Author: thependulumswings staff
It’s Good to Eat Some Buttery (H)umble Pie as Needed.
Ten Piece Nuggets-CFB
In last week’s Ten Piece serving we almost labeled this past Saturday “Separation Saturday.” We are glad we didn’t. As it turns out we should have called it “Upset Saturday,” or “Set Up Saturday.” Eleven of the ranked AP Top 25 teams lost which created no separation. Eleven is the most since 2006. Those outcomes set up this coming Saturday to be the most intriguing day this season. Week ten is upon us and we offer Ten Nuggets to satisfy your CFB hunger below.
- The top five teams had a boring Saturday actually. Number one Alabama, and nos. 4 and 5 LSU and Michigan had the weekend off. No. 2 Clemson turned Florida St. inside out 49-10 while no. 3 ND paid only marginal respect to our beloved Navy. Willie Taggart, HC of the Seminoles, called out his team post game feeling like some of them had quit. We quibble, but we think that it was more than some.
- Georgia pulled away in the second half of the (don’t call it) Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party soundly beating Florida 36-17. The score almost matched the 36-16 beating LSU administered two weeks ago. Georgia had a week off to stew. They looked very determined to ensure they would still play meaningful games as the calendar flips to November. And sure enough they will, in of all places, Kentucky.
- The #11 Kentucky Wildcats made sure of that with an improbable last second comeback at Missouri. The SEC East is up for grabs at 2:30 CST five days from now when Georgia rolls in. One of the two one-loss teams will be in the captain’s seat in the SEC East by 6:00 pm. Kentucky was 300-1 in Vegas in August to win the SEC. It’s the first half of the CBS doubleheader.
- The second half of the CBS “Separation” Saturday doubleheader is a small gathering of 100k fans in Death Valley, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Crimson Tide rolls in with the SEC West hanging in the balance. LSU is an early, big, 14 point home dog. Bama has rag dolled everything in its wake by halftime of each (non)contest that they have been in thus far. Speaking of halftime, future first round pick and LSU middle linebacker extraordinaire Devin White gets to watch the game until then. LSU fans have expressed overt displeasure with the targeting call that reduced him to first half spectator status. See their anger here.
- Oklahoma dispatched of a different Wildcat to land at #7. Kansas St. found out what the Sooners’ offense can do sooner than later. A 34-7 halftime lead turned into a full on rout, 51-14. One still has to wonder what D Oklahoma can muster as K St. isn’t having its best year under Bill Snyder, the oldest CFB coach at 78 years young.
- Idle on the week UCF is stuck in idle as #9. The turnstile above and below them in the rankings continues to make us feel that if they want to participate in a parade again this year it will need to be thrown by them, for them, and watched only by them again as no one else seems to care too much.
- A warm welcome to the Top 10 goes out to the Washington State Cougars who are #10. They lead the PAC 10 North now after an impressive win at Stanford. This comes after their impressive home win over Oregon a week ago. Mike Leach does it his way and his way has reached the top 10. Utah sits at #16 and a top the PAC 10 South. Raise your hand if you predicted a possible Utes v Cougars PAC Championship game.
- Michigan, THE, and Penn St. well represent the Big 10 East at nos. 5,8, and 14 respectively. Iowa is the lone rep from the west side of the conference at 19. However, Iowa is in a three-way tie for second in that division as Northwestern sits atop. Northwestern is what we wrote. It’s no typo. They are 12-1 in their last 13 Big 10 matchups. One of the teams tied for second in the west is three loss Wisconsin. The odds on favorite Badgers came into the season with so much hope and will end it with so much disappointment.
- Nine of the 11 teams that were ranked 15-25 lost. Seven ranked teams dropped out. That is the most since 1989. Jeez. Notable among the new entries are the Syracuse Orangemen, ranked for the first time since 2001. Also, Virginia returned after a seven-year hiatus. Notable among the departures was first time ever, and ranked for one week only, Appalachian St. The Mountaineers hosted a Thursday night game v. Georgia Southern. The visitors trounced them 34-14, ending the one week run.
- While seven teams dropped out, the SEC now boasts seven teams in. The conference places teams at 1,4,6,11,13,21, and 25. Mississippi St at 21 and Texas A&M at 25 are the only three loss ranked teams for now.
- (or, Plus One) Some early lines are out. As mentioned above Bama is a 14 point road favorite at LSU. Can LSU’s D slow down the Tua train to The Downtown Athletic Club? Can LSU’s O muster enough to stay close? ND is another road favorite by 7.5 at the aforementioned Northwestern. West Virginia is a 1.5 point road dog in Austin, TX. Texas might still be seething from their road loss to Okie St., while West Va. is not the same team on the road.
