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JULY 2007

Why the FBI Isn't So Good at Catching Dog Fighters! (See"NEWS") Do You Have the Stones to Celebrate Your Anniversary the Way I Did? (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   July 27, 2007 -  "You can do anything with children if you play with them." Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor, on the subject of dealing with difficult people   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award   A couple of weeks ago, following the Chicago clinic, I took part in a "Ride-along" with a team of plainclothes Chicago policemen. Click on the "Chicago Police" seal to read more about it and see some exclusive photos, shown only on "New You Can Use"     *********** I will soon be launching a free e-mail newsletter, aimed specifically at those of you who love and respect the game the way it's seldom seen on TV these days, and still believe that it's possible to play football other than the way the NFL plays it. To get on the mailing list, e-mail me your name, location and e-mail address at: oldschoolfootball@mac.com (we will never give your information to anyone else) EDITION 1: Attacking a Gap Defense... A review of "Leahy's Lads"...   *********** Coach, If you had a franchise player like Vick, would you not hire someone to watch him and act as a mentor. Maybe even pay them a million a year or more with bonuses tied to keeping him out of trouble? Dennis Cook , Roanoke, Virginia (Actually, the Trail Blazers had a guy assigned to do that very job, and they still wound up with dogfighter Qyntel Woods and multiple offender Zach Randolph. HW)   *********** Notice that before heading to court all these perps decide to clean up their acts and get a haircut? Isn't it funny how they don't give a sh-- what others think until it matters what others think?   *********** Hugh, We had a coach's clinic this past weekend with the purpose of training our coaches how to run our team drills. To do this we had 10 players there to demonstrate the drills. During this time I taught the QB/C exchange that we worked on at your clinic to a kid that had NEVER played Center and a QB who started for me all of last year. In 5 minutes they were doing great. I also taught the entire team the Circle drill which was truly invaluable as later we did the Double Wing bag drill. After a couple minutes of coaching we were running Super Power to where it looked pretty good as far as getting the QB to 3 o'clock and the offsides OL correctly pulling through the hole. I have to say that the endless stream of questions that I have asked have been great because any time a player did something wrong I had the fix.   I am running our entire 100 lbs level which has 3 teams; 1 gold (which I am head coach) and 2 silver teams (weaker level). I have been teaching the DW to our silver coaches this offseason and after our clinic this weekend they are absolutely pumped up to run it. They were stunned of how fast the players picked it up. I was stunned too but of course you act as if you expected it to go that well.   Now hopefully it works this well when we play against another team! Thanks coach and good luck with your season!!   Take care, Dave Marco, Hinsdale Falcons, Hinsdale, Illinois     *********** You wrote: Where, in all this, were the vaunted NFL internal investigators, the former FBI agents and police detectives now in the league's employ, the guys who for years have supposedly kept tabs on players who might have dealings with unsavory characters?   Coach, I can tell you this from my experience in law enforcement, EVERY time I have ever come across dog fighting and the people involved, those involved were in a gang, they had drugs on them or nearby, they had guns in close proximity, and none of them, NONE, would ever had been confused for productive members of society. You know my take on Tank Johnson and Michael Vick - I think it is great that the NFL is going to be forced to play its hand on Vick, who truly, is a thug with a lot of money. His only marketable quality is that he is fast and he can throw a football a long way, albeit not very accurately.   About why the FBI Agents did not see this coming, we have an old joke here when it comes to the vaunted FBI Agents and their investigative abilities, and their ability not to see things right in front of them. (I will say this, I would want them looking into any white collar crimes or financial stuff, but gangs, guns, drugs or dog fighting - not their forte. That NBA Ref is screwed - they CAN find out that stuff.)   In a recent Department of Justice experiment, a Los Angeles Police Officer, a FBI Agent, and a Chicago Police Officer,  all are given a square mile of a wooded area and told to look for the only rabbit in that area. The DOJ was curious to see how these three agencies were the same, how they were different, and what their results would be. First up was the LAPD.   The LAPD Officer follows department protocol and sets up a perimeter and requests a helicopter and then begins a search of the area. Two days later the officer reappears and says that there is no rabbit in the area, and that there is a zero chance that a rabbit could escape from the LAPD perimeter and search.   The FBI Agent is next to go, and the Agent follows his department protocol and sets up surveillance of the area, requests satellite photos of the area, requests more Agents, and sets up a mobile command center. The Agents bring in every creature from the square mile of the wooded area and interrogate every single one of them. Finally, after all leads are exhausted and several days are wasted, the FBI Agent reports that there is no rabbit in the area, and that there was never a rabbit in the area to begin with.   Finally, the CPD Officer is set to go. The CPD Officer goes into the woods. The Department of Justice people, the LAPD people, and the FBI people are all amazed that the CPD Officer went in alone and did request any backup, any support, and any high tech crime fighting assistance. An hour later, the CPD Officer walks out of the wooded area with a Grizzly Bear that is bloodied about its face and mouth areas. All the other law enforcement personnel, who are now beyond curious,  began to gather and approach to investigate. The CPD Officer whispers something in the bear's ear, and the bear shouts "I'm the frickin' rabbit, I'm the frickin' rabbit, and it was me!" Case closed.   (Of course this joke used to be funnier before we started getting all the complaints about torture, people wrongly arrested on death row, and officers beating up people while off duty and drunk)   On the Ernie Davis movie front, they filmed for three days in front of Al's house (my partner) about a month after you left Chicago. They came in with a ton of trucks and had all the Pullman residents park their personal cars at the House of Hope. They turned three blocks of the area into the vintage early 1950's. I thought it was kind of neat, they brought in a lot of old cars too, but according to Al, it was a "pain in the ass for the neighborhood". For three days all the residents of the area had to walk three to four blocks for their cars, and one day it was nasty out. I do not think Al or his family will be buying a ticket for the movie when it comes out.   Finally, I made a very painful "Do as I say - not as I do" mistake the other day at work. I have gotten a lot of ball busting over it from my team. To make the long story short, I tried to tackle two kids that ran from us at once, and I tell you what, I put a great hit on both of them. Unfortunately, I did not do as I preach to my football team, I did not wrap up. Instead, I went for the "ESPN Jacked Up Hit", and I did not go for - or make - the sure tackle. The two kids got up and ran away, but they were caught by other officers a block away.  I did not get up because I tore my MCL and my meniscus in the hit. The swelling has finally gone down and I will have surgery on it this Friday. As I said, the guys on the tact team are giving me a lot of crap, as I'm sure you could imagine. It does not help that I am "the football coach" on the team, and now I am the only guy on the team who can't tackle! They all said they are going to let their sons play for another team in my league, that has good coaches who stress the fundamentals and who know how to tackle. Great group of guys, I work with.   Take care Coach! Bill Murphy, Chicago Police Department, Chicago, Illinois   *********** Coach Wyatt; Hello from Washington DC................hope all is well with you and Connie.    Coach I attended a coaches clinic this past Saturday @ Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School.   The clinic was being held for many of the local youth coaches in the area.  The staff @ Good Counsel was tremendous and put on a great clinic.  The guest speaker for the day was Herman Boone...!!!! (Remember the Titans)   I didn't know that Coach Boone and the Head coach for Good Counsel Bob Malloy are close friends...!!  So Coach Boone, being 71 yrs young and recovering from surgery, jumped at the invitation to speak in front of  a group of youth coaches.......   He spoke for about 30 min and NEVER said a word about X' & O's but talked about philosophy, character, and disipline.  All I can say is WOW..!    Coach Boone is STILL a man with STONES....It was an honor to have my picture taken with him, but more of an honor to hear him speak.   Keep in mind that his wedding aniversity was THE SAME DAY and yet he OVER stayed his time just to shake hands and talk with the coaches...................I couldn't have pulled that off with Darlene at home waiting if it were my Anniversity....  Hahahahahah      My Best to you and your family;   Respectfully; Coach Dwayne Pierce, Washington, DC   *********** Speaking of anniversaries, my wife and I celebrated our 48th in a very unconventional way. We were in Beloit, Kansas putting on a football camp - on the field from 8 to 11, then lunch at head coach Greg Koenig's house with other coaches plus my wife and Greg's wife Rhonda, then videos, then a brief rest, then dinner and back on the field from 5:30 to 8:00. Followed, of course, by a "coaches' meeting."   My wife was on the field at all sessions, videotaping them so we'd have a record of what we covered.   How cool is that? Do I have a great wife? Next time your wife accuses you of loving football more than you love her, tell her that at least you love her more than soccer.   We celebrated our anniversary the day after.  After morning practice, we took off for Manhattan, Kansas, where Jay Kaiser, the Kansas State recruiting coordinator gave us a great tour of the K-State football facilities. We spent the night in the nice little town of Atchison, Kansas (as in Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe), where we had dinner in a great old restaurant overlooking the Missouri River.   The next day we drove the rest of the way to Clarinda, Iowa in the Southwest corner of the state. Our trip took us through St Joseph, Mo (Missouri gave my wife her 48th state and now she needs only North Dakota and Hawaii) and the little town of Maryville, home of Northwest Missouri State, an NCAA Division II power. Workers were just putting the finishing touches on a new Fieldturf surface in the Bearcats' impressive little on-campus stadium.   Clarinda, Iowa is a gem of a town - it is the home of Glenn Miller - how Middle-American can you get? - and the home of the Clarinda Treatment Complex, which includes Clarinda Academy.   Thursday, along with new head coach Brad Knigtht, I helped introduce the Double Wing to the kids at Clarinda Academy, which is essentially a correctional institution, for kids sent here as an alternative to more severe forms of "correction." About half of the kids are from Iowa, but there are many from such places as Baltimore, Washington DC and Flint, Michigan. It was hot as hell, and yet there were 120-some kids on the field, out of a student body of less than 200 boys.   The kids worked their asses off and never complained.  (There probably were 20 "coaches" on the field just to make sure that there were no problems.)   They really are great kids and fun to work with, and as I always do when I visit a place, I have fallen in love with them. It is always difficult for me to leave.   They are so appreciative of attention and so glad to see outsiders that at least 30 of them came over and shook my hand and thanked me for coming.  After just one session.   *********** I hope all is well with you and your family. I would like your thoughts on something. This year after our success last year, my staff will be coaching our Midget football team (13-15 year olds). I will be running the Wyatt DW as I did last year.  I find this year I have 33 kids on my team of which 12 have never played football. Of the remaining players 10-12 I coached last year and the remainder are hold over's from last years midget team. The thought earlier in the year was we would not need much in the way of combine evaluations given the fact we (my staff) would know most of the kids we coached the last two years, the positions they played and their capabilities. Consequently, my initial practice schedule reflected that and I only had a small time allotted for the combine evaluations, enabling us to get directly into the DW play book, blocking, etc… However, after I now have received my new updated roster I find I have 12 kids who have never played football and a few from last year who were 2nd stringers, and frankly not sure they were cast in the right positions. My thought process now has changed a bit, in that perhaps I need to expand our combine evaluations a little longer, perhaps a few more drills, even perhaps a short scrimmage just to evaluate natural ability and talent. Most of these new kids are coming from soccer and baseball programs. I do not want to miss cast and have been good at casting players in the right positions in the past however, I never had 12 kids who never played. I know from your past experiences overseas you had entire teams who probably never played. Do you have thoughts on this and if so would you change directions and add additional time for a few more evaluations and if so what would you add?  Then again I do not want to over think this either…. Thank you for your thoughts.   Coach, Overseas, I started with a whole team that had never played before, but once they had attained a certain level of proficiency, it was very difficult for a rank beginner to break in because the rest were so far ahead.  There were a few who did break in, but not many.   You clearly have to spend a little time evaluating, but at this point I think it is fair to say that you are now looking for diamonds.  You are looking for kids who clearly have the potential to fit in fairly quickly.   At age 13, if they haven't played before and they don't show potential, it is fair to assume that somebody else would have screened them out earlier if they'd just gone out for football earlier.  Some of those kids are high school age, and they wouldn't be given assured playing time at the high school.   In my backs I am looking for speed and hands.   The toughness will have to be discovered when we put the pads on, but without speed and hands they limit us.  I am willing to sacrifice some speed at the tight end position, but not hands.   Linemen might be those bigger backs who can't catch.  I would like to see agility and strength in linemen.   In all cases, I am looking for intelligence and coachability - the willingness to take coaching and the ability to learn.     Hope that helps.   *********** Hi coach. I am back at the high school helping with the varsity and jv offense.  Question...Is it possible to combine the double wing and veer, do you think the kids can grasp it, or is it foolish to attempt.  The new head coach likes our stuff (DW), and wants to incorporate it into his system.  I have been looking at this possibility, and it is difficult to mesh the lingo.  How should I aproach this?  My jv team knows the DW offense already for the most part.  I was thinking of using the DW series and keeping the lingo the same.  Any advice you can give would be appreciated.   To be perfectly frank, I couldn't minor in the Double Wing and major in something else. I couldn't  run a good Double-Wing, with all that I need to have in order to be fully armed, while running another offense.   I might be able to run a couple of plays, but if that is all I have, it isn't that difficult for a defense to stop two or three plays.  And that is assuming that I am allowed the time to run those plays as well as possible.   In short - I wouldn't get involved in such a venture.   *********** Notre Dame apparently has decided to lay claim to other areas than South Bend, Indiana. It was one thing to play Army and Navy at neutral sites such as New York and Baltimore, but playing Washington State in San Antonio? That's what the Irish will be doing next year. Presumably, it is the Cougars' "home" game - you don't think for a minute that ND alums would sit still for having a precious home game shipped to Texas, do you? - and so WSU will be selling their kids, their alumni and their students down the river for the kind of bucks that will help pay for lots of Title IX compliance - i.e., lots of women's crew and equestrian scholarships.   The Irish have also agreed to play games in Orlando in 2011 and 2014, but they haven't yet found the money-starved chumps willing to sell them the home game.   *********** Just wondering on a 9-man playbook.  I have your 1st Dynamics of the Double Wing playbook when I first started coaching 10 years ago.  Six years ago, I hung up my whistle to be a principal.  This year, I will have the pleasure of being the Junior High Football Coach for my school which has 9-man football.    I don't have a specific 9-man playbook, but I can tell you that if you just visualize yourself running my Double-Wing from spread formation,  then anything you could run from that formation would work in 9-man ball. The only adjustment you would need to make would be realization that the "tackles" are both eligible.   *********** Latest in the line of turkeys produced by ESPN is Major League Soccer (now, there's an oxymoron for you). I love ESPN's slogan: "You're already a fan - you just don't know it yet."   Yeah - and one of these days your inner female is going to tell you to put on high heels.   *********** Hugh - Being from Horseheads (right next to Elmira) I certainly know about Ernie Davis. We even lived in Elmira for a few years and my aunt teaches at the HS (the middle school is called Ernie Davis and there is a giant statue of him there). Also - as a senior I played in the Ernie Davis classic (senior game). John Dowd, Oakfield, New York   *********** Hi Coach. Regards to Connie. Sounded like your private clinic sessions are going real well.Great.We had a great time this summer. Now back to reality. Saw article by Coach Torre on American Football Monthly. Boy got me thinking on painful situation. First year running DW at Cave Spring High School. Going for go ahead score against big rival. D stacked up to stop wedge. I was in booth begging OC for xx 47 c. Would've walked in. We ran wedge lost by 1. At least this year in coaching rec again will give me practice instead of just sitting out. Hope you are well. The thing with Michael Vick.I have solution.Locked ring where he can't get out like the dogs.Thailand Muay Thai champion. Tell opponent if you lose we wet you down and electrocute you, Or hang you, Or bury you alive, Or slam you to death, Or shoot you.Now,"READY FIGHT."Then sit by and watch and scream/Yell and act like supermen. That is my fantasy. Hated him at Tech, Despise him in NFL.Blessings,Armando                 Then I have to live in this area and listen to,"Miami only recruits thugs." I think it has become the norm now. Only athletic ability required. That is the message we send. Northwestern High School,Miami(Year of the Bull fame).15-0 State Champs this year 1 in Nation ranked. Principal fired and arrested, AD fired. Entire coaching staff fired. 18 year old had sex with 14 year old floor of bathroom during school. Everyone tried to cover it up. Star running back during playoff season. Just happened. I bet you this guy has a full scholarship somewhere. Oh he learned. Armando Castro, Roanoke, Virginia (Actually, he is the recipient of a grant-in-aid from Southern Mississippi. If Southern Miss had turned him down, dozens of others would have been in line. HW)   *********** What a kick in the ass it had to be for NBA commissioner David Staern to learn that one of his refs was "allegedly" rigging the outcomes of games.   And all this time I thought the reason NBA players jogged up and down the court and did nothing on defense was because they were the ones being paid off! Now I have to deal with the reality that they are simply doing what comes naturally - and being paid rather well to do so - and their coaches are powerless to do anything about it.   Speaking of which... any NBA coach who was ever fined for criticizing this particular ref should get his money back, with interest.   *********** Jesus, have our schools been doing a great job of teaching our kids to be non-judgmental or what? I actually heard one brain-dead product of our American educational system excusing Michael Vick, saying, "it's his personal life."   *********** Passing through Utah, I noticed a section in the Ogden newspaper devoted to local kids about to go on their Church missions. Simply put, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints encourages every young person to devote a portion of his (and, sometimes, her) life to serving the Church as a missionary - in a place to be assigned by the Church.   I read about the kids, all of them good-looking and clean-cut, and noticed that two of them were being sent to Mexico and one to a Spanish-speaking section of Orlando, Florida.   Now, the wheels began to turn.   Consider the impact that young Mormon missionaries have had on the people of the Pacific, in teaching them about the LDS Church, but also about the most American of all sports, football. Tongans and Samoans have adopted the Church, but have also proved to be great football players, and many of them have found their way to the largest of the LDS schools, Brigham Young University.   Could it be that the Church has a secret plan to use these young missionaries to help solve some of our immigration problems?   C'mon, be honest - would we oppose Mexican immigration so strongly if they played football instead of soccer?   *********** One more reason why I won't be all that sorry to leave this world: in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 37 per cent of births in the US were illegitimate. Did you catch that? Thirty-seven per cent of kids were born to people who cared more about making them than about providing stable homes for them.   To show the extent to which we have slid gutterward, in 1960, the year my wife and I had our first child, the illegitimacy rate was 5.3 per cent.   *********** Oregon's seat-belt compliance rate is 95 per cent, and the envy of all the other states. Yet Oregon still receives millions from the US Government (the National Highway Safety Administration) to continue to keep the screws on its citizens. Officers are committed full-time to the task of nailing the scofflaws, and their tactics extend to peeking inside car windows to see if you're really buckled up, or just tucking the belt under your arm until the officer goes away. Click it or ticket, folks - and in Oregon, that means $97.   It is not as if crime is under control. It is not as if the highways are free of a**holes who tailgate and make unsignalled multiple-lane changes at higher speeds than the flow of traffic.   And bear in mind, these same cops who are ordered to look in your car windows to see if you're buckled up are the same cops who have been ordered never, never, never to ask a guy they arrest if he's in this country illegally.   Not even if wasn't wearing a seat belt.   *********** Sonny Lubick is going into his 16th season at Colorado State, and notes that during that time he's seen four different coaches at rival Wyoming, and four different coaches at Rival Colorado.   Yet he still gets asked by recruits and their parents if he'll be at CSU until the recruit graduates. He is 70, after all, and the question is reasonable, but there is no doubt that if it hadn't already occured to recruits, it did after they heard from other coaches.   He tells people he has a contract that runs through 2009 and intends to finish it. He notes that "Seventy is just a number. There's guys out there 60 years old who don't have the energy I do."   And then, he turns opposing recruiters' tactics against them:   In response to those who suggest he won't be around to see his recruits graduate, he asks those recruits and parents, "Is there a coach out there who can say he will be at his school the next four years?"   All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

Two Proud Double-Wing Staffs Get Together in Charlotte! (See"NEWS") A Heisman Winner Who Knows How to Make Use of His Trophy! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   July 20, 2007 -  "I   have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have  looked  like if Moses had run them through the US Congress." Ronald Reagan   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award   A couple of weeks ago, following the Chicago clinic, I took part in a "Ride-along" with a team of plainclothes Chicago policemen. Click on the "Chicago Police" seal to read more about it and see some exclusive photos, shown only on "New You Can Use"     *********** I will soon be launching a free e-mail newsletter, aimed specifically at those of you who love and respect the game the way it's seldom seen on TV these days, and still believe that it's possible to play football other than the way the NFL plays it. To get on the mailing list, e-mail me your name, location and e-mail address at: oldschoolfootball@mac.com (we will never give your information to anyone else) EDITION 1: Attacking a Gap Defense... A review of "Leahy's Lads"...     The South Mecklenburg Sabres enter their second year as a Double-Wing team and their second under head coach James Martin. Coach Martin, who learned my Double-Wing system as an assistant to Clover, South Carolina head coach Jet Turner, was hired last summer less than a month before the start of practice, and still managed to assemble a staff and put together a team that played competitive football, nearly upsetting the defending state champion before coming up short, 15-8. With a season of the Double-Wing under their belts, the Sabres could be playoff contenders if they continue to improve. Coaches from two staffs - South Mecklenburg High of Charlotte, and nearby Clover, South Carolina High, joined to make our recent Double-Wing camp a great success. From left to right: Jonathan Willis, South Meck line coach; Coach Wyatt; Josh Moore, Clover line coach; Jet Turner, Clover head coach; James Martin, South Meck head coach Yours truly with Coach James Martin and South Meck secondary coach Terry Young Coach Martin talk with the players briefly after a 7-on-7 session at Clover The Charlotte Observer's sports cartoonist didn't realize how close he came to the truth when he suggested that a Clover playoff opponent was searching the Internet for ways to stop Jet Turner's Double-Wing AT THE DUKE FOOTBALL FACILITY If you know your football, you will remember Tommy Prothro as a great Single-Wing coach who took Oregon State to the Rose Bowl in 1957 and 1965 - the Beavers haven't been back since. He also coached Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker. He won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as a blocking back under Wallace Wade, and ironically, he started in the 1942 Rose Bowl - against Oregon State. The bronze bust of Wallace Wade stands outside the entrance to the stadium that bears his name. Coach Wade took Alabama to three Rose Bowls before leaving to come to Duke (imagine that move happening today!), where in 15 years he won 110 games, while losing 36 and tieing 7. Between Alabama and Duke, he coached five Rose Bowl teams, and as a player at Brown University, he played in the 1916 Rose Bowl. This blue helmet with the white cross stripes is a relic of the days when the men wearing these helmets were feared on the gridiron. If you can't read the autograph - this is the helmet of Sonny Jurgensen, star Duke - and NFL - quarterback A brick in the plaza honors my dear friend and one-time boss in the World Football League, the late Bob Brodhead, a former Duke QB I'm not saying that the Duke-UNC rivalry has an edge to it, but someone was willing to pay for a brick immortalizing the popular Duke chant You think you've felt bad after a loss? Sometime when you've just lost a big one - yes, we all do - and you're feeling sorry for yourself, you might want to consider the great Duke team of 1938. As you can see, the 1938 Blue Devils were undefeated, untied, and unscored-on. ("V.P.I" is Virginia Polytechnic Institute, better known now as Virginia Tech).   In recognition of their fantastic season, the Blue Devils were selected from among all the teams in the nation to oppose USC in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1939. At that time, the Rose Bowl was the game - by far the biggest of all football games. The Devils led 3-0 in the fourth quarter, when Doyle Nave, a seldom-used USC tailback known chiefly for his passing ability, entered the game and led a 61-yard drive that resulted in a Trojan score with just 40 seconds remaining! (Note that you can't see the final score, 7-3, on the football.) So next time you're really feeling the pain of a loss, consider the 1938 Duke Blue Devils, who came within 40 seconds of the greatest possible team accomplishment in the sport of football.     *********** It's hard to say how badly this Michael Vick dogfighting deal is going to hurt the NFL.   I'm guessing a bunch. It's off the sports pages now, and onto the front pages.   Expect to see people who never even knew there was a National Football League to raise hell, and rightfully so, especially after the unbelievable cruelty to animals described in the federal indictment. (By the way, since Clinton Portis told us that dog fighting is a "cultural" thing, are the multiculturists out there still going to keep trying to tell us that all cultures are equal - that none is better than any other? You mean to tell me that after centuries of a Judaeo-Christian tradition, after all our aspirations to being ethical and moral, we're no better than dogfighters?)   Brace yourself. If "animal lovers" will throw paint on women wearing fur coats, how will they react when Mr. Vick comes to their town? My hopes are up.   (Actually, if it comes to the point where they take on the likes of Vick and his homies and a great brawl ensues, there could be casualties on both sides, a prospect greatly to be relished.)   Technically, of course, Michael Vick is due the usual "presumption of innocence," blah, blah, blah. But can there any longer be any doubt that, guilty or not guilty on the dog-fighting charges, he is a creep and a lowlife? Has it occured to anybody that ne'er-do-well younger brother Marcus could actually turn out to be the Boy Scout of the Vick family?   One question came immediately to my mind when I heard the "Newz" (Vick called his operation Bad Newz Kennels) - where, in all this, were the vaunted NFL internal investigators, the former FBI agents and police detectives now in the league's employ, the guys who for years have supposedly kept tabs on players who might have dealings with unsavory characters?   Is there anyone more unsavory than a guy who will raise dogs to fight, and then kill them when they lose? (Killing them, according to the federal indictment, by hanging, shooting, electrocution, or, on at least one occasion, slamming the dog on the ground.)   Anyone remember Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, suspended for a year by former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle? All they were doing was consorting with bookies and betting on horses. (That's horses racing - not fighting.)   Are you telling me that if Vick's "alleged" involvement in dog-fighting has been going on for four or five years, those crack investigators - the former FBI agents - didn't know anything?   *********** Did you see that Al Sharpton and Russell Simmons (hip hop mogul) have teamed up with PETA to send a letter to the NFL and the Falcons to "stand up and say this is wrong"  Ed Wyatt, Melbourne, Australia   That would be consistent with Sharpton's trying to distance himself from the whole hip-hop thing. I see Simmons being smart enough to understand that the whole hip hop "culture" could take a giant hit here.   What Sharpton realizes, I think, is that many ordinary, go-about-their-business blacks don't seem to understand that the gangstaz and rappaz and now dog fightaz are now pretty much defining the image of all black Americans to impressionable young whites and to the vast majority of whites who have little day-to-day contact with real black people.   *********** Michael Vick, have I got the girl for you...   A woman in Estacada, Oregon was ordered by a county hearings officer to pay outstanding dog-violation fines, post a warning sign on her home, and have her dog muzzled whenever it is off her property. And have the dog neutered.   The dog, a 70-pound, four-year-old male German Shepherd named Moneko, has bitten at least four people in the past two years.   Apparently, based on the "outstanding fines" bit, she has ignored similar rulings in the past, but she was told that this time if she fails to comply, she will be prohibited from owning a dog anywhere in the county for five years.   She did not sound particularly contrite.   As she left the hearings room, she shouted at county officials, " I'm going to buy a new dog - and make sure it eats little children."   Michael - I can get you her phone number.   *********** Stats on West Point's incoming freshman class (US Military Academy Class of 2011)   10,831 Applicants... 3,738 Nominated... 1,916 Qualified... 1,305 Admitted   Ave SAT Score... 1277   Valedictorians... 80   Class Presidents... 149   Team Captains... 701   Varsity Letters Won... 1,133   Pct Women... 19%   Pct Hispanics... 9%   Pct African Americans... 6%   International Cadets... 10   Combat Veterans... 19   *********** Talk about class... Johnny Lattner of Notre Dame was one of the greatest players I have ever seen in person. He came into a jam-packed Franklin Field in Philadelphia in 1953 and more than lived up to his All-American reputation, returning a kickoff for a touchdown as the Irish defeated Penn, 28-20. The Philadelphia Irishmen all around me were going nuts. (That was my introduction to the fabled Subway Alumni.)   For his exploits that year, he won the Heisman Trophy.   Now, he lends out his Heisman to assorted organizations in and around his native Chicago, and the organizations use it as a fund-raiser - they raffle off the right to take the Heisman home for a week or so.   "Why not?" Lattner asked the Sporting News' Tom Dienhart.   "If I didn't do that, it would just be propping open the door on my office."   ************ :Leave it to Howie Carr, great Boston columnist and radio commentator, to note that Senator Ted Kennedy's all-nighter in the Senate on July 17-18 was 38 years to the day (or night) that he pulled another all-nighter - the night he drove a car off a bridge and into a pond and left a young woman - a senate intern (where have we heard that word before?) with whom he had been partying (Kennedy was married) - in the car to drown.   Kennedy himself swam away, and only called for help the next morning. (Oh yeah - I almost forgot. There was somebody in the car.)   Not to say that he was drunk, because no one who ever knew anything about the temperate habits of the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts would even dream of making such an accusation, but there certainly is the suspicion that it was a CYA move to save his Senate seat, even if it meant costing a young woman, Mary Jo Kopechne, her life.   Wrote Howie Carr, "Mary Jo died 38 years ago tonight. And yet we the people of Massachusetts re-elected him, in 1970, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000 and 2006. And isn't that the real lesson of Chappaquiddick? In a democracy, you get the government you deserve, dammit."   *********** Brace yourself for the next in the long line of sports fairy tales "inspired by a true story."   This one, entitled "The Express," purports to tell the story of the late Ernie Davis, star Syracuse running back and first black athlete to win the Heisman Trophy (1961).   Davis played his high school ball at Elmira (NY) Free Academy, and his great speed and considerable size - at 6-2, 210, he'd still be a big running back even today - earned him the nickname "The Elmira Express."   You can read more about him on my December 8, 2000 News page   No doubt they will play up the racial discrimination angle, and almost certainly they will pay homage to Jim Brown, who preceded Davis at Syracuse, and later accused Coach Ben Schwartzwalder of racism (conveniently overlooking the fact that Schwartzwalder was one of the first coaches in the East to recruit black athletes). Said former teammate John Brown, another black man, "Ben did the most he could under the circumstances of the times."   