When I first moved to Maryville I heard all the horror stories of rebel flags and redneck idiocy surrounding the Maryville HS Rebels. And I vowed, in principle, to root against Maryville High School in football. But I went with a neighbor to the game last week against Powell and not only found no Confederate flags (they've been banned) but no likenesses of them on t-shirts or elsewhere. It occurred to me at that point that the Maryville Rebels were not so hopelessly associated in the general public with neo-Confederatism or its associated brands of political retardation. So I became a fan, reluctantly I suppose, but a fan nonetheless. It seemed safe to root for the Maryville Rebels football.
That brings us to this week, where the Marvville HS Rebels take their 50 game winning streak against Blount County rival and rising 5A state power William Blount HS. I've been listening to the game on local wingnut radio - aka "truth" radio at WBCR 1470. It's been a riveting game so far. Maryville is up 13-6 late in the 3rd quarter.
So here I am, able to root for the team that plays just three blocks from my house. I never gave a damn about high school football in high school or any time since. And I never imagined I'd be following it as an adult. The MHS Rebels seemed an unlikely catalyst for igniting my interest in high school football. The Maryville Rebels name is deeply offensive, even if the locals have largely eschewed the rebel imagery on game days (contrary to years past, apparently). And one of the sponsors on the bizarre WBCR is the comically politically incorrect Kenjo Markets - "Follow the Running Indian" (who the hell runs ads like that these days?). In the strange world of East Tennessee, there is little more entertaining than football in Blount County. That would mean: Maryville HS football (50-game winning streak and 6 of the last 7 state championships in 4A; Alcoa HS football (three straight 2A state championships); William Blount (ranked fifth statewide in 5A). Three of the four Blount County high school football teams are legitimate state championship contenders. Oh, and then there's the 4-0 Maryville College team. Yes, we play damn good football in this here Blount County. And I reckon any of you fools elsewhere in Tennessee - or in America, for that matter - can't match Blount County in football excellence. It sure beats the weekly excretion at Neyland Stadium in far inferior Knox County.
UPDATE:
William Blount scored a touchdown on a long play. And now Maryville has responded with a hook-and-ladder play. It's 20-13 Maryville with about 4 minutes left.
UPDATE:
Unbelievable. William Blount drives down with a touchdown with just over 2 minutes left. BUT THEY MISS THE EXTRA POINT!!! Yes, folks, that's what separates high school football from 1-A and Pro football: special teams. How the hell do you miss the extra point to tie the game?
A failed onside kick by William Blount means Maryville recovers at the 49 and the fans are imploding, throwing crap on the field. The announcers are indignant, but I can sympathize. William Blount was THAT close to pulling off one of the greatest upsets in recent high school football history.
UPDATE:
It's over. Maryville High School wins 20-19 over William Blount High School. One of the nation's longest high school football winning streaks is still intact. Yet, an up and coming rival (from a higher division no less) came within a missed extra point of sending this game potentially into overtime. What an amazing football game. I considered watching it live while driving down US-321 today, but figured I'd rather stay at home. What an amazing game. And what a bizarre finish. Weird and aggravating as Blount County can be at times, this is one of those neat moments where the county did well. The players played their hearts out and showed why Blount County is the football capital of Tennessee.
|
|
Discussing:
- News on potential passenger rail locations in Tennessee could be coming later this year (3 replies)
- Tennessee legislature passes bill to let teachers carry guns (1 reply)
- Oracle is moving its world headquarters to Nashville (1 reply)
- Boeing was once known for safety and engineering (8 replies)
- Kerns Food Hall to Open Saturday (4 replies)
- KAT working on new micro-transit service to help people get to jobs and needed appointments (1 reply)
- Tennessee Volkswagen workers vote to join union (2 replies)
- Blount County, TDOT make road deal for gun mfg ignoring town of Louisville,TN (1 reply)
- Dickey Betts has gone to meet his brothers (1 reply)
- Nearly 40 families being evicted in Maryville, new ownership (3 replies)
- Cost of car ownership on the rise, becoming unsustainable for some drivers (5 replies)
- Beware bad tax advice on the Internet (3 replies)
TN Progressive
- Toons (RoaneViews)
- Blount County, TDOT make road deal for gun mfg ignoring town of Louisville,TN, (BlountViews)
- EPA Blisters TVA Plans For Replacing Kingston Coal Plant With Gas (RoaneViews)
- Friday Toons (RoaneViews)
- Toon (RoaneViews)
- It's voting time again. Let's get out the vote. (BlountViews)
- Winter at the Big Rocks (Whitescreek Journal)
- Maryville Daily Times Home Delivery changing again (BlountViews)
- Amazon facility in Rockford finally opens (BlountViews)
- Secrets from My Radio Days (Joe Powell)
- Fall 2022 (Whitescreek Journal)
- Mmmm, A Fresh Hot Cup of Joe (Joe Powell)
TN Politics
- House kills anti-reparations bill despite lawmaker’s effort to save it (TN Lookout)
- Supreme Court justices appear split over whether to protect abortion care during emergencies (TN Lookout)
- Fumbling the ball on the one-yard line (TN Lookout)
- John Cole’s Tennessee: The union will rise again. (TN Lookout)
- Tenn. passes law giving legal rights to anti-LGBTQ parents to foster, adopt LGBTQ kids (TN Lookout)
- Ruling: Ex-officio members of Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee retain voting rights (TN Lookout)
Knox TN Today
- Hey, what about us – the current residents? (Knox TN Today)
- Central High to host ‘Bobcat Bash’ (Knox TN Today)
- Maples gets another 4-year term at First Utility (Knox TN Today)
- When more (documents) means less (value) (Knox TN Today)
