BeeDee
08-23-2005, 04:19 PM
Ten sure signs football season is here
by GLENN GUILBEAU
Shreveport Times (http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050822/SPORTS0202/508220306/1028)
August 22, 2005
BATON ROUGE -- These are the dog days of summer and of football season, meaning if there was a dog on a football team somewhere, chances are someone would be planning to interview him or her for a story. And I'm not talking about Terrell Owens. Then they would do another story on the backup dog.
Football -- meaning regular season games -- does not really start for another couple of weeks, but all this pre-football has been going on for nearly a month with the start of the NFL training camps and the Southeastern Conference Media Days.
It's all about what might happen, instead of what is happening. Enough already. Here are 10 sure signs that we are in August and there have been no real games yet.
1. Players who otherwise would have received no attention get complete stories written about them because they quit. LSU receiver Amp Hill is an example. Last week, reporters hunted down his mother, his prep coach and possible future coaches for days because he left a team that was not going to use him much anyway. Hill's a great kid, and I wish him the best. But by leaving, he got more publicity than he ever would have by staying.
2. The number of times you see "pleased" in practice stories from the various colleges around the state is unbelievable. If as many coaches are pleased in two months, Louisiana will be the king of college football instead of annually filling out the bottom 10.
3. Stories about kickers and punters are everywhere. August is there time in the sun, unless they really mess up in a game or try to scalp their bowl tickets.
4. Stories about deep snappers. I actually saw one weeks ago when it was still early August. Gant Petty is LSU's deep snapper. I'm sure he's a great guy, and he has tough job. But I vowed years ago never to do a story on a deep snapper. So far so good, but next Thursday is looking like a slow news day.
5. Promises to use the fullback as more than just a blocker this season. Coaches say it every year and rarely do it. LSU has two promising fullbacks in former Evangel Christian standout Jacob Hester and Steve Korte, and both have the talent to play tailback as well. But I'm telling you, they will not catch or run for much significant yardage from fullback. In this age of four-receiver sets, fullback is a blocking position even more than it used to be.
6. Promises to use the tight end as more than just a blocker this season. Coaches say it every year and rarely do it. In this age of four-receiver sets, tight end is less of a receiver position than it used to be.
7. Position-by-position series' by newspapers. These can be interesting, but they are also a convenient way to avoid actually coming up with real ideas between now and kickoff.
8. Beware of comments by Saints players who used to be on Super Bowl teams. They'll say there is as much talent on the Saints as there was on their world championship team. Billy Newsome, a backup defensive lineman on the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts in the 1970 season, said it back in the summer of 1973 before his first season with the Saints. I was one very excited 11-year-old when I read this in the New Orleans paper. My dad said, "Oh, they're just trying to sell tickets."
The Saints traded the first pick in the draft in 1973 for Newsome to the Colts, who drafted LSU quarterback Bert Jones. The Saints finished 5-9 in 1973.
Last week, Saints running back Antowain Smith, who was on the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in 2001 and 2003, compared the 2005 Saints to the 2001 Pats.
"The way I look at it, nobody gave us a chance," Smith said. "Why not us? I look at us as that same team."
When a friend called beaming with hope after reading that story, I said, "Oh, they're just trying to sell tickets." That's also why they're playing their starters into the third quarter. This is the Saints' time in the sun.
Why not the Saints? Lack of coaching, defense, leadership, a front office and ownership.
9. Overreaction to NFL exhibition games. For example, the Saints jumping around like 11-year-olds when their backups beat the Pats' backups in the second half for a 37-27 win on Thursday. Hope it sold tickets.
10. Coaches and writers going on about competition at positions when there is little. LSU's quarterback "race," for example. JaMarcus Russell was, is and will be the guy.
by GLENN GUILBEAU
Shreveport Times (http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050822/SPORTS0202/508220306/1028)
August 22, 2005
BATON ROUGE -- These are the dog days of summer and of football season, meaning if there was a dog on a football team somewhere, chances are someone would be planning to interview him or her for a story. And I'm not talking about Terrell Owens. Then they would do another story on the backup dog.
Football -- meaning regular season games -- does not really start for another couple of weeks, but all this pre-football has been going on for nearly a month with the start of the NFL training camps and the Southeastern Conference Media Days.
It's all about what might happen, instead of what is happening. Enough already. Here are 10 sure signs that we are in August and there have been no real games yet.
1. Players who otherwise would have received no attention get complete stories written about them because they quit. LSU receiver Amp Hill is an example. Last week, reporters hunted down his mother, his prep coach and possible future coaches for days because he left a team that was not going to use him much anyway. Hill's a great kid, and I wish him the best. But by leaving, he got more publicity than he ever would have by staying.
2. The number of times you see "pleased" in practice stories from the various colleges around the state is unbelievable. If as many coaches are pleased in two months, Louisiana will be the king of college football instead of annually filling out the bottom 10.
3. Stories about kickers and punters are everywhere. August is there time in the sun, unless they really mess up in a game or try to scalp their bowl tickets.
4. Stories about deep snappers. I actually saw one weeks ago when it was still early August. Gant Petty is LSU's deep snapper. I'm sure he's a great guy, and he has tough job. But I vowed years ago never to do a story on a deep snapper. So far so good, but next Thursday is looking like a slow news day.
5. Promises to use the fullback as more than just a blocker this season. Coaches say it every year and rarely do it. LSU has two promising fullbacks in former Evangel Christian standout Jacob Hester and Steve Korte, and both have the talent to play tailback as well. But I'm telling you, they will not catch or run for much significant yardage from fullback. In this age of four-receiver sets, fullback is a blocking position even more than it used to be.
6. Promises to use the tight end as more than just a blocker this season. Coaches say it every year and rarely do it. In this age of four-receiver sets, tight end is less of a receiver position than it used to be.
7. Position-by-position series' by newspapers. These can be interesting, but they are also a convenient way to avoid actually coming up with real ideas between now and kickoff.
8. Beware of comments by Saints players who used to be on Super Bowl teams. They'll say there is as much talent on the Saints as there was on their world championship team. Billy Newsome, a backup defensive lineman on the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts in the 1970 season, said it back in the summer of 1973 before his first season with the Saints. I was one very excited 11-year-old when I read this in the New Orleans paper. My dad said, "Oh, they're just trying to sell tickets."
The Saints traded the first pick in the draft in 1973 for Newsome to the Colts, who drafted LSU quarterback Bert Jones. The Saints finished 5-9 in 1973.
Last week, Saints running back Antowain Smith, who was on the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in 2001 and 2003, compared the 2005 Saints to the 2001 Pats.
"The way I look at it, nobody gave us a chance," Smith said. "Why not us? I look at us as that same team."
When a friend called beaming with hope after reading that story, I said, "Oh, they're just trying to sell tickets." That's also why they're playing their starters into the third quarter. This is the Saints' time in the sun.
Why not the Saints? Lack of coaching, defense, leadership, a front office and ownership.
9. Overreaction to NFL exhibition games. For example, the Saints jumping around like 11-year-olds when their backups beat the Pats' backups in the second half for a 37-27 win on Thursday. Hope it sold tickets.
10. Coaches and writers going on about competition at positions when there is little. LSU's quarterback "race," for example. JaMarcus Russell was, is and will be the guy.