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.