Till Saturday.
Abby Roux Takes Down Vegas Part V.
Abby Roux returned to the cashier’s booth last week. Her lethargy of two week’s ago is gone like last night’s t-bone treat. For the CFB season she stands strong tall on four paws with a 9-7 won/loss , a 28 of 47 bones, and a 3-1 hunch record all vying for best in show. Those results are 57%, 60%, and 75% respectively to the good side.
Speaking of the good and side, there are a few good teams sitting on the sidelines this week. Teams that have played from early September till now without a break are panting like a dog and need a bit of kennel time. In the AP top ten alone nos. 1,4,5,and 10 rest. On to the picks where some games look better to her bird dog eye than others.
Stanford -3 v Washington State – The Cougars travel after a huge home party in Pullman last week. This is a perfect spot for a letdown after they exhausted themselves leading and then outlasting Oregon. The Cardinal hasn’t really put 60 minutes together yet. Maybe they will Saturday. Three bones.
Missouri -7 v Kentucky – Abby has been chewing on this line all week. She cannot digest it. It makes no sense to her. It’s almost as if the wrong team might be favored. It’s as if Vegas is begging you to take the Wildcats. We’ll zig and take the Tigers at home for that reason and that reason alone. Two bones.
Virginia Tech -3 v Georgia Tech – Abby knows better than to bet 
Rambling Wreck games. It’s her version of chasing parked cars. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way. If the Hokies want to play (they have been uneven this year) this is a 12 point Va Tech cover. If not, it’s another bumper right in the jowls. One bone.
Michigan St -1/2 v. Purdue – This game is like feels like a walk in the park on a clear 55 degree day with no leash to Ms. Roux. Purdue travels after a huge home win over THE. Michigan St. tries to rebound from a Wolverines defensive masterpiece. The lone flea on it is that Purdue is actually a lot better than Purdue normally is October’s end. Abby hedges just a bit because of that. Three bones.
Florida St +16 v Clemson, Kansas St. +24.5 at Oklahoma, and Navy + 23.5 at Notre Dame – The only thing Abby likes better than a big dog is, well, three big dogs. This is her first exotic bet of the year. It’s a long shot for obvious reasons. It’s three big dogs all wrapped up in a three team parlay. She likes the Seminoles better than the Midshipmen, and she likes the Midshipmen better than the Wildcats. Fearlessly she bundles the three. One bone to win seven bones.
On a hunch take Mississippi St. -2 over A&M. A&M hasn’t lost to anyone that they should not have. Jimbo is seeing to that. We think that Miss State’s trenches are their equal. This is a late field goal game winner at home for the wounded Bulldogs. Tread very lightly.
Five bets with four favorites and a three dog tease have us barking with anticipation for Saturday. It’s 10 bones wagered to win 16.
Woof!
The Art of Long Snapping is Now a Science.
People that really get into sports spend a lot of time talking to people who really get into sports. Regardless of your favorite sport or sports, you often offer or are offered the following line, “Did you see the(pick one) play, kick, punt, bunt, goal, throw, hit, catch, run, shot, swing, jump, roll, fake, block, or tackle that so and so made in yesterday’s(pick one) game, match, set, event, or meet?” It’s what sports fans do. They live for the next greatest something and they talk about it. Players one up players, and conversational high points one up conversational high points.
Athletes train smarter and harder than ever before. Most focus on one sport early and attempt to master it. Parents, coaches, trainers, nutritionists, and camps all focus on making the next generation better than the past. In many areas this has taken good to great and great to elite.
One such area is place kicking a football. Field goals have evolved from a hope to an almost certainty inside of forty yards over the last quarter century. Similarly, field goal accuracy from fifty to sixty yards has improved to the point of no one being surprised when a game winner is struck from these distances. The decade by decade percent converted improvement is geometric at all levels of competition. This is but one example of many areas of improved expertise in athletic endeavors over time.
But one area has improved to the point of so near to perfection that we don’t even talk about it anymore. Perhaps we don’t even see it when we look at it. What is it? Long snapping the football is what it is.
Think back through this year to date. The NCAA FBS schedule is eight games in. The NFL is seven games in. Have you seen a bad snap on a field goal or a punt this year at either level? Has there even been one? Not the rain, nor the wind, nor the pressure has had even a marginal effect apparently. This writer hasn’t seen one in person, live on tv, or on any high(low)lights.
