*********** With a few exceptions ("sure" is pronounced "shirr"; "hock" and "hawk" are synonymous, as are "air" and "error"), the Northwest accent is generally bland and undistinquished. But I do look forward to Hallowe'en and hearing people talk about "Hahnted Houses," full of "Whores." (Horrors) *********** "President Clinton received a report that there were over 100,000 cattle guards in Colorado. Because Colorado ranchers had protested his proposed changes in grazing policies, he ordered Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt to fire half of the guards immediately. Before Babbitt could respond, and presumably straighten him out, Colorado's congresswoman Pat Schroeder intervened with a request that before any were fired, they be given six months of retraining." Mark Shoup, associate editor, Kansas Wildlife and Parks Magazine (Uh, don't know if this story is true or not, but the joke here is that a "cattle guard," common to the wide open spaces of the West, where cattle tend to roam widely in search of grass., is not a person. There is no need to "retrain" one. A cattle guard is a grid of metal pipes laid across a pit in an access road to a main highway; cars and trucks are able to drive across the bridge of pipes and onto the Interstate, which is a good place for cars and trucks; cattle learn to fear stepping between the pipes and getting their feet caught, and so they wisely stay off the Interstate, which is definitely not a good place for them.) *********** A LITTLE COMMENT ON "COACH" NEIL LOMAX, FORMER NFL QB, CAUGHT TRYING TO FUDGE THE WEIGH-IN BEFORE A YOUTH GAME (NEWS - Oct 23) "Coach - Having been on the receiving end of a cheater, this is a topic that hits close to home. Those of us that try hard to win by doing the right thing, i.e playing all the kids, preparing, scouting, learning this thing "we call the double wing", it strikes right at the core of the values that I try to espouse. Sorry if I am making a big deal about this but to have an NFL guy do this to a fellow youth coach is just not right. Lastly, as always, you may use whatever you want from our emails regarding Lomax (the cheat)." John Torres, Manteca, California *********** Scott Barnes, in Rockwall, Texas, put me onto a great article in the Dallas News about "25 great games." And then the sonuvagun asked me about my list. And I had to say that I can't do those things because I would have to sit down with somebody and bounce ideas off him. It's like whenever I read about some celebrity's favorite songs, or foods, or places to go - I think how glad I am I don't have to come up with those things. How would I decide? Often, other than home, my favorite place is where I am at the moment. My favorite game is the one I'm coaching or the one I'm watching. Maybe with a couple of other guys, between the two or three of us we could come up with a list of favorite games, or maybe having my memory jogged I could come up with a list of my own. Somehow, though, I don't think I could list a game I hadn't seen, heard, or at least read about the next day - such as Notre Dame-Army in 1928, which appears on the Dallas News' list. Not that there aren't quite a few oldies that I'd like to see. I still watch football with the idea that maybe the game I'm watching right now will turn out to be one of the best I've ever seen. I think that's the major reason why I seldom watch pro football - because there's just no chance that it'll be an unforgettable game - instead, it'll just be another long series of commercials with occasional peeks at same-old, same-old football plays, played either indifferently or with great show-biz flair by guys who are only out to glorify themselves. *********** It was hardly worth the effort to pass it. The 26th Amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote. High schools make a great effort to register new voters, and liberal social studies teachers work feverishly to indoctrinate them. And in the last presidential election, only 32.4 per cent of voters 18 to 24 turned out (compared with 67 per cent of those 65 and over). Just as well. They went heavily for Clinton, probably because he played the saxophone on Arsenio and told them he wore boxers. *********** A woman named Heather Mac Donald has some harsh things to say about American education. Most of them are right on. In her book, "The Burden of Bad Ideas: How Modern Intellectuals Misshape our Society," she really gets after the school-of-education drones who would have us believe that you don't need to know anything so long as you know how to teach, and the kids don't need to learn anything, either, so long as they feel good about themselves and feel that what they're doing is "relevant" to their lives. She devotes a chapted entitled, "Why Johnny's Teacher Can't Teach" to an indictment of today's liberal teacher-training programs, that she says "can be summed up in the phrase: Anything But Knowledge. The early decades of this century, " she wrote, "forged the central educational fallacy of our time: that one can think without having anything to think about." She accuses educators of being desperate to show sensitivity to minority students, to the point of ignoring their academic and moral education in favor of subjects created merely so they can do well; she writes of one school in Brooklyn where the kids occupy their time "studying" graffiti and "deejaying," and writing rap lyrics. *********** "As Coach Castro (head coach) said, I am getting this Double Wing offense down to a science. Not that it is that difficult. 88SP, 88SP, 47-C, TOUCHDOWN! Or sometimes it's 88SP, TOUCHDOWN! In the fourth quarter I love to throw the 3 CHARLIE in there. My wife, who runs the camera, has trouble picking that one up never mind the kids on the field. We have thrown the TIGHT RIP - STOP - 77 SPECIAL POWER (Page 59 in the playbook) in and it works like a charm. The Franklin County Panthers had four players stacked out wide to stop the 88SP. Our A Back started in motion and you could see all four of them coming up. The A Back stops, takes the pitch and goes the other way with five blockers out in front of him. TOUCHDOWN! We are not making any friends with this offense but we are sure having a lot of fun. Thanks, Coach Doug Aiken, Roanoke, Virginia" *********** "Coach. my entire youth team went and saw Remember the Titans last week. All 25 of them (13-14 year old boys) love the movie. Of course now when we run in a grid they think they can sing. The Back Street Boys have nothing to worry about. We have spent some of our time talking about different parts of the movie. It has been a good history and life lesson for them." Don Hodson- rdding, California (Remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned what terrific jobs coaches Mike Dubose of Alabama and Tom Holmoe of Cal had done in rallying their players when things were looking grim? Turns out both coaches attribute the upswing in their players' attitudes to taking their teams to watch "Remember the Titans.") *********** Several Oregon State players have had shoes come off this season. So "spat" them - tape them on, right? Duh. Oh. I see. Nike won't allow them to cover up the Swoosh. Now, wouldn't you think that a company that employs nuclear physicists to design high-tech shoes for khayakers would figure out a way around this problem, short of paying a coach obscene amounts of money to tell his players not to tape over their shoes? *********** You never know where a great educational idea is going to come from, although you can usually be sure that it won't come from an "educator" (hate that word). A citizen named Bernie Constantine wrote to the Portland Oregonian on the subject of a proposal linking teachers' pay to students' performance. He said that the proposal is wrong to blame teachers: "If a child does not perform well in school," he wrote, "then the parents should pay a higher state income tax, since they are placing a larger burden our our school system." *********** I don't know what to make of the coming trend toward making little painted, perfumed sissies of our boys. I was brought up in the days when you went to the barber shop every two weeks, and when your turn came, you sat in the chair while a guy named Dom or Vince laid his clippers up against the side of your skull and went cruising. We were raised not to trust a "pretty boy," defined as any guy who spent an excessive amount of time on his appearance. You only spent any time in front of a mirror if you had a pimple that needed inspection. The pretty boys didn't play usually sports, so we pretty much ignored them. Even now, as a result of my upbringing, I'm suspicious of a guy who takes a lot of pride in his looks. (A certain President of the United States hasn't done anything to lessen those suspicions.) So from my point of view, what's happening to our young guys today is positively scary. A full 35 per cent of Tommy Hilfiger's beauty care products are sold to males. "Guys today are so much more involved in things only women used to do," Terry Darland, vice-president of Hilfiger's toiletries division told the Wall Street Journal. Research by MH-18, a magazine for pretty boys (I don't know what else to call them), made the interesting discovery that its readers wanted more perfume ads with "scent strips." Hair coloring for boys is huge. At a Clairol display at this summer's Gravity Games in Providence, Rhode Island, so many boys showed up to have their hair bleached that the company's booth ran out of water. Boys in some places pay as much as $95 for a "cut and color." Many of them go for a "shoeshine," in which the hair stylist colors just the tips of their hair. The Journal cited as an example a 17-year-old kid from Plainfield, New Jersey who colors his hair with L'Oreal dyes, and uses gel on his hair so it sticks up in front, "depending on my mood." According to The Journal, he spends an hour "getting ready" every morning. And then, no doubt, he strolls in late to first period. And says he didn't have time to do his homework. |
TRIVIA
