November 17, 2016
TURKEY DAY ANNOUNCEMENT
Please see next week’s newsletter (11/24/16) for a very important message about the future of SPORTSGUMBO—Denham Springs.
DENHAM SPRINGS HOOPS COVERAGE
SPORTSGUMBO—Denham Springs will furnish extensive coverage of both DSHS Boys and Girls Basketball. Each Thursday morning, beginning on Thursday, December 1, we will have an interview with DSHS Boys Basketball coach Kevin Caballero or one of his assistants… … … or DSHS Girls Basketball coach Shelly LaPrarie or one of her assistants. We’ll rotate between boys and girls basketball each week
Plus, the show after every DSHS Girls or Boys game, we’ll have a coach come on and give a recap of the prior night’s game
Come early January, we hope to have an interview each week with a DSHS Girls player and a DSHS Boys player
We’ll look to get some former players on the show as well.
IF YOU LIKE THIS NEWSLETTER (WHICH IS FREE) AND/OR YOU ARE AN ATHLETIC FAN WHO LIVES IN DENHAM SPRINGS PLEASE help us spread the good word of SPORTSGUMBO-Denham Springs by liking us on Facebook at SportsGumboDenhamSprings and following us on Twitter at SportsGumboDS.
THE SCHEDULE
SPORTSGUMBO—DENHAM SPRINGS (MONDAY—FRIDAY, 7AM—8AM, ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9FM, BATON ROUGE) AND ON THE NET AT SPORTSGUMBO. NET. THE PROGRAM IS HOSTED AND PRODUCED BY JON FINE.:
UPCOMING LINE-UP:
FRIDAY: DSHS Volleyball coach Pam Dubuy
Walker HS Football coach Brandon Lawley
MONDAY: Former DSHS Football player Big Mike O’Neal (Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill owner)
Catholic HS Head Football Coach Dale Weiner
TUESDAY: DSHS Cross Country athlete Christian Mallet
NOLA. COM sportswriter Ron Higgins
WEDNESDAY: DENHAM SPRINGS MAYOR GERARD LANDRY
National Free-Lance Writer/Broadcaster Michael Bradley
THURSDAY: GOBBLE, GOBBLE
FRIDAY: GOBBLE, GOBBLE
PLUS GAME RESULT UPDATES FROM DSHS BOYS BASKETBALL COACH KEVIN CABALLLERO AND STAFF, + DSHS GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH SHELLY LAPRARIE AND STAFF
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SPORTSCENTRAL
Central’s weekly show airs tonight. Please see information just below.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
MONDAY—FRIDAY: 7am—8am: SPORTSGUMBO—Denham Springs, Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge… … … or on the net at JonFineProductions.com
Jon Fine
THURSDAY: 5pm—6pm: SportsCentral
Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge… Les Bueche, Sid Edwards, Frank Fresina
SPORTSRADIO, 1310 AM PROGRAMMING OF INTEREST:
Sulphur HS Football Radio Broadcasts (also heard on KEZMOnLine.com)
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
It’s a good thing the high school version of Scott Osborne didn’t live through last Sunday. Fortunately, it was the more mature version was left to handle another 2016 loss that harkens back to days of pre the Loomis and Payton era.
The less mature Scott would have wanted to punch the TV screen or radio every time someone said the Saints didn’t deserve to win because they turned it over four times. Like the Saints have never won the turnover margin and lost a game. Oh wait, that happened this year against the Giants. The Giants didn’t apologize for scoring more points despite having three turnovers and give the Saints the win.
He would have yelled that it is hard for Michael Thomas to catch the ball when both his arms are being held before the ball arrives causing the second interception of the game.
The more mature version of myself knows that Denver did a great job taking the ball away. The first interception was a great play by the safety that Saints fans have not seen from that position since… ever. Michael Thomas has to secure the ball better, but the Broncos forced those fumbles, so they deserve credit.
The less mature “Little Oz” would be irate that over the play that gave Denver the lead. He would have known that the snapper being held down violates the spirit of the leverage rule.
He would have questioned the sanity of “white shoe on a white sideline” making the call hard to make. What???!!! Who are we kidding, the older Oz still call bull poo on that.
