FB COACHES READY TO SHIFT GEARS INTO VACATION MODE

College football coaches are currently working their way through the summer camp sessions being held on their campuses. But, I can attest to the fact that most of them also have their mind drifting off to what awaits them coming up in the next week or two.

Most staffs are given 3-4 weeks off following camp sessions. Coaches covet this opportunity to spend appreciable time away from the office connecting with family and friends and doing things that time just does not allow at any other time of the year. I'm old enough to remember coaching college football before cell phones were invented. We had to check in with the office a couple of times a week by phone, we had to call our position players once per week and before we closed our eyes at night, many a coach like me prayed that we didn't get a wake-up call in early morning hours with bad news about some player issue that developed back on campus.

But, it's much worse now. Most coaches have two phones--a personal phone and their work phone. First, recruiting never stops, so coaches are always on duty, 24/7, for recruiting purposes--texting, tweeting, phone calls and more. Communication with their position players never stops--following up on an academic issue that popped up, following up on a report from the strength & conditioning coach about an issue at a workout, or just checking in with players to let them know they are still on the coach's mind is constant. Many a coach's wife or a child can be heard, "But I thought you were on vacation."

If a coach can truly put his phone away for several consecutive hours before worrying about what might have popped up on it, he has a chance to be in the moment and enjoy the people and activities around him. I know my wife will confirm this, and she will get almost all other coaches' wives to also agree, that within 3-4 days of vacation ending and having to return to work, the coach will have a hard time being as relaxed and present as he was just days ago. Without trying he will begin to get into the preseason mind-set, gearing up for his return to action.

Men, do your best to enjoy your time. Put your phones away for a while and be there for your loved ones. These opportunities are too precious to not be able to make the very most of them.

CAN AUBURN'S "D" DO ENOUGH, LIKE 2nd HALF VS. CRIMSON TIDE?

Following Auburn's torrid comeback from a 24-point deficit at Alabama last Friday, there is no doubt the Tigers' offense is national championship-worthy. But the question throughout all of the 2010 season has been can Auburn's defense hold up enough to give their offense a chance to win it.
As much as the huge comeback win over Alabama was attributed to the offense putting up 28 points to 'Bama's 3, the defense showed up in the second half, too.
Nick Fairley (#90 above) is a bona fide All-America candidate at defensive tackle. He disrupted things in the middle and ended the day posting two solo sacks and two tackles for loss, for a total of minus-30 yards (15 via sack, 15 via TFLs). The defensive front, which includes the linebackers, too, can be solid overall and they can also pressure the passer. Pass coverage has been the Tigers Achilles Heel, and that's where Alabama made the most of their opportunities in the first half. Fortunately for Auburn, the defense as a whole, and the pass defense in particular, pulled it together in the second half.
Alabama's passing game put up astronomical numbers in the first half en route to a 24-0 lead. QB Greg McElroy was 19 out of 23 for 335 yards. That's a great GAME for most people. In order to do that someone had to catch those passes. All-America WR Julio Jones was outrageous--seven receptions for 174 yards--again, a tremendous game total any receiver would be proud to have. RB Mark Ingram contributed big time in that first half with 91 receiving yards. Despite all of that, Auburn did manage to sack McElroy twice. But, the second half was as different as night and day.
If the first half was a dark time for Auburn's "D", the second half was bright sunshine. The Tigers limited to Alabama to just 67 total yards of offense in the second half compared 379 in the first. The Tide only clicked on 8 of 18 passing for a measly 42 yards in the second half and Auburn's defense came up with three more sacks of Alabama QBs. One was quite significant; McElroy, the outstanding senior, team leader, suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder when he was driven into the ground on a sack late in the fourth quarter. Jones was not blanked in the receiving department in the second half, but his three catches were for only 25 yards.
Cam Newton and the rest of the Auburn offense is exciting to watch and very explosive, but there has not been a team who has won the national championship with a shaky defense. The Tigers are yielding about 25 points per game and 363 yards of total offense (108 rush & 255 pass). That's good enough to beat most people given Auburn's offense. They are not a big INT defense; in fact, Auburn has only picked off opposing QBs eight times out of 441 attempts. As mentioned before, they can get after the QB a fair amount--30 sacks on the year. The key in the very near future will be for Auburn's "D" to play with the sense of urgency, tenacity, and execution they did the last 30 minutes against Alabama.
If Auburn gets past South Carolina in the SEC title game this Saturday, and Oregon takes care of business vs. rival Oregon State in their "Civil War", the bottom line is-- will the Tiger defense be good enough against the Ducks? If both teams hold form, we will have to wait until Jan. 10th to find out. That gives Auburn's defense a good month to get ready for Oregon's electric, scoring machine of an offense...but, it also gives the Ducks time to come up with a couple of new wrinkles, too.

