MySpace Blog from 9-20-06

The "Guru" had a change of heart and so have I.

It appears that the so-called Guru attempts to have missed the boat on this year's JHS football team. Check out the expert prediction from Week 3:

"W"illtoppers (1-1) at Trojans (2-0) (Turf)

The "W"illtoppers pitched a shutout on Friday night and this week they will do a 180. Reed has a need for speed and on the fast track at GHS look for him to run buck wild on the "W"illtoppers, that is of course if he is healed from his game ending injury against the Devils Friday night. As he gimped off of the field in the third quarter and I couldn't help but wonder why in the heck he was out there in the first place. With 209 yards and up 32-0 at the half, I would have had him in street clothes but not J-Town. Their starters played majority of the game. Their kicker got injured in the third quarter as well and I noticed that they carried him off of the field at the end of the game. If healthy, there is no one who can beat the Trojans but themselves. Bresovick is a "MAN". He can't be blocked and his motor does not stop. Best of luck to Westmont and the entire LHAC. Johnstown will not lose until week 7 or 9, if at all!

Trojans by 12.5

Funny, aside from misspelling the young man's name, I guess all he had to see was one game of action before he's on the bandwagon. Before he was questioning the validity of the sack total from 2005. This guy is a fraud and a phony. (And who is "GHS"?)

If you go to the main site for LHSports you can view a free preview of their webcast (how anyone pays for any content on that site is beyond me!) I'm guessing that the Guru is one of the co-hosts, Vince Pavic maybe, but I'm not sure. This guy is wearing a Raiders jersey and flexing! The Raiders are the LAST team I'd be sporting right now! He mentions in the free preview that Johnstown made him "eat crow". So, I'm just putting two and two together.

So, in one viewing of the Trojans, they went from being undiscplined and suffering a downward spiral because LaRod Stephens-Howling is gone to a team no one can beat except for themselves!

I agree with that last part, I truly think this JHS team could be it's own worst enemy and beat itself before a team beats them. They have the talent to beat every team on their schedule and the goal of an undefeated season is a great goal to have, just so that it is done with a one at a time mentality.

My change of heart has to do with the MTV show "Two-A-Days". A couple of things are bugging me now. First, I had no idea that this was filmed during the 2005 season. I was very confused when I looked at the Super 25 Rankings in USA Today and saw that Hoover was still undefeated despite losing a game in last week's episode!

Second, Coach Rush Probst is off his rocker. Look, I like my coaches with a little ego, but telling kids that you won't recommend them for colleges because they lost, that's over the top. This guy is a power-hungry egomaniac and if the kids don't win games for him, his name isn't mentioned in the paper. Therefore he feels he has the right to badmouth kids to college coaches!

Wasn't this a major plotline in All the Right Moves!?!?!

MySpace Blog from 9-13-06

One of the things that caught my eye while I was getting out of my car Friday night was looking down on the field and seeing the Trojans in blue jerseys. I had to do a double take to make sure they weren't warm-up jackets. I thought this was a nice touch rather than the rather tame traditional road whites.

I see no reason why this can't be a trend at all levels of football. So long as the colors aren't too close for the players, coaches and refs to tell the difference I don't see why the whites can't be ditched. This is what is done at most levels of soccer. Some clubs choose white, but more times that not, the team picks a color in stark contrast to their regular kit.

And speaking of contrast, as my brother would say "everyone has a color TV now". In other words, it was thought the changes were made to have American Football jerseys in white because it offered better contrast when TV was in its infancy and still black and white. He, my brother that is, still longs for the return of the USC/UCLA game with both teams in their distinct school colors!

As far as USC, I always have thought that you could switch the cardinal and yellow to blue and black and copy that uni to a tee and have a real classy look. That all being said, I think that this year's unis are great looking.

Now, to my second and final point. I recently came across a person that goes by the name of "Guru" in the LHSports Forums. He has picked against the Trojans each week on his Picks of the Week and I know hindsight is 20/20 but he seems vindictive and against Johnstown. I mentioned this briefly in my Monday Morning Ramblings this past week but I'll go more in-depth here. What I'm going to do is breakdown both of his "expert" calls so far:

Panthers at Trojans (Turf)

Look for the Panthers International Track Star, Holsberger, and wise old owl Ernie Fetzer to start off 1-0 as the Trojans, minus Coach Brian Wright, start to that downward spiral I like to call "Lack-O-Rod". Look for the undisciplined Flood City team to stay close on athletic ability alone but for the Panthers running game and physical defense to take over in the third quarter. Ernie for President!

Panthers by 13

Now, if you're going to pick against JHS, that's fine. I'm objective enough to know that there are some teams in this league will be picked to win against us so I'm not bitter about that. Plus, on the surface, this really isn't a bad pick as PC returned most of their players from a team that beat JHS last year and JHS lost most of it's line.

