Top-five countdown:
5. Nina Blackwood
4. Alan Hunter
3. Martha Quinn
2. Mark Goodman
And, at No. 1, ....
... please continue scrolling! ...
... it's J.J. Jackson!
But, to be clear, I loved Nina Blackwood.
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1984. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2021
HP Special Report: Ah, Paducah
This is an HP Special Report ... a conversation is unfolding this morning on the Facebook social-media platform (fanned by, among others, a star trumpeter in the 1984 Heath High School Marching Band of Pirates/former Boy Scouts of America Troop 4 patrol leader) about the history of Cardinal Point, and it is LIT!
Will advise as events warrant (i.e., comments flow!) ...
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Oh, Kentucky
Bon Appétit Appalachia!
Good jobs news from Henderson, London and Louisville.
Hiring in downtown Marion.
Starting bid is $1.99: "'The 'Broadway Mall' is the new look of Paducah. It presents a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere for downtown shoppers:"
Good jobs news from Henderson, London and Louisville.
Hiring in downtown Marion.
Ominous Christmas news from Shelbyville.
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Effect of Sam Bowie's Injury on Coach Hall's Reputation
Eric and Matthew have been talking about Sam Bowie's injury, and it got me to thinking about how those seasons in the early 1980's played out. Consider the following:
Bowie was part of the same class as Dirk Minniefield, Derrick Hord, and Charles Hurt. They were all freshmen in 1979-80, and they were sophomores in 1980-81. The 1980-81 season ended with a loss to UAB. For 1981-82, Bowie was gone due to injury. So that team was led by three juniors (Minniefield, Hurt, and Hord), with Jim Master and Melvin Turpin as sophomores. That team lost to MTSU. In 1982-83, UK had a great team: Minniefield, Hurt, and Hord were seniors; Master, Turpin, and Beal were juniors; and Kenny Walker was a freshman. That team, of course, came very, very close to the Final Four – they were beaten by Louisville in overtime. The next year, Bowie was back – but Minniefield, Hurt, and Hord were gone. By this point, Walker and Turpin were so good that UK didn't miss Hurt and Hord too much – they had been phased out over the course of the 1983 season anyway. But there was no good replacement for Minniefield. Here is UK's 1983-84 roster:
Seniors: Bowie, Turpin, Beal, and Master
Juniors: Bearup and McKinley
Sophomores: Walker and Roger Harden
Freshmen: Winston Bennett and James Blackmon
Now that is an even better team than the one UK had in 1983 – and this team did reach the Final Four. But the bottom line is that Hall never had the chance to play the team he had meant to have – the 1983 team that would have featured Minniefield, Bowie, Turpin, Master, Hurt, Hord, and Walker. Without Bowie, the 1983 team didn't have enough on the inside to go all the way. Without Minniefield, the 1984 team lacked the point guard play necessary to go all the way.
Could Hall have won it all in 1983, if he'd had Sam Bowie? I believe he could have. Remember, he was building toward that year – just as he had built for 1978. I think UK, with Bowie, beats U of L in 1983, and then I think the Cats would have had a very good chance to take down Phi Slamma Jamma in the Final Four. (UK did beat Houston the next year, although that game was at Rupp and Houston no longer had Clyde Drexler.) And then it would have been a final against North Carolina State – and UK had some great free throw shooters. In any event, I would have much preferred UK's chances with Bowie in 1983 to their chances of getting past Patrick Ewing and company without a good point guard in 1984.
The extent to which Bowie's injury wrecked those UK teams of the early 1980s – and Joe Hall's efforts to do what he could to coach around them – probably deserve a lot more attention than they have gotten. At the time, the local media did little to defend Hall, and mostly did everything they could to make him look bad. That definitely had an effect on how he was perceived, but inside and outside Kentucky. My guess is that a sympathetic writer could tell a pretty convincing story of how Hall did some of his best work in 1983 and 1984, and got almost no credit for it.
