Sizing up the 2021 girls’ state tournament

I am deviating from our normal writing to share some thoughts on the 2021 girls’ state tournament. We are working with http://www.glicod.com through the tournament season both in photography and on-air commentary as time allows. Glicod will be carrying all Anderson County games.  Since we are primarily covering Anderson County — that’s why I am on board! — I will offer some thoughts on Anderson’s games here as long as the Lady Bearcats are alive in the tournament. We will return to our normal feature work at http://www.110forChrist.com next week.

It wasn’t as one-sided as some were expecting but Anderson County’s win over Southwestern in the Mingua Beef Jerky/KHSAA Girls’ Sweet 16 was a page out directly out of the Lady Bearcat course manual.

There were times when Anderson could not find the basket. The Lady Bearcats went 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) from the field in the first quarter, but thanks to a Tiffani Riley three-pointer that just beat, I mean JUST BEAT, the buzzer to end the period, still led, 14-13 at the first break.

The Lady Bearcats hit nearly 55 percent of their shots the rest of the way, finishing at 46.8 percent and used three basketball basics — defense, rebounding and deadly free throw shooting — to move into the Sweet 16 quarterfinals.

The Lady Bearcats harassed. They swarmed and even though the final score showed Southwestern within 11 points, Anderson was never in trouble after it took the lead for good on Rachel Satterly’s 3-pointer to put the Lady Bearcats up 19-16. That started a 21-7 explosion that put Anderson in firm control.

The Lady Bearcats led 37-23 at the half and never saw the lead pared lower than seven points the rest of the way. In fact, once the Lady Bearcat lead reached double figures with just under three minutes to go in the first half, the cushion dipped into single digits for less than two minutes.

It wasn’t a defensive effort that put up a slew of stats, but one that you knew was there because you saw it. While Southwestern was charged with only 10 turnovers — the same as Anderson — it sure seemed to be more. Anderson made the Warriors work for every shot and seem out of synch.

Frankly, it was a testament to the Warriors’ grit that they stayed as close as they did. Even when Anderson’s lead ballooned to 17 points on three different occasions in the second half, Southwestern didn’t quit. The Warriors kept raining threes, hitting 12-of-26. But at halftime, a team that had a reputation as a prolific three-point shooting team had connected on only 4-of-7. 

The Anderson defense didn’t let the Warriors get good looks.

Soutwestern did shave the Anderson lead to 48-41 with 2:49 to play in the third quarter and then came up with a steal but could not convert. Had the Warriors scored there, things might have really tightened up. As it was though, the Anderson team, so business-like all year, went on a 10-0 spurt to end the quarter.

It was all but over.

Anderson destroyed Southwestern on the boards, holding a 38-24 rebounding edge and the Lady Bearcats were deadly at the free throw line, sinking 27-of-34 (79.4 percent) while Southwestern struggled at the line, hitting 7-of-16 (43.8%). Anderson went 12-of-16 in the fourth quarter when Southwestern was sending the Lady Bearcats to the line. 

That’s old-school basketball, folks. 

Let me interject that I was not familiar with Southwestern's Alexa Smiddy before Wednesday. This girl can flat out play the game.  She had an off night shooting (5-19) but finished with 12 points and 10 assists.  THAT is getting it done at the point.

Friday, Anderson will have to beat an old rival, Franklin County, to move into the girls’ Final Four for the second time in school history. (The other was 2013.) When the teams played each other in the second week of the season, Anderson doubled the score (64-32) on the Flyers. 

You can rest assured it won’t be that one-sided this time. 

Guard Brooklyn Miles, who will be playing collegiately at Tennessee, rallied her team from five points down in the last minute of regulation as Franklin defeated South Laurel in the first round of the tournament Wednesday. Stellar guard play is imperative for a team to beat a team as good as Anderson is defensively.

Anderson has beaten Franklin the last three times the teams have played, including a 40-37 win over the Flyers in last year’s Sweet 16 before it was canceled. It was one that stung the Flyers particularly hard.

Anderson will be favored and if I had to pick, that’s who I would choose. The Lady Bearcats have so many weapons and any of them can beat you. But it’s a one-and-done tournament. Crazy things happen and that 32-point rout is ancient history now.

