GovMan

You gotta understand ML ... the "Voice" will always be partial to the Bungalow Jets (his alma mater). It would be so hard for him to accept the change. Although his better half (who was a Cardinal) would most likely support it! IF we changed it to the Cardinals, do you believe there is any chance that Stars & Bars might start running an occasional garbage route in the County Farm / Ratledge Road area for us?

Not sure on that one as far as who might have broadcast it ... but I do know that Packer and his crew have never been to WB to televise and as best I remember, have never featured a WB road game either. I was beginning to wonder if Packer even knew there was such a a thing as a William Blount?

Sorry 91, APB is correct. Navy blue has never been the "official blue" of William Blount. When the switch was made away from the original "powderish teal looking blue", it was made to "royal blue" if I'm not mistaken. You are correct that these teams have worn "navy" but it is not the official color.

I don't believe Alaska has a strong legacy of quarterbacks. I could be wrong. Can anyone name me a good quarterback that came from Alaska?

OK, so I'm now talking strictly basketball on a football thread, but I thought APB (and others) might like this. Got this from David Duggan (who is an Alcoa sports (especially basketball) expert. His 1st and 2nd string all-time Vernon Osborne coached Alcoa basketball teams: 1st Team: F - David Davis F - Jimmy Dunn C- Ron Pittard G - Herman Thompson G- David Marsh 2nd Team: F - Bill Padgett F- Eddie Williams C - Jim Riddick G - Dennis Godfrey G - Richard Marsh

My guess is that you would be correct ... David, class of 1967, was once rated the finest defensive player in the history of East Tennessee basketball. An excellent ball handler and shooter as well, he was named to three straight All - State Tournament teams from 1965 - 67. In 1967 he was named to the Prep All-American team. (David Duggan) Speaking of Alcoa, Duggan would also probably mention Herman Thompson (basketball), Tommy Yates (football), Freddie Marsh (basketball), Jim Riddick (basketball), Ron Pittard (basketball), and Tim George (football) among others.

Would have to go with Sue Thomas...

For starting line ups we do "Right Now" by Van Halen for girls and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica for boys. For run-out we use "Siver Scrapes" by Danny McCarthy for girls and "300 Violin Orchestra" by Jorge Quintero for boys. Another run out we used for years was "O Fortuna" ...I first heard it used at a Lady Vols game.

Everett ... Kenny Coulter Dan Webb Kenny Teffeteller Rick Kenny

461" Police Interceptor?? Or maybe the 351 Cleveland? What did those Torino's come with?

Ricky was great at football and basketball. Dropsy was good at Mustangs, Falcons, Rancheros, Galaxies, Pintos, Mavericks, etc.!

Some names for consideration if we were to erect a monument at good old Friendsville High: Larry "BoyDog" Robinson David "Leon" Evans Darryl "the Dentist" Clabough Don Moore Jr. / Don Moore Sr. Big Willy Oliver Ronald "C & D Tire" Harris Ronnie Phelps Whistle Shawn Ammons Major Hubbard Kenny Byrd Charlie Finley Chuck Sparks

It's interesting to compare the '99 and '07 WB teams. The 99 team beat a 10-3 Maryville squad by 1, while the 07 team lost to a 15-0 state champion Rebels team by 1. I believe both teams lost to Farragut by 1. 07 team's record was better by 1 game. If anything leans me to the 99 team it is that they competed very closely in their play-off loss to the eventual state champion Sevier County team, while the 07 team was handled easily by Bearden (who I believe won the next week too, before losing a close game in the state semi-finals). I don't know, maybe if I get enough time I might break the two teams down in some of the major areas (qb, rb's, receivers, o line, defenses, special teams) and see how they compare. Any of you familiar with the two teams want to work on that?

As an aging P.A. announcer whose eyesight has grown dim--and whose spotter is even older than he is--I would just love to be able to see the numbers on our jerseys.

Tour 89, Welcome. Agree with you on Dawn. I was limiting myself to football, but if we considered girls basketball...you could add Cait Macmahan to Heritage and Angela Puleo to WB's list. Concerning Brian Sommers and Coach Rankin. Did he really even have much of a choice? I had always heard there was plenty of evidence involved. But that was hearsay...are you saying he could have kept him on the team?

