jefferson mishandled the snap and spiked the ball in disgust and then got in the center's face, that he was having some serious leadership issues. Whenever the camera showed his face, he was whining. It's hard to believe that a team made it to the national championship game with that combination of ineptitude and attitude at the quarterback position. It's equally hard to believe that Jefferson was the best they had.
Ineptitude? Did you see LSU run what the announcers generously called an option? With over a month to prepare, that was the best they could do? Let that be a lesson to those of you who think you can run run a respectable Double Wing and do anything more than dabble in any kind of option game.
Heisman candidates? Richardson and Honey Badger? Where was Richardson all night? And if Honey Badger was worth flying to New York for the Heisman ceremonies - I can remember people talking about him seriously - why wasn't he the one running back all those kickoffs after Alabama field goals? And did you catch him sulking on the bench when things began to get tough?
And speaking of Honey Badger - did anybody tell Musburger that the kid has a name?
Musburger? He chattered so much you'd have thought it was a radio broadcast. (Isn't that right, Herbie?)
*********** I actually saw a kid in one of those all-star games put on a Stanford cap! And as you might expect of a kid going to Stanford, he spoke well, too. Hey - it was Barry Sanders' son, Barry, Jr., a running back from Oklahoma City. Yee-haw. Barry's kid is going to Stanford!
*********** Hi Coach! Concerning Coach Hofher, you wrote
"His .589 winning percentage is the highest of any coach in Cornell's long history (which included national championships in the 1920s). "
I wonder if that is a typo, because Gloomy Gil Dobie won all those championships at Cornell, and I'm sure he had a much higher winning percentage, both at Cornell and overall.
Coach
I was thinking the same thing when I copied that. It's also possible that Carl Snavely did better. Now you have forced me to do the research - for which, no lie, I am appreciative.
That'll teach me to accept someone else's stats without double-checking them.
Undoubtedly, the statistic I cited (.589) referred to coaching records since Cornell started Ivy League play (1956).
Starting in the 19th century, Cornell has had some real coaching heavyweights
Pop Warner spent two terms at his alma mater, going 15-5-1 in 1897 and 1898, and 21-8-2 from 1904-1906 Overall, that's 36-13-3, or .721
There were several coaches, including the great Percy Haughton of Harvard fame, who posted excellent records but didn't stay long, but then Gil Dobie arrived. In 14 years as a head coach up to then - two at North Dakota Agricultural, nine at Washington and three at Navy, he'd lost a total of THREE games. He brought an 84-3-3 record to Cornell, and didn't do too badly there, either.
From 1920 to 1935 his record at Cornell was 82-36-7 (.704) with undefeated teams in 1921-22-23 and national championships in 1921 and 1922.
He lost two games in his first season at Cornell, but then went three straight seasons without a loss. After his first four years at Cornell, his overall record as a college coach was 114-5-3. Even taking out his first two years at the small North Dakota school, his overall record in 16 years as a major college coach was 106-5-3, an incredible .943
Lifetime, excluding the 8-0 record at the small school and adding in his three-year record at Boston College after leaving Cornell, his record was 174-45-14, or .777
Dobie was succeeded in 1936 by Carl Snavely, whose record through was 46-26-3 until he left following the 1944 season to take the North Carolina job. Snavely's record at Cornell was .633
In other words, in the 25 years from Dobie's taking over in 1920 and Snavely's leaving in 1944, the Big Red went .665. Not too bad.
The longest-tenured coach in the Post-World War II era was Lefty James, who from 1947 through 1960 was 70-58-2, or .546.
Jim Hofher's .589 is, indeed, the best record of any coach in Cornell's modern era.
*********** Pope Franjo asked me if this is what Washington high school basketball looks like
http://www.kirotv.com/news/sports/high-school-basketball/high-school-basketball-players-viral-video-accused/nGG9z/
Hahaha. It's a couple of members of Connell High School's state 1-A championship football team knocking puny basketball players to the floor as they make the making - very gradual - transition to basketball. Hey- it's still early in the season! By March they'll be passing the ball behind the back.
My take on it? Well, since we're being asked to swallow basketball on grass, why not football on hardwood?
*********** Although for players there is a natural progression from college to pro, and there is some back-and-forth among coaches, college and professional football really are different games.
It isn't quite like the difference between Rugby League and Rugby Union, but it is significant, and the danger to the college game is that the media belong to the NFL.
Nothing demonstrates this more than when the big guys at Fox try to deliver a college game.
Fox did exactly one bowl game this year, and it was one bowl game too many, as they showed once again that while they're only mediocre when they do the NFL, they're dreadful when they try to take on the college game.
I keep hearing the ESPN radio guys tell us how great Gus Johnson is, and maybe if you like to watch NBA games he is. But when Fix foists him on us college football fans, it's time to hit the "mute" button, because from kickoff to 0:00 it's nonstop blabber.
*********** I'm bummed by Penn State's low-level choice of a guy who's never been a head coach but then, actually, who else was available?
To hire a current head coach - one who whose hire would have excited fans - would have required Penn State to go through the whole sordid buyout mess that Michigan found itself going through when it lifted Rodriguez from West Virginia. Even if Penn State were willing and able to spend the money involved in a buyout, it couldn't possibly reconcile that sort of aggressiveness with an avowed desire to clean things up.
I think the deal clincher was when Bill O'Brien told the search committee he might be able to get them all autographed 8 v 10 glossies of Tom Brady.
*********** I'm especially bummed at Penn State's not being able to do better than Bill O'Brien, a guy who's never been a head coach anywhere, and who's only been coordinator of the Pats for one year.
Seeing how fast Belichick snapped up Josh McDaniels to replace O'Brien, it wouldn't surprise me at all if it turned out that Belichick had suggested O'Brien look for another job, even going so far as to give him a glowing recommendation and asking Tom Brady to do the same.
Which, after their little sideline spat, I imagine Brady was happy to do.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nfl-report-20120108,0,3314565.story
*********** I think that this about does it - Penn State is no longer THE holy place in the state. There really aren't as many great kids in PA as there used to be anyhow, and those that remain will have no reservations about going elsewhere in the Big Ten. That possibility probably never occurred to Joe Pa when he advocated joining.
*********** Remember Washington State's AD, Bill Moos, talking about hiring Mike Leach? When he was asked about a search committee, he said, "You're looking at the search committee."
With a search committee, especially one like Penn State's, which could just as easily passed as the search committee to hire Vice President of Human Relations, a hiring like the one Penn State just made was inevitable. Hell, the AD - a good man, but one's who's never been an AD, never been a coach - was the most knowledgeable person on it.
Undoubtedly, they figure that if the NFL gets higher TV ratings than the colleges, it must have better coaching. Ditto the NBA, right?
*********** It was H. L. Mencken, the sage of Baltimore, who once said, "An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."
Washington State's Bill Moos, a realist, fired his head coach and immediately and singlehandedly hired Mike Leach, warts and all.
Penn State's search committee, immaculate and politically-correct, took weeks and weeks and finally came up with…. (drum roll) Bill O'Brien. Hold the applause.
Hmmm. I wonder how many Cougs would swap Mike Leach, the product of their one-man search committee for Penn State's new coach.
I wonder how many Penn Staters would like to swap with the Cougars.
*********** WTF is a BBVA Compass, anyhow?
*********** Todd Bross, of Union, Maine sent me this link to a story from Indiana, where a bill would make it illegal to trash the national anthem, as has become common practice before sports events. - http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/style-points/201201/star-mangled-banner-those-who-take-liberties-our-national-anthem-may-be-fin
The fine would only be $25, so I'd say to the Indiana lawmakers, "why bother?"
I would have gone just a tad further. I'd have called for the firing squad.
*********** At least the combo playing the national anthem before the Giants-Falcons' game didn't give it the grammy-award-winner treatment. But you mean to tell me the guy on the right playing the saxophone couldn't take off his f--king sticking cap?
*********** Northern Illinois punched it in from the one yard line and then - surprise! - we were all treated to the news that unbeknownst to anyone in the world except the Arkansas State coach and one of the officials, Arkansas State had called a time out nanoseconds before the snap.
This can't continue. An official has to blow a whistle stopping action, same as would have happened with a false start. And if he can't, the play stands.
At the least, it is essentially dishonest. It is devious. It may be legal, but it is unethical.
It deprives everyone, players and fans alike, of the results of an honest play. Football is risky enough without having players going at each other on a play that someone knows is not going to count.
Worst of all, there is the opportunity for dishonesty. Anyone who has played in small towns understands the off-the-field relationships that sometimes exist among coaches and the people they do business with, who also happen to be local officials. There are places where I've played over the years where we've had a long scoring play called back after an official threw a flag back upfield for a nonexistent penalty. You swear when you look at the film that the guy is waiting to see if your kid is going to score before reaching for his flag.
That doesn't work so well on goal-line plays, though, which is where the time out conspiracy comes in.
The thing is, the deal takes place between the coach and one official, and no one else in the world is witness to it. We have only the official's word for the fact that the coach did - or did not - call a time out. Is there any other call in football in which there is less transparency?
Just sayin' - suppose you're three hours from home, playing for your league's playoff spot, and you're on the opponents' one yard line, fourth and goal. Unbeknownst to anyone else in the place, the home team's coach signals the official on his side (who happens to own the local sporting goods store - you get the idea) to carry out the prearranged plan: "If they score, I called time out first."
And when the quarterback sneaks in from the one, and the official comes running out and claims a time out was called - who is to say it wasn't?
Yeah, yeah, I know. No coach would do that. Neither would any official.
But I'll bet everybody who reads this knows of a coach somewhere who teaches his kids to hold. And to fake injuries. And chuckles when you bring it to his attention, as if you're a chump.
Officials? All of them honest? Ever heard of Tim Donaghy?
I've heard - correct me if I heard wrong - that even in small towns people have been known to bet on high school football games! Can you imagine?
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." The Federalist, Number 51
Time to bring this practice to a halt. My suggestion would be that once the offensive linemen take their stances, all systems are "go" and no time out can be called by the defensive team.
*********** From the NFL, those millionaires who put on clinics for little kids without bothering to learn the fundamentals themselves...
A Houston DB intercepts a ball 30 yards downfield and steps out of bounds. Uhhh, it was fourth and three.
PAC-Man Jones bites on a turnout - and gets beaten as badly as any high school kid I've ever seen by a simple out-and-up
*********** Regarding the question a few days ago about the Cowboys of Tom Landry's time, specifically asking about the linemen flexing, possibly to hide the shifting of their backs, I just happened to come across this in a book I'm reading called "Root, Hog or Die."
It's by Tim Temerario, a career football guy whom I got to know when I was coaching a minor-league team in Hagerstown, Maryland, and he was George Allen's right hand man when Allen was head coach AND general manager of the Redskins. Tim's title was Director of Player Personnel, but he did everything behind the scenes.
I had a nice relationship with Tim, and because Hagerstown was only an hour or so from DC, he arranged for Allen to hide some players with us. They were not the property of the Redskins - they'd been to camp and been cut - but Allen had Tim suggest that they'd have a better chance of being called back if they'd go play in Hagerstown, and to keep them interested, he paid them some token amount every week. I knew what was in those Redskins' envelopes that I picked up at the post office every week (back in those days when people still mailed things) but I didn't know how much and I didn't ask. I knew that what Allen was doing was in violation of the NFL's rules, but it wasn't against any of our league's rules, and we were grateful for the talent. One of those guys, Duane Carrell, was a punter from Florida State who later went on to play five years in the NFL with the Cowboys, Rams and Jets.
When the World Football League blew up, Tim ask me to come to the Redskins' headquarters near Dulles Airport where "George" could debrief me. It was a very interesting session. Although I had worked for some time with Tim Temerario, I had never net "George," and to say the least, I was somewhat in awe of this guy who at that time was one of the biggest names in pro football. Allen got right to the point, asking me to list the five best players in the league, offensive and defensive… the five fastest… the five best offensive linemen… etc, etc… while one of Tim's personnel assistants (Mike Allman and Bob Mitchell - yes, that Bobby Mitchell, who years early, after being acquired in a trade for Ernie Davis, integrated the Redskins) took notes.
One of George's practices, Tim noted in his book, was to have Tim contact players who had been cut by other NFL teams and, suggesting possible interest in signing them, try to glean from them what information he could about their former team. In many cases, knowing the way Allen operated, players would contact the Redskins first.
A passage written by a Washington sportswriter explains how the Redskins learned about the Cowboys' shift...
"In one case Steve Goebel, a rookie quarterback out of Colgate, called to ask about any interest. On his way home he stopped off at Dulles to talk with Temerario. Out of that discussion came the information, years before it was made public by Tom Landry before Super Bowl XIII, that all the shifting of the Dallas setbacks is meaningless diversion. All they had to do was get into their final positions and the quarterback neither knew nor cared what route they took to get there."
*********** The Harrisburg Patriot-News was really the first to break the Jerry Sandusky story, and it probably does the best of any daily newspaper in covering Penn State sports.
With the hiring of a successor to Joe Paterno, a Patriot-News writer, David Jones, contacted three men who had themselves succeeded legends: Ray Perkins, who succeeded Bear Bryant at Alabama; Earl Bruce, who succeeded Woody Hayes at Ohio State; and Gary Moeller, who succeeded Bob Schembechler at Michigan.
All three of those coaches had significant high-level head coaching experience and significant prior ties to the colleges when they succeeded giants. Perkins and Bruce were alumni of the colleges. In contrast, Bill O'Brien, the newly-hired successor to Joe Paterno, has never been a head coach, and has no ties to Penn State.
I found a couple of Perkins' comments interesting.
Asked by Jones if the pressures were overwhelming, the fans more demanding, he answered, “I don't remember that. I honestly don't. Most of us coaches put so much so-called 'pressure' on ourselves to succeed and to help players succeed that we don't have time to think about all that other stuff.”
And when asked how O'Brien's current position would help him at Penn State, Perkins, who resigned as head coach of the Giants in order to take the Alabama job, said, "Being the Patriots' coordinator will not help him; that just helped him get the job."
*********** Rather than kick a field goal, Northern Illinois chose to run the ball, and punched it in from the one on the final play of the half.
At halftime, Huskies' coach Dave Doeren was asked why he didn't settle for the field goal and he said the idea to go for it was his offensive line's.
He told the bimbo, "There's no way I could walk in that locker room if we didn't go for it."
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 - "Are
people more violently opposed to fur rather than leather because it's
much easier to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs?" George Carlin
*********** Bowl attendance figures, according to a link sent me by Greg Koenig, of Beloit, Kansas…
"Only four so far have been sellouts, and as the linked page states, "Bowl attendances are being reported by the bowls as tickets sold, not necessarily how many people showed up to the game. Most bowls would be embarrassed to report actual turnstile numbers, based on what we've seen on television."
So true. Only nanoseconds after a team accepts a bowl bid, it is sent its quota of tickets - and billed for them. As far as the bowl people are concerned, those tickets are sold.
What the colleges do with them is now their concern.
All those empty seats at a bowl game? An awful lot of them are paid for by the participating schools - and they didn't dare try to dump them on the secondary market for fear of pissing off their fans who paid full price for their tickets.
http://helmetstickers.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-2012-bowl-attendance-figures.html
*********** Longtime Double Winger Rick Davis writes from Duxbury, Massachusetts…
"Putting the finishing touches on my highlight video and am sending along a few photos that I thought that you'd enjoy.
"The one depicting the 88 Super Power, with QB, LG, LT (with A back's hand on LT's outside shoulder of course) leading is like porn for DW coaches.....our A back got 115 yards in the second quarter in that game."
*********** So Penn State has its new head coach, does it? We will see. Given such short notice, I haven't done the research, but I do have to ask if this is the biggest hire ever of a guy who's never been a head coach before - except, of course, for that other Patriots' offensive coordinator, whatsisname, who took the Notre Dame job a few years back.
Can it be that people think that the guys who draw up the plays for the Patriots are great offensive coordinators, and forget that they're drawing them up for Tom Brady?
*********** Coach, Happy New Year.
As a whole, the bowls I think have been very entertaining. Right after the BCS selection show, many were panning the slate of games. For meaningless games, a lot of them, were played with tremendous intensity. Even the "worst" bowl game (Illinois & UCLA) was played hard. Air Force & Toledo was entertaining. Baylor & Washington, defenses were overmatched but the offenses were humming.
Stanford. I root for them and Northwestern, as 2 of the big conference teams that still (I think) have admission standards, and still expect the "student athletes" to go to class (I think) and earn a degree (I hope). Disappointed when they had their rec/rb take the direct snaps without another rb back there. They got nothing out of those reps, in fact lost yards all 3 times. I'm all for offensive variation, but at Stanford this year there is a wonderful confluence of circumstances: a tough o line, good fullback, good running backs, and the best qb in the nation. Go with your strengths. Couldn't agree more on settling for field goals. I think your rule change idea for football (1 scrimmage kick attempt per game per player) would make football way more entertaining. Stanford battles hard for 59 minutes against a team that was considerably more athletically gifted, only to rely on a soccer player to win it. Go with your strengths.
VT same thing, play for the win at the end and there is no issue with replay taking away a score in OT.
The replay. If the initial call had been incomplete, I would have agreed with the replay "letting the call stand." I would have agreed with "letting the catch stand."
The Orange Bowl, matches the ACC and Big East. In your opinion, year to year, can the MAC champion or the MT West champion play with the champs of those 2 leagues? I'm not calling for the creation of another BCS bowl, it will water things down more, but is there ever going to be a re evaluation of the conference status of those conferences and their auto qualifier status?
Anyways, enjoy the remaining games. If you get a chance check out the IAA title game. Don't know much about the Texas team, but NDSU is outstanding, well coached, they run the ball very well. NDSU has come a long way from DII to IAA top shelf in a short time.
Take care,
Mick Yanke
Cokato, Minnesota
Coach-
I like minor bowls. I think they're great for teams like Illinois to end the season on a happy note.
And it is great to be able to look forward to a college football game every evening for a couple of weeks!
Not that paying fans necessarily agree with me, based on this year's attendance figures.
I think that VT lost when their running back pulled a Wrong Way Riegels and singlehandedly took them from the FOUR YARD LINE to the 30. Never seen anything like it.
In my opinion, the best teams in the MAC and maybe the Mountain West (even without TCU, Utah and Boise State) can play with the best of the Big East and ACC. Okay- maybe not Clemson, Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech, but certainly the best of the Big East.
Temple, Ohio U and Toledo - all bowl winners, with Northern Illinois still to play. Damn good lineup.
I wouldn't slight Conference USA, either. I think they are better than the Big East.
I have seen both North Dakota State and Sam Houston State. They're both pretty good. I think that little running back Tim Flanders from Sam Houston will make the difference.
He killed Montana.
*********** Your items are GREAT!
I was looking on your PRACTICE PLANNER .... "Why do you ALWAYS practice Offense before Defense?". I was curious!
Coach Steve Fickert
BRIGANTI NAPOLI
Naples, Italy
Coach, Glad you like the stuff.
The reason I believe strongly in practicing offense before defense is the psychology of the two sides --- offense is more calm and cerebral and thoughtful and requires concentration and focus. Defense tends to be more wild and spontaneous and reckless - you want the guys to be somewhat wild and crazy.
In addition, there are the difficulties most people encounter in getting their scout offenses to do what they want done, which means there is usually more time between plays, which means more time for banter and byplay and screwing around between the defensive players, which is okay to a point, but when you have to switch over to offense with it's need for calm and concentration, I find that it's often hard to get players settled down and concentrating.
That's just been my experience.
*********** I have a tough enough time anyhow with that Quint Kessenich guy on the sidelines, but I don't think he or any other reporter ought to be using the post-game interview to take away the euphoria of winning a game by asking a kid if he's going to be turning pro or coming back next year.
*********** Pass interference is becoming so common that it's time for us to be asking what game we're playing, anyhow. On those occasions when I tune in on a basketball game, I see them letting go much harder contact going than the stuff that they're calling on the football field. Just one more way the game is being wussified by the pass-firsters.
*********** I know times are tough and money's short, and I know they weren't expecting that big a crowd at the Armed Forces-Bell Helicopter Bowl - Tulsa and BYU not offering quite the same draw as last year's Army (armed forces) - SMU (home team) matchup, but how much more would another coat of paint in the end zone have cost, so that the "SMU" didn't show through the "BYU" that was painted over it?
*********** Franjo sends me this one, by Gregg Doyel - CBSSports.com - Craig James takes a leave from ESPN to run for Senate, and it's a huge deal. It's noteworthy because it's so bad, like bellbottom pants or the 1971 Ford Ranchero. Everyone recoils, because that's what people do when they run across Craig James. I mean, it's everyone. Even people on his side of the aisle. A column this week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Republican lobbyists ‘are already leaning on James to not run.’ Why? Because, the paper goes on to note, ‘[James] has no chance.’ In some ways this is strange, because James looks like the perfect politician. Great hair, big smile. Name recognition galore. And he's running on the platform of God, Texas and anti-Obamacare. What's not to like? Everything else about him.
*********** To the creative types at ESPN - please, just because you have an end zone camera doesn't mean you have to use it on all punts. It's very disconcerting to have to change seats, from on the 50 to back of the end zone, and we risk missing out on one of football's most exciting plays, a blocked punt.
*********** Sure was wonderful to see the smile on Eric LeGrand's face when down on the field victorious Rutgers coach Greg Schiano looked up to where the young man was sitting and shouted, "This one's for you!"
I'd sure like to see Schiano at least be considered for the Penn State job, but I suppose the fact that he once served on Joe Paterno's staff (omigod!) is working against him.
*********** I watched the entire Orange Bowl, meaning every one of West Virginia's 70 points, and I'm saying this very slowly as I try to make sense of it: Dabo… Swinney… was… named… Bobby… Dodd… Coach… of… the… Year…and … it… was… unanimous.
