September 19, 2019
HALL OF FAME BANQUET
The Denham Springs HS Athletics Hall of Fame will have its 2019 Induction ceremony tonight-- Thursday night, 9/19, at Forrest Grove Plantation. For more information, please see press release below.
DENHAM SPRING RADIO/INTERNET BROADCAST
The Jackets host St. Amant HS on Friday, September 20 (tomorrow night). You can catch all the action on Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge and on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com. Air time is 6 PM with Sport N Center Jackets Warmup
Josh Ward, Andy Duckworth and Jon Fine are on the call.
BROADCAST GUESTS
Denham Springs HS Athletics Hall of Fame 2019 Inductee Robert Graves will be interviewed by Jon Fine on Sport-n-Center Jackets Warmup on tomorrow night's broadcast of the Denham Springs--St Amant game
Brian Abels, of Boyer, Hebert, Abels and Angelle Law Firm (and running for District Court Judge) will be interviewed on the North Oaks Health System Half-Time Report.
GOLDEN TORS FOOTBALL
Sulphur hosts LaGrange HS tomorrow night. You can tune in at 6:45 pm on Sports Radio 1310-KEZM-Sulphur/Lake Charles or online at KEZMOnLine.com. Bruce Merchant and Patrick Frey are on the call.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
First things first. I don’t believe the WWE and NFL have anything in common, but the WWE couldn’t write a better script for setting up a fan base for a piledriver (I did have to Google “pro wrestling moves) for that one.
Last year 75% of the world thought Devin White’s targetting call was the wrong decision. There are few things in the sports world that you can get 75% of the world to agree. Now, we have three games in a row where 100% of the world acknowledges that huge game changing decisions have gone against the Saints.
The NFL comes into the Saints lockerroom to tell them the officials got the time wrong at the end of the first half in the season opener. Then, against the Rams, every ex-official does the very last thing that any ex-official wants to do, and that is tell the world that current officials didn’t do a very basic aspect of their job.
None of these were judgement calls. They were a basic breakdown in the fundamentals of how to officiate a game in the NFL.
But fate stepped in for the NFL, and made the whole point moot in the minds of many. If Drew Brees continued to play, certainly, the Saints would have figured things out on offense enough to score some points. Alas, there is more misery for Saints fans with Brees being out until the second half of the season.
The whole world is about to find out is that Drew Brees should have been the MVP the last two years.
The concern is that the offensive line is overrated because Brees gets the ball out so fast. Maybe they will respond after being embarrassed by the Rams or maybe the next six weeks will be a true evaluation.
The receivers have been a problem for a while. There are no explosive plays coming from this group. They do a very poor job blocking on the perimeter. Brandon Colmenan has been sorely missed in this aspect of the game.
After two games, I could not have been more wrong about Jared Cook. I apologize for beating a dead horse, but the Saints have never replaced the Willie Snead/Lance Moore role in the offense. If you have forgotten, watching Cooper Kupp spin the Saints “best” defensive back in circles and then break his tackle should help jog your memory.
The experts tell us the talent is there on offense, but anyone who thinks they deserve the type of contract Michael Thomas got must take this as an opportunity. If they can’t perform without Brees, then they give all the leverage to the Saints in saying their worth is in Drew, not their individual performance.
Meanwhile, the offensive coaches have an opportunity as well. They will adapt the offense try and find what Bridgewater and Hill do well to take advantage of their skills. Neither can replace Brees, but both combined could still produce points if others drastically improve the quality of their play.
None of it will matter though if the Saints secondary doesn’t improve drastically. The poor start is a long running pattern for the beginning of the year. In two games the only constants have been terrible tackling, awful run support, no situational awareness, and penalties. Many have pointed to the poor run defense, but that most of those runs have been on the perimeter.
I was guilty in 2014 of believing the hype surrounding the talent on the roster. I was very optimistic on this year’s roster too. But, in two games, the offense has played one good half of football and I would say about the same for the defense. Individually, there are many more players playing below their touted ability than those performing at or above.
