New football rules make little impact in opening game

Can all statistics teachers please look away now, because we're about to attempt to draw meaningful conclusions from a sample size of one, and that's not something you're going to want to see? Thank you.

In the end, it was neither the game's ruination, nor the game's salvation. It was barely even a disruption.

On a miserable night in O'Moore Park, with driving rain and a biting cold wind into the bargain, the press box was a full house as the scribes and hacks came in their droves, hoping to see first-hand the dramatic changes that would be brought about by the new playing rules for Gaelic football.

Drawn up with a view to balancing the scale which has been heavily weighted in favour of possession football in recent years, whispers and mutterings from secret training sessions have swept the nation in recent weeks.

These murmurs told of teams completing three handpasses and then kicking backwards instantly, or even going to more extreme lengths, with headed passes and deliberate kicks to touch all supposedly featuring on the tactics boards of the various county teams.

That's the thing with coaches and managers these days. If you wrote a rule forbidding armed robbery, some know-it-all would be sure to find a way to strap a weapon to the chest of a man with no arms and claim that he was still following the rule.

If John Sugrue or Andy McEntee had any such tricks up their sleeve, they didn't reveal them last night.

In Sugrue's case, one suspects that he has looked into the whites of the eyes of the Standing Committee on Playing Rules, and decided that they are bluffing.

The Kerry native spoke after a game that featured precisely zero offensive marks, no contentious sideline kicks, very few short kickouts and enough space to make a kicking game relatively easy to execute, and he conceded that the new rules made very little impact on the game.

"You're looking at something that may not even necessarily be applicable by the end of January" he noted.

Suddenly, a flaw. A trial period only works if teams commit to the trial process, and Sugrue might not be the only manager who decides that he has more urgent priorities than trying to learn to work with new rules that may not even be in place for the start of the league.

Certainly the evidence on the field suggested that whatever work had been done by this Laois group, wasn't with these experimental rules in mind.

Andy McEntee on the other hand, spoke of how his Meath panel had worked to prepare for the new environment.

"It doesn't matter whether you agree with them or not, you have to abide by them. We bring it into every training session" he said of the rule changes after his side's win.

Aside from the fourteen-point gap on the scoreboard, that gap in preparation was evident in the first half. Three times Laois were penalised for a fourth consecutive handpass, while Meath rarely even put three together, and never four, for the full 35 minutes.

They used the foot pass well, but it was notable that they still did so with high-percentage kicks. They simply found more space, and kicked to free men – kicking into contests for possession close to goal was just as rare is it was in any intercounty football game played in 2018.

Moreover, the Royal County seemed to be conscious of this new paradigm on both sides of the ball, stepping off their men a fraction and offering up the short ball until the third handpass was played, and then attempting to pounce with sudden pressure to force an error - often with success.

Laois, in contrast, conceded space. Thus they conceded lateral kicks to the opposition and so rarely left Meath in a situation where boot-to-ball was the only option for the man in possession.

"Meath played with better structure, they had fellas in the right areas of the field at all times, they didn't have the packs of fellas defending and then packs attacking too much" said Sugrue.

The irony of this is that while Laois fell into the trap that the rule designers might have hoped – they used up their handpasses and often kicked long due to the lack of an alternative - Meath always left themselves with options.

Consequently, they rarely kicked long balls into the full forward line, instead spreading the play across the width of the field.

0-2 of the final Laois tally of 0-6 came from long, direct ball into the full forward line. Meath too got just two points from the same tactic, until Thomas O'Reilly's late goal when the result was already locked in, leaving them with a final yield of 1-2 from long kicking play out of their total of 3-11.

But because that option was on the table, Laois had to honour the threat, and so defenders like Ronan Ryan and Donal Keogan were able to get forward, attack holes in the defence, and deliver key scores in the first half.

There was mixed success for Gators transfers in 2018

There are always going to be those guys that don’t work out after recruiting them to a football program. Finding the best fit for both the program and the player can fail for many different reasons. When the prospect signs with your school, you want them to be that difference maker for your program.

When they transfer, most want them to do well, and that may depend on why they transferred. Here is a look at the players that Florida signed that played college football in 2018, but somewhere else. 

QB Will Grier (West Virginia)
Grier sat out the 2016 season at West Virginia after transferring from Florida. Grier was the starter all of 2017 and threw for 3,490 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Grier was the Big-12 Newcomer of the Year as voted on by the league coaches. In 2018, he started 11 games and finished with 3864 yards, 37 touchdowns and seven interceptions. At the end of the year he was a Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist, a Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Top 5, and a Maxwell Award finalist. Needless to say he is the most decorated player on this list and his stats are better than any quarterback Florida has had since Tim Tebow.

QB/ WR Treon Harris (Tennessee State)
Harris, who signed at Florida in the same class as Grier, moved on after a bout of trouble in Gainesville. After sitting out a year when transferring to Tennessee State, Harris played quarterback for his first year back on the field in 2017. That season he played in six games, starting the first five and went 58-of-106 for 729 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.  He was moved to receiver in this, his redshirt senior year, he finished with a solid 35 catches for 476 yards and five touchdowns in 2018.

