We Gotta Tone It Down

I didn't catch the 49ers/Cardinals game the other night on TV. In fact, I only catch bits and pieces of NFL games on TV. It's not that I don't like the NFL, I do. And if you've been reading my blogs at all you know how much I love football at any level. For the NFL I check the scores, watch ESPN for highlights and I pay attention to the standings. But I rarely sit down and watch more than a few minutes of a pro game. What I did see of the game disturbed me a little bit.

I saw a highlight on PTI (Pardon The Interruption), an ESPN news show that features sportwriters Tony Kornhiser and Michael Wilbon. I really like these guys because I think they're knowledegable, make sense, and are very entertaining. I like it when Wilbon calls me a knucklehead. Anyway, they showed a clip that disturbed THEM also. A defender on the Niners put a bone crushing hit on one of the Cardinal receivers. I mean, you almost wondered if the guy was dead the way he laid there. But the defender got up and raised his arms and did a blood curdling yell. He really played it up. Wilbon said it seemed to much like a gladiator gloating over a kill and I have to agree. It just didn't sit right. It was a legal hit, the guy DID get up and everything was OK but...

The NFL dances, shimmies, flexes muscles, gyrates, screams, and poses. I'm old fashioned, I struggle with it all. I know most fans love all the "look at me" stuff so it's not going away. But to put on a show when a guy was really laid out I say, "We gotta tone it down". Chiefpigskin.com

Autumn Mornings

*The following is a post from the archives Oct. 2010*

I absolutely love the fall, particularly October here in the Midwest. The colors of the changing leaves, the cooler air, and maybe best of all, the high school playoffs are just around the corner. Of course, www.chiefpigskin.com is all about high school football, and it’s an exciting time of year, but there was a long period in my life I enjoyed another sport in the fall besides football. Cross country. Yes, cross country. Now what’s an old football coach doing writing about cross country?

Well, it’s like this. I had three daughters, Angela, Olivia, and Natalie, who ran cross country in junior high and high school. They were spread out enough in age that they all went through high school separately. That’s at least twelve years of watching cross country meets. I couldn’t go to the meets during the week, they were right after school and I was coaching at football practice. But I could make their Saturday morning meets and that’s what I did. My daughters were really sprinters and excelled at track, earning some place medals at the state meet, but used cross country as a way to stay in shape in the off-season. It was good for their physical conditioning as well as mental. I’ve always taken pride in how tough football players are but I’ll tell you something, cross country runners have to be mentally tough. That three mile race is a grind and they run hard. My daughters were solid team members and always ran in the top five of the team. The Saturday meets were usually large invitationals and a lot of fun to watch. The atmosphere was completely different than Friday night. Friday night football was always intense, hard hitting, emotional, and draining. It was under the lights, cool, and the game lasted two hours. A cross country race lasts about twenty minutes and the atmosphere is pretty relaxed most of the time (unless you’re a runner). It gets a little intense at the finish, especially for a parent.

On a typical Saturday my wife and I would get up around 7:00 a.m. for a 9:00 a.m. cross country meet. Most of the meets would be around thirty to forty five minutes away. It was usually a bright, sunny, crisp fall morning and we would be out the door by 7:30. On the way to the meet, we would stop and get some coffee to go. Ahh, tasted so good! Arriving at the meet site around 8:30 or so I would find my daughter and talk to her briefly about how she was feeling and say good luck. Not sure why I wished her luck, I don’t believe in luck, but it’s something we say at times. As I walked around with my cup of coffee, there would always be some parents there watching their kids run who had been at the game the night before and we’d talk a little football. Of course, if we won the previous night, I enjoyed the conversations a lot more. By race time I would have a good spot picked out near the starting line to watch my daughter(s) take off. When you’ve got a hundred runners or so lining up at the start, it’s quite a sight. The beginning was fun to watch as the whole mob of runners would try to get as good of a start as possible. The frontrunners would try to get out quickly and get a lead. The rest of the pack would settle in just behind and try to stay close. We’d watch them disappear around the first bend and take a sip of that last drop of coffee. After watching the start it was jog or walk quickly to another spot on the course that we could cheer for the girls as they ran by. Courses usually wind around streets and parks so you have to select spots you can get to before the runners get there. As we waited, we just enjoyed the morning and my wife and I would talk about how we thought our daughter was running or just strain our eyes looking for the pack to appear. Soon the runners would come by our carefully marked spot and we’d yell encouragement as our team members ran by. After watching most of the runners go by us, it was a jog to the finish line to cheer them home. I didn’t usually get right at the finish, I would pick a spot about two hundred yards from the finish so I could give them some encouragement for that final push. It was cool to watch the runners finish and sprint with what they had left for the final push to the chutes.

