Double Duty Radcliffe

Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe died August 10, 2005, at age 103 I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Radcliffe in Chicago about 15 years ago at a local establishment (if I'm not mistaken, I think it might have been the bar "Sluggers" on Clark). WGN TV had an event for a documentary that it produced on the negro leagues, and Mr. Radcliffe was one of the stars of the event. I was also able to meet Vernon Jarrett at the time, which was a great thrill for me.

Mr. Radcliffe was very gracious, and he was funny. He will be missed.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/baseball/mlb/08/11/baseball.oldest/

Griff Junior: Should He Stay Or Should He Go?

Ken Griffey Jr. has done nothing but play hard for the Cincinnati Reds. I am a Ken Griffey Jr. fan.

Those who want to dog him because he kept getting hurt, I think, have it backwards. He kept getting hurt because he doesn't love the game. He kept getting hurt solely because he loves the game and plays only one way. In that way, he reminds me of Eric Davis, or, if you're a fan of baseball history, Pete Reiser.

The Reds have tried to trade Junior away. Jim Bowden traded Junior to the Padres for Phil Nevin. The trade was voided because Nevin refused to come to the Reds. Junior for Phil Nevin. I can't even fathom it. I am convinced that that trade got Jim Bowden fired. I'm sure the dearth of starting pitchers in the Reds minors for a decade or so helped, but I think that that trade of Junior was the straw that broke the GM’s back.

Now, the rumors are flying that Junior will be traded to the White Sox for some prospects, that in fact a deal had been done, and that Carl Lindner, the managing general partner of the Reds, nixed the deal before the trade deadline. John Allen, who is the president of the Reds, furiously denies all of this. Ken Williams, the Sox GM, remains mum about the specifics.

If Lindner nixed the deal, all I can say is, "Good for you." I know that Junior should go. I know that it would be the best thing for the Cincinnati organization and for Ken Griffey Junior. Trading to get Junior was the right thing to do. But letting him move on at the right price is also the right thing to do.

At the right price. My greatest fear is that the Reds will dump Junior, get marginal prospects, and still have to foot almost all of his salary, thus impairing their ability to spend the money necessary in player development and roster development that would help them move forward.

If you are not helping the franchise baseball wise, then keep Junior. I know that there is a logjam in the outfield and Kearns and Pena need to play. I know that the Reds need pitching, and that they are a small market, and that the farm system is not very stocked. I know all this. But, if the deal's not the one to move the franchise forward, don't make it.

Grif is hitting .290, with 28 homers, 83 RBI, and 74 runs this season. If the White Sox (or the Braves or the Mets or someone else) wants a centerfielder who can put up those kinds of numbers, they will have to come to the table with something good. If not, the Reds should keep him.

Of course, that is coming from a Ken Griffey Jr. fan. But, even more, I'm a Cincinnati Reds fan. And the No. 1 goal in any transaction is, move the franchise forward.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Pigskin News: TO Goes to Work. Big Whup

In pigskin news, the big story of the day is that Terrell Owens went to work. He went to work today. This morning. He got up, put on his monkey suit, which is apparently camouflage, and went to work.

Last night, he was getting ready to come to work. He was back in town, which is, I believe, the little town of Bethlehem, with his publicist and his agent. And, then, this morning, it was up and at 'em.

My next door neighbor went to work this morning. I saw the post office down the street bustling with activity. My wife went to work. I went to work. The Metra station looked packed with people going to work.

There are at least 2,400 other NFL players who went to work today. Brett Favre went to work. Michael Lewis reported. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison and Jerry Rice are in camp, working, trying to make their teams Super Bowl teams.

Apparently, TO doesn't like his pay structure. There are times that I'm not happy with my pay. So, TO isn't happy with his direct supervisor and some of his coworkers. There are times I'm not all that thrilled with my coworkers or my boss. But I go to work. I don't complain. I get my job done. I do it because it's my job and I'm a professional.

So, Terrell Owens went to work today. For all of the pigskin news today, that's the news lead.

