Posted: 02 Sep 2010 11:09 AM PDT

Vikings new philosophy baffles Lower Richland

By Mark Lawrence

Lower Richland quarterback Collis Martin tries to avoid the rush of Spring Valley's Marcus Bullard (56), Josh Benjamin (65), and Derrick Taylor. Senior offensive lineman Zach Kibler was talking about differences in the team's blocking philosophy.

Yet, he may have hit upon the imagery that captures what he and his Spring Valley High School teammates hope will be the football program's turnaround.

"We've switched from falling back to firing off the ball," Kibler said.

Against Lower Richland, Kibler and his line mates fired off the ball well enough to lead the Vikings (1–1) to a 42–12 victory in their home– opener on Aug. 27 at the newly renovated Harry Parone Stadium.

Spring Valley rushed for 331 yards on 57 carries to consume 31:24 of the clock thanks to the wingbone offense installed by Miles Aldridge and staff, who are in their first season.

Spring Valley's Craig Steedley "This year we've had to change almost everything," Kibler said of the lineman. "We've switched from pass blocking to a three–point stance. I like this style. It forces us to work harder."

The linemen understand that the Vikings' hopes for success this year rest on their shoulders, not on the skill position players.

"We had to step up," senior lineman Edward Kim said. "Last year it was step back, and it was about the backs. This year it's about the line. If we do our jobs—if we do a good job every play—the backs are going to succeed."

Against Lower Richland, ten backs found success. Dwayne Duckett found the most, rushing for 93 yards on seven carries; 62 of those came on a second–quarter carry that set up Spring Valley's third touchdown (in as many possessions) of the first half. Michael Isreal rushed for 55 yards on 11 carries and scored the Vikings' first two touchdowns. Also finding the end zone twice was Tobias Young. Rounding out the scoring was quarterback Austin Hill and Duckett.

Despite the balance and the stats, no one is ready to claim success.

"We're a long way off from where I want to see us," Miles said. "We're two games into an 11 game season. But our linemen are starting to understand the system, what they need to do, how to recognize defensive fronts and the different looks, and how to get on the right people."

That need for development underscored why the line was on the field well into the second half.

"Games like this give us the chance to keep growing together," Kibler said. "We have to keep working together and coming together as a group on the line. If we can keep doing that, we'll be able to succeed against any defensive line in our region."

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Possum Philosophy: An economics lesson about privatizing ABC

Posted: 03 Sep 2010 02:20 PM PDT

By Stephanie Porter-Nichols
Published: September 3, 2010

By ROBERT "ROCKY" CAHILL/Columnist

All right, boys and girls, take out your textbooks. It is time for a lesson in economics: how to run a successful business (or not.)
Case in point: Bobby Mack has inherited a successful business from the former owners. He has a sweet arrangement; he not only makes a reasonable profit, he is able to pay his employees well and ,to top it all off, he gets to keep 5 percent as sales tax.
Everyone seemed happy. The employees were happy to have such a good job. The customers were happy because the former owners always managed to keep prices reasonable. They didn't give their goods away but they didn't price gouge either. It was such a good business that many customers drove from surrounding areas to do business there although they passed similar stores along their way to do so.
But then a few folks wanted to be like other business owners. They visited Bobby Mack and told him he would be a lot better off giving his business away to them. Oh, they swore they would take care of him; he'd still get all the sales tax he'd been getting plus a little more since the first thing they would do is raise the price of everything the stores sold. And they would stay open later hours to get even more sales.
What they failed to mention was that while he might get a little more sales tax, he would no longer get the profit from the sales he once had received. Apparently math wasn't Bobby Mack's strong suit.
You may ask, wouldn't the extended hours bring in lots more business? And with maybe a little more advertising, sales could go up and, if sales go up, so would the sales tax collections.
All this is true, however even if sales do go up some, the sales tax doesn't seem likely to be enough to offset the 5 percent Bobby Mack already receives plus the profit his stores make. Even if his stores operate on a smaller profit margin than similar stores, it still would probably be more than the money the extra sales tax would bring in.
Well boys and girls, as I am sure you have already figured out, Bobby Mack is actually Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and the business is the state's ABC stores. I don't actually see what possible reason McDonnell has for his burning desire to privatize the sale of liquor in the Old Dominion. (Other state efforts to privatize state services have not shown all the great promised improvements.) Some of the large buyers, restaurants and bars for example, want to see private owners so they can get discounts thus making more profit for themselves.
Others want extended store hours and more stores. These claim that many people cannot get to a state store during business hours. They also claim state stores are inconvenient. However, over the past few years, the state has expanded and most areas throughout the state now have stores. And while they don't stay open the hours that a private store likely would, most have extended their hours, staying open much later than a few years ago.
Now I have doubts about this being a good idea for a number of reasons. I really see nothing wrong with the state operating the stores. I also have no problem with private stores. What I do have a problem with is the state or at least its current governor claiming the state will make much more money from sales tax by getting out of the liquor store business.
While I am no great shakes of an economist, I did have a course or two in my college days. Alcohol is a luxury, not a necessity (with the exception of hard core alcoholics who will do anything to get the drink to which they are addicted). The average person will only spend so much of their income on liquor. Sure private stores might be more convenient to shop thanks to expanded numbers and different hours. They may possibly offer new varieties, perhaps reaching new customers; but there are only so many customers in the potential customer pool from which these many stores can draw.
Not only is the number of available Virginia customers a finite number, once the stores increase their prices, they will no longer draw from surrounding states (Tennessee comes to mind in this area). After all, once the price is roughly the same as Tennessee or other neighboring states' stores, why should out-of-state customers drive all the way here, adding the cost of the extra gas and cutting into the amount of funds they can spend on non-essential items such as liquor?
No one has mentioned additional costs to the state, costs such as additional police coverage. After all, once every strip mall, shopping center and crossroads in the state has a small liquor store in place with hours running much later than most state stores, the attraction for alcoholics, junkies (and the seriously poor that are at the point of committing armed robbery to support their families) will be heightened, especially those located in poorer sections or in small darkly lit shops. It will take more officers just to answer the increase in armed robberies, shootings, killings and other crimes against persons.
And, I wouldn't expect some poor clerk working until midnight, making minimum wage with no benefits to go to too much trouble when asking to see a customer's ID showing they are of legal to buy a pint or two. All we need now is more 16-year-old butts in the driver's seat of a tweaked up Toyota, quart of Old Who Hit John between their legs and a foot on the floor with the gas pedal under it, sailing merrily (for a minute or two) on their way to their final destination and maybe taking some friend of mine along with them just because my friend made the mistake of driving home from having to work late or had an occasional late evening out with family.
When challenged on the facts versus the rhetoric, Gov. McDonnell's advisors fallback plan is to play the religious card, "The state shouldn't be in the business of selling alcohol."
I don't believe the state should be in the business of regulating gun sales either but I don't hear the governor calling for dismantling the gun registration system. We probably should not be in the business of killing people, but I haven't heard a hue and cry from the governor to do away with the death penalty, and I stand with him on this one.
While the state would reduce its payroll costs by no longer employing the ABC workers, it has always seemed that when the state or federal government finds a way to save money in one area, it immediately always finds another area to soak up any savings.
All this said. I don't believe in these stressful economic times, the best course of action is to give a lucrative business away to some private business people to operate pretty much as they please. It won't truly improve our economy nor will it be a great improvement in our unemployment rate. It is, at least in my opinion, not a wise move for Virginia.