QUESTION: An early devotee of weight training while also
gifted with blazing speed, he was called both "The
World's Strongest Sprinter" and "The World's Fastest
Shot-putter." He is considered the best football player
ever to play for his school, and after being at the
center of a bidding war between two rival pro leagues, he
enjoyed a successful pro career, first as a runner, then
as a tight end (HINT) His school's uniforms - especially
the white jerseys - haven't changed a whole lot since he
played there. (HINT) A long,
electrifying fourth-quarter punt return gave his team the
win over its arch-rival on Hallowe'en night, and was a
major factor in his school's only national championship;
(HINT) He became a dentist after retiring from pro
football; (HINT) His son was a very good football player
at Texas A & M
*********** "Coach, We won the first play off game in the history of our school last night. Trailing 14-10 with 3 minutes to play we stopped our opponent on the 10 yard line. We then drove the ball 90 yards in 2:30 and scored with 27 seconds remaining on a play we call I right 88 toss reach. You may notice we had 10 which means we kicked a field goal. It was our first attempt of the season and only the second attempt in the three years I have been head coach. Fortunately we made it. It was great to walk out on the field during a timeout with 30 seconds left and facing 4th and 6 and look my kids in the eyes and see the fire burning and hear them say "coach let us run 88 toss reach we will get it". Not only did we get the 6 we got 16 and a touchdown. Thank you for the system and the website. I don't know if 3 play off appearances in three years and the first play off win in school history have convinced the community but our staff and players believe and that is the important thing. Thank You, Keith Lehne" - Grantsburg High School, Grantsburg, Wisconsin *********** The term "standing room only" is at least as old as the practice of charging admission to sports events, but the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, governing body of that state's high school athletics, intends to make the phrase obsolete. Last June, without a lot of notice by the news media, the LHSAA passed a rule prohibiting anyone from standing in a gymnasium while a basketball game is in progress. Officials have been instructed to hold up play, if necessary, until everyone is seated. There are the usual arguments about avoiding liability in case of injury, but the rule seems to have come about because of a playoff game last year in which the crowd spilled onto the court during play. Players were forced to in-bound the ball while standing inside the end lines, and there were accusations that at one point a fan helped keep the ball from going out of bounds, directing it to a particular player. Needless to say, this will hit some schools hard. In the pocket book, that is. Small schools with small gyms routinely pack 'em in for big games, presumably with the permission of the local fire marshal, and the gate revenue from football and basketball is often the only thing that keeps their athletic programs going. *********** "Our 14 year old team that runs the Double-Wing is 4-0. Our twelve year old team is 3-1. What is funny is that our 11 year old team didn't run this offense all preseason and were shut out in two games; still wouldn't make the change and were shut out their first regular season game; made the change, won three in a row, and are sitting at 3-1. We have three teams that run it - our combined record is 10-1-1. The four teams that don't run it - their combined record is 2-14. Do I need to say any more? Take Care, Pat Pimmel, St. Charles, Missouri" *********** I had a good look at the inside of a $279-a-night room in the Las Vegas Four Seasons Hotel last weekend. I was 28 years old before I made $279 a week. I didn't say I stayed in the room. I could have got a reduced rate of $219 for a while, but I was late in deciding that I would attend a team reunion in Las Vegas, and by the time I made up my mind, the price was back up to $279 or so. Hello, Motel 6. Actually, I stayed at a very nice casino-resort called Mandalay Bay, which adjoins the Four Seasons, and I was able to get close enough to scout out the Four Seasons. For those of you who plan on earning football coach's wages the rest of your lives, this is what you will miss out on: the first thing you will notice is the lead edge of the roll of toilet paper, carefully folded so that it comes to a point. (At least that's the way it is when you first enter the room. I suppose that having housekeeping come up and re-fold it after every use costs extra.) The face towels are cleverly folded so that they form little pockets, and the wash cloths are folded accordion-style, then tucked into those little pockets. The shower soap comes in boxes, not cheesy little wrappers. Housekeeping stops by in the evening and turns the bed down for you. When you call the front desk, they address you by name. And, best of all, there is a restaurant where a breakfast of two eggs, hash browns, sausage links, juice, coffee and toast - one that will set you back all of $6.00 at Neder's in Washougal, Washington (where the old retired guys meet on Saturday mornings to dissect the local football coach) - will set you back $18.00. I ordered my eggs over easy and they were delicious. *********** Forget about the AP College Poll, USA Today Coaches' Poll, the BCS formula and all that crap. There is one poll, and only one poll, that is based on cold, hard logic, and that is the Oddsmakers' Poll, found only, so far as I know, in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It claims to be "a nonbiased poll of various sports book directors (a "sports book", legal only in Nevada, is a section of a casino in which people can place bets of all sorts and sizes on horse races and most popular sports), their in-house linesmakers (the people who initially determine what the spread will be between two teams in order to get the most betting going on both teams) and sports book managers throughout the state, various oddsmakers utilized by the sports book industry and licensed international sports books. Just like the AP, the Oddsmaker's Poll ranks Nebraska Number One. From that point on, though, there are big changes: Oklahoma is #2 in the AP, but #5 in the Oddsmakers. Virginia Tech is #2 in the Oddsmakers' Poll, and Florida State is back up there at #3. Michigan is #10 in the Oddsmakers' Poll, five places higher than in the AP. Southern Mississippi is #11, three places higher than the AP. Washington, TCU and South Carolina drop 5, 4 and 3 places lower, respectively, than they are in the AP. Texas is up in 17th place, five places higher than the AP. Auburn and Northwestern are off the list; Tennessee and Texas A & M are on. *********** Talk about October surprises! Vince Tobin was let go by the St. Louis Cardinals. Tobin was 9-7 just two years ago - the only winning record Arizona has had since moving to the desert in 1988 - but he's 2-5 this year. He was let go because in two weeks, the voters in Maricopa County (metropolitan Phoenix) are going to be asked to come up with $331 million for a new stadium so that the Cardinals can make more money so that they can pay the players more money so that they can win more games so that they can justify higher ticket prices so that they can make make more money so that they can pay the players more money, etc., etc. Presumably, firing Tobin was considered the Cardinals' way of showing voters