September 24, 2020
#77 FOREVER
My deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Remy Hidalgo. The junior football player at Denham Springs HS succumbed to heat stroke last Friday morning
There will be a celebration of Remy’s life this Saturday night, 7pm at Yellow Jackets Stadium.
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. We strongly urge readers of this newsletter to donate to a worthwhile Hurricane oriented charity in the Lake Area.
TODAY’S COLUMNS:
Scott dissects LSU Football and the New Orleans Saints
Dennis opines on an NFL female official…
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.
GOOD NEWS
Denham Springs HS Football broadcasts will return to the radio (Family Radio-91.9 FM) and the Internet (JonFineProductions.com) on October 2, when the Jackets are slated to open up their 8 game season. This will be the 25th year that Jon Fine Productions will be producing these broadcasts. Josh Ward will be the play-by-play announcer, with Andy Duckworth on color commentator. I’ll be involved with pre-game, halftime and post-game.
NOT GOOD NEWS
Sports Radio-1310-KEZM Sulphur-Lake Charles is off the air—a victim of Hurricane Laura. That means no Sulphur HS Football broadcasts. Owner Bruce Merchant hopes the station will be back on the air one day, but that is a good bit down the road.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
LSU has a new defensive coordinator, new quarterback, and only 5 returning starters on offense and defense. That is the reality of LSU football this year.
I am not trying to pour sour milk on your Cheerios, though. Just a dabble of reality. So let's look at how the Tigers can possibly overcome these losses and still challenge for the SEC.
LSU will need to do what they have done the past two years, which is take care of the football and win the hidden yardage. LSU has only 25 turnovers in 28 games. Meanwhile, Avery Atkins kicks the ball out the end zone almost every time forcing the other team to drive 75 yards. LSU has not been great in returning kicks, but that is OK as long as they don't give up much yardage.
On offense, the names to watch for are Liam Shanahan, Myles Brennan, Arik Gilbert, and receivers not named Terrace Marshall.
While the offensive line technically only returns one starter, Austin Deculus, the news is better than it looks. Dare Rosenthal started half the games for Saadhiq Charles last year. He has the frame and the experience. Adrian Magee was the starter at left guard last year, but once Ed Ingram returned, they split time. Ingram has NFL talent. While replacing Damien Lewis at right guard is a challenge, Chasen Hines has started on the offensive line in his career.
That leaves Liam Shanahan to replace Lloyd Cushenberry. He is the only starter who has not taken a snap in the SEC, but he did play three years at Harvard. Center has been the only position where LSU has tried and been unable to develop depth. Hopefully, the Tigers get lucky with Shanahan.
You will notice, I didn put any of the running backs as players to watch. Chris Curry was given the number 18. Considering his talent and performance at the end of last year, I feel very confident that he will perform very well. The talent of Davis-Price and Emery, combined with the fact that they are not freshmen anymore gives me even more confidence in the position.
Consequently, the running game should be something LSU can lean on more than it did last year. While I don know if any of the running backs will be able to match the performance and clutch play on Edwards-Helaire, having more depth at the position should allow LSU to lean on the running game a bit more.
Of course, it will be difficult for Myles Brennan to step into the position of a Heisman trophy winner. But, Oklahoma has been able to do it. That is because of the talent around the position, the consistency of the system, and the talent of the player. That formula could be in place at LSU this year.
We know what Terrace Marshall can do when he is one on one. For him to get one on one coverage, Arik Gilbert has to be as good as advertised. If Gilbert can match the hype, then LSU has the ability to spread defenses out and take the best matchup where most teams don't have more than 1-2 great cover defenders.
I suspect most SEC defensive coordinators are going to assume Marshall and Gilbert are the top threats to take out. That leaves McMath, Palmer, Kirklin, Boutte, and others. Orgeron has already said that Boutte will start, but he is a true freshman. Brennan may be relying heavily on two true freshmen, Gilbert and Boutte, to produce against SEC defenses.
