........Anything is Possible as long as you Believe..

…Sometime on Saturday, September 13th, i am going to take a moment from putting together a sportscast and reflect.  Reflect on a dream that started back in 1991 that is coming true and still going strong.

Tomorrow, one of my best friends, Walter Wells, offensive line coach at Western Kentucky, will lead his team on the field to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.  Now we all know SEC football is great but Alabama is the apex, the pinnacle of all of that.  From the Bear to the National Championships, everything, Alabama is SEC football.  The point is, my friend will stand on that field in Tuscaloosa, realizing a dream come true.

First I have to take you back to 1991 when he and I were working at a bar in Nashville as bouncers/bartenders.  We were both out of school and just living for the moment.  But we had dreams.  Big dreams.  He wanted to be a college football coach, i wanted to do something, anything, for a living where I could have fun, entertain people and most off, be happy.  We had dreams but were a long way from realizing that. 

Then one day, the bar we were working at, out of the blue, shut down.  Gone.  Done.  Now what do we do.  It is now 1993, not any further towards our dream but like anything, we believed, but we had not put our plan in action. 

Then we did.  And lo and behold, thanks to the Grace of God and a ton of faith in His guidance, we started working towards our dreams.  I went back to college, got my degree, got a job at News 2 and worked my way up.  It took awhile, but i never once wavered in my faith and belief I could do it.

My friend, Walter, the same way.  He got a job coaching at Cumberland University in Lebabon, there 4 years, then took a very low paying job at Eastern Kentucky.  That turned into a 6 year stay, where he became offensive line coach and they put up some big numbers running the ball.  Then in 2003, he went to Western Kentucky, where he has been ever since.

And Saturday afternoon, from what started behind a night club on Murfreesboro Road all those years ago, will come to a great fruition as he stands on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. 

Why?  Because he believed, and he refused to be told no, and worked his tail off and out-hustled everyone else and most importantly, he had faith.  And with faith, you can move mountains and even a 300 pound Alabama lineman. 

.....Bring on the Upsets.......((BEDLAM IN THE BORO))

……They say everything happens in three’s…..and it certainly applies to college football this week and especially teams in the Volunteer state….UCLA upset UT last Monday….then Vandy takes down South Carolina and the ‘Dores take down the 24th ranked Gamecocks…..

And then there is Saturday night down in the Boro.  We will call it ‘BEDLAM IN THE BORO.’  MTSU took down Maryland 24 to 14 and it was possibly the greatest win in the history of the Blue Raiders….A BCS team, visiting Murfreesboro and the Blue Raiders with a huge statement to all of college football.  I don’t care what kind of season Maryland is having, this is huge.  Bigger than Vandy in 2001 and 2005?  That is a tough call but this is right up there with those wins….

Either way, a great night down in Murfreesboro that will be remembered for a long, long time…

..........WEEK 2 PREP BLITZ-SCORES

 

Here are the scores from Middle Tennessee on Friday night, September 5th…Also, if you want to see highlights from around the area, just click on the PREP BLITZ LOGO…..thanks

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Alcoa 28 , White House 6
BGA 7 , Father Ryan 3
Brentwood Academy 17 , McCallie 3
Cascade 48 , McEwen 24
Columbia Academy 35 , Cornersville 0
Community 27 , Nashville Christian 26
CPA 20 , DCA 13
David Lipscomb 21 , Page 0
Davidson Academy 27 , St. George’s 7
Ensworth 62 , St. Benedict 3
Forrest 13 , White House Heritage 7
Franklin County 30 , Warren County 12
Friendship Christian 28 , Clay County 0
Hickman County 7 , Fairview 6
Hunters Lane 33 , Antioch 20
Lawrence County 13 , Shelbyville 10
Lewis County 21 , Richland 0
Macon County 6 , Pearl Cohn 0
Middle TN Chr. 13 , Eagleville 7
Moore County 17 , Wayne County 14
Mt. Juliet 13 , Springfield 0
Oakland 46 , LaVergne 6
Riverdale 21 , Blackman 7
Rossview 20 , Clarksville 7
Scott County 34 , Stone Memorial 6
Siegel 31 , Wilson Central 28
Smith County 49 , Jackson County 6
Smyrna 7 , Lebanon 6
Spring Hill 39 , Montgomery Central 14
Trousdale County 45 , Watertown 7
York Institute 27 , Cannon County 7

.......The 'New' Vanderbilt....

What a great win for Vandy Thursday night knocking off the 24th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.  They did it with smash mouth football in front of a national tv audience on ESPN. 

As we were interviewing the players coming off the field, they all said ‘this is the new Vandy, get used to it.’  For those who aren’t familiar, the ‘old’ Vandy had a great knack for getting the lead in the 4th quarter and thru the wonderful world of Murphy’s Law, they were able to lose games in a variety of ways, like fumbles, interceptions, blocked kicks, etc, you name it, they have probably lost it that way.

No one was giving Vandy any kind of chance Thursday night.  The only people who thought Vandy could win, was Vandy.  You would think after last year when the Dores went over to Columbia and kicked the then ranked 6th Gamecocks in the mouth, they would have a little more respect going into the game. 

But that was the ‘old’ Vandy.  This is the new Vandy.   They are now 2 and 0, it is up to them to see how far they can go.  The ‘new’ Vandy just might make this a memorable season.

....A Big Orange Meltdown....

Gotta say watching the game Monday night between UCLA and UT, I had no doubt in the beginning that the Vols would crush the Bruins.  The turning moment for me came in the second quarter when UT had their punt blocked which UCLA returned for a touchdown.  Why?  Did you the punt block setup the Vols had?  They had their 2 gunners on the outside, typical, then the lineman had 3 yard splits.  Let me say that again, 3 YARD SPLITS!  And behind them, you had 3 blockers who were about 5 yards in front of the punter.  UCLA just teed up, came straight at UT and stuffed the punter and returned it for a touchdown. 

That my friends is just horrible, absolutely horrible coaching.  When I am playing with my son, if I give him a 5 yard head start, he is only 2, he is going to move me some because he had that head start.  Same goes with a punt team.  They had 5 yards, maybe more to get their motors running and it was ugly.  I thought to myself, ‘That is horrible coaching, even on special teams.  If they are doing that nonsense, what else do they have in store?’ 

Evidently plenty.  Tennessee averaged over 5 yards on the ground, yet they passed 10 more times than they ran.  Why?  Not sure, but that 16 year old, sorry Dave Clawson you did look 16 sitting in the booth, made the calls and if he would have just stayed on the ground and not thrown the ball, we would be talking about how great he is, Fulmer is and what a great year Tennessee is going to have.

Lastly, that was the only game on Monday night.  Which means Tuesday, on ESPN, they ran highlights of this game, over and over and over and over.  And it gets worse every time watching them.

UAB comes to Knoxville on the 13th.  That is going to be a bad day for UAB.  But on the 20th, the Gators come a callin’ and if UT can beat them, Monday’s loss to UCLA will be a long forgotten memory.