how serious they are about providing Phoenix with a winner. *********** Didn't I tell you the fans at Oregon State would start to get spoiled? They're already whining because tomorrow's game against Washington State has been moved to 7:15 PM so that it can be televised. Uh, folks - maybe you'd prefer the not-so-old days when the Beavs couldn't find a win this side of Division I-AA, and instead of a sold-out stadium you could get all the tickets you wanted - at a discount, yet - and they never had to take the padlock off the door to the TV announcers' booth up in the press box. *********** I don't know whether this was written seriously, and I don't want to be a party to taking shots at a fellow Yalie, but Skip Bayless of the Chicago Tribune was writing about Bears' coach Dick Jauron's post-game press conference last Sunday, and as he tells the story, a reporter asks Coach Jauron if he's sure he know what he's doing. Jauron answers, "No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night." *********** STRAIGHT FROM VEGAS!!!! WINNER WYATT'S HOT PICKS!!! THIS WEEKEND'S MORTAL LOCK: UNLV at Ole Miss. Take the Rebels. *********** QUESTION: What do Arizona State, UCLA, Colorado State, Iowa State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Southern Cal, East Carolina, Alabama, Pitt, West Virginia, Stanford, Texas Tech, Arkansas, Illinois, Boston College, Indiana, Syracuse, Penn State, Mississippi, Michigan State, Kansas, Air Force, Virginia have in common? ANSWER: They are 24 Division I-A teams that the Sagarin Football Rankings listed below Delaware, the top-ranked Division I-AA club, this week. Now, nothing against Delaware, a very good club that I have seen on videotape, but let's get serious for a minute - Delaware over Alabama? Delaware over Michigan State? Delaware, for that matter, over any of those clubs? Good as Delaware is, I doubt that there are too many kids on the Delaware team who were recruited seriously by any of those 24 Division I-A schools. *********** Albert Gore's daughter was in Washington the other day, and proudly announced that she could name the capital of the state. Said she knew it was Seattle. She was sure proud of herself for knowing that fact. 'Cept it's Olympia. *********** Central Bucks West High, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, tied their own school's state record of 53 straight wins last Friday night with a 49-0 trouncing of Levittown's Harry S. Truman High. The Bucks, three-time defending class 4A (largest) state champions, outgained Truman 438 yards to 98 in total offense, and held Truman to three first downs while racking up 22. Tonight they go for a new state record 54, breaking an earlier C.B. West streak set between 1984 and 1989. This week, the opponent is tougher: Pennsbury comes in with a 6-2 record. "I'll be glad to see Pennsbury," C.B. West Coach Mike Carey told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Frank Bertucci after last week's game. "They'll be 6-2, and my team rises to that type of challenge." *********** "Coach- Just wanted to let you know that we just finished our season 8-0 (the first time ever.) We outscored teams 214-49. Our two year record with this offense is 11-5. If you recall the team we took over went 2-6 the year before. I have to tell you this offensive system had a great deal to do with our success. Our team was made up of average players, but, in my opinion, the fact that we have so many people at the point of attack allowed us to get 5 yards a play. Our kids took pride in their game and I preached all year that we may face teams with one or two superstars, but, they couldn't stop our 11 on the field. We had long drives all year. The kids enjoyed playing in this offense. "A funny story about our last game against our cross town rivals. The defensive coach who is a good friend of mine spent hours on your site trying to figure out how to stop us. All week we heard that he had the secret on how to stop us. Well we scored 37 points, had our first team on the bench the entire fourth quarter and scored with our 2nd and 3rd teamers. I can only imagine what the score would have been if they didn't know how to stop us. I'm a firm believer that it's "not the X's and O's, it's the Jimmys and Joes", but if those kids understand the offense and believe in it, it sure is fun to watch. Coach, I'm looking forward to your next video or clinic. Thanks again. By the way, the varsity team is 6-2." Joe Cantafio, Head JV Coach, West Seneca West HS, West Seneca NY
*********** My world is collapsing all around me. Where have all my heroes gone? Now Darryl Strawberry has just come out and admitted using drugs. *********** John Dillon, a Double-Wing coach in Greeley, Colorado, wrote to tell me that he was under the impression that his team, the Kersey Cougars, had tied for his league's title, but was informed at the league meeting Tuesday night that the two teams would playoff tomorrow for first and second place. As he said, "How American." I told him to be grateful that at least they will get to settle it on the field. I know of numerous places where a tie between two or more teams, only one of which can go to the playoffs, is settled by a coin toss between administrators. *********** You guys who are at the mercy of the computer and have to sit around waiting to see whether it awards you enough points to qualify for the playoffs will understand. Coach Mike Emery at Fitch High, in Groton, Connecticut has done just about everything a Double-Wing coach can do to convince people that his kids are good. Fitch is the defending state class L (Large) champion, and in six games so far this season, Fitch has outscored opponents 333-30. (That's an average score of 55-5.) Fitch has scored 50 points or more in five game. The closest game has been a 44-16 nailbiter. For several weeks now, Fitch has been ranked Number One in the statewide polls. So the trouble is not convincing people. It's the computer. The computer currently ranks Fitch fifth in its class. Go figure. TO MY READERS: Demands on my time have made it necessary for me to change my publication schedule. (Basically, I'm just not getting anything else done.) So beginning today, I will be publishing new "NEWS" every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I don't believe you will notice any significant difference in the overall amount of material there is to read. The TIPS will still be updated on approximately a weekly basis, the Winner's Circle will still be updated whenever fresh information becomes available, and I will continue to provide new and additional features. Hugh Wyatt |
*********** Last weekend was really my first visit of any length to Las Vegas - previously, I'd only made connections at the airport. The airport itself is about what you'd expect of las Vegas - slots in the airport concourses, and Rich Little and Robert Goulet telling you to keep to the right on the moving walkways. A billboard on a wall in the airport says, "Elvis has left the building... we now have a vacancy in our schools." The ad's paid for by the Las Vegas Schools, and do they have a vacancy. Or 200. Las Vegas has grown 60 per cent in the last decade, making it the fastest-growing metro area in the US. That's a lot of new schools and a lot of new teachers every year, in case you happen to be a teacher looking for work. *********** A lot of stories came out of the 1960 Yale team reunion in Vegas last weekend, but one of the most amazing concerned Ben Balme. He played his high school ball at Grant High in Portland, Oregon, and was a quiet, hard-working kid whom everyone admired. His senior year, his pre-med major required hours of lab work, and every Wednesday, a team manager would have to borrow one of the school's station wagons and drive several miles, with Ben's equipment in the back, to pick him up after a chemistry lab. Ben would change into football gear along the way and arrive halfway through practice. Nonetheless, he made All-American. He lasted with the Philadelphia Eagles, defending NFL champions, until he came down with a mysterious illness and his weight dropped from 228 to 210, and he was the last man cut. And then he got serious and went to medical school at Yale. And when he'd got out and served his internship and residency, he volunteered to serve in a M*A*S*H unit in Viet Nam, and he was on duty when they wheeled in a young Marine named Watts Humphrey, a former Yale football player whose arm had been shattered by grenade fragments. Ben, a lover of the outdoors, established a practice as an orthopedic surgeon in the hunting and fishing paradise of Klamath Falls, Oregon and has remained there since. *********** "Coach, I enjoy your column online, and I am a supporter of not only the double-wing, but also the right-wing (get it?). I