QB Jake Allen (Dartmouth)
Allen transferred to Dartmouth in the offseason. As a redshirt freshman he saw action in two games, completing one pass for nine yards against Georgetown.

RB Jordan Cronkrite (USF)
After transferring before the 2017 season Cronkite had to sit out that year as a transfer. Cronkrite had 402 yards and four touchdowns in his first two years on campus at Florida. As a redshirt junior with the Bulls, Cronkrite ran for 1,095 yards and nine touchdowns averaging 6.33 yards per carry.

WR C.J. Worton (FIU)
After a couple of seasons of very little action (10 catches) for Worton at Florida, he transferred to FIU. As a redshirt junior, Worton led FIU in receiving hauling in 36 receptions for 620 yards and six touchdowns.

WR Kalif Jackson (Grambling State)
After graduating at the end of 2017, the seldom used Jackson transferred to Grambling. Still just a junior, Jackson saw the field in 10 games, but caught just three passes for 10 yards. He has another year to play.

TE Camrin Knight (Georgia State)
After transferring and sitting out the 2017 season ay GSU, Knight was eligible to play this season. He saw action in eight games this season catching three balls for 34 yards.

OT Andrew Mike (Rice)
Mike played in a lot of games at Florida, but most all of them on the kick protection. He did the same at Rice as a graduate transfer in his only season playing on special teams in six contests during the season.

DT Gerald Willis (Miami)
Willis transferred from Florida to Miami after the 2014 season after finding himself in different off-the-field issues on campus that weren’t law issues, but a detriment to the team. At Florida he had 14 tackles in nine games in 2014. After sitting out the 2015 season due to transfer, Willis played in nine games and had 16 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two pass break ups for the Hurricanes in 2016. Willis cited personal issues and sat out the 2017 season before returning for a big 2018 year. He was really playing well early this past season and finished with a really strong with 59 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, four sacks, and two passes broken up. He was voted second team All-American by Sports Illustrated and second team All-ACC by the league’s coaches following the season.

DT Richerd Desir-Jones (Coffeyville CC)
Desir-Jones came to Florida as an offensive lineman in the 2015 class. After a couple of seasons he was moved to defensive tackle. He saw action in a couple of games in 2016. Desir-Jones transferred from Florida to Coffeyville after sitting out the 2017 season as part of the credit card scandal in Gainesville. In 2018, Desir-Jones had 16 tackles in nine games.

DE Jordan Smith (Butler CC)
Smith was another caught up in the credit card issue at Florida and left after the season. In this season with the Grizzlies, Smith had a pretty big year notching 68 tackles and 11 sacks as an edge rusher in 12 games. That is the kind of production that will get him noticed to move on to a bigger school, despite his off-the-field issues.

Basic soccer drills to improve your skills

Soccer drills will help you to improve your soccer skills. Some of the drills can help your control, speed and ability to dribble the ball, and improve your agility, too. These drills will give you a boost when it comes to playing on the field. You will see yourself lasting longer on the field if you build more stamina.

* FIGURE-8 (you need two cones) This drill is used to improve your touch and stability on the ball. It improves your speed while dribbling. First put two cones about 10 feet apart. Dribble the ball around the cones while making a figure-8. As you repeat this drill, try to focus on increasing your speed each time. While going around the cone, try to take more touches and then sprint with the ball while crossing as an 8.

* LADDERS (using a flat-rung agility ladder) Ladder drills help your footwork and movement and improve your agility. There are different ways to do a ladder drill. One way is called high knees. To do high knees you stand in front of the agility ladder. Then you drive your knees up to waist-level while moving in and out of every section. As you do this drill, try to get your knees as high as possible while still maintaining balance. Try to do this as fast as you can so you can improve your footwork.

* CONE DRILL (eight cones) Put seven cones lined up about 2 to 4 feet apart and a final cone about 15 feet away from the last of the seven cones. It’s your choice on how far apart you want the cones to be. Then while moving from one side of the cones to the other, dribble in and out until you get to the seventh cone. Finally, sprint 15 feet to the eighth cone. As you do this drill, try to take more touches to control the ball as you go through the cones. When you get to the second to last cone, sprint to the last one at your top speed. Work both feet equally.

How Are Football Cleats Different From Soccer Cleats?

We all know that cleats are part of the uniform if you're a football player or a soccer player. But what you may never have thought about is that all cleats aren't created equal. Sure, both football cleats and soccer cleats are supposed to make athletes faster and more stable. But as Popular Mechanics reports, there's some "surprisingly sophisticated science" behind the design of those cleats.

Below, discover how football cleats are different from soccer cleats. And find out exactly why different players on the team wear different shoes.

Players choose their cleats based on their position on the field

Popular Mechanics notes that manufacturers can produce cleats that are specifically tailored to a player's position on the field. For instance, receivers wear different cleats than running backs and linebackers, who don't wear the same cleats as players on the offensive and defensive lines. "Soccer is similar," Popular Mechanics notes. "Attacking forwards, dynamic midfields, and steady defenders wear specific shoes."

