The Fake Lonnie Finch

Yes, I'm a terrible fan for wasting my time with my own child. Horrible. Obviously, I should leave my kid and eight-month pregnant wife to go watch a junior high-grade defense. Honestly, what kind of "man" sticks around the house with his boy and pregnant wife when there is awful football to be watched? Actually, I should be taken in for child abuse for making my son listen to the garbage.

Miami is awful. Did you check their box score this week. Shut out. No one's talking about thug culture. But, there's a vast difference between full blown "thug culture" and a kid on a 1-6 team blowing off steam after making an on the field mistake in a game that made them 1-7. The overarching point is that if the coaches don't let players play with some attitude, they won't play with attitude. Look at most other big programs. Coaches are climbing all over players for mistakes and not using milk and cookie language. Football is a game packed with adrenaline and emotion. You can't totally shut that down with some blanket of language/attitude patrol during a game. Look, a team just ran a track meet against our defense to the tune of 572 rushing yard...and 108 passing yards on just four completions! All I'm saying is that our defense isn't playing like they want it. With an 11-point second quarter lead, our defense rolled over for 35 points, and we clung to a four point halftime lead. There's something there that goes beyond player skill and coaching preparation. It's attitude. We don't have it.

You know what, I was playing out in the backyard with my son yesterday and listening to the game of the radio. When Navy pulled to within four just before half, I thought, 'It's only a matter of time before they pull ahead and win this thing. Their coaches will figure something out at halftime.' Vizza backed me up on this after the game. Although, he didn't really need to. The pattern began when FAU did it, and Howard Schnellenberger commented about the halftime adjustments they made. It's been happening all season. Others adjust, we don't. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But, all I could do is shake my head at all the long runs being made against a defense made up of so many upperclassmen. Guys don't just forget how to play football three or four years into their college careers. I feel sorry for our defensive guys. From being put into man coverage against OU to having their own fans now say that they aren't good players since Todd Dodge didn't recruit them...it's just a shame. Their coaches don't know what to do with them, and their own fans insult them. All season long, barring two quarters versus LA-Monroe, it's been nothing but frustration for those guys.

Easy...remember, RV and his board-checking lackey thought I was Kenny Evans last season.

At the point where they want to invite bigger, stronger, older players to kick their skinny butts into oblivion. It's not the players who create the game plans. They should complain to the defensive coaches. No wait. If they did that, the WR coach would "redirect" them. Remember, this team isn't allowed to show frustration. The language and attitude police are patrolling the sideline. And, to their credit, it's working. Our defense plays without attitude. They have all been successfully "redirected." This is a great coaching staff. ...Meanwhile in Kansas... Early in the season, a Jayhawk player returned a kickoff for a touchdown. For showboating, Kansas coach Mark Mangino cussed the player blue with a bevy of f-bombs that made YouTube. Kansas is 10-0 and bucking for a miracle national title shot. That's a head coach dog-cussing a player. Results? Yeah, but only if 10-0 is your idea of success in football. We don't cuss. No, not us. Not our coaches, not our players. Keep your emotions in check. It's just a chess match. No reason to get excited in the heat of battle. We're 1-8, hoping to pull out wins against a questionable Arkansas State squad, a I-AA/provisional I-A team, and the pathetic FIU. Darn it all!

Well...that's what college coaches are paid to do. At least, at a vast majority of schools that's what they're paid to do.

I guess you haven't heard...DD couldn't recruit any good defensive players. It was all a mirage back then, perpetrated in the slyest fashion with defensive coordinators and coaches with years of college experience.

Maybe he's being "redirected" by the wide receiver coach with full approval of the head coach.

I'm not sure where some people get the idea that Lawton is some podunk outpost in the middle of nowhere. Lawton has over 90,000 in the city limit alone, and probably about 120,000 in the areas surrounding it. It's got three public high schools, an army base, and a university. And, yes, it does have some "inner city" areas. Lawton ain't Muskogee. Not even close. A quarter of the population is black. It isn't some tumble weed town full of hayseeds sitting out in front of the feed store listening to Merle Haggard and George Jones. Anyone who's ever been there knows better.

That's a great way to handle this thing. It's important to leave the players out of the loop. This strategy is sure to unify the team and any player on it who shares Green's feelings. Peachy.

...or "redirecting."

Gee, there's really no difference at all. That's why the NFL is teeming with NAIA players and such. And, I-A schools are always on the look out for hot Division III coaches. I suppose there's no difference at all at any level. I mean, it's just football. The rules are the same everywhere. High school, Division I-A, JUCO, NAIA, NFL. What's the difference? Surely, they all draw the same type of athlete packaged with the same character traits. It's like picking up a loaf of bread. I mean, it's all bread, right? The nutritional value of all of it has got to be the same. I mean, it's bread! Look, if you don't realize there's a difference between a Division I-AA athlete in 1992 and a Division I-A athlete in 2007, well...there's really nothing more I can say to you other than you're the perfect fan for this program - just fork over the money, come support us, and don't ask questions about controversies or lack of progress on and off the field. That would be holding the people in charge accountable for something. The only crazy people who do that are folks like the University of Nebraska who fire athletic directors in the middle of a football season. That could never be us. Lack of production is called "rebuilding" here.

