OAK RIDGE WILDCAT FOOTBALL 2018

[BarneySox2007]

10 hours ago, bounder said:

I was down to the practice field this evening watching my GREATGRAND SON at a football camp. That sure makes my x-wife a old woman. haha He's only in 6th grade but looked pretty good. Got some good hands and ain't afraid to hit even though he was one of the smallest out there. There was some other middle school kids that looked pretty good also. Future cats. 

And it's just a practice field don't matter what it looks like. And at 6:00 it was bone dry, dang it was hot out there.

Barney I'll be over to the 7 on 7 in Murvil sat morning  come on by and say Hi! We'll watch us some Cats and Dogs go at it. 

I was over there on business yesterday and when I passed by the school I remembered the someone said the practice field was a mess so I thought I would check it out first hand. They had a couple of sprinklers running full blast at 4.30 and it looked like a swamp.  I really enjoy going over to Oak Ridge and looked forward to playing at Blankenship Field on the new turf. Then it became evident the government raised it's ugly head as usual on delays and that game might get played at that Albatross of practice field at the high school. Now hopefully it will be at Blankenship since the ball got fumbled on the field. 

[WilleTheWildcat]

I swear this will be my last post of this subject. Go to www.oakridgetoday.com for the final explanation on the turf issue. RIP after this season grass field. You were a big part of Oak Ridge and will not soon be forgotten.

Now, anybody have any strength left to go through the process of getting new locker rooms, home side stands and a jumbotron???

How about we just focus on getting people's butts in the stands at Blankenship during games. I thought some people came up with a great idea last season during the playoffs by giving students free tickets.

Provide bus service to the games, have local merchants provide products to give away, invite Stormy Daniels to perform after a game, (okay that is not gonna happen) but at Least I am trying.

[WilleTheWildcat]

Now on a serious note, there were many people in city government who worked hard to get the state grant and the turf put down. We should thank them. There was also citizens who worked together on this issue for free and they should be thanked for their time and effort.

RWR!

[IanMackaye]

Why is it a problem to get butts in seats for OR games?

[WilleTheWildcat]

8 minutes ago, IanMackaye said:

Why is it a problem to get butts in seats for OR games?

We travel well and  the fans who go to away games are very vocal. It can be a great time at away games.

As for home games my opinion  is that Oak Ridge has for decades been a city with an aging population, plant workers prefer to live in West Knox County and the end of the Cold War took lots of jobs out of Oak Ridge.

Who else has  an opinion???

[boyfromsi]

7 on 7 thoughts:

While admitting the 7 on 7's rarely predict success in the regular season, I thought we looked good, in spite of playing 2 brand new QB's.  We showed that we have good depth at our skill positions.  Both QB's had their ups and downs, but made some good throws.

On defense we still have a lot of work to do to replace last year's starters.  Important to get that right given our early schedule.  Players that stood out to me:  Pendergrass, Mitchell, Stacey-Wright, Booker, Gibbons and Stewart.  Next:  scrimmage against Heritage on July 27th. 

[WilleTheWildcat]

thanks

[BarneySox2007]

I'm just curious, is this just a wild dream or is this going to happen. Have they raised any money towards this stadium yet and what will the final cost be. Love to see this happen but I saw this on the wall at Buddy's BBQ four years ago when we came over to scrimmage O.R. and wondered what ever happened.

[catswild]

3 hours ago, boyfromsi said:

7 on 7 thoughts:

While admitting the 7 on 7's rarely predict success in the regular season, I thought we looked good, in spite of playing 2 brand new QB's.  We showed that we have good depth at our skill positions.  Both QB's had their ups and downs, but made some good throws.

On defense we still have a lot of work to do to replace last year's starters.  Important to get that right given our early schedule.  Players that stood out to me:  Pendergrass, Mitchell, Stacey-Wright, Booker, Gibbons and Stewart.  Next:  scrimmage against Heritage on July 27th. 

Wow

[bounder]

2 hours ago, BarneySox2007 said:

I'm just curious, is this just a wild dream or is this going to happen. Have they raised any money towards this stadium yet and what will the final cost be. Love to see this happen but I saw this on the wall at Buddy's BBQ four years ago when we came over to scrimmage O.R. and wondered what ever happened.

I think total "Dream" cost on this facility is about $6 million. A group is working on raising funds but aren't having the success they hoped for, doesn't mean anybody has given up though. Like it was said we have a aging population and the younger folks aren't rich either. Plus the major industry in Oak Ridge just doesn't give out large sums of money to anyone. They're aren't very civic minded when it comes to giving money away. 

[BarneySox2007]

On 7/15/2018 at 12:03 AM, bounder said:

I think total "Dream" cost on this facility is about $6 million. A group is working on raising funds but aren't having the success they hoped for, doesn't mean anybody has given up though. Like it was said we have a aging population and the younger folks aren't rich either. Plus the major industry in Oak Ridge just doesn't give out large sums of money to anyone. They're aren't very civic minded when it comes to giving money away. 

Go get a 30 year loan down at Y-12 Federal Credit Union in town and put a dollar tax on Big Ed's Pizza Pies and that should solve the issue.

[osunut2]

On ‎7‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 2:22 PM, WilleTheWildcat said:

As for home games my opinion  is that Oak Ridge has for decades been a city with an aging population, plant workers prefer to live in West Knox County and the end of the Cold War took lots of jobs out of Oak Ridge.

The median age in Oak Ridge according to the most recent census is 43.5 (vs. 32.7 in Knoxville). Statistically, that is a massive difference. Losing young families and working professionals to west/NW Knox County is obviously a big driver. Warren Gooch and the chamber of commerce have repeatedly reached out to the working professionals in Oak Ridge in an attempt to identify why so many people are willing to commute from Knox County to Oak Ridge, rather than live in Oak Ridge. The overwhelming reasons are pretty clear - overpriced "new" real estate, few "new" real estate opportunities, and outdated infrastructure. So unless Oak Ridge is planning to "modernize" or flood the housing market with new, reasonably affordable housing options, this problem isn't going anywhere.

I work in Oak Ridge, but I live in the Karns/Hardin Valley area. I know a lot of people who would love to take advantage of the OR schools, but many (including myself) have zero interest in moving to Oak Ridge, given their current real estate situation. So until the cost (per square foot) of a new house becomes more competitive with some of the new developments in Farragut/Hardin Valley, I wouldn't expect anything to change.