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.

Air Hose

Most football coaches I know, and for that matter most men I know, love their wives and families. That's never a problem. The problem sometimes becomes "How do we love our wives?" What does that look like? The Bible says that men are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. And just what does that mean? Author Steve Farrar put it like this, "He is willing to get hurt for his wife. He is even willing to die for his wife, if necessary. But in most cases his love will mean sacrificing anything in order to care for his wife." I like that. Have I always done it? I have failed miserably many times in my 41 years of marriage, but I go back and try again. There are many little things we can do to love our lives and here's just one example. This is one I worked on myself.

I know that we are to build our wives up, to build their self-esteem, not tear it down or "deflate" so to speak their confidence. So, think of the term "air hose". Any time you make a cutting remark, put down, or use a sarcastic tone, particularly in front of others, you're cutting off her air hose of self-esteem and confidence. So don't do that. Compliment her; praise her, especially in public or with others. Now I wish I could take credit for this, but I heard the concept of “air hose” from one of our elders in church one Sunday as he was delivering the message. He shared that this was a concept that he had been working on with a friend. When they were together with their wives, if either would say anything remotely or blatantly unflattering of their wives the other would simply say, "Air hose". It was a way for them to be accountable to each other for loving their wives properly. It was a reminder from one friend to another.

Of course, there are many other ways we can love our wives, but this is certainly one we can all work on. I've got a long way to go but I keep trying to improve. So guys don't step on her air hose.
www.chiefpigskin.com

Hidden Yardage

I was reading the newspaper the other day on the new football coaching staff of the Fighting Illini. One of the areas of concern to address is special teams. Now, this isn’t a story about Illinois Football but just an example to show how important special teams are. We all know it. Sometimes we just need to be reminded.

Several important thoughts were pointed out as I was reading. The Illini ranked near the bottom in most special teams categories. Their kickoff return teams average was so dismal that they didn’t even average enough to get back to the twenty yard line. They were actually better off when they COULDN’T return. The kickoff coverage was bad, allowing opponents to begin with good field position. The punt team cost them one and probably two games. All in all it was miserable. And I know they worked hard on special teams, but for whatever reason they were consistently bad. And they were bad not just this year, but the last several. It was estimated that Illinois’ special teams cost them about one hundred yards per game compared to the average. That’s a lot of hidden yardage that doesn’t show up in the box score.

So, what does that mean for us high school coaches? Well, again it’s a reminder of the importance of special teams. As I look back perhaps we as a staff could have done more to be better. Not that our teams were bad, but where could we have done a better job? Some suggestions might be:

1.Explore innovative ways to improve your special teams by learning from others. Chiefpigskin has videos available for a unique punting system at this very time. Take a look, you’ll enjoy learning about it.
2.Identify strong punters and kickers at an early age, maybe 11 or 12 years old through youth camps. Develop them so they’re ready to be strong varsity kickers/punters.
3.Spend appropriate practice time everyday on special teams.

These are some of my thoughts. How about yours? I’d love to hear of your suggestions and ideas.

The Last Championship Game

At last the college games are over, I think. I love watching college ball and I would watch more but my wife gets a little frustrated at times at the amount of games that are on TV. Here is typical conversation the last 4-5 weeks.

Wife: What game is this?
Me: This is the championship game.
Wife: I thought those were on New Years Day.
Me: This is D3.
Wife: Oh, OK.

The following week I’m watching another game.

Wife: What game is this?
Me: The championship game.
Wife: I thought they played that already.
Me: This is the D2 championship game.
Wife: Oh, Ok.

A week later.

Wife: What game is this?
Me: The championship game.
Wife: You watched that last week.
Me: That was D2, this is the FCS.
Wife: Oh, Ok.

New years day.

Wife: These games are?
Me: The big bowl games. You know, Orange bowl, Rose bowl, etc.
Wife: Oh, Ok.

January 9, Monday night.

Wife: What game is this?
Me: This is the championship game.
Wife: They already played those.
Me: No, this is D1, the big game.
Wife: I don’t believe you.
Me: No really, this is the last one.

And so it goes. Actually I think it does get drawn out too long. The games used to be over by New Years day but now they’ve stretched it out another week and a half. Do these kids ever go to class? I guess it’s all about TV and making more money. Anyway, the games are over and I’d better get some quality time with the wife. Oh, the pros are still playing! www.chiefpigskin.com

Hittin' the Rock

It's a good thing they didn't have video games and computer games when I was a kid, I'm afraid I would've been playing them all the time. Not that they're a bad thing so much, it's just that it would've taken away my time that I played hard. You see, I've always enjoyed playing games. That's probably part of the reason why I love sports so much. Oh, I did play a lot of board games back then, but that was mostly when it was bad weather outside. I invented a lot of games that I could play solitaire. If I couldn't find some buddies that were playing a game of football, baseball, or even a war game, then I would make up a game. One of the games I invented was called "hitting the rock".

Before I talk about my game of, "hitting the rock", how many of you old-timers out there remember the electronic football game? The game consisted of a large football playing field that had 22 football figures that you put on top of the playing field. You would set up your offense and defense just the way you wanted and turn a switch and the board would begin to vibrate. The vibration caused the players to move and you could watch the play unfold before your very eyes. We thought it was pretty cool, but the drawback was that it took a long time to set up for the next play. Or how about the old All-Star baseball game by Ethan Allen? That game consisted of player cards that you could put on a spinner and would determine whether the player got a hit or made an out. I used to play an entire 162 game schedule with my team. I kept all the stats for every player, batting average, hits, home runs, and RBIs. You can see what kind of gamer I was.

I don't know how I came up with my game of throwing a football at the rock but here's how it went. In our yard we had a big rock that was about 3 feet wide and 2 feet high. I would get into my quarterback stance at the other end of the yard about 15 yards away. At the snap, (to myself)I would either drop back and throw at the rock or rollout, bootleg, scramble, whatever. If I hit the rock it was a complete pass and a 10 yard first down. If I missed the rock it was simply an incomplete pass and I would go to the next down. In this way I could drive the ball down the field by simply playing my passing game of hitting the rock. I would try and make it difficult by scrambling and throwing on the run and making it very real. The best time to play this game would be in October or November when the weather was a little cooler. I did a lot of running around and broke a good sweat. Do you believe I could play that game for a couple of hours? I would have Ohio State versus Michigan, or Alabama versus Penn State. I would usually decide that the first team to a certain score would be the winner. So if I decided that the first team to 28 would win, then I would play until someone reached that score. Any of you out there ever do anything as crazy as that? Or am I the only guy that if I didn't have a game to play would just make one up?

Looking back, I can see why I was always in shape. I never stopped playing. Of course, I still had my Little League games, my high school sports teams and other organized activities. But I think I had just as much fun in some of those board games and crazy made-up games. And you know what? To this day I still love to play games. www.chiefpigskin.com