Huh.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Jeff Blake's Pigskin Leadership Questioned in News

The pigskin scribes in the Chicago press has been all over Jeff Blake, saying that in the past he had a reported "me-first" attitude. They consistently bring up the fact that in 2003 in Arizona, Blake's Cardinal teammates nicknamed him "Leon," as the Leon in the Budweiser commercials who would said things like, "There's no "I" in "Team," but there ain't no "we" neither."

That's not the Jeff Blake I remember. I remember a Jeff Blake who rode in a white horse in Cincinnati in 1994 when all hope was lost. He found success throwing bombs to Carl Pickens and leading what was a terrible offense for two or three years. I remember a Jeff Blake who was constantly taken out of a starting role by Bengal management, either by Boomer Esiason, Neil O'Donnell, and Akili Smith, finally replacing him with, of all people, Scott Mitchell. The Bengals were bad in the 1990s. But Blake handled it all with a lot more grace than he should have.

In 2000, Blake took a bad New Orleans team to the brink of the playoffs, before getting hurt and being replaced forever by Aaron Brooks. Blake sort of helped salvage Baltimore's 2002 season. Baltimore wanted to re-sign Blake, but Blake felt low-balled by the figure. Maybe things weren't left in that great of a situation in Baltimore, but Jeff wasn't really that bad about it. And the situation deteriorated it seems to me because Balitmore wanted Jeff back so badly but were unwilling to pay him a starter's salary.

Blake shopped around and ended up in Arizona for the 2003 season. Arizona was trying to replace Jake Plummer.

Below is Blake's 2003 season:

Name G CMP ATT PCT YARD Y/A TD IN
Jeff Blake 13 208 367 56.7 2247 6.1 13 15

And here is Plummer's 2002 season:

Name G CMP ATT PCT YARD Y/A TD IN
Jake Plummer 16 284 530 53.6 2972 5.6 18 20

Add in three more games, and Blake's numbers may have been near identical to Plummer's. Blake's coach in Arizona, Dave McGinnis, was reportedly happy with Blake as his quarterback. Plummer is making a lot more money than Jeff Blake is right now.

Last year, Blake was Philadelphia's third-string quarterback, and, now, he's Chicago's third-string QB. Is Jeff Blake a me-first player? I don't' think he is. I think he is a confident and maybe cocky player who thinks he can play in the NFL and win games. I think that is probably what the Bears really need right now.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Da Bearss Need a QB. Who Will It Be?

Rex Grossman is out for at least half of the 2005 season, according to the Bears. The quarterbacks remaining on their roster include Chad Hutchinson, Kyle Orton, Kurt Kittner, Joe Barnes, and Kent Nix. I don't think that'll do it.

I advocated last year (I have at least one friend, Hot Doug, who'll back me up) that the Bears sign Chad Hutchinson before they did. And I think that he potentially can still be a good backup. I don't really know about being a real starter in this league.

But I think Da Bearss need a veteran quarterback to come in. Here are the names that are sort of being bandied about:

Vinnie Testaverde: No. Vinnie is too old. He looked not so good at the end of last year. I don't think the Bears need a 40-year-old to come in. They need a veteran, but not of WWII.

Jeff George: No. Though he had some experience with the Bears last year, there is a new offensive coordinator, so some of that advantage is lost. And, he's not had the best history of team play. I don't think Jeff is a bad idea for some teams, necessarily, but not the Bears.

Quincy Carter: No. The Jets didn't want him back. I think Q needs to go to Canada.

Tim Couch: No. The Bears probably can do better. Also, I don't know if Tim's shoulder can take two pratices in a row, much less hold up in game situations. As with Carter, I think you need someone who is ready to step in, but not that old.

Brock Huard: Now we are getting somewhere. But I think he is closer to Chad Hutchinson, and he doesn't have the experience that Hutchinson does. So, he still rates a "no."

Jeff Blake: Here you go. He's the answer if you are looking for a one-year deal. He has a ton of experience, he has been in several "West Coast" offenses, so he should be able to step in. He's a bit long in the tooth, but he should be fresh after not playing much last year. He could step in, help right away, and then you could say "bye-bye."

