A few updates after some uninspired weeks October 7th: I watched Crestview beat an over matched Milton team, as part of Homecoming on Friday night. 61-20. Bulldogs have firepower, but are still a bit porous on defense. The poor Vikings are next, but it will come down to the game with Niceville for the District (as expected). I am anxious to see the playoff matchups in the 6A Panhandle, with Crestview, Niceville, NAVARRE, Pine Forest and ESCAMBIA, all really good. Until Navarre lost to Escambia, I had the Raiders as better than really good.

This coming Friday night, the top 2 ranked prep teams in the country play each other in an all California affair. St Johns Bosco and Mater Dei. Hope I can find that on TV or the internet. Oh, BTW, I saw where Brentwood Academy lost, first time in a couple of years. They will still win State. The Florida Gators beat LSU on Saturday. LSU was ranked #5 and since the loss to Kentucky, Florida has been improving every week. I still don’t think they can hang with Georgia, but there is certainly reason for optimism for Gator fans. Some polls have UF ahead of Kentucky, which is wrong. Maybe by December, but for now, the Cats dominated in Gainesville. Florida State jumped out to a 27-7 halftime lead, which had me texting family and friend with excited surprise. FSU did not score another point, and Miami put up 21 to win 28-17. Moral victory? Maybe only because they looked more like a team with some fight and potential than they have so far this season. Alabama is king of the hill. I hate to concede that I think Ohio State is the next strongest team. Georgia is up there, but has shown some vulnerabilities. Clemson is the class of the ACC, but not the same overall strength…at this point in the season. By December? Maybe so. With the Longhorns taking down Oklahoma and coach Riley firing Mike Stoops, I think the Sooners are done. It is early I know, but…West Virginia appears to be explosive enough to win the big12, but have plenty of tough games yet. Auburn laid an egg in Starkville and man, I think Tennessee can hang with the Beagles… Would love to see UCF get a shot, if they keep up the impressive W’s. I loathe Notre Dame, but they are on their way to the CFB Playoff. My only hope now is that they get paired with BAMA and the tide just humiliates them. Oct 14 update: Crestview humiliated FWB and I say again, not a fan of running up the score on over matched high school teams. Dogs are set to play Niceville in 2 weeks for the District championship. Out west, St John Bosco beat Mater Dei in a #1 v #2 matchup that wasn’t that close. Gators rallied to be Vandy, and now get a bye to get ready for Georgia…who got whacked by LSU. Ah the SEC…Tennessee beat Auburn on the plains, as big win for the Vols! October 22, 2018: Ohio State lost to Purdue! It wasn’t even close  WHOOP! Kentucky squeezed by Vandy. FSU looked good, but get Clemson this week OUCH! Alabama killed Tennessee, but then they kill everybody. Nebraska won. Washington State hosted Game Day and beat Oregon. Good day for them and Coach Leach. Titans went for 2 against the Chargers and threw incomplete – TWICE. Ugg. So, enough about that. This coming weekend is huge. Friday night the Fishheads come to Crestview. District title on the line and high seeding for the playoffs. BTW, 2 of the top 5 teams in Alabama play on ESPN2 that night, Thompson (little Tua) and Hewitt Trussville. I will be multitasking. Florida v Georgia in the Cocktail party, along with ESPN and College Gameday in Jax. Don’t think the Gators are quite ready for this, but I sure hope they find a way!! Noles vs Clemson will be hurtful to watch. I JUST NEED SOMEONE TO BEAT NOTRE DAME!!#$%$@ ANYBODY! Another thought to document before the Cocktail Party: I think Georgia will win, but of course will be pulling like Crazy for the Gators to prevail. Then, I want Kentucky to win out (not an easy ask I know) and win the SEC East AND play Bama in the SEC Championship game. That would have the Gators finishing 10-1 and not getting humiliated by the Tide in Atlanta. It could possibly even open the door for a coveted CFB Playoff spot, should Notre Dame get beat! Winning the East is prestigious, but having to play Alabama at any time prior to the playoff, is NOT something to hope for! Even if the Gators didn’t make the playoff, that would certainly be a New Year’s Day big 6 Bowl!

The AGONY of DEFEAT(S)

The AGONY of Defeats Well, it was quite a weekend for “my teams”, one that I sat through painfully. Painfully because both my knees still hurt as I recover from the surgeries. Painfully, because it was as dreadful a set of performances and outcomes as I can remember in a single weekend. Now, the pain is higher because the teams I am a fanatic for, are usually pretty good, - it is not like I am a Kansas Jayhawk football fan. The Seminoles, Gators and Crestview are usually above average, so that elevates my expectations, which in turn leads to more emotional let downs when they play so poorly.