Just as the shoes themselves feature different materials depending on their intended purpose and position, the same holds true for the actual cleats. "Thermo nylon studs are rigid but lightweight for sudden propulsion," Popular Mechanics notes. "TPU, meanwhile, offers a stable yet comfortable stud for a forgiving fit, more appropriate for a defender."  The movement and weight of players also help determine the size and style of studs.

Football cleats come in three main styles, while soccer cleats come in one

Livestrong reports that because every player on a soccer team needs agility, all soccer cleats feature a low-cut style. (That enables maneuverability at the ankle.) Football cleats, on the other hand, come in three different styles. High-tops support the entire ankle. Linemen prefer this cut because of how well it supports the continuous lateral movements needed to play the position.

Mid-cut shoes surround only a portion of the ankle. They work best for players including defensive backs, running backs, wide receivers, and quarterbacks. This cut offers support. But it also allows more maneuverability than high-tops. However, some defensive backs favor the last style, low-cut shoes, because they're lightweight to enable maximum running speed.

Soccer cleats feel lighter than football cleats

Another difference between football cleats and soccer cleats? As Livestrong reports, all soccer cleats feel lightweight, because just about everybody on the team is running continuously. They have rubber or polyurethane outsoles to make them both light and durable. The upper can be synthetic or leather. And soccer cleats don't have midsoles because they need to keep the players' feet — and center of gravity — low to the ground.

Football cleats, on the other hand, tend to have thicker outsoles and heavier construction. They come in leather and synthetic materials. While most soccer shoes have outsoles equipped with removable aluminum cleat caps, football cleats come in removable and molded varieties. Detachable cleats are made of rubber, hard plastic, or metal. And they come in a variety of lengths for use on different playing surfaces.

Football cleats have a toe stud that soccer cleats don't

AZ Central reports that football cleats typically have a feature that soccer cleats don't. Football shoes have a toe stud near the big toe, which enables players to get additional grip when they push off from a hunched position, such as a three-point stance. This toe cleat wouldn't improve traction for soccer players. Plus, it could even injure an opponent during a slide tackle.

But in either sport, the type of field can affect the kind of footwear that players choose. Some soccer cleats work specifically on hard field conditions, such as dirt or hard-packed turf. Those shoes use shorter studs that won't dig into the ground. Playing football on natural grass, on the other hand, requires a variety of lengths of studs as compared to playing on turf. Factors such as muddy fields or long grass can require even longer studs with additional traction.

Chris Del Conte suggests Texas football is on the rise

While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. Many of us among the local print jockeys have sensed a very low-key approach to the season by Tom Herman, who intimated as much Monday when he said it was “fair” to suggest Texas hasn't proven anything yet. Athletic director Chris Del Conte doesn't agree with lower expectations. “I don't see the low key,” Del Conte told me, “because I wasn't around for the high key.” Nice line, but it's been a minute since the high key. Behind closed doors, Del Conte suggests there are a lot higher expectations more than outside the football complex. “It's flat-out so exciting,” he said. “They're embracing the new kids. They see the evolution taking place. Most programs take two to three years of great recruiting classes to galvanize and have the culture take hold. Players have to believe in their coaches and their philosophy, and when they do, magical things happen. When you have a fan base that's just thirsty, last year was a successful year.” Come again? A 7-6 record was successful by whose standards? “We won a bowl game,” Del Conte said. “That's pretty awesome. That gets lost. It's you and your job to paint a picture of reality. Tom has high expectations. He has so much confidence in those boys, but at the same time you have to have a pragmatic approach, so not every week is a high or low.”

2. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was very blunt about Texas A&M's prospects going forward. The Aggies open the season Thursday night against Northwestern State, one of three opponents that won four games each last year. But they also play seven teams that won at least nine games. “I know Kevin Sumlin is now at Arizona, but one of the things I watched with A&M was the inconsistency from an attitude standpoint,” Herbstreit said in a conference call. “They seemed to be front-runners. When things were going good, they were in a good state of mind. They could beat anybody. And then when things were going bad, boy, they seemed to head south in a hurry. So he's got to change that, Jimbo Fisher. That's something I'm sure he's tried to push them to improve on quite a bit. So we'll see where they are.” Asked the biggest difference between Sumlin and Fisher, TexAgs.com writer and former Statesman alum Olin Buchanan said, “Details, discipline, demand. Fisher doesn't recoil from expectations. He embraced them.” He adds that eight wins “seem attainable” with eight starters returning on each side of the ball. Look out for big things from freshmen receivers Jaylen Preston and Caleb Chapman and backup safety Bobby Brown.

3. Getting the sense that Major League Soccer using Texas' Royal-Memorial Stadium or Mike Myers Stadium may be a tougher deal than meets the eye, with the north end zone construction and the use of Myers for the NCAA track and field national championships in June each of the next two years and the Texas Relays and the Texas soccer team and general student parking. “We haven't unraveled any of that stuff,” Del Conte said. “None of that stuff has been vetted. It's a long row to hoe. All these things are intertwined, and we haven't unpacked any of this.”