Bill Snyder? Brady Hoke? Steve Superior?
*********** It appears that the finalists for the Yale job are...
I personally believe that Yale ought to take a serious look at Jim Hofher, a 29-year coaching veteran who's currently offensive coordinator at Delaware. He has many points in his favor: first of all, he's a Connecticut native. The legendary Carm Cozza's Yale teams were loaded with Connecticut kids, and the locals would like to see more emphasis on recruiting in-state; he's an Ivy-leaguer, a three-year starter at quarterback for Cornell, where he played two seasons under coach George Siefert; he has successful head coaching experience in the Ivy League, going 45-35 and winning an Ivy League title at Cornell in his eight-year stay. His .589 winning percentage is the highest of any coach in Cornell's long history (which included national championships in the 1920s). Before coming to Delaware in 2009, he did have an unsuccessful stay as head coach at Buffalo (who, besides Turner Gill, hasn't?) and he's coached quarterbacks at Tennessee, North Carolina, Syracuse and Bowling Green.
*********** How about that Tavon Austin, from West Virginia? Great story. Kid comes from Dunbar High, in Baltimore, an inner-city school - think "The Wire." To old-time Marylanders, the idea that Dunbar could be playing in a state title game in anything other than basketball, and actually winning it by beating storied Fort Hill of Cumberland is preposterous, yet thanks to Tavon Austin, it happened.
To get an idea of the kind of high school football player the kid was, take a look at these highlights from his high school career...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBjUKd0lOEE
Yes, the kid did tend to be a little, uh, "self-celebratory," but with a ball in his hands, he was the best I've seen since Tony Dorsett.
*********** From Todd Bross of Union, Maine came this video of a North Carolina convenience store clerk who absolutely decked a holdup guy with terrific left. I loved his post-fight interview: "If he wants money… get a job."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLU1l_Knao
*********** Maybe if Rex Ryan had spent a little less time behind a lectern feeding juicy quotes to reporters and a little more time "taking the pulse of the team" as he put it, he'd have been able to find out sooner that Santonio Holmes was undermining his team.
Not that you'd ever expect an NFL head coach as wise as Rex Ryan claims to be to see what a rookie quarterback says he could see, but Jets' rookie Greg McElroy, who admittedly was spoiled by playing in a top-notch college program like Alabama, told an Alabama radio station, "It's the first time I've ever been around extremely selfish individuals."
*********** The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
Following the 1971 season, Robert Irsay, a Chicago guy who'd just come into money after selling his air condiitoning company, wound up as owner of the Baltimore Colts after buying the Los Angeles Rams and then swapping franchises with Carroll Rosenbloom (thereby enabling Rosenbloom in one fell swoop to elude the bothersome Baltimore media, become a star in the firmament of Hollywood, and escape paying capital gains taxes).
Based on what he did with - and to - the Colts in his 14-year stay, Irsay has to go down as one of the absolute worst owners in the history of professional sports.
First of all, he was detestable when he was drinking, which was often. He was an absentee owner who flew in from his Chicago home for Colts' games and then flew out again, and knew nothing of the Colts' fabled history and the Baltimore fans' passion for their Colts, and couldn't care less. It seemed as if his every act was a deliberate attempt to alienate the Baltimore public.
And then, he turned the management of the team over to a general manager named Joe Thomas.
The firing of McCafferty, whom the players loved, came five games into the 1972 season. The Colts had won just one game, and Thomas ordered McCafferty to bench Unitas, beloved among Colts' faithful and a future Hall of Famer. When McCafferty refused to do so, he was fired.
Marchibroda was fired after the 1979 season, the victim of a 5-11 record - and shrinking attendance - owing largely to injuries to Bert Jones, the Colts' all-star quarterback.
So here we are in present-day Indianapolis, and Jim Irsay, son of the now-late Bob Irsay, has just fired Bill Polian and his son. If you believe that Bill Polian was as instrumental as anyone in building the Colts' championship teams, then you may also believe that young Mr. Irsay could be poised to destroy the Indianapolis Colts in somewhat the same manner as his father destroyed the Baltimore Colts.
*********** In 1983, with the first draft pick overall, the woeful Baltimore Colts drafted a Stanford quarterback that everyone wanted - a kid named John Elway. Baltimore's coach at the time was a guy named Frank Kush, who had built the Arizona State program into a powerhouse, but had built it on what some would say was a platform of brutality. By 1983, Kush was no longer the coach of the Sun Devils, having been fired after accusations by a punter that Kush had punched him in the mouth following a bad punt, and subsequent allegations that he'd engaged in a coverup of the incident.
And then, following the draft, we began hearing rumors that Elway didn't want to go to Baltimore. Hmmm. Wonder why?
You don't suppose it might have had anything to do with Frank Kush's coaching style? Or Bob Irsay's management? Irsay, after all, was the guy who had run the franchise into the ground, and he was the guy who'd hired Kush.
Elway's father, Jack, was a longtime college coach, and he'd been around. He was well-liked and he knew a lot of people. Personally, I suspect that Jack Elway might havehad some strong negative feelings about his son's playing for Frank Kush.
Fortunately for the Elways, they had an out - John was also a very good baseball player who in 1981 had been drafted by the Yankees, and there was actually a time there when some people really thought he might go baseball rather than play with the Colts.
Then Voila! A trade was arranged - there was no way the NFL was going to lose a player like that to baseball - and John Elway suddenly became the draft property of the Denver Broncos. And the rest is history.
Baltimore fans were angry with Elway at the time, but the real problem - and, in their heart of hearts, they knew it - was an owner named Irsay.
So now here we are, almost 30 years later, and another top-notch Stanford quarterback, Andrew Luck, is certain to be the overall number one draft pick.
And - what do you know? The Colts, with the worst record in pro football, have the first pick.
But after the recent office purge, they have no general manager. And they have a holdover coach who may or may not be the one that the new GM wants. And they have an owner named Irsay.
And you know what? Andrew Luck's dad, Oliver, is a very knowledgeable, well-connected man. He's worked for the NFL, here and in Europe, and he's currently the AD at his alma mater, West Virginia.
I have a feeling that if they don't care to commit Andrew's NFL future to the Irsays, Oliver Luck is astute enough to find a way out.
(Archie Manning found a way, didn't he?)
*********** As a kid, I always thought the up down shift (of the linemen) that Landry (Cowboys' Tom Landry) did looked cool. Do you think it was effective? Why doesn’t anyone do it today?
I read he was trying to break keys by hiding the shifts of the backs.
In 1971 or 72, while coaching a minor-league team in Hagerstown, Maryland, I was paid a visit by a Cowboys' scout named Jim Valek who was looking at one of my players. I grilled him about all sorts of stuff, including the question you just asked, and he said that by that point that defenses around the league just lined up and yawned and waited for the Cowboys' linemen to get done with the flexing so they could play football.
*********** Funny - almost nothing was said about the dreadful condition of the field at Yankee Stadium (Pinstripe Bowl), which weeks earlier, when Army played Rutgers, was deplorable.
Nor, for that matter, was much said about the awful turf on the field at the OB (that would be "Orange Bowl" for those of you who are not fans of the U). Imagine what West Virginia would have done with good footing.
*********** Before we give any coaching awards to the Denver staff for "adapting" their offensive scheme to better suit Tim Tebow's talents… does it seem to you that they've gone back to the same old sh-- of trying to get him to throw from the pocket?
*********** For want of anything better to do, I watched a few minutes of the Underarmour Competition - especially the wide receivers. One of them missed just one of the balls thrown to him, but the rest of them dropped maybe one of every three thrown to them. Which didn't seem to faze them in the least. Posed like peacocks.
Good luck coaching them, recruiters.
*********** Nothing else on TV Thursday night, so I watched the UnderArmour Bowl or whatever the hell they call it. And I watched at one by one, players told us what colleges they planned to go to. Bear in mind that these are still just "verbals" - oral-only commitments that aren't binding on the kids in any way.
The kids sat there, surrounded by family - mostly females, I noted - and let "the world" (as the announcers put it) know where they intended to go.
And then it was all hugs and smiles as everybody celebrated the kids' decisions.
It was rather dull, dumb and boring, actually, until we got to the very last kid, Landon Collins, the top recruit from the state of Louisiana, who'd narrowed it down to Bama and LSU.
And he announced Bama, and several of the relatives jumped up and clapped. But not the one sitting next to him. Not momma. She was definitely not smiling. When asked about her reaction, she said, "I feel as if LSU is the better place for him." Uh-oh. She held up a forefinger and said "LSU Tigers Number One!"
And when the kid showed the Bama "A" on the palms of his gloves, she held out a pair of purple-and-gold gloves.
I have a feeling that if that kid likes Momma's cooking, the "verbal" to Bama ain't gonna hold up.
*********** Old friend Ralph Balducci is in San Antonio to watch his son, Alex, play Saturday in the US Army All-Star game.
If you should happen to watch (on NBC), Alex will be wearing 58 for the West team and playing defensive tackle in a 4-3.
Alex will not be making a big production of his choice of college by putting on the college's hat. First of all, he's already committed to Oregon.
But besides, he's his father's son. Said Ralph, when he called me from San Antonio, "None of that hat sh--."
*********** At least when the Big Ten went for the Big TV Bucks, the Ohio States and Michigans stood firm - they insisted on playing their archrivals, and no amount of TV scheduling or money was going to budge them.
The Pac-12, on the other hand, had no compunctions whatever about giving the TV guys what they wanted. The presidents asked the new commissioner to bring them money by the wheelbarrowful, and he did. But he also brought along requests - requirements, really - that in return for the money, they would play some games on Friday nights and some even - sorry, MAC - on Thursdays.
Oh - and Stanford and Cal will play in October. This is like doing the same to Ohio State-Michigan, Army-Navy, Alabama-Auburn, Clemson-South Carolina or Texas-Texas A & M. Wait - scratch that last one. But it's the sort of end-of-season game that alumni have been planning their social calendars around for years.
As Mark Purdy put it in the San Jose Mercury News, It's been an exclamation point to the regular season.
Now, though, "the exclamation point will be more of a semicolon."
Writes Purdy, "Hope the Stanford and Cal president are happy. They lost a wonderful tradition."
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19677681
*********** When you're the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington and you're paid more than a lot of head coaches, there will be those people who will expect you to hold Baylor to under 67 points and 777 yards…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2017136014_uwfbside01.html
*********** Bob Novogratz, former Army All-American who serves on the Board of Advisers of the Black Lion Award, proudly sent me a link to a New York Post article about his 8th-grade grandson, Wolfgang ("Wolfie") leading his school's varsity basketball team to its first league win.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_school/basketball/wolf_in_senior_clothing_eighth_grader_VUrjvnnFhCz1hvaeSUuYVN#.TwWxoXvGUO1.email
"Putting the finishing touches on my highlight video and am sending along a few photos that I thought that you'd enjoy.
"The one depicting the 88 Super Power, with QB, LG, LT (with A back's hand on LT's outside shoulder of course) leading is like porn for DW coaches.....our A back got 115 yards in the second quarter in that game."
*********** So Penn State has its new head coach, does it? We will see. Given such short notice, I haven't done the research, but I do have to ask if this is the biggest hire ever of a guy who's never been a head coach before - except, of course, for that other Patriots' offensive coordinator, whatsisname, who took the Notre Dame job a few years back.
Can it be that people think that the guys who draw up the plays for the Patriots are great offensive coordinators, and forget that they're drawing them up for Tom Brady?
*********** Coach, Happy New Year.
As a whole, the bowls I think have been very entertaining. Right after the BCS selection show, many were panning the slate of games. For meaningless games, a lot of them, were played with tremendous intensity. Even the "worst" bowl game (Illinois & UCLA) was played hard. Air Force & Toledo was entertaining. Baylor & Washington, defenses were overmatched but the offenses were humming.
Stanford. I root for them and Northwestern, as 2 of the big conference teams that still (I think) have admission standards, and still expect the "student athletes" to go to class (I think) and earn a degree (I hope). Disappointed when they had their rec/rb take the direct snaps without another rb back there. They got nothing out of those reps, in fact lost yards all 3 times. I'm all for offensive variation, but at Stanford this year there is a wonderful confluence of circumstances: a tough o line, good fullback, good running backs, and the best qb in the nation. Go with your strengths. Couldn't agree more on settling for field goals. I think your rule change idea for football (1 scrimmage kick attempt per game per player) would make football way more entertaining. Stanford battles hard for 59 minutes against a team that was considerably more athletically gifted, only to rely on a soccer player to win it. Go with your strengths.
VT same thing, play for the win at the end and there is no issue with replay taking away a score in OT.
The replay. If the initial call had been incomplete, I would have agreed with the replay "letting the call stand." I would have agreed with "letting the catch stand."
The Orange Bowl, matches the ACC and Big East. In your opinion, year to year, can the MAC champion or the MT West champion play with the champs of those 2 leagues? I'm not calling for the creation of another BCS bowl, it will water things down more, but is there ever going to be a re evaluation of the conference status of those conferences and their auto qualifier status?
Anyways, enjoy the remaining games. If you get a chance check out the IAA title game. Don't know much about the Texas team, but NDSU is outstanding, well coached, they run the ball very well. NDSU has come a long way from DII to IAA top shelf in a short time.
Take care,
Mick Yanke
Cokato, Minnesota
Coach-
I like minor bowls. I think they're great for teams like Illinois to end the season on a happy note.
And it is great to be able to look forward to a college football game every evening for a couple of weeks!
Not that paying fans necessarily agree with me, based on this year's attendance figures.
I think that VT lost when their running back pulled a Wrong Way Riegels and singlehandedly took them from the FOUR YARD LINE to the 30. Never seen anything like it.
In my opinion, the best teams in the MAC and maybe the Mountain West (even without TCU, Utah and Boise State) can play with the best of the Big East and ACC. Okay- maybe not Clemson, Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech, but certainly the best of the Big East.
Temple, Ohio U and Toledo - all bowl winners, with Northern Illinois still to play. Damn good lineup.
I wouldn't slight Conference USA, either. I think they are better than the Big East.
I have seen both North Dakota State and Sam Houston State. They're both pretty good. I think that little running back Tim Flanders from Sam Houston will make the difference.
He killed Montana.
*********** Your items are GREAT!
I was looking on your PRACTICE PLANNER .... "Why do you ALWAYS practice Offense before Defense?". I was curious!
Coach Steve Fickert
BRIGANTI NAPOLI
Naples, Italy
Coach, Glad you like the stuff.
The reason I believe strongly in practicing offense before defense is the psychology of the two sides --- offense is more calm and cerebral and thoughtful and requires concentration and focus. Defense tends to be more wild and spontaneous and reckless - you want the guys to be somewhat wild and crazy.
In addition, there are the difficulties most people encounter in getting their scout offenses to do what they want done, which means there is usually more time between plays, which means more time for banter and byplay and screwing around between the defensive players, which is okay to a point, but when you have to switch over to offense with it's need for calm and concentration, I find that it's often hard to get players settled down and concentrating.
That's just been my experience.
*********** I have a tough enough time anyhow with that Quint Kessenich guy on the sidelines, but I don't think he or any other reporter ought to be using the post-game interview to take away the euphoria of winning a game by asking a kid if he's going to be turning pro or coming back next year.
*********** Pass interference is becoming so common that it's time for us to be asking what game we're playing, anyhow. On those occasions when I tune in on a basketball game, I see them letting go much harder contact going than the stuff that they're calling on the football field. Just one more way the game is being wussified by the pass-firsters.
*********** I know times are tough and money's short, and I know they weren't expecting that big a crowd at the Armed Forces-Bell Helicopter Bowl - Tulsa and BYU not offering quite the same draw as last year's Army (armed forces) - SMU (home team) matchup, but how much more would another coat of paint in the end zone have cost, so that the "SMU" didn't show through the "BYU" that was painted over it?
*********** Franjo sends me this one, by Gregg Doyel - CBSSports.com - Craig James takes a leave from ESPN to run for Senate, and it's a huge deal. It's noteworthy because it's so bad, like bellbottom pants or the 1971 Ford Ranchero. Everyone recoils, because that's what people do when they run across Craig James. I mean, it's everyone. Even people on his side of the aisle. A column this week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Republican lobbyists ‘are already leaning on James to not run.’ Why? Because, the paper goes on to note, ‘[James] has no chance.’ In some ways this is strange, because James looks like the perfect politician. Great hair, big smile. Name recognition galore. And he's running on the platform of God, Texas and anti-Obamacare. What's not to like? Everything else about him.
*********** To the creative types at ESPN - please, just because you have an end zone camera doesn't mean you have to use it on all punts. It's very disconcerting to have to change seats, from on the 50 to back of the end zone, and we risk missing out on one of football's most exciting plays, a blocked punt.
*********** Sure was wonderful to see the smile on Eric LeGrand's face when down on the field victorious Rutgers coach Greg Schiano looked up to where the young man was sitting and shouted, "This one's for you!"
I'd sure like to see Schiano at least be considered for the Penn State job, but I suppose the fact that he once served on Joe Paterno's staff (omigod!) is working against him.
*********** I watched the entire Orange Bowl, meaning every one of West Virginia's 70 points, and I'm saying this very slowly as I try to make sense of it: Dabo… Swinney… was… named… Bobby… Dodd… Coach… of… the… Year…and … it… was… unanimous.
Bill Snyder? Brady Hoke? Steve Superior?
*********** It appears that the finalists for the Yale job are...
Don Brown, DC at UConn and formerly head coach at Northeastern and UMass - DC at Yale in the late 80's
Dave Cecchini, OC at Lehigh - OC at Harvard, 2003-2006
Tony Reno, Special Teams coach at Harvard 2009-2011 - defensive backs' coach at Yale 2003-2008
Kevin Kelly, Head Coach at Georgetown 2006-2011 (16-47 overall. 7-2 in 2011, his first winning team). No Ivy League connections
Dave Cecchini, OC at Lehigh - OC at Harvard, 2003-2006
Tony Reno, Special Teams coach at Harvard 2009-2011 - defensive backs' coach at Yale 2003-2008
Kevin Kelly, Head Coach at Georgetown 2006-2011 (16-47 overall. 7-2 in 2011, his first winning team). No Ivy League connections
I personally believe that Yale ought to take a serious look at Jim Hofher, a 29-year coaching veteran who's currently offensive coordinator at Delaware. He has many points in his favor: first of all, he's a Connecticut native. The legendary Carm Cozza's Yale teams were loaded with Connecticut kids, and the locals would like to see more emphasis on recruiting in-state; he's an Ivy-leaguer, a three-year starter at quarterback for Cornell, where he played two seasons under coach George Siefert; he has successful head coaching experience in the Ivy League, going 45-35 and winning an Ivy League title at Cornell in his eight-year stay. His .589 winning percentage is the highest of any coach in Cornell's long history (which included national championships in the 1920s). Before coming to Delaware in 2009, he did have an unsuccessful stay as head coach at Buffalo (who, besides Turner Gill, hasn't?) and he's coached quarterbacks at Tennessee, North Carolina, Syracuse and Bowling Green.
*********** How about that Tavon Austin, from West Virginia? Great story. Kid comes from Dunbar High, in Baltimore, an inner-city school - think "The Wire." To old-time Marylanders, the idea that Dunbar could be playing in a state title game in anything other than basketball, and actually winning it by beating storied Fort Hill of Cumberland is preposterous, yet thanks to Tavon Austin, it happened.
To get an idea of the kind of high school football player the kid was, take a look at these highlights from his high school career...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBjUKd0lOEE
Yes, the kid did tend to be a little, uh, "self-celebratory," but with a ball in his hands, he was the best I've seen since Tony Dorsett.
*********** From Todd Bross of Union, Maine came this video of a North Carolina convenience store clerk who absolutely decked a holdup guy with terrific left. I loved his post-fight interview: "If he wants money… get a job."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLU1l_Knao
*********** Maybe if Rex Ryan had spent a little less time behind a lectern feeding juicy quotes to reporters and a little more time "taking the pulse of the team" as he put it, he'd have been able to find out sooner that Santonio Holmes was undermining his team.
Not that you'd ever expect an NFL head coach as wise as Rex Ryan claims to be to see what a rookie quarterback says he could see, but Jets' rookie Greg McElroy, who admittedly was spoiled by playing in a top-notch college program like Alabama, told an Alabama radio station, "It's the first time I've ever been around extremely selfish individuals."
*********** The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
Following the 1971 season, Robert Irsay, a Chicago guy who'd just come into money after selling his air condiitoning company, wound up as owner of the Baltimore Colts after buying the Los Angeles Rams and then swapping franchises with Carroll Rosenbloom (thereby enabling Rosenbloom in one fell swoop to elude the bothersome Baltimore media, become a star in the firmament of Hollywood, and escape paying capital gains taxes).
Based on what he did with - and to - the Colts in his 14-year stay, Irsay has to go down as one of the absolute worst owners in the history of professional sports.
First of all, he was detestable when he was drinking, which was often. He was an absentee owner who flew in from his Chicago home for Colts' games and then flew out again, and knew nothing of the Colts' fabled history and the Baltimore fans' passion for their Colts, and couldn't care less. It seemed as if his every act was a deliberate attempt to alienate the Baltimore public.
And then, he turned the management of the team over to a general manager named Joe Thomas.
Wikipedia: After a
5–9–0 finish in 1972, the first losing record in sixteen
years, Thomas began rebuilding the team, albeit controversially. It all
started on January 22, 1973 when Johnny Unitas was traded to the San
Diego Chargers. During the next ten days, Tom Matte would follow Unitas
to San Diego, Bill Curry was sent to the Houston Oilers, Billy Newsome
to the New Orleans Saints, Norm Bulaichto the Philadelphia Eagles and
Jerry Logan to the Rams. By the end of 1976, he had had five
different head coaches in his five-year tenure, having fired Super Bowl
V-winning coach Don McCafferty after just five games in 1972. then
following him with John Sandusky, Howard Schnellenberger. Thomas
himself, and Ted Marchibroda. When he targeted Marchibroda next,
despite two straight Colts playoff seasons, Irsay had had enough and
fired Thomas.
