binns37388

You're exactly right, the Cats didn't score 35pts, they scored 40pts.

Tullahoma showed signs of being the football team I thought they could be. The Cats have the most speed I can ever remember in the backfield with Jordan Sheffield and Trey Burks. Jared Davis had a great solid game and the defense improved. Whether Tulahoma can win the District 8AAA championship this season is still to be seen, but the Cats can become the frontrunner next Thursday nite on tv and 101.5, Charter Channel 6 and fantansyradio.com with a win against Columbia, the reigning District 8AAA champion and state runner-up in 5A. Cody Farr, Dylan Crouch and Kyle Snell stood out on defense, but its a team effort. Support the THS QB Club by attending the pancake breakfast at the First Baptist Church from 7-10am and eating at Zaxby's anytime on Saturday. Congratulations to the coaches for an outstanding job tonite and good luck Thursday nite against the Lions.

If you are looking for a game to attend this Friday, Cookeville at Tullahoma should be a good one. Cookeville is the defending 6AAA champs. Franklin Co fans are always welcome. Good luck to the Rebels this season.

Blackman could be the best team on the Wildcats schedule. I hope so anyway. I thought my old buddy Jeff Mitchell had a good game plan and the athletes to make it work. Good luck to the Blaze the remainder of the season. Tullahoma has a chance to still have an outstanding season if they continue to make progress and I think they will. Cookeville will be a big challenge Friday nite at Tullahoma. They lost a tough game at Giles Co, so the Cavaliers will be hungry for a win also. Cookeville has a couple of good running backs, so the Wildcats need to work on their run defense. If last Friday nite was any indication, Tullahoma should be able to put some points on the board against anyone and I think the defense will get better. It was a great crowd and a fun game to watch as over 70pts were scored, but I would take a 3-0 victory this Friday.

For anyone who can't attend the Tullahoma-Blackman game Friday night in Tullahoma can listen to the game on the internet at www.fantasyradio.com. Scott Shasteen and Binns Jordan will have a pre-game starting at 6pm and after the game we will be talking with Tullahoma head coach John Olive and there will be a scoreboard show. Friday night the live broadcast on the radio, 101.5 will be the Shelbyville at Coffee Co game.

Pedo, does Coffee Co drug test their student-athletes? I just read in the paper where Tullahom has revived the drug testing of student-athletes at the school. I think its a good policy, but it's expensive. I would like to know what schools in 8AAA and the immediate area have that policy.

I agree with Raider 99. The Cats and Red Raiders have enough to worry about before talking about the Coffee Pot game. Coffee Co has a big home game with Warren Co in their district, which could decide who can make a run for the title is district 6AAA. Its the first district game for the Red Raiders. The Cats first district game is that week (Thursday nite tv game), so lets not worry about the Coffee Pot game until week 3 or the 4th game for both teams.

I thought Tullahoma's schedule was tough, and it is, but Lincoln Co's schedule is the toughest in District 8AAA. I realize the Falcons will be better this season, but their record may not show it. If they survive that schedule, then they will win the state championship. I think Columbia is the best team, with Tullahoma finishing 2nd, Lawrence Co 3rd, Lincoln Co 4th (because of their schedule), Shelbyville 5th and Franklin Co 6th. Tullahoma, with 6 home games and a little luck, could win the district. Every school has a cycle of real good athletes come through the system and it appears that Tullahoma is in that cycle now. With the Cats facing 3 reigning district champions to start the season, we'll know early in the season if Tullahoma can have that dream season.

Tullahoma traveled to Pulaski to take on Giles Co in their fan feast. Giles Co and Sam Davis Park have a brand new football stadium (1 yr old) and its a beautiful stadium and pressbox. The new stadium at Tullahoma was built by the same company that built the stadium at Pulaski. After talking to a person who was one of the main people who got this done in Pulaski, they spent about $2.1 million and Tullahoma spend about $4.5 million. They did spend a little over $600,000 on their pressbox and Tullahoma spent about $80,000. I was just trying to figure out what Tullahoma had that Giles Co didn't have for another $2.3 million. These figures are just guesses on my part and I'm actually basing this on what I have heard. Its something to think about. Back to the ballgame, the Wildcats first string defense dominated the Bobcats in the first half, holding them to negative yards. The Wildcats offense moved the ball up and down the field, but could only manage 3pts until late in the first half. Tullahoma took the ball in their own territory with less than 2 minutes to go in the half and scored a TD. The score with the first string was 17-6 and the final score was 24-12, as Giles Co scored with less than a minute to go. An overall good performance. Go the the Wildcat Web and read about the game sometime on Saturday. My partner,Scott Shasteen, has much more info. Tullahoma will host Riverdale this coming Tuesday(Aug 10th) in their final pre-season scrimmage in the Cats Fan Feast. I think kick-off is 7pm.

Tullahoma's preseason schedule will be at BGA, at Giles Co and hosting Riverdale.

I've heard that Coach Phil King, former head coach at Franklin Co, has applied for the job at Warren Co and has been interviewed. Phil went to school there and most coaches, at some point, would like to go back and coach at their alma mater. If he gets the opportunity, I hope he's successful.

There have been some major changes in the football coaching staff at Tullahoma High School. Woody Dillehay, the defensive co-ordinator, has resigned to concentrate on administration duties at the high school and spend more time with his family. Steve Britton will take over that role for the Cats. Ronnie Dyer is back on the staff and will work with the freshman team and help with the varsity on defense. Sam Melton will no longer be the offensive co-ordinator. Head coach John Olive will call the offensive plays this season. Coach Melton and Coach Dyer will be in the pressbox during the varsity games and will relay their info to Coach Olive and Coach Britton on the sidelines. Coach Melton will assume the head coaching duties for the THS golf team which Coach Brad White, the head baseball coach, had been doing for several years. It doesn't appear that the offense will change very much. We all hate to see Coach Dillehay leave the staff, but Coach Britton and Coach Dyer are veteran coaches who have tons of experience. With the influx of several talented freshman mixed in with a lot of veteran players returning, Tullahoma has all the pieces needed to have a highly successful season. This team will have more speed than they've had in a long time and one of the biggest lines in Coach Olive's tenure with 2 veteran QB's returning. It looks good on paper but again the Cats have a tough schedule opening at home with Murf Blackman on Aug 20th. Tullahoma does have 6 home games this season and all the finishing touches on the new stadium are complete.

Scott Shasteen and myself will be doing our sports talk show again this season (High School Sports Plus) beginning on Monday August 9th at 6pm on 101.5 radio in Manchester. After reading all the posts on this thread, I'm really looking forward to talking with Coach Nunley about this years Coffee Co football team. I hope the Red Raiders can turn the corner and have a very successful season. I think its very important to get off on the right foot which means beating Shelbyville at home on Aug 20th. It looks like you've got a good offensive coordinator in Coach Tidwell and I know that Coach Nunley is a very good defensive coach. Like someone posted earlier, hard work and dedication in the weight room is where it starts. Good luck.

When I was an assigning officer for baseball, I did try send umpires to locations that were closer to home or work, but some coaches don't want to see the same umpires all the time, so I had to mix it up somewhat. Mike Hollowell is trying to do the same thing in our area, but so many variables are involved. In Sequatchie Co's area, the schools are further apart and there's not much you can do about that. I guess there's no perfect way to assign games or pay for umpires, but all the suggestions that have been made will help make it better.

I don't know if Chris Parker still has the desire to coach at Warren Co, but at one time that was his dream job. I don't know if I've seen a coach that works as hard as Coach Parker in middle tn. If there was some way to get him at Warren Co, it would be great for the program. His transition from a single A school, Cascade, to the AAA level at Blackman has gone extremely well as I thought it would. You better get up real early to outwork Coach Parker.

If I had a son, I would love for Coach Morris to be his coach. I've been around Ricky for a long time and there's no doubt he knows the game very well and in my opinion is one of the best coaches I've seen and I've had dealings with many coaches over the years. I know he makes the kids work hard, but hard work and discipline produce winners. He comes from the same mold as Jackie Reavis, Dave Hall, Don Rhoton and other successful coaches in our area. Some umpires have a tough time with Ricky and he's raised heck with me many times, but he keeps me on my toes. I've always respected Ricky Morris as a coach and always will. I've umpired many games that Brian, Stephen and Josh have played over the years and they all were great players and fine young men, so I know that Coach Morris is doing something right. I don't know the circumstances at Franklin Co, but I do know the Rebels are losing a good one.

After I started this post, there have been a lot of well thought and honest opinions posted and I appreciate that very much. The merit pay for umpires is a good idea, but how to implement it would be hard to do. A smaller increase in pay for umpires would be fair, instead of no pay raise at all. I just talked with a coach from a small school and he said that there are several ways to raise money for their baseball programs, but you have to work at it with fundraisers and etc. Football at some schools support their other sports. I think if a small school can't afford to fund a minor sport, then it needs to be dropped. Maybe the smaller schools could use only one umpire behind the plate to save money. If you're gonna dance, you have to pay the fiddler is what my father always told me. Hopefully the committee the TSSAA has formed to look into this situation can read some of these comments and come up with a good solution. They also are looking into assigning fees that are charged to the schools by the assigning officers to furnish each school with umpires. As a former TSSAA baseball assigning officer, I do realize what a tough job that can be. Thats another can of worms that has me concerned. Some schools in my area will spend big bucks to send their baseball teams out of state to play in tournaments, but gripe about paying an extra $5 or $10 to an umpire. I've always loved the game of baseball and hopefully all these problems can be worked out and they can come up with a good solution. I do know one thing, education comes first in the overall scheme of things.

I'm not going to get into a discussion over whether umpires make too much money now, but the increase was going to be fairly substantial. $85 for a single game and $110 for a DH. I know most people who get on this board have a job. What if you hadn't had a raise for 3 years and finally the company said you're overdue for a raise, so next year you'll get your raise. Then when its about time you get that raise you've earned and the company says that they have changed their minds. They're going to think about it and discuss it for another year. Now wouldn't that make you a little mad. The TSSAA sounds like a bunch of Indian givers. The umpire pay schedule was published on the TSSAA website. Maybe we can get some Mexican umpires to work the games next season for a cheaper price. Our country is still sending companies to Mexico for the cheaper labor, while we're losing the jobs here in the USA. I guess we can thank Bill Clinton for that.

The umpire fees in high school baseball in Tennessee were supposed to be increased starting next season, but now the TSSAA has formed a committee to look into the increase in pay for umpires and has rescinded the increase for next season. Personally, I think that's a bad move. I'm sure there will be some people get on this board now and say that umpires are paid too much and etc. Its been at least 3 years since there was a pay increase I think for umpires and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these guys decide to not umpire next season. Its hard enough to get new people into this profession.

I had heard from a fairly reliable source that Ricky Morris would not be coaching the Rebels next Spring? Does anyone in Franklin Co know if this is true? I haven't talked with Ricky or Stanley Bean, so I really don't know if the rumor is true or false.

Anyone know if Ricky Morris has any interest in the job?

You sound a Siegel fan that just can't get over Tullahoma beating your ace pitcher Watson and knocking the Stars out of a chance of going to the state. Get over it crybaby.

Can you please let me know who won the game? Since Coffee County had no chance, I was too frightened to go to the game. And oh how embarrassing it must have been for the few Coffee County fans who were stupid enough to go. hehe. Binns, thanks for the congrats. Tullahoma played so hard. Honea left his guts on the field tonight I thought he was very impressive. Flip the coin - Brycen Davis on the mound and at the plate, Collin Baldwin in relief, Dylan Holt getting a two-strike bunt down, along with other guys, stepped up for Coffee County. I'm so happy for coach Jones. He deserves it and those kids deserve it. They have worked their tails off. Not to say Tullahoma hasn't. Coach White will have them back next year. They will be a force in 8-AAA again. Another thing, the crowd tonight did not disapoint. It was epic. I had a good time Pedo. I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in awhile. I wanted to try the strawberry shortcake. Jerry Mathis said it was real good. The kids will enjoy the state tournament. Its a special time. Its too bad the girls didn't win or it would have been a perfect nite for you guys. Have fun in Murfreesboro next week.

Can you please let me know who won the game? Since Coffee County had no chance, I was too frightened to go to the game. And oh how embarrassing it must have been for the few Coffee County fans who were stupid enough to go. Riverdale

Its people like you that make it hard for Tullahoma fans to pull for Columbia in the post-season. I still hope the Lions make it to the State tournament, because I have a lot of admiration and respect for Coach Pickle. I know how hard he's worked for the past several years and he's been an outstanding coach for a long time. I realize fans like you are in the minority. There's no doubt Columbia is a better baseball team than Tullahoma. The Lions have proved that on the field, but Tullahoma has come a long way from a team that won only 5 games the previous season. A win tonite would give the Cats 30 wins on the season and a trip to the State tournement. Coffee Co is a bigger rivalry for the Cats, but I haven't seen any Red Raider fans on Coach T bashing Tullahoma. This is one of the biggest baseball games in the history of Coffee Co, if not the biggest. Coach Chase Jones is one of the most underated coaches in Middle Tn and I'm sure the Cats will get their best effort. If the Coffee Co wins and goes to the State, then I wish them the best of luck. Coach Brad White and his assistant coaches are to be congratulated on getting Tullahoma back where the program used to be during Coach Jerry Mathis tenure. I disagree with it being biggest game in history, we have been to State before. It's just been a while. ( i was there then) Congrats to the Red Raiders. I hope you do good in the State. The PA announcer said after the game that it was the first time in the history of Coffee Co High School that the baseball team made it to the state, so I guess he was wrong according to the last post. I did say it was "one" of the biggest games ever for Coffee Co and not the biggest. Anyway, I'm happy for Coach Jones. It was a great crowd and a good game and the taco salad from the concession stand was very good. Tullahoma fans are disappointed, but the Cats couldn't execute the bunt and it cost them in a low scoring game. It still was a good season for Tullahoma, considering their record last year and the future looks good.