4. Count me among the Manu Ginobili Fan Club. He may be the most professional, cooperative and selfless athlete I've ever been around for any length of time. Among my favorite pro athletes are Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell, Darren Woodson and David Robinson with Ginobili at the very top. What is refreshing is that Manu indicated that he's open to having a role with the Spurs this season, telling reporters, “What I made clear to Pop is that it's not ‘Ciao, I'm leaving. … If I can help from the outside, I will do it with pleasure.” How about the inside? Would love to see him on Gregg Popovich's bench.

5. No cat suits at the French Open. Pleeeeeeze. Serena Williams is cool with it because, well, she's just cool. Doesn't matter if she wears a cat suit or a trench coat and military boots and a helmet, she's still the best tennis player ever.

6. On the other side of that coin, kudos to major-league baseball for allowing players to wear uniforms with their nicknames on the back as a reminder this is entertainment. The Texas Rangers rank at the bottom in the American League West standings but near the top in catchy monickers. Love Joey “Pico de” Gallo. That's almost as good as Miami's Jarlin “The Marlin” Garcia and Derek “Last Name” Holland.

7. We held our annual fantasy football draft, which is an auction draft with a $50 budget, on Monday night, and the team of mine and son John Tyler called the Sitting Ducks are very star-heavy with precious little depth. We have some front-liners like quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Antonio Brown, running back Leonard Fournette, kicker Justin Tucker and the Houston Texans defense/special teams. Our draft places a real premium on trash-talking. No one does it better than fellow columnist Cedric Golden. When Ced landed running back relics Marshawn Lynch, Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore — all of whom are already collecting Social Security checks — I asked if he was drafting for the Old-Timers Game. “Yeah,” Ced said, “I'm drafting you next.” Sports editor Rich Tijerina, a four-time champion in our league, wowed everyone when he took three quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and Philip Rivers — for $22.20, almost half his budget, in a defensive ploy to keep them off other teams. I am not going to second-guess him.

8. Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to rugged running back Darron Norris, who chronologically speaking filled in for a suspended Eric Metcalf in the opener against BYU and then made for a very good tailback tandem. Norris, like another fellow Longhorns running back who later had great success, hailed from California and specifically Oceanside, which also produced stud defensive back Bryant Westrook known for his big hit against Notre Dame.

9. Rented “Set it Up.” Cute movie in what could be considered a romantic version of “Horrible Bosses.” Total fluff. Gave it five ducks.

10. Crazy prediction: Dez Bryant will never catch another touchdown pass in the NFL.

Maryland football is four days from season opener

Maryland will open its football season in four days, like most teams in the country. But interim head coach Matt Canada, his staff and players are preparing to face Texas on Saturday while navigating a situation without compare.

“We're helping each other,” Canada told reporters before practice Tuesday regarding program upheaval in the wake of offensive lineman Jordan McNair's death in June from heatstroke suffered during a team workout. “When somebody's having a tough day, we try to help each other out. I think everything that they've dealt with, they've done the best job they could possibly do. I think we're as ready as we can be, given the situation that we're in.”

Canada met with reporters for the second time since he took over the job on an interim basis Aug. 11, a day after reports broke alleging a toxic team culture. Canada answered — and in a couple of cases dodged — questions about separate investigations into McNair's death and the program, and about his communication with Coach DJ Durkin, who remains on administrative leave.

The only topics that did not in some way point back to the recent tragedy and ensuing controversy were about Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and the competition between Kasim Hill and Tyrrell Pigrome to start at quarterback for the Terrapins. Canada said Tuesday that he has chosen a starter but would not say who.

“I'm glad those two quarterbacks are back. I'll say that,” Canada said of Hill and Pigrome, who suffered torn anterior cruciate ligaments three weeks apart early last season. “I'm glad they're back and healthy.”

During the period of practice that was open to the media, Hill rotated first during most quarterback drills. Pigrome, however, also had a few turns at the front of the line toward the end of the period.

The Terrapins have tried to separate their focus on the game from the loss of a teammate, Canada said, while recognizing that grief over McNair is “never going to go away and we're not asking it to go away.” The game against No. 23 Texas at FedEx Field will feature a moment of silence, and players will wear helmet stickers with McNair's No. 79.

Maryland players were not made available to comment Tuesday, and other than two instances have not been made available to reporters since the spring game more than four months ago. Offensive linemen Johnny Jordan and Ellis McKennie delivered a joint statement to reporters last week addressing how the team plans to honor McNair during the season, but they did not answer questions. The only other public comments made by players about McNair's death or the upcoming season were when Derwin Gray, Darnell Savage Jr. and Taivon Jacobs answered questions at Big Ten media days in Chicago in late July.

Maryland's preparations Tuesday stood in stark contrast to those addressed by Texas Coach Tom Herman during the Big 12 Conference's weekly teleconference. Herman responded to a more typical array of questions — how the team has looked on the practice field, handling external expectations and the importance of an opener against a Power Five opponent.

Herman said Maryland's offseason problems have had no effect on his team's preparation. During preseason camp, Herman said his staff reminded Longhorns players that “this isn't a team that thinks they can beat us. They know they can because they have,” alluding to Maryland's 51-41 upset win at Texas to open last season.

