tnradioguy

Mine too.

I just wanted to say a fond farewell to all those out there in coach T land. I've called high school sports on the radio in TN for the last six years but I've moved on to Indiana to entertain some business interests. I might get the chance to do some high school basketball games this winter though. Thanks and best of luck to all in 2005 and beyond. And shoot me a line if you're in the Indianapolis area. Good luck to all this weekend in Murfreesboro and happy holidays to everyone who follows high school athletics in the Volunteer State. TNRadioguy

Just happened to notice the new Coffee County schedule for 2005-06 and outside of the five region games, there is a tremendous contrast between opponents from last year's schedule to this year's. 2004 = Sweetwater, Grundy Co., Wilson Central, Siegel. Sweetwater is 2A, Grundy is 3A, Siegel is 2-18 in school history and Wilson Central (who I think will be quite formidable next year) made the playoffs for the first time this year at 5A. 2005 = Brentwood (5A, playoffs, lost in round 3), Overton (4A this year, playoffs, lost in round 2), Baylor (D-II AAA playoffs) and Shelbyville (strong regional rival). Has anyone had a change in schedule as dramatic or more dramatic than this one?

I especially loved the fact that when I was there, it was pointed right at me when it went off. A Cookeville touchdown meant duck and cover and hope it was a blank.

Well now, let's not just bait someone to come on here and try to discredit what Lebanon did on the field. You'd have to be pretty naive to say that Lebanon didn't deserve to win that game with the way they approached it and played it. Personally, I would have to say that the Red Raiders played the worst game of the year (in terms of results and statistics and all that stuff that leads people to play games on paper, NOT in terms of effort). I would also have to say that in terms of effort, Lebanon knew that if they performed to their potential, I don't think they thought there was going to be a way for Coffee County to beat them. As a result, they played with the confidence and conviction of a team that had it's sights set on doing one thing - playing each play like it was their last. For Coffee County (and other schools that don't get to the playoffs that often), I think that they have to understand the difference between confidence and a false sense of security. Coffee County may have believed that they belonged on that field with Lebanon, but never realized how h ard they had to play to get to the next level. Lebanon played with confidence tonight and Coffee County, though they played hard, didn't really come across with that swagger that confident teams have. That doesn't mean that they aren't a good team. I think that Coffee County is a very good blue collar, workmanlike team that sets it's sights on goals and works to achieve them - and the progress is definitely visible under coach Price. The problem of this game was that in trying to take a step the team had never taken before (win a playoff game), they went about it with a workmanlike attitude and possibly made some assumptions that should never have been made. One, should we get down, if we play our game we can come back. Two, expect Lebanon to be a good team, but don't expect them to do anything extraordinary. (That's called wishful thinking that your opponent will have an "average night"). And three, we can play a less than perfect game and win. If any of those assumptions were made, that's the kiss of death in a playoff game. The play rises to another level in that environment and there is nothing "average" about a playoff game. This step (winning a playoff game) has to be treated completely differently than any other game. Coffee County has proven that it can win the game that gets them into the playoffs. But they have not proven that they can bring the emotion, discipline and focus in the immediate moment of being eliminated from the playoffs and ending their season. You have to play with that sense from play number one in a playoff game, not just on those really big plays that come at important times in regular season games. It seemed that Lebanon took great pains in trying to prove that they were not going to be denied tonight and Coffee County needed to play with a sense of urgency that never materialized because of the turnovers in the first quarter. In preparing for this game, I never thought that it would be about athleticism or strength or speed or size. It really came down to how each team was preparing mentally and Lebanon took every lesson they learned and applied it perfectly. Coffee County came in and could not generate the intensity of the Blue Devils into the confidence the Red Raiders needed to win the ballgame. In short, the Blue Devils' goal was met quickly and decisively. But Coffee County will learn from this loss though. They can look back and see a team truly ready to take on a playoff opponent and then apply that knowledge to a future playoff berth - one that I think won't be far off in the near future.

There has to be more of these....

Here's another one from a radio announcer. He was calling a kickoff when the return man was hit and sent up into the air before landing on his side. The call went something like this.... "(he) makes the catch at the five, comes ahead to the ten, to the 15, cuts to his right at the 20, 25, 30, and is knocked up at the 35 yard line." The color commentator forced the rado crew to take a commercial break because he was laughing so hard. Any other strange radio calls out there?

