October 2, 2014
THE DRU NETTLES SHOW
The Dru Nettles Show airs tonight, 6pm—7pm, on Cox 4 Television, Baton Rouge. Replays can be seen Fridays at 11am and Saturdays at 1pm. The show is hosted by Denham Springs HS Athletic Director/Head Football Coach Dru Nettles and yours truly, Jon Fine… This week’s guests on the program include
Yellow Jackets Sotball Coach/Trainer David Bourque, DSHS Defensive Line Coach Jacoby Davis, Senior players Ross Olinde and Darrell Washington and PARDS Superintendent Gary Templeton. The Sponsor of the Week is North Oaks Hospital, represented by Dr. Katy Morris. There will also be highlights of the Jackets victory over Live Oak HS.
For more information on The Dru Nettles Show, please visit The Dru Nettles Show Page on JonFineProductions.com.
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 assistant coach Justin Hutchinson and football players Kris Davis, Logan Prudhomme and Cameron Wesley.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, October 2: 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, October 2: 6pm—7pm: The Dru Nettles Show… with Dru Nettles and Jon Fine
Cox 4 Television
Baton Rouge… note new replay times: Friday, September 26 at 11am and Saturday, September 27 at 1 pm
Friday, October 3: 6pm: Denham Springs HS vs Broadmoor HS
Jon Fine, Brian Abels, Nathan Landry
Fox Sports Radio, 1210AM, Baton Rouge… and on the net at JonFineProductions.com
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Friday, October 3: 6:45pm: Sulphur HS vs Sam Houston HS
Bruce Merchant, Clopha Boudreaux
Saturday, October 4: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, October 6: 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
Much has been made this week over the starting quarterback. My stance is that it does not matter who starts the first drive for LSU since we know what LSU will do on the first drive anyway.
LSU will run, and they probably won't score. If you don't believe me, look at the last 4 games away from home (Ole Miss, Bama, Iowa, Wisconsin). 2 punts, a fumble, and a TD. That TD came against Iowa, and the Tigers ran the ball every play on that drive with a new freshman starting quarterback. So repeating, LSU will run and probably not score.
You don't like that sample? Take the last 6 games (Iowa to NMSU). 4 punts and 2 TDs. The touchdowns are the Iowa drive and the 94 yards TD pass from Jennings to Dural. So for LSU to be productive on the first drive, either LSU will run the ball all the way down the field against Auburn or hit on a long TD pass.
More likely, LSU will start the game with the mindset that they don't want to lose the game in the first quarter. Miles will be pleased with trailing 7-0 or 10-3. The crowd will be crazy and the objective will be to not give anything away and make sure the team is settled. As a result, this is what will happen.
The Tigers will run the safest plays imaginable and hope to maintain field position. And that will last as long as LSU is within a touchdown. I just hope they run from different formations that spread the field from time to time.
For the record, I have to say I feel bad for Anthony Jennings. Don't get me wrong, he had plenty of chances and lost his job. But, it just doesn't seem as though he was given the assistance most young quarterbacks get. Jennings got LSU through a tough opener and showed courage. Against Sam Houston he looked good early when LSU opened with the long TD from his own end zone, and showed some play making ability with a good run when he broke a tackle.
Many think he lost his confidence against State, but I would argue it was the ULM game. Most young quarterbacks would have been given the opportunity to continue to develop by throwing early, using the tight end, and make some easy passes. LSU did the opposite and it appeared at that time he started to regress. Against State he played with no confidence. Throwing many balls without conviction. Then the disaster against New Mexico State. Throughout, the Tigers ran on early downs and failed to utilize confidence building throws.
Hopefully, LSU can find ways to make life easier on Harris because at is point I don't see how LSU can turn back. They should be all in on Harris.
All I can say about the Saints is they look as bad as they did during the Goodell Crusade two years ago. Loomis and Payton were either wrong about all the players they thought were playmakers on defense (Byrd, Vaccarro, Gallette, Jordan, Hicks) or they are doing a poor job of putting them in position to be successful.
The offense lacks explosiveness. This is not a playoff team. That is a tough realization to make after week 4. People will talk about the difference between playing at home and on the road. That is garbage. They didn't look that good at home. In four games, I have yet to see a good football team outside a few segments of the Atlanta game on offense, and I am counting our opponents. The Saints are 1-3 and only the Falcons will make the playoffs only because our division has to have someone win. Maybe Sean Payton will show he is worth 7 million and the difference between two years ago and this year will be him. But then again, I may take Bill Simmons' place at ESPN.
HEY REF
One of my biggest FANS is my mom. Last week she had a question for me and I promised her that this week I’d be certain to have an answer for her. She’d heard an LSU player being described as a “redshirt” freshman and wants to know what it means to be a “redshirt”. I figured my dad would be able to explain the term to her but he wasn’t able to and to keep peace in the family we won’t go there.
Well the official definition goes something like “a redshirt is the delay or suspension of an athlete’s participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility”. The NCAA has set a term of four years for most student athletes. The basis for their decision is that the norm for a student to obtain a bachelor’s degree is usually four years though at times it can be five. But in making their ruling they decided on four years.
So, mom, redshirting athletes isn’t anything secret or new. All schools redshirt players for thousands of reasons. Kids can practice and work out with their respective teams but can’t play. One reason we’re all very familiar with is when a school has enough good players still on their rosters that redshirting and delaying the start of their eligibility is the best solution. Redshirting some of these incoming kids that are on the “bubble” and keeping them off the roster is by far the way to go. If you take away the redshirt option many players would get away and transfer to another school. So mom I found you another reason to use the redshirt option.
I for one am 1,000% behind redshirting all incoming freshmen. No ands, ifs or buts! Each and every incoming freshman should be made to sit out their first year of competition. The demand on an athlete’s body today is so great that giving a young 17 or 18 year old kid an extra year to bulk up in my opinion is the only thing that matters.
Even though high school programs today are light years ahead of where they were when I played (early 70’s) they still fall woefully short of an average collegiate campus. I’m not knocking high school athletics but am “calling ‘em like I see ‘em” and if you don’t agree then you need to spend a few days visiting both programs.
Just a few years ago there was a mini scandal going on in north Louisiana namely West Monroe… There for years they were redshirting 8th grade football players so that when it came time to step up to the University of West Monroe High those kids were a year ahead of anything and anybody in the state. The LHSAA at the time claimed they were powerless because this, holding back 8th graders, wasn’t under their jurisdiction because it was being done on the Jr. High level and they only deal with high schools.
But my support for redshirting isn’t totally based on performance on the football field. No, I believe these young men need a year away from the pressures of producing on a scale none of them are ready for. Life has enough pressures and I support allowing these teenagers a year away from those bright lights to get a solid academic foundation before they open a playbook. Being productive in the classroom seems to be an afterthought and I for one believe we should be doing more to improve the lives of these athletes first and above all. Many if not all of these young kids are leaving home for the first time.
Many will be in strange cities with few or no friends in which to turn for the help they’ll no doubt need. To me our focus needs to be redirected. We should push these so called institutions of higher learning hard and make sure the kids coming to play ball for you can read, write and balance a checkbook upon graduation. One giant step in redirecting the future of STUDENT-ATHLETES is to redshirt them.
Redshirting freshmen athletes will give these kids a year to build a sound academic foundation and body mass before having the pressure of pilling up statistics.
Till next week…
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.