May 16, 2013
JACKETS BACK ON THE AIR
After a one-year hiatus, Denham Springs HS Football returns to the radio airwaves in 2013. The Jackets games will be heard on Comedy 1210, Baton Rouge and on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com. With Brian Abels on color commentary, it will be yours truly, Jon Fine, on play-by-play. A third person on our broadcasting team will be announced later in the summer
This will mark the 19th of the last 20 years that Jon Fine (Sports) Productions has produced Denham Springs HS Football radio broadcasts. The games have always aired on 1210AM (first Christian Country, then The Score, now Comedy 1210). The one year interruption in Jackets radio broadcasts—2012—was attributable to the station’s commitment to 24-7 coverage of its prior format. With the change to a Comedy format, there was more flexibility to have high school sports broadcast at night.—Thus, Walker/Live Oak Baseball broadcasts, the Denham Springs HS Football broadcasts, and, we anticipate having high school basketball games on Comedy, 1210, as well
A very special thank you to the one principle(pal) Denham Springs abides by-- DSHS Principal Kelly Jones and Athletic Director/Head Football Coach/Television Host Superstar Dru Nettles for allowing us to broadcast Jackets football in 2013
Also, thanks to Clear Channel—Michael Hudson, Mike Frasor, Bruce Collins—for the reinstatement of Jackets football on 1210AM
And to Denham Springs/Livingston Parish businesses, we thank you for your consideration of sponsoring our broadcasts. I’ll be the short, fat one, trying to bamboozle you out of your hard earned loot!
MORE PROGRAMMING
We hope to have an announcement in the next week or 2 about high school football coverage on WPFC, 1550AM, Baton Rouge (and on the Net at JonFineProductions.com)
Also, we look forward to having the second year of The Dru Nettles Show on Cox 4 Television, Baton Rouge. Details to come soon in this newsletter.
THE LAKE AREA
SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles (and KEZMOnLine.com) will air Sulphur HS Football in 2013. Bruce Merchant and Clopha Boudreaux should be on the call. Jon Fine will serve as a marketing representative on these broadcasts
A special thank you for the great support we received from Lake Charles businesses on KEZM’s Barbe Bucs Baseball broadcasts. Congrats to the Bucs for another terrific season.
KANDILAND HAS NEW DIGS
KandiLand on THE CENTRAL STORY(Kandi Jones, with T. J. Johnson, Aaron Moak and Philip Ziegler) will move to Me’ Pa’s Diner—6643 Sullivan Road, next to Chase Bank, starting this Friday. Special thanks to Romero’s Food Mart for allowing us to broadcast over several prior months. And, we look forward to being at Me’ Pa’s on Fridays
Tonight (Thursday, 5/16), Central Private’s state championship Baseball team will be featured on The Steve Johnson Show on THE CENTRAL STORY. As we broadcast from Zoe’s Pizza Buffet, it will be yours truly, Jon Fine, filling in for Steve Johnson. Steve will be calling in with a report from the Central HS spring football game
Monday night, broadcasting live from Zoe’s, it will be Destined to Win on THE CENTRAL STORY with Steve Johnson and Pastor Rocky Bezet, The Rock Church
Tuesday night, Matt Price’s The Central Business Report on THE CENTRAL STORY is slated to include the following guests:
Randy Olson, CEO, Lane Regional Medical Center
Douglas Austin, CEO, Health Care Options, and a representative from Louisiana Furniture Outlet
THE CENTRAL STORY airs Monday—Friday, 5:30pm—6:30pm, on WPFC, 1550AM, Baton Rouge and on the net at JonFineProductions.com.
BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
MONDAY—FRIDAY: 5:30PM—6:30PM THE CENTRAL STORY JonFineProductions.com
WPFC, 1550AM, BR
JonFineProductions.com
Thursday, May 16: The Steve Johnson Show (from Zoe’s Pizza Buffet)
Jon Fine filling in for Steve Johnson
Friday, May 17: KandiLand: Kandi Johnson and Friends --TJ Johnson, Aaron Moak and Philip Ziegler (from Me’ Pa’s Restaurant)
Monday, May 20: Destined To Win (from Zoe’s Pizza Buffet)
Steve Johnson and Pastor Rocky Bezet, Pastor, The Rock Church
Tuesday, May 21: The Central Business Report (from Zoe’s Pizza Buffet) Matt Price
Wednesday, May 22: Looking Forward (from Zoe’s Pizza Buffet)
Brockwell Bone
SportsRadio—1310-KEZM-Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com)
Monday, May 20: 3PM—5PM: Bayou Blitz with Alex Hickey and Miguel Gauthreaux
WE THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR UTMOST TO PATRONIZE SPONSORS OF OUR PROGRAMMING. THIS HELPS US TREMENDOUSLY IN SUSTAINING OUR WEEKLY LINE-UP AND WILL ASSIST US IN ADDING MORE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE. KINDLY MAKE AN EFFORT TO LET SPONSORS KNOW YOU HEARD THEIR BUSINESS MENTIONED ON OUR BROADCAST(S).
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach/Head Swimming Coach at Central High School
I am going to have to talk with Coach Mainieri and ask him to hold off on his big announcements. He keeps announcing line-up changes and pitching order decisions at the beginning of the week, and not once thinking that my article doesn't come out until Thursday. So now I can't get any credit for these ideas, and all there is left for me to do is agree with him.
Of course I am kidding… mostly. Monday's announcement and decision to give Aaron Nola the week off makes too much sense for me to disagree. It allows other pitchers to be tested before post season play, Nola gets a breather before post season play, and it should not hurt LSU's post season positioning.