Again, in the past, week three would be the time where Drew would have an amazing performance to bail out the team and then slowly, the level of play would improve. I don’t know if this team can do it on their own.
HEY REF
There are times when I’m searching for another subject other than what the rest of my colleagues are pumping out in any given week. But this week, here in Louisiana there are but two subjects that have everyone’s attention and both deal with the Saints. If I didn’t stop everything that’s going on in my world this week and pen a few lines to add my two cents on the sad situation just 90 miles south of here it would be the closest thing to treason that I could commit.
The first thing being talked about in every corner of ‘da Bayou State is of course the injured thumb of Saints QB Drew Brees. And as what happens so many times the injury he suffered was a fluke and 100% accidental. That’s about the only good thing I can say about his injury. Drew is one of the few players that have the respect of every team and player in the NFL so for him to suffer any injury that would keep him on the sidelines for any stretch of time is headlines across the entire sporting world.
I can only speak for myself in that this writer has for many years chided the Saints’ organization for not drafting a top recruit that would be Brees’ heir apparent when the time came for him to ride off into the sunset and call it a career. I understand completely how the process works and Mickey Loomis hasn’t been doing his job in having a player ready to step up and keep the train running along without having to declare MAYDAY, MAYDAY!
Loomis has to shoulder 100% of the blame for his lack of attention to detail in admitting that Brees isn’t a close Clark Kent. He wasted $100 million on a single wideout aka Michael Thomas in his latest debacle in contract negotiations. So, if/when New Orleans retains their basement status there is but two men to blame; Mickey and Sean. Head coach Sean Payton the long thought genius of the pigskin diaries can only wish he could do things over and taken someone, anyone in just the last three or four years to be ready for just this type of thing.
I don’t want to say that Viking’s sloppy seconds, Teddy Bridgewater, can’t win a game or two but I don’t see him getting New Orleans anywhere close to being a contender on any level in any league. If this injury to Brees and his being out for maybe six, seven or eight games comes to a shock to anyone then they don’t know anything about what it takes to survive until playoff time. And it sure can’t be a reason to give either Loomis or Payton a “pass” since every press conference injuries are always the elephant in the room.
I’m one that won’t “blow” his own horn or wave my finger in your face and say “I told you so” but I did. And I did on many occasions but who am I to think I know anything of the professional version of football? This whole Brees injury escapade is by far the worse example of incompetence of any organization since the dawn of time! Front offices do make mistakes, we all do but this ranks up there with somebody taking all the life boats off the Titanic because the boat is unsinkable.
Before I run out of room, I’ve been asked… … I knew the phone calls were on their way long before the end of the Saints’ game but… … A few people couldn’t wait to ask for an explanation as to the whistle and touchdown take away in Sunday’s game in LA. But I do know how to make lemonade when… …
So, first things first, the ruling on the play simple put is an inadvertent whistle which just means the whistle was blown during a “live” ball which mandates an immediate stoppage of all play.
The answer is “YES, every official has blown one of these types of whistles in their careers”. The second “YES” is I too am guilty of blowing this type of whistle. In fact I had two of these whistles in the same half of the same game. Many of us feel blowing an inadvertent whistle is the worst thing you can do since this is the one situation that causes all members of the crew to “share” a mistake. In other words it isn’t a single mistake; no it’s multiplied by the number of officials in the crew for that game.
I hate when my guys in stripes make these little league types of mistakes but in a way maybe a large glass of lemonade can come out of it. The rest of this column is directed solely toward officials. On every TV network, every highlight show and every newspaper article the headline/introduction states “The officials blew”, “The officials took a touchdown away”, “The officials again did”, “The officials this”, “The officials that” and on and on. So, my point? What continues to be repeated is the phrase “THE OFFICIALS”!