Bowie was part of the same class as Dirk Minniefield, Derrick Hord, and Charles Hurt. They were all freshmen in 1979-80, and they were sophomores in 1980-81. The 1980-81 season ended with a loss to UAB. For 1981-82, Bowie was gone due to injury. So that team was led by three juniors (Minniefield, Hurt, and Hord), with Jim Master and Melvin Turpin as sophomores. That team lost to MTSU. In 1982-83, UK had a great team: Minniefield, Hurt, and Hord were seniors; Master, Turpin, and Beal were juniors; and Kenny Walker was a freshman. That team, of course, came very, very close to the Final Four – they were beaten by Louisville in overtime. The next year, Bowie was back – but Minniefield, Hurt, and Hord were gone. By this point, Walker and Turpin were so good that UK didn't miss Hurt and Hord too much – they had been phased out over the course of the 1983 season anyway. But there was no good replacement for Minniefield. Here is UK's 1983-84 roster:
Seniors: Bowie, Turpin, Beal, and Master
Juniors: Bearup and McKinley
Sophomores: Walker and Roger Harden
Freshmen: Winston Bennett and James Blackmon
Now that is an even better team than the one UK had in 1983 – and this team did reach the Final Four. But the bottom line is that Hall never had the chance to play the team he had meant to have – the 1983 team that would have featured Minniefield, Bowie, Turpin, Master, Hurt, Hord, and Walker. Without Bowie, the 1983 team didn't have enough on the inside to go all the way. Without Minniefield, the 1984 team lacked the point guard play necessary to go all the way.
Could Hall have won it all in 1983, if he'd had Sam Bowie? I believe he could have. Remember, he was building toward that year – just as he had built for 1978. I think UK, with Bowie, beats U of L in 1983, and then I think the Cats would have had a very good chance to take down Phi Slamma Jamma in the Final Four. (UK did beat Houston the next year, although that game was at Rupp and Houston no longer had Clyde Drexler.) And then it would have been a final against North Carolina State – and UK had some great free throw shooters. In any event, I would have much preferred UK's chances with Bowie in 1983 to their chances of getting past Patrick Ewing and company without a good point guard in 1984.
The extent to which Bowie's injury wrecked those UK teams of the early 1980s – and Joe Hall's efforts to do what he could to coach around them – probably deserve a lot more attention than they have gotten. At the time, the local media did little to defend Hall, and mostly did everything they could to make him look bad. That definitely had an effect on how he was perceived, but inside and outside Kentucky. My guess is that a sympathetic writer could tell a pretty convincing story of how Hall did some of his best work in 1983 and 1984, and got almost no credit for it.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Oh, Kentucky
"If the government and President Obama want to bow to the special interest groups, that's their business, but they picked the wrong case."
Bad jobs news from Campbellsville. Great for Madisonville. And Paducah?
In the highest parts of Harlan County, the outermost reaches of Sandy left behind more than a foot of snow. In related news, Crab Orchard (but not Hustonville or Junction City; we repeat, not Junction City) scrapped plans to Trick-or-Treat a day early, and "Just Say Boo To Drugs" has been shifted to inside at Morehead State tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Oh, Kentucky
Happy Kentucky Writers' Day!
Belatedly happy Crittenden County Industry Appreciation Week.
A happy challenge for the hometown of "the best writer from Kentucky."
And rest in peace, Mr. Duvall, a pretty excellent Kentucky writer.
Out of Touch? The Adair County High Class of 1984 aims to rectify that situation.
All of the above.
All of the above.
"As an official of the United States Government I’m obligated to note that the views are those of the speaker and do not reflect that of the United States government or any agency thereof."
HeathPo: "The last Democrat to carry Kentucky in a presidential election."
77 cents on the dollar.
Sweet tea in Aurora.
Belatedly happy Crittenden County Industry Appreciation Week.
A happy challenge for the hometown of "the best writer from Kentucky."
And rest in peace, Mr. Duvall, a pretty excellent Kentucky writer.
Out of Touch? The Adair County High Class of 1984 aims to rectify that situation.
All of the above.
All of the above.
"As an official of the United States Government I’m obligated to note that the views are those of the speaker and do not reflect that of the United States government or any agency thereof."
HeathPo: "The last Democrat to carry Kentucky in a presidential election."
77 cents on the dollar.
Sweet tea in Aurora.
Doron Lamb (at least) in Madisonville, Terrence Jones in Frankfort and Russell Springs and my main man from Maysville in Nicholasville.
