April 6, 2017
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina these days. Clemson in football, South Carolina in women’s basketball (and men’s for that matter), and now North Carolina in men’s basketball.
The Tar Heels showed that size still matters on a basketball court. While Golden State, Houston, and Cleveland are raining threes from everywhere at any time without much of an inside presence, North Carolina won a championship in the paint.
I still can’t get over the following stat. North Carolina rebounded over 40% of their own misses this year! In basketball, you have an effective offense if you average a point per possession. I try to stay away from diving too deep into numbers, but I can’t help it this time.
Pretend we are looking at a portion of a typical North Carolina game, and we look at a random sequence of 12 possessions. They are human, so they probably turned the ball over twice. So let’s pretend they aren’t shooting well and they make 40% of their first shots on the other 10 possessions. Forgetting about three point shots for a second, that means North Carolina scored 8 points in 11 possessions if we stop right there.
But, now let’s include the 40% offensive rebound rate. They would have 6 first shot misses, but would rebound 2-3 of those misses and probably get fouled or make the put back. Assuming they make 2 of those shots, then that is 4 more points and they have 12 points in 11 possessions without making a three or a free throw.
They say that defense wins championships. This year, rebounding won North Carolina a championship.
Speaking of championships, most LSU baseball fans were thinking championship at the beginning of the year (as was I), and now are wondering if they will host a regional. I gave you permission to panic a bit last week, and going 1-3 on the week did not help at all.
At one point, it looked like inserting Zach Watson was going to be the spark the lineup needed. Watson has been steady and I think he is the answer in the 9-hole to turn the lineup over. Unfortunately, both he and Duplantis has been just average in centerfield.
Other than that, not much has worked and there is reason for real concern. As I said last week, no changes in the lineup will work if Deichmann, Freeman, Duplantis, and Robertson don’t hit against quality pitching. That being said, I can see why Maineri is reluctant to hit Deichmann third, but he has to do it eventually. Deichmann is the only batter that puts fear in the other dugout which means he has to bat in the first inning, and as often as possible.
Currently, LSU is relying on too many freshman. I understand Mainieri willing to be patient with the freshman due to their talent and bright futures. But the transition to college sports is really hard, especially in baseball. LSU has played 30 games that last at least nine innings against great competition. An entire high school baseball season is a little over 30 games that only last 7 innings.
College baseball teams travel all over the country. High school teams have hour long bus rides. Freshman college athletes have to balance school, practice, and living along for the first time (don’t underestimate this challenge).
If the freshman plays at LSU, they have to handle the best competition in the nation. Finally, it is baseball which means the player will fail more often than they succeed, and the player has to handle that for the first time in their athletic career in front while playing for the most scrutinized baseball program in America.
The point is that I think Mainieri would be well suited to mix his veterans and his young players more often. Play the matchups, give the freshman the day off after a late Friday night game, and pinch hit for guys that are struggling. LSU did some of that against Grambling and that might be the way to go for a while.
HEY REF
Pads are at the ready. Spider webs have been wiped off. Lockers have been cleaned one last time. Films are being studied. Plays are being refined. Equipment has been taken out of storage. Yes, that time of year is once again upon us.
Players are starting to get “the itch”. Doctors are bracing for the influx of young men needing physicals. The smell of fresh cut grass hangs over all practice fields. It is the time of year when every player, coach and fan begins to dream of a championship season.
It’s the supposed time of year when a young man’s whatever turns, etc., etc. In other words: SPRING HAS SPRUNG! Can it actually be that time of year again? Not really but so much attention is given the NFL Draft and all the moves by teams trying to improve from last year’s campaign that it feels as though we’re just a commercial away from a full 12 month football season in the U. S.
This is football season beginning anew. Here in Louisiana every high school program has a trip to New Orleans “penciled in” come the first part of December. Many future college and professional players will return in the next few years continuing their own professional careers.
Seems everyone that’ll be fighting for a championship ring has a routine to follow to insure a successful campaign. Fans should also be clearing their heads of “what went wrong” and replace it with “what can be done”. Coaches and teams work all year long on ironing out the kinks and so should the fans.
Now rather than later should be the true fan’s cheer. “Now” as in learning the rules should be all consuming. Just as voters need to be well informed so should all fans no matter the sport. There are slight differences in rule interoperations and enforcement of penalties. If you are a true fan then you should challenge yourself to learn the proper rulings of the game/games you are a fan.
Visit any university and most of them will be hosting intra-squad games and full contact scrimmages which then of course lead to the grand final; Spring Game. This is the best it gets, starting with a clean slate, all teams back to 0 – 0 and we’re all in first place!! But this year I’d like to put some early attention to two rules all football fans need to be aware of. They pertain to pass interference and spearing. In the simplest way known to man the rulebook tries to explain the rule something like this; if a player HINDERS another player’s right to secure a loose ball then it is a penalty, yatta – yatta
The key words are hinders, right and LOOSE.
