December 29, 2016
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SPORTSGUMBO—DENHAM SPRINGS (MONDAY—FRIDAY, 7AM—8AM, (with replay MONDAY—FRIDAY, 5PM-6PM) ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9FM, BATON ROUGE AND ON THE NET AT JonFineProductions.com. THE PROGRAM IS HOSTED AND PRODUCED BY JON FINE.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS/GUESTS:
Thurs: Former Louisville QB Stefan Lefors
New Orleans sportscaster Eric Asher
Friday: Former College Football Assistant John Thompson (coached Ed Orgeron in college… later coached on his staff at Ole Miss… had a brief tenure at LSU)
Yellow Jackets Memories with Randy Smith
Monday: Extensive talk on LSU-Louisville and national semi-finals… listener phone calls
Tuesday: Catholic HS Football coach Gabe Fertitta (former St. Stanislaus coach, where new DSHS coach Bill Conides was his offensive coordinator… and his young quarterback was LSU commitment Myles Brennan)
Wednesday: Free-lance writer/broadcaster Michael Bradley
PLUS, SPORTSGUMBO—DENHAM SPRINGS INCLUDES GAME RESULT UPDATES FROM DSHS BOYS BASKETBALL COACH KEVIN CABALLLERO AND STAFF, + DSHS GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH SHELLY LAPRARIE AND STAFF. WE WILL ALSO BE ADDING DSHS BOYS AND GIRLS SOCCER UPDATES STARTING NEXT WEEK.
HEARFELT CONDOLENCES
Former Lake Charles American Press and Baton Rouge Advocate sportswriter Gary Laney passed away last week…
I had the chance of getting to know Gary awhile back when he was a teenager and I was just getting started in broadcasting, hosting SPORTSTALK in Lake Charles. We had a friendship. Gary was a frequent caller to my program. I believe Gary pursued a career in sports journalism, in part, due to our relationship
A few years thereafter I moved to Baton Rouge. He graduated from McNeese State and a number of years down the road, he also moved to BR to work for the Advocate. We sort of lost touch
A couple of months ago, I read an article he had just written. I made a mental note to myself that I needed to contact him, have lunch and reminisce/catch up with him. Regrettably, I never did get around to calling him. The next thing I knew, I read that he is no longer with us
Gary was real bright, a talented writer and an egalitarian. He was just a real good person
My thoughts and prayers are extended to Gary’s family, friends and loved ones.
PROPAGANDA AVAILABLE
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SPORTSCENTRAL
can now be heard at Central First Facebook page
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Time for my Peter Finney tribute article. I snuck a peak at last year’s predictions. Pretty awful. I was right on the Warriors breaking the Bulls record for wins, Alabama winning it all, and LSU baseball losing in the Super Regional. After that, I was really off, especially regarding the football season. Oh well, 2016 was a rough year for many folks, let’s see if I can get some right in 2017.
January: Ohio State pulls the upset over Alabama to win the National Championship thanks to a super ironic non offensive touchdown. The Cowboys and Steelers make the Super Bowl. Sean Payton does NOT go to the Rams.
February: The Steelers win the Super Bowl. LSU basketball does better than expected, but does not finish in the top 5 of the SEC meaning they will need to win the SEC Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
March: LSU loses in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and makes the NIT. This year they gladly accept. There is pressure to fire Johnny Jones, but Jones is retained. The Big Dance is loaded with great games. The “big boys” are back to running the show. There are fewer big upsets as Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and UCLA make the Final Four.
April: Grayson Allen puts all his issues in the past and leads Duke to the National Championship. LSU baseball gets off to a great start despite losing 2 out of 3 at Florida. LSU leads the SEC West. The Browns draft Myles Garrett first overall in the NFL draft and then a quarterback with the 8th pick, but that is too late and they once again miss out on drafting the only quality quarterback, Deshaun Watson. Fournette goes to the Panthers as a punishment to all LSU fans. We didn’t get to enjoy his LSU career as we expected and we won’t be allowed to enjoy his pro career either. The Saints draft Tim Williams in the first round, but they trade back in the first round because they can’t stand not drafting either Dalvin Cook or Christian McCaffery. They give up too much and don’t get the linebacker they really need, but Payton doesn’t care. There is speculation the Saints may have their best offense ever and Payton is happy.
May: The Pelicans miss the playoffs. Gentry and Demps are fired. The Pels make a big push for John Calipari. Calipari accepts the job, but then decides to stay at Kentucky. LSU baseball loses to Florida in the SEC Tournament Final. LSU gets the #3 seed overall.
June: The Warriors and Cavs make the NBA Finals for the third year in a row. The Cavs win back to back titles in 7 games. LSU wins the CWS beating Florida in 2 out of 3 games. The Pelicans hire Sam Cassell as their new coach and draft Harry Giles from Duke with the 8th pick.