A 19-year-old from Nashville, Will Schusterick--the seventh-rated player in the Professional Disc Golf Association--won the SOKY Championships in Bowling Green this past weekend, and the Twitter desk is pursuing an answer as to whether he will be playing the Madisonville Open Pro-Am Disc Golf Tournament, July 6-8.Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Last Night's Boys' Basketball Scores
Good job by Eric, who was rocking the coverage last night. Please note that teams which lost last night are eliminated:
1st District (at Hickman Co.):
Fulton City 62, Fulton Co. 42
2d District (at Paducah Tilghman):
Paducah Tilghman 82, Reidland 62
3d District (at Graves Co.):
St. Mary 67, Ballard Mem. 54
4th District (at Murray):
Marshall Co. 82, Pad. Comm. Christian 49
5th District (at Lyon Co.):
Livingston Cent. 56, Crittenden Co. 49
Lyon Co. 84, Trigg Co. 81
7th District (at Caldwell Co.):
Caldwell Co. 83, Hopkins Co. Cent. 69
8th District (at Christian Co.):
Christian Co. 66, University Heights 60
Hopkinsville 112, Ft. Campbell 54
No teams of note were eliminated in the rest of the Commonwealth, although Eric will be interested to know that Logan County eliminated Todd County Central 88-73 in the 13th District at Russellville.
1st District (at Hickman Co.):
Fulton City 62, Fulton Co. 42
2d District (at Paducah Tilghman):
Paducah Tilghman 82, Reidland 62
3d District (at Graves Co.):
St. Mary 67, Ballard Mem. 54
4th District (at Murray):
Marshall Co. 82, Pad. Comm. Christian 49
5th District (at Lyon Co.):
Livingston Cent. 56, Crittenden Co. 49
Lyon Co. 84, Trigg Co. 81
7th District (at Caldwell Co.):
Caldwell Co. 83, Hopkins Co. Cent. 69
8th District (at Christian Co.):
Christian Co. 66, University Heights 60
Hopkinsville 112, Ft. Campbell 54
No teams of note were eliminated in the rest of the Commonwealth, although Eric will be interested to know that Logan County eliminated Todd County Central 88-73 in the 13th District at Russellville.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Oh, Kentucky
One and done: The boys' and girls' rounds of 268 (I think) start tonight. Most of Kentucky's 64 boys' and 64 girls' high-school basketball districts have four teams. The sixth, 10th, 59th and 60th districts have three teams each; there are 17 districts with five teams apiece, but at least one of them, the fourth, puts only four teams into its tournament. So, anyway, that math (probably flawed) comes out to 268 teams that begin today in the hunt for each of the one boys' and one girls' state basketball championship that the KHSAA awards. Hooray! In the honor of all those teams' having at least a glimmer of title hopes this morning, the Kentucky desk today performs a reading from Dave Kindred's essential Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky (5 stars, highly recommended), printed by Louisville's Fetter Printing Company in December 1975:
KINGDOM COME, February, 1968--Driving down KY 463, you pass through Delphia, which isn't much more than the "Delphia U-Wash Laundry" on the right. Over a hill and you're in Letcher County in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky, 225 miles from Louisville. At a sign that says "Cumberland 5 miles, Hot Spot 15 miles," you turn left and go down a narrow road four miles--past Dollie's Place, which is a cafe with good hamburgers and a six-foot pool table--and you have found Kingdom Come High School. ...
Kindom Come doesn't have a good team. It has lost all 12 of its games and is last in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings of the state's 350 high school teams. It has an 0.1 rating.
Coach Coots, who is called 'Coots' by everyone in school, says Kingdom Come has problems it likely will never overcome. Only 30 percent of the fathers in the valley have jobs, he said. Boys leave school to join the Army. They go to Cincinnati or Detroit to work.
"These kids have been losing for so long, they're used to it," Coots said. "They joke it up just as big if they lose as if they'd just won a game."
Maybe.
When Red Bird moved ahead 70-68 and was holding the ball until the final seconds ticked off on an electric alarm clock (the scoreboard had shorted out), a Kingdom Come senior guard Sharon Gentry shouted at a Red Bird fan: "Don't you sound off about winning, or I'll come down and scratch your eyes out."
And when Junior Halcomb left the floor, after missing two late free throws that would have tied the game, the tears in his eyes were not from joking it up.
In other sports news: Franklin-Simpson and Lone Oak's Kenny Perry ... LexCath's Natalie Novosel ... awesome, baby.
