Get sweaty for a good cause: Local gym set to raise money for St. Jude’s this weekend
October 26, 2016
The game has now changed!
November 1, 2016
So much for Leonard Fournette being rusty or sloppy after missing a month with injury.
Fournette dominated Ole Miss on Saturday, bringing the LSU team to 3-0 under new coach Ed Orgeron.
Orgeron generated a lot of your interest again this week – a seemingly weekly occurrence. But a lot of you cats wanted to talk Fournette, too.
And rightfully so – the dude is a monster.
So let’s dive right into the mailbag.
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Q: Can Leonard Fournette still win the Heisman Trophy? (Asked by Jake Killian)
A: Sure, he can. But it won’t be easy. If Fournette rushes for 160 yards and a couple scores against Alabama and then leads the Tigers to an undefeated November, who is going to keep him from the trophy? The luxury Fournette has is that he still has a chance to peak at the right time – something he didn’t do a year ago. My concern right now about Fournette is his health. Even at the end of the Ole Miss game, he seemed a little gimpy and was limping around the field. But if he can stay healthy, and if LSU continues to play well, who am I to bet against him? No player I’ve ever seen since Tim Tebow dominated an SEC football game to the level Fournette did this past Saturday night. The Rebels knew he was running it, but it just didn’t matter. They had no answer.
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Q: The Warriors got creamed on opening night. Are you concerned? (Asked by Joe Robles)
A: Concerned? Not really. The Warriors have too much talent to not be a formidable NBA Championship contender. But, I am not 100 percent sold on them being the wrecking ball powerhouse that will sweep through the rest of the league without opposition. The Warriors gained Kevin Durant, yes. But they lost Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa and Mo Speights in the process. By doing that, they gave up a lot of defensive prowess and they also gave up a lot of depth. The Warriors’ bench is a train wreck. Outside of KD, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, what else do they really have? Sure, that five-man core is absurd. But they’d better stay awfully healthy, because the players who are 6-12 on the depth chart all seem to be lagging behind.
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Q: The Saints have defined mediocrity over the last few seasons – when does it run out? (Asked by Pete Melancon)
A: I think it’s already run out, Coach. I think the Saints are in the worst possible position to be in the modern NFL. As long as Drew Brees is on the roster, they’re just good enough to be decent, but just bad enough to not compete for the playoffs. Because of that, I think what we see now is what we ought to get used to for a while, and that’s a bunch of 6-8-win seasons and a bunch of disappointing shootout losses. The Saints really have to start to wonder about Sean Payton. The guy is an unbelievable offensive mind – there’s no doubt about that. But no matter the personnel and no matter the coordinator, his defense always finds a way to be bad. At some point, maybe it’s not personnel or scheme, but maybe it’s organization-wide philosophy that’s the root of the problem.
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Q: Will LSU beat Alabama? (Asked by TimmyTiger)
A: Will LSU beat Bama? I’m not quite sure. But can they? Absolutely. Look, since Ed Orgeron took over the Tigers team, LSU is playing as well as anyone in the country in all three phases. Sure, two of the three wins have been against subpar competition. But Ole Miss is a quality football team, and LSU made them look like a directional school in the second half of that contest. Offensively, LSU has set school records in each of its past three games, and the reason why they’re getting the chance to do that is because of a defense that’s getting opponents off the field in short order. Alabama is a monster, and everyone who watches college football knows it. But with a true freshman quarterback, it’s going to be tough for them to come into Tiger Stadium and get a win. But for LSU to have a shot, they must avoid the huge, costly turnover that the Crimson Tide are so prone to getting. Their defense has scored a touchdown in 10-straight games. That’s absurd. LSU can’t afford to have any of that happening next Saturday.
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Q: I see your food on Instagram all day. It looks great. What’s your best fried chicken recipe? (Asked by Karl F. Chouest)
A: Thanks for the Instagram follow, Karl. I didn’t expect to get a cooking question in the mailbag, but you’re right. I do post a lot of photos of my food on my social media outlets, so I figured I’d endulge. You know, I made a ridiculously good batch of fried chicken before the LSU and Missouri game. The trick to chicken is the batter. Try a little buttermilk and marinate the chicken in that mix. That always hits the spot for me.
