Published continually since 1998, 'NEWS YOU CAN USE' was a Blog before 'Blog' was even a word! It's intention has been to help inform the football coach and the interested football observer on a wide variety of to pics, usually - but not always - related in some way to coaching or leadership. It contains news and views often (trigger alert!) highly opinionated but intended to be thought-pr ovoking. Subjects cover but aren't limited to coaching, leadership, character, football history and current football happenings, education, parenting, citizenship and patriotism, other sports, and even, sometimes, my offense.) TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 'After the game, the King and the pawn go into the same box.'
Old Italian proverb 'OPEN WING VIRTUAL CLINIC' - 5-DVD SET - Priced as a set so that you can purchase all five DVDs for less than the cost of buying four separately. THE DVDS ARE $39.95 EACH, BUT $150 FOR ALL FIVE - A SAVINGS OF $49.75! TO BUY - LIKE #4, DVD #5 IS LONG: 1 HOUR AND 23 MINUTES. LIKE #4, IT INCLUDES A LOT OF MATERIAL THAT WASN'T COVERED AT THE KANSAS CITY CLINIC. (1) MY SLIMMED-DOWN DOUBLE WING PACKAGE - A MUST FOR ANY DIRECT-SNAP COACH WHO'S EVER THOUGHT ABOUT A LIMITED BUT EFFECTIVE 'SURPRISE' OR GOAL-LINE PACKAGE. (EVEN IF YOU'RE ALREADY RUNNING THE DOUBLE WING, I BET THERE ARE SOME TIPS THAT WILL HELP YOU RUN IT BETTER) (2) DETAILED VIDEO ON HOW I TEACH THE UNDER-CENTER SNAP - IF YOU'RE A SHOTGUN GUY, WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO BE ABLE TO SPIKE IT OR SNEAK IT?
(3) A SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE STACK-I PACKAGE - I'VE BEEN RUNNING THIS FOR 20 YEARS NOW AND I'VE NEVER PUT IT ON A VIDEO. IF YOU'RE A DOUBLE-WINGER, YOU OUGHT TO TAKE A LOOK.
(4) BRAND-NEW IN 2015: A BASIC 'OPEN WING' PACKAGE WITH THE QB UNDER CENTER. (5) THE RAM AND LION FORMATIONS - COMBINED WITH AN UNBALANCED LINE, THEY PRODUCE A REALLY NASTY WEDGE THAT'S BEEN A MAINSTAY OF MY OFFENSE SINCE THE MID-90'S. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN ON ONE OF MY VIDEOS, EITHER.
FOR THE FOOTBALL HISTORY BUFF, THERE ARE SOME CLIPS OF 1950'S PRINCETON TEAMS RUNNING THE WEDGE, AND OF WYOMING'S 'SIDE SADDLE T', FROM 1954 EVERY PURCHASOR OF THE SET WILL BE ADDED TO THE OPEN WINGERS' MAILING LIST - AT INTERVALS, I WILL MAIL OUT SUGGESTIONS, IDEAS, COACHING TIPS AND IN-DEPTH EXPLANATIONS TO BUY - I’ve been selling my “EVOLUTION OF AN OFFENSE” DVD for $49.95 and it’s been a good enough seller - but not nearly enough Double Wing coaches have seen it, nor have they been to any of my clinics or camps - which means that in many cases they’re running a 20-year-old Double Wing. Still plenty good, you understand - but not as good as it could be. So, for a limited time, I’m offering a SPRING SPECIAL - just in time for your pre-season planning - “EVOLUTION OF AN OFFENSE” at HALF PRICE! $24.95 And if you’re new to the Double Wing and you purchase my basic package - I’ll include EVOLUTION OF AN OFFENSE at no charge. * Anyone who purchases the DVD Series will also receive the playbook at no additional charge.
(You heard right - the $150 price includes video and playbook.) *********** If there’s anything worse than the traffic on I-5 between Seattle and Tacoma, it’s the traffic on I-5 between Tacoma and Olympia. Any soldier who’s ever been stationed at Fort Lewis, just south of Tacoma, understands. If there’s any Interstate worse, overall, than the entire stretch of I-5, from Seattle to Olympia, I have yet to see it.
I-5 is the main route between Portland, Oregon and Canada. It runs north-south between mountain ranges, and there is absolutely no simple alternative, parallel route. Occasionally, I-5 gets shut off by accidents, sometimes by landslides. Rarely, in low places, by flooding. When it does, life comes to a standstill. But railroad cars? Falling onto the highway?
