The order of things

There were no computers in classrooms when I first started teaching. In fact, the average size of a computer was about the size of an average classroom back in the day.

I may have forgotten a few names of my former students, but I never forget their faces and individual traits.

Last year, I remember telling my students to "let me go" first. What brought that about was the death of a former student. I meant that last year and I stress it again today.

This morning I saw an obituary of a former student of mine. He moved to Dallas and "left us" from that big city. I remembered his face immediately and the name under it brought back many memories.

It just doesn't seem fair that those who were once in my classroom "go home" before I do; but then who am I to question God's perfect timing?

Will the real LSU please stand up?

Long, long, long time ago, when television was still in its black-and-white broadcast days, there was a show where a panel of special guests tried to guess who was telling the truth about their job or some other unique lifestyle or situation. I believe it was called "To Tell the Truth".

Out of the three guests who claimed to be someone special, only one was the real thing--much like the 2007 LSU Tiger football team.

Just who are the LSU players wearing the purple and gold this season? Are they the real thing, or simply imposters? Their opening line was very convincing against Virginia Tech. Their second and third lines were also pretty good statements when Middle Tennessee and Mississippi State showed up to play.

However, the Tigers must have been trying to fool the national panel of guests for the rest of the season with their performances against all the other teams. They never really put anybody away like true champs and that was frustrating to long-time Tiger fans.

Only one more step for the LSU football Tigers remains to prove to the national panel just who they really are, and that's coming up Monday night, Jan. 7.

Will the Tigers show up like the real thing, full of pop and energy; or will they fizzle out like yesterday's leftover soda?

Boring, boring Friday night

Yawwwwwn! What an absolutely boring Friday night last night was. It happens ever year though, so by now one would think the effects would not be so dramatic.

I mean there was no rush to get home to change and rush back to the ball game. There was no hustling to beat kids out of the parking lot to get to the out-of-town game. There was no sleeping in a hotel following a football contest. Something's wrong when one has to go from high school football games every Friday night to sitting in front of the tube watching "Wheel of Fortune". (My gosh, Vanna White is getting old.)

The number of E-mails coming in did increase somewhat Friday night. Several of them argued, and rightly so, that Sam, Smiley, Jacob, Logan, James Michael and others should have made the All-State team.

I am pumped about the basketball and soccer teams, but with basketball I always get a crick in my neck, and soccer just happens to be played during the deep-freeze period of the year. Oh well. I guess it's time I stock up on the aspirin and dig for those long johns in the back of the closet.

Dome brings about agoraphobia

I never knew I was afraid of crowds, but I found out Saturday night at the Louisiana Superdome. People, people everywhere, and none of them I know! It was a record-setting crowd in The Big Easy this weekend for the state championships in football.

All three games were blow-outs. South Plaquemines, with four seventh graders and five eighth graders on the roster whipped West St. John to take the 1-A state title in the first game.

Bastrop, with the skills of Randall Mackey at quarterback, ran up a 38-0 score before Archbishop Shaw could make their fifth first down of the game to win 38-14. The Rams' only weakness is that they could not seem to convert on extra points.

Mackey is still the real deal. He can still run, pass and even rated a 9.5 on his back flip into the endzone on his first touchdown. He also was recognized by the referees for an unsportsman-like penalty of 15 yards on his celebration.

Class 5-A has a new champion, the Destrehan Wildcats. The Cats dethroned defending champion Acadiana by 41-21, breaking open a close game in the final period of play.

Dome Tell-Me-Whys

Tell me why Coach John Curtis has won 22 state championships and still has not one gray hair on his head?

Tell me why the sound system is so 'hot' at the Superdome? I felt like I was at a rock concert.

Tell me why the public address announcers lost their French accents this year?

Tell me why the former lead singer for Louisiana's Lereaux has never been invited to sing the National Anthem before?

Tell me why Calvary's artificial surface looks 10 times better than that in the Dome?

Tell me why my wife and I have to chose to sit on the row where everyone wants to get up and pass in front of us five times during the game to go to the john or to the concession stand?

Tell me how Parkview and Westlake got so big?

John Curtis proves best 28-13

The secret to beating St. James is to keep Luther Ambrose in check, and John Curtis did that all night, with the exception of one play to win the 2-A state football championship.

Ambrose broke lose one time for a long touchdown, but that was about it in the game that saw 7 fumbles and an interception in the first half alone. Five of the fumbles were recovered by the other team.