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Q: What’s your favorite smaller sport to cover? (Asked by Dan Reiss)
A: Honestly, I like to cover swimming. The young men and women in those pools are absolutely unbelievable, and it’s a treat to watch them do what they do. As a graduate of South Lafourche High School, swimming, obviously, has a soft spot in my heart. The Tarpons and Lady Tarpons have both won the district championships for 10-or-more-straight years. That streak is unbelievable, and it’s truly awesome to watch the kids glide through the water.
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Q: Do you enjoy what you do? I see you around at events, and it sure looks like you’re always having fun! (Asked by Rose Wright)
A: Thank you so much for that question, Ms. Rose. Yes, I do enjoy what I do, and honestly, what I do doesn’t ever feel like work. I love sports, and I love the kids in our area. As a youth sports coach in the community, a lot of the area’s top players are young men and women that I’ve watched play since they were 9 or 10-years-old. That gives me a lot of pride, because I enjoy watching young people succeed. That, and I’m also a blabbermouth, so I enjoy telling stories about those people to the public. It is a job that I enjoy in a big, big way, and I thank you so much for noticing!
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Q: You’re a youth sports coach. What’s the best Biddy team you ever saw? (Asked by Coach StE)
A: Man, I’ve seen a bunch of really, really good ones. The U8 Slidell All-Stars team I coached against at Nationals a few years ago was insanely good. Those kids had the basketball acumen of kids at the high school level. They made the right decision on the floor, every, single time. If we’re talking about regular season, it would probably be a team we had in our local Biddy league a couple years ago. They were led by Kobe Chouest, if memory serves me correctly, and they were very, very good. They had talent all over the floor.
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Q: Who’s going to win the World Series? (Asked by Will)
A: I can’t bet against the Indians. They have played the best baseball of anyone so far in the postseason. For my dollar, I think the Cubs are a better team. Heck, the fact that they had a better record by nine whole games in the regular season is pretty telling. But the Indians have only lost one game since the playoffs have started, and it’s hard to find a weakness in their game. They pitch better than everyone else, and they are scrappy enough offensively to muster enough runs here and there to be a threat. They limited the mighty Blue Jays to 11 runs in five games. Before that, they held the Red Sox to seven runs in three games – a sweep. Those two teams can rake, and the Indians locked ‘em down. I suspect they’ll do the same to the Cubbies and break Chicago’s hearts again.
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Q: You’re a Cowboys fan, aren’t you? Dak or Romo? (Asked by TexasCajun)
A: I am the biggest Tony Romo apologist that there’s ever been in the history of the world. Through every late-game interception, I was there to make an excuse. And I stand by all of those excuses. The dude’s had a terrible defense for a decade, and has always been asked to do things no quarterback should ever be asked to do. If Tony Romo doesn’t play another snap for the Cowboys, he will still be among the best handful of quarterbacks that I’ve seen. But with that said, it’s time for the Cowboys to make a statement and announce Dak Prescott as their starter for the rest of the season. Through six games, he has seven touchdowns and just one pick, while completing 68.2 percent of his passes. The guy just doesn’t make very many mistakes, and that efficiency is exactly what the Cowboys need. Their offensive line is monstrous. Their running game is the best in the entire NFL. All they need out of the quarterback is someone who won’t screw it all up, and right now, Prescott is proving he can do that. Romo never proved he could get out of his own way.
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Q: Do you think Florida pulled a fast one on LSU delaying the game to allow injured players time to heal? (Asked by Taylor Griffin)
A: There’s no question! After the Missouri game, LSU had a wave of momentum that wasn’t going to be stopped – especially not by Florida. The Tigers had just crushed Missouri, and Florida had just barely beaten Vanderbilt. Leonard Fournette or not, LSU was going to dump truck those guys at the line of scrimmage and get a comfortable win. Now, the game will be in Death Valley, but it occurs at a time in the schedule where LSU will be the ones who are beat up. The entire situation is a shame. The conference should have forced Florida to play in that weekend or they should have forfeited. Simply not playing at all shouldn’t ever be an option – hurricane or not.
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