559X Las Flores del Mal, Charles Baudelaire, Enrique Lopez Castellon 7720 Overthrow, Stephen. And Baroque Lutes” (unpublished M.A. Thesis, Washington University, 1974) mentions two right-hand positions in. 7Venegas de Henestrosa was the only Renaissance writer to name the various right-hand techniques of his day (see. German lute tutors by Hans Judenkunig (1515-1519, 1523), in the first lute book by the.
By now you all know that an Amtrak train from Portland to Seattle derailed just south of Tacoma, where the tracks cross I-5. (The Red Star marks the spot.) At least six people were killed and many others injured. Traffic in the area has been at a standstill, and will likely remain so, with orders that nothing can be touched until the investigators from the NTSD arrive from DC. If you absolutely have to drive from Seattle to points south, you are screwed.
Just kidding. You’re not screwed. You’re just molested. You can still get there. It’s just going to, um, take a little longer. Well, actually, a lot longer.
First, you’ll have to drive east across the Cascades to Yakima. It’s all Interstate. Under normal conditions, it’ll take you about 2-1/2 hours. Did I say “normal conditions?” Well, better allow a little extra time since others will be trying to do the same thing. Oh - and then there’s the weather.
At this time of year, it’s always likely to be snowy in the mountain passes; first, there’s Snoqualmie Pass between Seattle and Yakima. This was as I typed.WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 PM PST TUESDAY ABOVE 3500 FEET. Heavy snow expected. Plan on difficult travel conditions. Total snow accumulations of 14 to 24 inches, with localized amounts up to 3 feet, are expected.
From Yakima to Portland is another three hours. Coming out of Yakima, the trip is interesting. From Toppenish to Goldendale, it winds through the Yakama Indian Reservation (the tribe spells it with an “a”). “Winds’ is the right word.
It’s twisty as hell, a beautiful drive if you have the time, but it’s two-lane most of the way, and under these circumstances I suspect it’s going to be a pain in the ass. There’s one more pass to cross, Satus Pass, just north of Goldendale, and then from there the road winds steeply down off the Columbia Plateau to river level. You cross the river to the Oregon side, and, assuming decent weather (never a sure thing in the winter in the Pacific Northwest), it’s smooth sailing to Portland on I-84. Wasn’t that fun? Aren’t you looking forward to the return trip. I’m guessing six hours, Seattle to Portland. Could be more if the weather is bad.
On I-5, it used to take three hours. My daughter and son-in-law made it during Thanksgiving traffic in 4-1/2, a new record in aggravation. *********** Next time the players try to tell you who to hire stuff cotton in your ears. Oregon claims that they didn’t give any undue weight to their players’ expressed wish that Mario Cristobal be their coach - they insisted that they hired him for other reasons. That’s good, because the Ducks sure didn’t play against Boise State like a team that wanted to play for their new coach.
Actually, they didn’t look like they wanted to play for anybody, as they fell to the Broncos, 38-28. It wasn’t that close. Thanks to an overpowering offense and defense - and Oregon turnovers - the Broncos led, 24-0 near the end of the first half, when two long returns within 33 seconds - one of an interception, one of a fumbled statue-of-liberty exchange - brought Oregon to within 24-14. Ducks’ fans may have been deluded at that point by the score, forgetting that both Boise State miscues came deep in Oregon territory, as the Broncos were preparing to administer the coup de grace. Also forgetting that up to that point, Oregon’s offense had yet to cross midfield. Boise State is now 3-0 against Oregon. It was a horrible debut for the new coach.
His team was soft and listless. Oregon fans tried to cheer themselves by remembering that Chip Kelly’s debut was also against Boise State and it, too, was a flop. Readers may remember that game as the one where Ducks’ running back LeGarrette Blount delivered a blow to good sportsmanship - and to a celebrating Bronco lineman - during the postgame festivities. Blount was restrained and removed from the scene by a young Oregon assistant named Scott Frost. What the Oregon fans may have forgotten was that Chip Kelly’s loss was in the season opener, and the Ducks had another game coming up in 10 days. Mario Cristobal has to live with this mess for the next nine months.
********* My disappointment with Mario Cristobal was not because of Oregon’s loss to Boise State. Not even because of their lackluster play. It was because of the way he handled Royce Freeman’s decision. I’ve written about Royce Freeman numerous times.
As a youth, he played for a friend, Matt Marrs, in Imperial, California. I like the things he’s said and I like the way he’s played. And when he announced that he was not going to play in the Las Vegas Bowl, I understood his thinking. We’ve reached the point where college football is just a stepping stone to the NFL.
And high school is just a stepping stone to college. And youth football is just a stepping stone to high school football. But just because I understand doesn’t mean that I’m in favor of this skip-the-bowl bullsh—, pioneered last year by Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette.