Friday night was epic, as I looked forward to the showdown at Navarre all day, heck all week. I thought I could get the broadcast on JockJive and listen to the Navarre radio announcers, instead of the Crestview crew. The Crestview crew are most likely fantastic human beings, but I do not appreciate their “approach” to football coverage. Since I don’t like all the mean spirited and negative attacks that I see on social media and the internet, I will not say any more. JockJive was problematic, but I did hit a homerun by finding the TV coverage on a Pensacola station. Excellent broadcast and coverage! Crestview looked like Alabama playing Arkansas State in the first half. Four touchdowns of over 50 yards, and most of the “drives” were less than 5 plays. A 75+ yard run by Stanton and then 3 amazing pass plays for TD’s. On the other side, the Defense bent a little, but did not allow Navarre a single point in the 1st half. 28 – 0! We fans cannot help but get excited with a half like this, even when it is (hindsight) likely fools gold. Navarre gave up big plays, but there were not being pushed around on either side of the ball and that # 5 they have, wow. In the 2nd half, the Raiders played far more physical and hungry. They slowly but surely took over the game at the line of scrimmage, while CHS just hoped the clock would run out. It did not. With about 2 minutes to go in the game, Navarre had scored THIRTY FIVE unanswered points, to lead 35-28…Then, the team that had dozed for the 2nd half zipped down the field to score and pull within 1 point with less than a minute. GO FOR TWO I am saying through clenched teeth. No way you want to give them a shot in OT, as they were picking up 8 – 15 yards per play in the 2nd half! But nope, the Dawgs kicked the PAT to tie the game and send it to overtime. On the 2nd play in OT, Navarre intercepts for a pick 6, that was “nullified” because FHSAA rules don’t let defenses return interceptions for TDs, in the Kansas tie breaker OT format. Didn’t matter, their offence scored in 1 or 2 plays, game over Raiders 41, Bulldogs 35. I can’t help but be torqued at CHS, but I have to say that Navarre earned all my respect. They were so impressive and so determined and play a physical brand of football that is NEVER fools gold. Hats off to them. Crestview has more of the “3 and 4 star” kids, but with all the skill position fire power and a college size line, they are IMO, a finesse team. Many finesse teams are just that out of necessity, as they don’t have the big strong line to have a power running game, so they toss the ball around in an attempt to get into open space and let the athletes do their thing. The thing is, Crestview DOES have a huge and experience line. As with most high school teams, several key player are used on offense and defense, but dang. It looks like we are wasting the best roster we may have ever had, because maybe “we” have read all the press clippings, posted all thy hype tweets and have not been ready to play down and dirty smash mouth football. That is the hard part about this…I don’t have much confidence that this “intangible” will be corrected well enough to make a deep run. I do think Crestview will win most of the rest of the games on the schedule. West Florida Tech, Niceville and Thompson, AL are games that we can certainly lose, and I expect the Thompson game to be an ugly rout. They are just on a different level of talent, depth and everything else. They did lose to Hoover by 10 on Friday, so they will not come to Crestview that first Thursday in November undefeated. Crestview gets a lay up this week with the International School of Broward. Those poor kids. They go around the country every week playing top teams in every state, getting pummeled.

Noah Josey and Brentwood Academy showed some humanity on Friday night be keeping it under 60…OH, and this is potentially very exciting. In the NWFlorida Daily News today, coach Hatten was quoted as saying that Crestview is trying to set up to play Brentwood Academy next year! BA is the best team in Tennessee and according to cousin Bryan are very young, so they will likely be even better next season. My Bulldogs are a good prep team and this year’s squad may be one of our best in decades, but they ARE NOT IN THE BA league! Still, it would be a blast. I have documented that one of my first memories of high school football was when my Uncle Harold played for Crestview. It would be awesome for his grandson Noah, on a great team in Nashville to play Crestview! I will go, whether it is back home or here in Tennessee!

In other Prep notes: St Johns out of DC beat Hoover soundly a few weeks ago. This weekend they beat Miami Central in FIVE OVERTIMES! Impressive team out of the national capital and this week they play our semi pro team IMG Academy, so that is a hellavah schedule and a wow match up. Lincoln plays Lowndes and Niceville plays a Mississippi team. I have to hand it to the fishheads, they do play a tough schedule every year. Got crushed in Alabama last week. Maybe that helps my Crestview loss just a little. Now, on to Saturday night misery. Florida had beaten Kentucky 31 years in a row. Every year since 1986. The winning (or losing) streak is over. Kentucky out played the Gators in the swamp. They were the stronger more physical team and would not be denied. The Cats do not have a good passing game, but that QB is greased lightning running the ball. With his fleet feet and Benny Snell, UK simply punched Florida in the mouth and we had no answer. I was disappointed, but not shocked and not even angry. I have a lot of Kentucky fans that are friends and I was glad for them. Florida still has a higher ceiling (I think) in football and I do think Dan Mullen will get them moving in the right direction over the next couple of years. They “should” find the capacity to fight for #2 in the East, along with South Carolina and Tennessee, and maybe Kentucky. Hard to say exactly what Mullen can do short term to make this year’s team competitive and finds ways to improve. Without being too negative, I am not sold on Felipe Franks as the signal caller in Gainesville. Long wind up motion is slow. Decision making is lagging. Big and fast but VERY tentative when he keeps the ball. Most important, he gives me the vibe that his leadership is well….selfish. The balance between competitor and prima dona that all QB’s have, seems unbalanced at this stage and I hope Dan can help him. Or, we give the true freshman a shot.

Misery – my teams part 3 of 3. Florida State had a cupcake to help rebound from the CRUSHING that Va Tech put on them. SAMFORD came down from Birmingham to pick up a big check and get rolled. Uh, no they did not. They came down and beat the crap out of FSU for 3 quarters. Beat them in EVERY facet of the game – in Tallahassee. SAMFORD, not Stanford. It is hard to imagine how inept the FSU offensive line is. All these guys were very good recruits. The elephant in the room question for Noles fans is the coach. Is Willie Taggert this bad? Is he in over his head? How much time will he be allowed before panic creates the pressure to cut losses? I think we have to give him more time, but wow, what an ugly start. Not just the results, but how poorly the team looks in trying execute and do the basics…At Syracuse this Saturday AM… Clemson survived a pumped up Aggies team in College Station. A&M is ~5 or 6 in the SEC pecking order and they gave the top ACC (BY A HUGE MARGIN) team all they could handle. It is one game, but it reminds me that the ACC is NOWHERE the league that the SEC is, and that FSU should be able to fight for the conference crown most years.

The games to look forward to this weekend: Vandy at Notre Dame. Dores will get crushed but I will be rooting for them with all I got. Auburn and LSU should be a slugfest SEC West style. I will pull for TCU against Ohio State, just like I will pull for every team that the buckeyes play. I get how teams have hated on FSU when Jameis was pulling his despicable shenanigans. I do like some OSU fans, but loathe the program now. Boise and OK State should be a good shoot out. Duke at Baylor, with the starting QB done for the season. Man, Cutcliff is a great coach! Washington and Utah should be good. Southern Cal and Texas is blue blood but Horns are limping out of the gate. Bama will roll Ole Miss. Houston and Tex Tech will be like Boise and OK State, first one to 60 points…or 70. Maybe BYU hangs with the Badgers for 3 quarters…

NEXT weekend is going to be an exciting one, but time for that in a few days.

