September 17, 2015
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SPORTSCENTRAL
SportsCentral airs tonight! Steve Johnson and Sid Edwards are scheduled to be joined by Central Defensive Coordinator Ken Hilton and players Jeff Campbell, Kyle Kepper and Xavier Lewis. See program information just below.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, September 17: 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral… with Sid Edwards and Steve Johnson
Radio Amour 91.9… from Coach’s
Friday, September 18: 6pm: Denham Springs HS at St. Paul’s HS
Jon Fine, Andy Duckworth
Fox Sports Radio, 1210AM, Baton Rouge
JonFineProductions.com
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Friday, September 18: 6:45pm: Sulphur HS vs Iowa HS
Bruce Merchant, Clopha Boudreaux
KEZM, 1310AM, Lake Charles
KEZMOnLine.com
Saturday, September 19: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, September 21: 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 WIZADRY OF OZ
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High School
I have to admit while the LSU game is being played I am as miserable and frustrated at times as any LSU fan. I grew up in the 90s watching the Saints sit on a lead, only to see the other team come back and win on the last drive. Fortunately, I have time to reflect and gather my thoughts before writing this article.
As I said last week, after 11 years, there were few surprises in how LSU approached the game at Mississippi State. LSU went with their trusted veterans on offense, and played not to lose once they had the lead. Thankfully, LSU did not lose.
The good news is I am more convinced than ever that Brandon Harris is the real deal. The ball looked great coming out his hand. He was decisive and made good decisions on the road.
The bad news is that I think LSU has a weakness at guard. Three different players struggled over the course of the game at that position. All three were seeing their first extended action in a college game, so hopefully they will improve quickly.
As for the defense, I choose to give Dak Prescott most of the credit for Mississippi State’s comeback. I thought he looked tremendous in the pocket. He was extremely accurate against some pretty good coverage. He made the right decision going back to State.
So where does this leave LSU heading into the Auburn game? Jeremy Johnson has not looked good for Auburn yet. If LSU keeps him in the pocket, I don’t think he can come close to doing what Prescott did. Auburn is most successful on offense when they run effectively. The good news is that LSU looked tremendous against the Bulldogs spread running game, so I think that can carry over.
We all understand that LSU is going to run the ball between 60 and 70% of the time. Balance for LSU is not between run and pass. Balance is running out of different formations, inside and outside, with different motions to keep the defense honest. I expect to see much more of that with LSU at home against Auburn and having a game under their belt now.
Turning to the Saints, I think they lost on the road to one of the best teams in the NFC if Carson Palmer continues to play like that. Matthieu, Peterson, and Minter look like Pro Bowlers, and I am kicking myself for waiting one round too long to pick Larry Fitzgerald in my fantasy draft.
I know by now every fan is aware the Saints were 1 of 4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Predictably, most people have jumped to the conclusion that this is completely a consequence of the Jimmy Graham trade and the Saints are doomed.
Dig a little and think it through. Last year, the Saints were 1 of 3 scoring touchdowns against the Lions, Bengals, and Panthers with Jimmy Graham. So, the Saints did not score every red zone trip last year. Imagine that. One huge problem last year was the pressure on Brees, the sacks, and hits he took. With Max Unger at center against a great defense on the road, the Saints surrendered only two sacks for a loss of one yard. Brees was often able to step up in the pocket.
I fully recognize the Saints could use Jimmy Graham… duh. But there is a salary cap in the NFL, and NFL teams must make choices to improve their team. 16 NFL teams won this weekend and all of them did not have Jimmy Graham on their team. Furthermore, many of them did not have a great tight end. The Saints gave up a little in one area to improve in others. Stephone Anthony is a huge upgrade at linebacker, and he was a result of the Graham trade. The Saints must get better in the red zone and it is possible without Jimmy Graham. It was just one game on the road against a great defense.
