January 12, 2018
DAY LATE, SEVERAL DOLLARS SHORT
Sorry about our being a day delayed with this newsletter.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
The Saints won! Of course you knew that already, but I mean it in every sense of the word.
The Saints didn’t win the game because the Panthers made mistakes. Before you say it, the missed short field goal was made up for with a 58 yard field goal that would have been good from 65 yards.
The Saints didn’t win because the Panthers were missing their best players to injury.
Despite Panthers objections, the Saints did not win because of help from the officials.
Finally, the Saints did not win because they are more talented than the Panthers. In fact, I think the teams are about even in talent.
The Saints won the game first and foremost because we have Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, and Cam Jordan and they played great. I think that was the best game Brees has played all year. We knew at some point this year teams would do everything to take away the run, and Brees would have to be Brees. The Saints were going to have to score to beat Carolina and the bomb to Ginn was vital to winning the game. As for Thomas, he was magnificent. All three of those players are top 5 players at their position in the league.
Second, the Saints won because Coleman and Hill played their best games on the year. Hill’s catch down the middle was a component this offense has been lacking since Ben Watson left. Coleman still fumbled once, but his presence over the middle after play action was vital. Because of those two, the Brees was able to distribute the ball better than it has all year. Often in games like this, teams need unsung heroes and the Saints had two on Sunday.
The third reason is the Saints have a fabulous offensive line that has possibly withstood more injuries than any offensive line that made it past the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
The fourth reason is the coaching staff. This is the part that gets overlooked because many people thought the Saints were the favorite. I still don’t see it. The Saints played great and still had to hang on to win at the end at home.
Payton found ways to spread the ball around against a great defense. The first two series looked like the offense was going to be lucky to score 21, as I expected. Then they scored 31 without the benefit of turnovers or field position. Credit the coaches.
On defense, Dennis Allen was able to get the defense to come up with the big stops. The first half was bend but don’t break. The last drive, he had the right blitz at the right time.
Can the Saints do it again? Can they beat the team that left me and other Saints fans crushed in our first playoff experience? You show your age if you immediately thought of Hassan Jones, Keith Millard, and Chris Doleman when you started thinking about playing the Vikings in the playoffs.
I don’t think the Saints have a talent advantage and they certainly don’t have the home field advantage. But, they do have the experience of already playing at Minnesota this year so will know the environment. Trust me, that makes a difference and cuts slightly into the home field advantage.
The Vikings have the huge advantage of not playing last weekend. But, when you win in the fashion the Saints did, and the Vikings don’t have a ton of playoff experience, that can also neutralize some of the advantage of the bye.
Finally, the Saints have Drew Brees. Of course, Brees will be facing the top defense in the NFL. Meanwhile, Case Keenum will be facing the Saints defense which is clearly middle of the road. But this is the playoffs, and Bortles, Mariota, Taylor, and Goff didn’t fare so well in their first playoff starts. Perhaps the Saints defense can play well enough to continue that trend.
The Saints obviously started the year very slowly. From week 3 until the Buffalo game, the Saints got better each week. The rest of the season, the team was up and down. I like what I saw last week. It is hard to improve this late in the season. But if the Saints can find a way to play just a little bit better this week than last week, this week will come down to the last minutes. This time of the year, that is all you can ask.
HEY REF
Is there any sanity left at LSU? Here’s a school that continues to raise tuition while it begs for more funding to pay its professors and perform routine maintenance on its buildings but it has the ability to increase the money it will pay in salary to its football coaches just tells me the university isn’t playing with a full deck. I would love to have been a fly on the wall on the wall when talks began on increasing the salary ofdefensive coordinator Dave Aranda.
In 2017 his base salary was a paltry $1.8 million and those in the know were rattled when rumors of his interest in another SEC school, Texas A& M, sent them scrambling hoping to keep him in purple and gold. Well they gave him a slight increase to $2.5 million a year for 4 years or a cool $10 million. But on the other side of the ball offensive coordinator Matt Canada was allowed to walk away (at a cost to LSU) from his $1.5 million a year contract simply because he couldn’t get along with coach “O”.
Here’s a funny little fact; the SEC leads the nation in terms of how much it pays its assistant football coaches. The SEC has nine assistant coaches making over $1 million. The Big 12 and Pac 12 have only ONE seven figure assistant coach while the Big 10 has three.
Money doesn’t guarantee success as just three schools with a million dollar coordinator made it to a New Year’s bowl game and just one of those schools (Clemson) won their conference. Here’s something to think about; four schools that employed million dollar coordinators were on the staffs where the head coach was given his walking papers. The fact is money can’t buy you love or a winning football program but it seems LSU is trying its best to continue throwing money at coaches hoping a miracle will happen.
Then I heard on the 6 o’clock news that LSU will promote former Tiger QB Steve Ensminger as its new offensive coordinator. No mention of his new position or salary was divulged as we wait for the news conference on Thursday morning. LSU has sort of backed its way into a corner if they don’t offer Ensminger a salary close to what former offensive coordinator Matt Canada was making. I mean it’ll just be the right thing to do. If they don’t then by all means this will just be a band aide approach to filling a position until someone better comes along.
For as long as I’ve written this column I’ve never wavered my position and I believe the NCAA should pay its employees (players). When states as bankrupt as Louisiana is just sit by and watch this circus going on at LSU you’ve got to wonder where our priorities lay. We’ve still got thousands of families that remain homeless (my family is one) from the Aug. 2016 flood yet there seems to be no hesitation in giving out millions of dollars to coaches, LSU, teams New Orleans all the while our state is broke.
I don’t need an economics class or lesson to prove that the Athletic boosters and programs generate millions. I acknowledge that fact. My position is this; students and their education comes first above all else. If not then we shouldn’t refer to those players as student-athletes and instead call them athletic students.
And while I’m at it I’d just like to also remind those that my position on new students-athletes is every one of them should be “RED-SHIRTED”! Just as you build a home or a building a firm foundation is the most important thing to start with. These freshmen coming in have probably never been away from home. They come into these big schools and are awed at first. So why shouldn’t they spend a year getting used to life at college, have a year under their belts dealing with the responsibilities of collegiate life. Plus they’ll have a year strengthening their bodies and getting ready for a huge step up in the competition.
Things are turned upside down and the pressure to win comes at a higher price each year. I guess I’m “old” school in my thinking that colleges should be there to educate our kids and get them ready for life. If you don’t agree with me, I understand. Wining is the only thing in your life!
Till next week.
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