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I'm not sure whether or not
McKenzie should petition for the Winter Olympics, the
Iditarod or hosting Major League Baseball.
One could safely wager that
there is not other place than West Tennessee where you
have to shovel snow on a cold, blustery Tuesday and mow
the grass on hot and humid Saturday; where one has the
furnace on full blast in the morning and has the air
conditioning cranked up in the afternoon.
Tuesday's snowfall made me want
to construct the ski jumping venue at the high school,
speed skating in the middle school parking lot, ice
hockey at the football field, figure skating at Bethel,
then you could start the dog sled races at Parkers
Crossroads and finish up in McKenzie.
It was a strange day and, were I
a high school student, I would have felt cheated to be
on a vacation day when there was snow.
The snow also conjured up images
of several members of the MHS Class of 1979 converging
on my house for a game of spoons, chess, backgammon or
some other card games of chance...not that I would ever
do anything like that.
* * *
If you spent any time at all
with the Bethel baseball team during the off-season, you
had an idea that this team had some potential.
As of this week, the Wildcats
are the top team in the KIAC. Before we break out the
champagne bottles, leading the KIAC is vastly different
from winning the KIAC. BC coach Glenn Hayes is proud of
the school's first-ever sweep of Brescia (and on the
road, too), but says any celebration is premature.
But this team has come a long
way from its 4-for-63 start at North Georgia.
* * *
Speaking of Bethel, Dr. Laddie
Lollar suffered a broken hip last week and was in the
hospital in Jackson. Lollar is a long-time BC professor
who is revered by most all of his students in addition
to being the school's faculty representative to the NAIA.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
* * *
McKenzie has a new girls coach
in Joanie Albury. She comes from a good program in
Crockett County and has worked with a coach that knows
how to build a powerhouse team.
Albury was assistant to Lyle
LaRue, who guided the Dyer County Lady Choctaws to a No.
2 state ranking and a 33-0 mark before being upset by
Lexington in the sectionals at Cordova.
Albury takes over a team that
has a ton of talent and desire in addition to a few D-1
candidates down the road. Her situation sort of reminds
me of how current Gibson County coach David Russell
assessed his ascension to the Bradford job and Randy
Frazier's climb to the top of the Gleason girls' job:
"We both inherited pretty good programs when we got
here."
Albury will be charged with
taking a good team and making it better. I think she's
going to succeed.
* * *
There are stars in our midst.
Actually, there are all stars in our midst. Huntingdon
senior Crystal Fuller (soon to be a UTM Skyhawk) and
West Carroll senior Jessica Murphy (soon to be a Bethel
Lady Wildcat) have been selected to play in the
Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association East-West
All-Star game.
Two players from Class A schools
were selected to play for the West team. I think that's
pretty significant. We're starting to get some attention
in these parts and these girls are worthy of the honor.
Randy Coffman, who guided
Dyersburg to the state quarterfinals in 2001 and has led
the Lady Trojans to numerous substate appearances, will
coach the West team.
* * *
As of this writing, the
Nashville Predators are savoring their first National
Hockey League playoff experience and/or are getting
ready for the second round. Meanwhile, their cousins on
the Bluff City, the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA are
getting ready for their first post-season foray against
defending champion San Antonio.
Just a few months ago, the
Tennessee Titans reached the second round of the NFL
playoffs, bowing to eventual Super Bowl champion New
England.
Last week, a group asked
Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell to consider taking on the
Montreal Expos (something I advocated 14 years ago).
Sadly he said no. As much as it pains me to say this,
Purcell was right.
In any case, and just in case
you hadn't noticed, professional sports are a live and
well in Tennessee. |