In reference to Texas's cycle of disappointing results — as well as changes in university presidents, athletic directors and head coaches — in recent years, Herman said: “Any time you have that much instability in such a short amount of time, that's not usually a recipe for success. We've got stability.”

Big Ten football is poised for a strong season while mired in offseason scandal

The on-field happenings step into the spotlight this week, at least for those inclined to partake in a form of intentional amnesia. And the usual suspects — Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin, all of which but Michigan has claimed at least one Big Ten title since 2013 — are set up for strong seasons.

In a different time, maybe it would have had the potential for an, ahem, legendary season. Ultimately, though, that's a poor description of the off-field happenings likely to be most remembered about Big Ten football's 2018.

West Division

1. Wisconsin (No. 3 nationally, 13-1 in 2017): The Badgers have three great advantages, all of which make them a strong playoff contender. First, they own one of the strongest offensive identities in the country, and capable returnees at tailback (Jonathan Taylor) and quarterback (Alex Hornibrook). Two, it feels like they've been superb on defense for forever, lending a sense of invulnerability even in a year when there are significant graduation losses to replace. And three, a place in the Big Ten West.

While the Badgers' defense probably won't match last year's, it will be fine. They haven't allowed more than 350 yards a game since 2007, and even some minor regression won't put them close to that figure. While the top half of the division should be better this season, Wisconsin still resides in a comfortable neighborhood. There's an obvious path to playoff: Split games at Michigan and Penn State, roll through the rest of the schedule and win the Big Ten title game. Easier said than done, but it's plenty plausible.

2. Northwestern (No. 35, 10-3): Not to pick on the Wildcats, but a lot of things went their way during an eight-game winning streak to close last season. Four of those victories came by one possession, and three in a row at one point were earned in overtime. It was a fortunate team.

But it's also a program that has become more talented in recent seasons. The defensive front is especially strong. Clayton Thorson could become the school's career passing leader with a good senior year, though he is coming off ACL surgery. Wildcats career rushing leader Justin Jackson graduated, but replacement Jeremy Larkin had 112 yards in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky.

In other words, a similar season isn't out of the question. But it might require a similar degree of success in tight games to match last year's record.

3. Iowa (No. 36, 8-5): Whose turn is it now to have their season ruined at Kinnick Stadium? Two years ago, things went sideways on Michigan. Last year, the Hawkeyes effectively knocked Ohio State out of the national title picture with a 55-24 drubbing. This year's candidates to curse a trip to Iowa: Wisconsin (Sept. 22) and Northwestern (Nov. 10).

As usual, you know Kirk Ferentz's team isn't going to be the most exciting bunch on offense, but they'll be technically sound and opportunistic on defense. They're also the most likely team to clock in with a sub-three-hour game in the early-afternoon television window. Iowa is hardly ever bad, excellent once every five years or so and rock-solid the rest of the time. Go ahead and put the 8-4 in the bank now.

4. Purdue (No. 48, 7-6): The funny thing about Jeff Brohm's first season at Purdue is that while the first impressions suggested the Boilermakers got much better on offense, their greatest progress was in more effectively stopping opponents. That was especially true in preventing the run, an area Purdue was downright inept at the entire decade.

There's some rebuilding to do this season on defense, but that's easier to gloss over after making a surprise bowl appearance in which the Boilermakers held Arizona to 26 yards on the ground. Offensively, the same two quarterbacks who split time last year (David Blough and Elijah Sindelar) are back and vying for time.

Count Purdue among the teams with the most intriguing schedules of the first month. The Boilers will see Northwestern, Missouri, Boston College and Nebraska, and anything from 4-0 to 0-4 in those games is a reasonable prediction. The better the start, the brighter the immediate future for a team that's trended up ever since Brohm's arrival.

5. Nebraska (No. 55, 4-8): Sept. 22 could be the time the “Scott Frost: Returning Hero” story line runs into harsh reality. The Cornhuskers will visit Michigan that day, and will later travel to Wisconsin, Northwestern, Ohio State and Iowa, with no sign of Indiana, Maryland or Rutgers among the cross-divisional games.

Frost will get a mulligan if necessary, in part because he's a former Cornhusker quarterback who helped Nebraska earn a share of the 1997 national title and in part because he guided Central Florida to a perfect season last year.

It will probably be necessary. A true freshman, Adrian Martinez, will start at quarterback in the opener for the first time in program history. Nebraska ranked 119th nationally in rushing offense last year and was No. 114 against the run. That's almost an unthinkable combination for the Cornhuskers, and they aren't going to become good at both overnight. A more reasonable expectation for Year 1 is adequate, and that would probably be enough to win two or three more games and earn a bowl invitation.

...

In tiny Bartlett, football retains big dreams

When Barbara Sandobal opened Rustic Café on Clark Street in downtown Bartlett two months ago, she had more in mind than selling her delicious hand-made burgers.

The 71-year-old Bartlett wanted to do her part in rejuvenating the nearly empty downtown, whose red-brick streets and early 20th-century architecture draws a handful of tourists on the weekends.

“I opened this, really, to put another business in town,” she said on recent weekday afternoon as a handful of customers ate lunch or a $1 Bluebell ice-cream cone. “It's good some days and other days, it's very slow. We'll probably rearrange some of our hours to accommodate people at the football game when school gets going. But we're going to stick with it, because we figure it's going to get better.”