But the racial angle sells, and you can't have a racial angle without at least one snarling white racist, so expect it, and don't be surprised if it's Ole Coach Schwartzwalder.   Besides, as Dennis Quaid, who plays Schwartzwalder, told USA Today, "When you do any sports movie, it has to be about something more than football."   Uh-oh.   I have to admit, though, that I was a bit taken aback when I learned that an actor named Ron Brown will be playing Ernie Davis. Brown, we are told, was a wide receiver at Amherst College (D-III) and he looks it. Another pencil neck actor, playing a guy who was a total stud.   And I was really taken aback when in at least one promo shot I saw, actor Brown, playing Davis, is wearing a doo-rag.   Uh, I don't think so. Not a chance.   First of all the doo-rag had not yet been introduced to the world of sports fashion. (I admit I haven't done all the research I probably should have on the fascinating topic of the history of the doo-rag.)   But second of all, that was not Ernie Davis' style. He was not a doo-rag guy, not a ghetto kid. Elmira was - still is - a pleasant-enough upstate New York town much closer to Mayberry than Bedford-Stuyvesant. And at a time when the average Joe College aspired to "look Ivy" - slacks, white bucks, shirt with button-down collar, tie, sport coat - in any photo I ever saw of him, Ernie Davis was better-dressed than the whitest kid at Yale or Harvard.   Ernie Davis was a young man of great character and dignity. In my mind, he was Calvin Hill, ten years before Calvin Hill came on the scene. (My apologies to those who don't know anything about Calvin Hill, or only know him as Grant Hill's father.)   "Ernie was not only a gentleman," John Brown remembers, "but he was a gentle man. I hope they portray him as an articulate gentleman who could run like hell with a football."   We can only hope.   Oh- and as for the racial angle - I read a few comments to the effect that Ernie Davis might even be considered the "Jackie Robinson of College Football." Don't you believe it. He may have been the first black Heisman Trophy winner, but black players had had an impact on the college game for years - and in the 1961 Heisman Trophy voting, black players finished one (Ernie Davis), two (Bob Ferguson, Ohio State), and four (Sandy Stephens, Minnesota). (Number three was Jimmy Saxton, of Texas.)   *********** Coach, Did you see the piece on 7-on-7 in USA Today?   We have it around here, but it  still seems to be more of a developmental thing to prepare kids for the high school season than the sort of high-stakes recruiting showcase it looks like it's become in other places.   Maybe I spoke to soon when I said football was the only sport where off-season non-high school competition mattered less than the high school season.   Steve Tobey, Malden, Massachusetts (In my opinion, 7-on-7 competition threatens to take kids' summers away from them. I see people running formations and patterns that they'd never employ in the regular season, and I told a coach the other day that although there certainly are some good things that come out of it, for a running team it is about as useful a preparation for the actual sport of football as slow-pitch softball. On somewhat the same subject, I continue to be shocked at the colleges who get kids to commit before their senior seasons, as if the senior year makes no difference. Yet anybody who's ever coached high school football knows that the year between junior and senior seasons is usually when the most growth takes place for most kids. It is my impression that college coaches are paying way too much attention to the opinions of others - recruiting services and Nike combines and such - instead of doing their own jobs. You can't tell me that they don't have way, way too many scholarships when they can afford to hand them out to kids who still have a season to play. One danger of this idiocy, it seems to me, is that after kids commit early, certain unscrupulous colleges may suggest that they nurse "injuries" and minimize their exposure to injury. From the college's and the kid's point of view, there is less likelihood of injury. And an added benefit to the colleges is that if a kid doesn't play much his senior year, there is less likelihood of another college poaching. Don't laugh. As selfish as some kids and their parents are today, and as unethical as some college coaches are, this is not that far-fetched. HW)   *********** My friend Tom Hinger, like most combat veterans, is not given to telling war stories, but somehow I pried this one out of him:   Thje platoon was expecting an attack, and everybody was busy digging holes. Everybody, that is, except for the new platoon leader. While everyone else dug, the young lieutenant just stood around looking as if he was posing for a recruiting poster.   And then the mortars started coming in.   And as everybody dove to the ground, the young officer, suddenly panicked, shouted to the platoon sergeant.   "Sergeant, sergeant - where's my hole?"   The sergeant replied, "You're standing in it, motherf--! Start throwing the dirt out!"   *********** Regarding Big Beer, I have never really correlated it's relationship to Big Football until now. Big Beer, not unlike Big Football, is not interested in new formulas, production, or quality of its product, but how cheap they can price their product and bring it to the masses. There is only one major brewer that I think brings a good quality of beer, and that is Yuengling. Unfortunately, I can't buy Yuengling in Texas. However like Big Football, there is an alternative: Small Beer. Yes the Micro and Small breweries like Dogfishead, Shiner (Bock being their worst beer), Rahr (ft worth), Portsmouth Brewery (New Hampshire) and many many others. When you think about it, small beer is allot like high school football (at least in Texas): "There are several choices, and you never know what you're going to get. Until you try it." On the flip side Big Beer tends to be cheaper than small beer, but Big Football tends to cost more to attend than small football. You used to be able to say this about the college level, but not anymore.    *********** Saw the blurb on your website about reading the Invincible book.   Interestingly, I just read it too, and was tempted to contact him to make one correction. The year he had the big games against Hagerstown was 1973, the one year my father coached there (and their final season in existence).   He scored on long bombs in both games and they won both times. In the second game, he scored three touchdowns. I checked it out the other night in one of our old scrapbooks. Willie Buie was playing out of position (corner vs. safety) and Jerry Ricucci was aging and slow, so it was no contest. Wayne Randolph returned two punts for touchdowns in the second game, which was a real shootout that wound up 34-27.   Papale and Joe Klecko were not the only players in those games who saw time in the NFL. I'm sure you know about Duane Carrell making it to the big time the following year, and wound up playing 9 seasons. Harry Theofiledes, who played several seasons with the Redskins and Jets, was the Bears quarterback in the second game. The Bears also had a guard named Conway Hayman who was a starter on the Bum Phillips/Earl Campbell Houston Oiler playoff teams.   That Bear team had a lot of talent, but there were too many distractions (i.e. players not getting paid after the third game, turmoil in the ownership, etc.). Ruining Chambersburg's chance at an undefeated season in the Bears' final game ever was pretty sweet.   By the way, my mother ran into Gene Snowden the other day and said he looked better than expected (we had heard he had cancer). Not surprisingly, she heard him first...I'm sure you recall his distinctive voice. She said his hair is completely white. Guess that's to be expected since it's been almost 40 years since that photo you sent was shot.   Don Shipley, Washington, DC (Don confirms my correction of Vince Papale's details, but as a said, who am I to correct a guy when he says such nice things about me? Don's dad, Dick Shipley, was my coach when I played semi-pro ball in Frederick, Maryland, and five years later succeeded me as coach of the Hagerstown Bears. I had left when I started butting heads with the new owners. As Don notes in his letter, the Bears folded after that year. It was very sad to see the strong, financially-viable organization thatw e had built get pissed away by clueless owners who lied to players and then stiffed them on payday. HW) *********** Internet wisdom...   How Long Do We Have?   At about the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:   "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."   "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."   "From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."   "The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years."   "During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:   1. from bondage to spiritual faith;   2. from spiritual faith to great courage;   3. from courage to liberty;   4. from liberty to abundance;   5. from abundance to complacency;   6. from complacency to apathy;   7. from apathy to dependence;   8. from dependence back into bondage"   Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:   Number of States won by: Gore: 19; Bush: 29   Square miles of land won by: Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000   Population of counties won by: Gore: 127 million; Bush: 143 million   Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Gore: 13.2; Bush: 2.1   Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."   Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.   If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.   (Actually, the percentage of the population considered tax receivers is fast approaching 50 per cent, at which point, if the Democrats can get them all registered and then get the lazy f--kers to vote (just in case you haven't noticed that those are always Democrat points of emphasis), the floodgates will open. The suggested amnesty would only have accelerated the process. HW)       All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

Unthinkable! Philadelphians Ashamed to Admit That They're Iggles' Fans! (See"NEWS") See - I Was Right! Vince Papale Writes a Book, and Sets the Record Straight! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   July 17, 2007 -  "I   have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have  looked  like if Moses had run them through the US Congress." Ronald Reagan   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award   A couple of weeks ago, following the Chicago clinic, I took part in a "Ride-along" with a team of plainclothes Chicago policemen. Click on the "Chicago Police" seal to read more about it and see some exclusive photos, shown only on "New You Can Use"     *********** I will soon be launching a free e-mail newsletter, aimed specifically at those of you who love and respect the game the way it's seldom seen on TV these days, and still believe that it's possible to play football other than the way the NFL plays it. To get on the mailing list, e-mail me your name, location and e-mail address at: oldschoolfootball@mac.com (we will never give your information to anyone else) EDITION 1: Attacking a Gap Defense... A review of "Leahy's Lads"...   *********** As I write this, it is late Monday afternoon, and I am in the Philadelphia airport, waiting for the first leg of a flight that, assuming there is no thunderstorm activity to disrupt my connections, will get me back to Portland, Oregon at 11 PM Pacific Time. I've been on the road since Friday the 6th, flying into Philly (where my wife still has family), then driving to a reunion of three of our kids and our ten grandkids on the North Carolina coast, then driving to Charlotte for thrtee days to work at a camp, then back to the coast, then to Durham, NC for a brief stay, then back to Philly.   It's been a fantastic time, and I'll have photos and observations on Friday.   *********** Now that the Phillies have posted franchise loss number 10,000, and were kind enough to do it in front of the home fans on the night before heading out of town for a long road trip, the talk on Philly sports-talk radio has turned to the Iggles.   The topic Monday was the growing perception that Iggles season ticket holders - at least the younger ones - have become such a bunch of drunken, rowdy, F-bombing louts that any normal person attends a game at his or her own risk, and that there is a large and growing number of Philadelphia sports fans who do not wish any associaton with them - who are saying that they might actually go so far as to root for some other team before being seen as Eagles fans themselves.   Some callers said that they fear that a successful season for the Iggles will simply feed the creeps who have made going to an Eagles game a very unpleasant experience for the average Joe.   Some of their antics sounded sort of funny to me - some of the complainers were Phillies fans, upset that at Phillies games, drunken Eagles' fans in attendance (they are, after all, Philadelphia sports fans) will frequently break into an "E-A-G-L-E-S" chant .   *********** Coach Wyatt - Are you running the news letter  old school Football ?  If so I'm signing up,   Coach - Last month I just made my first visit in your native State, PENNSYLVANIA !!!!!   vacationed in Pittsburg for a week, took in Two Pirates games at PNC Park, AWESOME PARK !!! Awesome Time, The Park on a scale of 1-10  was a 9.5 WOW !!! did the city of Pittsburgh hit a home run with that thing, Classic Style !! all the modern amenities !!!  the views of downtown Pitt were awesome !!!!,    I only got charged  104 bucks for  4 Upper Box seats ( 2  Tix on Sun Games and 2 Tix on Monday games )  I almost Fainted, I told the guy at  Fenway, Im either getting screwed by the Sox or a Scalper,  the people of  Pitt were all  polite down to earth people ,  The section the south side looked a little scary !!!  can't waite to make it back, and what I loved most, Is there wasn't to many "pink hats Phonies" at PNC Park, the crowds that was there were all true Pirates for the good,bad & Ugly, also the yuppie Scum bags have Not  Killed and strangled the Bar & restaurant business, you could still smoke in  most bars ? but some bars I could n't smoke a cigar , I didn't get that one   Coach - I'm a Big West Va. fan, and Big Fan of Rich Rodriguez and Don Nehlen, like my buddy Doyle always said about them, want they have to recruit against and are up against , It's amazing they have put a competitive  program on the field for the last 25 years, But what the hell is Up with these former Rodriguez players being knuckle heads ?  Pac-man Jones ? Chris Henry and Now Quincy Wilson  all West Va Players , All Rodriguez guys  !!!   See ya soon coach - John Muckian   Lynn ,Massachusetts (Not all former Mountaineers bring credit to the WVU program. It is a sad fact of life when a school plays high-level, big time football. HW)   *********** Coach Wyatt,   I finally found that photo of our Black Lion winner from last year, Jovan Crockett. I really wanted you to see this photo, because this is exactly how Jovan is all the time.  A huge smile embracing life. He is one of the hardest working, selfless players I have ever coached.   Just to show that good things do happen to good people; after our All Star game last season, Jovan was pulled aside by the coach of one of the private Christian schools here in Stockton and offered a scholarship to attend the school and play football.   We are all very proud of Jovan and know he will suceed...a true Black Lion award recipient!   Richard Scott   Head Coach Lathrop Titans,   Lathrop, California   Here's what Coach Scott wrote about Jovan in his letter of nomination: Our nomination for the Black Lion Award for 2006 is Jovan Crockett. Jovan exemplifies selflessness and hard work. Jovan's determination to become a Titan player actually started at the beginning of the 2005 season. It was at this point when a tall, overweight youngster with a noticeable limp walked onto the practice filed. After completing a grueling summer workout Jovan was told he could not play because he was one pound over the weight limit at the official league weigh in. This is where his true character shone. Jovan accepted our offer to remain with the team as the equipments manager. Jovan stayed with the team throughout the entire season carting bags, equipment and water jugs. He took orders from coaches and, at times, ridicule from the players. When the 2006 season arrived, Jovan was the first to sign up for the team. Although he had grown in height to almost 6 feet at 12 years old, he maintained the requisite weight to play (180). Jovan worked harder than any player, even in the simplest of calisthenics. He became a stalwart of our defensive line and always drew double and triple teams. Jovan never complained, no matter how hard a practice was. Jovan's smile was infectious and his work ethic unparalleled. He is a quiet, deeply spiritual young man of few words, but when he did speak up all the players listened and respected him. It was a unanimous decision by all of our coaches and it is my sincere pleasure and honor to nominate Jovan Crockett for the Black Lion Award. *********** World Cup of American Football? We got more press coverage for our whiffleball tournament last year   Tim Brown, Jackson, Tennessee   *********** (Regarding the NFL's school of broadcasting for players and former players... Let's hope that they don't set up the "Former NFL Player's High School Football Coaching School" for them.   Ben Rushing - Baghdada   *********** Demonstrating that the only thing that exceeds the NFL's arrogance is its greed, Big Football announced that it is exploring a plan that would require every team to play one game every season outside the US. The League indicated that the plan could take effect within five years.   Phootball didn't have the stones to stay with NFL Europa, but it still harbors the delusion that there are teeming hosts of sports fans in nations around the world just itching to pay the NFL's extortionary ticket prices.   No NFL season ticket holders would get screwed out of a home game. They would still have the privilege of paying regular-season prices for meaningless exhibition games. A seventeenth game would be added to the schedule, so that teams would play eight home and eigth away games, and a seventeenth game somewhere out of the country.   Big Football even announced that the plan would include the possibility of having teams based in foreign cities such as London, Mexico City and Toronto.   