"Football gave up on human officiating long ago. In the NFL, officials barely even count any more – coaches have their own flags, television cameras are the final arbiters, and after overturned calls referees are forced to stand before the crowd and admit their mistakes, like guilty schoolchildren. Next, there will be a giant chalkboard on the field for them to write, I promise to watch more closely, 500 times.” Joe Posnanski, SI
Tiger Den
Profile: Richard Dickson
He was born in Ocean Spring MS. His father played for Mississippi State. His grandfather played for Ole Miss. But after making all-State as a two-way player at E, Richard Dickson wanted to be part of LSU's winning program. Yet he never received any flak from the family.
My dad couldn't say anything because his dad went to his rival school. My dad never mentioned once where he wanted me to go. He's happy with the decision, and he likes LSU.
Dickson is a 6'3" 246 lb senior TE on the 2009 Tiger team. He leads both by word and example.
This group of seniors, after having a down year last year, we don't want to repeat it again.
One testimony to Richard's leadership is his jersey number. He wore 82 his first two seasons. But his junior year, he inherited 18 from Jacob Hester who had in turn received it from Matt Mauck. The number has come to symbolize the team leader. Dickson plans to pass the torch to someone else when this season ends. (Chad Jones if he returns for senior year? Kelvin Sheppard?)
Dickson is in process of breaking every LSU TE record. As this is written, he has already exceeded the previous career record for receiving yards. He is tied for first in career TD catches and needs only seven more catches to exceed the previous high for a TE.
Dickson saw plenty of action beginning in his freshman season.
Filling the gap when Keith Zinger suffered a season-ending injury in 2006, Dickson started the last nine games of the season. He made second team All-SEC Freshman Team and was honorable mention on the freshman All-American team.
Richard will forever be remembered in Tigerland for his two TD receptions in the 2007 BCS Championship Game against Ohio State. Those were his fifth and sixth TDs of his sophomore season, which saw him playing in all 14 games, starting three.
As a junior, Dickson started all 13 games and made second team all-SEC. He had 31 receptions for 324 yd and five TDs.
Entering his senior year, he was placed on the watch list for the John Mackey Award given to the outstanding TE in the nation.
The NFL is probably in Dickson's future as he is an accomplished blocker as well as a receiver.
nfldraftscout.com ranks Richard as the #2 FULLBACK (out of 106) among seniors.
Other draft sites list him as a TE prospect.
Another Dickson may soon be cavorting at Tiger Stadium. Younger brother Travis committed to LSU in August 2009. A four-star prospect like Richard, Travis Dickson plays TE, FB, and DE for Ocean Springs High.
Reference: "Burning Desire," Ryan Ginn, LSU-Auburn Game Program 2009
The Saints lost Jim Mora's debut as head coach in the first game of the 1986. Atlanta thumped the Saints in the Superdome 31-10. The next week brought a different outcome.
The Green Bay Packers provided the opposition in the Superdome.
The Saints not only won, 24-10, but set a franchise record with 7 INTs.
The "Bayou Bomber," Bobby Hebert, connected with WR Eric Martin on a 72-yd TD only 1:32 into the game. Shortly afterwards, the two hooked up on an 84-yd pass play from the Saints 9 that led to a Morten Andersen FG and a 10-0 lead.
NO moved out 17-0 later in Q1 on a 3-yd run by rookie Dalton Hilliard.
The Saints led 24-3 at the half.
Two of the seven picks were by Dave Waymer. He had lost his six-year starting job to Willie Tullis at the opening of the season. However, Tullis missed practice Friday and Saturday, claiming he was sick. Since he hadn't checked with the team medical staff, he was replaced by Waymer.
Packer QB Randy Wright threw five of the INTs while Vince Ferragamo accounted for the other two.S Russell Gary said:
We were hiding a lot of things, disguising the defenses well. A lot of times, it looked like we were in one thing and we were in something else.
The Saints finished Mora's maiden season 7-9, thanks in part to Hebert missing six weeks with a broken bone in his foot.
As the 1953 season dawned, the Army football program was still trying to regain its equilibrium after the fallout from the Cheating Scandal of 1951. Coach Blaik now benefitted from having to play youngsters in '51 and '52 after 37 players were expelled.
The '53 Cadets, most of whom had lost to Navy 42-7 as sophomores in '51, defeated the Midshipmen 20-7.
Army finished 7-1-1, the loss coming at Northwestern 33-20 and the tie at Tulane 0-0 (a game I attended).
West Point won the Lambert Trophy as Eastern champions. The Washington Touchdown Club selected Blaik as Coach of the Year.
Earl was offered the heading coaching job of the New York Giants but declined. However, the Giants did sign Blaik's top assistant, Vince Lombardi, as an assistant coach.
The Cadets continued their winning ways for the next five years.
The 1954 Army squad featured an explosive offense that ran well and also employed the passing of QB Peter Vann to Don Holleder. Blaik's boys finished #7 in the AP poll with a 7-2 record. However, the season was dampened by a 27-20 loss to Navy in the annual finale.
With most of his '54 starters lost to graduation, Blaik moved Holleder, one of the best receivers in the nation, to QB for the next season. Despite the fact that he wasn't happy with the move, Don led the Cadets to a 6-3 record, including a 14-6 triumph over the Middies. Holleder served with distinction in the infantry until being killed in combat in Vietnam. The basketball/hockey arena at West Point is named the Holleder Center.
The '56 Brave Old Army Team survived 40 fumbles to eke out a 5-3-1 record thanks to some creampuff foes like VMI, Colgate, and William & Mary. The tie was against Navy, 7-7.
Army renewed its rivalry with Notre Dame in 1957 after a ten-year hiatus. Several young players showed promise, particularly E Bill Carpenterand backs Pete Dawkins and Bob Anderson. The 7-2 slate included a 23-21 loss to the Irish in Philadelphia and a 0-14 setback to guess who in the final game.
1958 held great promise and delivered. Led by Dawkins, who was also president of his class, the Cadets recorded their first unbeaten season since 1949. The only blemish in nine contests was a 14-14 tie at Pittsburgh. The 14-2 victory at Notre Dame was particularly gratifying to Blaik. He showed creativity by making Carpenter his "Lonely End" who was flanked far to the outside in an era when that was almost unknown. Since he didn't want Bill wasting energy running to and from the huddle, Red developed a set of signals that allowed the QB to tell Carpenter the play. Ranked #3 at the end of the season, the Brave Old Army Team received an invitation to the Cotton Bowl. Blaik had always opposed post-season games, not wanting to disrupt his players' preparation for semester exams and take away their Christmas holidays. But this time Dawkins asked him as the season drew to a close to consider accepting a bid. However, the superintendent, Blaik's old nemesis, Gar Davidson, issued a directive that Army would not accept any bowl bid.
Davidson also split the position of AD from that of head football coach. Gar wanted to stop what he saw as a trend to reinstate football to the exaggerated status it enjoyed during and right after World War II. This decision, plus the fact that he felt that he had reestablished Army football on a sound foundation following the great scandal, persuaded Blaik to submit his resignation as football coach.
His 17 seasons at Army produced a 121-32-10 record. He went 8-8-2 against Navy. Red remains the winningest coach in West Point history.
He stayed active after his retirement from coaching.
Blaik became a vice president at the Avco Corporation.
In 1964, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
His other alma mater, Miami University, honored him by induction into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969.
Earl received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Blaik died at age 92 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 1999, the football field at West Point's Michie Stadium was named Blaik Field in his honor.