That type of attitude pervades the fieldhouse at Bartlett High School on the other side of this cotton-farming town that straddles the line of Williamson and Bell counties. The proud program — Bartlett won three state titles in the 1990s – has struggled in recent years on the field and with enrollment; the Bulldogs have won just four games over the past three seasons, and the student population has dropped from 125 in 2012 to its current UIL number of 94 students.

Bartlett is the smallest school in the Austin area and became eligible to play six-man football this past realignment. However, the program's players and coaches have no interest in a game that senior Roy Degollado says “isn't real football.”

“I've heard of it, but I thought it was something you play on the playground,” said Degollado, a four-year starter at linebacker and on the offensive line whose father and cousins played for the powerhouse Bartlett squads in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Second-year coach Drew Bridges, a 31-year-old who has already worked in schools ranging from his small hometown of Ganado to Class 6A's Katy Mayde Creek, shares his captain's opinion.

“I wouldn't have come here if they were going to play six-man,” he said. “The community here supports 11-man. Now, we know the challenges that comes with that, but I believe that we're starting to put some things in place that will allow us to compete and be successful. There's a lot of schools in our state that play 11-man with our numbers and do well.”

Bridges has already taken significant steps toward such success. In a school with less than 50 boys, almost 40 participate in the football program. Bridges re-established a junior varsity team last season after Bartlett went years with just a varsity squad, and he says that experience helped the varsity last season when a few injuries cut into the Bartlett lineup.

“Right after that first (JV) game, boy, they were excited,” he said. “They had so much fun. And they played the whole time. And then some came up (to varsity) and helped us, and they wouldn't have been ready for that f they didn't have that JV experience.”

Growth in the school as well as the town may soon creep up as more and more people that work in Austin seek affordable housing. Taylor, 16 miles south of Bartlett, has had its high-school enrollment grow from 882 in 2012 to its current UIL number of 1,024. Just 12 miles west of Bartlett, Jarrell High School' student population has almost doubled over the past 10 years.

“We've gotten smaller, but the corridor is pushing out this way,” Sandobal said. “And I hope people start taking an interest in these (downtown) buildings and fixing them up. It wouldn't be that difficult for the town to come alive again.”

10 things to look out for this weekend

1) Van Dijk finally making his Liverpool bow

If there is one message that Jürgen Klopp has to drum into his defenders before Friday night's Merseyside derby, it is to resist the temptation to place their hands on any Everton attackers in their own area. Manage that and Liverpool should be capable of extinguishing the frustration of last month's draw with Sam Allardyce's side, when Dejan Lovren conceded a late penalty with a needless and clumsy push on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Klopp turned on plenty of people after the game – even a member of Everton's press team was in the firing line after Wayne Rooney's penalty – but Lovren was the real culprit and it is telling that Liverpool have bolstered their defence by spending £75m on Virgil van Dijk. Having scored once in their past four matches, Everton could find goals even harder to come by if Van Dijk is ready to make his debut. Jacob Steinberg

2) Derby fans left high and dry by scheduling

Any Derby supporters hoping to get the train back to the Midlands on Friday night will have to leave the away end at Old Trafford at half-time. Ridiculously, the last feasible train journey to Derby (via Sheffield) leaves Manchester Piccadilly at 9.22pm, midway through the second half. To make matter worse, a train previously advertised as leaving at 11pm is no longer running – East Midlands Trains were forced to apologise for “an error in the national Network Rail train planning system” – meaning there will likely be plenty of people stranded in Manchester on Friday night. The good news: those that bought tickets for the 11pm will be entitled to a free refund. The bad news: they won't be able to get home. The draw was made in early December. How has this shambles been allowed to happen? Michael Butler

3) Dyche going toe-to-toe with Guardiola?

Burnley wasted a golden chance to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last season when Lincoln City became the first non-league team in 103 years to reach the last eight of the competition. In the third round this year, Sean Dyche's team face a tougher task: a trip to Manchester City. But while Pep Guardiola will almost certainly use Saturday's game as a chance to rest key personnel with league titles and the Champions League still to come, Dyche would be unwise to follow suit. Just as a weakened Leicester side came unstuck at Millwall in the fifth round last year, too often Premier League sides play their second string when they are clear of relegation danger and have nothing else to play for. Get through this tough tie, and Burnley have a genuine chance of winning the FA Cup – after all, the league table says they are the seventh best team in England. Dyche should go for glory – three points at Crystal Palace a week on Saturday doesn't matter nearly as much. MB

4) Bristol City need right balance before Etihad trip

In different circumstances it would be tempting to make Bristol City favourites to win at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon. The team who stunned Manchester United last month have already performed heroics in the Carabao Cup, reaching the last four after putting out four Premier League sides, and that giantkilling run began with a 3-2 victory away to Watford in August. Yet Lee Johnson has some tough decisions to make before facing Marco Silva's inconsistent side. Not only are his team chasing promotion from the Championship, he also has to keep his players fresh before they visit Manchester City for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final next Tuesday. Do not expect Johnson to wave the white flag, especially as Watford are vulnerable after a poor run of form, but finding the right balance will not be easy. JS

