-0-

“Baseball’s Black Eye”

-0-

First it was the 1919 Black Sox scandal, the throwing of the White-Sox-Reds World Series.

Dodgers manager Leo Durocher was suspended for a year for associations with known gamblers.

Then it was Reds manager Pete Rose betting on baseball games with underworld figures while he was still in the Cincinnati dugout.

We waded thru the sludge of the steroid scandal that strained the baseball record book, from Mark McGuire thru Ryan Braun, to Alex Rodriguez and a whole host of other cheats.  It took the Congressional hearings to bring the slime into the spotlight.

Then came the imprisonment of a Cardinals executive for hacking the scouting computers of another team to steal contract information and injury reports.  That led to a lifetime ban for what he tried to do to acess how, oddly enough, the Astros were doing business.
.
And the lifetime ban for the Atlanta Braves General Manager for his part in a kickback scheme with signing bonus money for Latin American talent, smuggled into countries by underworld figures toting guns and getting a payoff.

Now it’s the sign stealing scandal that has led to the purge of all the key baseball executives in the Houston Astros organization.

And in all likelihood, it is not over.  If sign stealing with electronics, centerfield cameras, walkie talkies or Apple watches was happening in one city, it probably was happening elsewhere.

The Astros were the first to get caught, the Red Sox might be next, and who knows after that.

At 10am on Monday, MLB dropped the hammer on the Astros, denting the World Series trophy they won, and staining the franchise’s reputation.

At 11am, the owner fired his General Manager and his Manager for their knowledge, their consent, their lack of leadership for not stopping the cheating scandal.  Enraged even more, they violated an MLB memo issued all the way back in 2017 about use of electronics to steal signs, then continued to do it in both ’17 and ’18.  The commissioners office had issued a 6-page guideline, then followed with another directive a year later.  Houston didn’t care, they went ahead and did more.

Stats show, in the World Series against the Dodgers, and in the postseason in 2017, they went (8-1) at home with a (.273) batting average, lighting cup both Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen.  On the road, (3-6) and a (.208) average.  Connect the dots?

GM-Jeff Luhnow testified to Commissioner Rob Manfred he had no knowledge of what was happening in the video replay room, in the tunnel, in the teams dugout.  Hard to believe that, for someone who is so hands on in every aspect of the game.

Manager AJ Hinch was jettisoned too, for knowing about the scandal, but not stopping it for a two year span of lots of wins at Minute Maid Park.

And Alex Cora, then bench coach in Houston, now manager in Boston, is facing similar fate, for actually being the ringleader of the idea of how to steal the signs and transmit information to baserunners and batters.

And former Assistant GM Brandon Taubman, is banned for life, for his role in this, and an ugly confrontation with female reporters during the postseason.

On top of the sanctions came the Commissioner’s condemnation of the culture of Astros baseball, their treatment of their own people within the front office, the disdain for rules, and its combat with the media.

Shocking if you know people like Hinch and Cora, as I do.  Hinch, a standup guy, makes you wonder how-why he did not put a stop to it and go to management about what had happened.  He always looked you directly in the eye when he answered your questions.  I wonder how the look is today.

And Cora, an emotional and proud leader, who spoke out so strong about his earthquake devastated countries in Latin America and led financial drives to help out the needy.  A great philanthropist now viewed as a multi-year cheat.  Guess we should have looked under his fingernails for where he had been what he had done.

The reaction was swift from opposing players.  “Steal signs-get fired, but use steroids get millions?”  Another tweeted “Astros players have no conscience”.  A third added “Should take away their rings.”

From within the Astros offices at Minute Maid Park came denials and non denials.  Owner Jim Crane said “This does not taint our World Series wings”.  Luhnow blamed other, writing  “I am not a cheater, I did not know, this all came from players and lower level employees”.  Only Hinch was a standup guy, “I regret being connected-I failed”.

It’s not over for sure.  The next dark day will be in Boston, and I am not talking about the weather either.

Baseball’s black eye, sure to spread, before the healing starts.

===============================

-0-

“The Day After-Worse Than Day Before”

-0-

There’s an old phrase a former Chargers head coach told me when I was the Voice of the Bolts back in the day, and it rings true in 4-different NFL cities right now.

They’re disappointed in Houston, in Minnesota, in Seattle.  But to quote Edgar Allen Poe ‘never more’ than in Baltimore.