We are not individuals on the football field. We are ONE! There are three teams in every game. There’s the home team, the visitors and the officials. Too many of my fellow zebras do their best in pointing fingers at one or two guys in the crew that night as the ones that made a mistake or blew a call. Whether you like it or not we all share in the mistakes made that night. I’ve yet to hear or read an account of the Saints-Rams game in which the official that blew the whistle was singled out! Each and every report from the game list the mistake being committed BY THE OFFICIALS!
I was taught from day one; we get it wrong as a crew and we get it right as a crew. Nobody is above the crew and nobody is below the crew. No single official is better than any other member of that game’s crew. When you talk and try to take someone down you take each and every member of that crew down. Chains are no stronger than its weakest link and there isn’t a crew any better than the weakest official. But every crew is as good as its strongest official. It’s time we adjust our train of thought and respect each crewmate. The day will come when you’ll need a helping hand in making a correct call. Don’t be surprised when the guy you felt couldn’t contribute to the crew is the one that reaches out his hand to help you get the call right. Because that’s the only thing we offer the teams and coaches; GETTING THE CALL RIGHT!!!!!
Till next week
DENHAM SPRINGS HS ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME PRESS RELEASE
The Denham Springs High School Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2019 will be enshrined tonight (Thursday, September 19) at Forrest Grove Plantation in Denham Springs.
This marks the inaugural class with new principal Wes Howard presiding over Hall of Fame festivities. Howard observed, “You never hear anything negative about our Hall of Fame. It is so well respected that five other high schools in the state and one in Mississippi have asked us for guidance in establishing their Halls of Fame.
“The annual banquet at Forrest Grove is first class—dignified and fun at the same time! And the official Hall of Fame home at Big Mike’s is really worth visiting to read all the achievements on display there.”
Banquet sponsor Dr. Ed Hood echoed, “During the past nine years, the Hall of Fame has become a truly important part of our local culture, the kind of institution that enriches a community by giving it character and tradition.”
Five All State athletes representing a variety of sports, along with one well known supporter who was himself a fine DSHS athlete, will be inducted. Headlining the class is arguably the most heralded girls’ basketball player in school history. Not only was Regena Jackson a two-time Class 5A All State scoring phenom for the Lady Jackets, her celebrity rose even higher at the collegiate ranks where she was distinguished as a three-time NAIA All-American at Belhaven College.
Class 5A All State football stalwart Michael Boone and Class 5A All State girls’ basketball star Jamie Chustz-Felder share at least one thing in common. Boone was a high school and college teammate of the late Hall of Famer, Joey Chustz, while Chustz-Felder is his younger sister. Boone and Chustz both enjoyed outstanding football careers at Louisiana Tech. The Chustz family may now boast of two Hall of Fame athletes, the first brother-sister pair to be inducted.
Van Foster III was a two-time Class 5A baseball great and two-time Team Captain for the Yellow Jackets who went on to become a superb outfielder at SLU. He is the son of fellow Hall of Famer, Van Foster, Jr. The late Raymond Harris was a Class B All State basketball star whose teams won state championships in 1948 and 1950. Later he would help the SLC Lions (now SLU) to Gulf States Conference titles in 1952 and 1954. His younger brother, Hall of Famer Cecil Harris, is regarded as the best all-round athlete in school history.
Robert Graves was a diminutive 100-pound baseball and track athlete at DSHS who later became a giant of a Yellow Jacket supporter, logging 38 years as a gridiron statistician and trusted helpmate to four head football coaches.
Below are highlights of the athletic, scholastic, and civic achievements of these honored sports figures.
Michael Boone (Athlete)
A rare three-time All District athlete at three different positions, Michael Boone was a 1995 Class 5A All State pick at linebacker and his district’s Defensive Most Valuable Player. Displaying a unique fusion of physical and mental skill sets throughout high school, he was an All District choice at defensive back, tight end, and linebacker. A DSHS honor graduate and recipient of the Scholar Athlete Award, Boone received Academic All State honors as well. He was also named to the All Parish team and earned Baton Rouge All Metro accolades as a senior. This outstanding student-athlete capped a celebrated prep career with his selection to play tight end in the prestigious LHSAA All Star Football Game.
