hoard 18 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 How about the old Penn State-style unis circa 1986.....wonder if Bruce Evans had anything to do w/those ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_general 13 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 How about the old Penn State-style unis circa 1986.....wonder if Bruce Evans had anything to do w/those ??? yes, Penn St/Alabama mixed. Colored like Penn St and number on the helmet like Bama. Played like Auburn, what a mixature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 yes, Penn St/Alabama mixed. Colored like Penn St and number on the helmet like Bama. Played like Auburn, what a mixature. You sure those had numbers? For some reason I was thinking at least the 1986 and 1987 helmets were just plain white w/single blue stripe down the middle, but I could be wrong. I remember 88 and 89 the jerseys had three stripes on the sleeves, but before that they were plain-jane Penn St style with nothing but numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Not to hijack the thread by talking about other teams' uniforms, but does anyone remember Tazewell's jerseys from 1986 and the few years or so before? Those were the WORST (I mean outside of Appalachia's) I can remember. 100% mesh, with the holes everywhere--even on the tops of the shoulders. They looked like practice jerseys. Then they got new ones the year after the state championship. Plus they used to (and still do) wear those damn tan pants. A lot of people here will probably disagree, but I love white jerseys with white pants but HATE colored tops and colored pants (like all black, all blue) that don't have any type of stripe down the leg. The pants w/no stripe, especially black ones, look like tights. Not sure why, but I've always preferred white or light-colored pants w/dark jerseys. But the all-time ugliest sports uniform might be the red jersey w/black shorts Lebanon used to have for basketball in the early 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 You sure those had numbers? For some reason I was thinking at least the 1986 and 1987 helmets were just plain white w/single blue stripe down the middle, but I could be wrong. I remember 88 and 89 the jerseys had three stripes on the sleeves, but before that they were plain-jane Penn St style with nothing but numbers. Evans coached from 1982 through 1986. With the exception of 1983, the helmets had numbers. Don't know what was special about '83, but the helmets were plain white with the single stripe that year. When Billy Haun arrived in 1987, he tweaked the helmets by removing the numbers and adding two thin blue stripes on either side of the middle one. In 1988, there were three equal sized stripes, and the three stripes were added to the jerseys. In 1989, there were two equal sized stripes and blue pants were added as an away option. In his last year (1990), he introduced a whole new uniform. Helmet was almost a verbtim version of Radford, except substituting navy and grey for the Bobcats' black and gold. Jerseys had no stripe, but featured a block "R" on the sleeve. Home uniform pants were plain grey. Road pants were navy. More info than anyone wanted, but there's your synopsis of 1982 to 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogo_sportz 19 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Again, if you guys can get pictures of any of those helmets I can arrange to have them recreated and posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Since you have such a "recall" memory.....can you list all the Richlands FB HC and yrs. they coached 'til present? I don't recall ever seeing them all listed together. (Wasn't Haun the principal at Rockbridge in 2006 when Richlands beat them in the championship game?) Another trivia you could possibly confirm .....isn't Dickie Cranwell, head of the Democratic party in VA a Richlands grad...former FB player and also, played at VT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Since you have such a "recall" memory.....can you list all the Richlands FB HC and yrs. they coached 'til present? I don't recall ever seeing them all listed together. (Wasn't Haun the principal at Rockbridge in 2006 when Richlands beat them in the championship game?)Another trivia you could possibly confirm .....isn't Dickie Cranwell, head of the Democratic party in VA a Richlands grad...former FB player and also, played at VT? Haun was the principal at Monticello -- the team that beat RHS in 2007. Information about Cranwell is correct. As for all the Richlands head coaches, I can only give you precise dates for the ones who have been here within my lifetime. Jim Hammond was the head coach at the time I was born in 1971, and he was in charge through the 1978 season. Beyond that, here goes: Todd Heldreth (1979-1981) Bruce Evans (1982-1986) Billy Haun (1987-1990) Dennis Vaught (1991-1992) Terry Wess (1993) George Brown (1994) Dennis Vaught (1995-1996) Greg Mance (1997-present) Not sure when Hammond was hired, but going backwards in time, I think there was one other coach between his tenure and that of Ernie Hicks. Better minds and memories than mine will have to chip in that information -- which is something that really ought to be done. The official records of the RHS athletic department were destroyed circa 1973, which is the only reason that Coach Hicks hasn't been formally recognized by the VHSL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH31 2,532 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 is that George Brown that was on the board of supervisors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 is that George Brown that was on the board of supervisors? Nope. This is the GB who was also the principal of RHS at the time. More trivia....he also coached the Blues to a SWD title in golf once upon a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Thanks R Alum for the info....that was great. (As for Cranwell being head of the Dem party in VA, I won't hold that against him :) ) If anyone else knows who was directly after Coach Hicks pls. post. It would be great if the "dean of the Clinch" (wasn't that a name used for Ernie or am I way off on that?) was formally recognized by the VHSL. Hope, someone takes some "steps" to see that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GACoach 10 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 Haun was the principal at Monticello -- the team that beat RHS in 2007. Information about Cranwell is correct. As for all the Richlands head coaches, I can only give you precise dates for the ones who have been here within my lifetime. Jim Hammond was the head coach at the time I was born in 1971, and he was in charge through the 1978 season. Beyond that, here goes: Todd Heldreth (1979-1981) Bruce Evans (1982-1986) Billy Haun (1987-1990) Dennis Vaught (1991-1992) Terry Wess (1993) George Brown (1994) Dennis Vaught (1995-1996) Greg Mance (1997-present) Not sure when Hammond was hired, but going backwards in time, I think there was one other coach between his tenure and that of Ernie Hicks. Better minds