September 5, 2019
YEAR 24 OF DSHS FOOTBALL
Tomorrow night, Friday, September 6, marks the return of Denham Springs HS Football Radio Broadcasts as a Jon Fine Production
Josh Ward (pbp) and Andy Duckworth (color) will provide the call. I’ll be contributing to the pre-game, halftime and postgame shows
Broadcast time is 6pm with Sport N Center Yellow Jackets Warm-Up. The broadcast can be heard on Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge and on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com
A very special thank you to the Denham Springs HS Football Broadcast sponsors. You’re the best!
Please see extensive press release down below for more information.
2019 YELLOW JACKETS SCHEDULE:
Broadcasts on Family Radio, 91.9 FM and JonFineProductions.com start at 6pm with Sport-N-Center Jackets Warmup
SEPTEMBER 6 HAHNVILLE
SEPTEMBER 13 AT PONCHATOULA
SEPTEMBER 20 ST AMANT
SEPTEMBER 27 ASSUMPTION
OCTOBER 4 WESTGATE
OCTOBER 11 AT CENTRAL
OCTOBER 18 ZACHARY
OCTOBER 25 LIVE OAK
NOVEMBER 1 AT WALKER
NOVEMBER 8 AT SCOTLANDVILLE
PLAYOFFS TO BE DETERMINED
INTERVIEWS ON YELLOW JACKETS FOOTBALL BROADCAST
Sport N Center Jackets Warmup on Friday night will include an interview with new Denham Springs Athletic Association President Laura Dunlap
The North Oaks Health Systems Half-Time Report will feature an interview with new Denham Springs HS Principal Wes Howard… The 1972 Denham Springs HS Football team that advanced to the State Championship Game (vs Hahnville) will be honored at halftime of the game. We’ll have info on that during the broadcast
SULPHUR HS FOOTBALL REGULAR SEASON OPENING NIGHT IS TONIGHT!!
The First regular season broadcast for year 34 of Sulphur HS Football Radio Broadcasts will be tonight as SportsRadio-1310AM-KEZM airs tonight’s matchup at Sulphur between Sulphur HS and Lake Charles Prep. The broadcast starts at 5:45pm. T This year’s broadcasts can also be heard on the net, once again, at KEZMOnLine.com
Station owner Bruce Merchant is the play by play voice of the Tors
Bruce will be joined by Patrick Frey on color commentary. This marks the first year that yours truly, Jon Fine, has made a concerted effort to serve as a marketing representative for Sulphur HS Football on SporsRadio-1310AM—KEZM.
I’d like to thank the Sulphur Business community for stepping up to the plate and sponsoring these broadcasts.
2019 SULPHUR HS FOOTBALL BROADCAST SCHEDULE
AIR TIME: 6:45 PM ON SPORTSRADIO-1310AM—KEZM-SULPHUR/LAKE CHARLES AND ON THE INTERNET AT KEZMONLINE. COM
9/5 (THURSDAY NIGHT
TONIGHT!) LAKE CHARLES PREP
9/13 at Notre Dame
9/20 LAGRANGE
9/27 ACADIANA
10/4 at Lafayette
10/11 SOUTHSIDE
10/18 at Comeaux
10/25 BARBE
11/1 at New Iberia
11/8 at Sam Houston
LSU, SAINTS AND MUCH MORE
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HOUSTON ASTROS BASEBALL
Catch Houston Astros Baseball on SportsRadio-1310-KEZM-Lake Charles.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
There was nothing more to see. Finally, an LSU football game against an inferior opponent where I wasn’t left wondering why we didn’t see more.
We saw all the skill players. And why not? They are all capable and talented, so get them all quality game action. We saw the backup quarterback run the actual offense. Brilliant, since it might be necessary to win with the backup quarterback this year or next year should he become the starter.
We saw backup defensive linemen when the game was in doubt. Keeping players fresh and developing depth is good.
We saw LSU take care of the ball and avoid the sloppiness that was prevalent all over college football in week one. Sloppiness and poor execution were hard to watch in game after game across the country.
The SEC’s poor performances are a hot topic of conversation this week, but it should not be surprising. At some point, experience matters. Not enough credit has been given to how amazing the SEC was last year. The defensive lines were ridiculous. It seemed like everyone was returning 8 or more starters on offense and defense.
In the SEC’s defense, though, those who are coming after the league need to have more than, “The bottom of the SEC isn’t very good.” Who is good? The Pac 12? Ha. The ACC with FSU and the U goin down? The Big Ten? Northwestern looked bad at Stanford, Purdue lost at Nevada, and Nebraska barely won. The Big However Many with Iowa State needed double overtime? Maybe this is the year that the top of each conference is really god and the middle to bottom of Power 5 leagues are down. If so, this will be the year of the mid majors.