*****

Wednesday was the first time I had been in Rupp Arena since last year’s Sweet 16. While I applaud the KHSAA for being able to put on the tournaments under the COVID pandemic guidelines, I have to admit it just felt weird seeing people spread out around the lower arena. 

The crowd Wednesday was announced at 1,921, a number that is swallowed up by Rupp Arena’s size. But you do what you have to do these days.

And, yes, I am partial to Anderson County.  I have lived in the 40342 most of my life and wrote only about the Bearcats for 34 years, so that’s normal.  But what a great turnout for Wednesday’s game. By all accounts, the Lady Bearcats had, by far, the biggest turnout of fans for the first day of the tournament.

They will need another turnout to beat a Franklin County team that would like nothing better than end Anderson’s dream season.

 

My Thoughts Concerning Mark Peach's Removal at Anderson County

By John Herndon

I have largely stayed quiet about the Anderson County sports scene since I retired from The Anderson News on Dec. 31, 2018. Yes, I have attended some games and even wrote three stories for 110forChrist.com on some Anderson basketball players and did some followup to a story I had done not long before I left the newspaper.

But for the most part, I stayed quiet and tried looking at writing from a different perspective as I enjoyed some, but not all, Anderson football and basketball games while making my rounds to high schools and colleges around Kentucky.

I wanted to give my successor some space and give myself some breathing room. In addition, I really don’t have a medium, other than Facebook, to provide anything other than the feature stories that I have posted at 110forChrist.com and KentuckySings.com as well as some other publications.

So, I hesitated to say anything about Anderson County’s puzzling removal of Mark Peach as the Bearcat football coach. I don’t know any of the reasons other than second hand info and what was stated in yesterday’s edition of The Anderson News. I won’t get into those things here. What’s done is done. I personally think it was a move that Anderson County will deeply regret, but only time will tell.

Mark Peach embraces his son, Brett, following Anderson County's loss to Madison Southern in the 2017 state playoffs.

One of the things that makes small town journalism different from the larger papers is that as a writer, you really get to know the people you work with. I jokingly tell my longtime friend, Coach Sam Harp, that I knew him long before he was a household word in Kentucky.

The first football game I ever covered was Harp’s debut as Anderson coach back in 1985. The Bearcats hosted a pretty good Marion County team but lost that night. The two things that stick out in my mind from that night were that Harp wanted to talk -- I listened -- and that I misidentified the kid who scored two touchdowns for Marion.

Coach Harp went on to be Kentucky’s Coach of the Year in 1986 while at Anderson and then won seven state championships after moving on to Danville. I guess you could say he did all right. As for me, I stayed around and received my share of honors from my peers, so I guess you could say I did all right too.

Before Coach Harp left Anderson, I witnessed some of the greatest moments in Anderson football history. In 1986, the Bearcats whipped Pikeville, a perennial state power, then beat Bardstown for the first time in school history. Anderson went 10-0 before losing to Fort Knox, which was a powerhouse at the time, 21-20 in the state playoffs. I still say that Anderson-Fort Knox game, which featured coaches who are now considered two of the greats in Kentucky history, Sam Harp and Joe Jaggers, was the best football game I ever covered.

By mid-season, a sophomore tackle had cracked the Anderson starting lineup. His name was Mark Peach.

The next year, Anderson made the playoffs again and traveled to Newport Catholic, a team that had been to three consecutive state championship games, for the playoff opener. Most people thought NewCath would destroy Anderson but Harp told me he believed Anderson could win. And the Bearcats did, 16-13. Late in the game, NewCath appeared ready to score the go-ahead touchdown and tried to run up the middle but the Anderson tackles, who assistant coach Jerry Perry called “The Fat Boys,” stopped them two straight plays.

Those “Fat Boys” were Jerry Hurst and Mark Peach.

On the next play, NewCath tried to run the option, but a defensive end -- I believe it was Tony Fint -- forced a fumble and Anderson recovered. Game over and Anderson had its first-ever playoff win.
You will see why I bring those memories up in a few moments.

Fast forward to 1999. I was checking the scores of the Hancock County Hornets and their first-year coach, Mark Peach.

Mark had graduated from Campbellsville University and had been an assistant at several places, but was now running the show for the first time. Hancock advanced all the way to the Class A state championship game before losing. At the time, I took note that Mark Peach would be a great hire for Anderson County some day if he wanted to come home.

