Month: June 2022

COACHES’ CORNER: Robinson made widespread impact in various roles

/ Megan Lowe

By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports

Fourth in a series

If you ever need to win a bet on local sports trivia, put this one in your back pocket: Who was the last Shreveport-Bossier baseball team to win a state championship in the highest classification?

Most likely, you’ll get plenty of wrong guesses, because the last high school to win a state title in the highest class isn’t even a high school any more. It’s the 1970 Fair Park Indians, coached by a man who always considered himself as a football guy, even though he has played a significant role on more than one occasion in local baseball.

Doug Robinson, 78, has fond memories of coaching the Indians to that state title. But that’s no surprise because it seems like Robinson has nothing but fond memories of every coaching stop he has made.

“There were some great, great moments in just about everywhere I went,” he says. “I don’t know how these coaches win all these state championships because it’s so hard just to win one. I was young and probably didn’t understand. I guess I thought it was easy.”

He was only 26 when he led the Indians to the state championship, just a few years removed from his first coaching job at Bunkie. But he was a Fair Park graduate and he wanted to get back to his alma mater as soon as he could. That opportunity came soon.

“I had actually gone down to the coaching clinic with Woodlawn,” he remembers, “and came back with Fair Park.”

After winning the state championship in Class AAA (at the time, the highest class) with a 2-1 victory over Jesuit (New Orleans), Doug Robinson would coach only one more year of high school baseball in his lengthy career. And not at Fair Park.

Following the 1970 season, Robinson found himself in what almost all coaches at that time now call “the changeover” as schools were desegregated. He was assigned to Green Oaks — finding out just a few days before the school year started — and he spent the next few decades going from one opportunity to the next.

He left to become at graduate assistant at Northwestern State but legendary coach James Farrar, who had been at Fair Park in the 1960s, brought him back to help start a baseball program at Southfield, a Class A school that, like Fair Park, no longer exists as a high school.

Robinson coached football and only one season of baseball at Southfield before moving to Woodlawn, first as an assistant for some deep playoff runs by the Knights and then as head football coach from 1981-83. But his sons were at Captain Shreve “and I didn’t want to coach against them,” so he became an assistant for the Gators.

But that’s not all he did during that time.

While serving as an assistant for the Gators, Robinson also started the baseball program at LSUS and coached the Pilots from 1990-95. That fall, he returned to being a head football coach, this time at Southwood, where he would stay for five seasons.

When LSUS wanted to expand its athletic program, Robinson got the call. He instituted basketball and soccer teams for both men and women. He stayed as the school’s AD for 10 years and was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2021.

Still, he says it wasn’t easy to stop being a coach. “It was horrible, but I realized I had the opportunity to make something big at LSUS,” he says. “I always thought that was a gold mine sitting out there. There are so many players in the area that get overlooked. It was a struggle at first; there wasn’t much money.”

What he remembers the most are the players and coaches that he worked with. And just like a life-long coach, he can still rattle off specific plays and scores from game after game, from decades long gone by.

Also just like a veteran coach, he is quick to offer advice for any coach.

“The number one thing is to work as hard as you can and be fair to those kids,” he says. “I was always going to play the best players I got. But the bottom line is you got to work because there’s someone out there looking to take your place.”

Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com

https://shreveportbossierjournal.com/2022/06/07/coaches-corner-uncle-larry-knew-when-it-was-time-to-go/

https://shreveportbossierjournal.com/2022/06/14/coaches-corner-no-longer-in-dugout-bohanan-remains-vital-to-baseball/

https://shreveportbossierjournal.com/2022/06/21/coaches-corner-forty-years-later-coaching-still-hasnt-left-catanese/  

Moss makes incredible comeback, captures state Amateur crown

/ Megan Lowe
A RECORD-SETTING COMEBACK: Shreveport’s Sydney Moss won the 94th Louisiana Women’s Amateur Championship as the No. 15 seed in the 16-player match play competition at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club in Broussard.

By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD, Journal Sports

The 94th Louisiana Women’s Amateur Championship at Broussard’s Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club didn’t start that well last week for Shreveport teenager Sydney Moss.

After shooting an 8-over 81 in Friday’s stroke play qualifying, the recent Byrd graduate barely made it into the match play bracket.

Just how close did she come to not making it to match play? Moss entered the 16-player field as the No. 15 seed.

Not exactly a sure bet – if you’re talking about anyone other than Sydney Moss, the 2021 Division I state champion, 2022 Division I state runner-up, 2020 Louisiana Girls’ Junior Amateur champion, and soon-to-be college golfer at the University of Memphis.

In other words, don’t ever bet against her.

When Moss walked off the 15th green at Le Triomphe on Sunday afternoon after a 4 and 3 victory over Madison Bates of New Orleans, she had made perhaps the biggest comeback in tournament history to become the 2022 Louisiana Women’s Amateur champion.

When asked if she is the youngest to win the championship, Moss replied, “No, but they told me I did set a record by being the lowest seed to ever win.”

Moss didn’t let her play (which she called “terrible”) in the qualifying round affect her over the weekend.

“I just took it with a grain of salt,” she said. “I told myself: ‘Just go win all of your matches.’ I didn’t worry about it. After that (qualifying) round, I grabbed a bite to eat and went out to work on my game.”

It did take her a little while to get going Saturday morning against first-round opponent Liza Lapeyre of New Orleans, one of the top-ranked junior golfers in the state. After falling 3-down through four holes, Moss battled back to tie the match on the 13th hole and eventually defeated Lapeyre on the fourth hole of sudden death.

“I just wasn’t relaxed, but after three holes I didn’t panic,” Moss said of her opening match. “I just told myself I was going to ease my way back into it.”

In the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon, Moss defeated Shreveport’s Kaitlyn Montoyo 5 and 3 to set up a semifinal match against a familiar opponent.

Moss and Sarah Meral of Abita Springs battled for the past two Division I state high school championships – with Moss winning the 2021 title by seven strokes over Meral, and Meral taking the 2022 title by two shots over Moss.

In Sunday morning’s semifinal match, Moss was once again paired against Meral, the 2021 Louisiana Women’s Amateur runner-up. By the time the two golfers reached the 18th tee, Moss held a 1-up lead but started feeling “a little tight and nervous” with the cameras and gallery surrounding the hole.

Once Moss gathered herself, she hit an 80-foot putt off the green to within four feet of the hole. After Meral missed her seven-foot putt, Moss got a simple tip from her caddie, Byrd golf coach Meredith Duncan.

“She just looked at me and said, ‘Drain it,’” said Moss. “And I did.”

The 2-up victory over Meral put Moss in Sunday afternoon’s championship match against Bates, who is in graduate school at Loyola University in New Orleans. When Bates took a 1-up lead with a birdie at the par 3 2nd hole, it marked the first time Moss had trailed in a match since her opening Round of 16 match – and it would be the last time she trailed.

Moss made the turn 2-up and then added to her lead by winning the 12th and 14th holes. Moss secured the 4 and 3 victory after both competitors parred the 15th.

By the time the weekend had ended, Moss had played 88 holes of golf in three days. After taking a little time to let her body recover, Moss will prepare for the 56th Louisiana Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship, which will be held July 6-8 at East Ridge Country Club.

Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com

Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Golf Association

She started late, but Louisiana Downs jockey caught up fast

/ Megan Lowe
QUICK STUDY:  Brianne Culp always had a love for horses. When she finally got in the saddle, she’s made up for lost time. 

By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Sports

Monday, May 17, 2021.

It was pouring rain, as eight horses paraded through slop toward the starting gate. An $8,000 maiden claiming race was first on the card at Louisiana Downs.

The weather conditions were challenging for a veteran rider.

How about for a jockey in her first race?

“Everyone worried if I would be able to change my goggles enough,” Brianne Culp remembers. “But since I was in front, I didn’t have to worry about it too much.”

You don’t get much mud kicked in your face when you run ahead of the competition.

Culp and her mount, “Pricey,” dueled for the early lead, kept up the pace, took the lead in mid-stretch, and won by a length-and-a-half.

“To be honest, it all happened so fast,” Culp said. “It didn’t really sink in. I was like, ‘Man, that was so easy. Why doesn’t everyone do it this way?’”

The numbers show Culp winning her first race was not beginner’s luck. Last year, the Cleveland, Ohio native earned more than $114,000 in 84 starts. This year, Culp — one of three female jockeys at Louisiana Downs — has earned more than $407,000. She is ninth in the overall standings. Monday, Culp finished in the money twice, including a win in the second race.

“I’m doing all right,” said Culp, whose husband is trainer Keith Austin. “I could always do better. I’m just going to keep on trying my hardest and come out every day and try to get it done.”

Culp’s journey to the track has taken more turns that she navigates during a race. Most jockeys start riding at a young age. Culp was 29 when she got her first mount. Heck, Culp didn’t even lay hands on a horse until she was in college — and it happened at her second college.

Culp first went to Kettering University in Flint, Mich., where she studied biomedical engineering.

“I was at the top of my (high school) class in math and science,” Culp said. “I got a full ride to school, so it was kind of like a no-brainer. It is one of the best engineering schools in the United States. So, when they gave me a full-ride, I was like ‘Ok, I guess I will go.’”

But coming up with better ways to make different parts of the body wasn’t enough to hold Culp’s interest. So, she went in search of a “horse” college, where she could learn about an animal she had seen, but never touched.