Heavily recruited throughout the state and as far away as Georgia Tech and West Point, he received an athletic scholarship to play football at Louisiana Tech where he graduated in 2001 as a three-year letterman, helping the Bulldogs to stunning wins over Pac-10 Cal and SEC powers Alabama and Mississippi State.
Upon graduation, he played one season with the Monroe-based National Indoor Football League Bayou Beast before launching his career as a successful high school football coach with stops in Louisiana, then landing in Texas. As a defensive line coach and eventual defensive coordinator, his defenses have made playoff contenders of his teams at every posting, winning over 60% of their regular season and playoff games. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Class 6A Dickinson High School in Dickinson, Texas.
His coaching philosophy is reflected in this quote by Coach Boone, “I believe athletics is one of the last moral compasses we have in our society, and when you coach with love in your heart, you can make a difference.”
Michael Boone is married to the former Anne Bryant of Dallas. They live in Kemah, Texas, with their five children.
Jamie Chustz-Felder (Athlete)
Heralded on two parish championship teams, two district championship teams, and the 1996 Lady Jacket state championship team, Jamie Chustz was herself a champion. A versatile athlete with four letters each in basketball and track, she was a three-time All District (MVP once) and two-time All Parish basketball star before earning Class 5A All State honors as a senior. She and fellow Hall of Famer Katrina Hibbert were the big guns on the DSHS 37-0 storybook run to the state title, with a #19 USA Today national ranking. USA Today also identified her as a “Player to Watch” on its Top 25 Teams in the Nation. The following year, as a senior, Chustz led the Lady Jackets to a 27-2 state semi-final finish, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game.
A DSHS honor graduate and four-year member of the National Honor Society, she was also named to the Academic All State team her senior year. That same year she received Baton Rouge All Metro laurels and was chosen for the prestigious LHSAA All Star Basketball Game, ending a luminous prep career as a distinguished leader on campus, in the classroom, and on the court. Recruited by over 20 colleges and universities, she accepted an athletic scholarship to play basketball at the University of Mobile where she started as a freshman. Leaving the Rams basketball program after that year, she would graduate from SLU with a degree in finance.
Jamie Chustz hails from a family that may now boast of two Hall of Famers. She and her late brother, former NFL football player Joey Chustz, are the first brother-sister pair to be inducted. Her older sibling, himself an NCAA All-American at Louisiana Tech, often commented that Jamie was the best athlete in the family. As early as junior high school, her future honors could be anticipated after leading the Southside Buccaneers to two undefeated seasons (1992, 1993), with an overall record of 46-0. A few years later, her summer AAU basketball team would win the acclaimed Texas State AAU Tournament.
Chustz is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office. She is married to Chris Felder, and the couple resides in Denham Springs with their two children.
Van Foster III (Athlete)
Van Foster III was a two-time Class 5A All State outfielder for the Yellow Jackets as a junior and senior, batting.400 and.407 respectively in district play. In addition to his regular season accolades, he was named to the All State Tournament Team in 1994 as well. He was a three-time All District centerfielder who was also an outstanding pitcher with a superb 8-1 record his senior season. A teammate of fellow Hall of Famer Jeff Harris, the two Jacket pitchers paired up to dominate from the mound. In tribute to his leadership qualities, Foster was honored by his teammates as a two-time Team Captain for the Yellow Jackets. Though he was a four-year letterman in baseball, he was a gifted all-round athlete who also lettered three-years in football. His excellent speed paid dividends in centerfield, but also in the defensive secondary and as a kick returner for three seasons before becoming the DSHS starting quarterback as a senior. Among Foster’s greatest athletic achievements was the honor of his selection to play centerfield in the elite LHSAA All Star Baseball Game, a showcase of the state’s finest athletes, where he hit a homerun, double, and single. A member of the National Honor Society, his sterling high school sports career culminated in an athletic scholarship to play baseball for SLU where he lettered three years as an outfielder. He was a consistent.300 hitter and boasted a career.955 fielding percentage.
