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?

I find it incredibly interesting that anyone would use a song as a "fight song" that talks about a girl as "half bear the other half cat", two strangers climbing rocky top to find moonshine, and that life in the city is like putting a dog in a pen. A good song, yes. Inspiring a football team to beat the crud out of another team, nah, I think people would rather go get drunk listening to it - regardless of winning or losing.

I'm surprised that Coffee County and Tullahoma have not been mentioned here. Though the rivalry is fairly lopsided, it's the third oldest in the state (79th meeting this year in 81 years), it splits one of the largest rural counties in the state (about 41,000 people) and Coffee County is one of only a few counties that has two legitimate "large towns" in Tullahoma and Manchester. Many other rural counties have one large county seat so these two fight for supremacy in their own backyards. The two municipalities really don't like each other, the schools next to hate each other and since Coffee County football has had a boost in the last two years, the 78th and 79th games had a combined attendance of over 15,000 people (who saw two great games by the way). I would say that when both of these schools have competitive teams (and it looks like it is going to be that way for a while right now), this rivalry can go head to head with just about any other one. And like others, you aren't into this rivalry if you aren't old school about it. It's simply one of the best spectacles that I've seen at the high school level these past two years. To read about this past year's game, click here: http://www.fantasyradio.com/coffeepot.shtml

It was my understanding that the Tennessean and other media as well as the 3-5A coaches had some variation of the following: 1. Coffee County or Franklin County 3. Lincoln County or Cookeville where either Coffee or Franklin was #1 (the other was #2), and Cookeville and Lincoln County did the same thing at #3 and #4. I know that was the case with the coaches and the Tennessean. And I respect Murphy, but I heard that some outlets had Cookeville fourth and for them to get that kind of impression (i.e. not good enough to get a home playoff game, but goot enough to make the playoffs) and now be ranked in the top 10 in the state (nevermind the region) is quite an impressive climb - with both polls being completely subjective. And you are right, Lincoln County should be happy with second, but for me after seeing them in person last friday - and after a week off - I'm not surprised that they are second. After seeing the top four in action, and what each had, I am surprised that Cookeville is the region champ (no disrespect to the Cavs, they have proven that they know how to win). Looking at all of the rosters and capabilities (and assuming no one was off of the team), I see Franklin County looked like the team to beat, Lincoln County was down, but they still had some great speed. Slightly (and I do mean SLIGHTLY) behind them, Cookeville and Coffee County seemed to be very equally matched but neither seemed to have the overall team speed of Franklin County or Lincoln County. Obviously that only figured in strength, speed and ability and not all of the intangibles (desire, coaching, strategy, luck...etc.) it takes to define a football team's season. Now, that's 20-20 hindsight for you. Obviously things didn't turn out like that. I know that in the case of Coffee County, it seemed to many that the plan was... 1. If you want a chance at winning the region, beat Cookeville. 2. If you want to win the region, beat Franklin County. 3. If you want to deserve the region, beat Lincoln County in the Pit. That would indicate to me that Cookeville wasn't getting a lot of respect, but kudos to coach Joslin and the Cavs. If they beat Franklin County (who was 2 points behind the Falcons who were 2 points behind Cookville) then they definitely deserve the region over anyone else. And that's saying a lot with a very packed 1-4 in the region.

Forgot one... Cookeville - after being picked by media and coaches to finish fourth in region 3-5A to being region champs and being ranked top 10. That was quite impressive.

Every year there is always a few teams that came out of the woodwork and made a statement in their region or statewide that busted up the scene a little bit. Who has been the biggest positive surprise so far? My vote would have to go to Hillwood and Coach Jerry Link for beating Hillsboro and having a fantastic year (on the football field at least) - they are one win away from winning the 5-4A region crown, I think for the first time in school history. Another vote would go to Coach Alexander and the Wilson Central Wildcats. Last year they won their first game in school history and this year they are in the thick of a battle for a playoff spot - though I am sure that was no surprise to them or their fans. Any other pleasant surprises out there?