It's windfall day in western Kentucky: $7,000 profit shares for the Corvette makers in Bowling Green from GM, free surgeries for cataracts sufferers in Paducah from HPKo10*.
Van Halen--voted a "favorite music group" by Heath High School's seniors in both Pirata 1984 and Pirata 1985--played in Louisville this weekend. With all of the tumult and uncertainty that these last 27 years have brought, it's good to see that we can still count on David Lee Roth and the Van Halen brothers to make beautiful music together.
Tommy Womack's rocking anew, too.
KINGDOM COME, February, 1968--Driving down KY 463, you pass through Delphia, which isn't much more than the "Delphia U-Wash Laundry" on the right. Over a hill and you're in Letcher County in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky, 225 miles from Louisville. At a sign that says "Cumberland 5 miles, Hot Spot 15 miles," you turn left and go down a narrow road four miles--past Dollie's Place, which is a cafe with good hamburgers and a six-foot pool table--and you have found Kingdom Come High School. ...
Kindom Come doesn't have a good team. It has lost all 12 of its games and is last in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings of the state's 350 high school teams. It has an 0.1 rating.
Coach Coots, who is called 'Coots' by everyone in school, says Kingdom Come has problems it likely will never overcome. Only 30 percent of the fathers in the valley have jobs, he said. Boys leave school to join the Army. They go to Cincinnati or Detroit to work.
"These kids have been losing for so long, they're used to it," Coots said. "They joke it up just as big if they lose as if they'd just won a game."
Maybe.
When Red Bird moved ahead 70-68 and was holding the ball until the final seconds ticked off on an electric alarm clock (the scoreboard had shorted out), a Kingdom Come senior guard Sharon Gentry shouted at a Red Bird fan: "Don't you sound off about winning, or I'll come down and scratch your eyes out."
And when Junior Halcomb left the floor, after missing two late free throws that would have tied the game, the tears in his eyes were not from joking it up.
In other sports news: Franklin-Simpson and Lone Oak's Kenny Perry ... LexCath's Natalie Novosel ... awesome, baby.
It's windfall day in western Kentucky: $7,000 profit shares for the Corvette makers in Bowling Green from GM, free surgeries for cataracts sufferers in Paducah from HPKo10*.
Van Halen--voted a "favorite music group" by Heath High School's seniors in both Pirata 1984 and Pirata 1985--played in Louisville this weekend. With all of the tumult and uncertainty that these last 27 years have brought, it's good to see that we can still count on David Lee Roth and the Van Halen brothers to make beautiful music together.
Tommy Womack's rocking anew, too.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
HP SPECIAL REPORT: The streak is over
This is a Heath Post special report ... For the first time since 1984, when Franklin's Joker Phillips was a Wildcat wide receiver, the University of Kentucky has beaten Tennessee in football, 10-7 in Lexington. Senior offensive tackle Billy Joe Murphy from Gamaliel, "I can't begin to explain what I'm feeling right now."
Friday, May 13, 2011
Best of the 80's: Ocean Rain by Echo & the Bunnymen
This 1984 release comes in at number 76 currently at the Best of the 80's list. These guys were a part of the post punk movement in the early 80's. They brought in influences from psychedelia and The Doors and really perfected this combination of sound with a post punk feel on this their fourth album. I'm a big fan of this album. It has a solid set of songs with a good pop sense and a very unique sound. In some ways it's hard to think that this album had a big cult following in the US the same year the Van Halen released 1984.
About once a year I throw this album on. Usually in the spring, so it worked out well that I reviewed it now.
Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 3 out of 5 stars for Pretty Good.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Ah, Footbah flashback
It had been a terrific and successful Homecoming Week 1985 at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky.
Tuesday, Oct. 9, had been Dress Up Day; "I thought that there were a lot of people who participated and those who did looked very nice," Missy Wynn told fellow senior Jane Simmons for the Heath Post. Hat Day came Wednesday; "there was a variety of hats ranging from baseball caps to Arabian sheik hats," Simmons reported. Thursday brought Color Day, and that brought out plenty of black-and-gold football jerseys. Friday closed the week on a casual note: Sweatsuit Day. The attire was appropriate, given that afternoon classes were called off so that Heath's 490 students could participate in a host of activities planned by the Student Council, including whipped-cream eating, bubble-gum blowing, football throwing, water-balloon tossing, donut eating, chug-a-lugging and sleeping-bag, three-legged and obstacle-course racing.