I followed his career at Hancock, then at Paul L. Dunbar (where he won a regional championship) and Campbellsville University (where his teams were ranked in the NAIA Top 25). When the Anderson job came open in 2004, Mark was still at Campbellsville, but a few weeks later he stepped down, putting things in motion for him to return home.

I remember the day Mark was announced as Anderson’s new coach. After some remarks from principal Ray Woodyard, Mark talked a few minutes then told his new team that he believed they could win but it would require much work.

It was a team that had gone 1-9 in 2004 and the program had gone 7-44 over the previous five seasons.

I sat down with Mark and his wife, Julie, that day and asked Mark if he thought a state championship was possible at Anderson. He said, “Why not?”

His love of his hometown and the school where he'd become an all-state tackle was readily apparent.
Within two years, Anderson had a winning record again and in Mark’s third season, the Bearcats went 10-0 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Anderson also won the school’s first district championship since 1972 and only the second in school history. In 2010, Anderson won another district title and advanced to the regional championship game for the first time since 1987, when Peach was in high school.

The next year, Anderson won its first ever regional championship, then made it all the way to the state championship game where it ran into maybe the best high school team I have ever seen, Bowling Green.

In all, Peach’s Anderson teams won four district titles (2007, 2010, 2013 and 2018), two regional championships (2011 and 2013) and a state runner-up.

The nature of high school sports makes it very difficult to stay on top, especially at a school like Anderson that is the only school in the county and was one of the smaller Class 5A schools. The cycles of nature mean the talent pool will fluctuate. Families relocate much more today than even 15 years ago.

And with social media, the criticisms and accompanying pressures are exponentially more. As with most, but not all high school programs, there was coaching turnover. Some decided they wanted to further their education, some left teaching, some moved on for other reasons and those positions were often filled by paraprofessionals who did the best they could but usually can’t devote the time a teacher-coach can. And it always struck me to see most other similar-sized schools with more assistant coaches. It makes a difference. Trust me on that.

But when I asked Mark about that, and the lack of good facilities, his answer was always, “We try to do the best we can with who we’ve got and what we have.”

I can’t say I agreed with everything Mark did as a coach. He didn’t always agree with what I wrote. And there were times I asked him stupid questions or he gave me answers that didn’t make sense. We are both human, ya know. But we always had a laugh over those the next day.

And I knew that Mark, a history buff, would often weave stories from America’s past into his talks with his team. It led to the team adopting the theme “Band of Brothers” from the Stephen Ambrose book and the miniseries of the same name chronicling the Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division in Europe in World War II. It was also a factor in the Bearcats being one of the first teams around to enter the field with one player carrying an American flag. To me, those lessons are even more important than blocking schemes or man coverage.

Over the last few years of my tenure at The Anderson News, I was aware of some local grumbling. I would see things on Facebook that were, in my mind, often unfair and ridiculous. But it was telling when opposing coaches or their writers would ask about those same rumors and could not believe them.

And I will say that when the word broke that Mark Peach had been let go at Anderson County, I got numerous emails and/or messages from around the state and from some of his former players basically asking, “What in the world is going on?”

My answer, unfortunately, was “I have no idea.”

With that said, I still remember something Mark said to me the day he was hired at Anderson. I nearly always close interviews with a question along the line of “Is there anything else you want to say?” He referred to his college coach at Campbellsville, Ron Finley showing Christ in his program. He said, “I want to do that everywhere I go.”

And one of the things he always did was have a prayer with his team after practice and after games.
I always had that filed away and for me the most memorable moment in Mark Peach’s career at Anderson came not on that night when he led the Bearcats on the field at Western Kentucky University for the state championship game, but was not quite two years later when Anderson hosted South Oldham for its 2013 home opener.

Earlier that week, Peach had been instructed he could no longer lead his team in prayer as some out-of-state group was threatening to sue the Anderson County school system and several other school systems in Kentucky for that practice.

Even though Anderson defeated South Oldham, 35-20, that night, Peach was in tears as he talked with me following the game. He noted it was the first time he had not been able to pray with his team since he had been in coaching.

