July 28, 2016
LOUISIANA STATE CHAMPS RADIO BROADCASTS
SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles will be carrying the South Lake Charles Little League (SLCLL) team’s games from the Southwest Regional in Waco. SLCLL is the Louisiana state champion! This is a double-elimination tournament, with 8 teams participating. The winner advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport PA, beginning on August 18.
The first broadcast will be Thursday, August 4, with first pitch at 10 am. There will be a pre-game show, too. In next week’s newsletter, we should have the pre-game show starting time.
Catch all SLCLL SW Regional games on SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL BROADCASTS (all times PM, CST)
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Last week, I promised to write about the Saints this week, and I will get to them in just a moment. Before, I do though, I must share how excited I am that Randy Livingston is an assistant basketball coach at LSU.
Randy was just one year older than me starring at Newman High School as I gre up in New Orleans. He had an amazing high school career and trust me, Randy was going to be an all-time great at LSU. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL before he played at LSU and then again when he tried to comeback.
Randy has a great poise and understanding of the game. He will be a tremendous mentor and coach to all of LSU’s players, especially the guards. Furthermore, this move will be an opportunity to have the impact on LSU basketball that he was unable to have as a player due to injury.
The Saints open training camp this week. There will be plenty of attention paid to both sides of the line, players coming back from injury, and the defense as a whole. I am going to take a slightly different approach.
Vegas doesn’t think the Saints will make the playoffs, and neither do most major publications. I don’t blame them, and they might end up being correct. Yet, I am going to take a shot at painting the scenario that will happen for the Saints to have a playoff season.
First, Sheldon Rankins has to be great. The NFL draft was super deep at defensive line and defensive end. The Saints had a great need at both positions and could have drafted impact players at both positions. They chose to only address the interior of the defensive line. Therefore, they better be right about Rankins and in a big way.
Second, the secondary has to be the strength of the defense. It won’t be the linebackers or pass rushers. The talent just is not there at linebacker. To clarify, I believe the Saints will be better at linebacker, but only Anthony has a chance to be a play maker at linebacker. The Saints will be fortunate if the push rushers on the end of the line are solid after losing Kikaha and not addressing the position in the draft. Consequently, the position with the best chance to lead the defense is the secondary.
Keenan Lewis and Delvin Breaux could be the best set of corners the Saints have had since Lewis and Greer (which they only had for half a season). PJ Williams was a high enough draft pick to where the Saints should expect a heavy contribution and Damian Swann played well when healthy last year.
The Saints have made some strong investments at safety, and they need to produce big time. We know how much Byrd is getting paid. Vacarro and Bell are high draft picks. Roman Harper could provide needed leadership at the end of his career, and the Saints may have pulled a rabbit out of their hat with CFL free agent Erik Harris.
How could all of this come together to make a decent defense? We all know that a secondary is only as good as its pass rush. The Saints won’t have a great pass rush unless, they have a strong run defense. The Saints invested in the interior of the defense in free agency and the draft. If the Saints can be strong against the run (huge if), and the corners can hold their own, then Dennis Allen will be able to creative in generating a pass rush.
I must warn you that you will not be able to determine any of this information off practice reports. Training camp has such little contact that we won’t know about the run defense. We will be able to monitor Keenan Lewis’ health though, and that will make an enormous impact on the defense. As for the run defense, pay close attention to the first half of the second and third preseason games.
Of course, we know the offense will be fine. They will move the ball and score points, but that won’t be good enough. The offense must control the ball and limit turnovers to keep the defense off the field.
Ball control and limiting turnovers come down to running the ball effectively, staying away from negative plays, and third downs. The success of the first two will most likely be determined by Andrus Peat and whoever plays left guard (assuming Peat plays right guard). I think the key to third down will be Spiller and Fleener. They were the top two offensive moves in free agency each of the past two years.
Sure, I will be interested in the new receivers, special teams, and other aspects of the team. Yet the vision for a playoff run in 2016 will be determined by the middle of the defense in combination with the secondary, and the offensive line.