I didn't care who won the game, but was kind of glad when I sat on the John Curtis side after remembering that St. James boos so loudly when the other team comes onto the field for the first time. After all, they booed my Cavaliers. So much for the "spirit of the game" the LHSAA so often reminds us about.

I had always heard that John Curtis brings a small following, and even though I have been to the dome more times than I have fingers on my hand, I never noticed their crowd. After tonight's game, I must disagree with what I had heard. JC had the home side almost packed on two levels.

It was hard to figure out if John Curtis was more happy to win the state championship, or to get revenge for their 16-14 loss to St. James in the regular season. I mean 22 state championships can kinda get boring; or can it?

In the second game of the night, Parkview managed a 1-point win over a tough, stubborn Westlake group. I had no preference in that game either, but was impressed by the masses of orange T-shirts all over the city from the Westlake fans.

Parkview had some monsters on the line, and I mean humongous monsters! Westlake tried to psych out the fans and Eagles when they sent out players in pre-game warm up that were about the size of normal sixth graders. They then sent out the big boys that were almost as large as Parkview's linemen.

Westlake's Vincent Collins may be the second-coming of Jacob Hester.

Rod's 2007 Dome Blog

FRIDAY, DEC. 7, AFTERNOON UPDATE-- So far, Westgate fans out-number everyone else around the Dome. I see orange shirts everywhere. I bumped into a few St. James folks and a couple of their coaches at the Riverwalk. On the way out of "Mothers Restaurant" for lunch, I saw my first Parkview fans.

Now, it's back to the hotel for some rest before the football games tonight.

FRIDAY, DEC. 7--It sure is quiet around here this morning. Since 1993 I have been awakened by fans of teams from around the state with their pre-game war chants.

Different hotel and different teams this year being on an unfamiliar experience, but then there's John Curtis. I think I saw someone in a Patriots' hat chasing away the dust bunnies in the Superdome locker room. I thought the tape on the floor was from a Saints' game, but it still had JC logos on it. I am going to find out it they really have a dedicated dressing room just for John Curtis each year here at the Dome.

No offense against West St. John, but I have to pull for the South Plaquemines in the 1-A game tomorrow simply because Calvary drove through that area when we played Boothville-Venice. That part of the state was several feet under water the last time I saw a photo of the place.

We went on a walk last night and decided to eat at Bubba Gumps. Their microwave must have been broken because my fish and shrimp were both cold. Even after I asked to have it "nuked" again, it was still lukewarm.Even the bread pudding was "just warm" for some reason. As Forrest would say, "That's all I have to say about that.

"THURSDAY, DEC. 6-- The road trip from beautiful downtown Greenwood was not that bad. (Yes, I played hookie from school today.)

Observations: The blown out gas well over the Atchafalaya has been capped. I had hoped to have seen it all aglow one more time.Whoever said the population of New Orleans is down hasn't driven through the I-10 traffic in the late afternoons.

The old standby Hyatt Hotel is still apparently closed for business, so we got reservations on down a piece from the Dome.Tomorrow's first game starts at 5 p.m. between St. James and John Curtis. JC will be the home team. We haven't decided if we are staying for the entire AAA game which follows.

Joy, happiness only reason for tears

After Calvary's 34-14 loss to St. James, my wife and I made our way across the football field from the press box heading toward the car. There was no need to rush as the infinite lines of red tail lights beamed from every exit of the Wildcat campus, so we mingled with the Calvary folks and exchanged handshakes, hugs and words of encouragement.

Without exception, I noticed the tearful, swollen, red eyes of the football players as they faced their fans and team mates on that chilly south Louisiana night. Some may have described the tears as those of sadness, and sure it stung to taste defeat for the first time after a dozen victories in a row.

Being around most of the football players for some four years now, I think their original tears of sadness were soon replaced with tears of reflection on just how far they have come in such a short period of time and that a chapter had closed in their lives. For the seniors, somebody else will be wearing their jersey next year--that same jersey that became soaked with their own blood, sweat and tears will be handed over to some skinny freshman who has never dressed out as a varsity player for Calvary.

I can just see it now. The freshmen and sophomores are probably going to be sitting around the lunch table playing rock, paper scissors or flipping coins to see who gets to wear the jerseys last worn by this year's seniors.

There was once a song entitled "Big Girls Don't Cry" by the Four Seasons. For the life of me, I can't think of a song which says boys (young men) don't cry. Tears are okay! In fact, a few are making tracks down my face as I write this blog.