have a good friend who runs the double-wing at a high school here in Ontario, CA, (Chaffey High) and he is finally getting the respect he deserves from his fellow teachers and coaches. They have won their last two games by scores of 40-0 and 28-14. They did lose their first 4, as they adjusted to the schemes, and they also played schools a lot bigger than themselves, but they were not league games, so they won't have a bearing on playoff chances. "Anyway, kudos to you for your very correct stance on women being involved in men's athletics. I am only 24, but I am a Christian, and a very conservative one at that. I believe in the roles that woman and men are supposed to play in our society, and they do not include (for women) place-kicking for a NCAA Division 1 team. However, a recent news story on TV down here may interest you. A local high school (when I say local, I mean So. California) has a problem with a boy trying out for the women's field hockey team. It seems that they do not think it appropriate for a boy to be on the same team with a bunch of girls. While personally I don't think so, either, I do find it poetic justice that he is making such an attempt, in light of the recent Heather Sue incident. The CIF (California's governing sports body) has so far denied his attempts to join this team, and he has filed an appeal with them. It seems there is no boy's field hockey team, so he may have a legitimate gripe. Ironically, he is about the same size or smaller than most of the girls I saw him practicing with on TV. He almost looks like a girl from the backside, as they showed him running down the field. I will keep you posted (if interested) of the results of this 'controversy.'" David Henson (I am opposed in principle to men playing in women's sports, but the Heather Sue Mercer decision and the opinions expressed by that Lopiano woman have convinced me that we need to put our beliefs aside temporarily; that allowing boys to overrun girls' sports may be necessary to bring the equality-at-all-costs feminists back to the bargaining table.) *********** Credit Where It's Due Department. Maybe Rashard Casey, Penn State's quarterback, does belong in jail. But maybe Bill Clinton does, too, and one thing is for sure - Clinton, while he's been on the loose, has never done anything comparable to what Casey did Saturday against Illinois, turning what appeared to be an aborted pitch-out play into a 39-yard yard touchown, in possibly the greatest single athletic feat I've ever seen on a football field. *********** Field Goal Patrol: In the NFL games of this past Sunday and Monday, there were 44 field goals attempted, and 38 made. That's an excitement index of 14. (The excitement index is obtained by subtracting the percentage of accuracy from 100 - the lower the percentage of field goals made, the greater the excitement.) The average NBA field goal attempt, based on last year's league-wide 81 per cent average, rates 19 on the excitement scale, which means that an NBA free throw is more exciting, more suspenseful, than an NFL field goal. Only Denver missed more than one field goal. (Start packin', Jason.) In 10 of the games, there were no missed field goals. Sadly, there was not a single game in which no field goal was attempted. Now here's one for those of you who would like to join me in ridding football of placekickers: in nine of the 13 games played Sunday and Monday, the losing team attempted more field goals than the winning team. Moral: weenies kick field goals; winners score touchdowns. *********** Remember what I wrote about Vick, Dantzler and Crouch? Can I do that over? I need to make room in there for Antwaan Randle El. The QB from Indiana is an offense in himself. He can run and he can pass. But that's not all. Last week, after Minnesota scored to pull within reach of the Hoosiers at the end of the game, the Gophers' onside kick was recovered by - Antwaan Randle El. Talk about stones! *********** "Coach, For the first time in my coaching career - Playoffs!. We found out last Sunday. We have clinched a spot no matter what happens this final Friday. Hosting a playoff game and winning a co-league championship are still possibilities. Thanks for the support and advice throughout the last three years." Marc Gibson, Brookville, Ohio *********** Still don't know what to get for those hard-to-buy-a-gift-for persons on your list? Your Christmas shopping problems are solved! Get 'em the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Board Game, created at the actual Hip Hop Hall of Fame (betcha didn't even know there was one) by some of the good folks there (betcha didn't know there were any of them, either). By answering questions, Trivial Pursuit fashion, players work their way around the board and up the career path from "Unsigned Artist (not sure "artist" is the right word to be using)" to "Hall-of-Famer." There are numerous pitfalls along the way, including "Scandals," "Hard Times," "Groupies," and "Lawsuits." Presumably, "Hard Times" would include ambushes by rival rappers. Or threatened suspensions by the Commissioner of the NBA. Buy your copy now on the Web at www.hhhof.com *********** "Just finished watching Boston Public. GIVE ME A BREAK! WWF is more realistic!" Kyle Wagner, Edmonton, Alberta TO MY READERS: Demands on my time have made it necessary for me to change my publication schedule. (Basically, I'm just not getting anything else done.) So beginning today, I will be publishing new "NEWS" every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I don't believe you will notice any significant difference in the overall amount of material there is to read. The TIPS will still be updated on approximately a weekly basis, the Winner's Circle will still be updated whenever fresh information becomes available, and I will continue to provide new and additional features. Hugh Wyatt |
TRIVIA
ANSWER: #36 is the great running back Marion Motley, and
#14 is the equally-great quarterback, Otto Graham. Both
men helped to make the Cleveland Browns of the late
1940's and 1950's one of the greatest dynasties in the
history of pro football.
Motley is
especially interesting because he was the forerunner of
the modern fullback. At a time when there were still
180-pounders running the ball, and 220-pound linemen were
commonplace, Motley was a solid 240 pounds, and he had a
sprinter's speed. It was with Motley at fullback that
Browns' coach Paul Brown developed and popularized the
"draw" play that is now a standard feature of any passing
team. Motley was 27 years old at the end of World War II,
and with a family to support, had taken a job in a mill
in his native Canton, Ohio. He had played only one year
at the University of Nevada prior to the War, and hadn't
played enough service ball to be noticed by pro scouts,
but Brown, who had coached against Motley's Canton
McKinley High while at archrival Massillon High,
remembered him well. "Motley became our greatest fullback
ever," Brown would later write in his
autbiography,"because not only was he a great runner, but
also no one ever blocked better - and no one ever cared
more about his team and whether it won or lost, no matter
how many yards he gained or where he was asked to
run...Marion's tremendous running ability also was what
made our trap and draw plays so effective. When he
ran off tackle, people seemed to fly off him in all
directions. He possessed tremendous speed for a big man,
and he could run away from linebackers and defensive
backs when he got into the open - if he didn't trample
them first. I've always believed that Motley could have
gone into the Hall of Fame solely as a linebacker if we
had used him only at that position. He was as good as our
great ones." (Thanks to Paul Brown's signing of
such gifted black football players as Marion Motley, Len
Ford and Bill Willis, the Cleveland Browns
were the first truly integrated team in all of
professional sports. "I never considered
football players black or white," Brown wrote, " nor did
I keep or cut a player just because of his color. In our
first meeting before training camp every year, I told the
players that they made our teams only if they were good
enough. I didn't care about a man's color or his
ancestry; I just wanted to win football games with the
best people possible.")
Just
in case you don't think I go back a way with the
Double-Wing, I want you to look at this photo very
carefully. Tell me if it looks a little familiar. Yes, the
B-Back is a little deeper than I like, and the wingbacks are
in three-point stances, in the manner of Don Markham. but
they're not turned in, and although you can't tell from
here, the line splits are a little wider, and the linemen
seem to have their weight a bit forward. But we could
straighten all that out if we had to. If we could.