(A side note: It was estimated that 500 people came out of the stands that night to pray with the team and eventually, things got worked out that a player or Peach’s father, Al, led the team in prayer after games.)

There were other times Peach confided in me, not as a writer but as a Christian friend. We prayed together on more than one occasion and I saw Peach in tears on other occasions.
As a writer, he was one of the easiest I have ever worked with. As a friend, he has emailed or texted with congratulations when I received an award and he was there when my mom passed away in 2018.

All I can say is, Thank you, Mark Peach, for being one of those guys who made my job easier, who understood that sometimes a writer had to address touchy subjects and for encouraging me to continue serving God in the best way I can.

Trigg County is lucky to have you.

Mark Peach (left) and I talk following Anderson County's heartbreaking loss to Highlands in the 2018 state playoffs. It was my last football game as sports editor of The Anderson News.

CCU closure a time to reflect: What can we do better to encourage young Christian men and women to pursue ministry

By John Herndon It’s been over a month since my family’s world was suddenly turned upside down.

It was Monday, October 28. 

I’d just gotten home when my Facebook timeline delivered the news: Cincinnati Christian University would enter a “historic partnership” with Central Christian College of the Bible. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that the school where my daughter had enrolled less than three months earlier would be shutting down at the end of her first semester.

And I realized the diploma, hanging just above the computer delivering the announcement, had been issued by a school that would soon become a memory. 

Since CCU’s recent financial and accreditation struggles were widely known, the announcement wasn’t a shock but did come with much sadness. But even with the closure, a 95-year legacy from the school on Price Hill will live on for years to come. 

More than 30 years ago, I drove in to Cincinnati one day a week to earn a Master of Arts in Theological Studies. That arrangement meant my campus life was mostly limited the grad school rooms, then located below the Edwin Crouch Library.

But like almost everyone who ever set foot on campus, I soon learned the real study area was just up Glenway at the old Skyline Chili. It was there I made acquaintances and friendships with people who had come from many different colleges. We were there to learn from giants of the faith like Jack Cottrell, James North or Joe Ellis.

Even though I have been out of the located ministry for almost 20 years, I still use some of those lessons every day. 

With CCU ceasing academic operations, it’s easy to be angry and point fingers. It’s easy to criticize. It’s easy to term the emphasis on liberal arts over the last 15-20 years as a “loss of focus” while forgetting the impact on the many who would not have been introduced to a Christian worldview otherwise.

It’s easy to criticize the recent emphasis on sports -- as a sportswriter, I strongly questioned the addition of football for financial reasons -- but a CCU staff member shared with me that many young men were brought to Christ because of being a part of Eagle athletics. And it was easy to turn to the local media which was ready to pounce on a very difficult situation. 

A personal note: While I can’t speak for any other families, my daughter, my wife and I have found the remaining staffers -- people who will be losing their jobs by the end of the year -- have done all they can to help soon-to-be displaced students above themselves. In fact, when I was on campus in early November, I talked with two who had already been terminated but were back to assist or support kids.

Granted, CCU’s handling of the announcement through an email and calling the closing a “historic partnership” left much to be desired, but pointing fingers and placing blame accomplishes nothing now. 

We can, however, learn from the mistakes that led to CCU’s downfall and we should all look at ourselves to see how we can better support Christian higher education.

First, do we make ministry or professional Christian service attractive to young people? While it is true that every Christian is a minister and one can serve God in just about any occupation, do we actively encourage young men and women to pursue a career in God’s service?  I don’t have numbers but perceive that we tend to push young men and women toward high-paying careers, such as doctors, lawyers and such but often don’t regard the many forms of ministry with the same esteem.

Along the same line, do we encourage Christian young people who desire to pursue career paths other than ministry to still consider an education from a faithful Christian school?  Do we realize that many fine Christian schools offer business, education or many other degrees grounded in a biblical worldview?  Should that not be more of a factor than the success of a football team or prestige in the world?

That’s not to say a young person should never consider a state university. It’s obviously a personal choice based on many factors, but do we sometimes overlook Christian higher education because we don’t have the facts?

Do we presume a state university is automatically less expensive than an education at a faithful Christian college? Admittedly, I believed that for years, but found in my youngest child’s college search that CCU and some other schools were actually less expensive than some of the state universities in the area. With an aggressive scholarship in place, it was much less expensive. While every individual case is different, Christian colleges are worth a look that many do not pursue because of a false assumption.