The tears are not of sadness, but of joy and happiness. I am overcome with joy at seeing what this year's team accomplished. A dozen wins in a row by any team would be an enviable task and one that next year's team should set as a goal to break.

Shed tears of joy for winning the district championship, for having the only artificial surface at any high school in the city on which to play, for finally beating Evangel and for the friendships developed since becoming a member of the Calvary family.

Shed tears of joy for not having to travel to Wilkinson County Mississippi to play a football game, or to Foreman, Arkansas for the same.

Shed tears of joy for having a group of the finest coaches in the nation and for having a superintendent who makes it to your games with broken ribs--because he values you.

Shed tears of joy knowing that you have experienced what many students your age would love to have.

Shed tears of joy knowing that you have done your best and have dedicated your season to glorifying God.

Shed tears of joy because you are a Calvary Cavalier, and always will be.

When I was in high school, we won the state championship in football, basketball and would have won in track if our sprinter didn't move to Opelousas his senior year. We had quarterbacks who went on to become college stars and moved on to become NFL legends. However, I was more proud of this year's Calvary football team than of any team I have ever been around.

Thanks for the memories.

Calvary from way up high

Being the football fan that I am, one of my favorite things to do when taking off or landing on plane flights would have to be trying to identify the various gridiron venues as we pass over.

Flying American Airlines, I can see the tremendously ornate stadiums of east Texas. If flying Delta, I have a hard time being able to point out anything since we are usually up too high by the time we reach the Minden area to be able to see through the clouds.

Thursday, Thanksgiving to be exact, I flew Northwest Airlines and was treated to the best on-time service I have had in recent memory. Kudos to the folks in Memphis.

As we buckled up to begin our landing at Shreveport Regional, we dipped under the heavy clouds to see the familiar sites of home. I cannot remember being able to fly right over Barksdale and see all the B-52s before. As I craned my neck to pick out other familiar sites, I spotted the Red River, Cross Lake and then what looked to be the Inner Loop.

If I didn't know any better, I would swear the pilot made the next turn on purpose. He sailed right over Jerry Barker Stadium, and though I have seen a couple of photos of the artificial surface from up high, my personal birds-eye view was literally breath-taking.

I never had a chance to thank the pilot for making that special loop around Calvary, but you can bet I will think about taking Northwest Airlines on my next flight, just in case I can see that Calvary logo from a half-mile up in the air again.

What about the defense and O-line?

When it comes to football, the defense and offensive line never, ever, ever get their due respect. It's the same from Pee-Wee leagues on up through the NFL. That's a shame, but a fact of the game.

The proverbial quotation, "Defense wins championships" is 100 percent accurate. All year long, Calvary opponents have been able to move somewhat against the Cavaliers, but the defense has risen to stop the other team when it was necessary. Still, no one on the defensive side of the ball has their name mentioned in the headlines. I wonder what would happen if Logan Bonnette, Dylan Grant or some other individual on the Calvary team made all the tackles on a given night?
How much press would that generate?

Kyle Rutledge, to my knowledge, has never had his name in the newspaper or website headlines, but he and the rest of the offensive line have offered a yeoman's performance for four years now.

My hat, which by the way is missing from my office, goes off to the Cavalier defense and offensive line. Though you will never get the individual credit you deserve, your efforts on the field of play are more valuable than you will ever know.

Now, if someone will just find and turn in my missing hat, I can keep my shiny dome free of sunburn while the Cavaliers prepare for their own Dome experience.

Breaking down the 2007 football season

The Bayou Jamb against Rayville-Great concept to have football games all day long. I wish I didn't have a house and yard full of dogs to have to take care of so that I could have stayed for all the games. Calvary and Rayville had the distinction of breaking in the new artificial surface at ULM.

Southwood-We were really counting on the Cowboys for some help with the power points. Maybe next year?

Southern Lab-See Southwood above. The halftime fireworks were unbelievable.

Rayville-Great competition and great game marred only by the comments that Calvary ran up the score. Get real--the final score was 37-27.

Lakeside-Always will be remembered as our first 2-A district game.

Homer-Whew! I sure am glad Richie Casey was not playing at 100 percent. I didn't understand how the Pelican fans could stand up and cheer when Kendrick Wilson got knocked out though.

Loyola-History was made when the Cavaliers were the first team to shut out the Flyers on their home field at Messmer Stadium. The way the Flyers moved the ball early was scary.

North Caddo-Homecoming!

Desire Street-No show made our weekend quite boring.

