September 3, 2020
GOD BLESS
My heart goes out to my friends in the Lake Area who endured major destruction at the hands of Hurricane Laura. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
TODAY’S COLUMNS:
Scott wants to retire #7 at LSU
Dennis plays hurt…
Jon gives his thoughts on the NBA/pro sports strike
Please scroll down below.
OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO ONE AND ALL AS WE TRY TO MAKE OUR WAY SAFELY THROUGH THE PANDEMIC. WE STAND WITH THOSE THAT ARE PEACEFULLY PROTESTING AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACISM.
LSU, SAINTS AND MUCH MORE
ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides offers media guides. programs and baseball cards. Please visit JonFineProductions.com and click on icon to get to the store. Check out a full array of New Orleans Saints media guides and LSU media guides and programs and publications from much of the entire sports world. Over 6,900 publications listed.
HULLABALOO HOORAY
A message from the Great Jim Springs:
Dear Friends... We are writing to request your kind assistance. Kathy and I moved back home twelve years ago to be with our aging mothers in the latter years of their lives, Kathy's in Arkansas, mine here in Denham Springs. They have both passed away now, taking with them the anchors that kept us tethered to our Southern roots. As much as we love being home, we love Kathy's children and grandchildren more...and they live in Washington state where Kathy and I first met. Our beautiful home, built with Jack Hartman-integrity, is for sale as of today! We wish to sell it ourselves, and that's where you might assist us by helping spread the word. The biggest challenge of For Sale by Owner is marketing and visibility--getting the news out. The Address is 650 Pine Street, DSLA, and my cell is (225) 588-0366. Or you can email me at JimSpring53@hotmail.com. You can also see the house at fsbobr.com (ID# 569639) or at Zillow.com. Thank you.
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.
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
It is time to retire the #7 tradition at LSU. For one thing, it is silly to call something that is less than ten years old a “tradition.” For those that don’t know, let me catch you up.
If you read on the internet, you may find that the tradition started with Patrick Peterson, but the significance of the number is that it is passed on from one to another. Therefore, the tradition started in 2011 when Peterson passed the number to Tyrann Mathieu.
The Honey Badger had an amazing year, but we all know how it fell apart in 2012, and Mathieu was kicked off the team. Some way to begin a tradition, huh?
Although, I don’t know how we can say the tradition began in 2011 since nobody of distinction wore the jersey in 2012 or 2013. Therefore, I contend that the “tradition” sort of began in 2014 when Leonard Fournette came to LSU. Fournette was from St. Aug in New Orleans like Mathieu so there was some connection between those players.
As many Tiger fans know, Fournette had a good, but not great freshmen year. His sophomore year was the huge year that had him as the Heisman favorite until the Alabama game. In 2016, Fournette was injured for most of the year and as a result he opted out of the Bowl game.
So at this point, what was the tradition? A really talented player who doesn’t finish his career? I love Mathieu and Fournette. I especially love Mathieu’s story and how he has matured as a person. But, the reality of the events that led to them leaving LSU isn’t a tradition to celebrate.
DJ Chark, I suppose, is the official beginning of the tradition and in my mind the best representative of the #7, whatever that means. Chark had his best season as a senior in 2017. His performance against Auburn was key in bringing LSU back, only a few weeks after LSU was upset by Troy. Later in the year, at Alabama, he consistently got open, but Etling just couldn’t get him the ball. Chark is the first player who had the jersey passed to him and then passed it to another player.
And that transition in 2018 was a disaster. Jonathan Giles had transferred from Texas Tech and reportedly tore up LSU defensive backs when he was on the scout team. Everyone says he was an extremely hard worker and a great teammate. But, on the field, in the game, he could not get open or make plays. He even chose to go back to his old number in the middle of the season to try and change his luck, which is another example of the lack of significance with the number.
Last year, Grant Delpit did a wonderful job representing the number as a leader on the team. But, the actual tradition of the performance not matching expectations caught up to Delpit as he played most of the season injured. The second half against Ole Miss was hard to watch as he simply could not make plays. Once he healed, though, he was great against Georgia and in the College Football Playoff.
I ask again, what is the tradition supposed to be with #7 at LSU? It should be the most talented player who is the best player on the field each Saturday like Patrick Peterson, Mathieu in 2011, Fournette in 2015, and Chark in 2017.
The other years saw Mathieu kicked off in 2012 and nobody wore it in 2013. Fournette was not the best player in 2014 as a freshman or in 2016 due to injuries. Giles didn’t even keep the number in 2018. And due to injuries, Delpit had an up and down year in 2019.