A .43 second Google search for “long snapping” turns up thousands of potential matches. You can watch “how to videos”(even the setup and approach prior to the snap), sign up for any number of snapping camps run by seasoned pros, or even see who has been offered a scholarship to a FBS school to snap. Smart college coaching staffs value special teams. Those that value special teams certainly recruit and sign a great snapper as one of their allowed 85 scholarships.
Great college snappers vie for 32 pro jobs. Every NFL team has one excellent snapper. That snapper makes the league minimum at a minimum. How much is that? Well, for 2018 its $465,000 for a rookie and the scale increases gradually by years of employment. If you are in your tenth year the min is a smooth $1,000,000. The best of all make even more.
Long snapping might be the specialty of special teams play. Every punt has a snap and a punt. Every place kick has a snap, a hold, and a kick. We watch the kicks. We don’t even see the snaps anymore.
It’s great work if you can get it. But shy of perfection you need not apply.
I’ve Got a Story, and a Moral Thereof.
This morning begins with the first of a new running feature for boomboomsroom.com that we hope and trust that you will enjoy. It’s story telling time and provides you with this writer’s moral to boot. Gather around friends.
On a beautiful afternoon in the spring of my junior year at LSU I had my usual one and one half hour of Business Law 3201 class staring directly at my beard covered face. A bearded lawyer who taught the class, whose name escapes me to this day, walked in to the already assembled 75 or so person class. As he plunked his briefcase on his desk loud enough to get the chatter to subside he uttered one loud word. “JOHNSTON.” Surprised that he knew anyone’s name, much less mine, I weakly answered with, “yes.” He responded with, ” You have a beard, don’t you? See me after class!” The class let out a collective, “woooo.” I spent the next 90 minutes wondering.
After class I found out that it was about nothing that I spent the previous 90 minutes wondering. Said professor/lawyer explained to me that a lawyer friend of his had taken the case of a friend of his accused of rape. He went on to say that there was going to be a line up that afternoon and they needed bearded guys who quasi fit the description of the bearded accused. He asked if I would help him, his lawyer friend, and the accused. With as much thought as most 21-year-old adults give to choices I said “sure.”
And off we went directly to the lead lawyer’s office. At the large mahogany conference table gathered seven bearded lawyers, the accused, and one LSU student. As I listened, and listened only, to how this allegation and charge came about it was easy to summarize that they thought that this was a rush job by the DA’s office. It was likely driven by the accuser’s familial relationship with someone in that office. The lineup would go a long ways towards proving that thought right or wrong.
As we drove I opened my mouth for the first time. I asked where the line up was going to be held. The answer was the East Baton Rouge Parish(think county) Jail. I shouldn’t have asked. Silence again consumed me.
Upon arrival we walked through a series of loudly closed and locked doors behind us. We were asked to change out of our clothes and into orange prison issued jumpsuits to homogenize our look for a better lineup. One slight problem reared it’s head shortly thereafter. The lineup required two groups of six each. Short three, the jailer improvised providing three prisoners to join us. My group happened to be the one that was three shy, so the three selected detainee’s joined two lawyers and I. That added a bit to the angst. The groups were separated with my group going second. The six of us were placed in a holding room, without direct supervision, the size of a small bathroom. That was yet another problem for my rising blood pressure.
The time came for us to read the words that the victim quoted to the detective that were exchanged during her terrible night of a few weeks ago for voice recognition. Then, we were positioned behind a one way mirror for sight recognition. This was anything but pleasant, especially for the victim.
When it was over the original nine gathered in a room to change back into the clothes that we wore prior to the orange parade. When exiting as a group an armed jailer grabbed my arm and asked me “where do you think that you are going?” My blood pressure peaked. He then laughed at his own joke and motioned me forward. I failed to see any humor.
Back at the mahogany conference table we learned that the victim didn’t pick the flimsily accused for voice nor physical recognition. It turns out that she identified me and one other as a possible voice match while identifying an existing prisoner as a possible physical match. This would cause the case against him to fold quickly and quietly.
The weekend came and I went home. Mom and Boom Boom eagerly listened to my story. My mom, ever the worry wart, worried that they might now think I did it. Perry Mason and mom had little in common. Inspector Clouseau and mom did. The laughter helped the blood pressure.
Friday became Sunday night and I drove back to my dorm. My roommate and I were watching some TV. The screen flashed with breaking news. A manhunt was underway outside of the jail complete with barking dogs, cops, and helicopters. A lineup at the jail that evening included a few prisoners. They overpowered two guards, took a civilian hostage, and made a run for it. My blood pressure tested new highs at the sight and sounds emanating from this tiny black and white TV.
