November 19, 2020
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
VS OUACHITA CHRISTIAN
Denham Springs concludes its regular season by entertaining Ouachita Christian. Josh Ward and Andy Duckworth are on the call. I’ll contribute to pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. The broadcast starts at 6pm with Sport-N-Center Jackets Warmup on Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge and on the net at JonFineProductions.com
A special thank you to the Denham Springs business community, who, en masse, stepped up big time, in troubled times, to sponsor our broadcasts. YOU’RE THE BEST!!!
GOD BLESS
Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone adversely effected by Hurricane Delta… and My heart goes out to my friends in the Lake Area who endured major destruction at the hands of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta. 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 assesses the Saints, LSU and the Pelicans
Dennis discusses a number of topics…
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.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
The Saints did not look like a Super Bowl team this week, but that does not mean this was not a performance of a team that could be on a path to the Super Bowl.
The offense was totally out of sync for most of the game. But the defense performed in a way that showed they can carry this team if necessary. And I am including the first quarter. I know the 49ers had the ball for over 13 minutes in the first quarter. San Francisco was converting every third down, but that was because of poor defense on second and long. Nevertheless, the great sign from the defense was forcing a field goal after the muffed punt. Earlier in the year, the Saints would have fallen behind 14-0 for sure, but this time, the defense did the job.
Naturally, I would have preferred another performance closer to the Tampa game, but that is not how the NFL works. There is too much parity. As a result, I will accept a game where the offense did not play well and the defense dominated to lead to a comfortable two touchdown win. By now, you have probably seen the stat that this is the first time the Saints have won under Sean Payton while gaining under 260 yards. Wow!
I can't help but laugh to myself over the people that are concerned how the Saints will play without Brees. Many of these are the same people that spent the whole first month of the season saying Brees was completely washed up.
This injury is a great opportunity for the Saints to evaluate Jameis Winston. I will be looking for the answers to the following questions. Jameis, especially since he lost the weight, can run a little. Do the Saints run some RPOs? Even compared to Brees’ prime, Winston has a stronger arm. Does that allow the Saints to take some more shots downfield to Deonte Harris the way the Chiefs use Tyreek Hill? Finally, will Jameis make quick decisions and get rid of the ball on time. If so, he could be the starting quarterback for the Saints next year.
As for LSU, I don't really know what to say. After the bye week, and the covid week, will LSU play? Who will be available to play? How good or bad is LSU? I know if I was setting the line for this game I would make Arkansas the favorite.
Arkansas is not the team they have been in recent years. They are competitive. Even when outclassed by Georgia and Florida they have competed. The Hogs are clearly a team that believes in itself and the coaches.
I think one thing LSU can do to help this team is to play like an underdog. LSU needs to steal possessions from time to time with a fake field goal, punt, or on-side kick. A flea flicker, reverse or double pass on offense to get some easy yards would be nice too.
More importantly, they need to play with an edge that they have something to prove. Because they do.
I would like to close with a detailed breakdown of the Pelicans´ Jrue Holiday trade, but the truth is I cannot keep up with the draft picks, swaps, and all that goes into NBA trades. I can say that Holiday is a great person and excellent basketball player, and a wonderful defensive player. Still, I can come on board with the boat load of picks the Pelicans now have if they are able to identify and select players like the Heat have done.
Bam Adebayo was the 14th pick, Tyler Herro the 13th pick, and Duncan Robinson was undrafted. The Pelicans are clearly trying to build through the draft. Now, they must draft and develop talent quickly to take advantage of the incredible good fortune they received in being able to get Zion Williamson.
HEY REF
With all the problems that 2020 has brought us I’d like to get to one thing that’s the most important thing and that is FAMILY! This will be one of the hardest Thanksgivings most of us will have. I just want to say that I hope everyone will have a great SAFE Thanksgiving. Don’t ruin your holidays by drinking and driving. A taxi ride is the best bargain on the market and they’re available all year long. I’m not a gambling man but even if I were the odds of being over the limit is something I’d NEVER put up against my freedom. Do everybody a favor and call a cab when it’s closing time.
While I made a short visit to my local Wally World last week I “bumped” into a couple fellow officials. We shot the bull for nearly 30 minutes fixing all the world’s problems before we started telling and re-telling old “war” stories. One of my favorite stories that I seem to always share is the one where a football coach, thinking I’m a rookie, tried his best to get under my skin. Leaning hard on what I’d learned from the first ten years was how to let a coach understand tonight’s game isn’t my first rodeo.
The game started as they always do with smiles and handshakes from the coaches on my sidelines. But as fate would have it on the first kickoff my sidelines were called for holding. And of course my coach didn’t like the call as most don’t when starting a game his team is walking backwards. Nothing too exciting was happening for the first two quarters but right before halftime my sidelines received the hated double foul call which is one live ball penalty and one of those dreaded “dead-ball” fouls. As I got all the info from my white hat I just knew I’d have trouble trying to explain to my coach because he was so loud the dead could hear him.
Anyway as I’m trying to explain the fouls and the mark offs he went into orbit. Keeping my cool I allowed him about 30 seconds to voice his unhappiness why my crewmates had just flagged his team. For what seemed a day and a half he just refused to accept that the dead ball penalty was added to what was already marked off. So at 31 seconds I informed him it was time to get back to playing football. I think he ran another five plays and as we were about to end the quarter and get a cold drink the unthinkable happened, his team was just awarded another dead ball foul.