*********** "I often catch myself wondering (or daydreaming) about last year's season and how much fun I had with the offense. If you recall the last game I installed "roscoe", East, West motions, among other new twist that I had not done previously. I had installed the Rocket motion about mid-season also. Anyway, I was on the treadmill this morning and thinking about these new motions and how it was driving the opposing teams defensive guy nuts! He thought he had a good scout on me and then I throw in these "new" twist. I chuckled to myself, I guess a little too loud, and anyway I turn and about a dozen people there in the gym are staring at me like I was a nut-case. If they only knew what I was laughing about and about the this thing we call the double wing. JT " *********** A youth coach mentioned that under the rules of his organization, teams are allowed to have a coach on the field during games, but the coaches must not say anything once the offense has broken its huddle. My guy says he happened to hear the opposing coach's play call, and, knowing what it meant, arranged his kids to stop it - all before the offense left the huddle. Now, he is having doubts. Did he cross the line of ethical conduct? Here's what I told him: There is a clear line between scouting and spying - "skunking" as spying is sometimes known in the coaching profession. Skunking includes watching another team's practice. It is unethical. Stealing signs is somewhat different. It is akin to hearing the opposing coach shout something, and then acting on what you've heard. Use of signs is an attempt to get around shouting - people are using that particular form of communication to give themselves an edge. One of the dangers of using signs is that they will be intercepted and used against you, but it's even more dangerous to call out instructions. So there's nothing unethical about stealing signs, provided you confine yourself to normal methods of detection. It seems to me that in your case, if you are standing on your side of the line of scrimmage and you happen inadvertently to hear the other team's play call, you have a right to take advantage of their carelessness. If, on the other hand, you are actively trying to listen in on their huddle, you have crossed the line. *********** If you are interested in what's in a film your kids (or you) want to see, take a look at www.screenit.com, which previews a film by displaying a grid on which the film is rated in 15 different potentially-objectionable areas, from alcohol or drug use to violence to profanity. It is quite specific in telling you what to expect. For instance, I clicked on the "PROFANITY" box for one film chosen at random, and this is what I got: "At least 1 "f" word, 5 "s" words (1 written), 1 slang term for sex ("knocking boots"), 2 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck" and "pr*ck"), 1 slang term for breasts ("t*ts" in English subtitles), 14 hells (1 in English subtitles), 11 damns, 8 asses (1 used with "hole"), 1 crap, 4 uses of "G-damn," 2 each of "Jesus" and "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" (the latter in English subtitles both times) and 1 use each of "For Christ's sakes," "God," "Oh my God" and "Sweet Jesus" as exclamations." Might want to leve the kids home. *********** One of the most prominent youth coaches in Oregon's Tualatin Valley league is Neil Lomax. Maybe you recognize the name? He's a former Portland State and St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals' quarterback. He's a Portland native, and he's always enjoyed a sort of clean-cut, goody-two shoes image around here - family man and all that - so it was a bit disturbing to read in Willamette Week, an excellent Portland-area publication, that "Coach" Lomax was recently suspended by the league for two games and his team required to pay a fine. Seems that before a game, he was caught at the pre-game weigh-in trying to pull the old shoulder-pad switcheroo with his own kid (a quarterback), putting lighter-weight pads on him than the ones he normally wore so that he could make weight. *********** This is big-time college football by the way... Cal is leading Washington, 24-22, with 6:24 left in the game. The Bears have been playing their asses off. But now they're on their own 10 yard line and they need to hold into the ball for a little while They hand off over the left side, where there seems to be a little hole, but a defender reaches out and grabs the runner's hand - the only hand - that's carrying the ball. And pries the ball loose. And the Huskies recover on the Cal 17. And the Huskies score on the next play, and it's 28-24, Washington. Pffffft. That's the air going out of Cal. I'm sorry - I don't give a crap who reads this - that's the coaching. Excuse me. Lack of coaching. In a day and age when it's obvious that every defensive player is out to strip the ball, what the $%%#^& is so-o-o-o-o tough about demanding that your ball carriers protect the $#&%$ ball? Is there not one college or pro coach in America with the stones to tell a guy that if he won't protect the ball, he can't play? *********** Oregon State is now 6-1 and in the race for the Rose Bowl (the game) after having twice come from 10 points back Saturday to beat UCLA in the Rose Bowl (the stadium). It was only the third time in the 21 games regular seasons games UCLA has played in the stadium that the Bruins have been beaten there, and the first time in its not-so-illustrious history that Oregon State has beaten both UCLA and USC in the same season... Which brings up another matter. Oregon and Oregon State have one Pac-10 loss between them; UCLA and USC have one Pac-10 win between them. For the first time in its football history - including Pacific Coast Conference, Pac-8 and Pac-10 - USC is 0-4 in conference play... Three Pac-10 games Saturday went down to the final play - Arizona State beat Washington State in overtime, Stanford beat USC on the final play, and Arizona wasn't beaten by Oregon until Ortege Jenkins' pass into the end zone was deflected as time ran out... And when was the last time Alabama and Tennessee played each other and neither one was ranked in the Top 25? The game was once so important that back in the 1970's, Tennessee dumped an excellent coach named Bill Battle because, even though he averaged nine wins a year, he just couldn't beat The Bear... Mississippi State ties the game and takes LSU into overtime. And LSU choose which goal to defend - the one down in front of the student section. Don't know what difference all those noisy Tiger fans made, but LSU won it... Weber State scheduled its game with number-two ranked (I-AA) Portland State on a date that coincided with the opening of hunting season in Ogden Utah, and fewer than 5,000 people showed up. Hope all those missing fans guys got their bucks, because they missed probably the biggest game in Weber State's history: Weber 41, Portland State 9... Syracuse was taking it to number two-ranked Virginia Tech in the Carrier Dome, and led, 14-9 midway through the third quarter. But Syracuse was in a tough spot, starting out on their own 1-yard line. They called a pass, but as Syracuse QB Troy Nunes dropped, he tangled feet with a guard who was in a hurry to set up, and he started to fall. As he hit thr ground, apparently in an effort to avoid the safety, he flung the ball into the air, baby-in-the-air style - and it landed in the hands of the Tech free safety. Two plays later Tch scored to go ahead, 15-14. But Syracuse hung in there, and with under two minutes to play appeared about to hold the Hokies and force a punt. Michael Vick handed off on a sweep to their right and... wait - he didn't hand off. It's a bootleg! Stop that man! Good luck. Turning on jets that few football players have, he swept the left side and raced 55 yards to put the game away... Wisconsin lined up to kick a field goal in overtime and - nothing againnst the Badgers - Purdue did what should be done to every field goal. The Boilermakers blocked the kick, scooped up the ball, and returned it for the winning touchdown... *********** PAGING RICK NEUHEISEL: Katie Hnida's available. But this time I'd advise you to be careful. Katie, a place kicker from Littleton, Colorado's Chatfield High, was encouraged to turn out for the Colorado squad by then-Buffalo's coach Neuheisel, who has since moved to Washington. Neuheisel's successor, Gary Barnett, honored Neuheisel's commitment to her, whatever that was all about, but last week she was given her release. Rumors around the Denver area are that she might be headed to Washington and coach Rick. Being a Washington taxpayer myself, and seeing the way Heather Sue Mercer has driven up the price of female placekickers lately, I doubt that the Huskies can afford Katie Hnida. *********** "If I offended anyone..." That's the way most of the insincere, forced "apologies" start out these days. In other words, I'm not sorry I did it. I'm sorry for you that what I did bothers you. Sorry you can't deal with it. That's the way I suggest Phil Knight's apology should go. If he apologizes, that is. A group of harpies including famous feminist Gloria Steinem and famous lesbian Ellen DeGeneres says that Knight, Nike's chairman, owes women everywhere an apology for running the ad in which the nut with the chain saw can't catch the lovely young woman - because she's fit, and she's wearing Nikes. The group says the ad isn't funny to women who've had to deal with such situations. Huh? Guys with chain saws chasing women? Haven't seen a lot of that out our way, and God knows we've got our share of chain saws. And nuts. As a matter of fact, I think Phil Knight owes all of us men an apology. I don't happen to appreciate the insinuation that we're all chain-saw murderers. *********** "We have a new principal here at (our high school) - a female - and one of my darlings cussed in class and I told him drop and give me 20 push-ups. He said what for? So I