June 28, 2018
JACKETS ON THE AIR
Catch DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL in 2018 on FAMILY RADIO 91.9 FM AND ON THE NET AT JON FINE PRODUCTIONS. COM. Josh Ward will call play-by-play with Jon Fine on color commentary for Coach Bill Conides’ team.
PANTHERS ON AIR!
BRUSLY HS FOOTBALL is on the air in 2018. The games will air on KBRS RADIO, 106.9 FM AND ON THE NET AT JON FINE PRODUCTIONS. COM. Lionel Jaguar Franklin will call play-by-play, with Jason Manola providing color commentary for Coach Hoff Schooler’s team.
GET ARRESTED
ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, our EBay store, sells media guides. programs and baseball cards. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs and publications from much of the entire sports world. Over 4,400 publications listed.
YOUR WORLD CHAMPION HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL BROADCASTS: Tune in on SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles.
ON HIATUS
SportsCentral is taking some time off. WE HOPE TO HAVE AN UPDATE FOR YOU SOMETIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE. AS SOON AS THE STATUS OF THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN CLARIFIED TO US, WE’LL PASS IT ON TO YOU.
BATON ROUGE AREA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY: SPORTSCENTRAL: ON HIATUS 5pm—6pm: Central First Facebook Page… … Les Bueche, Sid Edwards, Frank Fresina… ON HIATUS
SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES (AND KEZMONLINE. COM) BROADCASTS
HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL (RADIO ONLY
NOT ONLINE)
WE THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR UTMOST TO PATRONIZE SPONSORS OF OUR PROGRAMMING. THIS HELPS US TREMENDOUSLY IN SUSTAINING OUR WEEKLY LINE-UP AND WILL ASSIST US IN ADDING MORE PROGRAMS IN THE FUTURE. KINDLY MAKE AN EFFORT TO LET SPONSORS KNOW YOU HEARD THEIR BUSINESS MENTIONED ON OUR BROADCAST(S).
9THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
I am trying to think of a way to break down the 2018-19 LSU basketball roster in a way so people who don’t follow college basketball closely can understand. I think I have a good idea, let’s see how it works.
First, I am going to look at each position on LSU’s roster and evaluate the position by determining the value of each player in comparison to the rest of the SEC.
Next year LSU will play Tremont Waters, Ja’vonte Smart, and Skylar Mays at the point guard position. Waters is a player that would start for any team in the SEC. Smart could have chosen to sign with any other team in the SEC and they would have been happy to have him. Mays is very skilled, but would not start for most teams in the SEC. But, he is a junior with two full years of experience who the coaches know they can count on to do the right thing. Overall, LSU is as talented and deep at the point guard position as they have been since the 1980s (maybe ever).
Moving to the wing, the fact is that LSU will probably play most of their minutes with 2 of the 3 players above on the court at the same time. When only one of those players is on the court, LSU returns Daryl Edwards. Like Mays, Edwards would not start for many other SEC teams, but he is a senior that has shown his toughness and ability to make open shots. Brandon Rachal is an athletic player that also would not start for other SEC teams. Nevertheless, he will certainly add depth and toughness after gaining valuable experience last year.
Many of LSU’s players will be versatile, being able to play multiple positions. The next group of players will play small or power forward depending if the coaches choose to play with a big or small lineup. Darius Days and Emmitt Williams are true freshmen that could have signed with any team in the SEC. As true freshman without experience, it is hard to know how many teams they would start for this year or if they will start for LSU. One of the factors that often prevents true freshman from having an early impact is a lack of physicality. Neither of these two are lacking in that area. Wayde Sims will also most certainly see playing time. He is very similar to Skylar Mays in regards to his role.
In this day, it is hard to call anyone a true center. LSU won’t be any different this year as they will have athletic big men that run the floor, but won’t necessarily play with their back to the basket. The players that will help LSU hold their own on the boards and inside this year will be Naz Reid and Kavell Bigby-Williams. Reid is the one that could have signed anywhere in the country and could be the type of player that would start for anyone. Again, he is a true freshman, so you can’t ever know for sure. Bigby-Williams is a senior transfer from Oregon who would most likely be a role player for most other SEC teams.
