vols4life 57 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 Football fans around Southwest Virginia are a nostalgic bunch. From Jonesville to Wytheville, they love to reflect on the days when gritty teams such as Gate City, Clintwood and Powell Valley relied on punishing rushing attacks and immortal leaders such as Jim Riggs, Harry Fry, Glynn Carlock and Tom Turner ruled dusty fields. Those tales are golden, especially in an era where coaches and athletic directors must increasingly tread a delicate line between discipline and coddling. In cramped and steamy field houses across the area, coaches line their bookshelves with well-worn hardcover biographies extolling the exploits of titans such as Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes and Vince Lombardi. To the modern high school player, those names and their heroic feats barely register. Instead of hardening their players through grueling preseason practices, some coaches must focus on simply attracting enough players to field a viable team. The second goal, which is vital, is making football fun. Taking a page from summer camps and even Bible school, practice sessions now feature watermelon relays, pool parties, sleepovers, motivational speakers and passing camps. Lots and lots of passing camps. Southwest Virginiakids once prepared for the rigors of August football practice by cutting tobacco or putting up hay. Air conditioning was a luxury. The prospect of running a pass-happy offense on a colorful turf field with a massive scoreboard and inflatable helmet was straight out of a Jetsons cartoon or Sunday night Disney movie. In this push-button, climate-controlled, five-second attention span age, football coaches must compete against cell phones, computer gizmos, high-definition television, junk food, travel-league baseball, and parents who think nothing of firing off angry e-mails to school administrators and media members. There is also the growing issue of specialized football camps and recruiting services, where kids and their parents are enticed to pay large sums in the grandiose dream of landing a Division I scholarship. Much like in baseball, soccer, tennis and golf, a kid of low-to-moderate income from a rural area must work extra hard to be noticed and to master techniques of their sport. When you consider all the challenges and headaches, it’s no wonder that there are so few old-school disciplarians left in high school football. Consider Paul Wheeler of Virginia High and Steve Wright of John Battle as rare examples. Longtime followers of Southwest Virginiafootball can remember a more innocent age when entire towns rallied behind their teams and folks rushed to the paperbox in the predawn hours to retrieve the massive Bristol Herald Courier preseason football edition. Before playoff games, there would be signs and banners lining the side of the road for miles. And every business would pledge support on marquees and storefront windows. Now, the playoffs are a bloated mess where teams with losing record often advance only to be demolished. There are still pockets in Southwest Virginia where hard work rules and the entire community fuels the program. Think of Clintwood, Honaker,Gate City and Richlands. Like it or not, high schools have evolved across the coalfields and the Interstate 81 corridor. Small schools are closing, athletes are not as committed and coaches have been forced to bend their standards. Thankfully, we still have folks who remember and cherish the days when football meant everything in Southwest Virginia. It’s a shame we don’t listen more and take notes. agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason 299 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 Jonesville? They forgot about Ewing! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwood78 161 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 Football fans around Southwest Virginia are a nostalgic bunch. From Jonesville to Wytheville, they love to reflect on the days when gritty teams such as Gate City, Clintwood and Powell Valley relied on punishing rushing attacks and immortal leaders such as Jim Riggs, Harry Fry, Glynn Carlock and Tom Turner ruled dusty fields. Those tales are golden, especially in an era where coaches and athletic directors must increasingly tread a delicate line between discipline and coddling. In cramped and steamy field houses across the area, coaches line their bookshelves with well-worn hardcover biographies extolling the exploits of titans such as Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes and Vince Lombardi. To the modern high school player, those names and their heroic feats barely register. Instead of hardening their players through grueling preseason practices, some coaches must focus on simply attracting enough players to field a viable team. The second goal, which is vital, is making football fun. Taking a page from summer camps and even Bible school, practice sessions now feature watermelon relays, pool parties, sleepovers, motivational speakers and passing camps. Lots and lots of passing camps. Southwest Virginiakids once prepared for the rigors of August football practice by cutting tobacco or putting up hay. Air conditioning was a luxury. The prospect of running a pass-happy offense on a colorful turf field with a massive scoreboard and inflatable helmet was straight out of a Jetsons cartoon or Sunday night Disney movie. In this push-button, climate-controlled, five-second attention span age, football coaches must compete against cell phones, computer gizmos, high-definition television, junk food, travel-league baseball, and parents who think nothing of firing off angry e-mails to school administrators and media members. There is also the growing issue of specialized football camps and recruiting services, where kids and their