Now it was time to get down to the business of the evening. The Heath football team--struggling to replace a half-dozen two-way starters from an 8-3, playoff squad in 1984--was off to 1-4 start, and tonight's opponent was the first-place team in its sub-district, the Fulton County Pilots. (Even Heath's junior-varsity football team was 0-5!) Still, there was a surprisingly strong sense that the varsity Pirates would get things turned around, starting tonight. Two of 1-A Heath's losses had been to 2-A and 3-A powers (Mayfield and Hopkinsville, respectively); furthermore, Heath--a school that advanced to the state-championship game in just its fifth season of fielding a varsity team, had never posted a losing football season--and the Pirates had only four games left on their 1985 schedule.
Indeed, Heath got off to a very, very good start on this Friday night. Robbie Estes returns a Fulton County fumble on the opening kickoff for a touchdown. A missed extra point leaves the score 6-0, Pirates, just 45 seconds into the evening.
On the Pilots' opening play from scrimmage, Oscar Bishop throws 17 yards to his twin brother, Roy. On the next play, Oscar runs for 14. This looks like it's going to be a tough night, but then Fulton County starts showing a propensity for penalties and Heath's defense tightens. The teams trade scoreless possessions.
Late in the first quarter, Fulton County is on the eighth play of a possession. It's first down at the Heath 40. Oscar Bishop throws deep, and junior Jamie Jones (who would star on the 1986 state-championship team) intercepts! Three plays later, Jones scampers 50 yards for a score. Senior Michael Carter--touted early in his career, before multiple knee surgeries reduced his speed, to be the next great Pirate running back--runs for the two-point conversion, and the Pirates are ahead 16-0 with 1:43 to go in the first quarter.
The Pirates force the Pilots into a three-and-out and resume possession at their own 39, and here again comes Heath! It's Jones for four yards and Jones for seven. Troy McCann, the Pirates' unheralded senior quarterback, completes his only pass of the first half for 18 yards to junior Kevin Lanier, and Heath has first down at the Fulton County 25. On fourth-and-six, Rodney Bushong (the first-year head coach who had been promoted from assistant when Jack Haskins, the only coach in school history, left in the offseason for 3-A Calloway County) could call for a 38-yard field-goal try, but his kicker has already missed an extra point. He'll take his chances with his offense. Illegal procedure! Now it's a fourth-and-11, but, if Bushong wasn't going to try a field goal from 38, he's not going to kick for 43. McCann drops back and is sacked for a six-yard loss. Fulton County takes over possession.
Now the Bishop brothers are in full gallop. Oscar throws for 15; Roy runs for 25. Fulton County mounts a 14-play drive. But on a third-and-1 from the Heath 9, illegal procedure bites the Pilots, too! Oscar misses on the third-and-6 pass, and now Fulton County's coach shows even less confidence in his kicking game. On fourth-and-6 from the Heath 14, Oscar's pass flutters incomplete. Deep in his own territory, McCann runs a couple of keepers and runs the last seconds on the clock. Heath takes a 14-0 advantage into halftime! The Pilots have outgained the Pirates, 121 yards to 104, and produced seven first downs to Heath's three--but they also have recorded two turnovers to the Pirates' none.
At halftime, Teresa Dowell--escorted by a senior captain of the football team, defensive end Jim Boyd--is crowned queen. Dee Lynn Blackwell, Donna Elrod and Missy Leatherman complete the queen's court.
On the third quarter's first possession, on a third-and-16 from its own 29, Heath eschews the pass and elects instead to run Carter, who gains 11. Kevin Skinner unloads a 52-yard punt, and the coverage is good. This possession produces no points, but it does give the home team solid advantage in field position to open the second half, as Fulton County is stuck at its 10.
The Pilots pick up a first down but have to punt from their 25. Jones fields the 45-yard line drive and dashes 70 yards for the Heath score! A two-point run puts the Pirates up, 22-0, with 5:10 to go in the third quarter.
Maybe the cathartic score unfocused Heath a bit. There are penalties called on the Pirates both after the two-point conversion and on the ensuing kickoff. Plus, the Pilots start gaining yards in gashes: seven, 28, seven, seven. With 1:42 to play, Fulton County gets on the board with a two-yard run--but then fails on a two-point run. It's 22-6.
