Randy Smith
Ater spending the past two weeks traveling up the east coast with my beautiful wife, I find that it's time to start writing again. I am refreshed, and looking forward to the start of a new football season; one that holds a lot of promise. In years past, following that final week at the beach or in the mountains, it became time to look at what autumn had to offer. It became time to prepare for "Friday Night Football" or week one on the Vol Football Network. Everything was like brand new. Each team started the season with a perfect, undefeated record. While only a handful of teams would be able to keep that unblemished mark, during the preseason everyone was equal.
When I played football from 1964-1966, I dreaded the start of practice in August because of the heat. I mentioned several weeks ago, it's a wonder we didn't die at the end of a tough practice session, but we were all tougher than we thought. When we finally were issued equipment and started hitting, we forgot about the heat, the blood, and the pain. We were unbeaten heading into that first game of the year and we were all cocky and yes....we had a swagger back then. Only we didn't know what swagger was in 1964.
Moving ahead to 2015, that same sense of confidence is still very much a part of our lives. The Tennessee Vols are picked to finish second behind Georgia in the SEC East, while the Chattanooga Mocs are tabbed to win a third straight Southern Conference title. Coach Russ Heusman's squad is also receiving a lot of publicity on the national front as well. They're picked #8 in the preseason polls and could be a favorite to compete for an FCS national championship.
I have recently retired from everything except writing. While my work load is nothing to compare to what it was ten years ago, I am still excited about the approaching football season. I look forward to visiting high school teams as they prepare for their upcoming campaigns. I look forward to talking with some of the head coaches; the new ones as well as the old ones. I really can't wait until the season begins on August 21st. I also can't wait until the smell of fresh-cut grass mingles in my nostrils with the smell of hamburgers cooking on the grill or popcorn in the concession stands. There is also the anticipation of which player will score the first touchdown of the season.
While most of my college football coverage will take place in my man-cave in front of my sixty inch television set, I plan to go see the Mocs play a couple of times. I also plan to see the Vols play this season, and I also am planning to see a game at Clemson. (I just can't make up my mind which game I want to see; Florida State or Notre Dame) I did very well with my SEC predictions a year ago, so I plan to do those again in 2015.
The fall is my favorite time of the year. It really does mark a new beginning; not only for football but for students in school as well. Many administrators in the public school system will tell you emphatically, if a school has a good football team, it will help the entire school have a great year, from beginning to end. So, to borrow an expression from one of my all-time favorite coaches........"Men.........let's tee it up and get after 'em."
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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. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
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 thirty 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 four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.