Shaun King: He's the guy if you want a longer term solution. Without a doubt. The only math I think you need to make is where you think Kyle Orton is, and where you think Chad Hutchinson is. And, I guess for that matter, what you think about Rex Grossman. I think that Orton could be a starter in the NFL. I thought he was the best combination of college QB and pro prosepect as a QB through about eight weeks of the season last year, until he got hurt. I have my doubts about Hutchinson. And I have strong doubts about Rex. So I would sign Shaun King.

So it's Blake or King. Fairly easy call.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Fantasy Football News: QBs list one

Fantasy Football News. Below, please find my first pass, har har, at fantasy QBs for 2005

1 Manning,Peyton IND 8 29/7 399.0
2 Culpepper,Daunte MIN 5 28/5 385.6
3 McNabb,Donovan PHI 6 29/6 366.3
4 Bulger,Marc STL 9 28/3 362.3
5 Vick,Michael ATL 8 25/4 253.2
6 Collins,Kerry OAK 5 32/10 316.0
7 Palmer,Carson CIN 10 25/2 280.9
8 Favre,Brett GB 6 35/14 309.3
9 Hasselbeck,Matt SEA 8 29/6 307.0
10 Green,Trent KC 5 35/8 347.5
11 Brady,Tom NE 7 28/4 293.9
12 Leftwich,Byron JAX 7 25/2 234.1
13 Delhomme,Jake CAR 7 30/4 247.3
14 Brooks,Aaron NO 10 29/5 265.7
15 Plummer,Jake DEN 9 30/8 296.4
16 Brees,Drew SD 10 26/4 251.3
17 Roethlisberger,Ben PIT 4 23/1 218.0
18 Carr,David HOU 3 26/3 223.0
19 Griese,Brian TB 7 30/6 247.2
20 Pennington,Chad NYJ 8 29/4 231.9
21 Boller,Kyle BAL 3 24/2 205.6
22 Grossman,Rex CHI 4 24/2 176.7
23 Warner,Kurt ARI 6 34/6 215.1
24 Manning,Eli NYG 5 24/1 188.9
25 McNair,Steve TEN 10 32/10 194.3
26 Bledsoe,Drew DAL 9 33/12 209.0
27 Losman,J.P. BUF 9 24/1 188.2
28 Harrington,Joey DET 3 26/3 143.0
29 Feeley,A.J. MIA 4 28/2 165.9
30 Ramsey,Patrick WAS 3 26/3 183.8
31 Holcomb,Kelly BUF 9 32/7 34.0
32 Smith,Alex [R] SF 6 R 92.0
33 Dilfer,Trent CLE 4 33/11 138.0
34 Rattay,Tim SF 6 28/4 133.8
35 Garcia,Jeff DET 3 35/6 130.9
36 Volek,Billy TEN 10 29/2 121.1
37 McCown,Josh ARI 6 26/3 40.4
38 Fiedler,Jay NYJ 8 33/7 22.2
39 Brunell,Mark WAS 3 34/11 20.2
40 Hutchinson,Chad CHI 4 28/3 19.8

I'll update this list later.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Kenny Rogers Gambles, Beats the Bud

Kenny Rogers got his supension for knocking around two camera operators toting heavy equipment reduced from 20 days to 13 days. The fine became a charitable contribution, thus tax deductable. Which is good, 'cause you don't want multimillionaires to pay the same in taxes that a taxi driver pays.

Reading the news, I fully expected outrage from the baseball pundits, saying that this was another case of letting these guys get off easy. Instead, much to my surprise, I saw that Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune (who I am pretty sure is not related to Kenny Rogers) pretty much blasted Bud Selig. Another writer, Mike Celizic of MSNBC, did likewise. What did Bud do wrong?

Rogers writes that Bud was the person who issued the suspension, not baseball vice president in charge of issuing suspensions Bob Watson. Then Bud heard the appeal, which Bud denied.