SEC EAST TITLE AT STAKE SATURDAY IN THE SWAMP

As a former Florida quarterback, Heisman Trophy Award winner, and national champion head coach of the Gators, Steve Spurrier has his name among those in the ring of honor in "The Swamp", Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.  But, for about three hours this Saturday night Spurrier and his South Carolina Gamecocks will be the opponent as 90,000-plus Florida fans yell, cheer and scream for their Gators to beat Spurrier and, thus, capture the SEC eastern division crown.  The winner of this battle will go on to play for the SEC championship in Atlanta the first week of December.  If nothing changes between now and then Auburn would be the opposition, as they currently sit atop the western division.

As much as it makes for endless amounts of mediocre copy for a lot of writers this game isn't about Steve Spurrier and it's not about Gator Coach Urban Meyer.  But, IT IS all about the players on both teams who have prepared since last winter's off-season training to play for a shot at the SEC title.

 Florida uncharacteristically lost three games in a row before getting a bye week and then righting the ship to beat Georgia in overtime two weeks ago and Vanderbilt in a glorified scrimmage last week.  South Carolina is trying to avert another November swoon under Spurrier.  Last week they were out-played from the opening kickoff and rolled over by Arkansas, 41-20, at home.  They also stumbled a few weeks ago against a mediocre Kentucky team, the very next week after they had upset then #1-ranked Alabama! 

Florida's defense, although not as physically dominating as past editions, is still near the top of SEC defensive categories thanks to their overall athletic ability and speed to chase down opposing ball carriers.  They started the first half of the year gathering a bushel full of turnovers before slowing down slightly in that department, but they are very capable of taking the ball away, and that will be critical to help set up the Gator offense with good field position.  Florida's offense has gone through a re-birth, or maybe just a birth.  Despite chalking up four straight wins to start the year the Gator offense never looked smooth.  It sputtered along trying to find an identity in a world without Tim Tebow.  After losses to heavyweights Alabama and LSU, followed by a 10-7 punch in the gut loss to Miss. St. in Gainesville, it was back to the drawing board for Florida during a bye week.  The Gators rolled out an offense that featured three potential QBs all in the game at the same time, keeping defensive coaches guessing as to who would take the snap from center.  If it was John Brantley, the regular starter, chances are he would not run the ball, but he was a threat to pass or hand off.  If it was Trey Burton, there was slim chance of pass, but a heavy tendency for him to run the ball.  Then, add in Jordan Reed, a former QB-turned TE-turned part-time QB.  He did both incredibly well last week vs. Vandy, thus further muddying the waters for the opponent's defensive game plan.  If you haven't seen it, all three possible QBs are in the game and they shift in and out of the QB position just prior to the snap from center.  As gimmicky as it seems, it has worked, and that's all that matters when you are expected to compete for championships at Florida.

South Carolina was motoring along this year because Spurrier added a legitimate run threat in true freshman Marcus Lattimore.  That was exactly what the Gamecocks needed to keep people from gearing up to stop Spurrier's passing game.  With the threat of run, the ability to play-action off of that, and still use "the old ball coach's" deep passing playbook the Gamecocks had it rolling. The very gifted young Lattimore has been dinged up a bit lately and was held to less than 50 yards a week ago by Arkansas.  That puts more pressure on SC QB Stephen Garcia.  Garcia has turned it around this year by reducing his turnovers which used to cause Spurrier to fling his visor to the ground way too often.  Alshon Jeffery is an outstanding talent at wide receiver and a tough match-up for the Gator secondary.  The SC offensive tackles will have their hands full trying to handle Florida's pass rush, so they need to be able to create some running lanes to off-set that situation.

