November 14, 2019
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Please see Scott Osborne's "Wizardry of Os" below.
DENHAM SPRINGS FOOTBALL
Year 24 of our Denham Springs HS Football Radio Broadcasts is in the books. I would like to thank a number of different people/entities
The Denham Springs businesss community is, simply, the very best!
Principal Wes Howard and Coach Bill Conides
Duilio Canossa and Family Radio, 91.9 FM
Announcers Josh Ward and Andy Duckworth
And several others who assisted us
THANK YOU. I’ve had some adversity in my life with stress/depression. One of the very positive things has been producing Denham Springs HS Football Radio Broadcasts
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS EVERYONE WHO HAS MADE THIS POSSIBLE.
GOLDEN TORS FOOTBALL
YEAR NUMBER 1 OF MY MAKING A FULL-FLEDGED EFFORT AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SULPHUR HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS WITH SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM IS IN THE BOOKS
Thanks to station owner Bruce Merchant for allowing me to do this… The response from the Sulphur Business community was excellent.… On behalf of Bruce and KEZM, I thank everyone who assisted Bruce in putting these games on the radio.
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)
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Historic. That is the statement LSU football has made after beating Alabama. No matter what happens from here on out, good or bad, the season will be historic.
So before we go any further, listen up LSU fans. Block out the noise the rest of the way. It has been a while since we have been here, but ignore the talk that will just make you angry. Forget whether Alabama might sneak as the number four team. The College Football Playoff isn’t perfect. Going to eight teams won’t fix it. Think about it this way. If there were 8 teams, then LSU’s game against Alabama would not have mattered.
The last step we need to take to really put away the past eight years is to ignore the system and who we play. Clemson doesn’t fear having to face Alabama over and over again from year to year. It is not about them, it is about LSU.
Focus on what we have at LSU. In 2011, we had the most talented team in LSU history with two average college quarterbacks. This year, we have a very talented team with the best quarterback in college football who is going to win the Heisman Trophy. We need to focus on this team and appreciate the toughness and grit of this group.
There are great stories and examples throughout the roster. There are underrated prospects like Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Lloyd Cushenberry performing like first team All-SEC players. There are five star prospects like Austin Deculus, Jacoby Stevens, and Tyler Shelvin who were thought to be overrated at one point who have worked hard and developed into excellent players. There are true freshmen like Cordale Flott, Marcel Brooks, and Cade York that have made big plays at important times that give Tiger fans confidence that the future continues to be bright.
And certainly, the stories of Ed Orgeron, Joe Burrow, Steve Ensminger, and Joe Brady have been and will continue to be told as the nation will start to focus on how the year’s LSU team is completing the change the image and brand of LSU football.
It wasn’t that long ago that Clemson’s image was the team that would always find a way to lose a game or two they should win. Consequently, you couldn’t really count on them as a legitimate championship team. Dabo Swinney got them over that hump and now they are on the same level as Alabama.
LSU is not there, though they knocked down a huge wall on the way to trying to achieve that level of success. We will have plenty of time to figure out if LSU can stack up in the College Football Playoff should LSU get there. For now, I urge Tiger fans to enjoy the week. Enjoy the moment as we head to Ole Miss.
It is fitting that when I was a young college student I thought LSU was on their way to the top after beating Florida only to lose to Ole Miss the next week (dang Jefferson Pilot games). This week, LSU travels to Ole Miss coming off a game where I think every defensive player had to be helped off the field out at one time or another for an injury. So, getting ready for this game will be a challenge.
LSU will need to play better at Ole Miss than they did against Mississippi State to keep this train rolling. They will have to do it without their top three offensive tackles based off the depth chart two weeks ago.
Nevertheless, I have confidence that LSU will keep rolling in Oxford for a few reasons. Starting with the offense, what LSU does well on offense is very reliable. Edwards-Helaire is hard for everyone to tackle even when plays aren’t blocked well. The offense gets the ball quickly to players in space and LSU’s athletes in space are great. Finally, Burrow covers up for a lot of deficiencies.
As for the defense, they don’t have to be dominating, which is a good thing since this is not a dominant defense. The defense is deep though, and the depth has been the difference against Texas, Florida, Auburn, and Alabama. Auburn tried to keep its defensive line fresh which meant taking out two high first round draft picks. Alabama’s pass rushers, Lewis and Jennings, were on the field as much as possible and they absolutely wore down in the second half. LSU does not have dominant players on the defensive line, but they do have a rotation that is necessary to maintain a quality level of play over the course of the SEC season.
While I am confident LSU will respond to the challenge, I fully expect there to be significant struggles in this game. And I am not going to worry about how it looks to the committee. LSU has done what it needs to do and I don’t care what seed LSU is in the playoffs. It is now Al Davis time. Just win baby!
