Sports Nuts and Bolts

An "F" in fan behavior

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in questionable fan behavior, you find out you haven’t. 
I grew up in southeast Ohio, a block from a football stadium. And since I am an older person, 58, I’ve been a witness to some pretty rude instances of over-the-line fan action.
Last Friday night at Shelby, Fostoria High’s football squad was warming up in its end zone, where behind the goal post and a chain link fence about 25 to 30 young people, apparently Shelby students, were baiting and taunting the Redmen.
The two groups were only that chain link fence’s thickness apart. And I walked over to listen to what was happening. The weird thing was the kids had all these white outfits on. Some were wearing bathrobes and others wore those white suits that are used when disposing of toxic stuff, like a coverall. It was strange because there were a lot of kids. There was a small section of seating there, too. So apparently that’s where they spent the game.
You see things like that at times, but this felt kind of different. I heard things like, “Go ahead, hit me with that helmet, I want you to!” It was obvious the kids in the white stuff wanted to provoke the FHS players into an incident. They were just too close for comfort.
But the FHS kids held their composure while assistant coaches Clayton Moore and George Tucker were in the vicinity, keeping a good eye on things. I felt that it put those guys in an odd position because I’m sure it’s not every road game where they’ve had to be in that kind of situation instead of just coaching their guys.
Then when the Redmen finished up and started off the field through the corner of the end zone to go back to the locker room for a pregame talk, some of the agitators hustled over to that area to run their mouths at the team some more.
It was just a nasty little scene. Those guys were trying to get inside the Redmen’s heads. People will do that, but these guys apparently wanted to start something to which a policeman — standing about 20 yards away — would have to respond.
There were lots of adults passing by and some tailgaters nearby, outside the fence. If one of the FHS kids would have responded to a taunt in the wrong way, a mini-riot might have broken out. But those FHS kids kept their composure a lot better than most adults would.
And assistant coach Mike Daring put it best to his players, reminding them ”we do our talking on the field.”
Near the end of the game, the Redmen’s Jon Ramirez interecepted a pass at the Fostoria 37 yard line and cut away from two would-be tacklers and was almost at the goal line when he stumbled down at the Shelby 6. A guy in the press box said, “Oh, that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Too too bad.”
But “upon further review,” you may look at it as Jon Ramirez’s finest hour. You see, the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Ramirez plays on defense as a nose tackle and on offense as a fullback. So, you know he’s going to be beat at the end of the game. Ramirez had spent the whole game trying to put the stop on star Shelby fullback Kyle Bailey. That’s kind of a lonely place in there, as the Redmen defense played its inside linebackers off the ball quite a bit and the tackles were wide, too.
Bailey ended up with 61 yards on 14 carries, so it was obvious that Ramirez did his job clogging the middle. He also came up with a pair of tackles for loss.
So at the end of the game, when Ramirez fell down on the 6 yard line, he turned to his back and spread his arms out in total exhaustion. He didn’t score because he had given all he had to give. But that was enough to win.
The more you see Ramirez play, the more you realize he is one of the keystones to the FHS team. He is what used to be called a hard-nosed football player.

--Bill

Football fairness and other questions

We at Sports Nuts and Bolts get a number of calls from parents of area student-athletes.

Some want photographs of their kids. Some want their kids to be photographed. Some want something else, like for us to intervene in a dispute with a coach over a playing-time issue.

Playing time is not for us to decide. Nor is it for the parents. It’s for the coaches to decide, though, by and large, the players are the ones who make the decisions through the way they practice and play.

Anyway, we recently got a call from a parent whose son plays seventh-grade football at an area school. This man claims that his son is not getting a fair shake from the coaching staff in two ways: one, that they are discriminating against the child as one who has a learning disorder; and, two, that they are allowing an eighth-grader to play on the seventh-grade team because the eighth-grader’s father is a recreational-sports-playing buddy of the seventh-grade coach.

The son of the man who called us does not play the same position as the boy who is playing down a grade, but “it’s not fair to all of the seventh-graders,” he said.

The athletic director of the high school of the district in question told us the eighth-grade boy is a first-year football player who actually began the year in seventh-grade classes and is playing with the seventh-graders because of low numbers at that level.

And that is perfectly legal, according to an assistant commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association with whom we made contact.

“There is nothing impermissible about playing middle-school students on either the seventh- or eighth-grade squads,” she said in an e-mail.

“We would not put our kids into a situation that is not good for them,” the school’s athletic director said.

