“FSU coaches wasting little time in installing new defensive scheme, philosophy this spring (Orlando Sentinel)” plus 2 more

FSU coaches wasting little time in installing new defensive scheme, philosophy this spring (Orlando Sentinel)
Possum Philosophy: Genuine concern found (Wytheville Enterprise)
Jack Vettriano's back with a whole new philosophy (The Scotsman)

FSU coaches wasting little time in installing new defensive scheme, philosophy this spring (Orlando Sentinel)

Posted: 19 Mar 2010 03:04 PM PDT

Mark Stoops, Florida State

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Andrew Carter, Orlando Sentinel

4:42 p.m. EST, March 19, 2010

Florida State completed its third spring practice of the spring on Friday and there's still much work to be done — especially on defense, where new coordinator Mark Stoops is installing a new scheme and new philosophy. One thing, though, is already clear: this defensive scheme won't at all look like the one Florida State ran for so long under Mickey Andrews.

"It's so many adjustments" rising junior LB Nigel Bradham said. "It's more of an NFL-type of defense. I mean, it's been fun."

Of course, anything would be more fun than what the FSU defense went through a season ago. After Andrews retired, Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher hired Stoops to come in and fix a unit that ranked among the worst in the nation last fall. Bradham said the defensive staff so far hasn't wasted any time.

"Everyday they've been throwing in two or three defenses — just throwing them at us," Bradham said. "We're just going … to keep trying to pick them up as well as we can and they're going to correct it [when we make mistakes]."

Unlike Andrews' defense, which featured man-to-man coverage and the need for dominant defensive ends, FSU's new defense will be more zone oriented. There will be a lot more variable coverage and different blitzing schemes.

Fisher said he has been pleased so far with the effort and attitude of the defense.

Quick hits

Bradham, FSU's leading tackler a season ago with 93, has been an outside linebacker throughout his time at FSU but is now working some in the middle. He weighs 240 pounds, he said, and is continuing to work on his flexibility. Bradham has been taking yoga classes since last summer.

Add rising senior DE Markus White to the long list of fans of FSU's new defensive scheme. "It's different," he said. "But I believe it's a system that will work a lot better. Nothing against the other system but for me, personally, I think it will work a lot better." White said the ends are now allowed to more quickly read the offense.

sidcane at 8:54 PM March 19, 2010

Can't wait til' sept. I got my tic's.Beat them gators this year. I would love to see it but will be in Miami for the UM/USF game.

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Possum Philosophy: Genuine concern found (Wytheville Enterprise)