- Three named to Access to Justice Commission (Knox TN Today)
- Two honored at Pellissippi Strong luncheon (Knox TN Today)
- Savannah Jackson’s art on display across ET (Knox TN Today)
- Honey Badger and the Fiery Gizzard (Knox TN Today)
- Ayres Hall (Knox TN Today)
- Service Sunday for retired CHS teacher (Knox TN Today)
- Conrad Majors owned a bicycle shop at age 16 (Knox TN Today)
- Cierra Burdick seeks spot on 3×3 Olympic team (Knox TN Today)
Local TV News
- 'Taylor's Version' media course offered at University of Tennessee (WATE)
- TBI: Missing Jonesborough woman found safe (WATE)
- Man pleads guilty in fatal Magnolia Avenue drag-racing crash (WBIR)
- Beloved substitute teacher could be stranded by changes to Knoxville bus routes (WATE)
- 'We just want to teach' TN Education Association president alarmed by bill to arm teachers (WATE)
- Loudon plots downtown improvements as part of TN revitalization program (WATE)
- East TN widow forced to alter mailbox or risk losing service (WATE)
- Former KCSO deputy gets 4-year prison sentence for sending videos from girl's phone (WBIR)
- Fentress Co. grand jury indicts parents accused of starving two adopted daughters (WBIR)
- 'He was a gentle giant' || Family grieves, shares story of veteran who died after being shot by police in Fountain City (WBIR)
- Part of Main Street in Morristown reopens months after historic Parks-Belk Building burned down (WBIR)
- 'It's every day for me' | Mother of woman who fatally overdosed now warning people about fentanyl (WBIR)
News Sentinel
State News
- Dear Abby: Two daughters make clear whose side they’ve taken - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Union bargaining up next for VW Chattanooga - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Opinion: Proof that bipartisanship is possible - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- William Parkerson Obituary - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
Wire Reports
- Tech Stocks Drag Down US Futures, Eyes on Weak Yen: Markets Wrap (Bloomberg) - Yahoo Finance (Business)
- BHP makes $39 billion bid for Anglo American in mining shake-up - Reuters.com (Business)
- Stock futures fall after Meta Platforms, IBM report quarterly results: Live updates - CNBC (Business)
- US Supreme Court to decide if Trump has immunity in election interference case - BBC.com (US News)
- Campus Protests Over Gaza Intensify Amid Pushback by Universities and Police - The New York Times (US News)
- US secretly sent long-range missiles to Ukraine after months of resistance - CNN (US News)
- Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe - The Washington Post (US News)
- TikTok ban puts jobs of thousands of US workers in jeopardy, California senator warns - POLITICO (US News)
- Ex-school cop accused of killing ex-wife, teen girlfriend died after shooting himself in front of infant son during chaotic police standoff - New York Post (US News)
- Powerball winning numbers for 4/24/24 drawing, $129 million jackpot - USA TODAY (Business)
- US Chamber of Commerce sues FTC over noncompete ban - Fox Business (Business)
- US Supreme Court split over Idaho's strict abortion ban in medical emergencies - Reuters.com (US News)
- Arizona House votes to repeal 1864 abortion law, measure now heads to the state Senate - CBS News (US News)
- Ford Earnings Surprise Wall Street. Auto Giant Maintains 2024 Profit Outlook. - Investor's Business Daily (Business)
- Airlines face new rules over refunds and upfront pricing - The Points Guy (Business)
Local Media
Lost Medicaid Funding
Search and Archives
TN Progressive
Nearby:
- Blount Dems
- Herston TN Family Law
- Inside of Knoxville
- Instapundit
- Jack Lail
- Jim Stovall
- Knox Dems
- MoxCarm Blue Streak
- Outdoor Knoxville
- Pittman Properties
- Reality Me
- Stop Alcoa Parkway
Beyond:
- Nashville Scene
- Nashville Post
- Smart City Memphis
- TN Dems
- TN Journal
- TN Lookout
- Bob Stepno
- Facing South
Maryville Banner
To Whomot May Concern:
It is called a Confederate Battle Flag,thats all and it was and USED TO BE the banner for the football team,
But for one parent of a Maryville HS student that evidentally has no knowledge of or heritage of that BATTLE FLAG must have racist issues themselves because there had been many many many many darker skinned
AMERICANS long before him that had no reason to have the Banner taken away for personal racist reasons, seems to me that for a School banner to be that personally offensive to him that he HAS to have those same issues himself, as i stated earlier the history of the BATTLE FLAG is not known to the ones that it offends and racism and the Negro slaves were not and i repeat were not the reason that white yes white on white murder of each other that was called the civil war was just one very small and very small issue of that war, if the racist people of this country and state and county would be honest with themselves and realize and believe that they really and truly dont think or believe that white people, friends and relatives alike were fighting and killing each other because of the issue of being able to keep an African citizen as a slave, for one reason and i dont think the Black Americans ecspecially the young dont realize is only the wealthy white plantation owners had slaves and NOT every white person as they must surely think,Freedom comes at a price my friends and i am a white lower class American(financially) and am just as free as the blood of my ancestors got me just like the poor or lower class or rich Black mans ancestors blood got them, so really that Confederate Battle Flag doesnt have a thing to do with racism just the racist person that it offends does, and i wonder if the Darker skinned Americans ever think of where they would have been today if their ancestors hadnt been slaves and died for their freedom that they have today in America?
Hey, congratulations!
That is the longest sentence I've ever read.
Shorter Anon:
Shorter Anon:
"Blah blah blah I blah blah have blah blah no blah blah understanding blah blah of blah blah history blah blah blah."
Faulkner kicks his ass.
____________________________
With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.