What Kenny Rogers did was terrible. He acted like a bully. There are other instances of athletes or coaches or celebrities abusing workers doing their jobs whereever the event may be taking place. The stars of sports or the media depend on hundreds of lunchbucket folks such as camera operators, clubhouse attendants, sound engineers, and on and on, to let them bask in the glow and rake in the dough of stardom. Abusing the people who provide the entire support system that allows these people to be multimillionaires really frosts my butt. I thought that the original suspension should have been for more than 20 days.

Bud Selig needs to follow the rules, however. There needs to be some due process. He took over the whole process, grandstanding and letting everyone know that he's tough and not going to take it. Well, there are times that you need to let the process work. And this was one of those times.

Unfortunately, this looks like one of those stories that there is no real satisfactory outcome.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

John Bolton: Who's Call Is It, Anyway?

If lovin' John Bolton is wrong, W don't wanta be right.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/08/02/bolton/index.html

Ian Williams wrote a piece in Salon regarding John Bolton's recess appointment to the U.N. I share in its conclusion that the democrats would be wise to not try to block John Bolton. My reasoning is different, however. Ian Williams says that if the dems were truly partisan, they would rejoice this as a bad thing for the Bush administration.

My reasoning that the democrats should cease the delaying tactics is because the president, I believe, has the right to pick many of the people in the administration, right or wrong. I believe Bolton is wrong, maybe as wrong as you can get, for this particular position. But that's the pres's call. I think the dems are working this to their disadvantage. I don't think the lunchbuckets worry who the U.N. Ambassador is. The dems, trust me, have other things to worry about.

Federal courts, now that's different. Attorney General, that's a closer call. Secretary to the United Nations, even one as fun-loving and open-minded as John Bolton, that's is W's call, even if he is one of the worst candidates that there is. Which he is.

thankyouverymuch,

old cleat

Pat Harmon, Sports Editor and Football History Writer, Retires

This is from Fred Mitchell's "Around Town" column in the Chicago Tribune on July 21, 2005:

Pat Harmon, whose career as a sportswriter and editor spanned more than 70 years, has retired as the historian for the National Football Foundation&College Hall of Fame. Harmon began his career in 1933 covering events at age 17 for the Freeport (Ill.) Journal Standard during the Depression. He served as sports editor and columnist for the Cincinnati Post for more than 34 years, starting in 1951. Harmon, who will turn 89 on Sept. 2, covered such greats as Vince Lombardi, Pete Rose, Casey Stengel, Arnold Palmer, Eddie Robinson, John Wooden, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Jack Nicklaus, Woody Hayes, Paul Brown and Joe Louis. Harmon also wrote for the Champaign News-Gazette in 1934 when he became a student at the University of Illinois. He may be known best for inaugurating the selection of All-State high school football and basketball teams in Illinois.

Pat Harmon was one of those guys I wanted to be while growing up in Cincinnati. He was the sports editor for the Post, which was then (and is now) the No. 2 paper in Cincy to the Enquirer. My family had both subscriptions. The Enquirer was a morning paper, and the Post was the afternoon paper. And I used to read both. Especially the sports sections.

Pat was Old School. He covered the Reds before Frank Robinson was on the team, for Pete's sake. He covered Paul Brown as a new (and highly successful) coach in the NFL for the Browns. So by the time I started reading his stuff, he KNEW Frank Robinson and the trade that sent him to the Orioles. He KNEW Paul Brown and the baby Bengals. He was a part of the history.

The below item was all I could find in his old paper, the Cincinnati Post:

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050719/SPT/507190316/-1/all

MORRISTOWN, N.J.

Football historian Harmon retires

Pat Harmon retired as historian of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

"Pat has dedicated himself to the reporting, researching and publicizing of sports, in particular football, for more than 70 years," NFF chairman Jon F. Hanson said in a statement Monday. "We have been privileged to have an individual with his depth of knowledge as a resource for our organization and the entire nation."

Harmon began his career in 1933, covering events for the Freeport Journal Standard in Illinois at the age of 17. Harmon later spent 34 years at The Cincinnati Post as a sports editor and columnist. He retired in 1986, and began his tenure as NFF historian.