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

Scouts Inc.'s philosophy assessments

Posted: 02 Sep 2010 08:06 AM PDT

Gary Horton of Scouts Inc. offers his AFC previews today. Here are snippets and links to the files, which require an Insider membership.

They are heavy on philosophy, and quite good.

Houston Texans

The file.

Offensive nugget: "This may be the best play action package in the NFL when the run game is going. In 2009, it was not. They bootleg off the play action very effectively and QB Matt Schaub is an excellent ball handler. He has decent mobility in the pocket. He is very precise in his throws and he is at his best when he has a clean pocket, but his best attribute may be his ability to check down to his other targets if his first read is not there; Schaub is not afraid to throw it away, which was a problem earlier in his career."

Defensive nugget: "As the players improve, so will the diversity of the schemes. Their lack of ability to play those tight man coverages really shows up in the red zone when the field shrinks and they can't play off techniques. They were 30th in the league a year ago in red zone defense."

Indianapolis Colts

The file.

Offensive nugget: "[Peyton] Manning uses motion, bunch formations, multi-receiver sets, multi-TE sets -- and despite the appearance of a really complex offense, this attack has fewer plays than you think. Basically, the Colts just run the plays they do have really well."

Defensive nugget: "The Colts are actually getting a little better at stopping the run. The difference between this team going a few games deep into the playoffs and winning it all likely will be its run defense."

Jacksonville Jaguars

The file.

Offensive nugget: "The only suggestion that head coach Jack Del Rio has given [Dirk Koetter] is fewer runs between the tackles -- which makes the offense too predictable -- and more outside plays, especially bootleg plays by QB David Garrard, which is something he does well. The Jaguars are working with him to get the ball out quickly and keep the pocket moving."

Defensive nugget: "If there is good news for this defense, it is the fact that it is pretty good at corner with decent depth and cover skills -- which is imperative because of all the other deficiencies on this side of the ball. We have already noted the problems with the pass rush, but the Jags are also unstable at linebacker and safety and their tackles are new guys. That is a lot of uncertainly up the middle of the defense and it puts extra pressure on the corners."

Tennessee Titans

The file.

Offensive nugget: "Their [offensive] linemen are not a bunch of glamorous names, but they are smart, they play with pride and discipline, and they are excellent run-blockers, as evidenced by the production of [Chris] Johnson. However, they are also excellent in pass protection, giving up only 15 sacks in 2009 (second to Indianapolis). When you break this unit down on film, it really seems to understand blocking schemes and angles and it does an excellent job of getting position and reaching the second level. Johnson is a good fit with this line. He's very patient and waits for the right blocks to develop."

Defensive nugget: "This is a very assignment-oriented defensive unit with the desired qualities of aggressiveness and constant movement -- but also intelligence and discipline. If the front four doesn't apply better pressure in 2010, we may see more blitzes and exotic schemes to compensate for its weaknesses."

Philosophy

Saturday, September 4, 2010

“Vikings new philosophy baffles Lower Richland” plus 2 more

“Vikings new philosophy baffles Lower Richland” plus 2 more

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