The Gamecocks are struggling in the defensive secondary.  Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson tried to simplify things a bit for Arkansas due to having to play some inexperienced people back there, but they still had issues against such a strong passing attack from Ryan Mallett and his Razorback crew.  Florida doesn't have the overall pass attack to worry about like Arkansas, but the multiple quarterback system, threat of option, and QBs who can both run and pass could cause the Gamecock defense to suffer breakdowns simply due to getting the right calls made, communicating it before the snap, then having to adjust on the fly.

This has the makings of an outstanding game and everyone can see it--ESPN 7:15 EST Saturday night.  If I were a betting man, and I am not, I have to go with the Gators, especially at home.  Enjoy the game.

Idiots Trying to Take Over; Sad State of Sportmanship Growing in Fan Behavior

I am not trying to conjure up stories passed down from generations ago, but do you remember the days when fans were passionate not just about the team they followed, but also the game itself? The whole package needs to be addressed at some point; I am mostly concerned with sportsmanship, respect for coaches and officials, as well as respect for other fans that happen to be within earshot.
The topic is much too large to be discussed in one writing here, but let’s take a look at parts of it. There were two different incidents that I witnessed within a week’s time that really caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand at attention in regard to sportsmanship and fan behavior.

The first incident was last Tuesday at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Anaheim, CA. The “Mid-Summer Classic”, as it is known, began in 1933. The game brings together the “best of the best.” Through the many years there have been different means by which players were selected for the prestigious honor. All-Stars have been picked by the fans, the coaches, the players, or some combination thereof.

One of the great traditions to open the All-Star Game is the introduction of the respective rosters—first the non-starters for both the American and National League teams, followed by the starting lineups and coaches for each. With the game being hosted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim there was a natural home field American League partisanship in attendance. Second to that was a Southern California bias for teams in the general neighborhood; aside from the Angels, there was a swell of applause heard for LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres players.

What stood out more than the natural and very much expected roar of support for the above teams was the incredible cast of loud boos for the Angels east coast competitors from New York and Boston, and to a lesser degree the Dodgers rival to the north, the SF Giants. The players from those teams who were the targets and victims of such poor sportsmanship don’t deserve treatment like that, yet it is commonly accepted today as a normal means of behavior at a ballgame.

Don’t get me wrong, if an opposing player does something to or against my team that is classless, against the rules, or perceived to be bad sportsmanship I say let the boos rip…in fact, that goes for my team’s players, too. But, to shower All-Stars visiting your stadium just because their team may have beaten yours in recent years play-offs? Grow up. A strange twist on this is the fact that All-Star games now reward the winning team and league with home field advantage for the World Series. So, in effect, the Angels fans were booing their own “home team” members when they were booing the Yankees and Red Sox. Nice job folks. No wonder the AL lost to the NL for the first time since 1997. Congratulations.

I find it amazing that parents who watch their children play various organized youth sports—i.e. baseball, soccer, basketball to name a few—stand, applaud and smile as both youth teams perform the choreographed and mandatory lineup to exchange a shake of hands with the opponent at game’s end. These are the same people yelling profanity and booing with their kids alongside at the college and pro games. Maybe the kids can help straighten out the parents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second incident that gave me a World Wrestling Federation kick to the solar plexus was just last night when the Chicago Cubs were hosting the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball.

The Cubs are struggling through another long season. They are 9.5 games out of first and playing just .452 baseball with a 42-51 mark. They were about to close out a win over the Phillies in the eighth inning when the Phils’ all-star first baseman, and one of top power hitters in the NL, Ryne Howard, lifted a home run into the left-centerfield bleachers. The ESPN cameras tracked the flight of the ball and showed it landing among a group of fans that included a younger middle-aged father and two cute sons, probably between 5-7 years of age, each of whom had their baseball gloves ready for such a lucky opportunity.

It was not clear if one of the youngsters actually caught the ball, but one of them did come up with the ball soon after it splashed down in the crowd. What happened next makes no sense and it is on par with the idiots in the above story.

For reasons that are foreign to me, though I am willing to listen to any sensible, well-grounded individual try to explain it, the youngster was enthusiastically prodded by the throng of Cubs’ fans near him to throw the ball back onto the field of play. As fans were cheering and wildly waving their arms, acting out the verbal message of “throw the ball back”, the little guy eventually fired it back onto the green lawn of the outfield which then sent the bleacher bums into ecstasy. Yes! We persuaded the 5 year old!