The allegations of out-and-out discrimination against the one child has the makings of an everyday he said-she said situation that we’re not in the business of deciding.

And in small-numbers situations at a lot of schools, it’s common for seventh- and eighth-grade athletes to compete together. Should that be the case? What are your thoughts?

MAL Showdown Looms

Last Friday night I got my second look at the Carey Blue Devils and their signature wishbone offense.
Since I work with a number of Carey residents, former players, guys with wives from Carey and a couple of referees, at my day (factory) job, there’s a lot of talk, especially as the showdown between Hopewell-Loudon and Carey nears.
I watched the Chieftains early in the year, so from what I see Carey will have to make use of all the weapons it has to get a win.
Hopewell-Loudon takes on Seneca East this week, while the Devils meet North Baltimore. The following week will be the possible meeting of two undefeated teams at Carey’s Wentling Field.
Carey junior quarterback Tyler Brodman is a very good faker and may have to complete some passes in the big game. Mike Dennis, the Blue Devils’ 6-foot-7 tight end, will be a logical target choice. Dennis pulled in a short pass against St. Wendelin last Friday, made a nice move and finished with a good stiff arm to turn a quick toss into a 19-yard gain. Dennis caught two passes for 27 yards in the game.
Senior Matt Messmer will be another key to Carey doing well in the game. Messmer is listed as a 6-1, 200-pound halfback, and after interviewing him after the St. Wendelin game, I can tell that he is all of that size and probably more. Messmer rushed eight times for 48 yards against the Mohawks. He is a good blocker and a hard runner.
Fullback Derek Stock is the Blue Devils’ bread-and-butter guy. Stock also plays defensive end and will have to expend a lot of energy trying to pressure Hopewell-Loudon quarterback Tyler Brown. Carey may try to have Stock rest a bit during the game while their defense is on the field, as I am sure he is likely to get about 30 carries.
Dennis will be playing the other defensive end and will be expected to get pressure on Brown, make him move and throw him off his rhythym.
An athlete who really stands out for Carey is slight (145 pounds) Cy Strahm. Strahm is a very good kicker and plays excellent cornerback on defense. He plays an in-your-face game, is a hard hitter and always seems to be around the ball — just what coaches want.
Hopewell-Loudon will attempt to use its speed to disrupt the Carey rushing offense. If they can do that and get the Blue Devils in second- and third-and-long, it will take Carey out of its game.
If the Devils’ offensive line can come off the ball hard and fast, Stock can get up in behind them quickly and pound the ball like coach Todd Worst likes.
But ... like the football geniuses always say, you can’t look ahead, you take them one at a time, there’s no I in team, we need to be agile, mobile and hostile. You could go on and on and on and on ...

--Bill

FHS Launches Shaq Attack

Shaquille Taylor not only was a big star of Fostoria High School’s win over Bellevue last Friday, nabbing three touchdown catches and playing great defense, but the 170-pound senior also showed he had a lot of Hardy Brown in him.
Hardy Brown was a famous big-hitter who played with the San Francisco 49ers in the mid-1950s. There is an NFL highlight film of Brown, a 195-pound linebacker, laying guys out with an educated shoulder shot right under the chin of backs and receivers loose in the open field. Brown never became a Hall of Famer, but seeing him in action showed he was some kind of Jack Tatum-like dangerous hitter.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Brown had a one great nickname too — “Thumper”!
And since I am in a digressive mood, there was another 49er who had the best nickname I ever heard. Linebacker Frank Nunley was from Michigan and was known as “Fudgehammer.” It was said, “He was a real sweet guy who hit like a hammer.”
In the couple of times I’ve Taylor play, he has come through with some tooth-rattling blocks. Against Bellevue, Taylor launched Micah Hyde on a second- quarter punt return with a crushing pop as Hyde made a 17-yard return and then was tackled out-of-bounds for a 15-yard personal foul call. Two plays later, Taylor pulled in a 24-yard pass from Hyde with 10 seconds left in the half.
FHS had done some nice clock management in that situation, using its timeouts wisely and forcing Bellevue to punt from deep in its own territory.
Taylor’s last TD catch, in the fourth quarter, was a thing of beauty as he secured the ball laying out near the end zone sideline, dragging both feet to stay in bounds.
Lots of people thought FHS would be in trouble against Bellevue, but obviously that was not the case.
“The last time I heard we were supposed to come out here and get scraped,” Hyde said. “But, hey ... I guess we didn’t.”
FHS matched up well against the Bellevue spread offense. During the game I made a special note of all the players in the Redmen defensive backfield because they were playing so well.
Junior Antoine Williams got a nice compliment from coach Grine in the game story. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Williams intercepted a Bellevue pass and returned it to the visitors’ 15 yard line in the third quarter.
Safety Jordan Bulkowski came up with a tackle for loss and grabbed six passes on offense for 59 yards.
Another junior, Jake Solether, played with enthusiasm, defending passes and making hard tackles. Add in Taylor and Hyde and that was where Bellevue’s passing game ran smack into FHS’ strength.