Overreaction to Week 1 of college and the prep recap

Since FSU played last night, the Noles are front of mind. Loved the energy pre game and was super excited. Not crazy about the uniforms, especially the helmets, but I guess that is me getting old. The Seminoles have more – far more – of the 4 and 5 star recruits than Virginia Tech, but no one would have guessed that last night, as the Hokies DEFENSE just dominated the FSU offensive line. It looked like a number One D, playing against their 3rd team offense at practice, but only worse. We have terrific skill position players at RB, TE and WR. Francios has a great arm and if given time, will absolutely pick apart any secondary. Half the time last night, defensive lineman raced him back to his drop back spot and beat him! Unopposed, most college d linemen can hurt a QB! FSU defense was mostly heroic, but could not withstand the offensive ineptitude that kept going 3 and out and losing field position. A couple of horrible calls by the refs hurt too, but FSU was WAY too sloppy to beat a decent team last night. The texting between myself, Roger and cousin Mark reflected our disappointment.

Coach Taggert has a lot of work to do. Even if we get things straight, the ACC belongs to Clemson, much like it did FSU for decades. And give Miami’s performance against LSU, I think VA TECH will be the team to face Clemson in the ACC title game – I know it is just one week!

Tennessee got whipped by a very good West Virginia team. I think that says more about WV than it does the Vols. Coach Pruitt will get UT to improve, the only problem is a MURDEROUS schedule – wow. I did see improvement with Guarrantano, so that is a positive. The biggest upset was Texas losing to Maryland. Bama, Georgia and Ohio State did what the top teams are supposed to do – rout. LSU looked much better than expected. Hawaii beat Navy, one week after routing Colorado State on the road. Safe to say the Rainbow Warriors are pretty dang good this year. Ole Miss looked good beating Texas Tech. UCF rolled UCONN. UCLA fell to Cincinnati and Arizona lost to BYU, so new coaches had struggles all across the country. Penn State SURVIVED App State in OT. Michigan State survived somebody they were expected to rout, so we can back off this “Big 10 East rules the world” stuff. The best big game was Auburn’s win over Washington. Both team brought big time defenses to Atlanta, but the beagles managed to get the W. Auburn did beat both Georgia and Alabama in the regular season last year, so they really are “that” good. Notre Dame beat a good Michigan team for a quality win, dang it. The Gators looked great against Charleston Southern, as well they should. Franks looked good – or improved I should say.

Florida plays Kentucky this week to open SEC play and that leads me into the list of what we can look forward to the rest of the weekend: UCLA and Oklahoma means it doesn’t get easier for Chip Kelly. USC and Stanford in a real meaningful Pac xx game. Clemson goes to A&M and so does GameDay. FSU gets a cupcake. Georgia at South Carolina should be fun and meaningful in the SEC East. Nebraska and Colorado in a throw back to big 8 days. Duke and Northwestern in the academic bowl this week, Navy and Memphis, yikes…So, a good weekend coming up.

As for the high school action, I sat through Crestview’s close win over St Martin, Miss. Bulldogs did not play with the hunger and fire that they should have, and their opponent was pretty good. It was a lucky escape with a W kind of night. This is a team that CHS routed 32-0 last year…Now, the show down with Navarre is on deck. This game, along with Niceville and West Florida, really does help determine the king of the hill for the panhandle (although Escambia already beat WF, so I should include them). We will see. On paper I like Crestview’s chance, but not if they play like they did in Mississippi. The picture of Navarre playing Tate, reminds me to mention - not only was cousin Bryan a star at Tate before Vandy, my mom also went to Tate for a while! Just for balance sake, cousin Frank is a renowned teacher at Navarre these days!

Wekiva, still a fairly new school, beat a good team from Georgia. Deerfield Beach also held up the Sunshine State pride, beating Buford GA. Hoover, fresh off a rout of one of the best team in Alabama, got SPANKED by St John’s of DC. I did not see that coming! Most of the other top team wons, but Bergan Catholic, NJ whipped Grayson Georgia pretty soundly. Two solid wins by easten/yankee teams over southern powers. One game last week that I failed to mention is where Maryville beat Oakland in a very close game. These are considered the top two public school teams in Tennessee. Brentwood Academy keeps rolling and we need a cage match at the end of the year between them and Maryville!

Counting down to the real start of college football

Well there were a handful of games this past weekend, with Hawaii’s victory over Colorado State the most meaningful. Speaking of Hawaii, they won the Little League World Series yesterday. Little League makes me remember why I love sports and as long as the parents are out of the picture (and broadcast), it is still innocent, or at least less tainted. I will have to spew some college football predictions in this post, but first let me recap what was a cool weekend of prep football. Crestview beat Bay 68-0. It was 55-0 at the half. I didn’t watch much of it and don’t care to watch any game that is so one sided. Also think some mercy needs to be shown and call the Dawgs off when it is out of hand, and maybe they did play the 9th graders in the 2nd half, I don’t know. Better save some of those points for the trip over to Mississippi, where Ocean Springs St Martin is waiting. A 2-0 team who was a playoff team last year, I expect they will not get rolled 68-0. Even with my distaste for massacre games, CHS did look like the talented team that we have been expecting. Stay humble boys and go win a big out of state match up for Florida.

Niceville fell to Lincoln. St Thomas Aquinas whacked DeMatha. Mater Dei wacked Bishop Gorman. Hoover whacked Pinson Valley. Maybe the best game I saw was the comeback Warren Central pulled to beat Louisville Trinity. Gutsy. Dr Phillips got spanked by a good Georgia team. This weekend, including the Crestview game, here are some others I will be keeping an eye on: St Johns from Washington DC area will go down to Birmingham to take on Hoover. Hoover does not lose very often, in state or out of state. Last week they SPANKED Pinson Valley with Auburn QB commit, who seemed to try to do it all by himself – a very bad idea. Bergan Catholic New Jersey will play Grayson Georgia and it should be a dandy! Deerfield Beach FL, will take on Georgia power Buford (smaller classification, but Georgia’s top team can PLAY). Another FL GA game is Wekiva vs N Gwinett. There are also a couple FL vs AL games with Dayton Mainland and Chaminade playing Huntsville schools Bob Jones and Muscle Shoals. Couple of big match ups in Ohio. Colrian and St Xavier in the Cinci area and St Ignatious vs Mentor up near Cleveland.

