May 21, 2015
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SPORTSCENTRAL
SportsCentral airs tonight! Schedule information is just below
Host Sid Edwards returns and joins Steve Johnson. Their scheduled guests include CHS Offensive Coordinator David Dykes and Defensive Coordinator Ken Hilton.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, May 21: 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral… with Sid Edwards and Steve Johnson
WUBR, 910AM (CBS Sports Radio) Baton Rouge
PelicanSportsTV.com
App: search WUBR… from Coach’s
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Saturday, May 23: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, May 25: 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
Paul Mainieri said something interesting last week that got me thinking. He said that LSU would be playing for a championship every weekend for the rest of the year. This statement is clearly true, but as I started to think about it, I realized that each championship as its own obstacles.
The first championships, already in hand, are the SEC Western Division Championship and the SEC Overall Championship. In order to win these two titles, a team has to be consistent. The team had to avoid long slumps, and the Tigers were able to avoid long slumps with a lineup that is strong throughout. Furthermore, you must be able to win games in a variety of ways. High scoring, low scoring, extra innings, and everything in between.
The one thing you do not have to do is beat a top pitcher. Over the course of 30 games, you can win the SEC, but lose when facing the top 2-3 pitchers in the league. LSU beat some of the best pitchers in the league, so I am not saying LSU is weak in this area. Instead, I am simply pointing out that beating a top line pitcher is not a prerequisite for winning a regular season championship.
The next title LSU will try to win is the SEC Baseball Tournament. LSU has had great success in the format under Coach Mainieri for two reasons. The Tiger have managed to stay in the winner's bracket and have been able to produce wonderful pitching performances from pitchers outside the regular weekend rotation. The SEC tournament places great demands on the front end and back end of a pitching staff, and every game is a great challenge. Typically, the front end must pitch great and save the bullpen. Inevitably, the bullpen will have to be used extensively though, just by the nature of the format. As a result, I think this format will be the most challenging for this year's LSU baseball team.
A Regional is a totally different situation. As the number one seed, LSU will be able to save their top tier pitching for the "marble" and "close out" games. So if things go according to plans, a team like LSU may only throw 5-6 pitchers in a regional. If things don't go according to plan, then the whole pitching staff will be called upon. As a result, you really can't afford to blow leads late.
The Super Regional is a different challenge. Both teams are ion the same footing. LSU is going to see the other team's ace and almost every team left at that point has one or two aces. Neither team will need to go beyond their third starter. The Super Regional is by far the best way to determine the stronger of two teams.
Should LSU reach the College World Series, they will be faced with a challenge that is a mix between a Super Regional and the SEC Tournament. A team once again gains a huge advantage by staying in the winner's bracket, but because of the off days, can get by with two starters.
The point is that college baseball's season and off season completely test the depth and versatility of a team's roster. Consequently, when a team wins a title, any title, it is a heck of an accomplishment.
In closing, I am sure we will have plenty of time to discuss the NFL's decision to move back the extra point. My opinion is simple. Do you pay money to attend NFL games or get excited about the start of the season because you can't wait to see kickers decide games on extra points? Or do you get pumped up to see quarterbacks, receivers, offensive coordinators vs defensive coordinators? I prefer the latter. If they would have asked me I would have left good enough alone or would have eliminated the extra point forcing everyone to go for two. But they didn't ask me.
HEY REF
By Dennis Dearie
Veteran Louisiana High School Referee
Even with all that’s going on with rule changes in the NFL, NBA playoffs, seeding for both men’s and women’s World Series and the like all that has to be put on the back burner for something very close and dear to my heart; high school football. We are in the middle of “spring games”. Coaches usually use this time of year to see where his team lacks strength and where, come fall, things should be “ship-shape”.
I did a little under-cover research of my own. Many times during these games we’ll bring a few extra officials to work on the field. We bring extras not only so we’ll be able to get a breather but also to see how these younger, new guys will work in live action. To be sure my “cover” wouldn’t be blown I went and worked a game out of my so-called jurisdiction with guys I’d never met before.