If white shoe on white sideline is a problem, the outlaw white shoes so officials can get the call right. But it is not a difficult call to make. If there is no green between the sideline and shoe, then the two white substances are overlapping and he is out of bounds. The referee should have seen it live like everyone else.
Just like in 1989 when I could see from Section 645 of the terrace that Jerry Rice lost the ball on a long TD pass before crossing the goal line. And then later in the game, I could see a TD pass was ruled when John Taylor didn’t have two feet down before losing the ball (you can check it out on YouTube).
In my defense, I have matured enough to point out that had the right call been made, the Broncos would have had over a minute and a timeout to kick a game winning field goal with a kicker that could probably make a 60 yard field goal easily.
On a happier note, LSU proved that it is possible to play with passion after losing to Alabama. It is not yet time to name the next LSU football coach, but I think it is a good time to make a ground rules.
First, there are some coaches that make great “fits” at certain universities. Art Briles was a great fit at Baylor. That includes the reason he got fired as it was obviously a campus wide issue. Charlie Strong was a good fit at Louisville, but has not been at Texas. Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State is the definition of a great fit.
Then there are a few coaches that are so good they change the culture of the school they work for and they make the fit. The Big Ten has three right now in Harbaugh, Meyer, and Franklin (all three in the top 10). The SEC has Nick Saban.
LSU would love to hire someone in the category of the coaches I just listed. Since Franklin, Harbaugh, Meyer, and Saban aren’t available LSU is hoping for two coaches in this category. Jimbo Fisher and Tom Herman are in this class of coaches, but conventional wisdom is that Herman will go to Texas. If he does, I predict they will be in the college playoff the first year. As for Jimbo, I am doubtful he would make them move when push comes to shove.
As a result, LSU is extremely fortunate that they will have a marvelous fall back plan of having a great fit in Ed Orgeron. I don’t know how well his style would work at Syracuse, Stanford, or Nebraska. But, I have 100% sure, he will do a great job if the interim title is removed.
You have to get great players to be a great program and he will do that without a shadow of a doubt. At a place like LSU, you have to handle all the extra duties that come with being the head coach. Speaking, relating to fans, and all the other things that Orgeron is especially made for at LSU being a Louisiana native. The head coach has to be able to motivate the players and have a system in place for them to develop. It is clear he has learned from his time at Miami and USC as well as his difficult time at Ole Miss. Finally, he already has a great coaching staff. Coaches will come and go from LSU though, but the good news is that more great coordinators and position coaches will want to replace the ones that leave.
Therefore, I feel confident that Joe Alleva’s job is easy. He has three choices in Herman, Fisher, and Orgeron. While Herman and Fisher might be long shots, he already has an ace in the hole with Orgeron.
HEY REF
BY DENNIS DEARIE,
VETERAN LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL REFEREE
Just when you think it’s safe to celebrate a Saint’s victory… I usually refrain from ever talking and/or writing about the NFL franchise in south Louisiana. But this week I’ll throw in my two cents. For the last four days all I keep hearing from friends, etc. is how the refs screwed the Saints out of a sure win against the defending Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos.
I’ll start this week’s words of wisdom by asking everyone a simple question; since when do officials block or tackle? When have you ever seen a guy wearing a black and white striped shirt take a handoff, swerve right (or left), cut up the middle and run eighty yards for a score? Have you ever watched as a guy wearing a white baseball hat kicked a football down the field, splitting the goal posts for a sixty yard field goal?
And of course the answer to all those questions is a resounding “NEVER”! I understand all the frustration many Saints fans are feeling after an unbelievable play dropped the N’awlins team further and further away from playing for another Super Bowl Championship. We all know NFL games are sixty minutes long and usually teams that play the hardest, while committing fewer mistakes in those sixty minutes most often walk away with a “W”.
And of course many times it’s that one play that decides who wins and who loses. And as everyone knows I “call ‘em like I see ‘em” and my eyes tell me that the guys in the booth and on the field with the whistles really “BLEW THIS PLAY”! There I said it and I mean it, the combined efforts from the field to the booth and back were by far the worst example of “getting it right” in history.