"The job has been wonderful," Harmon, 89, said in the statement. "It's the contact with people that I will miss the most. Every day, I think about something that
I could be doing. But, heck, I am almost 90 years old. It's time to retire."

http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=290

http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=650

Jim Parker's Stays at Woody's Dorm; NCAA Blows Football History Top

I was saddened to read about the passing of Jim Parker, the legendary Ohio State Buckeye and Baltimore Colt lineman, who was one of the best players in football history.

In reading the obits, I was struck with one in the Baltimore Sun recounting his history as an Ohio State football player. First there was a little item on the weight that he gained. But the bigger item was where he stayed.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-sp.parker19jul19,1,2919229.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines

"When I'm gone, I'd like to be known as the best offensive lineman that
ever lived," Parker told The Sun in a 2000 interview. "I set that goal as a
college freshman, but I didn't get bodacious about it until later.

"You don't broadcast goals 'til it's all over."

Four years later, Parker had gained nearly 100 pounds and a college football scholarship. At Ohio State, where few blacks lived on campus, he stayed at the home of the late Woody Hayes, the Buckeyes' head coach, who would introduce Parker at his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

First of all, he gained nearly 100 pounds. Parker was a big lineman for his time. So if he weighed 290 pounds, let's say, he would have had to have been about a 200 pounder as a high school player for the nearly 100 pounds he gained.

But, second of all, he stayed at the head coach's house. How do you think the suits at the NCAA would react to that today? Can you imagine the hubbub that would ensue today? It would be the biggest uproar in football history.

Hard to imagine.

thankyouverymuch,

old cleat

Backup Quarterbacks Could Make Gridiron News

Seth Wickersham, a gridiron news writer for ESPN The Magazine, recently wrote in his blog:

“They are the QBs who start the year on the bench or with no expectations and rise up to a Pro Bowl or Super Bowl near you. Here are a quick five who might some about this year.”

Then he listed the following five:

5. Tony Banks, Houston.
4. Gus Frerotte, Miami.
3. Joey Harrington, Detroit.
2. Kyle Boller, Baltimore.
1. Jason Campbell, Washington.

I agree maybe with one of these picks, Tony Banks. Kyle Boller and Joey Harrington are former first-round picks who are starters, for crying out loud. They have to have some expectations, so they don’t count. Gus Frerotte is a former starter who is not really a backup. He is competing for a starting job under a new coach. So he don’t count. And Jason Campbell is a first-round pick this year who is the designated QB of the future for Joe Gibbs and Co. So Campbell don’t count.

My list has five QBs who would really be surprises to lead his team to the playoffs, or to make a Pro Bowl:

5. Todd Bouman, New Orleans. Not the QB of the present or the future. He also could be a third stringer that we never hear from again. But I’ve seen him play, and he can play some QB in the NFL.
4. Tim Hasselbeck, New York Giants. Picture this: Eli’s not getting it done. The Giants don’t have patience. They bring in a Hasselbeck, and he gets it done. I can see it now. Not a pro bowler, but I can see a playoff run behind Timmy.
3. Marques Tuiasosopo, Oakland. Now this would be a real surprise. He is behind Collins, he’s been hurt, and they drafted that Walter kid outta Arizona State, who I really like. But I can see him lofting pass after pass to Moss. And let’s face it: Nobody really knows about San Diego.
2. Anthony Wright, Baltimore. This would surprise the world (well, maybe not the world), but not me. I think Wright may outplay Kyle Boller early in camp. And if Boller struggles during the season, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Wright under center. Athletic, strong arm, pretty darned good team around him, save maybe for the wideouts. What the hell. I could see Wright go far in the playoffs.
1. Kelly Holcolmbe, Buffalo. This is a no-brainer. I think Holcolmbe can flat out get it done. I have no real opinion on J.P. Losman other than I thought it was a terrible waste of picks to get him. Saw him a little in college and wasn’t real impressed. But Holcolmbe can play. Don’t pay attention to some of the crapola that happened in Cleveland. This kid’s a QB. I’m sayin’ he could make the Pro Bowl.

Well, that's the gridiron news for now. thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Terry Hoeppner Makes the Right Call

Below is the text of an email that I sent to Matt Hayes, the The Sporting News college football reporter. It is regarding a head coach that I admire quite a bit, Terry Hoeppner.

