It involved two schools where I have coached, one where I taught for eight years. At Ridgefield High School, where I taught at least a half-dozen different subjects at one time or another, Gregg Ford is the basketball coach. Has been for years. Good man. Good teacher. Good father - I've had a couple of his girls in class. As a coach? I'm not enough of a basketball expert to judge, but let's put it this way - I'd trust him with my son. At some point last season Gregg, a rather patient, tolerant man, had a dispute of some sort with a young man which resulted in Gregg's booting him off the team. The young man's conduct was evidently enough to get him suspended from school as well. But he returned to Ridgefield for this, his senior year, and turned out for basketball. But for whatever reason, and a couple come to mind right away, he was cut. His reaction to being cut included, by his own admission, smashing his fist through a window. So he transferred to nearby La Center, where I have also coached. Since the state of Washington prohibits transfers for athletic reasons, either his parents abruptly moved, or they suddenly discovered a compelling academic reason for their son to transfer schools. The latter case, based on public reporting of standardized test scores which show Ridgefield to be one of the best in the area and La Center, uh - not at the top - seems unlikely. The La Center coach gave him a chance, and he not only made the team, but he has performed well, as La Center has jumped out to a 7-0 league record, and is now ranked 6th in the state in its class. (The La Center coach is a very good basketball coach and, in my judgment, a good man, too. ) But making the team at La Center apparently wasn't enough for our kid. Some time in the last several weeks, he had to go and post some scurrilous statements about his former coach on one of those godawful Internet chatrooms - in this case, on something catering to Washington high school sports which, like similar ones in other states, allows its chatroom to become a cesspool of vile and uncivil insults and retorts. Our young man's words were, in the words of the Ridgefield principal, Russ Roseberry, "defamatory, derogatory and disrespectful." So on January 18, Ridgefield principal Roseberry informed the young man that his statement "has created an unsafe, adversarial relationship," that "it is not in the best interest of our students, our staff or yourself to be on the RHS campus," and that if he should be seen on the Ridgefield campus, he would be reported to the Ridgefield Police as a trespasser. Question: why did the Ridgefield principal have to be the one to take action? What kind of cowardice among La Center's administrators allowed a player on one of their teams - he does not have an unqualified right to play - to publicly defile the coach of a rival team? Were they afraid of violating the little darling's first amendment rights? A little common sense would have prevented this thing from reaching the courts. I can't imagine any principal I ever worked for, or any coach I ever played for or coached under, allowing a kid to pull a stunt like that. So far, the only apparent consequence of his action was his coach's insistence on an apology. So with the two teams scheduled to meet last night - at Ridgefield - and the boy being warned not to set foot on the Ridgefield campus, his mother (figures, doesn't it?) hired an attorney, who requested a judge to intervene so that her son could travel to Ridgefield with the La Center team and play in the Ridgefield gym. Among other things, the attorney said - listen to this - that if he were not permitted to play that one single game in the Ridgefield High gym, his client might suffer "irreparable harm"... that Ridgefield was attempting to discipline a student from another school... that "what he did there was inappropriate, but he's been disciplined for it," (although he did decline to say how, exactly, he'd been disciplined), and - if you can believe this - that Ridgefield was "trying to gain an unfair advantage in an athletic contest." (You know how it goes these days - people will do the damnedest things to try to win a high school basketball game.) Anyhow, at 9 AM yesterday, the judge ruled against the kid. "It's not really fair," the kid said. I agree. There I was, stuck with two dozen courtside tickets to the Ridgefield-La Center game that suddenly nobody wanted. Just kidding. *********** Wow - talk about reaching out... Todd Bross, of Sharon, Pennsylvania, responded to my original piece about an Eastern Pennsylvania-Western Pennsylvania rivalry by noting that Philadelphia schools didn't compete for state titles. I responded by recalling that none of the great Overbrook High teams featuring Wilt Chamberlain ever got a shot at a state title, but it did seem to me that I recalled Overbrook losing a game to a western Pennsylvania power. Sure enough, Todd Bross got back to me and said, it happened. Farrell High was the team. He wrote a few things about Farrell as a basketball power. And then I heard from Jason Clarke, in Millersville, Maryland, who, knowing his dad was from Farrell, sent my article to him: "Coach, I emailed my dad a portion of the "News You Can Use" referencing Basketball. Here is what he emailed back to me: *********** Hey Coach, suffering from a little Patriot fever here in sunny New England. I'll take the Pats and the 14 points....Alan Goodwin, Warwick, Rhode Island *********** I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for giving 'us' the opportunity to award our deserving kids with the Black Lion Award designation. Our winner, Chris Sherry was given his award recently at our banquet and he was extremely proud! I read the inscription on the nice certificate that was sent with the patch aloud before I announced his name. He deserved and received a standing ovation from the crowd of over 200 that was in attendance (including Doug Barfield, the former Auburn Head Coach who was our guest speaker). The mental picture I am left with is of Chris after the banquet seated by a table with his certificate in his lap having his picture made by his mom of he and his dad. The pride the two of them show was worth more than any amount of money in the world. Thanks, Hugh, for playing such a big role in making this possible for Chris and his family. Emory Latta Head Coach, Northview HS, Dothan, Alabama
*********** Coach - Happened to turn on ESPN 2 Sunday night and lo and behold the Pop Warner Youth Football Championships were on. The first play I saw was out of a "pro-style/ wide open" offensive set and a pass. Interception. Opposing team gets the ball. First play they run is a pass. Interception. Teams gets ball back and first play is a pass. You guessed it. Interception. Three plays. Three interceptions. The play-by-play man, Jamal Anderson, makes the comment about youth teams "not being able to throw at this age" (or something close to that). DUHHH! The defense that the eventual winner was running was a 5-3. Can you imagine what the Double Wing would have done to that team? Both teams had some extremely talented players and only after (North Woods?) decided to start running the ball did they score some points to win the game. I pray for the day I can get some of that talent AND run the double wing. John Torres, Manteca, California *********** Coach, I saw the article about Tonya Harding, but was too busy to send you a note to bust on you. However I'm glad our friend Scott Barnes did not let it go by. I was flipping through the channels last night and saw a youth football game. After a few minutes I realized it was the Pop Warner Super Bowl game between Everett Mass, and a team from the Baltimore area. During the first half the Baltimore team ran a pitch to their right, the corner came up and made the most "beautiful" play you have ever seen. He took the leading blocker (fullback) out with a picture perfect cut block, and the safety came in and made a nice tackle. They replayed it several times to explain and show what a "beautiful" play it was, and how he really "put his head in there." During half time Ron Jaworsky went over it again, saying what a beautiful play it was. I truly hope some of our DWers. were watching it and if they missed it, I think they should get a copy of the game so they can see what an illegal defensive clip or cut block is. It was the most flagrant cut block you will ever see, and no one had the slightest idea that it was illegal or how dangerous it was. We have gone over this time and time again with the officials, but on the field they only look for it from the offense. Frank Simonsen, Cape May, New Jersey *********** Gonzaga, for those of you who don't follow college basketball, is a small, Jesuit school in Spokane (Spo-CAN), Washington. Gonzaga's field house seats maybe 4,000, but Gonzaga has a great basketball program. John Stockton of the Jazz, a Spokane native, is the Zags' best-known product, but for the last three years Gonzaga has confounded the bookies by getting to the "Sweet 16" in the NCAA tournament. Only Duke and Michigan State have done as well. Gonzaga's success has not been a fluke. They have some very good talent, and they are very well coached. Understandably, Gonzaga coach Mark Few has already had some lucrative offers to go elsewhere. Thus far, he has resisted. He says he likes the Spokane lifestyle, and so does his wife. He especially likes to fish. In talking with Ken Goe, of the Portland Oregonian, he compared fishing with golf: "I can walk off the 18th green and be mad because I missed a putt or choked down the stretch and lost a match. That never happens fishing. Even when you can't figure out what the fish are taking, you still enjoy the experience. You are out there doing a lot of thinking and enjoying everything God has created. I'm on a mission to spend quality time with my wife and my son and enjoy the Northwest. That's a big part of who I am." He also says remaining is a matter of loyalty: "Some guys in this profession don't have any loyalty to their kids," he told Goe. "They bounce from one job to the next, like it doesn't matter. What, don't they have a relationship with their players? I mean, what do you want out of life? Do you just want to accrue millions?"
*********** Coach: Looks as if they changed the date on us: Rick Davis, Duxbury, Massachusetts Investigative Reports: Special Edition: Wide Open: Inside the World of High School Football (A & E) *********** Coach -- Glad to see your comments on cheap shots, and I too would like to see a crackdown. It's unfortunate some players think intensity or wanting it more means dirty play. As a youth league Coach I always remind my players to keep their heads up when making contact, at times it seems my words fall on deaf ears. Is it because the kids see NFL defenders spear the football or maybe because they see NFL ballcarriers using the crown of their helmets as battering rams? I hope I never see it, but after watching the last 3 weeks of NFL playoff games I keep thinking someone getting a broken neck is just an event waiting to happen if the officials don't start enforcing the rules against spearing. Doug Gibson, Naperville, Illinois *********** Did anybody notice Phil Simms talking about the "great blocks" thrown on Troy Brown's punt return. Remember, in the NFL you can only send two guys downfield - the "gunners." So the Patriots were smart enough to put two men on both of the Steelers' gunners - and hold the hell out of them. They couldn't get downfield. When Brown caught the punt, there wasn't a Steeler within 15 yards of him. For some reason they gave us the wide camera shot, so I just happened to be watching what was going on with the gunners when the ball was snapped, and I said to my wife, "they're going to get a good return out of this." *********** "Laughed my ass off at today's column. You must know this wrestling/football coach pretty well. Maybe we can get the Toughman competition to come to his area. Great fundraiser! The Coach vs. The Band Director! Winner take all!" Jim Fisher, Newport, Virginia
*********** Coach: Happy New Year. I wanted to share something with you that I found in "66 Years on the California Gridiron 1882-1948: The History of Football at the University of California "by S. Dan Brodie (Oakland: Olympic Publishing, 1949). (And for skeptics, yes, Cal DOES have a football history -- and post-Holmoe, possibly a future.) From page 12: "It is interesting to note that the style of play in those earliest days of American Football in the West [1887] resembled quite closely the modern "T" formation. The quarterback was stationed directly behind the center, and upon receiving the ball he immediately tossed it out laterally to one of his halfbacks, who were split wide behind the ends. In fact, the system approached a modern Warner Double Wing together with a "T" quarterback." Not exactly 88 SP, but it does seem there is very little new under the sun, doesn't it? Ted Seay, First Secretary (Political/Economic), U.S. Embassy, Suva, Fiji Islands (The T-formation snap referred to there was, I suspect, either "direct" (tossed) or rolled, rugby style. I believe that was before the rules were changed to permit the QB to do anything on his own. Then, he was more like the present-day scrum half in rugby, who must take the ball from the scrum and pass it to one teammate or another. HW) More from Ted Seay in response: Same book, page 6: "The forward line had a peculiar wedge-shaped appearance and it was the forwards who attempted to advance the ball by rolling it along with their feet. They were not eligible to pick up the ball and run with it. They could, however, kick or snap the ball back with their feet to the quarterback, who could then run with the ball, or pass it on to one of his own back-field men." That settles it then...
MORE ABOUT DON HOLLEDER AND THE TYPE OF MAN HE WAS "Major Holleder overflew the area (under attack) and saw a whole lot of Viet Cong and many American soldiers, most wounded, trying to make their way our of the ambush area. He landed and headed straight into the jungle, gathering a few soldiers to help him go get the wounded. A sniper's shot killed him before he could get very far. He was a risk-taker who put the common good ahead of himself, whether it was giving up a position in which he had excelled or putting himself in harm's way in an attempt to save the lives of his men. My contact with Major Holleder was very brief and occured just before he was killed, but I have never forgotten him and the sacrifice he made. On a day when acts of heroism were the rule, rather than the exception, his stood out." Dave Berry By the way... to make sure the record is correct... There is no "n" in "Holleder." The correct pronunciation is NOT "Hollander" - there is no "N". It was common, when Don Holleder was playing, for announcers to mispronounce his name "Hollander," and evidently it was a sore spot with his former wife, since remarried who, when I spoke with her, evidently thought I'd said "Hollander," and was quick to correct me!
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January
30 - "I tell the
coaches and I tell the players that I am going to be just
as nice as they want me to be. I am going to be as tough
as they want me to be and I am going to be as easy as
they want me to be. It is up to them. They will determine
it." Johnny Majors
ENTITLED
"XTREME SPORTS," the photo at left was sent to me by Al
Andrus, of Salt Lake City, no doubt in hopes of getting this
accepted as an experimental sport in the upcoming Winter
Olympics. Al assures me that no animals were harmed in the
shooting of the photo. This is a highly-trained stunt mouse,
and readers are advised not to try this at home using common
house mice.
***********
Maybe you saw players in the Army-Navy game
wearing patches in honor of various military
units. Winners of the Black Lion Award are
not only eligible to wear the Black Lions
emblem shown at left, they are all going to
receive one.
*********** Yeah, I know that - but is it pure? My son-in-law Rob Love, knowing that I am a Yale graduate, was thoughtful enough to call me and tell me he'd just heard over the radio about one of "the best and the brightest" - a Yale student (remember, it takes an SAT of 1300+ to get in there nowadays) - who walked into the campus police station and told them he'd just bought a bag of something "on the street" and asked them if they'd tell him what it contained.
The Portland Trail Blazers angered a few people besides me when they signed Ruben Patterson to a six-year, $34 million contract. See, some of us don't think a guy who basically forces his kids' nanny to Lewinsky him and then cops some kind of plea which is not exactly "Guilty" but is still an admission that they had enough on him to make it tough if he decided to fight it deserves to be running around in anything other than orange coveralls. It gets really bizarre when you realize that in order to live in Oregon (he non-committed the non-act while in Washington, playing for the Super Sonics), he had to register as a sex offender. In most towns I know of, registered sex offenders don't go out in public and perform in front of audiences. But Patterson, it appears, is well on the road to rehabilitation. See, he got hot. On the basketball court, that is. In a recent 10-game streak, he averaged 17.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Not only that but, said the Portland Oregonian, "He also silenced many of the critics who said the Blazers were out of line for acquiring a player who in May entered a modified plea to charges of third-degree rape and is a registered sex offender in Oregon." See that? He answered his "critics" by letting his basketball do the talking, and now those few of us who still think he's a disgusting pervert have to shut up.
*********** A woman with a set of stones... If I wanted to give kids a lesson in competitiveness and courage, I can't imagine a better one than the one I saw Friday night. It was in a tennis match, of all things. A women's tennis match. What I saw was one of the most incredible examples I've ever seen of refusing to quit, no matter how bad things looked. Of sucking it up and soldiering on. It was the women's finals of the Australian Open, Jennifer Capriati, the defending champion, against Martina Hingis. Don't know what you know about tennis scoring, but basically, it goes like this: you win a match by winning sets, you win sets by winning games, you win games by winning points. You win points by hitting it before it bounces twice, hitting it over the net, keeping it inside the lines. If you don't, it's a point against you; if your opponent doesn't, it's a point against him (or her). The first person to get four points wins the "game." (You have to win by two.) The first person to win six games - again, you have to win by two - wins the "set." And the winner of the best two of three sets wins the match. (That's women's tennis. In men's tennis, it's best three of five.) The serve changes after every game. The server typically has a great advantage, and so when you can win a game when your opponent is serving, it's called "breaking serve." (If the server does as expected, and wins the game, it's called "holding serve.") It was hot in Melbourne - very, very hot. 95 degrees or so, and humid. It was especially rough down at courtside. You could tell, as the match progressed, how hot it was by looking at the competitors. They weren't glowing; they weren't perspiring. They were sweating. And when Hingis won the first set and jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the second set, I half expected Capriati, hopelessly behind, to flick it in. I mean, hell - did she really need to stay out there in that heat and continue to get her brains beaten in? She'd done okay in the tournament. She'd made it the Finals, hadn't she? That's not bad. She would earn a lot of money for a second-place finish. And she'd won it all last year, right? Did she have anything else to prove? If she'd just started going through the motions, just chalked it up to a bad day and gotten it over with, most people would have understood. They'd have understood perfectly, because that's what most people would have done themselves. But not Jennifer Capriati. Something kept her competing, and she managed to hang in there and chip away, winning a few games, and drawing a little closer. Several times, though, Hingis was within a single point of ending the match, but every time, Capriati would suck it up and come up with a winner. And Hingis herself began to show signs of rattling, or wilting, until finally, in a sort of tennis overtime called tie-breaker, Capriati managed to overtake Hingis and win the second set. And then, tied in sets 1-1, and facing another set of tennis in the oppressive heat, she took charge, and went on to win her second straight Australian Open. It was an incredible comeback - a marvelous display of the drive within a true competitor to fight his (or her) hardest, even when things look bleakest.
*********** I am not a great fan of referring to oneself in the third person, You know, when a Michael Jordan or some such stands up in front of the news media and tells them "Michael Jordan has to do what's best for Michael Jordan," as if the real Michael Jordan - the one whom millions admire - had just stepped out of the room, but this other guy, whose name also happens to be Michael Jordan and who bears a startling resemblance to the real thing, knows the public Michael Jordan better than anyone else in the whole world, and is able to let those assembled in on what he really thinks. And then I realized that this could be a clever form of assuming several identities, another one of those escape-the-blame games. Just the other day, I read an article about the sorry state of basketball at the University of North Carolina, a place that has given us Dean Smith, the four-corner offense, a Carolina-blue sky, ubiquitous hats that rappers wear askew, and, coincidentally, Michael Jordan. The coach, a guy named Matt Doherty, was being quoted. Well, actually, it was another Matt Doherty being quoted, one who looked very much like the coach, and seemed to be his spokesman. "I really believe this situation is good for Matt Doherty the coach," he said, talking about the hard times Carolina has been going through.
*********** Coach - I can't find the article online, but on the inside of the front page of the Dallas Morning News Sunday edition, there was a follow-up to your Tonya Harding story...appears that Ms. Harding has been evicted from her home in Camas for failure to pay rent, and according to Ms. Harding, will have to "sleep in a Corvette Coupe" tonight. Seems that a good neighbor policy might be in order for you??? at the very least, maybe you could get some pics of her sleeping in her car as a follow-up to your story (one of the funniest things I've ever read, by the way!) -- what a loser. Scott Barnes- Rockwall, Texas (I have been cruising the streets of our little town, Camas, looking for a parked Corvette. I am in a large caravan of vehicles with things like "NEWS CHANNEL 8" and "TV 2 NEWS" and "OREGONIAN NEWS" lettered on the doors.