The firing of McCafferty, whom the players loved, came five games into the 1972 season. The Colts had won just one game, and Thomas ordered McCafferty to bench Unitas, beloved among Colts' faithful and a future Hall of Famer. When McCafferty refused to do so, he was fired.
Marchibroda was fired after the 1979 season, the victim of a 5-11 record - and shrinking attendance - owing largely to injuries to Bert Jones, the Colts' all-star quarterback.
Wikpedia does a decent job of
making a short story of it: In January 1984, a drunk Irsay appeared
before the Baltimore media and exclaimed, "This is my goddamn team!" He
reiterated that, despite problems, the rumors that he was moving the
team were untrue.[2] With negotiations over improvements to Memorial
Stadium at an impasse, one of the chambers of theMaryland state
legislature passed a law on March 27, 1984 allowing the city of
Baltimore to seize the Baltimore Colts under eminent domain, which city
and county officials had threatened to do. Irsay later claimed the city
promised him a new football stadium, something they later denied,
citing the team's poor attendance. The next day, Irsay, fearing a dawn
raid on the team's Owings Mills headquarters, accepted a deal offered
by the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis Mayor William Hudnut
contacted his friend John B. Smith, at that time the CEO of the
Mayflower Transit Company, who arranged for fifteen trucks to pack the
team's property hurriedly and transport it to Indianapolis in the early
hours of the morning of March 29.
So here we are in present-day Indianapolis, and Jim Irsay, son of the now-late Bob Irsay, has just fired Bill Polian and his son. If you believe that Bill Polian was as instrumental as anyone in building the Colts' championship teams, then you may also believe that young Mr. Irsay could be poised to destroy the Indianapolis Colts in somewhat the same manner as his father destroyed the Baltimore Colts.
*********** In 1983, with the first draft pick overall, the woeful Baltimore Colts drafted a Stanford quarterback that everyone wanted - a kid named John Elway. Baltimore's coach at the time was a guy named Frank Kush, who had built the Arizona State program into a powerhouse, but had built it on what some would say was a platform of brutality. By 1983, Kush was no longer the coach of the Sun Devils, having been fired after accusations by a punter that Kush had punched him in the mouth following a bad punt, and subsequent allegations that he'd engaged in a coverup of the incident.
And then, following the draft, we began hearing rumors that Elway didn't want to go to Baltimore. Hmmm. Wonder why?
You don't suppose it might have had anything to do with Frank Kush's coaching style? Or Bob Irsay's management? Irsay, after all, was the guy who had run the franchise into the ground, and he was the guy who'd hired Kush.
Elway's father, Jack, was a longtime college coach, and he'd been around. He was well-liked and he knew a lot of people. Personally, I suspect that Jack Elway might havehad some strong negative feelings about his son's playing for Frank Kush.
Fortunately for the Elways, they had an out - John was also a very good baseball player who in 1981 had been drafted by the Yankees, and there was actually a time there when some people really thought he might go baseball rather than play with the Colts.
Then Voila! A trade was arranged - there was no way the NFL was going to lose a player like that to baseball - and John Elway suddenly became the draft property of the Denver Broncos. And the rest is history.
Baltimore fans were angry with Elway at the time, but the real problem - and, in their heart of hearts, they knew it - was an owner named Irsay.
So now here we are, almost 30 years later, and another top-notch Stanford quarterback, Andrew Luck, is certain to be the overall number one draft pick.
And - what do you know? The Colts, with the worst record in pro football, have the first pick.
But after the recent office purge, they have no general manager. And they have a holdover coach who may or may not be the one that the new GM wants. And they have an owner named Irsay.
And you know what? Andrew Luck's dad, Oliver, is a very knowledgeable, well-connected man. He's worked for the NFL, here and in Europe, and he's currently the AD at his alma mater, West Virginia.
I have a feeling that if they don't care to commit Andrew's NFL future to the Irsays, Oliver Luck is astute enough to find a way out.
(Archie Manning found a way, didn't he?)
*********** As a kid, I always thought the up down shift (of the linemen) that Landry (Cowboys' Tom Landry) did looked cool. Do you think it was effective? Why doesn’t anyone do it today?
I read he was trying to break keys by hiding the shifts of the backs.
In 1971 or 72, while coaching a minor-league team in Hagerstown, Maryland, I was paid a visit by a Cowboys' scout named Jim Valek who was looking at one of my players. I grilled him about all sorts of stuff, including the question you just asked, and he said that by that point that defenses around the league just lined up and yawned and waited for the Cowboys' linemen to get done with the flexing so they could play football.
*********** Funny - almost nothing was said about the dreadful condition of the field at Yankee Stadium (Pinstripe Bowl), which weeks earlier, when Army played Rutgers, was deplorable.
Nor, for that matter, was much said about the awful turf on the field at the OB (that would be "Orange Bowl" for those of you who are not fans of the U). Imagine what West Virginia would have done with good footing.
*********** Before we give any coaching awards to the Denver staff for "adapting" their offensive scheme to better suit Tim Tebow's talents… does it seem to you that they've gone back to the same old sh-- of trying to get him to throw from the pocket?
*********** For want of anything better to do, I watched a few minutes of the Underarmour Competition - especially the wide receivers. One of them missed just one of the balls thrown to him, but the rest of them dropped maybe one of every three thrown to them. Which didn't seem to faze them in the least. Posed like peacocks.
Good luck coaching them, recruiters.
*********** Nothing else on TV Thursday night, so I watched the UnderArmour Bowl or whatever the hell they call it. And I watched at one by one, players told us what colleges they planned to go to. Bear in mind that these are still just "verbals" - oral-only commitments that aren't binding on the kids in any way.
The kids sat there, surrounded by family - mostly females, I noted - and let "the world" (as the announcers put it) know where they intended to go.
And then it was all hugs and smiles as everybody celebrated the kids' decisions.
It was rather dull, dumb and boring, actually, until we got to the very last kid, Landon Collins, the top recruit from the state of Louisiana, who'd narrowed it down to Bama and LSU.
And he announced Bama, and several of the relatives jumped up and clapped. But not the one sitting next to him. Not momma. She was definitely not smiling. When asked about her reaction, she said, "I feel as if LSU is the better place for him." Uh-oh. She held up a forefinger and said "LSU Tigers Number One!"
And when the kid showed the Bama "A" on the palms of his gloves, she held out a pair of purple-and-gold gloves.
I have a feeling that if that kid likes Momma's cooking, the "verbal" to Bama ain't gonna hold up.
*********** Old friend Ralph Balducci is in San Antonio to watch his son, Alex, play Saturday in the US Army All-Star game.
If you should happen to watch (on NBC), Alex will be wearing 58 for the West team and playing defensive tackle in a 4-3.
Alex will not be making a big production of his choice of college by putting on the college's hat. First of all, he's already committed to Oregon.
But besides, he's his father's son. Said Ralph, when he called me from San Antonio, "None of that hat sh--."
*********** At least when the Big Ten went for the Big TV Bucks, the Ohio States and Michigans stood firm - they insisted on playing their archrivals, and no amount of TV scheduling or money was going to budge them.
The Pac-12, on the other hand, had no compunctions whatever about giving the TV guys what they wanted. The presidents asked the new commissioner to bring them money by the wheelbarrowful, and he did. But he also brought along requests - requirements, really - that in return for the money, they would play some games on Friday nights and some even - sorry, MAC - on Thursdays.
Oh - and Stanford and Cal will play in October. This is like doing the same to Ohio State-Michigan, Army-Navy, Alabama-Auburn, Clemson-South Carolina or Texas-Texas A & M. Wait - scratch that last one. But it's the sort of end-of-season game that alumni have been planning their social calendars around for years.
As Mark Purdy put it in the San Jose Mercury News, It's been an exclamation point to the regular season.
Now, though, "the exclamation point will be more of a semicolon."
Writes Purdy, "Hope the Stanford and Cal president are happy. They lost a wonderful tradition."
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_19677681
*********** When you're the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington and you're paid more than a lot of head coaches, there will be those people who will expect you to hold Baylor to under 67 points and 777 yards…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2017136014_uwfbside01.html
*********** Bob Novogratz, former Army All-American who serves on the Board of Advisers of the Black Lion Award, proudly sent me a link to a New York Post article about his 8th-grade grandson, Wolfgang ("Wolfie") leading his school's varsity basketball team to its first league win.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_school/basketball/wolf_in_senior_clothing_eighth_grader_VUrjvnnFhCz1hvaeSUuYVN#.TwWxoXvGUO1.email
TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012 - "I am not young enough to know everything." Oscar Wilde
That
was an amazing Chop-block. If he (our kid) had brought his left leg
forward to put pressure on that guard-tackle gap, the tackle would
have taken his knee out.
Hopefully that was a miscommunication between their tackle and guard.
I'll talk to (the coach) about it next time I see him.
Hopefully that was a miscommunication between their tackle and guard.
I'll talk to (the coach) about it next time I see him.
I wrote back…
I'm hoping that they don't teach that block. You'll recall that we always had to make sure that our guys didn't "shoeshine" the same guy that Daniel (our center) was blocking, so it might be that their kid just didn't know. Or maybe he just took it on himself to do it. Either way, it was a close call!
I think your approach is the right one. Give the coach the benefit of the doubt, and if he's the right kind of coach he'll appreciate your telling him. And if he's not, at least he'll know that you're on to it.
*********** Not to say that Virginia Tech didn't find lots of ways to piss away the Sugar Bowl, but it's ironic for a Frank Beamer team that the most glaring ways they found were on special teams.
*********** The way Penn State started out against Houston, they looked as if they were in a lower division and Houston had brought them in to open the season with an easy win. But the Lions settled down, and in retrospect, despite the sensational headlines, the 30 points they gave up was the second-lowest total the Cougars had scored all year. Only Southern Miss, in defeating Houston in the Conference USA championship game, held them to a lower score.
The problem was the anemic Penn State offense. I mean, come on – Matt McGloin, their starting QB, was unable to play as a result of a concussion suffered a couple of weeks ago in a mysterious locker-roon scuffle with a teammate, and they knew they had to go with a backup, and - unless that backup played unusually poorly in this one bowl game - they had to know that they weren’t going to beat any respectable team with him at QB.
Yet there they were, trying to put the game in the kid’s hands. Early in the game, they even had him throw a quick out on a third and one. Are you kidding me? You’re not Houston. They’re good enough to do that. You're not. You are... Penn State.
With time to prepare, why wouldn’t you have gone to something different? I mean, as a coaching staff, what the hell did you have to lose? None of you are likely to be around for more than another couple of weeks, anyhow.
I did see a few glimpses of what looked almost like single wing, and they did move the ball a little with it. They even snapped the ball directly to the running back in a sort of Wildcat set and he scored a touchdown, while the Wildat back faked a high snap. Looked like a wedge.
But then back they went to the kind of stodgy offense that has had Penn State fans upset with Joe Paterno over the years.
Perhaps part of the Lions’ refraining from more extensive use of a direct-snap offense was the fact that the guy who “allegedly” injured Matt McGloin was the one who normally replaced him when they ran their Wildcat.
*********** Kirk ("comfortable in my own skin") Herbstreit is definitely on the verge of becoming Maddenized (overexposed).
*********** Do you get tired of Musberger addressing everything to "Herbie," instead of talking to us, his audience?
*********** Am I the only one who doesn't think Herbstreit's little kid is as cute as he does?
*********** Meet the Penn State Football Coach Search Committee –
By Mark Wogenrich, Of The (Allentown, PA) Morning Call
Russ Rose: A Hall of Fame women's volleyball coach, Rose leads the NCAA in career winning percentage and has guided the team to three national titles.
Linda Caldwell: As Penn State's faculty athletics representative, Caldwell is responsible for certifying Big Ten and NCAA eligibility among student-athletes.
Charmelle Green: An associate athletic director, Green serves as Penn State's senior woman administrator. She joined the athletic department in June from Notre Dame.
Ira Lubert: Chairman and co-founder of Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners, Lubert is a member of Penn State's board of directors and a former wrestler. He and Joyner (AD Dave Joyner) were instrumental in the hiring of wrestling coach Cael Sanderson.
John Nichols: A professor emeritus in the College of Communications, Nichols is co-chairman of a college sports reform group called the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics.
Penn State President Rodney Erickson appointed the committee. Joyner said he and Erickson would have the final say on the hire.
Russ Rose: A Hall of Fame women's volleyball coach, Rose leads the NCAA in career winning percentage and has guided the team to three national titles.
Linda Caldwell: As Penn State's faculty athletics representative, Caldwell is responsible for certifying Big Ten and NCAA eligibility among student-athletes.
Charmelle Green: An associate athletic director, Green serves as Penn State's senior woman administrator. She joined the athletic department in June from Notre Dame.
Ira Lubert: Chairman and co-founder of Independence Capital Partners and Lubert Adler Partners, Lubert is a member of Penn State's board of directors and a former wrestler. He and Joyner (AD Dave Joyner) were instrumental in the hiring of wrestling coach Cael Sanderson.
John Nichols: A professor emeritus in the College of Communications, Nichols is co-chairman of a college sports reform group called the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics.
Penn State President Rodney Erickson appointed the committee. Joyner said he and Erickson would have the final say on the hire.
Now, you tell me... would you really want this group, however distinguished, helping to select the football coach at your favorite school?
*********** Honk if you've you've turned down the Penn State job.
I don't think it's the sex scandal or radioactivity or whatever that has qualified people turning up their noses at the opportunity to succeed Joe Paterno.
I think it's because the university has been making way too big a production of wearing a hairshirt, determined to devalue football as its way of showing penance. Witness the Board of Trustees' near-instant firing of Joe and then that pathetic "search committee" they've put together, with only one football person (the AD) on it.
The new president seems enamored of his new podium, and he's been making all sorts of noise about making Penn State into a "major research university" (what has it been?) as if they can only accomplish that goal by diminishing the importance of football.
And the AD - the guy the coach will report to - good man, but a total newcomer to the world of big-time college athletics administration. I haven't spent much time in big college sports, but I have spent enough to know that with Joe gone and a new, inexperienced AD in place, there are a lot of other coaches of so-called minor sports who are going to be like a bunch of puppy dogs clamoring for his attention, knowing full well that he doesn't dare show football the favoritism it was shown in the Paterno era. So much for support.
Frankly, I'm not so sure that the people now in power at Penn State want to win very badly. It's almost as if a winning football program so soon after all the ugliness would show they were insufficiently sorry for what Jerry Sandusky did.
At least after Nebraska went through the Callahan debacle there were people in charge who wanted very much to return to their winning ways. Fortunately, they were led by a man of the calibre of Tom Osborne.
*********** The announced attendance at the Ticket City Bowl was 46,817, but despite the TV cameras’ attempts to avoid showing it, the entire upper deck of the Cotton Bowl Stadium looked empty, so I’m guessing that the actual attendance was closer to half that.
*********** Penn State fielded a punt on their own six, but they decided to take advantage of a Houston penalty and had the Cougars kick over. The next punt was downed on the Penn State 6.
I was faced with the same situation years ago in a game against our arch-rival. I decided to take a holding penalty and make then punt again. Brilliant move, Wyatt. On the second punt, my return man fumbled and the opponents scooped it up and took it in for a score.
That one's filed under ‘THINGS I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN”
*********** Penn State. Very sad seeing it finally come to an end. They were my surrogate big- time team. I saw them climb from the days when the East wasn't all that good - and they weren't even the best in the East - to where they were a perennial national power.
*********** Coach, Any chance you may be going back to New Haven?
And concerning Penn State's job, I don't think they've formally offered it to anyone yet. Don't know if he's interested, but UC's Butch Jones is a good coach. I also wonder if Matt Millen may be a good temporary fix.
Happy New Year!
Jim Franklin
Flora, Indiana
Hi Jim- All I ask is that the next Yale coach at least follow up if I ever tout a prospect to him. In the recent past, it has always been, "we know best - now leave us alone."
I don't think that Matt Millen is the guy - he's never coached, and he's totally a pro guy, but I don't think that they're looking for a patch anyhow.
I really don't know who they'll get. It is a huge decision, and I don't have a lot of faith in people whose reaction to the Sandusky mess was to immediately fire Joe Paterno in order to cover their own butts.
What kills me, though, is the way the football haters blame this all on football - as if we don't find perverts in the noblest of associations.
Happy New Year to You!
*********** Pitt and West Virginia, combined, employed as many head coaches this past year as Penn State has employed since 1923.
*********** I had to watch some of the hockey game. I thought it was wonderful, with a couple of VERY important reservations.
First of all, Patti LaBelle, being sued for ordering her bodyguards to beat up a West Point cadet home on break, was chosen to sing the Natonal Anthem.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/06/08/us-military-cadet-suing-patti-labelle-victim-celebrity-power-trip/?intcmp=related
Yes, she may be from Phiadelphia, but otherwise I can’t imagine there exists even the slightest connection between her and the sport of hockey.
Then, after making a nostalgia play by bringing back some of the Broad Street Bullies (the Flyers of 1973-74) to be introduced, they blew it by letting some bimbo mangle the very song that Kate Smith once sang to inspire the Bullies - God Bless America. Not even accompaniment by a video image of the late Ms. Smith belting it out could keep the bimbo from ruining OUR song by putting her personal touches on it.
*********** I'm not a big Steve Spurrier fan, but in retrospect I am a bit surprised that I didn’t hear his name mentioned for any of the Coach of the Year awards.
I mean, Dabo Swinney of Clemson as Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year? Dabo Swinney ahead of Spurrier? Didn’t South Carolina beat Clemson 34-13?
Give Spurrier credit. He finally dumped Steven Garcia – most of us would have been done with him years ago - and he lost Marcus Lattimore, who was on his way to being one of the country’s most dominant runners. And the Gamecocks still won 11 games.
*********** The Big Ten. The Trophies for Everybody Conference. Ten of their twelve teams “qualified” for bowl games, and the best they were been able to do was 4-6. And two of those wins were in overtime, by Michigan and Michigan State. Here's what's really telling - on the last two Big Bowl Days, the Big Ten is 1-9.
*********** Would it surprise you if I were to tell you that Southern Miss has had 18 straight winning seasons? True fact.
*********** If you’re going to take a cheap shot, here’s how to get away with it – In OT of the Michigan State-UGA game, a team was stopped on fourth down, and following the play a personal foul was committed by the defense. Ruling? Dead ball foul. Yeah, yeah, we know that. But when and where is the penalty going to be assessed?
Answer - NO PENALTY! The offender got off scot free, and his team’s offense took over, first and ten on the opponent’s 25, as if nothing had happend.
Now, why in the world wouldn’t the penalty be assessed against the offending team at the start of the next series?
*********** Why, why, why, when we’re facing a long, cold winter with no football, do they have to throw four games at us in the same four-hour window on New Year’s Day (or, in this year’s case, January 2)?
*********** So Georgia Tech lost another bowl game, and people are once again going to be asking whether defenses have finally solved the triple option.
Answer: NO
The one thing all these bowl opponents who’ve beaten Georgia Tech have in common has been time – plenty of time. Time to concentrate on stopping the Bone. Time to drill a scout team offense in the complexities of the Georgia Tech offense. Opponents don’t have that luxury in the regular season, when triple option teams make things very tough for opponents who only have a few days to get up to speed.
You might say the same thing about Oregon’s much-publicized losses to SEC teams. Last year it was Auburn that had time to get ready, and even so, they needed a last-ditch field goal to beat the Ducks. This season it was LSU. Playing the Ducks in the season opener, they had all spring, all summer and all pre-season to prepare.
*********** The Outback Bowl turned out to be a sensational game. Sure was pleased to see Kirk Cousins get a chance to redeem himself after throwing an interception on what most of us thought was the last pass of his college career. You may recall that Michigan State, which beat Wisconsin in the regular season and narrowly lost to the Badgers in the conference championship game, got relegated to this bowl after Michigan, which the Spartans had beaten in the regular season, was selected to play in a BCS game, the Sugar Bowl.
*********** Love to hear your take on the Capital One Bowl "MVP" being a guy who was kicked out of game for fighting!!!
Scott Barnes
Rockwell, Texas
Coach,
I can't keep up. I am getting worn down by repeated instances of overlooking a player's misbehavior - so long as he's good enough.
Don't forget, one of the four guys invited to the Heisman Production was LSU'S adorable little "Honey Badger," who missed a couple of games because he failed a drug test.
Oh - and Stanford coach David Shaw named Tiger Woods "Honorary Captain" of the Cardinal for the Fiesta Bowl.
Funny thing is, even forgetting the ejection, the guy didn't deserve the award. He didn't catch a pass the entire second half. (Of course, he did miss the entire fourth quarter.). I don't see how they could have chosen him ahead of the SC quarterback.
Not sure who makes the selection. My guess is the ESPN guys. Not that anybody will ever hold them accountable, because after Craig James used his position to attack Mike Leach, we've seen how they protect their own.
*********** In case you didn't know what Scott Barnes and I were talking about...
By Chris Hays, Orlando Sentinel
Not very often will you see a player ejected from a game for fighting only to return to the field afterward to accept the MVP award.
Of course, it was that kind of day Monday for South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery.
He was named MVP of the Gamecocks' 30-13 rout of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a game that didn't really even seem like a rout.
Jeffery was MVP, despite not catching a single pass after halftime.
MVP, despite the great performance by sophomore Gamecocks' quarterback Connor Shaw.
MVP, despite being ejected from the game after trading helmet slaps with Nebraska cornerback Alfonso Dennard at the 2:10 mark of the third quarter.