wrote him up and sent him to the VP. Well I get called in by the principal and told I can't give a student push-ups for cussing - that is corporal punishment. The last principal would have said," Why didn't you give him 30?" My, how times have changed." NAME WITHHELD THE NEWS PAGE WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED AGAIN UNTIL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25 |
*********** I am not impressed with the growing practice of "extending" the ball, in which a ball carrier (usually a receiver) who is headed out of bounds near the goal line reaches out with the ball in one hand and tries to touch the corner pylon and thereby, on a technicality, "cross the goal line." Or on a quarterback sneak, the QB extends his arms to try to penetrate the plane. I have seen more than one QB have the ball batted loose, and on Saturday an Oregon receiver tried the "touch the pylon" stunt as he went out of bounds at the USC one, but instead of giving his team the ball in scoring position, he fumbled out of the end zone and gave USC a touchback. I mean, what kind of a farce is this, when every part of a guy's body is headed out of bounds a full yard short of the goal line, and he reaches out with one hand and taps the top of the pylon and "scores?" Officials must hate the play. I think a modification of the rules is necessary to require that some part of the body other than the hand must cross the goal line ahead of the ball. *********** A judge in southern Oregon ruled that a school must reinstate a high school kid who was removed as student body president because of a drug offense. The kid and his parents, who seem to share our President's lack of shame, appealed the school board's decision to oust him, and, as happens so often, they found a sympathetic court. The kid is now back in office. But wait - it's not over yet. His fellow students, some of whom do have a sense of the shame he has brought on them and their school, have begun circulating a petition to recall him. They obviously have a lot to learn before they can become U.S. Senators, because they still seem to think that poor conduct "rises to the level of an impeachable offense." *********** I think it is wonderful that there are girls who like football. And I think it is all very nice that they'd like to have the experience of playing. I also think that's too bad, because I believe that football should remain an exclusively-male province - one of the few left in our increasingly-feminized culture. I believe that every time our boys are forced to give up something that was once exclusively theirs, we take another step toward an androgynous society - and a more effeminate one, at that - in which the males steadily become more feminized and less able to take care of themselves - more inclined to whine and ask presidential candidates, pleadingly, "what are you going to do for me?" I am the proud father of three daughters whom I love dearly, and for whom I want all the best. They all participated in sports and I loved watching them. I want the best for my three granddaughters, and if they want to take part in sports, I want them to have the opportunity. But I am not going to get sucked into trying to show what a sensitive, new millenium guy I am by advocating allowing girls to play football with boys. I am up to here with the "freak show" stories we read every fall, whenever a team has a girl placekicker. Forget the hundreds of boys in the area playing football. Nobody gets to read about them. They're just grunts who have worked their tails off all winter, spring and summer so we can read about little Barbie Ponytail realizing her dreams. You say girls have a "right" to play football? Hey - don't they also have a "right" to play girls' basketball and volleyball? So how come at large high schools dozens of girls will try out for a team, but only a handful will be kept? What about all the ones who were cut? What about their rights? Why doesn't the school provide another team for them? I am, by the way, all for providing football - flag or tackle - for girls. If they really want to play. They should be out right now, drumming up support among their friends and among the community. I would be glad to help them. *********** So they finally make a movie that both you and the kids can enjoy, and what do the critics do? They hammer it. Well, screw them. "Remember the Titans," based to some extent on the true story of an Alexandria, Virginia high school where blacks and whites experience playing together on an integrated football team, is a giant box-office hit. Reports Scott Barnes, of Rockwall, Texas, "I thought it was great - and you could bring your grandkids - not ONE word of profanity. Best scene - After watching a day of protesting the integration of their school, the "new" head coach walks onto the field, turns on the lights and describes the place as "his sanctuary" from all the other stuff going on in the world. Very Nice. Had to be done by a Coach. Take the time." What do critics know? People like it. *********** When Mike Pettine retired at the end of last season as head coach at Central Bucks West, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, few people predicted disaster. Coach Pettine built a powerhouse there, and he left things in good shape. CB West has won the last three state Class AAAA championships, and last went down to defeat on November 9, 1996. So far this season, CB West is 7-0, and after defeating crosstown rival Central Bucks East last Friday night, has run its winning streak to 52. CB West can tie the state record by defeating Harry S. Truman of Levittown (2-5) tonight. Should they win, they will tie the current state recordholder - Central Bucks West. *********** Does it bother you whenever a person we elected to lead wets his finger and holds it up to the wind? Did you really believe the polls that supposedly said "the American people" just didn't want Bill Clinton impeached? Who were those pollsters asking, anyhow? Why didn't we ever know anybody who'd been polled? Where did they find those people? What, exactly, did they ask them? And when? (I don't know about you, but I don't answer the phone at dinnertime.) For those who hate our present government-by-poll, a new web site proposes fighting back. Other than the fact that I'm not comfortable with lying (unless you include practical jokes), www.lietothepolls.com has some pretty good ideas: "When they ask you whether you'll vote for Gore or Bush, tell them you're voting for Nader, or Buchanan, or Hagelin, or Ventura, or your Mom.. Tell them you haven't heard of any of them but you'd like to know where they stand on suburban llama farming... Tell them that whoever will swallow a live goldfish on national television has your vote... Tell them you're undecided because you haven't had a chance to sleep with any of them to know what kind of men they really are... Tell them you registered under two names so that you can vote for both of them.... Tell them anything but the truth... Opinion polls are helping politicians lie to us. It's time for us to lie back." *********** A youth coach back East writes that now that he's won a few games - depite all the naysayers in his organization - a rival team has begun running a Double-Wing play or two. At least, he thinks so. Says one of them may be 88 Super-Power because it looks a little like it, but they are not having a lot of success. Well, duh. There are not many things uglier than watching somebody trying to run the Double-Wing (or quite a few other offenses for that matter) without knowing what they're doing, because there are so many little details that can bite them in the butt, and they don't know what they are. The only bad thing that I can see (at least from the standpoint of my marketing efforts) is that their failure will serve as further "proof" to some bystanders that the Double-Wing won't work. But from his standpoint, so what? That leaves him without competition. It still takes good coaching. And a set of stones. *********** The greatest thing about what I am doing (I still haven't come up with a name for it, should people ask) is the people I get to meet. I can't imagine a better group of people to do business with than football coaches. One of the guys I've "run into" over the Net is a Boston businessman named Lou Orlando, who's a youth coach in his town of Sudbury, Massachusetts. Lou also happens to be a fellow Yalie, who played on the line for Coach Carm Cozza in the late '70s. I mentioned to Lou that I would be going to Las Vegas this weekend for a reunion of the Yale football team of 1960, a truly great team. (I was a year out of school when they had their undefeated season, but they have graciously invited members from my class.) As a sort of tribute to them, I put together a "web site within a web site," (Yale Football '60) and directed Lou to it, and this was his reaction: "That's awesome...seeing Harry Jacunski in the picture of the Coaching staff brought back a FLOOD of memories..he was our Freshman Coach and was patient enough to treat us as one of his "family", given all the ups and downs that freshmen, particularly those in the Ivies, go through in that first year. It may sound kind of corny, but all season long he would call us "Bullpups". Then, during Princeton week, everyday leading up to our game against them he played a tape of Yale fight songs, before and after practice. You had to see the tape player..it was one of those big, reel to reel jobs like in the spy movies when they're interrogating the guy. Well, after out last practice, Harry, this big, hulking guy, comes into the locker room, turns off the machine and launched into a speech that would make Knute Rockne proud. At the end, he tells us," When you came here, all you were were a group of individuals, a bunch of Bullpups...Now, when you get on that field on Friday you will no longer be a bunch of Bullpups... You will be a team