June 8, 2017
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
I have started writing article three different times. Each time, I realized that the topic was only going to last one or two paragraphs. Usually this doesn’t happen to me until the season ends for the LSU baseball team.
Why can’t I find a lot to write about concerning LSU baseball? There is little nuance about last weekend or the Super Regional this weekend.
Last weekend, LSU played down to its competition a bit. Coach Mainieri confessed he played into the lack of focus against Texas Southern by looking past Texas Southern. Alex Lange struggled early against SLU, but that is Alex Lange. He struggles early in games as teams sit on his fastball and Lange takes a while to find his off speed pitches. Then Eric Walker was lights out against Rice. But then again, if you are a LSU baseball fan, you knew all of that already.
The story lines are obvious for this weekend against Mississippi State. So obvious, I don’t have any interest in repeating them here.
Not much has changed since LSU played 3 games in Starkville three weeks ago. Mississippi State will have a tough time scoring runs if LSU’s pitchers control the first four hitters in the State lineup. The Box plays small this time of year though, so I would expect the winning team will have to score at least 4 runs to win.
LSU clearly has the advantage, but as we know, the only thing that matters is who plays the best. LSU did not play its best last weekend, while Mississippi State did. The Bulldogs are very comfortable in the underdog role they have played this year and I would expect them to do their thing this weekend. I suspect LSU will need to play more like they did in Hoover to make it to Omaha (as it should be).
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the NBA will need the Finals to go 7 games or the playoffs this year will look like a huge bust. Almost no buzzer beaters, very few close games, and injuries to key players that made most series non competitive.
By the time you read this article, you will know if Cleveland gave us any hope of this series being competitive. Some of the differences between this year and last year are obvious, but I want to point out one change that hasn’t received much attention. Last year, Triston Thompson averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds. So far, he is averaging 4 points and 4 rebounds. I still attribute the difference to Kevin Durant.
The Warriors play most of the game with a “small” lineup. In that lineup, the Warriors relied on Green and Iguodala to keep Love, James, and Thompson off the glass. Advantage Cavs, the only real advantage they had. This year, Durant balances out that matchup.
Finally, there was a story this week that didn’t get much attention, but will most likely make a huge difference during football season. Nick Fairley has a heart condition that will most likely force him to retire. If this condition was caught, can be treated, and he is able to live a comfortable life outside football then it is a wonderful story that this condition was found.
For the Saints this fall, the story would be that the Saints gambled on investing two of their top draft picks (Ramczyk and Kamara) and two of their top free agency signings (Warford and Peterson) on offense leaving the defense thin on the defensive line.
HEY REF
As many of you know when I’m asked to re-print a certain column (sort of like a “Best Of”) I’ll do my best to accommodate that request. So I’m taking everyone back to one of my better, shining examples of truth in print. But to be very honest with everyone it was ME that decided to send this edition back to my editor for a rehearing of sorts.
Once again I find myself at odds with myself in asking me if me needs to get back on the field and work high school football. But it seems each time I try to weigh the pros and cons the cons seem to finish way ahead of the pros. What began as a five year attempt to see what life’s like inside the world of high school officiating in Louisiana has caused me to lose more than my lunch on several occasions. I will expand on my findings next week but for now I hope you’ll take a few minutes and see where things were just two years ago and then ask yourself if you feel the officials working games in south Louisiana have gotten better or worse. Just send me your thoughts at this address and we’ll go down the list of how you, the fans, parents and coaches feel the job is being handled.
So strap your seatbelt on and remember this article was written just a mere 48 months ago;
Before we get to what matters, this first week of the 2015 high school football season, I’d like to take a quick look at a situation I found myself in last week. Readers of this column are very much aware that this official has never and will never try to pass myself off as a “know it all”. After 20 plus seasons I’m the first to admit that I’m still learning. That’s the way I was “raised” back in ’79 when I first started wearing stripes on Friday nights.
No matter how many years you’ve been WORKING football it’s those first couple weeks of each and every new season while officials are meeting to discuss “What’s New” that the anxiety level is beyond “MAX”. I found myself in just such a situation since this is the year the LHSAA is changing its Rules Test every official must take and pass in order to work varsity games.
In the beginning we used the phrase “brain fart” when a rule stumped us no matter how long we looked, searched and studied. I’d spent more time than I want to admit searching high and low trying to find an answer. I feared this brain fart would turn out to be terminal since I was unable to find anything that satisfied me so I reached out to the so called rules guru. I told him I just had the biggest brain-fart of my life. I knew the answer to my question would be a simple one or there might’ve been a slight chance of a rule change that I’m not aware of.