In Houston, they will find it hard to move past blowing a (24-0) lead in Arrowhead Stadium and letting Kansas City reel off 41-stright points.  In Seattle, it was too much cold weather-too much Aaron Rodgers-too much Aaron Jones-Davonte Adams  in their loss in Green Bay.  It was all too much defense from the 49ers as they flattened Minnesota.  But in the Charm City, so much expected, so bad the hurt now.

Never more so in Baltimore though, where a (14-2) Ravens team saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end in a destructive fashion.

It was like a funeral in that stadium in the second half of the beating they took at the hands of the Tennessee Titans.  It had to be like a funeral inside that Ravens lockeroom too.

Instead of a day to celebrate the record setting season they had, the Ravens were left to sort thru the debris and an off season of mourning of a missed opportunity to get to the Super Bowl.

The end of the playoff season, when you are supposed to win a game, is so sudden, it’s like a head on auto crash.  The stunned silence when you lose like that is so painful.

The 12-game winning streak was replaced by 3-hours of utter failure.

Endings like this will replace the memories of success, for the final season loss will linger all off season.

History repeated itself again for the brilliant young QB-Lamar Jackson.  The 2-interception-1 fumble day and the home field loss is even worse than last year’s home field loss to the Chargers, the one where he had 3-fumbles and threw a pick.

The potential MVP went MIA for the second year in a row and his team had nowhere to go to get him help.

The Ravens offensive line got mugged bay Jurrell Casey and rookie Jeff Simmons.  LB’s Rashaan Evans and David Long went sideline to sideline to make plays.  The defensive front of the Titans was in the backfield all day.

Jackson had no pocket, for it kept collapsing, and everywhere he tried to move the pocket, he saw guys in white shirts hitting him,.  The run game was clogged up in traffic.  The wide receivers were plastered downfield.

It was hard to stomach, seeing what went right all season, going so wrong in their final night of postseason play.

It wasn’t just Lamar Jackson.  It was Titans heavy duty running back Derrick Henry and his 195-yards rushing of toughness.

A dark night turns into a dark off-season. and it won’t feel any better tomorrow, a week from tomorrow, or a month from tomorrow.

It’s the NFL, where when you are good, winning is the only thing that counts.

Longtime Chargers coach Bobby Ross, who led his team to the Super Bowl termed it correctly.

“The way you play-the day you play” makes the difference.  All Tennessee.  All for naught Baltimore.

=======================

Great Football Weekend ahead of us.

A look at who wins…

(College Championship Game)

LSU-Clemson..What a matchup….Heisman hero QB-Joe Burrow (56TD) against do-everything Clemson QB-Trevor Lawrence…Brent Venables does great things in designing the Clemson defense..but does he have enough people to contain Burrow…his 3-big wide receivers and RB-Clyde Hellaire.  Lawrence and RB-Travis Etienne are so explosive and so diverse.  Lawrence ability to move the pocket almost changes the game plan of opposing coordinators.  Too much LSU firepower……(49-42) Bayou Bengals.

—————-

Chiefs-Houston…A bye week-do you know what Andy Reid’s record is in the games coming off a bye week?  Try (17-3).  They are rested-they are healthy, the offense is so dynamic and explosive.  Houston is coming off a hard fought win on Wildcard Weekend, but still does not protect QB-Deshaun Watson enough.  Yes he has 3-wideouts to make big plays, but will he hold up against an improving KC defense….Chiefs win (33-21)

Tennessee-Baltimore…The Ravens are sitting there waiting…12-wins in a row enroute to that (14-2) season…Lamar Jackson has accounted for 43-TDs this year, enroute to a (4,300) all purpose yard campaign…His offense is averaging (407) yards per game…How much juice does Derrick Henry have left after than 34-carry performance in the win in New England….Just too much Ravens firepower…ends badly for Titans (29-16)

Green Bay-Seattle….Seahawks aren’t playing in a dome this weekend, and yes I know they are (6-0) in games played on the East Coast-Midwest…but without his running backs,  just don’t see Russell Wilson being able to do this by himself….Aaron Rodgers-Aaron Jones make a huge force for Seattle’s leaky defense to deal with…Rodgers is (19-4) at Lambeau the last two seasons….And how about this…8-to-10 inches of snow on Saturday with high winds…come Sunday-snow showers 22-degrees by darkness at kickoff time…..Packers probably win in low scoring game (19-9)

Minnesota-San Francisco…What a hard road for the Vikings…Won in New Orleans…now  go cross-country on short work week to face the 49ers Earthquake defense…San Francisco’s defensive numbers are staggering, especially the 33-sacks from the front four…but that offense has grown dangerous too under Jim Garoppolo-and his three receiver set…Vikings are not good in the back end and George Kittle and friends will expose them on Sunday…Nice season ends for the guys in Purple….Niners nail them 31-17.