After about twenty minutes, the race was over. There would always be kids milling around near the finish getting water, finding their warm-ups, talking to the coach or patting their teammates on the back. We’d find our daughter and let her know we watched the finish, tell her she ran well and give her a high five or a hug.

Now it was time to head home. By this time the sun was warming things up a little more and it was turning into another beautiful autumn day. I always found this a good way to unwind from the night before. Home by eleven, time for chores around the house and watch some game film. Time to start getting ready for next Friday nights opponent. No wonder I love the fall.  Chiefpigskin.com

Running Up The Middle

"I don't get it. All our coach does is run up the middle. We never get anywhere. I don't get it." That may be one of the most commonly heard complaints about us high school football coaches from our fans and parents. Let's face it, we do run up the middle a lot, but it's not always the way it seems plus I don't think that's what we do all the time. Not to mention, yeah we do gain a lot of yardage from these plays. So, for the benefit of you fans and parents, let's take a look at what's really going on.

First of all, there are three or four type of plays that may look like we're running up the middle from the stands but we're actually hitting three different areas. The play that generally does hit the very center of the line is the Inside Trap. Now I'm not going to explain what that is but yes, it generally runs right over the center or very close to it. It's an excellent play that has the potential to pop for a big gain. Another play that hits near the center but usually over the guard is the Dive. It's a quick handoff to a back going straight ahead to pick up short yardage when needed or to set up another play. When a dive is faked, it freezes the defense for a count or two and can open up the rest of the plays to the outside. If we never run a dive, the fake won't be effective. A third area that hits inside is the Off Tackle play. It is generally run a little wider than a dive and probably just looks like another play up the middle from the stands. This play is sometimes called a Belly Play and attacks the defense a little wider. The coach has to probe the front line of the defense to find out what will work and what the opponent's weaknesses are. Finally, the Power Play, sometimes called Lead or Iso, is usually run over the guard or tackle and again looks like running up the middle. But on this play the ball carrier follows a lead blocker into the hole and attempts to pound the defense like a battering ram. It's meant to wear the defense down and grind out first downs thereby establishing ball control.

By running these inside run plays the defense must commit a good portion of their defense to stop these plays. This in turn leaves the defense more vulnerable to outside running plays and pass plays. Simple concept, right? Yes, and it works. Now add to that when the offense fakes one of these plays but instead passes it or runs the ball outside, the inside running game becomes very important. Oh yeah, the counter play becomes much more effective also.

Are there times a coach might run up the middle too much? Heck yeah, we're human and don't always call a perfect game. They are safe plays that don't usually lose yardage and I guess we can call them more often than needed but the fact remains we must have a strong inside running game. That's it. I hope that helps all of you moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents and Joe sports fans. Feel free to give me your thoughts anytime. By the way, it's time for the playoffs here in Illinois and I can't wait. It's the most exciting time of the high school football season. Chiefpigskin.com

Back to the Stress

I'm a big baseball fan and always have been. When I grew up in the late 50's and early 60's you rode your bike around with your baseball glove hanging on your handlebars in case you ran acrss a sandlot game going on. I also grew up a St. Louis Cardinal baseball fan because my Dad was a Cardinal fan. He was a Cards fan because his Dad was and so on. So it comes as no surprise that I am closely following the playoffs in Major League Baseball once again. But it's stressful.

It's stressful watching the ebb and flow of every game and watching your team get in and out of jams. No matter who you root for in baseball it seems your team is always in a jam. Full counts, opposing runners all over the bases, blown saves, hitting into double plays, etc.  When your team is in the the playoffs everything is magnified, it gets really tense, and it seems the Cardinals are always in the playoffs. They've been in the NLCS 7 times in the last 12 years, playoffs something like 9 of the last 12. I've watched them play in 9 World Series (really stressful) winning 5. Now they're back at it again.

I don't think they will repeat as champions. Oh, I think they're good enough, but these days you have to keep winning playoff series against other good teams. They won 3 playoff series last year, won a one game playoff against the Braves this year and beat the Nationals in a best of 5 this year. They can't keep winning these series like this, can they? Eventually you get whipped, no matter how good you are.

But I'm going to watch and enjoy this while I can. Heck, some teams rarely make the playoffs and haven't won the World Series for over one hundred years. So I'm going to enjoy the baseball playoffs, the high school football playoffs and not get stressed. Yeah, right.  Chiefpigskin.com

LOMBARDI

I like the theatre and no, I'm not talking about the movies, although I like them too. I'm talking about the theatre, Broadway type play on the stage. And yes, I like musicals too, but that's another story. Anyway, about a year and half ago I first read about a play coming to Broadway called "Lombardi". Sports Illustrated wrote an article about it and included a small conversation between Vince Lombardi, Paul Hornung, and Jim Taylor when Lombardi was first hired for the head coaching job of the Green Bay Packers. The conversation was classic Lombardi and I knew right then I just had to see the play. Heck, I was tempted to drive out to New York City when it opened just to see it. Well, not really, but I thought about it. Once it opened I read nothing but great reviews. I figured eventually it would be in Chicago and I would go see it there.