Carter is thrown for a four-yard loss in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but, on the play, Fulton County is flagged for dragging down the runner by his facemask. Carter barrels 10 yards on the next down, to give the Pirates' first down at the Pilots' 34, as the teams switch ends for the fourth quarter.
Three runs and a penalty on each side net negative-four yards for the offense, and Heath punts from its 38. The shank skitters out of bounds at the 30--a punt of eight yards.
There's a 15-yard Heath penalty in the ensuing Fulton County possession, but this is quickly becoming a story of the Bishop brothers: Roy runs for 13 yards; Oscar throws for 15, and Oscar runs for 14 and the score. At 8:08, it's 22-12 (after another failed two-point conversion).
Heath starts its next possession with a five-yard penalty. Two runs produce a yard. McCann remains a perfect one-for-one on his passing attempts, because he's sacked on his only dropback of this possession. On fourth-and-19 from the Heath 24, the punt goes out of bounds after 20 yards. And on Fulton County's first down from the Heath 44, Oscar Bishop runs for all 44 of it. This time, Roy Bishop is sent in to kick for the point after--and succeeds, 22-19 with 4:56 to play.
Here's the Heath possession from the 37: Jones runs for two, Carter for five, Carter for one and a 19-yard punt isn't returned.
Oscar Bishop--so sick that Carter had heard before the game that he would not play--was vomiting in the huddle between plays. And yet he finished the game with 221 offensive yards (116 on the ground and 105 through the air), following this final Fulton County drive:
-- First and 10, Fulton County 36, Oscar run, 12
-- First and 10, Fulton County 48, Heath penalty, 5
-- First and 5, Heath 47, R. Evans run, -5
-- Second and 10, Fulton County 48, Oscar passes incomplete
-- Third and 10, Fulton County 48, Oscar Bishop passes to H. Coffey, 6
-- Fourth and 4, Heath 46, Oscar run, 12
-- First and 10, Heath 34, Oscar run, 0
-- Second and 10, Heath 34, Roy run, 6
-- Third and 4, Heath 28, Evans run, 9
With 22 seconds remaining, Oscar throws 19 yards to Roy for the game-winning touchdown. Fulton County is called for consecutive five-yard penalties, and yet Roy stays on to kick. It's good: 26-22, Pilots.
Roy's kickoff goes only 29 yards, and Estes returns 10. Heath gets in two shots before time expires; both fall incomplete. Alas, it's an underclassman, Jamie Jordan, sent in to heave the last two attempts, so McCann finishes the loss with one passing attempt and one completion, for a gain of 18 yards.
I went straight home, so I wouldn't know. But Simmons wrote in the Heath Post, "After the game, the cheerleaders sponsored a dance, which was held in the cafeteria. The Pep Club arranged for pictures to be made in the library."
With the loss, my senior year appeared destined to be the first losing streak in
Heath's football history, which had begun in 1971. Alas, after the 1-5 start, the Pirates charged to three straight victories, and, between the second and third of those games, Coach Bushong found an opponent for a 10th game on the schedule: at Class 4A Madisonville.
Visiting Heath beat the Maroons, 14-0, to finish the 1985 season with a non-losing record of 5-5. The next autumn, the Pirates finished 13-1 and Kentucky Class A champions.
Pirata. Magee, Tracey; Matthew Vaughn, and Eric Woehler, editors (West Paducah, Ky.: Heath High School, 1986) 138.
Tuesday, Oct. 9, had been Dress Up Day; "I thought that there were a lot of people who participated and those who did looked very nice," Missy Wynn told fellow senior Jane Simmons for the Heath Post. Hat Day came Wednesday; "there was a variety of hats ranging from baseball caps to Arabian sheik hats," Simmons reported. Thursday brought Color Day, and that brought out plenty of black-and-gold football jerseys. Friday closed the week on a casual note: Sweatsuit Day. The attire was appropriate, given that afternoon classes were called off so that Heath's 490 students could participate in a host of activities planned by the Student Council, including whipped-cream eating, bubble-gum blowing, football throwing, water-balloon tossing, donut eating, chug-a-lugging and sleeping-bag, three-legged and obstacle-course racing.