“To me, only the rich people had horses,” Culp said. “And we were far from that. Whenever I asked my mom if I could do horseback riding lessons, or even at the fair where they do those pony rides and you go around in a circle, I would always just watch. We didn’t have the money. It was expensive.”

Culp chose Judson College — “a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, Alabama.” She made the Equestrian team and worked on a farm.

“I got a lot of hands-on experience in how to ride a horse, and the basics, because I had never put a halter or a bridle on a horse.”

When it came time to graduate, Culp needed a job. Someone in that “middle of nowhere” town told her, “Well, you’re small enough to be a jockey. I have a friend in Texas.”

So, Culp headed west. After working with quarter horses at Retama Park (near San Antonio), she switched to thoroughbreds. Culp now has almost 300 starts at the Downs, Fair Grounds, and Oaklawn Park.

“She is very pleasant to be around, always in an excellent mood and smiling,” said trainer Mark Dison, who has used Culp on some of his horses. “There doesn’t seem to be much that can make her nervous on a horse. She lets the horse do what it wants. She doesn’t fight it.”

What Culp does fight is some trainers’ attitude toward female jockeys.

“Sometimes you go into barns, and they say, ‘We don’t ride girls here,’ or ‘You’re not strong enough.’  There are more excuses for them to give me, but so far, it’s been all right. It’s not terrible. It’s still a man’s game and a man’s sport, but you just have to push through that and keep on going.”

Unlike a lot of trainers, Dison doesn’t have a problem giving mounts to women. In fact, he prefers a female rider.

“I feel like you get 100 percent because they are trying to prove they can make it in a male-dominated sport,” Dison explained. “(Also), almost all females can get a horse to relax. A lot of men can’t.”

There goes Culp again — doing something others can’t, like winning their first race.

Louisiana Downs races Saturday through Tuesday. Weekend post time is 1:45 p.m. Weekday post time is 3:05.

Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com

Photo courtesy of FRANK TROSCLAIR

Mr. Menu is an advertising company that produces in-house and take-home menus for locally owned restaurants statewide. The menus are full color, printed on heavy stock paper and provided to the restaurants at no charge. The menus cycle every three to four months and they allow advertisers to speak to the customers of popular locally owned restaurants.

Mike Whitler became the owner/operator of Mr. Menu in 2006, and has since grown the business to include dozens of menus and hundreds of advertisers across the state of Louisiana.

Benton star hopes to play college football, baseball

/ Megan Lowe

By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine

When you scout sometimes, you just have to throw away all the camp times, 40 times, and measurables. Sometimes that outside stuff cannot give you a true assessment of a legit football player, like defensive back Sawyer Simmons of Benton High School.

Simmons is a great example of someone who can play the game, and I think he can play it a high level in college. He looks faster in a uniform, plays bigger than his size (6-1, 185 pounds), and is a complete vocal leader who doesn’t like to lose — and plays like it. He’s also one of the best pure tacklers in the Shreveport/Bossier area and he’s not scared to hit and make tackles every play. If you watch him, he’s very good at both.

If I were to coach and put a team together, he would be one of the first kids I would call.

This kid’s stats tell you what he is capable of accomplishing. In 2021, Sawyer had 97 tackles, three tackles for loss, four interceptions, five pass breakups, and one forced fumble. Those are stats usually for someone in high school over a three-year career — not one year. To me, this kid can play either strong safety or free safety in college.

Simmons, a pitcher, is also a very good high school baseball player. In 2021, he had a 4-3 record, was 3-1 in district, and had an eye-popping 1.98 ERA with an impressive 55 strikeouts.

If given the chance, Simmons would love to play both football and baseball in college.

“My defensive coordinator is the type of coach everyone needs,” Simmons said of Scott Reeder. “He’s always hard on you, wanting to get the best out of you every day. He and coach Samp (Michael Sampognaro) always put in a good game plan for us each Friday.”

Of head coach Reynolds Moore, Simmons said, “He is a great coach. He’s always a fun guy to be around. Coach Moore is a big energy guy and is ready to get to work every day, pushing us and the other coaches to be better.”

Simmons comes from a family full of athletes. His brother Sam played baseball and football for Benton High School from 2015 to 2019 and was a four-year starter in both sports. His Aunt Penny (Sis) played basketball for Louisiana College from 1982-1986. Craig, his father, played football, basketball, baseball, ran the 300-meter low hurdles in track, and also played college football.

“My favorite part of football is hitting the other team,” said Simmons. “When you make a play or hit in the game and look up in the crowd and everyone is standing and cheering, those are the best moments of high school football for me.”

NOTES ON SAWYER SIMMONS: His hobbies include weight training and rock climbing, especially at Risen Rock. Simmons says he has received a baseball offer from the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain, a Junior College in Mena, Ark. He has attended or plans on attending baseball camp at LSU-Eunice and football camp at Harding University in Arkansas.

Contact Lee at LBrecheen@aol.com

Shreveport’s Coleman joins Tech’s Lofton, LSUS’ Washington in spotlight

/ NPJ
GATOR, DEMON, TIGER: Captain Shreve product Kendal Coleman had a sensational season for the NSU Demons before transferring to LSU.

JOURNAL SPORTS

Northwestern State standout and Captain Shreve product Kendal Coleman, Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Lofton Jr. and Leondre Washington of LSUS all were in the 2021-22 All-Louisiana Collegiate Men’s Basketball Team chosen by the state’s sports writers and sports information directors, and recently posted by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

Lofton was a repeat first-team selection after another dominant season for the Bulldogs. He entered the NBA Draft pool but was not selected, and he also entered the transfer portal. He remains on the Tech roster entering his junior season.

Coleman, a Shreveport native, transferred to LSU this spring where he’ll have three seasons of eligibility left following a breakout freshman season for Mike McConathy’s Demons.

Washington led the Pilots to an NAIA national tournament appearance and was an honorable mention selection on the All-Louisiana roster.

Coleman compiled 17 double-doubles to rank 10th nationally in the category, averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 10.1 rebounds.

Sixteen of his double doubles came in the last 23 games with 12 of those coming against Southland Conference opponents, which propelled him to an All-SLC First Team nod. He was also voted to the All-Defense Team with a team-high 40 blocks with 30 steals.

Coleman was efficient offensively, shooting 55 percent from the field to rank 40th nationally.

Many of his most explosive offensive games occurred against high-major opponents. He scored at least 19 points against Oklahoma, SMU and Tulsa with double doubles against LSU and Texas A&M.

Coleman posted a career-high 25 points in a win over Incarnate Word.

Lofton averaged16.5 points per game (fifth most in Conference USA), having recorded 28 double-digit scoring games as well as 10 20-point performances while shooting 53.9 percent from the field (second best in Conference USA).

His top scoring games came in non-conference contests when he tallied a career-high 36 points at North Carolina State and followed that two games later with 31 points in a victory at Santa Clara. .

He also averaged a league-best 10.5 rebounds per game, which ranks 10th in the country. He totaled 17 double-doubles, eighth most in the country and the most by a Bulldog since Paul Millsap (2005-06).

Lofton ranked 20th in the country in player efficiency, and amassed 347 rebounds on the season, the 10th most in program history. He finished with the second-most assists (91) and steals (38) on the Tech team while also anchoring the squad with 24 blocks.

LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s Basketball Collegiate Teams

FIRST TEAM

Tari Eason, LSU
Jordan Brown, Louisiana-Lafayette
Kenneth Lofton, Jr., Louisiana Tech
Ty Gordon, Nicholls
Zach Wrightsil, Loyola

SECOND TEAM

Kae’Ron Baker, Louisiana Christian
Kendal Coleman, Northwestern State
Jalen Cook, Tulane
Darius Days, LSU
Troy Green, New Orleans

THIRD TEAM

Myles Burns, Loyola
Jaylen Forbes, Tulane
Jalyn Hinton, Southeastern
Andre Jones, ULM

Derek St. Hilaire, New Orleans

Honorable Mention

Gus Okafor, Southeastern
Makye Richard, Xavier
Leondre Washington, LSU Shreveport

Player of the Year – Tari Eason, LSU

Newcomer of the Year – Tari Eason, LSU

Freshman of the Year – Brandon Murray, LSU

Coach of the Year – Stacy Hollowell, Loyola (won NAIA national championship)

Photo by CHRIS REICH, Northwestern State

OPPORTUNITY: Accounting Assistant

/ NPJ
FT ACCOUNTING ASSISTANT
 
This is a clerical position that requires the use of various accounting software programs to track and reconcile a wide range of financial transactions.

Responsible for maintaining financial records, ensuring payments and receivables are current. Involved in a wide range of activities/functions in the City Clerk’s office including heavy in-house payroll responsibilities.

Education and/or Experience:

·         High School diploma or GED required.
·         Post-secondary education with focused course work in accounting and bookkeeping preferred.
·         One to two years administrative, clerical and accounting experience required, preferably with city government.  Experience involving governmental funds or related accounts desirable.

Work hours:  7:30am-4pm Monday-Friday
Location: City Hall, Minden, Louisiana
Benefits:   HEALTH, DENTAL, VISION BENEFITS, RETIREMENT, PAID HOLIDAYS & SICK/VACATION LEAVE

Starting pay:  $15.76/hr. D.O.E.

To apply or view a brief job description go online www.mindenla.org/job-listings/ or pick up an application at City Hall, 520 Broadway, Minden, Louisiana.

Background and drug screen will be conducted.