What does bug me are three things: a) What the hell does Brian Wright leaving have ANYTHING to do with the team's performance. Assistant coaches come and go all the time and personally, I say good riddance and the program added a better coach in Kevin Marabito anyway (that rant's for another day!). He writes this almost from the point of view that Wright was the head coach (God forbid THAT thought!). b) "Lack-O-Rod". That's clever, I wonder if he was up all night thinking of that gem. I can see using a crass line like that last year, but come on, it's two years out now. Furthermore, a 4-6 season a year ago was a setback yes, but not a "downward spiral". The way things are starting this year, it might have just been a blip on the radar. c) "undisciplined Flood City team" Like I said this past Monday, labels are tough to overcome, especially when they were true in the past, but this season is starting off proving this theory completely false. Trash talk and dumb penalties have been at a minimum and I attribute that to Coach Arcurio and his staff.

OK, had enough, well, here's week two:

Trojans (1-0) at Red Devils (1-0) (Natural Grass)

In the only battle of unbeaten teams this week the Devils host the speedy Trojans. With the Devils 0-5 (2 losses to Johnstown and 3 losses to McCort) in Johnstown over the past two seasons, there is no place like home. Last week, behind a strong performance by the offensive line, the Devils prevailed over the Eagles in the turnover filled County Seat Bowl (3 picks and 6 fumbles). In the second half the Devils held Somerset to (–3) yards on seven (7) total plays. The Trojans held the Panthers to a single TD in their week one win. They also had a pair of picks and held Holsberger to less than 100 yards. Look for the Trojans to put eight (8) men in the box and dare the Devils to throw. On offense look for the Trojans to use their speed in an attempt to get on the edge of the Devil defense. The Devils will be prepared so look for this one to come down to the guys in the trenches. I’ll take the finally healthy Averi and the boys in a defensive showdown.

Devils by 6

Nothing too earth-shattering here. I am miffed that how it almost seems equal to the "Guru" that CC holding Somerset to limited yardage is the same as the Trojans' performance against a much, MUCH better PC team. One coached by his hero, Ernie Fetzer! Let's be honest, Somerset sucks. As for one thing he DID get right, yes the game came down to the trenches. And JHS kicked their asses! This game was over in the second quarter, hardly the 6-point win by CC in a defensive showdown!

Now look, I've made predictions in the past and we still do The Pick Sheet on the site (and have been doing terribly so far this year!) so I know what Armchair QBing this looks like. But when I posted a response in the board someone else came to the "Guru's" defense saying that he makes some good points. Look, it doesn't take a rocket freakin' scientist to predict that Bedford should beat Cambria Heights by more than 40 points!

I hope this guy continues to pick against JHS week in, week out, maybe then we'll be looking at 10-0 in early November!!!!

MySpace Blog from 9-6-06

Well, here we are, it's Wednesday and that means it's blog time.

It's a shame the rain kept so many people away because they missed a great game Friday night. Props to the defense, they held it down and came up with some big turnovers that put the offense in great field position and let them make plays to get in the end zone.
I was very impressed to hear how personal Coach Arcurio and the staff and the players took the loss last year. At the time it was a complete shocker. When all was said and done it wasn't that bad as Ernie Fetzer had that program turned in the right direction, even hanging with Tyrone for a half in a district playoff game.

I think a lot of people in the Nation thought it was a foregone conclusion that this game would be lost by the Trojans. Oh ye of little faith! Hopefully your eyes were opened a little on Friday night.

I like that option, hopefully we'll be able to run more of that as the season goes on.
I haven't looked at a forecast yet (it's too early) but hopefully it will be dry and there will be a better contingent of folks at the game this weekend. I felt bad as the players came out for pregame, there was hardly any cheering at all, mainly because most of the small crowd that was present were holding umbrellas and couldn't really clap!

One thing I'd like to do in closing is give props to the band. Even the numbers of the band aren't what they once were in the 80s and 90s (and unfortunately they'll probably never get back), I though they sounded great. Real crisp, despite the wet conditions that can wreak havoc with musical instruments. Good job guys.

I'm out, see you guys in Ebensburg.

MySpace Blog from 8-30-06

So I watched this hour-long reality show and I give it a C. I'll give MTV their props, at least they picked a better squad than ESPN did with Montour for Bound for Glory. Hoover High is without a doubt one of the top five HS programs in the US. Their coach is super intense and he expects that from all his players. Hoover is ranked #1 in the country this year by USA Today.

As for the real thing, I must say, two-a-days sucked. I was always ready for school to start when they rolled around!

I posted my preseason rankings, check them out and feel free to let me know what you think.

What are we going to do with this blog during the regular season? Believe it or not, even with seven days a week of new content there is some stuff that slips through the cracks, this will be the forum.

Also, for those that want to check in on the blog and don't want to sign in through their myspace account necessarily, I'll post these blogs over at my Trojan Nation blog that I set up on Blogger.com a few years ago. That account has been idle for awhile but it's still open and I feel some people might be missing these posts since they are not members of myspace.

Well, that's it. I'm going to keep it short for this week. But fear not, the first game of the regular season is a mere 48 hours away.

GO TROJANS!