August 1, 2019
LSU’S $28 MILLION DOLLAR TRAVESTY
THESE ARE DENNIS DEARIE’S WORDS. PLEASE SEE HIS HEY REF COLUMN BELOW.
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL ON RADIO!!
Denham Springs HS Football Radio Broadcasts return to the airwaves for the 24th year as a Jon Fine Production in 2019. Josh Ward calls the play-by-play, Andy Duckworth provides color commentator and yours truly, Jon Fine, will contribute to the pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. The broadcasts can be heard 6pm Friday nights, on Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge and on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com… The first broadcast will be Friday, September 6, when Denham Springs plays host to Hahnville HS.
LSU, SAINTS AND MUCH MORE
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HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
False narratives drive me crazy.
The Saints offense was on a record breaking pace for the first two thirds of the year last year. The offense slowed down, but the Saints were still in position and robbed of a Super Bowl. Yet, the false narratives persist.
I remember three years ago Drew Brees missed on some deep balls and people were saying he was done. Now, the talk is about one underthrown pass to Ted Ginn in a playoff game and this could be the end of the road. Never mind, that the rest of that game and in the next playoff game against the Rams, Brees played well.
All these false narratives, ignore the fact that at one point Brees was putting up crazy numbers with free agent receivers, Kamara, and Thomas.
The facts about the last third of the season make the conclusions obvious. The offensive line started to fall apart. Ted Ginn was hurt for a long time and that was a major blow to the offense. Finally, the offense never had a tight end to threaten the middle of the field and keep the defense honest. Despite these issues, the Saints should have been in the Super Bowl.
The questions that people should be asking right now are whether the flaws in the offense have been remedied. If Ginn stays healthy, the deep threat will be there. But, developing another big play option would be a boost. Tre’Quan Smith was drafted to be that player, and I will be watching him closely in the preseason.
Many are cautiously optimistic about Jared Cook at tight end, but I have no idea why people are being cautious. Let’s get excited! Jared Cook is a big tight end with a huge catch radius and an ability to run after the catch. In the Saints offense with Thomas and Ginn on the outside and Kamara underneath, Cook working behind linebackers is a huge piece that has been missing. Throw in Taysom Hill and this offense should be better than last year, and all the talk about the offense slowing down at the end of the year is just talk.
In case you missed it, Paul Mainieri gave his state of the program press conference after all the dust has settled from the MLB draft and the roster is mostly in place. As always, Mainieri gave many strong statements.
He could have said very little about hiring Eddie Smith as the hitting coach. Instead he said, “I thought we needed someone with a game plan on how to develop hitters.” No reading between the lines necessary there.
He also said he thought naming starters too early at certain positions led to complacency. That statement, once again, explains why he started Marceaux in the first game of the regional. Mainieri said then that he wanted to send a message to the team that they had to take the first game against Stony Brook seriously.
As always, with baseball there are many decisions that can be questioned and debated, and perfect rosters don’t exist. But, I appreciate that problems from the previous season have been evaluated and there is a plan in place to address those issues.
HEY REF
Where and when will it end? Big headlines coming out of New Orleans boasts the Saints have just made wide receiver Michael Thomas the highest paid receiver in the NFL. So far we know the deal is worth $100 million, $19.25 a year, to be paid over 5 years. Thomas’ deal calls for $61 million to be guaranteed. Those players with one year or two years left on their current deals are ecstatic simply because it means the $100 million plateau has been reached. It also gives agents a starting point for future contracts. Players are flooding the internet with congrats to Thomas because next year they know the $100 million contract is something they’ll all take part in.
Two of the happiest players are of course Atlanta’s Julio Jones and Dallas’ Amari Cooper. Jones is rumored to have said he’s so happy for Thomas since it’ll be that $100 million number for a starting point to begin contract negotiations. But hold your horses for a minute; Dallas VP Stephen Jones has been quoted saying the Cowboys can’t afford huge deals to keep Cooper, Ezekiel Elliot and Dak Prescott. He continued “We can’t push the issue unless we want to be a market-setter. And we’re damn sure not going to be a market-setter”.
Only time will tell if Dallas does in fact blink and empty its vault trying to keep the super three. The Cowboys have been trying to seal a deal since May with Elliott, Cooper and Prescott that keeps all three in the lone star state but as fate would have it they’ve hit a stalemate in those negotiations. Or a better way of putting it would just simply admit the players and their agents were waiting to see how much it took New Orleans to keep Michael Thomas. Since training camp opened Prescott has refused to talk about any further contract negotiations.
One big issue the Cowboys are finding hard to live with is Elliott’s so called solo training camp in Cabo San Lucas as he holds out for a new contract BEFORE he’ll report. Not sure if I’m the only one that’s very tired of this stuff going on every year. But we all know these players are thought of as gods in today’s America. So NFL fans enjoy what you’ve made. It’s the fans that buy the tickets, jerseys, hats and sacrifice everything else that are going to have to shoulder a lot of the cost and credit for the money being paid in these contracts.
The NFL is trying to find new ways to grow profits and recent ideas being shopped by Commissioner Goodell to add two games during the regular season while cutting out all but two preseason games has hit a major snag with the player’s union. They balk at this idea since it increases the possibility of injury that’ll end their playing days. But the commissioner went on to explain that the league would only require players to compete in 16 games giving coaches the ability to hold players out of some games in a way to reduce those perceived chances of injury.
It’s not only the NFL but all three of the major professional leagues that have to find new ways of separating fans from their money so they can still live in ivory towers and live as though they’re kings. The sad truth is these leagues and their fans have hit the ‘ole preverbal wall. As the saying goes you can’t get blood from a turnip but as long as fans continue to fill the stadiums and TV networks dump billions of dollars into the bank accounts of the owners nothing will change. So, enjoy sacrificing everything you work for to these multi-million dollar players.
I’ll end this week’s column by asking all you fans of professional sports; who has to eat three meals a day? Why do children need new shoes? So what if your spouse needs surgery! Do you really expect to have running water and indoor plumbing year around? If you tighten up your budget then you’ll only need electricity during the season. It would do everybody good to start riding a bicycle to and fro work. That is of course if you can stay employed before your job goes overseas to places like China and Vietnam.
Till next week…
That is if you can still afford internet services…
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