*********** There is a fundamental principle of teaching that has always been unspoken but well understood. I heard it said years ago by a noted college professor: Students are Sacred. Remember that story last week about the Vancouver, Washington high school that felt it had to call in "crisis counselors" to help the little darlings deal with their grief at the loss of their beloved choir teacher, who'd suddenly and unexpectedly resigned? It gets better. Actually, it gets worse. Turns out this 32-year-old "educator" is accused of having had sex with one of his students, an 18-year old girl. Authorities say the "relationship" began when the girl was 16 or 17. He resigned and turned in his teacher's license, we were told, but at first, it seemed the guy was going to wriggle free, legally speaking. The authorities announced that there were not likely to be any charges filed against him, because the girl was beyond the legal age of consent (16 in Washington) and there was no evidence that he had used his position to force or intimidate her into "sexual contact." So essentially, he was no longer going to be teaching in the state Washington, but so what? There are 49 others. But, wait - whaddaya know? Turns out there is a law against what he (allegedly) did. Turns out that last year a state legislator named Kathy Lambert submitted a bill making student-teacher sex illegal under any circumstances. It passed both houses by wide margins - unanimously in the House, 40-4 in the Senate - but it was vetoed by the Governor. One of the least courageous people on God's earth, he probably was afraid of losing the teacher-predator vote. But it turns out that Rep. Lambert was too clever by half for the dolts in the Governor's office. In the belief that they couldn't be bothered reading everything sent to them, she managed to have the bill re-inserted as an amendment to another, larger bill pertaining to sex offenders, one which the Governor signed. That'll teach the Guv to read the fine print, because now, by golly, it's law. And even though few people even knew it was on the books, it says, quite clearly: "A person is guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree when... the person is a school employee who has... sexual intercourse with a registered student of the same school who is at least sixteen years old (the law has other ways of dealing with him if she is under 16) and not married to the employee, if the employee is at least sixty months older than the student." So now it's possible that Mr. Music Man will be prosecuted. If he is found guilty, I would prefer fifty lashes, well laid-on. But since that is not likely, he could pull some time. If so... Three cheers for Representative Kathy Lambert, Republican from Redmond. Without her, this guy could have wound up moving out of town and teaching in some other state. Maybe teaching your teenage daughter. And for those teachers or coaches who share my disgust at any other teacher or coach who would betray the trust placed in him by parents and taxpayers (not to mention his own family) - carry on. You don't deserve to be marked by scum like that. You don't need the force of law to remind you that such a thing is wrong. (Yes, wrong, in black-and-white terms.) But I also think that you need to come out and let parents and taxpayers know that no matter how much you may have liked that person, no matter how good a teacher or a coach he might have been, his actions have branded him as unworthy to be one of you. And for the students at the school, you don't need busloads of crisis counselors to help you get over your grief at learning that your beloved teacher couldn't keep it zippered up. You need to know that what he is accused of doing - and what the teenage student apparently did, too - is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I just hope that you can get over your suspicions that maybe every other male teacher is like that. They're not. *********** Hugh, Hope all is going well for you. I read your site every chance I get. I had to laugh today while reading your description of the similarities of football and combat. I was not laughing at your views ... I happen to agree with you on these points. I was laughing because your comments reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of years ago. This is not necessarily for publication, but I thought you'd get a laugh out of it. You might remember that I am not only an assistant football coach, but I am also the Head wrestling coach. I happened to be talking to my wrestling team one afternoon about how it took a "set of stones" (or words to that effect) to be a wrestler and/or a football player, so they should be very proud of competing in those sports. I was trying to pump them up about what they were doing. I happened to mention that only about 8% of the males in the building had what it took to wrestle and only about 15% to play football. I went on to say that there were many other groups of kids who worked hard in other activities, but that I thought the football players and wrestlers were special. I told them that band kids may work hard, and our swimmers obviously work hard since they are in the pool about five hours a day; however, it just isn't the same thing. I told them it was different because no one was going to attack the trombone player in our band by smacking him in the head with a tuba at the next band competition. I also told them no opponent at the next swim meet was going to dive into the pool and try to drown one of our swimmers. BUT, at ANY wrestling meet we go to some guy IS going to try to take you apart and make you feel great discomfort, so we had better get working harder. The next day I got an email from the band director saying that he had been told I was bad mouthing the band. I couldn't believe it. I knew my 103 pounder was in the band, but did not think I said anything that was bad mouthing anyone. Apparently he ran to the band director and complained. What a joke. NAME WITHHELD (Imagine - a wrestling coach, and he's afraid of the band director! HW) *********** Hi Coach, Read your nice description of PA football, and the professional's lack of east-west rivalry that is rampant on the high school level. As a proud western PA native, it upsets me to report that since the PIAA started state championships in football 14 years ago, the east holds a 34-22 edge in the 4 classes: AAAA - West & East even at 7 AAA - East has a 11-3 edge, including 9 of the last 10 (West won this year) AA - East again holds a 10-4 edge A - West has a 8-6 edge, including the last 7 in a row. For a complete list, (through 2000) http://ebensburg.net/piaa/football/PIAAChampions.htm Interesting notes: The 1st year, the WPIAL (Western) AAAA champion (Upper St. Clair)thought so little of it they chose not to participate, so the WPIAL runner-up, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, went and won the 1st large school state championship. 1st in the state, 2nd in the west. Southern Columbia are the Buffalo Bills of PIAA football. This eastern A powerhouse has been in 7 of the last 8 A championship games, and has lost 6 in a row since winning the 1st game. Shame such a great program has such an albatross around its neck. Juggernauts: Central Bucks West (east AAAA) - 4-2, Berwick (east AAA) - 6-1, Mount Carmel (east AA) - 4-1, Rochester (west A) - 3-1 The Philadelphia City League and Parochial League teams do not participate to this day. Wonder how that sits with the kids? I know they play non-league schedules. Lastly, although high school football is a religion in various areas of the country, don't forget that here (Western PA/Eastern OH), it's "Mama" or "The Cradle" to all of it. Massillon is a great example. Todd Bross, Sharon, Pennsylvania (Todd Bross brings up an interesting phenomenon - the Philadelphia public, Catholic and private schools have never been members of the state governing body, the PIAA, and consequently have never been involved in state championship play. We are talking about some 40 schools. I don't think it matters to the kids one way or another, because the world they live in is Philly, and it is big enough for them. To them, the "state" is another world, with trees, and rivers, and mountains and animals and all that other stuff. There is prestige enough for them in winning the Public League or Catholic League title, and if the City Championship games between the Public and Catholic champs are no longer a big deal, I would be surprised. I am talking about the dark ages, of course, but I once sat with 40,000 other people in Franklin Field to watch Catholic champ LaSalle upset mighty Northeast, which had two future pros - Herb Adderly and Angelo Coia - in its backfield. And I sat in packed houses at the Palestra watching the Public and Catholic champs go at it in basketball. As for football - in the Philadelphia Public league, as in most inner cities now, there is a huge gap between the haves and have-nots. The haves, who spend their seasons feasting on the have-nots, would probably not be ready for the competition they'd face in state playoffs. This is generally the case around the country wherever city schools compete for state titles.
MORE ABOUT DON HOLLEDER AND THE TYPE OF MAN HE WAS "Major Holleder overflew the area (under attack) and saw a whole lot of Viet Cong and many American soldiers, most wounded, trying to make their way our of the ambush area. He landed and headed straight into the jungle, gathering a few soldiers to help him go get the wounded. A sniper's shot killed him before he could get very far. He was a risk-taker who put the common good ahead of himself, whether it was giving up a position in which he had excelled or putting himself in harm's way in an attempt to save the lives of his men. My contact with Major Holleder was very brief and occured just before he was killed, but I have never forgotten him and the sacrifice he made. On a day when acts of heroism were the rule, rather than the exception, his stood out." Dave Berry By the way... to make sure the record is correct... There is no "n" in "Holleder." The correct pronunciation is NOT "Hollander" - there is no "N". It was common, when Don Holleder was playing, for announcers to mispronounce his name "Hollander," and evidently it was a sore spot with his former wife, since remarried who, when I spoke with her, evidently thought I'd said "Hollander," and was quick to correct me!
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*********** Don't know whether you've heard much about Christian Longo. Don't know whether you read anything about him where you live, but he is a creep who is accused of killing his wife and three little children .He is "alleged", as they say, to have had something to do with the fact that their lifeless bodies were found in the chilly waters of the Oregon Coast. If he didn't have anything to do with it, he somehow miraculously escaped from whatever powerful forces did kill the rest of his family, and escaped to the safety of the Mexican resort of Cancun, where he evidently hoped the real killers of his family wouldn't find him. And as people mourned the deaths of his family - and searched for him - he plotted his revenge on the murderers while, in the words of the Portland Oregonian, "drinking beer, smoking marijuana, snorkeling, dancing in a disco and sharing a cabana with his lady friend," (a German woman he'd met there). Sound a little cold to you? It did to me. But not, evidently, to a woman from Minnesota who met him down there. You would have thought that upon hearing that the party animal she'd known for just a few days while on vacation was accused of murdering his family, she'd have said, "Why, that monster! How could anybody be that cold-blooded? And to think - he was down there, partying, as if nothing had happened!" Instead, what she said really gave me chills. She told the Oregonian that if Longo really did what he is accused of doing, "I think he became some other guy once he got down there." It couldn't have been the swell guy she'd met. Oh, no. Somehow, she felt, he had managed to "purge the crime from his mind." She didn't even express dismay, much less shock, or horror, or revulsion. She heard that the guy was accused of killing his wife and kids, and her first instinct was to reach for an excuse! Do you see where her line of thinking is headed? It is headed for what could very well become The Universal Defense. No one can possibly be responsible for anything they do, so long as there is someone willing to say, "The guy I know wouldn't do that. He's too nice a guy. It must have been someone else inside his body." It sounds like the final stage in the denial that coaches and teachers hear all the time: "My son wouldn't do that." It's just another leap of faith to, "Maybe you saw him do it, but it was really someone else." I say taking a Mexican vacation on the heels of a murder is very easy to explain, but no less scary. It's called conscience, or, more properly, lack of one. You remember, conscience? That knowledge of right and wrong, and the drive to do right? That thing that the survival of our civilized society depends on its members having? Guess what? A lot of people in our society are missing theirs. Years ago, I was discussing a kid on my team - a special ed student - with one of the special ed teachers. "Watch that guy," the teacher told me. "He has no conscience." I had had no experience with such a phenomenon, and the assessment shook me. So I watched that guy. Closely. It was true. Since then, I've read quite a bit about kids without consciences - with absolutely no inner sense of right and wrong - and the havoc they are wreaking on our society. Probably we have helped create such psychopaths by our refusal to "be judgmental" - by presenting right and wrong as value options, rather than as absolutes. Instead, we are told we must feed their self esteem by telling them that they're okay. Just as they are. That they don't have to answer to anyone, Not even God. (Who's He?) And things are owed them. And if they don't get them... And so we create young people with enormous, unsatisfied senses of entitlement, who see others as obstacles in their path - who can walk into a fast-food restaurant at closing time and walk all the workers into the freezer, and execute them in cold blood. And then sit out in the restaurant and eat hamburgers. And kill their family and run to Mexico to party. And things aren't going to get any better as long as we have people ready to excuse them by saying they couldn't have done it - it had to be someone else inside their body. ********** "Every mother out there is probably feeling the same types of feelings... It's heartbreaking to think a mother hasn't seen her son in two years." No, those TV femmies, Connie Chung and Paula Zahn, weren't talking about the mother of an American KIA. They were talking about Johnny Jihad, John Walker Lindh, that poor, misguided young person who was undoubtedly brainwashed by the Taliban into pretending that he was fighting against the men of his own country. Mom and Dad are already saying, "Our son wouldn't do that." *********** Dear Coach Wyatt, I enjoyed your "Problems with Parents" letter, last season we even had our school social worker call us ( the other JV coach and I ) into the office for a conference with a kid ( with social & behavior issues ) to discuss his IEP and why he wasn't playing more. With your permission I would like to clip and distribute that section of today's ( 1/23/02 ) "News and Views" at our school's monthly coaches breakfast. NAME WITHHELD. (Permission granted. HW) *********** Maybe some of you remember Emily Latella, the Gilda Radner character on "Saturday Night Live," who would go off on a rant about something that she'd totally misconstrued (I remember one instance where she went off for a couple of minutes on the topic of "Endangered Feces" - "What's the big deal?" she cried, banging her fist on the desk. "It's not endangered! Blah, Blah, blah!"), and then, when a voice from offstage interrupted her to inform her that she was way off base, and there really was nothing to get excited about, she'd turn back to the camera and say, smilingly, not the least bit embarrassed, "Never mind." I thought of Emily when I read USA Today on Tuesday, and saw Kordell Stewart quoted as having told Deion Sanders, in an interview, "the benching started the booze." Say what? Coulda fooled me. The booze? I had no idea that Stewart had a drinking problem. The next day, Wednesday, USA Today straightened things out. The correction, as usual, was smaller, and more out-of-the-way than the original story, but it sure did clear things up. What he'd really said, the paper informed us, and what they should have printed, was, "the benching started the boos." Never mind. *********** "When they are being moved from place to place, will they be restrained in a way so that they are less likely to be able to kill an American soldier? You bet. Is it inhumane to do that? No. Would it be stupid to do anything else? Yes." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, responding to the ever-present liberals who would prefer that we send captured Taliban fighters to Disneyland. Thank God we have someone up there who talks like most people I know. *********** One of those people is Mike ("Spike") Kent, a Double-Wing coach who runs a hotel, with his wife, in Cornwall, England. He writes: Got this below off my brother in law who is in the U.S Coast Guard. I thought it was rather amusing *********** Fox is having trouble selling all its Super Bowl spots. (A "spot" is one unit of commercial TV time, usually 30 seconds in length.) One of the biggest problems, of course, is the recession itself. Some of the dot-com companies that spent gazillions just two years ago aren't even around now, and other big companies are cutting back. Ford, having recently announced the closing of several plants and the laying off of some 35,000 workers, is in a delicate spot regarding how it spends its advertising money. Another problem is the Winter Olympics, siphoning off advertisers. Then there is the success of all the pre-game hoopla. The audience for those shows is so great that one advertiser, Charles Schwab, believes that by advertising in pre-game shows and close to kickoff, it can get the same viewers without the cost of "being in the game" And, finally, there is the game itself - advertisers are afraid of the usual Super Bowl blowout - the last spots to be sold seem to be toward the end of the game, when viewers are likely to have given up on the game and gone about their business. The predictions are that Fox could lose as much as $20 million on this year's Super Bowl. *********** I guess the reason I am not sad to see Pat Summerall finally go is that I can remember seeing an aged Joe Louis being battered around the ring by a younger Rocky Marciano, and I have seen a rag-arm John Unitas trying to hang on with two bad knees. Not that I was ever a fan of Pat Summerall - I never put him in a class with a Joe Louis or John Unitas - but I could find myself there one of these days - some might say I'm there now - and it is not pretty to watch someone well past his prime stumbling around trying to do what he once did well. *********** The odds don't favor it, but there is the interesting possibility that this could be an All-Pennsylvania Super Bowl. So before the media guys get going on some sort of natural-rivalry business between the Eagles and the Steelers... uh, there ain't one. In fact, the two teams were even merged briefly into one team during the player-short years of World War II. Perhaps there is little rivalry because for the longest while, both franchises operated on a shoestring, and neither was very good. And when the Eagles did manage to come up with a pretty good team in the late 40's and again in the early 60's, the Steelers were woeful. Tough, though. Teams playing the Steelers could usually count on two things: a win, and a physical beating. And by the time the Steelers were good - really, really good - they'd been moved into another conference, and the two teams rarely meet. Yes, there is a certain rivalry between Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. It largely centers on who plays the best high school football (no debate, according to the westerners, who are unbelievably proud of their heritage, and have some big names to back them up). But the two cities' sports fans don't get all that worked up about playing each other. Certainly, Steelers' fans would much rather beat the Browns. And Eagles' fans care much more about beating the Redskins, or the Giants, or the Cowboys. Nor is there the rivalry between the two cities that one might expect. There is no San Francisco vs. Los Angeles here. The major reason, I think, is that they grew up a world apart. Back in colonial times, Philadelphia was a bustling colonial city, doing business with other colonies up and down the Atlantic Seaboard - and, of course, England. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, was a remote outpost first named Fort Duquesne, and then Fort Pitt. It was on the edge of the known New World, clear on the other side of what settlers called The Barrier. The Barrier was the Appalachian Mountains - the Alleghenies, as the range is called in those parts. Today, flying over them, ridge after ridge after heavily-forested ridge with few passes (gaps as they're called there) between them, it's easy to see what caused westward-bound settlers to stop at The Barrier and decide maybe it would be wiser to turn southward instead, into Virginia and the Carolinas. It's what kept Pittsburgh isolated from the cities of the Eastern Seaboard. Pittsburgh, although in an eastern state, was actually the first western city of the new country. Situated where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join to form the Ohio (get it - Three Rivers Stadium?), it was at the head of navigation of the mighty Ohio-Mississippi system, and its economy, like that of the rest of the Midwest, developed because of the ability to float its goods down the Ohio and the Mississippi to the port of new Orleans. It was far too difficult, costly and time-consuming to pack goods across the Alleghenies to Philadelphia. By the time canals and railroads expedited the shipment of goods to the East Coast, Pittsburgh had become a Midwest-oriented city. The University of Pittsburgh, still known as Pitt despite efforts of the marketing people to change the image, was long considered a midwestern school athletically. Pitt's great 1937 team played only three "eastern" teams - Fordham, Duke and Penn State. Street and Smith magazine as recently as 1953 listed Pitt as a Midwestern independent. (By 1959, the next magazine I can find, Street and Smith had moved Pitt into the East.) Pitt and Penn State have had a long, spirited rivalry, but Pitt and the Philadelphia-based power, the pre-Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, seldom played. Not that the Eagles-Steelers rivalry wouldn't make a great story, but there just isn't one there. Too bad. *********** After what I saw last Friday night, I think it is possible that the soccer folks may have hit a speed bump in their haste to push football aside. I saw "Black Hawk Down." I pretty much had to, after Cadet Joey Snowden recommended it so highly. Joey is a former student of mine who is now a Plebe at West Point, and he called me last week and in the course of our conversation said that the cadets had had a chance to see an early screening of the film. He said everyone there was in general agreement that it was very well done as an accurate depiction of modern-day warfare. (I am guessing that they heard that from a combat veteran or two on campus.) "Black Hawk Down" is a very intense film, and not for the faint of heart, but perhaps because I have been reading a fair amount lately about modern combat, and perhaps because I have been in a lot of football locker rooms, I found it more fascinating than shocking. And despite the fact that anyone who knows the story of the incident it was based on already knows the outcome, and that essentially it is about highly-trained American men being killed in an essentially pointless exercize in a part of the world where we had no place being, I found it to be quite uplifting. There is an awful lot in there to admire. You had to admire the men and the way they unquestioningly went about their jobs. You had to admire the routine acts of courage. I saw so many things, especially in the moments before battle, that reminded me of what I had seen, on a lesser scale of course, in football. There was no questioning the strategy or their assignment. They had jobs to do and that was enough for them. There was the unspoken but understood fear and doubt that precedes any contest against a powerful enemy, especially where there is so much unknown about the enemy and the terrain. Once under way, there was teamwork... division of labor... coordination of effort... great dedication to the effort and to teammates... great resilience - disastrous setbacks occur, but the fight goes on regardless, improvising and adjusting whenever things go awry... there was great loyalty and devotion to one another... And all while the general, the football coach, had to stand on the sidelines, coordinating the effort based on the best information available from his spotter in the press box. And using that information - which is all too often imperfect , and understandably so in this case - he has to make immediate decisions, decisions that can affect the lives of countless others. And he has to stand behind his decisions, and accept the credit or the blame. There is, of course, no comparison between football and combat in terms of what the participants face, but what I saw is what separates football from most other sports - the need for courage in the face of real danger. Just think about this for a minute - football is the only team sport played all over America that offers large numbers of boys the chance to find, and test, their bravery - their courage in the face of danger. Soccer? Get serious. Basketball? Who needs courage on a basketball court? Baseball? Only if the pitcher's throwing smoke, or you're playing third base against a pull hitter. Ice hockey? Sure - but not played in that many places. And elsewhere in the world, only rugby and Gaelic football and Australian Rules compare with American football and its first cousin, Canadian football as team games in which players must deal with ever-present danger as an essential part of the game. Somehow, I can't see a bunch of soccer players - American soccer players at least - getting ready to do battle in the same way. I can't avoid picturing them playing grabass in the locker room. Think of it - where else can a kid experience a situation in which there is an enemy that must be defeated - an enemy that waits out there with plans to do the same to him, whether through trickery, speed, strength, superior numbers, toughness, endurance, or, sometimes, sheer meanness? An enemy that he simply must stand up to. There are no pacifist options - no sitting down and negotiating - on a football field. To choose not to stand up and fight means to choose your doom - defeat, humiliation, pain, possibly injury. I have long been a proponent of making football as safe as possible, and that'll never change. But our current national challenge - our "war against terror" - has caused me to take a look at our sport in another light. Yes, there are dangers inherent in football that we will never be able to eliminate entirely. And that, I now think, is its great value to us as a society. The danger inherent in playing football provides young men the chance to test their courage - to develop the courage and self-confidence to face other, greater dangers. More than ever, America needs brave men. America needs men who will put their fear aside and charge into burning buildings, chase down bad guys, and jump into enemy territory.