The defense was not great until the end of the year last year, and LSU fans should expect the defense to take a little time to get it together this year. The defensive line is a lot of like the receiver position. A couple veterans, but a number of talented players that will have to grow up fast. Jaquelin Roy, Ali Gaye, Joseph Evans, and others will have to play a lot of snaps and play well for the defense to hold up over 10 SEC games. None of them have played SEC football and that makes this group the weakness of the team heading into the year. That doesn’t mean they will be a weakness.
Even though LSU lost Chaisson, Phillips, and Queen at linebacker, the replacements are experienced. Damone Clark received the #18 for the defense and played well last year. Jabril Cox would have been drafted in the first 3 rounds had he not chosen to transfer to LSU. Micah Baskerville is experienced and is playing a position that will be taken out 75% of the time because LSU will play nickel and dime to match spread offenses.
I do not doubt the ability of the secondary, but the lack of experience at cornerback is my concern. Stevens, Harris, and Hampton have the experience and talent at safety. Offensive coordinators and quarterbacks are crazy if they look toward Stingley. That means Cordalle Flott, Elias Ricks, and Raydarius Jones will have many opportunities to make plays. Darren Evans just transferred in from Nicholls State and hopefully will add some depth.
Mississippi State and Mike Leach will definitely test this group. If this group holds up, this will be an excellent defense. If they struggle, then the defense will struggle.
Speaking of struggle, the Saints. Frustratingly, Monday night was a typical weeks 2 performance for the Saints. Last year was the butt whipping at the Rams. In 2018, the Saints won because of one of the worst place kicking performances in NFL history against a bad Browns team. The Patriots embarrassed the Saints in the dome in 2017. In 2016, the Saints only scored 13 points and lost to the Giants. Jameis Winston and the Bucs beat New Orleans in 2015. Cleveland got the Saints again in 2014 in Cleveland 26-24. The Saints beat Tampa Bay by 2 in 2103, but lost 2012 to Carolina. The best performance was in 2011 when the Saints dominated Jay Cutler and the Bears in the Dome.
That doesn’t mean I am not disappointed in a number of areas. The drops by veteran receivers. The poor pass protection. Brees interception before the half was the worst decision I have seen him make in a while. Of course, the penalty yardage being over 100 yards for the second week in a row.
Defensively, I am going to continue to point out the lack of awareness from the secondary. Jenkins and Lattimore with pass interference penalties on third down for no good reason. They are in position. Lattimore went for an interception on third and nine on a 5 yard pass. Make the tackle and force a field goal. The inability to cover assignments in the red zone showed a defense playing as individuals.
Of course, I could go on, but there is no point. At this point, disappointingly, it looks like the same team as last year. The defense has not taken the next step as I hoped. The offense still cannot make explosive plays and the receiving position is a huge weakness outside Michael Thomas.
Maybe the rookie class will come along, but observe the following names: Eric McCoy, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Saquan Hampton, Alize Mack, Kaden Elliss, Cesar Ruiz, Zack Baun, Adam Trautman, and Tommy Stevens. How many of those players have produced or made plays to help the Saints win in the first two weeks of the year. Eric McCoy.
I agree with the argument that the Saints roster is deep and hard to crack, but look at these names: Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach, Deonte Harris, Carl Granderson. I don’t know why Tuttle hasn’t played, but the other three were undrafted free agents and have made plays.
The Saints are not a week two team. Week three has been a mixed bag where they typically find a way to somehow win in the good years, and find a way to lose in the down years. The Packers are on fire and are not what the doctor ordered. Hopefully, the defense can turn things around because I don’t see the Saints winning a shootout.
