Some Random Thoughts About Drunk Coaches, Football Fights & The Cubs
Posted
Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
Today is one of those days where we are going to take a whirl around the world of sports and hit on a number of topics. Hang on … here we go. USC FOOTBALL COACH STEVE SARKISIAN: So every year, the USC football program hosts a “Salute to Troy” event where former Trojan football players, school administrators, boosters and donors gather as a kickoff for the upcoming season. Most schools have this kind of event. “Sark” decided to mix pain killers with the alcohol that was free-flowing at the event, and what followed during his address to the crowd was no less than an embarrassment to himself, the team and the university. In front of the most important people to USC, and their families, Sarkisian dropped the “F” bomb and rambled on and on before he had to be walked off stage. He won’t be suspended for a game like he should be because that would make sense, but it shows a serious lack of judgment and puts him on the hot seat when he hadn’t been before. THE JUMBOTRON COMES TO NOTRE DAME: OK, so obviously Notre Dame announced Tuesday it is replacing the scoreboard at the south end of the stadium with a giant scoreboard that will include a video board to play commercials and replays. Fine, whatever. For me the bigger deal is that they are taking out the wooden bleachers that have been there for decades and replacing them with vinyl benches. The backsides of 80,000 people are grateful. And more women’s bathrooms was a no brainer too. PENALTIES ARE HANDED DOWN FOR FRIDAY’S WASHINGTON-MICHIGAN CITY BRAWL: The IHSAA put the Panthers and Wolves on probation for the rest of the season and suspended six players for a game in the aftermath of the fight that emptied the benches just before half time of their Week 1 matchup. It seems right, but I am sure there are lawyers hard at work behind the scenes. A South Bend Washington assistant coach has been relieved of his duties indefinitely for his role in it. ST. FRANCIS FOOTBALL OPPONENT FOR NOVEMBER 7th?: This story broke Tuesday, and it is really complicated. The Cougars are scheduled to play Redemption Christian Academy from Chesapeake, Virginia late in the season. But a TV report claims that three football players got duped into signing letters of intent to play at the school, but the school doesn’t really exist! Adding to the confusion is the college’s website, which says that “due to technical difficulties” there are no football events on the calendar until spring football 2016. Huh? St. Francis AD Mike McCaffrey says he made a few phone calls, and he found out that RCA is no longer associated with Redemption Christian College in Virginia Beach, which was the focus of the TV report. We’ll see who, if anyone, shows up to play in Fort Wayne in November. WEEK 1 IMPRESSIONS OF HIGH SCHOOOL FOOTBALL: The big surprise of the first weekend of the season was Tippecanoe Valley’s eight-point loss at Culver Academy. The Vikings had the ball near midfield when time ran out, which I think is a great credit to the kids and their new coach, Darin Holsopple. Warsaw’s new hurry-up offense showed you its promise, but it had some glitches. Michael Jensen played very well considering he didn’t play any football as a sophomore last season. Whitko looked great, Triton won the opener of their new conference, and Wawasee seems destined to run the ball about 80 percent of its plays this season. MADDON’S KIDDIE CUBS ARE ROCKIN: Their 8-5 win Tuesday night in San Francisco did a lot of things. 1) It gave the Cubs the same number of wins they achieved all of last season (73). 2) It pulled them within two games of the Pirates for the NL Wild Card lead and put them 7.5 clear of the defending world champs for the final playoff spot. And 3) It showed that Jake Arrieta IS the true ‘ace’ of the Cubs pitching staff. Last night’s win gave him 16 for the season, and in his last 11 starts he’s boasting an ERA of 1.77. It’s going to be an exciting fall. PRESEASON INJURIES ARE JUST A FACT OF LIFE: Green Bay Packers receiver Jordy Nelson’s torn ACL with no one around him in Sunday’s preseason game against the Steelers has watchers screaming for the league to DO something. Well, what would you like them to do? If you eliminate preseason games, you have to create another way to evaluate players for the purpose of forming your roster. I would like to say that this ‘controlled team practices’ where teams scrimmage against each other on practice fields is a solution, but the fights that have broken out on a regular basis in the last two years make it just not worth it. My solution: Let teams play only two preseason games, and keep more than 53 active players through the first four games of the season, then let them make their final cuts after that. It’s a fun start to the fall sports season … stay healthy everyone!