But here's the best - An NFL spokesman said that if the league is really serious about being truly global, it must face the inevitability of someday playing even the Super Bowl outside the US,   "You have to take the crown jewels and share them around,'' he said. "I'm sure that will be hotly debated and a number of owners have already pointed out they'd like to see it in their own city before it went somewhere else. But at the end of the day, if you want a global audience, you can't keep everything.''   Right. After watching the way US cities - and the owners of their NFL franchises - fight over the right to stage Super Bowls, the owners are going to vote to hold the game in Mexico City. And I'm the Queen of Romania.   Perhaps the contemplation of increased international play is the underlying reason why Commissioner Goodell is making so much noise about clamping down on thugs and creeps, because after all, even if some foreign countries will welcome them, there is no guarantee that the United States would let them back in.   *********** As an Army fan, I was rather excited to think that Oklahoma's having to forfeit all its wins in 2005 would mean that Army (2003) would no longer be the only Division I-A (yes, I still use that term) team to go 0-13. No such luck. Apparently OU will give up the wins, but will not count the losses. I think.   *********** Commenting on all the hype about what David Beckham will do to popularize soccer in America, Jimmy Kimmel said to Wayne Gretzky, who came to LA 15 years ago in hopes of turning Californians on to hockey: "Maybe he can do for soccer what you did for hockey, and in 15 years nobody will be watching soccer, either."   *********** Coach:  I wish I would have known about this award earlier.  I am the 8th grade coach at Southmont Jr. High School in Montgomery County Indiana.  I want to share a couple of brief stories of character kids.  1st kid was starting QB (Lucas) .  He broke his arm just before 1st week of practice.  He came to every practice and continued to learn.  He was able to break into the starting lineup a few weeks later (after dr. release) at the Corner position on defense.  He wanted desperately to play again on offense and continued to work hard in order to do so.  It was our 5th game of the season, we were getting ready to play a conference rival at a much bigger school with bigger lineman and we were having trouble at the center position.  I approached him about the idea of playing center and he agreed.  This was no easy decision, this team really was BIG!  Remember, this kid was the starting QB before getting injured.  He took the challenge did an excellent job and David defeated Goliath!  A week later we placed him back into the stating QB spot because we just couldn't keep our team leader out of there any longer.  What a great example of putting team need before self-want.  2nd kid was in our youth league (Austin).  He was the most talented tailback that our 6th grade program had seen in a long time.  He not only was a great athlete but also a straight A student and a kid others looked up to and liked to be around.  After the 1st game he started developing large wounds and bruising all over his body.  He was taken to the doctor and was diagnosed with ITP a blood disorder that sometimes does and sometimes does not go away.  The kid was informed that he could not play football until his blood platelet count was back to normal and that this could be a permanent condition.  This did not deter him.  He continued to go to practice and to hold the chains and sell raffle tickets during games.  He started practicing kicking x-tra points and was allowed to do that toward the end of the season with No rush.  The team morale was down heading into the playoffs but what they did not know was that their tailbacks blood platelet count had come back up to acceptable levels during the past 8 weeks and that he would be cleared to play for the playoffs.  Surprise, surprise, the team was so pumped that they were not challenged in the playoffs.  In the championship game Austin scored the first 3 times he touched the ball and was removed from the game early.  Never quit, never give up!  I don't know why I shared those storied.  I just thought you might want to hear more stories about kids with great character.  Coach Greg Burton, Southmont Jr. HS, Crawfordsville, Indiana   *********** Just a quick hello. Recently got an email from one of our best and brightest former football players, Steve Hehir who was our Black Lion honoree a few years ago (see NEWS July 26, 2005).   Steve had several scholarship opportunities to play college football but chose to enlist in the US Army. He has gone on to become a member of the 121st Airborne and is now stationed in Afghanistan. Thought I'd pass on a few pictures of the former 255 pound O-Lineman who is now about 215 pounds. He drives the Hummer and shoots the big gun.   I'm sure many of your readers have a "Steve" to write about, a great kid who has turned into a great young man! We are all very proud of him and I just wanted to let you know how much the Black Lion Award means to all of us at Coral Springs Christian Academy. The Black Lion is a more coveted award, in a good way, than our MVP and other awards that we present each year. Keep up the good work!   Jake von Scherrer   Coral Springs Christian Academy   Coral Springs, Florida   *********** Hugh, My pals and I had a six pack of the new Rolling Rock recently. I must say it is definitely a weak impersonation of the real thing.   The NFL and Big Beer deserve each other. They both don't seem to care that their product stinks and so pump more and more $$ into spokespeople and advertising to convince people to consume their swill. Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California (Rolling Rock, now produced by Anheuser-Busch, is no longer brewed in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, but is now brewed in New Jersey, at Big Beer's Newark brewery. Nobody will ever mistake the waters of Newark Bay for the mountain springs of Pennsylvania's Allegheny Highlands. But drink up. Just like the NFL, Big Beer knows what's good for you. HW)   *********** Hey Coach, I have been thinking about something you touched on in your blog after the Virginia Tech massacre, because we had had some crazies shooting people up here in Salt Lake. A 20 year old Bosnian refugee entered a local mall here recently and began shooting.  He had enough ammo in his backpack to kill hundreds, but fortunately there was an off duty policeman in the mall who was armed and distracted the young man with a firefight until the SWAT team could get there.  The officer put his life in jeopardy not being in uniform, he could have been shot by the police as a crazy.  Six people were killed including the perp, but the point is the off duty cop stepped up and saved who knows how many lives.  Just last week a state prison inmate was getting medical treatment under the guard of one officer, in a local hospital.  The prisoner somehow got the upper hand on the 60 year old guard, shot him twice and escaped.  The escapee ended up at a fast food restaurant where he took hostages, shot twice at a cashier but his gun misfired.  As he tried to leave the restaurant a 59 year old ex marine who was half the size of the escapee and 30 years older, tackled him, dislodged his weapon, and with the help of two other men held him down until police arrived.    I really don't know how I would have acted if I was a student involved in the Virginia Tech ordeal, but it seems to me that if a bunch of students could have rushed the shooter from different sides, I think they could have overpowered him and perhaps saved countless lives.  Maybe what we need in this country is mandatory training on how to handle these tragic situations.  Incidentally, as you have pointed out, the only one at VTech who put up resistance was the old professor.  These outragious acts will continue to happen and our people, especially it seems our young people, need to know how to handle them.  I think it needs to be added to the curiculum in our schools.  What do you think?   On a personal note this soon to be 61 year old double wing coach is participating in masters sprint events and holding my own.  The resistance training for the protocol I'm following is the deadlift.  My online coach, Barry Ross, maintains a "Hall of Fame" for participants who can deadlift 2X body weight or more.  Weighing in at 147 I pulled 310 pounds and so entered his HOF.  If you care to you can follow the link below, click on "Alan Andrus  Attacks HOF 2X Barrier" in his homepage blog, and coach Ross has some nice things to say about me.  Then if you'l click on the "Hall of Fame" tab on the top and scroll down the 2X lift of names and click on Alan Andrus, you will see a picture of yours truly with the 310 pounds fully pulled.  If I look a little stressed I was.  My wife was having trouble with the camera, and I had to hold it longer than I wanted to!  I'm just kind of proud of my effort since everyone else in the HOF is at least 40 years younger than me.   Hope things are going well for you and family.  Hopefully I can make another clinic, maybe next year in Washington.   Regards, Alan Andrus, Salt Lake City, Utah   *********** I was browsing through the football books at Powell's book store in Portland a couple of weeks ago when I looked up at one of the higher shelves and I saw it: "INVINCIBLE". By Vince Papale. What is this? I thought. First they make the movie, and then they write the book? As phony as the movie was, imagine a book based on it.   But for some reason I reached up and pulled down a copy and started to leaf through it and I'll be damned - I started reading stuff about the World Football League. And about the Seaboard Football League. Hey- how'd that get in there?   Remember the stupid movie? It made it appear that Vince Papale had simply walked into an Eagles' tryout camp without benefit of any organized football experience, never mentioning that fact that semi-pro football and the World Football League had played an essential role in his making it to the NFL.   See, it made a better story to make it appear as if Vince, a "down-on-his-luck bartender," had never played any organized football before, yet so impressed the Eagles that they offered him a contract. Just like that.   Hey, I can hear the Hollywood types saying. "We never said it was a true story. All we said was it was inspired by a true story!"   But now, reading the book, it was almost as if Vince had read my critique.   In fact as I read deeper, he was even kind enough to mention the role of - ahem - a certain Hugh Wyatt.   He wrote how, after years of his playing "rough touch," a drunk in a bar had challenged him to prove his manhood by playing semi-pro football.   And then he told of trying out for a team called the Aston Knights, and of how quickly and well he meshed with the team's quarterback, a guy named John Waller.   And then - well, here's an excerpt from the book. (Although I would love to sit by your bedside and read it to you, you may prefer to have your wife do it.)   "We played well that year, advancing to the title game. But it was the game against Hagerstown that would spin my life in a different direction. Hugh Wyatt, a Yale grad who had quit the corporate rat race to become a football coach, coached Hagerstown. They were one of the Seaboard League's perennial powers, but that day Waller and I were unstoppable. He hit me ten times, including three touchdowns. All three were deep passes - two posts and a fly - where I just ran by the defensive backs as though they were stuck in cement.   "A few months after that game. with the season over, I got a call from Phil Pompilli (head coach of the Aston Knights). It was May, 1974, and I was still teaching and coaching at Interboro, taking classes toward my master's, bartending on weekends to make extra cash, and dating a former Miss Delaware. At this point in my life I felt like I was on a pretty straight path: I'd finish my graduate degree, teach junior high school, play semi-pro football, go to Eagles games, and maybe someday get married again. I didn't have any aspirations that were greater than that. Other than playing for the Eagles, which was a pipe dream I didn't really take too seriously. I had sent them a letter after that first semi-pro season, but I never heard anything from them. And, in reality, I didn't need anything more than what I had. This was the life for me. I was having fun and just very comfortable with it all.   "I assumed Phil was calling to talk about next season. Instead, he was calling with an invitation. A new professional league was being formed and would begin play that July, in just twelve weeks. Philadelphia had been awarded a franchise. It was called the World Football League (WFL), the team was the Bell, and Philly's director of player personnel was Hugh Wyatt, whose Hagerstown Bears I had made to look like statues. He asked Phil to find me and make sure I attended the tryout that weekend in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a posh suburb outside Philly that I had never heard of."   Okay, okay - we could quibble about a few points. MY defensive backs were not that bad. Nobody ever burned us like that. Must have been somebody else.   And truthfully, I don't believe I ever coached against Vince. But I sure do remember scouting him.   But so what? Everything else is right on. Compared with the way the movie diddled with the real story, Vince's story is Gospel.. Who am I to complain? Publicity is publicity..   So, you out there - BUY THE BOOK!   Oh. And the residents - and realtors - of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a nice enough community, will certainly be pleased at hearing their community referred to as "posh."     All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

Relax, Sooner Fans - It's a Mere Flesh Wound - Just a Slap on the Wrist! (See"NEWS") Title IX Drives the Great Increase in Girls' Soccer Players - In Canada! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   July 13, 2007 -  "I   have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have  looked  like if Moses had run them through the US Congress." Ronald Reagan   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award   A couple of weeks ago, following the Chicago clinic, I took part in a "Ride-along" with a team of plainclothes Chicago policemen. Click on the "Chicago Police" seal to read more about it and see some exclusive photos, shown only on "New You Can Use"     *********** I will soon be launching a free e-mail newsletter, aimed specifically at those of you who love and respect the game the way it's seldom seen on TV these days, and still believe that it's possible to play football other than the way the NFL plays it. To get on the mailing list, e-mail me your name, location and e-mail address at: oldschoolfootball@mac.com (we will never give your information to anyone else) EDITION 1: Attacking a Gap Defense... A review of "Leahy's Lads"...   *********** Boy, didn't the NCAA drop the hammer on Oklahoma! First, the Sooners have to forfeit all the games they won in 2005 (eight).   And then, they've had their scholarships cut by TWO A YEAR! For TWO YEARS!   But relax, Sooner fans. I was just joking about the hammer. In the words of Monty Python's Black Knight, it's a mere flesh wound.   Forfeit the games? Come on. Everybody knows who won. And besides, the Sooners don't have to refund the money paid them by the Holiday Bowl - a bowl which, technically, they couldn't have appeared in, since retroactively they didn't have enough wins to be bowl eligible.   Two scholarships? Shoot, when you see how many major college teams dress 60+ guys for a game - and then actually play only 35 or so - it's fair to say that they're already giving out way more scholarships than they need.   *********** Interesting site of a guy who is trying to visit all 119 major college football stadia before he's 30 -   http://project119.blogspot.com/2007/01/project-119-white-paper.html   *********** When the female volleyball coach at Fresno State was fired, the University said that it was because she wasn't doing everything she could to advance the program, like scheduling tougher teams, and this was reflected in poor attendance.   But not so fast - she sued, saying she was fired because she'd complained about "gender equity issues."   And a jury believed her, awarding here not only the $4.1 million she was asking for, but an additional $1.75 million, just to sweeten the pot.   Now, I'm not saying that she wasn't a victim - although that is a LOT of money for someone who goes through what thousands of coaches have gone through before her - but I would say that after that ruling, any female coach who doesn't rush right into her AD's office and buy herself some job insurance by bitching about the fact that men's sports get treated better than women's sports is nuts.   *********** For those of you who haven't been paying attention - in other words, 99.9 per cent of you - something called the "American football World Cup" has been taking place in Japan. And there really is an American team competing in it. Now, who, you might ask, would be left to play on a "Team America," considering that at this time of year, the best football players in America are getting ready for NFL camp or their college season (the NCAA wouldn't permit players with eligibility remaining to play, anyhow)?   Well, there are still plenty of young American football players whose college eligibility has ended, who are not of NFL caliber but are nonetheless better than anyone playing the sport anywhere else in the world.   They beat the team from Korea (Korea?) in the first round, 77-0, and reached the final game, against Japan, by beating Germany 33-7.   Did you know that? I didn't think so.   In Germany, the American football World Cup was considered a pretty big deal, and since the German players all play in the various German leagues, those leagues have suspended play until after the tournament.   At risk of sounding rude to my friend Mathias Bonner, who coaches in Germany, I have been trying to tell him that to even hard-core American sports fans, the American football World Cup is a non-event.   As an example, the story of the USA-Korea game rated two inches of coverage in USA Today. On Page Ten.   *********** To the rest of the state of Florida, Miami-Dade County is considered to be a world apart. To be blunt, it is often considered to be outlaw territory, where the rules that apply to the rest of the state often appear to be mere suggestions.   Antwain Easterling, star running back at Miami Northwestern High was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior after police say he had consensual but unlawful sex with a 14-year-old girl at the school last September 16.    