Springhill-I knew it. I knew we would come out flat to start that game. Nice fans, nice concession stand attendants and the loudest press box I have been in since I don't know when. Remind me never to compliment the sound operator prior to the game.

Evangel-Still ahead as of this writing. No one will sleep this week and those who do manage a few minutes of slumber will wake up several times during the night with visions of what could have happened if the Cavaliers could have booted that field goal last year. Let's hope the memories of the playoff score don't add to our insomnia.

Politicians pick up your signs for LSU

Now that the elections are over, for the most part, I make a motion that all politicians take a day or two off with their campaign staffs and pick up their signs which they posted all over the Louisiana landscape.

The first thing Bobby Jindal should do when he gets in office is propose a $1,000 clean-up tax on every politician that runs for office. If after 30 days, there are no signs left on the sides of the roads and highways of this state, each candidate could be given a percentage of that tax back.

My wife and I helped the situation by pulling up one sign on our way back home today. We plan to use the metal frame of the sign to attach our "Beware of Dogs" warning along our driveway.

There must be unlimited uses for the signs and their hardware. I just had an idea. We could take up a thousand or so signs, paint them purple and gold with "see the ball, catch the ball" over the original political message and place them along the sidelines at the LSU football practice field and along the sidelines wherever the Tigers play ball.

Monkey off the back of LSU now

Thank you Kentucky Wildcats! You finally did what needed to be done by beating the LSU Tigers and bringing them back down to planet Earth.

Now before you readers go sending me the hate mail and calling me a traitor to my own state, let me say that I have been an LSU Tiger fan since before most of you were ever born. I was a Tiger fan shortly after I was weaned and have very seldom missed listening to an LSU game on the radio while watching it on the television set. (You know you do that too.)

LSU was the No. 1 team in the nation the first night of the season when they humbled Virginia Tech, but ever since then things have gone down hill. I dare you to argue with that.

Now that the media hype is off the Tigers and they have time to think about things, perhaps they will come back to reality. They better do so quickly, because the Auburn Tigers are coming to Baton Rouge Saturday and, with a loss there, LSU could begin a downward spiral.

First though, the LSU wide receivers need to go to an Andy Hamilton camp, the O-line needs to find some consistency, the D-line needs to get more aggressive and the entire team needs to take a lesson on what constitutes a penalty.

It sure would be nice to see the same LSU that dismantled Virginia Tech make an appearance for the rest of the season.

And oh, has anyone else noticed that the fire the Tigers played with against VTU seemed to have gone from a roaring inferno to a flicker after the word Michigan was tossed in the mix?

Lack of Desire leaves gap in schedule

Though Calvary football fans are in the midst of their last full month of regular season action, they have lost their Desire for gridiron action on Oct. 19.

Desire Street Academy, scheduled to pay a visit to the Cavaliers on the third playing date in October, had a change of heart and decided to stay in Baton Rouge that night rather than make the trip to the northwestern corner of the state.

There will be a cloak of darkness on the carpet at Calvary's Jerry Barker Stadium that night affording the neighbors an escape from the traffic and noise from the Friday night norm. Moreover, that darkness and lack of activity will provide us Calvary fans with one big, long night of boredom.

Sure, there will be other games around town that night, but those events will be just that--games--most about as exciting as a game of monopoly or Chinese checkers. We Calvary fans have been spoiled by the product our coaches and players have put on the field.

So, on Friday, Oct. 19, I plan to come home, take a nap, dig in my closet for my Scrabble game and countdown the minutes until another Calvary football game rolls around.

Football season flying by too fast

For those of us who live, breathe and eat high school football, the season is going by entirely too fast.

As of this writing, five games have already been played and we are still trying to remember all the jersey numbers.

One good thing is that those who were injured prior to the season are about to make their season debut--sometime soon.

On the bright side, for those who are winning the season is only one-third finished. However, for those who are struggling it's half over already.

Now, if someone would just find out a way to slow down the progression of the current football season, I would be very grateful.

Coaches shouldn't have to clean up stadium

It saddened me to see that among those picking up trash after the Calvary game with Lakeside were most of the Calvary football coaches, their wives and a few others who work their tails off during the week trying to put on the best show on Friday nights. Something about that just ain't right.

Sure there were a few parents and students helping, but the coaches probably have a lot more important things to do, including getting home to spend some quality time with their wives and children.

The good news is that many of the fans on the Calvary side did take care of their own area prior to leaving the stadium and the trash containers were filled to capacity at the bottom of the steps.