Those are reasons why LSU deserves even more credit for their nine regular season wins last year. LSU was the team that had new players throughout the lineup, and a quarterback that had only been on campus since late July. Meanwhile, LSU never looked as disorganized and clueless as many of the other SEC teams did this weekend.
As for Saturday, I really appreciated that LSU dominated without having to dominate the line of scrimmage and without having to come up with the perfect play call.
There were times Georgia Southern had a player in a position to make a play and the more talented player for LSU made the Georgia Southern player miss the tackle. It is not a strategy that always works, which is why you still have to be physical and run right at defenses. But it is a strategy that often works, especially when you have great skill players, and Tiger fans have been waiting to see in full effect for years.
Most Tiger fans and media are now trying to figure out if the LSU offensive line will be able to be as effective at Texas this Saturday. I am curious too, but I know for sure that little things will be done to make life easier.
When appropriate, LSU will use tempo to attack a tiring defense. It is much easier to pass block a tired pass rusher or run block a tired run stuffer.
If Texas is able to get some pressure, LSU has a screen game to make the Horns think twice about getting upfield. Or if Texas doesn’t think twice, they could get burned.
Finally, Texas has to defend five receivers and different runners who all have the potential of making a play.
Of course, LSU’s defense will have to counter the same offensive strategies from Texas. Tom Herman has had all these bags of tricks for years. The same tricks that allowed his offense to make Georgia look bad in the Sugar Bowl last year.
For LSU to slow down the Longhorns, the Tigers will have to be strong in the middle. That is where Texas has experience at center and where Ehlinger likes to run. Sam Ehlinger is a shifty runner with a great body lean that makes plays out of nothing. If LSU can be great between the tackles, the game will be played to LSU’s strength.
LSU’s defense has the talent to make tackles in space. That is where I feel the most confident because Jacoby Stevens, Grant Delpit, the other defensive backs and linebackers are typically great at tackling in space.
The only question I have on defense is what Aranda will do on the opposite side of Chaisson. I am sure Delpit and Stevens will be used in pressure looks. Aranda has said many times that he wants the best 11 on the field. If that is true, then Damone Clark needs to be on the field with Michael Divinity.
I know I was on board this summer with Divinity moving to his natural position of inside linebacker. But, Clark and Divinity are more impactful than the outside linebackers opposite Chaisson, and therefore hard to keep off the field.
Hopefully, LSU handles the environment at Texas and plays its best. Because LSU has the more experienced and more talented team.
Looking to the Saints, the roster is in place. Even though the roster has undergone significant changes, it is hard to see much of a difference between this year’s team and last year’s team.
Obviously, the Saints are the same at quarterback. I am confident that exchanging Ingram for Murray is a wash. Taysom Hill’s impact all over the field is the x-factor that puts this offense over the top and makes up for being thin at receiver.
Speaking of the receivers, the Saints are better because of Jared Cook. The actual wide receivers are the same, but Smith, Kirkwood, and Carr should be more productive by being a year more experienced. Meanwhile, Harris should be a slight improvement over TommyLee, especially in the return game.
Most observers were concerned when Ungar retired, but the Saints have addressed that to where it is not a concern. Backup tackle is definitely a concern, though. We know Andrus Peat is the first option, but it is a huge dropoff at guard and tackle when he moves out to tackle.
The biggest question on the whole team is defensive line. Edwards and Brown are new, and Davenport doesn’t look to be as good as Okafor. When will Rankins return and will he be able to regain his form from last year and stay healthy? I think there is good depth along the defensive line, but as of now, I can’t say the Saints are as good as they were at the beginning of last year. Optimistically, I believe the potential of this group to develop by the end of the year is greater than last year.
There isn’t much change at linebacker. The acquisition of Alonso improves the depth from last year since Teo didn’t really play. The main difference is that we should all be aware that Davis is the best middle linebacker the Saints have had since Vilma. We didn’t know that last year.
The secondary is hopefully better, but after the last 4-5 years, who knows? Lattimore should have his best year in year three. Apple should be solid with his experience and ability. Bell should be better than Coleman. Williams should have his best year in year three. PJ Williams and Patrick Robinson are the same players we had last year playing nickelback. Meanwhile, Gardner-Johnson and Hampton are potentially impactful players at safety or special teams. Therefore, I think the depth at safety is a little better, even though less experienced.
