HIGH SCHOOL THREAT PROBE CONTINUES
February 14, 2019
OLD MAN WINTER RETREATS CREATING SPRINGTIME OPPORTUNITY FOR ANGLERS
February 14, 2019
All work and no play makes Casey a sad, sad boy.
But fortunately for me, I have an amazing job that allows me to both work and play at the same time.
These next few weeks will be busy as sin for the ol’ local sports guy with basketball and soccer playoffs giving way to the start of spring sports like track, baseball and softball.
I couldn’t be more excited. So let’s open up the mailbag and talk about some of the things that are going on right now in the world of local sports.
Q: Is this the year Houma Christian wins the state championship? (Asked by Greg, Houma)
A: I would be lying to everyone if I said I knew a bunch about Lafayette Christian or Division IV girls’ basketball, so I will stick to what I do know, instead, so as to not mislead our readers. I know that Coach Kathy Luke is
an elite coach and I know she has a roster of talented, hungry players. Coach Luke will do the absolute best job humanly possible putting her team in the best position possible to win games — all of the remaining games on the team’s schedule. I don’t know if that answers your question fully or not, but without fully making a prediction, I’d prefer to instead say that I have faith that the Christian Warriors will be ready for whatever is ahead. If they fall short, it will simply be because they ran into a better team — which sometimes happens in basketball. There’s no shame in that. They’ll be tough to beat.
Q: What do you think of Nicholls’ recruiting class? (Asked by Tom, Houma)
A: I think it’s excellent — exactly what the Colonels needed to keep pushing forward into the future. Look, I remember the days when Nicholls signed 20-25 players who were unranked every year — guys no one had ever heard of because they weren’t local or were from obscure junior colleges from around the country. Now, Nicholls is pulling big-time players — mostly from a 2-hour radius of Thibodaux. I think the Colonels got better at the line of scrimmage in this class, which was much-needed. I think they also added skill players, defensive backs and filled just about every, single need, which is exactly what a team is supposed to do when on the road recruiting.
Q: What do you make of the new Vandebilt football coach? (Asked by Russ, Houma)
A: I will answer this question honestly because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing justice to our readers who are reading this piece to see my opinion. I think it’s a highly interesting move — for a number of reasons. It’s painfully obvious that the school was turned off by the Andrew Robison situation — how public things got, how pointed the family’s words were toward the school and the full nine yards. So when making the decision to hire a replacement for former coach Jeremy Atwell — who undoubtedly was let go, even if just in a small part, because of how that all played out — I fully expected someone with an entirely clean slate to lead the team into the future. But that’s not entirely the case here. Coach Lance Ledet is a good football coach. His track record speaks for itself. But just more than five years ago, he was also suspended from coaching and given a criminal summons after admitting to authorities that he and colleagues at Destrehan looked at an opponent’s HUDL account without permission — a scandal which resulted in game forfeitures, fines and embarrassment for Destrehan and everyone involved. I understand that time heals wounds and people deserve second chances. But the irony of being unhappy with Atwell’s handling of a scandal and hiring a replacement who was part of an even larger scandal is not a great look for Vandebilt — considering that the school fired arguably the best coach its ever had, Coach Kathy Luke, for far, far less. We wish Ledet well and sincerely hope he does an excellent job at Vandebilt. But for that to happen, he has to have learned from his mistakes of the past and have used them to get better.
Q: How far can LSU basketball take it? (Asked by John, Thibodaux)
A: I think the Tigers are a very difficult nut to crack. I think they’re talented enough to beat almost anyone in the country with the exception of Duke and Tennessee. But they’re young and inconsistent enough to lose to teams that they’re 10-15 points better than on any given night. That inconsistency makes it difficult to pick those guys to go on a deep surge in the NCAA Tournament — where one bad game means the end of your season. But for the sake of answering the question, I’ll say that LSU’s ceiling is the Sweet 16 and its floor is losing in the opening-round game. Look, considering where we’ve been under Johnny Jones, I think everyone who is a fan of the purple and gold will take that fate and be happy — very, very happy.
Q: How long have you covered sports locally? (Asked by Rose, Houma)
A: Locally, this is my 10th year. I started in late-2009 while still a college student at LSU. Professionally, I have another two and a half years added on top of that from my time working in Baton Rouge. The journey has been amazing — I’ve made so many friendships and have met so many people I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to meet. You know, some of the people who I covered when I first got into the area now have children who are playing youth sports and are about to start the cycle over again. Man, if that doesn’t make me feel incredibly old! But it’s been a fun ride — one that will hopefully not end anytime soon.
Q: Who will be the top prep baseball teams locally? (Asked by Pete, Houma)
A: I think E.D. White will be absolutely loaded. Heck, they were super good last spring and they bring back the lion’s share of their club. I think Central Lafourche will also have a good squad and look, it’s likely not going to happen this spring, but Shane Trosclair is going to turn things around at Thibodaux High. The dude is an elite-level coach and he’s going to do great things.
