FIRST THINGS FIRST!!  

CONGRATULATIONS       SENIOR GRADS!

From the daily grind that seemed like it would never end, to what will you do now?  Hopefully you’ve already decided where you’ll be next fall.  It doesn’t have to be college.  You could be like our pal Rhett Belue and start your career as a plumber.    Mike Rowe would be so proud.      But everywhere you look, changes are-a comin’ at South Forsyth.  

If you’ve lived long enough, you know that change is imminent.  Whether at school or at home, at work or at play, changes will surely come.  Make your plans, but keep your eyes up and stay nimble or you might find your own personal quicksand.

Change has come to the booth.  Our  friend and coleague Mike Newsome has made the difficult decision to leave our team of War Eagle podcasters.  Mike recently retired from Siemen’s and was ready to dedicate more time to growing our brand.   But Mike made a few connections in his time, and one of them nas tagged him to lead their development team through some precarious ins-and-outs.  If successful, the product and process could change forever the manufacturing of dozens of products as we know it.  We wish Mike every good turn and the best success, and trust he’ll tell us just when they’re about to go public.  Oh, wait, what?  I can’t say that?  Something about inside trading?  OK, I take that back.  Best wishes, Mike.  Stay in touch.

I’ve often told the story of Mike Newsome cornering me when we first met four or five years ago and saying how much he had always wanted to try his hand at calling games.  I gave him a shot during the Blue White Spring Game and four seasons later we are at a loss.  Except, curiously, somebody in the booth last fall, who had similar connections with South Forsyth, told me he’d always wanted to be a sportscaster.  Actually, his wife told me that, and I brought it up in conversation later.  This gentleman knows the game inside and out and in fact is seeing some changes in his own world, sending a son off to the next level.  He is no stranger to our listeners, either.  In fact, he has been one, and we’re confident our listeners will be very happy with our choice.

We’ll wait til July to make our announcement on our new boadcasting teammate, because in this new Coaches Corner, Head Coach James Thomson has added some big names to his staff, and we want the announcement of our new partner to stand on its own.  But I will give you a hint.  In the photo below, you can see the three of us already at work on content.   Stay tuned.

And so we present our second Coaches Corner with new South Forsyth Head Football Coach James Thomson.  He’s  bringing wth him a couple new additions to the South Forsyth staff.  This one is an absolute pleasure thanks to A COUPLE HEADLINERS who have as rich a pedigree as any NFL player anywere.  Doug Thomas, my broadcast partner, and I both have a bone to pick with KORDELL STEWART.  “Slash” as he became know at the University of Colorado, beat my Michigan Wolvernes on a legendary last second hail mary to a diving Michael Westbrook, who took the ball in off a bounce off Michigan HOF DB Ty Law’s shoulder pads for the one point win.  Then after getting drafted (2nd round, #60 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers), Slash spent years terrorizing Doug’s Cincinnati Bengals twice a season in the same AFC division.  So we’ll see if either of us can contain our emotions.  Robert McClain cut his teeth at UConn before being drafted in the 7th round by Carolina.  McClain was released on final cuts, but was signed by Jacksonville, then spent three seasons with Atlanta, and another with New England before ending up back with Carolina, where he started at corner for the Panthers in Super Bowl L (50).  At 5’9”, 180 lbs, McClain is the poster child for mighty mites of the NFL.  We expect that will go a long way at SOFO. We’ve already met Coach T, Silipa Tupuola, in our first Coaches Corner back in February, and Coach Thomson rounds out the cast.  There’s so much here we had to split it in two, and it’s worth every minute.  Enjoy!

Coaches Corner part one

Coaches Corner part two

 

 

Above, Doug and me and our coach guests for the corner. Solo: Coach Thomson, Coach Tupuola, Coach Stewart and Coach McClain.                  One last change you should be aware of, your host and play-by-play announcer has decided to shed a few years off his mug.  It wont matter much on the radio, but here’s a look anyway.