So the MVP even missed the final 17 minutes and 10 seconds of the bowl game.
Heck, the biggest reason he was MVP was mostly because he caught a Hail Mary touchdown pass at the end of the first half that he wasn't even supposed to catch.
Not very often will you see a player ejected from a game for fighting only to return to the field afterward to accept the MVP award.
Of course, it was that kind of day Monday for South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery.
He was named MVP of the Gamecocks' 30-13 rout of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a game that didn't really even seem like a rout.
Jeffery was MVP, despite not catching a single pass after halftime.
MVP, despite the great performance by sophomore Gamecocks' quarterback Connor Shaw.
MVP, despite being ejected from the game after trading helmet slaps with Nebraska cornerback Alfonso Dennard at the 2:10 mark of the third quarter.
So the MVP even missed the final 17 minutes and 10 seconds of the bowl game.
Heck, the biggest reason he was MVP was mostly because he caught a Hail Mary touchdown pass at the end of the first half that he wasn't even supposed to catch.
*********** Matt Millen sees a helmet get knocked off and says, "I like it!"
*********** Speaking of helmets, I thought the Oregon helmets were really cool. Uniforms sucked - looked as if they were Seahawks' rejects, but the hats were cool.
I think that the Stanford all-white uniforms, with white sweat socks, are about as classy as they get.
(Think Nike isn't salivating at the thought of getting to do a makeover at Penn State?)
*********** When I was a little kid, I'd lie in bed at night listening to the A's (Philadelphia A's) or the Phillies on the radio. Looking back, they were both bad. I suppose that you would say they sucked, but that never occurred to me, because they were my city's teams, which meant they were my teams. I felt bad when they lost and happy when they won, but it never occurred to me not to root for them - to root for a team from another town.
My son grew up in a different era. We lived in a small town in Maryland, and at night, he would be able to listen to radio stations out of Boston and Charlotte, and listen to sports-talk shows that covered teams from faraway cities. As a result, he was able to develop a much wider awareness of sports than I ever had at his age. Yes, we got the Orioles' games, but the passion just wasn't the same. He had choices. Don’t ask me why, but he liked the Angels. An hour or so away, we had the Colts (Baltimore, that is) and the Redskins, but for some reason, he liked the Dolphins.
Now, kids have even more. There’s cable TV and the Internet. And the idea of a kid being slavishly devoted to his home town team, especially if it does suck, seems terribly out of date and unnecessary. I mean, if a kid in Cleveland likes the 49ers, what's to stop him? He can buy 49ers' gear, he can go on the Internet and read all about his favorite players, and every Sunday - if he can get his family to give him NFL Sunday Ticket on DIRECTV for Christmas - he can watch his favorite team.
I thought of this as I went to bed New Year's Eve, listening on my iPhone to a radio broadcast from Melbourne. Australia. The Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League
http://web.theabl.com.au/index.jsp?sid=t4067 were playing the Sydney Blue Sox. My son, Ed, was doing the play-by-play, and I marveled at the thought that the broadcast of a game 8,000 miles away was as clear as any I'd ever listened to as a kid in Philly.
*********** These are pros, mind you… The Texans line up to go for two and their TE jumps. And then they run the play - and the center snaps it over the QB’s head.
*********** Life is not fair - Kellen Clemens gets a chance and leads the Rams on a comeback and gets sacked - and breaks an ankle...
*********** Pennlive.com reports that many nightclubs in the Harrisburg area have begun using metal-detecting wands on people entering the joints to make sure they’re not carrying weapons.
Said the owner of a chain of establishments in the area, “We use them in our Advance clubs and any outlet that tends to have more urban appeal. Our regular [bars] downtown, we do not.”
Me, I think I'll just stay away from any place with a bouncer outside the door, much less one with a wand in his hand.
*********** Question that comes up after watching numerous field goals and PATs from behind, via the end zone camera:
So when are they going to call interlocking legs by players other than the center and the two guards?
*********** Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas? Hmmm. Sounds like they have bigger plans. Maybe a takeover of several bowls. Maybe somebody should tell them that there are barely enough bowl-eligible teams for 35 states.
*********** Whose bright f--king idea was it to let a coach sidle up to an official and call a time out, split seconds before the ball's snapped?
*********** Seems like allowing coaches to call for reviews may have bitten Wisconsin's Bret Bielemaa in the butt, because it wound up costing him a time out that the Badgers could have used at the end of the game.
He claimed afterwards that he was merely questioning an official’s decision that an Oregon return man had not brought the ball out of the end zone, and not calling for a review, but the official he was talking to said he thought Bielemaa wanted a review, and when the call on the field was confirmed, Wisconsin was charged with a timeout.
But suppose that official hadn’t gone ahead and granted Wisconsin the review, and Oregon had quickly run the next play - would Bielemaa have complained that he had wanted the play reviewed and the official had ignored him?
*********** Coach Wyatt,
I am a youth football coach for the Little League 11/12 year (team) in ------. My question or what I can't get is the double wing. This year was my fourth year to run it. For the last two years we made the championship game losing both. In years past before going to the double wing our teams were not very good. I blame coaching. My self mainly. Now we are having success and made a 360 turn. Is there anyway to improve on the double wing. I have my assistant coaches wanting to change the offense next year and have one assistant saying he could do a better job. I never have doubted this offense. Losing back to back championship games is tough. Is there any advice you can share or give me in teaching and coaching the double wing. It seems for the last two years we are dominant until the championship game and we get blanked. Any advice would be grateful.
Thanks,
Coach,
Nice to hear from you.
I hope you understand that I can't give you any quick and easy answers because I have no idea what you are doing offensively.
So I can only speak in general terms. First of all, no matter what offense you run and how well you run it, that will only take you so far, and sometimes we give it everything we've got but the other guy is just better than we are.
There is one thing you write that concerns anyone with experience coaching the double wing, though, and that is that you have assistants wanting to change offenses. However things work out, whatever offense you decide to run, it is essential that you all be on the same page. It's not fair to the kids to coach them with a divided staff because it means coaches' egos will come ahead of the team's success.
There is no easy way out of this one.
Staff harmony is important. So is loyalty to the head coach.
If your assistants are that good, ask for suggestions, but even more, find out if they are willing to do the hard work involved in researching and learning another offense, and whether they will be man enough to get behind it and keep their dissenting opinions to themselves for the good of the team.
If they're not that good, then there is another solution...
*********** Damn! Why are these stupid media people always in such a rush to anoint the latest instant legend that they can't do a little homework?
A touchdown in the Rose Bowl gave Wisconsin's Montee Ball 39 for the season. Immediately, announcers began excitedly informing us that he'd tied the record of the great Barry Sanders.
No, no, no.
Look - Montee Ball is good. Maybe even another Barry Sanders. I doubt it, but time will tell.
Meantime, though, do NOT believe those blowhards in the broadcast booth. He did NOT tie Barry Sanders' single-season record, unless you are willing to go along with a few deceptions:
(1) Montee Ball's total includes the touchdown he scored in a bowl game. In Barry Sanders' big year (1988), the NCAA was counting only those touchdowns scored in the regular season. I can't for the life of me understand how the NCAA could have changed scoring policy at a certain point without going back and changing it for players of the past, too, but there you go. Your NCAA at work, serving you.
But what the hell - let's do the NCAA's work for them: in 1988, Barry Sanders scored 39 regular-season touchdowns. Oh - and he also scored five touchdowns - FIVE - in the Cowboys' 62-14 Holiday Bowl win over Wyoming. So using the same measurement as they used for Montee Ball, make that 44 for Barry Sanders.
(2) Barry Sanders' 39 regular-season touchdowns came in an 11-game regular season; Montee Ball's came in a 12-game regular season AND a bowl game. (Two more games, if you're scoring at home.)
*********** I’ve been a supporter of Stanford’s David Shaw since the start. I mean, his players play hard for him, and he puts a well-prepared team on the field, and he's gone 11-2 in his first year. But after Monday night, I’m having a few reservations.
First, I was taken aback by some post-game statements attributed to him, in which he seemed to deflect blame from himself and onto his players. "Our kids played hard,” he is quoted as saying. “They just didn't finish the game.”
“They?”
Um, Coach - beg pardon, but you're the one who finished it. You're the one who decided to shut your own offense down and try to win it with a field goal. And when you did, there was still a minute to go, and you had three timeouts left. But instead of putting the game in the hands of the greatest quarterback, the greatest field general you'll ever have the privilege of coaching - you put it on the toe of a freshman kicker.
And then there was the WTF? Moment when we were informed that Stanford’s “honorary captain” of the Fiesta Bowl team was… Tiger Woods. Tiger F--king Woods! Supposedly he and Shaw were once classmates at Stanford.
I wonder if it’s occurred to Coach Shaw that his former classmate is reviled in many quarters, seen as a man of little honor, and not the sort of person you'd want out in front of a great university.
*********** Amazing what money will do, isn't it?
Writes Jeff Jacobs in the Hartford Courant, needling Maryland coach Randy Edsall, a noted stickler while at UConn,
"Nothing was more ironic than Edsall's enforcing his "no-name" rule on the back of jerseys while wearing the most ridiculous 'look-at-us' uniforms in college football history."
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2011 - "Two
heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but
because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction." C. S. Lewis
The collaboration could lead to the conferences creating bowl partnerships and postseason games that would be shown on their networks. Delany (Big-Ten commissioner) pointed out that ESPN and the NFL Network both run bowl games.
While Delany and Scott (Pac-12 commissioner) said the idea of starting a bowl game shown on their networks had not been formally discussed, both said they were open to the idea.
“I think it’s a conversation that anyone would see, and could see us having, and it wouldn’t be from out of left field,” Delany said.
While Delany and Scott (Pac-12 commissioner) said the idea of starting a bowl game shown on their networks had not been formally discussed, both said they were open to the idea.
“I think it’s a conversation that anyone would see, and could see us having, and it wouldn’t be from out of left field,” Delany said.
You may recall that not too long ago I mentioned this very possibility as the single biggest threat to the current bowl system, and maybe even the BCS system itself.
Next - watch the ACC and the Big 12 discuss the same thing. Oh, wait - Texas already has its own TV network. Never mind.
*********** A video made inside the Wilson factory in Ada, Ohio, shows the step-by-step process of making an NFL game ball.
http://www.reliableplant.com/View/21492/how-wilson-manufactures-nfl-game-footballs
*********** Dear Coach Wyatt,
Happy New Year to you and your family! I have been on YouTube watching Army T formation film from the Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis era. I remembered that you are a big fan of Col. Earl Blaik. Do you know what this upcoming series is called? In some film, Army is in a full house T formation. In other filmclips, Army will motion the FB out to a flanker. The "X" action or cross action remains the same with the HB's. In one filmclip, the QB (Tucker) opens to the RHB. The RHB runs an angle to the left side, and the QB fakes him with his right hand. The FB and LHB jab steps left and come back right. The LHB receives the handoff from the QB's left hand. The OnT and TE crossblock. The backside G and FB lead through the hole for the LHB. In another clip, the two guards and the FB lead through the hole. In another clip, the FB motions to be a flanker, but the RHB and LHB still do the "X" or cross action. What is this series called? I have never seen another T formation team do this.
Happy New Year!
Take care,
Bill Statz
Hi Bill
Happy New Year to you, too.
I do not know what Colonel Blaik called that particular series.
I do know, however, that he was one of the first big-time coaches to commit fully to the T-formation. In his book "You Have to Pay the Price," written with Tim Cohane, Colonel Blaik tells about preparing to play Notre Dame in 1942. That was the year that Frank Leahy, with a great passer named Angelo Bertelli, decided to switch from the Notre Dame box that traced all the way back to Rockne to the modern T formation, which Clarke Shaughnessy first used at Stanford in 1940. Colonel Blaik tells how he watched the Army plebes move the ball against the Army varsity running Notre Dame's T-formation and then asked his assistants, "If our plebes, with that little experience, can make the T go that way, what would an experienced varsity do with it?"
The next year, Army went totally to the T-formation.
As the years went on, Army would add its own touches, but at least initially, it's fair to assume that some of the motion out of the backfield traces back to Clarke Shaughnessy and what he did at Stanford and in working with the Bears.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
You might enjoy this Army training film dating back to 1944 or 45. It shows the backfield running some T-formation plays, but it also shows the Army starting team, which by then had completed switched to the T-formation, doing a really good job of running an unbalanced single wing.
http://www.coachwyatt.com/armytrainingfilm.mp4
*********** Sure wish adidas would stick to soccer and stop assaulting us with that rap commercial. Waterboarding can't be worse.
You say you got your "Master's in Communication," do you, Mister DJ? Then let's you and me try communicating. My turn: Shut the f--k up!
*********** "The goal of the BCS is to match number one versus number two at the end of the season. That's it. For 13 straight years now, the system has matched number one and number two in a championship game. This cannot be argued, debated or disagreed with. It is a fact. Prior to 1998 the top two teams met only 11 times dating to 1963.
"You don't get that guarantee in any other sport. Look at the most recent championships in the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA and the NCAA tournament. Did number one play number two in any of those finals? They did not. College football uses the entire regular season to let the teams play out their entire schedules to determine the two best teams."
Gary Stokan, President and CEO of the Chik-fil-A Bowl, in the Dec 19-25 Sports Business Journal
*********** Wow. It wasn't more than four months ago that I was feeling sorry for poor Al Golden, booby-trapped by a Miami program headed for certain sanctions, when if he could have just held on a little lomger at Temple, he might have been the leading candidate for the Penn State job...
*********** Does anyone else see a certain incongruity between the talk about "all the suffering out there"and the scenes of the fools lining up to buy the latest Air Jordans?
True, watching TV footage is not an accurate way to survey, but it sure did seem to me that some of those tools out there hoping to buy shoes - sneakers! - at $180 or so a pair were ones we might otherwise have been led to believe were sufferers. They were definitely not members of the despised Top One Per Cent.
Yet they were capitalists.
Yes, with all the attacks on capitalism by the Occupiers, what we were watching on the news was capitalism in its roughest form. See. I rather doubt that many of those people who got up early and waited for hours were planning on lacin' 'em up and heading for the playground once they bought their Jordans.
Hell, no. Pure and simple, what they were doing was speculating - buying now in hopes of seling later when they've gone up in price. Fired up by tales of people on eBay willing to pay $400-500 for those same shoes, I can imagine them thinking, "All I have to do is hold onto these shoes long enough, and when they're worth $1,000 a pair, I'll sell."
Folks, with enough people thinking that same way, what we got here is the makings of a classic bubble. Somehow, I doubt any of those speculators have ever heard of the Dutch Tulip Bubble.
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-dutch-tulip-bubble-of-1637/
The difference between then and now, of course, is that when the day comes that thousands of sneaker speculators are stuck with closetsful of sneakers that they paid hundreds of dollars a pair for and that now nobody wants to buy, some dumbass congressman will insist on bailing them out with taxpayer dollars.
*********** After a great back-and-forth game, Air Force scored on Toledo with under a minute to play to pull within a point at 42-41. And then the Zoomies went for two - and lost.
The play call was good enough - a fake placekick and an option to the left - but the pitch (to an open pitch man) hit the ground and bounced out of bounds.
Now, look. Enough of this coach-as-hero sh--. The point is to give your kids the best chance to win the game, and at any given time, the odds of making a two-point conversion are not in your favor. You always have a better chance of winning when you're tied than when you're a point behind.
The TV guys, of course, loved Air Force's derring-do. Gushed, even. ESPN's Mark May said that by going for two, you're sending a message to your players: "You're good enough to win."
Well, yeah. Maybe so. But so, after playing dead-even for 59 minutes, is your opponent good enough to stop one play, and I don't think that after having proved that you're as good as they are, it's wise to decide to settle it with one play - one roll of the dice. To me, it's a heck of a way to settle a prize fight that's just gone 15 rounds. It reminds me of a soccer shoot-out.
Personally, I'd rather tell my team, "You've just proved that you're at least as good as this team. And that means you're good enough to win in overtime, so let's go do it"
This, after all, was a service academy. I would think that, being fighters, they would have relished an opportunity to go another round or two.
*********** I have never been big on self-aggrandisement, and to me, a kid's wanting to wear the number 69 was a pretty good indication that he was a "look at me" guy. So I've never had a guy wear the number 69 - never even ordered a set of jerseys that included that number.
I mention this because I noticed that Nevada's punter, of all people, was wearing 69. He's probably a really great kid. Maybe all the other numbers were given out when they got to him.
*********** When it runs out of the tunnel at the Rose Bowl, the Oregon team will be wearing a "uniform system" specially designed by Nike ---
http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/12/nike_strikes_again_with_oregon.html
Mock you may, but the Nike-Oregon partnership is working for both parties.
John Canzano, sports columnist for the Portland Oregonian, noted that on Tuesday night, the Portland Trail Blazers played their home opener. In a town with only one pro sports franchise (no, I don't count MLS), the Blazers are very big. But the Oregonian's data show that on their web site, oregonlive.com, the Nike "uniform system" story had five times the readership of Trail Blazers' stories!
*********** The various Oregon helmet paint jobs - yes, there's a new one that you'll see in the Rose Bowl - as well as the scales on the TCU helmets, the extra bright and shiny gold helmets that Notre Dame wore against Stanford and the garish Maryland jesters' hats - are the result of a process developed by a Newberg, Oregon company. Read about the extent of the secrecy involved in the production of the Rose Bowl helmets...
http://www.oregonlive.com/playbooks-profits/index.ssf/2011/12/post.html
*********** Years ago, when I used to work at Rich Brooks' Oregon camp, I remember the arrival of Gary Campbell as Oregon's running backs coach. Great guy. A native Texan, he'd played at UCLA. That was about 1984, and Gary has been at Oregon ever since. He's helped develop some very good runners, including Reuben Droughns, Jeremiah Johnson, Derek Loville, Maurice Morris, Onterrio Smith, Jonathan Stewart, Terrence Whitehead and the latest, the one he calls "maybe the best guy I've ever coached," LaMichael James.
But as good a coach as Gary Campbell is, and as good a guy, there was yet another side of him that few people knew about - Gary Campbell the devoted husband and father...
http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/12/rose_bowl_trip_extra_special_f.html
*********** I happened to do a little research on Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, who has been involved in three "alcohol-related incidents" since 2009, and was surprised to learn that he was a member of something called "CHOICE" - an acronym for Choosing to Help Others In a Chemically Free Existence.
*********** For years, the question was "who will succeed Joe Paterno when he finally decides to hang 'em up?"
I mean, who wouldn't want to coach at a place that's had exactly two head coaches in the last 62 years?
I'd be lying if I didn't say how shocked and saddened I am that of all the head coaching jobs that came open these past several weeks, there's only one left unfilled - and it's Penn State. And so far, there are no takers.
*********** Is Rex Ryan really serious when he says that his constant mouthing off is actually a ploy to take the pressure off his players?
Hey - if it's not smart for players to give opponents material for their bulletin boards, how smart is it for their coach to do so?
*********** Congratulations to Alex Balducci, and to his parents, Ralph and Cathy, on Alex's being named Oregon 6A Defensive Player of the Year, and to the Oregon 6-A all-state team on both the offensive and defensive lines. Alex, 6-4 and 280, played at Portland Central Catholic and after being offered by most schools west of the Rockies, committed early to Oregon. He will be wearing Number 58 and playing on the defensive line for the West in next Saturday's US Army All-American Bowl.
Ralph played for me back in 1980 on a semi-pro team called the Van-Port Thunderbirds, and over the years we've had a few chances to coach togther, and there's scarcely been a week we haven't spoken. My wife gets a big kick out of remembering the times when "little Alex" would play with on our floor with cars and trucks while Ralph and I talked football.
Also playing in the game - but playing on the offensive line for the East - is Ty Darlington, of Apopka, Florida, son of Apopka's coach, Rick Darlington. Coach Darlington says Ty is committed to play at Oklahoma.
*********** Tuesday was Special Teams Day.
Whatever bowl that was that Western Michigan and Purdue played in, it sure produced a number of special-special teams plays...
Two onside kick recoveries
A kick return for a TD
A fake PAT for a 2-point conversion
That game was followed by the Belk Bowl between Louisville and NC State, which featured...
A fumbled punt
A fake punt, run for a first down
An onside kick recovery
*********** Spoke this week with old friend Dwayne Pierce, of Washington, DC. He said he had a great season coaching at Friendship Collegiate Academy in DC, and said one of their kids, Eddie Goldman, is one of the most highly-recruited players in the country. http://rivals.yahoo.com/bwi/football/recruiting/player-Eddie-Goldman-97728
*********** A big feaure of Rose Bowl week is the Beef Bowl at Lawrey's, a Los Angeles restaurant famous for its prime rib, where the two teams compete to see which one can put away the most chow. This year's beef bowl provided a little adventure as well as good food, as Melissa Rohlin writes in The LA Times
Oregon tackle Mark Asper performed the Heimlich maneuver on a man who was choking on a piece of meat Wednesday evening at Lawry's during the Beef Bowl.
Asper was eating dinner with his teammates during the annual event preceding the Rose Bowl game when, he said, "the table in front of us started stirring in commotion, and they stood up and the gentleman, I didn't catch his name, was giving the universal 'Help me, I'm choking' signal."
In an interview Wednesday with the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets, Asper said that one of the restaurant's chefs initially attempted to do the Heimlich on the victim, who was later identified as Paul Diamond, a father of an Oregon student. The chef, however, was not successful.
"He looked like he was struggling with it," Asper said, "so I stood up and patted him on the back and said, 'If you don't know what you're doing, I do, because I'm an Eagle Scout.
"So I ripped in there and the first heave was a test heave because the guy seemed a little old, I didn't want to break his ribs or anything. Test heave, then he seemed like he could handle a full force heave so I popped it out.
Asper said "a big piece of Lawry's beef" came out of Diamond's mouth. Asper added Diamond was fine -- he just took "smaller bites" after the incident and even went on to make a joke.