Mr. Hayes:

I have to respectfully disagree with you regarding Terry Hoeppner. You chararcterized him as a hot mid-major head coach who jumped
at the first big-program job offer that he received, Indiana. Your implication,
I believe, was that taking the Indiana job was a big mistake, and that he could
have held out for a better job.

I am a Miami grad and love MAC football. In the past three years, when a job opened at a major program, I had never heard Hoeppner's name mentioned once. Maybe you can let on as to which jobs those were. Most of the hot coaches from the mid-majors, it seems to me, are late 30-somethings or 40-somethings who have head coached in the lower ranks and who are offensive-minded coaches. Hoeppner was a career defensive coordinator who was a 50-something solid guy. He wasn't Urban
Meyer.

Hoeppner grew up in Indiana, went to college in Indiana (though not AT Indiana), and I take him at his word that he really wanted to coach the Hoosiers. I'm sure it was the best decision he could have made. It is a good BCS job near his home.

I am sure that he will run the Hoosiers the right way, building them with solid kids who work hard. It is going to take some time. Looks to me like the cupboard is a little barren at the present time.

Of course, the administration and the fans at IU may not give him the time he needs. But they fire coaches in the MAC, too. All you have to do is look at the rise and the fall of Gary Darnell at Western Michigan to realize that staying put at Miami has its risks, too. One injury to, say, Josh Betts, and you're looking at a 3-8 record . . . . I appreciate your time.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Below is the link to the article (really a sidebar to an article) discussing head coaching prospects at mid-majors who will be prospects for BCS jobs. I pulled the quote concerning Gregg Brandon, which discusses Hoeppner's decision to move to Indiana.

http://www.sportingnews.com/exclusives/20050616/626096.html

Gregg Brandon, Bowling Green. The architect of Urban Meyer's offense at Bowling
Green, Brandon has further developed the system and has other MAC teams lifting
his schemes and pass sets. He has 20 wins in two seasons and has proved he can
develop a young, raw quarterback into a big-time talent (Omar Jacobs). Brandon
won't make the same mistake Terry Hoeppner made by diving into the first BCS job
that's offered. A MAC rising star at Miami (Ohio), Hoeppner is the new coach at
Indiana

Well, that's all for now.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Jim Leyland May Skipper the Wishbone C

Being a fan of the Reds, one of the more encouraging things I've read in a while is that Jim Leyland could maybe kinda sorta be a managerial candidate for the Wishbone C.

I wanted Dave Miley to last at least throughout the year. If he would have turned it around in the second half, I would have been up for reupping him.

But that didn't happen. Jerry Narron is an interim manager. That's fine. I hope that he is one of the interviewees for the permanent job. That would be fine, too.

What happened in the first half of 2005 wasn't a managerial thing. It wasn't even an offseason 2004 thing. It was a long time in coming. It's systemic. The system is broken and needs a lot of work to get it fixed. There were too many huge problems that re-signing Paul Wilson and acquiring Ramon Ortiz and Eric Milton weren't going to fix, even if they hadn't blown up. Two games under .500 and 17 games under .500 is the same thing if you really truly can't compete.

Anyway, here is a link to the article regarding Jim Leyland, and I pulled the end quote.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/102-07062005-511074.html

By RANDY MILLER
phillyBurbs.com

... "I think I can run a major league team, and I think I know what I'm
doing."

Leyland wants one more crack at managing, but on his terms. He doesn't want
to stray too far from his suburban Pittsburgh home, which narrows his options.
Leyland isn't saying, but he'd probably only return to Pittsburgh or go to
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, Washington or Boston. His best
bet could be Cincinnati, which hired Jerry Narron as interim manager after
firing Dave Miley last month.

"I want to manage again if it's the right situation,"Leyland said. "I'm not
going to sit here and campaign for a job that somebody else has. That's not my
style."

Well, that's all for now.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

More Hank Stram

Len Pasquarelli on espn.com does a great job. I always enjoy reading his columns.

