Tim Peterson
So we all knew this was going to happen right? The first Sunday with the officials back and there have been at least four clearly blown calls already. And one of them was missed even after they spent five minutes reviewing the play.
No, I won’t say bring back the replacements but replacement officials or not there are always going to be mistakes. My problem is that they couldn’t even get it right after staring at the replay for five minutes. Am I missing something here? When the ball hits the ground it is an incomplete pass right?
Speaking of blown calls I think high school coaches are falling in love with the two point conversion way too often. There are times when it is necessary and other times when it might catch the opponent off guard, but sometimes it makes no sense. Why is it necessary to go for two on the first touchdown of the game? You miss it and then you’re chasing that point the rest of the way. You score again and go for two again only to fail and instead of 14-0 it’s 12-0. You’ve basically just given away two points.
In a game a couple of weeks ago, I saw coach go for two early in the fourth quarter with his team down by 17. An extra point cuts the lead to 16 which is two possessions (two touchdowns, two two point conversions) while a two point conversion cuts it to 15, which is still two possessions. If you fail on the two point conversion, which they did, you’re still down the 17 which is three possessions no matter how you slice it. They ended up losing by three and it may or may not have cost them the game considering all of the other factors involved. But at the time it made absolutely no sense.
I’ve seen a couple of other teams go for two after every touchdown. Just kick the ball through the uprights! I know, I know…that’s why I’m walking the sidelines with a notebook and a pen instead of wearing a headset.
Ok so let’s figure this out. How did South Pasadena lose to Hoover earlier this year. The Tigers are 4-1 and and have handled everybody else fairly easily. How did Rosemead beat San Gabriel but then lose to Temple City the following week. How does Los Altos lose to Diamond Bar 40-3 one week and then beat two-time defending champion West Covina 17-14 Friday? And Diamond Bar, coming off the rout of Los Altos, falls to Rowland last week.
The Hacienda is so crazy, that Bonita, which started the season 0-3, has won three straight and is suddenly in first place at 2-0. Of course that could change next week when the Bearcats travel to West Covina.
Were the Bulldogs flat or was Los Altos that good? “It was a little of both. They played really hard and we were flat and made a lot or mistakes,” said West Covina Coach Mike Maggiore. “We really aren’t very good right now anyway.”
The only sure thing about the 2012 season is that Blair won’t win a game. Isn’t it time for Blair to go the way of Cerritos and drop the program…at least for a year? The Vikings reportedly lost over 20 players from the football program to grades last week. They were only suiting up about twenty players on varsity already so to lose 20 more from the JV or otherwise would completely decimate the program. It showed Friday night in an 85-0 loss to Eagle Rock. In five games Blair has been outscored…are you ready?…265-14. Yeah it’s time to pull the plug.
Did you know that the Los Altos kicker and the kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles share the same name with the only difference being one letter? Alex Henry, who booted the game winner against West Covina, kicks for Los Altos, while Alex Henery is the Eagles’ kicker. No relation of course…I don’t think.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com.
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