Now it was time to get down to the business of the evening. The Heath football team--struggling to replace a half-dozen two-way starters from an 8-3, playoff squad in 1984--was off to 1-4 start, and tonight's opponent was the first-place team in its sub-district, the Fulton County Pilots. (Even Heath's junior-varsity football team was 0-5!) Still, there was a surprisingly strong sense that the varsity Pirates would get things turned around, starting tonight. Two of 1-A Heath's losses had been to 2-A and 3-A powers (Mayfield and Hopkinsville, respectively); furthermore, Heath--a school that advanced to the state-championship game in just its fifth season of fielding a varsity team, had never posted a losing football season--and the Pirates had only four games left on their 1985 schedule.
Indeed, Heath got off to a very, very good start on this Friday night. Robbie Estes returns a Fulton County fumble on the opening kickoff for a touchdown. A missed extra point leaves the score 6-0, Pirates, just 45 seconds into the evening.
On the Pilots' opening play from scrimmage, Oscar Bishop throws 17 yards to his twin brother, Roy. On the next play, Oscar runs for 14. This looks like it's going to be a tough night, but then Fulton County starts showing a propensity for penalties and Heath's defense tightens. The teams trade scoreless possessions.
Late in the first quarter, Fulton County is on the eighth play of a possession. It's first down at the Heath 40. Oscar Bishop throws deep, and junior Jamie Jones (who would star on the 1986 state-championship team) intercepts! Three plays later, Jones scampers 50 yards for a score. Senior Michael Carter--touted early in his career, before multiple knee surgeries reduced his speed, to be the next great Pirate running back--runs for the two-point conversion, and the Pirates are ahead 16-0 with 1:43 to go in the first quarter.
The Pirates force the Pilots into a three-and-out and resume possession at their own 39, and here again comes Heath! It's Jones for four yards and Jones for seven. Troy McCann, the Pirates' unheralded senior quarterback, completes his only pass of the first half for 18 yards to junior Kevin Lanier, and Heath has first down at the Fulton County 25. On fourth-and-six, Rodney Bushong (the first-year head coach who had been promoted from assistant when Jack Haskins, the only coach in school history, left in the offseason for 3-A Calloway County) could call for a 38-yard field-goal try, but his kicker has already missed an extra point. He'll take his chances with his offense. Illegal procedure! Now it's a fourth-and-11, but, if Bushong wasn't going to try a field goal from 38, he's not going to kick for 43. McCann drops back and is sacked for a six-yard loss. Fulton County takes over possession.
Now the Bishop brothers are in full gallop. Oscar throws for 15; Roy runs for 25. Fulton County mounts a 14-play drive. But on a third-and-1 from the Heath 9, illegal procedure bites the Pilots, too! Oscar misses on the third-and-6 pass, and now Fulton County's coach shows even less confidence in his kicking game. On fourth-and-6 from the Heath 14, Oscar's pass flutters incomplete. Deep in his own territory, McCann runs a couple of keepers and runs the last seconds on the clock. Heath takes a 14-0 advantage into halftime! The Pilots have outgained the Pirates, 121 yards to 104, and produced seven first downs to Heath's three--but they also have recorded two turnovers to the Pirates' none.
At halftime, Teresa Dowell--escorted by a senior captain of the football team, defensive end Jim Boyd--is crowned queen. Dee Lynn Blackwell, Donna Elrod and Missy Leatherman complete the queen's court.
On the third quarter's first possession, on a third-and-16 from its own 29, Heath eschews the pass and elects instead to run Carter, who gains 11. Kevin Skinner unloads a 52-yard punt, and the coverage is good. This possession produces no points, but it does give the home team solid advantage in field position to open the second half, as Fulton County is stuck at its 10.
The Pilots pick up a first down but have to punt from their 25. Jones fields the 45-yard line drive and dashes 70 yards for the Heath score! A two-point run puts the Pirates up, 22-0, with 5:10 to go in the third quarter.
Maybe the cathartic score unfocused Heath a bit. There are penalties called on the Pirates both after the two-point conversion and on the ensuing kickoff. Plus, the Pilots start gaining yards in gashes: seven, 28, seven, seven. With 1:42 to play, Fulton County gets on the board with a two-yard run--but then fails on a two-point run. It's 22-6.
Carter is thrown for a four-yard loss in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but, on the play, Fulton County is flagged for dragging down the runner by his facemask. Carter barrels 10 yards on the next down, to give the Pirates' first down at the Pilots' 34, as the teams switch ends for the fourth quarter.