Anyway, he had a nice rememberance of Hank Stram.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2100503

I've pulled another interesting fact out of this, as well.

Given his own stature, Stram had a soft spot for vertically-challenged
players, no doubt. At the same time, though, he was fascinated by raw size.
He brought the tallest player in NFL history, 6-feet-10 tight end Morris Stroud,
into the league in 1970. Not only did he design red zone plays specifically
to create size mismatches for Stroud, but Stram also positioned him under the goal
posts, where he was instructed to try to swat away long field goal attempts.

Little known is that Stram once spent several hours attempting to convince
the splendid seven-footer Wilt Chamberlain to give the NFL a try.

I do remember Morris Stroud. Given how athletic big men in college basketball are nowadays, it surprises me that there isn't a Morris Stroud for this generation.

I remember watching Antonio Gates play basketball for Kent State. I actually think I have videotape of him playing against Miami U in some MAC tourney game somewhere. He was a great college basketball player. But that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about someone like Lawrence Roberts from Mississippi State. Or better yet, Dwayne Jones of St. Joes, who wasn't drafted. 6-11, 250. Put him in a weight room for a year, have him run 100 end zone patterns a day, and in 2006 you have a real matchup problem for other teams.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

Hank Stram died on July 4, 2005

Hank Stram died on July 4, 2005.

Just recently, I remember watching an NFL Films documentary called "The Original Six Days to Sunday." Stram of course let NFL Films get complete access to the Saints in 1976 as they prepared for a division game against the Falcons. Stram was fired before they did all the production work on the film, so they let it sit in the vaults for years before finishing it.

It was a great film. It showed Stram working with Bobby Douglass to break down game film and to become a finished product as an NFL quarterback.

Hopefully, the NFL Network or ESPN Classic will replay the film in the next few days or weeks.

Here are some other interesting things I found out about Coach Stram.

Stram won the 1948 Big Ten Medal for combining athletics and academics.

From some additional research, I found out that John Wooden won the award at Purdue in 1932.

I've linked to some of the better obits that I've found. And I pulled some quotes that interested me. I will say that I've read several columns by Jerry Magee and I love his stuff.

Stram also has a reputation of being a innovator. There are three that I would like to investigate further. The full-time conditioning coach was credited to Stram in some of the obits. The use of the zone defense in the AFL, at least, if not the zone defense itself was credited to Stram. And, Lenny Dawson said that the Chiefs were running the West Coast offense before the West Coast offense. I don't know if these are accurate or not, but I'd like to find out.

Below please find the interesting quotes.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/nfl/20050705-9999-_1s5stram.html

By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 5, 2005

Two
coaches arguably had more to do with American Football League teams achieving
permanence than any others. One was the Chargers' Sid Gillman, the other Stram.
Gillman, who died in January 2003 at age 91, respected Stram. "Good plays,"
Gillman would say. But he also felt he could read Stram. One of Gillman's
deductions was that when a Stram team would get behind, it would begin blitzing.

Joe Horrigan noted that under Stram, the Chiefs were among the first
professional teams to recognize the talent pool contained in historically black
schools.

Henry Louis Stram was the son of a professional wrestler from
Gary, Ind. At Purdue, he was a running back in 1942 and in 1946-47.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3252592

By MICKEY HERSKOWITZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Stram fought
the battle of Dallas, where the Cowboys and Texans both drew so poorly that a
playoff was suggested, with the winning team getting to leave town.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/12057041.htm

By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star

Stram was born Jan. 2, 1923, in
Chicago and grew up in Gary, Ind., where his Polish-born father was a tailor and
professional wrestler named Henry Wilszek, who performed for the Barnum &
Bailey circus. The circus changed his surname to Stram.

Although his
parents discouraged him from playing football, Hank Stram became a star athlete
in football, baseball, basketball and track at Lew Wallace High in Gary, earning
all-state honors as a halfback.

Stram enrolled at Purdue University on a
football scholarship in 1941 and enlisted in the Army reserve in 1943. He
remained in the service for three years, returning to Purdue in 1946 and earning
his degree in 1948. He lettered in football and baseball at Purdue, and as a
senior he received the Big Ten Medal, awarded to the conference athlete who best
combines athletics with academics.