HEY REF
I was really looking forward to my game last Friday night because I’d made the decision to hang ‘em up and retire from the sidelines. Three years ago all I could hope for was working one last year if my body held up to all the physical abuse and demands officiating football takes out of you. I didn’t listen to my body and kept delaying the enviable but after last week’s game I’ve come to realize there just ain’t anything left in the tank.
I don’t need to put together a “short” list of what I’ve been through physically simply because the list is too long to even attempt making one. Just about every weekend during football season finds me in bed for three days or more after a game. But it’s time, well past time to call it quits. I’ll turn 64 in January but I feel much, much older than that. You’ve got to have a set of good wheels to keep up with the players nowadays but all I have are a couple of bald retreads I wouldn’t use on a grocery cart.
My back retired some ten to fifteen years ago and now every joint in my body is over loaded with Arthur as in arthritis. Some days it takes everything I have just to make it to the bathroom and pray I can make the return trip without falling down. This Spring I was thrown a huge curve in that my right side hip refused to allow me to put any weight on it and/or to just walk. That was my biggest concern because when it would act up I’d be confined to bedrest sometime four or more days that week.
And then there was the doctor’s report where he diagnosed me with MS. My wife and I refuse to believe it but the more things that hurt and keep me in bed for days at a time I’m starting to believe there’s something very seriously wrong. Until I’m totally unable to walk I’ll just ignore his report and try to enjoy life, if it’s even possible anymore. But even with all the stuff my doctors say that are wrong with me the biggest reason to walk (while I can, I guess) away is twofold.
The main reason for me to retire besides the physical things is the fact there isn’t any fun left in what we do on Friday nights. There was a time when we looked forward to a “BIG” game and all the challenges that go along with it but today’s game is overloaded with constant pressure, too much pressure. By that I mean each and every play comes loaded with the type of pressure you’d find only on a battlefield. Friday nights have morphed into a live or die atmosphere. The constant pressure put on officials has become just too massive for any human to endure. I now see what former official friends of mine have been telling me for years.
The last two years I’ve come face to face with the total lack of respect coaches have for officials and vice versa. This past Friday night I was witness to an official intentionally disrespecting a coach during the game in front of his players and fans. When I called him on it during our halftime break he tried to turn the tables on me and say it was my fault because I wasn’t doing my job. I’m sorry but what he did had nothing to do with my job or the lack of me doing said job. I’ve always said I’m not perfect and I do make mistakes but I’ve never intentionally disrespected a coach, no how, no way.
All this official did was fire up my sidelines to the point where the entire coaching staff stayed glued to my back for the entire second half. They were stunned at the behavior they witnessed from this official and looking at me in disbelief at what they just witnessed as I was. I know I stood there for what seemed an hour because I was horrified that an official would do what he did.
Forgive me, I was reliving that instance and even though it’d been four days since the “happening” I still find myself stunned in complete shock that this is the type of behavior demonstrated toward a coach that did absolutely nothing but ask why a certain football had been thrown out of the game twice. I agree the ball was deflated and all this official had to do was give the ball back to me or the coach and nothing more would’ve been said. Which brings me to another point; if an official declines allowing a team the use of a certain ball then he should instruct the coach to either make it legal (put some air in it) or put it in the bad and not attempt to use it down the road so to speak.
And if an official does throw out a ball he should advise the crew of his actions. If he’d have told me that he’d thrown the ball out of the game then I would’ve known about it and the coach wouldn’t have to ask since I can’t over rule another member of the crew and allow something that he’s said won’t fly that night. I expected the official to hand the ball back to me or the coach to get it off the sideline in the ball bag or something and that would’ve been the end of that. But he just squeezed the ball said it was “mushy” then flipped it up in the air about three or four feet, made a sound like Curley of the Three Stooges and pranced to his position for the upcoming kickoff.
The ball hit the ground and bounced down the sideline. I can’t move I was so stunned and when I looked at the coach it was if he’d seen a ghost. He wanted to know what this official’s problem was and I had no answer. Before the ball stopped bouncing the rest of the coaching staff witnessed this happening and became enraged and started yelling at me and arguing about the way our crew behaved toward their coaching staff. So, if this is how Friday night crews work high school football in Louisiana I’d rather just stay home because rule one or two is simple; YOU DON’T DISRESPECT THE COACHES! Hell, they pay us and they expect a certain level of professionalism and not some guy acting like an idiot toward them. So, I just can’t be a party to this type of behavior and will go off into the sunset respecting the guys that make it all possible.
And YES, I DID APOLOGIZE TO THE COACHING STAFF BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
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.
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