MORE ABOUT DON HOLLEDER AND THE TYPE OF MAN HE WAS "Major Holleder overflew the area (under attack) and saw a whole lot of Viet Cong and many American soldiers, most wounded, trying to make their way our of the ambush area. He landed and headed straight into the jungle, gathering a few soldiers to help him go get the wounded. A sniper's shot killed him before he could get very far. He was a risk-taker who put the common good ahead of himself, whether it was giving up a position in which he had excelled or putting himself in harm's way in an attempt to save the lives of his men. My contact with Major Holleder was very brief and occured just before he was killed, but I have never forgotten him and the sacrifice he made. On a day when acts of heroism were the rule, rather than the exception, his stood out." Dave Berry By the way... to make sure the record is correct... There is no "n" in "Holleder." The correct pronunciation is NOT "Hollander" - there is no "N". It was common, when Don Holleder was playing, for announcers to mispronounce his name "Hollander," and evidently it was a sore spot with his former wife, since remarried who, when I spoke with her, evidently thought I'd said "Hollander," and was quick to correct me!
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A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: George Welsh was just a skinny kid
from Coaldale, Pennsylvania when this Navy team picture
was taken, in 1954. He was one of the nation's top
quarterbacks, the leader of "Navy's "Team Named Desire,"
which went on to defeat a highly-favored Ole Miss team in
the Sugar Bowl. But after seven years' active duty in the
Navy, he would go on to become the winningest coach in
history at two different colleges.
*********** Woodland, Washington has been through some economic ups and downs. It was once, as the name implies, a logging town, and it has suffered from the virtual lock-down of the nearby forests. And it was flooded out a couple of winters ago. Now it is beginning to feel a twinge of prosperity as the outer wave of Portland, Oregon, 25 miles to the south on I-5, begins to wash up. But Woodland is not exactly a wealthy town yet, and its school district can find lots of uses for $110,000. That's what it received recently from the federal government, in the form of a grant. But it won't be able to spend the money on another couple of teachers, or new textbooks, or lab equipment. It must spend the money trying to solve the problem of bullying. It's a problem it wasn't sure it even had, but a district-wide survey - paid for by the grant - showed that in grades K-3, 53.7 per cent (notice how much more scientific it looks when you can take it to one decimal place?) of kids reported being "bullied or badly teased" at least once; in grades four through 12, it was 59.6 per cent. Besides surveys, the rest of the money will go for teacher training (you ever sat in on one of those sessions? bring plenty of paper for drawing plays), designing and maintaining a web site (now there's a place that I'll be visiting!), buying materials, and - aha! the real winners in this boondoggle! - hiring guest speakers. Bringing in people at $1,000 a pop to tell kids that they don't have to take it. But they'll be wasting their breath - and our tax dollars - in Woodland, where the kids already seem to know that. The same survey showed that 91 per cent of students in grades 4-12 said they thought that physical violence was an appropriate response to physical violence against them. The superintendent confirms those findings. "I've heard that, not only from kids but from their parents," he told the Vancouver Columbian. "They'll say, 'Hey, if somebody pushes my kid, he'll hit back. That's how he's been taught.' "My answer is that he's in as much trouble as the other kids, and their answer is, 'Do what you've got to do, and I'll raise my kid the way I want to.'" ********** After watching the Marat Safin-Pete Sampras match Monday, I came away with one very big question: with all the American kids playing tennis, and all the money Americans are spending on tennis lessons, and private tennis courts, and club memberships and tennis camps and personal tennis instructors and tennis academies, how, exactly, does Marat, a kid from Russia - Russia, for God's sake - learn tennis and get to the point where he can beat the best player we've got? Do you suppose mental toughness has anything to do with it? *********** I was watching something on ESPN. It was a whole hour on Deion Sanders. Don't ask me why I didn't turn it off and watch "Days of Our Lives." I can't explain it myself. I think the guy is a raving jackass who represents nearly everything wrong with sports today, but If I hadn't watched, I would never have learned that he says he actually contemplated suicide at one point. To think how close we came to losing him. *********** Coach, Glad to see you picked up a copy of the book, The Undefeated, written by Jim Dent about the Oklahoma Sooners of the late 1940s through the mid-1950s and encompassing their tremendous 47 game winning streak. My youngest son gave me the book for Christmas and receiving it made for an even more joyous holiday season for me. We were a Split-T team in high school (actually beginning in seventh grade which was about 1960 and not all that removed from the period covered in the book) and it was great to read about Coach Wilkinson's teams and his star players because my junior high and high school coaches used Coach Wilkinson's book about the Split-T offense as a bible. I will say there were some parts I did not like seeing in The Undefeated but I won't share them with you because you may not have read the book yet. Our staff is looking forward to meeting you at Benilde-St. Margaret (Minneapolis) in April at the clinic. Take care and talk to you soon. Mike O'Donnell, Pine City HS, Pine City, Minnesota *********** I'm not too big on Web stuff and chain letters, but this one, sent to me by Scott Russell, in Potomac Falls, Virginia, grabbed me: From someone I know: "I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician who was conducting a test on telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons. It has also been verified that the above information with UCB Telecom, Pacific Bell, MCI, Bell Atlantic and GTE. Please beware. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW. Please pass this on to everyone you know. If you have mailing lists and/or newsletters from organizations you are connected with! I encourage you to pass on this information to them also. After checking with Verizon they said it was true, so do not dial (9), or zero(0), or the (#) pound sign. Just hang-up." *********** This is David Payne, assistant coach at Fairview Elementary in Huntsville Tennessee. The head coach is Mark Proffitt, who ordered your offense package. In our first year of running the "Double Wing", we were a perfect 9-0. In the process of going undefeated, we set school scoring records for individual and team, as well as total offense. I was also hoping that you could give me some information on any clinics you might be conducting in the east, hopefully in Atlanta, this spring preferably. Thank you again for your "Dynamics of the Double Wing" and we look forward to the opportunity of attending one of your clinics. *********** My son was going through some old sports books, and he came across the 1990 Washington State 3A basketball tournament program, which he saved because at the time he was an assistant coach at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma. There were no fewer than four future NFL players playing in the state basketball tournament, two of them on the same team. There was Lake Dawson, from Federal Way, Drew Bledsoe from Walla Walla (he was listed as 6-6) and Lawyer Milloy and Jon Kitna, both from Lincoln High of Tacoma. *********** Dave Tuengel, editor of the Washington Prep Football Report, wrote, "I was looking at coaches' years of service, and I was amazed that we have over 100 football coaches (in Washington) with just 1-3 years on the job. That doesn't include the coaches this year that are first-year head coaches. "So I was thinking, why is that??? I have a feeling I know some of your answers, but was wondering if you might be able to answer the question of WHY ARE COACHES NOT STAYING IN THE PROFESSION???" And so I wrote him back..... Dear Dave: Don't get me started ... *********** Nike, one of the most liberal of corporations, evidently thinks it has figured out a way to get the most evil among us, the "filthy rich", to help pay for its message. With the nation enmired in a recession that we all know that evil George W. Bush started just so he could screw little people, who else but the "wealthiest one per cent" could Nike be targeting with the new Air Jordan XVII? Who else but the filthy rich could go out and spend $200 without any guilt on a glorified pair of U.S. Keds, while millions of American children go to bed hungry every night? The Air Jordan XVII (like Nike, I refer to it in the singular, as if it were a new car model, but I assume that for that price you do get both right and left shoes) comes in a metal carrying case. The total package also includes a CD explaining the miracle of the shoe's creation. Handcuffs are not included, but they might be a good idea, to attach the case to the owner's wrist to keep it from being stolen while going to and from school. Imagine - a metal carrying case! Scene at the airport: "What's inside the case?" "My sneakers." "Yeah, right. Mind if I take a look?" You don't suppose this is Michael's plan to earn a little walking-around money once the soon-to-be ex-Mrs. Jordan starts taking her cut? *********** Christopher Anderson, writes from behind enemy lines in Cambridge, Massachusetts to express his indignation at the fact that the Rose Bowl - the hallowed Rose Bowl - was used as the site of a World Cup soccer match. Actually, I am more upset by the fact that the Rose Bowl was empty on New Year's Day, but I read further into the story and I had to laugh. A "crowd" of 31,244 watched the US defeat Cuba. Do you realize what a "crowd" of 31,244 looks like in the Rose Bowl? Not only that, but I'm willing to bet that more than half of those in attendance were, shall we say, "legal residents of another country." (I don't know what else to call them without being called dirty names by the Left, which would keep me awake at night.) *********** The joke's on you, America... Remember those funds you donated to the Red Cross specifically for the victims of 9-11?... those funds that caused such a scandal when it was disclosed that the Red Cross diverted some of the money to other uses?... Think any of that money is being used to send those "investigators" down to Cuba to squawk about the conditions of the animals we're holding there?
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*********** Wow. The Rams-Packers game. But not until after another orgasmic rendition of the National Anthem. *********** Football for Bozos 101. John Madden's opening line(s) Sunday. "It doesn't get any better than this. This is what it's all about." But then, just when you begin to wonder whether this could be the same guy who really did coach a Super Bowl champion, we're a minute into the third quarter and he tells us, "the winner goes on to play the Philadelphia Eagles next week, and the loser's season is over," and you know it was somebody else. *********** I will cheerfully submit to Chinese water torture before having to listen to the total drivel of Madden and Summerall when a game has gotten out of hand. *********** If the "NFL PLAYOFFS" (notice how they've been pushing that logo? notice how the logos on the field at the Rams-Packers game made it look like a Monopoly board?) are any indication at all of how exciting this year's Super Bowl is going to be, plan on going to the mall with your wife. *********** Fireman or not, I am getting tired of that stupid song and watching Clay Henry slide down the pole. *********** I think it is hilarious listening to all these eager-beaver young sportscasters trying to scream their way onto Sportscenter with this unique home run call or that hysterical touchdown call, but the other extreme is just as bad. I was busy doing something else while trying to listen to the Rams-Packers game on a TV in the next room. I can usually gauge what is going on by the tone of the announcer's voice - not by the crowd, of course, because the people who produce NFL games like to turn down the crowd so you can hear their high-paid announcers. But this high-paid announcer was Pat Summerall. When I walked in and took a look at the screen, to my surprise it was 14-7 and I'd never heard Mr. Boredom so much as raise his voice to call a touchdown. *********** Beware of administrators who say they "want to go in another direction." It doesn't mean they're considering life as a transsexual. It is one of the latest cowardly expressions in bureacratspeak and if you're the only other person in the room, it means you're history. Scott Orloff had already gotten started on his off-season program, looking ahead to next year, when - boom! He was called into the Principal's office, and asked to resign. When he refused, he was fired. He'd been the football coach at Dana Hills High, in Southern California, for the last six years, where his record was 22-39-1. He did manage to take his team to the playoffs in 1996, its only appearance in the last 12 years. (Sounds like Dana Hills is not the easiest place to win at.) "I talked to the principal at the end of November about our direction and we were set in place," coach Orloff told the Los Angeles Times. "We were rolling, working hard in the weight room. I was called into the office on Friday (January 18) and all that was said to me was that we were going in a different direction and I was] asked to resign. There was no other reason given. I said I wasn't going to do it. I wasn't going to quit on my kids, my coaches or my community." The principal admitted to the LA Times that she did, indeed, want the program to go in a different direction, but while refusing to discuss specifics, she did say that Orloff's win-loss record was not a major factor. It is not as if the principal knew Coach Orloff all that well. She is the fourth one he worked for in his six years at Dana Hills. She will probably "go in a different direction", and then, ambitious, she will move on herself. *********** It's really funny that you had that thing about PG's on your news. Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine about Andover (which is well-known for educating both President Bushes but better known to me for educating two of my good friends). I asked him if they had a good football team. He replied, "well, we did, but it was only about one-third actual Andover students. The rest were post-graduate recruited super-athletes." I guess all that talk about "academic integrity" we hear today was long since lost on the East's best schools. Christopher Anderson, Cambridge, Massachusetts I would be surprised if those PG's at Andover are given any kind of a break academically. It is even possible that they are the sons of wealthy people and their public high school educations didn't prepare them adequately for admission to an Ivy school. My suspicion, however, is that somebody is finding a way to defray some of their tuition, which I imagine at a place like Andover can exceed $20,000. Just before I entered Yale, there was a mini-scandal involving Yale alumni from the Chicago area who were in the habit of identifying deserving young men from area high schools (did I mention that they were good football players?) and sending them to Cheshire Academy for a year to get ready, athletically and academically. How good was Cheshire? Put it this way - we were pretty good; Valley Forge MA hammered us; Cheshire hammered Valley Forge. By no means am I opposed to the idea of PG's. Lots of very good high school football players wind up going to better schools and getting better college educations than they might otherwise have, thanks to the extra year they spend at a good school. One of our kids, Bernie Dallas, actually graduated from our school and spent another year at Bordentown Military Institute, in New Jersey, before going on to make All-East (then a very big honor) at UMass. An even more famous Bordentown PG was the great Floyd Little, who spent a year there after graduating from New Haven's Hillhouse High School, before going on to fame at Syracuse. By the way, not every prep school permits "PG's." My friend Bill Davis, coach at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, runs an excellent program (and uses various forms of the Double-Wing). He assures me that not only doesn't WFS allow PG's, it doesn't even admit first-year seniors. The Woodberry philosophy is that going there is as much a formative experience as it is an education, something its takes more than a year to accomplish. The football is not bad - one year, Woodberry played against a future Heisman Trophy winner - Eddie George, of Virginia's Fork Union Military Academy - and a future Outland Trophy winner - Jonathan Ogden, of Washington, D.C.'s St. Albans School. *********** Miss Bonnie Bernstein stood on the sidelines and told us how sad it was that one of the Ravens' biggest fans -their owner, Art Modell - couldn't be in Pittsburgh for the Ravens' game with the Steelers. See, Mr. Modell likes to fly out the day of the game, and his private jet had some problems, and - sniff - they couldn't find him another private jet on such short notice. The day before, Chris Mortenson sat in front of our set and told us about Bill Parcells' decision not to coach Tampa Bay. He said that, fortunately, Bucs' general manager Rich McKay was planning on staying with the organization to help the Bucs' owners get through "this catastrophe." Catastrophe. That's what he called it. Bill Parcells decides not to be your coach and it's a catastrophe. You'd think after all that this nation has been through in the past several months, we'd be pretty careful about what we call a catastrophe. A catastrophe is when your private jet won't start. *********** Hugh: I couldn't resist telling you how much your tribute to Aubrey Lewis meant to me. He graduated from high school (Montclair) the same year I did and he was big time then. I think the other two backs I can remember on that All State team were Milt Plum and Milt Campbell. That was the first team all state. I managed to make Group I second team all state. (Group I was the smallest schools.) Much later when I attended the Army War College Aubrey Lewis was a seminar classmate as an invited Woolworth executive. What a class man he was. Friendly, humble, sincere, and intelligent. Also, it's hard to believe Pete O'Halloran ever used profane language. You Germantown Academy guys must have taught him. He was always very polite when I knew him.Black Lions. Jim Shelton, Englewood, Florida *********** Helmet Hut, great site! I have about 30 old football helmets hanging in my garage waiting for me to restore them (I acquired them with the idea that I would recreate some of my favorite helmets of the past like the old Dartmouth hat that Blackman used and the blue-silver Houston Oiler helmets of the late 1960s). It has inspired me to get to work on them. When I was in high school, I wore one of those old Dungard facemasks (like the one Csonka wore but with a T-bar). I saw it hanging on a hook in the equipment room and demanded one of the student managers outfit my "warbonnet" with that baby. God, how I miss the days when backs wore two bar facemasks. Whit Snyder, Baytown, Texas
*********** Even after showing the picture sequences of Jonathan Vilma's two great tackles in the Rose Bowl, I am still asked, "how are you supposed to tackle a ball carrier who is running low?" I have been asked that question a fair amount. I don't know why. It seems to me that people are dealing with fantasy. I have never seen the situation they describe. "Running low? "Where and how, exactly, might this occur? A runner can only get lower than a tackler whose knees are bent by leaning forward. How far forward, exactly, can a runner lean without falling on his face? He must be quite an athlete if he can get lower than the tackler and continue running any distance. Part of teaching tackling is working on getting your kids in a good, low hit position and striking upward. The nightmare everyone seems to fear - that of the tackler being run over by a human bulldozer assumes that the tackler is squatting, stationary, waiting there for the runner to run over him. That is not reality. In the first place, very few tacklers wait, motionless, while the runner takes it to them. And very few tackles are made directly head-on; the tackler nearly always approaches from an angle, however slight. This gives him the advantage of being the aggressor. One thing people are not going to do is get me to say, "Why, tell your player to forget everything he's been taught and just dive at the runner's legs." *********** There's a list for everything, and somewhere I saw a list of The Most Disruptive Athletes of the Last Ten Years--- the top ones were Dennis Rodman, John Rocker, Randy Moss, Rasheed Wallace and Albert Belle. *********** I'm not going to waste my time arguing that Wallace deserves to be listed higher, because it is hard to say on a f--ked up team like the Trail Blazers whether any one individual is disrupting things, but he's got to be on a list of the dumbest athletes. Consider - last week, the Blazers are down by two to Miami in overtime, in possession with 12.2 seconds left and time for one shot. Wallace gets the ball for a 12-footer. Oh, no. He doesn't take it. He has to dribble it out past the three-point line (where he was 1-for-7 on previous attempts) and shoot from there. And miss. Now, listen to coach Maurice Cheeks, who has a reputation as being a good man but who sounds more and more as if he's had his brain eaten by the Portland management and been turned into another one of their excuse makers: "I'm sure he knew it was a two-point game," Cheeks told the Portland Oregonian. "But being the kind of shooter (?) that Rasheed is (he was 7 for 21 for the night), he probably thought he could win the game with his shot. I mean, I would have liked to have two points, obviously, because it would have put us in double-overtime, but I trust him shooting. I know he shot 7 for 21,, but I trust him shooting the basketball." *********** I'm sorry - punt, pass and kick winners - boys' and and girls' divisions in each age group? How far is this equality crap going to go? Why not honor the top two boys in each division? Don't bother telling me. I know. *********** I know it's just me, but I loved watching that Raiders-Patriots game. There was such an element of uncertainty, of unpredictability to it. Even the keeking was suspenseful. It looked like football the way it was once played all the time. So pervasive was the influence of the snow that there wasn't even a whole lot of time for jackassing by any of the players. *********** I wanted the Patriots to win, but Raiders' fans have a right to be ticked over that stupid "Tuck Rule." By any normal football logic, the Raiders should have had the football and been able to run out the clock. But the NFL has become so desperate to bolster the offense - meaning the passing game - that it has had a rule none of us even knew about - something called the "Tuck Rule" - that actually says that a ball knocked loose from a passer's hand - even if his arm's not in motion - might be an incomplete pass, and not a fumble. It discards a basic principle of football that has been relatively easy for most of us to understand - if the passer's arm isn't coming forward, it isn't a pass - and creates another reason for the referee to stop the game so he can count the hairs on a fruit fly's ass. See, football doesn't have the options baseball does, like moving in the fences, or lowering the pitcher's mound, or (even though they won't admit it) juicing up the ball. Football has to pass rules designed to reduce the risks associated with passing. Exactly how desperate has the NFL become? Just in the last 20 years - In the grasp. Spiking the ball. Legal grounding once you're outside the pocket. Legalized holding. Offensive linemen lined up in the backfield. Illegal chucks. Hook sliding. And soon - virtual sacks.
