August 13, 2015
LSU, SAINTS AND MORE
ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, our EBay store, sells media guides and programs. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store.
SPORTSCENTRAL
SportsCentral airs tonight! See program information just below.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, August 13: 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral… with Sid Edwards and Steve Johnson
Radio Amour 91.9… from Coach’s
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Saturday, August 15: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, August 17: 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
LSU has been practicing football for a week and we all can't stand the wait to find out if the Tigers are back or doomed to the second tier of the SEC. To make matters worse, two minutes of warm up practice footage is not enough to figure it out.
Is LSU going to be able to throw the ball like it is 2015 or 1915? Is the front seven better and even if they are is there enough depth to make it through the year? These are the two big questions, right?
Let's start with what we are pretty sure we know without needing to see practice before we hit the two big questions.
The running game will most likely be dominant. Changing the center position and losing La'Ell Collins is not ideal, but experience and talent abounds. Besides the talent at running back, LSU's commitment to the run game will assuredly make LSU a powerful running team.
We are also very sure LSU will be great in the secondary. There is talent, depth, and experience at three of the four positions. While one starting corner spot is inexperienced, LSU is so deep at safety the Tigers could move Jalen Mills to corner should Paris, Toliver, and Jackson struggle.
Anyone that is concerned about those two aspects of the team is probably also worried about which direction the Sun will rise tomorrow morning.
So that leaves the passing game and the front seven. Let's start with the passing game. LSU cannot be worse than last year. 49% passing and under a hundred yards a game multiple times is rock bottom. The Tigers only options last year were a true sophomore and a true freshman at quarterback with two sophomores and two freshmen as his primary targets. It is safe to say they all have improved.
The good news is they all don't need to improve for LSU to throw the ball better. Only one of the two quarterbacks needs to be better. Only three of the six potential receivers need to be better since LSU rarely uses more than three receivers in a formation, and are just as likely to use just one or two receivers. The running backs and tight ends can catch, and those easy passes will help young quarterbacks if incorporated.
As for the front seven, I don't think the news is as good there. Let's again start with the good news. The starting defensive tackles are returning and have shown ability. The starting middle linebacker, Beckwith, is an All-American candidate. The rest of the positions will need a lot more to go right for success.
Similar to the quarterbacks and receivers last year, it is hard to see everything working out without a hitch. LSU will have four new starters at outside linebacker and defensive end, and most likely freshmen backups at defensive end. There is a distinct lack of depth at linebacker. While I fully expect there to be some pleasant surprises, it would be a bit much to expect all those new faces to play great football immediately.
Where does that leave us? Hopefully, the secondary makes up for a bit of a weakness in the front seven. Let's all hope for no injuries to key leaders in the front seven. Overall, though, the odds say this area will be a hindrance to the Tigers success at some point in the season. On offense, we should expect a much better product with the potential to be pleasantly surprised by a breakout year.
At least those are the best guesses I have from two minutes of warm up video and logic.
HEY REF
By Dennis Dearie
Veteran Louisiana High School Referee
Everyone knows I don’t like “tooting” my own horn so I won’t. Instead I’ll let Federal Judge Richard M. Berman do the honors as he’s aligned himself with Hey Ref’s take on the evidence that the NFL has (and what it can prove in a courtroom) to justify the four game suspension of quarterback Tom Brady in the “I don’t care what you call it” Deflategate.
As we are all very much aware NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell refused to excuse himself from hearing Brady’s appeal that mandates he (Brady) serve a four game suspension beginning the 2015 season. And of course to no one’s surprise the commish is holding steadfast in denying Brady’s request to have the suspension lifted. This past week Judge Berman asked NFL lawyers “What is the DIRECT evidence that implicates Mr. Brady”? The league’s lawyer Daniel Nash told the judge there was “considerable evidence Mr. Brady clearly knew about this”.
Then in an about-face he testified there is “no smoking gun” showing Brady had any direct knowledge that the balls were in fact deflated. Again, you can suspect, have common sense tell you one thing rather than another but in a court of law it is what you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that wins the day. Common sense tells anybody with a hint of football sense that a guy who’s made zillions of dollars handing off and throwing footballs along with wining multiple Super Bowls that he’d be able to tell in an instant the balls are feeling normal. Common sense also tells me the evidence had to have been on Brady’s phone. The very same phone that little Tommy destroyed so that positive proof of his guilt couldn’t be used.
But again, it is what can be proven in court that’ll either chalk up another win for Brady or will be a slam-dunk for Goodell and his NFL lawyers. This little “Peyton Place” saga needs to come to a swift completion. It’s been a little more than two weeks since Judge Berman asked (and hoped) both sides to work out a settlement amongst themselves and to keep this sad episode out of the courts. I’m so happy to finally know of a judge that doesn’t like TV cameras and the paparazzi hanging around his courtroom.
Maybe what we’re all overlooking perhaps is Goodell is “trying” to earn a few of those $44.5 million dollars he’s paid annually. That’s the real story I think we’re all not taking a look at. The NFL has been classified as a NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION and pays no income taxes on the slightly more than $8 BILLION in annual revenue and claims to be a “NON-PROFIT” entity.
Everyone involved in the game of professional football pays taxes on the monies they earn but the league pays a whopping ZERO dollars on the estimated $8 BILLION DOLLARS they generate. When I read about how the league takes advantage of that little loophole I almost pooped my pants.
People working hard to feed their families on $8.00 an hour pay taxes. And people who have a combined income of less than $20.00 per hour and can’t afford to have medical insurance pay taxes. There are plenty of American families that have at least one parent working two jobs to keep a roof over the heads of their children pay taxes. The guy hustling shopping baskets in 100 degree heat pays taxes. The lady changing bed lines at Motel Six pays taxes.
The hundreds of thousands of men and women serving those NFL owners dinner that earn a massive $2.50 an hour then have to make it on the generosity of those that can afford to eat at those restaurants pay taxes. All the stadium workers that have to clean up billion dollar stadiums pay taxes.
States like Louisiana are being blackmailed by owners and NFL execs of this $8 billion dollar industry to subsidies their industry have to collect taxes from all its workers. Team owners continue to demand billion dollar stadiums and if a city doesn’t approve them quickly enough or hesitates even the slightest begin the search for a new city and/or state to relocate their franchise.
I hear all the time the president and many members of Congress say they won’t negotiate with terrorists because it’ll make kidnapping very lucrative and will increase the likelihood of even more kidnappings and the paying of ransoms. I think it’s past time for the IRS to yank the NFL’s tax-free status and the releasing of all the cities being held hostage by this group of Wall Street Terrorists.
Till next week…
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS AND THE DRU NETTLES SHOW ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION. STILL IN ITS FORMATIVE STAGES, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT MEDIA GUIDES, IS OUR FLEDGLING EBAY STORE.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES
AND AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE/ CONSULTANT FOR SPORTSCENTRAL ON RADIO AMOUR, 91.9.