The specialists and the coaches are the same, so there is every reason to be extremely excited about the start of the season. If you are wondering about the Saints fan side of me and what gives me pause, it is the same thing as always. When the other team has the chance to score as many or more points than the Saints, and the game has not been declared to be over (and all replays have yet to be conducted to conclude this fact) how can the Saints blow it? Somehow, 10 years ago, the Saints were able to forget who they are and not crumble in historic ways. The last two years, we have all been reminded.
It has now been long enough that I can acknowledge that despite the worst no call in the history of the NFL, a normal NFL team (not the Saints) could have stopped the Rams and won the game. The Eagles stopped Tom Brady the year before in the Super Bowl. It does happen.
Up until last Saturday, many LSU fans didn’t realize that is possible to get great players in space to make plays. It appears that will happen in 2019. If the Saints could realize that the other team doesn’t have to score when they have the ball at the end of the game, we could have a great football season in south Louisiana.
Of course, even if we do get that special season, that doesn’t mean you should expect the Saints to play well and beat the Texans on Monday night. That would require the Saints to figure out how to start the year ready to play, and that too was only realized in 2009 and hardly ever since.
HEY REF
And the insanity that is professional football as in the National Football League continues rolling along we must again make a stop in Dallas. I was surprised it took this long for Jerry Jones to finally pay the ransom being demanded by who else but Ezekiel Elliott. Let’s just look at the numbers being reported by every national wire service and the TV Networks that’ll wind up paying most if not all of this ridiculous contract.
What we know is Elliott’s damage will come in a six year extension valued at $90 MILLION DOLLARS! It also pays him a guaranteed $50 MILLION DOLLARS even if he never plays a single down or puts on a Cowboy uniform. I thought Jerry had learned his lesson with “guaranteed contracts” after the last time the circus stopped in Big D! Somehow when they said “bring in the clowns” I never would’ve thought they were talking about Jerry. He just knew he had the guy that would take the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl for the next decade in quarterback Tony Romo.
That contract Romo signed was for something in the neighborhood of $120 million. Romo also had GUARANTEED payments the Cowboys’ organization would be on the hook for and it was close to some $60 million. But after all the lawyers and legal stuff was actually signed and notarized Romo walked away from Jerry Land with just $53,830,000.00. Not bad for an undrafted free-agent that went on to lose his job after just two years. So, that’s why I thought Jerry had surely learned a lesson or two after that deal bit him on the Bee-Hind.
Buy Jerry has a very large ego and no organization was going to have the highest paid player if he had anything to say about it. So after New Orleans had their $100 million dollar man Jerry went to work in making sure the highest paid player in the league had a blue start on his helmet. I guess Jerry feels he’s getting a bargain when he pays Elliott the sum of around $15 million a year. If he stays healthy, which he won’t, Elliott will rake in about a million per game. That’s a poor man’s salary since he’ll only earn $250,000.00 per 15 minute quarter.
But when I wrote that the TV networks will be paying most of this $90 million I need to correct myself since we all know it’s the fans that buy the tickets, jerseys, shoes and other souvenirs that will bear most of the cost. But it’s also those of us that have been unable to afford a live NFL game experience that’s also on the hook for these insane dollars being pumped at an alarming rate to a select few. Simply put the networks will charge even higher prices for commercials which just means the cost of items sold to all of us have to be raised to pay these higher costs.
But after I’ve said all that I must also call it like I see it when for the most part modern day professional athletes are some of the biggest hypocrites in the world. I know, I can hear many of you asking “Hey Ref, how can you say that”? It’s very simple because the vast majority of the professional players in the NFL and the NBA don’t give a RAT’S BEE-HIND for anyone except themselves.
For years I’ve tried to get these spoiled little kids to do something more meaningful than a weekend camp where all the kids come and play for a day or two. Then they’re given a T-shirt, some pictures and maybe an autograph thrown in and sent on their way. The players get good press and a phony “you’re doing something wonderful for the community” with a gleaming smile and a pat on the back. But this falsehood comes with empty hope for the very people that are doing much of the suffering back in ‘Da Hood. So, I’ll just wait and see what happens with my latest attempt to get something that’s real for these kids.
Let’s switch gears now because I want to touch on a something that just doesn’t seem to go away. I want to call attention to page 5C of the Sunday Sept. 1, 2019 Advocate sport’s section. At the top of the page is a picture taken by Kirk Meche of the Lake Charles American Press titled “BRINGING HEAT”. It shows a hit being made by Southern linebacker Benjamin Harris during Saturday’s game against McNeese. You shouldn’t have to look very close to see what’s wrong.
If Mr. Kirk Meche knew anything of the rules we now play under his picture should be titled “Doing it all WRONG”! Year after year coaches and officials are taught that players can’t use their helmets as a weapon. I’m not sure of the number but nationwide there have been several players injured and some even paralyzed by lowering their heads when they deliver a hit. This picture should be in every locker room on every campus and at every level of play.