A grand jury report found that numerous school officials were aware of the sex crime but failed to report it, and Easterling continued to play the entire season, including the December state title game.   The principal has already been fired.   So when word got out that in the wake of the sex-and-cover-up scandal that there was chance that the higher-ups in the Miami-Dade Schools might take action as drastic as shutting down the school's 2007 season, people sat up and took notice.   I mean, Northwestern won the Florida 6A championship last year with a 15-0 record and finished fifth in the USA TODAY Super 25.   Not to worry. They'll play.   Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rudy Crew announced Wednesday that he would not suspend Miami Northwestern's football program for the 2007 season, and his announcement was greeted by applause from students in the room.   But when he announced that the coaching staff would be fired, that was another matter. Members of the football team got up and walked out of the auditorium as he continued to speak.   "I do not want anybody who knew about this, created this culture, and by being silent, actually participated in allowing this to happen - where you all going?" Crew asked as students began leaving.    "Who are they?" he asked someone sitting nearby. Told that they were football players, Crew said, "Oh. Well, they heard what they wanted to hear."   Antwain Easterling. Mark that name down. He will be a freshman at the University of Southern Mississippi this fall. I have a feeling we will be hearing that name again. One way or another.   *********** If this is what employers of Americans have to deal with...   USA Today told of a 24-year-old female employee of a Philadelphia PR firm who was told recently that her definition of "business casual" attire was not in line with the company's.   She was told that her Bermuda shorts, sleeveless shirt and flip-flops were inappropriate attire to wear to work.   And, since she was part of a generation that acts as if it rules the world, she took offense.   "I was highly offended," she told USA Today.   "People my age are taught to express themselves, and saying something about someone's fashion is saying something negative about them."   Now, really - wouldn't you rather hire a hard-working Mexican than a self-absorbed twit like that?   *********** As I wrote this, I am in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the first day of a camp at South Mecklenburg High. Monday evening was a rare treat - a seven-on-seven competition between "South Meck" and Clover, South Carolina, both hard-core Double-Wing teams. South Mecklenburg is coached by James Martin, who for several years was an assistant to Jet Turner at Clover, and before coming to Clover Coach Turner and his assistant Jeff Murdock took a program at Ware Shoals, South Carolina that had the state's longest losing streak and turned it into a perennial playoff team, a tradition that Coach Murdock has continued since he became head coach there.   *********** A strong recommendation for a place to enjoy a good meal and something to drink - The River Rat, in Lake Wylie, South Carolina   *********** Some of us have heard of, uh, inflatable ladies. Among their many, uh, uses has been sitting in the passenger's seat of automobiles so that their deceitful owners could sneak into the HOV lanes (for you guys lucky enough to live in low-traffic areas, those are special highway lanes set aside for vehicles carrying more than one person).   Now, from Fortune Small Business Magazine, comes a new use for inflatable, life-like dolls. Two different companies - "Crowd in a Box" and "Inflatable Crowd" - are duking it out in the market for inflatable vinyl torsos   Their products, like hamburger helper, dress up and fill out a crowd, without having to pay extras.   According to the article, they have been used in crowd scenes in such movies as "Ocean's Thirteen," "Million Dollar Baby," and "Be Cool."   Wow! No more embarrassing empty seats in the stands on Thursday night college football games! Not any more! Not with "Crowd in a Box!"   Why doesn't ESPN offer Inflatable Doll Night at its Thursday night games?. Buy a ticket, get the seat next to it free - plus an inflatable doll. With no place else to put it, it'll go in the seat.   Dolls in the college colors of your choice!   Bare-chested dolls (male). Dolls signaling "We're Number One!"   And, inevitably, dolls wearing simulated tee-shirts bearing sponsors' logos and slogans!   *********** Since Adam (Pacman) Jones was drafted in 2005, he has been arrested six times. His name has come up in 11 different police investigations. True, he hasn't been convicted of anything - yet - but it does take quite a stretch to believe to believe that any one guy could have accidentally been implicated in so many sordid incidents.   Going way out on a limb, I'm going to say that, short of a major religious conversion, this is one guy the world would probably be better off without.   So you know our society is in a bad way when you read that while awaiting a hearing in a courtroom in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he was kept busy signing autographs.   *********** It's official! The first YOUTH OLYMPICS! Set for August, 2010 at a site to be determined. (Start those petitions! Maybe your city can be the lucky one!)   There will be 3200 athletes, from 14 to 18 (that'll be a fun Olympic Village)   They really claim that its purpose is to "fight childhood obesity." To "inspire young people to take up sports."   They plan to introduce some "new" sports. New, "youth-oriented sports." I'm betting that there will be something to do with skateboard and inline roller skates. Also Wii or Madden, depending on who wins the rights to be Official Provider of Video Games to the 2010 Youth Olympics. (I think you can see what this thing is really about.)   *********** In 2000, 102 million pounds of fireworks were sold in the United States. In 2005, it was more than twice that - 255 million pounds.   God knows what it was this year, but I'll bet half of them were sold in the state of Washington.   In Vancouver, Washington, near us, the usual crowd of 70,000 or so showed up for what is billed as the largest fireworks show west of the Mississippi. Apparently many of those in attendance needed more than fireworks to help them celebrate our nation's birthday -. Local school sports teams cleaning up afterwards had to deal with such refuse as dirty diapers, syringes, needles and condoms.   *********** Coach, The state of CT requires coaches who are not teachers that work in the public school system to take a coaching certification course that covers sports physiology, legal, health and safety etc. The course started last week and when I entered the classroom I was very pleased to see Bill Mignault at the head of the class preparing material!  I've had the pleasure to  meet Bill several times at your clinics in RI and develop a friendship over the last couple of years. I'm sure you know this, but I have to tell you, Bill is truly a special person who, besides being a phenomenal football coach he is also a  remarkable educator. There are about 26 students in the class including six or seven woman ranging form early twenties to mid fifties. Bill has an uncanny way of relating to everyone in the class and getting everyone involved. You can see in about three minutes why he and his program at Ledyard has had so much success during his tenure. And yes, we talked quite a bit about the Double Wing and  Bill's version of the Wing T!   Take care, Scott Wendel, Woodstock, Connecticut (Coach Mignault is, indeed, a great coach and a great guy as well. I'm not surprised to hear that he is a great teacher, too. HW)   *********** Hi Coach, I've explained this difference many times. You may want to add that, as far as defining a legal block, that "blocking" was NOTHING to do with offense or defense. A defender that cuts the legs out from under a lead blocker is guilty of an illegal block below the waist (aka a cut block). Also, a defensive linemen can be called for an illegal chop block if they engage an offensive linemen pertaining to the particulars you cite. Todd Bross, Union, Maine   *********** Seth Hettena, in a book about crooked Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now in jail, told of how there is often a vast disconnect between a person's achievements and his character.   In an act of bravery, Cunningham shot down three North Vietnamese MIGs before having to eject over the sea. The kills brought his total to five, making him the first Navy ace since Korea.   But what resulted, writes Hettena, was a "wildly inflated sense of entitlement" - a sense that the world owed him something.   It was so bad that when he and his co-pilot returned to the states, they informed their superior that they would not accept the Navy Cross. (The highest award that can be bestowed on a member of the Navy, short only of the Medal of Honor itself.)   Oh, no, they told him. That wasn't good enough for them - they were holding out for a Medal of Honor.   You don't hold out for the Medal of Honor, he told them.   You die for it.   *********** Don Chance, a professor at LSU, recalled how students came to him at the end of a semester, trying to bargain their way into A's.   "They felt so entitled," he told the Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Zaslow, " and it just hit me. We can blame Mr. Rogers."   Remember that great old guy? He told the kids that he loved them - that they were all special. Problem was, after years and years of his telling kids they were special - just the way they were - the little nippers all believed him. And as they grew up, no one ever dared tell them different.   Professor Chance says Mr. Rogers, however warm and non-threatening he may have been, is "representative of a culture of excessive doting."   "What are the downsides," Mr. Zaslow writes, "of telling kids they're special? Is it a mistake to have children call us by our first names? When we focus all our conversations on our children's lives, are we denying them the insights found when adults talk about adult things?   Experts, writes Mr. Zaslow, are challenging many aspects of our increasingly child-centered culture. Among them:   "You're special" - Instead of telling little kids that he liked them just fine the way they were, he should have been telling them they still had a ways to go.   According to a psychologist at San Diego State University, signs of narcissism among college students have been increasing for 25 years.   Asian-born students, Professor Chance notes, accept the grade they're given. They weren't brought up with Mr. Rogers telling them they were special. They see B's and C's as signs that they have to work harder.   American students feel they deserve an A "because they came to class and felt they worked hard."   He wishes Mr. Rogers - and parents - had told those kids, "The world owes you nothing. You have to work and compete. If you want to be special, you'll have to prove it."   "They're just children": As a guide for teaching them not to stick their fingers in an electric socket, that may make sense, but as an excuse for rude behavior, it's way overused.   "Call me Cindy" - BIG mistake and something we see all the time. When a child is taught to call an adult Mr or Mrs, it helps the child to understand that "status is earned by age and experience." (Old-timers still recall this outdated practice as being called "respecting your elders.")   "Tell me about your day": Ever sat at a table where the conversation was totally dominated by kids? parents also need to discuss their own lives. Says Alvin Rosenfeld, a NY child psychiatrist, in today's America, "life begins with the anointing of 'His Majesty, the fetus.'"   Today's parents,he says, despite being the best-educated generation ever, spend a disproportionate amount of their time discussing their kids' schedules and activities, and making them the center of the family conversations.   This is not good for kids, says Roosevelt. "Because everything is child-centered today, we're depriving children of adults. If they never see us as adults being adults, how will they deal with important matters when it is their world?"   ************ The St Paul Pioneer Press ran an article recently about a summer school program called "8.5 High School Prep", designed to get eighth graders who had failed eighth grade ready for high school. In the past, with the social promotion policies of most school systems, those eight graders would simply have been passed along to high school - where they probably would have continued to fail.   No more. Now, in St. Paul schools, it's No pass, no high school. Says the principal of "8.5 High School Prep, the kids are told, "No homecoming dance, no football games, no volleyball. games. We say it every day - 'who wants to go to high school?'"   The paper interviewed one 14-year-old kid named Mario Espinoza, who clearly gets the message.   Said Mario, "It's not that it was really hard in school. It's just people chose not to do it. There's no choice here. You fail, you go back to eighth grade. All you gotta do is show up and do your work. Sinple."   *********** TV just doesn't get it.   It's supposed to be a visual medium, right?   So my wife and I sat at a bar and the TV was playing baseball's slam dunk contest, otherwise known as the Little Kids Running Around in the Outfield Fighting Over Fly Balls contest. Actually, I think it was some stupid home run contest, but we couldn't tell for sure, because there was a lot of talking in the joint, and the announcers, who were paid gazillions to be heard, couldn't be heard. I suspect that that was the case in a lot of places around the US.   Yet not one graphic did we see to enlighten us as to what was going on. Zero.   TV is a visual medium, we are told, yet the people who bring it to us continue to treat it like it's no more than radio with pictures. And so they pay huge sums of money to announcing "talent" in the mistaken belief that they are the reason why people watch, when in reality a large part of the time nobody even hears them.   *********** Based on how seriously most NFL players took their studies while in college, it would seem to be a safe guess that they have never given a lot of thought to having to someday make a living the way most people in the world outside pro football do.   So here comes the NFL, setting up a broadcaster's school for NFL players, so that when their playing careers are over, they won't have to go out and get real jobs.   Yikes. More ex-NFLers on the air.   If you wince whenever you hear a former NFL player stumble and mumble through a broadcast, brace yourself for a lot more..   And if you're just a poor shlub who never played and had dreams of becoming an NFL broadcaster someday - forget it.   *********** Although now a major West Coast air carrier that now flies from its base in Seattle to places such as Boston, Chicago, New York, Orlando and Washington, DC, Alaska Airlines built its business in Alaska, and continues to serve remote Alaskan towns and villages inaccessible by roads, flying in groceries, plasma TVs, high school teams, musher dogs, walrus meat and whale blubber, as well as prisoners, itinerant priests, dentists and oil workers   Jeff Munro, manager of cargo operations in Anchorage, says communities awaiting goods know what they want most. "Two things they ask us to prioritize - beer and toilert paper," he said. "The groceries can wait."   *********** For some unexplained reason, I found myself reading an article about women's soccer, and I came across a few comments by a guy named Colin Linford, who is president of something called the Canadian Soccer Federation.   "We have more girls playing soccer," he boasted, "Than we have boys playing hockey."   He estimated that the number of girls playing soccer in Canada exceeded 350,000, and - get this - that number grows every year as the top players seek college scholarships in the United States.   Note to US athletic directors: just keep coughing up the money for women's sports. Foreign girls need those scholarships.   The Title IX scam continues...   ************ In 1994, Michigan accepted $1 million from Nike to become one of the first Nike teams. What it meant was that in return for a sizeable payment from Nike, Michigan sports uniforms would display the Nike swoosh. And Wolverine coaches and "student-athletes" would wear Nike gear exclusively, pimping for the Beaverton, Oregon sports apparel giant, in hopes that little kids and assorted jocksniffers would pay exorbitant sums to buy their own Michigan jerseys, shorts and hats. Made exclusively by Nike, of course.   It worked. Michigan apparel has been a consistent hot seller ever since. According to figures released by the Collegiate Licensing Company, in the first quarter of this year only Texas, Notre Dame and Florida earned more royalties on the sale of merchandise than Michigan.   (Interestingly, Michigan's trend-setting Fab Five, the gang that gave the world basketball shorts that look and work like bloomers, played in 1993, before either Michigan or Nike was able to capitalize on the trend.)   Now, though, Michgan has just signed an 8-year, $60 million deal. With Adidas.   That's even better than Notre Dame's 10-year, $60 million deal.   In another Adidas move, Kansas signed on for 8 years and $28.3 million.   Under Armour, the upstart in the sports apparel group, has been busy, too, with both Auburn and Maryland on board. Maryland was a natural, since Under Armour founder Kevin Plank once played football there, but Auburn , at $10.5 million for 5 years, represents a major coup for the new kid on the block.   All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