HEY REF
I remember as a kid walking through Sears and seeing this beautiful red Stingray bicycle. Not only was it the newest, brightest and coolest thing on two wheels but it was what all the rich kids were riding. I felt as though I was in a trance looking at its bright, candy-apple red paint job with its super sleek handlebars and tires. I turned toward my dad and said “Oh, dad, can I get one of these”? He just told me to forget it because it cost too much and he couldn’t afford it.
I was sick when he told me that. If I had one of these bikes I knew I’d be the king of the neighborhood and all the kids would want to ride it. I bring this little memory up because I feel there were many principals after Monday’s meeting at the LHSAA headquarters that also wished they could afford to buy something. Many were ready to buy out the contract of Executive Director Ed Bonine but after their lawyers researched that possibility they too came to the conclusion that they couldn’t afford to send him down the road kicking cans.
Just over a year ago the LHSAA “rescued” Bonine from the deserts of Nevada. He was given a four year contract that will either keep him on the job in Louisiana until it expires in June 2019 or when the Executive Committee can come up with the half-million dollar cost of buying him out. But at the end of the day the hefty cost of the buyout was too much and the majority of principals in attendance decided they weren’t ready to “throw out the baby with the water”.
So while the cost of the buyout is getting most of the attention from the media I’d rather focus on the message Mr. Bonine delivered to the National Federation that was leaked to the public and has caused a rift with the membership of the LHSAA. Bonine has been quoted that he feels athletics in Louisiana is like a “proverbial dumpster fire”. He maintains the continued split in playoffs between select (private) and non-select (public) schools which has been expanded to include baseball, basketball and softball is frustrating and this divide is growing even wider.
I have to agree with Mr. Bonine. But many in Louisiana feel as though Bonine is an outsider and just doesn’t understand how important sports are in this state. Players are treated like gods in Louisiana and many act as though sports are in general like a religion. I for one have on many occasions written in support of the split playoff format and still believe it’s the best way to “level” the playing field.
Far too many times I have been on the field working a game where a private school squares off against a public school and the games look more like a scrimmage than a contest between two separate schools. Scores of these games show a huge disparity of talent and monies spent on programs. I’ve been in contests that ended with the scores that resembled a basketball game. Many times the margin of victory would be thirty, fourty or more points. That continues to this day and it just isn’t a pretty thing to watch much less referee. I’ve witnessed injuries to kids that shouldn’t have happened. Many happen simply because players on a private school’s roster are much bigger and faster.
Bonine spoke the truth in his description of high school athletics in Louisiana and he shouldn’t have been “called onto the carpet”. I mean if the shoe fits wear it. In fact the way in which the LHSAA has handled this whole episode looks more like a circus than an athletic association. LHSAA President Vic Bonnaffee who called this special meeting is quoted in last Thursday’s edition of the Advocate calling the possibility of a buyout as “ridiculous” even though he knew why he called the special meeting.
So, does he consider half-truths half lies? I was brought up that half-truths are lies. To me and many like me his attempt to keep secret the true reason for this state wide meeting is nothing short of laughable. Todd Guice, past President was also quoted in the same edition, was the closest one to telling the truth when he said “we don’t have the ability to allocate the kind of money needed to buyout Mr. Bonine’s contract”. In a roundabout way he acknowledged there was talk of buying Bonine out.
At the end of the day, without all the spin, no matter which side of this expanded (split) playoff issue you find yourself on, there is not only a “need” but by a majority vote of principals a “want” to expand the playoffs. In a perfect world everyone would be happy and welcome the playoff split but we don’t live in a perfect world by a long stretch. But shouldn’t those that voted against the split in football and other sports accept the vote of the majority and welcome more schools getting a taste of the playoff pie?
The split has to be a positive for both sides of the issue. More playoff games equal more revenue for the schools plus it gives their kids the chance to play on a team fighting for a state championship. Mr. Bonine was handed this mess and allowing him to speak his mind should be the one thing he should be allowed to do no matter whose toe gets stepped on. If you can’t handle the truth then it’s time to find another job or maybe it’s time to fix the problem. Either way the positive impact on the kids should be the only thing left to debate.
I’ll offer my solution; after everything is done in the Dome why not have overall Championship games where the select plays the non-select to settle an issue that grownups couldn’t!
Till next week… …
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