Having earned a degree in criminal justice in 1999, Foster has worked for 18 years as an Investigator with the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office, currently assigned to the Violent Crime Unit. He is a Louisiana state firearms instructor for shotgun-rifle-pistol who trains various law enforcement agencies and also gives firearms safety presentations at public schools. Foster is also assigned to the federal Disaster Mortuary Operations Response Team that investigates major loss of American life at home and abroad.
He is the son of fellow Hall of Famer Van Foster, Jr. and is married to the former Wendy Dickinson. They live in Denham Springs.
Robert Graves (Supporter)
Robert Graves, a 1964 graduate of DSHS, is said to bleed “Yellow Jacket” purple and gold, perhaps rivaling even the late Pee Wee Day for that endearing quality. Back in 1975 when fabled head football coach Butch Wax was still an aspiring pigskin genius in his first year at the helm, Graves walked the sidelines with him, both honing their craft. While Wax would lead the Jackets for 22 years, becoming the winningest gridiron coach in DSHS history with a 152-84-2 record, Graves would remain a sideline fixture for a total of 38 years, widely regarded as one of the best team statisticians in the state.
During his long tenure, he served head coaches Wax, Steve Long, Nolan Gill, and Dru Nettles, always the star statistician, yet evolving into a versatile, dependable resource that each succeeding coach knew he could lean on. Graves, a U. S. Army veteran, might be familiar with the term “force multiplier,” military parlance for an attribute that makes a given force more effective. His steady and faithful presence on the sidelines and around the locker room had that effect for almost four decades.
Among his duties were sponsorship marketing and fundraising efforts; oversight of season ticket sales; coordinator for the Dru Nettles Radio Show; designer of souvenir game programs for football, softball, and color guard; and, of course, statistician for all varsity home and away football games. Over a period of 38 years, Graves recorded Yellow Jacket stats for 401 straight games. This, in spite of working in Beaumont, Texas, for six of those years in order to accept a promotion with Gulf States Utilities. This, also in spite of triple bypass open-heart surgery when, for two solitary games, he captured team stats by watching game film at home during convalescence.
During a 12-year span (2001-2012), he created and served as webmaster of “The Jacket Nest” website that recorded DSHS football history and statistics, in effect, preserving the school’s gridiron lore for posterity. Because of his storehouse of knowledge regarding Jacket sports, he was a logical choice to serve on the initial four-person steering committee that formed the DSHS Athletic Hall of Fame, now in its ninth year.
In high school Graves was a 100-pound athlete, choosing to excel in two sports where size was not a factor. He only ran track as a senior, yet he was the first Jacket thinclad to break the 5-minute barrier in the mile run with a 4:48.5 record that stood for a number of years. His passion, however, was baseball and fast-pitch softball. He was a starting infielder on DSHS teams that won state championship softball crowns at the Louisiana State Tournament in 1963 and 1964. He was a two-year baseball letterman at DSHS and also spent three summers playing American Legion baseball for the local team.
Having retired after 35 years with Gulf States Utilities (now Entergy), Graves spent five years at Live Oak High School in a similar capacity as that during his tenure at DSHS. He now works at the Livingston Parish Public Schools central office. Married to the former Sandra Spiers, with a grown daughter, the couple resides in Baton Rouge.
Raymond Harris (Athlete)
The late Raymond Harris was a Class B All State basketball star in 1950 during the golden era of the sport at DSHS. He was one of only four players in school history to have performed on two state championship teams (1948, 1950), along with a state runner-up finish in 1949. He was the leading Yellow Jacket scorer in the 1950 title game, a crushing 52-32 victory over rival Live Oak, helping lead his team to a superb 29-3 record that season.
