March 24, 2016
LSU FOOTBALL
BIRD
MAGIC
JOE DUMARS… … ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, our EBay store, sells media guides and programs. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs. Over 550 publications listed with more auctions daily
Tonight’s auction will include 3 LSU Football media guides from the late 60’s/early 70’s… many publications from the 1979 Basketball season for Michigan State and Indiana State… media guides for McNeese State’s Joe Dumars’ sophomore, junior and senior seasons… and a media guide that pertains to a shocking story that transcended sports in the last decade.—You’ll have to go to the store to see what this is!… New 7 and 10 day auctions start tonight at 7pm Central time.
DEVON GALES ON SPORTSCENTRAL
Radio Amour transmits once again… thus, after a 1 week hiatus, SportsCentral transmits once again… tonight
Steve Johnson and Sid Edwards will be joined by former Central HS Football player Devon Gales… see programming information below
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
Thursday, March 24 (knock on wood): 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral
Radio Amour 91.9 FM, Central
SportsRadio 1310 Radio, Lake Charles Programming of Interest (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com):
Saturday, March 26: 9AM—10AM: All Things Football with Scott Holtzman
Monday, March 28: 8AM—10AM: The Locker Room with John Goodman and Jim Gazzolo
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High School
One week into SEC play for LSU baseball, and it is time to panic, right? Alex Lange took a loss, and LSU got swept in a doubleheader at home where they could barely score a run! Still, it would be silly to panic, but naturally there are reasons to be concerned.
I am not more concerned, though, than I was entering the year or entering SEC play. The SEC is extremely challenging and competitive, and each weekend will bring its own series of challenges. Texas A&M’s series against Auburn last weekend was very high scoring. Florida’s offense was mostly held in check by Missouri. Arkansas was roughed up at South Carolina. Don’t be surprised if all these facts flip in the opposite direction this weekend.
Focusing in on LSU, I have seen and heard of many reasons to be alarmed. Alex Lange has an ERA of 4.50, LSU struggled to get timely hits against Bama, there is not a big bat in the lineup, etc. Maybe I am naïve, but I do not share those concerns. That does not mean that I don’t have my own questions regarding this team.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that I was not concerned about a sophomore slump for Alex Lange. Now, I have to amend that statement. I am concerned how he has given up the big inning and has not found ways to scatter hits. For instance, after giving up a double to lead off an inning, he needs to start the next batter of with a great pitch for strike one to begin to work out of the jam. It seems he and Poche have allowed opponents to string hits together or lose control for an inning. Both pitchers need to do a better job of minimizing damage.
As for the lineup, it was not a surprise to see LSU hitters struggle in the SEC opener. Especially considering the weak competition the Tigers saw in the non-conference schedule. Yet, I was surprised to see LSU lose their identity at the plate. The Tigers picked the worst time (considering the wind) to try and see how far they could hit the baseball, as evidence by their numerous fly ball outs over the weekend. Against ULL, the Tigers got back to putting pressure on the defense with ground balls, bunts, stolen bases, hit and runs, and other offensive aspects that play to their strength and force mistakes from the opponent’s defense. LSU will have a better chance to be effective with this style offensively with fast starts and by playing with a lead at A&M.
My biggest concern is the bullpen. SEC games are competitive and therefore are won in the late innings. Many Tiger fans think Mainieri doesn’t manage the bullpen well. To all those fans, I simply ask, who is reliable to turn to in the bullpen? LSU’s best relievers last year were Bugg, Bain, and Newman who each have ERAs over 4.00. It seems like the other pitchers with good ERAs alternate between effective and ineffective outings. See Russell Reynolds. The fact is that nobody outside of Caleb Gilbert has been consistent, which is what a baseball coach needs out of his relievers. Otherwise, I can certainly understand the hesitation. Maybe, Dunn and Mainieri have found some help in McKay, and we can all keep our fingers crossed for Latz in late April.
Despite these issues, this team has great potential. Poche and Lange are able and should be expected to give quality starts just about every time on the mound. Valek is proving to be a quality third starter that LSU has not had in a couple of years. Gilbert can close games. The lineup has the potential to be scrappy and manufacture runs. For some reason, I have a confidence that those aspects of the team will come together. I am just not sure about the relievers who need to bridge the game from the starters to Gilbert.