For the LAST TIME - THIS is a Chop Block! (And what, exactly, is a "Cut Block," anyhow?) (See"NEWS") Only in America- From Tobacco Puller to Pot Smoker in Two Generations! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   July 6, 2007 - "In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don`t have the first, the other two will kill you." Warren Buffett, Billionaire CEO of Berkshire-Hathaway ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award   A couple of weeks ago, following the Chicago clinic, I took part in a "Ride-along" with a team of plainclothes Chicago policemen. Click on the "Chicago Police" seal to read more about it and see some exclusive photos, shown only on "New You Can Use"     *********** I will soon be launching a free e-mail newsletter, aimed specifically at those of you who love and respect the game the way it's seldom seen on TV these days, and still believe that it's possible to play football other than the way the NFL plays it. To get on the mailing list, e-mail me your name, location and e-mail address at: oldschoolfootball@mac.com (we will never give your information to anyone else) EDITION 1: Attacking a Gap Defense... A review of "Leahy's Lads"...   *********** Hugh, I share your contempt for the term cut blocking. Two years ago when Stanford went to Navy, our nose tackle got a sprained ankle. A receiver was also injured for the season when he was pulled down out of bounds (it appeared the defender wasn't quite aware he was OB.)   This brought calumny on the message boards. Whining was incessant about "cut blocking" and "chop blocking", rarely differentiated. I explained time and time again that blocking below the waist was legal, chop blocking was not, that "cut block" was not a defined term, and that Navy didn't chop block as a matter of course.   Facts were no deterrent. They were quite intolerant of any kind of football different from stand up and pattycake block.   Don't want to stereotype, but I'm not shocked that a bunch of Stanford alums, strongly liberal and many of them weaned on the 49ers, had little knowledge of the history or subtleties of non-Big Football.   They also connect the Broncos and chop blocking like it was accepted fact - I'm not sure I've ever seen a chop block called in the NFL.   Christopher Anderson, Palo Alto, California (Fools.  They define ignorance: they don't know, and they don't know that they don't know.   One more sure way to know more than the TV anouncers - and the fans whose "knowledge" derives from them: learn the following rule, straight from the NCAA rule book.         *********** COACH WYATT: Had to chuckle when I read your blurb about many Big Ten schools "picking on" I-AA teams (now called "FCS," as you probably know) for their 12th games.  New Hampshire last year drubbed Northwestern IN EVANSTON, 34-17.  UNH wasn't even the best team in the Atlantic 10 last year.   Maine opened with Nebraska two years ago, and I remember walking through downtown Lincoln with my wife and daughter on our way to Memorial Stadium, and seeing all the signs predicting 56-0 wipeouts.  The score was 15-7 midway through the fourth quarter -- with Maine in possession.  You could have heard a pin drop in that stadium.  It ended 22-7 (a late INT returned for a TD, plus a field goal).  But I doubt coach Bill Callahan felt his team had "picked on" the Black Bears, when he got back into the locker room.   I'm not naive about the differences in roster depth and talent between the two subdivisions.  Nor am I hear to pound the table and demand respect for what's commonly called "cost-containment" Division I football.  It is what it is, and I know you're a fan.   But just to add a little perspective to these often misunderstood match-ups...   1. The FCS schools often initiate the contact, because these games represent a great recruiting angle to prospects -- not to mention a handsome cash payout.   2. Most observers of the college game will tell you that, outside of the top 25 FBS schools (formerly I-A), there's not much difference between a good FCS team/conference and a middle- or low-end FBS team/conference.  The most noticeable differences are in the athleticism and size of the OL and DL.  Skill players -- not so much difference.   3. Boston College -- a Top 25 FBS team -- beat Maine 22-0 last year in a game that was still only 15-0 going into the 4th quarter.   4.  Maine is tentatively scheduled to play Iowa in 2008.  My son and I attended the Iowa-Michigan game at Kinnick during the recruiting season his senior year, and I can't wait to go back.  It's a great gameday experience.  Not quite like Nebraska, but still great fun.   Keep up the good work.   Mike Brusko, www.oldschoolsportsparenting.com   I don't have a problem with the practice.  I live in a town with a decent I-AA program (Portland State) and I've seen a lot of D-IAA ball, and I agree that a good D-iAA club would handle a lot of D-IA teams.  Last year, Portland State took it on the chin against Cal and Oregon, but beat New Mexico, 17-6.   Since you're a relatively new reader, I have to bring you up to speed on my history by pointing out that when they proposed a twelfth game, I predicted that it would be used for the most part to schedule games with D-IAA teams, creating the college version of NFL "preseason" games.   It  gives the DIAA school a pay day, and gives the DIA school an extra home game at a smaller guarantee than they'd have to pay for a DIA opponent.  Win-win there.   It  gives the DIA coach a better-than-average shot at a win (although there is the slight risk of falling on his face), and it would give the D-IAA coach and his kids a chance to play in the center ring.  (I've known D-IAA kids who had that chance, and they loved it.)   Pay-the-players activists might bitch about forcing the players to play an extra game at the same rate of "compensation."  I won't take a stand on that, other than to express my belief that this does move them ever  closer to being semi-professionals (and not "student-athletes").   I think the only clear losers are the season ticket holders at the big schools, who would get strongarmed into having to buy the extra game in order to renew their season tickets, remindful of the way the NFL shoves exhibition (sorry - "pre-season") games down their season-ticket holders' throats.  In fairness, not all big-time fans consider themselves losers.  If 90,000 Alabama fans will trun out for their spring game, I doubt that they'd gripe about paying to watch the Tide play, say, The Citadel.   Of course, it's all about the Title IX scam, and colleges having to invent sports for women to play, and then come up with the money to give them scholarships.   PS- I refuse to use "BCS"("FBS") and "FCS."  I am stuck with what I know.   *********** Only in America... In just one generation, the Gore men have gone from pulling tobacco on the farm in Tennessee to smoking dope in California.   We all remember the whopper that Daddy Al Gore, Jr., who spent most of his growing-up years living in an apartment in Washngton, DC (his father was a Senator) and going to an exclusive prep school, told about growin' up in Tennessee and workin' with his hands out in the tobacco fields. And now comes news from Los Angeles that 24-year-old Al Gore III, 24, was pulled over at about 2:15 AM (what does he think he is, a pro football player?) for driving a Toyota Prius about 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway. Oh- and the deputies making the stop said they smelled marijuana and in searching the car, found a small amount of marijuana, but also drugs such as Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall, none of which he had a presciption for. Back in 2003 young Master Gorewas arrested for pot possession in Bethesda, Md., while he was a student at Harvard University. The law really cracked down on him - he was ordered to completed substance abuse counseling as part of a pretrial diversion program. (As always, the counseling program proved useful and effective.)   At least he was driving an earth-friendly Prius, favorite ride of the Left Coast greenies, which even at 100 mph gets better mileage than my Ford Econoline van does when it's idling. So there's no lasting harm to the Planet. Whew.   And fortunately, the Gores wisely purchased sufficient marijuana offsets from me that the kid left no pot footprint.   I'm waiting for the NFL to offer to buy "good conduct offsets" - to pay me and my boyz if we promise not to  beat our "fiancees",  or hang out in strip joints until ungodly hours with our posses,  or carry illegal weapons or use illegal drugs or fight with the police - so that the League will be thug-neutral.   Hell, who am I kidding? Not even the NFL has that much money. HW)   *********** Based on this recent account by John Torres, long-time youth coach in Santa Clarita, California, we could be seeing his kids on TV this summer...   Various members of the Santa Clarita Wildcats were chosen by a local studio to act as "extras" during a shoot of a made-for-TV pilot to be shown this summer on CBS titled, "Protect and Serve". The Hollywood Reporter described the pilot as:   Dean Cain will star in the CBS drama pilot Protect and Serve, which follows the lives of street cops in suburban Los Angeles. Cain will play a veteran officer. Steve Harris and Eric Balfour are also cast as cops. Tamala Jones has also joined the cast, as the wife of Harris' character. Also cast as officers' wives are Jessica Pare and Victoria Cartagena, while Monica Potter is playing an estranged wife.   The actor, Dean Cain, was a treat for the kids to work with. If you did not know, he played "Super Man" in a previous movie gig. Steve Harris, who had a part on "The Practice", is also playing an LAPD Detective on this show. I talked to Harris for a bit during a brief break in the movie shoot and I need to tell you, he knows a lot about football and coaching youth sports. I was very impressed. Some of our moms talked to Monica Potter during a break and she was very interested in youth football, as her sons have played youth football and one is currently playing high school football in Ohio.   Dean Cain and I also had the chance to talk. Dean was a STAR ATHLETE at Santa Monica High School and at Princeton where he played volleyball and started as a free safety on the football team. Dean turned down 17 athletic scholarships to be able to get an Ivy League education. Dean was also drafted by the Buffalo Bills of the NFL where a knee injury cut his pro career short. As Dean and I were chatting he made the off handed comment that the pilot they were shooting, Protect and Serve, was actually about ME (the writer) since I coached youth football and was in law enforcement! (Now if only I looked just a little like Dean Cain I would be ecstatic, as would my wife!)   Life Lessons and Work Ethic…   If there is anything the boys took away from this life lesson is that making a movie is not easy work, by any means. Here is an example of the day they had during the filming:   5:30 AM &endash; Meet in Santa Clarita for equipment check 5:45 AM - Leave SCV 6:45 AM &endash; Arrive in Agoura Hills 6:45-7:15 - Eat Breakfast on the set 7:15-7:30 - Wardrobe and make up &endash; Leave for shoot location &endash; Agoura HS 7:30 &endash; 9:30 &endash; Work with Director and child actors &endash; Get a quick snack 9:30-11:30 &endash; Work with tutors on school work 11:30 &endash; Quick snack 11:30- 1:00 &endash; Work with Directors and child actors &endash; Shoot final scene several times! 1:00 &endash; 1:30 &endash; Lunch with the actors and crew 1:30 &endash; 3:30 &endash; Tutor and school work. 4:00 PM &endash; Day Ends 5:00 PM &endash; Arrive back in the SCV.   From a personal standpoint, my son gets home and is exhausted. He eats a little and then proceeds to sleep for the next 12 hours and gets up the next morning to go to school. I understand most players did the same thing.   This was an excellent opportunity for the boys to participate and they represented the Santa Clarita Valley extremely well. When you see this episode, due out in June or July, be proud of our boys when you see "Wildcats" on your TV screen.   *********** Coach, How you doing? This is Greg Gibson formally of Orange High School. I decided to change programs at the end of the year and took over a brand new school that is opening with only freshman this year. It is quite an undertaking starting a brand new school. I was hoping you could help me out. I am struggling installing the system with these kids. They are hard workers but limited in their football knowledge. I have tried to start out by teaching fundamentals and progressing into plays. Your tapes are good references that I have looked at. Just wondering if you have some pointers through all your travels on what you would do or have seen that has worked when encountering this type of situation. Thanks coach.   Greg Gibson, Head Football Coach, San Juan Hills High School, Huntington Beach, California   Coach, First of all, congratulations.   I have done this at least 100 times, and the very first thing I always do is teach them the language. Just like when they're in a foreign country, the better they know the language, the more they're going enjoy the experience.   I line 11 guys up as a team, and I teach them what the numbers and the terminology and the snap count mean.   And then I grill them on those things.  I constantly ask questions, and never let a kid think that he's not going to be asked.   And right from the start I encourage them to ask questions. Most people, including kids, are afraid they'll look stupid if they ask a question, and it is important to get them past that reluctance.   And then I teach them how we block. And then I teach the linemen the blocking rules.   And at every step, I explain how the things we do will give them an advantage over everybody they play.   I want them to be convinced that if they do as they're taught, their Double-Wing offense can make them feared and respected.   I think that my videos are extremely useful at this stage.   At the very beginning it is totally against air.  That is when I make the little adjustments on stances, and motion, and landmarks. I get them used to hearing what a play sounds like, and going to the line and lining up correctly in the proper stance, and getting off the ball, and I work on the QB's voice.   Assistant coaches are extremely useful in this phase. Make sure that you assign each of them a responsibility, because this is the point where a lot of them like to stand there with their arms folded and watch you coach the whole team.   And gradually, I'll work up to having coaches holding shields against the guys they are coaching.  For example, if we're running a Super Power, it would be useful to have a coach on the playside TE-wingback, one on the playside G-T, one for the B-Back to kick out on, one for the backside G-T to pull around on and wall off. And, after he's got his steps down, one for the QB.    I'd much rather have that than give the shields to a bunch of kids, which can turn into grabass really fast.   We don't really need a full defense anyhow. It's not necessary for the kids to know what a 5-2 is, or a 5-3 or a 4-4 or a 4-3, because they only need to know what the situation is in their own little corner of the world (GAP-ON, etc.).   And as they get accustomed to what they're supposed to do, then we start breaking up and teaching them how they're supposed to do it. One other thing...   The issue of player evaluation and personnel placement is a much bigger factor with us than with most other offenses.  For example, in a typical spread offense, everybody knows in a heartbeat who the offensive linemen are, who the receivers are, who the running backs are, who the quarterbacks are.  Only if they employ a tight end might there be some question.   But with our Double-Wing, I think it is extremely important not to allow ourselves to get locked into conventional thinking.  it is not uncommon for a coach introducing our Double-Wing at a new school  to have to make personnel adjustments - to  move a tackle to tight end, or a guard to B-Back, or an A-Back to quarterback (or vice-versa), or a tight end to guard, or a quarterback to tight end.   This is no time to listen to the complaints of a position coach that he's  losing one of "his" players.  You have to convince your coaches  to  look at the big picture - at what's best for the team.    As an example - I just got finished reading a book on Frank Leahy, the great coach at Notre Dame, and one of his solid, unshakeable beliefs was that you put your best 11 on the field, whatever it took.  Once, that  meant moving a senior starting end to tackle in order to make room for another good player who was almost as good and end, but  couldn't play another position. (That was 1949. Notre Dame won the national championship that year, and the player who moved, Jim Martin, made All-American at tackle.)   Again, congratulations and best of luck.   *********** Seen in a feed store in Washougal Washington: "UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN AN ESPRESSO AND A FREE PUPPY"   *********** From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel...   Everybody On This One … Situation: Miami Northwestern High School's football team is ranked number one in Florida and heading for the state championship.   Dumb Move #1: Antwain Easterling, the senior star running back, has sex with a 14-year-old freshman on the floor in a school bathroom. More than 20 school employees are aware of the incident.   Dumb Move #2: One month goes by before one of the witnesses alerts principal Dwight Bernard.   Dumb Move #3: Bernard buries the report, fearing it will harm the team's chances in the playoffs.   Dumb Move #4: School police become aware only after the girl's mother approaches an officer at a Dunkin' Donuts.   Dumb Move #5: Easterling is arrested for lewd and lascivious battery, but he's allowed to enter a pretrial program that clears his record.   Dumb Move #6: The school district does not discipline Easterling, allowing him to play in the state final.   Dumb Move #7: Northwestern wins the title. A grand jury concludes that Bernard "hoped it would all go away and allowed for the glory of football to trump the needs and safety of a little girl."   Sane Move #1: Principal Bernard is fired.   *********** Coach - Great 4th of July 'News' Column - Please say Hello to Connie.   I wanted to chat with you a bit on a fortunate situation I was voted into. I was voted to run the flag (5-6 year olds) and Bantam (7-8 year old and first year tackle) in our youth football league in --------.   I want to achieve several objectives, and agree philosophically with you and your approach to the game. I have a goal of making leaders and students of football out of these kids through the love of the game - old school style - and to help select and guide the coaches into going beyond the X's and O's of football at this level to teach teamwork, the game individual skills, improve the coaching skill sets, and to 'coach' the parents to respect the game, the officials and the coaches - which sometimes has been lacking.   I want to come into the league and be effective without being disruptive to those that run the league and have been there ahead of me. . I know enough to listen and learn and have great relationships with the head commissioner and the Junior (9-10 year old) and Senior (11-12 year old) level commissioners. There is a 'select football' angle to this in that the Junior and Senior level teams can have coaches who are allowed to 'build/ bring' a team which is a step up beyond the rec. football I want to stay in to teach the fundamentals and start the kids and parents who want to compete within the town only to have a great first year tackle football experience.   