August 28, 2014
THE DRU NETTLES SHOW
Denham Springs mayoral candidate Gerard Landry is a featured guest tonight on The Dru Nettles Show. Landry will appear as the Sponsor of The Week.
Airing Thursdays, 6pm—7pm, on Cox 4 Television, Baton Rouge… with replays Friday, 11am—Noon and Saturday, 12:30pm—1:30pm, The Dru Nettles Show is co-hosted by Denham Springs HS athletic director/head football coach Dru Nettles and long-time Jackets play-by-play announcer/producer Jon Fine.
In addition to Gerard Landry, tonight’s The Dru Nettles Show will include Denham Springs HS senior offensive lineman Taylor White, an academic segment with student/athlete senior Zach Boothe, DSHS 9th grade coach Chris Blanchard and DSHS Chaplain Brother Bob Ingalls. Coach Nettles will also be interviewed by Jon Fine during one segment.
SPORTSCENTRAL
Join Hosts Sid Edwards and Steve Johnson on SportsCentral, tonight, 5pm—6pm, on WUBR, 910AM (CBS Sports Radio) Baton Rouge… on the net at PelicanSportsTV.com… and the Tune In App: search WUBR… from Coach’s. Tonight’s guests include CHS Varsity Coaches Brandon Lagroue and Zack Morris and Sports Medicine’s Bryan Hutson.
DSHS HALL OF FAME
Tonight’s induction ceremony for the DSHS Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2014 will take place at Forrest Grove Plantation in Denham Springs. The reception starts at 6:30pm. A limited number of tickets remain and can be purchased at the door.
8 DAYS AWAY!
Denham Springs HS Football opens up its season on Friday, September 5, as the Jackets host Woodlawn HS. You can catch all of the action on Fox Sports Radio, 1210AM, Baton Rouge and on the net at JonFineProductions.com. Tune in at 6 o’clock for Sport-N-Center Jackets Warm-up with Josh Ward and Brian Abels. Jon Fine and Brian Abels bring you all the play-by-play action, beginning at 7pm. At half-time, it’s the Gerard Landry-Landry’s Market Half-Time Report. After the game, it’s the Jack Fridge-Livingston Waste Post-Game Show.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, August 28: 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral… with Sid Edwards and Steve Johnson
WUBR, 910AM (CBS Sports Radio) Baton Rouge
PelicanSportsTV.com
App: search WUBR… from Coach’s
Thursday, August 28: 6pm—7pm: The Dru Nettles Show… with Dru Nettles and Jon Fine
Cox 4 Television
Baton Rouge… replays Friday, August 15 at 11am (note new Friday replay time) and Saturday, August 16 at 12:30pm.
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Friday, August 29: Sulphur HS Football Jamboree
Saturday, August 30: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, September 1: 8AM—10AM: The Locker Room with John Goodman and Jim Gazzolo
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 and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Here we go! Game week for the Tigers and one more week for the Saints. Time to make predictions.
For the Saints, it is all about finding the right 53. Admittedly, it is pretty hard to predict without seeing practice and one game left.
At quarterback, the Saints only want to carry 2 quarterbacks. If Griffin is even close to McCown, which he is, I expect the Saints to keep Griffin and release or trade McCown. Every reporter is predicting the Saints keep three quarterbacks, but I have a hunch.
The five running backs are set. The Saints might get creative at fullback to try and keep Eric Lorig. Also, Pierre Thomas won't get as many opportunities due to his age, but he is still the best running back on the team. He is rarely taken down by the first tackler and also doesn't run into the backs of blockers.
Offensive line and tight end is set, except for the last spot on the offensive line. Only a coach who has watched every day can make that call. Marcel Jones is my guess.