The City of Minden is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Notice of Death – June 27, 2022

/ NPJ

Billy Ray Jackson
March 16, 1948 – June 21, 2022
Services: Saturday, July 2, 2022 1:00 PM Roundgrove Cemetery 2869 Roundgrove Lane Shreveport

Jewell Willis
February 6, 1940 ~ June 25, 2022
Services: Saturday July 2, 2022 11:00 AM New Bethel MBC 3300 Greenwood Rd Shreveport

Alee Robinson
January 7, 1935 ~ June 18, 2022
Visitation: 11 to 6 p.m., Friday at Heavenly Gates
Services: 11 a.m, Saturday, July 2, 2022 at New Bethel MBC 3300 Greenwood Rd Shreveport

William Merle “Coach” Gore
January 24, 1940 — June 26, 2022
Visitation: Rose-Neath Marshall Street will be held before the services on Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.
Services: 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 29, 2022, at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport

Willis Bass
February 6, 1947 ~ June 22, 2022
Visitation: Thursday June 30, 2022 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue
Services: Friday July 1, 2022 11:00 AM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue

Pete Allen, Jr.
January 6, 1937 ~ June 19, 2022
Visitation: Friday July 1, 2022 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue
Services: Saturday July 2, 2022 1:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue

Kenneth “Ken” Roy Grosz
September 2, 1942 — June 11, 2022
Visitation: visitation at 10:00 am in the church parlor. 
Services: will be held at Frost Chapel located at First Baptist Church, 543 Ockley Drive, Shreveport, Louisiana on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. The service will be at 11:00 a.m. 

Margie Lucille Tibbits
May 5, 1927 — June 25, 2022
Visitation: 12:00 p.m. until service time
Services: 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport

Miami Bridges Spears
May 12, 1935 — June 24, 2022
Visitation: Tuesday, June 28, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
Services: 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport

Betty Jean Yancey Williams
August 28, 1942 — June 25, 2022
Visitation: Tuesday, June 28, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport
Services:  10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, at Forest Park Cemetery on St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport

Maudrene Poole
May 4, 1926 ~ June 17, 2022
Visitation: Friday July 1, 2022 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Heavenly Gates
Services: Saturday July 2, 2022 11:00 AM Heavenly Gates

Willis Bass
February 6, 1947 ~ June 22, 2022
Visitation: Thursday June 30, 2022 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue
Services: Friday July 1, 2022 11:00 AM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue

Vicki Lynn Collinsworth
July 15, 1951 — June 20, 2022
Visitation: 9:00 a.m. until time of service
Services: 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 3, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport

After Roe Reversal, Abortion Issue Returns to the People

/ NPJ

By Royal Alexander

In a landmark 6-3 decision this past week, the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversed and overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which purported to “find” a constitutional right to abortion in the 14th Amendment.

How should we view this Supreme Court decision?

Well, putting aside the moral implications of abortion—which are profound—and looking at Roe strictly as a matter of constitutional law, it was always on shaky legal ground.

Why?

Because our Constitution mandates that our federal government be one of specific, enumerated powers and abortion is not one of them; And because, while the Liberty Clause of the 14th Amendment may allow a right to privacy within a zone of privacy, that zone cannot credibly be construed to include the “right” to terminate the life of a genetically distinct unborn baby.

The harsh national response we are seeing from critics of the reversal of Roe includes the assertion that the Court is exercising power it doesn’t have. This is, respectfully, exactly backwards. As Justice Byron White wrote in dissent (Justice William Rehnquist was the other dissenter) in the 1973 Roe opinion, the Roe decision was an “exercise of raw judicial power”.

Why would Justice White have written that in his 1973 dissent from Roe?

Because the 1973 Roe Court claimed to “find” a constitutional right to abortion that is simply not in the Constitution. Let me say again that abortion can be found nowhere in the Constitution. Further, abortion had never been a part of American common law either.

As such, the 1973 Roe decision had “federalized” the issue of abortion and taken it away from all 50 states. The reversal of Roe last week was simply the correction of a grievous 49-year mistake that the Roe Court—with great judicial arrogance—had made. By taking the issue and preferences away from the states and the people and replacing it with the Roe Court’s own preferences on abortion, it had acted in a manner that was inappropriate, illegal, and unconstitutional. The role of the U.S. Supreme Court is to interpret the law not to make it!

Rather, the Framers of our Constitution left profound moral and policy determinations like the abortion issue to the states and to the people because they wanted these weightiest of decisions to be made as locally as possible.

Someone made this comment to me since the Roe reversal. “So, what you are telling me is my rights are determined by geography; by where I live?” In simplest terms, the answer is “yes.”

Our constitutional scheme essentially sets up the 5o states as “incubators” of the policy ideas and choices of the people in that state. That is why states like Louisiana and Mississippi can chose to have no abortions while states like New York and California (which may even pay for the procedure) have such liberal abortion laws that the child may be aborted up until the moment of birth—and even after, when the unborn child is allowed to die on the table if the abortion was unsuccessful.

To disagree with this outcome is to simply disagree with our constitutional form of government. Our Framers painstakingly hammered out what powers would be directly and expressly granted to the federal government with all the rest remaining with the states and the people.

As the 10th Amendment makes clear the large majority of policy determinations lie with the states. Period. Again, the only powers granted to the federal government are express, specific, and enumerated.

Now, the issue of abortion will return to and be decided by the people and their representatives in each state where, in our constitutional scheme, it belongs.

On this tour, players and caddies will do anything to keep dream alive

/ NPJ

WASKESIU LAKE, Saskatchewan – Determined to create another memorable week, Matt Chemago was armed with only a bus ticket, a tent, and a fishing rod. No, this isn’t the beginning of an outdoors tale in the Canadian wilderness, but rather a young man setting the table for a week on PGA Tour Canada.

Many associate “Life on Tour” with private jets, luxury hotels, fancy dinners and playing for multi-million-dollar purses. That can certainly be true on the PGA Tour, where millionaire stars like Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns often make up 150-player fields that include the absolute best in the world.

However, the stories on the feeder tours, like PGA Tour Canada and the PGA Tour Latin America – equivalent to Double-A baseball — aren’t lathered in glitz and glamour. In fact, most of the players are siphoning money in the search of their big break.

At last week’s event, the Elk Ridge Open, you often saw six players to a small cabin (with one shower) and players bunking together in hotel rooms.

Many players carry their own clubs to save on costs or hire a local kid for $35 (Canadian) a day. Your math is correct, that’s less than minimum wage. The stories are legendary.

Even for the caddies. That brings us back to Matt Chemago.

When the second stop of the 2022 PGA Tour Canada season hit Chemago’s hometown of Edmonton, he signed up to loop as he had over the past several years. He was assigned to Luke Schniederjans, a former Georgia Tech star.

Things went well in Edmonton, aside from Chemago’s breakfast (a muffin) getting swiped by the course dog on the range prior to the final round. After a 23rd-place finish by Schniederjans, Chemago made his boss for the week an offer he couldn’t refuse.

If Schniederjans would have him, Chemago said he’d loop for him at the Tour’s next stop here at Elk Ridge. Schniederjans obliged and agree to pay his looper $500 for the week.

Chemago didn’t drive, but rather bought a ticket for a NINE-hour bus ride to Waskesiu Lake.

He arrived in town with nothing more than that tent and a self-proclaimed ability to fish. His campground, on beautiful Waskesiu Lake, is a 10-minute drive from the course.

He didn’t have a bike, much less a car. His idea was to barter fish for a bike rental. One gracious local offered up a new Specialized bike for the week – no fish needed as payback.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature delivered nothing but rain and some cold temperatures last week – every day, all day. Schniederjans played nine holes on Thursday and never hit the course again as the Tour cancelled the event late Saturday morning.

Was Chemago’s effort for nothing? No chance.

Schniederjans took the kid, a stranger less than two weeks ago, out of the cold, saturated campground and offered warmth in his cabin.

“It was great to meet and hang with Matt the last couple weeks out here in Canada,” Schniederjans told the Journal. “Almost everybody that I have come across up here has been very nice and generous and he was no exception.

“It’s obviously very helpful to have someone carry my bag for the two weeks, but it was also great to have someone with such a chill and easy-going perspective on life.”

Sunday, the Elk Ridge Resort put up $43,000 for an 18-hole shootout for players who were still in town. Chemago got one more – perhaps, last – chance to carry the bag for Schniederjans.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Chemago said. “To be around these guys – they operate at such a high level. With Luke, he’s a fantastic human being, first and foremost. His golf game is phenomenal. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

“I’m comfortable (in the tent), but it was a very nice gesture and indicative of Luke and who he is as a person.”

PGA Tour Canada’s next stop: Prince Edward Island. The event begins Thursday.

Chemago won’t make this trek – Schniederjans’ father, Ollie, will meet his son on the island and take the bag. However, when the Tour returns to this part of Canada, who knows.

“We’ll see where things go. If (Luke) wants me, I’ll be there,” Chemago said.

PEI is “just” a 44-hour drive from Waskesiu Lake.Some players – and maybe a caddie or two – may try that route. No matter their choice of travel, it won’t be easy, and it certainly won’t be cheap.

However, the guys on this Tour – and their caddies — will do anything to keep the dream alive.

Contact Roy at Roylangiii@yahoo.com

SPOTLIGHT: Summer baseball isn’t what it used to be

/ Megan Lowe
THE BOYS OF SUMMER: The Northwood summer baseball team celebrates after a win in Omaha. 

By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports

The summer baseball season is entering its final week, yet another indication of how things aren’t like they used to be.