So if I had been Royce Freeman’s coach before the team left for Las Vegas, I’d have brought him into my office and said, “Royce, I’m sure that you’ve been given advice by a lot of people who don’t think you should play in our bowl game. It’s your decision to make, but before you make it, I do want you to know that once you decide that you’re not going to play with us, you’re no longer a member of the team. It means that you’ve basically quit the squad. And the same as with anyone else who quits, it means you’re giving up all the things that go with membership on the team. You’ll no longer be permitted in the football facility. Your key card won’t work.
We’ll pack up the things in your locker and bring them out to you. Your tuition is paid through the end of the semester, but if you choose to stay on, you’ll have to pay it yourself. You’ve been here long enough that you qualify for in-state.
You’ll have to be out of your room by the end of the day, and you’ll have to handle your own meals. You won’t travel with the team to Las Vegas. You won’t get any tickets for your family. You won’t get any of the bowl swag, which is pretty nice stuff. And if you decide to come to Vegas on your own, you won’t be allowed down on the sideline or in the locker room before, during, or after the game.” Now, that’s what I’d have done. I’ve consulted with others with more experience on this issue, and they concur. But here’s where things get complicated: Freeman didn’t make his announcement back when he should have, back when the team was still in Eugene.
Intentionally or not, he travelled with the team, practiced once or twice, and then told one and all that he wasn’t going to play in the game. (Many players said afterward that they’d all known that for some time.) Backed into a corner, Coach Cristobal blew the chance to teach a lesson that would have reverberated through his program for years to come. Error Number One: He didn’t send Royce Freeman back to Eugene on the first bus. Maybe it would have made the players sad. But it would have let one and all know that they while may think they got him hired, they’re not his boss. And then, Error Number Two: He allowed Freeman - the guy who didn’t want to play - down on the sideline during the game, allowing him to socialize with the team throughout the game. Evidently Freeman even gave some sort of a pep talk, which has got to be a first - “Fight like hell, men!
Now, if you’ll excuse me” This was on national TV, you understand. Mack Brown in the studio, Kirk Herbstreit up in the booth. They were as incredulous as I was. I know I’ve mentioned how early in some of my jobs the Lord has presented me with some amazing opportunities to demonstrate to a team how things were going to be.
I took full advantage of them. Mario Cristobal was presented with just such an opportunity, and I’m afraid he showed one and all that he’s going to be a “player’s coach.” *********** I have seen the nearest thing to Brian Urlacher, a guy started out as a quarterback in a small high school and in four years at New Mexico grew into a first-round NFL draft choice and became into one of the NFL’s most feared linebackers. This updated version of Urlacher is Leighton Vander Esch of Boise State. A 6-4, 240 pound Redshirt Junior linebacker, he was Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Small high school? His was remote as you can get, and so small that it played 8-man football. He played quarterback and middle linebacker, and his team, Salmon River High in Riggins, Idaho, won state championships in both his junior and senior years.
In his senior year, he completed 121 of 199 passes for 2155 years and 28 touchdowns, with only one interception. On the ground, he rushed 157 times for 1565 yards and 34 touchdowns. On defense, he had 85 solo tackles with five interceptions and five fumble recoveries. He also led his team to two state basketball championships, averaging 29.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
It’s nearly impossible to describe how remote Riggins, Idaho is. Its population was 406. There are no bigger towns within 100 miles.
It’s in the Snake River Valley, surrounded by rugged mountains and there is only one road in and out of town. Lewiston is two hours to the north; Boise is three-and-a-half hours to the south. *********** It was quite a sight Friday night, watching the North Dakota State Bison work over the Sam Houston State Bearkats, 55-13, in an FCS semifinal. The Texans like to throw the ball, and they are good at it. But when your passer’s a little bit off Meanwhile, the Bison can thrown the ball pretty well, too, but that’s not their deal. They’re big and strong and they like to run, and Friday night, they rushed for 323 yards. In the first half.
Running back Bruce Anderson rushed for 165 and 3 TDs himself - in the first half. The Bison have a junior QB in Easton Stick, a big kid from Omaha’s Creighton Prep, who looks almost like a slightly smaller (he’s 6-2, 220) version of Carson Wentz. I’d have to put a game in the Fargo Dome on a bucket list. *********** North Dakota State has has a promising young running back named Seth Wilson, a freshman from Holmen, Wisconsin, a small town in the southeastern part of the state near LaCrosse. Bossa Nova Bass Lines Pdf Viewer. That’s where his mom is from. Now, there really aren’t many black kids in that area, so I did a little research, and what I found was amazing. His father Stanley Wilson, was a great running back at Oklahoma at the same time as Billy Sims and played in the NFL for the Bengals.
