RichlandsAlum

"I hope that you have sons! Handsome, beautiful, articulate sons -- who are talented, and star athletes, and they have their legs taken away! I mean I pray you know that pain and that hurt!"

Very good chance, IMO. Would expect Hoos to be favored going in.

The announcer you reference would be the ubiquitous Paul "Slick" Cook -- local legend and former Mayor of Richlands. And although I can understand the consternation of opposing fans, I have nothing but love for the man. He even gave me a public shout out during the 2005 playoff game between Richlands and Liberty -- gained me a bit of grief from my Bedford neighbors, but I still appreciate the gesture. Oh, and I was present back in 1978 for Marion's victory over the Blues (along with Ernie Hicks and a few thousand other folks). I was all of seven years old, but I remember the shared sense of community disappointment in yet another 3 win season. Bright spots were few and far between for Richlands football back then. Truly these are the "good old days."

I'll participate here. 1979 Tijuana Brass vs. Phenix Horns (of Earth, Wind, & Fire) circa 1981. Who ya got? I'd put money on the support group for EWF, but I do think Herb Alpert's boys would fight dirty.

Right now might be an excellent time to declare allegiance to Virginia Tech -- if only because no one could accuse you of being a bandwagon fan. Now I know how Clark Griswold felt when he didn't get his Christmas bonus.

Uhh.... I'm an alumnus of the Polytechnic Institute (Class of 1993) and I care about college soccer. I also continue to revel in our 2007 bass fishing national championship. But don't let me get in the way of a good internet scrum. Carry on.

Staunton River fires head coach two weeks into the season. Poor folks in Moneta apparently aren't familiar with the term anomaly. (As in, "Your performance during the last two seasons under Poston was an anomaly. You can go back to sucking pretty badly now.") Fear the Wing -- or the Principal and AD (as the case may be)

In almost a photo negative way (compared to Richlands), I seem to recall Marion using blue as an accent color pretty frequently. And on one occasion Sonny Hagy outfitted his team with blue jerseys -- which they changed into after pregame warm-ups. I have always thought it cool that Graham has separate official colors for academics and athletics. That doesn't alter the fact that I hate Graham (in a loving Christian way, of course).

It's a pay site, but the preview at the link below shows the light blue "alternate" jerseys. Guessing the pants in the photo were plain white -- and probably practice pants because I don't remember those jerseys being worn without light blue pants in a game situation. https://newspaperarchive.com/bluefield-daily-telegraph-aug-31-1975-p-58/

I think Coach Heldreth is the first person to officially "standardize" Navy Blue upon his arrival as football coach/AD in 1979. Prior to that, there was a real hodgepodge of various shades of blue. In football, Coach Hammond seemed to generally prefer Navy Blue with red trim -- although there was a light blue "alternate" with red trim that was also used. His tenure was roughly from the late '60s to 1978 for the sake of reference. Beginning approximately the time of the switch to polymer helmets in the early 1950's, Coach Hicks outfitted his teams in silver helmets and light blue jerseys. (Very similar to the uniforms worn by the Detroit Lions -- who were extremely successful at that time and possibly influenced the RHS outfit). This was pretty much a constant throughout the remainder of his tenure (which ended in 1964). Light blue (in various forms and shades) was the primary color worn by basketball teams from about 1950 until the adoption of Navy Blue and white for the 1980-81 season. Jack Lyons introduced red trim to those uniforms when he took over the helm in the mid 1970's. When baseball was reintroduced in the late 1970s, the color scheme was primarily Navy Blue and white with red trim. There was also a single random grey stripe on the home white jersey (sandwiched between a red stripe and a blue stripe). Coach Altizer introduced road greys with Navy trim and home whites with Navy pinstripes in the early 1980s. I've basically heard that the only official stance in terms of color prior to 1979 was simply "blue." In any event, some of the variants (like letterman's jackets and cheerleader uniforms) were pretty dismal looking. A lot of red started to appear in the mid 1970's. I would guess that there might be some association between that and the observance of the Bicentennial -- or the gear salesmen were just told to push that particular color. Either way, my opinion is that the formal designation of Navy was a great -- and overdue -- improvement. I wore some of the old light blue garb as a middle school player (it was simply handed down and re-used until it was pretty much worn out). And although I appreciated the history associated with it, I wasn't upset to see it ultimately phased out.

It wasn't too bad, actually. Helmets were white - some variation there with blue and red stripes and the aforementioned red 'R' from year to year. Home jerseys were solid navy blue. No stripes. But numbers were white and sleeve cuffs were red. White jerseys were similar (blue numbers and red cuffs). Two sets of pants. White pants had red/blue/red stripes. Navy pants had white/red/white stripes. There was also what I guess amounts to an "alternate" uniform, which was primarily light blue with red trim. Light blue jerseys with red numerals and white sleeve cuffs. Light blue pants with red/white/red stripes. These were the uniforms I remember seeing as a really young kid going to games. I'd peg the date range for them from about 1974 through 1978. Highly unlikely that there are any color photographs showing these uniforms. But there are definitely some random black and white shots from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (particularly the football season preview editions from those years). Messing around a bit with a template and Microsoft Paint I created the attached example. Occasionally Richlands would also wear the blue pants at home (which was a pretty sharp looking combination, IMO).

Pretty sure that Tazewell's official colors are simply Kelly Green and White. So anything beyond that is subject to the whim of any individual coach. I thought the early '80s kit with the yellow trim and grey pants was pretty sharp. Similar issue in Richlands. Officially Navy and White are the colors (and Navy has only been the designated shade since 1980 or thereabouts). But it's not unusual to see that paired with silver/grey. And the basketball coaches favored light blue as an accent during the mid '80s there.

We wound up getting really involved in England's run in the World Cup. My wife and son happened to be in the UK last week and watched the semifinal game in a South Bank London pub. Although the outcome wasn't what we had hoped, that was a really great and unique experience for the two of them. And even if England had been able to resolve Croatia's aggressive style of play, I think France would've pounded them mercilessly in the final.

Don't know when I'll make it to Audi, but I'm looking forward to it. As much nostalgia as I have for RFK, watching the game in a facility specifically designed for soccer has to be a superior experience.

That seems to be a good summary of the situation that Tazewell and other SW Virginia localities are facing. Although I'm an expenditure wonk by nature, this would appear to be a revenue-driven issue. Unless someone really brilliant can pull a rabbit out of a hat, only resolution I see is a combination of consolidation, increased taxes for residents, and debt.