I don't think there is much more the coaches can do with the pitching staff to get ready for the post season. As long as they don't think they are going against a top pitching prospect, they will pitch Cody Glenn in game one of the regional. Nola and Eades should keep LSU in any game, while the bull pen is set. The last piece of the puzzle is to find a fourth starter (that they hopefully won’t need). McCune can stake his claim on that Friday night. If he doesn’t, then Bonvillain will be the guy.
Like last season, though, the determining factor as to if LSU making a deep run to and in Omaha will be whether the offense can generate a few runs off quality pitching. When LSU played at Mississippi State and Arkansas, they generated just enough runs.
At this point, I think Coach Mainieri is still looking for a good plan B in generating runs. Plan A is the same one that had the offense clicking on a consistent basis earlier in the year. The key was Mark Laird in the top of the order moving runners, getting on base, and stealing bases. Against the top pitchers the bottom of the lineup needs to turn the lineup over to get the heart one extra at bat a game.
It looks like Laird has gotten himself straight and the lineup is on the verge of being as consistent and productive at scoring runs as it was early in the year. But Laird is a freshman, and Coach Mainieri has never been shy about shaking up his lineup. At this point, I still think he would like to have a couple of options in late innings or to start games if he sees a matchup he likes. But as I said before, I don't think he has found it yet.
Pay close attention to the games this weekend, and I bet you will see an idea or two. Whether it involves Tyler Moore or Jared Foster, we will see. But all the lab experiments end this week as the regular season ends. Then it will be time for all of us to find out if this team which has given us the greatest regular season in LSU history will be able to add to LSU’s National Championship total.
HEY REF
The “Who-Dat” nation has lost one of the greatest players in its history with the passing of former running back Chuck Muncie. The cause of death is being reported as a heart attack. He was a very young 60 years of age. Muncie was one of those early “power” backs in the style of Cleveland’s Jim Brown and/or Washington’s “Diesel” John Riggins.
He played his college ball at California then made the trip to the Saints as a No.1 draft pick, the third overall pick in the 1976 NFL Draft. New Orleans would also claim another future great runner from Missouri, Tony Galbreath, with its second first round pick. Together this awesome pair became known, thanks to then head coach Hank Stram, as “Thunder and Lightning”.
Muncie wasn’t a down home good ‘ole boy but a Yankee from Uniontown, Pennsylvania who came up just short (2nd) in the 1975 Heisman Trophy balloting that saw Ohio State’s Archie Griffin take the prize home for a second consecutive time. Many feel as I do that politics played a huge part in awarding Griffin his second trophy and as of today he (Griffin) remains the only player to accomplish that feat. I know I’ll be getting a lot of grief to insinuate that politics has stained the integrity of college sports.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the super-back as he too succumbed to the lure of illegal drugs; cocaine to be specific. He was tried and convicted of cocaine distribution and was sentenced to 18 months in a California Federal Prison. But he got his life back on track and dedicated most of the remainder of his life to community service; giving back to those that didn’t have the basics.
He founded the Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation, offering a safe haven to kids from broken homes and to those devastated by drug and physical abuse. He then went onto establishing a Kids Camp, after school programs to help kids with their studies and getting a proper education. Today’s society would be all over his story but Chuck just wanted to give kids a chance and in his own way to make up for his past wrong doing.
Many of his former Saint’s teammates confessed the big be speckled running back was immature when he landed in the Big Easy. But he soon matured until his fall from grace and drug use destroyed his NFL career which then of course landed him in jail. His story is repeated many times over in our modern society but the pitfalls he fell victim to are magnified a thousand fold by greedy agents and the ease at which more powerful and dangerous drugs have become all too a daily occurrence in every walk of life.
It would seem not only the NCAA but the NFL since they work hand in hand when it comes to turning out million dollar athletes would have stymied the rampant drug use by its member players and coaches. This nation’s war on drugs is a sad joke and our entire way of life is at risk. I’ll leave that subject for another day and time.
I’d like to take a short few lines to address some of the comments coming my way for “coming out” a couple weeks ago. Just as I thought those on the other side of the fence are tolerant as long as you align your views with theirs. I’m not about to apologize for expressing my views as this nation goes down the toilet. Seems the opposition wants me and those like me to be tolerant of their way of life and the way they live it yet can’t accept any opposing view.
Well, you can live your life the way you want, I won’t wish anything bad to happen to you. But please return my right to NOT ACCEPT your views or lifestyles. Please respect my view of living a life with morals just the same as I respect your lack of morals. Just remember how you’re professing certain rights, lifestyles, agendas and fighting for those that want to live that way to be accepted as NORMAL. Keep that locked into your conscious when your son comes home from football practice and he informs you he’s got a date with his coach that night. Wonder how tolerant you’ll be then.
So many missed the mark as the whole idea I was trying to convey was that in this day and time gays are everywhere, in every walk of life and we shouldn’t be putting the spotlight on anyone for their sexual orientation. Accept that fact so we can go on with life. Our children are our most precious resource and worth protecting to the most extreme measures. That’s as far as I’m going, this column is dedicated to sports and attacking its writer serves no one or any purpose. There’s this phrase that keeps ringing in my ears; “Don’t shoot the messenger”.
Till next week… …
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES, IN ESTABLSHING THE “DOLLAR A HOLLER” MARKETING PROGRAM AND HELPING SELL SULPHUR HS FOOTBALL BROADCASTS AND BARBE HS BASEBALL PLAYOFF BROADCASTS.
FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: JONFINEPRODUCTIONS. COM
ALSO, YOU CAN “LIKE” THECENTRALSTORY and/or THEDRUNETTLESSHOW ON FACEBOOK