College time and the first thing is here is a great site to bookmark: http://www.gameviewingguide.com/ OK, the best programs in college football are: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin and Georgia. Penn State is there and Auburn is close. Miami is close. Texas is coming. USC is talented, Notre Dame is talented. UCLA under Kelly will get good. Nebraska under Frost will get good quick. Mich State should be good this year, and I think South Carolina is close…kind of. Florida has good football players, but the first year under a coach is iffy most of the time and the SEC is not nice. The Tennessee game is huge for the Gators, as I expect the Vols to be much improved. Maybe not improved enough to beat West Virginia on Saturday, but still.

Florida State also has a 1st year coach, so again, I don’t feel as sure of what to expect. Like UF, FSU has plenty of good football players. Do not expect them to be good enough to beat Clemson, but for the Noles, the Miami game is key. As it has been so many times over the years. There are hundreds of media predictions out there, so I don’t get points for having special insights, but here are my picks: Miami and Clemson to play in the ACC Championship Georgia and Alabama in the SEC Texas and Oklahoma in a rematch for Big 12 Wisconsin and Ohio State in the big10 Washington and Utah in the Pac. The Playoff will have Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia, as much as I hate including the Urban Liar’s team. Clemson is my pick to win it all, and it will be the long hair true freshman who is the QB when it counts. Last night, Northwestern and Purdue was worth watching. UCF demolished UCONN and look to be a force again this year even with Scott Frost gone on to Nebraska. Tonight, Duke vs Army will be watchable only because I like Duke and not too many other good games on. Western Kentucky at Wisconsin will be close for about 59 seconds, not because Western is bad, but the Badgers are huge and legit. Will just out physical the smaller team. Colorado and Colorado State has some value just because in state rivalries are “throw out the record books” sometimes. Don’t think Bobo has a long future with the Rams, but I remember him as a high school QB in Thomasville GA! Then on Saturday it is a FEAST of football! The best early games are Ole Miss v Texas Tech and FAU vs Oklahoma. Oklahoma should win, but Lame Kiffin’s Owls will make them work for it. The early afternoon slot has Tennessee and West Virginia playing in Charlotte. Hope the Vols can get Will Grier to throw it to the Orange team a few times, and establish power running game. The Marquee game is Auburn vs Washington! Hot diggity dog! Gators play Charleston and I hope our QB from Wakula has improved a bunch! SEC play will get here fast.

North Carolina plays Cal in an ACC vs Pac whatever match up. Heels are declining… Then the night time slate has MTSU v Vandy in a local game. Alabama will over power Louisville. Michigan vs Notre Dame should be a good one to watch! LATE late we have BYU Arizona and Navy at Hawaii. I hope to watch some of those games before passing out. Don’t stay up as late as I used too, and I had BOTH knees operated on Thursday, so I’m gobbling pain pills for a few days. Then on Sunday night, LSU and Miami go at it.

Finally, the Monday Night Football – college style is Virginia Tech in Tally to tangle with the Seminoles. Like the Hokies young coach, but sure hope FSU can hold serve at home and get Willie Taggert’s legacy started off right. Deondre should find some open receivers and Cam Akers should be able to get some nice stats against a young Foster defense. LIFE IS GREAT! Go Crestview, Go Gators, Go Vols and Go Noles.

Well, it was a fun start to the football season, the prep level anyway.

I watched Crestview on Facebook, and am so thankful for the broadcast on this vehicle! I cannot abide the “local” announcers, so I usually have the audio muted, at least until the band take the field. Crestview looked very good offensively against Madison. They scored 42 points in this scrimmage with some different format with possessions, at different yard lines. The left handed QB made some good throws and the starting tailback is a good one. The back up QB came in several times and looked shaky with the ball, but boy is he quick! Line is huge and skill position players are legit and abundant. The defense was good but not great. I think this era of Bulldog football is so offense minded, that the defense will probably be good by not great. Will have to out score the better teams. Madison brought some excellent athletes and while they are a 1A school (less than 500 students, which is about how big Crestview’s band is) they field a team that can line up with 95% of the teams in the country. At least 3 D1 kids on the Cowboys this season, with FSU going after 2 of them. The real season starts this week with the Bay High tornados out of Panama City. They won big in their classic, so Dawgs better take them seriously. I noticed an update to the Crestview schedule. The Tampa Catholic game has been replaced by International School of Broward. That absolutely helps Crestview! BTW, ISB plays here in Nashville against Noah Josey and Brentwood Academy the week before they play Crestview.

After the Crestview/Madison “scrimmage”, I watched one of the best teams in Arizona play a very strong team from California. Just like last year, Centennial (Corona, Ca) beat Chandler Az. The numbers usually win out. California, like Texas and Florida have so many schools/teams, that the best from those states typically are stronger than the best from smaller states – not always, but generally speaking. At the same time I was watching Folsom Ca, try to end De La Salle’s NoCal win streak, on my phone. DLS won 14 – 0 to keep their streak going and the national reputation high.

