Mark North, Sports Fan & President of The Fans, Inc.

Back to the Future…The FANS Retro Classic Rocks

The North Sports Report attended the most exciting, innovative, heartwarming basketball extravaganza last weekend at the old Historic Isaac Litton Gymnasium. I hope you saw the media coverage. Four local television stations, The Tennessean, and even ESPN.com covered The FANS Retro Classic. The teams wore throwback uniforms of bygone high schools, fans wore memorabilia and legendary MNPS coaches were recognized at mid-court. Decked out in retro uniforms of old DuPont High, Litton High, Cameron High and the eye popping iconic Madison High polka dots, the teams took to the court in what I believe is the first varsity high school basketball games at the old Litton gym in over forty years. Nashville Sporting Goods helped with the throwback uniforms, and Maplewood, Hume-Fogg, Hunters Lane, Stratford, Glencliff, and McGavock hooped it old school.



Talk about history, recognizing great old-school coaches was a highlight of the event: McGavock’s first basketball coach Joe Allen; Stratford’s first football coach Ronald Webb; Stratford’s first basketball coach Charlie Anderson; Hunters Lane’s first basketball coach Carlton Collier; and Madison High’s first football coach Bill Brimm. What’s that, Coach? No sir, I didn’t say “old school.” I said “wise and experienced.”

Coaching legends: McGavock's Joe Allen; Madison's Bill Brimm; Stratford and Litton's Ronald Webb (also a long time Principal at McMurray); Stratford's Charlie Anderson; and Madison and Hunters Lane's Carlton Collier.	Hunters Lane in old school Madison High uniforms and Glencliff in old school Cameron High uniforms.
Game action: Hume-Fogg, dressed as old Madison, vs. Maplewood, dressed as old Litton.	Stratford Coach Barry Mangrum introduces legends, principal Ronald Webb and coach Charlie Anderson, for pre-game words of wisdom to the attentive Spartans.

The North Sports Report can’t wait until next year’s FANS Retro Classic!

News from the Alley… Best in Tennessee History

Check out this morning’s Tennessean and sportswriter Chip Cirillo’s piece on Cane Ridge superstar bowler Aaron Ruiz who won the state championship his freshman year, led the state with the highest per game average last year as a sophomore, and broke the state record this year with an average of 244. By the time Aaron concludes his high school career, he will be recognized as the best bowler in the history of Tennessee interscholastic bowling. The state tournament is January 24-26 in Smyrna. Good luck to all our bowlers!





-- Mark North

MNPS: The First Choice for Historic Performances

Mark North, Sports Fan & President of The Fans, Inc.

Bowling Season: Set ‘Em Up…Knock ‘Em Down

The time has come for MNPS student-athletes to hang out in the alley…bowling alley that is. Bowling is an exciting combination of an individual and team sport. Did you know that the bowler with last year’s highest per game average in the state resumes his state title hopes for the Cane Ridge Ravens. That’s right, Aaron Ruiz, the best high school bowler in Tennessee, and all other MNPS bowlers are heading down the lane toward a successful bowling season.

Alumni Alert – Volunteer to Save the Day

How about Hillsboro graduate Eric Gordon’s performance Saturday for the Tennessee Volunteers? Eric helped lead the Vols to victory at Neyland Stadium with four tackles and a crucial interception.

Soccer Season Version of Magnet Madness

The North Sports Report attended the girls’ soccer match between the Lady Blue Knights of Hume-Fogg and the Lady Royals of MLK this week. While the action on the field was exciting, the North Sports Report was most impressed with the true school spirit of the fans. The students, body-painted in school colors, brought the stands to life as they banged a drum, encouraged both teams, and all cheered the effort at the end. MNPS students are FANtastic!

Football Friday September 28, 2012

The North Sports Report enjoyed the breezy homecoming night at Antioch last week. It was a beautiful night for football.

The Antioch Bears take the field.

The Wizard of AHS - The Antioch High School concession stand brings the refreshment.

This week’s North Sports Report Game of the Week is the match-up we have all anticipated as the Pearl-Cohn Firebirds visit the Maplewood Panthers in the game each team hopes will catapult it toward a district title. It promises to be one of the best match-ups of the year! I’ll see you there.



In other action:

• Glencliff Colts host Cane Ridge Ravens;


• East Nashville Eagles travel to CPA;


• Hillsboro Burros travel to Independence;


• Overton Bobcats welcome Hillwood Hilltoppers;


• Hunters Lane Warriors cross the river to face McGavock Raiders; and


• Whites Creek Cobras host Lipscomb.

Antioch Bears and Stratford Spartans do not play this week.



The MNPS home games are at Maplewood; at Glencliff; at Overton; at McGavock; and at Whites Creek. The students would love to see you at a game this week!



Go to a game!





-- Mark North

MNPS: The First Choice for the the True School Spirit of the Fans

Board Member & Sports Fan Mark North

Update from the Alley…Bowling Alley that is

Aaron Ruiz, a sophomore at Cane Ridge, enters the state Bowling Championships this week with the highest average in the state – an average of 227.00. What? That’s right, a state leading average of 227!



Darius Holland of Maplewood bowled one of the all-time greatest games in TSSAA high school bowling history in the district tournament. His almost perfect 288 assures his place in the TSSAA record books.