But then, how much do churches get behind young people who opt to pursue their education at a Christian college?  My daughter was fortunate that our church offers a small scholarship for attending any college traditionally affiliated with the Restoration Movement. It wasn’t much but did help. Some churches do have wonderful partnership or covenant agreements with certain schools but I have often wondered how many college kids fend for themselves with federal student loans and have little to no financial support from those charged with spreading the gospel into the world.  I have asked these questions for years as many small colleges continuously struggle with financial pressures and declining enrollments. During my time in the newspaper business, I wrote about two college closures and closely followed two more. At least two were larger schools than CCU. It happens, but with a world in such need of the gospel, should it be the case? I don't have a definitive answer but it's worth some soul-searching.

The last month has been hectic and stressful for this CCU alumnus who has a child displaced by the unfortunate chain of events. It’s been extremely frustrating but enlightening as well. 

At one time, the school on the hill was a light to Cincinnati, the surrounding area and the world. It was undoubtedly where some of the most influential leaders of the Christian churches and churches of Christ, as well as all of evangelical Christianity, taught or received their training. It’s closure will be a huge loss, but if we reflect and improve, that closure will not be in vain.

Game time is for the games

 (This appeared as my column in the Sept. 27 edition of The Anderson News.)

  There was one reason I became a Dallas Cowboy diehard when I was a kid and remain one today.
   Roger Staubach.
   Just like today, it seemed that back in the early and mid-1970s the Cowboys were always on TV somewhere on the weekend schedule and was intrigued as Roger the Dodger zigged when defenses zagged. I knew if they were down but time was left on the clock, the Cowboys and Captain Comeback had a fighting chance.
    As longtime fans of America’s Team can tell you, Staubach led his team to 15 comebacks and 23 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter. He quarterbacked the Cowboys to four Super Bowls, winning two.
    Not bad for a pro football career that didn’t start until he was 27.
    You see, Roger Staubach attended the United States Naval Academy, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1963. He’s the last player from one of the service academies so honored. Graduating the following spring, he began his five-year stint to fulfill his service requirement and eventually volunteered to serve in Vietnam.
    When this son of a career military man learned all that information, Roger Staubach became one of my heroes. He was the winner on the field, straight-laced family man and Vietnam vet. After he retired in 1979, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and has been an ultra-successful business man.
    You can’t get much more red, white and blue than that.
    I’ve thought quite a bit about Staubach of late. Also have thought about Rocky Bleier, the Pittsburgh Steeler running back who was wounded in Vietnam. I’ve thought about Bob Kalsu and Pat Tillman, NFL players who died while serving their country.
    I don’t know how any of them feel or would feel about the NFL player protests during the National Anthem of late and certainly won’t try to figure it out.
    What I do believe is that the protests of kneeling or staying in the locker room during the anthem have overshadowed the games. As someone who has loved watching the NFL on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights for most of my life, that’s extremely unfortunate.
    What’s even more unfortunate is that sports are no longer immune to political statements.
    It’s actually been that way for decades.
Muhammad Ali. John Carlos. Tommie Smith. Some would say it goes back even further.
    But in our 24-hour cable culture, the protests – and the anger being shown on many fronts – are much more of a hot button.
    Last year, when Colin Kaepernick started making headlines much more for what he was doing during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” than his limited playing time with the San Francisco 49ers, I saw some anger and a lot of dismissing someone who had not performed at the same level since leading the team to the Super Bowl in 2012.
    Interestingly, Roger Staubach addressed the protests in a phone interview with USA Today last November. He said, “My respect for the military is the best, and it was somewhat interpreted that he was dishonoring the military because of the flag. So I was kind of upset about it, but I wish I would’ve been able to talk to him and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing? Why are you doing this specifically?’”
    It’s the same question I saw asked several times on Facebook over the weekend.
    Kaepernick said that he was protesting a system that oppressed people of color.
    Of course, he’s out of the league now and had pretty much lost his platform.
    This weekend, the kneeling was undoubtedly a reaction to President Trump’s tweets saying that if a player won’t stand for The National Anthem, the owner should “get that ____________ off the field.”