This coming weekend, many other states get their prep season going and ESPN is having a big splash of inter-state match ups and a couple of key in state showdowns. Probably the biggest as far as national rankings go, is Mater Dai vs Bishop Gorman. Warren Indiana matches up with Louisville Trinity, Our Lady of Good Counsel (Maryland) plays Marietta, Ga. IMG semi pro team plays Pine Richland out of Pennsylvania. Colquitt Ga, takes on Trinity Catholic St Louis. Cedar Grove GA bumps heads with Hewett Trussell AL. Also in Alabama, to top 5 teams Hoover and Pinson Valley play at lunch time on Saturday on ESPN. Grayson GA is touted as the top team in the peach state, and they get tested by Tucker. Out west, Centennial CA, fresh off a whipping of Chandler AZ, gets Orange Lutheran. Finally, the state of Ohio has a big one, when Hoban (Akron) plays St Ignatious. The late game Saturday night is St Thomas Aquinas vs DeMatha – should be a good one. BTW, IMG the semi pro team out of Bradenton, get pushed around by Lake City Columbia in a preseason game. Not sure if that is more about how good Columbia is, or how unimpressive IMG was…

theOhioState proved that they are just as greedy and that football rules, as all the other power schools, even the ones I pull for in Florida...sad but true

Football season 2018 I probably will not keep up with the 1FootIn blog this year, at least I think that is where my head/heart is right now. I do want to capture some thoughts as the season approaches, but then just take it a week at a time. The most excitement for me for 2018 is my high school – the Crestview Bulldogs. Yes I am a 50 something year old guy and it may be questionable at some level that I am still such a staunch supporter of my high school, I’m okay with any crap that may get thrown my way. My dad played for Crestview, uncles, cousins, friends and now that I’m 40 years gone, I certainly don’t feel that “must get out of this little hick town” that I felt constantly at 16 and 17 years old.

Crestview’s football program was a power back in my dad’s day mid to late 50’s. Not so much in the 60’s and 70’s, but when I was a kid, going to a Crestview game (or Choctaw) was EPIC. I was never a star during my playing time, heck I wasn’t even a starTER, but again, my love for the game and school is deep into my DNA/soul. When cuz Larry Josey played, I think Crestview had the 2nd best team in their classification, but had to play Suwanee Live Oak, before the championship game. It was a thriller and the wrong Bulldogs prevailed and then smoked their opponent in the title game. In 2002, Crestview made it to the championship game against Rockledge. Duane and I tailgated before the game at Doak Campbell, on a hot sunny December day. It was so much fun! Matt Brunson was the coach and seemed to get a lot out of the kids, especially on defense. His offenses often were conservative, but perhaps that was due to the caliber of players he had (cousin Mark and I often grumbled ). Enough of the nostalgia. Last season was Crestview’s best in at least 15 years. Coach Hatton had a wide open offense that simply rolled up yardage and points. They ran the table in the regular season and won a couple of play off games before St Augustine ended the run for “us”. In addition to undefeated regular season, beating Navarre and Escambia, beating Niceville for the 2nd year in a row was great. For 2018 most of those kids are back, so there is reason for excitement and optimism. A HUGE veteran offensive line, some of the best receivers we have ever hand and college running back are some of the reasons for the anticipation. I don’t know about QB and that is no small question to have lingering and the schedule is MONSTER’S ROW! WOW! We open this Friday night with the Madison Cowboys, the defending state champs in one of the smaller classification. Madison is a power every year and will play anybody – Valdosta, Lincoln, Apopka, you name it. It is the kick off classic, the preseason game that in Florida does not count as a regular season game, unless you are playing in Alabama or Georgia (OOS) where their season has already started – then it counts. The regular season gets started against Panama City BAY on 8/24. My Sr year, Bay was the 3A champs in Florida.$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Week 2 has Crestview traveling out of state to play in Mississippi, against St Martin, a playoff team last year. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Week 3 we travel to Navarre, who along with Niceville has been “the” power in the panhandle over the 10 years. There was no Navarre HS in my day, but now cousin Frank Oatman is a teacher there. The Raiders again will be one of the top team in the north part of Florida and this is a huge showdown. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Week 4 Crestview plays Tampa Catholic. A private school power way down the peninsula. They churn D1 and NFL guys out like a machine and are always deep into the playoff run. The hurricane wiped out this match up last season, which might have helped us run the regular season table. I covered a TC game for the Orlando Sentinel back in 2008 (give or take a season). They had a half a dozen D1 kids and at least 2 that year that went on to the NFL. OH BOY! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Week 5 The West Florida Jaguars. They own Pensacola, along with Escambia. Fantastic program year in and year out now. Crestview beat them last season and somehow the pundits had WF ranked higher than the Dawgs in the “all class” rankings. Boo hiss… ############################################################################################## Week 6 Choctaw – the big green Indians are well coached and a force to be reckoned with. A county rival that I have wonderful memories of watching as a very young boy. Their band is spectacular with the long native American feather head dresses (BTW, the bands in Okaloosa County are tremendous. Even when Crestview’s football team is not good, our band is ALWAYS fantastic). &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Week 7 Milton – the Panthers were a big rival in the 70s and 80s. I don’t know how tough they will be this season, but it will be homecoming and “Lord willing” I will be home for this one. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Week 8 Fort Walton Beach – In elementary school I lived a few blocks away when this school was built. It is also the alma mater of my wife and her siblings. Bro in Law John was quite the player for the Vikings back in the day. They have been over shadowed for a few years by Niceville, Choctaw, Navarre and lately Crestview. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Week 9 is a BYE week to get ready for the rival game and likely the district showdown $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Week 10 is the Fishheads – Niceville Eagles. Long the bitter rivals who have a fantastic athletic program, not just football. Two of the most exciting games I ever witnessed were Crestview – Niceville games with championships on the line, and Cam Sanders at QB for us. Two years ago, I took my dad to his last Bulldog game, and Crestview upset Niceville to win the district and really jump start the momentum that we are enjoying going into 2018. Win or lose, Crestview “should” get a playoff berth, but that is speculation in August. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Week 11 is a week of rest for many teams, as they try to heal up for a playoff run. Not this year for Crestview. Nope. Week 11 Crestview will host Thompson High out of Alabaster (Bham) for their 2nd OOS foe of the season. Thompson is just one of the top 2-3 teams in the entire state of Alabama, a strong high school football state. They are ranked in the top 50 NATIONALLY (ahead of Brentwood Academy – maybe the top team in Tennessee and where Noah Josey will be making his mark) and will battle Hoover for the bull of the ring in Alabama. Their QB is none other than Taulia Tagoailoa, the younger brother of “Tua” who saved the national championship game for the Crimson Tide. Little brother broke all kinds of records in Alabama last year as a junior and had committed to Nick Satan () and the Tide. No resting up for the playoffs, instead a home game against one of the best teams to ever play in Crestview. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Week 12? Playoffs. As far as other big prep games this weekend - in August (why play football games in the hottest month of the year?) there are some good ones. Out in NorCal, where my sons live now, nationally renowned De La Salle plays rising power Folsom (yep, that Folsom that Johnny Cash sang about the prison). One of the top teams in Arizona – Chandler, plays Centennial California. Navarre’s KO classic is against a Mississippi team that I don’t know much about – Louisville.

