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Remembering Kermit Tipton, Legendary Johnson City Football Coach June 2, 2019 Sports - According to the Johnson City Press-Chronicle, "Kermit Tipton, who last night was elevated from Junior High School coach to the head coaching post at Science Hill School, is a graduate of Milligan College and gained his Master's Degree at the University of Mississippi. Tipton, whose football and basketball teams and later Junior High, posted successful… Continue Reading
Remembering Lou Bello: Former College Basketball Referee, Comedian February 27, 2017 Sports - Recently, while watching a University of Tennessee basketball game, I thought about Harold Anthony "Lou" Bello," a serious college basketball referee who also was a zany comedian on the court. I wondered if he was still alive but sadly found out that he passed away in 1991. In the mid-1960s, I along with several of… Continue Reading
Recalling the 1952 and 1953 ETSC Buccaneers Burley Bowl Games November 23, 2015 Sports - A total of 12 Thanksgiving Day Burley Bowl games were played between 1945 and 1956, with the East Tennessee State Buccaneers participating in five of them: 1952 through 1956. They won the first four games but lost the fifth one to Memphis State. This much-anticipated event consisted of a parade held in downtown Johnson City… Continue Reading
Area Youngsters Competed for the Johnson City Cardinals Batboy in 1954 Contest July 21, 2014 Sports - In March, 1954, the Press-Chronicle launched its sixth annual "Johnson City Cardinals (Appalachian League) Batboy Contest." Four judges, Ralph Cox, Tom Lyons, Bill Miller and Jimmy Smyth, selected six boys as finalists: Joe Ward Booth, Sammy Broyles, Bill Dyer, Dana Lyon, Ronnie Rickman and Richard Teaster. The Six Semifinalists of the 1954 Johnson City Cardinals… Continue Reading
1938 Wild Boar Marathon Hunt on Unaka Mountains March 25, 2013 Sports - In October 1938, an unidentified outdoorsman, whom I will call Jim, joined a hearty group of fellow hunters on what was billed as a cross-country marathon boar hunt on the Unaka Mountains in the hills of East Tennessee. One of the men, Ben Ellis, served as guide for the party. The rugged trip was said to… Continue Reading
Recalling the 1973 Tennessee Vols, Temple Owls Basketball “Game” February 25, 2013 Sports - Dec. 15, 1973 was a cold Saturday night in Knoxville. My wife and I, along with our friends, Allen and Charlotte Stafford, drove there from Johnson City to see the Volunteers play the Temple Owls in the Volunteer Classic. We joined 11,700 others at the Stokely Athletics Center. The temperature inside would soon get as… Continue Reading
Coach Neyland Achieved Lifetime Pact with University of Tennessee November 26, 2012 Sports - The recent firing of Derek Dooley as head football coach at the University of Tennessee brought to mind another gridiron coach from the college’s yesteryear.  On January 24, 1951, the University of Tennessee gave 58-year-old football coach, General Robert Reece Neyland, a lifetime contract after his team won 10 games that season, lost one to… Continue Reading
Columnist Recalls 46 Years of “Football Time in Tennessee” January 2, 2012 Sports - I have been a big fan of University of Tennessee football for 46 years, attending at least one game at Neyland Stadium most of that time either as student or alumni. In the spring of 2011, my wife and I reluctantly did not renew our two Section O, Row 51 season tickets. In spite of… Continue Reading
Reader Proud of Kinship to U.T. Football Greats, Hickman, Feathers November 28, 2011 Sports - Louis Feathers, an occasional contributor to my column, is particularly proud of the fact that he is a fifth cousin to Herman Michael Hickman and William Beattie Feathers, two former University of Tennessee football standouts. Anybody knowledgeable of Big Orange football is familiar with the two names. Louis wrote about them in his 195-page autobiography.… Continue Reading
Three Press Readers Respond to 1925 Ford and 1939 Football Columns November 22, 2010 Sports - I received three responses pertaining to my recent columns concerning the 1925 Ford motorcar and the 1939 SHHS football season. Murvin H. Perry wrote, “The public anticipation of the introduction of the ‘New Fords’ occurred in 1927 as Ford geared up to present the Model A, which came out as a 1928 model. People referred… Continue Reading

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