As the class and the semester ended, grades followed. In my business law class we had three total tests and I had scored a solid “B” on each. The report card showed an “A” in B. LAW 3201. I smiled. My blood pressure actually went down for once. The prof threw me a bone.
‘The moral of the story is?’ you ask. Don’t grow a beard! Or, something like that.
Boom Boom’s Life Lessons #5
Do you have a sense of what you want to do today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year?
Your future starts this second. We realize that many before us have uttered this phrase. But, we also realize that far too many have dismissed a chance to really, really pause and reflect on its reality.
The past is truly the past. You can admire it if you liked it. You can brag if you are unfortunately so inclined. You can wince if you look back and realize better deeds could have been done. Or, you can stop wasting positive or negative energy from it and realize that the only thing that you can do is learn from it.
In life as we age we gain experience. With experience comes wisdom. With wisdom comes opportunity. What will you do with your opportunity?
Boom Boom often offered this thought and challenge to anyone within his wide reach, “Your best days are right in front of you. What will you do with them?”
What is your opportunity? Boom Boom would say, that regardless of where you are today, your opportunities are many. He found time to volunteer, mentor, serve in his faith, garden, etc. This was all in addition to a “day job” with a work ethic second to none.
It’s obvious to all that he lived a full and fulfilled life by sharing anything that he felt could provide a meaningful benefit to family, friends, coworkers, club members, and many others.
Maybe you can pick a path and make a difference in your own special way starting soon. After all, “your best days are right in front of you. What will you do with them?”
Ten Piece Nuggets-CFB
If college football was a horse race the announcer would exclaim, “they’ve hit the far turn.” Eight games, or two-thirds in of twelve, the games never fail to intrigue. As they make the turn, we head to the nuggets.
- A speed horse is one that jumps way out front and burns out, eventually giving way to the field. But, Alabama is no speed horse. It’s the class of the race. Sitting unanimously at no. 1 in the new AP Top 25, it’s looking back at the field wondering if there is a worthy challenger. They stay in the barn this coming week prepping for a Baton Rouge run v. the now # 4 LSU Tigers.
- THE Ohio St. wasn’t running a clean race for weeks, but was still rambling down the backstretch in second. They were. Purdue handed them their third loss in three years to an inferior Big 10 opponent. The Boilermakers of Purdue kicked mud in THE’s eye. THE fell back hard to 11th. If they win out and beat Michigan in the season finale, who knows?
- Clemson jockeyed to second with a convincing romp of undefeated pretender North Carolina St. Clemson wants everyone to know that they still own the ACC. In a distant second in the ACC is, well, North Carolina St. The Wolfpack dropped back to 23.
- Notre Dame is 3 and LSU, off of an uneven but defensively dominating 19-3 win over Mississippi St., now holds the coveted 4th spot. They’ll likely hold it next week too as they lick their wounds from a tough early track with an off week as well. Alabama visits on 11/3. One would wager that College Gameday will visit on 11/3 as well.
- Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Florida make up the next five through nine. They are all tightly bunched and one or two could break free as we soon turn for home. They all have one loss. Michigan stands out though. They are lurking at 5. The Wolverines allowed a meager, paltry, miserly 94 total yards to decent in state rival Michigan St. Their only loss was in week one to the Fighting Irish, and is a minor blemish now.
- One of Georgia and Florida will be put out to pasture as far as title aspirations go this weekend. The “Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” that you cannot call “The Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” anymore gets served straight with ice on Saturday. The #9 Gators opened yesterday as a nine-point dog to the Bulldogs.
- UCF wants to know if anyone cares to notice that they are #10. It seems not. They seem to only run in claiming races. And, no one claims them. They really need to schedule stronger out of conference foes.
- For 13 years no one noticed Washington St. either. For 216 straight weeks of GameDay shows, someone’s shown up to wave a giant Washington State flag, no matter how far away from Pullman, WA. On this past Saturday, college football took notice and Oregon paid for it as 20k plus Washington St. faithful watched the ESPN show on campus. Then, even more watched the show that Mike Leach’s team put on . The final was 34-27 Cougars over the Ducks of Oregon, but the first half Cougar domination was impressive. They bolted all the way up to 13th. It’s the highest ranked PAC 10 team. That’s good for them and not so good for the left coast.
- Hello Appalachian St. Is there a more appropriate nickname than the Mountaineers?