HEY REF
I’m back! It’s been a rough ride for me the last three weeks due to some health issues and I’ve got to admit getting back to normal is still probably a couple of weeks away. So I’ll just jump into the fire with a very sore subject with me. I’m very much aware I’ll be getting tons of “hate” mail for my stance on women donning a striped shirt and “calling” football games. By “football games” I’m referring to all levels above elementary school aged players. “Hey Ref how can you not only think that way but admit you feel that way”? Well, that’s a very simple question for me to answer, you know kinda like a walk in the park. You see I’m not one of those people that have been brain washed with leftist, liberal backwards thinking. I don’t believe that our society has always been doing things wrong. I don’t side with those that feel our society needs to be completely dismantled and replaced with these weak kneed babies that have been in touch with their “feminine” side in order to understand an issue then be able to make a decision.
Well, that should fire up all the haters out there or should I rephrase that and call them Candytailers? Doesn’t really matter, they know who they are. So let me try to explain what’s going on. Right now the NFL employs 124 full time on-the-field officials. The breakdown is very simple; 123 are male and one, that’s right there’s only one female that works on the field with 123 other male officials. In 2015 the NFL bowed down to the pressure from the POLITICALLY CORRECT POLICE and hired Sarah Thomas as their first ever on-the-field female official. She was assigned to the position of Line Judge.
Thomas has the distinction of being the first woman to officiate a major college football game. Thomas has the distinction of being the first woman to officiate a bowl game. Thomas has the distinction of being the first woman to officiate in a Big 10 stadium. And of course Thomas has the distinction of being the first woman to officiate in the NFL as a full time official. But if we peel back the sugar coating for just a brief bit of time and ask ourselves “does she belong in the NFL” we’ll see the answer is a very stern “NO”!
Thomas grew up in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She officiated her first high school game in 1999. In 2007 she started working college games. The NFL hired her in 2015. Please give me a second while I try to figure out how many years of experience she had under her belt before moving up to the professional league… … … MMMMMMM, seems she clocked an amazing rise to the top of the mountain, blitzkrieg style in just sixteen years!
While everyone continues heaping praise on Thomas please allow me to ask the tough question “When will the NFL hire a second female official”? If the NFL really wanted to acknowledge that the door is open to more women officials then they’d already have at least two more women wearing the stripes on Sunday afternoon. But for now just the one is all the NFL needs to silence their most adamant critics.
But what really has me shaking my head is the fact that those in New York at NFL headquarters are rewriting the rules all officials are meant to follow. For starters the league changed the position’s name from HEADLINESMAN to DOWN JUDGE. They felt it needed changing so as to not upset their female fans who said it was too gender specific. Down Judge makes no sense in that every official on the field and the sidelines must know what down it is and the distance needed to make a first down.
I quit watching football games some fifteen years ago so when I got a call Monday night from my brother who lives in Dallas wanting to know who the ponytail ref was I thought he was joking. He explained he was watching the Saints-Raiders game and he said there’s a member of the crew flashing a long blonde ponytail. So, of course I had to take a peak. That ponytail official was none other than the first woman this, the first woman that, the first woman to… You get my point. So for some unknown reason those New Yorkers at NFL central have decided to allow ONLY ONE OF THEIR 124 OFFICIALS TO LET IT FLOW!
I was kinda surprised but again you’ve got to remember the NFL is the ONLY professional football league that has a woman calling games on the field. I figure the NFL wants to remind everyone of this fact so they’ve legalized yet another rule that just one will “benefit” from the change. So, I’d like to know if the league will allow its male officials to also wear their hair flowing from beneath their hats. Here’s something I must put out there for debate; will officials be allowed to wear dreadlocks from under their hats like you see so many of the players now doing? If not then what’s their reasoning? You’ve (NFL rule writers) started this thing that will divide some members of the crew. Why would they write a rule for just one official? If they don’t allow male officials to also wear his locks in the wide open will they have to file a lawsuit claiming discrimination? Or if he’s real rebel and decides he’s gonna let it flow then loses his employment with the NFL be allowed to file a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination under the Sarah Thomas rule?
I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. Now before you think I’m the only one that thinks this way let me assure you there are many officials that don’t agree with these rules that are written for only one member of the crew. They feel it brings attention to that one official and it does. As more and more of the “old timers” retire so too does the old way of thinking.
Till next week… …
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