HEY REF
First things first; that’s something I’ve always heard whenever there’s a heated issue so this week’s opening subject has to be the “attempt” by some unhappy principals to form a new association for athletics and leave the LHSAA. There have been grumblings; we all know that, ever since the LHSAA went to a split format in football. The powers that be within the LHSAA and with the blessing of a majority of principals were successful recently to expand the baseball and basketball playoffs. This riff has seemed to upset many schools and has in fact widened the gap within the ranks of principals and some coaches as well.
So those principals that feel they’re getting “shafted” have started a movement to look into the feasibility of starting over with a whole new association. Some of these principals are saying the main reason for this action is to heal the bad feelings between the “select” (Mostly private and/or religious schools) and the “non-select” (Usually public schools). I’ve written on several occasions that I support the split 100% simply because there was a need to somehow “level the playing field”.
The reality of the wide split among the schools before the principals voted to expand the number of championships was becoming very evident when just a few Decembers ago four of the five state football titles went to the private/Catholic schools. We continue to see the disparity in talent between the select/non-select schools and the number one reason for that has to be there are two separate and vastly different ways in which schools get their respective athletes.
Private schools are allowed to recruit players while public/non-select schools can’t and are bound by certain attendance zones. For the most part the talent in these attendance zones change dramatically from year to year. And with the problems that Baton Rouge schools have had to deal with mostly desegregation don’t affect private schools. The principals felt they had to do something different to field wining programs and out of their despair came the split championships.
So now we must consider the reality that a new athletic association to govern the select schools may be in our future. As I tried to get some answers from a few coaches I found this action by their principals has indeed surprised many of them and they either don’t or won’t comment so I’ll have to do like everybody else and do the ‘ole “wait ‘n see” what happens.
One thing I feel that needs a look at is what’s going on at the University of Georgia by its football coach Kirby Smart. He’s refusing to release those athletes from their scholarships that want to transfer to a school that will give them a better chance to get on the field. His reasoning is he doesn’t want them to go to another SEC school simply because he’ll have to play against former players. You read that right, he wants to keep all his scholarship players no matter if they get on the field at all.
There is another reason he wants to keep them; he doesn’t want them to go to Miami where former Georgia head coach Mark Richt now coaches. ESPN’s Mike Greenberg half of the radio show “Mike & Mike” is sounding off and he’s not trying to be quiet about his feelings. And I have to agree with him that this situation even exists in today’s slave market we call NCAA sports.
These coaches are making millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses and the only thing that matters is fielding a winning team that’ll challenge for a National Title. Here’s a prime example of the circus that goes by the name of Coach Kirby Smart; a reserve running back, A. J. Turman told the newly incoming coach that he intended to transfer. But on Monday Smart told him he would only get out of his scholarship if he agreed NOT to transfer to Miami, Georgia Tech and every other SEC school.
Now this is the very same coach that just left Alabama (YES the very one that plays in the SEC) to go to another SEC school yet refuses a player to do the same thing he’s doing. More of the hypocrite “Don’t do as I do, do as I say”. Here are stats from Turman’s 2014 season; ZERO carries for ZERO yards. In 2015 he didn’t do any better as again he rushed ZERO times for ZERO yards.
Why should we allow coaches to drop athletes from their scholarships when a new coach comes to town but we refuse to allow an athlete to do what a coach does? I’ll give you an example; when John Calipari was hired to coach Kentucky’s basketball team the first thing he did was cut three players from the team and I believe two were starters. Not only were they cut from the team but the school yanked their scholarships and the players never graduated. These were kids from low income to poor families an d their only hope of an education was the athletic scholarship they received from Kentucky.
The SEC and the NCAA allowed this most dishonorable thing to happen as it happens all the time. As I wrote then and I’ll write it again; if a player is not wanted at the school by the new coach then cut him from the team BUT allow him to get an education. It’s the least and I mean the very least a school can do because of no fault of the player he’s not wanted anymore.
The NCAA earns BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars on the back of these so called student-athletes and I find it to be an extreme wrong to just cut a poor kid loose just because the school has fired then hired another coach for that particular sport. And of course we then get into the situation as the why players should be paid because they are in all actuality EMPLOYEES of their said university. And it’s a situation again where I believe these kids should get a salary because without them no one would sit in a stadium and watch a coach coach.
End of story, it’s time we do right by the players and not the millionaire coaches who find former players as a threat against his new school!!!
Till next week…
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