I knew he was going to get very loud so as I finished explaining the “WHY’s” and turned toward the line of scrimmage I could hear him and OH BOY he’s getting louder. So, this middle aged official just stood there waiting for the snap and just as the ball is snapped he starts getting even louder. I pay him no mind and hoped we could get to the half before he gets even louder. Well, that didn’t happen and as he kept getting louder I turn around, look him dead center in the eyes and say “Hey, Coach! I’m paid to call balls and strikes so you can get quiet”!
He doesn’t utter another word for some time. In fact I had to turn around just to be sure he’s still on the side lines. He was but he doesn’t have another word for me and turns to one of his coaches and says “Hey, this guy thinks he’s calling balls and strikes”! In fact that’s all he says until the horn goes off and we start walking back to the dressing room. It didn’t take another second before he realized he didn’t have a rookie on his side lines. As the he passes me he just says in a low voice “THANKS”! He understood it was my way to let him know I wasn’t a rookie. When the game ended he THANKED me again because it was my way to get him quiet so he could make it to the end of the game.
Sometimes you’ve got to control parents because they are more likely to be sent home before many coaches. I find little league baseball mothers to be the most extreme people in the stands. Controlling these “FANS” goes against everything NORMAL as their little Johnnies are Hall of Fame material and will let you know that their kids can do no wrong. The remainder of this week’s column is a “Best of” and I get a lot of requests to dust off the spider webs and re-print it. So, again, I try to grant those requests. Enjoy the “BEST OF HEY REF”…
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 ass”! 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. It’s very sad to admit that 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… …
DENHAM SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IS BACK ON THE AIR!
Our silver anniversary! The 2020 school year marks the 25th season that Jon Fine (Sports) Productions will have the privilege of producing and calling play-by-play for Denham Springs HS Football radio broadcasts. In 2020, the broadcast slate will include all 8 regular season Denham games, and every playoff game. Broadcasts will air on Family Radio-91.9 FM-Baton Rouge, starting at 6:00 pm Friday nights. All broadcasts can also be heard on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com (click Listen Live on the Denham Springs Football PBP page). The first broadcast is Friday, October 2, when the Jackets travel to St Amant HS.
Denham Springs HS grad Josh Ward will be the play-by-play announcer of the Jackets. He will be joined by Andy Duckworth as the color commentator. Jon Fine will contribute to the pre-game warmup, half-time report and post-game show.
This year’s broadcasts will be dedicated to the memory of Jackets Football player Remy Hidalgo. Ward, Duckworth and Fine will each be wearing broadcasts shirts which feature a #77. Throughout the broadcasts, there will be mentions of ways that Jackets fans can contribute to a charity in memory of Remy.
“Sport N Center Jackets Warm-Up” will feature an interview with Jackets Football Coach Brett Beard conducted by Josh Ward. Jon Fine will speak with a prominent Denham Springs community and/or sports figure. Josh Ward and Andy Duckworth will also offer a preview of that night’s game and other pertinent information.
The “North Oaks Health System Half-Time Report” will include Fine interviewing another Denham Springs personality. In addition, Ward and Duckworth will provide a recap of the first half and a look ahead at the second half of action.
During the “Ralph Sellers Chevrolet Post-Game Show”, there will be an extensive game recap, final stats and a look ahead.
When Denham Springs picks up a first down, they’ll achieve an “Ollie’s Car Wash First Down”. When the Jackets score, you’ll get the particulars on the “Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill Jackets Scoring Drive”.
Sport-N-Center owner Stacy Phipps (Baseball) and Big Mike O’Neal (Football) were athletes at Denham Springs HS. Ward was an assistant basketball coach with the Jackets.
Ralph Sellers Chevrolet Parts Manager Jim McChristian says he was an athlete at Denham Springs HS, but we have had a difficult time verifying this claim! LOL
Fine expressed that he is especially appreciative of the loyal commercial and name mention sponsors the broadcasts have had on Jon Fine Sports Productions’ Denham Springs HS play-by-play broadcasts throughout the years. Many have been with the broadcasts on a year-in, year-out basis. Fine expressed hope that listeners will have the opportunity to patronize these businesses and let them know they heard about them on DSHS Football radio broadcasts.
Josh Ward not only graduated from Denham Springs HS, but served as an assistant basketball coach under Coach Paul Smith. He has called Redemptorist HS and Central HS Football games for Jon Fine Productions in years’ past. He is presently the Traffic Manager at Guaranty Broadcasting. Ward is a native of Denham Springs and is single.
Andy Duckworth grew up in Mississippi, played high school football, basketball and baseball and was a 4 year baseball letterman at Belhaven. He is a former radio station manager and sports-talk host in Mississippi. In this capacity, he hosted a sports talk show and did play-by-play for Mississippi College Athletics and Madison Central HS. He presently works as a financial advisor. Duckworth is married and has 2 children.
Jon Fine co-hosted and produced daily 2 hour drive-time radio sports-talk programs in the Greater Baton Rouge area for close to 20 years. His programs (first SportsTalk, which changed its name to SportsGumbo), aired, at times, in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Monroe and Alexandria, in addition to the Baton Rouge market. His company, Jon Fine Productions, has produced numerous Denham Springs HS and area HS sports programming on television, radio and internet. In addition to his Denham Springs broadcasting chores, Fine has an EBay internet store--ArrestedDevelopmentMedia Guides, and is a marketing representative for SportsRadio-1310AM-KEZM-Lake Charles/Sulphur. Fine is a native of Valley Stream, New York and a graduate of Penn. He is single.
For more information on Denham Springs HS Sports programming and Jon Fine Productions, please visit JonFineProductions.com.
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.