There’s plenty of blame to go around this time because the league instigated instant replay to review the so called tough calls. The NFL generates more than &8 BILLION dollars a year and to not have each and evry field covered with as many cameras and angles just baffles me. They have the resources to help in eliminating these types of calls. For what it’s worth I could tell from one of the angles that the runner DID STEP OUT OF BOUNDS. It’s not a hard thing to see. Yet the system in place demands “Conclusive” proof to overrule “on field officials”.
I’ve been in these types of circumstances many times. On any given Friday night as much as we hope the officials are working together I’ve got to admit it’s more like you’re on your own and have zero help from your “crewmates”.
Here are just two plays that I at times feel happened yesterday. On this particular Friday night I’m working the biggest rivalry in this part of the state. As I was covering a very high and long punt that most players and coaches lost in the lights. I saw a block in the back (Actually the player pushed an opponent in the back, above the waist) a half second before the catch was made. I threw my flag toward the block and after I did another official threw his flag too.
After the whistle was blown I stood at the end of the kick and waited for my referee to get to my spot. The other official came over to me and also stood there waiting for the ref. I asked him what he called and he says’ Oh, the same thing you called”. So now I’m questioning what it was he saw that warranted him tossing a flag. As I began to explain my call my fellow crewmate walked over to his flag and never moved. The ref asked him “What you got” and again he replies, “Oh, whatever Jose’ has”.
The next bit of information the ref needed was if it happened before or after possession was made. I reported that the foul happened BEFORE a change of possession while my fellow flag thrower just repeated “I’ve got what he’s got”. And under Federation rules the option was to accept the foul and re-kick from the line of scrimmage or decline the penalty and take the ball at the end of the kick.
Well, as it turned out the coach accepts the foul and we line up to kick it again. On the snap the ball goes over the kickers head and is downed for a twenty yard loss. After we get the chains reset and mark the ball “ready” the visiting team scored and won the game. This really “lit a fire under my coach’s butt” because they lost the game. When I tried to run off the field the coach just unloaded on me and to try and calm him down I asked for a copy of the game. Because back in those days our coaches would work with you to get better and most times my request for a tape was granted. I mean it’s only in the best interest of the coach to help officials eliminate mistakes.
On the car ride home my crew asked how I could tell the foul happened BEFORE a change of possession. I was happy to learn ‘em something when I said that in fact it was a very easy call to make. I can still hear them saying “Oh, yeah, sure you can” and other things I can’t print. What made the call easy in my world was the stripe on the ball. “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, THE STRIPE ON THE BALL”? Yes I shot back “the stripe on the ball”. Before the catch was made I could still see the stripe move as the ball was rotating into the receiver’s hands.
I was kinda sweating about the call but the stripe is what I remember. I didn’t know if the coach was going to send a copy of the film since he really didn’t like me after the game. When the film was delivered I was praying the film would show what I saw. I got the film and slowed it way down. I couldn’t believe that the film did show the ball still rotating as the block was being made. I got lucky in that the film of the day, VHS, showed the rotation.
The other example shows “How not to work as a crew”. I’m working my usual position on the home team’s sideline. One of their runners cuts lose for a thirty five run and I’m behind the runner since we have a back judge that usually stays 25 yards down field. I watch as the runner switches the ball from one arm to the other as he’s cutting up the field. When he’s tackled he rolls toward the center of the field and I can’t locate the ball. Two of my crewmates were watching or so they say. I see the runner being tackled and the ball comes out.
The “fumble” is recovered by the visiting team and I signal a change of possession which ignited the coaches on my sideline. So, I call time out to confer with the two guys that were looking at the runner from the front as I’m trailing the play. I asked if they saw the ball come out, when if they did and so on. I’m asking for help but they both claimed to see nothing. So, they left me out to dry. When a runner breaks free and heads up field you should have help downfield in covering those plays since this run went inside the ten yard line.
The main problem I have seen and have been a part of simply is officials are so afraid to make the hard calls. They fear getting “scratched” (black-balled) by coaches and they’ll lose playoff assignments and the money that goes along with working another game that season. And therein lies why we have problems on the field. The easy calls are those that every official should make. The tough calls are those that every official MUST MAKE no matter Friday night or Saturday afternoon and even the ones on Sundays.
Till next week…
Jon Fine Wreaking Havoc at:
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