With some unexpected free time on their hands, players, coaches and broadcasters across Major League Baseball are passing the time the same way as many of us — by binge-watching their favorite shows.

Whether it’s revisiting a tried-and-true classic or catching up on something that seemingly everyone else has already seen, here are some binge-watching recommendations from players, managers and other club personnel from all 30 big league teams.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

BLUE JAYS

Ben Wagner, broadcaster — Bloodline, Breaking Bad, Billions (and more): “Bloodline has it all! Family drama and power struggles, great hooks, cliffhangers and ‘What the?!’ moments. Breaking Bad, I was behind the times with this one, but once I started, I was the one addicted. When it ramps up in season three or so, you can’t stop watching it. Billions is everything you love to hate about the elite and how and why they hold their power. A cat-and-mouse chase between good and greed — and, in recent news, parallels to today’s global issues.”

Honorable mention: Mad Men, West Wing, Nip Tuck, Ozark, Mr. Selfridge, Downton Abbey, Scandal, House of Cards

ORIOLES

Sig Mejdal, assistant GM for analytics — Sunderland ‘Til I Die, Tiger King: After cruising through Tiger King, the viral sensation miniseries starring Joe Exotic, Mejdal has turned to Sunderland Until I Die to get his sports fix. The Netflix documentary chronicles the English soccer club Sunderland F.C’s relegation from the English Football League (EFL) Championship.

“It is so good,” Medjal said. “It shows so much of what is right — and wrong — with sports. It is impossible not to feel for their uber-passionate fans as they, and you, endure their failures. I’m just starting season two now. This is a great way to get your sports fix in during these times, with plenty of real life thrown in.”

RAYS

Brian O’Grady, utility — Peaky Blinders: This gangster drama follows the exploits of a crime family in England in the immediate aftermath of World War I.

Honorable mention: Hell on Wheels, Breaking Bad

RED SOX

Michael Chavis, INF — The Office: Steve Carell and John Krasinski star in this mockumentary sitcom that followed the employees of a fictional paper comany in Scranton, Pa., for nine seasons from 2005-13.

“Obviously, I’m a huge fan of The Office,” Chavis said. “If you haven’t seen it, grind through the first few episodes of the first season to truly understand the characters, and you’ll fall in love.”

YANKEES

Aaron Judge, RF — Tiger King, Ozark: “I’m all over the map. I started with Tiger King. Everybody’s been talking about that Joe Exotic, man. I was hooked for a while. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Ozark; I just started season three. We’re getting to the good stuff, man. Everybody keeps telling me season three is where more twists and turns come. I ain’t ready for it — my anxiety is already through the roof.”

AL CENTRAL

INDIANS

Oscar Mercado, OF — Prison Break, Money Heist: Prison Break is an action drama that revolves around a pair of brothers, one of whom is sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit. The other brother hatches a plan — one that involves getting sent to prison himself — to rescue his sibling. As for Money Heist, this two-season drama focuses on a criminal mastermind who assembles an All-Star team of sorts to help him pull off the biggest heist of all time.

ROYALS

Whit Merrifield, utility player — Locke and Key: Asked what show he would recommend fans binge watch in the absence of baseball, Merrifield quipped: “The 2010 College World Series.”

Merrifield won the 2010 title for South Carolina with a walk-off hit, but his actual binge-watch recommendation was Locke and Key, described as an American supernatural horror drama based on a comic book series with the same name.

TIGERS

Niko Goodrum, utility player — Ozark: Though Goodrum said he is primarily splitting his time between exercising and playing video games (including a lot of Call of Duty), he added that he just started season two of Ozark, a thrilling crime drama series starring Jason Bateman.

Ron Gardenhire, manager — Let’s Make a Deal, Price is Right: The manager joked with WXYT-FM that he enjoys the daily morning game shows, “then I actually move off of my couch.”

Matt Manning, SP — The Office: Manning wore custom-made spikes to last year’s Futures Game that featured several characters from the long-running mockumentary sitcom. In true binge-watching fashion, Manning said last year that he’d run through all of the show’s episodes seven or eight times each.

TWINS

Mitch Garver, C — Better Call Saul, The Masked Singer: It comes as no surprise that Garver points out that the fifth season of Better Call Saul is currently airing on AMC. Like its award-winning predecessor, Breaking Bad, the show is set in Garver’s hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., where he also attended the University of New Mexico from 2010-13.

Also on Garver’s mind? The Masked Singer. For those inclined toward video games, Garver would also like to direct fans to his Twitch.tv channel, where he was excited to use the new gaming computer setup built for him this spring by one of the clubhouse attendants. (Just don’t tell Trevor May.)

WHITE SOX

Jason Benetti, broadcaster — McMillions, Curb Your Enthusiasm: McMillions is a documentary miniseries from HBO that detailed the Monopoly game scam by McDonald’s from 1989-2001.

“For a kid who grew up in the 1980s and ’90s, the fraudulent Monopoly game at McDonald’s is a really compelling topic,” Benetti said. “It’s an awesome series. You should watch it.”

Benetti also enjoys Curb Your Enthusiasm, “even though Larry David is super awkward.”

Lucas Giolito, SP — Curb Your Enthusiasm: Like Benetti, Giolito is a fan of the comedy starring Seinfield co-creator Larry David. Giolito has introduced his wife, Ariana, to the show during this break. In a recent interview on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, an amused Giolito said he has no intention of opening any “Spite Stores,” which is a line understood by anyone who watched the latest season of Curb.