You may remember that he had problems with drugs while in the NFL, and that he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to 22 years in prison. He served most of that time, and was released when Seth was 16. The entire time he was incarcerated, Stanley Wilson and his wife tried to make sure that father played a role - a positive role - in the son’s life, and the things they did to make that happen are remarkable. *********** The NCAA final game won’t be played until January 6. That’s a long time to have wait to see a great matchup - North Dakota State against James Madison. North Dakota State is plenty good, but James Madison isn’t exactly lunch meat. The Dukes ran all over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, the only team to beat North Dakota State this year.
January 6 is also a long time to have to wait to see the end of the pants-above-the-knees, bicycle-shorts look. The rule outlawing it was passed last year, but schools were give one year to phase out of uniforms they already had on hand. How much you wanna bet there’ll be some schools that went out and bought bicycle shorts anyhow, in the belief that they’ll be able to claim hardship and go on looking like twerps?
*********** Today's NYT has obit on Tommy Nobis. He shadowed Joe Don in 1963 Texas-Oklahoma game.
Joe Don got four yards on six carries. Some thought he quit. There was a story of him slugging an OU assistant, later denied by the coach. Tabellenbuch Elektrotechnik Pdf there.
Anyway, Bud Wilkinson kicked Joe Don off the team a few days after the Texas game. Joe Don had been an all-American in 1962. Tim Bross Kirkwood, Missouri Tommy Nobis was a great college football player who spent his pro career playing on poor-to-mediocre Falcons’ teams. Seems to me he was one of the last of the great NFL middle linebackers, guys who would play every down on defense. *********** What could possibly go wrong? A suit, whose only qualifications were working as an agent and as an executive in the NFL office, now runs a college athletic program.
How about hiring as your head coach a former client who’s never been a head coach in college? Who’s never been a successful coach in the NFL? Who for that matter hasn’t coached at all in years? How about creating the vacant position in the first place by spending $12 million of your employer’s money to send the old coach - a winner, by the way - packing? How about, while you’re firing the old coach, explaining that you don’t intend to settle for mediocrity - that you want more than winning? How about putting out word that you expect whoever you hire to retain both coordinators - a condition, in retrospect, that seems designed to scare away other job candidates and pave the way for your boy?
How about announcing that you’re going run things like a pro operation, with your new head coach delegating near-head-coach responsibilities to his coordinators? How about now having to wipe the egg off your face when both coordinators bail, leaving your new head coach - a guy who hasn’t the slightest ides what a college offense or defense is, having to fish or cut bait? Lotsa luck, Sun Devils!
*********** Ain’t Karma a bitch? Last week, the Pee Hawks lost to Jacksonville, and then, upset by what they considered unfair officiating, treated spectators to a game-ending ruckus the likes of which I never saw in semi-pro ball. It was precipitated by Michael Bennett, their nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, taking a nasty shot at the opposing center’s knees. (In his behalf, perhaps he misunderstood what “take a knee” meant.) Ironically, this was the same Bennett who just a few years ago went ballistic when Greg Schiano ordered his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to do the very same thing. That was followed by a bizarre tantrum by Hawks’ Quentin Jefferson, who on his way out of the stadium after being ejected, took offense at things fans said, as wells as to having beer thrown down on him.
Returning to the field, he attempted to climb into the stands to get at fans but was restrained. Can anyone say Ron Artest? Now, he may be big and strong and tough and all that, and padded, but I’d still put my money on a bunch of drunken fans just spoiling for a chance to pummel him. Interestingly, perhaps to show his indignation, he’d torn off his helmet, which raises a question about his intelligence: when people are throwing things at you, would you take off your helmet? Perhaps because the Commissioner of the NFL was in a holiday mood, on top of celebrating his contract extension, he failed to consider the scary implications of NFL players going into the stands, and Jefferson was spared a suspension. This week, The Pee Hawks went down to the Rams, 42-7. It wasn’t that close.
They were awful, and the Rams were good. Todd Gurley found “Hawk Tackling,” rushing for 152 yards and scoring four touchdowns (one of them on a pass). He could easily have run for more, but Seattle kept giving the Rams a short field.
The Hawks were out of it by halftime, 30-0, and the game wasn’t yet into the fourth quarter when the “frustration,” as the announcers like to call it, set in. Many were the boos. Few were the spectators remaining at the end. We may have seen a sea change - appropriate phrase. *********** I love football. But I hate the NFL. I wish the NFL had competition.