5) VAR may stir passions in Monday night derby

All eyes on the Amex on Monday night for the preposterously scheduled 7.45pm kick-off between rivals Brighton and Crystal Palace. During the match, Neil Swarbrick will be making history from a studio near Heathrow, becoming the first Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to be used in an English competitive club match. Surrounded by approximately 70 screens to aid him, Swarbrick will be able to liaise with the match referee, Andre Marriner, if a clear error has been made regarding goals, penalties, straight red cards and cases of mistaken identity. Two stewards were taken to hospital when Brighton and Palace met in the Premier League in November – the FA could hardly have chosen a more fiery fixture for their latest innovation. MB

6) More woe for Pellegrino against Fulham?

It is strange to think that Southampton were preparing for a League Cup semi-final against Liverpool this time last year. They still felt like the perfect example of a modern, well-run club 12 months ago. They remained comfortable in mid-table despite being hit by so much upheaval, and beating Liverpool over two legs seemed to offer further vindication of Southampton's vision. Since then, however, drift has taken hold and Mauricio Pellegrino is under immense pressure after Tuesday night's defeat to Crystal Palace pitched his directionless team firmly into a relegation battle. The constant talent drain has taken a toll, sapping Southampton's spirit, and it will not go down as a shock if Fulham further loosen Pellegrino's grip on his job by beating the Premier League strugglers at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon. JS

7) Mir to make his mark at Molineux

Top of the Championship meets bottom of the Premier League – it will come as a surprise to nobody that Wolves are favourites to beat Swansea on Saturday. What will be interesting to see is if manager Nuno Espírito Santo utilises his new £1.8m signing Rafa Mir, who this week turned down a move to Real Madrid to play in England's second tier. Mir has been handed the No9 shirt at Molineux and a match against a Swansea defence bereft of confidence could be the perfect way to bed him in. If the 20-year-old scores on debut, all the better to give competition to the first-choice forward Léo Bonatini, who hasn't scored in a month. If Mir has a stinker, at least it won't affect Wolves' push for promotion. MB

8) Wimbledon fans soaking up Wembley return

Wimbledon have an excellent record at Wembley. On their last outing in the League Two play-off final in 2015-16, they beat Plymouth 2-0. In 2008, they won a pre-season friendly 8-1 to mark the 125th anniversary of Corinthian Casuals. The club's previous visit to that, albeit under a slightly different name, ended with them winning the FA Cup in 1988, 30 years ago. Whatever the score is when they play Tottenham at Wembley on Sunday, the trip from one side of London to another will be a nostalgic one for the thousands of travelling away fans. When they marched up Wembley Way before the final in '88, Wimbledon fans had to endure opposition fans pre-emptively wearing ‘Liverpool FC Double Winners' T-shirts. This time, AFC fans will be wearing a smile as wide as Wembley's arch and maybe even a limited-edition ‘We Are The Resurrection' T-shirt. MB

9) Pardew risks further pain by resting players

The Alan Pardew bounce is yet to materialise for West Bromwich Albion. Tuesday's painful defeat to West Ham means it is 20 games since their last victory and their new manager has been unable to ease their relegation fears. Goal difference alone is keeping West Brom off the bottom of the Premier League and after a draining run of fixtures, Pardew must be tempted to rest players for Saturday's trip to Exeter City. But that would be a huge gamble from a manager whose team desperately needs a win to start repairing their battered confidence. Defeat to the League Two side would only deepen the gloom and the danger is that another disappointment could still be on West Brom's mind when they host Brighton on Saturday week. JS

10) Cardiff look to bounce back against Stags

Cardiff have had a rotten Christmas, losing their last four matches in the Championship. Remarkably, they have only slipped one place to third – thanks to rivals Bristol City losing heavily at Aston Villa – but they are just a couple more bad results away from falling out of the play-off places. Confidence is key, and whilse Neil Warnock's assertion last week that Sol Bamba is a better defender than Virgil van Dijk has done nothing but heap more pressure on one of his key players, a clean sheet and comfortable win against League Two Mansfield could get his side back on the promotion trail. MB

Vincent Kompany calls on Premier League clubs to drop ticket prices

Vincent Kompany has called on Premier League clubs to force down the price of match tickets and attract the “right people” back into football.

The Manchester City captain has recently graduated with an MBA [Master of Business Administration] from Manchester Business School and, during his research on maximising revenues from home advantage, he concluded ticket prices should be reduced for business reasons.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live's Wake Up To Money, Kompany said: “You get better home advantage depending on the atmosphere that you can create within your facilities, and that is linked to the people who enter your stadiums. The Premier League is generating two or three times the revenue of the other top five leagues in Europe, so at what point do you realise that your revenues are that big as a TV product, and the revenue from match-day tickets is only getting smaller?

“At what point do you decide we are actually now going to make sure if it is a TV product, it is the best product in the world? Meaning not just the best players, but the best atmosphere in the stadium; meaning the right people in the right place.”