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MORE ON VAUGHT/MANNING: Coach, This gripes me to no end. I know that the young man in the picture is Archie Who? (You know damn well who). But I can't for the life of me remember the name of this coach. I remember Archie coming back from a broken wrist and playing in a bowl game his senior year (was it the Liberty Bowl--can't remember). Played quarterback with a cast on his arm. Still as fine a college quarterback as I've seen. I recall Peyton's response after Woodson beat him out for the Heisman. What a class kid. When he was asked if he was disappointed, his reply was that his father had always taught him that team accomplishments were more important than individual accomplishments, anyway.
*********** Dear Coach Wyatt, Thank you for the very nice Black Lion award. I am very glad I got it. It is very cool. I have it hung up in my room. I was very surprised when I found out I got it. Thank you for the patch too. I might sew it onto my uniform or put it with the certificate. Sincerely, Scott Kriss, Sterling, Virginia (Long ago - back in the 1950's - Scott's granddad Fred Kriss, now Dr. Fred Kriss, was an outstanding two-way end and placekicker for Woody Hayes at Ohio State.)
On the surface, some might charge that Roberto, a 5-11 guard who has acquired some notice for his dunks over taller opponents, and a football player who is being recruited by San Jose State, has already been recruited - by Highlands. They would need to know more. First of all, Highlands is a school that, typically, good kids are recruited not to, but away from. "We have a lot of distractions," Highlands coach Greg Drumheller told the Sacramento Bee. "When I went to collect money for our Vegas trip last year, I went to kids' houses and was amazed at how poor kids can be." Roberto Yong was "recruited" to Highlands by Debbie Daniels, a teacher at Grant High, who saw him as a promising young man who was headed for trouble. When he was even attending classes. When Debbie was transferred to another school, she and her husband, Joe, a football coach at Highlands, took him under their wings, and became his legal guardians. I know Joe Daniels and I've met Debbie. They are wonderful, caring people with young kids of their own to raise, and what they have done is a wonderful, selfless thing. Roberto, now one of the Daniels family, is paying them back in the only way he is able - he currently carries a 3.0 GPA. *********** Think I don't live in a football-crazy area? How's this - Thursday morning, I opened up the local newspaper, the Vancouver Columbian, and there on the front sports pages were all the things I am really interested in reading about: A large color photo and story about my beloved Portland Trail Blazers; a story about the Bears-Eagles game, still two days away; a banner story about the closing of a dinky motor speedway in Portland; the Mariners' signing of another baseball player to another multimillion-dollar contract; and the baseball owners' approval of the sale of the Boston Red Sox for $660 million (heckuva price to pay for a company in what they tell us is a failing business). Only one problem - with all the other newspapers I read, I only read that little paper to find out what's happening locally. Hmm- got to be something going on around town... Page 2, the usual; page 3, the usual; pages 4,5,6 - the usual. Page 7 - wait a minute! What's this? Down at the bottom left, in the gutter - "FOOTBALL FOUNDATION HANDS OUT $15,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS." What's that doing buried down there? Here's what was buried there - the local chapter of the National Football Foundation had its annual banquet. Its a group of guys who work their asses off year-round, raising money and promoting their annual banquet, at which they honor outstanding kids from the Vancouver area's 12 high schools. And give away scholarship money. More than 500 people attended this year's banquet Wednesday night, and more than $15,000 was awarded to six different kids, three linemen and three backs. They can use their scholarship money at the college of their choice, whether or not they play football. Over the last 10 years, the local chapter has raised - and given away - more than $110,000. The National Football Foundation's annual banquet is only one of the biggest sport events of the year in what is basically a jerkwater town, but evidently the local paper's sports editor doesn't agree. He appears to think that this local-yokel stuff is beneath his dignity. He'd rather put pro sports on the front sports page, and hide the efforts of a bunch of hard-working local people on page 7. I can't believe the pretentiousness of this little newspaper that fantasizes about being the Los Angeles Times. Like it or not, it is a small town paper. Years ago, when I was writing part-time for the Frederick (Maryland) News-Post, the sports editor, a guy named George May, told me the secret to success in small-town journalism - NAMES. Lots of names. Names of local people. All the names you can get in there. The more the better. Names, names, names. But not our local sports editor. He knows better. He knows we'd rather read about the Seattle Mariners or the Boston Red Sox than our local high school football players. *********** The public, which looks only at won-loss records, has no idea what really goes on in coaching. They think that we all start out with equally talented kids, and some of us - the doofuses - lose, while others of us - the geniuses - win. The son of a friend of mine has just experienced the universal coaching dilemma - screw everything else and go for the win, or do the right thing and maybe get your butt beat. A very good wrestling coach whose team had been kicking butt, he chose to do the right thing. He had to throw three kids off his team for what I can only describe as gross misconduct. Heavy emphasis on "gross." His team lost its next match by a fairly lop-sided score. No doubt that there were people in the stands who thought he did the wrong thing. *********** Patricia Marx, writing in the New York Times, says there are three ways to know whether a news story is likely to grow into something bigger:
You get the impression that many feel-good types in our society consider teenagers to be very, very mature, and quite capable of handling life's crises. But not a real crisis. Not when the director of the high school choir resigns abruptly. Ohmigod. That happened earlier this week at a Vancouver, Washington High School, and according to the local newspaper, "crisis counselors were on hand this week to talk with students." *********** Tom Hinger now lives in Auburndale, Florida, but he is a native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and it was with great pride that he sent me this story of something that happened in nearby Greensburg: A 9-year-old third grader missed her school bus yesterday morning, and since her parents were already at work, she decided to drive herself to school. *********** Coach, I found some info in the upcoming HS football documentary you mentioned in your news. Rick Davis, Duxbury, Massachusetts Investigative Reports: Special Edition: Wide Open: Inside the World of High School Football
Just thinking about Danny Almonte, the 14-year-old kid who came to the nation's attention in the Little League World Series by dominating 12-year-olds, reminded me of Pete O'Halloran. Tell me a year or two doesn't make a difference. For years, my high school, Germantown Academy in Philadelphia, had had powerhouse football teams, built with, or at least augmented by, "PG's" - post-graduates, often referred to by opponents as "ringers" - who had already used up their eligibility at a public school somewhere, but who needed another year to get their grades up before going to college. I should mention that the school found ways to pay their tuition, without charging them. As a private school, we didn't adhere to the same rules as the public schools, and we played a schedule against other private schools, so in our part of the country, we served somewhat the same purpose as California's junior colleges. (Actually, even today, although there are very few junior colleges playing football in the East, there are still a number of prep schools where kids can go for a post-grad year to get ready for college, athletically and academically..) I don't know whether the extra year did anything for our guys' education, but I can tell you that in my memory, on our football field it made a huge difference - they were men playing against boys. By the time I was a junior, though, we had a new headmaster who had great aspirations for the school academically. Part of his plan to achieve his lofty goals included eliminating the PG's. So while we still had a pretty talented group, many of us on scholarships, we were legitimate undergraduate students. My junior season, as we were getting ready to open against Valley Forge Military Academy, our coach addressed us at practice the day before the game and said he'd had a phone call from the coach at Valley Forge, asking if it would be all right if their captain played. His name was Pete O'Halloran, and although he was actually a post-graduate student, attending the junior college which Valley Forge ran in conjunction with its high school program, the Valley Forge coach said it sure would mean a lot to the rest of their players if he could play. It was an inspirational thing, don't you know. Our coach said he'd told the Valley Forge coach that he'd leave the decision up to us. Well, hell - we were a pretty cocky bunch. We hadn't played a game yet, but we had two very successful outside scrimmages under our belts, so we didn't hesitate for a minute. We all said, "Sure. Bring him on. We'll kick his ass, too." Wrong. He kicked our ass. Big time. He broke loose for a long touchdown the first time he touched the ball, and he scored twice more before he was done. But the memory of him that is most indelible in my mind was seeing one of our ends, George Beck, writhing on the ground, moaning and holding his jaw with both hands (this was before face masks). The Valley Forge captain, Mr. Inspirational, whose presence we were told would mean so much to our opponents, was standing over him, fists balled, as he challenged George, "Get up, you f--kin' bum!" One of our bigger linemen, Bill Fusselbaugh (one of our few remaining PG's, by the way) tried to shove the guy out of the way, but he whirled around and lashed out at Fusselbaugh, shouting, "Get your f'--kin' hands off of me!" Big Bill seemed take aback at the guy's pugnacity, and backed up a step or two. I don't recall anybody else doing a thing, either. Including the officials. They were probably as shocked as everyone else. To say the least, it was unsettling to me, a 150-pound junior playing in his first varsity game, to see some of our bigger, supposedly tougher kids being dealt with like that. I just remember staring in wonderment at the performance. I suspect my teammates shared my awe. We lost, something like 27-6. I don't remember ever discussing anything about the game with any of the other guys, but I'm sure that if we could have taken that vote over, it would have gone the other way. Decisively. Pete O'Halloran would go on to have a decent career at the University of Delaware *********** Coach, Having been Kurt Warner's college teammate I can assure you with him that you get exactly what you see. He is a fierce competitor on the field, off the field he is as nice a guy as you will ever find. He is one pro that hasn't let the "fame" and the "money" go to his head. I used to go talk to him at night while he was stocking shelves at the Cedar Falls HyVee. His story is unbelievable to many people. I for one knew, that if he was given a chance, he would be successful. I guess it is true proof that "the cream always rises to the top". Brad Knight, Holstein, Iowa (I have great admiration for Kurt Warner. He is a throwback. He is like the kind of guys I coached in semi-pro ball and knew back when I worked in the World Football League. They were working their tails off to achieve a very elusive goal, and since most of them were still far short of achieving the success that can go to some peoples' heads, they were still real people. And if success had come to them that late in the game, most of them would have kept it in perspective, like Kurt Warner.) When I was younger, I had the great privilege of living in Baltimore and watching John Unitas play for the Colts. (The real Colts.) His story and Warner's are not all that different, except that Unitas did have a pretty good college career.
*********** Coaches take note: there's a lot more to "watching your mouth" than just avoiding profanity or vulgarity. Think about this for a minute: Korey Stringer's family is suing the Minnesota Vikings and assorted members of the Vikings' organization for $100 million. The suit alleges that the Vikings made him practice the day after he became ill during a workout. But the Stringer family also alleges in their suit that on the first day of training camp, Mike Tice, then the Vikings' offensive line coach and now their head coach, called Stringer a "big baby" because of the problems he was having working out in the summer heat. The suit also claims that the next day, Tice showed Stringer a newspaper photo of Stringer, doubled over and gasping for air. Now, it is very possible that the words were said jokingly, in the manner of football players and coaches who've known each other a long time. It is even possible that they weren't said at all.
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A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: The man on the left, wearing the hat,
is John Vaught, long-time coach at the University of
Mississippi, and the man who built Rebel football. He
took his first - and only - college head coaching job at
Ole Miss on January 14, 1947 - 55 years ago this past
Monday.
*********** Coach I just had my banquet and the Black Lions award was a huge hit! Thanks a lot. I had a question though, am I going to be able to give this award out every year because I really want to, Everyone really liked the patch that went along with the award. It is something I want to do every year - is that going to be possible? Thanks, Greg Gibson, Orange HS, Orange, California Coach, I appreciate the note. The Black Lions Award has been very well received, and it is our hope to make this an annual award. The Black Lions themselves have been generous in their support and I certainly intend to do everything on my end to keep it going. Thanks for writing! HW *********** Coach Wyatt, Last night on the A and E channel, I was watching an episode of "Investigative Reporters" which devoted an entire program into the life of Muhammad Atta. After the program the show said in about a week or two it was going to air some investigative series programs about high school football in America. I don't know if you ever watched "Investigative Reporters", but they are some of my favorite shows to watch. Bill Curtis, the host of the show, is outstanding. And I would expect that the upcoming football programs will be just as outstanding as all the other programs that they do. I just thought you might like to know since it was football related. Sincerely, Mike Lane, Avon Grove, Pennsylvania
*********** It is truly sad to contemplate the state of Enron employees who lost the life savings they'd invested in their company's stock. It is almost as sad watching the politicians trying to decide which side of the fence to come down on. If the government had tried to help a failing Enron, it would have been a scandal of the first magnitude, the Texas President looking out for his Texas buddies who helped get him elected. But since the government did nothing and Enron stock took a nosedive, now the howls are about a cold, uncaring government that let a company die, and let the life savings of the Little People go down with it, which the rich bastards got away scot-free. Uh, the Enron collapse is spectacular, and it's doing great harm to a lot of people, but before we say that the government should have "stepped in," whatever that means, before we think of government as a compassionate big brother that takes care of the little guy - what about all the "little people" who've been harmed by actions directly traced to their own government? I think of idle sawmills all over the West, put out of business by logging restrictions designed to preserve the habitat of the Northern Spotted Owl. I think of factories all over the Rust Belt, left empty because, thanks to "free trade," their owners can now manufacture the same widgets in Mexico for half the cost. Why pay Americans twice as much to do the same job? I think of the 2,000 farmers and farm workers out of work in the Klamath Valley because it was more important to use their water to save a trash fish than it was to irrigate their fields. I think of the employees of Philip Morris, a company that makes a lot more than cigarettes -what do you suppose happened to its workers' stock when the states conspired to extort billions from "Big Tobacco?" I think of Microsoft, and the government's futile antitrust suit against it which, it can be argued, led to the general implosion of the high-tech boom. How many peoples' life savings shrank or vanished when high-tech stocks tanked? What about companies put out of business by lawsuits or the fear of them? You don't have to look any further than football, and the vanishing helmet manufacturers. *********** Makes you go, hmmm. Makes you wanna say, "Okay. What did he really do? What are you guys trying to hide?" That's what always goes through peoples' minds when a guy is fired at a strange time, for no apparent good reason. Jesse Spinner was fired on January 2, after one month on the job as head basketball coach at San Bernardino, California, High. It was a strange time. Just days before, his AD had written him a letter complimenting him on his performance. There was no apparent good reason. According to Spinner, his principal, Darryl Adams, told him he was being let go because of his record, which had slipped to 5-6, and because of his failure to keep the locker room clean and to "hire assistant coaches in a timely manner." A 5-6 record gets a first-year coach fired? Huh? A dirty locker room gets a guy fired? What did the kids do - leave empty beer cans on the floor? Not hiring assistants in a timely manner? Who hasn't had that problem at one time or another these days? After a 3-0 start, Spinner's team went 1-3 in the San Bernardino Kiwanis Tournament, where it was one of the host teams. Spinner, who is a special ed teacher at the school, said that the locker room was not unusually dirty. Spinner admitted that he had had trouble finding assistants because he was new to the area. "Most programs give a coach four or five years to get it turned around," Spinner told the Los Angeles Times. "I was there for one month. It's weird, man. It's really weird. I thought I did a great job." *********** The basketball coach at Beverly Hills High pledged earlier this season to donate his $3,500 coaching salary to charity if his team didn't make the playoffs, something it hasn't done in four years. Beverly Hills is now 6-11 overall and 0-5 in its league, and needs to win at least five of its remaining nine games to have any chance of making the playoffs. Five of the remaining games are against teams that have already beaten them. *********** Hi Hugh, I just finished reading "Sweet Season" by Austin Murphy. This is not a football tech book- no diagrams. It's more about the writer who moves his family from Ca. to St. Johns in Minn. to spend 4 months covering the season of Coach Gagliardi and the Johnnies in order to write this book. Very entertaining. I enjoyed it. Keep the dictionary handy. Sincerely, John Reardon, Peru, Illinois (I also received a very good review sent along by Roger Kelly, in Vancouver, B.C. Sounds like this book is the real deal. What a great way to spend the fall - in a small, Midwestern town watching one of American's greatest coaches, John Gagliardi, in action. Or inaction, as he chooses. HW) *********** A 14-year old child was out hiking in Salem, Oregon, when he came upon a policeman and his canine assistant. The police officer told the child to hold still, but apparently the child freaked out, and the police dog bit him. Got him good. Since then, the child's mother has been on all the TV shows, in a rage, condemning the police "attack." She is going to sue. The citizens of Salem might consider a countersuit. Did I mention that the bite in question occurred at 1:45 AM? *********** Some day you will tell your grandson the story of Kurt Warner, and he won't believe you. *********** :I don't feel I was involved enough in the offense," said San Francisco wide receiver Terrell Owens, after the 49ers lost to Green Bay Sunday. "I want to be the go-to guy on this team, but for some reason, the play-calling doesn't go to me enough." Now there's the kind of guy we'd all like to have on our team. *********** At a time when Tyrone Willingham is recognized as the first black man to coach a Notre Dame football team, it is sadly ironic to note the passing of another Notre Dame pioneer. Aubrey Lewis, first black to be captain of an athletic team at Notre Dame, died this past December at the age of 66. Mr. Lewis was one of New Jersey's greatest high school athletes. He was an All-American running back at Montclair High, where he scored 49 touchdowns and ran for nearly 4500 yards in leading Montclair to two state titles; he set state records in the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes and the discus; and he starred on two undefeated basketball teams. At Notre Dame, he played football from 1955-1957, taking part in the 1957 game that broke Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak. As captain of the track team, he set several school records, and won the NCAA 400-meter hurdles championship in 1956. He narrowly missed qualifying for a spot on the Olympic team that year when he tripped over the last hurdle in the Olympic trials. It's amazing that he ever got to compete at all. Mr. Lewis had a heart murmur from the time he was very young, and when he went out for the Montclair High football team, and the doctor giving the physicals saw that his heart was beating too quickly, the doctor looked at him strangely, and, as Mr. Lewis later recalled it, "I said, `Oh, I ran here all the way from my house.' He said, `O.K.' " The same trick worked for him at Notre Dame. "When I got to Notre Dame, they checked me," Mr. Lewis said. "The doctor looked at me strangely and I said, `I ran here from the dorm.' " Although he was drafted by the Chicago Bears, an old ankle injury precluded a professional football career. Mr. Lewis returned to his native New Jersey to teach and coach, but in 1962 he joined the FBI as one of the first two blacks to go through its training academy. In 1967, Mr. Lewis was hired by Woolworth as an executive recruiter. Just seven years earlier, a historic sit-in had taken place