July: Andy Murray wins Wimbledon. Jordan Speith wins the US Open.
August: Last year I tried to be cute and get an easy prediction right by saying it would be hot and humid in August… we had a record flood. This year I predict the Saints will win their first preseason game in two years.
September: After three years of terrible starts, the Saints will get off to a better 2-1 start in September. LSU starts the year with five blowout wins.
October: LSU beats Florida and Auburn to start the month, but loses at Ole Miss. Florida takes credit for that win saying LSU deserves it after last year. Commissioner Sankey agrees with Florida. The national media goes nuts. I take a week off from my articles in protest of the insanity. The Saints win in London and start the year 6-2.
November: LSU actually beats Alabama! But they lose at Tennessee, before beating A&M in the finale. Alabama wins the West. LSU goes to the Sugar Bowl. The Saints have a rough November going 2-2 to bring their record to 8-4.
December: Alabama beats Georgia in the SEC championship game. Alabama, FSU, Oklahoma, and Michigan make the College Playoff. Ohio State just misses out increasing the discussion of a need for 8 teams. Baker Mayfield wins the Heisman. Derrius Guice finishes third. The Saints win on New Year’s Eve to finish 11-5 and make the playoffs.
Happy New Year!
HEY REF
BY DENNIS DEARIE,
VETERAN LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL REFEREE
WOW! Did I touch a subject that upset some people? Seems I definitely did. Last week I wrote that if a player wanted to and decided not to play in their team’s bowl game then I say more power to ‘em. I got this one call where a friend just came right out and said I was 100% crazy.
Really, “Tom” (not his real name), where is it written that players owe their schools anything? Your point that if it wasn’t for the schools and the “opportunity these schools give athletes to play in the major conferences along with the TV exposure they get then these players wouldn’t be in line for huge paydays when the NFL comes calling” is so ridiculous I won’t even give you any more ink. All I’ll say is that if I was your boss and used your ludicrous reasoning then you’d be paying me for the awesome opportunity I’ve given you!
Would you also agree to go to work on weekends or holidays with nothing extra on your paycheck? Of course you wouldn’t. You’d say that you are owed EXTRA since you’re being asked to work extra days, hours, etc. These kids are being screwed since they aren’t being paid a salary. So let me ask you to explain why should any player feel indebted to the very people that have done nothing for them except use them as unpaid employees? “Tom” you’re very well aware that I favor paying players as employees because that’s what they are.
I’ll put this issue to rest, paying players as employees, for the final time since it’s an embarrassment. It’s an embarrassment and it’s totally wrong. I say it’s totally wrong in so many ways and it’s tipping the scale of modern day slavery. For example the president of the NCAA makes in excess of $4 million a year plus benefits yet never breaks a sweat or puts his health on the line every day of every week of every month of every year. So this debate is over and I hope no one asks for my opinion on paying players ever again.
It seems that once again I’m taken to task for saying that I feel coaches and officials should work together to make high school football games better for all concerned. In the coming years we’ll see this level of play to be a thing of the past. There’s too much pressure on all those involved. Coaches have the hardest job I know of and it’s getting worse. I’ve always heard there’s two kinds of coaches; those getting fired and those that haven’t been fired yet.
For this reason I must point my finger at none other than my fellow officials. I can’t blame those that are calling games in order to pay their bills. It’s the way of the world today and many of us need to work extra jobs to feed our families and pay our bills. The job of calling games though shouldn’t be done by those guys that have the mindset of it’s just a job. If you feel this way then find another “job” because working football games isn’t JUST A JOB! It’s a career that demands the utmost dedication in getting things right not once or twice but every time.
In the past few years too many times I’ve found myself on crews that are there just to get a check and forget the job demands respect. Respecting the coaches has to be the one thing that I’ve found missing in many official’s game. Respect is a two way street though on an athletic field. Without hesitation I’ve got to admit that many of the coaches today feel officials are a necessary evil. I’m not sure how all this came about but until all those parties sit down together and find a way to work together on making everyone better the high school game will continue to suffer.
And alas there’s my reason for saying and believing that coaches and officials must work together. And there isn’t a person alive that goes out on a Friday night to watch local high school football games that will disagree with me on that issue. I’m disgusted to read game stats where two playoff teams will combine for more than 200 yards in penalties. There’s no excuse for that many yards in of walk-offs and it won’t get any better until all those that love high school football get together in the same room and work TOGETHER in making things better.
With that I’ll end the year with hopes everyone involved with high school athletes and athletics get serious about making Friday nights much better.
Till next YEAR, HAPPY 2017…
Jon Fine Wreaking Havoc at:
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