    Why in the world would the President say that? Few were protesting and the most visible one who had started the movement had become irrelevant. Chances are it would have quietly died out.
With North Korea threatening to launch nukes at our country and so many domestic problems, it’s beyond me that the President would be tweeting about firing NFL players. I agree with the President on some issues, disagree on others, but really, I wish he’d left the NFL alone.
    In addition, there is no reason for anyone to refer to another human being in such terms. It’s uncalled for in my book.
    But there’s also the perception that guys who have been afforded the opportunity of a free college education and make more money in a year than most of us will earn in a lifetime simply because they can run fast or have superhuman size protest at a time set aside to be honoring the country that afforded them that opportunity.
   Obviously, the flip side of that perception is that being materially blessed does not mean one can’t take up a cause.
    But the perception of overpaid whiners is much stronger than the message supposedly being sent.
    From my little place on the sideline, all should be standing during the playing of The National Anthem, not only out of respect for our country, but also those who have fought for the country and out of respect for each other.
    Do the NFL players -- or any other American, for that matter -- have the right to take a knee?           
   Absolutely.
   Does having that right mean it is the right thing to do? Far from it.
   Rightly, or wrongly, so many have taken the actions as a slap in the face to those who have fought for or served the country and a slap to the country itself.
    As a writer, I keep my personal views out of the story. The exceptions would be in an opinion piece that appears on the editorial pages or in clearly marked opinion columns such as this.
    In my personal life, I feel free to speak as I want face-to-face, on Facebook and any other form of communication. Sometimes I regret expressing those views. But I also know that if I used space designated for reportage to espouse political views, local or national, the ones who write my paycheck would not be happy.
    And they’d have reason to terminate my service.
    Pro athletes and entertainers have every right to promote the causes they believe in all they want. But they also have to expect the consequences.
    Fans also have the right to say, “Enough.” Fans have every right to watch other TV channels or not purchase tickets as many claim to be doing.
    And owners have the right to put a stop to behavior that diminishes their product.
    That’s putting the freedoms we have into real life in the sports world.
   For the record, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the Cowboys kneeling Monday night but they made a point to stand for the anthem and they and the Arizona Cardinals appeared respectful as the anthem was played.
    I find it ironic that NFL players are protesting in the context of a game that depends on every person doing his job. Have one person miss a block or blow a defensive coverage and see what happens.
    A successful football team has to be on the same page and often use sayings like, “It’s about we, not me.” It’s a sports lesson that should carry over to real life.
    Right now, our country is divided like I have never seen and, despite Roger Goodell’s statements about unity, the protests during The National Anthem are dividing the nation further.
    No one says there is not racism in our country. No one says there are not rogue cops. We live in a great country but it’s one with flaws and imperfections.
    It would be foolish to think otherwise.
    Those problems are still with us and can only end with the nation working together.
    I don’t know the answer to the problems. If I did, I would probably be a national celebrity.
    But I do know that protesting at a football game during a time that is meaningful to so many tears us farther apart and isn’t making changes our country needs.

For this Kentucky fan, what is happening in Louisville is not a reason to rejoice

     I have been a Kentucky Wildcat fan longer than I care to remember.  

     I fell in love with the Big Blue when Rupp’s Runts were “moving to the right side of your radio dial,” as Cawood Ledford would tell me. I was devastated when Dampier, Riley, Conley, Kron and Jaracz came up short against Texas Western in March of 1966.

     I remember my first game in Memorial Coliseum – UK routed Oregon State in the 1966 UKIT – and in those years when I lived in eastern North Carolina, found that I could get in my car, get close to water and pick up WHAS radio like I was in downtown Louisville and listen to the Wildcats.

     I wanted to throw a brick at my TV that day when Louisville rallied in the second half, then went on to beat Kentucky, 80-68 in overtime, for a trip to the 1983 Final Four. I jumped for joy 29 years later when Darius Miller came up with that steal that started driving the final nail in Louisville’s coffin and propelled the Wildcats to the NCAA Final in New Orleans.

     But I won’t gloat over what has transpired at the University of Louisville the last two days.

     There was even a time, a very long time ago, when I had one of those “My Two Favorite Teams are Kentucky and Whoever Louisville Plays” stickers on my car.

