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NOVEMBER 2005

SEX! VIOLENCE! NUDITY! (Not.) OKAY, OKAY - SO I EXAGGERATED A LITTLE. ACTUALLY, THOUGH, MY "VIRTUAL CLINIC" IS MUCH BETTER! TAPED AT MY 2005 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CLINIC, IT'S AN ENTIRE CLINIC, UNEDITED (WARTS. OFF-THE-CUFF COMMENTS AND ALL), SOME FIVE HOURS LONG, ON THREE DVD'S. THERE'S COACH TALK, PLENTY OF GENERAL TIPS, PRACTICE AND GAME IDEAS... USING SLIDES, DIAGRAMS AND VIDEO CLIPS... LOTS OF NEW AND IMPROVED DOUBLE-WING STUFF, LIKE WAYS TO RUN POWER FROM A WIDE VARIETY OF FORMATIONS, INCLUDING UNBALANCED AND SPLIT BACKS... A GREAT SWEEP PLAY... RE-DIRECTING THE WEDGE... A "VEER" DIVE... SIMPLE OPTIONS AND OTHER WAYS TO USE A RUNNING QB... PLAY ACTION PASSES... SHIFTING... AND MORE! ORDER YOUR "VIRTUAL CLINIC" NOW - - - - - - - PRICE: $69.95 INCLUDING SHIPPING. CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!!! $49.95 IF YOUR ORDER IS RECEIVED BY CHRISTMAS SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER (OR SCHOOL P.O.) to Coach Hugh Wyatt - 1503 NE 6th Ave - Camas WA 98607   November 29, 2005 - "I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within. " General Douglas MacArthur   ARMY IS SCHEDULED TO NAME ITS BLACK LION AWARD WINNER ON WEDNESDAY. TELL YOUR KIDS TO LOOK FOR HIM. HE WILL BE WEARING HIS BLACK LION REGIMENTAL PATCH - THE SAME ONE YOUR KIDS WIN - ON HIS JERSEY IN THE ARMY-NAVY GAME ON SATURDAY   *********** Where the Army-Navy game is concerned, I know about the old "throw out the record book" business. But I am going to go by the book anyhow - and go with Army.   Granted, Navy has the better record (6-4, vs Army's 4-6), but in my opinion, Army has played a much tougher schedule.   Navy hasn't beaten a team with a winning record. In fact, Navy's six victims (Duke, Air Force, Kent State, Rice, Tulane and Temple) have an overall record of 9-57.   Navy has played only two bowl-eligible teams (Notre Dame and Rutgers).   Army, on the other hand, has played six : Boston College, Iowa State, Akron (playing in the MAC championship game), TCU (Mountain West champion), Central Michigan and Arkansas State (Sun Belt Champion).   *********** Not to say that the rest of you aren't committed, but you'll have to go soime to match Kevin Latham, of Decatur, Georgia...   Coach Latham, who in his second year at Columbia HS in Decatur took his team to the state playoffs, told me that he'd just had his driver's license renewed.   In Georgia, that means it's good for another 10 years.   That means 10 years of looking at the same photo.   Which in his case means10 years of looking at a photo of a guy wearing a shirt that reads, "DOUBLE WING."   *********** Uh-oh. Using the classic "let's you and him fight" tactic, Pamela Grundy, author of "Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball," told an audience at Texas Tech that the real fight is not a fight between men's sports versus Title IX; it is men's sports versus football.   Right. Let's get all the women's sports that wouldn't even exist without the money football brings in, and let's join up with all the men's sports that wouldn't still be existence without the money football brings in, and let's all gang up and "fight" football.   Brilliant, Pam. You've probably spent so much time majoring in some bogus "Women's Studies" somewhere that you never heard of a guy named Aesop. A Greek. Sometime you shoulod check out one of his stories, entitled "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs."  *********** Just a few weeks ago, in the first round of the Oregon state Class 4A playoffs, Lake Oswego played at Pendleton. Now, Lake Oswego, a very tony suburb of Portland, is the Beverly Hills of Oregon, while Pendleton, about 300 miles across the mountains to the east, is in cowboy country. Pendleton is home of the annual Pendleton Round-Up, one of the largest of all rodeos, and the Pendleton High Buckeroos (from the Mexican word for cowboy, "Vaquero") play in Round-up Stadium. The people in eastern Oregon, where Pendleton is located, still brag about being able to leave their front doors open and their keys in the ignition switches, but the locker rooms at Round-Up Stadium are something else again. Seems that while the Lake Oswego Lakers were out on the field taking the measure of the Pendleton Buckeroos, someone broke into their locker room and took what they could find - cash, credit cards, and - of course - iPods. Putting aside for the moment the simple observation that NOBODY should EVER leave valuables in ANY locker room... I was reminded of the time in 1972 when I took my Hagerstown (Maryland) Bears to Portsmouth, Virginia to play a team called the Portsmouth Bucks. We played in a cavernous old placce called Frank Lawrence Stadium, and sure enough, after the game, we discovered that someone had broken into our locker room and made off with nearly everything. Clothes and all. We called the cops, of course. And as they reviewed the scene, they seemed almost a bit boastful when they told us that Portsmouth had the highest crime rate of any city in Virginia. They also showed they knew their crooks when they said that they'd find all the clothing someplace else in the stadium - said the bad guys had probably just taken everything to someplace "safer" where they could rifle the pockets in peace and quiet. Sure enough, a quick search under the stadium soon turned up everybody's clothing - minus all the valuables. Among the items missing was a Fiesta Bowl watch belonging to our punter, Duane Carrell, who'd won it while at Florida State. Interestingly, only one person's clothing went untouched - the square white guy who coached the team. They didn't even bother going through my pockets. *********** Coach, Just wanted to let you know that we completed our season this past weekend. I proud to say that we won our third consecutive County Championship. We beat the South River Gators 14-6 in a close game (we beat them back in 2003). We did not take care of the football like we should of, and did not make the plays we should have. South River scored first on there opening drive. We answered right back and scored on a Blue-Blue pass - my A-Back was wide open (you'll see when I get you the DVD). We scored later in the second quarter after a lengthy drive with a wedge. This was my last game with this team, they all should move on to high school next season. All of them are DOUBLE-WING pro's as they call themselves. It's been a real blast with this set of kids. Collectively they have a combined record of 55-4 with 3 straight County Championships, 5 straight Conference Championship and 5 consecutive Championship appearances since running the Double-Wing exclusively. As you know Coach, I started running the Double-Wing with this set of kids when they were 9 years old. I have pretty much tried almost everything that you have put out. We have won at every level this county has to offer as far a Youth football is concerned! The funny thing Coach, nothing stops a SUPER-POWER! We had some misfortune in the game on Saturday, and found ourselves in a 3rd and 20 situation. Everyone in the house expected a Counter of some sort of pass play. We lined up in the Stack-I and ran SP for about a 60 yard gain! I love that play (Dynamics IV). What I like about this set of kids - is that they have truly learned football. They understand why the lineman must pull. The understand the importance of a lineman staying welded to the defender. This team forced me to learn a lot more about the game of football then I imagined! I want to take the time to personally thank you for all your teachings, and and all the discussion we have had in the past. You have been a great mentor to me in the profession of coaching! I only deal with people on a small scale in regard to Double-Wing football brought you have opened our County to Double-wing. There are many clones out there now in our county alone. We ran the Double-Wing before any of the local High Schools did. I know that my staff and I would not be as successful as we are if it had not been for you. You have your doubters and I and everyone that has faced my team within the past 5 season know the Double-Wing is truly a force to be reckoned with! Again Coach, Thanks to all that you do! Jason Clarke,130lb Millersville Wolverines, 2005 Anne Arundel County Champions, Millersville, Maryland (Your copy of the game will be in the mail shortly! I will also send you some stats from the season. I do know that we scored around 420pts. My A-Back had about 1300+ yards on about 80 carries with 25 rushing TD's) *********** So the Giants lost in OT to the Seahawks. It's easy to blame the Giants' kicker, who missed three fairly long field goals down toward the end, but what about an offensive line that picks up ELEVEN false start penalties? Now as bad as we were at times, we didn't have 11 of those penalties all season. Yes, our kids played in front of smaller crowds that made a lot less noise. They also made a lot less money. So did their coaches. *********** If you were fortunate enough to get the Grey Cup (Canadian Football League title game) where you lived, you had a chance to see a pretty doggone good game. It was won by the Edmonton Eskimos over the Montreal Alouettes, 38-35, in two overtimes. The CFL, like American colleges and unlike the NFL, isn't afraid to be accused of being unoriginal, and employs the Kansas Plan overtime which high schools have used for years. Meantime, over in the NFL, the Chargers won the toss and drove right in for the winning score against the Redskins, who had no opportunity to retaliate. *********** *********** When asked at a national news conference whether his players would be allowed to have sex in the days leading up to Sunday's Grey Cup game (for the championship of the Canadian Football League), Edmonton Eskimos head coach Danny Maciocia obviously didn't choose his words carefully . "My answer," he told the memembers of the media, " would be whatever they've done to get here, keep it up." I swear, that's what he said. Maybe he has a future in comedy. *********** Oh, dear. Ohio coach Frank Solich, a couple of years after getting the shaft at Nebraska, is now in deep paska (Finnish word) after police found him slumped over the wheel of his vehicle, which was facing the wrong direction on a one-way street and, although stopped, was still in drive. He was convicted of drunken driving on Monday and ordered to complete a three-day driver intervention program, in addition to being fined $250 and having his license suspended for 180 days. *********** What difference does it make whether I believe Michael Irvin's story that he had had a friend over for Thanksgiving dinner and the friend left his "drug pipe" in Irvin's house and Irvin, rather than leave it in his house where his kids might find it, put it in his car? What difference does it make whether anybody believes him? We already knew all we needed to know about his character when he played for the Cowboys, and if that wasn't enough to keep him off TV (make me laugh!), discovering a little drug paraphernalie in his car certainly won't. Don't you see? It's precisely because of his shady background that he's attrractive to the TV people. *********** Coach, Just finished reading your News Page. Very nice touch on the part of Roger Staubach and the Navy team (to send flowers to former Army player Don Parcells, Bill's younger brother. HW) Awesome about your Black Lion! That, to me, was one of the better "speeches" about WHAT a team IS. I'm sure he was not too happy with the young lad who defected from your team. Great kid! I wish him well. That is Dan Jiggetts' daughter. He used to do a sports talk radio show here in Chicago. It actually was a great show, even for sports talk, and he now does local sports for Comcast, our cable provider out here. Anyhow, and rightfully so, he was/IS very proud of his daughter, who had been mentioned on the talk show while she was attending Harvard. A class guy all the way. Hey this only took me 45 minutes to type one handed. Not that good with my left. Thankfully I start my therapy tonight. Surgery went well. They fixed my rotator cuff and my labrum that were both torn, plus at not cost to me, the added bonus of the un-diagnosed bone spur/chip was removed. Well you have a Happy Thanksgiving. (Not sure what the P/C crowd is calling it, but around here "Happy Thanksgiving" has not been challenged by the courts, yet!!) GO ARMY!! BEAT NAVY!!!! My Best, Bill Murphy, Chicago PS: I'll be ordering my DVD today. I hate saying this, but, the check is in the mail. I was wondering do you have Practice without Pads on DVD yet? Will it you have it on DVD, and anytime soon? (the injury Coach Murphy refers to came in the line of duty, as a Chicago cop. He gave me permisson to print this e-mail he sent me a week ago: On the work front, I'm out. Having rotator cuff surgery tomorrow morning. Got into it with three young Desperadoes, one of which tried to run away with my arm attached to his belt. I'll be dammed if he didn't just pop my right arm out of the shoulder socket. Luckily I was able to give him plenty of lefts, instead of "His rights" and got him subdued. The other two only made a block away before they got caught. Funny thing about this was about 5 minutes before I stopped them, these three jumped out of their car, all armed with guns, and at point blank range they all shot at some poor bastard. Lucky for the poor bastard, they all missed! Nine shots at point blank range, all missed. Right out of the Pulp Fiction movie. We told the guy to play the lottery, because with luck like that, you got to try. *********** You got that right, in your NEWS. I HATE losing to Clemson. However, let me come from the other side as well. I actually had the privilege of sitting down for a long talk with Coach Spurrier back in the spring. Trust me, he knows the importance of beating Clemson, but he first wants to focus on winning in the SEC. Sure, beating Clemson will help recruting in South Carolina, but winning in the SEC will help him recruit all over the South, which will be better for the program. After having his own ACC arch rival in Florida State, he is well aware of the importance of rivalry, but he believes he can build this team into a true contender, but only if he can recruit well in GA, FLA, LA, ALA, and the rest of the southern strongholds. Jody Hagins, Summerville, South Carolina (Good point - But he's paid to look at the big picture, and he was kind enough to share his strategy with you. But not everyone has had the benefit of seeing that, and I'll bet if he were to lose three straight to Clemson (which I don't see happening) there would be some rumblings. Coach Holtz lost to them his last three years, and there was much rumbling... I think we've won only once in the last 9 years. Very painful to all of us loyal Gamecocks, especially when we have to talk to a Clemson grad every time we order something at a fast-food restaurant... (Good joke. But I warned Coach Hagins that if I printed this, I would have to open the door to Clemson folks to respond. HW) *********** Coach, just to update you. The Spartans finished the season 11-0, and outscored their opponents 250-56 in our first year with your system. Thank you for all your help. Your system was fun to coach and to watch in action. If you ever have any other coaches who worry about the complexity for 10 year olds, we successfully ran the following plays: SuperPower left and right... Lead Counter left and right... Wedge... 3 trap at 2... 6 G... Counter CrissCross... Counter Cutback left and right(Special)... Sweep left and right... 6g Pass... Bootleg pass off counter action... 2 different drop back patterns. And we ran out of Tight,Slot and Spread(left right both) and I formation. Thanks again. Coach Garrett Pfeifer, Towson Spartans (8-10 year old), Towson, Maryland *********** Coach Wyatt: The Ben Franklin Lions won the 49th annual Toy Bowl last Saturday, making it their fourth consecutive championship and their second undefeated season in the last four years. We defeated the Washington-Jackson Chargers 8-6. Their Head Coach was a former Miami Dolphin TE by the name of Ronnie Williams. He did a good job slowing down our Double Wing offense but what he didn't count on was how good our defense has become over the years. Ball control and good tackling is always winning combination. This was the final game of my coaching career and I'm proud to say that your Double Wing offense has given a new life to the football tradition at Ben Franklin Elementary. Aside from 4 Toy Bowl Championships, we posted a collective record of 26-2-2 over the last four seasons. That's not bad for a bunch of kids from the "Country Club" neighborhood. Thank you once again for the offense and participation in the Black Lion Award. The combination of the two have made a huge impact on the many kids that have participated in Ben Franklin Lion football over the last four years. We won through hard work, preparation, and a devotion to team. Above all, we did it all with kids who learned a life lesson about accomplishment with integrity. I dropped my 2005 nomination for the Black Lion Award in the mail today. You should receive the letter in a few days. Our banquet will be held December 7th, hopefully that will give you enough time to return the certificate to my office address enclosed with the nomination. If you are ever in North Texas, please feel free to give me a call. Wichita Falls is about 140 miles NW of Dallas/Ft. Worth on the highway to Amarillo. I would love to buy you a steak dinner and tell you in detail how many kids have experienced such an incredible positive experience through youth football and your Double Wing offense. That may sound corny, but I promise you that this is "football country" and you have impacted these kids in a manner you would find hard to believe. Thanks again. John Bradley, Ben Franklin Lions, Wichita Falls, Texas *********** The Lions may think that they're fooling somebody by throwing Steve Mariucci overboard, but based on a Detroit News poll taken after the Lions' disgraceful Thanksgiving Day performance, it isn't going to work.. 51.7 per cent of respondents said the Lions' problem is ownership, and 30.3 per cent said it is GM Matt Millen. To throw just one small stone at Mariucci, he really botched the QB situation, giving the impression that that was what was wrong with the team when everyone else could see that the Lions were totally inept. I suppose it is only fair that if he could put it all on Joey Harrington, management could put it all on him. *********** *********** Hi Coach! I knew you'd be quoting Coach Paterno! When she put the mike in his face, I thought; "Oh boy, hope Hugh's listening...." (and did he ever deliver!) Being a Vol fan....but being away out here in Texas, I have no idea what went wrong with them this year! That Coach Fulmer messed with a quarterback "controversy" all season...ok, fine. But how could it - (rather, with his experience, how could he have let it) - have affected team performance that much? Scratching my head...is Coach Fulmer slipping a little? (well, ok....a lot?) I saw the Reggie Bush 500....what it reminded me of, was one year when 'mighty Miami' went to 'little 'ol' San Diego State...whose offense consisted of Marshall Faulk left, Marshall Faulk right....though SDSU lost, I seem to recall that Faulk got 200+ yards rushing against them anyway! (and who do the 'skins draft ahead of him? uh huh, Heath Schuler! D'oh!) I'm betting that alot of the directors in the booth(s) never played football. How many times do you see some slobber-knockin' great hit, and just as the players are struggling to get up....or just as they start to wobble over to the huddle, clear the cobwebs, etc....the stinkin' camera zooms in on the coach's nose hairs, or some irrelevant crowd shot.....GRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Hope all is well with you. I know you have had a wonderful, positive effect on your boys, like Coach Wooden, "no matter what the score". Regards, John Rothwell, Fort Worth, Texas *********** I kept hearing Mike Gottfried gushing about Nevada's Chris Ault "inventing" the "pistol" as opposed to the shotgun. Nevada lines up in an I-formation, except that the QB is some 4 yards back of center, taking a direct snap. Uh, he may have invented the name, which is clever, but as you will see in a clip on my "Virtual Clinic" video, Princeton was messing with it back in the late 50's or early 60's, and I even (half) joked about looking at it this past summer. I did look at it. A little. We didn't have the people to do it. ************ After watching two Notre Dame lineman blatantly assisting the runner across the goal line for the winning TD against Stanford, I see why the Notre Dame people didn't scream too loudly about Reggie Bush's assisting Matt Leinart. *********** The Monsignor can breath easier. They'll get the cash after all.  They're ripping the stadium down and building something smaller. Are they planning on stepping back to IAA?  Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey The Archdiocese of Portland faces bankruptcy as a result of judgments against it because of the (supposed) actions of a few (supposed) pedophile priests. Maybe it can hit Notre Dame up for a few mill to keep its schools and churches open. Stanford refuses to get serious about its football. Like many California institutions, it is delusional, having convinced itself that winning something most people have never heard of, the Sears Trophy for all-around athletic excellence (accomplished by winning championships in sports that most schools don't even know about), is what's really important. HW *********** Coach  - Just received my copy of  " Football As A War Game "   WOW !!! You weren't  SH***tin   !!!  What a Book !!! personally signed by Dr.Kozar  UNBELIEVABLE !!!  I have just perused  it and hopefully come the Holiday season when things slow down I hope to really dig into it !! Coach  Wyatt do you Know of any Books,biography or otherwise That I can add to my Football Library, either on Ben Schwartzwalder,Johnny Vaught  Or Doyt Perry ? Coach Did your Cable system in the Great North West pick up the CFL  Championship Game ?  What a Game !!  To bad the Pride of Amesbury  (Don Matthews, head coach of the Montreal Alouettes) went down  !!! see ya next week Coach -  John Muckian  Lynn, Massachusetts *********** Here's what John Muckian was referring to, for those who missed it the first time around - Dr. Andy Kozar's book, "Football as a War Game: The Annotated Journals of General R.R. Neyland" (Falcon Press, 2003). It is an amazing look into how the General, who built legendary teams at Tennessee, approached the game of football.   It is like going to a college library and digging into the notebooks of a great coach, except that Dr. Kozar has already done the hard research for us, with page-by-page copies of General Neyland's journals, along with explanatory notes, photographs, lists, practice schedules and, yes, doodles. Even great coaches doodle occasionally. (Remind your wife of that the next time she catches you drawing plays on the placemat at the restaurant.)   In the words of Dr. Kozar, it's "the general's own words and thoughts on a day to day, game to game basis, as he wrote them on paper."   And the general certainly kept amazingly detailed journals. He wrote down everything, including his innermost thoughts on his players and his opponents.   "Football as a War Game" contains more than 200 pages of General Neyland's handwritten thoughts, coaching strategies, play diagrams (including some really wild ones, from formations you've probably never seen anywhere else), practice schedules, lists of maxims and beliefs, anecdotes and more. There are more than 250 photographs. Dr. Kozar's commentary all along the way provides his personal insight into the general's thinking.   The book is beautifully bound, and in my estimation is well worth the $75 price. It is not for the casual fan, but for the serious football historian, for the devoted single-winger, and anyone building a football library, it is a must.   Mail orders to Dr. Andy Kozar/ 6501 Sherwood Drive/ Knoxville TN 37919 - and make checks payable to FALCON PRESS   Incidentally, Dr. Kozar told me he sold a couple of copies not long ago to Bill Belichick, who I am betting kept one for his own private collection (I am told he has a very extensive one) and gave the other to his dad, Steve, a long-time college coach who once coached against General Neyland while at Vanderbilt.   Opponents of the Vols may not like to hear this, but all proceeds from the sales of Dr. Kozar's book will go to the Robert R. Neyland Athletic Endowment in the Volunteer Athletic Scholarship Fund. *********** Maybe all the Charlie Weis worshippers can stop genuflecting long enough to read this: A CBS.com reporter noted that 51 of the 69 points in the Stanford-Notre Dame game were scored by players recruited by Tyrone Willingham (who coached at both ND and Stanford). That's the same Tyronw Willingham, you may remember, who couldn't recruit. Or so the Golden Domers said as they tried to justify their unconscionable firing of the man who recruited Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija, *********** Anybody watch those spoiled drunken asses at Colorado throwing stuff on the field during the CU-Nebraska game? That's the same university that harbors on its faculty a phony Indian named Ward Churchill who thought the people in the World Trade Center had it coming. To think that not so long ago, some people at CU thought that all they had to do to clean up the place was the get rid of Gary Barnett. *********** After the way they played against Nebraska, I wonder how many of the Colorado players were actually happy when they learned that Iowa State had lost to Kansas and now they had to get ready to play Texas this week? *********** Alex Flanagan, the precious young thing on the sidelines at the Nevada-Fresno game, provided us with the inside information that "snapping from the shotgun is difficult, especially if you haven't done it before." *********** Thankfully, FSN replayed CSF (Fresno State)-USC this morning. Whooee, that #5 is GOOD. Not arguing trophies for everybody, but why not co-national players of the year for Young and Bush? Why not two All-Pac10 RB's for Bush and Harrison? With 110+ teams I don't think there's anything wrong with saying there's more than one 'best player.' Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California Glad you got to see that performance against Fresno. In my opinion, Bush is SO good that he shouldn't have to share ANY award with ANYbody. He is as good as I have ever seen. 30 or 40 years from now, you may find yourself comparing some guy with Reggie Bush. HW *********** (Written before UConn's upset of South Florida) Hi Coach, I had to check the schedule to confirm, but its true. If South  Florida wins their next 2 games, they will be the Big East champions and get the Big East's automatic BCS bid. The big game will be in 2  weeks vs. West Virginia. A USF win will give both teams identical  conference records, but the Bulls would have the head-to-head  tiebreaker. Can you imagine that 10-1 Oregon (only loss is USC), 8-2 Notre Dame  (should have beat USC) & 9-2 Ohio State (lost only to Texas & BCS  qualifier Penn State) are fighting for the 2 at-large bids (well,  let's be honest - Oregon & Ohio State are if everyone wins out) but  South Florida would be a lock? Here's a team on no one's Top 25 (one  of those honorable mention "teams receiving votes" teams) but yet  they might end up in the BCS? Ironically, wouldn't it be something if this and not a 3 undefeated team log jam at the top is the death knell for the current system? Todd Bross, Sharon, Pennsylvania Not to demean South Florida, which is a very good team on the field, but until their upset by UConn, they presented the BCS with the frightful thought of an 8-3 team that couldn't even fill its own stadium beating out West Virginia (which does have a good following) and winning the Big East's spot in the BCS - not to mention leaving Oregon (which is sure to get screwed) and a host of very good teams with two losses out in the cold. Of course, if there were a playoff, the NCAA and its insistence on fairness would assure that conference champions would get automatic bids, including some conferences that are D 1-A in name only. And that would mean that there would still be some better at-large teams getting the shaft. I can remember the days when the NCAA basketball tournament took only conference champions, which left out an awful lot of good teams that had finished second or third in the stronger conferences. It is one reason why South Carolina dropped out of the ACC. As I recall, the Gamecocks swept through the regular season, but lost the conference tournament - and the ACC berth that went not to the regular season champ but to the tournament winner - when NC State employed a slowdown. *********** As Joe Davis was paying for his order at a Subway restaurant in Reedsport, Oregon, he noticed a sign by the register advertising a new salmon sandwich. "Another reason you'rte lucky not to live in Kansas," it read. "I was a little offended, " said Davis, a Kansan. Upon his return to his home in Topeka, he contacted Subway, asking for an explanation. He said he never got a response to his e-mail. A spokesman for Subway said the sign may have been created by a regional advertising company, since Subway offered the salmon sandwich only in certain markets (not in Kansas). "If it offended anybody," he said, "I apologize." It's been a tough year for Topeka. In September, Hallmark introduced a birthday card that read "CSI:Topeka," and showed a corpse, which it suggested had been "bored to death." Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten, unamused, blamed outsiders - said the card was probably drawn by "somebody from West Virginia." Uh-oh. His Honor received more than 100 angry e-mails from West Virginians. *********** Wax on, wax off. A great coach left us when Actor Pat Morita, who played wise and all-knowing Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid" movie series, passed away. *********** As of Saturday, you could go to the Philadelphia Convention Bureau's official Army-Navy web site (http://www.phillylovesarmynavy.org/gameday-multimedia.asp) and click on "Navy Fight Song" and it would play, "On Brave Old Army Team." *********** Coach I emailed you the other day about Navy's fullback. As I was enjoying the game with my son I wasn't in scouting mode. I did notice that their basic look was comparable to our Slot in the DW. Of course with wider splits and deeper fullback. Fast rip motion at the snap instead of pre-snap. I was a little surprised by their blocking schemes. Seemed quite vanilla. A lot of zone blocking or maybe I missed things while being a fan. Do you know  of any websites or books that diagram this offense? On a sad note Steve Belechick was at the game and passed away later that night. Ironic because I am presently reading David Halberstams "The Education of a Coach" which has been a fascinating read. Bill Belechick agreed to the book as an homage to his dad. The stories of old time football and coaches are something I enjoy and would highly recommend to all those who love our game. Dan Lane Canton, Ma I have read a little of "education of a coach" as a result of an interview with Halberstam in Sports Business Journal. Steve Belichick is well-known and widely respected, and certainly helped shape Bill. Navy's scheme is essentially wishbone, run from two split ends (most of the time) and backs on the wing (most of the time). It looks something like run-and-shoot, but it really is a refinement of the "Wing-bone," the next step that the inventor of the Wishbone, Emory Bellard, took. Although the split ends do permit more passing (assuming a QB who can throw and split ends who can run routes and catch), ite essence is still the fullback right and fullback left, with a quarterback who knows when to give it to the fullback and when to keep it and take the triple option to phases two (keep) and three (pitch). The blocking is for the most part uncomplicated - straight ahead and aggressive and (opponents hate this part) low. To the extent that Navy has a constant fullback and (usually) two wingbacks, their base formation looks like our "spread" formation, but there is a very signficant difference. In order to create seams for the fullback to run in (and to create the blocking angles they want) as well as to move the QB's keys a little farther out to give him more time to read them, and to give him creases to operate in, their line takes much larger splits than we do. You wouldn't likely notice this without an end zone camera. *********** David Halberstam, author of "Education of a Coach," told Sports Business Journal about something that really impressed him about Bill Belichick. "One of the things he has, which I think is very important in any profession, is he knows how to learn. Wherever he went, he studied. 'Who's good, and why are they good? Who knows more than I do, and how can I learn from that?' Bill clearly did that." *********** Rick Davis, a coach in Duxbury, Massachusetts, wrote that he wasn't able to take his usual end-of-the-season hunting trip to his native Maine. He noted that it's a great time to collect his thoughts about football, saying, "you'll never guess what I thought about for the 7-8 hours that I spent in my tree stand each day (first 2 guesses don't count)" Actually, it makes a lot of sense. I often wonder why more high-level football coaches don't just get away for a while, as Bill Gates does. Every year, Mr. Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the wealthiest man in the US, goes away for a week to an isolated retreat somewhere on Washington's Hood Canal, with no communication with anyone except the person who brings him his meals. He reads, writes and ruminates. He claims that it helps him to focus on the long range -on the big picture. Invariably, he has come back with some monumental ideas. Hey- if it works for him... *********** Happy Thanksgiving, Coach. The Tolland Eagles wrapped up their season last night by beating their rivals from Ellington 20-6. We had just under 300 yards of O, but they helped us out by tacking on nearly another 100 yards in penalties (it was ugly at certain points of the game...personal fouls, running their mouths, etc. Our guys did a good job of walking away and getting back in the huddle). Mike Gallic, our A back finished with 204 yards on 37 carries. He broke the single season rushing record for our school in the process. On the season he rushed for 1858 yards. Not bad for a kid who never played the game before. On the season we rushed for 2669 yards, completed 50% of our passes for 861 yards, and averaged 29.5 points per game. We finished 6-4 and our losses are all to teams who are playoff bound (the team we lost to in overtime two weeks ago is the number one seed in Class MM, the third largest in the state). After a rough start we really began playing good football on both sides of the ball the last 5 or 6 weeks. I wish we had a few more games to go. The good news is we only lose 4 to graduation. And Gallic is NOT one of them. Neither are 6 of the 7 linemen. It's a great group returning. Thanks for your help this year. We have always felt that you are a valuable part of our staff (sorry, it's not a paid position :) Happy holidays to you and your family, Coach. We'll see you in Providence. Sincerely, Patrick Cox, Tolland High School, Tolland, Connecticut P.S. A few weeks ago a coached asked you what you do with a kid who practices great, but doesn't get it done during the game. I liked the "D -1 to D minus" analogy. A friend of mine has another way of putting it. He calls it "going from all pro to all blow" *********** Not enough credit for the current status of pro football is given to the New York Giants, and the fact that back in the 50's and 60's, when New York was truly the center of all news media, the Giants got an awful lot of publicity, but an awful lot of it was earned - they had an incredible collection of very talented players. Consider this... current Giant Amani Toomer is far and away the team's' all-time leader in receiving yards; but three of the next four - Frank Gifford, Joe Morrison and Kyle Rote - all played in the late 50's and early 60's (when the seasons were shorter and passes fewer) and they haven't been dislodged yet. *********** Go, Newberry. Teams at Newberry College in South Carolina will continue to be called Indians. According to the college president, Newberry "has no intention of changing its nickname." *********** Scott Roberts, in Clarence, NY has been running the Double Wing for five years now, and has won his league's championship four of the five years. This year, his Clarence Bulldogs won, 7-0. He wrote, Hello coach, The good news is that we did end up winning 7-0 in a very good game. We finished with 275 yards on 38 carries. We were inside the 10 right before half but a slip and a holding call stifled the drive. We moved the ball well considering we only ended up with 7 points. I was very pleased, it's the probably the most yards they have given up in a couple years. We wedged them, trapped the 6 tech, went wings on more than ever which helped power and had success running a QB blast play. They were faster, but we had more power up front. The only score was a simple wedge from about 50 yards out. One of those wedges where the b-back just comes fee from the pile , to some ugly, to me a thing of beauty. Thanks coach for checking in. I hope to check in on one of your clinics this year. You can view the game at ---- http://www.clarencefootball.com/Videof/Katfinal.wmv *********** Coach, we just returned to the Boston area from what was possibly the most enjoyable sports viewing experience of my life. My son is a freshman in high school. He is a 3 tech. and a tackle on O. He has a big upside and may have the chance to play D1. He is currently dressing for the varsity as a fresh. Anyway he is a great student and has always been interested in Annapolis. This Saturday was to be his last fall day off for maybe the rest of his H.S. carreer so we made plans to go to Annapolis for the game yesterday. What an experience. We were blown away. The school spirit, the comeraderie, the class, the patriotism. I had misty eyes on more than one occasion and that is completely unlike me. I think the hook has been set deeply in my son. ( I know it was set in me) Football wise a star was born yesterday. Navy's senior fullback was lost for the year. Sophomore Adam Ballard from Marcus Texas stepped in. Let me tell you coach, this kid is a STUD. He simply blew up Temple's Defense. Forget Temple's record they are a physically superior group of athletes to the Mids. This kid went 29 for 169 and simply controlled the game. You take Navy's offense- They absolutely cannot throw this year so Temple knows shut down the fullback and the option will die. They could not do it. This, while in my opinion, giving Navys O-line a whuppin. He was stacked up at the line and drove the pile well into the second level numerous times. He cut back and has a real burst into the secondary. His blocking was devastating. I actually saw him, after the qb ride, drive an unblocked 3 technique behemoth 17 yards downfield. Nasty! Anyway I can't wait for this year's game. I was pleased to hear that most Navy alumni really want to see Army come back and be successful. As an aside Temple had a few punks on the team and it was really interesting to see how they reacted to the whole atmosphere here. During the Alma Mater (The Blue and Gold) many of Temple's players stopped their trek to the locker room and seemed in awe of the emotional response to this by the entire crowd. Maybe they learned something about the people who have made and continue to make this country the greatest country in the annals of human history. If my son continues on this path and does make it here than I will have truly been blessed. Go Navy Beat Army! (With all due respect of course) Dan Lane, Canton, Massachusetts (Hope your son makes it. The Navy needs good men, too! HW) *********** This Wednesday evening, November 30, on their "Crystal Ball" show, CSTV plans to run a segment on the Black Lion Award. They've interviewed of Tom "Doc" Hinger, a true Black Lion who was severely wounded - General Norman Schwarzkopf, and Army Coach Bobby Ross. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE SOME LAST-MINUTE TROPHY NEEDS, you might want to keep this in mind. (This is NOT a paid ad.) For several years now, I have done business with a company in Tacoma, Washington named the Dande Company, and I have been quite pleased with them. Dande makes an attractive, high-quality 5 x 7 plaque that makes a nice keepsake to give your kids, and the price won't kill you - less than $10, regardless of how few you purchase. It's two brass plates mounted on a wooden plaque with ribbons in your school colors. If you supply your school logo (or other artwork), they will print it. (As you can see, we had them print our school seal on the top plate.) Oh - and they are fast - I had ours in less than a week after e-mailing them with our art work and information. If you can ever use their service, their number is 253-474-3434. (Or dande.co@comcast.net) Ask for Michelle and tell her where you got their name.     Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

(UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 22, 2005 - "Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned." Mark Twain   HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO COACHES AND THEIR FAMILIES. WE HAVE FOOTBALL AND WE LIVE IN AMERICA. AND WE HAVE PEOPLE WILLING TO FIGHT TO PROTECT US. ISN'T THAT ENOUGH TO BE THANKFUL FOR?   *********** At Madison High School in Portland, Oregon, our 2005 Black Lion is Giovanni "Gio" Amado.   That's Gio at left with his mom. His dad had to work late on the night we gave out our awards, and unfortunately couldn't be on hand to see Gio receive his award.   One of only five players returning this year with any varsity experience, Gio found himself being plugged into a number of spots as we struggled to put a team together. Fortunately, Gio was willing to play wherever he was asked to.   He was a starting guard on offense, but when we ran into some difficulties breaking in a pair of sophomores at center, he volunteered to move to center. We could have left him there and never had to worry about that position, but guard is an extremely important position in our Double-Wing offense, and as soon as we could spare him, we moved him back to left guard.   (One of the highlights of his season was our game against Jefferson, when we handed him the ball on our "Left Guard Special"; only a shoestring tackle kept him from scoring.)   On defense, Gio started out at offensive tackle, then moved out to defensive end, and wound up the season playing inside linebacker.   Despite a serious groin injury and a hand that required padding before ever game, Gio was a two-way starter, which on a team that ended up with fewer than 20 healthy players meant that he played every down.   Gio was one of our team captains, admired and respected by his teammates. We give only four individual awards, and Gio won two of them: "Best Blocker" and "Most Inspirational."   He was admired and respected by his coaches, too, who selected him to be our Black Lion.   Gio is a good football player. Gio is a hard worker. Gio is one tough kid. Gio is brave. Whatever he is called on to do, Gio will still be standing and fighting when others have cut and run.   During a season in which we lost every game, Gio's steadfastness was a continual source of strength to me.   I can best sum up what he meant to us all, players and coaches alike, by relating an incident that occured following a particularly tough game. It was an especially disappointing loss, our sixth straight, and with just three games left, all against good teams and all on the road, the prospect of going 0-9 was staring us all in the face.   It's our custom following every game to assemble under the goal posts, say a prayer of thanks, and then invite anybody to speak who has something to say for the good of the team. After it appeared that everyone had said all they wanted to say, and I was about to say, "Let's get a break!" Gio suddenly stood up. Normally a mild, even-tempered guy, he looked like he was on fire.   Fists clenched, he looked around at everyone. He told his teammates that he loved them, and then he said, "I just want to say... I'd rather lose with y'all than win with a bunch of a**holes!"   *********** Our other two awards - Most Valuable Player and Hardest Hitter - went to senior co-captain Damaien Young.   Damaien was a real iron man. He was a two-way starter for three years, and in three years, he never came out of a game.   His switch from guard to fullback at the start of his junior year was one of the major keys to our turning a 2-7 program in 2003 into 7-3 in 2004.   In 2005, he rushed for over 100 yards in each of our first two games, but he was injured in the final minutes of our second game, and from that point his offensive production fell off. For the rest of the season it was obvious every time he ran that he was in pain, but he never complained. All we could ever get out of him was, "I'm cool." I used to joke with him that his arm could be hanging off, and I'd say, "Damaien, are you all right?" and he'd say, "I'm cool."   Although he played linebacker his sophomore and junior years, this past season, in our search for something - anything - to stop opponents, we played him at nose guard, where we think we found the perfect position for him. He was terrific, and he was honored this past week by being voted first-team All-Portland Interscholastic League defensive lineman by the PIL coaches.   ********* Coach - I kid you Not. I'd say about 10 years ago those nitwits (They protest everything ) out at Umass were protesting the Minuteman nickname and Logo. The Problem : It was a White man with a Gun. I am NOT Bull S***ting you on this. Boston Herald and former SI columnist and Umass Grad Gerry Callahan had the perfect solution - Just tell people the Minuteman is Gay LOL !!! ( Callahan is a Howie Carr protege ) - John Muckian Lynn, Massachusetts   John told me about UMass being in Western Mass, and I told him I was well aware of the difference between Eastern and Western Mass, especially the ethnicity of the inhabitants - you knew were in Western Mass when the names stopped beginning with "Mc" and "O'" and started to end with "-ski" and "-wicz."   You're not kidding that's Polska and Slavic Heaven out in Western Mass - Greenfield,Westfield, Agawam all heavy Pole contingents -   I know the area well. I believe I told you I married a girl who went to Smith for two years. For fun we used to go to a place on the other side of the RR tracks (literally and figuratively) named Sam's, which served the best pizza I've ever had. It was definitely not a college kids' hangout. It was a joint, serving mostly locals. A couple of years ago, after being away for oh, maybe 30 years, we paid a visit to Northampton and decided to see if Sam's was still there. Sure enough, there it was, except now it had a very fancy exterior, and a long line of well-dressed rich stiffs outside waiting to get in.   We also used to go bowling. Candle pins. I've never seen them anyplace else in the world.   *********** Later on the same day that former Army football star Don Parcells was buried, his brother Bill coached the Cowboys to a win over the Eagles.   You may remember that Roy Williams won the game for the Cowboys when he intercepted a Donovan McNabb pass and raced 46 yards for a TD with just under three minutes to play.   Check this out - Roy Williams wears number 31 for Dallas. Don Parcells wore number 31 at Army.   *********** As Army and Navy gear up for their big game in two weeks, it is impossible to describe how badly those people want to beat each other. Let's just say that whenever I receive a piece of mail from an Army guy, it concludes with "Beat Navy!"   I have no doubt that Navy people do the same, except that they write "Beat Army."   Yet there is about this intense rivalry a civility, a decency, a respect for one's opponent that transcends the fierce desire to win. It stands as a reminder of a time when sportsmanship mattered. Everywhere. In all sports.   According to an account by a former teammate of Don Parcells who attended his funeral, a beautiful floral display stood to the left of Mr. Parcells' coffin, with a card reading, "Sympathy from Roger Staubach, Skip Orr and the 1964 Navy Team".   *********** A half-baked instructor at a New Jersey community college has suggested that it is time for soldiers in Iraq to shoot their superiors. Wonder what would happen if an Army officer were to suggest that it was time for students to shoot anarchist professors?   Forget it . I already know. The New York Times headline would read "Officer: Kill All Professors!" There would be an uproar among roughly half the members of Congress (you guess which half). And to appease them, he'd be given a letter of reprimand and forced to retire.   *********** Hey Coach- Wonderful pictures from West Point.   I admire your passion for Army football and your staunch, patriotic support for our fighting men. You've got me chomping at the bit to take in a game as well, what an experience!   Jody Sears is the defensive coordinator at Eastern Washington... he used to coach at West Point during the Todd Berry era. He said he absolutely loved coaching there just because of the quality of young men at the academy... hell, I agree! What a tremendous priviledge to part of that environment.   Your photos of the class of '15, '16 and '50 gave me goosebumps. The history! Shawn Powell, Spokane, Washington   *********** Coach Wyatt, I had the father of one of my players film all of our games on my Sony Digital 8 camera. I also filmed portions of our opponents games.  My original plan was just to use them for critiquing ourselves and for scouting our opponents.  I ended up making DVDs for all of the coaches.  However, since I can buy blank DVDs for about $.30 each, I started handing them out to all the players too.  They love them despite just getting unedited video as is.  Now that the season is over, I'd like to make a season highlight video to give out at the awards banquet.  I purchased Adobe Premier Elements so I can edit clips. Any suggestions from a creative standpoint on how to edit?  Should I use still, voice overs, soundtracks, titles etc. Thanks John Flato, Houston, Texas   For the purposes of ease in editing and ease in viewing, I find it is best to edit sequentially - i.e., game-by-game, first to last. That may seem obvious, but you would be surprised at the number of highlights tapes I see that don't follow that format.   You also have to decide whether you are going to tell the story of each game, which would require you to also show some of the other team's highlights as well, since that explains what made the game close, or what made the final drive so crucial, or whether you are just showing your team's high points.   And then, with each game tape providing a half hour or more of raw footage, and your need to produce a tape of 90 minutes max, you have to start chopping, rather ruthlessly. Get rid of plays that don't show something exciting or something that had no bearing on the game. In doing a HS highlights producton, for example, it is not necessary to show every PAT.   But do try to find a way to get every kid into it. That might mean leaving a certain play in merely because it's the only tackle a particular kid made. To make sure you've done so, check off names on a roster sheet as you go.   Make a first cut of each game, and then go back and make a final cut. In the final cut, trim each play so as not to show too much time coming to the LOS or too much time after the play. But also - do not trim the play so that action starts preceisely at the snap of the ball. Viewers like to have a second or so to size up the alignment of the offense and defense and anticipate the action to come.   Just because you have the ability to use some really wild transitions doesn't mean you should. Go light on them. The football and the players should be the story, not the special effects. I believe that in making the transition from game to game, fades work fine. Otherwise, simple cuts seem to keep the action continuous.   If someone has taped scenes other than game footage (such as the coach talking to the kids on the sidelines) there might be opportunities to "cut away" to them.   