Gone are the days of full-scale American Legion and Dixie programs that lasted, in some cases, all the way to August. Nobody is worried about missing a player in the playoffs because they are attending Boys State.

There is a league for summer baseball teams, but nobody is worried about standings. Where once summer baseball was a season unto itself, now it is little more than an extension of the just-completed high school season.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Basically, there’s a different plan for every different high school program this summer. Some may have two teams, some may have four. Some are trying to recreate next year’s starting lineup and some are more focused on developing the players who didn’t get a lot of playing time on the varsity during the 2022 season.

There are games in which two teams from the same school play each other.

Northwood has two teams, one that plays during the week and another that plays on the weekend, which has played in games in Lake Charles, Hattiesburg, Miss., Ruston, and Omaha, for example.

It’s basically his own travel team for Coach Austin Alexander and is comprised of what should be the 2023 Falcons. The sub-varsity plays in the Bossier Dixie league, which plays games on Tuesdays and Thursdays for five weeks. Some teams may play twice a night; other schools have a “5:30 team” and a “7:30 team.”

But it doesn’t mean that the varsity players are sleeping in on Monday through Thursday. “They come in during the week and get their throwing in and so they are ready for the weekend,” Alexander said. “Plus, that’s when they get their lifting in, too.”

However, there’s another factor that Alexander – and almost every other school – has to deal with. “A handful of them play multiple sports, so they are doing football in the morning and may have a 7-on-7 tournament,” he said. “They may play football in the morning, drive back and play baseball that night.”

Haughton has brought a new approach in its summer baseball program. Where once the Bucs would have as many as four teams, this year they are down to two. Coach Glenn Maynor will only have five seniors returning next year, but football and injuries have reduced that number even more.

“Our most valuable teams are the younger teams – the incoming freshmen and the freshmen from last year,” Maynor said. “Guys like (seniors-to-be) Colin Rains and Austin Anderson are already playing on other (weekend) teams. I don’t need to see them play to know what they can do. It’s not a make-or-break thing for them and gives them some time off.”

Obviously, travel ball has become a big factor in summer baseball, and Captain Shreve coach Todd Sharp has embraced that.

“Just about all of our guys play travel ball in some way,” he said. “I coach travel ball with some of those guys, but I’m not going to tell them they have to stay here and play on our teams and deny them the opportunity to go somewhere like Atlanta and play on a high-level team.”

Different methods, but the same basic goal.

“We are just trying to get better for next year,” Alexander said. “In my opinion, you don’t win in the spring, you win in the summer. You implement all the things you want to do. Your summer is everything to see what you’ve got and get excited about what’s next.”

“I want to get our kids on the field,” Sharp said. “Just get them playing together and some repetitions with Shreve players. It’s all about development. If we send a pitcher out there, we put a cap on his pitches and then he’s done. We can learn how to run bases. Our freshmen can do things and learn the systems and the upper-level guys can establish themselves for next year.”

Contact J.J. at  JohnJamesMarshall@yaoo.com

Photo courtesy of AUSTIN ALEXANDER

LSU-heavy LSHOF Class of 2022 treasures its roots

/ Megan Lowe
CLASSY GROUP:  The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 gathered at the end of the opening Walk of Legends Saturday night during the induction ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center.

By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA

NATCHITOCHES – For the 50th anniversary of its arrival in this small town located on Cane River Lake, the 2022 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony took time to celebrate the villages.

Those villages – whether it was Crowley or Bunkie or Mamou or Thibodaux or Opelousas — as well as the villages who helped nurture and produce the 12-member Class of 2022 that officially entered the state’s sports shrine were on display at the event inside the Natchitoches Events Center.

“I always tell people, like the saying, it takes a village,” said Garland Forman, the longtime journalist in Avoyelles and Evangeline parishes in central Louisiana. “Well, I had a lot of villages.”

Forman’s statement held true across the board Saturday night whether the inductees came from the more rural areas of Louisiana or if they plied their trades in Shreveport, Baton Rouge or New Orleans. Five inductees are former LSU athletes, and another (Claney Duplechin) graduated from LSU but didn’t compete there.

Rodeo great Steve Duhon, an Opelousas native who played one season of football at LSU, praised his parents for making the sacrifices necessary for him to chase his dreams and his brother for being his constant companion in the practice pen.

“God blessed me with a lot of abilities, but the best deal was him blessing me with my parents,” Duhon said. “They supplied me with whatever I needed. My brother took my hand and drove me to a lot of rodeos. All of my children rodeoed and now my grandkids are starting to ride. It’s one big family deal, and now I get to do it all over again on the other side.”

Few athletes in LSU history have been as successful as gymnast Susan Jackson.

A 12-time All-American (11 first-team honors) and three-time national champion, Jackson became a standout at a place she committed to sight-unseen and helped turn into a powerhouse program.

“Very early in the process, I knew LSU was for me,” said Jackson, who started the night by cartwheeling onto the stage during the Walk of Legends. “I bonded quickly with the coaches. I loved the fact they cared for me as Susan the person, not just the gymnast. I Googled LSU in typing class my junior year. The fact it was a one-hour drive from New Orleans didn’t hurt their chances either.”

The potential for a no-hitter always existed when Britni Sneed Newman stood in the circle for LSU.

A dominating right-hander who set a gaggle of Southeastern Conference softball records in her two-time All-American career, Sneed Newman tossed 10 no-hitters at LSU – six in her senior season – and helped lead the Lady Tigers to their first Women’s College World Series appearance.

That – not the 10 no-hitters – is what mattered most to Sneed Newman, now an assistant coach at Baylor.

“I don’t remember one of them,” Sneed Newman said. “I wish I did. It would be really cool to talk about. I do remember our team finally getting to the Women’s College World Series. We kept saying, ‘We’ve got to get past Courtney Blades so we can win the Women’s College World Series.’ That was my ultimate moment at LSU.”

Behind Sneed Newman, LSU laid the foundation for continued success.

“She put LSU softball on the map,” said Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Yvette Girouard, Sneed Newman’s coach her final two seasons. “She mowed down the SEC competition. She was truly as dominating a pitcher as there was. How easy was my job? As good as she was as a pitcher, she was even better off the field. She did a magnificent job as a player and now as a coach.”

The linchpin of a New Orleans Saints offensive line that helped Drew Brees set league passing records, Jahri Evans’ 11-year career produced a Super Bowl championship that forever endeared himself and his teammates to the city and state.

Evans felt the love – almost physically – from Who Dat Nation throughout his career.

“I was coming from Bloomsburg (University) where I probably played in front of 5,000 people,” he said. “In the Superdome, we fed off the crowd. We really fed off the crowd going to the hotel the night before. New Orleans knows how to party.”

Ruston’s Kyle Williams’ career took an inverse path from his NFL contemporary Evans.

A standout for the Bearcats, Williams became a starter midway through LSU’s 2003 national championship season and parlayed that into a 13-year NFL career with Buffalo – one of the NFL’s most passionate markets.

“I’m super happy for you and your family,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said. “Jill, I hope you don’t cry that crying face you did when Kyle retired. Kyle, I hope you smile a little bit and enjoy the moment you earned.”

Williams smiled plenty during his speech, but when it came time to acknowledge his village, it was the thought of his wife that nearly made the high-motor defensive tackle come to tears.

“Probably the greatest moment of my career is making a victory lap in Buffalo and getting to go into a secluded room and tell my family the reason I was able to do that was I made a commitment to be my best every day and do my best,” Williams said. “That’s why we get to experience this weekend. Last but not least – and maybe the shortest – I like to call her the Little General.

“Jill, when I hitched my wagon to your star, it took off. You’re the toughest person I know. You’re a monster. You’re the best. I appreciate you.”

Photo by CHRIS REICH, LSWA

Shreveport’s LSHOF inductees trace their success to others

/ Megan Lowe
MAKING A POINT: New Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee Jay Cicero (at right), a Shreveport native and Loyola High alumnus, makes a point Saturday night in an on-stage conversation with Victor Howell. 

By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA

NATCHITOCHES – Shreveport-born Jay Cicero has filled the big house in New Orleans repeatedly with crowds watching Super Bowls and Final Fours, while overseeing a multitude of events in the Crescent City.

Shreveport resident Teddy Allen brought down the house repeatedly Saturday night in his traditional turn as master of ceremonies at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s annual Induction Ceremony.

But this time, Allen played two roles – as usual, host of the show, but also, as one of the 12 stars, while  he and Cicero were among the dozen Class of 2022 LSHOF inductees.

Working as the president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, Cicero and his team are responsible for bringing a litany of events to New Orleans and its surrounding area. While a behemoth in the state, New Orleans faces challenges from much larger metropolitan areas in the country.

Cicero, for his efforts, was named the 2022 Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award recipient.  The son of a longtime high school baseball coach in Shreveport, Cicero credited his time growing up around the game with instilling in him a career path and a philosophy of success.

“It’s the right place, the right time and being around some great people,” he said. “I try to explain that to our staff, younger people, my kids and friends. Surround yourself with great people. Find somebody who is great and handles their business in the right way. You need to be around those people and absorb that.”

Cicero has absorbed plenty of New Orleans culture and ingrained himself in it as well.

“One of the greatest attributes is a mantra we say a lot around here – it’s amazing what we can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit,” said Dennis Lauscha, president of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans. “That’s Jay. He’s always in the back trying to make sure the event is successful, to make sure his organization is successful, to make sure his team is successful.”