Posted: 19 Mar 2010 03:12 PM PDT

By ROBERT CAHILL/Columnist

Every have one of "those days?" You know the kind, the ones where nothing seems to go right. Well all I can say is be glad you are not me. I have those days too. The only problem is they seem to string together in bunches that last weeks, sometimes months, and apparently I am at the start of a long (and no doubt difficult) spell.
As I wrote last week, my sister came down with a terribly rough case of pneumonia. After a too brief hospitalization, she is enduring a lengthy recuperation. Now having been a victim of pneumonia myself about three years ago, I sympathize with her completely. She is healing well but has little strength. I warned her it took me nearly two months to get my strength back. Nevertheless, I still worry about her.
Then there is my car. I have a nice little car (actually Terry has a nice little car that she lets me drive). Although it has a good many years (it's a 1997 model) on it, it has less than 65,000 miles. But, as with any vehicle, you must do maintenance on it. A few months ago, I replaced the belt on it. Rather than several belts, it has only one main belt that turns, drives or powers everything, from the alternator to the power steering and pretty much anything in between.
So my old buddy and chief mechanic Bristol Arnold and his top assistant, Chris (yes his son, no it does not seem possible the kid is that old), changed it. Now I had a choice, one belt was about $17, the other about $30. So I had them get the less expensive one. I could not see paying more for a fan belt (yeah, I know it is more than just a fan belt) than I have paid for some of the cars I owned in my youth.
For a month or two it was fine. Then we had some rainy weather. After driving through some water standing on the road, the belt started squealing, loudly. It eventually dried and quit. But from then on, if the weather is the least bit rainy, it whines and cries, which, as anyone who has had this problem knows, is dreadfully irritating. I would run by Bristol's, and he would spray a little belt dressing on it and it would quit, at least until the next damp weather.
It became so frequent I bought a can of belt spray. While not as effective as what Bristol uses, it would eventually quiet down. But with all the rain and snow over the last many months, it had grown irritating to the point I finally decided to replace it with the expensive one. Bristol said no problem, he'd order one and I could come by and he'd put it on in no time.
Great, we had a plan, but as they say about the best laid plans, it naturally did not go smoothly. Bristol ordered the belt and guess what? His parts place didn't have it. So they ordered one. It was to have been delivered Wednesday morning. Naturally it did not come. So now we wait. Thank goodness it has been reasonably dry so it has been fairly quiet. The worst part of all this is the unbelievable number of other drivers and pedestrians who stare at you when you pass by, your auto screaming like a mad banshee.
Then this morning came around. I haven't slept well the last couple of nights. This is unusual for me as I normally sleep like a baby although Terry swears I snore like a chainsaw gnawing its way through oak. Between worrying about my sister, Terry's still not fully recuperated broken elbow and numerous other things, I guess I have been a bit stressed. So when I sat down to type, I hit the wall. That is to say, I was suffering writer's block. Could not get a word out correctly.
After a couple of starts and restarts, I began doing other things, figured a little distraction would maybe get me thinking of something to write. So one of the things I did was go online and check my checking account. I do this every now and then as I am the worst to transpose numbers in my checkbook; usually it's a matter of putting down say 53 cents rather than 35 or something similar. While reviewing the checks, I noticed a number on a check that did not look right.
Now this was not the amount, but the actual check number. I pulled up the photo of the check and no wonder. It was written in September of 2008. The check was mine; it was just that it was 18 months old. Sometime back, I had written a check to Smyth County Community Hospital as a payment on an account I had there. When it did not come through after several months, and they had no explanation, my sister recommended I just assume it was gone as it did not show up on my account. I did. Then there this morning the little rascal was, all processed and paid, not a huge amount, but still after 18 months it was unexpected.
First thing I did was call bookkeeping at my bank, the Bank of Marion with whom I have had an account for several years now. The lady there pulled it up and was as surprised as I. She said they could send it back. I am not sure the exact term she used but it meant that it was too old and could not be cashed if that is what I wanted. However, I still owe them money so since it wasn't huge, I told her I would call them, both to find out just what happened and to make sure it had been paid to the right account.
I called the hospital and was given a Tennessee number (as they no longer handle patient billing in Marion). The lady in Tennessee had no more idea than I did. She said it must have been lost and just found. I think, had it been me, I would have at the least called, explained what happened and asked whether they should send it through the bank or simply tear it up. But, at least the episode stirred my creative process and got me started writing. With the many things going on to distract my attention I guess I just needed the "jumpstart."
I do have a couple of brief follow-ups. Concerning the problems we encountered with the "hospitalist" who discharged my sister against what the weekend doctor advised, I have good news. Apparently my complaint was not the first or only one. I received a call a few days ago from Lindy White, I had spoken with her assistant about the problems with the doctor in question. White seems very competent and concerned that all patients at Smyth County Community Hospital receive the best care possible. She called me about my concerns.
She explained the doctor in question was what she called a "long-term" fill-in for another doctor. She also said she had called him in and discussed the complaints with him. She assured me she had found a local doctor willing to assume the temporary duties and that the temporary contract of the doctor about whom I had complained was terminated as of that day.
White also said if I or any other person encountered problems with the health care at SCCH to please contact her office to discuss the concerns. It is a pleasant surprise to find someone genuinely concerned in seeing that all patients at this hospital receive competent and compassionate care. This is another improvement in local health care.
And a final note. With several things keeping me distracted and busy, I did not write my normal St. Patrick's Day piece. So, though it may be a few days late, may I say, "Erin Go Braugh, Y'all." Hey I may be of Irish ancestry, but I am a Southern boy through and through.