Now tell me, isn’t it most fans’ dream to come away from a major league baseball game with a legitimate souvenir? Foul balls are okay, but a home run ball is something special! If not, why is it that there are dozens of kids and young adults who patrol Sheffield and Waveland Avenues outside of Wrigley Field during games just for a chance to chase down a home run ball? Let me get this right, just because the home run was not hit by a Cub we are going to exhort this little kid to throw the ball back, basically saying—“Take that Ryne Howard; we don’t want your stinking home run.”

If that is me and my son there is no way that ball is going anywhere but home to be secured for special exhibitions, like a show and tell for the kid at school. In this case Ryne Howard is well on his way to a terrific career. He just signed the largest contract for a NL player and it is not inconceivable that he could continue to chart a path to the Hall of Fame.

This ridiculous idea of pressuring fans who, through luck or skill, come up with a major league home run to turn around the throw back onto the field is senseless. Did you ever see any old clips of anyone throwing home runs from Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle back from the bleachers? Absolutely not.

For the poor kid, and even for the father of that youngster who jumped on the band-wagon and endorsed his son’s move, it will be a shame sometime later in life when there is a conversation about the great Ryne Howard of the Phillies. Then they can have an awkward exchange like this, “Oh, yea, we got one of his home runs at Wrigley Field. Really? You have a Ryne Howard home run ball? Well, not exactly; we did have it …but I threw it back. Hey, Dad, why did we throw that ball back?”

PLEASE OFFER YOUR COMMENTS ON THIS TOPIC BY CLICKING BELOW HERE. I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE ELSE NEXT TIME AROUND.  WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP TURN THINGS AROUND.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS FROM THE STADIUM

Main Concourse Inside Stadium

NOTE--THIS POST FROM JULY 2010 WAS EDITED AND REPUBLSIHED. SOME THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN. DO YOU NOTICE ANY OF THOSE THINGS?

For the second year in a row over the Fourth of July weekend I was able to watch the Yankees play in their new ball park vs. the Toronto Blue Jays.  Here are some sights and sounds that you might find interesting, not so interesting, and/or just a little strange, as I did.

 1.  Last year was the first year for New York in the "new Yankee Stadium".  This year I paid HALF the amount for tickets for exactly the same section and row of seats as I did a year ago. Do you think prices for the opening season at the new place were jacked up a bit?
 2.  I'm not a beer drinker, but would you pay $9.00 for a cold beer?
    3.  You know how every stadium, regardless of sport, has some variety of music playing at strategic points in the contest?  When Brett Gardner hit a grand slam and the crowd was jazzed up, the Stadium music director started blasting "The Venga Bus" and the 48,500 got even more juiced.  Who would have thought that song would do it?
    4.  Young kids were selling bottles of water outside the stadium for $1.  Stupid me, I didn't buy any and ended up paying $5 for just a little larger bottle inside the big house. I could have had five bottles instead of one.
5.  The game we saw was the second in a three-game series with Toronto and the visitors took the opening game.  Fortunately, the Yanks won the game we attended plus the final of the three to take the series, 3-2. How badly would a team named the Yankees feel if they lost their big holiday weekend series to a team from another country?  That wouldn't be very patriotic.
6.  One of the great things about being at a baseball game in New York is that it brings together so many different types of people.  There was a young couple (20s) in front of me and the guy had a big tattoo of "718" the length of his forearm, signifying either Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx or Staten Island, while behind us were two older couples from Canada, cheering for the visitors, and they had strong accents from "across the pond."  One lady kept asking the other throughout the game, "Now is this guy a designated hitter?"  I think she was trying to act like she was into it.  Lady, there is only one DH per team, OK?
7.  It seems like the tradition of the Yankees' ground crew stopping their freshening up of the infield to march in rhythm and execute shaping the letters to "YMCA" during the seventh inning stretch has lost its popularity.  We need to think of a new routine for them.
8.  On the other side of the coin, there is nothing like the original, scratchy recording of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" to salute those who provide public service to NYC and our country in the middle of the seventh inning.
9.  When are we going to stop having idiots pop a surprise marriage proposal to their significant other over the big screen TV during games?  I'm waiting for one woman to reach back, slap the guy, and stomp on out.

