NWTennSports

I must admit, that's a good point.

Well, I'm going from a Union City standpoint: UC-Obion Central .... In years past, OC fans would put the excrement of a farm animal under the visitors bleachers in anticipation of the UC game. Tacky day at each school comes the day before they play, and students wear the colors of the other school. UC-Humboldt .... I believe these two schools have played each other something like 80 times. Its one of the best little rivalries you've never heard of. UC-Milan .... These two teams have always played each other tough. Larry Shanks, UC's coach in the late 1970s, had very good success against Milan when it was THE premier program in West Tennessee. In the days of only one representative from each district to the state playoffs, this game usually decided that playoff spot.

With both McKenzie and Union City moving down, and everyone knowing that Bruceton and Lake County won't stay in their current funks forever, Class 1A in West Tennessee is about to get very good. Gleason and Halls really need to get it all together or they're gonna be left far behind. I would hate to see those schools become like Bradford and drop the sport.

Well, first of all, SF plays Greenfield and Gleason b/c they are in SF's region. SF plays Fulton City b/c the two schools are literally a rock's throw from each other. It's not SF's fault that Gleason and Lake County are down, that Fulton has barely over 100 students and is the smallest football-playing school in that haven of football (sarcasm) known as the Bluegrass, or that Greenfield is sort of an up-and-down program. .... Class 1A programs have this catch-22 problem: Not too many of the upper classes (and they're all upper classes when you're 1A) want to play a moderately successful 1A school b/c they want good competition, too, or b/c they don't want to risk the embarrassment of losing to a 1A team, and higher-profile 1A programs won't play them b/c they are getting the games with teams in the upper classes. ..... This year, SF has three Ky teams on its schedule: Fulton City, Fulton County and Ballard Memorial. That's what a program like SF has to do to get games. Too bad the upper-crust teams of 7-1A (USJ and JCS) won't play SF in the regular season. Too bad that Gibson Co. and Dyer Co. are fearful of an embarrassing loss (even though I don't know how GC's long-suffering program could get embarrassed anymore). As West Tenn. Class 1A gets stronger, so too will SF's schedule.

Let me just say it like this: All laws have loopholes, and people who stay on top always seem to find those loopholes. Now, that's not a knock or a dig at Milan or anyone else. That's just the system, and the system works for those who know how to exploit it.

I am in complete, total and absolute agreement that we have way too many classifications. 5 in public and 8 overall is idiotic. Someone mentioned that Los Angeles has more people than Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville combined. Try this: New York City has a bigger population than our entire state!!! Let's face it: Tennessee is a rural state (seven Saturdays each fall, Neyland Stadium is the state's 5th-largest city), and when you start separating in such a fashion, you start eliminating natural rivalries. .... I agree with the idea of four classes and bringing privates back in with the publics and doubling their enrollment so they would have to compete in 3A and 4A. But, this would also have to be the case for basketball. Right now, three public classes might actually be one too few. .... Also, a four-class system might hurt really small football-playing schools, forcing them to drop the sport. We already have numerous schools not playing football. Maybe the state should begin an 8-man classification for those really small schools who are not competitive even in the 5-class format. .... Hey, but don't bet on any of it happening too soon. Those first-round blowouts with 200 fans in the stands mean nothing to the Lords of the TSSAA, who take their cut of the money right off the top. They don't care if their schools lose a little money, as long as they are driving nice cars, living in nice houses and sending their children to private schools in the Nashville area. .... Before we have real classification change, we'll need regime change in Heritage.

Well, Huntingdon, Milan and McKenzie have good sections, although I was somewhat disappointed that McK didn't bring more people to its opener at Obion Central ...... One of lamest around now is Union City. In years past, the student section at hoops and football games was dubbed "The Do-Rights," and could they have a good time. Now, they might as well be known as "The Do-Nothings." And, get out of the way when the halftime show is over or you'll get trampled by the "fans" heading toward the exits.

Well, you should be proud. Better than being from Dyer County. .... Just a little fun. Nothing personal, all you DCians Jeez! .... As far as a new coach and the support staff: When Fishel moved up, only a handful of people had applied for the job. Apparently, the practice period and supplement issues carried more weight than the school's tradition. If they don't correct those issues, then the Director of Schools might be the next coach. Maybe then they'll see what all the fuss is about. The support at UC is kinda funny. UC is one of those towns that is run by a certain group of people, and if they don't come up with an idea, they're not too willing to support it. ... That said, alot of those people, especially the old-timers, won't just sit back and let the program go to pot.

redbird. ... I think you're missing the point. OC and SF fans are VERY upset over the format, and they want to express their opinion. I'm sure many of them have talked to station management and to the schools' administrations, and many have tried (unsuccessfully) to have their voices heard in such formats as Letters To The Editor. They don't care about the money invested, or who's doing the reports, or what teams are being covered, or what the station's format is. They want their teams back on the radio with play-by-play. .... Since money talks and bull---- walks, maybe fans of those two schools should pull a Martha Burk (bad example, I know, b/c she's such a fool) and boycott the sponsors of the new format. .... KF-99 should pick up OC and one of Tinkle's stations should pick up SF, since G.Wood in on his Sat. A.M. coaches show anyway. .... As far as the formats of the area stations, I wish all would go all-talk and all-sports. Have you heard what passes for music today?!??!?