at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Working at various times in personnel, security and governmental and community relations, Mr. Lewis retired from Woolworth in 1995 as a senior vice president. "I wanted to do a lot of things, to challenge life," Mr. Lewis once said. "I came along at a time when there were many doors to be opened by the black man, and that was a challenge to me." *********** "I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Wade's account of the WAFL game. I can also understand why he will never attend another NFL game. Pure football, where the players participate for the love of the game and where they respect the game, is a joy to watch." Regards, Keith Babb, Northbrook, Illinois *********** Gary Etcheverry is expected to be named head coach of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League some time this week. He has been serving as the defensive coordinator of the B.C. Lions, and has had the same job before that at Saskatchewan and Toronto. Prior to joining the Argos in 1997 as defensive line coach, he coached the Stuttgart Scorpions of the German Bundesliga. Watch this situation very carefully, Double-Wingers. Coach Etcheverry is an old associate of Don Markham and he is a strong believer in the double-wing. *********** You may think Mark Cuban is a jerk. From the time he bought the Dallas Mavericks, he has been a bit - okay, a big bit - controversial in his criticism of the NBA and its officials. And he is a jock sniffer of the highest order. But I think there are some things we could learn from him. By all accounts, he runs a first class operation. He does it by what you might call it micromanaging. Yes he delegates, but it is his ship, and he is going to make sure it's run his way. He expects his people to be totally accountable, because he knows that ultimately he is the one answerable for what goes on. To find out how well his organization is doing, he encourages fans to communicate - directly - with him. I don't know how he finds the time to do it. "He puts his e-mail address on the scoreboard," his vice-president told USA Today, "so you have nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. If the food is cold, the hot dogs are hard or the Cokes don't have enough ice in them, the fans say it directly to the owner, and the owner is coming down on everybody. It's made us a lot more responsive, and it's made us a lot more efficient." *********** After reading my observation that Shaq looks as if he could use a boxing lesson to go with his free throw lessons, Christopher Anderson, of Cambridge, Massachusetts writes, "I'm even more shocked by Phil Jackson's response: 'We continually warned the referees that they were playing too rough. I hold those officials responsible for not taking control of this game earlier.' "Uh, yeah. Ok. Next time my 7', 340 lb center take a swing at someone I'll say it's because he was being "bullied." This reminds me of Carmen Policy after the Dog Pound incident." *********** Coach - I just wanted to send you a note and thank you for your all of your help with the DW.We have been running the DW here in Scottsbluff, Ne., for the past 6 years with a good amount of success. In the past three years we have compiled a 34-4 record with the DW. In 1999 and 2000 we played in the state championship game in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. This past season we ended up 11-1 and lost in the semi-finals.I enjoy reading your "news' reports. A great amount of the success that we have had came from your book and video. GO HUSKERS!!! Gary Hartman, Scottsbluff, Nebraska *********** After reading about Scott Barnes, in Rockwall, Texas, putting his business career on hold so he can go get teacher's certification and become a coach, Steve Cozad, in Lyons, Nebraska, wrote: Coach, you can tell Scott Barnes to just be patient. He seems like a guy that has what it takes and he'll get his. I'm sure the competition in Texas for head coaches is probably pretty intense, but in the Midwest they can't get enough candidates. My buddy took over at a school and was one of two applicants and the job he vacated drew one applicant from outside and one from inside. *********** "The NCAA may as well pay college athletes. Most of time when I hear an interview with a pro athlete I am amazed the guy got a college degree. Although, the real shame is the lack of education received before college. Look at what the feds spend on education, to me, it's a joke. Our country is in deep s*#t if we don't improve the quality of our education system." Doug Gibson, Naperville Illinois (Agreed, up to a point - except that we can spend money until the cows come home, and hire nothing by Rhodes Scholars in our public schools, and until politicians admit that education is the parents' responsibility, too, we are not going anywhere. The real scandal is that while politicians demand accountability of teachers, more than a third of children born in America today are born out of wedlock. Their odds of getting a good education are not good. HW)
Here I always thought it was the owners who didn't want to renegotiate. They're the ones who always seem to whine and cry when a player insists on cashing in on a good season by renegotiating a perfectly good long-term contract with several years remaining on it. They're the ones who argue - rightly, I believe - for the "sanctity of a contract." Mr. Snyder will enjoy sitting down in the offseason with all the players' agents that this lesson won't be lost on. *********** My Good Black Lion Friends, Please excuse this "form letter", but I want all of you to know what this old Dauntless Delta 6 (1967) is up to now. I have not yet mastered the keyboard nor the cyberspace, so please forward this to any brave Black Lions I have omitted. This is a very important undertaking to me, and I know what I'm doing is also for you - and how important all of this will be to all of you. I'm healthy and fit, my shots, passport, visa, malaria pills, sunscreen, and bug-juice are ready - I'm returning to Vietnam. As you know, our friend and Pulitzer Prize winning author, Mr. David Maraniss (yes, the same David Maraniss who wrote the outstanding biography of Vince Lombardi, "When Pride Still Mattered" HW) , is writing a book that will include our beloved Black Lions in action - specifically our battles of October 1967, especially our terrible Battle of Ong Thanh, 17 October 1967. That book, perhaps "Three Days in October" will be published in 2003. Mr. David Maraniss has offered me a chance to accompany him to Vietnam and the Ong Thanh battlefield; of course I have enthusiastically accepted. David has located "enemy" survivors of those battles, and has arranged for us to visit the battlefields together (sort of a staff ride/AAR.) Long ago, when we were all together over there, I had no fear nor hatred of our enemy. I respected him and his ability to fight so well under such tough conditions. I always felt we had much in common - soldiers doing our duty as we saw it to the best of our ability. I did not hate nor fear then; I certainly have no hatred nor fear now. Everything I do there will be guided and burdened by my knowing that I will be representing all of you great Black Lions. Your dauntless courage then, and your friendship now, will be foremost in my thoughts. You, my comrades, will be there again with me. I promise to do my best to bring honor and the truth to you, as you so richly deserve. I will arrive in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) on January 22, will link up with David and his party on January 27, will visit the battlefields soon after that. I remember a beautiful, but badly hurt and broken, country. I am looking forward to visiting again that country and those hardy people. Please let me know if you have any special requests, or guidance, or thoughts, or prayers. I will do the best I can with those. Also, if you know of any good restaurants - let me know; every time I visited there before we didn't get a chance to tour the restaurants! I will report to you on my return. BLACK LIONS, SIR! Clark Welch Dauntless Recon, Dauntless Alpha 6, Dauntless Delta 6 (1967)
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*********** "Did you see the 60 Minutes piece last night on the NCAA and athletics? It was the old students/athlete make all this money for the universities and NCAA and they don't get their piece of the pie story. Supposedly there is groundwork for a union-type movement by the players. Poor athletes don't get anything - just a free education, room and board, a little pocket money. It's a mess." Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin I do believe that revenue-sport athletes (meaning mainly football and men's basketball) are being used as quasi-slave laborers. It is absolutely unconscionable for anybody to be offered $2 million to coach "student-athletes." Or to receive money from a shoe company in return for using his players as human billboards. Don't think the NCAA isn't worried about what's coming. Why else do you think we get "student-athlete" shoved down our throats? It's the NCAA's sly way of conditioning us to think of these young people as ordinary college kids who just happen to turn out for football in the fall, rather than grossly underpaid employees of a large business that can afford to pay its CEO $1-2 million dollars a year, plus bonuses. The deception is not lost on large labor unions. Yes, the players do get free tuition, room and board. But the time demands of their sport preclude any other meaningful outside job, and - make no mistake - they do NOT receive the sort of "education" that one would ordinarily pay good money for. They receive only as much "education" as their coaches permit them to, and no more. Science labs in the afternoon? While we're practicing? Get real. Who's paying your way? So I find myself increasingly leaning, reluctantly, toward paying athletes. In revenue-producing sports, that is. But that isn't going to fly, because "gender equity" is going to require that female golfers and soccer players and rowers be paid, too. Nightmare. Minor sport athletes already receive scholarship money that simply can't be justified economically, but, in the case of female athletes, is mandated in the name of gender equity. What happens, essentially, is that if 100 football players receive scholarships, then the school must also provide 100 scholarships for women. Never mind that the football program might generate $1,000,000 in excess of its admittedly high costs; never mind that the women's sports might incur costs of $1,000,000 with no revenues to offset them. Never mind that sometimes there aren't enough qualified female athletes to fill the spots, and that sometimes the female scholarships go to foreigners recruited to fill those spots. Nice to know that our gender equity protections benefit deserving Norwegian, Australian and Romanian girls, too. Enough. Things are getting more ridiculous all the time. Here's a modest proposal - turn college football teams into semi-pro organizations. Allow them use of school names, colors and nicknames, and give them long-term leases on stadia, practice facilities and office space. The universities must use the rental money to fund Division III-type football programs, for real students, taking real college classes, getting real educations and working toward real diplomas, just like the rest of the kids on campus. As for the semi-pros - from that point, they're on their own, at the mercy of the marketplace. The names might remain, but I could see some playing around there, too - The Motorola Sun Devils at Arizona State... The Michigan Wolverines, Presented by Daimler-Chrysler.... The Nike Ducks of Oregon. Otherwise, though, no academic connection whatsoever with the institutions. No screwing around with admissions standards, no eligibility problems, no "academic coaches." If they want to let knuckleheads and criminals play on their teams, no problem. The NBA and NFL already do, no questions asked. And teams' athletic directors - oops! general managers - may find that the millions they pay for one head coach might be better spent on a couple of running backs and a defensive lineman. So be it. The NFL could use some competition. *********** How many days until the Winter Olympics? I can hardly wait. *********** Coach Wyatt, Technically, couldn't Woody Hayes be considered someone who coached back-to-back Heisman winners(?) as Archie Griffin won it in '74 and '75. Sheepishly, Dave Potter, Durham, North Carolina (Yup. Got to give it to you. HW) *********** How about a moment of silence for Dave Thomas, a real guy - and a great American. Wendy's International, Inc. bought a full page in last Thursday's USA Today to pay him a tribute in the form of a letter from Jack Schuessler, Wendy's Chairman and CEO. It was beautifully written, and it made me realize, now that Dave Thomas gone, how much we had. He brought joy to a lot of us in the self-effacing way he "acted" in the Wendy's commercials. It was obvious from watching them that the man was devoid of ego, and didn't mind letting people have a laugh at his expense. But Mr. Schuessler's letter mentioned a Dave Thomas that not everyone may have been aware of: "He was the Senior Chairman and founder of Wendy's. But he was a lot more than that. He was an adopted child who never finished high school. So when he became famous and successful, he used that to promote the causes of adoption and staying in school. *********** I feel sorry for Michael Jordan's kids. Great kids, according to a friend of mine who has coached two of them. (In youth football, by the way - Mr. Jordan told my friend that he wanted his boys playing all the sports.) Very good little athletes, too, I'm told. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan, I am told, seemed to care about their boys and love them, and they seemed dedicated to seeing that their kids have as normal a life as possible (considering that they are children of one of the best-known men on the planet). But doggone - now it looks as though the kids are going to be caught betwixt-and-between, like so many other kids of wealthy, divorced parents. For the kids' sake, I sure wish Mr. and Mrs. Jordan could somehow have headed this off.
*********** Coach, I couldn't agree more with the commentary on Bret Favre and the dive he took in last weeks' game. Vince Lombardi is surely rolling over in his grave. It surprises me that a player like Bret would actually do something like this. I generally think of him as a tough-nosed football player despite the fact that he plays QB. He always seems ready to mix it up, and isn't afraid to throw a block for his teammates. I'm actually related to him in roundabout way. My great aunt had a daughter out of wedlock a long time ago and gave her up for adoption. When she went looking for her, she found out that she was Bonita Favre, Bret's mother. So he must be a cousin of sorts to me. Oh well, you can't choose your family (LOLL). Happy New Year and I can't wait to attend the clinic in Providence. Regards, Rick Davis, Duxbury, Massachusetts *********** Bob Griese and Dan Shula were watching an NFL game two years ago. Griese, former Dolphin great, asked Shula, grandson of Griese's former coach and son of former NFL coach Dave, how his season was going. Young Shula, a quarterback at Fort Lauderdale's St. Thomas Aquinas High said, "I have seven touchdown passes and three interceptions, but the three interceptions weren't my fault because the receivers dropped the ball." "How many of the touchdowns were the receivers' fault?" Griese asked. "How many times did you have a five-yard pass and the receiver took it 70 yards for a touchdown?" The point wasn't missed on the younger quarterback. "To this day, I think about it," he said. "It really made me think more about my teammates. All I do is throw the ball. They make the plays."
Charles Shultz' Philosophy... You don't actually have to take the quiz. Just read the email straight through, and you'll get the point, an awesome one, that it is trying to make! Take this quiz: 1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. 3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. 4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize. 5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress. 6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners. How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners. Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one: 1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. 2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. 4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special. 5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. 6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you. Easier? The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. Pass this on to those people who have made a difference in your life. Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia. -----
Although I don't have the experience necessary to coach on a professional level, and barely consider myself qualified to coach at the high school level, I decided to write an email to the general manager, whose address you had listed on your site. The gist of my missive was simply: "I wish I WAS qualified." Coaching a team of young women that are fighting hard to earn respect and giving this sport the honor and commitment it deserves is my dream. I would much rather coach these women in front of a thin crowd of fifty than any of the whiny, candy-assed rich boys and criminals in the NFL. Heck, I'd PAY THEM for the chance to coach. The general manager, Ms. Sandy Kaneko, thought that my message was a good one, and forwarded it to the other teams in the league. She also invited me to attend one of their games, since they play the Oakland team. As my own football season progressed, this became more and more attractive, because one of our junior varsity players is female. I thought it might be a good motivation for her, and help her remember that she's not alone. I obtained permission from my head coach and her parents, and this Saturday we attended the meeting between the California Quakes and the Oakland Banshees. You may recall that last year I attended my first- and last- NFL game in person. I had beer spilled on me, damn near broke my nose when the half-wit in front of me jumped back into my binoculars, and fought traffic to and from the stadium for three total hours. This game last Saturday was 180-degrees diametrically opposed to that horrible experience. I didn't even have to pay $40 for parking! Giovanna (our player) and I arrived about an hour before kickoff. Ms. Kaneko introduced us to the team, and asked me to say a few words. Tongue-tied, I stammered through a reiteration of everything I said in my email. It was no "Gipper" speech, but the cheering from the ladies certainly made me feel like I'd said something worthwhile. Giovanna was instantly met with friendship and respect; welcomed into that exclusive fraternity of women who have the "stones" to play football. We were allowed to stay in the locker room through the head coach's pregame discussion, and watched the game from the best seats in the house: the sidelines. Several things struck me during and after the game. To begin with, I think 90% of the team came up to me to tell me to watch someone else "because she's the best player we've got!". Oddly, everyone was talking about a DIFFERENT someone else. I didn't hear anyone say, "Watch ME." I was obviously not talking with NFL players. Second, the players spoke of their head coach with awe, something I've rarely seen before. It was obvious that he's earned (and deserves) their respect and devotion. He knows his system, and although it's not one I would run, he teaches it very well, and understands how to use it on the field. Third, when I was at that NFL game, I was struck by the way the players ignored the crowds. Admittedly, the sport is their job, and they have to tune out the audience in order to function or they risk being paralyzed by stage fright. However, a ten year old boy next to the tunnel kept calling to "Mr. McGinest" and was studiously ignored. Obviously a wave or smile would have been too much effort for this super athlete millionaire. Not so with the WAFL. After the game, a victory for the California Quakes (our side) over the Oakland Banshees, the California team lined up and began chanting, "Who rocks? QUAKE FANS?" as a thank you to the fans for showing their support. Fourth, in the second quarter one of the Quake players was injured on a play. IMMEDIATELY the entire Quake sideline dropped to a knee and said a short prayer as a team for her safety. It turned out to be a rolled ankle; painful, but not serious. No matter. They prayed anyway. I came away from this game with a healthy respect for Women's Professional Football. I agree with you, that sheer economics make 'professional' football for women seem out of reach. (I won't say how big the crowd was, but it wasn't the 84,000 that 3com Park seats.) I do feel, however, after watching them play, that NFL players could learn a lot from watching a few WFL games. There was no trash talking. No self-promoting. No sack dancing. Not once did I see that disgusting, contemptible 'bob-and-weave'. No, what I saw was a group of women wearing different colored jerseys helping each other up after plays. One of the Oakland players nailed the California quarterback out of bounds and drew a flag for late hit. Rather than protesting it, she jumped to her feet, ran over to the victim, and apologized. Ever see THAT in the NFL? Oh, I almost forgot. Nearly every member of the team approached me individually to thank me for coming to the game. Several said that my speech made a difference in the way they tried to play that day. (I'm not sure how, since I don't think I made much of a speech, but it was still quite a compliment.) Almost every person on the team approached Giovanna and asked her when she graduated, and when she was going to try out. Overall, it was a great experience. I wonder what coaches like John Torres, Adam Wesosloski, or Scott Barnes could accomplish with a group of highly motivated, closely knit female players such as the ones playing for California? Not that their coaches aren't accomplishing great things already. I've simply heard several of the horror stories great coaches like Coach Torres, Coach Wesosloski, Coach Barnes, and others have had to deal with, and I wonder. Me, I think more than ever that coaching a women's football team would be a dream come true for a coach. The NFL started small at first too, and in fact, had to deal with direct opposition from college football. I think that eventually, women's football will succeed. I think they DESERVE to succeed, because of all the pro and semi-pro football teams I've ever watched, these ladies are the only ones I've ever seen playing the sport the way it was MEANT to be played: with honor and pride. I think Glenn Warner, George Halas, and Curly Lambeau would be proud... after they stopped spinning in their graves long enough to take a closer look at the situation.