of.... FULL-FLEDGED, SNARLING BULLDOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Coach, we were ready to rip the doors off the locker room and play right then and there.. we killed 'em on Friday and then blasted Harvard the next week in a torrential down pour..in that game one of the asst. coaches, Vito DeVito yelled at one of our ball boys "Hey Smitty..what are you doing? The towel you're using is soaked!! you wipe off a wet ball with a wet towel, it just gets wetter!!".. Those of us lucky enough to be standing there close enough to hear it almost peed in our pants we were laughing so hard.. Needless to say, that line has been carried forward, even 20 years after it was said. Have a great trip!" (Harry Jacunski is still living. He is a truly great man. He played on the line at Fordham with Vince Lombardi, as one of the famed "Seven Blocks of Granite," played after that for the Packers from 1939 to 1944 with time out for service, and coached at Yale for years, first as varsity end coach and then, after a turnover in the varsity staff, as freshman coach. A gentle giant, he never raised his voice, but he had a presence - you either have it or you don't - that allowed him to be close to his players yet command their utter respect. His twin sons, Bob and Dick, were on that 1960 team, and I hope they will be able to attend. Assuming most of the guys at the reunion still have our memories intact, I can only imagine some of the stories that will come out it.) *********** You've got to try this: Call National Discount Brokers (1-800-888-3999 - it's toll-free)... Listen to all the menu options... After hearing #7, hit 7 (Thanks to Scott Russell, Sterling, Virginia) *********** I dunno. Maybe we should repeal the 19th Amendment before it's too late. That's the one that gave women the vote. It also gave us Bill Clinton. Thursday, I'm listening to the radio, and on comes a clip of dialogue from "The View." It's a show you've probably never seen unless you're a female with nothing better to do with your life than sit on your butt and watch four witches named Barbara Walters, Lisa Ling, Meredith Viera and Joy Behar sit around and make girl talk. What scum. (Excuse me if I spelled any of those names wrong, "ladies.") Evidently, girl talk these days consists of a lot of snickering - at the size of Al Gore's, uh, member. Actually, "package" was the term this Behar witch used, as she proceeded to show the group the cover of a certain magazine (why should I publicize it?) on which Mr. Gore appears to be, shall we say, in a state of obvious arousal. (Probably thinking about the next lie he's going to tell.) "When the rest of the country sees this, his polls are going to go way up," she predicted, which shows how much respect she has for the intelligence of her fellow American females. I hope she's wrong. But what a bunch of hypocritical tarts on that show! If four men were to sit around and make jokes about Hillary's body parts, they'd be yanked off the air. And what mindless twits their audience must be as they rock with laughter! They've got to be the same ones who elected - and provided cover for - the White House rapist. |
*********** To further prove my point about Massachusetts, I got an e-mail from Jeff Gordon, a youth football coach in Western Massachusetts, who is also a state trooper. He sent along an article that indicates that living in the Bay State might sometimes be a little tough on those people who still manage to cling to their sanity. Last November 20, a 22-year-old Dorchester, Massachusetts transsexual (funny - I managed to grow well into middle age before I ever even used the word) named Charles Horton, dressed as a woman, lured a 12-year-old boy into his car. He drove the youngster to a deserted parking lot, where he held a screwdriver to his neck and demanded oral sex. Somehow, Boston police managed to arrive on the scene and interrupt the attack, during which Horton admitted shoving the screwdriver and his fingers into the kid's mouth. It took Judge Maria Lopez a while to get around to sentencing Horton, because she wanted to wait until media outrage over the attack subsided, but last week, she sentenced him. SHE TURNED HIM LOOSE! Charles Horton, who admitted committing the despicable crime he was accused of, is now a FREE MAN! Judge Lopez, angrily scolding the prosecutor for having the effrontery to ask for a prison term of eight to 10 years for what she called Horton's "low-level'' offense, slapped a year of home detention on Horton, but gave him permission to attend college classes and "transgender counseling." But she wasn't done. She threw the book at him - five years probation! The dreaded probation, so feared by offenders everywhere. (I can hear Horton now, screaming out in the courtroom, "NO! NO! NOT PROBATION!") As is so often the case, there is a feel-good liberal behind the judge's decision. Seems a social worker evaluated Horton while in jail and found that he was "not a threat to society." How much you wanna bet he looked at that social worker with big, teary eyes, and convinced her (why do I think it was a female?) that he had "accepted responsibility for the crime" (Yeah. I can hear him now - "I made some bad choices... I screwed up... I made a mistake"). Not only that, but he has been undergoing counseling - and we know how effective that can be - and, while he was in solitary (placed there for his own protection), he claims to have had a "transforming experience." Several Massachusetts legislators, just to prove that not everybody in the Bay State is nuts, are now attempting to have Judge Lopez removed. She insists that there are mitigating details the public isn't aware of. "The defendant," she said, "was given a fair sentence.'' Now what was it you wanted to ask the Governor of Texas about the death penalty? *********** Huh? A North Carolina high school football coach was fired after being accused of telling one of his players to "put a gun to your mouth and pull the trigger" during halftime of a game back in September. He continues to teach at the school. *********** L.A. Times columnist T. J. Simers noting that Bears' QB Cade McNown had made off with "Brande," one of Hugh Hefner's constant-companion triplets, said that he, himself, is not that sort of guy. "I know this, " Simers wrote. "No matter how much the twins Sandy and Mandy come on to me, I'm not going to offer to take them places they've never been before, because NFL and major league baseball rules strictly prohibit outsiders in the press box." *********** "Coach Wyatt, Sometimes it is hard to find success stories when you are only 3-4, but when you have lost a couple of tough ones, sometimes you need a week like we just had to put everything in perspective. We lost a tough game a week ago to our arch rival after we took an 18-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game. We got some kids banged up and were not sure what we were going to do this next week. Our JV's had been very successful with a 5-1 record so far, but we needed to bring some of their talent up to help us out. Well, we brought up their QB, A-Back, C-Back and a starting guard to the varsity. The revamped JV's proceeded to go out on Thursday night and beat Leesburg 60-0 and played just great. Then on Friday we were to play Crescent City, which was 6-0 and rated #1 in Class 1A. We started the freshman QB, and the C-Back started on defense for us. The other two guys played throughout the game, but we went to Crescent City and pulled off the big upset. We won 30-24 and had the following drives: Drive #1 - Took 11 plays, 68 yards and 5:41 off the clock. Drive #2 went 93 yards in 16 plays and took 8:29 off the clock. Drive #3 went 70 yards in 14 plays while eating up 7:48 of clock. Drive #4 went 51 yards in 15 plays and took 7:04 off the clock. The last drive we were milking the clock and scored with 1:29 left in the game. This gave us a 30-18 lead, and then they scored on the last play of the game to make it 30-24. Our freshman QB played a mistake-free game, and throughout the game there were times we had as many as three freshmen in our blackfield at the same time. We have a freshman fullback who has been up with us all year, 5'10", 255 lbs, and he is a load. He had 126 yards (with a 50 yard TD last week) and he got 87 yards this week. This whole week showed that if you plug good athletes into this offense and don't make mistakes, you can always be competitive. Of course, we all knew this, but I think it opened some eyes around this area. Just some more ringing indorsements for all double-wingers." Ron Timson, Umatilla, Florida *********** If people insist on "gender equity"... if, as modern educators are fond of saying, "all sports have equal value" and therefore football's just another sport, then it's becoming apparent that somebody's going to have to reach into their pockets to pay for those beliefs. The most recent evidence of the high cost of providing "equity" comes from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletics Association (PIAA), which after losing more than $762,000 last year, is forecasting a deficit of $370,000 for this year. The PIAA, which oversees - and subsidizes - costly post-season tournaments in any number of "minor" (read non-revenue) sports, had a $1 million balance in its bank account just a year ago; it is now below $400,000. They can only milk football and basketball so much. |
A joyful reunion with
La Center players, fresh off the biggest
win of their season. Many of them were
just freshmen when I last coached
them. An equally joyful
reunion with victorious La Center coach
John Lambert - a former student, former
player, former assistant, and one of the
top young coaches in our area *********** I was on hand last Friday night when
one of my old schools, La Center, beat another one
of my old schools, Ridgefield, for the first time
since 1993, and only the second time since the two
schools - just 10 miles apart - have been playing.