     But I can’t be giddy about the downfall of the Louisville basketball program.

     Unless you have been totally cut off from the world, you know that Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino was put on “unpaid administrative leave” Wednesday. It’s apparently a semantic designation to be in line with his contract, but Pitino has been “effectively fired” at Louisville, according to news reports.

     Athletic director Tom Jurich was placed on “paid administrative leave” but he’s gone too.

     Both moves are the result of Louisville being part of an FBI investigation into funneling money from a shoe company to a recruit. If the allegations are true, U of L Interim President Greg Postel deserves all the applause you can give for having the guts to stand up to a program that has been scandal city since long before he took over.

      As easy as it would be to goad, it’s really not a time for that for several reasons.

1       We know this is the start, but have no idea where things will finish.

     The allegations that took Pitino and Jurich down were the result of a large scale FBI operation. Even though Louisville was not named in the allegations, it did not take a genius to know who was “University Six.”

     What we don’t know what the future holds. Before all the reports from the Louisville press conference were filed Wednesday, news broke that the FBI had raided Nike Grassroots Basketball offices and subpoenaed employees.

     Soooo, it looks like this is far from over and you will see more revelations.

     I’m just not going to speculate on who.

2    Many people are legitimately hurting right now.

     At one time, I never thought it would be possible but some of the finest people I know are diehard Louisville Cardinal fans.

     One of those fans kisses me good night and wakes me up with another every morning. Yes, my wife is a Cardinal fan. I love her very much and our smack talk is always good natured, ending with a “just hush” or something like that. We pull like crazy for our teams but 10 minutes after the game, we are back in the same room.

     I do not feel much sympathy for Pitino or Jurich if the allegations are true.  I do feel for students who are trying to work toward their degrees having the cloud of an athletic scandal dominate their time at U of L.  It’s bad enough that the school is said to have a $48 million shortfall and resulting cuts. I feel for Louisville’s passionate fan base. While it’s not a huge base, it is undoubtedly one of the five most rabid in the nation.

     They deserve better than the constant scandal that has clouded U of L in recent years.

3    It affects me.

     I am not a U of L fan. I can watch any number of college basketball games any day of the week during winter.  So whether the Cardinals are on or not really has little effect on me.

     However, Louisville appears to be a candidate for the so-called “Death Penalty” to shut the program down a year or two.

     Think about that a minute.

     Since U of L is the main tenant, The KFC Yum! Center would be largely vacant for a year or two. You just can’t schedule enough concerts in there to pay the bills.

     Several months ago, Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon told Louisville Business First magazine, “that the KFC Yum Center has placed a considerable burden on Kentucky taxpayers, with 75 percent of the operating income generated for the arena coming from either a tax increment financing district implemented by the state or an annual contribution of nearly $10 million from Louisville Metro Government.”

     If the main tenant is gone, guess who foots the bill? Regardless of your team allegiance, that would hurt.

4     I am a Christian

     Those four words have been taking even more meaning over the last few years, probably because I am older and more reflective.

     I don’t believe those words mean I can’t have some good-natured fun with people, knowing it’s in fun, but it also means I should be sensitive to others.

     What happened at Louisville is the result of greed and hubris. There can be no other explanation. The Book of Proverbs says, “The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live” (Proverbs 15:27). That’s not something to rejoice over.

     Granted, what happened at Louisville is a result of the misplaced emphasis on sports and our society’s worship of people who can run faster, jump higher or shoot the three, but those those people who are hurting are people.

     And, from my corner of the world, that’s more important than what shirt they wear on Saturdays or how many Final Four trips they have.

Harmony in the midst of chaos

I have written this blog over and over in my mind for the last three or four weeks, but my mind kept racing with the latest in the 24/7 news cycle that has become a staple of life in 2017.

So much chaos. So much confusion. It's almost like someone has taken an out of tune guitar and insists on blaring it full blast, then adding a beginning band, clashing cymbals and all, to parade before our lives.

Triumphant Quartet at Sand Spring Baptist Church, June 15, 2017.

Recently as I reflected on that cacophony, I could not think but how I had been blessed by four concerts since mid-June, all of which reminded me of how wonderful harmony really is in music and in our lives.