Three runs and a penalty on each side net negative-four yards for the offense, and Heath punts from its 38. The shank skitters out of bounds at the 30--a punt of eight yards.
There's a 15-yard Heath penalty in the ensuing Fulton County possession, but this is quickly becoming a story of the Bishop brothers: Roy runs for 13 yards; Oscar throws for 15, and Oscar runs for 14 and the score. At 8:08, it's 22-12 (after another failed two-point conversion).
Heath starts its next possession with a five-yard penalty. Two runs produce a yard. McCann remains a perfect one-for-one on his passing attempts, because he's sacked on his only dropback of this possession. On fourth-and-19 from the Heath 24, the punt goes out of bounds after 20 yards. And on Fulton County's first down from the Heath 44, Oscar Bishop runs for all 44 of it. This time, Roy Bishop is sent in to kick for the point after--and succeeds, 22-19 with 4:56 to play.
Here's the Heath possession from the 37: Jones runs for two, Carter for five, Carter for one and a 19-yard punt isn't returned.
Oscar Bishop--so sick that Carter had heard before the game that he would not play--was vomiting in the huddle between plays. And yet he finished the game with 221 offensive yards (116 on the ground and 105 through the air), following this final Fulton County drive:
-- First and 10, Fulton County 36, Oscar run, 12
-- First and 10, Fulton County 48, Heath penalty, 5
-- First and 5, Heath 47, R. Evans run, -5
-- Second and 10, Fulton County 48, Oscar passes incomplete
-- Third and 10, Fulton County 48, Oscar Bishop passes to H. Coffey, 6
-- Fourth and 4, Heath 46, Oscar run, 12
-- First and 10, Heath 34, Oscar run, 0
-- Second and 10, Heath 34, Roy run, 6
-- Third and 4, Heath 28, Evans run, 9
With 22 seconds remaining, Oscar throws 19 yards to Roy for the game-winning touchdown. Fulton County is called for consecutive five-yard penalties, and yet Roy stays on to kick. It's good: 26-22, Pilots.
Roy's kickoff goes only 29 yards, and Estes returns 10. Heath gets in two shots before time expires; both fall incomplete. Alas, it's an underclassman, Jamie Jordan, sent in to heave the last two attempts, so McCann finishes the loss with one passing attempt and one completion, for a gain of 18 yards.
I went straight home, so I wouldn't know. But Simmons wrote in the Heath Post, "After the game, the cheerleaders sponsored a dance, which was held in the cafeteria. The Pep Club arranged for pictures to be made in the library."
With the loss, my senior year appeared destined to be the first losing streak in
Heath's football history, which had begun in 1971. Alas, after the 1-5 start, the Pirates charged to three straight victories, and, between the second and third of those games, Coach Bushong found an opponent for a 10th game on the schedule: at Class 4A Madisonville.
Visiting Heath beat the Maroons, 14-0, to finish the 1985 season with a non-losing record of 5-5. The next autumn, the Pirates finished 13-1 and Kentucky Class A champions.
Pirata. Magee, Tracey; Matthew Vaughn, and Eric Woehler, editors (West Paducah, Ky.: Heath High School, 1986) 138.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Melvin Turpin, 1960-2010
The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that Melvin Turpin was found dead this afternoon at his home in Lexington. Apparently, he took his own life. He was 49 years old.
This really, really hurts. One of the hardest parts about being a fan is that you simply can never repay all the joy that your team gives to you. I watched almost every game Kentucky played during the 1983-84 season, and I have thought about that team over and over again for the last 26 years -- almost always with happiness. I will probably do so for the rest of my life. And all of that joy was made possible by Melvin Turpin, who was one of the greatest centers Kentucky ever had.
I know that there are huge numbers of Kentucky fans who feel the same way -- who would have been happy to do anything they could to repay Turpin for all he did for us. But what can we do, really? There is -- there must always be -- a tremendous gap between those who do and those who watch. And many fans -- not just sports fans, but music fans, fans of certain authors, and so forth -- have had to recognize that all our support is not enough to help our heroes overcome the demons that they face.
All we can do -- all we fans can ever do -- is keep the memories alive. Tell the stories, watch the old game films, read the books, listen to the music. Tell our kids and grandkids. Pass it all along. And that is what I will do.
Thank you, Melvin Turpin.
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