While there have been other variables that entered the equation since WB decided to take Alcoa off of it's schedule that have prevented them from being put back on, I believe the original thought process of the head coach that made the decision was to get Alcoa off the non-district schedule and replace them with a more winnable game as he was trying to build a young team. The first two years the Gov's took Alcoa off, they replaced them with Clarksville Northwest (not exactly a football powerhouse in the mid 2000's). What has always bugged me was that the kids were the ones that had to endure the "Cowards of the County" tshirts and the chants, when they had nothing to do with the decision.

I sometimes wonder what Randall could have done if he specialized in one sport and had the training resources available to today's players. From his sophomore year on, he was the starting tailback, the starting point guard, and the starting center fielder. I think he could have played at the next level in any one of those, but he may have had "big league" potential in baseball.

Interesting discussion ... and beneficial as we begin to work on the first ever William Blount Sports Hall of Fame class to be inducted next fall. I've not seen any names mentioned for WB that wouldn't deserve consideration --except for yours truly. Not sure what to do with some of the footballers from beginning years who didn't actually participate four years at WB. Could you consider their whole body of high school work? I would venture to say in all the years I've watched WB football (which with the exception of a two-year exile to Alcoa to serve as the Tornadoes team chaplain, would include all of them) that TJ Walker might have been one of the best defensive players the team ever had. Both of his bothers (Brad and Darren) were really good high school players as well. I agree with '91 on the impact of Reese and Tyler Burstrom. Tony (Meathead) is certainly up at the top ... but Junior "Cobb" Tillett might have been my favorite rb. You have to include Mike Fickert (not Steve) in there as well ... broke lots of WB rushing records. APB or Red Rebel, who was the defensive back that signed with one of the military institutes early on? Was his last name Deck? How about big Charles Rathbone ... went on to play at Carson Newman. And Josh Lawhon was one of my favorite evers. Old school player who once ran off the field with a 90 degree bend in this little finger, with the bone sticking out, and begged the trainers to tape it back up so he could finish the game. As far as Heritage ... I remember one night around '79 maybe when Richard Hyatt had 7 td's in a game. And who was the big end? Lee Strickland? Wasn't he really good? APB ... he might not merit a face on the mount, but the one year I remember playing substantial minutes against Alcoa, one the their best players I remember was one of the Love boys ... Sam. I was assigned to block down on him from my end position most of the night. I believe he had like 18 solo tackles against us. Stars ... would it be legit to say that many of the old timers might still argue that Danny Ray was the best Maryville football player ever?

This should be one of the more exciting tournaments in the past few years simply due to the parity in the district this year. I believe if they "show up" and play up to their capabilities, I would still have to favor Maryville ... but they seemed to have faltered a bit toward the end of the regular season. I truly believe that any team in the district (with the possible exception of one) is capable of beating any other team in the district on any given night. How do you all see it ending up? I'm picking Maryville, Hardin Valley, Bearden, and ... (here you go!) William Blount to move on to the region. While admittedly I am a "homer" when it comes to the Govs ... I still like the way they are playing as of late (despite a couple of disappointing losses in final week). We'll see! I may have some crow to eat before it's all over ... but what's new?

strongx (lafayette lane legend) ... they sure did enjoy the steak dinner, the new tennis shoes, and the X-box gaming systems we were able to give to each one of them last night! Not sure if those things will make any difference or not, but you never know ...

I believe the basketball programs have been somewhat more competitive at times. I've lost touch a little. My son's 8th grade year at CMS, we lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer to Maryville for the county championship. IF WB can manage to keep the current crop of 7th/8th graders that played last night together, I believe they can be very competitive in years to come. Some really good looking young athletes on both squads. CMS has a 7th grader that looks to be one of the better players to come through in a while.

The only small glitch I can see in the combining CMS and UGMS teams is that not all Carpenters kids are zoned WB. It would help if they were. BTW ... last night WB hosted a CMS vs UGMS boy's game before the varsity basketball games. The boys got the whole smoke, lights, intro music for starting line-ups treatment. There's still a few that haven't been "wallowing around and griping and moaning about how bad it is" all these years -- just a few!

I'll give your opening question a shot ... if high school refs arrive 30 minutes before game to get ready, and each game lasts 1.5 hours, that means they are "on the job" for 3 1/2 hours. Doing the math, that comes out to over $24.00 per hour. Many would consider that being paid "pretty well" my friend. Maybe high school refs, compared to the other levels you list, are behind ... but it's still decent pay.

Might have been a little "ballsey" on my part RR ... sorry.

Ronnie "Bear Hunter" Summey