I'll go with OC by a touchdown. .... But, what do I know? I'm hovering around No. 300 in The Big Ones contest.

OK, a few things here: 1. While UC is, indeed, 3-11 in its last 14 games, one-and-a-half seasons does not rain on the previous 20 years or the 100-plus year history of the program. I agree with the post about the coaching staff. They are young and inexperienced right now, and the staff has had a lot of turnover in recent years. Perhaps the biggest loss, equal to that of Randy Barnes retiring, was when Barry Duncan decided to move into administration. He was considered one of the best line coaches in the state. ... It will take time, but this program will be OK. We're not headed back to the days of the 1960s, when UC had, I think, nine losing seasons and suffered a mass player quitting in the latter part of that decade. 2. About the OC rival, since this post was started by an OC fan, he should have realized the series history would be posted. Gotta take the good with the bad. If we have to live with three losses in the last four years, then you have to live with the 35 losses in the previous 40 years. 3. To the post that used the word "non-sense": Other posts lead me to believe that you work at a local radio station. Adult-to-Adult and Student-to-Student trash talk is one thing. Adult-to-Student trash talk is kinda small. Glad you're a Redbirds fan, though. 4. About the cheerleader: Yes, a cheerleader fell doing a pyramid stunt. It was pretty scary for awhile as she was air-lifted to Memphis and there was fear of spinal damage. She's back home now, and the prognosis is good. Don't expect anything other than "Go UC, Go!" from the UC cheer squad for a long time, though. Cheerleaders are, in fact, athletes, and you either have to fully commit to the Westview-stlye of big-time cheering or not. You can't do it halfway. 5. I'm wondering if "dc38257" is a Dyer County fan. It should be pointed out that many years ago, coaches in West Tennessee dubbed Dyer County as the "Dodgers" b/c they avoided playing big-name schools and even opted to not compete for district titles (as it was back then) in favor of schedules loaded with the Gleasons of the world. It was schools like DC, in fact, that led to the TSSAA passing the compete-in-all-or-none rule several years ago. 6. About UC girls' athletics: Yes, there is a good collection of female athletes in the school, but there doesn't seem to be a full commitment to girls' athletics by the administration. I understand the girls' basketball team could not participate in a late-summer camp b/c it would have interfered with band camp. That's a shame. These girls should be given a real chance to compete. 7. Overall, UC's coaches and athletes should be held in amazement at what they have been able to accomplish, considering the school system's opposition to a practice period and the embarrassingly low supplements the coaches receive. At other schools, losing seasons in all sports would be expected. You'll notice there aren't many other "Whatever happened to..." topics on coachT. Finally, the UC program is down, but not out. Maybe this current coaching staff is the answer, maybe not. Maybe Class 1A is the answer, maybe not. Time will tell, not 14 games.

Hey, coachT, could you let me start over and pick again for the first three weeks. Maybe then I won't be ranked below my 5-year-old daughter.

I watched a documentary about a recent Massillon team on that Independent movie channel recently. .... Great stadium, and they take the game seriously in Ohio. ..... Texas, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and certain parts of California take prep football more seriously than anywhere else.

Granted, nice facility there, but it's all aluminum and no character. Even the fieldhouse, from the outside, looks like a big warehouse. I'm looking for the Sam's sign. Also, congrats on beating Franklin County. Hope you feel better about yourself now. .... And, can we do something to keep these Bama boys off this site? They think they invented the game. Hey, Bear's dead. Move on.

Well, saying a stadium is better than Dudley in Nashville is not saying very much. I love these big, fancy HS stadiums. If I ever get the chance, I'm going to watch games at Spartanburg, SC, Valdosta, Carmel, that Granite pit stadium and as many Texas HS stadiums as I can.

While we're at it, can I knock off all those misses that I didn't mean to pick?!?!? I'm currently in 200-something place and I, too, am look for a rule change to boost my standing.

One word: Punctuation .... Oh, come on. It's just a little joke. Let's lighten up out there.

If you were writing an advertising slogan promoting the CoachT website, what would it be? Mine would go something like this: "If I want to say something about high school sports, I don't write a letter to the editor. I post on CoachT."