If you know me at all, you know I love music, especially gospel, country and bluegrass with some 60s and 70s rock mixed in. As a kid, my life revolved around our farm, playing baseball and heading to one of those “all day singin' and dinner on the ground” gatherings that it seemed like every church in Anderson County, Kentucky sponsored in the '60s.  I remember seeing professional groups like The Prophets, The Blackwood Brothers and J.D. Sumner and the Stamps.

That influence flourished when I was a teen and became a fan of The Imperials, who had sung backup to Elvis, and The Oak Ridge Boys, at the time one of the hottest gospel groups around. There was, and is, just something about that wonderful four-part harmony.

Now in my late 50s, I experienced a two-month run that saw my musical tastes filled by Triumphant, The Oak Ridge Boys (twice), and Ricky Skaggs with his band, Kentucky Thunder.

Four shows. They showcased different kinds of harmony, but amidst the chaos of the world, I needed it.

I don't want to take the contrast too far since all are entertainers who provided a few moments of musical escape from a world that has become infested by the discord of hate.

But when I kept thinking about it, there might have been a reason their harmony was such a blessing: They all shared the message of Christ, which is true harmony in life.

Back on June 15, I was blessed by Triumphant Quartet at Sand Spring Baptist Church, just a few miles down the road from my house. If you are not familiar with this outstanding group, it was brought together by Louise Mandrell for her show at Pigeon Forge, about 15 years ago. The opener that night was His Heart Quartet, one of the finest regional groups around.

During the concert, Triumphant bass singer Eric Bennett, a former pastor, shared about the message of one of their latest songs, Chain Breaker.

If you've got pain
He's a pain taker
If you feel lost
He's a way maker
If you need freedom or saving
He's a prison-shaking Savior
If you've got chains

He's a chain breaker.

--Zach Williams

I don't know of any other lyrics more appropriate for today's world.

Do you?

Nine days later, my wife and I saw The Oak Ridge Boys, my 33^rd Oaks concert, at Renfro Valley. It was  vintage Oaks with a ton of country hits and some good old Red, White and Blue flag-waving through the night. 

But maybe the biggest cheer of the night came when Joe Bonsall said, “We're going to sing some gospel!”

The Oak Ridge Boys at Renfro Valley, June 24, 2017.

The Oaks are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame but have never forgotten their gospel roots and they unabashedly talk about their faith. And as Duane Allen stepped forward, they delivered one of my favorites, “I Would Crawl All the Way to the River,” a rocking gospel song from their Fancy Free album – the same as “Elvira” – that sounds like it could have been sung right after chowing down on fried chicken and mashed potatoes in the 60s.

Two months later, we saw the Oaks again at the Kentucky State Fair, their 42^nd consecutive year in Louisville. And a tradition inside that tradition is an a capella performance of “Amazing Grace” as an encore. I have no idea how many people were seated on the turf at Cardinal Stadium that night, but I can tell you that hearing several thousand people join in the marvelous harmony of the great old hymn can make you forget about the troubles of the world outside.

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind but now I see.

I believe we live in a world terribly blinded by Satan's lies and the only answer to overcome is the Amazing Grace of God.

Back on July 29, my wife and I celebrated our anniversary with another trip to Renfro Valley. This time, we saw another of my favorites, Ricky Skaggs. As much as I love bluegrass music, it's hard to believe that was the first time I had seen him other than a few songs at the Grand Ole Opry. I knew Skaggs was a committed Christian, but was not prepared for a show in which a large percentage of the songs were decidedly Christian in message in the beautiful harmonies that define bluegrass vocalists. 

Ricky Skaggs at Renfro Valley, July 24, 2017.

Then, after the show, Skaggs went to the foyer for a meet-and-greet. Directly in front of us was a couple with a large manila envelope containing several keepsakes. They started talking with the star and instead of pushing them along, he listened.  For several moments, one of the biggest stars in country and bluegrass music was listening to some fans about something that had happened in their lives. He even jotted down a few notes.

The music was outstanding, but I was struck by Ricky Skaggs' genuine show of concern.

In this world we live in, we need harmony. Real harmony with those around us. As much as I love hearing a great bass or tenor, I want to live life as God wants even more.

Just taking the time to be in tune with God and caring about people is a way to start.

I can assure you it would create miles of good will in 2017.