Randy Smith
I have truly been blessed beyond anything I could ever imagine. I have my health, a wonderful, beautiful wife for almost 44 years, two wonderful children and five fabulous, beautiful grandchildren. I thank God every day for the things I have and the things I've done, and as I approach my sixty-fifth Christmas holiday I would like to ask for things for other people; some I know and some I don't.
I wish for a successful tenure at UTC for new head football coach Tom Arth.
He seems to be the perfect guy to replace the highly successful Russ Huesman who is now at Richmond. I also wish Russ well as he returns to the school where he served as Defensive Coordinator for four years.
The 2016-17 Mocs basketball teams are off to a good start and I wish them much success the rest of the way.
I wish that Tennessee would play UTC in softball. Both coaches Ralph Weekly and Frank Reed blame the other.....but if we could just look at the better good for women's softball state-wide, they both would see how great this game, played on an annual basis, would be. To borrow a phrase from the late UTC Coach Murray Arnold, "It will be more than just a game.....we can make it an event."
I hope attendance will improve for UTC football next fall. Our city is big enough to bring out more than 5,500 fans to an FCS football contest.
It's been too long since a public high school from Hamilton County has won a state football championship. I wish that would change soon.
I also wish for wise guidance for the Hamilton County school system. It's at an all-time low in not only performance but morale. I've said all along I wish someone in that system would be accountable for what's going on. Perhaps we need a good housecleaning.
I wish for more and better opportunities for young African American female athletes. They are the forgotten part of our society, needing just a chance to prove themselves and be successful.
I wish more and more men and women would take an interest in umpiring baseball and softball. We need you desperately to work with young people, especially at the middle and high school levels.
I wish that the College Football Playoffs would be very exciting this year, with perhaps Clemson or Washington winning the national title. Nothing personal Alabama and Ohio State, but it would be great for the game if we had a new winner.
I wish college basketball would alter the rules a bit so that schools like Kentucky would have fewer "one year and done" players. Those mega recruiting classes are not good for the game.
I wish college baseball would continue to gain popularity. It's a game that is much more pure than professional baseball and very fun to watch.
I wish the New York Yankees would have a really good team this year and return to relevance in Major League Baseball. 2009 was the last year the Bronx Bombers won a World Series.
I wish for continued success for Washington Nationals' pitcher Shawn Kelley who lives in Chattanooga in the off season.
I also wish for the very best for Dodgers' pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, who arguably is the best pitching coach in the big leagues.
I wish that young kids would help to make their own decisions about whether to play 75-100 baseball or softball games a year. Burn out is very real and that many games is simply too much of a grind for six-seven year-old kids. Continue to make the game fun!
I wish that these-ultra mega ball field parents would just sit down and shut up. After all, it's not about you. It's about the kids.
I wish that UTC would bring back college baseball. After all, it's been thirty-five years since the sport was dropped. By the way, I've wished for this many times before.
I wish that Butch Jones would be able to prove to everyone that he is a very good college football coach. He has his work cut out in 2017 and a 7-5 record or maybe another 8-4 mark is about the best we can hope for next season. However, it may not be enough to please those fickle Tennessee fans.
I wish for a Big Orange win over Nebraska in the Music City Bowl.
I wish for a successful career for Austin Peay head football coach Will Healy. He's too good to be 0-11 every year.
On a personal note I wish for a lot of publicity for my book, "Seasons of Change." Sure I want to sell a lot of books but that's not why I wrote it. I wish that people in Tennessee and beyond would finally recognize the tremendous journey the 1967-68 Waverly Tigerettes were on when they won the TSSAA Girls State Basketball Championship. Social obstacles that faced an integrated team in the South in the 1960s were almost unbelievable, and the performance of their star Sally Smith is unequaled in women's basketball.
I wish that everyone would just stop or at least slow down and appreciate the true meaning of Christmas. That it's all about giving and loving each other and remembering the unfortunate among us.
And finally, I wish all of my family, friends and readers a very Merry Christmas. I hope that God will bless each and every one of you in 2017 helping you have the happiest New Year ever!
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.