Well, it's official: Union City is headed to Class 1A in all sports beginning with the next classification term. Anyone have any thoughts on this? As I said in another post, I have mixed feelings on this move. On the one hand, Union City has a tradition in 2A and, before that, Class AA (back in the days of districts) and was always competitive. With well-established rivalries against programs such as Westview, Humboldt and Milan, I have my reservations about trading some of those for Gleason, Greenfield and South Fulton. But on the other hand, the TSSAA (which I have many problems with) came up with a classification format in the name of fairness and competitive balance. Now, UC is 2-10 in its last 12 games, dating back to the 2002 playoffs, and was not competitive very often in 2003 during the midst of a terrible 2-8 season. The 2004 opener, 49-7 loss to JCM was not much better. So, I have a message to all those traditionalists who have said they will never attend another UC game if they are stuck playing the Gleasons and Greenfields of the world: I personally have no intentions of going to any more UC games if they play the way they did against JCM last week and the way they played most of last season. People should take a look at a program north of the state line: Mayfield. Many of you might not know much about Mayfield, but this team was a powerhouse in Ky. 2A for years before accepting a classification to 1A. They traded their traditional 2A district rivals for the likes of Fulton City, Fulton County and Ballard Memorial and have dominated since the move. When they dropped from 2A to 1A, they were still a 2A powerhouse. Now, they are a 1A powerhouse. They schedule their district opponents b/c the KHSAA tells them to, but they schedule a tough and attractive non-district schedule to get competition and to get a good gate. The move has not hurt or downgraded the Mayfield program. In fact, the team was 15-0 with a state title just a few years ago. The fact that the trophy said "1A State Champions" did not lessen the significance of the win. So, that should be some sort of lesson to the boys in Purple and Gold. BTW, if the TSSAA would go to four classes in all sports, like I feel they should, then UC would have been a 1A school a long time ago. I'm gonna miss the 2A games. But, fans of the UC program should not look as Class 1A being a step down for UC, but rather that the addition of UC can be a step up for 1A in West Tennessee. And, McKenzie coming down one class should make it less traumatic for the old goard at UC b/c McKenzie has put together a nice program in recent years. UC fans, one message to you: Give it four years. Attend the games and support your team. After all, it wasn't that long ago that one of UC's toughest rivals and biggest gates was a little team to the west. You know, it hails from Tiptonville. Wears green. Calls itself ... Lake County. ..... So what if LC is not the program it once was. That UC team that has taken the field the last 11 games bears VERY little resemblance to that 2A runner-up team of 2000. Anyway, something to think about.

By the way, did y'all know that Johnnie Hale Stadium is named after a woman? What is the meaning behind the name Rothrock? I've always been curious about that name.

OK, I had a little fun earlier on this board about the bands and Milan's head honcho, but I have to say that in all seriousness, both "The Rock" and Johnnie Hale Stadium are rich in history and tradition. .... Both have been the home to some great football players, many who went to UT. Both have hosted some great football games. And, both have their urban legends. .... At Milan, in the John Tucker years, the scoreboard clock was infamous for going out at critical points of the game. That's not a complaint or a knock, that's a part of the stadium's lore. .... Stuff like that was even part of professional football in past years: Former Raiders' coach John Madden was accused of flooding his field the day before playing teams with speed. Past KC coach Hank Stram was accused of bugging the visitors' locker room. ..... So, I take a little exception to my fellow Golden Tornado who said that at least "The Rock" had history and insinuating that Milan's did not (assuming I read the post correctly ... and that is an assumption, so correct me if I am wrong) b/c both places are rich in tradition. ..... This little controvery really does nothing more than add to the interest in the game. After all, at 11 p.m. Friday, the game will be over, JCM will be on the way home and coaches of both teams will be looking to the week ahead. I just hope the fans of both sides don't go too far in their ways of expressing that interest and their emotions. .... Good luck to both teams. Should be a great game, and another one for the annals of tradition-rich Hale Stadium.

Jeez, I can't believe no one has said Union City-Memphis Hillcrest .... I'm liking Covington-Haywood or Milan-Henry County ..... Will be good to see if Covington is ready for another state final run, especially after a near-miss vs. G-town last week, and to see if an improved Haywood team is ready to bounce back from last year's 4-7. ..... For Henry County, instant respect came to the struggling program in the name of Joe Gaddis, the new head coach. And, of course, Milan is Milan. ..... But, still: UC-MH. What more could you ask for?!?!?

If I'm hungry enough, I can run a 0.25 from my recliner to the fridge. So there.

That's another fine West Tenn. stadium. I see it on TV every year when the NAIA title game is televised

Thanks for the reminder. .... A dunk. At the buzzer.