A freelance journalist, Robert "Rocky" Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.

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Jack Vettriano's back with a whole new philosophy (The Scotsman)

Posted: 19 Mar 2010 05:20 PM PDT

• The Last Great Romantics is another new work in the show. Picture: Complimentary

In painter Jack Vettriano's first major show of new work in four years, his sombre self-portrait The Weight stands out from more recognisably romantic fare.

And experts believe the portrait could mark the beginning of a new "more philosophical" phase in Vettriano's highly controversial career.

The work, the result of the former coalminer's new collaboration with the Italian photographer Fredi Marcarini, will be shown for the first time at the Kirkcaldy Museum & Art Gallery in a major show of 40 Vettriano pictures that opens next week, alongside Marcarini's own Triptych of the painter.

The Kirkcaldy show takes Vettriano back to his roots, in the gallery where the pictures first inspired him to paint, and where he won two open competitions that set him on the path to becoming a professional artist.

With 40 pictures which include romantic and erotic couples in recognisably Vettriano style, the Days of Wine and Roses show is a strong signal that Vettriano is back, ending a period in which he broke with his long-time gallery and faced claims that some of his iconic images were closely copied from an illustrator's manual.

The title picture, Days of Wine and Roses, is a quirky, colourful piece of a woman in a brightly coloured dress, her face half hidden in an oversized white hat.

One set of paintings is inspired by scenes on Milan's "Giallo Milano" trams, with their distinctive cream and yellow livery, built in 1928 and still running today.

While Vettriano has continued to paint commissions and private shows, including some of the work on show in Kirkcaldy, it marks his first public exhibition of new work in four years, said Lesley Botten, overseeing the exhibition as a team leader at Fife Council's Libraries and Museums.

The former Fife miner twice won prizes in the gallery's open amateur art exhibition, she said. "He says frequently that gave him the confidence to continue. We've had a longstanding relationship with him. It shows his continuing connection in Fife."

If Vettriano continues to divide opinion in Britain, where many artists and critics refuse to accept him as a serious artist, he maintains a strong international following. The gallery had an e-mail from a couple in Dallas, Texas, who want to include the show on their Scottish tour, said Ms Botten.

The Weight was painted by Vettriano "in response" to photographs Marcarini took of him in his London home. A magazine photo shoot with Marcarini, a professional photographer for more than 30 years, lead to a collaboration in which Vettriano directed and chose poses and props for the picture. Marcarini's triptych of photographs will be shown in the exhibition alongside the painting it inspired.

Vettriano has often used himself as a model but formal self-portraits are rare. One leading Scottish art expert, who asked not to be named, said: "He's obviously deep in thought. It's quite a philosophical painting. It seems like he's back painting. Everyone was slightly conscious that he hadn't painted for a while."

In Vettriano's more erotic work, the man might have been shown waiting for a sexual encounter. But Ms Botten said: "You could infer that perhaps the muse has left him for a while."

Nathalie Martin, Vettriano's agent said: "The very nature of self portraiture is an artist looking at himself and Jack is a man prone to introspection. Over the last 20 years there have maybe been ten self-portraits and each has a different mood and atmosphere.

"What is different about this one is that it was the beginning of a collaboration with the photographer who took a picture of Jack ten minutes after meeting him that captured his melancholy state of mind. Like lots of artists and creative people who work on their own, he is prone to melancholy.

"But for me, his self-portraits are among his most painterly works and the ones that will stand the test of time."

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Philosophy

Saturday, March 20, 2010