That said, Coach - can you offer some pointers or suggest resources for being an effective administrator in this situation? As always, Thank you, Coach - I look forward to hearing from you soon.   I love your goals as stated above and I wouldn't change them.   I think that your goals are compatible with what the coaches at your level should be doing.   If I were to add anything, it would be that I would want to teach the kids enough about the game and about what any coach expects that they will be able to adapt to any new system they may encounter.  (That will cover those people who might think that 7-8 years old is not too soon to start getting into a wide-open passing game and the highly unfortunate specialization of positions that that entails.  I think it is very important at that age that, wherever possible, every kid gets a taste of what it's like to play several positions.   It's part of learning the game, and learning to love the game, and wanting to keep playing.   There are some kids who are just too big and slow to play running back, but you still want to make it fun for them, because God makes just so many big kids.)   I think that your goals will convince others that you intend for those two levels to produce the kind of kids that the guys at the next level can do with as they wish.   *********** Reception Day, or R Day, for the Class of 2011 was different from those in the recent past.  For one thing, Monday, 2 July 2007, dawned cool and breezy, with temperatures headed for comfortable highs in the mid-seventies accompanied by azure blue skies and fleecy white clouds.  Secondly, there was a large contingent (about a dozen) of representatives of the 50-Year Affiliate Class, the Class of 1961, on hand.  Thirdly, this R Day was in July; most recently have been in late June.  Ironically, the Class of 1961 reported to Beast Barracks exactly 50 years ago to the day, although 2 July 1957 was a Tuesday, not a Monday.  In that era, new cadets reported on the first Tuesday of July.  Another change was the Parents' Lounge established in the Class of 1963 Lounge (formerly Benny's Lounge) in Eisenhower Hall.   This year, the West Point Association of Graduates joined with the Director of Cadet Activities to sponsor this place where parents, family and friends of new cadets could stop by after having endured the announcement, "You have 90 seconds to say your goodbyes" in the main auditorium. Coffee, orange juice, donuts, advice and sympathetic ears were provided by members of the Class of 1961 and the AOG staff, along with "Proud Parent of the Class of 2011" bumper stickers, key chains and fans. Under the 50-Year Affiliation Program, cadets receive their Class flag during Yearling summer at Camp Buckner, a Class coin at the beginning of second class year, "First Brass" at Branch Night during first class year, and second lieutenants' bars upon Graduation from representatives of the class that graduated 50 years earlier. Members of the 50-Year Class also accompany the new cadets on their march back from Camp Buckner at the end of Beas Barracks for Reorganization Week, and attend the Acceptance Day parade at the end of that week.   Some things remained the same.  Hundreds of new cadets and their respective entourages assembled by 6:00 a.m. on the steps leading to the lower levels of Ike Hall.  The Prep School candidates were first, entering at 6:00 a.m., but those scheduled for later times, by social security number, often arrived up to an hour earlier.  This year, they were entertained by a mysterious cowboy version of Uncle Sam, dressed in red, white and blue with a white cowboy hat and stilts!  All told, about 1,310 potential new cadets arrived that day, with a few last-minute replacements for those who demurred the previous day or so.  Among these were about 225 young women, the largest female contingent, at 17%, since women first were admitted (119) in 1976. After the candidates said their goodbyes, they were marched off by members of the First Beast Detail for necessary administrative processing, uniform issue and training in the fundamentals of marching in preparation for the late afternoon oath ceremony at Battle Monument.  For many, the most stressful event was the mandatory visit to the Cadet Barber Shop, there to have their hair cut to the scalp, with some leaving ten or twelve inches of locks on the shop floor.    All this, of course, took place under the constant scrutiny of The Cadet in the Red Sash and other members of the cadre. "Step up to my line.  Not on it, over it, or behind it, but up to my line."  Others ran afoul of reporting requirements: "Sir, New Cadet Doe reports to the first sergeant of Alpha Company for the third time, as ordered."  For yet others, the intricacies of facing movements were their downfall.  Still others staggered under the weight of new duffel bags packed with many pounds of new cadet issue while attempting to memorize Fourth Class Knowledge.  Meanwhile, back at Ike Hall, their parents and friends were suffering another form of information overload.   As parents, grandparents, siblings and girlfriends departed the auditorium, many entered the ballroom where various Parents Clubs had set up tables, surrounded on all sides by various vendors.  The Daughters of the United States Army, known as DUSA, offered a number of West Point items but featured the remaining 79 copies of the book, Bringing Up the Brass, as told to COL (Ret.) "Red" Reeder and his sister, Nardi Reeder Campion, by the legendary "Marty" Maher.  This book was the basis for the John Ford movie of the fifties, "The Long Gray Line.'  Reprinted for the USMA Bicentennial, only these few copies were left.  Across the way, the West Point Women's Club offered reproductions of old New York Central posters promoting the Academy as a tourist destination, BDU aprons, and a lace West Point table cloth.  They even had reproductions of a cigar box label from Adrian Cigars of Highland Falls, NY, for "West Pointer" cigars, guaranteed 30% Havana blend.  The Post Exchange offered a large Teddy bear dressed in full dress gray over white with white hat, while Academy Photos presented cadet portraits, the Hotel Thayer offered reservations for future events up to and including Graduation in 2011, and ODIA representatives sold season tickets for football. USAA meanwhile passed out hundreds of logo-emblazoned canvas totes, but the star of the hour had to be the tote bags and T-shirts offered by the gift shop of the Office of Intercollegiate Activities.  They contained all of the names of the 1,310 members of the Class of 2011 (less last-minute additions).   Then the families had to decide where to have lunch, what tours to take and what places at West Point to visit before it was time to form in the vicinity of Battle Monument for the oath ceremony, with hopes of catching one last glimpse of their son or daughter.  At the appointed hour, the new cadets, dressed uniformly in gray trousers and white, short sleeved shirts with blank shoulder boards, and white gloves marched out, led by the cadre in all whites.  Raising their right hands, the new cadets, led by the Commandant of Cadets, repeated the oath they earlier had signed during in-processing.  Officially they had been new cadets for several hours, but now they became new cadets in a public ceremony.  Then, they silently marched back to their barracks to continue the 47-month process that produces the finest second lieutenants in the world for the defense of our Nation while many parents wept.   All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ

GEN Petraeus Pays a Visit to the Black Lions! (See"NEWS") David Maraniss - a Great Author and a Great Person! (See"NEWS") "Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verses 10-11)   July 3, 2007 - "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." Chief Justice John Roberts ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award   A couple of weeks ago, following the Chicago clinic, I took part in a "Ride-along" with a team of plainclothes Chicago policemen. Click on the "Chicago Police" seal to read more about it and see some exclusive photos, shown only on "New You Can Use"     *********** I will soon be launching a free e-mail newsletter, aimed specifically at those of you who love and respect the game the way it's seldom seen on TV these days, and still believe that it's possible to play football other than the way the NFL plays it. To get on the mailing list, e-mail me your name, location and e-mail address at: oldschoolfootball@mac.com (we will never give your information to anyone else) EDITION 1: Attacking a Gap Defense... A review of "Leahy's Lads"...   *********** A NOTE OF THANKS FROM LIEUTENANT COLONAL PAT FRANK, WITH THE BLACK LIONS IN IRAQ...   Team Black Lion, First thank you for the tremendous support. The Black Lions continue to dominate a determined enemy in Northwestern Rashid, Baghdad, Iraq. You would be proud of your Soldiers - they continue to be reported on in the national media (CBS, FOX, CNN, NYT, WPost...) - each article was positive based on the approach we have taken here in Baghdad. Recent successes include: capture of six rockets before the enemy was able to launch them at the International Zone, destruction of a large cache of weapons-explosives-mortar rounds-rocket launchers, and the capture of a significant enemy leader last night. Please remember our fallen Black Lions and their Families in your prayers. The Task Force appreciates all of your efforts - makes it easier for us to concentrate on our task at hand here in Iraq.   Attached are several photos of GEN Petraeus' visit to Task Force BLACK LION yesterday - amazing visit, a tremendous combat leader.   BLACK LIONS - AIR ASSAULT   LTC Pat Frank, Iraq   GENERAL PETRAEUS (THE ONE WITH THE FOUR STARS ON HIS SHIRT) POSES FOR A PHOTO-OF-A-LIFETIME WITH THE COMPANY COMMANDERS OF THE BLACK LIONS   *********** Not that I know that many authors, but David Maraniss is my favorite, hands down. He is a great researcher and a great writer, a Pulitzer Prize winner, but he is also a great person. There is nothing artificial about the guy, and unlike so many people in his profession, he does not use people and then simply move on to next project, forgetting all about people once he's done with them.   Before I ever met David, I knew he was a good author when I was just a couple of pages into "When Pride Still Mattered," his terrific biography of Vince Lombardi,   I knew he was a good person when I saw the way he earned the confidence of the Black Lions, the Vietnam vets, in researching "They Marched Into Sunlight." Believe me, they are not easily gulled, and they were not particularly anxious to tell their stories, long hidden away. And certainly not to some writer they didn't even know, who might very well stir up again the ugly memories of the reception they received from ungrateful fellow Americans. After all those years, they were wary - who knew, when he approached them, what his intentions were?   But David Maraniss not only earned their trust, but he was accepted into their ranks as one of them. And he honored them by becoming a Black Lion, to the point that he attends their annual reunions at West Point every fall.   To show how much of a Black Lion David Maraniss is...   Alerted by Black Lion Tom Hinger that LTC Greg Gadson was at Walter Reed Army Hospital outside Washington, David, who lives in Washington, paid the former Army football captain a visit Sunday, and he wrote to Doc about his visit...   Please pass this along to Fearless and Coach Hugh and the guys....   Doc,   I went over to Walter Reed at noon today and met LtC Gadson in the physical therapy room. He was on a bed doing exercises, without legs. Both legs are gone from above the thigh. After being with him for ten seconds, I barely noticed his infirmity again. He is that amazing of a guy. His wife was there, and his two kids, and a buddy from Army football and a few others. We talked about the Black Lions, and he knew most of the story, about Donald Holleder and the battle in Viet Nam, and the meaning of the unit. I can't adequately express the strength and wisdom in his eyes. He wants to remain on active duty, says he still has a lot to offer the Army, and I believe him. He lost his legs, but not his mind or heart.   I brought three autographed books with me: They Marched Into Sunlight, Clemente, and Blood Brothers, my buddy Weisskopf's book on Ward 57. That was Doc's idea, and what a master stroke it was. Before moving to Mologne House, Col. Gadson had stayed in the very room Weisskopf was in at Walter Reed, and he already had a copy of the book and was reading it with his wife. I didn't bring When Pride Still Mattered because I couldn't find a clean copy in my office, but it turns out he had already read it. He said Coach Young, his coach at Army in the early to mid 1980s, quoted from Lombardi all the time and in some ways reminded Greg of Lombardi. During Greg's four years at Army by the way, they finished 9-3 twice and beat Navy three times - the last real glory days for the Black Knights. What he said he loved most about Lombardi was the commitment to team above individual.   He told me how he got injured - the IED blasted to the side of his vehicle, not below it, otherwise he would be dead, as would his men. As it turned out, he was the only one injured, since the blast took place right to the side of his door. He said he has some phanton pain, and feels his legs and toes rising toward the ceiling when he does certain exercises, legs and toes that aren't there. He is definitely the sort not to complain, but to look on the bright side of everything. He is happy to be alive and dedicated to getting back to help people. He figures he will be in rehap for another year. His family is now living at Ft. Riley, but they are all going to move up here for good over the 4th of July break. As we were talking about IED's I told him that my pal Rick Atkinson had taken a break from his book-writiing to do a series for the Post on the Army's project to combat the IED's. Not only did Col Gadson know of Atkinson, he had read his book An Army at Dawn and could recite the passages where his artillery unit was involved in the north Africa campaign.   I intend to visit him again the week after the 4th, and bring Atkinson with me.   I've met a lot of special people in my career, but Greg is right up there. You should all get to know him...and make him an honorary Black Lion....   David   (In his book Blood Brothers, TIME magazine senior correspondent Michael Weisskopf writes of losing a hand in Iraq, and tells the stories of three soldiers who also spent time at Amputee Alley, Ward 57 of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. HW )   *********** Jim George, Alpha Company Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, was injured in the Battle of Ong Thanh, November 17, 1967, the battle in which Don Holleder lost his life.   Carrying on in his tradition, both of his sons now serve as Army officers.   One of them, LTC Jay George, writes from Iraq that the temperatures have hit 117 degrees, but adds,   "It's been truly an exhausting and amazing time to see Soldiers perform magnificently under the harshest of conditions, yet motivated and serving freely in a foreign place as your ambassadors.  Soldiers are the reason that this has been easier to deal with at all levels.  You all would continue to be so proud of all they do every day, with their patience, vigilance, compassion, resilience and toughness."   But with July 4 coming up, he does admit to a touch of sadness...   "I miss all of my family and friends and the freedoms we share at home, like sitting around on a long weekend like the 4th of July, cooking out, watching crazy people do crazy things, fishing, telling stories, and falling in love all over again with my wife.  On this Independence Day, please drink a toast, smoke a cigar, catch a fish, eat a hot dog, watch a ball game, stand up for the 1812 overture at the 4th of July celebration when the cannons go off, think of a Soldier's sacrifice and remember all of America's sons and daughters who are deployed.  We all miss you and our land very much.  We all look forward to coming home when our job is done here."   *********** Now that the Portland Trail Blazers have unloaded Zach "Z-Bo" Randolph onto poor, unsuspecting New York Knicks fans, they are down to one remaining undesirable, Darius Miles. Miles has been "rehabbing" from knee surgery for an unusually long time, which is a kind way of saying that it doesn't appear he's been working all that hard at it. And all this time, the Trail Blazers have been CTC'n' it. (CTC, short for "Cut the Check," was made famous around here by another notorious Blazer ne'er-do-well, Rasheed Wallace.)   John Canzano of the Portland Oregonian writes that Miles' contract, with $26 million still due him over the next three years, could be called "pound-for-pound... the worst contract ever negotiated in Portland."   Except, he goes on, Miles has put on 40 pounds since the last time he played.   *********** Hahahahahaha! This sign comes from Spain, and no, it is not my handiwork. I wish.   The photo was sent to my son, Ed, by his buddy Mike "Gas Man" Gastineau, a highly popular Seattle sports talk guy who knows how much I love The Beautiful Game.   Mike wrote to Ed, "Please forward to your Dad. It was next to a yard in the Guell Park in Barcelona."   I am thinking tee-shirts... hats... bumper stickers.   *********** Christopher Anderson, who is a graduate student at Stanford and a sports reporter for the school's newspaper and radio station as well as a part-time coach, was visiting his family in Wisconsin, and when he told me he was planning a trip to Iowa City, I, never having been there, asked him to scope it out and send me a report:   Quick background: In my high school, we took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and some other standardized assessment administrated by the U of Iowa. I scored quite highly and got a brochure from the 'Belin-Blank center for Gifted Education and Talent Development' about its summer programs.   I was wary of the "Gifted Education" thing, expecting some kind of elitism, but my parents thought it would help me prepare for college so I went. (Some of its attendees sarcastically referred to it as Nerd Camp.) Boy was I wrong. It was awesome and it really opened my eyes to what college would be like if I played my cards right.   On to the city:   I went to Iowa City yesterday to visit two of my friends from the program, both of whom are now in medical school. Iowa City is smaller than many Big Ten cities, but it is not like a smaller Ann Arbor or Madison - its layout is tighter and its student section is quite small, maybe eight square blocks.   