Several MNPS bowlers will be knocking them down at this week’s state championships in Smyrna. The state qualifiers include: Aisha Lee (East Lit); Summer Earnest (Hume Fogg); Chasity Towns (Hunters Lane); Raven Gore (Maplewood); Brandi Caruso (Overton); I’eshia Davis (Stratford); Aaron Ruiz (Cane Ridge); Canaan Morse (Hillsboro); Trevor Owen (Maplewood); Colin Beason (MLK); Andre Rucker (MLK); Matt Holland (McGavock); Brent Morphis (McGavock); Anh Nguyen (Overton); and Andrew Sawyer (Overton).



Good luck to all MNPS bowlers.

College Choices … Seniors Begin the Next Chapter

When The City Paper reported this week that Maplewood’s Ladarius Vanlier chose to attend Tennessee Tech this fall and return to play on the field of his final high school game, it reminded me that we have many young adults in our schools completing college applications, receiving acceptance letters, earning scholarships of all types, and preparing to leave the nest to take what they have cultivated through their life in our schools toward greater and higher accomplishments.



We are proud of the Class of 2012!

Spelling Test

Have you ever noticed how many cheers involve spelling? It’s true – some of the greatest cheers at high school and middle school sporting events require a working knowledge of how to spell certain key words.



Quiz: Which of these “spelling” cheers is the North Sports Report’s favorite?

1. The ever popular free throw cheer: “R-E…R-E-B… R-E-B-O-U-N-D…Rebound”


2. The edgier and more controversial: “M-I-S-S…M-I-S-S…Miss it”


3. The rough and tumble: “Let’s get a little bit rowdy: R-O-W-D-Y”


4. The long word spelling: “Be aggressive: B-E…A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E”


5. Tri-word spelling: “Go…G-O; Fight…F-I-G-H-T; Win…W-I-N: Go, Fight, Win”


6. Or, simply: “V-I-C-T-O-R-Y”

The correct answer is: All of the above.

Sportsmanship Award

The prestigious Hancock-Nipper Football Sportsmanship Awards were presented by the Nashville Civitan Club last week and included Maplewood Panthers Football Coach Arcentae Broome; Antioch Bears star Eric Miles; and Maplewood Panthers hero Wagner Serrano. Congratulations to all MNPS student-athletes who exemplify the high standards of sportsmanship.



To read all about it and find a great picture of the recipients, check out www.sportsnashville.net.

Alumni News

University of Georgia basketball star and MLK alumnus Gerald Robinson not only leads the basketball team at Georgia, he is also pursuing his master’s in Adult Education after earning his undergraduate degree in Speech Communication last Summer. MNPS alumni are awesome!





-- Mark North

MNPS: The First Choice for V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

 

Board Member & Sports Fan Mark North

A Pep Rally to Remember

Can you imagine if the greatest marching band on the planet showed up for your middle school’s pep rally? It happened last week at Head Middle School when The Aristocrat of Bands from Tennessee State University performed, adding ample pep to the rally. Seriously… you can’t beat that.

Bowling – News from the Alley

I spent Monday afternoon at Madison Bowl with student athletes from ten high school bowling teams – boys and girls teams from East Lit Eagles, Hunters Lane Warriors, Maplewood Panthers (Alleycats), Stratford Spartans, and Whites Creek Cobras. Bowling does not receive much media attention, but I noticed that high school bowling has great coaches, intense head to head competition, pressure packed performances, team spirit and sportsmanship – all while staying out of the gutter.

How to read the box score (or things that fascinate only me):
The Tennessean prints the bowling results on its sports page, but the box score always confused me more than anything. With the help of Maplewood Coach Mark Hayes, I now understand how to read the scores and will try to explain it for you. Each team has six players who each compete against an individual player from the other school. The team receives one point for each player that wins their respective head to head game for a total of six points. Also, the team that has the highest total score (total number of pins in the six games) receives two points for a total of eight available points. The teams repeat the same formula for two more games so that each player plays a total of three games. At the end of the three games, the team with the highest total pin count receives an additional three points. So… the total number of team points in a high school bowling match is 27.

In addition to the final team score, the box score in the newspaper includes the total pins for each team from the 18 games of the match and the name of the player with the highest single game score. For example, here is the box score from Tuesday morning’s Tennessean for the boys match between Maplewood and East Lit:

Maplewood 21, East Literature 6
Total Pins – Maplewood 2,701, East Literature 2,463
High Pinfall – Owen (M) 208

Now you know.

Football Playoffs

Maplewood cruised to a 31-0 shutout victory in the state quarterfinals last Friday. The Panthers dominated despite a first quarter injury to leading rusher Ladarius Vanlier. Denzel Jones rushed for 116 yards and defensive back Kenny Robertson had two interceptions, leading Maplewood to the state semifinals.

Coach Arcentae Broome has the team primed for a semifinal showdown against Covington on the day after Thanksgiving at Maplewood. This Friday, everyone is a Panther fan, so come out to Maplewood and work off that excess turkey by cheering the team to a berth in the state championship game. I’ll see you Friday night at 7:00pm.

Congratulations to the Pearl-Cohn Firebirds on a great season and a long run to the state quarterfinals.

Alumni News

Burro Bob (the Hillsboro mascot) was smiling proudly Saturday night when Hillsboro alumnus (and current Tennessee Volunteer) Eric Gordon stepped up and volunteered at the most critical time, intercepted a pass and took it ninety yards for the game winning overtime touchdown. No matter your collegiate allegiance, we are always proud of our MNPS success. Congratulations!

Go see a game . . . you’ll love it.


-- Mark North

MNPS: The First Choice for Clutch Performances