THAT'S classic! Great stuff.

I just heard a couple of stories yesterday that I had to repeat. The first occurs in a game in the 50's or 60's, I forget, whereby the visiting team was penalized for holding. The referee began to mark off the 10 yards when the visiting team's coach started letting him have it from the sideline. The referee stopped, put the ball down, called an unsportsmanlike penalty on the coach and marched off another 15 yards. Well, the coach decides that he'll follow the referee as he marches off this latest penalty to the point that he walks onto the field and almost right up to the guy. Pretty soon everyone seems to notice that the ref has the ball in his hands and it looks like he's just going to keep on walking right off of the field. The coach finally figures out that he's walked more than 15 yards and asks the ref, "Hey, when are you going to stop walking." The ref replied, "As soon as you stop talking." Apparently he walked off 45 yards against the coach. The other happened in the 1950's in a scoreless game where the visiting team had the ball late in the game (and in the day) and had driven down the field to inside the home team's 10 yard line. On the next play, the visiting team's running back slammed through the line and down to the one foot line. With no scoreboard or visible timepiece, the referee marked the ball at the one, then picked it up and called the game due to darkness. It ended in a 0-0 tie. So, what's the best high school football story youv'e ever heard, or seen, or participated in?

In a word, unpredictable. They have played well against the run and the pass at times and not very well at times. I can say this, they do adjust well. As Coffee County got to the end of the season, they were able to shut out teams in the second half, that included Lincoln, Grundy and Franklin Co. The last two games they really didn't need to play that well in the second half to secure a victory. So, to really be honest, they've looked great at times in all phases and they have looked "less than perfect" in others. I would agree with the rest of the CC supporters in saying that the CC defense needs to play to it's potential (maybe even past it at times) to hang with Lebanon - otherwise they might have to outscore the Blue Devils in a touchdownfest. So, can a guy get any info on the Lebanon Blue Devils other than what's on the Tennessean's website? I know they have good running backs, how's the passing game and the defense and special teams?

Ok, here's some info on Coffee County for those Lebanon supporters that requested it. Jake Nunley is not the only player on the team, and he doesn't even get half the offensive plays called for him. The Red Raiders have two other backs that take the pressure off of Nunley, I think they have about 500 yards rushing this year apiece. They also double as pass catchers out of the backfield (and Nunley too, he has caught a few passes this year). Coffee County also has two bona fide deep threats and a tight end with better than average hands. Quarterback has thrown for over 1000 yards this year and is somewhere around 12th (I think) in the midstate in passing. You can find the stats on the Tennessean's website. The question will be Coffee County's defense. If the offense plays to form, it will probably develop into a game to see who can outscore whom. If CC's defense can play well against the Lebanon rushing attack, it will be a much closer and probably low scoring game. So, the offense is a bit more diverse that you might think, and it works pretty well. If it's clicking, Lebanon will have troubles and if Nunley has success, you'll probably see a lot of him. It will depend on how the Blue Devils react to it. Could someone give a decent rundown of the Blue Devils for those that aren't quite as knowledgable about this year's Lebanon team?

It might, but not for the media and coaches. Ballots are due Saturday.

I agree with you and I see where you are coming from, but I think that it's built so that a candidate that isn't on a playoff team (even if they have incredible stats) will get the same consideration as one that does go to the postseason. In that respect, it is an individual award, not a team award. The team award goes to those that bring home the hardware at the end of the year.

It won't matter how anyone does in the playoffs, ballots are due this Saturday.

If you had a vote for Mr. Football, what would be your criteria for picking the best back and best lineman in the state? How would you grade players that you had never seen before? What is most important? Here's a list of possible criteria, feel free to pick out what you think is most important and feel free to add your own - but PLEASE DO NOT push anyone's agenda as to why they should win or why so-and-so won it so many years ago. Just state what the criteria should be or offer an opinion on the award itself. Overall stats, team record, team history (i.e. winning tradition at the school), strength of schedule, strength of region, system (as in playing in a system that seemed to be perfect for the player), off the field issues (such as if a negative issue should negate a player because they "were not a role madel at a particluar time" or a positive issue such as great character outside of the football field)....feel free to add more. So, what's most important that defines the winner of the Mr. Football Award - for both the back and the lineman?