"He came up to me afterward and said, 'Hey man, thanks a lot, but you broke my sunglasses,' " Asper said. "I said, 'I'm sorry, I'll see if I can get you a new pair.' "
Asper was eating dinner with his teammates during the annual event preceding the Rose Bowl game when, he said, "the table in front of us started stirring in commotion, and they stood up and the gentleman, I didn't catch his name, was giving the universal 'Help me, I'm choking' signal."
In an interview Wednesday with the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets, Asper said that one of the restaurant's chefs initially attempted to do the Heimlich on the victim, who was later identified as Paul Diamond, a father of an Oregon student. The chef, however, was not successful.
"He looked like he was struggling with it," Asper said, "so I stood up and patted him on the back and said, 'If you don't know what you're doing, I do, because I'm an Eagle Scout.
"So I ripped in there and the first heave was a test heave because the guy seemed a little old, I didn't want to break his ribs or anything. Test heave, then he seemed like he could handle a full force heave so I popped it out.
Asper said "a big piece of Lawry's beef" came out of Diamond's mouth. Asper added Diamond was fine -- he just took "smaller bites" after the incident and even went on to make a joke.
"He came up to me afterward and said, 'Hey man, thanks a lot, but you broke my sunglasses,' " Asper said. "I said, 'I'm sorry, I'll see if I can get you a new pair.' "
Hmmm. Eagle Scout. Born in Rexburg, Idaho. Parents were probably going to Ricks College. Married with two kids. Got to be LDS.
*********** We're not two f--king minutes into the Alamo Bowl and the broadcast booth geniuses are already telling us that the Washington defense was getting worn down by Baylor's no-huddle.
By any chance were those darling white uniforms that the Washington Huskies wore the same ones that UCLA wore when they got blown out in the Pac-10 championship game?
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2011 - "A big danger of our world today is obsession. An even bigger danger is indifference." Vaclav Havel
Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. I never realized how much Christmas really meant to me until I was in danger of being in the hospital that day. When Mom and Dad ask me what I want for Christmas, I can't think of much to ask for (I have been told countless times that a car is unrealistic). I already got what I asked for. Mostly, I feel like giving. I'm home and on my way back to being fully healthy again.
I have gained so much perspective in the last eight months. Laura and I don't fight as much, which makes laughing with her much easier. I love to laugh with her; she is one hilarious kid. I'm aching to go back to school, and I get angry and annoyed with anyone who complains or says that school is a prison. The hospital is prison, not school, and if you're going to school, you're healthy. Don't take things for granted, because you truly don't know what you've got until it's gone. There are a ton more things that I have learned, and to type them here would be to keep you reading forever and ever.
My whole mission through the past eight months was to prove that prayer works; I believe that I did. When my first Hickman fell out (whoops) and we were going to be admitted to the hospital for round 2, I prayed and prayed for surgery to be full and that I could have one more night at home. That's exactly what happened. At the end of this last round, I was under the impression that I was going to have to do a fifth round. I prayed that I wouldn't have to do one, and now I don't. I prayed for healing, and that's what I got. When all is said and done, I want to be able to tell someone my story, and hopefully lead them to God.
MY ANNUAL CHRISTMAS WISH FOR FOOTBALL COACHES EVERYWHERE (First printed in 2000, and printed every Christmas since): May you have.... Parents who recognize that you are the football expert; who stand back and let you coach their kids; who know their kids' limitations and don't expect them to start unless in your opinion they are better than the other kids; who don't sit in the stands and openly criticize their kids' teammates; who don't think it's your job to get their kid an athletic scholarship; who schedule their vacations so their kids won't miss any practices; who know that your rules apply to everybody, and are not designed just to pick on their kid... A community that can recognize a year when even Vince Lombardi himself would have trouble getting those kids to line up straight... Opponents who are fun to play against; who love and respect the game and its rules as much as you do, and refuse to let their kids act like jerks... Students who want to be in your class and want to learn; who laugh at your jokes and turn their work in on time... Freshmen who listen carefully, hear everything you say and understand all instructions the first time... Officials who will address you and your kids respectfully; who know and respect the rulebook; who will have as little effect on the game as possible; who will let you step a yard onto the playing field without snarling at you... Newspaper reporters who understand the game, always quote you accurately, and know when not to quote you at all... A school district that provides you with a budget sufficient to run a competitive program... A superintendent who schedules teachers' workdays so that coaches don't have to miss any practices... An athletic director who has been a coach himself and knows what you need to be successful and knows that one of those things is not another head coach in the AD's office; who can say "No" to the bigger schools that want you on their schedules; who understands deep down that despite Title IX, all sports are not equal... Assistants who love the game as much as you do, buy completely into your philosophy, put in the time in the off-season, and are eager to learn everything they can about what you are doing. And if they disagree with you, will tell you and nobody else.. A booster club that puts its money back into the sports that earn it, and doesn't demand a voice in your team's operation... A principal who figures that when there is a teachers' position open, the applicant who is qualified to be an assistant coach deserves extra consideration; who doesn't come in to evaluate you on game day; who makes weight-training classes available to football players first, before opening them up to the general student body; who knows that during the season you are very busy, and heads off parent complaints so that you don't have to waste your time dealing with them; who can tell you in the morning in five minutes what took place in yesterday afternoon's two-hour-long faculty meeting that you missed because you had practice... A faculty that will notify you as soon as a player starts screwing off or causing problems in class, and will trust you to handle it without having to notify the administration... A basketball coach who encourages kids to play football and doesn't discourage them from lifting, or hold "open gym" every night after football practice... A baseball coach who encourages kids to play football and doesn't have them involved in tournaments that are still going on into late August... A wrestling coach who encourages kids to play football and doesn't ask your promising 215-pound sophomore guard to wrestle at 178... A class schedule that gives you and at least your top assistant the same prep period... Doctors that don't automatically tell kids with little aches and pains to stay out of football for two weeks, even when there's nothing seriously wrong with them... Cheerleaders who occasionally turn their backs to the crowd and actually watch the game; who understand the game - and like it... A couple of transfers who play just the positions where you need help... A country that appreciates the good that football - and football coaches - can do for its young men... A chance, like the one I've had, to get to know coaches and friends of football all over the country and find out what great people they are... The wisdom to "Make the Big Time Where You Are" - to stop worrying about the next job and appreciate the one you have -... Children of your own who love, respect and try to bring honor to their family in everything they do... A wife like mine, who understands how much football means to you... Motivated, disciplined, coachable players who love the game of football and love being around other guys who do, too - players like the ones I've been blessed with. A nation at peace - a peace that exists thanks to a strong and dedicated military that defends us while we sleep. Merry Christmas.
For all assistants - A head coach whose values and philosophy you can espouse
Sounds like the things I have - may you be blessed to have them, too.
And one special wish
for those coaching brothers who find themselves "between positions" at
this time of year - May your Christmas joy not be dimmed by the fact
that you are temporarily without a team, and instead brightened by the
belief that your next job is just around the corner. (And if my
experience is any indicator, it will be a far better one than the last one, anyhow!)
But the news came early Wednesday that Tom Williams, Yale's coach the last three years, had decided to "resign."
Tom Williams got tripped up by a series of events that traced back to two entries that had no business being on his resume: (1)That he was a Rhodes Scholarship applicant; (2) That he had signed a contract with the 49ers and spent a season on their roster. Both claims were recently determined by a New York Times investigation to be without basis in fact. (That's the polite way of putting it.)
So who was harmed by a little bit of fibbing? a distressing number of people are now asking.
Permit me to answer that.
Having falsely inflated his credentials may very well have tipped things in his favor in Yale's hiring process, giving him the edge over others who played the game straight.
Subsequently, having allowed the embellished credentials to remain on his official bio in school publications gave him an unwarranted credibility and stature in his dealings with recruits, players, alumni and the public.
Finally, the issue which drew the attention of the New York Times was his claiming to empathize with a Yale player faced with a dilemma similar to one he himself once faced - a choice between pursuing a Rhodes Scholarship or attending a 49ers' free agent tryout. In doing so, he may have unduly and falsely influenced that player's decision to forego his Rhodes interview and instead play in the Yale-Harvard football game.
Once The Times' investigation revealed the falsehoods, Yale began its own investigation. It could only have had the outcome that it did. Having acquired and then retained his position based on falsehoods was indefensible in an institution that takes academic honesty very seriously. Yale's very motto is Lux et Veritas - "Light and Truth."
Tom Williams' record at Yale was a mediocre 16-14, including 6-6 this past season, and 0-3 against Harvard, including this years 45-7 debacle. Cynics will claim that if he'd had done better on the field, he might have been treated differently in this case, but that just shows how little they know of an institution that refuses to allow football to be its window on the world. Even at the current rate, he would have been given a couple more years. Yale, along with its sister Ivy schools, made the decision back in the 1950s, before there were such things as ESPN and the BCS, that it would never allow itself to be sucked into the mire of big-time sports, and it wouldn't change now even if that meant letting Vince Lombardi go.
Not that Yale's AD, Tom Beckett, has asked me - he didn't listen to me last time, either, but I couldn't have done a worse job than he did - so here's what I would do...
1. Perform the due diligence necessary, first thoroughly vetting every applicant before so much as interviewing them.
2. Further reduce the likelihood of an applicant's having something untoward in his background by hiring a known commodity.
3. Hire a guy who's already been a head coach
4. If you can't find a guy with head coaching experience, hire a guy who knows Yale
My recommendation (if he'd take the job): Dick Jauron
And if you're thinking about applying - at Yale or anyplace else - for God's sake take another look at your resume.
*********** My apologies to St Xavier for not acknowledging their NAIA Football Championship
http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/sports/9511029-419/st-xavier-wins-naia-football-championship.html
Good for them. Moral - even after the big guys have taken what they want, there's still a lot of good football players in Chicagoland.
I once did one of my clinics at Saint Xavier. It's in a nice neighborhood on the South Side (yes, there are some quite nice neighborhoods on the South Side).
There's a really good tavern just up the street from St X called Gilhooley's, where I usually like to go for dinner on the Friday nights before my Chicago clinics.
*********** Good morning coach,
How are you doing? It has been some time since we spoke. We had a real busy season this year in Montebello and a very successful one. This year we took your offense and it spread through out our organization. 3 of our 4 teams were running your double wing offense and for the first time in our league's 50+ year history, all four of our teams were leagues champs. We went as an organization 26-1-1 in league, and hosted first round play-offs in all divisions. We made league history. Now that the season has come to end and things have slowed down, I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you. You have always been a huge resource for my brother and I. All of your help is greatly appreciated and a big part of our organization's success, thank you coach.
I have a question for you. I am already starting to look to next year and off season preparations. As I look at my team for the next year, I see that I am going to have a very talented roster. I can already see that I will have 5-6 play makers, that if given the ball can make something happen on any given play. My thoughts right now are on how do I get all those play makers on the field at the same time. With our current system in the tight formation, we have only 3 running back spots for the 6 play makers.
Is there something I am missing coach? Is there something you have run before, that can allow for us to have 6 guys on the field and all 6 of them be a threat at any given time. Any help you can lend is greatly appreciated, thank you.
Regards,
Steven Rivas
Pee Wee Head Coach
Montebello Indians
Montebello, California
Coach,
I would ordinarily say to have two backfields and run them in and out interchangeably. That would promote competition between them and go a long way toward preventing anyone from slacking off. Unfortunately, your quarters are so short to begin with that you'd be cutting playing time in half for some very good players who need to be on the field.
One way for every one of those players to be in the game at the same time and for all of them to be in a position to handle the ball is to combine Wildcat with slot formation.
Wildcat, which I know you already have run, gives your QB an equal opportunity to run the ball, too. In addition to the two ends and three other backs, that's six ball-handlers.
Slot, does takes away your "G" play, but in return it gives you the opportunity to use your flexed ends as both as runners and receivers. They are not flexed so wide that you can't use them as runners on Super Powers (with the backside tackle and wingback leading) and on counters, too.
Take a look at the formation and let me know what you think!
http://www.coachwyatt.com/wildcat%20slot/wildcat%20slot.mov
*********** Matt Barkley is returning. I'm pleased. He impresses me as a good kid and this is the act of a real team leader. (We already know he's a good passer.)
USC ought to be really good next year. For my money, they might be the best team in the country right now, and not being able to go to a bowl game is quite a price for Reggie Bush's payday years ago. So it just breaks my heart (sniff) to hear the weeping and wailing coming out of Columbus at the news that Ohio State and Pope Urban won't be going to a bowl game next year.
*********** Boy was I glad to see those trash-tallking turds from Arizona State get it handed to them by Boise State. Wow - Todd Graham and the bunch that got Dennis Erickson fired - they deserve each other. I'm sorry to see Erickson go out, but I am surprised that he never did seem to figure out that sooner or later, when you recruit people like Vontaze Burfict, you are at their mercy.
*********** The TV guys pulled out the ESPN version of the criminal defense lawyer's insanity plea - the frustration defense. Any time a guy on a losing team takes a cheap shot, it's "out of frustration." Gimme a break. An a**hole is an a**hole.
*********** It was sad to watch Kellen Moore play his last college game. Wouldn't you to have had him as your quarterback for the last four years?
*********** You find out who your friends are... In a radio interview with an Orlando station, Bobby Bowden threw his ole buddy Joe Paterno under the bus - actually, he pulled him out from under the bus, turned him around, and threw him under again. “if one of my coaches had come to me and told me what happened," Joe's old pal Bobby said, "I would have gone to that guy (Sandusky), asked him if it was true and I would have told him to get away from here and don’t EVER come back. And then I would have gone to the police. I think that’s what I would have done.”
Dadgummit, Bobby. You just can't get over the fact that just about the time you pulled even with Joe in the all-time-wins category, your career went south and he kept winning, can you?
You shouldn't have come out in the open like this, Bobby, because now I can't help suspecting that you might even be lobbying behind the scenes to have some of Joe's wins stricken from the record book.
Aw shucks, Bobby - we all know you ran a real clean program and all that, and the NCAA had no reason to take 14 wins away from you. And golly day, it's not as if it was your job to remind the public and your media lapdogs that 31 of your wins came at a lower-division place called "Howard," (now Samford) where you were playing the likes of Millsaps and Suwanee.
Personally, I think you should stay on your boat and have an occasional chat with "Peggy," but otherwise you really ought to keep your mouth shut. Jealousy doesn't become you.
Anyhow, so long as you cranked things up, allow me to dredge up something I wrote a few years ago...
*********** It may surprise
longtime Notre Dame fans to learn that Gerry Faust is the winningest
football coach in their school's long, revered history.
Gerry Faust? they'll say. But he was fired after going 30-26 at South Bend!
Well, yes, I'll tell them. But he also won 43 games at Akron. And overall, he won 251 football games, edging out Lou Holtz (249), and putting him far in front of such coaching greats as Dan Devine (172), Ara Parseghian (170), Frank Leahy (127), and Knute Rockne (105).
Okay, okay. I'm also counting Faust's 178 wins at Cincinnati Moeller - a high school. But if they tell me that shouldn't count, I'll invoke the Bobby Bowden rule, which says that it doesn't matter where you got the wins.
The news media makes a lot of noise about Bowden's ranking one win behind Joe Paterno as the all-time winningest Division I (FBS) coach. But listen - all of Paterno's wins came at Penn State, while 31 of Bowden's were at little Samford (actually called Howard at the time), definitely not a Division I college.
To those who scoff at the parallel between Faust and Bowden, Faust's Moeller teams probably could have beaten some of the teams Samford played back then.
Since Bowden spent his first four years as a head coach at Samford, it's interesting to compare what he did with what Paterno was doing in his first four years of coaching:
Bowden was beating up on the likes of Maryville, Suwanee, Millsaps, Carson-Newman, Georgetown (Ky) , Delta State, Southwestern of Memphis and Livingston (two wins each), plus such powers as Gordon Military College, Mexico National University (?) and the Tennessee Tech B team. (I really do think that Faust's Cincinnati Moeller teams could have beaten the last three.)
At the same time, Paterno was facing - and beating - teams such as Maryland, BC, West Virginia, Cal, Pitt, NC State, Miami, Army, Navy, UCLA, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado, Syracuse, and Missouri. And at the end of Paterno's first four seasons, against competition like that, Penn State was riding a 30-game unbeaten streak, marred only by a 17-17 Gator Bowl tie with, of all teams, Florida State.
Extending the Bowden rule to the NFL, although Lou Holtz had only three wins in his one NFL season as coach of the New York Jets, when those three are added to his 249 wins at six different colleges, they give him 252 career wins and move him into fourth place all-time among NFL coaches, behind only Don Shula, George Halas and Tom Landry.
Warren Moon would also benefit from the Bowden Rule. There he is, in fourth place in all-time NFL passing yardage, back of Favre, Marino and Elway with 49,325. But wait - before coming to the NFL, Moon had a highly successful career with Edmonton in the CFL. Threw for 21,228 yards in six seasons. Add that yardage to his NFL total and his 70,553 yards leapfrog him into first place. Career touchdown passes? Add his 144 in the CFL to his 291 in the NFL and he shoots from sixth place all-time to second, behind only Favre. (And listen - the CFL is a lot closer to the NFL in level of competition than Samford was to Penn State.)
Gerry Faust? they'll say. But he was fired after going 30-26 at South Bend!
Well, yes, I'll tell them. But he also won 43 games at Akron. And overall, he won 251 football games, edging out Lou Holtz (249), and putting him far in front of such coaching greats as Dan Devine (172), Ara Parseghian (170), Frank Leahy (127), and Knute Rockne (105).
Okay, okay. I'm also counting Faust's 178 wins at Cincinnati Moeller - a high school. But if they tell me that shouldn't count, I'll invoke the Bobby Bowden rule, which says that it doesn't matter where you got the wins.
The news media makes a lot of noise about Bowden's ranking one win behind Joe Paterno as the all-time winningest Division I (FBS) coach. But listen - all of Paterno's wins came at Penn State, while 31 of Bowden's were at little Samford (actually called Howard at the time), definitely not a Division I college.
To those who scoff at the parallel between Faust and Bowden, Faust's Moeller teams probably could have beaten some of the teams Samford played back then.
Since Bowden spent his first four years as a head coach at Samford, it's interesting to compare what he did with what Paterno was doing in his first four years of coaching:
Bowden was beating up on the likes of Maryville, Suwanee, Millsaps, Carson-Newman, Georgetown (Ky) , Delta State, Southwestern of Memphis and Livingston (two wins each), plus such powers as Gordon Military College, Mexico National University (?) and the Tennessee Tech B team. (I really do think that Faust's Cincinnati Moeller teams could have beaten the last three.)
At the same time, Paterno was facing - and beating - teams such as Maryland, BC, West Virginia, Cal, Pitt, NC State, Miami, Army, Navy, UCLA, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado, Syracuse, and Missouri. And at the end of Paterno's first four seasons, against competition like that, Penn State was riding a 30-game unbeaten streak, marred only by a 17-17 Gator Bowl tie with, of all teams, Florida State.
Extending the Bowden rule to the NFL, although Lou Holtz had only three wins in his one NFL season as coach of the New York Jets, when those three are added to his 249 wins at six different colleges, they give him 252 career wins and move him into fourth place all-time among NFL coaches, behind only Don Shula, George Halas and Tom Landry.
Warren Moon would also benefit from the Bowden Rule. There he is, in fourth place in all-time NFL passing yardage, back of Favre, Marino and Elway with 49,325. But wait - before coming to the NFL, Moon had a highly successful career with Edmonton in the CFL. Threw for 21,228 yards in six seasons. Add that yardage to his NFL total and his 70,553 yards leapfrog him into first place. Career touchdown passes? Add his 144 in the CFL to his 291 in the NFL and he shoots from sixth place all-time to second, behind only Favre. (And listen - the CFL is a lot closer to the NFL in level of competition than Samford was to Penn State.)
*********** Still on the Bowdens - Terry Bowden is the surprise new coach at Akron. Good choice, in my opinion. He was 47-17-1 record in six seasons at Auburn, and after some time as a TV analyst he's been at Division II North Alabama the last three seasons, going 29-9 there and making it to the second round of this year's playiffs..
*********** pope franjo wrote: It isn't news that colleges lose vaults of money on bowls. This is a good refresher though.
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2011-12-15/news/college-football-s-fleecing-of-american-universities/
It's a pretty damning article, and it may seem as if the heat is on the bowl guys, but as the article points out, they have a lot of money, and they're smart enough to use some of it to take care of the politicians. (I suspect that if you hear a politician calling for a playoff, he's really calling for a payoff.)
Guarantee you - a lot of the lobbying for playoffs that we see is NCAA-inspired.
You realize, of course, that "playoff" means turning everything over to the NCAA. Ain't gonna happen. The big football guys will pull out of the NCAA first.
(Sure - turn things over to the NCAA, which is MUCH less corrupt, and MUCH more efficient than the bowls.)
*********** Coach John Bothe, of Oregon, Illinois wrote..
How is this for a coaching quote?
"My years with Bob certainly shaped who I was as a coach," said Schmulbach. "He taught me that you need to have a system that is sound, believe in it and know how to teach it well enough so that your players will believe in it. That is what Bob was so good at and it was one of the most valuable lessons I learned from him."
This is from the article announcing the retirement of Tom Schmulbach, assistant football coach and instructor at Augustana College. He is the last link to the staffs that coaches the Vikings to their Division 3 national titles from 1983-1986.
Makes you think…
(The "Bob" in the quote refers to the great Bob Reade, for whom Coach Bothe played at Augustana. HW)
Makes you think... that Bob Reade would be successful today, at any level.
That statement is a great endorsement of what made Bob Reade such a great coach. And the longer I'm in the game, the more I have come to believe that there are some guys that you can tell that to and it doesn't make a bit of difference - they don't have the discipline to do it that way if it means doing it different from the way they're used to doing it.