Both of these players could possibly determine whether LSU will be good or great this year. Simply because there are so few quality big men in college basketball. Teams that have one or two are at a distinct advantage.
There are a few other players that could surprise and contribute next year, but for once that would not be because LSU has a desperate need at a position. If I had to guess, I think Marlon Taylor might be the a name that could make as impact.
To summarize, Waters, Smart, Days, Williams, and Reid are all players that anyone in the league would be ecstatic to have on their team. If four of them weren’t freshman, I might even guess that would be the starting lineup. Waters, Smart, and Reid are almost certainly going to play in the NBA at some point and probably sooner than later.
Days and Williams are great recruits whose NBA future is possible, but probably not as soon as the other three. Rachal, Edwards, Mays, and Sims are tough and have been together for a year in Will Wade’s system. They understand the expectation of the coaching staff and what it takes to win in the SEC. That is nine players that have either already proven themselves in the SEC or are fully expected to perform well. There is a balance of size and outside shooting ability on the roster.
The most exciting aspect of this year’s team is there should not be a game that LSU plays where the coaches will be masking an obvious weakness. Instead, LSU should be able to game plan in a way where LSU is dictating the style of play based on weakness of their opponent.
HEY REF
“What is the primary objective”? A simple question you may ask but the answer is not. You can ask 100 people that question and get 100 different answers. As we begin getting ready for the new high school football season it’s as if the primary objective has all but been forgotten. As in being an official you’ve got one very important thing you must accomplish each and every week. Simply put your only job is to insure neither team goes outside the intent of the rules to gain an advantage.
A very simple answer but the job is far from being easy. I think, well I know, the LHSAA has spent too many hours and too much attention has been given to making each and every official look alike. They’ve wasted too much time insuring their officials all wear the same shirt, the same shoes, the same hat and on and on. This fairytale thinking that if the officials all look pretty and look just like NCAA and NFL officials then the product on the field has to be good.
I was very fortunate when I started my career back in 1979. By that I mean my instructors took pride in getting every official in our association to be the very best they could be. I’ll never forget that first varsity game I was assigned. After our crew had its pregame conference I walked around the entire field to insure everything was ready for the teams to begin warming up. But it’s what happened after I reported to my referee that the field was legally marked and clear of any hazards that to this day sticks with me.
He called me over to the home sideline and asked me what I was doing in his crew. I was so nervous, I had butterflies the size of bowling balls and not wanting to answer the question incorrectly I answered “I’m your linejudge tonight and I’ll be on the home team’s sideline”. Well that was the WRONG ANSWER! As I’m sitting here and recalling that night it’s as though it just happened today. The correct answer he was expecting to hear is something that’s lost on today’s football officials in Louisiana.
So what was the correct answer he was expecting to hear? He calmly shook his head and told me “Son, you’re here tonight to WORK THIS GAME FROM THE FIRST WHISTLE AND UNTIL THERE’S NO TIME ON THE CLOCK”. At halftime he explained that nobody in his crew is ever on the field to CALL A GAME. We are hired to WORK the game; it’s our jobs to work this game and to we will WORK this game.
I know POTA-TOE, PA-TADO… But what he wanted to burn into my head is that we as game officials are here to WORK. I’ve never forgotten that question. I do feel that the vast majority of today’s officials are out there to do one thing; COLLECT A CHECK! As a retired union member most of the officials I know couldn’t understand why I was against the pay raise officials got after they threatened to strike if they didn’t get one.
Unions are needed but they don’t belong in any way shape or form when the subject is working high school sporting events. High school contests are like an apprenticeship for learning the art of working as a crew. We are not professionals by any stretch of the imagination.
I hope high school officials will be able to grasp the concept that in order to advance up the ladder and maybe get a shot at an NCAA or NFL job offer you must have the mindset first and above everything else being an official means you’re on the field to WORK!
Till next week… …
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com. BRUSLY HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON KBRS, 106.9 FM and JonFineProductions.com.
OUR EBAY STORE, ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-LAKE CHARLES
AND WORKS AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSCENTRAL ON THE CENTRAL NOW FACEBOOK PAGE.