-0-

“Aztecs Football….So Long-Rocky Long”

-0-

San Diego State football has lost its leader.

Rocky Long has left the building, taking with him an (81-38) record, bowl wins, upsets wins over Pac 12-teams, and enormous respect from virtually everyone he crossed paths with.

He retires, with a (146-107) career ledger, at two schools that had not won in decades, first New Mexico, then up on Montezuma Mesa.  He exits with 43-career wins in the Mountain West Conference, more than anyone.

Aside from the 1960s-70s run of Don Coryell, no one has ever done it better that this guy from New Mexico.  He never had a losing season with the Red & Black.

Hard to believe it ended so quickly, but I should have sensed it when I found his University Email had been turned off on Monday.  Should have guessed it when he came off holiday break and called a coaching staff meeting, not in the Aztecs Athletic Center, but at a restaurant.

SDSU says Long has decided to retire, approaching his 70th birthday.  Others believe he may still wind up as someone’s defensive coordinator before all this is said and done.

The platitudes, the comments, the smiles, the laughs, the snippets of philosophy were fun to take part in.  So too the memories of big wins against the likes of UCLA..Washington State…Stanford…Arizona State and the uplifting victories on the Blue Turf at Boise State, and in the ice-box conditions in Wyoming.

He hands the keys back to Brady Hoke, who was (13-12) in two years here, setting the program on a course of success, before he left to take the Michigan job in the Big 10-Conference.  Hoke came back last year, and worked his coaching magic  in the defensive front, pushing Long’s defense to the #8-ranking in the country.

Continuity in the Aztecs football program is important.  Long-Hoke-cut from the same cloth.

——————————–

AD-John David Wicker

..Celebrate the career of Rocky Long-the winningest coach in MWC history.
..Came to me right before Bowl Game-said he was thinking retiring
..Asked him to think more after holidays..came back December 26th-retire
..We won the minute he came here

..Great moments..great players
..(4-1) vs Pac 12-teams the last 4-years
..Two rushers-who had 2,000-yard seasons
..Built great defenses-nationally ranked
..Fortunate to have been with him develop this culture in football
..It is about toughness-grit-opportunity to beat anyone-blue bloods included.
..Rocky embraced being part of the athletic department
..As 1st time AD…I leaned on him as I learned the ropes
..Brady is part of the fabric of Aztecs football
..He ended a long bowl drought when he got here
..Brady built a foundation and Rocky added to it
..Brady believes in student-athlete experience
..Coaching search..started thinking about changes
..Rocky wanted continuity in the program
..We talked about not blowing up what we have
..Talked to others-but Brady being part of architects of this..was important.
..We spent 8-hours with Brady talking about the job-he will continue this
..We did 2-hour conference call one day
..Went to Dayton for 6-hours meeting decided to promote him
..I did not demand Rocky fire Off Coor-Jeff Horton
..I talked to 3-other candidates about head coaching job-but Brady was #1
..Brady was on ground floor of program-knows it all
..Rocky said we should hire him
..I met with President-Rocky-Associate AD to determine candidates
..I didn’t know Brady-was meaningful to spend a lot of time with him
..Money was not-never an issue-we have resources to compete MWC
..New stadium coming on board will help our revenue even more.