Sunset from Cowee Mountains Overlook, on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. They are ranked for the first time ever at 25. After being a major thorn in then called D-1 schools for a long while, the Mountaineers joined the FBS in 2014. They play in the Sun Belt Conference if you don’t know, and sport a 3-0 record in bowl games thus far. ‘Where are they from,’ you ask? Well, they hail from proud Boone, NC. of course.
- The SEC has spots 1,4,7,9,12, and 16 this week. Wow! Over the final month they’ll beat each other up as almost all games left are in the divisions inside of the conference. One stands way out, while some of the others hope to ascend to greater notoriety.
- (or plus one) Some early lines are out. Missouri -6 hosts Kentucky. It almost seems like the wrong team is favored. Almost. Washington St. is a 3 point road dog to Stanford. The happy Cougars need to avoid a low after the Pullman high. NC St is a one point dog at Syracuse. The one loss Wolfpack get little respect. Maybe they haven’t earned much? Clemson is a 17 point road favorite over Florida St. WWBBS? What Would Bobby Bowden Say?
Till five days from now.
Abby Roux Takes Down Vegas Part IV
Abby accepted one too many dog treats and pats on the head after her two-week domination v. Vegas. A quick trip to the vet late Saturday evening seems to have her focused again for her fourth week. It’s college football’s week nine, and it’s getting interesting.
After a 4 bone win with 11 bones wagered and a 3-3 win/loss week, Abby Roux stands on all four paws at 21 bones buried with 36 wagered and 9 wins v. 7 losses season to date. Vegas got a bit back but Abby still has plenty gnaw on. Her hunch bet (Miss.) lost, but her prediction of a very high( she said 51-37 Miss. over Ark.) scoring affair prevailed. The over covered. Regardless her hunches are now 2-1.
Week Eight has some doggone good match ups that make for fun viewing. Let’s roll some bones.
Auburn -3 at Ole Miss -Abby nearly covered(minus 7 won by only 4) on Miss. last week on a hunch. Everyone wants to know what is wrong with Auburn after a loss to a Tennessee team that hadn’t won a conference game in over a year. Ole Miss is about to find out. The answer Saturday is…… nothing is wrong. Four bones.
Stanford -2.5 at Arizona St. -This isn’t Stanford’s best team. This isn’t Arizona State’s best team either. This isn’t the PAC 10’s best year.
If this game was at the tree huggers we would five bone it. It isn’t. Two bones.
North Carolina St. +17.5 at Clemson – NC St. is undefeated. I guess Vegas doesn’t think much of their competition thus far. Or, maybe they think Clemson will roll at home. This line almost is out of line and makes Abby want to paw the pay dirt with Clemson. But, she’ll take the heavy points in a light way. One bone.
Miss St. +7 at LSU -It’s Homecoming in BR. It’s also “we beat Georgia hangover” in BR. The Bulldogs feature a stout D line and a solid running game. Both are important to play LSU tight. Moo St. was off last week. We mentioned the LSU win last week v GA. Next week LSU is off. The week after they play Alabama. This is a classic trap game. Three bones.
Purdue +14 v. THE Ohio St U -Purdue has played pretty well against pretty good competition thus far. THE has played down to the level of some of their competition. This one is in Indiana. It’s not much more than a hunch bet. One bone.
On a hunch take Nebraska at home to cover 3 1/2 over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. If Nebraska falls to 0-7 Abby recommends that they bury their head in shame in the nearest gopher hole.
There they are, four road teams and one home. Three dogs and two chalks. Eleven bones are there for the taking plus one Cornhusker hunch.
Woof!
Do Money Matters Make You Squeamish?
A professional financial advisor can provide a smooth path towards your realistic goals. Their broader view than our tunnel vision can be the calm in the storm of the many ups and downs of the financial journey.
Will Calling Them “Campers” Really Help Anything?
editor’s note: The post that follows is not meant to demean the downtrodden. It only expresses our view that while many are well intended to help those in need, perhaps the problem and the solution needs examination. Further we know many of our readers do great work in this area to make the best of this problem. We would appreciate your candid feedback on this if you wish.
From 1951-1971 a very popular TV show had a 20 year run with an unbelievable 672 episodes in “the can” as the Hollywood crowd used to call it. Impressive. It was called The Red Skelton Show. It starred none other than a quite famous actor/comic named, you guessed it, Red Skelton. Red did standup, had a couple of guests, an occasional musician, and did several skits with characters that he developed quite well. It was truly a variety show.
One of the characters
that Red developed quite well was Freddie the Freeloader. As you can see from the linked clip the jokes were about a down on his luck homeless man. Let’s repeat that, “the jokes were about a down on his luck homeless man.” In today’s world even the thought of that would not be whispered in creative circles. It isn’t what we do today. Today we help people. We make all feel good, feel equal. Or, at least we think we do.
This writer actually met Red Skelton at a poorly attended book signing of his many years ago. It was so poorly attended we had the opportunity to get better acquainted. My impression in a short 15 minutes was that what Red actually attempted to do in all of his works was show a world as it was and do so in a kind and funny way.
Today his message would not even be heard because his premise would be looked on as outrageous by those who choose what actually goes “in the can.” It would also be panned by those who wish to shape the narrative for political gain by telling those that are willing to listen that others are insensitive.
You see Freddie the Freeloader, by his own admission was a “hobo.” If you can believe Wikipedia, a hobo is a migrant worker or homeless vagrant, especially one who is impoverished. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States around 1890.[1] Unlike a “tramp“, who works only when forced to, and a “bum“, who does not work at all, a “hobo” is a traveling worker.
So, a hobo was a homeless worker as opposed to a tramp, vagrant, or a bum. That’s a small consolation prize perhaps. Eventually, the words tramp and bum fell strongly out of favor for “the homeless.” Homeless, soon enough, sounded too demeaning and was replaced by “the underserved.” Recent trips to Portland and other cities that embrace/accept high populations of whatever you choose to call “them” now refer to “them” as “campers.” Yes, if you haven’t been to sunny Portland you haven’t seen the many campers. If you haven’t been to downtown LA you haven’t seen the square city miles of sidewalks of tents pitched.
So, we must wonder aloud, does what you call a person who unfortunately has a problem or problems that lead to this life make that person’s life any better? Does it make you or them feel any better about their plight? More importantly, what are we doing as a society to reduce the number of campers by solving the root cause or causes of their descent?
We ask because we don’t know. Recent surveys by multiple services and government agencies show that in spite of everyone’s best efforts the homeless population stands at a guesstimated 550,000 people. It’s down from a 2008 Great Recession peak by about 70,000. If you look at a glass as half full I suppose that is progress. But, if you look at a glass as half empty, isn’t having over one half of a million people sleep on the streets of the most developed country in the world sad? It is.
Some folks are in the camp (no pun intended) of “you are what you make of yourself.” Others want to give everyone everything to either make themselves feel better about themselves or truly think they are making a bad situation better. We wonder if there is a middle ground that should be vigorously explored.
Goodness knows a warm bed for a night or a sandwich during the day is a nice and needed humane gesture. We just wonder if the root cause is being addressed aggressively enough. In other words what got someone to this spot? Are we treating the symptom or the illness? The symptom is homelessness. The illness is? Addiction? Mental illness? Physical disability? Job loss? Indifference? Laziness? Several of those can be helped. At least one or two don’t deserve it.
We are very familiar with a worthy mission in Houston, TX. It is The Star of Hope. It has multiple programs for men, women, and children. Taken from their mission statement is “Positive life changes are encouraged through structured programs which focus on spiritual growth, education, employment, life management and recovery from substance abuse.”
The program within the program that we are most familiar with helps mothers who have been domestically abused and have or would be living in the streets with their children were it not for this program. Picture an old school motel layout. Hotel rooms are more like small efficiency apartments. There is a cafeteria, a meeting room or two, and a few offices. The one and only goal is to get them back into society in a productive manner ASAP. The requirement to live there is that either you have a job, are actively looking for one, or are headed back to a school to get to a trade or job. All children must be enrolled in a school. The help given is only for those looking for a hand up, not a hand out. But the help given demands that you understand the difference between the two. And, that, we believe is a real key to success.
We don’t know, but are fairly certain, that there are many fine outreach programs across the US. We wonder aloud though, “isn’t there a better way, a quicker solution, a more concerted effort available to us if we put our collective heads together?” No, we aren’t talking about another bloated government tax dollar throw away. We are talking about civil people doing civil things.
Or, is this the far end of the tough side of the bell curve and we should just do what we can(whatever that means)? We’ve been to black tie fundraisers and ate steak and drank champagne and donated money for a couple other homeless causes. It felt good I guess, but it didn’t do anything. 
In 1986 we connected our hands together for “Hands Across America.” It felt good I guess, but it didn’t do anything.
We suppose the answer lies in who you think “campers” are. We suppose the answer lies in what you think “campers” can become. We don’t think it’s what you call them.