Wide receiver is the biggest question mark on offense. The Saints only kept five last year, but I don't see anyway they can do that this year. Stills has been hurt, Cooks is a rookie, and Morgan is coming off an injury. I think those three and Colston are locks. Most people are counting Toon out cause he hasn't made catches in the preseason, but he also hasn't been targeted. I think he makes the team cause of his size and blocking ability. Robert Meachem is the 6th guy. I think he sticks around only if the Saints think Brandon Coleman makes it to the practice squad. Otherwise, I could see the Saints pulling a shocker and keeping Coleman while releasing Meachem.
I believe the toughest calls are on defense. The defensive line has some great prospects for the practice squad. We know Hicks, Jordan, Bunkley, and Jenkins. There is no reason to keep more than 6 since the Saints play with 3 down lineman. Walker and Foster have been productive when healthy, especially as pass rushers which is why I think those two make the team.
Linebackers is an area where the Saints need to keep a large number of backups since linebackers make up most of the special teams. It is a shame Victor Butler has never made it to the field. He was suppose to be a pass rush specialist which is why I think Ronald Powell makes the team. Galette, Hawthorne, Lofton, Harrelson, Humber, Knox, Reddick, and Dawson should also make it. If the Saints keep 10, it will be Fortt. But, I think the Saints pull a "Nick Toon" and put him on IR as a redshirt year.
The biggest surprise in my 53 is that I think the Saints will keep 11 defensive backs. The reason is the number of players needed for special teams, injuries, and keep up with passing teams. In addition, there are a few safeties on the roster that can play almost like a linebacker in late game situations. Pay attention to the end of games and notice how many receptions are made on linebackers that have no chance of keeping up with receivers running across the field. I would love to see the Saints pull all linebackers off the field in those situations and play just with down lineman and DBs. The corners are Lewis, Robinson, Bailey, White, and Wade. The safeties are Byrd, Vaccarro, Bush, Sunseri, Ball, and Warren.
Snapper and punter are easy, but kicker is a tougher call. Before camp I said I thought the Saints would want to have the younger kicker win the job. I thought that because of the potential a young kicker brings and the chance for stability so the Saints aren't in this same position next year. Since Dimke has done almost everything right, I think he wins the job.
Honestly, picking the final 53 is pretty easy. At worst, I would be 5 or so players off. Predicting what transpires in Houston and over the course of the season with LSU is more difficult. No preseason games or open practices makes means all we have to predict is reputation. Furthermore, I don't trust what Coach Miles has said for one second.
Miles said this that LSU will play both quarterbacks. Many don't like the two quarterback system, but LSU's situation seems to make the most sense for playing both. Neither quarterback has much experience, and I doubt either has completely out performed the other. Meanwhile, their skill sets are similar enough to where the offense will not change based off who is in the game. Think back to Flynn and Perilloux, which I would classify as a success. Both quarterbacks were capable of running the same plays (though Perrilloux ran a very limited part of the offense).
I expect the qb who starts the series to finish the series. The benefit for Cam Cameron is that he can call more plays that are strengths for his quarterback. Suppose Jennings has 25 plays he is comfortable running while Harris has 25 he is comfortable running and only 10 of those overlap. It would be hard to call 70 plays in a game for one of those quarterbacks, but much easier when using both.
While, both quarterbacks will play, I expect Jennings to play the majority of the snaps. I would think Harris only gets in the game under the safest of circumstances. If I am wrong, I will open next week admitting I was wrong.
I have mostly gotten out of the business of predicting the final score for Saints and LSU games. It is too hard to avoid being a homer. So instead, I will predict LSU and Wisconsin score in the 20s. I would say one team makes the 30s except for the amount of running I expect. Consequently, I expect a lot of yards gained by both teams and the winning teams is the team who performs the best in the red zone.
Most of all, I am anticipating this opener with great excitement. This LSU team is so young that we are going watching basically the same team for the next two years. That is an exciting statement considering this team has as much talent as we have seen in a couple of years.