Slow motion has its uses, but remember that you have certain time constraints - if you intend to show this at a gathering, you want to stick to one hour maximum, for the sake of your audience. And every play done in slow-motion can add about 30 seconds to your production.   Titles are useful to show the progression of the production - what particular game you're watching. I personally don't care for much beyond that, but I am a minimalist.   Voice-over is great, but it is extremely time-consuming, and it requires someone who can watch the action and script it professionally, and the talents of someone with a professional voice. My personal feeling is that the quickest way for your production to have a home-made feel to it is to have amateurish voice-over. People can sit through almost anything visual, but they have heard enough professional broadcast talent that they will instantly be put off by audio that is less than professional.   Good, high-energy music adds a lot to your production. There are certain copyright issues involved that I am not qualified to explain, but I have heard a variety of music used on the numerous tapes and discs that people send me, and I doubt that they paid royalties to use it.   Kids all seem to like rap accompanying their action, but I do not think it is advisable to produce something that will alienate much of your audience. I personally find rap objectionable on a number of fronts, and I know I am not alone. One suggestion might be to make two different DVD's, each with a different sound track.   The highlights video is a great opportunity to thank all the people who've helped your program, and a copy of the DVD is a nice thing to take to each of your sponsors.   *********** You've probably seen the previews on ESPN or one of its spawn. Peter Vann called this evening and said that ESPN 2 will run an hour long show December 6th at 8 PM with Bill McWilliams talking about A Return To Glory. This will be a precursor to Code Breakers a few nights later. I told Peter I would forward the info to you and you would probably put something on your page about it.   *********** I heard some guy on the radio talking about an experience he'd had with some Palestinian terrorists, and how he tried to get them to show him where in the Koran it mentioned the 72 virgins that supposedly wait in heaven for anyone killed while fighting the Christian infidels. The guy said "I wanted to ask them, '72 virgins?!?! Wouldn't you at least want a couple that knew what they were doing?'"   *********** Without getting into the costs of fighting a war in Iraq, how do you folks in Nebraska and Ohio and Alabama feel about your tax dollars going to build a $10 million foot bridge across a highway in Vancouver, Washington? Of course, this isn't just any old foot bridge. Oh, no. It's part of the glorious "Confluence Project," which in case you weren't aware has been using your tax dollars to "celebrate" Lewis and Clark's epic journey with an assortment of boodoggle projects. And it was designed by - gasp! - Maya Lin herself, famed designer of the Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washingon.   I'll let Ms. Lin tell you why she is being paid so much to design $23 million worth of art, including the footbridge. The objective of the projects, you see, is "to cause those who visit the sites to subtly reconsider their world views, to examine environmental and cultural changes over the years and to contemplate ways of changing and improving the land and relationships between all races and all creeds."   I did not make that up.   Imagine. For $10 million you don't just get a foot bridge. You improve relationships between all races and creeds.   Wow. If I'm an NFL owner trying to get taxpayers to build me a new $500 million stadium, I'm thinking, "Holy sh--! Why didn't I think of that? Wait till I hit the suckers with this one: 'The objective of our new stadium is to save the planet and provide every citizen of the Global Village with eternal health and happiness.' Haw! I'll not only get a new stadium - I'll win a Nobel Prize, too."   *********** Coach Wyatt, Dude, say it ain't so! But did I see the Seattle Seahawks line up in a Double Wing formation and run the WEDGE to Shawn Alexander for a touchdown this past weekend?? (Tight 3 Wedge to be exact!)   I swear I did!!  Holy Moly!! What's this world coming to anyway??? Mike Lane, Oxford, Pennsylvania   I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I happend to look up and see the Seahawks score a TD when Hasselbeck ran in on what looked like a run-pass option out of Double-Wing.   I have no idea what is going on, but if it continues to work for the Seahawks, look for everybody in the NFL to be doing it, and then for the TV guys to praise it as "very innovative." HW   *********** Clemson's linemen stay in 2 point all the time. Do they do this to disguise when the QB is going to throw from the pocket???? I assume they do it because being a shotgun team they throw a bunch and they figure their linemen might just as well start out in the stance they're going to play in. There really isn't much need for a shotgun linemen ever to have to fire out low. But it may also have something to do with wanting to disguise the backfield action. I found, for example, that when we run Wildcat, with our backs close to the center, the snap is low and the defense can't find the ball, but when we move our backs back to 4 yards, the snap often comes a little higher and defenses can see it. Shotgun snaps normally come numbers-high. *********** News release - RAIDERS CAPTURE JUNOR HIGH FOOTBALL CROWN The Lower Cape May (New Jersey) Raiders football team finally got the respect it deserves Saturday afternoon at the Dennis Township Sports Complex, soundly beating Middle Township Junior High 34 to 6 for the league crown. The Raiders went 11 and 0 for a perfect season in what most people feel is the toughest Junior High Football League in Southern New Jersey. There are 12 teams in the league, including six from Cape May County and extending as far North as Barnegat Regional, Southern Regional, and Pineland Regional in Ocean County, with Atlantic County teams from Galloway Township and Egg Harbor Township. Why were we not respected? Coach Frank Simonsen feels it was due to the Double Wing System we run. Coaches and spectators just cannot see or understand how an offense that runs the ball 90% of the time can outmatch and outscore the Spread-em-out-and-throw offenses of today. Now they believe. Coach "Flash" Hughes' Defense gave up just three TDs. and a 2 Pt. conversion all season, for a total of 20 points. *********** I was inspired by the guy who named his dog Wedge. We recently acquired two new lab pubs. Male - Rip. Female - Liz. Dennis Cook, Roanoke, Virginia *********** There was a point in the Ohio State-Michigan game when Michigan, on fourth-and-one, went for it. Well, sort of. Actually, they threw a slant, which fell incomplete. Imagine - Michigan - throwing a slant on fourth-and-one! Somewhere Bo Schembechler, who believed good offense was akin to "grinding meat," must have choked on his chicken wings. *********** You say you have to deal with a former coach who loves to sit up in the stands and tell one and all who'll listen exactly what you're doing wrong? Cheer up. It could be worse. You could be coaching at Stanford, where you'd be second-guessed by none other than the Great White Genius himself, Bill Walsh. Despite the fact that in the second of his two tours as head coach at Stanford he kicked back and let the program go all to hell, Walsh has had a position created for him high up in the Stanford athletic department. Now, as Stanford goes out and looks for a new AD, Walsh will be serving as interim AD. During the broadcast of the Cal-Stanford game, the Great One stopped in the broadcast booth to visit with Keith Jackson and Dan Fouts, and told a national TV audience that he wished Stanford would use pass plays where the receiver came open sooner. Huh? Here was a guy who works for Stanford - a guy who's been named interim AD - and he's second-guessing his coach on national TV!!! Nice. Not even Walt Harris deserves that. Well actually, on second thought, maybe he does. Because Walt Harris has displayed a disturbing tendency this year to blame anyone but himself for anything that goes wrong. Following his team's sorry performance against Cal Saturday, he remained true to form and blamed his players. ("We didn't match up physically," etc.) Poor guy. See, he just didn't have the talent to play with Cal. So how could he be expected to win with less talent? At least he was smart enough not to pull that one after the Stanford loss to Cal-Davis. Nope. He blamed that one on his predecessor. Permit me to take you back to something I wrote a couple of months ago... Stanford's Walt Harris, asked how come the Cardinal was able to run for only 74 yards against UCD, answered, "Poor technique - that's not a problem that just started this fall." Right, Walt - blame it on Buddy Teevens. Funny - if there were problems with "technique," you'd have thought Harris and his staff of professionals would have made some slight progress with them during spring ball and pre-season drills. *********** I was talking with a guy in Germany who has had some success with the Double-Wing. He said he'd just given a clinic talk and he said the other guys in the room looked at him like he was nuts. I said to think of it as if he is driving a nicely restored '57 Chevy. There are those who still appreciate something good, even if it is old. But most people nowadays would rather drive something new - anything - even if it is a piece of crap. *********** The link or your Friday site to the uniform jersey that Oregon was supposedly going to wear in tonight's game vs the Beavers was pretty ugly, with the contrasting colored sleeve ala Va Tech, Florida, and (now) Miami. However, the actual uniform worn by the Oregon team is far worse. If you saw the original Rollerball (the one with James Caan), they remind me of those futuristic style uniforms that only Hollywood (or Nike) can dream up. I think they're an embarrassment, but I'm sure "the kids love 'em". And after all, it's all about the kids. Alan L. Goodwin, Warwick, Rhode Island. (Constantly redefining the concept of "ugly uniform," out came Nike with Oregon Ducks uniforms a hideous black and green, wuth what appeared to be silver tire treads on the shoulders and thighs. Their numbers were what you'd get if you gave a bunch of kindergarteners some scissors and yellow duct tape and told them to past numbers on some green-and-black jerseys. There was a lot of secrecy, and a lot of disinformation, circulating beforehand about what the Ducks would wear against OSU. They even appeared for pre-game warmups in their "lightning yellow" uni's - which, seeing the dense fog they had to play the game in, probably would have been a great help to TV viewers and broadcasters - then went back into the lockerroom did a quick change, right before the game, into those dark and dingy black things. Yeah, it's all about the kids. And the apparel sales. HW) *********** When the cat's away the mice will play... There was a spell when USC was down, and the four schools in the Pacific Northwest made the most of it. It was fun while it lasted. But now the Trojans are back on top, and it looks as if they're going to be there a while. I'm no big fan of the Trojans, but I have to give them their due. They are good. And I also have to give them their props for not being a bunch of whores - at least not as whorish as most major college programs. According to Ken Goe of the Portland Oregonian, Nike approached USC about one of their Queer Eye for the Straight Guy-type uniform makeovers - and the Trojans turned them down. *********** And then I saw the latest Miami uniform makeover... *********** It didn't come on until 10:15 Eastern, so unless you guys back East recorded it, you probably missed the USC-Fresno State game. Damn shame. Trust me - you missed one of the greatest performances in the history of college football. By Reggie Bush. Matt Leinart notwithstanding, without Reggie Bush and his 500+ all-purpose yards (290+ yards rushing, 68 yards receiving), USC loses to Fresno. Leinart is good and all that, but it seems to me that every year there are several big QB's like him who can throw the ball rather well. Brady Quinn is pretty good, too. And Michael Robinson. And Brett Basenez. Etc., etc., etc. The better their receivers and the better their lines, the better they play. In my opinion, you could shuffle them around from team to team and the results would be pretty much the same. But there isn't a team in the country that wouldn't be better - a lot better - if it had Reggie Bush. I really do believe that there isn't a team in the Top Ten that couldn't be Number One if it had Reggie Bush. Reggie Bush is the most exciting runner I have seen since O.J. Simpson - maybe even including Simpson. *********** Man, that was some crowd in the LA Coliseum for the Fresno State-USC game - 90,000 fans, screaming their fool heads off! It reminded me of the UCLA-USC crowds when I was a kid, watching those games on black-and-white TV back in Philly and marvelling at the fact that we could actually be watching a game live from the West Coast. I had a little trouble dealing with the fact that it was dark outside, but it was still daylight out there! Whoa. *********** The Yale-Harvard OT was truly bizarre. Two fumbles, two interceptions and a missed field goal, until Harvard finally punched in the winning score. It went like this: !st OT: Yale fumbles on 1st play, Harvard recovers; Harvard fails to get a first down, field goal attempt is wide left; 2nd OT: Harvard QB throws interception; Yale receiver, fighting for extra yardage, is stripped of the ball by a Harvard defender; 3rd OT: Yale QB is hurried, throws off balance, Harvard player makes a sensational interception; Harvard drives for the winning TD. Has anyone else seen a game go 2-1/2 overtime periods without a score of any sort? *********** Just to put Ivy League football in perspective... Harvard's win over Yale made it five straight for the Crimson over the Blue. Would an Army coach survive fight straight losses to Navy? An Alabama coach five straight to Auburn? A Clemson coach five straight to South Carolina? A Michigan coach five straight to Ohio State? No Oregon coach had better lose five straight to Oregon State, and no Washington coach would get away with losing five straight to Washington State. Not even Stanford or Cal, academic elites though they be, would tolerate five straight losses in the Big Game. But my prediction is that there will be scarcely a murmur out of Old Blues about Yale's Jack Siedlecki dropping his fifth in a row to Harvard. *********** To me, the sound of a female play-by-play announcer calling a football game is just a small step above that of fingernails scraping down a blackboard. On top of that, I don't think that people who have never played the game - men or women - have any business questioning the courage of a player. So believe me when I say I damn near lost it when one Beth Mullins, who did the play-by-play of the Army-Arkansas State game on ESPNU, stated that an Arkansas State receiver got "alligator arms." (For those not familiar with the term, it refers sneeringly to a receiver going over the middle for a pass who, being faint of heart, pulls in his arms because he's less concerned about reaching out to catch the ball than he is about protecting himself from contact.) *********** After what seemed like a different MAC game on TV every night of the week for the past week or so, I have to wonder - do they still play any of their games on Saturdays? *********** The Vanderbilt-Tennessee game was a thriller, but I feel for Phil Fullmer and hope he can survive this season. On the other hand, Tennessee plays at Kentucky this Saturday, and I am a Rich Brooks man. *********** I am also, as you may know, a Bobby Ross man, and Army made it four in a row going into the big one with Navy in two weeks. *********** With a win over MIssouri in his final game at Kansas State, Bill Snyder went out a winner. Has any coach in the history of college football done what he did, turning a program with no winning tradition at all - a national symbol of futility - into a national power? To best express what he accomplished at KSU: he retires with more wins there than his 14 immediate predecessors combined. *********** Watching the final moments of the Georgia Tech-Miami game, with Tech needing to hang onto the ball and run out the clock, I heard Bob Davie say, "I still get nervous about that quarterback back there in that shotgun," which just goes to show that while he may know his football, he doesn't seem to know his football history. That's because with the game on the line and Georgia Tech needing to run something safe and sure, it ran what may have looked like shotgun to Bob Davie, but looked like basic single wing off-tackle to me - Reggie Ball off right tackle and Reggie Ball off left tackle. *********** Much has been made about the way Steve Spurrier came into South Carolina and immediately began downplaying the rivalry with Clemson, taking down all the "Beat Clemson" signs around the athletic offices, and asking people, "Is this the only game we play?" Good question. By refusing to focus on just one big rival, Spurrier did manage to get seven wins this season out of a Gamecock team that wasn't expected to do very well. Just one problem, though. Clemson was not among the seven. South Carolina lost to Clemson Saturday, 13-9. Knowing how passionate the people in that state are about that rivalry, I wouldn't be surprised if Coach Spurrier does a change of attitude, and "Beat Clemson" signs begin to show up on the office walls once again. *********** Send this one straight to the Post-Game Interview Hall of Fame... ALEX ON THE SIDELINES (AFTER PENN STATE BEAT MICHIGAN STATE TO FINISH 10-1 AND WIN THE BIG TEN TITLE: "How many people do you think thought you'd be in this position at the start of the season?" JOE PATERNO: "I don't know and I don't care." *********** We advanced to the final 8 in the play-offs with a 19-12 win vs. Brandon. We really struggled on offense, but were able to put several nice drives together in the 4th quarter. We play at Oak Grove next friday. They are the team we defeated to win South State last year. They are 11-0 and have very good team. It will be a big challenge, but our kids have been through a lot this year and I know they will give it a 100% effort Friday night. Thanks to those who have donated to our coaches. It is really appreciated. 3 of our coaches are now living in 30 ft. FEMA travel trailors. Coach Tosch has had his house repaired at a cost of $30,000. and I put a new roof on my house. I'll see you in Atlanta (for the clinic). Steve Jones, Ocean Springs, Mississippi *********** Former Chicago Bear (and Harvard guy) Dan Jiggetts provided some of the color analysis at the Yale-Harvard game. And one of the pre-game features was hosted by a young woman named Lauren Jiggetts, also a Harvard graduate. Although I didn't actually hear anyone say so, she is obviously Dan Jiggetts' daughter. All I can say is, "WOW!" *********** Greetings Coach! I want to let you know that the Guilderland Dutchmen Midget Team ( 11-15 yrs old ) won the Capital District Pop Warner Super Bowl on Saturday evening with a 22-14 victory over Schenectady/Belmont. We finished the season with a record of 9-1. Schenectady scored first after each team traded punts on their first possessions but we came back to tie the game at the begining of the second quarter. On the ensuing kickoff we squibbed it deep down the left side and almost recovered it. As one of our players swatted at the ball, a Schenectady player picked it up and reversed field deep in his own territory and got an illegal block in the back from a teammate, for which the ref tthrew a flag. As the play unfolded, my Quarterback took a devastating but legal block that lifted him off the ground. He landed awkwardly on his left arm and broke it near his shoulder. As he laid in pain on the field I ran out to him and I could tell it was serious. As I called for a medic all I could hear the assistant coach for the other team say was, in a very enthusiastic voice, " is that their QB?" Boy was I pissed. Not only was I pissed about his outward enthusiasm over an injured player, but all game long his players were tripping our pulling linemen and going for our knees. I complained to the Ref on our side but he ignored our pleas. We held up the game for over 30 minutes as our player was taken by ambulance to the local hospital. Coach, if you told me we were going to lose our starting QB, Peter Quinn, in the second quarter than I would've bet we were going to be defeated. He is not our best or most talented player but he is the one player I felt we could not afford to be without. Our kids could have lost all hope at that point but, to a man, they pulled together and decided to win this game for Peter. It was very emotional to watch as they destroyed everthing and everyone in front of them as we took a 14-8 lead at the half. As we went to our designated end zones, our kids were running with their helmets high in the air, yelling Peter's name. The other team was walking to their end zone withn their heads down. It gave me goose bumps! We got the ball and scored right away and held a 22-8 lead until they scored on our second defense with 2 minutes left in the game. We recovered the onside kick and drove about 40 yards on tight 2 wedge and 2 trap 3 until we kneeled it on their 15 yard line with 50 seconds left to end the game. Our back up QB, Patrick Dunn, did a great job of filling in for Peter. After our celebration we had a brief awards ceremony where the kids all got trophies and I received the team trophy. When Pete's name was called. every player ran up to the podium chanting his name! Wow! Goose bumps again! After the game we had over 60 people, players and fans alike, go to the hospital to present Peter with the game ball signed by all the players and coaches and the team trophy. Over the weekend, as I had time to reflect upon the game, I came accross something I gave to the team at the begining of the season and I thought wow, They really took this to heart. Thanks for all your help and support and have a blessed holiday. Mike Cahill, Guilderland Dutchmen, Guilderland, New York *********** Coach - We are now in the state semis after winning 7-0 last night (Friday). Marc Gibson our Head coach, is from South West Ohio. He brought the Double Wing to the shores of Lake Erie. I believe at some point he has been in contact with you. Our FB has 1350 yards (He is only 6'2" 245...) our WB has 1100 yards and our other WB has 450 yards. We use alot of DW concepts along with a I Zone concept and has been a great combo. Matt Flewelling, Clyde, Ohio(Coach Gibson attended one of my very first clinics, in Louisville back in 1997. He has had good success at two or three programs in SW Ohio before moving north. HW) *********** I think college football is getting leached by the attention-deficit effect of SportsCenter and short-span sports reporting. ESPN pushes the pro-centric idea that if the teams aren't good the rivalry isn't worth covering. Pats-Colts may not mean anything in four years, but Michigan-Ohio State will. Stanford-Cal will ALWAYS be intense no matter the records. Commentators who call some rivalries 'meaningless games' expose their ignorance and condescension. Again, the focus on the mythical national title takes away from the purity of the games themselves. Screw the FedEx Tostitos Sears Trophy - give me Buckeye blood. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California (Hear! Hear! Well said. "Only" 70,000 people showed up at Stanford Stadium to watch "meaningless" Cal-Stanford, and only 70,000 were at Husky Stadium to watch "meaningless" Washington-Washington State.HW)  Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

(UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 18, 2005 - "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." Plato SCENES FROM A WEEKEND AT AN ARMY FOOTBALL GAME The idea of the Army Football Club, this is the trailer that transports Army's football equipment to all away games The Holleder Center, connected by a walkway to Michie Stadium, houses the ice hockey rink (building on the left) and the basketball arena (on the right). It is named in honor of Don Holleder, the inspiration for the Black Lion Award The Black Knight Walk- the band leads the Army football team (in grey uniforms) on its walk from the team buses to the locker room As thousands wait outside the gate to get through security, the Army team runs onto the field between a cordon of fellow cadets *********** Hi Coach, Great as always! My wife is from Huntingdon Valley - real nice area! I know the OC at UMass - good staff. They were previously at Northeastern and really earned their stripes there. Word is that UMass wil be going DI over the next few years. As a Red Sox fan I must correct you on your statement that Frank Robinson was the last man to win baseball's triple crown. In fact, it was Carl Yastrzemski who last did it on 1967 with 44 homers, 121 RBI's and a .326 BA. Thanks for all you do for us coaches Hugh! Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey (Correction duly noted.HW)   *********** The University of Massachusetts' teams were once known as the Redmen. But, being the state university of Massachusetts (oops- there goes my pledge not to poke fun at a state that has sold its soul to mindless liberalism), that name went bye-bye in the early days of Political Correctness. But at least they didn't adopt some lameass nickname, like "Red Hawks," or "Cardinal," or "Big Green." No, they chose "Minutemen." Not bad. I mean, what could be more appropriate than to honor those brave Massachusetts farmers, who prepared to stand up to the British occupiers of Boston, armed and drilled and ready to fight at a minute's notice? Appropriate, and patriotic at that.   But not so fast.   We overheard a young woman sitting next to us at the Army-UMass game, a UMass student, telling her mother that there are people at UMass who are unhappy with the nickname. I couldn't discern whether the problem was merely that any name with the word "man" in it would be sure to enrage feminists, or whether the Minuteman was too warlike a figure.   I suspect it may have been the latter, because the young woman's mother, obviously no feminist, shook her head at the idiocy of it all and said, "Things are what they are."   *********** Coach - Great News you had a great time at Army-UMASS !! Willie Pep's team is improving !! LOL   Coach I will say this about my state University - they have always at least tried to put a Good effort in running a solid 1-AA program in the Yankee Conf.( I know they call it the Atlantic 10, but It will always be the Yankee Conf to me). They have had some pretty good coaches out there - Dick McPherson, Jimmy Reid,Mark Whipple,and this guy Brown seems decent.   Coach, they have Two problems though - they're in the Middle of No-where, and as my EMT instructor said to me at Northeastern Univ., Massachusetts is really divided into Two states - The State of Boston ( Metro Boston inside Rt 128 ) and the Rest of the state, so when it comes to the Boston sports scene, Not only do those Poor Bastards have to Battle the 4 Pro teams , Plus B.C. and the left over ink for 1-AA coverage goes to Harvard,and Northeastern with the Cross (Holy Cross) and UMASS taking the rest. But once you go out past Worcester they are The Team in the Western part of the state. It's the State Of Boston that Keeps electing that F***King A***hole Teddy Boy   Coach is next year Army's schedule a little More Manageable ? I remember Ross saying except for Navy and Air Force which will always be fixtures on the schedule, they want to apply the 3-3-3 method. 3 teams which they feel they should beat, 3 teams which they feel there on par, and 3 teams which will be a challenge. I have been saying this for years they should use this. I have No beef with any 1-A team playing 1-AA teams, but for Army's ( and Navy's ) sake I don't mind if they play 2 1-AA teams a year.   Coach a must to add to your Football Library is a 1200+ page Hard Cover Book about Everett H.S.Football "112 Years of Everett Football " by Mr. Arn Boardman, the Thing has to weighs 12 lbs !! What it looks like this guy did is they took most of his scrap book he has kept over the Years and made it in a hard cover book. great stuff!! , He has the article When Harry Agganis beat the Vaunted Everett Team in 1947 in front of 23,000+ at Manning Bowl.   See ya Friday Coach - John Muckian Lynn, Massachusetts   THERE'S NO STADIUM QUITE LIKE IT ANYWHERE... The view from the upper deck at Michie Stadium is possibly the most beautiful to be found at any stadium in America...behind Lusk Reservoir, the massive stone tower of the Cadet Chapel rises high above the wooded West Point campus; between it and the hills in the distance flows the majestic Hudson River. The number "41" on the field honors Glenn Davis, Army's famed "Mr. Outside," whose jersey number was retired at this game. Davis, one of three Army Heisman Trophy winners, passed away last spring. *********** Coach Wyatt: Happy holidays! Seeing Army win at home must have been amazing. Last friday I ventured back to my home town to watch the Cougars play Elk City in the first round of the playoffs. Ada is in a down year (8-3, district champs: we're still hoping for title # 20) and most people don't consider them a title contender. Man was I in for a shock, as usual they opened the game mixing various Maryland I formations and a little T set. Then midway through the second quarter a friend of mine (who happens to coach at Mt. Plesent, TX) says what the heck is that...I look down at the field and I'll be damned if Ada wasn't in Tight formation. They had their FB a little deeper than us and they ran 12 inch splits (I found this out fromth HC after the gam) but the first play was 6-G for about 8 yards. They proceeded to run a mix of what we would call Tight, Green Wing, and Gold Wing formations and marched to a 27-23 victory. Following the game I explained the wedge to the HC and he found it very intersting...we'll see if they use it. By the way look for the 2005 Cheyenne movie & sountrack in the mail in the coming weeks. We premier it tonight at Northpark Cinema in OKC, OK. I think you'll enjoy it. Gabe McCown, Piedmont, OK-USA   *********** Just a thought - what happens to all those Fantasy Football types who had T.O. on their "team?"   *********** I was speaking the other day with Coach Scott Martin, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, who told me he'd had a problem anyone that who's coached a while will eventually encounter, if he hasn't already - the guy who looks great all week in practice but just can't get the job done in the game - As Coach Martin said, "He was D-1 all week in practice... and on Friday night he was D-minus."   *********** From Mike Hogan, Corresponding Secretary of the Army Football Club, came this sad note...   Dear Members of the Army Football Family, It is my sad duty to insure that you are aware that another member of our football family has passed away. Don Parcells '65 died on Wednesday, 9 November after a long struggle with brain cancer. I was extremely fortunate to have known this wonderful human being. May he rest in peace. Please keep Don's family in your thoughts and prayers.   But there was more...   You see, Don Parcells, former Army football player, was the younger brother of Bill, three-time Super Bowl winner and now coach of the Cowboys.   And Monday night, as the world occupied itself with the saga of T.O and Donovan, Bill Parcells stood on the Cowboys' sidelines in Philadelphia, just hours after attending his brother's funeral Mass in Springfield, New Jersey.   "When he gets on the field, he'll do what he has to do, and I'm sure he'll be able to block out everything and do his job," Doug Parcells, the youngest of the Parcells brothers, told the Newark Star-Ledger. "He's always been able to do that. But I'm sure it was a tremendously difficult day. He and Donnie are less than two years apart in age and they grew up together. So they were very, very close. I know from my conversations with Bill during the week that this has been very troubling and very disturbing, as you would suspect."   Bill Parcells went to Wichita State; Don Parcells went to West Point. As a fullback, he scored a touchdown in the 1962 Army-Navy game. While serving in Vietnam, he suffered serious wounds to both legs. He won a Medal of Valor and was awarded a Purple Heart.   In 1988, when Lawrence Taylor had just been suspended and his Giants were preparing to face the defending Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins, Bill Parcells told his players about his brother's experience in Vietnam, "about a unit that had gone over there with about 100 guys and the first day they lost 18 guys in battle. And the next day they had to go back out there."   The three Parcells brothers all became football coaches. Bill, as we all know, went on to win three Super Bowls. Doug, the youngest, is an elementary school PE teacher and high school coiach in New Jersey. And Don, who after military service went on to a successful career in banking, became a youth coach. Asked if he would watch the Giants-Cowboys game that night, Doug laughed and said that was "a silly question."   It was noted at his service that Don Parcells kept the faith right to the end, proclaming shortly before his death that the Army football program "is on the rise." Sure enough, just a few days later, an Army team that had opened its season with six staight losses won its third straight game.   *********** Did anybody else think that perhaps Monday Night Football's "Sideline Sam" Ryan was not the right person to be explaining to us the difference between a "hernia" and a "sports hernia?"   SHOTS FROM THE ARMY (WEST POINT) SPORTS HALL OF FAME... LEFT: So many members of the Class of 1915 became generals that it came to be called "The Class the Stars Fell On" - Three football-playing members of that class became four-star generals; two of them (Eisenhower and Bradley) earned a fifth star (only five men in our nation's history have done so), and one of them (Eisenhower) became President; ABOVE: It's not so well-known that General Bob Neyland, who built the Tennessee program into a national power, and Bill Yeoman, father of the Houston Veer, were both Army football players; RIGHT (Top): Don Holleder's College Football Hall of Fame Plaque; (Bottom) Don Holleder's All-American Plaque *********** I watched CSTV for a while Tuesday night, and caught a couple of interviews with college coaches. Sheesh. Where are those Notre Dame people who complained about how unexciting Tyrone Willingham was? Charlie Weis makes Hillary Clinton sound exciting.   *********** When officers searched a guy's home in Hollister, California, they found a half pound of methamphetamine, five grams of cocaine, a stolen pistol, several hunting rifles and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, and arrested the guy. He denied any connection with the contraband, and asked the officers, "Will this prevent me from being a Pop Warner or youth football coach?" (Supplied to me by John A. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division of the ATF, who in his other life is a youth football coach. Somehow I doubt that he would hire this guy as an assistant. HW)   *********** I was waiting outside Michie Stadium, but for a minute I thought I was in a scene from the Sopranos when a young mother told her son to get down off a wall. Sounding just like Adrianna, she shouted, "Christofuh! Get AWF!"   *********** I grew up in the East, but I've spent the last 30 football seasons in the Northwest, and until last weekend's visit to Pennsylvania and New York, I'd forgotten how cool it was like to shuffle through huge piles of dry leaves, and feel the crunch of dried acorns under foot. I'd also forgotten what a monumental job it is to get rid of all those leaves on the ground. Back when I was a kid, and nobody worried about air pollution (every house was heated with coal, steam locomotives burned coal, and every adult smoked), the men would all rake leaves into huge piles in the gutters and set fire to them. Everywhere you looked were smoldering piles fo leaves. Now, 50+ years later, in Washington it will soon be illegal to smoke within 25 feet of any public building.   *********** I was glad to hear you had a good trip to West Point and elsewhere. I actually thought of you Saturday and the great weather you had for the Army game as I sat indoors watching my wounded Huskies get pasted by a lackluster Pitt Panthers team. I think Pitt was our last hope for another win this season, since we finish up with home games against South Florida (which has turned out to be surprisingly good) and Louisville.   Your glowing comments on the UMass team and the Minuteman band were tough to hear coming from a UConn fan. UMass and UConn were bitter rivals in their Yankee Conference days (we used to call the school ZooMass).   I would like to tell you that the UConn band is also very large and very impressive. They begin each pre-game performance by entering the stadium down the aisles from the street level, then spelling out UCONN while playing the Husky fight song. After playing the alma mater, they then play a combination of America the Beautiful/Battle Hymn of the Republic, followed by the National Anthem. We always make a point of getting to our seats about 45 minutes before kickoff so we can watch some of the teams' pre-game warm-ups and see the band.   Finally on the local high school front, Fitch (former Double-Wing power) can make the state play-offs by winning its last two games, including the Thanksgiving game against Ledyard (Ledyard also needs this win plus the game prior to it to qualify for the play-offs). And New London High School, under its new and controversial coach Jack Cochrane (who has won about 8 state titles at his previous two schools), had been undefeated until recently, including a close contest against Fitch. Two weekends ago, they were shut out against Windham of Willimantic. They "made up" for that loss by creaming last Saturday's opponent 90-0. Yes, 90-0. And the funny thing is, the losing coach didn't think the Whalers had run up the score. Go figure. Alan L. Goodwin, Warwick, Rhode Island (Sick, sick, sick. Beating an opponent that badly is sick. Unless his second and third stringers scored at least 3 touchdowns each, there is a special place for any coach who beats somebody by a score like that. That place sure isn't inside any fraternity of fellow coaches. HW)   *********** All a West Coast fan has to do is spend a football weekend in the East, and he'll begin to understand why there is so little respect for the Pac-10 in so much of the country. With the Oregon-Washington State game coming on at 10:15 PM Eastern last Saturday night, there was no way I was going to stay up to watch it all; and with the finish so late that the result won't be found in any major newspaper the next day, the Pac-10 might just as well have been in Europe.   PART OF THE SHOW AT WEST POINT The 300-piece UMass Marching Band, performing at halftime for a very impressed Michie Stadium crowd. It's an excited group of cadets on the field celebrating the win along with the Army team. No worries, though - the MPs down at the goal posts know a thing or two about crowd control. And besides, those students are sober. *********** Coach Wyatt My wife and I attended your clinic in Burbank CA last year and have bought a few of your tapes since then. Well , it all paid off this season, our 1st year running pure DW. Our 7/8/9 yr. old went undefeated with a 9-0 record and then went on to win their "Bowl Game" to finish the season 10-0 . We wore out your tape on "Safer & Surer Tackling" and got pretty darn good with not a single injury.   Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us "newbie doublewingers" and hope to see you again at your clinic this year.   Dave & Tina Wenderlich, Fullerton Football.com - Fullerton, California   *********** I know you just ended a rough, rough season. Sorry about that. As you may recall, this was my first season as a HC. My boys just won the city championship to go 10-0. I tell you that because we could not have done it without your videos and your kind emails. (Heck, you even talked on the phone once at length with one of my assistants, Brett, whose son, by the way, scored three touchdowns in the championship game) When I purchased your videos, those were the first coaching materials I bought, ever. I watched them, and then ordered more. I believe I have all but two of your videos. As I repeatedly watched them I learned a system, but even more importantly, I also came to believe that I, lacking any HC experience, could teach this to kids.   Well, obviously, it worked. Heck, I even used your opponent's Heavy formation (5-1 line) from I believe it was Dynamics IV. We ran powers and (my favorite) 6 and 7G, and counters and the X-cross all season. At one point, we had run counter--criss cross six times, all for touchdowns. My kids came to believe in this system so much, that my offense was truly disbelieving when we failed to drive and score (we outscored our opponents 268 to 12 this season).   And other teams literally altered their defenses just to stop the wedge, but, of course, that did them more harm than good. In overtime, in the first round of the playoffs, we won by running SuperPower right, 7G and then Wedge.   And it all started with those very friendly, easy to understand videos and kind emails. So, thanks for your large part in our season. And good luck next year. By the way, we now play in the nationals, I'll let you know what happens.   Adam W. Watters, Tucson, Arizona   *********** Coach Wyatt, This is just a note to thank you again, for the third straight year, for sharing you football knowledge about the Double Wing and other matters. Yesterday, we completed our third straight season of running the Double Wing, with our third straight championship. We completed the regular 8 game season scoring 308 points and giving up 6. All but 2 of those games were stopped at the end of the third quarter due to the "mercy" rule. All totaled in all games played, we scored 416 points, which included a 17-0 forfeit by a team that didn't want any more of us in the first round playoff game, and gave up 18. The only trouble we had all year was against the only other team in the league that runs the Double Wing, and they were the team we met and defeated in the championship game. I must admit, that since the other coach has been to your seminars and has the same playbook, he was able to defense us better than anyone else. I will also admit that due to that fact, I pulled an old single wing play out and used it to score the winning touchdown. What really made this year fun, was while most other coaches in my organization still do not like or understand the Double Wing, they now come and watch our games and have started to ask questions. They have made the comment that they have to watch the games from high in the stands, since they cannot even find the ball from ground level. One coach even brought his offense to us so that we could teach them some of the DW plays, and used them to win his own championship last Saturday. Some have now started calling us "The Greatest Show on Turf". This might be my last go round for coaching youth football. I had already retired from it in 1989 and only came back in 2003 due to a request from a head coach friend that knew my background. I really love the kids and love the teaching but the fund raising hassles and the parents that think their son is a superstar and that coach never gives them a chance, is getting old. If this my last ride, I want to thank you for making it one hell of a lot of fun by exposing me to the excitement of the Double Wing. God Bless you in all your future endeavors. Coach Bruce Day, Offensive Coordinator, UNA Bears AA (11-12 yrs) Nashville, Tennessee   *********** Coach I just wanted to thank-you for the new ideas you gave me for this past football season. I have coached 8th grade in houston for twenty years now. I bought your tapes on the DW and the sure tackling video. Our 8th grade A team and B team both finished the season undefeated. The B team did'nt win 1 game the year before. My favorite play was the WEDGE. Nobody has ever seen it before. Even the referees liked it. We ran 88,99,47,X,reach,wedge,and what I called 88 power pass. I called the formation JET instead of tight. Like I told you we have to run what our highschool runs but I put the jet plays in for something elst to think about. Everyone else around here are running shotgun spread. It was nice to go old school. They couldn't stop it. Sincerely, Mike Martin, Houston, Texas   AN ALL-AMERICAN END TO A GREAT AFTERNOON OF FOOTBALL! The postgame celebration at midfield over, the Army team lines up at attention in front of the Corps of Cadets, as all join in singing the alma mater. (It's been over a year since they've been able to do this with a winning score up on the board!) *********** In my home state of Maryland a few double wingers made the playoffs. In 1A ball Brunswick and Catoctin (Coach Doug Williams) both are in the playoffs. In 2A Glenelg is back in the playoffs. Have a great week. Yours, John Grimsley, Moncks Corner, South Carolina   *********** Coach Wyatt I am having a late season problem with my middle school team. We have run off 9 straight wins and are heading into the semi-finals this weekend in the state playoffs. In the last two games I have noticed my line is not firing off. They are not moving most times until the ball is in the Q's hands and the center/Q exchange has been completed. We have four practices scheduled this week including tomorrow night. Do you have any drills you can suggest to try to improve this on short notice. One thing we started to do different is to coach all the line men together (1st and 2nd team) rather than run the entire first unit for 15 minutes a night as a complete unit against no one. Maybe that is what has caused us to lose our timing?   Incidentally we have had great success with the double wing. I have had this group of boys for 5 years now starting with pee-wee football. In the first year we did not score a touch down until the final game and lost all of our games. In the second year we won two games. In the third year we put in the DW and improved to 5-2-1 and caught the last seed in the playoffs and ended up losing in the championship game. The team we lost to was undefeated except for a regular season tie in the last game of the season to us. They figured out we could not pass by the time we saw them again in the championship and were able to stop us. We learned a very important lesson. Last year we were 7-1 and lost in the first round but stuck with the DW. We still run DW but have become better at using multiple formations to disguise it. It is the core of our teaching system and can now add in plays or varying them quickly without much explanation. We like to say it is the same girl, different dress.   Anyhow, any insight on addressing this line problem would help a lot. Thanks. Gene M. Carlino, Providence, Rhode Island (The answer, as you suggest, may lie in working the units separately. It also might be a matter of the snap count. If your center is snapping the ball before any other linemen are moving, he obviously is hearing something that they are not. HW)   *********** Austin Barnes was an outstanding fullback on his youth team in Rockwall, Texas, but finding himself on the light side for high school varsity ball, he decided to concentrate on wrestling, where he now has the potential to be a state champion. But he's still hooked on football, and more specifically the Double-Wing, as his dad, Scott, attests...   He made me laugh last night because he can make his own plays on the new Madden - the little pr--- is running the Double Wing!! He said "Heck...I get 7 yds on every carry!!"   I kid you not, Coach -- he's pulling his linemen and running 88/99 and kickin' ass! Crazy kids!! He wanted help setting up the trap (that was his favorite since he was a B back) -- but I don't have the patience for those stupid video games!!   *********** If you have a little money knocking around and you're looking for something extra-special for that coach on your list... you could buy him some old playbooks of Vince Lombardi's. Warning: be prepared to pay. Here's what the auction house had to say about a rare find that it is offering...   The Rizzuti family has announced that they have uncovered a long lost and historic set of playbooks that were the property of Vince Lombardi while he was the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants during the 1955 season. The five books include hundreds of Lombardi's personal notes, play sketches and doodles. The books include the QB series, offensive line blocking, passing game, running game and overall NY offense. The estimated value of this secret collection is unknown but believed to be huge, perhaps up to $20,000. Here is the true story:   In 1954, the New York Giants professional football team made coaching changes that would reverberate for generations &endash; spanning the glitz and glitter of Manhattan, to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, all the way to Canton, Ohio and the NFL Hall of Fame. Out went Giants legend and head man Steve Owen and in came Jim Lee Howell. Joining Howell as coordinator was Vince Lombardi, replacing another prodigy, Allie Sherman, as the head of the New York offense. Lombardi would team with defensive coordinator Tom Landry in what surely would be the greatest assistant coaching duo in professional football history.   Lombardi came to two conclusions when he took over the Giants offense; first, he decided that the offense would need a fleet-footed flanker-back in the passing game and second, he realized the Giants had to take the running game to a whole new level. New York won only three games the year before, and the ground attack was pathetic. But Lombardi was awed by the athletic prowess of his team. The roster screamed with mobile, dominant players. Superstars like Roosevelt Brown, Charlie Conerly, Frank Gifford, Rosey Grier, Kyle Rote, Mel Triplett, Emlen Tunnell and Alex Webster. Quick-cutting running backs. Powerful, swift linemen. The talent was there. The results were not.   The Giants players, at first, were not overwhelmed by Lombardi's new ideas. His playbook thinking began while playing at Fordham, where he was one of the original "Seven Blocks of Granite," then later at West Point, where he worked under legendary coach Red Blaik. He soon convinced his players that his offensive schemes, while revolutionary to them, were tried and true weapons he learned coaching at Army. He also picked up plays from watching the highly successful running attack of the Los Angeles Rams. The split-T formation, zone (rule) blocking, miss-direction, unique pass-blocking set-ups and most of all discipline &endash; at every turn he was in the face of the professionals he coached. He prevailed through persistence and determination.   Fast forward to October 2, 1955. "Autumn Leaves" by Roger Williams was playing on the radio, as was Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock." Bread was 18 cents a loaf. A new car cost less than $2000. And the Dow Jones hovered under 500. But Lombardi had more than soft melodies and the cost of living on his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about his second season as the Giants offensive leader.   It was a cool, windy fall day in Chicago as Lombardi hurriedly packed his travel items on an early Sunday morning. The big game that afternoon, the second in the young NFL season, pitted New York against the Cardinals at Soldier Field. His later-to-be-famous tan satchel carrying his Giants offensive playbooks (his "Bible") was by his side as he tossed things there and in his brown and beige checkered patterned suitcase to get ready to head out with the team. Then, something strange and un-Lombardi like happened. The stack of playbooks he had studied the night before as "The Honeymooners" played on his Conrad Hilton Hotel room black and white television set hotel lay by the bed. As he packed his remaining game notes into the brown satchel, he forgot the play- books. No doubt his mind was racing with power sweeps and option passes that he was sure would surprise the Cardinal's defense.   