Six times the player with the number has had a subpar season. Only three times has the player had a season live up to the expectation, and two of those players didn’t finish their career on the field. In this respect, Ja’marr Chase was the perfect #7. He has already lived up to the expectations because he won’t play for LSU this year.
I am not one to criticize the choice a player makes on his future, and that is not what I am doing here. What I am doing is criticizing a “tradition” that has, more times than not, seen the player wearing the number not live up to the number.
The great aspect of the #18 tradition is that it is a leadership designation which is completely under the control of the athlete. Injury cannot stop a player from leading. Further, the actual impact of the players who have worn the jersey has been as advertised.
I wish Ja’marr Chase luck, and I wish he would take the #7 “tradition” with him. Please don’t let Stingley get #7. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.
As for the LSU roster in general, I feel like we are replaying 2011. In 2011, LSU had a more dominating regular season than they did in 2019. The Tigers beat the snot out of everyone, except Bama. The difference was LSU was able to finish the season with a national championship last year, and the dominating side of the ball was the offense last year, while it was the defense in 2011. The offseason is becoming very familiar, though.
In 2012, LSU sent a record number of juniors to the draft. This year, LSU had a record number of players drafted. Now, due to co-vid, LSU is having its top players on the roster for 2020 opt out. I appreciate the optimism from those who think LSU can overcome these blows to the depth chart. Maybe in a normal year, but this year LSU is certain to take a step back from College Football Playoff level football.
There are still many unknowns about the 2020 season, but I am still sure depth is going to play a major factor. Between co-vid quarantines, the typical football injuries, and a 10 game SEC, only the deep will survive.
LSU no longer has experienced depth at cornerback, defensive line, or wide receiver. I know LSU has talent at those positions, but LSU will be forced to play true freshmen and veterans that have not played any significant minutes all over the place. This is a great freshman class, but we have watched college football long enough to know how this ends.
Meanwhile, I feel the frustration too. But, we have to admit to ourselves that we are just being jealous fans. It was so much fun watching Chase torch Alabama and Clemson defensive backs. Nevertheless, it’s not our bodies and career on the line. So all Tiger fans need to just shut up and move on, just like the team will do.
It is time for the next generation to turn their potential in production. While I would be amazed to see LSU pull off anything better than a 7-3 season, I would be happy to be proved wrong.
HEY REF
“Hey Ref” is very much under the weather so to speak. This week I’ve spent time in the hospital having tests run on my pain pump. For some strange reason about six weeks ago it stopped working properly. The level of pain went off the chart which left me in bed for hours at a time. I noticed a small area around the pump becoming numb. I compared the numbness to that after a dentist gives you a shot in your jaw. As time went by the area became larger and larger until almost half of my right side went numb. The numbness would last anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes.
By the next day I received the news that the pump is in fact leaking. So, next Tuesday my doc will replace the tubing which means another trip to the operating room. It also means another week in bed trying not to move and of course not being able to sit in front of my computer.
So while I’m not able to do much I’d like to ask a quick question; after watching all the NBA and MLB players either walking off the diamond/court to protest social injustice, racism and hate “WHAT’s NEXT”? I mean how do we proceed? All this symbolism doesn’t do a thing to rid America of social injustice, racism and hate. And what makes me say that? That’s simple because HATE DOESN’T EXIST IN THE WOMB! HATE is LEARNED! HATE is TAUGHT! So if there’s any hope of ridding hate in America it’ll boil down to its people not passing it along to the next generation.
The only person that can destroy hate is the one in the mirror.
Till next week… …
FINE IDEAS
The tangible results of the NBA players boycott—lasting 3 days in the playoffs—were minimal. This is not a surprise. I even projected this in last week’s column.
There are 3 initiatives that will be implemented as a result of last week’s NBA work stoppage. A social justice coalition will be formed including NBA players, coaches and owners (governors). NBA arenas which are owned by NBA teams, will serve as voting outlets on November 3. There will be commercials produced, focusing on social justice, that will air during NBA playoff games.
As Archie Bunker might have said… ”Well, whoop D do… ” If the players went into their work stoppage looking to produce substantive action towards eradicating police brutality, they failed in their mission. One wonders if they could have achieved what they received by walking out by just sitting down with governors and asking them for their help on these matters—without stopping play. The country is no closer today to curtailing police brutality than it was before the walkout.
Perhaps the biggest accomplishment for NBA players are intangible. They saw the ability to mobilize their teams and teams in other sports in this social justice effort. One would think it also gave the players an emotional lift as they are sequestered in their bubble. It also created further awareness in the general public on this issue.