That's fine. But, just look at what this little bout of "redirecting" has done. What Clayton and the rest of the coaches need to do is "redirect" themselves to the film room until they figure out how to scheme at this level. That would seem to be a "more important matter at hand" than worrying about a cussing player who's sitting on the bench. Or, at least, it would be to most other coaches on any other staff at this level. And, by the way, the coaches and administrators are the only ones I blame since they are the ones in charge. Nothing in any of my posts has to do with coming down on any player. They aren't the ones who are piloting this mess. They're just riding along, hoping for a safe landing.

Wow, 15 years ago...on a I-AA team. Yeah, that's really comparable to where the program is now. After all, nothing has changed in the college football landscape over the last 15 years. How could I possibly mistake lettering on a I-AA team with years of coaching or playing at the I-A level? How silly. If I was that confused, I could be the president of UNT...or sit on the Board of Directors...or be the athletic director.

Sloppy play indicates lack of leadership as well as poor coaching. We've seen that all along. The incident on the field between Green and the assistant, and now another player jumping in, show that there are players in the locker room who do not respect the coaching staff. If guys were buying into what these coaches sell, there'd be upperclassmen policing the squad. Instead, an upperclassman is suspended for fighting with a coach. Apparently, he didn't feel that going to the NCAAP would hurt his standing among enough teammates, so he did it. Stuff like that doesn't just pop into someone's head. It's likely that there has been a group of players grumbling about whatever it is they feel slighted about. The incident between the coach without college experience and the player with three years college experience has ignited what was already there. Also, stick me in the crowd that says the coaches shouldn't be worrying about whether or not a player is cussing. How many thousands of times have we seen coaches saying the F- or S-word on TV (or picking their noses)? Many. It's a complete dream world to think players and coaches don't cuss on the sideline. At the OU game, I saw OU's coaches literally crawling inside the players' helmets sometimes. I doubt they were asking how their classes were going and how their families were doing. Let me just add this as well - if our coaches are worried about players cussing during the heat of battle, then, Houston, we've got a problem. It should be expected that players will be upset at times during games when they make mistakes. If they can't vent a little right then and there, when can they? It's not like getting triple-jumped in a game of checkers out there. If Clayton or any other coach is going to be squimish about language during a football game, they should go back to Haltom, Hillcrest, Southlake, or wherever it it they all came from. Let us get some coaches in here who can handle the locker room and sideline. And, get us some coaches who aren't busy trolling the fan message sites. Stupid. The whole thing is stupid. These coaches have to realize they can't use the same method of player control in a college locker room as they did in a high school. I mean, really.

Rondo, Thirst Crusher, Rondo!

This is a "backup" corner who returned an interception 75-yards for a TD to help us to our only win of the season, right? Hmm. Why isn't he starting? Any of the "starting" cornerbacks running back interceptions for TDs...or even making interceptions? Here's the stunning hypocrisy of this board. At the beginning of the season, you couldn't scroll two posts without getting hit with a "Where's Dominique Green? Why isn't he playing?" comment. Now, he's expendable...a mere back-up with an attitude problem. Seriously. As I noted yesterday, this has the markings of a split locker room and a coaching staff who doesn't know how to control it. But, as I've said before, it shouldn't surprise or upset us. Our Board of Directors, president, and athletic director hired a high school coach who turned around and hired a bunch of high school coaches. Last year, the majority of them were policing high school kids, sheperding them in between classes, study hall, and lunch. It shouldn't surprise us that they have trouble handling college athletes. It's not their fault; they're not accustomed to handling college athletes. It's not as simple as calling their mommies and daddies anymore. More and more and more learning curve. It's sickening. On the field and off. The circus displayed on the field last weekend is apparently going full tilt off the field as well.

Dodge and staff signed 19 players on signing day 2007 with the 10 being white, 8 black and 1 hispanic. They signed two players over the summer, Roman and Kaiser, who are both white. The 11 verbals for 2008 are 6 black and 5 white. Why does Dodge hate Asians?

I bow to you. You are a true expert in all things Pibb. I accidentally tried some and didn't really get a good look at the bottle. I'm a little suspicious now that I know they've dropped "Mr." Sounds too PC. Anyway, I've moved Pibb Xtra into my Top 5 soft drinks: (1) Pepsi - Red, White, and Blue...obviously the drink, then, for Americans and Texans (you Communists and Marxists go ahead with your Coca-Cola and its Red theme) (2) Root Beer - it don't care which brand, just give me one (3) RC (4) Fanta Orange (5) Pibb Xtra

Here's the bonus for us...we're only out $172k for our 1-7 start. Minnesota is paying their new coach $1 million for the non-sense he's throwing out there. Hey, you have to look on the bright side of things.

Dear GreenMachine, I don't know what a honkey is, but I am one. Or, I am one? Love, The Fake Lonnie Finch P.S. - Quite by accident, I've discovered that Mr. Pibb Xtra is better than regular, run-of-the-mill Mr. Pibb. And, I discovered this despite being a honky.

