July 19, 2018
BRUSLY BACK IN BUSINESS
We will be producing Brusly HS Football radio broadcasts in 2018 on KBRS, 106.9 FM.
Sorry about some confusion caused by our last newsletter
Lionel Franklin will be calling play-by-play, with Jason Manola on color commentary for Coach Hoff Schooler’s team.
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. This is our 23rd year announcing Denham Springs Football. Josh Ward will call play-by-play with Jon Fine on color commentary for Coach Bill Conides’ team.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Auburn had a great year last year. Didn’t they? Everyone remembers how they beat Georgia and Alabama in the regular season. That’s great. But, the Tigers also lost at Clemson, LSU, and in Atlanta to Georgia and Central Florida.
I admit those are four good teams, and all away from home. Still, Auburn lost those games, and this year’s schedule is possibly more challenging. Remember, the Georgia and Alabama wins were at home.
This year Auburn opens at home with Washington who is a top 5 team. That should be a 50/50 game. Keep in mind, Coach Malzahan’s teams are usually much better at the end of the regular season than the beginning.
Auburn hosts LSU this year, but LSU is not considered one of the top three teams on Auburn’s SEC schedule. Mississippi State, Alabama, and Georgia would be considered the top 3 teams in the SEC and all three of those games are on the road for the War Eagles.
Predicting the outcome for this year’s Auburn team based off last year is dumb. That is not my intention. Instead, I am making the observation that Auburn could have a very good team. Still, they will have to find a way to win at State, UGA, or Bama to avoid a three loss SEC season. Furthermore, if they lose those three games, they will have to beat a top 5 team in Washington to avoid a four loss year. Keep in mind, almost every preseason ranking has Auburn in the top 10. I am not a betting man, but I suspect Auburn will not have a top ten team at the end of the year.
How about Georgia? They certainly had a fabulous year last year. Right? I guess we should disregard the fact that they played in the SEC East that lacked a top 25 team (or even close). They beat Mississippi State soundly at home, but got routed at Auburn. Their one point win at Notre Dame was supposed to be a great win, but ask any LSU fan and losing to Notre Dame last year in the last minute was an utter embarrassment. So can Georgia count that as a great win?
Clearly, Georgia proved their worth in the postseason. Beating Auburn and Oklahoma while coming up a play short against Alabama proves they were an excellent team....by the time the year was over.
Before I get to my point, I would be very comfortable predicting Georgia to win 10 games at least. The SEC East is still very weak, and the Bulldogs non conference schedule is just as weak. Georgia could struggle this year, lose to Auburn at home and LSU on the road, and still win ten games. But, that is not my main point.
My main message is that Auburn and Georgia are remembered as very good and great teams respectively from 2017 because of how they played at the end of the year. Both teams improved over the course of the year. Yet, when we look at the upcoming season we all concentrate on how good a team is going to be in September, and for good reason.
Trying to predict the quality of a team based on who is returning and guessing which players develop over the summer is very inexact. Trying to predict how good a team will be after sustaining injuries and guessing how the leadership of the team will sustain through the trials and tribulations of a season are anyone’s guess.
On the professional level the Saints were expected to be 7-9 (or worse) again last year and were well on their way after the first four weeks. Now, because of how they developed and finished, everyone has them in the playoffs this year. I think the Saints have a very good team, but trust me, there will only be about 10 plays difference between the Saints making the playoffs and not this year. That’s how it goes in football. Especially in college, where there are a small number of games and of those games, only a few are really close.
HEY REF
This week I’ll be attempting to reach out to all my fellow football officials. Readers of this column are very much aware that this official has never and will never try to pass himself off as a “know it all”. After 20 plus seasons I’m the first to admit that I’m still learning. If ever an official admits there isn’t much for him to learn as he walks onto a football field and that there’s no chance not even a scant chance he’ll absorb one small tidbit of knowledge then it’s past time and by all means he should quit right then and there. Throw your whistle and flag away and retire without look backing. I’m very much “old school” and 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 few games of each and every new season that sets the tune for the rest of your season. Getting back in to the “groove” is paramount not only to each official but it’s the one thing you’ve got to master before walking onto the field for that first kickoff of the new season. Long before teams start playing “for keeps” all the officials have been meeting to discuss “What’s New” and the anxiety level is beyond “MAX”. I find myself in just such a situation since I’ve decided to get back onto the sidelines this year after a three year semi-retirement.
I want to share with all my fellow officials an experience I had many years ago; in the very first years we used the phrase “brain fart” when a rule stumped us no matter how long we looked, searched and studied. I’ve 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 terminalsince 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 went on and told him I knew there was a simple answer to my question. I just knew he’d help me and the answer to this situation 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 of course 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 the season. As officials we don’t allow any member of our crew to suffer a “brain-fart” during any game. I’ll just simply file his answer away and if I get a game with him then he’d better be at the pinnacle of his book sense because if he suffers the slightest hick-up I’ll remind him of that high a pedestal you’ve put yourself on and it’s a hard fall from that altitude.
Once again I’ll do my best to insure every member of my crew is ready for that night’s contest. My “old school” upbringing taught me that the crew is one and one is the crew. The only way I know how to explain the “old school” method is simply “We get our calls correct as one and when there’s a screw up, it’s on every member of that crew that 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!!
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’ve always wondered if this certain referee feels good after a game since he’s made all the right calls but it was his crew that screwed up? 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. When in doubt fellow crewmates keep reminding yourselves that “old school” train of thought: “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.
Each year it seems the people charged with writing high school rules, The National Federation, seem to focus on one thing but let me remind all coaches, players and fans eliminating all dirty play and personal fouls will be met with a sea of yellow as in fifteen yards and a possible ejected player, coach and even both. With that out of the way let me remind all 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 2018 football season begins that 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.
Officials and the L. H. S. A. A. want everyone involved with Friday night football in the state of Louisiana that when the whistle is blown 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.
Any play or the actions of any player that is meant to punish an opponent will be means for not only the fifteen yard penalty but also the ejection of said player(s). Personal foul penalties 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 among them don’t consider targeting 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 we won’t let go is anything we 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 its 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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