Last week, after the game with Rayville, I even noticed one of the pastors from the church bending over picking up the smashed cups and debris. I had the opportunity to thank him one afternoon during the week and express my gratitude for the sacrifice of time he put in.

Before I left the press box with The Times' sportswriter I began picking up the cups and bottles left behind in that area only to turn around and discover that someone had beaten me to the garbage bag in that room.

I gotta confess, I felt guilty watching the coaches, their wives, some athletic office ladies and others stay so late and clean up the mess.

Calvary is a great place to be due to the sacrifice of so many who never get the pats on the back they deserve. To everyone who bent over to pick up even one piece of trash after the game, I offer that pat on the back to you and say thanks.

Make a nice day for someone

I heard a pastor from another denomination on the radio a few weeks ago say something that really hit home with me.

The phrase, "Have a nice day" has become so commonplace, and most of us mean well when we say that to people we meet, but do we really mean it?

The radio remarks made by the pastor mentioned above challenged us to "Make it a nice day" instead of just saying "Have a nice day".

He went on to encourage us to actually make it a nice day for others and help others to do their part in making it a nice day for those they meet. Take some initiative, go out of your way to do something nice for someone and help make it a nice day for them.

Open a door for someone you don't even know. Pick up something someone dropped. Let someone get ahead of you who's blocked in by traffic. Introduce yourself to a stranger.
Pick up that smashed cup off the ground. Offer to do something yourself instead of asking others to do so. Offer them a prayer or a good word. All these things would certainly brighten someone's day. We all could use a good dose of kindness, and in return we reap what we sow.

If we all followed this bit of advice, it would indeed be a nice day for us all.

Radio listeners at game in time warp

I never knew so many Calvary fans listened to the broadcast of the Cavalier games while watching live from the stands.

Many of those who listened at Friday's home-opening 54-12 win over Southern Lab, found themselves in what appeared to be a time warp as they tuned in to the game on their headsets. Allow me to say that none of you were kidnapped by aliens and taken to the land of 20-second delay; rather, the radio station that picked up our broadcast was doing so through our live Internet feed.

The Internet feed will have a delay, much like you get when you turn on your television set when watching LSU without the volume and listening to Jim Hawthorne on the radio. Come on, you know you do that too. That's what every die-hard LSU fans does.

Anyway, thanks for listening anyway. See you at the games!

Real home games for local football

With the exception of Byrd High School, there should be no reason every high school in the area could not have its own football stadium. Byrd has a disadvantage when it comes to building a football complex since it is situated at the busy intersection of Kings Hwy. and Line Ave. However, all the other schools could easily accommodate the "crowds" they draw with a stadium in their own back yard.

It's sad to see schools with such tradition as Woodlawn, Huntington, Southwood and Fair Park "pack" fewer that 200 fans in mammoth Independence Stadium. The lack of attendance makes one glad the South endzone of Independence is closed in from the view of I-20 traffic.

Schools drawing fewer than 200 fans to a football game when their enrollments are over 1,000 is a sad commentary of our times.

I was always told not to gripe unless I could offer a solution to a problem. My solution is to add 100 more seats to the visitors' side of the current bleachers at each campus above and at least make the place profitable. Let the school booster clubs rack in the profits from the concession stands and save us the bill of turning on the light banks at Independence Stadium.

Southern Lab gets no respect

Calvary's opponent in Week No. 2 of the 2007 football season gets no respect from the media and that's a shame.

Being a "wannabe" sports writer, I began looking for information on the Kittens' big 53-0 win over Grambling in Week No. 1 of the season. It's always good to know what you are going up against and it helps bring interest, and hopefully readers to my other site, when I can tell them something about the teams we will be facing.

However, look hard as I may, I could not find one line of credit toward the Southern Lab win over Grambling in the Ruston newspaper, the Monroe newspaper or the Baton Rouge Advocate. That's a shame! A team with such tradition as Southern Lab deserves more. Numerous websites mentioned how college coaches almost camped out at the Baton Rouge school drooling over their athletes in hopes of recruiting them for their own teams one day.

Surely, the No. 2-ranked team in the state 1-A classification would get some ink after making back-to-back trips to North Louisiana to take on another team in Calvary. Same song, second verse--no media coverage--at least in the early edition of The Times, and none whatsoever in the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Granted, it is impossible to cover every team in depth for every week of the season, but give Southern Lab a break; or better yet, give them some ink in the paper.