Stram spent the next 12 seasons as an
assistant at Purdue, SMU, Notre Dame and Miami (Fla.) before Hunt hired him as
the head coach of the Dallas Texans of the fledgling AFL.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/12053348.htm

By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star

"I don't know if there is
anything ever new in football, but we were doing things in the `60s that teams
are doing now," said Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson. "Hank came up with so
many new twists and doesn't get the credit he deserves.

"He wasn't
afraid to try things. Back in those days, guys didn't try anything. They pretty
much stayed with what the Green Bay Packers or New York Giants were doing. Well,
Hank decided let's do some things different. We were playing the West Coast
offense before it was the West Coast offense."

And Stram deployed zone
defenses in the early 1960s as a way to combat the wide-open passing games of
the AFL when teams were loath to defend receivers in anything but man-to-man
coverage.

Stram attributed that defense to the Texans' intercepting five
passes in the 1962 AFL championship win over Houston.

http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-19/1120543067262410.xml

The Times-Picayune
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Peter Finney

What
befell Coach Stram at the end of a long career, a two-year pit stop for John
Mecom's Saints, did nothing to tarnish the résumé of the most successful coach
in the history of the AFL.

Without a doubt, Hank's finest hour with the
Saints had more to do with the owner who fired him in Kansas City, Lamar Hunt,
than the man who brought him to the Big Easy.

Perhaps old-timers will
remember.

All the Saints had to do to sew up a 20-17 victory at
Arrowhead Stadium in 1976 was run out the clock. They were near the Kansas City
end zone with the final seconds ticking down when Stram called time. He told a
surprised Bobby Scott, his quarterback, "now we're going to shove it to 'em."

Scott threw a touchdown pass to tight end Henry Childs to make it 27-17.

"I wanted that last one," Hank said afterward. "Maybe these people will
learn to do their talking after the game, not before."

During the week,
Chiefs coach Paul Wiggin was quoted as saying, "I'd like to kick Stram's butt."
After the game, as Stram was being carried from the field, running back Chuck
Muncie ran over to Wiggin and handed him a poster-sized reproduction of his
words.

All and all, it was a strange setting. Stram had been best man at
Lamar Hunt's wedding. And that's not all. At the time, the coach and his former
boss were in the courts, trying to settle Hank's contract with Kansas City, a
10-year, $100,000-a-year deal terminated with seven years remaining.

So
it made for a memorable postgame scene, the Strams leaving Arrowhead Stadium
linked arm-in-arm, Hank, wife Phyllis, two sons, two daughters, all of them
singing, "When the Saints . . ."

It was right out of Dorothy and
friends, in the "Wizard of Oz," walking the Yellow Brick Road.

Hank had
found his Saints rainbow.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

What is the Best Hot Dog in Chicago? Hot Doug's

If you are in Chicago, and you have a hankerin' for the best hot dog you'll ever taste, or any other kind of sausage, you should visit Hot Doug's.

Several years ago, three coworkers and myself set out to find the best hot dog on the north side of Chicago. We reviewed more than 40 joints, and we found several that were to our liking, such as Superdawg and Byron's. But one of the members of the Hot Dog Club, Doug Sohn, did us all one better. He went out and became Hot Doug.

Doug opened his humble little sausage joint, and nobody took notice.

Just kidding.

This man had a half-page, four-color picture of himself in the New York Times, for R.W. Apple's sake. Doug is a media trollop.

Regardless, he does make on tasty hot dog. And he makes all sorts of sausages.

And if you have bratwurst on the brain, I urge you to get the Paul Kelly. And tell Doug that Old Cleat sent you.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat

The Previews Are Here

The football preview magazines are here. I am just digging into them now.

I am a Street and Smith's guy. Always have been. There are other preview magazines with better information, but I just have a thing about SandS. There was a little problem a while back with the infatuation with four-color photography, but the've gotten over that.

I think TSN does a fabulous job.

Well, gotta run.

thankyouverymuch,

Old Cleat