No one in the audience of nearly 700 at the Natchitoches Events Center appreciated a good turn of a phrase or a laugh more than Allen, a Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism winner from the Hall’s parent entity, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

A statewide writer and columnist now featured in the Online Journals group featuring the Shreveport-Bossier Journal, the loquacious everyman took a 10-minute break from his master of ceremonies gig to be honored in his first year on the ballot.

“It helps to write like you talk,” said J.J. Marshall, Allen’s longtime friend and co-worker. “If you listen to Teddy and you read Teddy, it’s the same. It’s the way he talks. He doesn’t try to overwrite. Teddy opens up and types it. Here it is. It sounds simple, but a lot of people don’t do that.”

The son of a South Carolina preacher who famously bestowed “The Mailman” nickname on Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Karl Malone, Allen had one simple way to sum up his journey to the Hall of Fame.

“I’ve led a Forrest Gump-like existence,” he said. “I was working at Beacon Gas in Claiborne Parish, and literally the parish sheriff took me to Ruston and said this is where you’re going to school. I told him no. He said, ‘Yeah, this is gonna happen.’

“There have been a lot of people help me get from Point A to B to C. Such dear friends. I just like to laugh and love to hear you laugh.”

Photo by CHRIS REICH, LSWA

Journal scribes score big in 2021 LSWA awards contests

/ Megan Lowe
WE COMIN’:  Shreveport-Bossier Journal contributors were prominent in Sunday’s Louisiana Sports Writers Association writing and broadcasting 2021 contest results. (From left) Tony Taglavore, Teddy Allen, ceremony host and Shreveport native Kent Lowe, and John James Marshall posed after the SBJ trio made a big haul of honors.

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

It’s apparent the Shreveport-Bossier Journal has a talented group of contributors.

That was displayed Sunday when the Louisiana Sports Writers Association unveiled its 2021 contest results at the annual Awards Brunch held in conjunction with the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration weekend in Natchitoches.

The SBJ didn’t start publishing until mid-January. Journal scribes John James Marshall, Teddy Allen and Tony Taglavore had already produced award-worthy work for the 2021 LSWA contest by then. Savvy observers are expecting them and other SBJ contributors to have impact in the 2022 LSWA contest.

Marshall was a multi-media winner Sunday. He took a Pro-College Event writing first place for his “One special (sports day) in Shreveport-Bossier” piece written for DesignatedWriters.com, a website he and Allen created.

The out-of-state LSWA judge wrote: “A creative approach to covering a unique two-event day on the local sports scene. A fun read with writing flair. Nice work coloring outside the lines.”

Marshall also carried home a first in the “Best Radio Show Host (Duo-Team)” category for the long-running “Sports Talk with JJ and Bonzai Ben” show on 1130 The Tiger. Marshall, his brother Ben and producer Travis Stewart were honored.

The judge wrote: “This clip left me wanting to get the hosts takes on a bunch more stuff. I loved how fired up and passionate they were. It was also funny in spots, and finding that line between good, sincere analysis and fun is the line every host should try and toe. I think this show did it the best.”.

Marshall claimed the LSWA’s Columnist of the Year award for Division II (circulation of 40,000 or less) for a series of Designated Writers columns. That contest judge noted “excellent take on Brian Kelly hiring at LSU.”

Allen, then writing for the Shreveport Times, won the Best Pro Column award in Division I for his piece on legendary New Orleans sports editor Bob Roesler, which carried the headline “Former Times-Picayune sports stud sat humble, memorable example.”

The LSWA judge wrote: “The winning article was a heartfelt tribute to the author’s mentor in which they masterfully weaved a personal anecdote into a life lesson.”

Allen also won for a Designated Writers piece in the General Sports Feature category in Division II, a feature on “Baseball gods letting LA Tech play final 16 games of season in new home park.”

“Exceptional piece capturing the scene and mood of a big event, “wrote the judge.

Taglavore was a writing winner with an impressive second-place finish in an open division category (all entries), with his 318 Forum story on Colin Evans climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Taglavore and his Captain Shreve High School football broadcast colleague, Jimmy Martin, on The River 95.7 FM, were winners in the Best Live Radio Broadcast Team contest.

“Well prepared, used stats well, tossed in coaches comments. Very good job. This was the best of the ones I heard,” the judge wrote.                                                             

Contact Doug at DougIreland@LaSportsHall.com

Photo by DOUG IRELAND

Harrison fights through qualifying to make it into Wimbledon men’s draw

/ Megan Lowe
MAKING A RACKET: Shreveport native Christian Harrison has qualified for Wimbledon and faces Great Britain’s Jay Clark in the first round of men’s singles today.

By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD, Journal Sports

After winning three hard-fought qualifying matches last week, Shreveport native Christian Harrison made it into the men’s singles draw at Wimbledon. This morning on Court 18, he will meet Great Britain’s Jay Clark in the first round.

“As far as my first-round opponent, he’s a local British guy, so I will have to be mentally prepared for the crowd to be against me and just concentrate on the things I can control on my side of the net,” Harrison told the Journal on Sunday.

In the first round of last week’s qualifying, Harrison defeated Anton Matusevich of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4 and followed that with a 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Dalibar Svrcina of the Czech Republic.

Harrison’s toughest qualifying match came in last Thursday’s third round when he came back from losing the first set to defeat Germany’s Daniel Masur 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 and earn his spot in The Championships.

“Qualies are always tough in Grand Slams because it’s three matches to get into the main draw,” said Harrison, “whereas most of the challengers are now two rounds. Wimbledon is also the only Slam with best-of-five (sets) in the last round.”

Harrison feels like his fitness was a benefit in last week’s qualifying.

In his second-round victory over Svrcina, Harrison was down 6-0, 2-0 and then got down 5-2 in the third set before coming back.

“I worked my way out of it,” says Harrison.

In his last qualifying match against Masur, Harrison had to mount another comeback.

“I was down two sets to one, but I played real solid in the fourth and fifth sets,” said Harrison. “My fitness definitely gave me the edge in that match.”

With a victory over Clark today, Harrison would face the winner of the match between No. 32-seeded Oscar Otte of Germany and Peter Gojowczyk of Germany in the second round.

Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com

Photo courtesy of Susie Harrison

Lady Techsters’ coach Stoehr receives two-year extension

/ Megan Lowe
EXTENDING SUCCESS: Brooke Stoehr, who led the Lady Techsters to the Conference USA West Division title and an automatic bid to the 2022 WNIT, has received a two-year contract extension as head women’s basketball coach at Louisiana Tech.

JOURNAL SPORTS

RUSTON – Brooke Stoehr is the latest Louisiana Tech coach to receive a contract extension.

With the two-year extension, the contract of the head women’s basketball coach runs through the 2025-2026 season. Last week, Tech extended the contract of baseball coach Lane Burroughs to run through 2026-2027.

The contract extensions are pending approval by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.

Stoehr, who just completed year six at the helm of the Lady Techsters, led the program to a 21-12 overall record and the Conference USA West Division title, qualifying with an automatic bid to the 2022 WNIT during the 2021-22 season. 

“We are excited about extending Brooke’s contract to help provide stability for the Lady Techster basketball program,” said Louisiana Tech Vice President and Director of Athletics Eric Wood. “The program has been on a positive trajectory, and we are looking forward to the future.

“Despite a roster that included nine newcomers last year, Brooke and her staff were able to overcome a tough start in conference play and lead the program to the Conference USA West Division title and the championship game of the 2022 C-USA Tournament. I know this group’s goal is to win a championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament this coming year, and we look forward to watching them work towards those goals.”

Despite the new faces, Stoehr’s young group rallied for an 11-3 regular season finish, including winning the final four games to clinch the division title, and earn a one seed in the C-USA Tournament.

En route to their 21 wins last season, Stoehr eclipsed her 100th win at Tech, moving into third place all-time behind Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore. 

“Ruston has been a great place to raise our family and call home,” said Stoehr. “We look forward to continuing to love and serve our young women in a way that allows them to compete to the best of their ability academically, athletically and socially.”

The Lady Techsters return 97 percent of their scoring and rebounding from the 2021-22 campaign, including all-conference performers Keiunna Walker and Anna Larr Roberson. The Lady Techsters also return all but one letterwinner while adding some talented newcomers, including P5 transfers Gabbie Green and Aaliyah Morgan.

Stoehr also recently announced two additions to her staff in associate head coach Nitra Perry and assistant Pierre Miller. 

“We are extremely excited about the group of young women we have coming back as well as the newcomers we have added,” said Stoehr. “We are eager to get back on the court for the first time with this group and our new staff additions. It’s an exciting time for the program, and we want to build on the momentum created with last season’s championship run.”

Off the court, Tech saw eight student-athletes earn a spot on the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and six were named C-USA Academic Medalists. The program also earned a perfect single-year APR rating, its second in the last three years. 

“I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to lead this storied program and couldn’t be more excited about the future with these young women,” said Stoehr. “I can’t thank (Tech President) Dr. (Leslie) Guice and Dr. Wood enough for their belief in me to lead this program that is so dear to my heart. I appreciate their commitment to the program, our young women, and my family.”

Photo courtesy of Louisiana Tech

Top DB Gianna Black takes interesting journey to North Caddo

/ Megan Lowe

By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine

Today’s feature article is on Gianna Black, a kid from a small town in North Louisiana, who plays defensive back for North Caddo High School. Black, a class of 2023 senior with a great personality, is mature beyond his years with an interesting, well-traveled family. The story about how he, his mother, and his family became a part of Louisiana is fascinating.