As he rushed out of his room, the books remained by the bed, until the Hilton housekeeper found them. She turned them into the front office manager. He placed them in his desk and wrote himself a note to try to get them back to the rightful owner. The next day, a busy Monday with the fall convention crowd that the downtown Conrad Hilton was famous for, the front office manager forgot to contact the Giants and the playbooks nested inside his locked desk for the next fifteen years.   In 1970, when the manager left the Hilton he cleaned out his desk for the last time. He re-discovered the books and thought that his son who had just graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and who would be coaching junior high football might get a kick out of using the playbooks. Away they went by mail to the son who quickly discovered that the X's and O's of professional football were far too complicated for the 13 and 14-year olds he was coaching. But he was wise enough after seeing the name "Lombardi" on the books that he should hang on to them. Into a file cabinet they went where they were undisturbed for the next 35 years.   That was then. This is now.   When I brought it to the attention of David Maraniss, author of the definitive biography of Vince Lombardi, "When Pride Still Mattered" (a heck of a book, if someone asks you what you want for Christmas), he wrote back, "Fascinating, Hugh. They sound authentic. I saw a lot of stuff like that from Vince Jr.'s garage, going back to Giants days. He was a voluminous note-taker and keeper."   *********** Not that you should bet against Notre Dame. (Not that you should bet on football at all!) But Notre Dame beat Navy last Saturday, and I did hear it mentioned during the Rutgers-Louisville game that three different teams - Stanford, Maryland and Rutgers - all lost the week after they beat Navy. In other words, they beat Navy, but Navy beat them up. So look out this weekend, Notre Dame. Oh, wait - Notre Dame is playing Syracuse. Never mind.   *********** Ryan Miller, Madison baseball coach and football assistant, sent me this (supposed) sneak preview of the new jerseys the Oregon Ducks are expected to unveil in the Civil War game against Oregon State this Saturday.   http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/334/duckuni8fy.jpg   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 15, 2005 - "It seems to me only half a life, to live without a past." Donald Hall, poet   *********** After a rough high school season, I treated my wife (and myself) to a trip back east to see an Army game. It was my third game at West Point, her second, in the last three years.   The weather was fantastic - crisp but not too cold - and there still was plenty of color in the trees. Sitting in the upper deck and looking across at the wooded hills across the Hudson, the view was gorgeous.   Add in a thrilling Army win, and it was an unforgettable experience, well worth the cross-country trip.   Frankly, it didn't matter to me that the opponent was UMass, a Division I-AA school. UMass was - is - a worthy foe that gave the Cadets all they wanted. UMass, ranked #5 in D-IAA and certainly a possibility to go all the way, is talented and well-coached.   On Friday, after watching the Army walk-through, I introduced myself to the UMass coach and asked for permission to watch his practice. He was very gracious and allowed me to stay, and what I saw scared the crap out of me. The UMass receivers, backs, defensive backs and linebackers didn't miss a pass. Not one pass. Not one ball was thrown off target, not one ball was dropped.   I commented on that to the coach when I thanked him, and he nodded, saying quite matter-of-factly, "We're very athletic."   Undoubtedly neither head coach was satisfied with his team's overall performance, but from a fan's standpoint, it was as exciting a game as you'd want, with Army pulling ahead, 34-27 with three minutes to play, then having to stave off a final UMass drive to seal the win.   Army had a few chances to put the game away, but a couple of costly mistakes allowed the game to go down to the wire. The Army defense did an exceptional job, but the Cadets had a third-quarter punt blocked for a UMass TD, and a fourth-quarter, fourth-and-one gamble (at their own 35!) backfired when the snap was bobbled, and the running back, who somehow got the ball, fumbled and UMass returned the fumble for a touchdown to tie the game at 27-27   But Army answered with a great drive, scored with 3:01 to play when QB Zac Dahman drilled a perfect pass to Walter Hill from 10 yards out. (On the drive, Dahman, who has taken a lot of heat for Army's lack of success the past two seasons, completed five clutch passes, finishing the day 22 of 27 for 224 yards and two TDs.   How big was the win? It was Army's third straight (after opening with six straight losses), the first three-game win streak since 1996. And it was the first home win in over a year. (It was also the first Army win I'd seen in person since an Army-Navy game back when I was in college.)   *********** It was for good reason that the King of England, in persuading William Penn to accept a large grant of land in the New World as settlement of a gambling debt owed Penn's late father, insisted that the land be named "Penn's Woods." It was to honor Penn's father, but it was also to recognize the fact that Pennsylvania still remains one of the most heavily-forested of all states. Wildlife still abounds in Penn's Woods. Pennsylvania's drivers kill 80,000 to 100,000 more deer every year than most states' hunters do. The states DOT spends $1.2 million just removing deer carcasses before other drivers can hit them. And when you figure in an average cost to repair damage to cars of at least $1000 a vehicle - we are talking a lot of business for Keystone state body and fender shops. I was reflecting on this startling fact as I drove through the leafy Philadelphia suburb of Huntington Valley, and had to come to a stop to allow eight wild turkeys to cross the road.   *********** Nothing like an Army football game to reaffirm the values of a traditional American.   You can begin your day as most folks do with a Parade - the glorious sight of 1,000 or so of America's finest young people, streaming out of the gray stone barracks and marching in lock step across the great Plain, high above the Hudson River.   Or you can arrive outside Michie Stadium two hours before kickoff and take part in the Black Knight Walk, forming two lines of supporters between which the Army players march, following behind the Cadet band, to their locker room. My wife and I, having seen the Parade last year, chose the latter. It was quite a thrill for me hearing the band play "On, Brave Old Army Team," and touching the hands of the young men as they walked past. (Actually, it's quite a thrill for me any time I hear "On, Brave Old Army Team," which is played only at the start of each half, and after every Army score. I am a great fan of college fight songs, and as a BIG Army fan in the Blanchard-Davis days, I do believe that it is the first fight song I ever heard.)   The entrance of the Army team onto the field is quite a sight, as bagpipes skirl and the Black Knights emerge from a cloud of smoke led by a player carrying a giant American flag.   And if you're into listening to weak-voiced little high school girls or MTV-types trying to see how long they can take to sing the National Anthem and what new way they can find to desecrate a song that had served us well right up until some genius decided that you had to have a recording star sing it, you would be disappointed at an Army football game. There, it is played - straight - by the Army band, and sung - straight - by a Cadet, chosen, obviously, for his strong, clear voice. It is actually possible to sing along, and many in the crowd do.   At halftime, several new inductees to the Army Sports Hall of Fame were introduced to the crowd, among them Doug Kenna, a Mississippi native who quarterbacked the Blanchard-Davis teams and lettered in football, basketball and tennis, and Joe Steffy, a native of Tennessee, who played during the same era, and was the first winner of the Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the best college lineman.   (On Friday, my wife and I were given a tour of the new Hall of Fame by Captain Joe Ross (no relation to Army head coach Bobby Ross), a native of Cumberland, Maryland and a former Army football captain who now serves on special assignment to the football program. It is quite a thing to roam through the facility and see the various awards and accomplishments of Army athletes. I concentrated on the football area, where there were plaques honoring men such as Robert Neyland and Bill Yeoman, two West Pointers who went on to become pretty fair college coaches; Vinegar Joe Stillwell, Omar Bradley, Ike Eisenhower and James Van Fleet, who distinguished themselves in wartime; John Trent and Don Holleder, who died in battle in Korea and Vietnam, respectively; alll the Army All-Americans and all the West Pooint College Football Hall of Fame inductees; all the unbeaten Army teams; a display devoted to the number of head coaches who served under Coach Red Blaik; and lots more.)   And then something that always gives me chills - the playing of the alma mater. (And I didn't even go there!) Every game at West Point ends with the Army team standing at attention and facing the Corps of Cadets, several thousand strong, as the band plays the West Point alma mater. (When two service academies face each other, tradition calls for both teams to stand respectfully for the playing of the two alma maters, first the loser's, and then the winner's.)   PHOTOS ON FRIDAY   *********** I came away from the Army-UMass game very impressed with UMass overall.   Not only was the football team all that you'd expect from a top-ten Division I-AA team, but there was more...   Their band was great, 300-strong (it took six buses to transport them), and an old-fashioned precision marching unit that put on a great halftime show, catering to the largely-military audience with a rousing rendition of "God Bless the USA" , even to the point of improvising the line "From West Point to L.A." Naturally, the Army crowd sang along.   After this performance, it will be a while before you get any jokes from me about Massachusetts being a "People's Republic," other than to say that at some point, I found myself thinking, "is this the same Massachusetts that keeps sending Teddy Kennedy to Washington?"   When the UMass band took the field after the game and announced their intention of putting on a postgame performance, a large number of Army fans, my wife and I included, remained. The band members must have been pumped by the large, appreciative audience, because they played for at least another half hour, and as the band and the fans filed out of the stadium afterward, I heard one old Army guy say, to no one in particular, "that is some band!" Another hollered to them, "Come back again!"   The UMass fan contingent, although not overly large, was quite loud and enthusiastic.   In fact, they seemed to outyell the Army fans most of the way until the last two minutes, when the need to halt the UMass drive for the score that could have sent the game into overtime really got the Army fans rocking. (Of course, it's possible that the UMass delegation seemed extra loud because I was sitting across from them.)   Tip for any big-time program wanting to schedule a big-time D-IAA opponent: you can do a lot worse than Massachusetts. Make sure they bring their band, and tell your band to take the day off.   *********** It doesn't seem that long ago thatJet Turner was head coach and Jeff Murdock was his chief assistant and the two coaches attended my clinic at Durham, North Carolina and made the decision to run the Double-Wing.   They built a power there, and two years ago, Coach Turner moved on to Clover High, near Charlotte, and Coach Murdock remained behind as the new head coach at Ware Shoals.   Coach Murdock kept things going at Ware Shoals, continuing to make the playoffs, and now Coach Turner's Clover team has advanced to the Class 3A "Upper State" semifinals with a 24-14 win over A.C. Flora.   Timmy Boyd carried 32 times for 188 yards to pace Clover, which rushed 50 times for 302 yards, and completed two of six passes for 89 yards.   "I kept hearing all week that this school had never been to the third round," Coach Turner said. "This is big for us. We have a lot of players who play hard every game out; we earn everything that we get. We are just glad to be playing on another Friday night."   *********** Lansingburgh (New York) High defeated Beekmantown 57-16 in the state Class B quarterfinal, to advance to the semi-final game against unbeaten Rye.   Sophomore Kenny Youngs scored the game's first touchdown on the Knights' first play from scrimmage and finished the night with 107 yards rushing and three scores.   Brandon Canty, who scored the first three times he touched the ball on runs of 73, 35 and nine yards, led the Lansingburgh attack with 235 yards on just 10 carries, scoring four touchdowns in all, aas the Knights rushed for 435 yards.   "That's what we do," said Lansingburgh head coach Pete Porcelli. "We are a running football team. If we have to pass the pass is there, but we are a running football team."   *********** Just to keep the record straight... USA Today reported that when an Australian won in a poker tournament, a number of his buddies who were on hand started the cheer you may remember from the Olympics -   "Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie! Oy! Oy! Oy!" was how USA Today spelled it.   Phonetically correct, maybe, but way off the mark.   They were saying "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"   See, Australians do not call themselves "AW-sees."   And they jokingly refer to their country as Oz.   *********** A coach in Massachsetts, one of just two states (Texas is the other) to play by NCAA rules rather than National Federation rules, writes....I played in the championship game today and managed to win 14-12 . My problem is that the officials before the game approached me and stated that the wildcat series as not  legal due to the fact that the rolling of the ball constitutes a deceptive play and that the NCAA ruling states that is illegal. I was not able to use 1/2 my offense because of that ruling. I tried to explain what we do but I was not allowed to use it. Could you please find a definitive ruling and let me know Please. I have to prepare for our super bowl and that is a big part of the offense.   Thanks Coach, We do not use NCAA rules (nor do 47 other states) and therefore I have no idea what those officials are talking about.   It seems to me that using their over-broad interpretation of a very broad rule, any play that involves a fake is a "deceptive play." What would they call a play-action pass?   Sorry I can't help, but I don't see what is wrong with what you're doing. One question, though - why do you roll the ball back?   *********** Nothing against Jack Nicklaus, probably the greatest golfer of all time. Or Frank Robinson, winner of baseball's Triple Crown, and first black man to manage a major league baseball team. Or Muhammad Ali, possibly the most recognized athlete the world has ever known. (Well, actually, I do have a bone to pick with Ali for giving rise to all the look-at-me show-boating we see in sports today, but if he hadn't started it, someone else surely would have.)   They are all worthy of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to be presented to them by President Bush.   But will somebody please tell me why Rick Rescorla has yet to be honored?   (Apologies for originally stating that Frank Robinson was the "last Triple Crown Winner." Loyal Red Sox fans Matt Bastardi, of Montgomery, New Jersey and Mike Cahill, of Guilderland, New York, simply could not let me get away with overlooking the real last winner, Carl Yastrzemski. HW)   *********** Georgia - Nathanael Greene Academy 28 Toombs Academy 34 (D OT)   It took the states best assembly of Class "A" athletes to knock of our country boys from Siloam, Georgia Friday in a game that no one that attended will ever forget. Nobody ever expected us to whimper this year much less scream into the playoffs. The Toombs team had talent that you only dream to be able to coach with a prototype in every position. We were really no match in that department for our starters only average 172.2 pounds per man. Our opponents averaged I'm conservatively guessing well over 235 pounds but their over all height advantage had to be an average of 4 to 6 inches per man on average. I've heard from more than many that this was the best football game they had ever been a witness to on any level. We were not match physically or talent wise to this group, but the kids believed in our plan and proceeded with the hearts of heroes as the slobber knocking ensued. We let 3 sure fired opportunities get away from us, but we think we were in on one anyway. A horrible spot on a 4th and six inches from the half yard line… We get a surge and the QB pushes the ball forward over the centers back to break the plane and we think we break the plane, but the refs, not knowing where to spot the fool thing in the pile, put the ball down and pointed in the other direction. We only needed 6 inches for a first down on the half yard line and they didn't even measure it. We could have, however, won it in regulation with 30 seconds left in the game we go in to tie 28-28. All we need is to kick the PAT. It gets tipped and barely misses. We stop them cold in overtime and went down to the above mentioned, half yard line on our first possession. On our second possession in overtime we drive, pick up a first down on a 4th and 4 but our back fumbles the ball away. They then scored on their second OT possession. This was the most painful loss of my entire 29 year career without a doubt. How to get over something like this is something I'd like some advice on. I am still in shock! We had 318 yards of offense VS the best defense in the league. Thanks, Coach Larry Harrison, Head Football Coach, Nathanael Greene Academy, Siloam, Georgia   *********** Dear Coach Wyatt, The outcome of our season could not have been better. The system fit our style perfectly. We went 8-1 this year losing our last regular season game 8 to 6. (Our boys took that one off.)   We won the championship game 31 to 20.   We averaged over 30 points per game and dominated throughout the season.   I can't thank you enough for your help, the amount of knowledge I gained by using your system was incredible. It made me a much better coach. Because of your attention to detail I was able to see more of what I needed and coach every position equally.   Thank you very much!!!!!!! Roy L. Mearse, Head Coach, Stockdale Lightning Jr. Varsity, Bakersfield California   P. S. Will you be doing any clinics in California this winter or next spring. (Yes. The 2006 clinic schedule will be posted on this page as it is put together! HW)   *********** Coach Wyatt, Up here in tiny Concrete, Wa. population 800, we won our first championship in the North CascadeYouth Football league. As you know coach, I have been with these boys for 5 years and we went to your double wing offense 2 years ago and made it to the championship but lost 14-12. Well this year 2 years later, we won with the EXACT offense 19-12!!   I know you had a tough year, but your offense works! Like anything else it helps to have talent, but coach we were out numbered 32 players to 16 yesterday and out weighed by atleast double. We played Everett, which of course is a 4a high school and we are barely single A. I want to thank you for all of your great videos and advice over the years. I hope you come right back next year and run your double wing down your opponents throats.   Coach, I would love to send you the game film from yesterday so you can see how outsized we were and how your offense will execute with 11-12yo. We went to alot of unbalanced on our super power plays.... Let me know if you would like to look at it.   Chad Clark, Concrete, Washington (I love to look at those tapes and DVDs when I get the time. HW)   *********** Good Evening Coach, Tolland had 429 yards of O on 68 offensive snaps...and we lost 34-27 in OT. A back had 235 on 29 carries and our B had 115 (mostly on wedge...damdest defensive front I've ever seen). Our problem was we fumbled the god darned ball 4 times in the second half. Unbelievable. To top it off, we would have won in regulation if we converted the extra point after our last TD with only a few minutes remaining (we hadn't missed all year and we were 3 for 3 on the day). BUT...You guessed it, my kicker missed wide right by a yard. Unbelievable.   The team we lost to won our conference by beating us today. And any chance of us sneaking into the playoffs is now out the window. Two more to go. But this one is going to taste bad for a good while I'm sure.   Thanks for everything. Patrick Cox, Tolland HS Football, Tolland, Connecticut   P.S. Tom Dunn and I almost pi$$ed our pants at the bit you uploaded from the radio station. Also, the piece on the French caving in to the angry mob of adolescents gave us a pretty good laugh.   *********** As my plane in Minneapolis boarded for the flight home to Portland Monday night, the Eagles led the Cowboys, 20-7, with somewhere around three minutes to play. I think I'm glad I missed the rest.   I don't think I'd have been real pleased to see Donovan McNabb throw what reporters have called the "worst pass of his career," one which resulted in a 46-yard interception return that beat the Eagles, 21-20.   As the Philadelphia Inquirer's Phil Sheridan put it, "Somewhere, you imagine, Terrell Owens had a No. 5 voodoo doll. He waited until the perfect, most painful time to jam the pin in."   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 11, 2005 - "Being a professional is doing the things you love to do on the days you don't feel like doing them." Julius Erving   *********** It is Veterans' Day, but in most of Europe, it is still known as Armistice Day - the day when a armistice was declared, bringing the "World War" to an end (at 11 AM of the 11th day of the 11th month). No one then called it "World War I" because no one thought the world would ever again see such horror. The one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.   *********** Happy Birthday to the U.S. Marine Corps, 230 years old yesterday.   *********** I like Virginia Tech, and I like Frank Beamer, and after being thumped by Miami, maybe it's time for the Hokies to reconsider those goony hip-hop jerseys. Whenever I see someone dress - or act - outrageously, I think of Penn State's Rip Engle, the man who preceded Joe Paterno as the Lions' coach (yes, Penn State played football before Paterno). The story goes that someone (it may have been Paterno, who served as Engle's assistant) kept pushing for some adornment on the Penn State uniforms. Not a chance, said Engle, whose approach to football and to life was sound and solid - "How will it look if you lose?" And so, except for the fact that today's jerseys are a darker blue than when Rip Engle coached, Penn State's uniforms - jerseys, pants and helmets - have resisted all attempts at a makeover.   *********** Props to another Double-Winger in our own league. In early summer, Cal Szeuber (pronounced "ZEE-ber") didn't even know if he had a job. Cuts throughout the Portland Public Schools eliminated his job as AD at Roosevelt High, and he couldn't afford to remain as just football coach. Fortunately, his job was reinstated, and he was retained. Nevertheless, he took a 23-game losing streak into this past season, his second at Roosevelt. That came to an end fast, when his Rough Riders won the season-opener, and went on to 7-2 record and a third-place league finish. Their two losses were to the teams that finished one-two. (We dropped a 44-24 tussle to them.) At a school which resembles Madison socioeconomically, Cal Szeuber has done a great job. He'd get my vote for Coach of the Year even if he were running five wides.   *********** As I write this, I am on my way to West Point, to take in an Army game.   But first a stop in Philadelphia. What better place to find out what's really going on, T.O.-wise.   As one example... Wednesday night, I checked into an old haunt, Toner's, in Fort Washington. A trivia contest was going on, and - only in Philly - "The winning team, with nine out of ten correct... T.O. Must Go!"   *********** The tabloid Philadelphia Daily News ("The People Paper") was wall-to-wall T.O.   Headlines scoffed at his belated apology:   "That Was a Nice Try, T.O."   "Late For His Own Funeral"   "Hit The Road, Terrell!"   One enterprising Daily News reporter, Emily Catalano, did some legwork and found the market for T.O. gear taking a nosedive.   One store owner in Barrington, New Jersey claimed to be throwing out $25,000 worth of assorted T.O, stuff - bobble-heads, posters, decals, and at least 190 jerseys. Reporter Catalano confirmed that he had at least three trash trash cans full of T.O. gear at the curb by his store, and he say that every day he'll put out more - "five jerseys in each trash can."   As of Wednesday nighyt, not one jersey had been taken.   A discount store in South Philadelphia was offering T.O. jerseys, originally $49.99, for $19.99.   And an employee at a Dick's Sporting Goods told Catalano that ever since the suspension was announced, people have been attempting to return T.O. jerseys. "They're just saying they don't want them any more," he said.   *********** But that was Wednesday. By Thursday, a sampling of callers to WIP (by far the best sports-talk station in the country, in my opinion) indicated that some Iggles' fans were having second thoughts. For example, (1) Enough of this take-the-high-road baloney - if McNabb were a real leader, he wouldn't have been so passive, and taken so much crap from T.O.; (2) There go any chances we had to win the Super Bowl in my lifetime; I've been an Iggles' fan for 30 years, and for most of that time they haven't done nuthin'; (3) Where are we gonna come up with 20 touchdowns (the ones that T.O. provided last year that he won't provide this year)?; (4) If Donovan doesn't have a good game Monday night (against the Cowboys), watch this town turn on him...   