Bishop Media Sports Network
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch October 26
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick October 23
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch October 19
Monday Morning QB’s
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As the color commentator for Brunswick High football radio broadcasts for the last 13 years I see good trends and bad trends during football seasons.
A disturbing trend currently is attendance for home football games for our two public high schools in Glynn County.
Currently the two high schools in Glynn County average around 1,000 spectators for a home football game. That is pretty embarrassing for high schools that play in the second highest classification in the state.
Yet, in spite of poor attendance many seem to be an expert on the direction the local programs should take and offer these takes on social media outlets and really have no idea what they are talking about.
Example, I was surfing the internet after Brunswick’s loss to Richmond Hill last week and a nameless expert hiding behind a computer said the program was trash and has been trash since a previous head coach was in charge five years ago.
Here is a nugget of wisdom for this expert, who claims Brunswick wastes so much talent and wants to throw every single head coach under the bus, the school has an all-time football record of 271-274-6. Chew on those facts for a moment, expert.
Brunswick High School has been playing football for 52 years and the historical average is five wins and five losses per season, but yet this expert expects a state title every season. However, won’t give a dime of support, or time to the program.
I’m tempted to name names here but I will refrain. Brunswick High has not played past the second round in the state playoffs since 1999 and has only accomplished that feat twice in its history.
Glynn Academy is in the best run of their football history and you hear people in the community starting to complain about the program but yet 900 people show up to a game on Friday night to support a program that has won over 50 football games over the past five seasons.
What is the deal here people? Prior to the current head coach arriving, Glynn had not won a region title in football since 1972. Now they have won four region titles in a row. Are the GA faithful a spoiled now?
Do local football coaches come to your job and boo you for missing a revenue target? Do they show up at your sales meetings and provide insights to how you should do your job better? Do they show up and yell at your kid at the recreation level when they make a mistake? Do they go on Facebook and say the North Glynn Recreation league Yellow Jackets are trash and need to fire their volunteer coach? Of course, they don’t so why is everyone an expert at football?
Kirby Smart is 37-11 at UGA, yet experts on Facebook say he is a bad coach after a loss.
Did UGA deserve to loss to South Carolina last week? Hell yeah, they did because South Carolina wanted it more on that particular day.
Programs are built through blood, sweat and tears and over time, but it can be destroyed at one family dinner by the most destructive thing in the history of mankind, the tongue. Many a Church sermon has been preached regarding taming the tongue but the lesson never seems to be learned.
When mean-spirited people bad mouth a football program it affects the bottom line for Glynn County Athletics, which depends on football to fund all other sports.
When people don’t attend games, revenue is not generated. Coach Rocky Hidalgo at Glynn told me about three years ago that when people outside the program come to him with coaching suggestions, he gives them a magic marker and tells them to draw it up on the chalkboard. I wonder how long those conversations last.
There are two pretty good head football coaches in Glynn County, and dedicated players who work their behinds off who never walk on a field intending to lose on Friday night.
Give them your support, or like my granddaddy always said “roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches with me, or keep your damn mouth shut”.
The kids in Glynn County community need your support on Friday nights. Will you support them? Wins, losses, style of offense, who is the QB, all of that stuff really doesn’t matter to a true supporter.
Are you all in Glynn County? Your support is needed.
Brunswick High Pirates Coach’s Show w Sean Pender October 17
Looking To Fly
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
With less than two weeks to go before tipoff of the 2019-20 season, the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team is already in high gear.
The Eagles have proven to be a consistent winner in the Sun Belt Conference, but have yet to attain the ultimate goal of winning the conference tournament and advancing to the school’s first NCAA tournament since 1992.
All of the pieces seem to be in place for the Eagles to take another crack at things as nearly every preseason poll has them pegged as a favorite to be one of the top two seeds.
But the Sun Belt’s NCAA bid won’t be awarded for another five months, and there is a lot of work to be done by Georgia Southern until then if it wants to be the team left standing in March.
“I think that all our guys know that preseason hype means absolutely nothing,” GS coach Mark Byington said. “The goals are bigger than what projections are in October. We’re trying to climb the mountain and everyone is starting at the bottom.”
As preseason practices have started, one trend has clearly emerged. The Eagles are looking for a better defensive showing this time around.
Byington stated that most of his practices lean heavily on shutting down the opposition.
“We’re really getting after it on the defensive end,” guard David Lee Jones Junior said.
“We need to focus on it,” guard Calvin Wishart said. “It’s 30 seconds where we have to be locked in. If we do that, we know we have the talent to score on the other end.”
The players’ assessments of what they’re being coached up on definitely aligns with what Byington is trying to impress upon them.