It rises out of the cornfields and falls again that quickly. Regarded as a great place to raise kids, it features numerous parks and walking paths. Next to the student hangouts is the Pedestrian Mall, with pushcart food vendors and assorted bums. Next to that is a condo complex that sells units for up to $1 million. (I was honestly shocked.)   I didn't think there were enough bars and dives to feed 30,000 students but they seem to manage. There's a little bit of the college bohemia, but not much. This ain't Eugene (home of the U of Oregon and well-known counterculture hub- HW).   The buildings are like other Big Ten campuses - beige concrete and steel - and like Iowans themselves, the city and its works are clean, functional and not ostentatious. The old capitol building (before the state seat was moved to Des Moines) is well-regarded. Uof I is the "intellectuals'" public university with strong medical and engineering programs (the agro school is in Ames).   My sources tell me the Rockefellers' sponsorship helped Uof I build the largest teaching hospital in the world, which is right across the street from Kinnick Stadium. Recently redone, with a statue of Kinnick himself, it is a big source of pride. (Read about Nike Kinnick: http://www.coachwyatt.com/Apr04.htm)   I've been told Kinnick Stadium is the third-largest city in the state on game day. The traffic (they can't fill it with all the residents of IC) must absolutely choke the town.   Having seen some other schools' facilities, it sure looks like Iowa football is doing it on the cheap, though that's more to say they have learned to live without than cutting any corners. The football office is something like a concrete bunker built into a hill, with lockers and training room underneath. The coaches' offices - are not large and the complex feels somewhat claustrophobic. It reminded me of U-Idaho when we went to football camp there. Kirk Ferentz's office is not much larger than your home office. The indoor practice field is an inflatable bubble.   A personal plug (coming from a Michigan family) - you know who's the big dog in the league when they display not one but two game balls from recent victories over Michigan.   It was a great city to visit and great to catch up with friends.   *********** Alberto Salazar had a "heart event" this past weekend. That's what they called it at first. He had to have a stent inserted, and he's still in critical condition. Now, they're referring to it as a "heart attack," and it's worth your attention.   You see, Alberto Salzar is (was) in great shape. He is 48 years old, is a former University of Oregon world-class distance runner who now makes his living coaching great distance runners, and stays in shape himself. I'd venture to say that he was in better condition that any of us reading this.   And yet, this past weekend, he got nailed.   Remember my friend Kevin Latham, from Atlanta? It's been five years since he had his heart attack. He was only 38 at the time.   Coach Latham stood up at my Atlanta clinic not long after his release from the hospital and practically pleaded with the coaches there to get a checkup.   He had a family history of heart disease. So, it turns out, did Alberto Salazar.   Guys, listen to Kevin Latham - if it can happen to Alberto Salazar, it can happen to any of us.   *********** I just finished THE LAST TEAM STANDING, by Matthew Algeo (don't know if it's a relation) about the 1943 "Steagles".  A great read!  Hope you are well. Jim Algeo, Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania (During World War II, the Steelers and Eagles combined their meagre resources to compete as one team - The Steagles. By coincidence, during my recent semi-annual visit to Powell's City of Books in downtown Portland, I found the book and bought a copy. HW)   *********** You may never have heard of Bill Cramer, who died June 4 at the age of 86, but you can't have spent much time in a football locker room without having smelled one of his products.   Mr. Cramer was the son of the co-founder of Cramer Products, of Gardner, Kansas, world-renowned supplier of athletic training products, and at the time of his death was chairman of the board of the company.   We're talking Cramergesic, guys. And Atomic Balm.   *********** Coach I certainly would like the newsletter. While at Assumption, one of my Frosh coaches was Joe Bush, one of "Leahy's Lads" and a 3-year starter. Mark Kaczmarek, Davenport, Iowa    *********** To a young coach who offered to buy some of my materials and have them sent to his high school's new head coach, in hopes of convincing him to run my Double-Wing, I wrote...   I applaud your concern but I doubt that you will be successful in attempting to "make the horse drink."   Football coaches tend to be VERY set in what they want to do, and they will only try something new if it's THEIR idea.   Which unfortunately means that all you can do is stand by and watch your alma mater get their butts beat, and even then you can't say "I told you so" because the coach will say it's the talent, or injuries, or lack of administrative support, etc.   *********** Eight of the 11 Big Ten teams are using their 12th game this year to pick on a D-IAA team. The ones staying in their own division are Iowa, Michigan State and Penn State, although in fairness, three of Penn State's out-of-conference games are against Florida International (0-12 in 2006), Buffalo (2-10) and Temple (1-11).   *********** Auburn's Tommy Tuberville had outpatient surgery to remove his appendix. Whaaaaat? Outpatient surgery? Granted, it's been more than 40 years ago, but I know I spent fur or five days in the hospital after having mine out the old way.   *********** Hi Coach,   I hope all is well in the Northwest........Thought of you this morning....   I was working out this morning watching ESPN( I know, I know) and they had this great segment about fulfilling severely ill, kid's wishes. The young boy about 7years old was named Devan and he wanted to meet Drew Brees.  Football was his love and he was told he would never be able to play football because he was born with only half of his heart. He understood and commented that maybe he could be a keeker because they don't to do much anyway!  Half hearted, do nothing NFL player = Keeker!  Even a 7 year old figured that out!   Best, Mike Norlock, Atascadero, California (Hahahahaha. Even with only half a heart, the kid's already ahead of a lot of keekers! HW)   *********** Now I know where they find the sideline bimbos...   One of the weekend pretty faces on one of the Portland channels did a little feature on the Oregon Special Olympics. "They compete in a number of games," she told us, and, as we watched video of a ball rolling and hitting another ball, "This one, called BOH-cha."   Say, "BOH-cha?"   Uh, sweetie, I guess I'll have to be the one to tell you - that would be a great Italian game, a form of bowling called bocce. (Pronounced BOTCH-ee)   *********** Best laugh I've had in a long while was watching the news footage of the Charleston, SC police woman who caught a kid skateboarding along a bench, in a park where skateboarding was prohibited, and instead of screwing around with him, she gave the little snot a shove, knocking his ass over a hedge.   *********** The report was that at the Willie Nelson concert at our local county fair the other night, the air was rank with the smell of weed.   Lots o' folks lightin' up.   Funny - if someone had lit up a Marlboro, security would have whisked his ass out of there in a heartbeat.   *********** The coarsening of our culture not only proceeds - it picks up steam...   Alex Rodriguez's wife sat in the players' family's section at Sunday's Yankees' game wearing a tank top with "F--K YOU" printed on the back.   Under the headline "F-Rod," Monday's New York Post ran a photo of the tank top on its front page, with the letters "U-C-K" blurred.   Don't you try it, though - the Yankees have a policy prohibiting banners or signs that are not "in good taste" and they warn that security guards will eject anyone "using foul language" or "making obscene gestures."   *********** I have a question about power blocking. What percent of your power or misdirection plays with the  "8 or 9" call are executed with the double team? If it is a low percentage, I am wondering if I should teach it with just having the WB go second level?   There are two good reasons why I advise not tweaking this:   The danger in doing that is that a guy lined up on your TE (a "6" tech) who squeezed down with the TE when he blocked down, could complicate matters for your fullback, who might run right past him (the guy in the circle) to block the next guy outside. You could have the wingback block down on the "6" technique, but (1) it is your wingback one-on-one on a defensive end, which is not usually a good matchup, and (2) without the wingback to wall him off, a scraping LBer will be in that hole faster than your backside linemen.   The beauty of the TE-Wingback double team when a guy is in a "6" is that when you get it, you can really drive that defender back into the path of scraping inside linebackers.   I'd advise avoiding the temptation to take the shortcut and sticking to the book.   *********** The Southern Arizona chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced this week that its annual youth football award will be called the Jim Young Award.   Since retiring as head coach at Army in 1990, coach Young and his wife have lived in Tucson.   Jim Young's record at Arizona from 1973 through 1976 was 31-13. From there he went to Purdue, where his record was 38-19-1. At Army, from 1983 through 1990, his record was 51-39-1.   Army has had eight head coaches in the last 20 years (current coach Stan Brock is the ninth) and Jim Young is the only one with a winning record. More to the point, since Earl Blaik retired after the 1958 season, Jim Young is the only Army coach other than Paul Dietzel, who left after the 1965 season to become head coach and AD at South Carolina, to leave West Point on his own terms.    *********** The Kentucky chapter of the National Football League Players Association Alumni named Kentucky Wildcats' coach Rich Brooks the winner of this year's Blanton Collier Award.   In 2003, Coach Brooks took over a program on NCAA probation and steadily rebuilt it until in 2006, the Wildcats finished with an 8-5 record, their best record in 22 years, and a Music City Bowl win over Clemson, the Wildcats' first bowl game win in 22 years.   Blanton Collier, a native of Paris, Ky., was head coach of the Wildcats from 1954 through 1961. He was 41-36-3 at Kentucky, but was 5-2-1 against Tennessee, a rival whom the Wildcats have seldom beaten over the years.   In the NFL, as head coach of the Browns from 1963 through 1970, he compiled a record of 76-34-2. During that time, Cleveland won four divisional championships and the 1964 NFL title.   Said Frank Minniefield, past president of the Kentucky NFLPA Alumni, "When you read about Blanton Collier and all the things he stood for, one of the things he believed in was that you can be successful without worrying who gets the credit, Rich Brooks exhibited that type of attitude with Kentucky. He went about his job, and when all was said and done, didn't worry about who got the credit."   *********** If George Bush had the NFL's spin team working for him, poll after poll would show that 87 per cent of the American public thinks we are kicking ass in Iraq.   Somehow, it wasn't very big news that the NFL, deciding it was hopelessly bogged down in its own quagmire, announced a complete withdrawal of forces from "NFL Europa."   They are glossing it over with the stories about the Dolphins-Patriots being sold out, about other regular-season games being planned for other place around the world, and about their efforts to penetrate China, potentially the world's largest market for Madden video games and T.O. jerseys.   But make no mistake about it - this is the NFL's Vietnam. Yes, Big Football will do a better job than our government ever did in the way it portrays its withdrawal to the public, but for the world's most formidable marketing machine, this is a defeat. A huge defeat.   By whatever name it happened to be using at the time - World League of American Football, NFL Europe, NFL Europa, whatever - it failed to live up to its owners' expectations in country after country. At one time, it had teams in England, Scotland, Spain, Germany and Holland. At the end, it had pulled in its horns, leaving only five teams in Germany and on in Holland.   I personally think it is very short-sighted. At the least, the NFL is going to have to do something to develop talented prospects who can't make the big team right now. To give them a chance to actually play, and to play in a respectable brand of football. Maybe the mistake was trying to kill two birds with one stone - to go to Europe and develop players while also trying to make marketing inroads. The cost of supporting NFL Europa was said to be some $500,000 per team, which is big money to you and me, but chump change to people who spend millions on their scouting departments only to wind up telling most of the players they draft to take a hike.   There has been something of a residual effect, at least in Germany, where there are at least 100 teams playing "American football" at one of five different levels, using the "relegation system" common in Europe, by which, to explain it as simply as possible, the winner at each level moves up to the next level for next year's play, and the loser moves down.   Because the NFL Europa teams were required to have a minimum number of home-grown talent on their rosters, it was something of an incentive to young German players to shoot for a position on a real pro football team (despite occasional rumors, play-for-pay is not common in Europe).   The bad part of NFL Europea has been its effect on the play and the players. The play is totally pro-oriented. It's all the people see, and it's all they know, and with no understanding of the history of the game, they are ignorant and intolerant of anything that doesn't look like the NFL.   As an example, the Hamburg Pioneers, running my Double-Wing and coached by my friend Mathias Bonner, defeated the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes "B" team Sunday, 33-14. Kiel is a strong organization with another team in the top division, and came into the game 4-0. The Pioneers were 2-0, counting a forfeit.   During the entire game, Mathias had to listen to the opposing coaches holler across the field at him, "That isn't football."   Near the end of the game, he was approached angrily by a Kiel defender, no doubt frustrated, who got in his face and shouted, "You may have won the game, but you don't know football!"   (This can only have come from NFL brainwashing, and out of respect for the German people and all they've been through in the last 100 years, I won't get into the many reasons why they missed out on Walter Camp, Knute Rockne, Pop Warner, General Bob Neyland and many, many others who coached "football" in a form somewhat similar to what was whipping their asses on Sunday.)   And then there is the "styler" issue. Thanks to the influence of the NFL, there is an obsession among many German players, as there is with a great many NFL players, with looking good - with "styling" - irrespective of how well one actually plays.   So important is it to German football players, influenced as they are by the preoccupation with self-promotion of many NFL players, and so convinced are they that tats and headbands and doo rags and biceps bands and gloves, etc., etc. are an indispensable part of "real football," rather than a perversion of it, that there is an entire section of a German website devoted to the subject of looking good on the field.   Not so long ago, displaying typical American cultural ignorance, the NFL announced that it was pulling marketing support from Australia, the better to concentrate on China. Forget the fact that Australians understand the language, both of America and of football, and they are a nation that loves sports. They have demonstrated a great love of team sports that use a ball that isn't round and involve rough, physical contact.   Yes, China has far more people than Australia. And although they favor ping-pong, and are not in the least familiar with the concept of a contact sport, in the long run it may be possible to turn hundreds of millions of them into little Cheeseheads wearing green-and-gold Number 4 jerseys.. But it is a very long run, a generation at least, because it involves changing a people's culture. And we know how NFL owners, who give a new head coach two, or at the most three, years to win a Super Bowl before firing him, feel about the long run. Isn't this why they bailed out of NFL Europa?   *********** From time to time I hear someone use the term "cut blocking," and it pisses me off to hear it used.   I have no idea exactly what it refers to.  It is a generic term which I couldn't define and have never used.  I don't know of an offensive coach who does.   I suspect that it originates among the stand-up-straight,  grab-the-breastplate offensive line guys and the defenders who hand fight with them,  in describing (legal) blocking at the knees, which they would love to outlaw because it would make their jobs a lot easier.   It is an emotionally-charged but meaningless  term, and because of the similarity of sounds, it is commonly but erroneously confused with chop-blocking, which is clearly defined (and prohibited) in the rule book.      All football programs are invited to participate in the Black Lion Award program. The Black Lion Award is intended to go to the player on your team "Who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder (see below): leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self sacrifice, and - above all - an unselfish concern for the team ahead of himself." The Black Lion Award provides your winner with a personalized certificate and a Black Lions patch, like the one worn at left by Army's 2005 Black Lion, Scott Wesley, and at right by Army's 2006 Black Lion, Mike Viti. There is no cost to you to participate as a Black Lion Award team. FOR MORE INFORMATION   ALL NEW! CSTV's Feature Story on the Black Lion Award BECOME A BLACK LION TEAM GIVE THE BLACK LION AWARD TO ONE OF YOUR PLAYERS! Will Sullivan, Army's 2004 Black Lion wore his patch (awarded to all winners) in the Army-Navy game (FOR MORE INFO) The Black Lion certificate is awarded to all winners   Take a look at this, beautifully done by Derek Wade, of Sumner, Washington --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yy6iA_6skQ