Robservations: Next week’s foes appear very similar
Seven days and counting. That’s how long the Pioneer football team has before facing the daunting task of ending one of the state’s longest football losing streaks.
One week from today, when Warren County plays host to Bradley Central, in a battle of the two bottom-ranked teams in Tennessee’s highest football class.
Both squads went 0-10 a year ago, with the Pioneers currently on a 39-game losing skid while the Bears’ winless mark is 0 for their last 12 games. They’ve won just eight of their last 40 contests.
To be blunt, next Friday’s game will be what one midstate sports scribe has already dubbed a “pillowfight” — meaning a matchup between two combatants who haven’t exactly had powerful arsenals for a while. But when two teams on such a downward spiral meet, there’s one thing you can count on:
Somebody’s “0” has got to go.
In Pioneer camp, confidence is high. Head coach Chris Madewell has reported more ups than downs through the past two weeks of full-contact drills and scrimmages, which puts him in a situation not many recent Pioneer coaches shared. But it’s early August, and you expect confidence to be high.
Meanwhile, over in Cleveland, the Bears are in a position very familiar to Warren Countians. They’re trying to figure out how to end a losing streak — albeit a streak that pales in comparison to their opening-night opponent’s — and they’re getting used to the tenure of a new head coach.
John Allen took the reins over the off-season, and was blunt when asked about this year’s returning starters by the Cleveland Daily Banner.
Considering his team managed just four points per game last fall, giving up an average of 49, Allen noted, “there are no returning starters.”
In another striking similarity with the Pioneers, the Bears have performed well in their new coach’s eyes during a recent scrimmage. Taking on Knoxville Catholic last Friday, Bradley held its own, and was eventually out-scored 28-14 by their foes — who, by the way, were 10-1 a year ago.
So if you believe newspaper writers — and let’s hope you believe at least one of them — both sides of next Friday’s contest look to be on the upswing.
For the sake of the Pioneers and their fans, here’s hoping they’re ready to swing first.
When Adam Jones was drafted, I’ll confess: I didn’t know who he was. Now that he’s had his summer of discontent, I want to know who he thinks he is.
Holding out for a hefty contract is nothing new. But holding out, then trading verbal jabs in the media with members of the team you refuse to join, does nothing to score points with that team or its fans.
Yesterday, Jones was in town to answer criminal charges stemming from his arrest earlier this summer at a Nashville nightspot. He responded by asking for a postponement of the case, and suing his accusers for $7.5 million for conspiring to cause him damage.
Folks, this prima donna has caused himself enough damage all on his own. And as for asking for his teammates to support him through his holdout, here’s a news flash, “Pac.”
You haven’t signed. You don’t have any teammates. Here’s hoping you win that $7.5 mil, and get yourself a one-way ticket out of town for good.