and memories than mine will have to chip in that information -- which is something that really ought to be done. The official records of the RHS athletic department were destroyed circa 1973, which is the only reason that Coach Hicks hasn't been formally recognized by the VHSL. Jim Hammond (my uncle) was the Head Coach from 1967-1978. Bill Perry? I was the Head Coach for the 1965 and 1966 seasons and then went to Emory I believe. Coach Hicks was prior to Coach Perry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigD4VT 11 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 So the 2009 season gives Coach Mance the second longest tenure as head coach in RHS history! Congratulations Coach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 Jim Hammond (my uncle) was the Head Coach from 1967-1978. Bill Perry? I was the Head Coach for the 1965 and 1966 seasons and then went to Emory I believe. Coach Hicks was prior to Coach Perry. Last night, I remembered reading this obit in 2008 and the name Bill as a Richlands head coach was all I could recall....w/some googling this is what I found. Bill Peery was an assistant under the great Gainer and Chmara of Bluefield.... excerpt: "A 1953 graduate of Tazewell High School, he received a BS in Social Science from Concord College and a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from East Tennessee State University. One of his memorable accomplishments began as a member of Tazewell High School’s only undefeated football season. Following his graduation from Concord College in 1960, he accepted the coaching job at Dunbar High School in Dunbar, WV. During the 1960-61 season the team turned in a 7-3 record. For the 1961-62 and 62-63 seasons he was the assistant to Head Coach Merrill Gainer along with John Chmara and George Erps at Beaver High School, where they had records of 9-1 and 11-1 and were crowned West Virginia State Champions. He accepted the head football coaching position at Giles High School taking the Spartans from the bottom of the New River District to one of the leagues top performing teams in his first year. Following that year, Coach Peery moved to Richlands to lead the Blue Tornados Football team and won the Southwest District Championship title. The next year, Coach Peery joined Casto Ramsey’s coaching staff at Emory & Henry College as the offensive coordinator. During his four year tenure with the Wasps they set eight offensive National Records. Coach Peery also served as Head Baseball Coach for Emory & Henry. He resigned his passion for coaching in order to support his growing family and accepted a position with Norfolk and Southern Railroad. During that time, he was promoted up the ranks and retired in 1994." http://www.genealogybuff.com/ucd/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/1419 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOCOUNTMULE 10 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Can anyone tell me who came up with the name "BLUE TORNADO" ? This man was reconized a few years back for it when he was visiting family in the area. He passed away at the age of 94 or 95 a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrb 26 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Nope. This is the GB who was also the principal of RHS at the time. More trivia....he also coached the Blues to a SWD title in golf once upon a time. Was it 86 87 88 somewhere in that time frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Can anyone tell me who came up with the name "BLUE TORNADO" ? This man was reconized a few years back for it when he was visiting family in the area.He passed away at the age of 94 or 95 a few years back. I always heard it was Stubby Currence that came up w/the name Tornado....not sure, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Was it 86 87 88 somewhere in that time frame. Blues' SWD golf title was in '84 if I'm not mistaken. GB led the mighty RHS golf juggernaut until he was "promoted" to assistant principal before the '87-'88 school year. At that point, the program was turned over to the immortal Tim "Chappy" Rasnick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 I always heard it was Stubby Currence that came up w/the name Tornado....not sure, however. Always heard the same thing. Something to the extent that one of his articles referred to the Richlands team sweeping across the field like a blue tornado. Could've been worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Blues' SWD golf title was in '84 if I'm not mistaken. Wasn't that team led by a couple of kids named Flanary and Scarberry??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 Wasn't that team led by a couple of kids named Flanary and Scarberry??? Indeed. Actually, the #1 seed most of the time back then was Robb Vandyke -- one of the very best in terms of natural ability I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted November 18, 2009 I forgot about Vandyke...he was pretty good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Joker 10 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Can anyone tell me who came up with the name "BLUE TORNADO" ? This man was reconized a few years back for it when he was visiting family in the area.He passed away at the age of 94 or 95 a few years back. Mule is right. At the time of his visit, an article was written in the Richlands Mess detailing this gentleman's namimg of the team. As I recall, the team was playing either at the site of the old casket factory or in the field behind where the current Richlands popo station is. The gentleman was a student writing for the school newspaper (or yearbook) and during a play, the blue jersey clad gridironers stomped up a cloud of dust in their wake. The dust cloud reminded him of a tornado; hence the name. Of particular interest is that the nickname is singular and was intended to be singular. The collective group is a 'blue tornado'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigD4VT 11 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 They used to play at the casket factory site? I've read that most early team nicknames came from writers and/or fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercloud 179 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Mule is right. At the time of his visit, an article was written in the Richlands Mess detailing this gentleman's namimg of the team. As I recall, the team was playing either at the site of the old casket factory or in the field behind where the current Richlands popo station is. The gentleman was a student writing for the school newspaper (or yearbook) and during a play, the blue jersey clad gridironers stomped up a cloud of dust in their wake. The dust cloud reminded him of a tornado; hence the name. Of particular interest is that the nickname is singular and was intended to be singular. The collective group is a 'blue tornado'. The field your referring to next to the police station, wasn't it where the plaza with Hardee's in it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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