The key words there are "system" and "teach."
You sure were privileged to have played for a man like that.
Agreed. Especially with "system" and "teach." You can draw up a better looking wing-t and 50 defense than he ran. I see things on the internet that look better all the time. But he was very sound and there was no other alternative in his mind.
Also very much agree with your discipline comment. The longer that I am in the game the more that I believe that is the one thing that keeps a coach or program from turning it around.
He made a comment when I was much younger about coaching being about "eliminating mistakes and how that was really the most important thing." I was not ready to accept that at the time but I am a full subsciber now.
*********** Omigod. Are you telling me that sports writers - like the ones who called for Joe Paterno's head - aren't perfect themselves?
Tsk, tsk. First ESPN sat on the transcript of a phone call that might have been used to nab a sexual predator; but now we find that the World Wide Leader, which wouldn't be satisfied until Joe Paterno was relived of his position, once provided employment for an accused molester...
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/135951483.html?cmpid=15585797
*********** Marshall, up 13-10, faces 4th & 5 on the Florida International 40 with 38 seconds to play. Do they punt? Nah. Do they take a knee? Nah. They throw - for a td.
*********** Down on the sidelines at the Beef O'Brady Bowl, the talk was about Pitt's being interested in Florida International coach Mario Cristobal, and they were interviewing a guy from Florida International and questioning him as if he were the AD, but his title - I swear - was Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment. WTF?
Sure enough - http://www.fiusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=11700&ATCLID=747735
*********** What were they thinking? The management of Les Habitants - Les Canadiens - the very symbol of Quebec pride, if not separatism, went and hired a coach who can't speak French!
http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Henry+Aubin+Anglo+coach+gesture+contempt/5884831/story.html
*********** Wednesday was Joe Paterno's 85th birthday and many of his former players are letting him know they haven't forgotten him...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/joe-paterno-birthday-former-penn-state-players_n_1162464.html
You are entitled to your opinion as to what he might have done differently in the Jerry Sandusky "teach the kids hygiene" scandal, but please refrain from attacking Coach Paterno as if he were the pedophile.
*********** Glad to hear that Norm Chow was hired by Hawaii. Guy has paid his dues.
*********** Not taking anything away from Les Miles. Heck of a coach and he's done a great job this year. I've already said that LSU should be crowned National Champs and be done with it - but Bill Snyder of Kansas State is my Coach of the Year.
*********** One of the problems with a rematch between LSU and Alabama - if Alabama wins, shouldn't their be a rubber match?
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2011 - "I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades." Duffy Daugherty
I am watching a replay of this year's Army-Navy game and I wanted to know your thoughts on each team's uniform design.
Adam Wesoloski
Pulaski, Wisconsin
I didn't care for Navy's white helmets, but Navy, over the years, has been way more experimental than Army, so I can't say that anything they do surprises me. I think that the plain blue and gold that they wear throughout the season looks plenty good. I mean, their alma matter is called "Navy Blue and Gold." I am never a fan of all one solid color.
I did find myself wondering, though, after all the talk in the previous few years about honoring the Marines, whatever happened to the red trim.
I was rather pleased that Nike went "light on the makeup" where Army was concerned.
Other than the wider helmet stripe and the sand-colored shoes (which looked like the boots the regular Army guys are wearing overseas), they were pretty conventional, and that suits me. I grew up in a time when Army was just about the only team wearing the plastic Riddell suspension helmets, and those gold helmets with the narrow black stripe, the gold pants and the black jerseys with the white, gray and gold sleeve stripes, made it easy to spot an Army player in any photograph.
Overall, I'd have to say I was not displeased.
Of course, maybe I'm more mellow than usual because for the first time in years, Army was competitive.
*********** The bowl season is barely under way, and already we've seen some amazing games...
Temple pounded Wyoming. Temple hadn't won a bowl game since Wayne Hardin was their coach (1970s). Last year, you may recall, they finished 8-4 and didn't get a bowl invite. Maybe that's what convinced Al Golden it was time to move on.
Ohio finally got a bowl win, and all it took was replay after replay after replay.
Louisiana-Lafayette pulled off an equally amazing win over San Diego State, just when I thought the Aztecs had put the Cajuns away.
Now, Temple, Ohio and Louisiana-Lafayette go home winners, and that's how they'll be until next season.
Had there been a playoff - and had they even qualified - they'd all be looking forward to an ass-kicking at some point in the next couple of weeks.
*********** While waiting for the power to come back on at Candlestick... Remember when the NFL was so concerned about the appearance of its teams that it employed former players to see to it that players were properly attired? At the end of one play Monday night, I saw three 49er defensive backs in the screen: one had all red stockings, one had all black, and one - what used to be the uniform look demanded by the league - red stocking with white sox.
*********** They told us that that sideline guy with the accent and the mangled English was named John Sutcliffe. Right. And my name is Bonnie Bernstein. So whose idea was it to foist on us this guy from ESPN Deportes (I think that's Spanish for "sports").
*********** We were informed that if the lights at Candlestick were to go out a third time, crowd safety would be their uppermost concern, and rather than wait too long to finish the game, they might just decide to resume the game tomorrow - maybe even at Oakland. Well hell, I thought - why not just go over to Oakland tonight and finish it there? Sorry - forgot that business about crowd safety.
*********** The Panthers' trick play for a score was NOT new and it was NOT first shown in some Dismey movie.
I can assure you - I may even have the 16 mm film somewhere to prove it - that the handoff-between-the-legs play was run against my team (Hudson's Bay HS) in 1980 by a former college coach named Jack Swarthout, then at Olympia's Capital HS. (It worked and it beat us.)
Bobby Bowden did it numerous times.
*********** I really like to read Jason Whitlock's stuff. Guy is fearless. And well-informed. I disagree with him at times, but I especially like the fact that he's that rare black journalist who doesn't seem to feel a need to bring race into everything he writes. As a result, when he does write on topics with a racial angle, I listen. It's possible for him to hold an open, honest dialogue with his readers without people immediately drawing lines along racial divisions.
Here, Whitlock contends that Bill Parcells, to whom the term "genius" is so often applied, is actually the person most responsible for the sorry state of two of the NFL's worst franchises.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/bill-parcells-miami-dolphins-kansas-city-chiefs-big-tuna-responsible-for-two-of-the-worst-teams-in-the-nfl-100611
*********** Writes Ed Bouchette in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers, with whom the Pitt Panthers share training facilities, were not exactly sad to see Todd Graham leave town...
The Steelers practically threw a party when they heard that Pitt coach Todd Graham quit. That goes from the top to the bottom, from those who work in the offices to the coaches and every-day workers who came into contact with Graham and his staff in the building.
They described Graham as an arrogant man who had no use for anything the Steelers might have offered, and they say he resented having to share the building and the indoor practice field at the UPMC complex with them.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11352/1197443-66.stm
*********** More on Graham by By Mark Schlabach / espn.com
I would like to apologize to Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino.
And former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
And new Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.
Heck, I'd like to apologize to any college football coach I've ever criticized.
None of you were as deceitful or slick as new Arizona State coach Todd Graham, who becomes the new president of the Liar's Club, thanks to his latest backdoor exit to a more lucrative job.
When compared to Graham, Petrino seems to have the loyalty of Lassie and Tressel seems to have the rectitude of Honest Abe Lincoln.
Graham is nothing more than a slithery used-car salesman, telling recruits and boosters what they want to hear so he'll ultimately get what he needs to pad his résumé for a better job.
Forget the Backyard Brawl. They'll have the Used Car Lot Brawl at Arizona State.
Graham even makes Kim Kardashian seem committed.
For the second time in five years, Graham sold a school on commitment and loyalty only to jump for another job as soon as one became available. He did the same thing at Rice in 2006 after leading the Owls to their first bowl game since 1961. A few days after signing a contract extension at Rice, Graham was named Tulsa's new coach. He guided the Golden Hurricane to 21 victories in his first two seasons and signed a 10-year contract extension on New Year's Day 2009.
Two seasons later, Graham left Tulsa to become Pittsburgh's new coach.
Graham lasted one season with the Panthers, going 6-6 with a team that was expected to contend for a Big East championship.
After telling the Panthers he would introduce a high-octane offense that would have fans clinging to the edge of their seats (sound familiar?), the only thing fast about his tenure at Pittsburgh was his exit to Arizona State. Under Graham, Pittsburgh's offense had the octane of a Yugo with 200,000 miles on its odometer.
In today's college football, coaches jump from job to job every season without consequences, but most coaches handle leaving their schools with more sincerity and professionalism than Graham did.
Graham said he took the Arizona State job so his wife could be closer to her family in Arizona. He said Arizona State is a place where he'd like to retire.
Just seven months ago, Graham said the same things about Pittsburgh.
"I've spent my whole life working to get this job," Graham told ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson in May. "This is the best job I've ever had."
And former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
And new Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.
Heck, I'd like to apologize to any college football coach I've ever criticized.
None of you were as deceitful or slick as new Arizona State coach Todd Graham, who becomes the new president of the Liar's Club, thanks to his latest backdoor exit to a more lucrative job.
When compared to Graham, Petrino seems to have the loyalty of Lassie and Tressel seems to have the rectitude of Honest Abe Lincoln.
Graham is nothing more than a slithery used-car salesman, telling recruits and boosters what they want to hear so he'll ultimately get what he needs to pad his résumé for a better job.
Forget the Backyard Brawl. They'll have the Used Car Lot Brawl at Arizona State.
Graham even makes Kim Kardashian seem committed.
For the second time in five years, Graham sold a school on commitment and loyalty only to jump for another job as soon as one became available. He did the same thing at Rice in 2006 after leading the Owls to their first bowl game since 1961. A few days after signing a contract extension at Rice, Graham was named Tulsa's new coach. He guided the Golden Hurricane to 21 victories in his first two seasons and signed a 10-year contract extension on New Year's Day 2009.
Two seasons later, Graham left Tulsa to become Pittsburgh's new coach.
Graham lasted one season with the Panthers, going 6-6 with a team that was expected to contend for a Big East championship.
After telling the Panthers he would introduce a high-octane offense that would have fans clinging to the edge of their seats (sound familiar?), the only thing fast about his tenure at Pittsburgh was his exit to Arizona State. Under Graham, Pittsburgh's offense had the octane of a Yugo with 200,000 miles on its odometer.
In today's college football, coaches jump from job to job every season without consequences, but most coaches handle leaving their schools with more sincerity and professionalism than Graham did.
Graham said he took the Arizona State job so his wife could be closer to her family in Arizona. He said Arizona State is a place where he'd like to retire.
Just seven months ago, Graham said the same things about Pittsburgh.
"I've spent my whole life working to get this job," Graham told ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson in May. "This is the best job I've ever had."
*********** "Aussies Abroad" features Hawaii's Scott Harding, a former Australian Rules player who is a bona fide football player.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7361086
*********** It's now "Winter Break" at our schools. Does this mean that kids are going to die of hunger between now and January 2?
Every school day morning I see teenage kids heading to our nearby alternative school to get their free breakfasts. But get this - at least half of them are carrying large cardboard cups in their hands. Starbucks stuff. For the price of that cup of designer coffee, they could have bought breakfast. Or a dozen eggs.
Free lunch and breakfast... Big Government would dearly love to serve it to every kid in America... dinner, too, eventually.
Yeah, yeah, I know. There's a lot of hunger out there. There's no food in the house. They go to bed hungry every night. Blah, blah, blah.
So why don't these kids look like the poor skin-and-bones kids we see in pictures from Biafra or Somalia?
Maybe it's because they consume enormous amounts of salty snack foods - got to have something to munch on while they watch cable TV - and they "eat out" (at McDonald's, of course) far more than a lot of middle-class people.
Hey- since they're not allowed to say grace at school before they eat those "free" meals, they ought at least to be required to bow their heads and thank the American taxpayers.
*********** Coming up next, on Fox... Killer Karts!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/high-schools/football-news/headlines/20111218-video-runaway-golf-cart-at-cowboys-stadium-strikes-group-of-people-on-field-after-high-school-football-game.ece
*********** The timing was a bit off, coming as it did on the day of the Eagles' beat-down of the Jets, but a New York Times story on the game-day activity on the Jets' sideline is interesting nonetheless...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/sports/football/organized-chaos-on-the-jets-sidelines.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha27
*********** Hugh,
I was watching the Ravens/Chargers game last night and saw something that James Harrison and so many of the "can't change the way I play the game" types would shake their heads at. It was a perfectly legal and devastating TACKLE on a quarterback. Notice, I did not say "hit." It was a tackle. It was legal. It was safe. It was devastating/intimidating/whatever those guys think they can't do without using their heads and tucking their arms. Thank you to Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs for providing the blueprint for others to follow. Now we have to ask "will they?"
As I've watched that Harrison hit on Colt McCoy I've found myself thinking "if he'd made an attempt to wrap his arms and tackle, would this even have been an issue?" I have to say that it would not. Either the NFL would have acknowledged his attempt to tackle and not maim, or the physical act of positioning himself for a legitimate tackle would have taken the head shot out of the picture, at least to the extent that he would not appear to be leading with his head with the intention of causing harm.
Merry Christmas.
Todd Hollis
Head Football Coach
Elmwood High School
Elmwood, Illinois
Precisely! I don't see why the NFL can't define a "tackle," at least one aimed above the waist, as an act in which the tackler's hands extend "outside and beyond the framework of his body." I mean, don't they claim to be able to make this sort of judgment in determining whether or not offensive linemen are holding? HW
*********** As usual, Pope Franjo, former big-time journalist who now, in retirement, serves as one of my intrepid reporters, comes up with a BIG-TIME SCOOP.
Perhaps there is a perfectly normal explanation for Mike Leach's associations, but otherwise it helps explain why Washington State was able to nab him - and why other colleges may have considered him too hot to handle.
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/12/mike_leach_and_john_gray_the_p.php
*********** Back in January, 1999, recapping the Falcons' defeat of the Vikings to advance to the Super Bowl, I noted - "an old single-wing play, with QB Chris Chandler set out wide, and Tim Dwight at 'tailback,' going for big yardage (the Vikings had done something similar the week before)"
************ These are the guys who put on clinics for youth coaches... With less than 10 seconds to play in the half, the Patriots punt the ball. The Bronco return man stands on his own 10 - and fields the damn thing! And bobbles it. And the Patriots kick a field goal and pick up three quick points.
*********** The news out of Penn State was not good. Two offensive players - the starting quarterback and a starting wide receiver (who has had his share of scrapes since he's been at Penn State - got into a locker room scuffle that sent the QB to the hospital.
Remember when schools put it up to the vote of their players whether or not to play in a bowl game? It was pretty much academic, because of course players wanted to go - back in the days when there were only four major bowls and a handful of others, back before 70 per cent of the 120 teams went to bowls - it was that big an honor.
What I'm getting at is this - I'm wondering if Penn State's players shouldn't have been allowed to vote on whether to accept a bowl bid.
Yeah, I know - keeping the team home wouldn't be fair to the players - it would be punishing them for something they had nothing to do with.
No argument there.
But then it became apparent that certain more prestigious bowls did not necessarily want to deal with anything remotely connected to the Sandusky boy-sex scandal, and they passed on the Lions, who right up to the last game of the regular season were in contention to the the Legends' (or was it Leaders) representative in the Big Ten championship game. As a result, the proud Nittany Lions find themselves relegated to some invented game called the Ticket City Bowl, and players have let on that they felt slighted.
Yes, yes, I know - the conference needs the money from the Ticket City Bowl. But otherwise, with 10 of the 12 "Big Ten" teams going to bowl games as it is, nobody would even notice if Penn State decided to stay home.
*********** Hi Coach,
I was intrigued when I read your news column this week. I was curious if North Beach had a lot of bullying/harrassment issues? My first two years at North Cedar we had literally none, and this past year we had a ton. I was curious if you outlined any rules to accompany this slide? Just trying to gather ideas. Thanks coach. Have a great holiday season,
Clay Harrold
Coach,
I have never - never - had a problem with hazing in all my years of coaching. That includes this past season, when my head coach, Todd Bridge, chose to adopt my approach.
A major reason for not having problems is that I have always believed in spending a lot of time - as much time as necessary - on making sure that players understand the deal. (I did the same thing as a teacher, too - I would spend the first two or three days of every school year making absolutely sure that kids knew what my expectations were. It paid dividends the rest of the year.)
I always make sure that players understand that the entire program is built on 3 R's - Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. It all starts with respect. That's what we build the program on. I will give them my word that the coaches will respect them; in return, though, I expect them to respect the coaches and respect their teammates - on and off the field - and I tell them that I consider disrespect of a teammate to be disrespect of me. And then, all bets are off.
This is not touchy-feely, I promise you - nobody wants to find out what it's like to be the first one to break that very basic rule and meet with a very angry Coach Wyatt.
Frankly, I think part of it may be my personality. Maybe it's because I'm a relic of an age when coaches would routinely let you have it, whereas nowadays you're not even supposed to rise your voice, but I can get pissed when somebody does something that's damaging to our team, and when I do, it is not pleasant for that player.
One year I was an assistant and I caught a couple of upperclassmen dunking a freshman. It was my first year there, and I guess upperclassman had done this sort of stuff for years. I reamed their asses for real. One kid looked at me in wide-eyed shock - his jaw literally dropped. I don't think he'd ever been lit into like that before. He made sure not to let it happen again.
End of tradition.
I have a PowerPoint that I use to explain the rules, and a contract that all players sign, indicating that they understand what's expected of them.
NOBODY goes on that field until he has seen the PowerPoint and signed off on all those points.
If I ever have a problem with anyone after that, I refer him to the PowerPoint and the contract he signed, and ask him if it's going to be necessary to go over it with him again.
Something important that I have noticed is how few coaches have the discipline themselves to go over things like this, point by point, before even starting to practice. They are so eager to get out onto the field that they just gloss over the rules.
This came back to me when I was going through some old notes from many years ago. I'd spoken with Dr. Ken Keuffel, great single-wing coach, and I wrote this:
Over the years, he has taught the single wing to numerous other coaches, and he says the one thing that dismays him is that many of them "won't do the fundamentals first." Instead, he says, they want immediately to begin running sophisticated plays, without dealing with such seemingly trivial but essential items as teaching the center snap.
Chances are that if they don't deal with these disciplinary issues up front, they will have to deal with them at some point down the line, when it is a lot less convenient to do so, and when it may involve real problems. Besides, how fair is it to the kids to send them out on the field without letting them know what pisses you off?
*********** He got the New York Giants to the Super Bowl. So with all these nobodies coaching in the NFL, why hasn't anyone hired Jim Fassell?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/sports/football/jim-fassel-still-waiting-for-second-chance-as-an-nfl-coach.html?pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha27
*********** I think (hope, actually) that the Browns are in HUGE trouble over thi McCoy concussion thing. After all the NFL's talk about player safety and getting on top of the concussion issue, it showed that, left up to the coaches, nothing has changed from the days of leather helmets.
Now the Browns' excuse is that nobody on the medical staff saw how hard he was hit - because they were busy tending to injured players.
You telling me that nobody (except McCoy's father) saw him lying on the field?
You didn't have to be a medical professional to think he should be checked out after that hit he took.
*********** From Pope Franjo... The other day I saw the surname Moos for the first time in that item about WSU.
Today I saw it again when I read a piece online at Poynter Institute in St. Pete: "Julie Moos has been Director of Poynter Online and Poynter Publications since 2009."
I wrote, On our honeymoon, we stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania and watched the Big 33 (high school all-star game) practice. Back then it was PA vs the National All-Stars or somesuch. I struck up a conversation with one of the "National team" coaches, and since my parents had by then moved to NJ, I told him that was where I was from. When he heard that, he said "New Jersey? Do you know Moose?"
I thought that was a pretty strange question, given all the millions of people who lived in New Jersey and all the big guys in New Jersey nicknamed 'Moose', and the slim likelihood that I would know the same "Moose" that he did.
At the game, though, when I saw the program, I realized that he meant a player from New Jersey named Joe Moos.
(And just a day later came this one, from Franjo...)
I am reading a book written by Garrison Keillor and decided to check his background and some reviews of the book.
Here is what I just came across almost immediately.
Between his first and second marriages, he was also romantically involved with Margaret Moos, who worked as a producer of A Prairie Home Companion
Most people would find these coincidences inconsequential and boring and say "So what?"
They'd probably be right. I do wish though that this were some sort of a sign to play certain lottery numbers. It probably is. I just cannot figure it out.
Three Moos in about 7-9 days. That's got to be some kind of a record somewhere.
*********** How's this for a way of measuring coaching effectiveness?
From the "coaches on the hot seat" site, I simple measured Dollars per Win
1. (Tie) Randy Edsall, Maryland - $1,110,000
Kevin Wilson, Indiana - $1,100,000
3. Mack Brown, Texas - $745,000
4. David Cutcliffe, Duke - $530,000
5. Mike Riley, Oregon State - $500,000
6. Skip Holtz, South Florida - $380,000
7. Derek Dooley, Tennessee - $360,000
8. Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech - $330,000
*********** One of the best things about watching "lower-level" playoff games is that you get to see players like Tim Flanders, from Sam Houston State. He is one hell of a runner. He transferred from Kansas State just before the season started. I sure wish he'd stayed at K-State.
*********** Pitt Wide receiver Cam Saddler on a radio show - Todd Graham said he would like to come back and meet with you guys. What do you think about that?:
“No, no, no. He better not dare try to come over here. He better not dare. I mean that with a passion. When the situation first happened, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I sat down with a couple guys and told them if the plan was for Coach Graham to coach us in the bowl game, we are not going to play.”
*********** The New York Times has been there to sing the chorus whenever our President gets started on his "millionaires and billionaires" theme, but when their CEO, Janet Robinson, "resigned" last week the company agreed to pay her a $4.5 million one-year "consulting fee."