NBA players, and other pro athletes who participated in this cessation of play, need to realize how privileged they are in engineering this boycott. Can one imagine what would happen in most workplaces if the employees decided to, basically, go out on strike? In at-will states, there would, at best, be contentious negotiations. At worst, many employees would lose their jobs. In other states, there would be many negative repercussions for employees. And, this does not even consider the financial ramifications of a strike that would render most employees unable/unwilling to suffer the risk of their loss of essential income, let alone their job. This is not a concern amongst the millionaires that we see perform on their courts or playing fields.
When players in the NBA and throughout sports boycotted games last week, they saw their teams’ governors/owners stand behind their efforts. At least publicly. The reaction from business owners in most other situations where workers walk off the job would be far from muted.
What was unusual about the athlete’s strike was that the issue that prompted the boycotts was not one that players had with governors. It had nothing to do with the players’ salaries or working conditions. Owners are not responsible for police brutality. Yet, their businesses were the subject of walkouts for a condition they did not create or for which they have any direct responsibility. And, the paying customers, the fans—who were denied their sports on television for 3 days—were collateral damage.
This is not meant as being critical of the players efforts. I admire their social conscience. It was what they felt they had to do. And, a good portion of the public either supported the players or were, at least, somewhat sympathetic to their cause. The games that were missed will be made up. I just wanted to point out how fortunate NBA players and other boycotting athletes are that they could take the action they did and not face negative blowback—either from their employers or the public at large—nor face financial stress due to sitting out. This is far from the reality, perhaps the antithesis of such, of the consequences most aggrieved employees would experience while walking out on the job.
Many employers would react the way Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen did to a boycott of last Wednesday night’s MLS playoff game. Hansen was one of the few sports franchise owners who spoke out against players sitting out games. “It is a matter of sadness
The disrespect was profound to me personally
It’s taking a lot of wind out of my sales, what effort I want to put into (my team)… ”
What happens if there is another controversial police killing of a person of color while the NBA playoffs are still being played? Or what happens if such a tragedy should take place down the road, when paying customers are in the stands? Let’s hope we don’t have to have this question answered. I’m afraid we will.
The most direct route, and possibly the only path—THEORETICALLY-- that NBA players (and other pro athletes) could take to directly affect positive change in law enforcement forces (or for that matter systemic racism) is to have a sustained stoppage of play. The 3-day cessation of play was only a minor nuisance to NBA governors. If athletes walk off the job for an elongated period, it would create a major financial burden to the owners— to their multi-million dollar annual profit centers, but even more importantly, to the value of their multi-billion dollar franchises Owners, who are powerful people and have contributed millions to politicians and lobbyists throughout the years, might then go to their paid-for advocates and demand that they enact legislation that would relieve police departments of the rogue cop element in their department. The operative word is THEORETICALLY.
Would professional athletes be willing to do this? If so, would owners—who mostly have huge egos—be willing to be held captive by their athletes? Would politicians succumb to the wishes of some of their biggest patrons-the owners? What will the sports fan—or for that matter the general public-- think of all of this?
If there is another athlete’s strike, this time over a protracted period, would athletes be willing to just solely put police brutality on the table? How about the larger, all-encompassing issue of systemic racism? Would some of the problems that people of color have that are at the very least, partially self-inflicted--Black on Black killings, the breakup of the nuclear family, nutritional deficits, lower education achievement—be part of the discussion… with the goals being greater access and opportunity in conjunction with enhanced personal responsibility? If not, is there any chance that the (largely White) powers that be are amenable to taking unilateral action?
A lot of unanswered questions. These need to be addressed if society is able to move forward on a fair, equitable, basis. The NBA strike was only a very small (minuscule?) step in the right direction.
- ASK JON: PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS, THOUGHTS, IDEAS, QUESTIONS AND/OR FEEDBACK TO Jon@JonFineProductions.com. Please include your first name and city of residence. All death threats will be turned over to Joe Mannix.
DENHAM SPRINGS HS FOOTBALL RADIO BROADCASTS ARE A JON FINE PRODUCTION ON FAMILY RADIO, 91.9 FM, BATON ROUGE and JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS THE OWNER OF AN EBAY STORE. ArrestedDevelopmentMediaGuides, SELLS SPORTS PUBLICATIONS. YOU CAN LINK TO IT BY VISITING JonFineProductions.com.
JON IS PROUD TO WORK AS A MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE FOR SPORTSRADIO-1310-KEZM-SULPHUR/LAKE CHARLES.