Black is tough, has good hips and is very smart on the field. He plays, as they say, “big for a small (5-7 to 5-8, 160 to 165 pounds maybe 170) player.” I think he projects as a legit cornerback for college and has a build similar to former Washington Redskin Darrell Green and so many small defensive backs in the league or college who are under 5-9.

Playing football in Louisiana was never in the plans for Black, whose home was in New York.

“Moving from New York to Louisiana was a big change in my life,” he said. “I didn’t know too much about sports other than Derek Jeter played for the Yankees and Usain Bolt ran every four years in the Olympics. I never played sports up there in New York. We didn’t plan to move to Louisiana; it was supposed to be a short visit. But due to my mother growing up in Jamaica, she felt like this would be a good place for us to grow up.

“My mother was raised in Jamaica until she was 17 and moved to Detroit. She had my big brother at 18 when she moved to New York, and three years later she had me when we were in Brooklyn. A few months before we moved to Louisiana, she had my little sister Gia.”

Black went through elementary and middle school in Plain Dealing. For his 8th grade year, he and his brother had the choice of staying at Plain Dealing and finishing their high school careers or moving right across the river to North Caddo.

“My older brother (Giovanni Smith) was the one who really pushed me to play football,” explained Black. “When we came to Louisiana, he started playing football but I wasn’t interested. Before I went to middle school, my brother told me he believed I would be good at it, so he signed me up. I didn’t like it at first, but after scoring my first touchdown and hearing everybody cheering for me, it made me take off. When we moved to North Caddo, we had two winning seasons and were back-to-back district champions. My brother had a chance to play college football, but he decided to go into the Army.”

Making the move to North Caddo proved to be a good choice.

“I really think a lot of my head coach,” Black said of John Kavanaugh. “My brother and I decided to move and play for coach Kavanaugh. We liked the school and what they were trying to do, so my brother and I agreed to go ahead and finish high school there. Coach Kavanaugh welcomed us with open arms, and we got to work.”

Black credits defensive backs coach Chase Thompson for helping him develop skills at defensive back.

“Coach Thompson has been like an older brother to me,” said Black, “and when it’s time to work, we work. He has a plan for anything that an offense can throw at us. He breaks down the game to us step-by-step so the whole team can know what to do. He has definitely been one of the most impactful coaches throughout my football career.”

NOTES ON GIANNI BLACK: His hobbies include chilling with family, sleeping, and working out. He has attended camps at Grambling, LSU, and Alabama.

Contact Lee at LBrecheen@aol.com

LA Blue Goose falls at league-leading Texas United after controversial ending

/ Megan Lowe
CLEARING SHOT: LA Blue Goose FC defender Daniel Burton clears the ball against the Little Rock Rangers in Wednesday’s 3-0 win.

By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Staff

LA Blue Goose FC dropped a controversial 3-1 match Saturday to league-leading Texas United at Parish Episcopal School’s Gloria Snyder Stadium in Farmers Branch, Texas.

The Blue Goose took a 1-0 lead into the final five minutes of the game and were playing a man down when United intentionally fouled keeper Brett Ekperouh while he had possession of the ball. The foul was serious enough that Ekperouh required assistance from a trainer. 

Shortly afterwards, United took advantage of the injury and tied the game 1-1 with a goal.

The next attack involved more contact with Ekperouh — which required more treatment from the trainer and Ekperouh needing to come out of the game. However, the center referee declared Blue Goose had used their three substitute windows and the keeper must remain in the game.

United would take a lead 2-1 on a corner kick that was headed past an immobile Ekperouh.

Following the go-ahead goal, a Blue Goose defender began putting on the keeper gear to relieve Ekperouh, which would have put the visitors down two players. The fourth referee, realizing Blue Goose did in fact have a substitute window, allowed back-up keeper Shae Wirt to come in and finish the game.

Blue Goose played out the game under protest and intend on appealing their loss to the league.

Texas United added a late goal for a 3-1 final.  

The game started out with United controlling possession and had a couple shots at goal, but nothing dangerous. In the 10th minute, Blue Goose was on the counter when Yuri Schlingmann passed the ball to a charging Nico TheBerge, who beat the keeper and put Blue Goose up 1-0.

The flow of the game stayed the same until the 25th minute, when Blue Goose defender Gerardo Martinez went into a tackle near midfield. The center referee deemed it dangerous play and pulled a straight red card, which includes an ejection. Blue Goose played the rest of the game a man down. At this point the referee had already given a yellow card to players from both teams. He added three more yellow cards to players throughout the game.

Despite being a man down, Blue Goose had two great chances at adding to their lead, but the United keeper stepped up with two big saves. Ekperouh added two more strong saves to finish the half with four.

The second half saw United pushing hard into the Blue Goose defense. The Blue Goose’s defense would not yield, and when they did, Ekperouh came up big with four game saving stops.

Blue Goose held Texas United, the top team in the league, scoreless for 85 minutes.

Earlier in the week, Blue Goose defeated the Little Rock Rangers 3-0 on Wednesday in Little Rock. Blue Goose got goals from TheBerge, Schlingmann and Johan Arevalo. Marco Izurieta and Martinez were credited with assists. It was the most dominate game the team has played this season. They put together solid defense, good possession and were able to finish opportunities.

Blue Goose finally comes home this week with games Tuesday and Thursday against LA Parish, then Saturday with a rematch with LA Krewe. All games are at Centenary College at 7 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Little Rock Rangers

Notice of Death – June 26, 2022

/ NPJ

Willis Bass
February 6, 1947 ~ June 22, 2022
Visitation: Thursday June 30, 2022 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue
Services: Friday July 1, 2022 11:00 AM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue

Pete Allen, Jr.
January 6, 1937 ~ June 19, 2022
Visitation: Friday July 1, 2022 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue
Services: Saturday July 2, 2022 1:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue

Kenneth “Ken” Roy Grosz
September 2, 1942 — June 11, 2022
Visitation: visitation at 10:00 am in the church parlor. 
Services: will be held at Frost Chapel located at First Baptist Church, 543 Ockley Drive, Shreveport, Louisiana on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. The service will be at 11:00 a.m. 

Margie Lucille Tibbits
May 5, 1927 — June 25, 2022
Visitation: 12:00 p.m. until service time
Services: 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 1, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport

Miami Bridges Spears
May 12, 1935 — June 24, 2022
Visitation: Tuesday, June 28, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
Services: 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport

Betty Jean Yancey Williams
August 28, 1942 — June 25, 2022
Visitation: Tuesday, June 28, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport
Services:  10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, at Forest Park Cemetery on St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport

Maudrene Poole
May 4, 1926 ~ June 17, 2022
Visitation: Friday July 1, 2022 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Heavenly Gates
Services: Saturday July 2, 2022 11:00 AM Heavenly Gates

Willis Bass
February 6, 1947 ~ June 22, 2022
Visitation: Thursday June 30, 2022 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue
Services: Friday July 1, 2022 11:00 AM Winnfield Funeral Home – Shreveport 3701 Hollywood Avenue

Vicki Lynn Collinsworth
July 15, 1951 — June 20, 2022
Visitation: 9:00 a.m. until time of service
Services: 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 3, 2022 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2500 Southside Dr., Shreveport

What to do when you put(t) yourself in a tough situation on the golf course

/ Megan Lowe

So you plan a golf trip for six months, carefully going over every detail. Course maintenance schedules, best routes to take, local hotel availability . . .  no stone unturned.

Then you make the seven-hour drive across three states to get there for the first of five rounds in five days on five different courses in five different cities.

You get all checked in – everything is paid for; golf bags are loaded on the carts – and head to the driving range to hit a small bucket. Little do you know that you will be bathing in your own idiocy in a matter of minutes.

Ten minutes on the driving range to stretch out from the long drive and you are ready to go. The moment you’ve been waiting for since this same trip 51 weeks ago is at hand!

But first, it’s time to roll a few putts on the practice green, just to get the feel in the final minutes before the tee time.

And that’s when you realize just how stupid one human being can be.

There is a club missing from your golf bag.

It might be OK if it were a 5-wood or even one of the wedges. That you could work around fairly easily. But not the most valuable club in anyone’s golf bag – the putter.

You are in Greenville, Ala. Your putter is in Bossier City, La.

At moments like this, you first have to come to the full and complete understanding that there is no one to blame but yourself. You took it out of the bag, you let someone borrow it for a putting contest 24 hours earlier, you are the one responsible for walking off and leaving it.

That was my Saturday. It was also going to be my Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

It’s like sleeping on a bed with only one sheet. Yeah, you can do it, but you’ll never get really comfortable. All you can do is try to make the best of it.

The first set of options for resolution were numerous, starting with: (1) putt with a different club; (2) go buy a putter in the pro shop; (3) borrow a putter from the guys in your group on each green.

(1) I’ve seen it done with a 3 hybrid as well as a sand wedge by really good golfers. Not feasible for my talent level.

(2) That’s a $200 surcharge, plus tax, for being stupid. I did consider it, but now I’d have two putters when I got back.

 (3) Thanks for the offer, guys. And for not just telling me to just go home.

Option #4 proved to be the best: grovel. Every morning when we would check in to a new course, I would give the self-deprecating story about how I’m just a dumb guy from Louisiana and is there any way I could borrow a pitter, even if it’s 20 years old and rescued from the nearby Putt-Putt course?