--Bill

Lakota gets bedeviled

Well, Carey remained undefeated by surviving its trip to Kansas, claiming a 25-21 win over Lakota.
The Blue Devils really like to pound with their terrific fullback, Derek Stock, lull you to sleep and then have 200-pound halfback Matt Messmer come sweeping around the end. Messmer broke off a 55-yard run at the end of the Lakota game to wrap up the win.
The Raiders showed plenty of intensity for the game, as they came out determined not to lay down against the well-publicized Carey offensive line. Mike and Chris Kleman had fine games, hanging in there and doing their best to slow up Stock and make big plays. Chris Kleman blocked a punt and Mike got a couple of sacks on Blue Devil quarterback Tyler Brodman.
Down linemen Nathan Gonyer, Austin Podach and Cody Allison played inspired football up front for Lakota. and believe me, it’s no small task to stand in there play after play while the Carey line tries to wear you down and the 215-pound Stock comes barelling in behind them.
Linebacker Jeremy Robbins also played tough defense for the Raiders. Allison got some nice compliments from his coach in the Saturday edition (game story) of the paper.
The Lakota offensive line did a good job of giving quarterback John Timmons time. When that happened Timmons was able to find some of his recievers open deep. When the Raiders watched the films, I’m sure they agonized over the one that got away, as Timmons hit one receiver in stride behind the defense but the ball skipped off his hands. Ouch!
Roger Guerra sat this game out too, with an injured ankle. When he comes back I think Timmons will have a nice set of receivers to hit in Jacob Smith, Levi Peeler, Jake Wiseman and Guerra. The Raiders may just be able to put together a good passing game against a good team sometime soon and pull out a quality win.
Lakota has enough athletes, leaders and tough guys to still produce a successful season even though they are now 1-2 now. If the Raiders can bring the same kind of intensity to the field every week that they did against Carey, it may happen.

-Bill

Week 2 Observations

It’s been kind of interesting to watch two of the best quarterbacks in Ohio during the first two weeks, Fostoria High School’s Micah Hyde and Hopewell-Loudon’s Tyler Brown.
In wins this past weekend the pair were both super-efficient, as Hyde connected on 22-of-23 throws for 196 yards in the Redmen’s 24-21 win over Bowling Green, while Brown was 21-of-28 for 258 yards as the Chieftains dispatched Lakota (34-14).
Brown scorched the Raiders in the first half by going 15-for-16 for 144 yards. The Hopewell-Loudon defense was also impressive, as everywhere you looked was speed. Junior linebacker Matt Brickner, senior end Ian Clouse and junior backer Hudson Smith made life miserable for Lakota quarterback John Timmons by putting constant pressure on with hard rushes off both edges.
The 6-foot, 190-pound Smith has a knack for really “bringing the lumber,” as they say, when he gets the chance. Against the Raiders he came up with a big wipeout sack and another loud pancake tackle for loss. The sharp smack of shoulder pads can be an exciting sound that brings the crowd to life.
The Chieftains will take an inside backer like Brickner and rush him off the end and although this opens up the middle, the speed at both ends can still make plays by knifing in on running plays up the gut and catching the runner from behind. All those guys can do that and it is such a nice combination to have — people who can rush the passer and cause havoc in the running game. When a team has terrific athletes who can do that, the kids can be a little more free from “assignment football” and be more aggressive.
A sports editor who has seen a lot of football once told me, “Defense is just getting 11 guys out there who want to get after it.” I had a high school coach named Dangerous Dan McGrew (way back in the dark ages). This guy had played center for the Buffalo Bills, and he would say, “I want instigators on defense. I want guys out there who cause a riot.”
Bud Wilkinson, the old Oklahoma coach who took the Sooners to the record 47 straight wins back in the 1950s, always wanted simplicity for his linemen. His theory was that too much thinking hurt aggression. And on both sides of the ball that’s what he wanted.
With these clubs running the spread offense, the need for a consistent snap, to maintain correct timing of the plays, becomes more important. This low, high, all-over-the-place stuff really throws off the offense’s rhythym, as well as distracts the quarterback. And it just looks bad, too. Fostoria center Dominic Zelenak puts his snaps right where Hyde wants them. Hyde can then sprint right up the gut quickly if he spots a hole. Hyde’s ability to hit full speed from a standing start is amazing, but he needs that ball in the right spot every time.
I know, it’s not exciting, it’s fundamental. But machines run best on smooth bearings and a football team is a version of a human machine.