I have to give some more thoughts to the college season. It is the first time in memory that both “my” Noles and Gators will have new coaches.

Championship weekend post script

Championship weekend and the Bowl Selection Sunday Well, the top of the news is that Georgia exacted revenge and thrashed Auburn in Atlanta. My bud Johnny predicted as much, but I was surprised. Oklahoma rolled TCU and Clemson DESTROYED Miami. USC edged Stanford and Ohio State slipped by Wisconsin. It was the buckies W that had the country debating who the 4th playoff team would be. Alabama, who only lost to Auburn, but did not have a stellar schedule resume, or Ohio State, who won the big10 (which still can’t count) but lost twice and one of those was by 31 to IOWA (not even ranked). Frankly, I’m tired of Alabama, but expect that they would be favored against EVERY team in the country by New Year’s Day, especially Ohio State. I’m even more over Ohio State, who seems to get the Notre Dame “pass” almost every time. Last year they were awarded a playoff spot over Penn State, who actually won the conference, and the buckies got demolished by Clemson 31-0.....  You could argue that USC should be in the mix with only 2 losses, but don’t bother. Instead, join me in embracing the EIGHT team playoff. All 5 power conferences get their CHAMPION in. The top non-power 5 team gets a spot (this year it would be UCF at 12-0). Then we have 2 at large openings for last year’s Ohio State or this year’s Alabama. IF we used this format this season we would get Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC as the conference champions. Then UCF would be and the remaining two at large bids would be Alabama and Wisconsin. A very nice tournament with the SEC and big 10 getting 2 teams in the field. This will allow for EVERY power 5 conference be to “IN”, it throws a bone to the little guys (UCF this year and Central Michigan last year). It also allows for all the pundits to argue about the eye test and all the other crap that is used to justify our regional biases. What would be the down side? A whole bunch of …nothing. You can still use bowl games for the 1st and 2nd rounds. TV laughs all the way to the bank. The student athletes will not suffer, as real student athletes in the lower tiers of college football have been having 16 team playoffs for YEARS! Will 8 teams solve all the arguing? Of course not. Those 9-12 teams will always be pissed and their supporters outraged. But, we would get at a minimum, the top 4-5 teams for sure, along with some regional balance that makes everyone feel included. And of course the rich will get richer because the money faucets will be pouring cash. Or, another option/idea is to make conference championship games “make or break”. If you lose like Auburn, Wisconsin, Stanford, TCU and Miami, just shut up and go play a bowl game and be thankful. That will happen in any “system” for the most part, but in the 8 team format I am behind, Wisconsin would still slide into the playoff back door with one of the at large slots.

What else happened in the 1 foot in football world? Friendship won the Tennessee state championship for the private schools smallest classification and I enjoyed that outing with my buds Russ and Johnny. Brentwood Academy (with Noah Josey) won the largest classification again. Around the country the big states continued their playoffs (Florida, Georgia, Texas and California primarily).

Now the Bowl games are set and here are some of the one’s that I’m intrigued by: The Bahamas Bowl included UAB, which somehow overcame the flushing of their program by the great state of Alabama politicians (see Roy Moore…). Way to go Blazers The Independence Bowl simply because FSU kept the streak alive – now 36 years and counting. Stop right here and mention that we hired Willie Taggert away from Oregon yesterday. He has done very well but with a small sample size…so, I’m OK with the hire but certainly not blown away.

Stanford and TCU in the Alamo will be interesting, as will the Liberty with Memphis and Iowa State. That one could be called the up and coming coaches bowl. Penn State and Washington should be fun, but the MOST interesting will be Georgia and Oklahoma. I’m absolutely on board with Georgia being a player in the top 10 for years to come, as Kirby is doing everything right. I just don’t think they have the edge that Baker the touchdown maker Mayfield gives the Sooners. Looking forward to that RED out… It will be interesting after Baker wins the Heisman, to see if he can keep his shoes on the ground…

College Coaches have really nice severance packages

Rivalry weekend – one to be Thankful for! The best game was the Iron Bowl. I went over to Jason’s and watched the first half with he and Marye. It turned out to be a glorious day for the War Beagles from Auburn, as they not only beat their RIVAL Bama, but took down their 2nd #1 ranked team in 3 weeks. The Noles beat the Gators, in a fairly anticlimactic game. FSU is playing LA Monroe this week (cancelled or postponed from earlier because of the hurricane) in hopes of keeping the 36 year bowl streak going… Rumor has it that Jimbo is off to Texas A&M. Good for him. Despite winning a national championship, he never felt like a good fit to me…he was the guy to follow the GUY, coach Bowden. That usually is complicated at best. No idea who FSU might go after if he does bolt. The best coaches in the country are Saban, Dabo and Urban, with James Franklin and Gary Patterson not too far down the list. Chip Kelly took the UCLA job, which left the Gators trying to land Scott Frost into the boat. It appears that the UCF coach will go “home” to Nebraska instead of Gainesville. BTW, the UCF vs USF game was tremendous. Clayton and I watched the very exciting finish.