*********** Coach, hope all is well for you and your family. Have a Merry Christmas and great New Year. I thought you might get a good kick out of this letter from Tyler Thigpen to Coastal Carolinas board of trustee's for for firing football Coach Dave Bennett . I think he covers just about everything that is wrong with the game of football today in about all levels. it’s a little long but worth reading the whole thing. Coach Bennett was more than a coach to the Pee Dee,and Grand Strand of S.C. He was real involved with the community. Have a great off season, I sent you a note back in the summer to see if you knew the only two college teams to win the four major bowl games.( I think you were at a camp and didn't get to see it) I learned it from a trivia question years ago and its still true. Most people don’t even come close to the right answer. but I think you will because all of the history you know. let me know if you get it . Thanks George Honeycutt, Myrtle Beach South Carolina..
Read Tyler Thigpen's letter to CCU officials - CCU Sports - http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/12/16/2553480/former-coastal-carolina-qb-thigpen.html
Hi Coach-
That is quite a letter written by Tyler Thigpen. He writes well and makes a lot of really good points.
And he ends it with the promise of some very strong action!
As for bowls... I'm assuming that you are counting the Cotton Bowl as one of the four major bowls, as it was for years, and not the Fiesta Bowl.
On that basis, I count four teams: Alabama, Georgia Tech, Georgia and Miami. Duke has wins in the Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls, but played in two Rose Bowls and lost them both. Tennessee and Nebraska would be there, too, except they both lost in their only Rose Bowl appearances.
My logic in checking it out was (1) they pretty much had to be southern teams, because for quite some time northern and western schools rarely played in the Sugar, Orange and Cotton bowls, and (2) they had to have been powers in the 20s, 30s and 40s in order to have played in the Rose Bowl, because from 1947 until the start of the BCS abomination, only Big Ten and West Coast schools met in the "Grand-daddy of Them All." (Miami slipped in there when the Rose Bowl served as the BCS "national championship" game.)
In that same fashion, Oklahoma wound up by chance in the Rose Bowl against Washington State, taking the place of Ohio State, the Big Ten champion, which played in the "National Championship" game.
So if you're counting the Fiesta Bowl instead of the Cotton Bowl as one of the four majors, it would be Miami and Oklahoma. You have no idea how hard it was for someone who went all the way back to the start of the Big Ten-West Coast series to have to watch Miami - Miami, for God;s sake! - playing on that hallowed field in the most sacred of games.
Georgia Tech won its Rose Bowl game when Cal linebacker Roy Riegels recovered a Cal fumble but got spun around and disoriented and ran the wrong way before he was finally tackled (by a teammate) on the Cal one. Cal's subsequent punt out of their own end zone was blocked for a safety, and Tech wound up winning 8-7. (Riegels, through no fault of his own, came to be known ever after as "Wrong Way Riegels," but out of respect for the man, who died in 1993 and never did quite get over it, I won't call him that.)
Merry Christmas to you and your family. (Or should I say "Happy Holidays," so as not to offend you?)
Coach, you were right about the Cotton Bowl, I should have named them. When I heard the Question the answer was Georgia, and Georgia Tech. I did not fact check for Alabama. I guess the question should had been the only three teams to win all. I had heard about how good GT and Georgia were in the early years considering their coaches, Pop Warner and Heisman, Dodd, but until I looked it up I didn't know how good they were back then and how many championships they had. This Question was pre-BCS. Most people will answer, USC, Michigan,Notre Dame,Texas ,Alabama. But I don’t think I had anybody to answer Georgia or Georgia tech. I think the thing was no one thought those two teams had played in the Rose bowl. It’s a good Question to ask to get people thinking, and it can win you a Free Beer. Thanks for the feed back. George . and a very Merry Christmas
(I await the beer.)
*********** I have turned down more than one invitation to hear the "Real Rudy" speak, and my life has been none the worse for my having done so. See, I've maintained for some time that the whle thing was just a two-bit scam, parlaying a real-life non-story into a semi-phony ("based on a true story") feel-good movie and then into a fairly lucrative career as a motivational speaker.
But, hey - it didn't really hurt anybody, right? So what the hell?
But the guy couldn't stop there.
Oh, no. He had to go after bigger fish... http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Notre-Dame-folk-hero-Rudy-Ruettiger-now-dubbed-a?urn=ncaaf-wp11595
*********** Cool Christmas (okay, "Winter Holiday") trick --- type "let it snow" into your google window, then let the screen fill up with snow and you can draw in it with your finger or mouse.
*********** "A Game of Honor", a documentary about Army and Navy football that's been years in the making, airs Wednesday, 9 PM, on Showtime...
Navy beat Army in football for the 10th straight year Saturday, 27-21, but CBS' broadcast will not be the last word on the game.
Instead, footage from nine video cameras stationed at FedEx Field will form a major part of a new documentary, "A Game of Honor: Inside the Most Enduring Rivalry in Sports" (Showtime, 9 p.m. Dec. 21), that explores how players balance football with military commitments.
A documentary about the Army-Navy rivalry, which is 112 games old, is an innately patriotic concept. The players are future officers. Some will go to war; some will return wounded; others will die. They are often impressive young men receiving the equivalent of an Ivy League education on campuses that are not hotbeds for recruiting violations. Football is a diversion from players' grueling training for military futures. The players are unlikely to win the Heisman Trophy or compete for the national title.
"When you tell a story, you want someone to wear a black hat and someone to wear a white hat," said Pete Radovich Jr., a co-producer of the documentary. "But these are both good guys. There are no Darth Vader characters."
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111215/SPORTS36/112150318&emailAFriend=1
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2011 - "Two are better than one - but only if two can act as one." Mike Krzyzewski
I am home now, I was released last night from Shock Trauma. I have a broken right femur and was told a concussion. They operated the same night I arrived at Shock Trauma and I now have a "nail" in my femur bone that is anchored by two pins that will remain in my leg for life.
I did well enough with my therapy session in the hospital that they felt confident enough to release me early with follow up appointments over he next few weeks.
I look forward to relaxing and rehabbing and taking my time getting back to my scheduled life.
Thank you for contacting me, it really means a lot. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Happy Holidays to you Connie and the family,
Brian
(What this all means is Coach Brian Mackell, a longtime coach and friend who has probably attended more Double Wing clinics - at least two a year, and sometimes three - than any coach I know, was in an automobile accident Monday night on his way to work, and could probably use some cheering up. HW)
bmackell@aol.com
Coach Brian Mackell
297 Scotts Glen
Glen Burnie, MD 21061
*********** Paul Zeise, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, describes the departure of Pitt coach Todd Graham...
Pederson (the Pitt AD), who was
in Greensboro, N.C., Tuesday when he found out about Mr. Graham's
intention to further explore the Arizona State job, said he told the
coach that he didn't have permission to talk to the school about the
job.
Mr. Graham, however, said he had already had conversations with the school and was contemplating a job offer.
Mr. Pederson said that was the last he had heard from Mr. Graham, despite repeated attempts to reach both him and Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love to discuss the situation further.
A Pitt athletic department administrator then went to Mr. Graham's house Tuesday night to try to find out what his intentions were.
Mr. Graham answered the door but declined to speak to the administrator.
Wednesday morning, Mr. Graham sent his resignation to Mr. Pederson -- without speaking with him -- and he and his family hopped on an airplane bound for Arizona.
Pitt executive vice chancellor and general counsel Jerry Cochran said in a statement that the school, which had made a significant investment to bring Mr. Graham and his staff to Pitt from the University of Tulsa, was obviously disappointed in the coach's decision to leave, as well as the way he left.
"Obviously this is not the way we would have expected Mr. Graham to handle any possible departure," the statement read. "Beyond normal expectations with respect to professional conduct, he has failed to comply with the terms of his contract."
Mr. Graham, however, said he had already had conversations with the school and was contemplating a job offer.
Mr. Pederson said that was the last he had heard from Mr. Graham, despite repeated attempts to reach both him and Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love to discuss the situation further.
A Pitt athletic department administrator then went to Mr. Graham's house Tuesday night to try to find out what his intentions were.
Mr. Graham answered the door but declined to speak to the administrator.
Wednesday morning, Mr. Graham sent his resignation to Mr. Pederson -- without speaking with him -- and he and his family hopped on an airplane bound for Arizona.
Pitt executive vice chancellor and general counsel Jerry Cochran said in a statement that the school, which had made a significant investment to bring Mr. Graham and his staff to Pitt from the University of Tulsa, was obviously disappointed in the coach's decision to leave, as well as the way he left.
"Obviously this is not the way we would have expected Mr. Graham to handle any possible departure," the statement read. "Beyond normal expectations with respect to professional conduct, he has failed to comply with the terms of his contract."
*********** ASU's desperation hire of Todd Graham smacks of the same kind of desperation behind Graham's hiring by Pitt a year ago, after it was discovered that the guy they'd hired, Mike Haywood, had the morals and anger management skills (and respect for women) of one of Urban Meyer's Florida recruits.
I thought Graham was a strange hire in the first place, but Pitt needed a coach, and needed one in a hurry. Good coach, probably, but a bad fit at Pitt. I just couldn't picture a Texan like him driving through the hills and hollers and mill towns of Western PA, and I wondered how he planned on luring Texas kids to Pitt.
We probably should have seen this all coming a few weeks ago when Graham's predecessor, Dave Wannstedt, started firing away at him like an angry parent over his callous treatment of his quarterback, Tino Sunseri, a local kid whose dad, Sal, is a Pitt grad who now coaches at Alabama. Graham, an outlander who obviously didn't understand Pittsburgh, a city with a tight culture all its own, had to be wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.
And then there was Rich Rod's poaching a three of Graham's assistants a couple of weeks ago. (For those with a taste for irony, Graham referred to the three at the time as "nothing but mercenaries."
Think of it - Rich Rod and the Three Mercenaries at U of A and Graham, the Man of Deep Commitment at ASU. Even if U of A and ASU didn't hate each other, they've got the makings of a real rivalry out there - Backyard Brawl in the Desert. Or maybe the Bolt Bowl, in honor of the classless way the two coaches have been known to bolt: Rich Rod leaving West Virginia, but calling to notify recruit Terrelle Pryor before telling his players, Graham notifying his Pitt players via an email to the AD, who then forwarded it to them. A few years ago, he was similarly classless in the way turned up his nose at a contract extension he'd just negotiated with Rice and departed for Tulsa.
Pederson? He's got to go. Last year, he forced out Dave Wannstedt (7-5, 42-31 overall at Pitt) and then made two bad hires in rapid succession. That would be bad enough, but it's a part of the guy's pattern: in his egomaniacal drive to make over Nebaska in his image, he fired Frank Solich (9-3) and hired Bill Callahan. How'd that work out, anyhow? Last I heard, Solich's Ohio U. team won this year's MAC championship.
This is Pederson's second stay at Pittsburgh. You'd think they'd have learned. He left Pitt once to go to Nebraska, but apparently convinced that he had to be one hell of an AD if he could single-handedly screw up Nebraska, Pitt took him back.
Pederson really should have been out on his ass this time last year after that botched hire of Mike Haywood. So, too should Pitt's president. I mean, we were talking about domestic abuse. It may not be pedophilia, but it's not exactly a parking ticket, either, and, sadly, it's commonplace enough among college athletes without adding a coach to the list of offenders.
Meantime, Pitt needs a coach. Now. My suggestion? Hire Tom Bradley (interim head coach at Penn State). He can coach, he knows the territory, and he can bring an entire staff with him. Unfortunately, Pederson passed over him a year ago when he hired Graham, and hiring Bradley now would mean admitting he made a mistake. (Not an easy thing to do when you've got an ego problem.)
Just wondering - is it too late for Pitt to get back into the Big East?
*********** Todd Graham's email, sent to the Pitt athletic department with the request that they forward it to the players...
"I have resigned my position at Pitt in the best interest of my family to pursue the head coaching position at Arizona State. Coaching there has always been a dream of ours and we have family there. The timing of the circumstances have prohibited me from telling you this directly. I now am on my way to Tempe to continue those discussions. God Bless. Coach Graham."
"God Bless?" Keep Him out of this, you creep.
*********** A little background on the new Arizona State coach, by Joseph Duarte, in "Rice Athletics" ...
In his only season (at Rice) in 2006, Graham led the Owls to a 7-6 record and appearance in the New Orleans Bowl, their first postseason appearance in 45 years.
As a result, then-Rice athletic director Chris Del Conte reworked and extended Graham’s contract through the 2012 season.
“It is a no-brainer to renegotiate Todd’s contract and make him a part of our family (long term),” Del Conte said at the time. “In one year, he has transformed the culture of what football can be and should be.”
In a statement, Graham said: “I am very grateful to Rice University for the opportunity to coach this team, and for the commitment the university has made to me and to my staff as we look forward to build on the efforts of our first season.”
A day later, Graham bolted Rice for Tulsa.
*********** As much as I like and respect Tom Bradley, who was a finalist when Graham got the job, he cannot be considered a serious candidate with the Penn State baggage that comes with him. Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, speculating about the next Pitt coach
As much as I like and respect Bob Smizik and the stuff he writes, I can't believe he'd write that.
"Penn State baggage?" What a dreadful concept.
Hey, Bob - Hugh Wyatt here. I was born in Pennsylvania and I lived there until I was 18. I married a Pennsylvania girl. In Pennsylvania. When I was a kid I saw Penn State play Penn in Franklin Field. I once visited State College and walked on the grass in Beaver Stadium. And over the years I've said complimentary things about Joe Paterno. Oh - and I own a Penn State jacket, which I sometimes wear when I walk my dog. I guess that means that I come with Penn State baggage, too.
Jeez - only few weeks ago I jokingly suggested recalling all Penn State diplomas and burning them outside ESPN headquarters.
(You remember ESPN, right? The people who called for Joe Paterno's head as an accessory to child abuse, while sitting on the potentially incriminating tape of Bernie Fine's wife until now the statute of limitations applies?)
*********** What a week for Pittsburgh. First, model citizen James Harrison is suspended because of dirty play (what a surprise); then hockey super star Sidney Crosby is sidelined for who knows how long with "concussion-like symptoms"; finally, the Pitt family lost their beloved coach, the legendary Todd Graham, who took the Panthers to a stellar 6-6 season and a berth in the prestigious BBVA Compass Bowl.
*********** Watching the performance of Blaine Gabbert and the Jagwires on Thursday night, I bet the new owner found himself wondering if it was too late to stop payment on that check he wrote to the League.
*********** I love it when pompous asses get taken down, so I'm really enjoying watching the NFL, which is so-o-o-o concerned about player safety and so-o-o-o concerned about concussions (and s-o-o-o-o concerned about lawsuits on behalf of former players who might have suffered brain damage) trying to suppress the story of the Browns mismanagement of Colt McCoy's concussion. God help us lower forms of coaching life if one of us had put a kid back into the game as fast as the Browns did after the shot McCoy took.
***********
Many of the players and coaches in the Junior Black Knights Youth
Football program, in Fort Montgomery, New York, have some connection
with the US Military Academy in nearby West Point. The photo at left
was taken at their recent awards dinner, held "on post" at the
Officers' Club.In the back (left to right) Mighty Mites Head Coach Paul Belmont; Cadet Steven Erzinger, Army Captain and leading tackler, who presented the awards; League President and Division 1 Head Coach Ben Liotta; Division 3 winner Chase Prairie (13 yrs old); Division 3 Head Coach Kevin Barnes; Division 2 Head Coach Steve Storms. In the front: Division 1 winner Joe Green (9 yrs old), and Mighty Mites winner Joe Lennon (7 yrs old). Not pictured: Division 2 winner Mason Chambers (10 yrs old).
Coaches- If you have a Black Lion on your team, it's not too late to submit your nomination. For more info... http://www.coachwyatt.com/BLfaq.htm
*********** If you didn't see the Army-Navy game on TV, you might enjoy seeing the pre-game "tease," featuring cadets from both the military and the naval academy. And even if you did see the game, you'll still enjoy seeing this again...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyVFM-T0m0w
*********** Division II Wayne State, from Detroit, has never exactly been a football power. Not until recently, when under head coach Paul Winters they've gone 36-13 in the last four years. This year, after winning four straight playoff games, they're 12-3.
Until this year, the Wayne State Warriors had never made the playoffs.
But Saturday, they'll be playing for the D-II national championship in Florence, Alabama against perennial power Pittsburg State, of Kansas.
Alas for Wayne State, as often happens in these Cinderella stories, Akron, looking for a new head coach, has received permission to talk with Paul Winters.
*********** A New York rabbi predicts that if the Broncos win the Super Bowl, Christians will go on a rampage and burn down mosques and synagogues...
*********** "That's not your typical shoplifter." So said a Cowlitz County, Washington sheriff's deputy, commenting on the guy in Longview who pulled out a hatchet and chopped off the ear of a store security guard who'd stopped him for shoplifting.
*********** NEWS FLASH! New Canaan, Connecticut. (CBS Connecticut) - Three New Canaan Youth Football coaches, including the league president, have resigned after concern from parents and league officials about an end-of-season party last month that ended in the players burning their third-place trophies.
On Nov. 19, coaches Rod Fox, David Jahn, and Jay Pirrone reportedly took many of the players from the NCYF eighth-grade black team to Irwin Park for the trophy-burning exercise, using it as a motivational tool to improve next season. The team had reportedly won five consecutive league championships, New Canaan Patch reports.
New Canaan police received an anonymous letter from a parent who was concerned about the incident, the Connecticut Post reports. On Nov. 30, police observed “a very small burn spot” in the area of Irwin Park where the incident took place. Police have indicated that no charges are pending, but that the league itself is conducting its own investigation. In a recent email sent to parents, the league’s board addressed the concern for the trophy-burning incident.
“The parents uniformly were disappointed and upset at this exercise and thought it demonstrated poor sportsmanship and an inconsistent message after the players had all been congratulated for their hard work and play,” the letter stated,
(Good on ya, coaches - for giving those kids a real life lesson and teaching them what those participation trophies are really worth. Meantime, if you're looking for a nice, safe place to live, New Canaan, Connecticut sounds like a good choice because if the police have time to investigate the burning of trophies... "Now, then, if you'll come with me, Sir - I'm going to have to take you in for illegal carbon dioxide emissions and destruction of the Planet.")
http://connecticut.cbslocal.com/2011/12/13/coaches-resign-after-allowing-youth-football-team-to-burn-trophies/
***********
Hugh, Here's a picture of our Black Lion, Sean Ramras, along with our
Head Football Coach Darryl Maple, Gen. James Shelton, and Black Lion
Steve Goodman, and me at our Fall Sports Awards Program.Once again, Jim Shelton and Steve Goodman told a packed house the story of Don Holleder and the Black Lions. By the time they were through there wasn't a dry eye in the room. This is without a doubt the biggest award that we present and the students, staff, and parents who are present leave the room in awe. Jim also mentioned you as the driving force behind the creation of the award, and even mentioned my name as having played for you (so very long ago!).
Jim and Steve stuck around for about and hour talking with our parents and coaches to wrap up a truly memorable evening. As a footnote, a few weeks ago Steve helped present the Black Lion at my old school (Coral Springs Christian) where the current Head Coach, George LePorte, played for me and was himself a Black Lion back in 2003!
Thanks again for helping to create this great award to recognize our best kids who represent and keep alive Don Holleder's spirit of dedication, devotion, and sacrifice for their teams!
Take care!
Jake von Scherrer
Athletic Director
Palmer Trinity School
Palmetto Bay, Florida
*********** Joe Restic died last week. He was 85. In his 23 years as Harvard's head football coach (1971-1993), Coach Restic employed the "multiflex" offense that he'd developed in nine years of coaching in Canada - three years as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger Cats - to win 117 games.
He was born the son of a coal miner in Emeigh Run, Pennsylvania, a tiny "patch" (in Pennsylvania jargon) not five miles from Barnesboro, where another great coach, the late Duffy Daugherty of Michigan State, grew up.
(According to Pope Franjo, "Emeigh Run is, on a straight line, between Indiana and Altoona in Cambria County. In other words, it is in the boonies.")
He graduated from Villanova where he played football, played briefly with the Philadelphia Eagles.
His "multiflex" offense employed multiple formations and shifts and blocking schemes. Its purpose, he said was to confuse opposing defenses - to “create doubt in the best athletes.”
In his 23 meetings with legendary Yale coach Carm Cozza, Cozza won 13 and he won 10.
“When you plan a defense against a Restic team, you plan to defense the world,” Cozza told The Boston Globe in 1993. “He throws everything at you.”
Coach Restic told the New York Times that his offense taught lessons beyond football: “One of the keys in life," he said, "is to be able to adjust and be flexible.”
*********** Coach Wyatt, hope all is well for you. Just thought I would update you on this year and wanted to get you our nominee for the Black Lion Award, a quality student-athlete. His letter is attached and if you need more information on him, just let me know.
As for this year, in our second season of varsity football we finished 8-3 (we were 1-8 last season) and finished as State Div V Runner-ups, finishing the season as the #1 scoring offense in the state averaging 39.9 points per game. Is it coincidence that it was our first time back to Providence to see you speak in about six years? Who knows!
Again, if you need anything from me, let me know and thanks for all the support you give to the programs.
Bill Raycraft
Windham High School
Windham, New Hampshire
(I told Coach Raycraft that there was no doubt in my mind that his attending my clinic with his staff was the sole reason for the great season. HW)
*********** Can anybody tell me where this movie will be playing or where I can get a copy?
http://www.themousethatroarsmovie.com/#/banner/
http://www.facebook.com/TheMouseThatRoarsMovie
*********** Coach Wyatt, (At left) me, Patrick Miller, and his parents, Jim and Patty Miller.Thank You for allowing me and my team to be a part of this. It's starting to create a little buzz around San Luis Obispo... I had a dad come up to me after I told the story behind the award. He had a little boy with him, maybe 5 or 6 years old... He told me how much he enjoyed learning about that, and in 6 years he hoped his little boy could play for me... It was a humbling encounter...