parents are enticed to pay large sums in the grandiose dream of landing a Division I scholarship. Much like in baseball, soccer, tennis and golf, a kid of low-to-moderate income from a rural area must work extra hard to be noticed and to master techniques of their sport. When you consider all the challenges and headaches, it’s no wonder that there are so few old-school disciplarians left in high school football. Consider Paul Wheeler of Virginia High and Steve Wright of John Battle as rare examples. Longtime followers of Southwest Virginiafootball can remember a more innocent age when entire towns rallied behind their teams and folks rushed to the paperbox in the predawn hours to retrieve the massive Bristol Herald Courier preseason football edition. Before playoff games, there would be signs and banners lining the side of the road for miles. And every business would pledge support on marquees and storefront windows. Now, the playoffs are a bloated mess where teams with losing record often advance only to be demolished. There are still pockets in Southwest Virginia where hard work rules and the entire community fuels the program. Think of Clintwood, Honaker,Gate City and Richlands. Like it or not, high schools have evolved across the coalfields and the Interstate 81 corridor. Small schools are closing, athletes are not as committed and coaches have been forced to bend their standards. Thankfully, we still have folks who remember and cherish the days when football meant everything in Southwest Virginia. It’s a shame we don’t listen more and take notes. agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544 funny, we were just talkin about old times the other day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDog#54 15 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 What a great article! Interesting how the teams that hold to the old values are the ones with continued success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigrhsfan 884 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 funny, we were just talkin about old times the other day beat me to it..... !....lol When I started reading this thread the same exact thought went through my head. I know how different it was when i played back in the early to mid 70's ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwood78 161 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 beat me to it..... !....lol When I started reading this thread the same exact thought went through my head. I know how different it was when i played back in the early to mid 70's ! you got that right!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 There are a number of reasons why football just doesn't seem as big now as it used to be. As the column mentions, there's more to do entertainment-wise for both prospective players and the fans. The expanded playoffs haven't helped IMO. Back when there were only three state champions, just making the playoffs was a great accomplishment and even a regional championship was huge. I remember many an SWD team staying home with 7-3 and even 8-2 records. Another factor is the loss of population and reduced attendance. Just look at how much smaller the schools and the towns themselves are now compared to the 70s and 80s. It's hard to believe that in the mid-80s Tazewell had over 900 students and Richlands and Grundy had around 1100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Longtime followers of Southwest Virginia football can remember a more innocent age when entire towns rallied behind their teams and folks rushed to the paperbox in the predawn hours to retrieve the massive Bristol Herald Courier preseason football edition. agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544 Call me a cynic or just a plain old contrary [expletive deleted], but this is the sentence that jumped out at me. I didn't get much out of the column other than the inference that subscriptions to the Herald-Courier have also apparently diminished since the "good old days." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Call me a cynic or just a plain old contrary [expletive deleted], but this is the sentence that jumped out at me. I didn't get much out of the column other than the inference that subscriptions to the Herald-Courier have also apparently diminished since the "good old days." No more calls, we have a winner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwood78 161 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Call me a cynic or just a plain old contrary [expletive deleted], but this is the sentence that jumped out at me. I didn't get much out of the column other than the inference that subscriptions to the Herald-Courier have also apparently diminished since the "good old days." amen........ the herald courier has definately diminished, especially here in clintwood, no papers at all, even home delivery, if i want a paper, have to go across county line into pound....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucfan64 307 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 I know that subscriptions and sales have took a downward trend with the Courier, but I can't help but think that the Courier brought a lot of this on itself by cancelling and altering the big football edition. "It just ain't what it used to be....." Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuceswild 15 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 I know that subscriptions and sales have took a downward trend with the Courier, but I can't help but think that the Courier brought a lot of this on itself by cancelling and altering the big football edition. "It just ain't what it used to be....." Thoughts? Holy [bleep]. I just agreed with BucFan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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