*********** "It's Time to Rid Football of Futbol," was the headline on the article sent me by Mike Waters, coach at Barry Goldwater High in Phoenix. Whoa! I thought! This is what I've been saying. Finally, a sports reporter who is willing to tell the Emperor that he isn't wearing any clothes. "The NFL was built on blood and guts," wrote Dan Bickley in The Arizona Republic, the Phoenix daily newspaper. "It is a place for warriors, Steel Curtains, Monsters of the Midway. It belongs to those who accept shortened life spans, broken bones and the taste of their own blood. "Which is why something must be done about these damned kickers." You know by now how I stand on the matter of the NFL's allowing weenies with single-bar face masks to dictate the strategy of the entire game. Bickley writes, "If you haven't noticed, a great game played by great men is now in the hands of Guillermo, Mart-eeeen and kids yanked off the soccer field. The field-goal kicker now believes he is Pele or Maradona, waiting to strip off his shirt and scream, 'GOOOOOOOAAAALA!' He has grown up with an inflated sense of foot and very little sense of place. "Clearly, he must be stopped." As you well know if you followed my research over the last couple of years - until I grew weary of merely proving and reproving my thesis, over and over - a field goal attempt is an offensive failure - a surrender. "Our 100-yard battlefields," Bickley writes, "have slowly become games of futbol. Last week, there were 55 touchdowns scored and 50 field goals made." Oh yeah? It's even worse than that. Subtract touchdowns scored by returns of one form or another from the total scored, and you'll come up with the actual number of touchdowns scored by offenses. Now, put that figure alongside the number of field goals attempted and you're going to find that NFL offensive coaches have become an extraordinarily timid bunch. How many more touchdowns might NFL teams have scored, if they had used fourth downs to go for touchdowns - or just first downs? We'll never know, because the password to enter any NFL offensive staff meeting is "don't come away empty-handed." NFL coaches must mumble it in their sleep. Bickley noted that roughly a third of all the points scored in NFL games this year were scored by kickers. His solution: Two points for a field goal, instead of three. Three points for field goals 50 yards and longer. Extra points would remain the same. Sure, he concedes, it's going to take a change in the rules. But so what? "The NFL has not been scared to tinker with the game before, and certainly not its kickers, whether it's uprights in the back of the end zone or kickoffs that now start at the 30-yard line." After all, he writes, "This is to restore a league that's supposed to be Lions, Tigers and Bears, oh my. Not Rolf, Max and kickers who blow up their own knees celebrating a skewed sense of accomplishment." I couldn't agree more with Bickley's basic premise. The game is pretty sick when week after week, the percentage of field goals made to field goals attempted is actually higher than the annual percentage of free throws made by NBA teams. How's that for suspense? Only the NFL could take the thrill out of a last-second victory. Teams needing only a last-second field goal to win or tie take pains to deliberately bleed the clock as they drive, making no pretense of trying to score a touchdown. All they want to do is leave just enough time on the clock for one final field goal attempt - which is almost invariably good. Wheee! My solution is pretty simple, too. It would completely rid the game of non-football players and return it to the days of Lou Groza (who was able to earn all-pro honors as an offensive lineman while earning the nickname "Lou the Toe" for his sideline as a kicker): No player may attempt more than one kick - punt, kickoff, field goal or extra point - per game. Think that wouldn't add excitement to a field goal attempt? Think that wouldn't make coaches think twice before deciding whether to go for it on fourth-and-short?
*********** Speaking of keekers - can there be a bigger bunch of whiners anywhere than NFL keekers? They are, if I read it correctly, "blaming the decline in successful field goals" (can you believe that - a decline?) in the NFL's rule, instituted this year, that requires them to kick the same ball that the real players have been playing with out there. No more bringing their own "keeking" ball into the game, one that they'd "softened up" (does that mean letting out some air?) and "worked over", to remove the sheen. As you know if you read this page, I would like to send them all down to the unemployment office for a little job retraining, and my favored way of doing this is the prohibit any player from kicking more than once per game. But this is America in 2002, and whiners usually get what they want, so what the hell - why don't we widen the goal posts, and penalize the defense for rushing, and give keekers one mulligan per game?
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A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: He took his first - and only -
college head coaching job on January 14, 1947 - 55 years
ago today. It's been 30 years since he retired for the
first time, and 28 since he retired for good. He was head
coach at only one college and his legacy is that he built
a relatively small university in a relatively small state
into a national power, mostly using in-state kids.
Or once every time a decent football film comes along. The last one might possibly have been "Paper Lion." 1968. This time, it was "Go Tigers!" "Go Tigers!" is a documentary that follows the Tigers of Massillon, Ohio High School through their 1999 season. Massillon, for those who are not aware, is an ultimate football town. It is the home town of Paul Brown, and as its football coach, he really put it on the map. Lots and lots of good football players and coaches have come out of Massillon, including one of my personal favorites, Don James, and Massillon fans routinely pack 20,000-seat Paul Brown Tiger Stadium (shown here) to watch their Tigers. After seeing "Go Tigers!", I have just two words for you: see it. Actually, though, I have several more words for you. First of all, you may have a hard time finding it. It has a minuscule advertising budget, and it is not being distributed in conventional ways, and in our case, it was being shown at the Hollywood, an old, restored theatre in Portland that now operates on a non-profit basis specifically so it can show films such as "Go Tigers!" (Go to http://www.gotigersfilm.com to see if it's showing anywhere near you. A word of caution - the theatre locater seems to be intimidated by state borders. Just for fun, I typed in my zip code, and was informed that there was no nearby theatre showing it. That's funny - I'd just seen it, an easy twenty-minutes' drive away. Across the river in Oregon.) Thank goodness for the Hollywood Theatre, because "Go Tigers!" is very good and very well done. It has a few scenes that I would have preferred the producer leave out, and - fair warning - there is a bit of rough language, always a risk that we take when we peek into peoples' lives. It was a great depiction of football's impact on a heartland town, Massillon, Ohio, where football is, to say the least, big. It might be fashionable to say that football there is too big, that it is all the community has, that Massillon's people have their priorities twisted, blah, blah, blah - the usual cliches of most such documentaries. But it doesn't do that. It doesn't take any sides, doesn't grind any axes, and doesn't draw any conclusions or try to steer us to the conclusions it wants us to draw. It doesn't try to show that football is cruel or overemphasized, that football players are a bunch of loudmouth jerks and their coaches a bunch of screaming, drooling egomaniacs. It doesn't take off on brutality, or racism, or male chauvinism. It just attempts to show us what is, and lets us decide for ourselves. "Go Tigers" is what the book "Friday Night Lights" should have been, had its author trusted us to make up our own minds about what kind of town Odessa, Texas was, instead of forcing his effete, liberal easterner's viewpoint on us. "Go Tigers!" is not a hard-core football film, if that is all a person were expecting to see. There are a few shots of practice, but the game shots, mostly from field level, are disjointed and often disconcertingly unrelated to the drama of the games themselves. No matter. That can be forgiven. In trying to show us what it did in under two hours, the producer understandably had to go light on the football action itself. "Go Tigers!" is not a football film, but it is about football. The story of the Tigers' season is intertwined with the story of the community's efforts to pass a tax levy necessary to maintain the type of schools Massillon has before it began losing its industries. What I like best is that it is real. The people are real. The town is real. The players are real. The coaches are real. The scenes are real. How real? I looked at a camera pan of the Massillon kids sitting in the locker room before the game and thought, "Why do these news media pay all that attention to those geeks in Berkeley and Eugene? These are real kids. America will be okay as long as we have kids like these." I thought about the scenes of the team praying before every game, and of the team attending church together on the day of the big game with Canton McKinley, and I thought, "Man - the ACLU has really got their work cut out for them in Massillon." The film opens in a hospital. In keeping with a tradition that began with Paul Brown, the mother of every little baby boy born in Massillon is presented by the Massillon boosters with a tiny orange-and-black football. Player's familes have signs on their front doors boasting, "Home of a Massillon Tiger." The high school pep rallies are beyond belief. The band director gives his kids a pre-game pep talk that would go many of us football coaches proud. The mayor proclaims that on the Friday of the Canton McKinley game, the high school band is authorized to march anywhere it wants within the city limits. The band - you should see the Massillon band - takes the proclamation literally, and marches through stores and restaurants. Massillon people have a passion for football. They are knowledgeable and demanding. They get excited about their games and they dance in the streets when the team wins. They are also hard-nosed. Asked about the pressure on his son, the quarterback's dad shrugs and says that Massillon kids have been playing football in front of Massillon crowds since they were small - "they're used to that pressure." A mother says she doesn't worry about her son's safety: "I don't get nervous till he don't get up." "Go Tigers" is not some phony recreation by smooth-faced actors. It is not "based on" a true story. It is a true story. If every American were to see "Go Tigers!", we could safely make it another 20 years or so without any more "Varsity Blues" or Tom-Cruise-in-a-mill-town, imitation-football clunkers being foisted on us. People would spot them for the phonies they are and get up after five minutes and walk out, laughing.
*********** So Mike Tice, who as interim coach of the Minnesota Vikings was 0-1, is the new head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, replacing Dennis Green. My first hint that he was going to get the job came when I read that back when he was still interim coach, Tice had told offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis, defensive coordinator Emmitt Thomas and two other assistants that their services were no longer required. Now, this sounded highly unusual to me. Interim coaches don't have the authority to make decisions like that. Sure sounded to me like (1) the owner, Red McCombs, wanted to get rid of those guys and didn't want their blood on his hands, so his first test of Tice's willingness to do his bidding was to see if he'd do his dirty work for him, and (2) Tice was definitely more than what the media called the "leading candidate." One thing I knew with certainty: neither Sherm Lewis nor Emmitt Thomas (whose names have frequently been mentioned as possibilities when other NFL head coaching jobs come open) was in the running for the Vikings' job. *********** The new depth of ugliness, in a sport which drills deeper in muck ever day, could be hit in Washington, D.C. any day now. Reports are coming out of there that despite the fact that the Washington Redskins already have a coach, and despite the fact that that coach didn't do a bad job in his first year, the 'Skins' owner has become enamored of Steve Spurrier. So like the rich degenerate who already has a wife but craves a young woman as a trophy, an emblem of his success, Daniel Snyder is said to be ready to ditch Marty Schottenheimer to make room for Coach Superior. And now, the question becomes: would Steve Spurrier, for all his supposed faults, really be so devoid of ethics - so utterly. classlessly whorish - that he would actually take a job that wasn't even open when he started strolling suggestively down the street? Don't kid yourself. Maybe Coach Spurrier can deny talking with Daniel Snyder, but I'll bet his agent can't. *********** "Our share in the computer market is larger than either Mercedes or BMW in the car market - just to put that in perspective." Steve Jobs, Apple Computer Chief Executive *********** Coach Wyatt, I just spent ALL DAY reading the Helmet Hut website. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. As somebody who's really interested in "old-school history of football" type of stuff, this site had me hooked. I really enjoyed the pic of King Corcoran. Man, y'all had a really cool emblem on your helmets. BTW--Randy Moss, a.k.a. "Richard Cranium." Good one! Dave Potter - Durham, North Carolina (Jim Corcoran (I refused to call him King). What a piece of work. I could tell a few King Corcoran stories some time, but maybe I should wait and see if the upcoming special NFL Films has planned on the WFL tells them. I somehow doubt it will. HW) *********** After searching www.helmethut.com, Mark Kaczmarek, coach at Davenport (Iowa) Assumption High and an old WFLer like myself, wrote, "What! No NY Stars? I wish I would have stolen my helmet now while in NY or even Charlotte." *********** Leave it to the environmentalists to say that the best way to fight terrorists is to stop driving SUVs and pickups so we don't use as much Middle East oil. Leave it to the the defenders of multiculturalism to say that the way to combat terrorism is to have a better understanding of "those who hate us." And leave it to college football coaches to say that the best way to prevent deaths during "unsupervised," "voluntary" off-season workouts is to... why, of course! Supervise them! The AFCA is right now pondering a proposal to submit to the NCAA that would allow coaches to "supervise" players eight hours a week when school is not in session. The implication is that with a coach supervising, those kids at Northwestern would have been so much safer. Yeah. And I'm going to bring Osama bin Laden to his knees by parking my Econoline in the driveway and taking the scooter. What a sham! How long you wanna bet those workouts, once they're officially supervised, will remain "voluntary?" (Which, as we know, is pretty much a joke now, anyhow.) Remember, these are the same kids who already are supposed to be so grateful for the scholarships they're given, so that they can spend the better part of their college careers as nonstudent-athletes, taking meaningless courses and practicing football to the exclusion of a normal college life, so that their coaches can make millions. I love college football and I am all for football scholarships, but, relatively speaking, many college football programs are becoming sweatshops, and this tricky proposal by the AFCA takes them another step along that road. *********** "I believe that sports belong in schools as an important opportunity for physical and social growth. But high school sports are being hijacked. A minority of competitive coaches and a growing contingent of sports parents consumed by their illusions of professional careers for their kids have changed the face of interscholastic competition. As the pursuit of celebrity, glory and imagined financial rewards has pushed the educational values of competing far out of sight, all over the country schools are violating the spirit of sportsmanship and abandoning the value of balanced competition by assembling all-star teams of elite athletes. "But it's not the athletes that are exploited. These kids and their parents are getting exactly what they want. The real victims are the teams they wallop because of the mismatch and the kids who want to play but are displaced by students who transfer from other schools -- often from other countries. Today, few highly successful programs are built on local kids. "It's a shame and a sham and I don't understand why the parents of the kids who are denied their chance to play for their school tolerate it." Michael Josephson, Founder, Character Counts (To read more of Mr. Josephson's commentaries, go to http://www.charactercounts.org/knxtoc.htm) On that same subject, John Torres, of Manteca, California, was kind enough to e-mail me the links to two great articles in the Los Angeles Times by Eric Sondheimer, dealing with the recruiting taking place in some high schools in Southern California. It is plain disgusting and nearly out of control. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-000103310dec30.story *********** "I read the two messages on your page from the two Mr. Bells. Mr. Bell is a legend to anyone that follows the greatest rivalry in sports, Army-Navy. Black Lions Sir!" Tom Hinger, Auburndale, Florida (Tommy Bell, an All-American in 1954, had the good fortune to play before, after, and with a lot of very good football players at Army. From one standpoint, though, it was also something of a misfortune, because in the same way in which some awfully good players from the old Packers' and Steelers' teams aren't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame mainly because so many of their teammates are, Tommy Bell has been overlooked for the College Football Hall of Fame. Here's one vote for Tommy Bell. He was an All-American, back when that meant something, but even more important, he was a key factor in Army football's long climb back to national prominence from the depths of the so-called cribbing scandal. With the exception of SMU's program being shut down entirely, and schools such as Marshall and Cal Poly that lost players and coaches in airplane crashes, no program has been brought to its knees the way Army's was in 1951. Read about that. HW)
*********** Hugh, I thought I would write to tell you a few things. First the tackling pictures you had on your sight were the same as our head coach had to show our wt lifting classes on explosiveness from squats and cleans. Well one of my D-lineman said hey thats the way coach teaches us how to tackle in practice. I thought it was great that he recognized that right off. Also another thing that happened was a little over a month ago I caught an article in Ann Landers column. It was written by a person who stated how dangerous football was, and how poor coaches are and she tended to agree with this person. Well I was fired up about it and wrote her a 2 page letter contradicting the things that were said. In short I finised it with your Quote on Your web sight by the English teacher. Well yesterday at school I get a call from Ann Landers, and she wants to print it and said she liked the things I said. So it is supposed to be in the papers Febuary 3rd. Thought you would like to know. Yes my name will go with the article. Hey you got to stand up for what you believe in. Take care. Mike Foristiere, Boise, Idaho *********** "I'd love to throw Randy Moss into a room full of NFL Old-Timers and turn out the lights."
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A
LOOK AT OUR LEGACY: ONE MORE WEEK: Greasy Neale, born
Earle Neale in Parkersburg, West Virginia (but never
called anything but "Greasy" throughout his football
career) should be better known. Consider:
Last
Saturday night, I took my wife to the movies - an event, my
kids joke, that occurs roughly once every time a new pope is
elected.