Kurt Heinke
San Luis Obispo, California
*********** A dozen or so girls at a Buffalo-area high school have been suspended from the school basketball team for their use of a racial slur in their pre-game chant.
According to the Buffalo News, "Teammates would hold hands before their games, say a prayer together, then yell "One, two, three [N-word]!" before running out onto the court, according to offended students."
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/tonawanda/article665195.ece
The chant, which took place in the locker-room during a brief players-only time, with no adults present, apparently had been a pre-game ritual for years.
The team's lone black player was a 15-year-old sophomore who said she was shocked to learn of the chant, and told the Buffalo News, "I said, 'You're not allowed to say that word because I don't like that word,'" she recalled. "They said, 'You know we're not racist, Tyra. It's just a word, not a label.' I was outnumbered."
The superintendent of the school district said no coaches, administrators or other adults connected with the school were aware of the "tradition" until the black girl was suspended for getting into a fight with another player over the use of racial slurs during practice and before games. "The minute an adult knew, we started our inquiry and investigation," he said.
I'm really amazed that something like this could have gone on as long as it apparently did (long enough to make it a "tradition") without any adult ever knowing about it. I have a very hard time believing that all this time, no coach had ever heard anything about it.
At the very least, it appears that the coach failed to instill in those kids a basic sense of respect for their team and their teammates. I mean, how in the hell can you build a team when your players feel free to insult - to racially harass - a teammate? How can you not educate them about the importance of respect?
I think it's a major part of a coach's job to create and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect, one in which no one puts a teammate down; in which racial, religious or ethnic slurs or teasing are totally taboo. Conversely, no coach has a right to allow an atmosphere in which kids are degraded or demeaned by their teammates.
For
many years, I've made it a point at the start of every season to lay
out the ground rules with a PowerPoint presentation (see page at
left) , and one of the things I have to stress is that just because a
guy doesn't speak up or act pissed about what may seem to you
like simple teasing doesn't mean that it doesn't sting. And when
that stuff starts to fester, there goes any chance you had of building
camaraderie.At one heavily-minority school where I coached I found it necessary to point out to black kids that the "N" word, even used in banter among them, was unacceptable to me, and should be to them, because that one word was once enough to consign their parents and grandparents to being little more than objects, and second-class objects at that. (I'm dismayed by the frequent and seemingly increasing use of it in what passes for "music," and I can see how, unless we properly educate white kids, they, too, can get the idea that it's cool to use it.)
There's no way that situation in Buffalo should have come to the point where it is. Now, at a minimum, with suspensions handed out to most of the team, there are sure to be hard feelings all around, and I fear that the white girls will blame the black girl for complaining, missing out on the real lesson they should have been taught from the start - that you will respect your teammates.
*********** The 30-year-old head football coach at Lakeland, Florida's George Jenkins High School has been arrested and charged by the Polk County Sheriff's Office with boinking a 17-year old student (female) at the school.
The soon-to-be former coach faces two counts of sexual battery by a person of custodial authority.
Sheriff Grady Judd said the coach, apparently known as "The Dude," invited the girl to his home on three occasions and twice, um, "engaged in sex" with her.
The sheriff said the investigation began when someone from the community called to tell him about the goings-on between the coach and a student.
“The Dude knew better and now he is going to jail,” Judd said during a press conference.
(Life hasn't been all that good for The Dude on the coaching end, either. He has been under investigation by the Polk County School District on accusations of harassing and humiliating his football players. And this past season, George Jenkins went 0-11.)
*********** Hello Coach Wyatt,
I posted a thread earlier about canceling our varsity season last fall due to lack of numbers. Only two young men from the senior class came out. I found out last night that one of those two senior captains has been diagnosed with cancer. His name is Neal Lang, and he was an incredible leader when our team needed him most. Now he could use some prayers from all of us. Please, if you could, post this to your News You Can Use section so we can get as many prayers going Neal's way as we can.
He has a Caring Bridge site here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nealtlang
Thank you Coach!
Thank you,
Chris Harvey
St. Clair, Minnesota
*********** Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn's taking the Arkansas State job was surprising to me. I really expected something a lot bigger, based on what he's accomplished as an assistant.
Auburn pays its coordinators well. More, even, than Cam Newton. Coach Malzahn's said to be taking a pay cut of roughly $500,000. Stated another way, that's "half a million dollars." A year.
Why?
Well, some folks in the South think that his offense is gimmicky, and point to the fact that before and after the 14-0 2010 season with Cam Newton, Auburn was 7-5 in 2009 and 7-5 in 2011.
But there might be something that scared off ADs at larger places that were looking for head coaches: seems that just before the Auburn-Alabama game, Gus Malzahn's wife, Kristi, who seems like a very nice lady, had a few things to say at a Christian conference back in Arkansas that may have been better left unsaid. Among other things, she joked about Lou Holtz's lisp. (So? I don't think she mentioned thsat he spits when he talks, or that she can't stand that "Doctor Lou" shtick.)
Anyhow, it was all caught on camera, and the video, uploaded to Youtube, got a whole lot of views - until the church that sponsored the conference - and owned the copyright - had it pulled.
I wish Gus Malzahn well. In my opinion, he's earned the chance. At least he's a head coach now, and he's back in his home state.
Not so well noted was the departure of Auburn's other coordinator, defensive guy Ted Roof, one-time Duke head coach, who took the same job at Central Florida.
WTF? Auburn to Arkansas State? Auburn to Central Florida?
Next to go, I'm guessing, will be that miracle worker, Cam Newton. Oops, sorry. I meant Gene Chizik.
*********** I had to laugh at a local radio news leader who just grabbed the script and started to read and told us that Jerry Sandusky had appeared at the courthouse in "Belafonte," (like the calypso singer), Pennsylvania.
Uh, "Bellefonte" is pronounced in a very American way as "BELL-font."
Subtle are the ways, wherever we live, that we can spot outsiders. Folks out here gnash their teeth when they hear Lou Holtz say "Or-e-gaahn."
And Yakima, Washington is "YAK-a-maah," not "YAK-a-muh," and Scappoose, Oregon is "Scap-POOSE" and not "Scuh-POOSE."
*********** When ESPN does something bad, it really sucks. And when ESPN does something good, it's really good.
The recent Todd Marinovich special was really, really good, one in the long line of 30 for 30 specials.
It sure did straighten out an awful lot of misconceptions most of us had, especially in regard to his relationship with his dad, Marv, former USC star and NFL strength coach who in his son tried to produce the perfect quarterback.
Along those same lines, the Ronnie Knox story would be a great one. It's too bad that most of the people who could help tell it are now dead.
Ronnie Knox was a highly-touted California high school passer whose recruitment (you think it's bad now?) was orchestrated by his father, Harvey. Harvey Knox was a promoter who turned his skills toward pushing his son's career. He was considered an obnoxious freak at the time, yet now those of us who remember him realize that he was the forerunner of a mighty race of blowhard stage fathers that now infest all levels of sport.
Ronnie signed originally with Cal - the Bears, under Pappy Waldorf, were very good back then - but he complained about strategy and clashed with Waldorf, and wound up transferring to UCLA. A very good passer, he was an instant success, but as a poor runner, he proved not to be a very good fit in coach Red Sanders' UCLA single wing. And always, hovering nearby, there was Harvey.
Todd Marinovich appeared on the shoe to be a smart guy who's getting his sh-- together. He's an artist, and I heard him say on the radio that he's been sober for three years now.
Ronnie Knox, though, never did get it figured out, and died in 1992, his life a waste.
Read more: Ronnie's spectacular debut against Texas A & M --- http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1130248/1/index.htm
Read more: The Sordid Tale of Ronnie Knox --- http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2010/5/18/1473469/the-sordid-tale-of-ronnie-knox-and
Read more: Era of Red Sanders Ends... http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv18/CFHSNv18n3g.pdf
*********** John Lambert played for me, then assisted me, then succeeded me as head coach at LaCenter, Washington, where over the last 13 years he's built one of Southwest Washington's top programs.
He's also a great family man, and he sent me this text the other day:
Just heard my wife tell my daughter while playing the piano "perfect practice makes perfect"
Your legacy lives on through my family.
*********** Coach Wyatt,
Good Morning!
Just over three years ago I became a youth coach for a start up program in the Diocesan league in Pittsburgh. I found your website and the DW and it has been great. In our three short years we have made two playoff appearances and one championship game. I have most of your materials but will be adding more soon. I appreciate your help, advice and look forward to "News You Can Use". After three years we have been successful with a steady diet of wedge, super power, counter and lead. I am going to try to get to Philadelphia. I have not been able to make it to a clinic yet.
On another note I look forward to the notes from Pope Franjo. I am from the Ohio Valley, St. Clairsville, OH. The Wheeling Central story is one I follow closely. They have always been a football power and I played for the current coach, Mike Young, when he was an assistant at St. Clairsville for the late great George Strager. Coach Strager, coached and won a state title at Wheeling Central in 1963, is known as the "Dean of Ohio Valley coaches". Wheeling Central has won 8 WV state titles since 2000. Coach Strager is a member of the Ohio High School coaches HOF and I am sure Coach Young will get his due once his coaching career is over. I have been privileged to play for both, great men and great coaches.
Merry Christmas!
Ron Balog
North Pittsburgh Catholic Ironmen
Coach Balog, Thanks for the note!
I hope you don't mind that I sent a copy to Pope Franjo. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Heck of a guy. He was a young sports editor in Hagerstown, Maryland when I was a young coach, and when I lost my first seven games there weren't many people in town standing behind me (except for those waiting to knife me in the back). But Franjo backed me, and I probably wouldn't have gone on to have a career in coaching if he hadn't.
Glad to help, and if I can ever answer any questions I hope you'll feel free to email me.
Hope you can make it to Phila.
Merry Christmas to you, too!
*********** Anybody want to move to Texas with me? What if I were to tell you (as the ESPN teasers go) that if you do we can both vote against Craig James?
James is planning to run for the Republican nomination in Texas in the upcoming U.S. Senate primary, Gromer Jeffers of the Dallas Morning News tweeted.
This isn't bad news, you know. Not at all.
First of all, that a**hole has zero chance of being elected, because he's not really all that well known (not everybody watches ESPN, you might be surprised to know), and where he is well known, he's, um, not universally liked and admired.
But here's the really good news: once he declares, it'll mean no more ESPN face time for him until he's out of the race, because the law would require ESPN to provide his opponent(s) with equal time.
As a matter of fact, maybe I'll vote for him because if he wins it'll keep him off football games for six years.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011 - "Americans are free to disagree with the law, but not to disobey it." John F. Kennedy
Truthfully, as football becomes more and more a quarterback's (or, truthfully, a single wing tailback's) game, I don't see how the other three guys even came close to Griffin and Luck in the value of their performances.
The gifted quarterback/single wing tailback can take a game over. Can lift his team.
But as has been demonstrated (Richardson: 89 yards against LSU), even a very good runner can be shut down. A great return man? Jeez. This isn't Football 401. Don't kick it to him.
And for God's sake, H***man people - don't demean your award (any more than you already have through your ESPNizing of it) by considering a player who's tested positive for drugs.
***********
At our recent North Beach High Awards banquet, we paid special honor to
our six seniors, three of whom - Dominick Deibel, Matt Jennings and
Tyler Reed - played for me as freshmen three years ago, and wound up
lettering for four years. One of our seniors, Tyler Reed, was the coaches' unanimous choice as our Black Lion Award winner. (That's Tyler on the left, in between me and his dad, Maynard Reed, our varsity wrestling coach and one of our middle school football coaches.) Tyler, our starting middle linebacker, was one of only two returnees with significant varsity experience on defense. On offense, he was set to be the key cog in our offensive line - our right guard. During our spring ball, that's where he played.
And then, in mid-summer, our projected starter at B-Back (fullback) got into it with his grandfather, whom he'd been living with, and took off for Texas, where his mother lives. (We get our share of those sorts of living arrangements at North Beach.) We never saw him again.
Looking at who we had available, we determined that we had no choice but to ask Tyler to move to B-Back. No problem. He took to it right away. His blocking, as you might expect, was excellent; he was tough enough and strong enough that we weren't going to be overmatched at the corner, and he loved to hit. Of course, he didn't exactly mind getting a chance to run the ball, and he didn't do a bad job at it. Reckless, he ran like a wild horse, and scored our first offensive touchdown of the year on a wedge in which he actually helped push the pile for seven yards.
But overall, our offense was stalled, and the major problem was the line. We'd managed to cover for Tyler at right guard fairly well, but - anybody who has ever coached at a small school will understand this - that had meant moving three other linemen around, and it also meant promoting a freshman who really wasn't ready yet for varsity play.
After being shut out in our second game (our second loss), we came to the conclusion that there was only one way we were going to be competitive - we had to get better up front. Tyler had to go back to guard. Although we'd miss his blocking at B-Back, we did have a young player who we felt could do a respectable job there. And besides, without a stronger offensive line, it didn't matter much who we had in the backfield anyhow.
But we were already two games into the season, and Tyler was feeling more and more comfortable at B-Back, and now he was going to have to go back and relearn a line posiition that he'd barely been exposed to in the Spring. And somebody was going to have to break the news to him. As offensive coordinator, that was me. I looked for the best way to present it to him, and started by explaining that there was something we were asking him to do for the good of the team, but he cut me short by saying, "I sort of saw this coming."
Just like that, he accepted the move, and just like that we began to move the ball.
In our third game, against one of the league's better teams, we came alive offensively. We lost, 30-16 but we put on two long scoring drives. We had finally found our offense, and Tyler's move was the reason.
We then went on a three-game win streak, quite a turnaround for a program that had won only three games total in the previous two seasons. In the first of the wins, we scored 52 points; in the second, we won our first homecoming game and got our first win in three years on our home field; in the third, we upset the defending state champions on their field.
I had never called so many wedges as I did this past season, and the main reason was that Tyler, at right guard, was our point man. I often found myself wondering how great those wedges would have looked like with Tyler running them, and then I remembered why we moved him!
We had a lot of young, inexperienced players, and we had to throw many of them into varsity contests before they were ready. That meant that we had to lean extra heavily on the few experienced players we had. Tyler was foremost among them in serving as the example to the younger players of a player who never let up, and hit as hard in practices as in games.
Tyler was our hardest hitter by far. As our middle linebacker and our right guard, he was in the middle of every play - yet he didn't miss a single play to injury.
At season's end, he was not, in my mind, sufficiently recognized by the other coaches in our league, and he didn't earn all-league honors. Perhaps at B-Back he might have.
Didn't matter. He had suffered through two horrible years of football as a sophomore and junior, and as a senior he led a young team on the way back to respectability. And that was enough for him.
*********** Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati Enquirer, writing about the Cincinnati-Xavier brawl, nailed it:
"It's an attitude that's the problem. One that suggests nothing matters more than defending your honor. That the true test of a man's character is his ability to go gangster on anyone and everyone, when he feels he has been "disrespected." Even if it means embarrassing yourself, your school and the best intra-city rivalry in the country."
Yup. Can't allow yourself to be disrespected. People who know nothing about the meaning of the word respect will shoot someone who looks at them crosseyed.
It's the code of the street, and it's behind the stupid "look at me," or "in our face" antics in sports.
In economics we learn about Gresham's Law: "Bad money drives out good" (when was the last time you had someone hand you a silver dollar, instead of a paper dollar bill?)
You might also say there's a Gresham's law that applies in our culture in general, and sports in particular - bad conduct drives out good. The code of the street is more powerful than the spirit of sportsmanship, and drives it underground. It's going to be the ruination of sports - if it isn't already.
*********** Tsk, tsk. That poor young man in Massachusetts who had a touchdown called back for premature celebration.
Tsk, tsk. But far better to have 100 touchdowns called back than to have to deal with one scene like the brawl between the Cincinnati and Xavier basketball teams.
Whine all you like about unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for excessive celebration and taunting ("taking all the fun out of the game"), but allowing it to go on leads to that kind of sh--.
And good for the Cincinnati basketball coach, Mick Cronin. The university suspended four of his players for various lengths of time, and he had this to say about it...
"Before any of them put a uniform back on they will apologize and that's just the first step before putting the uniform back on," Cronin told ESPN.com Sunday. "Just because the press release says what it says that doesn't mean they're all back. They're going to sit in front of a camera and say how sorry they are and how grateful they are for getting a second chance.
"If I don't believe it then they won't be on the team -- and if they don't demonstrate that they won't ever put on a jersey again -- period," Cronin said. "They're going to sit in front of a camera and say it. I can tell the difference as to how genuine they are. The university issued the suspensions and I supported it. But for me it's different. I have the autonomy to not let anybody back on the team."
*********** The Giants' Jason Pierre Paul is pretty good, isn't he?
*********** I am no fan of the Dallas Cowboys, and I was happy to see the GIants beat them, but this bullsh-- of finding out after a field goal's been kicked - and made - that (unbeknownst to us) the opposing coach had called timeout is infuriating and runs counter to the spirit of the game. The game was meant to be played by the players, and was never intended to be a coach's board game - a chessboard with human pieces. When they gave coaches the power to call a time out they took a giant step toward making a travesty of the game.
*********** Can you believe the number of passes that NFL "receivers" drop? Time to stuff socks in those big mouths of theirs.
Time once again for me to call for the keeping of UCs and UCIs, two of the most meaningful yet unpublicized stats in professional football: (1) UCs: "Uncatches" (passes dropped), which would not count against a QB as incompletions (or completions); (2) UCIs: Uncatches resulting Interceptions, which would no longer be charged against a QB, but against the "receiver."
Please don't tell me that it's too objective, too much of a judgment call. There is ample precedent: since the beginning of recorded time, baseball's official scorers have handled quite well the responsibility for ruling on hits and errors, and as a result, baseball has stats that show us who's a good fielder and who isn't, and whether or not a run should be charged against a pitcher.
*********** I was listening to a talk-show guy named Michael Berry, interviewing one Dr. Billy Higginbotham a Texas A & M expert on feral hogs. Fascinating guy.
He said that despite the fact that you can hunt 'em all-year round, 24 hours a day - no limit - they still thrive.
His solution: "All we'd need to have is a two-week season and a two-hog limit - and we'd poach 'em out of existence."
Check out Feral Hogs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - http://agnewsarchive.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/WFSC/feralhog.htm
*********** Saw this in local state final.
Huddled 20 yards back and then dead sprint to line. D was so confused they messed up coverage.
Problem? No way did they set for a full second. Ball was snapped just as everybody got to line.
Ref did not call it.
Dennis Cook
Roanoke, Virginia
Officials seem to pretty much concentrate on a certain number of frequently-seen infractions, plus a penalty du jour, a wild card infraction which one of them will pull out of a hat at any time.
But otherwise, there are sections of the rule book that I am convinced they never look at, and the part requiring the one-full-second pause between the time the team is set and the time the ball is snapped is one of those.
*********** Colt McCoy's dad, himself a career Texas high school coach, had some issues with the way his soon was returned to the game after a vicious hit by the Steelers' James Harrison.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/12/colt_mccoys_father_says_mccoy.html
James Harrison needs to sit out for a while. Fines don't seem to work. What looks like a large fine to you and me obviously isn't enough to get the James Harrisons of the NFL to change.
I'm tellin' ya, I got the solution - PENALTY BOX!
*********** My son writes from Australina on behalf of an Aussie from LSU...
A kid from Louisiana Tech (originally from Salem!) was named All America punter. LSU fans are saying "he's not even the best punter in the state!" That would be Aussie Brad Wing...
Look at net yards and it's not even close. It's Wing, hands down. Guy doesn't allow for any returns.
*********** HI Coach,
Our season came to an end last week as we lost to Holy Cross of Waterbury 42-14. We didn't play our best game but I'm not sure it would have made much of a difference against those guys - they're pretty good. We had a great season at 8-3 and we have a bunch of kids excited about getting in the weight room, going to camp and having another shot at states next year. Have a happy and blessed Christmas and we'll see you in Providence.
Best Wishes,
Jim Tencza
Haddam-Killingworth HS
Higganum, Connecticut
Coach,
Thanks for the note.
When I was a kid I thought I was a pretty good pool shot. An old guy told me something that's stuck with me ever since and I've found to be true: "No matter how good you are, there's always somebody better than you."
Ir doesn't matter whether we're talking pool or football, sometimes the other guy is just better and there's no shame in defeat.
Congratulations on a great season. See you in Providence.
And thanks again.
Merry Christmas.
*********** Verne Lundquist interview in Sports Business Journa;
Lundquist said he does not support the current BCS model, and favors a playoff format devised by fellow CBS broadcaster Gary Danielson. The plan calls for a six-team playoff system, overseen by the NCAA, which is decided by winners from the major conferences. “I’m really uncomfortable that coaches have to beg for a spot,” Lundquist said. “Virginia Tech going to the [Sugar] Bowl bothers me -- they’re going because they sell tickets.”
Lundquist said college coaches have generally been open with broadcast interviewers, though he noted that incoming Ohio State coach Urban Meyer was always fairly secretive. “He would tell you things he wanted on the air and not much more,” Lundquist said. Lundquist said he does not pay attention to betting lines on games, but that he realizes other announcers in the business do. And he called Tim Tebow the “most competitive person I’ve met outside of Roger Staubach,” but admitted he does not think the Broncos will make the playoffs.
QUICK HITS:
On the most challenging college venue at which to call games:
Lundquist: “Duke. The broadcast booth is perched up high and you have to climb a ladder to get into it. And then they take the ladder away. Once you’re in there, you’re there, and god forbid nature calls.”
On how the internet and technology have changed your job:
Lun