Now it just so happened that my wife and I were headed up to Door County, Wisconsin to close up our daughter and son-in-law's cabin for the winter. Door County is an old fashioned tourist attraction area that covers the entire Wisconsin peninsula. We've always enjoyed spending some time there. There is an outstanding summer theatre there called Peninsula Players Theatre with very high quality stage. Guess what was playing? Yep, Lombardi. I told my wife, "We're going." When we got to Door County on Friday I bought tickets for Saturday night. Saturday night was cold and windy but we were dressed for it. The theatre is enclosed but it's still described as open air. It was very comfortable inside. The place was full by opening curtain (about 800) and you could sure tell we were in Packer country. Packer ball caps, stocking caps, jackets, sweatshirts - Packer apparel all over the place. These cheese heads love their Packers.

The play focuses on a week of Lombardi's life as he is being interviewed by a cub reporter from New York. There are flashbacks as well and we learn how Lombardi got the Green Bay job. I really enjoyed the play and would recommend it to any football coach and his wife. But you don't have to be a football guy to enjoy this play. My wife liked it and she's not exactly crazy about football. (She was a football widow for thirty years) It really shows how things have changed. Lombardi couldn't coach the pros today. He wasn't just old school, he was old, old school. I can just hear him now, shouting, "What the hell's goin' on out there?" when he sees all the dancing going on out there in the NFL today. But that's another story too.

If you get a chance, see it. Chiefpigskin.com

Goal Line Stand

A while back I posted a blog about "Lucky or Good" in which I related a story about my sophomore year in football. I was put in at linebacker, a position I'd never played nor practiced and made a couple of good plays. Was I lucky or good? Well, the following year, against the same team, I had another lucky or good episode. But this one is even better. Yes, it's a true story too, although you may have your doubts. But I guarantee, it's the truth.

The year was 1967, I was a junior on the varsity football team and once again we just happened to be playing the Spalding Irish at Peoria Public Schools Stadium. I had been having a pretty good game at halfback in passing situations because I was a good pass protector. I had a great cut block. (illegal today in high school ball) I had only carried the ball a couple of times for short yardage. Anyway, Spalding was whipping us pretty good as always and the game was winding down to the last minute with Spalding on our three yard line ready to score again. Spalding went 10-0 that year and was coached by the great Merv Haycock. Coach Traficano, our head coach, was pretty frustrated and turned around looking at all of us guys on the sideline yelling, "Does ANYONE want to play?" He looked square at me and yelled, "Grant - you do! Get in there at left tackle!" Without a word I obeyed my coach and headed toward the huddle.

I've said before, I was small. How small? Well, by my junior year I had "grown" to about 5'5" and weighed 128 pounds. That's not exactly defensive tackle prototype. I was in fact, THE smallest player in the conference. As I ran out onto the field I was thinking, "D tackle - where do I line up?" I got to the huddle and announced I was in at left D tackle. A player left the huddle, I don't even remember who it was. I knew I was on the line, but beyond that I wasn't sure where to go. "Where do I line up?" I yelled. As Spalding broke the huddle my teammates helped me with my alignment. I was in a three point stance directly in front of a 190 pound guard. He looked 265 but I know he wasn't. The quarterback started his cadence and as I looked at him to my right I couldn't help but notice Spalding had very wide splits and there was nothing separating the QB from me but about four feet of open space. I couldn't believe I was so close to him. In a split second I decided I was going to shoot the inside gap and crush that QB! The ball was snapped; I shot the A gap so quick the guard missed me and I was in free. The QB reversed out and booted to his right. Now he was to my left. I had shot the gap so quickly that I overran him. "Oh no, I missed him", was my thought. I planted my right foot quickly and rerouted to my left and reached desperately with my left hand. As I was diving I got my left arm around his thighs, wrapped my other arm around his legs and brought him down for a two yard loss. Whew! I barely recovered. My teammates were pattin' me on the back congratulating me. But I had learned my lesson. I was NOT going to shoot the gap again. On the second play they came right at me, probably expecting me to shoot the A gap again. They didn't even block me as the right guard veered to my left. They ran a dive play right at me and I made the tackle on the line of scrimmage. All the guys were slapping me on the back as they pulled me to my feet. I had practically single handed made a goal line stand but they NEVER blocked me. Heck, I should have made those plays.

The game was over and I was headed toward the locker room when I heard a voice behind me. "Grant!" I turned and looked. It was Coach Traficano. He had a little smile and put his hand on my shoulder. "Nice job", he said as we continued toward the locker room, "Thanks Coach".

Now I ask you, was I lucky or good? Let me know. Chiefpigskin.com