The answer to my simple question was very easily found but the reaction and statement I received from this guru burned me to my core. If you’ve done this job more than once then no doubt you’ve also suffered one of these brain farts while preparing for your test. I’ll just simply file his answer away and if I get a game with less than professional official and he’d better be at the pinnacle of his career cause the slightest hick-up I’ll remind you how high a pedestal you’ve put yourself on and it’s a hard fall from that altitude.
Once again I’ve been allowed inside the world of why officials suck on Friday night. Too many officials feel they alone are God’s gift to the game. They’d rather intimidate and embarrass a fellow official in the hopes of making themselves look good and not do the right thing. They shouldn’t “slap” a fellow official in the face when someone has reached out to them. After all I’m aware of just one person that’s walked on water and he never wore stripes!
There’s a right way to help fellow officials see the forest even though they can’t get around all the trees in front of them. I guess he feels good after a game when he’s made all the right calls but his crew screwed up all night. Sorry but my “Old School” way of making sure every member of my crew is certain of the very rules we’re charged with enforcing has a clear understanding of each and every rule. The “Old School” train of thought is “We get it right as a crew and we get it wrong as a crew”. No member is above any other member; we’re there to make sure neither team gets an advantage by going outside the intent of the rules. It makes for a better game when each member of the crew respects each other. It’s sad and bad for the game when some officials feel contempt for others in the crew.
AND NOW TO THIS WEEK’S VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Coaches
Coaches
Coaches
If you’ve never heard or read a single column of “Hey Ref” then this should be your first! I want to make it very plain now before the 2015 football season begins this year as never before the officials working your Friday night games (and all others) will be concentrating on the elimination of personal fouls and unnecessary late hits.
It’s not just in high school games but every level of play the need for making the game safer is paramount. The National Federation has always taken player safety as the number one goal in any rewriting of their rules. From the opening kickoff our priority will be to curb any hint of excessive aggression and it will not be just against quarterbacks.
High school officials and the L. H. S. A. A. have been meeting for the past six months making sure that when we blow the whistle to start play every one is on the same page. But I can only hope that our coaches understand there will be no grey area when it comes to “targeting” an opposing player.
Last Monday night at our weekly meeting the vast majority of time was spent reviewing films of illegal hits and exactly what the officials are being instructed to do and what we must do when we see it. So not only will teams be walking back fifteen yards but anything that can be ruled as an intentional act to PUNISH an opponent will be met with an immediate ejection.
This means ANYTHING to ANY PLAYER that is meant to punish will be rigorously enforced. So please coaches do everybody a favor and get rid of any player that refuses to abide by these strict guidelines. You’ll be doing your school a huge favor because there will be times this fall where I’ll hear coaches say “Hey Ref; that sure was close”. And I won’t argue with any coach that says that because he’ll be correct.
The buzz word in football these days is TARGETING. Many officials and I do include myself along with them in that we won’t take this targeting thing as a rule change. In our world we’ll let a hold go without calling it (if it doesn’t influence the play or its outcome), we’ll let a guy slide if he’s just inside the neutral zone again influencing the outcome of the play is major when we work a game because the kids aren’t professional players.
But what I won’t let go is anything I feel is a cheap shot no matter if the whistle hasn’t been blown. Yes, I’m well aware that there are coaches out there telling their players to keep going hard until you hear a whistle. Some coaches feel it’s part of the game to play hard and that is a part of the game that’s always been there.
To this very day I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I see a kid not get up. The hit doesn’t have to be a hard one to injure someone so we’re paying very close attention when the time comes for everyone to get up and into their respectable huddles. The hardest thing about working football games is when I’ve got to look at a 16 year old’s parents when they are carried off the field.
Any idea how hard it is to look a parent in the eyes if you didn’t flag someone that took a cheap shot at their son and now he’s being carted off the field? Of course not, you’ve got to be in our collective shoes to feel that disgusting, gut wrenching pain. And I feel too many “fans” forget that these are just 15 to 17 year old kids playing a game that shouldn’t put them in a wheelchair for life.
So, coaches, parents and players help the zebras out; tell your kids to hold up on any shot to your opponent cause it may just be one of yours that doesn’t get to come home right after the final whistle. I’ll close for now because this week there isn’t another issue in “Hey Ref’s” world more important than making crystal clear to all the coaches, players and parents that we’ll be calling TARGETING on those types of plays that you feel are close, borderline and “cheap”. Of course you’ll be correct but you should know by the time we get to the stadium that keeping players as safe as humanly possible is at the forefront of every one of those “hated” refs!
Till next week…
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