Kompany, who has been at City since 2008, in which time the club has been transformed into one of the world's richest, added: “Those that live for the club, are probably more attached to the club than anybody else. But those are probably not always the guys who can afford it.

“We know the Premier League can still grow. The question is at what point do you reach breaking point where you squeezed so much out of your people at home?”

Kompany, 31, who is likely to be part of the Belgium squad that faces England in their World Cup group in Russia this summer, added: “If you assume the Premier League gets bigger and you gain markets in China, India, Africa, America, you could fill the grounds with tourists. You can do it, and make more money. They'd just come and spend £400 a ticket, it's nothing for them because it is a once in a lifetime experience, like going to an NBA or NFL game. The question is if that affects your product, as the Premier League?”

Forget the football

Type in Uefa and the word “racism” into Google, and prominent search results tell us the view of European football's governing body. Uefa wants us to know it says no to racism. In fact, in 2013, its member associations “pledged to step up their efforts to eliminate racism from football” altogether. It's all rather grand, but what we know is that in recent weeks Uefa's self-congratulatory stance has been greatly undermined. Revelations from the England Under-17s World Cup-winning forward Rhian Brewster have once again highlighted the perniciousness of the problem.

Brewster's experience of racist abuse represents unacceptable treatment of a young man just trying to do his job. The player has been praised for unequivocally relating his experiences, which have been free from the euphemism so many would have preferred the shadow home secretary Diane Abbott to adopt when she shared that, last year, she had been called a “n----- bitch”.

In an interview with my colleague Daniel Taylor for the Guardian, Brewster frankly outlined the racist abuse he both witnessed and suffered while playing for Liverpool in Uefa Youth League matches and for England. Called the N-word and subjected to monkey chants, the 17-year-old has understandably lost faith in Uefa, whose responses to these incidents have been pitiful or nonexistent.

Uefa says it encourages referees to “stop, suspend or even abandon a game if racist incidents occur”. Players found guilty of racist behaviour can receive a 10-match suspension, and stadiums can face closure if this applies to fans. Uefa recognises the power it has to drastically change the experiences of young black players. However, for now at least, it seems disinclined to use it. It is an obvious dereliction of duty. The hope is that today – the first day its offices have been open since 22 December – the governing body will stir itself into more forceful action.

Slogans, though easy to cobble together and flash at millions of people, are empty. Like a sticking plaster for a virus, their flimsiness is obvious when set against the task of healing. It is a lesson the Italian football league painfully learned last October. The president of Lazio football club, Claudio Lotito, had players wearing T-shirts declaring “no to antisemitism” accompanied by a picture of Anne Frank. An excerpt of her diary was read at every Italian league match during the same week. Yet some Lazio fans sang fascist songs while making salutes during the reading. The horrified prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, called the scenes unacceptable. Quite. The trouble is in how governing bodies, clubs, fellow players and not least the fans act in solidarity to underscore that such behaviour is intolerable.

One way to do so is by not distancing the English game, run by the FA, from the routine instances of racism experienced by black and minority-ethnic (BAME) players. To focus solely on Uefa's failings is to miss the point of Brewster's interventions entirely. Yes, much progress has been made: in Brewster's interview it is clear he hasn't experienced in England racist abuse of the kind encountered in matches against Russian and Spanish teams. Still, players continue to walk out on English pitches subjected to such abuse. Anecdotally, others refuse to sign to the youth wings of certain clubs because of the rampant racism associated with their fans.

BAME players make up a quarter of players in English football's four divisions yet account for a miserable 4% of senior coaches. It is the same footballing establishment that last October couldn't admit it had failed in its duty of care to the England player Eniola Aluko. And it is the same leadership that couldn't quite bring itself to find anything wrong with racist texts sent “privately” between Iain Moody, now Colchester's head of player resources, and Malky Mackay, currently caretaker manager of Scotland and the performance director of the Scottish Football Association. The controversy eventually blew over, and both white men's careers in football continued, once the word “banter” was used to explain their seemingly indefensible interactions.

Who had the best Premier League results over Christmas

Mauricio Pochettino may have been disappointed with a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham on Thursday - but no team won more points than his Tottenham side over the Christmas period.

Pochettino's men had won their first three fixtures over the Christmas and New Year period, defeating Burnley, Southampton and Swansea, but had to settle for a point against their local rivals.

That point was West Ham's fifth from their last four games - a return boss David Moyes will be happy with after taking charge in November with the club in the relegation zone.

Liverpool have also had a good run of form since they kicked off the festive football with a 3-3 draw at Arsenal on Friday 22 December, beating Swansea, Leicester and Burnley.

Despite seeing their record-breaking winning streak come to an end with a draw against Crystal Palace, Manchester City have matched Tottenham and Liverpool's haul of 10 points from their past four games to maintain their commanding lead at the top of the Premier League.

Of the 'Big Six', Arsenal and Manchester United have come away with the fewest points, adding just six to their tally.

This season's surprise package, Burnley, have had one of the toughest Christmas schedules, and defeats to Spurs and Liverpool and draws at Manchester United and Huddersfield means they have the joint-fewest points from their past four games.

West Brom, Everton and Southampton also managed just two points, after being unable to deliver their supporters much Christmas cheer.