“We had success last season in getting a lot of steals,” Byington said. “When we were in our half-court defense, we weren’t as good. We know that we have a lot of very talented offensive players. We need to improve defensively and then we trust that the scoring will be there for us.”
While many players will be returning to the court this season, there’s no missing the fact that Georgia Southern’s modern-day leading scorer Tookie Brown has graduated.
There’s likely not a single player that will be able to match Brown’s numbers as a four-time All-Sun Belt performer, but the Eagles project to be as tall and athletic as ever with plenty of bench depth to spare.
But that talent needs an identity and a culture – things that can be damaged when a star and leader like Brown move on.
Luckily, Georgia Southern was able to build up some of that in style. The Eagles travelled to Spain over the summer break, playing some local squads and doing some sightseeing while spending a week overseas.
“I think it was a great experience for them, and important for us that we all experienced it together,” Byington said. “It accomplished what I wanted it to. Seeing different ways to live and different ways to do things, it exposed us to a lot. Doing it together can show our strengths and weaknesses as a group and that’s what we use to grow on.”
Georgia Southern will play a pair of exhibition games in the coming weeks before tipping off its regular season Nov. 5 at Auburn.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick October 16
Lurking Gators
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida (6-1) is back in familiar territory as a top 10 team and national championship contender. The Gators beat No.7 Auburn about two weeks ago.
The Tigers came into the game as the favorites but left Gainesville with a convincing 24-13 loss. Florida was feeling great after that win and headed to No. 5 LSU the following week.
UF won the game in Gainesville last season, 27-19. The Tigers had revenge on their mind and pulled away in the second half. The game was tied at 21 at halftime. LSU won 42-28.
LSU coach Ed Orgeron declared that holding Florida’s defense without a sack was “the biggest stat of the night,” noting how the Gators’ defensive ends had “destroyed” opposing offensive lines in previous games.
Kyle Trask was 23-of-39 passing for 310 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
“There’s two ways you can go: You can either lose and start pointing fingers or you can lose and start coming together,” Trask said. “We have a great group of guys and at the end of the day; it’s just going to make this team better.”
This is the toughest part of Florida’s schedule. So far, they are 1-1 during these four games. The remaining games are at South Carolina and Georgia at a neutral site (Jacksonville).
Previously I did not think the USC game would be difficult. The Gamecocks were under .500 prior to this weekend.
They shocked the college football world by beating No. 3 UGA in Athens. The Bulldogs turned the ball over four times and South Carolina did not have any. Now this game in Columbia looks like a heavyweight matchup.
South Carolina (3-3) gave up 468 yards to Georgia but forcing the turnovers was the difference. The Gamecocks also lost freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski to a knee injury. He’s actually a backup and has been playing since senior Jake Bentley suffered a mid-foot sprain in the season opener.
Third string freshman quarterback Dakereon Joyner played several snaps against Georgia. Currently, it does not sound like he will start the Florida game because Hilinski is expected to return.
“He’s got a sprained knee,” Muschamp said of Hilinski. “It’s nothing serious. I’ll know more Tuesday. He’s a little sore, obviously, today. But again, it’s nothing serious. We expect him to play on Saturday.”
So far, I give the early advantage to the Gators. They are ranked 20th nationally in total defense but they have played at least one more game than all of the teams ranked higher. That means they are actually better than many of them.
The Gamecocks are not good on offense and they are led by an injured true freshman QB.
If he cannot make it through the game, the third string QB will come in and they were not effective with him. They should be able to stop them and hold them to under twenty points.
I don’t think they will overlook this game since they know Carolina is capable of beating them. After that, they will go in to the bye week with two weeks to prepare against Georgia.
Ramblin Wreck
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I have to imagine Geoff Collins begins each day staring at the mirror, doing his best Stuart Smalley impression.
However, instead of repeating the self-affirmation quotes that end with “….and doggone it, people like me” I picture him reciting all the reasons he decided to take the Georgia Tech head coaching gig in the first place- $3 million dollars a season…it’s not Temple…close proximity to The Varsity.
I feel as though it’s pretty safe to assume most anyone who watches college football knew this would be a tough transitional year for Georgia Tech, but I’m not sure even the most ardent of Yellow Jacket fans thought it would be this rough.
Not only are they the worst team in the ACC, but you could argue they are the worst of all the Power Five schools. The team is really living up to the whole Ramblin’ Wreck nickname, but for all the wrong reasons.
It’s hard to find many bright spots when your opponents are out gaining you by over 100 yards per contest, you haven’t scored more than 24 points in any game and you lost not only to an FCS school, but a bad one at that.
I could go even more in depth, but it would be close to bullying at that point, especially since you can’t really blame the current coaches or players for what’s taking place.
When you’re struggling through a season like Georgia Tech is currently going through, you can usually point to a litany of reasons as to why it’s happening. While that’s true in this case, the main culprit has to do with recruiting; the talent just isn’t there.