Rocky Long

..I decided to retire from coaching
..This university has allowed us to be successful
..The culture here is something special..be part of this for 11-years
..It’s time to step aside after 20-years as a head coach
..I enjoy coaching but not enjoying  all things as head coach
..Time for a new face-not a pretty face-new voice-Brady Hoke
..Brady will create excitement…an exciting time to be an Aztec
..The very best thing about the program is the young men in program
..We have good people…kids becoming men
..Our leaders are special players and people
..There are no “I-Guys-Me Guys” in this program..No “look at me types”
..Our veteran players police the roster
..It took Brady and I …4-to-5 years to change the culture
..We have exciting President and exciting AD…it’s time.
..Brady bringing me in was luckiest day of my life
..It worked out well for me and him too
..Hoke is the best defensive line coach in country
..He is good guy…great head football coach
..Told JD before bowl game-told him thought I as thinking of retiring.
..Was right time..best time to retire
..Word got out I was retiring..word got out..people called..
..Went and visited…Yes had 3-offers
..As of this moment I am retired…but I love coaching..most fun I had
..I would only consider coming back here as Def Coordinator
..It’s Zach Arnett’s time to shine as Def Coord
..If he ever left, I would consider working for Brady-but not before then
..I loved to coach and recruit…most fun I ever had
..JD tried hard to change my mind
..When you have my experience-you can’t change my mind
..I might help someone coach-not going to stay away from football
..Brady and I have similar philosophies-win every game
..Power 5-won’t schedule us-know they will be in for a fight
..Half of Pac 12 won’t play us anymore
..There wasn’t one thing that happened that made me decide.
..You never quit when you are (7-6)..going out 10-wins was key.

Brady Hoke

..Coach Long has made it fun..10-years ago…and then this past year
..Our friendship goes all way back to Oregon State in the Pac 10
..Our president has great commitment
..We have great players who have defined this program
..Toughness-effort…on field-in building..on the campus..
..We are about accountability-respect-trust in this program.
..We have pride in ownership in SDSU football…past-present-future
..You never get chance to do something twice in life-so fortunate to have this chance
..Will meet with staff tomorrow to talk about direction
..A leader has to lead is team with his type of men on staff.
..People don’t want to play SDSU
..I want first class guys…integrity-character on this team.
..My core-that’s who I am.
..I am proud of my career….2nd chance coming back at place we love
..There is no dream job out there for me now
..I feel real fortunate to be able to come back again

..If it wasn’t for friendship and professionalism with Rocky-I might not have come back.
..I learned a lot at Michigan-we didn’t fail..put 11-guys in NFL one year
..I lost my President and AD at Michigan-that was hard
..I learned a lot under Mark Helfrich at Oregon
..Learned a lot from Chip Kelly-How to practice
..We are keeping the 3-3-5 defense
..We can run the spread but still play power football too
..I intend to get my ‘hands dirty’ and help coach defensive line
..My job is to grow these young men
..I was told last Saturday-Rocky was retiring..Final offer Tuesday night
..I tried to talk Rocky into staying
..I will evaluate the offense and the staff
..We must change the ‘pace of the game’ on offense next year.

=========================

..

ReplyForward

-0-

“Aztecs Football–Winning But Losing”

-0-

What is next?

Maybe we find out sometime on Wednesday.

Maybe not for a week or so.

Maybe never.

Rocky Long has done marvelous things at San Diego State, driving a moribund program into the upper echelon Group of 5-schools, and becoming a dominant force in the Mountain West Conference.

But maybe he has reached the end of the road here.  Maybe he needs a new challenge.  Maybe he wants to go somewhere and get paid.  Maybe he wants to be part of something respected, in the community, or maybe by his own Athletic Director.

Long was in upstate New York to meet with Dino Babers of Syracuse University on Monday.  The national writers believe it was to be considered for the Orange Defensive Coordinators job.  I was told it was to become Assistant Head Coach or possible Coach in Waiting.

Long is also mentioned as a candidate for Mike Leach’s Defensive Coordinators job at Washington State, and quietly to the vacant job at USC under Clay Helton.

The jobs are big time.  They pay well, 1M at Washington State, as much as 1.2M at Syracuse, and 1.5 or more at USC.

Long’s phenominal run at SDSU has led to an (81-38) record, but you could never tell by crowd turnout at SDSU  home games, with the stadium never sold out, in fact never really approaching 30,000 paid customers per home game.

SDSU has never been able to configure a plan to get San Diego to embrace the greatness of all the things Long has done.

There could be lots of reasons for Long’s decision to look at something else.

..A chance to go to a Power 5-school and do what he does best, teach defense and win and be in a New Year’s Day game.
.
..A chance to get a quality payday in the twilight of a fine career.  He makes (878,000) per year, and is only 7th on the payday list in his own conference.

