April 28, 2016
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High School
LSU didn’t stand a chance last weekend against Mississippi State. Too much bad mojo. I wrote positive things about Valek and Poche, so wham! They had their worst starts of the year. LSU pulled out the gold jerseys all weekend for good luck, so wham! No breaks.
Despite losing two of three (and the chance of giving more bad mojo), I was encouraged by the way the weekend developed. Lange had a truly dominating start, with a low pitch count, and without giving up free bases. The team rallied back time and time again from deficits, which shows me a lot about the character of the team. Let’s just hope LSU doesn’t run into Tulane’s fourth best starting pitcher in the post season… geez!
I can’t focus on LSU baseball this week, though. It is finally time for the NFL Draft. The past couple of years I have tried to maintain faith in the Saints draft philosophy and process. But, the Saints basically admitted that they have been dysfunctional in regards to the draft and shook things up. I am very worried.
The reason is we have been dysfunctional on defense for years, shaken things up, and turned out right back where we started. It just seems like there are some aspects of this organization that are given. They will draft poorly, but find undrafted free agent gold. They will pay big money for free agent busts on defense, but let choose not to extend contracts of offensive players that leave and fall into the abyss. Of course no matter the roster the offense will be great and the defense not so much.
The Saints have so many holes to fill. Every spot in the front seven needs playmakers. Losing Rafael Bush puts a need at safety, and you can never have enough corners. Offensive guard is a huge hole, and we need a vertical threat at receiver.
I don’t think the Saints have enough draft picks to address these needs. I would love to see them trade back and grab an extra pick or two. But the Saints have not chosen that path under Loomis and Payton, so I will not expect that to happen this year.
The Saints have held firm to the philosophy that will fill the most urgent needs in free agency and pick the “best player” in the draft when their number is called. The problem this year is they signed a few linebackers, but they have not signed a safety, vertical threat, or a guard. Free agency did not fill some considerable holes in the roster.
Playmakers in the defensive front 7 are only available in the draft or through overpaying a free agent. Since the Saints didn’t have the cap room to do the latter, I certainly hope they focus on the former which is the strength of the draft.
Of course, everyone hopes and expects the Saints to draft an impact down lineman or pass rushing end, which is why I am so worried. We has the same expectation last year, and the Saints drafted a tackle only player who was not ready to play immediately (Peat). That cannot happen again. The Saints must draft a player that is ready to start from the first day of training camp. As long as they do that, I will be pleased regardless of the position. Of course, it will be much easier for that player to make an immediate impact if they play guard or on the defensive line considering there is not much in front of them.
If you think I need to chill out, then I hate to tell you that I have not shared my biggest concern yet. There is way too much talk about the Saints drafting a quarterback early. I will lose my lunch if that happens. I thought they wasted a draft pick last year when they selected Garrett Grayson in the 3rd round. If the Saints were to use another early round pick, or even any pick on a quarterback I would want the FBI to investigate Mike Ditka and see what influences he still has in the Saints offices.
Honestly, I love this draft class of quarterbacks. The size, athleticism, and ability of this group is intriguing, but I don’t think it is an all-time great draft class. Most of them are not yet NFL ready. But, I think they could be really good players in two years if they are drafted by the right franchise. None of those franchises should be the New Orleans Saints.
I hope the Saints know themselves, and what they are good at finding. They will be able to find a deep threat at receiver and depth at safety late in the draft and from undrafted free agents. The Saints are good at finding offensive guards in the middle rounds. They need to find great, playmaking talent in the early rounds on defense. I am holding my breath now.
BY DENNIS DEARIE
VETERAN LOUISIANA HS REFEREE
This state finds itself trying to solve some very massive problems. Our economy has been stuck in the bottom three of almost every category that is good when compared to the other 49 states. And we find Louisiana at the top of just about everything that is bad. The new governor doesn’t have a clue on how to turn things around and finds the only way to stop our tailspin is to raise taxes. Problem with that way of thinking the taxpayers have nothing left to give, we're tapped out.
John Bell Edwards reminds me of a dog chasing a car in that if the dog does catch the car what is he gonna do with it. Louisiana doesn’t have enough money to operate yet he calls for a special session to address these problems and of course spends more money in doing so. It’s like the bank charging you a “fee” when you bounce a check. Oh, Mr. Banker I’ll let you in on a secret; if I had enough money to cover the check it wouldn’t have bounced!
Nothing should distract our professional politicians from trying to get us out of the financial mess we find Louisiana dealing with in 2016. But this past Monday the legislature took time out to debate and then vote on House Bill 863. The bill went down in flames by a vote of 33-51. This bill, if passed, would’ve kept schools that receive state funds from participating in the LHSAA’s split playoff format.
When I read about this bills’ intent I just chalked it up to “ONLY IN LOUISIANA”. With the very serious problems Louisiana faces we’ve got members of the legislature trying to interfere with a private organization that is the LHSAA. Most of the time the LHSAA operates as a democracy in that it will allow member principals to vote on issues near and dear to the school’s heart.
We should all take notice whenever outside interests try and dictate their wishes in places they don’t belong. Simply stated; we’re all very much aware of how corrupt these professional politicians are and there is no place for them in high school sports. With the unfavorable vote in the legislature everybody’s attention will now be on the special session of principals June 8th.
I’ve written on several occasions where this writer stands on the select/non-select playoff split and it’s something that we needed in football. Too many times we’d have games that weren’t close on paper and most of the time the games would turn into a complete embarrassment for the public schools.
Here’s just a simple example of what I witnessed one Friday night. The coach of a public school was upset that the home team was still applying paint to one of the end zones. Why the school waited so late to start the process of decorating the field we were never told. The visitors had on new jerseys that they’ve never used and this coach didn’t want to get them full of paint. After a few heated conferences with this coach the school decided not to paint the other end zone till the next day.
Well as fate would have it the home team (Private school) was upset with all the antics of the other head coach. Late in the fourth quarter the home team was up 55-0. They had been clearing the bench to allow all those that don’t usually get in a game a few snaps. With less than a minute to go the home team recovers a fumble inside the visitor’s 20 yard line.
We were almost finished when out of the blue Mr. Private School calls a timeout then sends in his first stringers. In two plays the score got even worse 61-0 and I started to go under the goal posts to call the extra point kick. My entire crew never saw what was coming next. If you thought they’d go for 2 then you are correct and I sprinted back to my position. There was no surprise when the two point conversion was a success.
As the clock ran out we looked for the closest exit and got out as fast as we could. But before we made it close to the sideline the home team’s coach ran over to shake our hands then said “We just wanted to make sure their jerseys stayed paint free”. Games like this one were just too common a happening.
The LHSAA in their divine wisdom wanted a way to keep games from getting this way out of hand. Too many times public schools just can’t compete with the private schools and their athletes are no way in the same category. Another thing that I haven’t seen, heard or read is the fact the split championships raise more money since there are more schools/games played.
I’m a supporter of the split playoffs and hope with more refining the games will continue to get better. It beats raising taxes.
Till next week…
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