Here's one argument for Jake Nunley to get nominated for the Mr. Football award. 1. Two consecutive 2,000 yard rushing seasons (if he gets it). 2. The award is given to an individual and Jake has done more on an individual basis for his team than anyone. If you are a running back and get yards because your offensive line makes holes the size of interstates, anyone can run through there. If your offensive line gives you enough to make one move (which is all Jake needs) then the yards you get are earned mostly on your own. 3. He has played against competition that is better than Coffee County and he has still rushed for over 120 yards in every game - even though the other team had already seen him last year and was ready to see what he could offer. 4. He is getting to the 2,000 yard mark this year running about 70-80% of the carries he had last year. 5. People look at the numbers he puts up and think, dang, those are high numbers. I look at those numbers and say that the only reason those numbers aren't higher is because the field is only 100 yards long. Jake can score from anywhere and has proven it. 6. The numbers Jake gets, he gets on his own. His offensive line gives him a foot and he will take a yard. If his offensive line gives him a yard, he might take a mile. Reasons Jake Nunley should not get the award... 1. He doesn't play against quality teams. - Well, some teams don't play against anyone that challenge them at all and as a result, their stats are inflated. 2. His team is 4-4 with two games to go. - Where would CC be without Jake Nunley? After you answer that question, answer this one - how much of a dropoff would there be if other Mr. Football candidates were not on their team? 3. He plays in a weak region. - And (if that is true) Jake Nunley has something to do with that for some odd reason? 4. He's not a winner - CC's record proves that. - When you are the only offensive weapon on a team that makes it to the playoffs and you are asked to carry the ball 40 times and get hammered by a punishing defense every time you touch the ball and you only average 1.8 yards a carry, most people would quit. Jake was asked to carry the rock 41 times and got hammered 41 times. There's no quit in him and if you flinch, he will score. And besides, this is an individual award, not a team award. 5. He's not worthy of the award going up against kids from schools with long histories of athletic achievement and dominating performances. - Right. Next time you're at the video store, rent Hoosiers, The Natural, Sea Biscuit, Major League, The Sandlot, Caddyshack and maybe most importantly, Wildcats. Check out all of those blue collar, good for nothing citizens of the world that don't have the background or reputation or geographic heritage of athletic royalty. All I'm asking is that the voters take a look at a blue collar kid who does nothing but take the ball and rush for positive yardage every change he gets. And right now he's on the brink of joining a short list of running backs who have crossed the 2,000 yard barrier twice in their high school career, knocking on the door of history. If there is a reason to vote for any of the candidates, here it is. The voters should not cast a deaf ear on Nunley because his team doesn't have the attributes of other teams. He's got himself and his abilities, and that has carried him to over 3,600 rushing yards in two years - on his own. No other player can say that. He deserves consideration because this is an individual award, not a team award. His record speaks for itself and should be judged on it's own. I think that when you look at the candidates by themselves (no disrespect to any of the other candidates), Jake Nunley belongs at the top of the list.

I'm pretty sure you can't just become a member of the AP - they are newspaper, radio and TV reporters that are part of an organization that subscribes to an AP service (and thus they can submit stories to the AP for publication on the AP Wire). They vote on the AP top 10 and so forth. As far as the Mr. Football awards go, I think that each radio station, newspaper and TV station that covers the minimum amount of games as required by the TSSAA each get one vote. From memory, a radio station has to broadcast 50% of a team's games or 50% of games in that station's coverage area. I'm not sure what the requirements are for TV and newspaper reporters. I could be wrong about that but you can look on the TSSAA's website to find out more about that process I am pretty sure.

I can't remember how it works, but when I get my ballot, I'll let you know.

I believe that each member is given one form to put three names on in each classification and area. I think the three top vote getters are invited to the banquet, but the outcome is already known - like the Heisman. I think that's true, but I could be wrong.

Quick Question.... For those coaches and media that have not made up their mind about who should win these awards, are we then not allowed to engage in constructive debate with those that sympathize with a candidate that might help us formulate an opinion as to who to vote for? I see the point about not having negative posts - there's no one more than me that doesn't want to see a high school kid's name tarnished in public. That's disgraceful and should be stopped. But we've built these kids and programs up to the point that it is such a public spectacle that as soon as someone makes something like a Mr. Football award, it polarizes the fans and forces people to make a decision that one 18-year old is better than another - and that's the travesty of the award. So, basically I'm asking of constructive critisizm and debate is still allowed. I'm not trying to incite vindictive conversation, just informative debate if that's ok.