But, Dear God, not a reincarnation of the XFL, as is rumored. The XFL was exactly what you’d have expected of Vince McMahon - a marriage of the NFL and pro wrestling.
It’s hard to believe that there was anything that could make me like the NFL, but the XFL almost did. (In case you think this could really happen, let’s suppose you’re a billionaire who’s been approached to buy a franchise in a new professional football league. After the way you’ve seen NFL players act this season, would you invest your fortune in a business venture in which the players consider themselves to be your partners, and insist on using the business - your business - to advance their social causes?) *********** I enjoyed the North Carolina A & T - Grambling game, played for the championship of HBCU’s, won by NCA&T on a touchdown with 38 seconds remaining. But whoever was doing the color - sheesh Just before halftime, Grambling got down to the NC one-yard line, and the color guy got all excited.
You could tell he’d been waiting for this. He started to tell us how, once a game, every game, as a tribute to the great Eddie Robinson, Grambling would run one play from the Wing-T. Grambling had called a time out, so they used the time to show us some clips of Coach Rob, the long-time Grambling coach.
And then, with time back in, as the Grambling offense broke from the huddle, the color guy informed us that this was, indeed, the Wing-T. “Some call it the Delaware Wing-T Eddie Robinson won a lot of games running this formation They’re going to call this play the Wing-T formation to honor Coach Rob” And here’s how they lined up. Looks like they’re a wingback shy of a Wing-T. For the record, from this 'Wing T' formation, they rolled left and threw for the touchdown. *********** Hugh, For every sad story you hear about young men who fail, there are always 10 stories of young men who succeeded, and 10 more stories of young men who failed and eventually succeeded.
I've had my share of all three. Which leads me to your comment about how manliness has declined in this society.
Many men in our society today have grown up being castrated by domineering women. Many boys today are being raised by women who lack a positive, strong, male role model in their lives, OR, boys are being raised by women with negative, weak male role models in their lives.
As a result young boys are either not growing up learning what it means to be strong, good, masculine men, OR, young boys are growing up learning how to be milk toast, or worse.thugs. Of course there are exceptions. But years ago today's exceptions were yesterday's rule. Jury is still out for me on Mario Cristobal. Hope he can pull it off, but I get the heebie-jeebies when I hear players today use the term, 'players coach'. (Translation: He'll let us do what we want).
Pete Carroll is one of those guys. Have a great weekend! Joe Gutilla Austin, Texas *********** QUIZ ANSWER: When Bill Dudley arrived at the University of Virginia from Bluefield, Virginia, he was 5 foot 8-1/2 and weighed 148.
Four years later, he was the first draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers. By then he was 5 foot 10-1/2 and weighed 168. He was a terrific runner, and although he wasn’t especially fast, at college he was nicknamed the Bluefield Bullet. Over time, that morphed into Bullet Bill, the nickname that followed him through his NFL career. As a senior at UVa, Dudley led the nation in touchdowns, points scored, yards rushing per play, and touchdowns responsible for. Virginia finished 8-1, losing only to Yale, 21-19. In his final game.
A 28-7 win over North Carolina, he scored three touchdowns and kicked four extra points. He was awarded the Maxwell Trophy as the nation's outstanding college player.
In 1942, his rookie year in Pittsburgh, he led the NFL in rushing, and helped improve the Steelers from last place in the NFL to second. He was named All-Pro. And then, he enlisted in the Army and became a pilot. Every where he went, though, he was expected to play on the local service football team, He returned after the War in 1945 and picked up where he left off, but as good as he was - he was the League MVP in 1946, leading the NFL in rushing, punt returns and interceptions - he had difficulty getting along with the Steelers’ hard-nosed coach, Dr.
Jock Sutherland, and after the season he retired and got a job coaching at Virginia. Realizing he was serious, the Steelers traded him to the Lions. He abandoned his plans to coach, and in three years at Detroit, from 1947-1949, he was team captain and led the team in scoring every year. In 1950 he was traded to the Redskins, and after missing the entire 1951 season, he returned for two more years before retiring.
He was named first- or second-team All-Pro six times. Playing for three different teams, he led his team in scoring every one of his nine seasons in the NFL. Despite his lack of size, he was a true 60-minute man. In addition to his great ability as a runner - he was named to the backfield of the NFL All-Decade Team for the 1940s, along with Steve Van Buren and Marion Motley - and as a safety - Steelers’ owner Art Rooney claimed that opposing coaches fined their quarterbacks for throwing near him - he was an all-purpose kicker, punting and place-kicking. (His place-kicking form, which I still remember marveling at, required absolutely no steps. He simply stood in place, swung his leg back, and swung it forward.