I can tell that some of you defensive guys are beginning to see where this is headed - what about the defensive lineman who has hold of the QB when he throws the ball away? He'll lose a sack!!! Ha! That's where you're wrong! The NFL guys and, probably, the Players' Union are way ahead of you. The defensive lineman will not be deprived of his precious stat! He will still be awarded a sack! Can you believe that? A virtual sack! What's next? A reception, whenever pass interference is called? A kick return, whenever the ball is kicked out of the end zone? Rushing yardage when the ball is faked to a back? A virtual tackle when the runner slips? *********** Tell me - was that some fancy buckpassing on TV Monday night? The Baltimore Ravens, thinking they had a second-on-one, ran a short-yardage play to pick up the first down. But, surprise! It turned out, the officials informed them, they'd already picked up the first down the play before. The chains hadn't been moved, but no matter, that was first down, not second-and-short, that they'd just run. Consequently, instead of gaining a first down, as the Ravens thought, it was now second-and-long. It was, the referee announced to the national TV audience, "a mistake by the chain crew." Can that be? Is it really the fault of a bunch of guys who come out once a week and work the chains in return for a couple of season tickets? Isn't it the responsibility of the head linesman to make sure that the chains are moved and set before the ball is snapped for the next play? *********** Did anybody think that Eric Dickerson looked like the human cannonball Monday Night? Remember Bud Man? *********** I'm betting that the real reason Steve Spurrier is getting out of college coaching is that he saw the future, and he didn't like what he saw. Remember when he benched Rex Grossman for being late to a meeting or some damn thing? I read that Grossman's dad wasn't happy with the suspension. Then I read that Spurrier had "met" with Grossman's dad. "Gawd!" I thought, when I read it. "Even Spurrier has to put up with that crap." Now, my guess is that Spurrier figured if this is the way it was going to be - that if he, probably the most secure in his position of any coach in America, was going to have to deal with dads whose kids can do no wrong - it was time to bail. It just wasn't worth doing, not for a lousy $2.1 million a year. Makes you wonder why a high school coach does it for a $3-4,000 stipend. *********** Coach, Although as you know we had a poor record this year in the wins and losses, we were in every game, thanks mainly to the DW. We averaged over 25 points a game, lost two 2 point games, and lost one in OT. I could go on and on crying, BUT! For those that doubt, and think DW is too hard to teach young kids, Joe Freck, the coach I talked into running the DW and brought up to your clinic, coaches the Lower Pee Wee division team. His team ran the table to win the Cape May County Championship. His team is made up of 8, 9, and 10 year olds (100 lb. limit). Because of the 3 TD. mercy rule, we don't pay much attention to the scores, but he could have scored 50 a game. They ran the DW very well for the first year, and as he learns to use the formations and make adjustments he will get even better. Next year we are going to move him up to JV. division of 10, (over 100 lb.) 11, 12, year olds, (130 lb. team). This will be a great help to me. Frank Simonsen, Cape May, New Jersey *********** "What did you think of Brett Favre's Sonny Liston impersonation? I'd feel a little silly if I'm Strahan - I'd really want to earn that record breaker. It's all the talk in Titletown today. Some are defending it. It's a nice gesture, blah, blah, blah. Sports Entertainment. Another thing I hate about the NFL - al the lovely doveythat goes on between opposing players during the game. Brett is a perfect example. Always schmoozzing with DLs. Aargh!" Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin "Coach - Surely I'm not the only guy pissed off at the new NFL "sack record" posted by Michael Strahan in the NYG vs GB Packers game? It was a Brett Favre lay down that gave him the record -- on the play right after, they whispered sweet nuthin's into each other's ear. Then, after this "give 'em a record" play, Strahan jumps up and down with the rest of his worthless team mates celebrating "his" great accomplishment -- forget the fact that his team is in the closing minutes of an ass whippin'. What a mockery of a record! It's the WWF meets the NFL -- "ok Michael..here's how the play will go..you act like you'r efighting thru a block, I'll roll to your side then "slip" and let you touch me..then you jump up and down like a wild man .. that ought to pump the crowd!"...it was one of the most sickening things I've experienced -- I'm glad Coach Lombardi wasn't around to witness someone in a Packer uniform disgrace it so badly. I can't believe I still watch this trash." Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas Hmmm. Evidently Favre lay down the way he jokingly said he might before the game. Getting more and more like WWF every day. At one time the "integrity of the game" was sacred to the NFL suits. Now they allow players to disrespect the game and the people who hold its records. Sorry to stay on this "oldtimer" theme, but I think I can say that no oldtimer would have given an opponent a damn thing. The old-timers also weren't that obsessed with records. Hell, they didn't even keep sacks until what? 30 years ago? Of course, the today's pro passing game is like a rabbit ball for today's sack artists. The old-timers had to play both the run and the pass. Now, they rate linebackers according to their sacks! Lawrence Taylor is in the Hall of Fame as a linebacker! I supposed we had no reason to hope that the NFL might have any more integrity than the NBA, where "professionals" step aside so a guy can get his points, or major league baseball, where they willingly groove it so a guy can hit a record-setting home run. Makes you ask, is everything about records and money? Don't they have any respect for the game? What's next? A QB with a clause in his contract that pays a bonus if he can throw just one more touchdown pass, getting together with a corner back he went to college with, and offering to pay him a couple thou if he "slips?" What's that? You say they're already doing that? Oh. Sorry. *********** "I hope your holiday season was enjoyable. It is a new year and I am thankful that my Spartans beat Fresno State. As far as the bowl games went it was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining. I am also thankful that the Titans' season is over. In today's local newspaper there was a report of a couple Titans' players getting into an altercation over who was going to sit on one of the heated benches and Coach Fisher had to break it up. Unbelievable. The Titans were probably the best hydrated team in the country (reference Fisher's quote about water breaks and youth coaches). Enough of my being cynical. I am looking forward to attending a clinic this spring." Greg Stout, Thompson's Station, Tennessee *********** "Being an SEC (Tennessee) fan living in the Midwest is difficult sometimes. However, after the way the SEC thumped the Big 10 in big bowls this year, I'll be walking on air for the rest of this year. It's great that Steve Spurrier resigned and I agree with your wife that the timing was designed to take some focus away from Miami's championship. Now that Florida is trying to steal Oklahoma's coach for $3 million (compared to Spurriers $2.1 million), do you think Spurrier is a little ticked that Florida didn't try to prevent his resignation with a little more cash? Finally, you're right, Joey Harrington is the real deal. I enjoyed watching the Ducks rout the Buffalos, and the joy in playing that Mr. Harrington exudes." Keith Babb, Northbrook, Illinois *********** Coach, I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all your help and materials. We ran the DW for the first time this past year with a 9/10 year old team and we went 7-3-1 losing in the championship game. Those loses were not caused by the DW, but rather by coaching. Bad calls or the wrong calls or not getting the kids prepared enough, but not the system. The kids really loved the system and it was extremely easy for kids and coaches to pick up. We did experiment some with blocking and some other assignments, but all in all it was awesome. We had six different running backs score TD's and even threw a few TD's also. We've had coaches from other teams run out and get books on it because they loved what they saw. This was my 4th year coaching and 3rd as the offensive coordinator. Last year we went 7-3 and lost in the championship game also, but we didn't have the offensive power that we had this year. One thing that really made it hit home was that the quarters seem to be ending real fast and with the other team having the ball very, very little. We averaged over 28 points a game with a defense that gave up just over 7 points a game and we did this using 11 different starters of offense and defense. All our kids play even though we don't have mandatory play rules and it has made us that much better. Now that the games are over I'll be working to break down what went right and what went wrong so I'm sure you will be hearing from me plenty. As I make my way around to coaching clinics I hope to get to see you at some. I noticed that you are listing Providence as one of your stops.... I hope this works out as I will definitely be there. Again thank you for everything!!! Jim Evans Stafford Bulldogs Youth Football Stafford, CT *********** One of the things that stood out to me during the Bowl Season sponsored by Disney® was the giant break between teams' last game and bowl game. Now, in the old days, when the their were only a few bowls, what was the typical break in between the final game and bowl game? I bet it wasn't as large. Also I assume the season didn't begin at the end of August too. I think this might lead to the blow-outs we see. I'm not sure. Adam Wesoloski, Pulaski, Wisconsin Good point. They did seem to make more of that issue this year than any other in my memory. It is a phony argument being put up for a variety of reasons. In the old days, the break was even longer. Most teams were done by Thanksgiving at the latest. Then they took a break. Then they played a bowl game, if they were lucky. (Not so very long ago, there were only five games - Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, Gator.) And the bowl game was on New Year's Day, not, as in some cases now, a week before. Example 1: in 1961, seasons were almost without exception over by November 25. About half, I would say, were over by November 18. And there were no pre-New Year's Day bowls then, either - no GMAC-Las Vegas-Motor City-Music City, etc., etc., played earlier than January 1. Example 2: In 1981, most schools were done on November 21. Fewer than a fourth of them played one more week, finishing up the following weekend. *********** It never fails. You arrange for the team picture, usually wasting a lot of practice time, and when you get the proofs, there's always somebody screwing up the picture. And it's always the same kid! After years in coaching and teaching, you get pretty good at predicting which kids it will be. So it was no great surprise Monday night, when all the starters from both team were introduced - you know, "Tony Siragusa - PITT" - and it came time for Randy Moss, Mr. I Only Play Hard When I Feel Like Playing Hard, to introduce himself, and he came on with, "Randy Moss - a.k.a. Super Freak," or some such nonsense. "a.k.a. Richard Cranium" is more like it. *********** Just received a link to your website from one of my family members and noticed the great promotion of Don Holleder and Coach Blaik. My father is Tommy Bell the 3rd leading rusher in the nation (1954 season) and the first 1000 yard rusher in Army football history. Not to mention a '54 All American. My Dad has talked about Don Holleder throughout my life and what a great player and person he was. You pay such a great tribute to Mr. Holleder. My brother and I accompanied my father to West Point for the dedication of the Holleder Center back in the 80's and met some of the Army Football Greats. Great website! Take care! Bob Bell (It so happens that I remember Bob's dad quite well. I am a Philadelphia native, and to Philadelphians in during the time I grew up, the Army-Navy game was the game of the year, bigger to us than any of the bowl games, and bigger, in those days at least, than the NFL championship. So it was a great treat for me to attend the 1953 Army-Navy game, won by Army, 20-7. I recall going into the game knowing a good deal about Pat Uebel, the big fullback from Kentucky, but by the end of the day, thanks to Tommy Bell's performance - and to a guy sitting nearby who, like Tommy Bell, was from the Bronx, and cheered for him as if he knew him well - everybody around us knew about Tommy Bell. Bob, who writes that he played football at Ball State but is "a big Army fan," writes that, at 69, his dad is still in "pretty good shape." HW) And then I heard from Dad- Dear Hugh, My son Bob contacted me to let me know about your web site, especially about Don Holleder, my former teammate. Yes, I am still alive, and Bob is the oldest of our four children. He also played football at Ball State on scholarship as a flanker back. Don Holleder in my estimation was one of the finest receivers to play the game. He paid the highest price by giving his life for his country. It is nice to know that you are remembered. Believe it or not, I still receive at least one autograph request a year. It is still a thrill to see Army beat Navy, as we saw this past season. Tommy Bell, (West Point) Class of '55 *********** Coach- I was listening to Jim Rome's radio show today, and he had an interview with a writer named Austin Murphy. He was talking about his latest book, called "The Sweet Season", where he spends 6 months with the St. Johns (Mn) football team, coached by John Gaglardi (sp?). It sounded extremely interesting, and i was wondering if you had heard anything about it....always good to get opinions before shelling out $25 for a book! Thanks - Brian Rochon, Livonia, Michigan I don't know anything about the author, but I do know a fair amount about Coach Gagliardi, and I'm always interested in learning more about him. It is absolutely amazing how much success he has had - and continues to have - with an approach that is, to say the least, highly unorthodox. I would probably buy the book on the chance that it might be well-written, because the subject is fascinating. *********** I want to start a Powermeet (Bench Squat Deadlift) at our school. I have lots of ideas from meets Ive been in and also taken kids too. However, I don't know much about organizing such an event (insurance, etc.) Obviously I'm trying to work with the AD, however, he isn't the most knowledgable on the subject. Who would you suggest talking to -- or do you know of a good way to get such information. (I am also planning on contacting other coaches who run such things). Thanks, John Dowd, Rochester, New York (I know of many coaches who have put on such events. Perhaps one of them would be interested in writing in with some ideas for putting one on. HW) *********** Amen!! Your latest tip ("10 in the box") is the best thing you could have ever put on that page for youth coaches. Every season, I get 10-20 coaches, in our league of 160 teams, who want to sit down and have a beer and talk double wing. They read about all the coaches who put it in at halftime or put it in and a week later they are running for 400 yards. I always wondered how many of those teams were enjoying the same quality of success two months later in the season or the following year. I have seen too many "one hit wonders" and I usually reserve judgement on Double Wing success until a coach's second year running the DW. I can't tell you how many people in our league line up in the DW in the early part of the season and then "jump ship" by week four after a team stacks the line on them for a game or two. My hats go off to all the DW guys that stay the course, teach the "little things" and don't take the easy way out. The offense is always the "greatest thing invented" when they run for 400 yards, and it's usually the same people bitching when the same offense "can't get the job done when they go to 8 or 10 in the box" - funny how that happens. If I hear that the Double Wing is not a "come from behind offense" once more I think I will shoot myself. This is usually coming from youth coaches that run "power I" ha, what a joke. Bill Lawlor, Hoffman Estates, Illinois (Coach Lawlor, who has been running the Double-Wing and attending my clinics since the very first one in Chicago in '98, has won two Illinois Bill George League state titles, at two different age levels.) *********** Cool site!!! http://www.helmethut.com *********** Hey coach, We got snow down here in Snellville, GA. (Near Atlanta). I'm really enjoying the tapes and the offense. I can't wait to put it in. If you have any more words of encouragement, please let me know cause I will be fighting city hall all the way. Have you noticed, every college and pro team is running the very same thing. What a bore. It looks exciting but they go get the talent. We have to play with what we have, right???? Hope to see you near Atlanta one day. Thanks again Larry Harrison, Snellville, Gwinnett County, Georgia
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Nebraska, sad to say, hadn't gotten around to fixing any of the reasons why Colorado kicked their ass weeks ago, and actually came up with something additional they'd been holding in reserve just in case they ran up against a good passing team - something they evidently hadn't seen in the Big 12. Just as against Colorado, the Cornhuskers were whacked by Miami because they (1) turned the ball over, (2) arm-tackled, and (3) didn't have the firepower to come from behind. But just to be sure, they also looked as if they had exchanged notes with the Maryland staff on pass defense. MEMO TO THE BCS: It was true, wasn't it? - a team that gives up 62 points doesn't have any business in one of your so-called national championship games, no matter what your computer nerds and their programs said, does it? Let the dweebs out of their caves for some fresh air and sunshine. And next time, believe the sportswriters. *********** Now that we know what a 26-point loss to Colorado meant exactly what we thought it did, and now that it's okay to vault a conference non-contender ahead of the champion of its own conference, we have to admit there were certain other conference non-champions who demonstrated by their play in the bowls that they were more worthy than Nebraska of playing for a national title. Florida, Tennessee and Texas (provided, of course, that Major Applewhite starts) come to mind. *********** So long as we're willing to do things like moving the Rose Bowl to January 3, it is time to stop naming the Heisman Trophy winner before the bowls. Lots of people saw Eric Crouch on national TV during the season, but far fewer saw Joey Harrington until his great performance against Colorado. Crouch's great appeal was that, yes, he is a great athlete, but it was also because of what he did for Nebraska - which, certainly, was quite a bit. But at the time the vote was held, no one could have foreseen how he and the Huskers would be rendered powerless by Miami, or how the Harrington-led Ducks would dominate Colorado. Ditto the Coach of the Year award. Yes, Ralph Friedgen is deserving, just like Crouch, but after seeing Miami's performance in the Rose Bowl (presented by AT & T) is there anyone who could argue strongly against Larry Coker? All he did was take over a team that was expected to win - and do it. That can be every bit as tough as coming in expected to do very little and coaching 'em up. Any coach who has ever gone into a season expected to win can tell you that Charlie Brown was right on when he said. "There is no heavier burden than a great potential." *********** Coach, During the National Championship game, a player from Miami made a "Perfect Tackle." It look identical to the way you teach tackling. What I like the most was the commentators spoke on the proper technique and they said, hopefully you have your VCR's rolling because it was perfect. You might have heard the remark. I thought I'd mention it to you. Jason Clarke, Millersville, Maryland Boy! Glad somebody else saw and heard that. As a matter of fact, I did see it, and as a matter of fact, it is the way I teach tackling. (Safer and Surer Tackling) As many of you are aware, I have been maintaining for some time that the way I believe tackling should be taught is not only safer and surer , but it also lays the groundwork for much harder hitting. On a night when Miami's hitting was ferocious from start to finish, two tackles in particular stood out as examples.
Jonathan Vilma, as Miami's leading tackler, was in on a lot of plays, but these two tackles of his stood out because of the way he absolutely stunned the ball carriers, striking them high with an upward thrust generated by his legs and hips, stopping them cold and then following through until he pancaked them. The interesting thing is that Jonathan Vilma, listed as 6-1, 215, is not big. Both ball carriers were larger men than he was, but instead of following conventional announcer's and part-time coaches' "wisdom" (you know - you have to hit a big man low), Vilma hit them high. It would be interesting to ask the runners how they'd rather be hit. I think, given a choice, they'd have preferred running into brick walls. The second tackle (lower series) was actually a bit scary for a while, because the Nebraska player was knocked backward so hard he lay motionless for a minute or two after the tackle. Note that Jonathan Vilma did not try to "kiss the football," as some people continue to teach. Instead, he approached with his knees bent, he kept his eyes up - tail lower than his shoulders - and at contact he was exploding upwards, uncocking his legs and hips and unloading on the runners' chests , using his momentum to rob them of theirs. Note also in the top series that his hands are nowhere near the runner's legs, as some still teach - they are high on the runner's back. That is part of shooting upwards, using the legs to make the tackle. (Notice also in both cases: "eyes to the sky.") I was hoping as I watched that some of the "Tackle them around the legs" guys might be watching and listening, but they are probably so set in their ways that they wouldn't have noticed how hard you can hit a guy with our "pussy tackling," anyhow. HW *********** I had to laugh at Tim Brandt, ABC analyst at the Rose Bowl, observing that "Nebraska's won the second half." Yeah, down 34-0 at the end of the first half, they trounced Miami, 14-3 in the second half. Wow. I wonder who'd win if they played another half? Years ago, I was coach and general manager of a semi-pro team in Maryland, and I also handled the PR for our league, something called the Interstate League. We played our games on Saturday nights, and every Sunday morning, the teams' statisticians or PR guys or coaches would call me with their results and their stats. One team, the Waynesboro (PA) Tigers, usually lost - usually big - and I always got a laugh whenever their PR guy would call. I'd ask, "How'd you guys do last night?" He'd tell me the score - usually something like 45-14 - and after I commiserated, he'd add, "They won the first half, but we won the second half." *********** Give the BCS this much credit: They have proved they can pick the number one team to play in their "championship game." What they can't do is pick the number two team to play against it. *********** Steve Spurrier is a heck of a coach. I don't like him, but no one can deny that he is a heck of a coach. I haven't liked him since he bailed on Duke to go to Florida, taking the Devils to their best season in years, and then basically deserting them during their bowl game preparations in order to hit the trail recruiting on behalf of Florida, whose job offer he'd accepted before the bowl game. Duke lost that bowl game to Texas Tech. That was 1989, and with one notable exception - a fantastic 8-3 season in 1994 that earned Fred Goldsmith regional Coach of the Year honors in his first season and a trip to the Hall of Fame bowl - the Devils haven't been near one since. *********** The amazing thing about coaching is how much of it is still a matter of feel. I'd almost forgotten, until Jim Hanley of Houston reminded me, how much we coaches can differ sometimes. It was halftime of the GMAC Bowl, and Marshall was down 38-8 to East Carolina. Terry Bowden, a former coach himself who'd achieved enough success at Samford and Auburn to qualify him to comment, said it was time for Marshall Coach Bob Pruett to flick it in - to bench his seniors and start getting ready for next year. I listened and thought, "Hmmm. He's probably right." But Coach Pruett didn't have the benefit of that advice. What he did have instead was the benefit of knowing his coaches and his kids better than Coach Bowden or I did, and he decided to stick with the guys who got him there. The result was a Marshall win, 64-61, in two overtimes. *********** How sick is this? Showing exquisite timing, exactly one day after we were treated to the multi-million-dollar extravaganza of the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T, AT&T announced plans to lay off 5,000 workers. AT & T was able to afford the cost of "presenting" the Rose Bowl by laying off 5,100 workers in 2001. The sporting way would have been to give one ex-employee a shot at halftime of the Rose Bowl at a field goal from 30 yards out - if he made it, give him his job back. And fire the CEO. *********** Joe Daniels, coach at Highlands High in Sacramento, California, was alert enough to notice that in mentioning the outstanding quarterbacks to have come out of Tidewater Virginia in recent years, I had overlooked Aaron Brooks, of the New Orleans Saints, the University of Virginia, and Newport News' Homer L. Ferguson High. *********** My wife, who can sometimes be as cynical as I am, suspects that Steve Spurrier saved the announcement of his resignation for the day after the Rose Bowl just so he could upstage Miami. *********** Following the Rose Bowl (presented by AT & T), Lynn Swann set up Miami coach Larry Coker with a softball - "Talent, speed, character... which was most important?" he asked. Coach Coker, rising to the bait, ignored the talent and speed that we'd all seen with our two eyes and started to rhapsodize on his players' character - the fact that they never quit, they never flinched, blah, blah, blah. My wife, watching with me, said, "Yeah, but PLU has character." She didn't mean to imply that Miami didn't have character, and she certainly didn't mean it as a slur on PLU (Pacific Lutheran), a division III power. PLU is well-known around these parts as a winning program that places a lot of emphasis on character. But famed PLU coach Frosty Westering would be the first to admit that character goes further when you have talent and speed like Miami's. *********** Coach, Is there something in the bylaws of the BCS that dictates that "God Bless America" must be sung by some fey, mincing poofter? I let my 9 year old stay up late on a school night to watch the game. When Jubilant Whats-His-Name began his crooning, my son asked if he was a man or a woman. I still can't figure out how to accurately answer his question. Scott Harbinson, Columbia, Maryland I was dropping my son and daughter-in-law off at the airport and missed the opening ten minutes or so. Evidently, that was my good fortune, because I have been upset for some time at what the show biz people have been allowing these creeps to do to our songs, and I think that one of the things the terrorists have done to us is to give even more people the idea that they have the right rearrange our patriotic songs. I wish I had something I could tell your son. *********** Were those the BCS Bowls or the Old Referees' Final Game Before Retirement Bowls? *********** I was reading the New York Times sports recently, and came across a story about a man named Allen Dawson. Mr. Dawson was coaching track last November when he was killed in a bizarre accident, hit in the head by a shot. He was 80 years old. And he was still coaching. That got my attention right away, but what kept me reading was seeing a picture of him in his younger days, standing next to one of the athletes he coached in his years at Manhasset, New York High - a big kid named Jim Brown. Yes, that Jim Brown. Many people who do know that Jim Brown was (at least in my opinion) the greatest runner in the history of the NFL do not know that he is also considered one of the greatest lacrosse players in the history of that sport, and that he also lettered at Syracuse in basketball and track. Mr. Dawson was Jim Brown's high school track coach. I happen to know Bill Cherry, the coach at Manhasset, a Black Lions team, and asked him if he knew Mr. Dawson. He wrote, Coach, I had the privilege of knowing and coaching with Al for over 30 years. He was a great coach and a beautiful human being. He taught and coached at Manhasset for 36 years, as well as Head track coach at C.W.Post college,where he coached 67 All-Americas. After he retired from Manhasset and C.W. Post he returned to volunteer coaching football and track at Manhasset. He coached Jim Brown in Football, Basketball and Track. Spike Lee is doing a special on Jim and has interviews on tape with Al. One of Allen's' former track team All-Americas is now the Head Track and Cross Country coach at Stanford-Vin Lananna. In all, Al coached for 47 years at Manhasset and had an impact on all of us. Thanks for asking about him, he was a dear friend and will be sorely missed. *********** What does Georgia Tech know that Miami didn't? Georgia Tech's kids played their asses off for interim coach Mac McWhorter, who was filling in for the departed George O'Leary. And after they upset Stanford in the Seattle Bowl, the Tech players, who for some reason thought that their efforts had earned them the right to be heard, called for Coach McWhorter's hiring as the full-time coach. The Georgia Tech AD, though, had other ideas. Unbeknownst to the kids or coach McWhorter, he had already hired his coach. Before they even kicked off to start the Seattle Bowl. He had to go and big-dog it, and make what he evidently thought was a spectacular hire, surreptitiously signing "big name" Chan Gailey. Wow. A year ago, at Miami, when Butch Davis jilted the Hurricanes to take the job with the Browns (remember his vows to his players that he wasn't going anywhere?), the Miami players petitioned strongly for the hiring of assistant coach Larry Coker. The rest is history. What does Georgia Tech know that Miami didn't?