..A chance to go somewhere where college football is held in high regard, compared to San Diego, where the Aztecs have not replaced the departed Chargers in the hearts of football fans.

..A chance to go somewhere without the drain of being a head coach dealing with 105-players, and an assistants staff under siege.

..A chance to not have to be responsible for an assistant coaching staff, which earns just 1.4M total in salaries in an expensive city to live in.

..A chance to work for some other AD aside from JD Wicker and his quirky personality.

..A chance to get away from the Mountain West Conference, its rinky-dink reputation, and a leadership team that cannot market its schools or get a decent TV contract.

..A chance to be part of the Power 5, not the disrespected Group of 5-conferences.

..A chance to walk way from a street fight with the AD, who might be mandating changes to the offensive coaching staff, going against the loyalty part of Long’s DNA.

It is stunning to look at the Mountain West payroll and see where the winningest coach is situated on the dollar ladder.  In the just completed 2019 season, Long was 7th in salary.

..1.8M-Mike Bobo-Colorado State…since fired
..1.6M-Brian Harsin-Boise State
..1.5M-Jeff Tedford-Fresno State..just retired
..1.4M-Craig Bohl-Wyoming..never won a title
..975K-Troy Calhoun-Air Force
..900K-Gary Anderson-Utah State in first year back
..878K-Rocky Long-SDSU..(81-38)..Dean of Coaches-9 Bowls

USA Today’s Salary list for the MWC shows SDSU’s football budget (15.5M), ranked third behind Colorado State (21.6M) and Fresno (17.8).  Oddly, national power Boise has a budget of (11.8M).  In terms of salaries for the football staff, Boise is tops with a (4.8M) coaching payout.  Wyoming was second (4.6M).  San Diego State is ranked 4th at (3.9M)..  So the Aztecs are in the upper third in football money, but their head coach is in the bottom third.  Does not make sense.

How could San Diego State allow this situation to exist, to have this icon of a coach on the Montezuma Mesa be so poorly compensated? Are dollars tight at state schools here?  Yes, but so are they other places around the league.

The Aztecs went 11-years without a winning season.  Brady Hoke and Rocky Long changed all that, but it does not appear they have been rewarded.  Granted no one expects anything like the (9.9M) package Dabo Swinney gets at Clemson or the (9.6M) haul made by Nick Saban at Alabama.

For a school that made a fatal mistake and fired Beth Burns-the women’s basketball coach,  and had to pay over 4.5M in wrongful termination plus legal fees, how could they not better take care of a great coach and possibly a greater man?  They haven’t won anything since where before they went to the NCAA tourney a number of times.

As this program has grown, we have seen all types of head coach.  Al Luginbill-forever the snake-oil salesman.  Ted Tollner, the ultimate gentleman.  Tom Craft and his schemes.  Chuck Long who became a fraud and failure.  Brady Hoke and his forceful personality.  To where we are now, all those wins and bowl games, under Long.

I’ve been around a lot of unique college coaches, doing play-by-play, sports talk and covering teams.

From the old school standards of Woody Hayes, to the beliggerance of Bo Schembechler, to the demands of Frank Kush, to the team first theory of Bobby Ross, to the emotional pitch of Marty Schottenheimer, to the XO-intelligence of Norv Turner.

Rocky Long has a piece of each of those coaches as part of his fabric.

He has every right to look for something different, if his heart and his head tell him it is time for a change.  SDSU’s leadership better look within themselves as to what they could-should have done better to keep him.

Rocky Long, unvarnished, unfiltered, has brought us a special experience at SDSU.  From culture, to accountability, to honesty to dedication.  He’s done all he could.  Maybe San Diego State has done all it could too.

Or maybe Aztecs leadership should have done better.

I can hear Long sales pitching that every recruit in upstate New York, should want to wear ‘Orange’.  Or praising ‘Cougar Weather’ up in Pullman, Washington.  Or standing and tell his defense to ‘Fight On’ his way if he were to become a USC Trojan.

If he leaves, we might get Brady Hoke-revisited as his replacement.  If he leaves, he might take Brady Hoke with him, and that would be our double loss.

We find out shortly.

Aztecs football-winning, but now possibly losing the man responsible for it all.  It would be good for the coach, bad for those of us left behind who care about the Aztecs.

======================