First day, I think I did get that putter (I was still in shock to ask for anything remotely nice). Next four days, the putters I borrowed looked like they had just been delivered from the factory.

Total cost? $0 (which is significantly less than $200, plus tax).

Plus, I had a ready-made excuse whenever I’d miss a putt. Which is all any golfer really needs.

Contact J.J. at JohnJamesMarshall@yaoo.com

SPOTLIGHT: Tigers aplenty in LSHOF’s Class of 2022

/ NPJ
ROLE MODEL: At 4-foot-11, Susan Jackson doesn’t tower over many people, but she seemed like a giant Thursday to girls who were part of an area gymnastics club who came to meet her at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Welcome Reception.

By LARRY HYMEL, Journal Sports

NATCHITOCHES –Thursday’s annual press conference that launches the Louisiana Hall of Fame Induction Celebration was loaded with LSU athletes – more than ever before.

This year’s group of five former Tigers — six if you count LSU graduate Claney Duplechin — had an unusual twist.

As usual, there was an LSU football player in the group – two actually, Kyle Williams and the late Eric Andolsek.

The twist came with two female Tiger superstars, who represented the first players of their respective sports at LSU to earn LSHOF enshrinement.

Toss in a one-year football player who became a rodeo legend, and Duplechin, who didn’t compete at LSU, but since gained his distinction as a prep cross country and track coach, and you have a Tiger-heavy 12-person Class of 2022.

Dynamite gymnastics star Susan Jackson was joined by softball pitcher Britni Sneed Newman representing women’s sports from LSU, speaking Thursday on the 50th anniversary of Congress passing Title IX laws opening opportunities for women.

The Purple and Gold group also includes rodeo star Steve Duhon, who played one year of football before starting on his road to future stardom. Add in Duplechin, the most successful cross country coach in Louisiana history, and you have a unique bunch.

Another fun fact: Jackson and Sneed-Newman are following their LSU coaches into the Hall of Fame.

Jackson, who was a 12-time gymnastics All-American for 2017 LSHOF inductee D-D Breaux, has been active in Hall of Fame Foundation events since Breaux’s induction while living in Louisiana before returning to her home state of Texas in January.

The only three-time NCAA individual champion for LSU’s powerhouse gymnastics program, Jackson said her stay in Louisiana was awesome. “The love in Louisiana was inspiring,” she said. “Performing for a coach like D-D Breaux was awesome.”

Jackson said “they say you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the girl. Louisiana is something special. It’s half of me now.”

She joins her coach and former Centenary standout Kathy Johnson-Clarke, a Centenary superstar and captain of the 1984 USA Olympic team, representing their sport in the LSHOF.

Two-time All-America pitcher Sneed-Newman is another transplanted Texan. She was originally recruited to LSU by Glenn Moore, who has since been her boss as she works as associate head coach and pitching coach at Baylor. Moore took that job after her sophomore year and she finished starring at LSU, as a four-time first-team All-SEC pick, under another Hall of Famer, Yvette Girouard.

Asked about her biggest thrill, she didn’t hesitate. “Making it to the World Series. We got beat in the regionals the year before by Southern Mississippi (led by last year’s Hall of Fame inductee Courtney Blades Rogers). It was a goal we accomplished as a team.”

Accompanied by her mom and her 7-year-old son Brooks, she was grateful for the attention and quality of college softball, and optimistic that a successful pro league could thrive soon.

“I’m really happy about where the sport of softball is going. It’s growing every day,” she added. She also spoke about being a mother and coach. “Both are great, and I’ve been fortunate to do both, and Coach Moore makes it a priority for all of us at Baylor.”

She credits Girouard for laying the foundation for LSU’s program. “It was great playing for a legend,” she said.

Duhon was a unique story. Despite an impressive true freshman season as an LSU linebacker, and the thrill of playing in an energetic Tiger Stadium, he gave up football after one year to concentrate on the avenue that earned him Hall of Fame accolades.

He doesn’t look back at that decision. “I learned (rodeo) techniques from my dad, but with my size (he can match up physically with football inductees Kyle Williams and Jahri Evans), I had an advantage other cowboys typically didn’t.

“The biggest thing I learned in life through rodeo and athletics is ‘never give up.’ ”

His fondest LSU memory was a game against Alabama. “The team came out of the tunnel, and I saw all those people. I just stood in awe and then finally realized I was supposed to follow my teammates on the field.

“This is the icing on the cake,” Duhon said about his induction. “I started out young in the rodeo business and loved traveling around the country competing.

“My dad was very instrumental in my career and helped me get a start in bulldogging at an early age,” Duhon said. “It was not an overnight success. It was following a pathway since I was a boy and being very dedicated and having a great family supporting me.”

Williams, a native of Ruston who is coaching at his high school, said it was an honor “to be representing Ruston, LSU and the state of Louisiana in the Hall of Fame.”

He related a pair of NFL feats rare for a defensive lineman.

“In one game a ball popped up in the air, I caught it on my fingertips and fell into the end zone — touchdown,” he said. “Also,  I had a chance to run with the ball, from the 1, and score in a game that sent us to the playoffs for the first time in forever. All I had to do was fall forward, but it sure was fun.”

Photo by CHRIS REICH, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Allen, Cicero have Super Bowls in mind as the Hall calls

/ Megan Lowe
CRACKING UP:   Teddy Allen has made a career of writing with a wry sense of humor, and it was on display Thursday at the 2022 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame press conference.

By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA

NATCHITOCHES – Teddy Allen said he writes every story like it’s the Super Bowl, because it is for the people he’s writing about.

Jay Cicero talked about bringing Super Bowls, and other major sporting events, to Louisiana – specifically, the Crescent City in his role as CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.

Allen, the acclaimed Shreveport-Bossier Journal writer who is a Shreveport resident, and Cicero, a Shreveport native and Loyola High School graduate, are among the 12-member Class of 2022 of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. They spoke Thursday afternoon at the LSHOF introductory press conference.

Both Louisiana Tech alumni are entering the Hall after their first appearance on their respective ballots. Allen goes in as a winner of the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Hall’s parent organization, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Cicero is the 2022 winner of the Hall’s Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award.

Cicero began his career working with the Shreveport Captains after meeting team owner Taylor Moore.

He left Shreveport to work at the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and after a brief stint with the New Orleans Zephyrs – “I was the only guy in New Orleans with Minor League Baseball experience,” he joked – Cicero returned to the foundation and has been its CEO for over 20 years.

In his role, Cicero has been responsible for the success of the New Orleans Bowl, which is in its third decade of existence, as well as helping land, plan and get ready for the Super Bowl in 2025. That game marks the 11th Super Bowl the city will have hosted, and his fingerprints are on several of those, along with Final Fours.

“It was a shock when I got the call to let me know I had been selected for the Dave Dixon Award,” Cicero said. “What an honor to receive something in the name of Dave Dixon. He was an amazing man, incredible energy. So creative. He came up with the name of the Saints. He dreamed up the Superdome. He was a man who was a force to be reckoned with but a friend to everyone. To be honored with an award in his name is very humbling.”

Allen, a wordsmith with a knack for a homespun phrase and an everyman persona, kept it mostly light in his 10 minutes at the podium, cracking up his fellow inductees and the sometimes stoic media. But he had spurts of heartfelt sincerity, including discussing what led him to the profession.

A love for sports – and a trip to a South Carolina-Clemson football game at age 10 – led one of the two Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism winners to his chosen craft.

“I come from a town of 750 people in South Carolina,” Allen said. “We got The State (newspaper) from Columbia on Sunday. There’d be a picture of Wake Forest or Clemson or The Citadel, and it would be in color. I couldn’t believe this stuff was happening.

“I was 10 years old and these guys in town took me to the Clemson-South Carolina game in 1970. South Carolina clocks the Tigers, and we’re standing on the hill in the stadium, which is enclosed now. These guys are 24, 25, 26 years old. Why they took a 10-year-old kid? I don’t know. I’d never seen so many colors. I didn’t know there were that many people in the world. It immediately captivated me.”

Whether it has been his award-winning game stories or his columns that involve a dose of daily life in the South to interviewing the headless woman at the state fair – “That was a tough quote,” Allen quipped – Allen has brought that sense of wonder and joie de vivre to readers across the state and the country.

“I’m just blessed to have people take the time to read what I write, and to have so many beautiful humans whose stories I get to tell,” he said. “Life ought to be fun. Life needs to be fun, especially these days. So I hope when I write, readers go away happy and entertained. And if not, I’ll try harder next time.”

Photos by CHRIS REICH, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Class of 2022 inductees feel shock and awe taking their places in LSHOF

/ Megan Lowe
QUITE A CLASS:  Members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022, and family members of two deceased inductees, gathered Thursday after their introductory press conference at the LSHOF museum.

By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA

NATCHITOCHES – Thursday afternoon’s opening news conference for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction weekend was full of shock and awe.

The shock came, nearly word for word, from several inductees who recounted their surprise at being selected for inclusion in the state’s sporting shrine. The awe came from their varied and accomplished careers that – as a group – span nearly a century and brought together standouts from nearly every corner of the Bayou State.

“It’s very hard to put into words, but it means the world to me,” said longtime Episcopal High School cross country coach Claney Duplechin. “I remember when I got the call, I was in shock. It was like, ‘Wake me up from this dream.’”

The architect of a state championship juggernaut boys cross country program that won 25 consecutive state titles, Duplechin was one of 11 inductees or family members who took the podium inside the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum.