In this sue happy country officials are having to carry million dollar insurance policies because if we don’t flag this type of hit each and every time and a player is injured then the first thing that happens is we’re getting notices to appear in court to answer charges. Families want to put the blame on somebody so why not start with the guys in charge of the game. Not the coaches who continue allowing these types of hits by his players but the Zebras that are paid to stop it from happening. So, I’ll say it one more time, players and coaches do everything in your power to stop this from happening in your games so we won’t have to see another player living the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Till next week… …
PRESS RELEASE
DENHAM SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IS BACK ON THE AIR!
The 2019 school year marks the 24th season that Jon Fine (Sports) Productions will have the privilege of producing and calling play-by-play for Denham Springs HS Football radio broadcasts. In 2019, the broadcast slate will include all 10 regular season Denham games, and every playoff game. Broadcasts will air on Family Radio-91.9 FM-Baton Rouge, starting at 6:00 pm Friday nights. All broadcasts can also be heard on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com (click Listen Live on the Denham Springs Football PBP page). The first broadcast is Friday, September 6, as the Jackets play host to Hahnville High School.
Denham Springs HS grad Josh Ward will be the play-by-play announcer of the Jackets. He will be joined by Andy Duckworth as the color commentator. Jon Fine will handle half-time interviews.
“Sport N Center Jackets Warm-Up” will feature an interview with Jackets Football Coach Bill Conides conducted by Josh Ward. Jon Fine will speak with a prominent Denham Springs community and/or sports figure. Randy Smith’s popular retrospective, “Yellow Jackets Memories”, will air on selective pre-game shows this year. Josh Ward and Andy Duckworth will also offer a preview of that night’s game and other pertinent information.
The “North Oaks Health System Half-Time Report” will include Fine interviewing another Denham Springs personality. In addition, Ward and Duckworth will provide a recap of the first half and a look ahead at the second half of action.
During the “Ralph Sellers Chevrolet Post-Game Show”, there will be an extensive game recap, final stats and a look ahead.
When Denham Springs picks up a first down, they’ll achieve a “Buddy’s Bar BQ First Down”. When the Jackets advance inside the opponent’s 20 yard line, they’ll be in the “Ollie’s Car Wash Red Zone”. When the Jackets score, you’ll get the particulars on the “Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill Jackets Scoring Drive”.
Sport-N-Center owner Stacy Phipps (Baseball) and Big Mike O’Neal (Football) were all athletes at Denham Springs HS. Ward was an assistant basketball coach with the Jackets.
Ralph Sellers Chevrolet Parts Manager Jim McChristian says he was an athlete at Denham Springs HS, but we have had a difficult time verifying this claim! LOL
Fine expressed that he is especially appreciative of the loyal commercial and name mention sponsors the broadcasts have had on Jon Fine Sports Productions’ Denham Springs HS play-by-play broadcasts throughout the years. Many have been with the broadcasts on a year-in, year-out basis. Fine expressed hope that listeners will have the opportunity to patronize these businesses and let them know they heard about them on DSHS Football radio broadcasts.
Josh Ward not only graduated from Denham Springs HS, but served as an assistant basketball coach under Coach Paul Smith. He has called Redemptorist HS and Central HS Football games for Jon Fine Productions in years’ past. He is presently the Traffic Manager at Guaranty Broadcasting. Ward is a native of Denham Springs and is single.
Andy Duckworth grew up in Mississippi, played high school football, basketball and baseball and was a 4 year baseball letterman at Belhaven. He is a former radio station manager and sports-talk host in Mississippi. In this capacity, he hosted a sports talk show and did play-by-play for Mississippi College Athletics and Madison Central HS. He presently works as a financial advisor.
Jon Fine co-hosted and produced daily 2 hour drive-time radio sports-talk programs in the Greater Baton Rouge area for close to 20 years. His programs (first SportsTalk, which changed its name to SportsGumbo), aired, at times, in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Monroe and Alexandria, in addition to the Baton Rouge market. His company, Jon Fine Productions, has produced numerous Denham Springs HS and area HS sports programming on television, radio and internet. In addition to his Denham Springs broadcasting chores, Fine has an EBay internet store--ArrestedDevelopmentMedia Guides, and is a marketing representative for SportsRadio-1310AM-KEZM-Lake Charles/Sulphur. He also is employed by Hamilton Relay and serves as a representative for PayJunction. Fine is a native of Valley Stream, New York and a graduate of Penn. He is single.
For more information on Denham Springs HS Sports programming and Jon Fine Productions, please visit JonFineProductions.com.
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
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