Back to the Florida Gators. After casting towards Kelly and Frost, they hired Dan Mullen. Very good coach with UF ties, and a safe hire (unlike Tennessee). I think they may be “settling” a tad, but who else is out there really? Stoops? Dream on… Dan will do well, but he better bring his AAA game, because Kirby Smart is building Georgia into the beast of the East…another BTW, nephew Coach Baker played a significant role in Georgia’s dismantling of Georgia Tech. He was a consultant on the triple option, which he knows intimately from his o-line coaching at GA Southern. Way to go Coach Baker/Nate!

What else is there to mull over? Miami lost to Pitt, so they have no margin for error in their ACC Championship game against Clemson, but it has still be a great season for the Canes …boo. Oklahoma and TCU in the big12 which has the silliest CCG…always will be a rematch with on 10 teams. Ohio State took down Michigan, so they face off against Wisconsin in the big10 (another academic sports conference that ridiculously math challenged). Stanford and Southern Cal play in the Pac 12, but unlikely that the winner cracks the “final four” playoff berth. Auburn and Georgia go at it again in Atlanta this time, should be a dandy as we say down south.

My Bulldogs could not beat St Augustine, so a fantastic season comes to an end. Great run with lots of young players to look forward to next season. Going to Tenn Tech on Saturday to watch Friendship Christian play DCA for the private league level 1 championship. Finally, the coaching circus at Tennessee is hard to fathom. The new AD appears to be so out of the loop with this fan base (or under the power of the Haslam’s) that he really thought SChiano would be a good fit. He would not have, but the bringing up “possible” link to Sandusky was disgusting. We convict folks now a days without any due process, just social media burnings. So, Mullen – NO. Gundy – NO. Doeren – No. Brohm – no! And all of these rejections are just eating at my UT fan neighbors, as I think it would me as well. Mike Leach, is the most interesting college coach of them all. A lawyer (like Terry Bowden at Akron) who does not filter his comments at all  He is risky, but a terrific offensive football mind! One can hope  BTW, Kevin Sumlin is a very good football coach. Did not deserve to be fired by A&M and will have done better than Jimbo over the same time period, if Fisher goes to College Station – just my prediction. If Jimbo thinks the ACC is rough, wait until he gets SEC West every week.

The debacle has given Jason Rowell, Mark Plumb and I plenty to text about! Also, cold blooded treatment of Eli. It is a business in the NFL, but still harsh. I was at the Swamp when Eli brought a mediocre Ole Miss team in and he single handedly (slight exaggeration) beat UF that day.

The end of an era

A lost weekend November 20, 2017 We had planned to visit central Florida this past weekend, but my dad’s health took a nose dive so a return to Crestview took priority. Gators beat UAB and Noles beat Delaware or some team like that. Not worth watching, but I did watch short glimpses. The weekend was a blur because it was TWO weekends as we drove down to Crestview on Saturday Nov 11th and I did not even think about doing an entry last week. On the drive down through Alabama, listened to Auburn pummel Georgia. The night before, Crestview played sloppy but edged Gulf Breeze in the 1st round of the 6A playoffs. This past Friday night, I was able to go to the Bulldogs game against Pensacola Escambia, along with Sharon, Denton, Autumn and Clayton. My brother Marty and nephew Christian also sat with us at the game. Crestview made plenty of mistakes against a very athletic Escambia Gators team, but prevailed 44-34. It was a blast!

Now it is on to St Augustine, who is a nasty good team. The last time my Crestview Bulldogs traveled over to St Augustine was in 2002, when they made the only state championship game in my lifetime. Pete Adams and I drove over to the game and Duane Smith was there, on his way back to North Carolina. Rivalry weekend will have my TV working hard. Egg Bowl Thanksgiving night, with Dan Mullen maybe on the way to Knoxville afterwards…other cross state rivalries include Georgia vs Tech, My Gators vs My Noles, South Carolina and Clemson, and of course the Iron Bowl!

Football is coming to an end to fast, but as of this post and Thanksgiving holiday, it will be the first since my dad passed away. Something is missing and that something is you dad…

Tally Trip

Sunshine Trip Report November 7th Well, it was wonderful to go back to Tallahassee to watch the Noles play. Flew into to Panama City and drove over to Cairo and was up early for the short drive to the Capital city. Went by Tyler and Beth’s house, hoping to see 9 month old, baby Cullen. My timing was poor as the little fella had just been tucked away for a nap! Before the day was over, I had almost 6 miles of steps in, as parking anywhere near the stadium these days, requires a parking pass. So, I parked over near where Josh lived his freshman year. The moss in the majestic Live Oak trees was sweet nostalgia. Tally is a beautiful place. Some big plays propelled FSU to a close victory over Syracuse. I was sunny and 85 and fairly low humidity, so it was pleasant in the shade and warm hoofing it to and fro. Tyler had us hooked up with Champion Club seats, so the full buffet and all the amenities that it afforded. Far cry from my early Seminole games in my little white Ford Courier truck! I left the game just before the end, to meet the in-laws and pick up Sharon. We wanted to get to the Chipley area before dark and look at a few parcels of land that we are pondering…then on to Crestview to check on dad and mom.

