Almost a Knicks Fan?

I’ve never been a big NBA fan. I like basketball, played it a lot when I was a kid, and enjoy high school and college basketball a lot. But the pro game…just doesn’t really grab me and I’m not sure why. Too many tattoos? Maybe. Too many giant egos? Perhaps. That “I wanna win championships so surround me with great players” attitude? Definitely. Whatever it is, I don’t watch it much. Oh, I check the standings and watch highlights on ESPN, then see who is advancing in the playoffs. The closest I came to being a fan was when Jordan played. He was…well, he was Michael Jordan. Enough said. And I thought Magic and Bird were something special too. That’s why I’m so surprised that all of a sudden I’m paying attention to the NBA and GASP! almost rooting for the New York Knickerbockers? Yep, I’m very close.

A breath of fresh air has stormed into the NBA and his name, of course, is Jeremy Lin. We’ve all heard of him by now, even my wife. Why do we cheer for him? His is the ultimate underdog story. An undrafted four year player from Harvard. No one from Harvard makes it to the NBA. And yeah, he’s Asian-American. The first ever. His mom and dad are like 5’4” tall and weigh 110 lbs. So are his brothers. Jeremy is 6’3” and weighs 200 lbs. Where in the heck did that come from? He’s humble, has no tattoos (yet), and is great fun to watch. He came out of nowhere to become the starting point guard of the New York Knicks. The first week everyone was a little skeptical, asking if this kid was for real. Now, 2-3 weeks into it, he looks like the real deal. It’s clear he won’t keep averaging 24 points a game, he doesn’t have to or need to. But I’ve watched this kid and he’s good. I’m predicting he’s going to settle in about 15 points a game and 9 or 10 assists a game. And most importantly, the Knicks are going to contend. They were dead in the water two weeks ago.

So yes, I now find myself peeking at the NBA scores at night to see how the Knicks did. And I also find myself hoping I see that they won. I cannot believe one kid can have that much impact, but he has, not just with me, but with all sports fans. I think a lesson can be learned here. Maybe fans are hungry for humility, hunger, and kid like fun. Maybe.
www.chiefpigskin.com

Swamp Fox

I couldn’t wait for Friday nights. Oh yeah, once I hit eleven or twelve years old I knew Uncle Bill and I were going to the best local high school game of the weekend. That was always a lot of fun. But when I was younger, about eight or nine, I couldn’t wait for the Walt Disney show which came on at 6:30 p.m. CST. Walt would always come on in the first five minutes and talk about the nights show. He’d give a little preview. Some of my favorites were Zorro, Andy Burnett, Moochie and the Little League, Davy Crockett, Texas John Slaughter, Elfego Baca, and maybe my very favorite – SWAMP FOX.

I loved Swamp Fox. A young Leslie Nielsen played the famous Francis Marion of the Revolutionary War. His nickname was the Swamp Fox because of the cunning way he outfoxed the British time after time. His band of American Patriots would ride out of the swamps of South Carolina, foil the British, then disappear back into the swamps. These guys rode around on their horses with their three corner hats and best of all - they had a fox tail attached to their hat. How cool is that when you’re eight years old? So guess what I did (and my buddies also)? I had my mom go out and buy me a black felt cowboy hat. It was flexible enough to bend the brim. I shaped it into a three corner hat like the Swamp Fox wore and pinned it to hold it that way. I couldn’t find a fox tail anywhere which bummed me out a little so I bought a raccoon tail and attached it to my new three corner hat. Hopefully no one would be the wiser. We rode around the neighborhoods with our hats and raccoon tails waving in the wind, pretending we were the Swamp Fox gang and singing their song:

Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, tail in his hat,
Nobody knows where the Swamp Fox at.

Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, ridin’ through the glen,
He runs away to fight again!

Looking back, I realize now that the show was probably not very historically accurate, had silly story lines, and not so good acting. But it was intended for little boys because Walt was always a little boy at heart. Who cared if wasn’t exactly Emmy Award material? A few years later The Walt Disney show changed to Sunday evenings with the name Wonderful World of Color. I never liked that change; what kid wanted to look forward to Sunday evening? Heck, that meant school was the very next morning!www.chiefpigskin.com

Punt Return Philosophy

"Every time a kick hits the ground, it lessens your chance of winning."
-Murray Warmath, former Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach

A few weeks ago I wrote of hidden yardage on special teams. I've read a few things and heard a few things lately on punt return that I would like to share with you. As stated earlier, the University of Illinois has hired a new coaching staff and one of their priorities is to improve special teams. The coach that has been charged with this task is backfield coach Tim Salem, son of former Minnesota head coach Joe Salem. Coach Salem is determined that punts will not hit the ground. "If we need two people back on punts, that's what we’ll do. But we're not going to spend a lot of time on punt returns. Illinois only had 20 punt returns all season. That's less than two per game. We’ll have one primary return, and practice the devil out of it. Catch the ball correctly and make 10 yards. That's a first down. That's the goal."

I like that philosophy. And I'm always amazed that I just keep learning. I’ve spent just about my whole life in football and that's the first time I've heard of that philosophy, not the part about catching the ball, of course, but the part about trying to get at least 10 yards on every return because that's a first down. I think that's a good way to look at it. Now here’s the thing. At the pro and collegiate level you pretty much know what you’re going to get as far as a punt. A high, spiraling, good hang time, 40 yard punt. You can practice that over and over and the returners HAVE to catch the ball.

OK, now the typical high school scenario, especially small schools. You’ve watched the punter on film and are pretty familiar with how he punts. Then you also watch him in warm-ups before the game. Looks like between 30-35 yards every time. OK, we’re ready. The first time your opponent has to punt, your returner is 35 yards deep. The punt is away and it’s a low knuckleball drifting left. It goes about 28 yards and your returner has to make a quick decision. Does he try to catch it at his knees or let it go? He knows you’ve harped on him to CATCH THE BALL! He trys to catch it but muffs it and…well, you get the picture. It’s not so easy to catch some of those high school punts on Friday night. Never the less, it’s going to be a part of the game and you’ve got to be ready. What are some of your philosophies? I know this, it can sure be an adventure. Give me some of your thoughts if you get the chance and keep checking www.chiefpigskin.com for more ideas on all phases of football.