footballfan!

Come on...........you can do better than that. We liked the one about "who's the contender and who's the pretender".

I suspect a secret fan of the Warren County Middle School Football Team. The way you keep putting them down, it must be to motivate them further. As they have a tough game scheduled Monday against Christiana and another next Thursday against Ezell Harding, how about giving them some more fuel for the fire. Dig down really deep and give it all you've got!

I don't know where Rankin is from, but he taught and coached at the Warren County Junior High years ago and his wife is from here. She was fairest of the fair in '81 or '82 I believe, she was the former Sandra Luna. But, I agree, he probably wouldn't want to come back at this time. A spectactular coach may not be able to fix the team right now though, I still believe we need more raw talent in additional players. A coach can only help so much, he can't play on the field on Friday night.

The high school pioneer football team does deserve respect and support. Things go in cycles and sometimes there's not much you can do. One small thing that may help though is to finally be out from under the bad publicity surrounding their coach. (regardless of circumstance, bad rumors are spread faster and remembered longer) As for the ones that put them down, there is something you can do. For a high school population as large as it is compared to the number of players on the football team, we need some "drafted". How about we encourage boys to play more than one sport? How about we encourage those who don't play sports at all? How about all the complainers in the community come together, decide they want the program improved and build the football team with additional talent by encouraging others to join. Who knows, they might just like it, and better yet, we might win again. The boys who are playing should be commended for their dedication and their love of football, but a small team does hurt. (Even the very best get tired if there's no one to go in for them). If they are as dedicated in life as they are to their team they will go far. Good Luck Pioneers! If you always do your best, you should be proud because that's all anyone can ask of you!

I'm glad to see someone list David Upton. I don't know what kind of politics has kept him out over the years or if he'd even consider it again, but I can tell you from first hand he is a WONDERFUL motivator and a very good defensive coach. I have seen him get results that were unbelievable. I had heard he had been kept out of the high school for fear he would be too tough. They were wrong. I'm sure if you asked them, many of the younger guys and guys on the middle school team now and their parents would vouch for him. He was a very positive coach and the boys who played for him gained confidence and high self-esteem. I have also heard very good things about Madewell and Watson. The ability for a coach to be intelligent and a strong motivator for the guys is always a great combination. I don't want to take anything away from Britton or Lytle, I'm just not familiar with them.

Who else has Warren County Middle School played? In addition to the teams listed above, they beat Blackman Middle School last night 20-16. I would think a Murfreesboro team should be considered competition. They were out-sized and out-numbered, but they held in there and won! Someone needs to give them some respect for their hard work.