Back to football. Crestview had a game scheduled against International School of Broward. It got cancelled by FHSAA for some reason. That is now THREE scheduled games that Crestview did not get to play. Two were nixed by the hurricane and now this. So, the extra “bye” week saw them rise to #17 in the state and 140 in the country. The playoff brackets were released on Sunday, and Crestview hosts the Gulf Breeze Dolphins this coming Friday night. I remember some good games against Gulf Breeze in years past! The Florida Gators went to Mizzou and I guess, decided not to get off the bus. The Tigers destroyed the UF. I guess they are just quitting now. Hope they get Scott Frost, but with UCF contending for one of the BIG bowls, doubt they will get him any time soon, if at all. Oklahoma won Bedlam and the MIGHTY big10 fell apart, as Iowa routed Ohio State and Penn State fell to Mich State. All big10 teams have at least 2 losses except Wisconsin, who is the their version of the SEC East…no real tough opponents yet. Georgia vs Auburn, Oklahoma vs TCU and Notre Dame visits Miami this coming weekend, so it will be fun. Laz Index gripe: RANK SCHOOL NICKNAME REGION CLASS RATE W L SCHED S-RNK DISTRICT POWER 1 IMG Academy (Bradenton) Ascenders na Ind 2.030 7 0 1.837 1 0 159.41 2 Armwood (Seffner) Fightin' Hawks 2 6A 1.938 10 0 1.414 43 7 146.71 3 Venice Indians 3 7A 1.920 9 1 1.511 11 11 146.90 4 American Heritage (Plantation) Patriots 4 5A 1.880 8 0 1.462 23 16 148.80 5 St. Augustine Yellowjackets 1 6A 1.856 9 0 1.371 80 4 148.04 6 Cocoa Tigers 3 4A 1.845 8 1 1.452 26 0 148.37 7 Winter Park Wildcats 1 8A 1.831 10 0 1.367 86 3 140.08 8 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) Bears 1 7A 1.813 7 3 1.541 4 3 148.13 9 Raines (Jacksonville) Vikings 1 4A 1.809 9 1 1.317 130 0 146.58 10 Miami Central Rockets 4 6A 1.803 8 2 1.483 15 16 140.64 11 Tampa Bay Tech Titans 3 7A 1.799 9 1 1.358 96 9 140.53 12 West Florida (Pensacola) Jaguars 1 5A 1.798 9 1 1.399 56 1 141.90 13 Crestview Bulldogs 1 6A 1.795 7 0 1.433 35 3 148.47 14 Madison County (Madison) Cowboys 3 1A 1.789 9 0 1.389 67 0 141.25 15 Miami Northwestern Bulls 4 6A 1.787 7 2 1.511 10 16 142.98 While I’m proud that my Bulldogs are recognized by LAZ as the 13th best team in Florida (out of ~500) the #12 team is West Florida, a team that Crestview ROUTED 38-20 in September. The Jags may be the best team in Pensacola and cross classification rankings are not easy, but come on! I failed to mention that Mt Juliet lost to Riverdale. They were undefeated, but in the playoffs, every week is elimination week…hate it for young coach Perry.

U G L Y we aint go no alibi

The worst season continues For the Seminoles, who were destroyed on Friday night by Boston College…in football. There were no silver linings, just complete domination. This team has quit on Jimbo. The FSU roster is full of highly touted “4/5 star” players, who are losing to teams with 2 and 3 star talent, without anywhere near the depth.

For the Gators, who were blown out by a very good Georgia team in the Cocktail Party. Franks still looks tentative and in way over his head. It was so bad, that on Sunday the University of Florida fired the coach. The same coach who took them to Atlanta in his first 2 seasons, to play for the SEC championship. What have you done for me lately? The impotent offense cannot be tolerated in Gainesville and coach did not endear himself to the orange and blue faithful, nor the administration.

He also spurned the old ball coach’s offer to consult on the offense. Not cool and not a good career move. Spurrier revolutionized the SEC with his aggressive offenses and at a minimum could have helped. Oh well.

Ohio State played a fantastic 2nd half and especially 4th quarter to come back and beat Penn State. Not a fan of OSU, but that was clutch football. Still think their loss at home to Oklahoma should keep them down lower than they are…Notre Dame handled NC State and again, as much as I hate to admit it, played like a Top 10 team…dang it.

Tennessee again found a way to lose a close game. Would of, should of, could of. Butch has lost this team, but the error of margin is so thin, that this team could EASILY have a stellar record. The games against Florida, South Carolina and now Kentucky, all could have gone the VOLS way, they were that close at the end. Then UT would be 5-2 with losses to Georgia and Alabama, the #1 and #2 teams in the nation. It is not only the losses, but how they keep finishing weak that will cost Butch the job… I heard from Durham that the Firebirds beat their strongest opponent to date, and now are off to the playoffs. The only highlight of my football weekend was the Friday Night Lights variety.

Crestview beat arch rival Niceville 35-14 at the fish heads home bowl. That wrapped up the district title and the highest seeding in the Panhandle for the 6A playoff bracket. The updated MaxPreps rankings shows my Bulldogs as the #159 in the country and 18 in the great state of Florida. I’m confident that this is the highest ranking WE have ever attained. The LAZ index, a Florida power rating, has CHS up to #17 in the state, all classes combined. Finally, they have had Niceville in the top 5 all season, in spite of the thrashing they took in Texas. Watching on Facebook is fun, as all the other viewers can provide comments and “howdy” to everyone else. A virtual reunion of sorts! All sorts of folks from my hometown, and a lot of names are recognize and remember, even though I left 39 years ago. My dad played for Crestview, my uncle Harold was the starting center on the basketball team and played football. My cousin Rick Jellison and I played at the same time, as did cousin – law Greg Boshell. Mike and Mark Josey, Larry Josey, on and on. My ROOTS are planted deep down there.

Also down in Florida, Mt Dora Christian Academy continues their best football season ever, still undefeated and on to round two of the Sunshine Athletic conference playoffs. Locally, Friendship finished the regular season undefeated, as did Mt Juliet. Noah Josey and Brentwood Academy did the same. The smaller number of teams in Tennessee allows for quicker playoffs than back in Florida. The World Series has been fantastic! Hope it goes 7 and Astros prevail. The first weekend in November looks like this for me: Fly down to Florida on Friday night, while Crestview plays the International School of Broward (Ft Lauderdale), and crash in Cairo with the in laws. On Saturday AM, slide down to Tally to meet up with Tyler and Frank for the FSU game with Syracuse. Noles are 5-2… Excited to spend the time with the cousins, but expect a LOT of empty seats at Doak Campbell…I need some new stadium cups to annoy my wife. Did I mention that she and Autumn took our / MY Charlie Ward cup to Knoxville to use as the cat food cup. Talk about using a Rembrandt for a table cloth! How mean or ignorant can you get? Gators play Mizzu under interim coach Randy Shannon. DO not expect much fight from Florida, but hope I’m wrong. Bedlam, the battle for Oklahoma looks to be the best national game this weekend.