Stanford's number 92, second from left, is Marcus Hoover, a 6-4, 270-pound senior defensive end from Abington, Pennsylvania. Marcus played tight end and linebacker for my good friend Doug Moister, the first coach to have the stones to run the Double-Wing purely on my say-so. That's where I first met and worked with Marcus. No, I'm not going to claim that I recruited him. But he impressed me as an athlete and as a person, and being a Stanford dad, I would like to think that I was able to provide him with some "input" in his decision making. He chose Stanford, and had a good career there. No doubt, since it is Stanford, he has received an education as well. And there he was, down on that field, four years later, a senior! A captain! Damn! You talk about proud. I was almost crying, and I know all his former coaches back in Abington were as proud of him as I was. *********** If you can believe his former players, Tyrone Willingham lied to them. Just as Butch Davis did to his Miami players a year ago, Coach Willingham told his Stanford kids that he wasn't going anywhere - he had no interest in the Notre Dame job. But it turns out, based on what the Notre Dame people have said since his hiring, that he had plenty of interest - that all the while his team was preparing to play Georgia Tech in a bowl game, he was aggressively pursuing the job, even to the extent of calling the Notre Dame AD after George O'Leary's hiring and telling him that he, Tyrone Willingham, was the man they should have hired. I am not going to say anything against the man. I wouldn't leave Stanford for Notre Dame, but that is one of my prejudices, and I am not motivated by the things that motivate Tyrone Willingham. He has proved that he can coach at a major football school whose academic standards are among the nation's highest. In his seven seasons at Stanford, he took the Cardinal to four bowl games, including one real Rose Bowl, before it was presented by AT & T. After taking his team to bowl games his first two seasons at Stanford, he suffered through two straight losing seasons, before turning things around in 1999 and winning the Pac-10 title. So he has shown that he can handle adversity and stay the course and right the ship - at least at Stanford. Notre Dame may be another matter. Even in the Rose Bowl year, Stanford's record was 8-4. I'm not so sure that Notre Dame people will consider that a great year. I am certainly not going to say anything about Coach Willingham's loyalty, or lack of it. I think the former president of Stanford, Donald Kennedy, dealt with the matter quite well in a column in the New York Times Saturday. "Stanford," he wrote, "has been able to develop and retain "dynasty" coaches in nonrevenue sports like swimming and tennis, in baseball, and even - knock on wood - in basketball. But its history of firing unsuccessful football coaches is about like everybody else's and gives little reason for anyone to feel secure. Big-time college football is a tough marketplace, and anyone who believes it has room for institutional loyalty is living in cloud-cuckoo land." In other words, loyalty cuts both ways, and if Coach Willingham had had a third straight losing season in 1999, instead of taking the Cardinal to the Rose Bowl, he might very well be an assistant on an NFL staff right now. As for Notre Dame "raiding" other schools to get a coach for their program, President Kennedy could only say, touché. Stanford does it too, he confesses - in hiring faculty. "When the heavily courted football coach looks around the rest of the campus to evaluate how loyalty is practiced by its faculty stars - the Willinghams of economics or molecular biology - he sees a culture not so very different from that of the football stadium," he says. Stanford, he notes, is guilty of some raiding of its own. "The institutions that practice academic raiding - and Stanford is one of them - have real needs, and naturally they attempt to meet them." The result is often a case of highly-endowed schools such as Stanford, Duke, Yale, Harvard, Princeton and - yes - Texas offering large sums of money to well-known scholars to lure them away from schools of lesser prestige or facilities. President Kennedy uses the parallel of academic raiding to make his most important point, one which I don't believe I'd seen articulated before: people like that are often motivated by more than money. They are motivated by another form of loyalty. "There are all kinds of loyalties," he said. "What happened to loyalty is that it has been broken up into a lot of pieces in a highly complex world." "The biologist who moves from University A to B for better facilities in which to pursue innovative research is being loyal to her craft. A political scientist who moves from B to C because C has a large foundation grant to explore the comparative origins of state failure is being loyal to his discipline." He is saying that it is quite possible that Coach Willingham felt a higher loyalty to something other than Stanford, and Notre Dame provided him a greater chance to pursue that loyalty. Frankly, it is better for black coaches everywhere if he coaches - and succeeds - at Notre Dame, and I'm sure he knows that. Even I must lay aside my Stanford bias and admit that 99 of 100 average persons would say that Notre Dame is a more prestigious football school than Stanford. And given that reality, who wouldn't applaud a black coach for taking what could be the final step in dispelling the notion - if anyone still holds it - that a black man can't do the biggest job of all? Fair enough. Put that way, I understand, I applaud, and I wish Tyrone Willingham all the best. But considering his reputation as a standup guy, I just wish he'd been able to pull it off without leaving his former players one last memory of their coach as a man who chose dishonesty as his cover. *********** A footnote on Tyrone Willingham: Tim Keown writes in ESPN The Magazine, "One reason Willingham might be slapping his forehead right now: The Vikings job, apparently open." *********** Once more on Stanford - I know they're smart, but could they really be smart enough to hire Mike Riley? I can only hope. Heck of a hire. Heck of a guy. I got to know him years ago when he was defensive coordinator at Linfield College and we worked together at Rich Brooks' U. of Oregon camp. He is an Alabamian who went to high school in Corvallis, Oregon where his dad, Bud Riley, was an assistant on Dee Andros' staff at Oregon State. He is a cousin of former Tide star Major Ogilvy (for whom Texas' Major Applewhite was named) and he chose to return to Alabama and play a minor role at Bama under the Bear rather than stay in the Northwest, where he could have starred at a number of schools. He has won Grey Cups as a coach in the CFL, and as a college head coach deserves more credit than he usually gets for laying the groundwork for the great Oregon State turnaround under Dennis Erickson. Forget his record at San Diego. Who could have won there? Doesn't he get bonus points for having to deal with for Ryan Leaf? *********** At last! A Monday Night Football game that both teams will actually try to win - I think. We know that the Ravens have to win, or else they blow their chance to repeat as Super Bowl champs. But Minnesota will also want to win, for Dennis Green - I think. At least that's the way Mike Tice sounded. Tice, Green's offensive line coach, was very careful to say that while he was being a good soldier in taking the job of interim head coach, it was still Coach Green's team, and he wanted the players to win the game for Dennis Green. Sounds like loyalty to me. On the other side of the loyalty coin, one guy who owes at least one good game to Dennis Green this year is super slacker Randy Moss, whom Green should have been tougher on, and whose failure to perform is undoubtedly a major reason why Green was fired. I'd love to throw Randy Moss into a room full of NFL Old-Timers and turn out the lights. When he stepped out, he might decide to go ahead with that boast of his to go play in the NBA. As a jerk who frankly admits that he only goes hard when he wants to, he could step right in and play for the Portland Trail Blazers. *********** Coach, I wanted to respond to what Whit Snyder of Baytown, TX. wrote about a Freddie Steinmark movie....YES! The question remains, WHY hasn't there been a movie made? Just a brief history if you will... Freddie Steinmark grew up in North Denver (where I also grew up). He played youth football for the YAL Rough Riders (where I also played 10 years later). He was coached at one time by his father, a Denver Policeman (which I am). He had a stellar career at Wheatridge HS, coached by a Texan by the name of Red Coates. After being voted the Colorado Football Player of the Year and winning the Denver Post Gold Helmet Award, he was not recruited at all by any D-1 schools. His all-time favorite team was Notre Dame, being a Denver Catholic boy where ND games were always televised. His best friend at WRHS, Bobby Mitchell was being recruited by Texas and Coach Darrell Royal, and was invited on a recruiting trip. Freddie, all 5'-9" and 165 or so pounds of him went along after Coach Coates was able to get him in the door. Long story short, Coach Royal saw something in Freddie's eyes. Freddie went on to be a starter for the "Horns at "Defensive Halfback." Well, Freddie played hurt all junior season (1969), including the famed "Game of the Century" when the 'Horns hooked a very talented and well coached Frank Broyles led Arkansas team. Shortly after this game, just prior to the Cotton Bowl match-up with Notre Dame (Freddie really wanted this game), Freddie had his right leg amputated after cancer was found. His courage to endure strenuous rehab won national acclaim, as Freddie achieved his goal to walk on the sideline at the Cotton Bowl, in short order! To cap this off, the 'Horns were voted National Champions with the help of President Nixon (much to the chagrin of undefeated Penn-State and Coach Paterno). Freddie died of his cancer later the next year, but through it all he was a man of courage, determination, but more importantly faith in God. The Denver-Rocky Mountain News has dedicated an annual award for Colorado student-athletes named in honor of Freddie Steinmark...the criteria: All-State in one sport, at least All-Conference in another, at least a 3.5 GPA, and other value driven accomplishments. Needless to say, it is an award that exemplifies Freddie! The award is given to one male and female student-athlete, regardless of classification. A few side notes: While Freddie was recovering after his first hospital stay, Chicago Bears RB Brian Piccolo sent a very warm letter of encouragement to Freddie, this was the same time Brian was also suffering with cancer. Freddie's younger brother Sammy, who was also on the Cotton Bowl sidelines, went on to play football at the University of Wyoming, and has been a RB's coach for Fisher DeBerry at Air Force, and most recently was an assistant to Charlie Weatherby at Navy. I work with a few Denver Police Officers who actually played youth football & baseball with Freddie. They all say the same things, great athlete, great student, great guy, great Dad! Mr. Steinmark passed away a few years back. Regards, Ernie Martinez, Sergeant Denver Police Department (Ernie Martinez, in addition to being a member of the Denver Police Department, has been a championship youth football coach and is now a member of the staff at Denver's Regis High School.)
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***********
This is gonna cost me some pride money, as they say at those
service club meetings, but so what. That's the Stanford
captains and the Georgia Tech captains meeting at midfield
of the Seattle Bowl (told you we had great seats).
*********** Good-bye to 2001. Apart from the great strains on our nation, I hope 2001 was a good year for you and your family, and I hope 2002 will be even greater.
*********** More than one person has suggested that it is hard to imagine a National Champion named the Ducks. It happened through a process which might be called journalistic evolution... Up into the early 1950's Oregon's teams were officially called the "Webfoots," a sort of geographical inside-joke nickname along the lines of Tarheels or Mountaineers or Hoosiers or Sooners - it was always a joke among the old-timers out here that it rains so much an Oregon native had webbed feet. Until the 1920's the University of Oregon had no athletic mascot, but its teams were referred to by the local media as the "Webfooters." That nickname eventually became shortened to "Webfoots," which was made the official mascot by a student election in 1926. "Webfoots" won again in another election held in 1932. But the name "Ducks" began being substituted for "Webfoots," primarily in newspaper headlines. (Headline writers, if you hadn't noticed, are always looking for the shortest name possible, even if they have to invent one - Patriots become "Pats," Pirates become "Bucs," etc.) Without any student election this time, "Webfoots" were phased out in the early 1950s, when sports information books began referring to Oregon teams as the "Ducks." The major reason was probably athletic director Leo Harris' managing to arrange for Walt Disney Productions to provide Oregon with the artwork for the Donald Duck caricature used for years as the "Oregon Duck."
*********** Watching North Carolina's Ronald Curry break that 60+ yard run against Auburn in the Peach Bowl (okay, okay - eat mor chikin) reminded me once again that people to give a little more respect to the football played in what is called the Tidewater area of Virginia. Although it is a large metropolitan area of more than a million people, it is made up of several small-to-medium size cities without any really large central city to identify with, which is probably why it is not so well known. But a lot of good football players, including Bruce Smith, come from Tidewater Virginia, from such cities as Chesapeake, Hampton, Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. The Hampton High Crabbers have been ranked in the USA Today Top 25. There've been a few pretty good quarterbacks to come from there, too. How's this? Ronald Curry, of course... and Michael Vick... and a guy who was named Virginia's high school player of the year in both football and basketball. A guy named Allen Iverson. *********** "So I've been sittin' here watching college ball for the past couple of days, biting my tongue as these guys start to look more and more like the idiodic pro's..slapping their chest when "they" make a play (who cares that their team is getting its ass whipped!)...now I've got to watch/listen the National Anthem being played/desecrated by a Jimmy Hendrix wannabe before the Fiesta Bowl.....man oh man. Scott Barnes, Rockwall, Texas *********** Hugh: Hope you had a great Christmas and New Years Eve! In also noticed Georgia Tech running Spread Lazer 29 Reach. As a matter of fact I have seen at least six teams in this bowl week run a version of the "fly" or "sprint" sweep. Is anyone else sick of our incredibly knowledgeable analysts calling these plays "End Arounds???" I heard at least four of these gifted announcers call this an end around. I don't mean to be picky guys, but half the time there isn't even a tight end on the field. Reminded me of the Northwestern clinic when they said they don't run the "The Single Wing" they run the "Wildcat Run-Gun" - so I guess I can't blame the announcers for not knowing what to call things. Bill Lawlor, Hoffman Estates, Illinois *********** Coach, Hope you are having a great New Year, and glad you enjoyed the bowl game in Seattle. I am going to the Citrus bowl tomorrow in Orlando, and I noticed in the paper that both Michigan and Tennessee donated their unsold tickets to local youth organizations so many kids could attend the game. Also it cuts down on empty seats. I caught that Washington State game today and enjoyed hearing about the TB, Minnich, who had served four years in the Marine Corps. I had just seen something on Mike Anderson of the Broncos and the time he played at Camp Pendleton on TV last night. It is to bad that only the Marines get to play tackle football in the states, because I know there are a lot of good players in other branches of the service based on my time in Germany. But it is great they are able to persevere and use it as a springboard to get their college education and beyond. Ron Timson, Umatilla, Florida *********** Aargh. Despite what some of us had thought, "trickeration" is not dead. Like Jason in Friday the Thirteenth, Part XLVIII, the stupid word keeps coming back. I heard it at least six times on Monday. All on ESPN. Still think they're not trying to coin a word? (Evidently they still don't know that I went out and acquired the rights to it, and they aren't returning my lawyers' calls.) *********** I'm sorry, but hiring former pro football players as analysts on college games isn't going to work. Let them stick to something that perhaps they know something about. I have come to that conclusion after several games worth of listening to Chris Spielman. A good person for all I know, and certainly an excellent linebacker at Ohio State and for the Detroit Lions and assorted other NFL teams, he is, it is my judgment, a bust as a college analyst. He has the ex-pro's all-too-common tendency to explain something with jargon, rather than in a way that non-insiders might understand. But that can be corrected. What will be more difficult to correct, though, is a willingness to misinform. To tell viewers things that just aren't so. "Don't run something you haven't run in a game." he told us, after North Texas ran a trick play. If we all followed that advice, we'd all still be running the flying wedge. Remember when he let us in on the secret to defending against the option? "That's how you stop the option... by hustling to the ball." I heard him say that "the number one rule in defensive football" was "run till you hear the whistle and then run eight steps more," which might explain some of the hits out-of-bounds we've been seeing. But the worst - by far - was the way he misinterpreted the tackle screen BYU ran against Louisville. Basically the same play Utah had run against them several weeks earlier (give BYU credit for seeing something good used against them and liking it enough to put it into their attack), except run to the other side, it was good for a Cougar touchdown. Well, our expert analyst didn't realize what he'd seen. He was so locked into pro football thinking, where they still let a guy with an ineligible number go out for a pass so long as he lines up in an eligible receiver's spot, that he began to scramble when they brought up the replay, fumbling and stumbling and explaining how they had lined up unbalanced so that the tackle was eligible, blah, blah, blah. B.S. Don't pay any attention to him. Here, if you remember that BYU threw its pass to the left tackle, is what really happened...
*********** Read your Dec. 31 NEWS, and wanted to let you know that the Iowa defensive back #33 is Bob Sanders. Here is a young man who was looked over by just about every major college program in the country. He grew up in the shadow of Penn State and wasn't recruited by the Nittany Lions. THANK GOD!! The man is a true football player...I enjoy watching him play, because you can tell that HE enjoys what he's doing. Scott Lovell, Cherokee, Iowa
*********** After watching the Clemson-Louisiana Tech game (snowing on blue turf...surreal), and having seen the Tigers play a few times this year, I have noticed that Coach Bowden of Clemson is definitely a closet winger. Between the amount of "trickeration (toss another nickel in the royalty jar) and everything he had Dantzler doing, he was in essence running crude single / double wing plays...though he'd never admit it. Also, have you noticed the rising trend in direct snaps, the "Delta" 3 receiver set (send one of them in counter motion and it smacks of Wing-T)? Also, the Indianapolis Colts having been running Spread ( a TRUE spread with wings, not slots) all season. With the advent of the QB that is going to need to contribute 50+ rushing yards a game, maybe we'll see more. Todd Bross, Sharon, Pennsylvania *********** I've had several coaches write to comment on Clemson's use of our "Wildcat" formation against Louisiana Tech. In the interest of accuracy, they line up deeper than we do, and they take conventional splits, but the play principles are the same. Coach Bowden is doing some very neat things. It doesn't hurt to have a guy like Woodrow Dantzler back there.
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