--Bill

Games Days

OK, I admit it. I ignored my football tunnelvision for a couple of weeks and watched the Olympics.
Hours and hours of the Olympics.
And it brought several questions to my sometimes cloudy little mind.
What happened? What did they do to the Games? What have they done to my... oh, no, that’s some old song.
Anyway, I did a little research (very little, I admit; my attention span isn’t that good any more) and I found out (I think) what the problem was.
Let’s compare these Games with the 1964 competition in Tokyo, shall we? (Of course we shall, because I want to and I’m the one writing this.)
In 1964, there were 93 nations competing in 19 “sports,“ the least interesting of which were shooting and equestrian.
In 2008, there were 208 nations competing in 28 “sports.”
Now, I don’t mind the 115 new nations. I guess that just means more people are claiming their right to self-govern, although it does make for an extraordinary opening ceremony. But let’s examine some of the new “sports” that have been added since 1964.
The nine medal sports contested in 2008 that were not in the mix in 1964 were archery, badminton, judo, softball, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and triathlon.
Boy, there are a couple of real doozies in there.
I have no problem with stuff like taekwondo, judo, tennis, softball and triathlon, but some of those others ...
Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Archery ... two words, Ho and hum.
Badminton ... Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness, did you see how hard those people could smack that little white “shuttlecock” around? (Why do they call it a shuttlecock? Did the inventors of the game drive male chickens  around for a living?) What excitement (Yawn). Besides, isn’t badminton that game bored kids and adults play at family reunions after everybody’s eaten and nobody wants to move around too awful much?
Table Tennis (better known as Ping-Pong) ... yawn again. How did a game played in basements and rec rooms and as a marathon charity event end up in the Olympics?
Rhythmic gymnastics ... better known as playing with ribbons and colorful hoola hoops (or at least it should be). No further comment.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying these “sports” don’t require abilities that I can only dream of having, but as Olympic events, they lack a little bit of ... “pizzaz,” for lack of a better word. I mean, my overhead “smash” at badminton wouldn’t even approach half the speed of those at the Games and would most probably either go directly into the net or the back of my partner’s head, but let’s face it, it’s boring. And I never could keep the doggone ball on the table in Ping-Pong, but I still don’t think either one works as an Olympic event. Not even close.
And I don’t even want to talk about synchronized swimming (so I won’t).
And now for my favorite. Cycling. No complaints about the road races or the chase events. Makes for some good nap time (there I go again with the naps), but when NBC dumps the gold medal match in men’s volleyball and instead shows mountain biking, and not even all of that (thank the Lord for that because those “races” lasted more than an hour each), I get a bit miffed.
Thankfully, I was able to watch the United States’ upset of Brazil live on the Canadian channel, but there’s something wrong with that, too, don’t you think? I mean, the match is live on the Canadian channel, but we get to see taped highlights 19 hours after the fact on American television? Bad on you, NBC.
And then there was BMX. Man, oh, man what a waste of air time. Bunch of grown men and women riding bicycles that are way to small for them over a lot of man-made bumps and a couple of gullies. Sure, it takes some skill and a good bit of conditioning, but is it worthy of an Olympic gold medal? I think not.
OK, now that I’ve made a whole bunch of people angry because I’ve dissed their favorite “sport,” I guess I’ll go practice my own favorite and dream of the day when I can a watch a stimulating round of “Couch Potato Napping and Yelling at the TV” in a future Olympics. (Why not? they‘re sticking everything else in there).
Note: The opinions expressed in this column are strictly those of the author and do not reflect those of the management or staff of this newspaper. But then, we hardly ever agree on anything anyway, so that’s OK. And please, don’t fill my back seat with Ping-Pong balls or badminton shuttlecocks, thank you very much.

-Jim