I taught and coached at Ridgefield, as offensive
coordinator for head coach Art "Ozzie" Osmundson,
whom I love dearly; after Ridgefield, I was head
coach at La Center, where one of my assistants was
John Lambert. John had been a student in my history
class at Hudson's Bay High in Vancouver,
Washington, and played ball for me there. He was a
good football player and an outstanding student. He
went on to play four years at Western Washington,
and after a couple of years in business decided to
become a teacher and coach. I was fortunate at
LaCenter to have a principal who realized that
football coaches are not automatically bad teachers
and he hired John. John was a great assistant to
me, as I knew he would be, and when I left La
Center after the 1998 season, I told the principal
that I thought he was ready to take over - that he
had a great ability to work with kids, and that his
great capacity and eagerness to learn would take
care of anything he didn't already know. As a head
coach, John has been able to build a staff of
people who had worked for me at La Center, a few
former La Center players as volunteer assistants,
and a few of my former Hudson's Bay players as paid
assistants. They form a very strong staff, unusual
these days at a small school, and last year they
followed up the school's first-ever winning season
in 1998 with its first-ever repeat winning season.
This year, they are doing a marvelous job with a
very young team, and on Friday night they ruined
Ridgefield's homecoming (!) with a 13-0 shutout.
Their kids were well prepared, and they played
hard. One of their scores came when their senior
quarterback, Brett Yaw, blocked a punt and recoverd
it in the end zone. The Wildcats are now 3-3, and
with three games remaining to play, have a decent
shot at a 6-3 season - best in school's history -
and the school's first post-season playoff
berth. *********** There was one aspect of the presidential "debate" last night that I found especially humorous: the point at which Big Bad Al walked right over to Governor Bush, seemingly trying to flex his lats in intimidation, and Governor Bush just turned, looked at him curiously, nodded coolly and resumed talking. It reminded me of a commercial years ago - I think it was for a credit card - in which a bunch of hostile "Redskins" (in Washington football gear) walk into a saloon and surround a cowboy, dressed in a western hat and a duster, who turns out to be Dallas Coach Tom Landry. (Get it? Cowboys and Indians?) Coach Landry, cool as a cucumber and oblivious to the danger he is in, looks up, tips his hat, and says, "Howdy." *********** "Thank you for remembering October 17th in your news. About 150 of us went into the jungle that day, 58 died including two still MIA, about 80 of us were wounded, and only 12 men made it through the day unscathed-at least in body. No doubt about it, football is more fun." Tom Hinger (Tom Hinger was an Army medic with the famed Black Lions; Don Holleder died in his arms.) *********** From another Black Lion who survived the battle of Ong Thanh, General Jim Shelton, came this note: "Another interesting happening is that David Maraniss, the author of WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED, bio of Vince Lombardi, is writing a book about the Black Lions and the Battle in Vietnam, counterpointed against a riot that took place at the same time at the U of Wisconsin-Madison. It will be called "Battle Cries of October" or something like that. I spent 8 hours on tape with David, who has become almost a member of the family. A superb writer and a good guy. Three of the chapters in his Lombardi book are about West Point. I think Lombardi helped recruit Don Holleder from Aquinas Institute in Rochester, NY. Lombardi was Jesuit trained as was Don. David tells me it will take three years to write the book. I hope I live that long. Thanks for remembering. You are a special friend to us. Sincerely, Jim" (Jim Shelton, a football player himself at Delaware, is a retired General who shared with me his reminiscences about facing Don Holleder on a football field, as well as serving with him in the Army in Viet Nam.) *********** Coach Wyatt, Just a note to let you know how our season is going. North Douglas High School (in Drain, OR) is now 6-0 and has outscored opponents 235-18. Three times the games have ended due to Oregon's 45 point rule, with our J.V.'s running in the final touchdown in each contest. This is my third year here as the Head Coach and running the Double-Wing offense has turned around this program. After the school went 1-17 in '96 and '97, we had back-to-back 5-4 seasons before this year. I have excellent assistant coaches who help run the defense for me this year, which takes the pressure off me to run the offense. We have three games left in the regular season and must win 2 to go to the playoffs for the first time in 28 years. The whole community is behind the team and the excitement is building. It is great to see what all this is doing to the confidence of these fine young men we coach. This is similar to when I was at Oakland, Oregon from 1995-1997 in my first Head Coaching position and we went 21-6 in the regular season with 2 playoff appearances (they hadn't been since 1970!). Oakland, ironically was 1-17 in '93 and '94 before our coaching staff arrived. I am a believer in the Double-Wing and I think many others are starting to agree. I have been blessed to have never had a losing season in six years as a head coach. Although I use the Markham numbering and play calling system, I appreciate your website, it is an inspiration! God bless you. Sincerely, Cal Szueber, Head Football Coach and Athletic Director, North Douglas High School, Drain, Oregon" *********** Judging by the homecoming games his team has had to play this year, Coach Paul Maier, of Mt. Vernon, Indiana, has made great progress in his three years as head coach. He wrote that several years ago, when one of his assistants, John Mitchell, was a senior at Mt. Vernon, the team won seven homecoming games, one of which was their own! "Shows you how much respect we used to get," he wrote. "I think we played in 2 this year. Maybe that is a measure of success." *********** Sunday was another exciting day in the NFL - if you like placekicking. The guys with the single-bar face masks neared perfection in points after touchdown, bringing excited crowds to their feet as they went 56 for 58 on extra points. I haven't heard back from the NFL yet on my proposal that the defenders on extra point tries be given whips and chains, so I have to assume that they're still considering it. Except for St. Louis 45, Atlanta 29 - which will go down in NFL infamy for not having had a single field goal attempted - there was at least one field goal made in every game Sunday. Baltimore, which seems to prefer scoring via field goals exclusively, was held to only one this week. Talk about suspense - in half of the games, there wasn't so much as a single missed field goal. Kickers made 81 per cent of their field goal attempts, providing excitement on the same order as the NBA's 81 per cent overall free throw shooting. Three thrillers were decided by field goals - Green Bay over San Francisco with 54 seconds left, Oakland over Kansas City with 45 seconds left, and Buffalo over San Diego in overtime. In fairness, there was a certain element of suspense to the Oakland victory - kicker Sebastian Janikowski had missed two earlier attempts. *********** I have a lot of friends in Massachusetts, and I find them to be perfectly normal in every respect. But somebody ought to tell them to look around at what's going on in their state. A Massachusetts judge has ruled that an eighth-grade boy can wear whatever he wishes to school, which in his particular case consists of a dress, a padded bra, high heels, etc. Not allowing him to do so, said the judge, would violate his "right to free expression." Now, I've been through the Constitution a few times, and I have some acquaintance with The Federalist papers, in which the proponents of the Consitution tried to sell it to the people by explaining what it really meant, and I'm a sonuvagun if I can find anything in there about cross-dressing. *********** My hat is off to Mike Dubose and Tom Holmoe. Coach Dubose at Alabama and Coach Holmoe of Cal have served sentences in coaches' hell this season. Their teams started out losing. Only someone who's been there (and few of us can even imagine what an Alabama coach on a losing streak goes through) can understand the self-doubt, the questioning, the finger-pointing that can affect a program once it seems to be on the ropes. It takes real leadership to stop a skid, when every letter to the editor and every angry caller to the radio talk shows says the team can't possibly win with the present guy in charge. It has to affect the players. So to Coach Dubose, who has rallied his team to win two in a row, and Coach Holmoe, whose team took UCLA into overtime last Saturday - and won - I say, "you got stones." *********** "Coach Wyatt, I was reading the "News" section and saw your article about Mississippi's three colleges. You forgot about Delta State (Division II) 7-0 on the season and ranked # 7 last week. I went to the game at Southern Arkansas last week. 30-28 win!" Steve Jones, Florence, Mississippi (By the way - Coach Jones' son, Chris is a wide receiver at Delta State!) |
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