The real problem is the Saints have not improved enough in other areas. Areas they have addressed, and are not singular to one game on the road at Arizona. The defensive line has not pushed the pocket in the face of the quarterback for years. The defense gives up way too many yards per carry. There are several major busts in coverage in the secondary each game. On offense, Joe Morgan has been the only deep threat since Devery Henderson left, and Joe isn’t on the team right now. Finally, the special teams once again generated little in the way of field position and the Saints were even in turnover margin.
Yet, I am strangely encouraged. The Saints have drafted and signed very good young players this year. Anthony, Coleman, Sneed, Kikaha, Richardson, Davison, Swann, and others are going to get better each week. Over time those players will learn about the NFL, and the coaches will learn how to put those players in positions to make plays. With a little luck (which we apparently have none with Bush to miss the season), Spiller, Lewis, and Byrd will come back from injury sooner than later to provide quality play and leadership.
Put it all together and I still see something between 7-9 and 9-7, which would most likely be 8-8 like I said last week. Yet, again, I am hopeful. I guess that just makes me a Saints fan.
HEY REF
Once again I find myself wondering how someone cannot see the forest because of all the trees in his way. One of the main traits an official must have is his ability to be impartial when calling any sport. This past week during a high school football game in Nebraska a player was penalized and ejected over a very CHEAP shot he dished out to a defenseless player on a pass interception.
As I watched the replay over and over I couldn’t figure out where the controversy came into play. The film shows an Omaha Central defensive back stepping in front of a receiver close to the goal line and returning it back up the field when out of the blue Brandon Wagner lays out Greg Hauge during the return. Then as if that wasn’t bad enough he, Wagner, stands over the motionless Hauge and taunts him.
For a split second I thought this was a training tape because it was very evident to everyone with eyes and good, common sense that the hit was uncalled for since the action was nowhere near the P–O–A, aka Point of Attack. I commend the crew for throwing multiple flags and ejecting Wagner. Hauge was unable to get up and had to be loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital.
Now here’s where things turn idiotic, Wagner’s father Robert claims that the Federation needs to redefine “defenseless” since, in his eyes, Hauge was running toward the ball he’s not defenseless. Are you F*KN kidding me? When a player is 20 yards away from the action there is no way you can defend putting a shot like that on anybody. This is where officials earn their pay. It is our job to try and keep the players safe and when we need to, penalize and eject those players not conforming to the rules.
I’ll repeat myself again when I write that high school rules are written to make the game as safe as humanly possible for all the players and not allow anyone to intentionally injure an opponent. I found myself in this exact situation way back in 1997. I was chosen to work the championship game between John Curtis and Eunice in the Super Dome.
Early in the game Curtis had intercepted a pass and on the return there were a couple of very hard blocks on the return. They were legal blocks by definition but one player went out of his way to be just a tad bit more aggressive than he needed to be on a player much smaller than himself. As he made his way to the sidelines I stopped him and gave him a chance to explain what he thought he accomplished but he had no answer. So I warned him we weren’t gonna put up with anything cheap.
As halftime got close it seemed like I was watching a replay as once again Curtis had intercepted a pass. I saw this same player taking aim and all I could think of was he’s not gonna take another cheap shot but I was wrong. He did and in those days the foul was clipping because Federation rules stated you can’t “blindside” a player, etc., etc. Hence they call it a defenseless player today.
I took plenty of heat for that call but I’ll make it today again and again because it’s all about keeping the players safe. If the shoe was on the other foot and his son was being loaded into an ambulance Mr. Wagner would want someone to pay for hurting his kid.
Officiating football games is an easy thing to do as long as you don’t have to make any tough calls. But you’ll never be a good official unless you make the tough calls. Good officials can separate book sense and apply common sense to the game on the field. And that’s what makes a good official a great official, standing strong and not hesitating to make the tough calls.
Our job is not one where success is measured in the friends we make on the field. Success to me comes after the game by the number of kids that are able to walk off the field. Officials take pride in keeping all the players safe and making sure neither team gains an advantage by going outside the rules. Because that is our only job.
Till next week…
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