HEY REF
I’m BACK! Yes, last week I had to take some personal time away from everything and take care of family. In this day of “fake everything and everybody, it is family that matters above all else. Never forget to take time out of your day, every day and tell those that matter the most to you how you feel. And of course never, ever forget to tell those that matter most you love them for we’re all here for a short time and no one can say when out time is up.
Now onto the big story that’s just some 48 hours away; the beginning of the 2014 high school football season. As always we open up with jamborees to get some of the kinks worked out and allow the new starters a taste of varsity level action.
The big question again this year is can Coach Sid and our Central Wildcats duplicate their run of district titles in 4-5A? Central will have to work extremely hard if they intend on duplicating some huge wins such as their victory over my old high school, West Monroe, in last year’s playoffs. Coach Sid has six consecutive district titles and a seventh won’t come easy.
I look to week 3 when Central travels to Jesuit to tell us if the Wildcats will be a contender not only for the district but a possible run to the state finals in the Super Dome come December. I was lucky to be on the field last year when the Blue Jays traveled to play Central on Hooper Road. The game was tight all the way through and if not for a late fumble the Wildcats might have pulled out a win.
District 4-5A could be confused with SEC in the number of quality teams lining up week after week. If and that’s a big “IF” Central can stay healthy through a very tuff four week middle year grind where they play Scotlandville, Denham Springs, Zachary and Broadmoor then we could see a trip to the Big Easy come cooler temps. If this isn’t the hardest schedule in the state then it has to rank in the top 3.
And I’ll say it again; this year you’re gonna see many yellow flags hit the ground for “TARGETING”. The LHSAA is following the lead of the NFL and the NCAA is clamping down HARD on any player taking cheap shots that are intended to punish an opponent. “TARGETING” is not new, it’s been part of the game since day one. But in the last ten years or so with players getting as monstrous as they are now very serious injuries are happening at an alarming rate.
In their attempts in trying to slow down the unnecessary contact among players which leads to serious injuries the refs are now having to pay closer attention to all hits on and off the field. The rules in high school have always been written for the safety of the players. The Federation of High Schools has placed a bounty on the players that refuse to abide by these rules and how the officials will be calling the games from this day forward.
The refs will be paying much closer attention to anyone “targeting” another player. So before we put the first pad on, sell the first ticket, eat the first hot-dog this is your warning that beginning with tonight’s first kickoff to the final whistle ANY, ANY contact close to being one intended to inflict punishment will be called because most of our off season training has been focused on making sure the players return home after the games in the best possible condition we can make for them.
I’ve always been one of those officials that have never hesitated to throw a fifteen yarder on a player when that somebody played dirty. I can call holding on every play, we all know that, but if it doesn’t occur at the point of attack or affect the play, I let it go. How boring would a game be if we walked back and forth ten yards all night? We’ve been trained to let the kids play and let the kids decide on who wins.
But where many officials far short of the mark is hitting players AND coaches with a flag for going after another player simply for the enjoyment of seeing them hurt and in pain. Some officials are afraid to “hit” a coach because they fear being scratched. I try to tell the crews I work that I’d rather a coach scratch me (refuse to allow me to work another one of his games) than to have a kid in the hospital or worse, in a wheelchair.
I’ve said enough for this week, I’ve been really looking forward to this season and I hope everybody will get out and support football on Friday nights because it’s one of the last true amateur sports being played.
Till next week…
The Rotary Club of Livingston Parish
“Service Above Self”
Please visit our website at www.rotaryclublp.org.
Rotary of Livingston meets this Friday, August 29, Noon, at Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill in Denham Springs
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES, IN ESTABLISHING THE “DOLLAR A HOLLER” MARKETING PROGRAM AND HELPING SELL BARBE HS BASEBALL AND SOUTH LAKE CHARLES PLAYOFF BROADCASTS
AND AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE/ CONSULTANT FOR SPORTSCENTRAL ON WUBR,910AM (CBS SPORTS RADIO), BATON ROUGE.