Paul Johnson did a decent job early in his tenure of bringing in players that fit his system, even if they weren’t the most talented.
That wasn’t necessarily the case over the past few seasons, so what’s left is a group of players brought in to play in a system no longer being used, most of whom just aren’t talented enough to compete at this level on a weekly basis.
To use the “Cook the meals, buy the groceries” analogy from Bill Parcells, Johnson bought the groceries he thought he needed to make lasagna and now Collins is having to turn those ingredients into stir fry.
Given the circumstances it’s hard to tell how much of an impact the new head coach has made, but the free pass you could argue he should be afforded lasts for this year only.
Now, I know contracts don’t necessarily mean a lot in today’s game, but given the seven-year contract Collins was given I have to believe the administration is willing to give him an opportunity to turn things around, even though it won’t be immediately.
I doubt Tech will be favored in any of their games for the remainder of the season, and even though they could pull off an upset or two, they are looking at arguably their worst season in 25 years. At this point it’s about getting to the end of the season without completely embarrassing yourself.
More than likely it will be a few years before Georgia Tech is back to being relevant on the college football landscape, although being in the Coastal Division could certainly help speed up the rebuilding process.
In the meantime, Collins may need to find things to add to his daily mirror pep talk.
Chopped
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Let’s get this out of the way: “Redskins” is a racial slur, and the fact that the NFL has allowed a team to continue using that term as a mascot is both abhorrent and, apropos of the team being in our nation’s capital, disappointingly unsurprising.
The reason I start this piece off with such a disclaimer is because the recently-ousted-from-the-playoffs Atlanta Braves had a few headlines during their NLDS appearance owing to the comments of a St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher.
If you weren’t following or haven’t heard, it boils down to this: Cards’ pitcher Ryan Helsley, a member of the Cherokee tribe, expressed to the media that he was disappointed that Atlanta still hands out their famous foam tomahawks and encourages the Tomahawk Chop.
In Helsley’s estimation, the Tomahawk Chop is a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people and Native Americans in general, and is disrespectful.
In response, prior to the 13-1 drumming Atlanta took at the hands of St. Louis in Game 5, the Braves decided not to hand out the foam axes and reduced the usage of the Tomahawk Chop music over the loudspeakers during the game.
There was some chatter about this during and following the game (including some foolish notion being spread that the removal of the tomahawks was the reason for the embarrassment…I can’t even start with that nonsense), with varying opinions.
Being a die-hard Braves fan, I’ve been asked several times about this. Should the Tomahawk Chop be cast into exile?
I have a two-part answer. Stick with me.
The first part of my answer is this: to me, the Braves nickname and the Tomahawk Chop is so very tenuously associated with Native Americans that I don’t really consider that a part of Atlanta’s brand.
At worst, the nickname “Braves” is akin to “Warriors” – a group of the strongest fighters that, if anything, is celebratory. But I don’t see the letters across the chest and think about “Indian Braves.” I don’t do the Tomahawk Chop and think about a Native American war cry – they’re specifically, for me, associated with Atlanta’s baseball team, and that’s all.
That is, in part, because the Braves have done a relatively good job of doing away with Native American iconography as a part of their brand. The screaming Indian is gone (despite a brief attempt at a comeback in 2013 that was mercifully rejected), Chief Noc-A-Homa has been retired and there are very few feathers adorning the uniform outside of the 1970s throwback.
All that adds to me – this is one man’s opinion – not feeling like I’m appropriating a culture. There’s just not any association in my mind.
However. Here’s the second part, and it’s much more important: I don’t care one little bit about the name of the team. I genuinely don’t. I don’t care about foam tomahawks and the Chop and all of that. To paraphrase Shakespeare: the team by any other name would still be my team.
So, here’s the thing: if the Native American community thinks that the name and the Chop and the tomahawk are offensive or in any way inappropriate, then let’s change the damn name of the team.
I’m a white man. I can’t reasonably tell you what is or isn’t offensive to Native Americans. So, if changing some inconsequential things about the team that I love will make a group of people who have been disenfranchised by this country a little happier, then by god let’s go ahead a do it.
Look, I’m not out campaigning for change. If this dies down and nothing comes of it, then I’ll be back next season doing the Chop with a tomahawk on my chest, because I see those as a baseball thing, not a Native American thing.
But that’s just me, and if a change needs to be made, then that’s fine with me too. I’ll still be back next season, cheering on my team.
And if you’re sitting at home, reading this, grumbling about how people shouldn’t get upset over something like the Chop, then maybe try to assess who’s got a more sensible reason to be upset, and check your privilege at the Right Field Gate next April.
Chop or not, I’ll see you next season.