Having defeated the reigning Baton Rouge city champions, Baton Rouge High School, twice earlier in the year, the Jackets suffered their only home court loss of the season in their third match. Led by future collegiate All-American and All NBA superstar Bob Petit, the Bulldogs won 60-55 in a game for the ages. Not to be outdone, Harris was the Jackets’ top scorer with 20 points. The result of his tenacious defense and consistent scoring bursts as a senior, he was selected All Tournament at the two most prestigious tourneys of the day, the Tri-Parish and the Metropolitan Invitational, forerunner of the fabled Wedge Keys Tournament.
He received an athletic scholarship to play basketball at Southeastern Louisiana College (now SLU), reuniting with high school teammate Donald Ray Hood, both of whom were three-year lettermen for the Lions. They helped lead the team to Gulf States Conference titles and NAIA tournament appearances in 1952 and 1954. Harris was a 1954 graduate of SLC with a degree in agriculture.
He is the older brother of fellow Hall of Famer Cecil Harris, considered the best all-round athlete to ever wear the purple and gold. The elder Harris mentored his admiring younger brother well in the finer aspects of the sport, giving the family the honor of producing two All State athletes.
Raymond Harris was a U. S. Army veteran who acquired electronics training in the military that enabled him to devote his life’s work to Exxon-Dixie Pipeline Company. He married the former Margaret Smith, and the couple lived in Denham Springs, raising their three children. He died in 1990.
Regena Jackson (Athlete)
When a lone freshman is honored among seniors as first team All District and All Parish in an elite basketball league that is competitive and rich in talent, that freshman is destined for stardom. Fans and coaches had reason to expect future excellence, and Regena Jackson did not disappoint. Four years later she would graduate as a two-time Class 5A All State superstar (2005, 2006), a three-time All District choice (MVP twice), and a three-time All Parish selection (MVP once). Those shining accolades would have been even brighter had she not missed her sophomore season because of knee surgery.
As a senior she earned a berth on the Baton Rouge All Metro team and was selected to play in the prestigious LHSAA All Star Basketball Game. Remembered for her slashing drives through the paint and her pull-up jump shot, Jackson averaged 18.3 and 19.4 points per game as a junior and senior against the toughest competition in the state. She led the Lady Jackets to a District Championship in 2005 and to the Class 5A state quarterfinals in 2006. The result of her leadership and dominating play during those seasons, DSHS boasted records of 33-4 and 32-4 respectively.
Following a much celebrated high school career, Jackson was widely recruited in-state and by Baylor and Purdue as well, eventually accepting an athletic scholarship to play basketball at ULM where she performed for two seasons before transferring to Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi. If she was a superstar in high school, she would become a megastar at Belhaven. Jackson was named a two-time NAIA All-American (2011, 2012) by the national office. She was also honored as an NAIA All-American by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and one of three finalists for its NAIA National Player of the Year (2012). In recognition of her outstanding play, her jersey was displayed in the Ring of Honor at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.
As a junior Jackson was selected Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Player of the Year and a member of the conference All Academic Team, leading Belhaven to its first ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament and a 24-9 record. She averaged 17.2 points per game with 396 total points for the year. As a senior she averaged 24 points per game and scored 745 total points to lead the NAIA nationally in both categories. That season Jackson was Belhaven’s top scorer in 29 games and scored 30 points or more in six games, including two 42-point eruptions, guiding the Blazers to their first SSAC title with a 26-7 record. She was an 85% free throw shooter and had 86 steals as a senior. The 5’7” guard garnered her second SSAC Player of the Year honor plus MVP of the SSAC Tournament.
A 2014 graduate of Belhaven with a degree in business, Jackson is currently a Regional Manager for General Nutrition Center in Mississippi. Having given her heart to the game of basketball for all of her youth, her newest passion has become football. She is the starting quarterback for the Mississippi Lady Panthers of the Women’s Football Alliance tackle league.
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