And so it goes.   *********** Phil Sheridan, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, says that the whole T.O. fiasco would never have taken place if it hadn't been for ESPN, which Mike Wise sports columnist of the Washington Post has called "Al-Jazeera for spoiled athletes."   *********** I heard an ESPN guy say it best today -- "TO is the ultimate "I" guy playing the ultimate "TEAM" game"!   F--- TO!   But the shame of it is that some whore NFL team will pay the guy a few more million to play for them.....   See ya -- Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas (Better watch out. Soon as Keyshawn pops off again, your Cowboys might replace him with T.O. HW)   *********** Coach - Quick question. Coach ------- in the lower division runs our beloved Double Wing. Anyway a team he played last Saturday filed a protest claiming that our Wedge is illegal. I saw the game and they did not assist the runner in any means whatsoever. Any assistance in our response to this knucklehead coach?   As I always say whenever a person (including an official) makes such an outlandish claim - "You made the claim. The burden of proof is on you. Show me."   I don't have to prove a negative.   *********** There is a new book about Paul "Bear" Bryant that is just great. "The Last Coach," by Allen Barra.   Of course, I had to start at the last part of the book, where the Alabama football team switches over to the Wishbone and begins the Alabama Wishbone Rampage that put up simply unbelievable offensive numbers for more than a decade. Awesome reading!   There are a few mistakes, of course. I never went "brim fishing" when I waded down the middle of Five Mile Creek and I have watched and coached a few "Wing-T" teams but never a "T-Wing" team, but all in all, you'll be tired the next morning after you start reading this - the night stand light will not go off for a few hours until you just cannot read any more.   A good historical book can set off the pictures in your head, especially if You Were There, and I was . We were "Livin' history" in Birmingham during the sixties and a great deal of my youth was spent listening to radios and the broadcasts of the games.   Now that the times and culture have been transvalued, it is hard to imagine what a young boy of 11 was doing riding the "1 First Avenue North, Center Point" bus to and from school during those days, or what was said by just about everyone coming over the 20th Street hill into town on the "33 Mountain Terrace" bus line during the riots.   Through it all, Bear Bryant was there and even now, many people "just don't understand" what he did or what he meant to everyone.   I do. I was there.   What a great book.   Charles Wilson, Seminole, Florida   *********** After watching Fresno State lay the wood to Boise State, I give the Bulldogs a chance of beating USC.   *********** The Army film "Seeds of Victory" was awesome. My wife was half-watching it while playing with our kids. When the final game ended and the players were in the locker room, showing the emotions that we all show at then end of the year, she said "this is really sad." She turned to me to see my glassy-eyed reaction for those guys. Actually, it also brought back the emotions I felt two weeks ago. I told her that what she was seeing was the reason that I coach football and always will. I pray I'll always feel like that at then end of a season. If not, it's time to get out. I will be showing that film to my team before next season. Todd Hollis, Elmwood, Illinois (Army's Black Lion Award winner, Will Sullivan, was interviewed on the show, along with his mom and dad. HW)   *********** Hey Coach, We finished the season 7-3 playing the toughest schedule in division 1 pee wee with a team that qualified for division 2 (12 first year players). We played 7 of the top 11 teams in the league and the kids did great. They got to the point where they were telling me what the defense was doing and what was open. I was really proud of them. We allowed 20 points defensively in a 28-6 loss to a team playing in the league championship game. That was hte highest number of points allowed until week 10 when we ran up against a division 2 double wing team. We won the game 35-24 but neither one of us head coaches want anything to do with another double wing team. It reeally is a bear to defend. The funny thing is we both thought we would run all over the each other and I guess we did. The offense is a powerful tool for teams that doesn't have the best athletes, fastest runners or biggest linemen. Our QB was slow footed, can't throw a spiral to save his life but is a hard working, smart kid that led the team to a very good season. Most of the kdis can't wait till next season and neither can I. Thanks for all the help, but stop selling the playbook to other coaches, I can't defend them either. Take Care, Akis Kourtzidis, Yorba Linda, California   *********** From the Internet...   President Bush has authorized the Joint Chiefs to begin drawing up a battle plan to pull France's chestnuts out of the fire again, for the third time in the last 100 years. With France facing an overwhelming force of as many as 400 angry teenagers, Mr. Bush expressed doubts about her ability to hold off them off.   "If the last two world wars are any indication, I expect France to surrender to the little pissants any day now," said Bush.   Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace warned the President that in order to gain control it might be necessary to send up to 5 Marines. The general admitted that although 5 Marines might be overkill, he said he wanted to be assured of gaining operational and strategic control within 24 hours of arriving on scene.   He stated, however, that he was having a hard time finding even one Marine volunteer to help "those ungrateful bastards" for a third time, but said he thought that he could persuade a few female Marines to do the job before they went on maternity leave.   In an effort to blend in with the locals and avoid offending the host nation, Gen. Pace has given assurances that the Marines would not take soap, razors, or deodorant with them.   *********** The interesting thing about the end of "Bound for Glory" was how much the writers softened up Coach Butkus, changing him from hardass ("I can't coach looozzerz!") to an avuncular (means "like an uncle") old fellow who philosophizes with the kids about the meaning of life.   Meanwhile, the product placement, which up had been mostly shots of Daktronics scoreboards and buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, grew unbelievably crass. In the last episode, Butkus and Ray Crockett, the former pros, gave a brand-new Dodge Ram pickup ("the biggest there is") to Coach Lou Cerro (the real Montour High coach, for those who don't know the story behind the "reality" show). Just gave it to him. Out of the goodness of their hearts. You know - the sort of thing that coaches do for their fellow coaches all the time, like paying for the next pitcher. And then Coach Cerro, who confessed he'd never had a new car in his life, whipped out the cell phone to call his wife and tell her all about the new rig and list all its features. It may be just a coincidence that they settled on a Dodge, but Dodge being a sponsor of the show and all, you don't suppose they got a break on the price, so you? (Just kidding. The free commercial that the coaches gave Dodge, drooling as they did over the shiny black pickup, was worth far more than the cost of a 30-second spot.)   And then there was the personal trainer. A kid, a junior who was anointed as next year's leader, got his own personal trainer. Actually, it was an Army drill sergeant, who wore "Army" gear, talked to the kid about leadership, and got the kid up at 5:30 to take him on morning runs. Did I mention that the US Army is also a sponsor?   *********** Give a lot of credit to Tom Brady's family, to his Catholic high school, and to the University of Michigan, because along the way, he has learned from them that the things our materialistic society prizes the most turn out to be disappointingly fleeting. Talking on "60 Minutes" he noted that despite having three Super Bowl rings, he still feels unfulfilled: "Me, I think, 'God, there's got to be more than this.'"   Based on the quality individual he appears to be, I might suggest that when his playing career is over, he consider taking a coaching job at a high school. The poorer and more downtrodden it is, the better. He will find frustration, but he will also find fulfillment.   *********** Coach -. What do you do with only 13 guys at practice?? - I couldn't believe it. John Dowd, Oakfield, New York.   With 13 guys at practice, you line up an offensive "team," putting the two extra guys on defense at the point of attack, and you run what plays you can. You run a few defensive drills. And then you split up and play a game of football - tackle - everyone eligible.   *********** Other than the end of the season, two things really bothered me about losing to that team. First, it was the first time that a team really tackled our pulling linemen. It was clearly taught, but I didn't catch it until I watched it on films. Now I know and will look for it in the future (especially when a team goes to a TNT look). Cheaters. Second, with two minutes to go they still had their starters in and were still running the option (pitching it) and sweeps versus our senior subs.   They made it look like they were letting the clock go (the qb waited until taking snaps), but when a long run got them to our three with seven seconds to go, they suddenly sprinted to the line and their coach started yelling audibles. Fortunately, a good ref crew held the ball and let the clock run out. During their entire drive, I was yelling across the field "coach, let me know when you're going to take a knee so I can tell my guys to back off."   He didn't get it. He doesn't get it.   A reporter asked me about it after the game, to which I said "that's everything that's wrong with high school football." He said he wouldn't write about it, but understood and agreed.   *********** Rich Brooks, a standup guy if ever I've known one, will get another year at Kentucky. He has earned it. His record has not been good, but when he took the job three years ago, Kentucky faced one of the nastiest probations ever assessed by the NCAA, as a result of infractions that took place during the Hal Mumme era. This year, Kentucky has had more than 20 injuries that required surgery. Next year, the talent will be there. Rich Brooks can coach. He is the guy who started the Rams on the way to the Super Bowl, before he was dumped overboard by Rams management. (Can you say Mike Martz?) Watch the Cats in 2006.   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 8, 2005 - "The eradication of men and fathers from children's lives has been feminism's most despicable accomplishment." Kathleen Parker   Anyone wanting to donate to the three assistant coaches from Ocean Springs, MIssissippi who lost their houses - and all their possessions - can send checks to: The Ocean Springs Touchdown Club c/o Coach Steve Jones 11800 Bluff Ridge Road Vancleave, Mississippi 39565 Unlike certain emergency funds - according to the New York Times, the federal government has moved hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina into hotel rooms at a cost of about $11 million a night - your donations will be well spent. Coach Jones informs me that they have received $1600 from other Double-Wing coaches. Many thanks to those who helped out. The need is still there! HW *********** Madison Notes... After a week in which (1) it rained steadily from Monday through Friday, forcing us to practice in gumbo mud for a game to be played against a very quick team, on FieldTurf... (2) our school district gave all the kids the day after Hallowe'een off (I am not kidding) and as a result, we had just 13 kids at practice on Tuesday... (3) the player who had played all but one play the entire season at QB missed practice Tuesday and Wednesday, then showed up on Thursday to tell us that his father didn't want him playing any more football... we finished the season Friday night against #5-ranked Lincoln.   Fortunately, we had a very smart, very tough freshman QB named Joe Smoot (photo on far left). Joe had taken exactly one snap in a varsity game, and we had only three days to get him ready to play, but I was really impressed by what a fast study he is, and by his poise and leadership.   But this is not a fairy tale. We fell to Lincoln, 51-12. But Joe showed us that he is going to be a very good QB by the time he leaves high school. (Actually, based on the way he played Friday night, he ain't too bad right now.)   Joe conducted a beautiful first-period drive against the state's top defense, taking us from our own 20 to the Lincoln 15, and taking nine minutes off the clock in the process. Unfortunately, we didn't come up with a score then, but Joe did throw 22 yards for a second period score (58 Black O-X).   Ronald Briggs, (shown in the right photo), another of our precocious freshmen (we started three of them in the backfield), ran for a 42-yard third-quarter score. (43 Tackle Trap).   Lincoln, operating out of a shotgun, didn't run the ball once. Not once. It was not a matter of their trying to run up the score or embarrass us; that is what they do, and they do it well. If I had a QB as accurate as theirs, and receivers as sure-handed, I might be doing the same thing. They're as good a high school passing team as I've seen. Compound the problem by putting them on an artificial surface, and they are really hard to handle. We simply couldn't stay with them.   So we went oh-fer. I don't recommend it. All in all, though, our kids did an incredible job this season of handling tough situations. There were several times when games very obviously were out of their reach, yet they never let down and they never pointed fingers. They fought to the end, and I am very proud of them.   *********** The weather sucked last week - seven straight days of an inch or so of rain - but our kids loved it. Kids in the Northwest, I have observed, are different - they really love to practice in the rain and mud, the sloppier the better. So as coaches, we try to provide drills and activities that entail wallowing in the muck. But when one of the kids suggested we play a roughhouse game that every American kid is familiar with, I had to correct him, pointing out that in deference to the Political Correctness that pervades Portland Public Schools, we would have to call it "Smear the Diverse Guy."   *********** If you are still speculating about whether "T.O." will be back in Philly - A fan poll on the Philadelphia Inquirer's Web site is running 89 per cent in favor of the Eagles' banishment of Terrell Owens. Trust me - nobody survives in Philly with numbers like that.   A couple of questions: (1) Is there a coach anywhere with a set of cojones who wouldn't have done exactly what the Eagles did, if one of their players were to publicly badmouth the team leader? (2) If you were Donovan McNabb, could you have dealt with that selfish piece of sh-- in the classy way that McNabb has?   *********** Isn't it interesting that the so-called "Arab Street" that we risked inflaming by our actions against first Afghanistan and then Iraq has turned out to be not in the Middle East but instead, of all places, in the country which so bitterly opposed our invading Iraq - France?   *********** The Seattle Post-Intelligencer caught Walt Harris blaming his kids for a loss. Again.   BLAME GAME: As a young assistant coach, Walt Harris recruited Pete Carroll to Pacific in the early 1970s, starting a friendship that included shared tenures with the New York Jets and Carroll's son, Brennan, now a USC assistant, playing for Harris at Pittsburgh.   But Stanford's first-year coach could learn a thing or two from the man who once called him a mentor and now rules college football at USC.   This week, explaining why his Cardinal surrendered a 24-3 lead in an overtime loss to UCLA, Harris blamed his players.   "We just don't have enough good athletes yet," Harris said. "We played great for 51 minutes and we didn't finish."   So does that mean his team got tired and, ergo, is poorly conditioned?   It wasn't the first time this season that Mr. Perfect told the media it wasn't his fault. Earlier, he blamed the UC Davis fiasco on the techniques that the prevous staff had taught - conveniently ignoring the fact that he and his staff had all of spring and pre-season to correct them. I saw the USC debacle Saturday night, and I expect he blamed it on the Dollies (the cheerleaders).   *********** We were informed by the TV people that Penn State's QB, Michael Robinson, is majoring in "Sports Broadcasting." Sure sounds to me like a cake major for jocks. Not only do I find it hard to believe that they could come up with enough courses to make it a four-year college program, but seeing the way they keep shoving semi-articulate, recently-retired ex-athletes in front of the mic, I can't help wondering how much help that degree is going to be.   *********** A reader writes...   I have an experience to relate to you about "Hard America vs. Soft America". I teach in a small Catholic elementary school. Like all schools, we have our good kids and our bad kids, our hard workers and our shirkers. I coached basketball last season (our boys 7th and 8th graders won the county cyo championship for the 1st time in 35 years, and we advanced to the ----- diocese championship game) and I had a problem with what I call a "pliant administrator" namely my principal. She means well, but she is an enabler.   In October, we re-clarified our eligibility requirements for extracurricular activities. We reiterated that anybody with an F on the 1st report card would be ineligible until sufficient progress was made - i.e., they had pulled their failing grades up - and that students with a D would be on probation.   Reports came out and several players on all of the teams were ineligible. I lost one boy who had 3 F's, 2 D's, and a C. When the midterms came out 6 weeks later, he had 3 F's and 3 D's. His grandmother called the school to see what could be done to get him back on the basketball team, to which the teachers who have him in class replied "start doing his work, study for his tests, and stop sleeping in class."   But this wasn't good enough for my principal who went ahead and scheduled a meeting between his grandmother and several teachers. At that meeting it was decided that if he could complete all of his outstanding work, then he would be eligible (the kid is classified as special ed, but this arrangement was not extended to any of the other students who were ineligible).   The weeks passed and, while he improved in my class, he sank further in his other classes, and he went so far as to show up for extracurricular activities he was told that he could not attend. We send letters home to parents reminding them of this, but when he showed up for a dance and we called his grandmother, she informed us that she had received no such letter, at which point he confessed that it was in his book bag.   To make a long story short,his grandmother made more phone calls, and he was reinstated to the team with 2 weeks left in the season, with work still outstanding. And he wasn't even grateful to be back on the team - he complained about his playing time and he loafed during drills   The whole episode made me ill. Here is an 8th grader, who does very little work, and just learned that if his grandmother makes enough noise, he can get what he wants. He is in for a rude awakening in high school.   The morale among our teachers is very low, because we know that in order to avoid conflict and confrontation, our principal will give in to the parents' demands every time.   *********** You guys who actually enjoy looking at those, um, tarted-up ladies on the sidelines of NFL games, those Vegas-type chorus girls they call "cheerleaders"... after the incident this past weekend between two Carolina Panthers' cheerleaders (or was it just one?) in a restroom stall in a Tampa restaurant (http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBDTH4LPFE.html) - will you ever look at an NFL cheerleader the same way again?   It will be interesting to see if the NFL, which hypocritically praises itself for providing wholesome entertainment while allowing sexual suggestiveness to walk the sidelines, does anything at all. Give the NBA credit - at least it was willing to face the fact that it has an image problem and do something about it.   *********** Kansas ended the nation's second-longest losing streak against an opponent (Navy's winelss streak against Notre Dame is the longest) by dumping Nebraska. Nebraska's AD continues to make good on his pledge to take the Cornhuskers to a new level. Frank Solich was fired for winning nine games in 2003 - ten, if you give him the credit he deserves for winning the bowl game that the AD, after firing him, wouldn't allow him to coach. It has taken Solich's successor the better part of two seasons to win ten games.   *********** Arizona 52, UCLA 14. Whoa. In the history of college football, a mere handful of highly-ranked unbeaten teams have been thrashed - soundly trounced - this late in the season. But I can't find any cases of the beating being administered by a 2-6 team.   *********** We lost a heart breaker Saturday afternoon to Gulfport. We are now 4-2 in division tied for 2nd. We were up 14-3 at halftime. 2nd half summary- We kicked of to Gulfport, they drove to the 5 we intercepted. 3 and out. They drove down and scored 14-10. They kicked off to us and our LB who was subbing for an injured player fumbled. Gulfport scored in 4 plays. 17-14.   We drove to the 5 (90 yards as the 4th quarter began) . QB throws an interception into triple coverage(Should have been running super power.) We stop Gulfport at the 35, they punt. 6 minutes remain. We drive 83 yards and go ahead. 21-17.   Kick to Gulfport, they go three and out. Punt to our 10. We make 35 yards in three plays (super power). Fumble on the 4th play (super power again) Gulfport gets ball with 4 minutes remaining. Throw a post for a TD with 2:35 to play. 24-21 Gulfport.   We receive kick-off and drive 65 yards on 7 plays, score on a halfback pass with 1:05 remaing. OS 28-24   Kick to Gulfport, they return to the 38. 1st down incomplete. 2nd down short gain. Use their last timeout. 3rd down, run the same play- post - and score from 65 yards out. Gulfport, 31-28.   We receive and throw to passes and are at the Gulfport 40 and the QB gets hit from behind, fumbles, Gulfport recovers...game over.   Wild game for the second year in a row. Steve Jones, Ocean Springs, Mississippi   *********** Coach Just wanted to thank you for sharing your offensive system.   Last year was our first year with the Double Wing system and the results were good but we were still missing something. We finished 5-3 with a 6-0 loss in the first playoff game.   This year we moved up a level to the 11-12 year olds and were out weighed every week with a younger team than our opponents. The results were much better this year we finished the regular season 7-2, won the playoff game and the championship! Very difficult to do in this league especially with a younger lighter team.   In every game with the exception of the two losses we were able to move the ball and eat up clock with the running game. The only time we would get stopped is by making a mistake or giving up a turnover. No team even the ones we played twice could stop us! The tackle traps were always big hitters, we ran the 88 and 99 super powers with motion, without motion and with reverse motion this really confused the defense. In every game we averaged 5-6 different plays and the best comment I heard was from the opponents stands when a woman yelled out "they only run 4 plays cant we stop one of them".   Our Saturday team also used the same offense and finished the regular season 8-1 with a win in the championship game as well. This team was severely out weighed as well.   There is no doubt that your system has given our players a mechanical and mental advantage. Furthermore the video tapes and playbook has given our coaches the need knowledge to teach the system and be able to trouble shoot problems as they arise.   Thanks very much for all the help. Seeing all those smiling faces as they raised the championship trophy made every minute of the hours I spent watching the video's and studding the play book over the last two years worth it!   My only hope is that non of our opponents find your system! If you ever come to the Chicago/Milwaukee area let me know I owe you a dinner.   Sincerely, Brian Goscinski, Viking Youth Football, Paddock Lake, Wisconsin   *********** Hoo-ah! Army 27, Air Force 24, Atmy's first win over Air Force in Colorado Springs since 1977!   The Black Knights did a great job of shutting down the AFA option game, and came up with a power running game of their own to beat the Zoomies for the first time in nine years - and their first win in Colorado Springs since 1977.   It has not been an easy couple of weeks for Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry. After (hopefully) staving off the chargesof racism generated by his observation that TCU had more black athletes than Air Force (and they were "very, very fast"), his team showed an uncharacteristic lack of composure in clutch situations.   Down 20-14 in the fourth quarter, with a third-and-one on the Army one, the Falcons were caught in an illegal formation (fewer than seven men on the line of scrimmage). Bingo. Third and six. And then Air Force threw incomplete, and was caught holding, to boot. Tough choice for Army coach Bobby Ross - do you deal with fourth-and-six, or do you take the penalty that makes it third-and-16?   Coach Ross listened to me and took the penalty. Hey - when you're playing Air Force, you know they can get six yards on any one play. I say make 'em throw. So it's third and 16. And damned if a zoomie didn't jump, and make it third and 21. And Army held.   As I said, not what you expect an Air Force team to do.   *********** Even Bill Curry was baffled when Air Force was called for defensive holding. On a running play.   "How can you get defensive holding on a running play?" he asked.   Well, Coach Curry, with all due respect for your knowledge of the game (I do consider him to be the best analyst there is)... you might want to take in a Double-Wing game sometime, and watch for defensive linemen whose cheating SOB coaches have taught them to tackle the pulling offensive linemen.   *********** In one of those amazing coincidences, I happened to be talking on Monday with Leamon Hall, a former Army QB who's now the father of a high school football player. Leamon is a strong supporter of the school his son attends, and he has assumed responsibility for handling the school's Black Lion Award presentation, including the preparation of an impressive plaque.   I happened to ask him how he enjoyed Saturday's Army win over Air Force, and he told me, with a little bit of pride, that the last time Army beat Air Force out in Colorado Springs - 1977 - was his senior year, and he was the Army quarterback. The Army coach back then? Unless you are a staunch Army fan, you would never guess, but if you know your football, you'll recognize his name: Homer Smith.   Coach Smith is now best known, probably, as a brilliant offensive coordinator. After Army, he worked at Arizona, UCLA and Alabama, where as Gene Stallings' OC, he helped the Tide win its last national title. But when he was Army's coach his passing game was way ahead of its time, and it enabled his QB, Leamon Hall, to set Army passing records that still stand.   Coach Smith is now retired from coaching and lives in Tuscaloosa. He still sees a great deal of Leamon Hall, though, because Leamon Hall married his daughter, Kim. That high school football player I mentioned earlier is Coach Homer Smith's grandson.   *********** I quoted Kathen Parker at the top of the page, and Whatever was wrong, men did it. During the past 30 years, they've been variously characterized as male chauvinist pigs, deadbeat dads or knuckle-dragging abusers who beat their wives on Super Bowl Sunday. At the same time women wanted men to be wage earners, they also wanted them to act like girlfriends: to time their contractions, feed and diaper the baby, and go antiquing. And then, when whatshisname inevitably lapsed into guy-ness, women wanted him to disappear. If children were involved, women got custody and men got an invoice. The eradication of men and fathers from children's lives has been feminism's most despicable accomplishment. Half of all children will sleep tonight in a home where their father does not live. Did we really think men wouldn't mind? Meanwhile, when we're not bashing men, we're diminishing manhood. Look around at entertainment and other cultural signposts and you see a feminized culture that prefers sanitized men - hairless, coiffed, buffed and, if possible, gay. Men don't know whether to be "metrosexuals" getting pedicures, or "groomzillas" obsessing about wedding favors, or the latest, "ubersexuals" - yes to the coif, no to androgyny. As far as I can tell, real men don't have a problem with smart, successful women. But they do mind being castrated. It's a guy thing. They do mind being told in so many ways that they are superfluous.   *********** An offensive line coach from a minor league team writes - Do you utilize or are you aware of any method(s) of selecting or emphasizing the best offensive line players through objective means such as drills?   First of all, we may not be looking for the same things in our offensive linemen, since I suspect that you probably throw first and run second, while we are the exact opposite.   But beyond that, I can't say that I am aware of any "objective" measurement of offensive linemen, nor am I a subscriber to the idea of trying to make a science out of the art of coaching.   To me, it is simply a matter of knowing enough about what needs to be done, and then being experienced enough to know who is doing it best. Drills are great, but there is still nothing to compare to game action or the next thing to it, which is live scrimmaging.   I think that coaching is an art, and in my opinion, it is a coaching copout to go overboard in trying to make a science out of personnel evaluation.   I marvel at all the money the pros blow on scouting, when so many of the guys who look so great in their objective evaluations prove to be complete busts, while so many others who are off their radar wind up being players. You can't escape the conclusion that all those measurements are a big CYA job.   While there are things we all look for - quickness, strength, intelligence, toughness, etc. - I have seen too many coaches become blinded by "scientific analysis" to the point where they never bother to ask, "can the kid play?"     *********** With all these apologies being offered to people who supposedly are being offended by remarks about black athletes being faster or quicker, or whatever - where is my apology from Joe Morgan for raising such a fuss about the fact that the Houston Astros didn't have a single black player?   *********** If I could take one player and add him to my college's roster to put us over the top, it would be Reggie Bush, of USC. That, to me, makes him the best football player in America, and that is why I would vote for him for the Heisman Trophy. On the other hand, if you were to base the Heisman on the value of a particular player to his team, I would give it, hands down, to Northwestern's Brett Basanez. Bush makes USC unbelievably dangerous, and he would do the same for anybody else, but USC is plenty good without him. On the other hand, I can't picture Northwestern beating Iowa and Wisconsin and taking Penn State down to the wire without Basanez.   *********** The rain-soaked fans who showed up in Seattle's Husky Stadium to watch the Washington-Oregon State game must have wondered if it were Sunday, not Saturday, and those were the Seahawks playing down on the field, such was the level of excitement. With all the action of an NFL game, OSU won, 18-10, thanks to six Alexis Serna field goals. Six. For his monumental effort, Serna was named Player of the Game. (But who am I to complain? A win is a win.)   ***********It's called "Double-Checking", and all good writers do it. Sports Illustrated didn't do a very good job of it, and that's why Mike Price won his lawsuit against them....   Sports Illustrated ran an article in last week's issue, dealing with black men who were the first to play football on formerly all-white southern teams. But after coming across a gross inaccuracy, I couldn't go any further. I had to write. They'd mentioned Johnny Bright, and said that as a result of a white man breaking his jaw with a dirty, after-the-whistle hit, Bright had given up the game... Here;s what I wrote:   Not to minimize in any way the vicious, probably racially-inspired attack on Drake's Johnny Bright ("Groundbreakers," Alexander Wolff's article on black pioneers on formerly all-white southern teams), but "forcing him to abandon football?"  Scarcely.    The Bright story is sensational enough, without the need for untruths.   Despite the brutal hit - well after the play had ended - that broke his jaw, Johnny Bright did miss the next two games, but then, fitted with a specially-designed mask, he returned to play in his final game as a senior - and rushed for 206 yards.   Johnny Bright then was the first pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1952 draft, but understandably wary of playing the racial pioneer in Philadelphia, (to be "their first Negro player," as he put it), he signed instead with Calgary of the Canadian Football League.   When Johnny Bright retired, 13 years later, he was the leading rusher in the history of the CFL.   Traded in 1954 to Edmonton, he helped lead the  Eskimos to Grey Cup championships in 1954-55-56, and in 1958, he rushed for 1722 yards, the league single-season record at the time.  In 1959, after leading the CFL in rushing for the second straight year, he won the Schenley Award given to the CFL's Most Outstanding Player, the first black athlete to be so honored.  In 1970, he was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame.   In his 13 seasons in the CFL,  Johnny Bright rushed for 10,909 yards. He had five consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, and led the CFL in rushing three times. For five straight seasons, he had 200 or more carries. In 1957 he had eight consecutive 100-yard games. Although more than forty years have passed since he last played, three of this CFL records still stand: most career playoff touchdowns, most yards gained in a Grey Cup game, and, as proof of his toughness and durability, most consecutive games played - 197 (at both linebacker and running back ).   "Abandon football?"  Johnny Bright? Not exactly.   read about Johnny Bright   *********** Coach Wyatt, I would just like to thank you for the difference you made on my football team this year. Last year we were 3-4 we only scored 54 points and we were in 5th place. This year we are 5-2 and scored 134 points with your Offense and we are tied for Second Place. Last Week we played our cross town rival and we beat them 7-6. Not only had we never beaten them in the past 3 years, we had not even scored a point against them during that time. I truly believe that without you offensive system we put in this year it would have been just like last year. We are looking forward to your clinics during the off season and Once again thanks coach. Kevin Rivas(Head Coach), Montebello Indians pee wee division, Montebello, California   *********** The Seahawks were on the Cardinals' one-yard line, and I'll be damned if they didn't line up in DOUBLE-WING. And they ran what we would call 3-Brown, with the C-Back going to the corner and the Y-End to the flat. With both of those playside receiver covered man-for-man, and with those very sophisticated pro defenders biting on the fake to the B-Back, the Seahawks' QB, Matt Hasselbeck, was able to boot right and saunter in for the score.   *********** Over the last year or so, your website has gotten me interested in Australian Rules Football. My wife got me an Australian Rules football for Christmas last year, but so far I can't get my touch/flag football buddies to try a game of (touch/flag) Aussie Rules.   Sorry about the delay in responding. I was caught by your interest in "Footy," that arcane mix of soccer, rugby, basketball and team handball that is the passion of nearly everyone in the state of Victoria - and, surprisingly, by relatively few Australians anyplace else.   It is an especially great game in the sense that although thre are certain positions that lend themselves more to defense and others to offense, there isn't anywhere near the specialization you find in other field sports, and as a result, every player on the field must possess the same set of skills, as well as the same physical condiitoning and toughness. Those guys are incredible athletes - all of them. There is no room in Footy for a 330-pound offensive lineman.   In Footy, what we call punting is a major way of advancing the ball, passing and scoring, which explains the growing interest in footy players among NFL teams). The footy ball can be punted farther and/or more accurately than an American football and when my son comes to visit we sometimes just go to a nearby field and "pass" the ball to each other by punting. (There are two types of punts - the more accurate, end-over-end kind they use for short-to-mid-range passing as well as goal-scoring, and the long, high spiralling kick, called the "torpedo."   For summer condiitoning, my high school kids enjoy playing a modified version of Footy, in which we eschew tackling for two-hand touch and we allow passing (although it must be underhanded). And - partly because it is dangerous, but also because I loather soccer - there is no "soccering" (kicking a ball on the ground).   If you're playing on a US football field, 15 a side is about the most you can get by with.   The Aussies play 18-a-side, but their field is HUGE. It is elliptical, about 200 yards long and nearly as wide. Actually, it is a cricket oval, allowing the same field to accomodate the two sports, each in its season.   The shape of the ball is roughly the same as that of the field. Coincidence? I have my suspicions.   *********** My favorite radio guy is a former West Virginian named Bob Miller who has worked the AM drive shift in Portland for what seems like forever. The guy has a great sense of humor, and last week he broke me up with this recording of a guy in Dallas calling a coworker to tell him he'll be late... http://www.kpam.com/bkup/voicemail-Dallascarwreck.mp3   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 4, 2005 - "They've got us surrounded again, the poor bastards." General Creighton W. Abrams, Jr.   Anyone wanting to donate to the three assistant coaches from Ocean Springs, MIssissippi who lost their houses - and all their possessions - can send checks to: The Ocean Springs Touchdown Club c/o Coach Steve Jones 11800 Bluff Ridge Road Vancleave, Mississippi 39565 Unlike certain emergency funds - according to the New York Times, the federal government has moved hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina into hotel rooms at a cost of about $11 million a night - your donations will be well spent. Coach Jones informs me that they have received $1600 from other Double-Wing coaches. Many thanks to those who helped out. The need is still there! HW A film about the 2004 Army Football team seniors, entitled "The Seeds of Victory," will premiere on ESPN Classic this Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. EST prior to the Army-Air Force game scheduled to air at 3:30 p.m. EST. It will also air on ESPN2 on Fri., Nov. 4 at 6 a.m. and several times thereafter on ESPNU (times to be announced) during the month of December. (Did I mention that Army won a week ago?)   *********** We finish our season tonight against unbeaten Lincoln High or Portland. Lincoln is the best team in our league, and one of the top teams in the state. We will be starting four sophs and three freshmen. Actually, three of our four starting backs, including our QB, are frosh.   *********** Coach, My name is Jason Eng and I run the 10-11 year old team here in Kittitas, WA and unfortunately our season ended yesterday in the playoffs. We beat ourselves and didn't make the plays we needed to make. We loss our first game of the season (only had 11 players) and then went on a 5 game winning streak using your double wing system. This is the second year have run it and when all gears are clicking no one can stop us. The highlight of the season was when we played our rivals Ellensburg at Quest Field in Seattle. It was a thrill for coaches and players to be on a professional football field. As you can imagine we beat our rivals Ellensburg 12-0. Our first drive of the game took us into the second quarter when we finally scored on a wedge. The drive took about 10 minutes. We had some other long drives which ended in some mistakes on our part and some bad officiating (one of the officials was the son of the opposing Ellensburg coach). The second scoring drive, I called Red-Red on the first play and our quarterback/receiver completed a nice 42 yard touchdown pass. The Ellensburg defense had no idea what was coming. Our defense held Ellensburg to a total of 4 first downs. This was the third year in a row we have beaten Ellensburg.   In our last game we played our other upper valley rival Cle Elum. We dismantled them 48-0. We scored on 7 out of 8 drives and had one defensive touchdown. Everything I called worked. They had no idea what hit them and are probably still trying to figure out what happened. Coach, I thoroughly enjoy the system and will take it everywhere I go. The system chews up a ton of clock and the misdirection is killer and because of that my head coach and I are planning on purchasing your other videos. Although we loss in the playoffs our team does take pride in knowing that we had a hand in preventing 4 of the 6 teams we played from going to the playoffs at all. I find it beautiful when other coaches say to me, "You guys run a great `Wing-T' coach!" I do not correct them. If they think we run a wing-t, then so be it. Ha! Thanks again and good luck coach! Jason Eng, Ellensburg, Washington   *********** It was October 13, 1900, and a slender (6-1, 146) young man was cut from the Harvard football team. Turning instead to journalism, the same young man tried out for a spot on the school newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. He didn't make it there, either. Thank heavens for him that the young man, Franklin D. Roosevelt, eventually managed to find something that he could do.     *********** "I was the head football coach for 14 years at two of the best basketball schools in the country - Louisville and Indiana." Lee Corso   *********** Watch the Sooners. Mike Kern of the Philadelphia Daily News seems to have been the first to get this into print: Oklahoma's three losses have come against teams (TCU, UCLA and Texas) that are a combined 24-1.   *********** Coach (Our association) are getting a new Football Commissioner.  He seems like a good guy   I spoke to him last night at equipment hand in.  He has a lot of good ideas, however he wants our entire program to run the same offense as our High School.  As you know I installed the DW this year with some success, I hope the new guy realizes that when I lost 5 starters and plugged in backups our offense was still pretty good.  The old commissioner told me that he thinks my offense should be run at every level.   The new guy did mention that he wants me to run a base offense of the high school (he didn't give me a number of plays), but that I could still run whatever I wanted.   I am going to give him the Dynamics tape and hopefully he likes it, I am worried that he will give me an entire playbook and I can't run any of the DW.   My assistants and I worked very hard to install the DW and we all love it.  My one assistant likes to say that we have a system now not just an offense.  I'm really worried that he will make me run the old offense that didn't work.   This is the best year I ever saw offensively, however, the fact that I like the DW already has people against it.  (Not the most liked guy around being the youngest head coach by ten years, they forget this is midget football.)   I am worried and not sure how to approach the new guy.    I think that if you look through my tips, somewhere in there you will find a few of my comments on the value (or lack of it) of having youth programs run what the HS does.   In short, I don't think it's of much value, unless it helps the youth coaches be successful.   The main things I would want youth coaches to teach kids would be - (1) to take coaching positively, without feeling picked on; (2) to be there on time and work hard and not make excuses; (3) to be sound in the fundamentals of the game; (4) to love the game and want to play more.   If they're taught that, I could care less what offense or defense they run.   *********** A sophomore at Duquesne University could be expelled from school unless he agrees to write an essay as punishment for expressing his view - written on an online forum unrelated to the university - that homosexuality is "subhuman."   Ryan Miner, 19, of Hagerstown, Md., wrote his opinion in opposition to an effort by other students at Duquesne - a Catholic university - to form a Gay-Straight Alliance group, but after his comments appeared online, some students complained to the school.   Following a hearing, the university found Miner guilty of violating the "University Code," which among other things prohibits "harassment or discrimination based on sexual orientation," and assigned a 10-page paper as punishment.   Miner, saying "I believe as a student that my First Amendment rights in the Constitution were subverted and attacked," said he refuses to write the paper and will file an appeal.   He should write it and be grateful he wasn't ordered to sit through a diversity workshop.   *********** *********** A few weeks ago, a group of about 200 parents met in a middle school in Apple Valley, Minnesota in an effort to make Sundays off-limits to organized youth activities.   The parents complained that family time has been preempted by organized youth sports and the like.   Organizers of the initiative say they aren't against sports; they merely want to balance those activities with family time.   Bill Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota, told the parents that other communities have tried to deal with the problems of overscheduling kids.   "But the parents [there] were reluctant to challenge youth sports and create conflict," Doherty said. "It's unrealistic to believe that the sports leaders will unilaterally moderate schedules because some other team will fill it."   Said one mother, "I think he's right on target. ... I think we're pushing kids too hard in sports, in dance, in academic   So Doherty and other organizers have asked families to sign a pledge to boycott sports activities on Sundays. Noting that most parents go along with tightly-packed schedules, fearing that their child will be cut from a team or ostracized, organizers say that organized boycott is the only way to get parents to speak up.   *********** Hugh, first I wish you well tomorrow night, I hear the weather is pretty bad over there! Second the comments from your news! The Admin, who canceled the banquet is absolutely unbelieveable!! Second the parent on the sidelines who grabbed the kid, what a loser. The last one is the coaches who all quit - I agree with you on your comments, but my brother told me it happened this year in the town of Orosi outside of Fresno. The haead coach and all the assistants resigned after the 4th game of the year. They all cited family reasons. The head coach last year was the coach of the year in the conference. Sounds very strange to me!! Take care. Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho   *********** *********** There's a story about a young dad who comes home from work and finds his son working on a school project with a large set of colored markers.   "These are great," he said. "Where did you get them?"   "I took them from school," the son replied.   "Are you allowed to do that?"   "Not really. But it`s a stupid rule. I`ll return them when I finish this project."   The dad was upset. "I can`t believe you`d do that. It`s against everything I ever taught you. If you needed them so badly, why didn't you tell me? I would have taken them from the office. I`m so upset with you I`m going to call in sick tomorrow so I can talk to your teacher." Michael Josephson - Character Counts   *********** By now, after Notre Dame's Charlie Weis got a TEN-YEAR contract extension after coaching just seven games - and going 5-2 - a few writers willing to do a little research have noted that Weis' predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, was 7-0 after his first seven games, and no one was handing him contract extensions to sign. (In fact, Coach Willingham went 8-0 before finally losing).   It is interesting that Notre Dame under Weis hasn't really beaten anybody of note. The Michigan team that the Irish beat is not your usual bunch of Wolverines. Pitt, whom the Irish beat, is not very good this year, nor is BYU, nor is Purdue. Washington (coached, coincidentally, by Tyrone Willingham) is a long way from respectability. The combined record of the Irish victims is 17-24.   It will be claimed that ND lost a close one to USC, but the same could be said last year about Buddy Teevens of Stanford and Karl Dorrell of UCLA, neither of whom got 10-year extensions. (Teevens got fired.)   The combined record of Willingham's first eight victimes - which included Maryland, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Air Force and Florida State - was 60-43. Six of those teams went on to play in bowl games.   Some of those doing the research claim that the difference is that Coach Willingham is black and Coach Weis white.   Actually, I would have made the same arguments, but I'd have left left race out of it.   Granted, I have not grown up in a world in which my race was a potential handicap.   But to me, the unceremonious dumping of Tyrone Willingham followed by the near-canonization of Charlie Weis after just seven games is most of all an expression of a greed that comes from having your own network. And then, it is stupidity - the same Notre Dame that fired Tyrone Willingham with time left on his contract will one day surely have to do the same thing with Weis. Unless, of course, he bolts for the NFL.   I am betting on the latter, but either way, Notre Dame loses - which pleases me.   *********** Is a scatback just a small back with speed? You hear it all the time.   Yup. It's an old sportswriter's term for the sort of person you describe. *********** Hugh, I fell out of my chair laughing at one your comments! "Wafer thin mint" is one my brother and I throw back and forth at each other when we eat at my parents house. Why? Because we eat so much (yes, my sweet Italian mother makes 7 course meals, 3 times a day) we go thru the Monty Python routine. We often follow it with "get me a bucket". Matt Bastardi, Montgomery, New Jersey   *********** Coach, I had an awesome (though somewhat rebellious!) experience this morning. (Our) High School starts every day with the pledge of allegiance, and while I was curious what would happen this week, we have continued with the practice. My daughter is an office aide first period, and today she came over the intercom and proudly led the pledge of allegiance. It made my heart race! I told the students in my classroom that I was feeling a bit like a rebel and that I can't ever remember doing anything unconstitutional before, but it sure felt good! Have a great day UNDER GOD! Greg Koenig, Colby, Kansas   (I'm proud of that young lady, too.   I am not a rebel either, by any means. But when you think of the things that the saints suffered in order to keep our faith alive, when you think of what the Lord Jesus Christ went through, it is a small gesture indeed on our part to stand fast against the forces that would turn us into a Godless nation, and to continue to acknowledge God and give Him thanks.   I am inspired by the hymn, "Faith of Our Fathers." - Faith of our fathers, living still/in spite of dungeon, fire and sword/Oh how our hearts beat high with joy/whene'er we hear that glorious word!/ Faith of our fathers, holy faith - we will be true to thee til death! HW)   *********** According to The Indiana Daily Student, ginger-flavored cookies for sale at Indiana University in Bloomington are now called "ginger persons" instead of the more traditional "gingerbread men.   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners

NO MORE 2005 CLINICS 2005 Clinics (UPDATED WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT - BUT USUALLY ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) November 1, 2005 - "A complacent satisfaction with present knowledge is the chief bar to the pursuit of knowledge. " Basil H. Liddell Hart   Anyone wanting to donate to the three assistant coaches from Ocean Springs, MIssissippi who lost their houses - and all their possessions - can send checks to: The Ocean Springs Touchdown Club c/o Coach Steve Jones 11800 Bluff Ridge Road Vancleave, Mississippi 39565 Unlike certain emergency funds - according to the New York Times, the federal government has moved hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina into hotel rooms at a cost of about $11 million a night - your donations will be well spent. Coach Jones informs me that they have received $1600 from other Double-Wing coaches. Many thanks to those who helped out. The need is still there! HW A film about the 2004 Army Football team seniors, entitled "The Seeds of Victory," will premiere on ESPN Classic this Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. EST prior to the Army-Air Force game scheduled to air at 3:30 p.m. EST. It will also air on ESPN2 on Fri., Nov. 4 at 6 a.m. and several times thereafter on ESPNU (times to be announced) during the month of December. (Did I mention that Army won a week ago?)   *********** It is hard to believe that we played our best game of the season and still lost, 26-0, to Benson Tech, but the tapes don't lie. Against Benson, a good football team, we gave up two long punt returns - one going all the way, the other setting up a score - a long run and a long pass (on 4th-and-13), but overall, we played by far our most aggressive, intelligent defense of the year. Offensively, we moved the ball better, twice penetrating the Benson 10, but we continued to make the mistakes - big and small - that kill drives. This Friday night, we finish the season against unbeaten Lincoln on their field. Lincoln is a very good team - strong and quick and smart.   *********** Please excuse Hugh from any classwork today. The dog ate his homework. Also, please excuse him from practice as he is needed at home right after school because we plan to have a family emergency...   It's not quite that bad, but my site was down for the better part of two days last week, and - I have an excuse note!!!!   October 27, 2005   Since Hurricane Wilma came ashore in the south Florida area Monday morning, many of our shared hosting customers have been impacted by power and service interruption this week. We know that the past few days have proven difficult for all of you whose businesses have been affected.   I would like to first offer my sincere apology for this disruption as I realize that this event has had an enormous impact on many of your business operations. As you know, Verio prides itself on its track record for performance, service and reliability. We have extensive disaster recovery plans that have been put into place, tested and re-tested in an effort to prevent events of this magnitude. Unfortunately, we had a system failure with respect to a critical piece of our backup infrastructure and we take this issue very seriously. In our earlier updates to customers provided on our information site on verio.com, we provided detail on the cause of the service interruption and what we have been doing to rectify the situation and restore service.   As noted, the south Florida facility is now operational and has full municipal electrical power. We have restored service to customers, the systems have stabilized and the servers are operating at normal capacity. Of course, we continue to closely monitor the system and will quickly rectify any problems that arise. Please be assured that Verio has been 100% focused on resolving this issue and helping to ensure our customers' online business services are operating.   With the hurricane causing extensive damage to the south Florida area, and disrupting electrical service to millions, the generators, which were tested and were operating as expected, later failed on Monday morning, Oct. 24, 2005. We deployed internal and external teams of technicians and specialists to identify and repair the problem. These efforts included flying in specialists from around the country to restore service as soon as possible. Although we successfully brought the generators back online Tuesday morning, they failed again on Tuesday afternoon, and our continued attempts to bring in alternate generator power were delayed due to the catastrophe in the greater south Florida area. With extensive effort, manpower and resources, we successfully restored the data center power back early Wednesday morning, Oct. 26, 2005, and full electrical service to the data center was restored Wednesday afternoon.   Again, we realize the impact that many of our customers have experienced. In consideration of the impact that this outage has caused our customers, Verio will issue a full one month credit to Verio customers who are hosted in the Florida facility. We will shortly provide specific details as to the process Verio will initiate to credit each such customer.   We will be conducting a detailed review and assessment of the generator failure, and plan to give our customers the results of this review as a follow up, as well as telling you about our future plans to ensure this type of occurrence does not happen again.   Your business is important to us and we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding. We will continue to work around the clock to stay on top of this situation and provide additional information to you.   Sincerely, Kiyoshi Maeda, President and Acting CEO, Verio Inc., an NTT Communications Company   *********** Just one week after he was called on the carpet and officially reprimanded for what some viewed as racist comments, Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry could be in hot water again, this time for remarks he made following the Falcons' 62-41 loss to BYU Saturday.   Noting that BYU's roster was made up largely of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he said, "It just seems to be that way, that Mormon kids can run very, very well. That doesn't mean that non-LDS kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me they run extremely well."   Explaining the disparity in speed between the two teams, he pointed out that the Air Force roster has far fewer Mormons on it than BYU,   When asked if he believed it was wrong to make such comments, DeBerry said: "Do I believe it's wrong? I just want to recruit speed. We need to find speed as much as anything. The Mormon athlete seems to have, statistically, program to program to program, seems to have an edge as far as the speed is concerned. That's got nothing to do with anything except ability."   *********** The interception that Jeff Garcia threw to hand the game to the Bears in OT ought to prove that the problems in Detroit go deeper than the QB, and that all the vituperation aimed at Joey Harrington was misplaced. I presume that all the fools that have been booing him do know where the sun don't shine...   *********** Just one more Sunday of demonstrating that the NFL has an inferior product: I can't remember ever seeing a college game in which the winning team won by kicking five field goals (San Francisco 15, Tampa Bay 10), or two teams between them kicked seven field goals, while scoring only two touchdowns (Houston 19, Cleveland 16). I won't even get into the Giants' five field goals in their 36-0 drubbing of the Redskins.   *********** Hello Coach. My brother-in-law coaches in a youth league (8-10 year olds) in lower MI where all the teams in the league are required to use the fullhouse T formation. Defensively they must also follow a specific formation. I've attached the rules.   He and are I brainstorming (long distance) for next year. He went 3-3 this year, his first. He wants to explore the formation more and see what he can do with it. I'm fairly certain he used straight man drive blocking this season. I'm not an expert on this offense so I'm looking around myself.   I'd like to provide him with some resources he can study and work from. Are you aware of anything that might be helpful. I'm also trying to persuade him to rework hi blocking since he knows exactly where the defense will line up. Any thoughts or suggestions?   The old books are full of full-house stuff, if you can find them.   Seems to me that the belly series would be great for him. He might want to do a little searching on that topic. Bobby Dodd and Jordan Olivar both published books on it.   *********** Coach: Joys of our amazingly PC society. Our administration informed us today that our end of season banquet to celebrate winning the school's first conference title and winning season is officialy canceled. We can not hold a banquet using the schools name or mascot, or announce any other parties via the school intercom. We were informed that the school only recognizes the academic successes of the students. They also voiced concern that black parents and white parents might sit by themselves in groups instead of sitting together and this might put forward the wrong image of the school. WTF??? Now the principal assigns seats to the parents??? The "concern" for the racial seating was because one of the white mom's brought pom pons to the last game and didn't bring any for the black parents... Also we cannot submit a write up to the newspaper, or display the trophy in the school case... What is wrong with these people? The truth is half of these kids wouldn't be passing a class if it weren't for the motivation that team sports provides, or for coaches staying late to tutor them. They sure don't get that kind of support at home.   *********** Did you also hear the referee say that the Patriots were penalized for "performing unnatural act?" I swear that's what he said. Only in Massachusetts.   *********** Ooo-whee. Todd Bross in Sharon, Pennsylvania gave me a link to the web site of a TV station in Northeastern Ohio, which showed a clip from a home video that was absolutely revolting. Seems a little kid - maybe 10 or 11 - tackled a ball carrier and drove him out of bounds, landing on top of him. Perfectly clean. Out of nowhere comes an adult, who leans over, grabs the tackler by the face mask and lifts him off the runner, saying "Get your f--king hands off my son!"   As the kid was interviewed by a reporter, he was wearing a cervical collar. (I would imagine that there was at least one trial lawyer watching - and licking his chops.)   *********** Coach Wyatt, I am Joe Carlson. I live in Loveland, CO. I bought your Dynamics of the Double wing video and your playbook back in July. What a big help it was and how inspiring was your video to see the double wing in action. I been coaching my son every year in football. This year he is in the 7th grade and the Loveland Youth Football Association has placed the kids that go to the same middle schools on the same team. The reason I'm writing is to let you know that I am pleased you let you know our 7th grade football team finished 6-0. The kids took to the plays and on our first game the score was 40-6. The other team's defense was so off balance they didn't have a clue where we were gonna go next. One team gave the kids a true challenge by stacking the outsides. So we ran the wedge and traps and had great success. The kids confidence grew more and more every game. Many thanks to your many years of hard work and dedication to the double wing. Thanks Coach Wyatt. Your friend, Joe Carlson, Loveland, Colorado   *********** We're now more than a season-and-a-half into the excitement of the Callahan regime at Nebraska, and the Huskers find themselves, at 5-3, eight games into the season and still not bowl-eligible. Their once-powerful rushing game neutered by Callahan's West Coast offense to the point that the Huskers could manage just 16 total yards rushing against Oklahoma, I wonder how many NU fans pine for those routine nine- and ten-win seasons under Frank Solich. I also have to wonder how many of them, back when AD Steve Pederson said getting rid of Solich would enable Nebraska football to move to the next level, thought he meant the next level up.   *********** I saw one of the coaches in the OU-Nebraska game bitching about one of his players being held, and I almost laughed my ass off. Given the laxity of today's rules, and the grappling that passes for "blocking" at all levels of the game, I doubt that there are many coaches with the moral standing to complain about somebody else's players holding.   I propose an automatic 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against any coach who complains about holding unless he is willing to swear - under penalty of perjury - that neither he nor anyone else on his staff teaches holding.   *********** Lansingburgh 55 Fonda 20 - C BACK Brandon Canty 10 carries 110 yds- 4tds. Next week it's the Super Bowl vs Ravena. Pete Porcelli, Lansingburgh, New York   *********** Coach, I just wanted to pass on that Clarion-Goldfield has qualified for the state playoffs for the first time in school history. We finished 8-1 and were the runner up in our district. It is a great feeling! Your instruction and the double wing are a big part of our success this year. Any chance you will return to Minnesota for a clinic next spring? Best wishes, Paul Hansch, Head Football Coach, Clarion-Goldfield H.S., Clarion, IA   *********** I coach a Middle School Team. This is the third year with the DW and we had our challenges. However I always tell my players if we lose it is my fault. The wedge was fair this year but I used the trap more. We came up against almost all 9 or 10 man fronts. We had no speed at all so getting to the outside never happened. I had to go in the shotgun just to keep my only QB from getting hurt. I was humbled this year and I guess we all need to be humbled every now and then. The Criss Cross and  47-C worked half the time but we were always caught from behind. If you could point me in the right direction for information on what to do to combat the 9 or 10 man fronts.   It isn't a matter of being humbled, and you oughtn't to take this personally.   If you have no speed at all, I am afraid that neither I nor anyone else has an answer.   You are handicapped no matter what offense you use.   It's simply a question of which offense gives you any chance at all.   *********** First ESPN blurred the line between sports and entertainment... and now it's Nike, blurring the line between fashion and football. Call it "Pimp My Team."   Thursday night it was Virginia Tech, with a one-sleeve-orange, one-sleeve-maroon look.   Then came Saturday... Who was that playing against North Carolina on Saturday? My newspaper said it was supposed to be Miami. But where were the 'Canes? Where were the white helmets with that never-explained "U" on them? Was that really Miami, its garish orange-and-green uniforms gone and its players suddenly looking very Baylorish, in green jerseys and old gold helmets and pants? Was this some clever retro look, a sort of evolution in reverse, designed to appeal to young hiphoppers (which I rather doubt)? Or has the real Miami team been advised to adopt a disguise? (Does this make Miami the first good team to undergo a complete midseason uniform makeover?)   On another channel, an ugly-uniform contest was taking place between Syracuse and Cincinnati. Cincinnati can be excused, I guess, as just another one of those men-in-black outfits. But Syracuse? Remember back when they were the Orangemen? They looked sharp. (Come to think of it, that was only a year ago.) Now, they are dull and drab and lifeless, looking like an underbudgeted high school team whose kids were given the uniforms to take home and wash, without being given proper instructions. Can there be a teenage kid anywhere in America who goes to sleep at night and dreams of someday wearing that Syracuse uniform?   But I wrote all that before I saw Florida. Holy sh--. Did you see those court jesters? Somebody find my vertical-striped socks! Thank the Lord for Gators' fans that they didn't play as bad as they looked.   Now, these fashion statements didn't just happen. You just wait - and you won't have to wait long - soon we will see rappers (and kids on the street) wearing new VaTech and Gators' football jerseys. Extra long and hanging out, of course. Amazing how fast Nike will be able to get them into the stores.   So there is Nike, turning college football into its own corporate fashion show. Ain't capitalims great? You paying Indonesian seamstresses 25 cents an hour to sew football jerseys, then you pay college coaches hundreds of thousands of dollars to make their kids wear them, and then you sit back and wait for little boys of all ages to go to stores and pay millions to buy them.   *********** Matthias Bonner, Double-Wing coach in Bremen, Germany, just got a new dog. A pug. He named it "Wedge."   *********** Coach: Joys of our amazingly PC society. Our administration informed us today that our end of season banquet to celebrate winning the schools first confrence title and winning season is officialy canceled. We can not hold a banquet using the schools name or mascot, or announce any other parties via the school intercom. We were informed that the school only recognizes the academic successes of their students. They also voiced concern that black parents and white parents might seat themselves into groups instead of sitting together and this might put forward the wrong image of the school. WTF??? Now the principal assigns seats to the parents??? The "concern" for the racial seating was because the one of the white mom's brought pom pons to the last game and didn't bring any for the black parents... Also we can not submit a write up to the newspaper, or display the trophy in the school case... What is wrong with these people? The truth is half of these kids wouldn't be passing a class if it weren't for the motivation that team sports provides, or for coaches staying late to tutor them, they sure don't get that kind of support at home.   *********** Playoffs are under way in WI already. Get this - they play regular season game #9 last Thursday, round one of playoffs this past Tuesday and round 2 right away Saturday. Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin   I've never been able to understand how doing this at playoff time is all of a sudden consistent with player safety, while all season long most states also had rules stipulating that kids couldn't play more than a certain number of quarters a week.   *********** Leave it to the perfumed princes... the ball-less careerist wanna-be's... to contaminate a fine military academy with their cancerous political correctness.   Ban God from the locker room? Accuse one of the best damn coaches in the nation of racism? That's absolute bullsh--. The administration at the Air Force Academy are cowards... whores... playing bullsh-- CYA games at the expense of some fine human beings.   If we took that pitiful approach back in the 1770's, the Revolution would have never got off the ground and we would be sipping tea, eating crumpets and playing soccer.   Shawn Powell, Spokane, Washington   *********** First Lt. Bruce Bishop, a 31-year-old fireman, told the Salt Lake Tribune that he plans to re-enlist in the Utah National Guard "because as I look around at the state of this nation and see all of the weak little pampered candy-asses that are whining about this or protesting that, I'd be afraid to leave the fate of this nation entirely up to them." Damn shame LT BIshop and brave men like him can't use some of those "weak little pampered candy-asses" as human shields.   *********** It's hard to believe that the World Series has been over for almost a week. But it hadn't been over 24 hours when the first White Sox declared for free agency.   *********** Just when you think that they can't do any worse, ABC goes out and hires a sideline reporter named Sam Ryan.   *********** NBA basketball players may bitch about having to wear suits while sitting on the bench, but I notice that any time one of those guys is hauled into court, he drops the costumery and dresses like a banker.   *********** We lost 33-32 friday night to Pascagoula in the dreaded homecoming game. We were leading 20-7 at half and it easily could have been 35-7 (two turnovers inside the 15) We lost the lead 27-20 halfway through the 4th quarter but then scored 12 points in about 5 minutes to go up 32-27 with 3 minutes left. Their tailback broke a run for about 60 yards and they completed a pass to the 1 on the next play. They scored on 3rd and goal with 2 minutes remaining. We were unable to answer and lost our 2nd game of the season and our first to another Mississippi school. We can still win the division with wins the next two weeks. Steve Jones, Ocean Springs, Mississippi   *********** We recovered from our regular season final game loss to beat Fremont Bergan 39-0 in the first round of the playoffs. We are now 8-1 and the No.1 seed in our bracket. We rushed for 355 on 54 attempts and passed for 65 yards on 5 of 10 attempts. We held them to 2 yards rushing on 28 attempts and 87 yards passing on 10 of 25 passing. We now play another parochial school in the next round... West Point Central Catholic. We beat them in Week 2, 42-18, but trailed at halftime 18-14. They are a shotgun, "chuck it up" team, as many teams are becoming. Greg Hansen, Stanton, Nebraska   *********** Much has been made of the ten-year extension that Notre Dame has already given Charlie Weis, but nothing has been said about the most important item in the contract, the buyout clause - how much is it going to cost an NFL club to get him? Reportedly, it is "only" about $1.5 million, which is chicken feed to an NFL owner who thinks a new coach is the answer to what ails his club.   *********** The head coach of the Holmdel (New Jersey) High School football team, Joe O'Connor, resigned last week along with all nine of his assistant coaches after the administration reinstated a player he had kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons.   According to Coach O'Connor, the player had a history of breaking team rules, and when he got into an exhange of words with another player during last Saturday's loss to Red Bank Catholic, the coach cut him loose.   On Monday, however, O'Connor said the school administration reinstated the player. That's when the coach, in his sixth season, handed in his resignation. In a display of solidarity with their head coach, his nine assistants also resigned.   At first, it was announced that for the remainder of the season, including three regular season games and possible state playoff games, the team would be led by coaches from the local Pop Warner association.   But then it was announced that the Holmdel Principal, Cheryl Swider, would serve as the team's head coach, assisted by a pair of vice-principals. The school board, after voting to accept the resignations of O'Connor and his assistants, approved the hiring of 12 new assistants, most of them parents of football players.   O'Connor said a verbal altercation with the player in the middle of last Saturday's game was just the latest in a series of violations of team rules by that player.   Holmdel school officials declined to say why the player was reinstated, although the school does have a "progressive discipline" policy requiring players to be given official warnings for violations such as skipping class. If the violation is extremely serious, the discipline may exceed a warning.   According to Coach O'Connor, the player who was dismissed then reinstated had missed classes and practices prior to the argument which precipitated his dismissal. Other sources, though, said that the player had never received any official warnings before being dismissed from the team.   It is easy for me to say this, as far from the scene as I am, and not having to deal with those cowardly administrators on a day-to-day basis, but I don't think that it was in the best interests of the kids for the coaches to resign.   Like most coaches with any sense, I would want that kid gone, too. But then, I'd also like all criminals locked up. Unfortunately it's not as simple as it once was, either for cops or for coaches.   We all know that it pisses cops off when they make a pinch and some judge turns the turkey loose on a technicality, but it happens all the time. It is what it is.   That's why police spend so much time on paperwork, much as they hate it.   So, if it were me, knowing the system and the "progressive discipline" B-S I was dealing with, I'd have been doing my paperwork, building a case on that kid. Since the coach said that the kid has had problems in the past, I'd have dealt with them and documented them, very carefully. And there would have come a point where we'd have all met - me, the kid, an administrator and a parent - and it would have been made very clear that the next infraction would result in the kid's removal.   It does amaze me how many coaches, guys who understand full well how the game of football is played, and understand the importance of knowing and using the rules, still fail to apply the principles of game-playing in their dealings with administrative B-S.   So I don't think that the coach should have resigned. He should have stuck around, for the sake of the good kids on the team.   So the miscreant comes back - so what? Everybody knows why he's back. Why not just isolate him? Can the administration say where - or how much - he should play?   Uh-oh. Maybe this one can! I never thought about that.   Osama shows that he will stop at nothing in his plot to weaken America... BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Army's Will Sullivan wore his Black Lion patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners