firstbasetn

For me it began and ended with the late Tom Hamrick at Blankenship Field. He's the gold standard to me, having grown up listening to him announce ORHS games. When I began to do PA work myself, my style emulated from Tom and the late Marshall Mann, who was the PA announcer for Braves games at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Guy also does an outstanding job and I also enjoy the work of Greg Judkins over at "Merryville".

Congratulations to Coach Blade and his staff and the players for their semifinal appearance this year. This program has been through much adversity in the last few years so it's gratifying to see the kids see it through and work through the playoffs away from Blankenship. Also congratulations to Mike Mullins for his AD of the year award. This program has turned the corner and has a lot to build on thanks to the leadership on this team. Best wishes to Jose Valedon as he continues his football career at Vanderbilt.

Congratulations to the Pirates and their fans for a great game today and for winning another gold ball

Hi everyone, On behalf of Jennifer Basler, Cooper (Shawn's now two-month old son) and the rest of the Basler family, we want to take the time to thank you for all of the best wishes, the calls and the visits while Shawn has been in the hospital. The outpouring of support and love from coaches, players and fans has been overwhelming. Shawn is improving slowly each day, however please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers while he is on the road to recovery. Thanks again and please keep the Baslers in your prayers. Greg Addington

Excellent work Catback. To add to the information provided, along with Jack Armstrong Stadium, which was named for Coach Armstrong in the 90s, Blankenship Field was named in honor of Dr. Alden H Blankenship, the first superintendent of the Oak Ridge City Schools. As was the case of most of early Oak Ridge, he didn't have much time to get the school system running. He had exactly 90 days to recruit staff, secure buildings, school supplies and establish the curriculum.

Coach Young has always been a class act. Regardless of whether he was at Bearden, Oak Ridge or CAK. Good luck in your retirement Coach!

There is nothing specific that is mentioned in the NFHS rule book that I have from last year. It's completely at the discretion of the game officials as to whether the use of a noise maker is subject to a penalty.

According to NFHS rules....... - Signaling ready for play is completely at the discretion of the referee. More often than not since there was some confusion as to the ruling on the field by team B, the ref will give that team the benefit of the doubt and make sure they are aware that there was no turnover on the play. - The rulebook does give officials discretion on penalizing nonplayers for indicating objections to an official's decision and attempting to influence a decision by an official, however the intent of the rule appears to be only for coaches, substitutes, trainers or other team attendants. Sideline warnings and penalties are only for violations of team players and coaches outside of the team box. In that instance, the more appropriate penalty would have been an unsportsmanlike conduct instead of a warning in that situation. To footballisgreat, if I understand the question correctly, the spot at the end of the game for the team that trails is for statistical purposes so that the proper stats can be credited to the player on that final play.

I have last year's version of the NFHS rule book. The non-contact unsportsmanlike conduct by nonplayers rule (rule 9, section 8, article 1) does not specifically mention bands or when they may or may not play during the course of the game. Examples are listed within the rules (for example, profanity, disrespecting a game official, unauthorized conferences, use of tobacco, etc) however the rule specifically states that penalties are not limited to the examples listed, so it's up to the discretion of the game officials. There's nothing I can find at the TSSAA website that specifically addresses this either, so again, it appears that everything points back to the discretion of the game officials as to whether or not the band playing on would bring out the yellow hankies. Hope this helps.

I would also enjoy seeing some of the smaller schools get TV time, however many of the smaller school facilities don't have the lighting that a live TV broadcast would require and there would be some complexities in getting a satellite truck and all of the associated gear in some places. It's a shame. Many smaller schools simply don't have the money to install more lights and don't have the space. All of that aside, I've seen quite a few A games that would have been very entertaining to watch on the small screen.

Region 2-AA at Loudon High School Austin-East 85 Fulton 46 Austin-East plays Seymour @ 9 tomorrow night

Region 2-A at Oneida High School Oliver Springs 38 Oneida 37 Oliver Springs plays Greenback @ 8 tomorrow night

Region 1-AAA at Greeneville High School Daniel Boone 36 Morristown West 43 Morristown West plays Greeneville @ 8 tomorrow night Region 1-AA at Union County High School Pigeon Forge 51 Unicoi County 45 Pigeon Forge plays Gatlinburg-Pittman @ 8 tomorrow night For no extra charge, two NCAA men's scores.... Duke 72 Florida State 77 Final Kentucky 52 2nd half Tennessee 50 15:02

Region 1-AAA at Greeneville High School Greeneville 60 Tennessee High 42 The Lady Greene Devils will face the winner of Daniel Boone/Morristown West Region 2-AAA at Sevier County High School Karns 58 Farragut 64 Heritage 53 Powell 79 Farragut plays Powell @ 8 PM tomorrow night Region 1-AA at Union County High School Gatlinburg-Pittman 74 Elizabethton 71 The Lady Highlanders will face the winner of Unicoi County/Pigeon Forge Region 2-AA at Loudon High School Seymour 63 Loudon 44 The Lady Eagles will face the winner of Fulton/Austin East Region 3-AA at Sequatchie County High School Brainerd 65 McMinn Central 79 The Lady Chargers will face the winner of Chattanooga Christian/Tyner Academy Region 2-A at Oneida High School Coalfield 36 Greenback 39 The Lady Cherokees will face the winner of Oneida/Oliver Springs

According to the News Sentinel: Greenback 39 Coalfield 36 Tough luck come tourney time Lady Jackets. Congratulations for a good 2005-2006 season.