December 12, 2019
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
When it was all said and done, the playoff committee got it right and the top four teams were obvious. If we can keep this in mind in the future, it may allow us to enjoy the moment, as I hope there will be more moments like these to come in the near future.
As I continue to remind my friends (and myself) to enjoy the moment, I suddenly realized this week that there are other schools that have been doing this year in and year out since LSU last stepped foot on the national scene. Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, and Oklahoma have been producing Heisman caliber players, undefeated seasons, and college playoff appearances year in and year out. So while I am soaking it in, I will keep in mind that this is the stage where LSU belongs.
I am in no way complaining, but how odd is it that this whole experience will repeat scenes from the past? LSU is going to play the semifinal in the Peach Bowl where they just played and frequently play the SEC Championship. The Tigers will play Oklahoma who they played for the BCS title in 2003. If LSU wins, they will play in the only city they have ever played for a national championship. Of course, that city is New Orleans. LSU beat Clemson in 1959 to claim the 1958 National Championship. LSU beat Ohio State in 2007 for the BCS title. The chances of these events overlapping are astronomical, but here we are.
We have a couple of weeks to analyze the matchup between LSU and Oklahoma. I have a lot of respect for Oklahoma and am not sure how LSU is a 13 point favorite in the game. This week is Heisman week, though, and I am going to enjoy the Burreaux Heisman show.
If it weren’t for LSU, I would be much more upset over the Saints loss to San Francisco. Growing up as a Saints fan in the 90s, it opened way too many scars.
As frustrating as it is to score 46 points against what many considered to be the best defense in the league and that not be enough, I wonder if it matters that the Saints might not host every game in the playoffs? I don’t think it does matter and Saints fans need to believe that.
The Saints were the top seed last year and did not make the Super Bowl. The Patriots went on the road last year and beat the Chiefs. Of course, New England and Los Angeles needed help from the officials, but they got it done. The Saints have already won at Seattle this year, and that was without Brees.
Certainly, I would rather play in the Dome. It is good for the city and great for the fans. But, winning in the playoffs comes down to playing your best and making plays at the end of the game. The Saints haven’t played like they did against San Francisco on offense all year. The Saints are still not 100% on the offensive line and they still looked the Saints we come to expect for the first time all year.
Brees used more receivers than he has all year. Harris brought a game breaking ability the offense needs. Kamara, Hill, and Murray showed different running styles that makes it tough on the defense.
Defensively, it was a rough day, but it is a huge advantage to play an offense like this once during the regular season. The Saints will have great film to watch should they see San Francisco again and they will have a better sense of how to defend that offense.
Let’s not kid ourselves, though. While the defense has done well at certain points this year, the Saints are a team that will go as far as the offense takes them. I don’t have faith in the secondary at the end of games and that is just a reality of the NFL in 2019.
Last year at this time the offense was trending downward. Hopefully, this game is the breakout game that gets the offense trending up on the path to playing its best football at the right time. If that happens, I will have more confidence the Saints can really make a Super Bowl run whether they are at home or on the road.
HEY REF
I was again asked if there was a “favorite” column of mine. Also if there happens to be a favorite that my readers have asked to be reprinted. Well, the answer to both questions is “YES”! And I try to accommodate when asked if I’d share those columns. This week’s “Best Of” is the one that I get asked about the most. So here’s an early gift from me to you, the people that make everything possible. My only hesitation is that each time it gets printed it brings back some bad memories and the realization how things really haven’t changed that much when we start talking about sportsmanship, etc. Maybe one day we’ll say “remember when” instead of “nothings really changed”! Maybe someone will see themselves here and decide a change is needed!
ENJOY!
How many parents are scratching their heads trying to figure out why their children’s behavior has hit rock bottom? Maybe all they should do is look in the mirror. I’m referring to some parent’s behavior at their children’s ballgames.
I remember a thing called SPORTMANSHIP, that thing fewer and fewer adults are bringing with them when they go to watch their kids play football, basketball and/or baseball. I remember the pure disgust that stirred inside my gut during a little league baseball game I was calling. The game was out of hand and the coaches were emptying the benches and giving everyone a chance to play.
This one player who happened to be the smallest on the team had struck out twice and was “on deck”. His mother came out of the stands and shakes the fence so hard it sounded like a wild animal trying to get out of its cage. At the top of her lungs she screams at him “If you strike out one more time I’m going to whip your (derriere)”! Just about every jaw dropped and as I called “Batter-up” he looked so terrified I thought he was going to run back into the dugout.
The first pitch was right down the middle of the plate and the biggest “STRIKE” I’d ever seen. I yell “BALL”. The next pitch was a clone of the first and again I called “BALL”. As you can guess the next two weren’t going to be anything but ball 3 and 4. Not a single voice of opposition was uttered. I saw his eyes get big as watermelons and after he got to first his bench erupted and the opposing coach asked for a time out.
After a minute went by I started the slowest walk to the mound in my 15 years of calling baseball. The only two things the coach said to me was “even if we didn’t have a 12 run lead I’d have to agree with you that every pitch was a ball and THANKS for doing what you did”. I didn’t know what to say and then we noticed the celebration at first as the opposing coach gave me a big “Thumbs up”.
I started calling games, both football and baseball back in ’79 and am asked all the time “what changes have I noticed most”? My pat answer most of the time is “well, the biggest change has got to be those sitting in the stands watching games”. It seems to me that many of those fans don’t have lives. Each game feels like I’m headed to an execution. In that I mean those on the losing side wouldn’t have anything to live for once the game was “in the books” so to speak. These amateur games are supposed to be where an athlete would begin to learn the game from the inside.
In football what seems to be happening are many parents believe this 9th grade game tonight is all that’s left in this world. Parents you’ve got to understand when officials try to help these young athletes line up and stay set before the snap it isn’t meant to help the other team beat your team. We strive to help youngsters when we can so that we don’t spend the majority of the game walking five yards this way then five yards the other.
And YES we can call holding on every play, hands down. But how many parents want the officials to do this? The only ones that do are the parents of the team with the ball. I wonder how many parents are living their lives through their child’s life. Well, all I can think it’s more than 90% just by their behavior during the games. Of course “little Johnny” never holds he always plays by the rules. It has to be the OTHER guys that are holding.
If you’ve never heard the term “PREVENTATIVE” officiating let me educate you. A simple example is when one player’s head is in the neutral zone we as officials will tell the player between plays to back up or get back depending on what side of the ball they’re on. One coach will thank you for not calling the foul on his team but as soon as the other team has the ball he goes ballistic if you tell the other team to back up a bit.
If I had my way each and every parent would spend an entire year working football games for nothing. This way they might actually learn the rules. There are so many experts sitting in the stands that I feel you are hurting the game by staying home or sitting in the stands trying to tell everyone the rules and how the officials on the field really don’t know what they are doing.
So, please do the game a great service, get off your butts and try to call a few games. Then everybody will see just how much you really don’t know! I’m not about to let the officials off the hook by no means. I spent nearly 20 years calling football in this area before a bad injury caused me to “retire”. Well, I’ve tried to return to the field but what I’ve found is scaring me to the core.
The quality of the officials calling games has drastically declined. So many of the best that have put on the striped shirt have left the game entirely. And I feel it’s due to the lack of respect given them by parents, coaches and the media. For whatever reason the games are suffering because so many good officials have hung up their whistles and aren’t returning year after year.
So, I’ll close by asking all the great officials instead of sitting in the stands please put on the uniform and help the sport you know so much about by getting involved and start at your earliest convenience and start calling real games and not those video games on your TV!!!
Till next week… …
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