Part of our pre-game ritual is to introduce yourself and give a brief history of the games and years you’ve called football games. Not wanting to give myself away when asked I simply told everyone that I only had a couple years under my belt. So with that story in tow our designated white-hat told both coaches I was “a trainee”. I’ve been called worse so I went along with being designated as someone just above of rookie status.
I stayed with the chain crew for most of the first set since they were very light in the fact two comes after one; three comes after two and so on. During the season most chain crews at least grab the concept of 1, 2, 3 and then four. Both teams ran 15 plays with their first string’s offensive units and it was time for me to try my hand at varsity action.
The first few plays were nothing to celebrate as just getting the linemen to be “considered” on the line of scrimmage was an accomplishment. Just a few plays into my set came upon me a very simple run off tackle. The running back bounced backwards after his initial charge into the line. As he was knocked back two defensive players tried to bring him down with “arm” tackles. Before they could wrap around his legs one grabbed the facemask but let it go then they made a small pile just a yard or so behind the line.
I dropped my flag and after all the chaos ended I told my referee I had a 5 yard penalty. I told him the player wore either 55 or 58 and pointed to the guys getting up off the ground. As I told the coach it wasn’t a grab and pull but a quick, unintentional grab of the facemask he came unglued saying his guy didn’t mean to grab it. I stopped to think for a second and thought “Well, O. K. the coach agrees with me” so there shouldn’t be a problem.
But I thought wrong because he wanted me to give him the number of the player that I’d flagged. I explained it happened very quickly and his player had let go so fast that I couldn’t pin the flag on either player. Since we were looking at just three guys on the ground (the runner being one) I felt he could pick out either one. The coach, in playoff form, yells “When you learn what you’re doing you’ll understand that you’ve got to give me a number”.
Oh, how wrong you are, coaching man! Being a trainee I just told him that I’m trying to see the foul first and if I can get a number that’s even better. Things seemed to calm down for the most part UNTIL…
As a “wing” official (working a sideline) I’ve got to be sure players are in one of two areas; on the line or off the line. Seasoned officials will “help” the wide-outs lineup properly so that we don’t walk back and forth 5 yards at a time.
It was during this time as the second unit had started running plays that I instructed receivers to look at me and I’d let them know where they are. I’d had trouble with one kid from the get go as he didn’t know where he was supposed to be other than inside the white lines. I kept “helping” him and he’d done a good job for the most part. After five consecutive plays of not being where he was to be and though I was yelling for him to get properly lined up he ran downfield for a pass.
Things would’ve been O. K. but he’d lined up wrong and continued to disregard my wishes for him to line up correctly. I dropped my flag and after consulting with my ref, we had to penalize for not being lined up as he was to be. Here comes coach wanting to know what the trainee had called on his 9th grade veteran. I explained his tight end had been covered by the wide-out making him illegal to go downfield IF a pass is thrown.
After 10 seconds of thought I was hit with a “We don’t even have a tight end on that play. Even a trainee should know that”. I just laughed because I knew what he was doing. When we took our 15 minute break I went over to the coach and requested 30 seconds of his precious time. I asked how long he’d been coaching and he answered 30 years. So, we had a little something in common as I explained what his kid did wrong.
I had to confess to the coach that his “trainee” also had been working football games for nearly 30 years. He was stunned as I explained, “you’ve got to do better if you’d thought you’d shaken me”. He grinned and we just left it at that. Although we’d both been doing our “thing” for 30 plus years I told him that a real trainee shouldn’t be treated like that.
What I was hoping he’d gotten out of our conversation was he’s got to work with young trainees to keep good people in the job. If I’d had thin skin more than not, I’d been frightened away and not looked back. The coaching profession needs to instill this philosophy in its members or the quality of game officials they’ll employ will continue to decline.
Till next week…
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