Howdy, everyone! My name if The Fake Lonnie Finch. The real Lonnie Finch was a black football player from Irving, Texas. I have a girl kicker as my avatar. What does it mean? Nothing. I'm a white male. White as a cracker. Born in white Abilene, Texas in 1969. I grew up in a white, upper middle class suburb of North Dallas. My wife, however, is not white. She's Mexican. And, when I say Mexican, I don't mean Hispanic or Mexican American or Chicano. I mean, she was born in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, Mexico to a ranching couple. She came to American legally, got a green card, learned English, got a job and worked. And worked. And worked. She worked like a Mexican. Is that racist? No. Go to a restaurant or store staffed with Mexicans and compare their service and attitude to that of your typical American teen or low-wage worker. Give me a Mexican everytime. Friendly, fast, and generally happy to see you. But I digress. In everyday, social situations, she gets treated differently. Racism exists, folks. The way I see sales people treat her while she's shopping is amazing. If I'm off browsing and she's alone, she's treated differently by store people than if I'm right there with her. She hardly notices because she isn't looking for it. Some people look for it in everything. Maybe Dominique Green is this way. Maybe. As cracker white as I am, I have good friends who are not lilly white. A particularly good friend from a tought part of Houston. His skin tone is much darker than mine. Some would call him African-American...although, he wouldn't. He chooses not to focus on the subtle racism of the few, but rather on the goodwill of the vast majority of all American people. My wife is that way as well. This is a difficult time for legal immigrants, especially from Mexico. Becuase of 9/11 and the idiots at LULAC, LaRaza, and the MALDF telling people to march in the streets with Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan, and former Soviet flags, it has made things harder for us in getting her citizenship. There are more hoops to jump through now than before, and government folk are more suspicious. And, I think, that an overall good. My point is, in my own rambling way, is that racism does exist. Does it hit you over the head like an anvil in a Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon? No. But, it's out there. And, I can't say whether Dominique Green really experienced it here. My guess is, he didn't. My guess, as posted elsewhere, is simply that the make up of this coaching staff and its lack of dealing with college athletes has probably created a more segmented locker room than necessary. I think that's the bottom line. This staff has to learn how to deal with everybody at their level. It's what Jesus did. Let's do what Jesus did. All hail the truck full of Mexicans!

That's true. Lawton is a military town, and it has some rough sides to it. It's very blue collar. That's what helps it create great athletes. There's nothing wrong with that. You just have to realize it creates a different mindset in a kid than would be created in...Southlake...Coppell...if you get my drift.

It would be a leap if the team was 7-1. At 1-7 and the lackidaisical showing (penalties, long drive allowed at the end of the second quarter after we'd pulled to within 2 points, two safeties, another blocked punt, fumbles, interceptions) displayed on Homecoming, it's more likely than not. Look, no matter how enamored you may be of passing yards statistics, the fact is this team is playing undisciplined football eight games into a 12 game schedule. Discipline begins in the locker room. It comes from ( a ) the coaching staff, and ( b ) the leadership of upperclassmen. Teams that are 1-7 lack many things, leadership is one of them. Experienced and inexperience players walked during the off-season. Older players are sitting on the bench or playing special teams. Those replacing them are not doing a good job. And, now, D. Green and his racism accusation. Is it old and tired, the "race card"? Yes, somewhat. But, that's not the issue. This issue is what is really behind it. We've had an assistant coach come try to show up the best fan UNT ever had - over things that fan did not even say - and in front of his kid to boot...after winning against a 1-5 team. We've got coaches and players fighting on the sideline of comments allegedly about where a kid says he's from. This shows unity? This shows team cohesiveness? I think not. What it shows me is that we've got a bunch of high school coaches who are struggling not only with game planning, in-game adjustments, and personnel decisions, but also with handling athletes on the highest collegiate level. The learning curve was going to be high enough for these guys on the field. There, the results have been awful. Now, it appears, they have a big curve to learn off the field as well. In short, not everyone thinks Todd Dodge is a god...even some of his own charges. This ain't Southlake Carroll with a roster full of kids from two parent families living in $500,000+ homes in a lilly white suburb. Division I-A (or whatever the hell it's called now) college football is different. On every level it's different than what our coaches are accustomed to dealing with. Again, that was the danger of letting Dodge hire so many high school coaches instead of keeping or getting real, experienced college coaches to help him out. Anyway, hope the athletic director and school don't fumble this one.

In the other DG thread, there were some snide comments about Lawton. Having a "pipeline" to Lawton is not a bad thing. Many solid NCAA and NFL players have come from Lawton: Daryl Gardener, Mike Minter, James Trapp, Will Shields, Jammal Brown, Martin Chase, Antonio Perkins, Eddie Hinton, Larry Birdine, Nick Cole Outside of the Oklahoma schools, Lawton's three high schools have players currently on several I-A rosters, including Wyoming, Kansas, Kansas State, SMU, North Texas, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Army Currently, 4-star tailback Harrison Jeffers is committed to Texas Tech. Athlete Cornelius Douglas has current offers from Tulsa, SMU, Colorado State, New Mexico, North Texas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Wyoming. Lawton's high schools produce great athletes. This isn't a pipeline we want to see dry up.