Once the initial shock wore off for each of the members of the Class of 2022, the gratitude flowed.

“This is pretty much the icing on the cake,” said Pro Rodeo and Cowboy Hall of Fame member Steve Duhon of Opelousas. “When Mr. T. Berry (Porter) got in three years ago, I didn’t know they had a Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. I thought it would be good to get in there one day. I’ve been in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, all I can do now is watch the grandkids grow up and hope they do the same.”

Duhon, a three-time world champion steer wrestler and eight-time National Finals Rodeo competitor, became renowned for his rodeo performances in a 14-plus year career.

A broken leg suffered while playing basketball kept Evans off a football field for two seasons, including his true freshman season at Division II Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. That trauma did not stop Evans from becoming a bedrock of the most successful era of New Orleans Saints football, an 11-year career that began in 2006 when the fourth-round draft pick started for the Saints, who reached the NFC Championship Game that season.

“I’m very fortunate and blessed to be here,” Evans said. “There have been a lot of accolades I’ve received, but this one is awesome. The state of Louisiana has a lot of great athletes and a very rich history in sports. Look at this place alone. I’m very honored to be in it.”

Evans shook back from that broken leg with a little help from a piece of paper.

“After I broke my leg, I had a note that said I would play this year, I would play in college and I would play in the NFL,” Evans said. “I’ll take two of those three. I got back on the field my redshirt freshman year and never looked back.”

Baseball coach Tony Robichaux, who died suddenly three years ago, built championship-level programs at his alma mater McNeese and later the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

The owner of Louisiana’s college baseball wins record made his mark professionally leading the Ragin’ Cajuns to the 2000 College World Series and the 2014 edition of the Cajuns to the unanimous national No. 1 ranking. He died of complications arising from a heart attack at age 57.

“He did a lot of interviews, and he opened most of the time by saying it’s an honor and a privilege,” his oldest son, Justin Robichaux, said. “To have this in the state of Louisiana, it meant something to him. He took it on the chin a lot. To watch him build a program at McNeese and to see what he developed at the University of Louisiana and to be a man that set a flagship of integrity, moral compass and character, that’s what 36 means to us. It is an honor and a privilege.”

The Class of 2022 inductees officially will take their place alongside their fellow state legends Saturday night at the induction ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. and will air live on YurView TV and via web stream at www.lasportshall.com and on YouTube.

Photo by CHRIS REICH, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Wendell Davis remembers the late Eric Andolsek

/ NPJ
HONORING ERIC: Andy Andolsek gestures as he talks about his late brother, Eric, at Thursday’s Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame press conference. Thursday was the 30-year anniversary of Eric Andolsek’s tragic death.

By JERRY BYRD JR., Journal Sports

Many LSU fans who followed the career of former Tiger offensive lineman Eric Andolsek know that he became great friends with Detroit linebacker Chris Spielman. What they may not know is how the relationship got off to a rocky start at midfield in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26 in 1987.

Andolsek will be one of 12 inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches on Saturday night — 30 years, to the day, after his burial.

At LSU, he helped guide the Tigers to an SEC Championship in 1986, and a 10-1-1 record and No. 5 ranking in 1987. The tie was a 13-13 game in Tiger Stadium against Spielman’s Ohio State Buckeyes.

Chicago’s Wendell Davis, who starred at Shreveport’s Fair Park High School before going on to play wide receiver LSU and then the Chicago Bears, remembers the first time Andolsek and Spielman met. He was there on that day, at the midfield coin toss. It wasn’t pretty.

“I’ll never forget it,” Davis said. “They got into it. It started with some jaw-jacking by both. They started moving toward each other and they had to be separated. Who would’ve known then that they would go on to become great friends?”

Not Davis, and certainly not Davis’ parents, who were in Tiger Stadium that day, who continued to talk about the pre-game flare up years later.

“When we would sit around and talk about my college days at LSU, they would just say ‘remember when Eric started fighting before the game began?’” Davis laughed.

Detroit drafted Andolsek in the fifth round of the 1988 draft. After some nervous moments with friends and family at his house in Thibodaux, he finally heard his name called on the 111th overall pick. Spielman had been selected in the second round with the 29th overall pick.

The events at midfield at Tiger Stadium in 1987 spilled over onto Detroit’s team bus, which carried both Andolsek, Spielman, and their teammates to the Lion’s min-camp in 1988. A stare down on the bus made for an awkward trip for the NFL rookies.

Later, it was a real-life Remember the Titans moment as both Andolsek and Spielman bonded and became great friends during pre-season football camp.

Sadly, friendship crawfish dinners on visits to Thibodaux are not all that the Andolsek and Spielman families have shared together. They have also experienced the tragedy of a loved one taken before their time.

Andolsek died on June 23, 1992, when a flatbed truck veered off Hwy 1, killing him as he was cutting grass at his house. He was 25.

Spielman’s wife, Stefanie, passed away on Nov. 19, 2009, at the age of 42 after a battle with breast cancer.

Not all of what Davis remembers about Andolsek at LSU took place on the field.

Davis’ parents were also there for their son’s first day on the LSU campus when Davis saw Eric Andolsek for the first time as he was moving into Broussard Hall, the athletic dorm.

“I was coming in the door, and Eric and Nacho Albergamo were coming out,” Davis said. “I looked at them and said, ‘Oh my God.’ I had never seen someone that big. That chiseled. It’s crazy, but I thought of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots. I thought to myself, those guys cannot be freshmen, but they were.”

While Davis recalls those brief moments with his LSU teammate, it’s not what he remembers the most now.

“Most of all, the guy had a big heart,” Davis said. “For our team, we had guys from different backgrounds. We had different characters. Being a captain with him, I saw how he listened to his teammates. He didn’t judge them. He pulled everyone in the same direction. He wasn’t vocal about it. He did it in the way he carried himself.”

Contact Jerry at sbjjerrybyrd@gmail.com

Photo by CHRIS REICH, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame

Cumbie enjoys interacting with La. Tech fan base at ‘Bulldog Blitz’

/ Megan Lowe
NEW DOG: Head football coach Sonny Cumbie addressed supporters at the Louisiana Tech ‘Bulldog Blitz’ held Thursday night at Seventh Tap Brewery in Shreveport.

By JERRY BYRD JR., Journal Sports

As one of the brightest young offensive minds in college football, Louisiana Tech’s new head football coach Sonny Cumbie is well aware of how to take advantage of a blitzing defense. Cumbie took advantage of Tech athletics’ “Bulldog Blitz” Thursday at Seventh Tap Brewery in Shreveport, meeting with alumni and friends of the university.

He didn’t even have to call a screen pass in order to do it.

“It’s great,” Cumbie said about the opportunity to interact with the fan base. “Anytime we as coaches get out on the road and meet with our fan base, meet with our alumni, and lettermen, we want to take that opportunity. This is the time of the year where most of us, as coaches, have a little bit of down time and are going to be able to do that.”

It’s not the first time Cumbie, who was hired in December, has come to Shreveport/Bossier. The athletic department made a trip in the spring, as well. 

“We had a great turnout that day,” Cumbie said. “We are looking forward to seeing all of these fans from the Shreveport area come over to The Joe this fall and support our players.”

Tech Athletic Director Dr. Eric Wood has been impressed by the job Cumbie has done in his first seven months as the 35th head football coach at Louisiana Tech. 

“You can make calls around and spend a couple of hours together, but until you live with each other, you never know,” Wood said of making hires. “Unprompted visiting with folks on campus. Made an appointment in financial aid. And, also unprompted, showing up at baseball games, tennis matches. All while recruiting and hiring staff because of his desire to be a part of the community and support the other coaches.”

Wood said you can ask ‘that question’ in an interview, but you don’t get a true sense of what you have until the new hire gets on campus. Those little things Cumbie has done are what has impressed Wood the most. 

Cumbie could tell in the interview that it was a good fit.

“For one thing, when you are around Dr. Wood you quickly realize how much he loves student athletes,” Cumbie said. “He has a great personality, great energy, and is a really good communicator of the vision in terms of what he saw for the program. We really hit it off well from an energy standpoint, and a passion standpoint.  We are really aligned in terms of helping our kids.”

With spring football in his rearview mirror, Cumbie and his staff have turned their attention to getting the most out of summer. 

“Summer is going a little faster than we would like,” Cumbie said. “You want to just kind of push pause a little bit and have a chance to catch your breath, but it’s the middle of June. It’s really the end of our first month of our guys working out. Once we wrapped up spring practice in April, our coaches went out and recruited. We had to try to plan for fall camp, and so it’s really been one thing after another in terms of recruiting. Our coaching staff has done a really nice job.” 

One priority on Cumbie’s summer to-do list is depth on the defensive side of the football.

“We were right around 30 scholarship players of our 41 that we like to have allocated to that side of the ball, so we’ve done that some,” Cumbie said. “During the spring and summer, we are also addressing the needs in the secondary. And then also, the defensive line. You can never have too many defensive linemen and offensive linemen because that is really where the game is won.” 

There is no rest for the weary as Cumbie and his staff will host 300 campers today. There will be a session in the morning for the younger campers and the session in the afternoon for the older campers. 

Before leaving home on Thursday, the head coach was coached up by his youngest son.

“He asked if I was going to speak,” Cumbie said. “I said ‘yes,’ and he said, ‘don’t be boring,’ so hopefully I won’t bore anyone out here tonight.” 

Contact Jerry at sbjjerrybyrd@gmail.com

Photo by JERRY BYRD JR.