Folks, as Harry Carey used to say, you just can't beat good old fun at the ballpark.

UGLY LATE JUNE CAUSES TB RAYS TO SLIDE TO THIRD IN AL EAST

The Tampa Bay Rays were the darlings of baseball for the first two-plus months of the season as they sported the best record in the game. With their thrifty $70 million payroll they were leading the charge for underdogs and little guys everywhere, fighting the battle to take down took the hated, ugly powers in the Northeast, the Yankees and Red Sox.  Make no mistake about it, the Rays are a talented team, deep in starting pitching, very solid defensively, but their offense has unexpectedly taken the last half of June off, thus causing a swoon.
Back in April the Rays were ringing up runs like a pin-ball machine.  In the last two weeks of that month they posted a sparkling 10-2 record, scored 10 or more runs 4 times, and averaged a beefy 7.75 runs in that span of a dozen games.  June is coming to a close, and for the Rays, they look forward to turning the calendar to July because since June 13 Tampa Bay is 4-9.  What's worse is that in just 13 games they scored one or no runs in six of those contests.  In another, they mustered two scores.  So, two or less runs in seven of the last 13 games...whew! 

Adding salt to the wound, a Rays' pitching cast-off, Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks, came back to Tropicana field to throw a complete game no-hitter/shutout against his old teammates--he did this while issuing eight walks!  How do you not score when someone puts eight of your batters on base for free?

Barring any serious injuries the Rays should still be in the hunt all the way through September.  The marathon season has a lot of highs and lows, and it's so long that there is still plenty of time for things to change.  Remember when people were writing off the Red Sox because of their horrible April and early May?  Guess who is just 1.5 games off the pace of the Yankees now?  David Ortiz struggling, washed up?  Not any more.

It's been argued that the American League East has the three best teams in baseball.  A week or so ago the records supported that opinion.  So, we won't be too quick to judge who is in it for good, or out of it for good, until about early September.  But those two week benders that often haunt even the best teams is sure hard on the loyal fans, and it seems like all teams go through it.

KEEP THOSE TUMS IN THE DUGOUT

Try to visualize the television broadcast shots as they pan baseball dugouts--at least the older ones--where the clubhouse man would have the benched stocked with big containers of David Sunflowers Seeds, Bubble Gum, and Tums.


At home, the Yankees have everything they need, and more, in their plush one-year old surroundings. My guess is that they still have all of those necessary game materials, and when AJ Burnett is pitching there is nothing more important than the giant container of Tums. How else would Joe Girardi and staff make it through a game without their insides being overcome with intense stomach acid and heartburn?

Would you rather have Mr. Electric/Nasty Stuff out there causing you to ride the emotional roller-coaster of each pitch, just hoping he can string together a few consistent innings, or someone with decent stuff and from whom you know what to expect when he takes the mound? Forget the fact that he was so mentally in the tank last night vs. the Phillies that he forgot to cover first base on a ball hit to the right side of the infield. As a high-priced hired hand ($16.5 million this year) Burnett needs both a mental and physical adjustment to get to where he should be. In my book he is "Mr. I"--Mr. Inconsistency. Whether it's the manager, the pitching coach, the bullpen coach, the team's sports psychologist, or some combination thereof--Burnett needs correction.

His line last night was 3-1/3 innings, 87 pitches, 4 walks and his obligatory hit batsman, not to mention another adventurous night for the catcher trying to block balls bouncing in the dirt. No matter who the catcher is, the poor guy has little to no chance of throwing out runners with Burnett on the mound. Did I hear that the stealing percentage against Burnett is the highest in baseball? Raul Ibanez, at age 38, stealing? You've got to be kidding.

Yanks manager Girardi is a health freak in terms of workouts and diet, and he has not been around that long for his insides to have a lot of wear and tear. That's why you don't see the drawn face, nor do we feel the severe heartburn pain that Joe Torre wore on his face. When Joe rode the emotional roller-coaster through Yankees’ ups and downs in his day he sucked on his peach pit while staring blankly out on the field. I bet sometimes he may have had a cheek full of Tums instead.

Back to Burnett, if he stays healthy he is due to make about 18 more regulars season starts. For Girardi and staff, keep those Tums handy. It’s a long season.