Whenever a forward pass crosses the line of scrimmage ALL defensive players and all offensive players that EITHER line up in an eligible position and/or have the proper numbering then they are eligible to go downfield and secure the loose ball.
No matter which side a player lined up on; all opposing players cannot intentionally interfere with another player’s right to catch a loose ball. There will be times when two opposing players will go after the pass and one will bump the other. It’s solely the official’s responsibility to rule (interpret) a player’s intention.
Many times fans will see players trip over one another while attempting to catch a pass. Many times this action is not intentional. I’ve had times when a player will be “burnt” by another and all the defensive player can do is trip the receiver. And as we all know the defensive coach will argue it was accidental but when you hear “I ain’t lettin’ you get one tonight” it’s pretty concrete what the defensive player is saying. And yes we hear that and more on basically every down.
The action I find very alarming and one that doesn’t get called enough is “spearing”. Even with so much attention being placed on the movement of the head (helmet) some officials either lean too heavy on calling a foul or they try their best to let “it” go and warn the player he’d be flagged and thrown out of the game if he does it again. Every crew member should be hearing alarms going off if at any time they have somebody in their game say that. There is absolutely no grey area in the calling of a spearing foul.
I’ll try my best to explain the foul so even a female fan can understand what we should be watching for. Now I don’t want or need anybody getting their blood pressure up because I just wrote that last sentence as though I haven’t been aware of all the political correctness going on in America. Well let me address that issue right now; THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS P. C. IN “HEY REF’S” WORLD!! So where was I? Oh, yes, defining what is and is not spearing; SPEARING is the act of “leading with the CROWN of the helmet, to INTENTIONALLY drive into an opposing player in order to deliver the most punishment to an opponent as possible”. I even try to explain how officials, players and coaches differ in their definition/comprehension of this most horrendous of fouls. But if they all would listen to me then there shouldn’t be any arguing when a flag is tossed. Either side of the foul should now be the easiest thing everyone can agree upon.
Even by its simplest interpretation (High School and College) spearing is ANYTIME one player, leading with the helmet, contacts an opposing player. And it doesn’t only occur on a defenseless receiver, ANY PLAYER CAN BE GUILTY OF THE FOUL AND ANY PLAYER CAN BE ON THE RECEIVING END OF A SPEARING FOUL. I teach young officials and I get my crew’s attention for that night’s game each and every time a player is seen lowering his head, THROW THE FLAG! Officials do make mistakes and when they do screw-up we can just chalk it up to their judgement or misunderstanding of a rule.
But officials are never wrong when the call is spearing or any other flagrant action by a player. I never pay attention to a coach that’s throwing a fit on the sideline when I toss a flag for an act by either team that could injure a player. There’s no room in any level of play for a player to go out on the field with the intention of hurting someone. I’ve seen it both ways where a player wants to pass along a little extra pain and he’s the one that winds up riding the cart to the dressing room. A flagrant flag is never wrong and this is probably the only time you’ll see me write “NEVER”.
There can’t be and there is no room for debate on calling this foul. We as officials must not sway one way or the other when we see a player lead with the helmet to make contact on an opposing player. I NEVER DEBATE THIS FOUL! Call it every time you see it. I’ve thrown more players out of a game for this infraction than all other fouls combined.
Many times I’ve seen a player attempt to hurt an opposing player with a hard shot in the back and then not be able to get off the ground. That loud “click” is one you never forget once you hear it. It’s always followed by a load, high shriek sound that signals someone won’t be able to walk off the field without the help of someone from the sidelines.
Football is a severe contact game that has no room for anyone wanting to intentionally hurt an opponent. One night a linebacker kept taunting the other team with “come my way, I’ll F**K you up!”. Well, after repeated warnings, there was a massive pileup on the far sidelines. I had to mark the ball and stayed on the field. The ambulance was called upon to load an injured player. As we were getting the teams back into their respective huddles one of the offensive players stood next to me and said “Hey, ref, you won’t have to worry about that guy anymore tonight, I F**KED him up”!
I got the tape of the game and looked to see what had happened. This one player had made two late hits and one was severe enough for fifteen yards. Five or six plays later, I could see him just standing next to the pile, out of bounds when a flash goes by and hits him on the side of his legs, bending one into an “L” shape. He suffered a dislocated knee and a broken leg.
Images such as that one haunt officials FOR THE REST OF THEIR CAREERS. There’s no room for such behavior. Officials should never allow “cheap” play. Coaches should never teach this type of action. It’s sad but it’s taught day in and day out in today’s game. I tell the young guys “Let them boo you! Our prime mission is for the safety of all players. If you can keep just one injury from happening that night; you did your job”.
Till next week…
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