AL WEST

ANGELS

Joe Maddon, manager — The Office, MLB Network: Maddon loves The Office and often quotes Steve Carell’s character, Michael Scott, during his meetings with the media. One of his favorite things to say is: “To quote Michael Scott, it’s alllll goooood.” Maddon also said he’s been watching plenty of MLB Network.

“MLB Network has been great,” Maddon said. “I watched [a show] on the 1983 season. I played with and knew a lot of those guys. I watched the [George Brett] pine-tar game and Buddy Black was pitching, so I had to text him.”

Mickey Callaway, pitching coach — Tiger King: Callaway watched this wacky viral documentary with his wife, but said he wouldn’t let his two daughters watch it — and he added that the show gave him nightmares.

ASTROS

Alex Bregman, 3B — Love is Blind: This reality series attempts to help people find a match and fall in love, without seeing each other face-to-face.

Lance McCullers Jr., SP — Schitt’s Creek: McCullers recommended this Canadian sitcom featuring a wealthy couple that suddenly finds itself completely broke, but added: “I would plug in any game console you have and play some video games!”

Geoff Blum, former player and current broadcaster — The Man in the High Castle: Blum suggested fans check out this drama series that focuses on what the world might look like in an alternate reality had World War II turned out differently. He added, via text: “Through the course of trying to figure out what to do with all this time on my hands, I decided to go through some of my old equipment and news clippings. Found a couple of my old hitting videos and decided to watch ’em, #GloryDays.”

ATHLETICS

Jesús Luzardo, SP — Ozark, Money Heist, Tiger King: “I’ve been watching Ozark and Money Heist. Tiger King intrigues me to see someone so out there and not care what anyone thinks. I wake up and work out as much as I can, then it’s pretty much just Netflix and video games (FIFA 20 and Call of Duty) all day.”

MARINERS

Marco Gonzales, SP — Explained: This Netflix series takes an in-depth look at topics, questions and ideas that aren’t typically covered by daily news outlets.

“It’s a bunch of different episodes on random and interesting topics,” Gonzales said. “Plus, they’re only 20 minutes long.”

RANGERS

Nick Solak, OF — Narcos: This crime drama series, which is set and filmed in Colombia, chronicles the life of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, as well as the billionaire’s interactions with drug lords and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), among others.

National League East

BRAVES

Mike Soroka, SP — Peaky Blinders: “It’s a show that is so well acted throughout and one that takes a step back from all the sci-fi, futuristic shows that have been airing lately.”

MARLINS

Matt Kemp, OF — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, New Amsterdam: A spin-off of the original Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, or “SVU,” is a drama centered around a group of New York City detectives. New Amsterdam, meanwhile, is a drama that follows a doctor who plays by his own rules to help patients after becoming the medical director at America’s oldest public hospital.

Honorable mention: The Good Doctor, The Resident

METS

Seth Lugo, RP — The Office: “I love the stupid, awkward stuff.”

NATIONALS

Sean Doolittle, LHP — Parasite, Knives Out: Parasite, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture this past February, is a Korean-language dark comedy thriller that follows a poor family who schemes to become employed in the household of a wealthy family. Knives Out is a whodunit film centered around a detective’s investigation of a family after the mysterious death of its patriarch.

Honorable mention: 1917

Mike Rizzo, general manager — Rocky, Major League, Miracle: Rocky is a classic sports drama centered around a small-time boxer who gets a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world. Major League, another sports movie, is a comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of a fictionalized version of the Cleveland Indians. Lastly, Miracle recounts the United States men’s ice hockey team’s historic upset of the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

PHILLIES

Andrew Knapp, C — Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Schitt’s Creek, The Office: Formula 1: Drive to Survive is a documentary series that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the world of Formula 1 auto racing.

NL CENTRAL

BREWERS

Christian Yelich, OF — 24: This action drama is centered around counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer’s efforts to protect America by any means necessary. Each season follows 24 hours in Bauer’s life, and episodes take place over the course of one hour, with events depicted as they happen in real time.

CARDINALS

Paul DeJong, SS — True Detective, Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Entourage: “I’m more into Parks and Rec lately than I am The Office, because it’s funnier, and it’s more Midwest, which I like,” said DeJong, who grew up in Illinois and has family in Wisconsin. “I can always just put on The Office or Parks and Rec whenever I’m cooking or something.”

CUBS

Jason Heyward, OF — Westworld, See, Truth Be Told, Handmaid’s Tale, Black-ish: “We just started on Westworld. I think we’re on season two,” Heyward said in a recent interview on ESPN 1000. “What’s it called, See — that’s a good one with Aquaman, Jason Momoa. That’s a good one. Truth Be Told is awesome on Apple TV+, that’s a cool one. Handmaid’s Tale is also crazy. There’s a lot of different stuff going on in those, man. And also, Black-ish. Black-ish is a good one for families — it’s light-hearted, it’s funny, it’s got daily issues throughout the world and the country and also just something you see in any family home.”

PIRATES

Jameson Taillon, SP — Entourage, The League, Portlandia, The Good Place, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Schitt’s Creek: Taillon is always in the middle of one show or another — he was watching the second season of Bloodline on Netflix when he got the call to the Majors in 2016, and he burned through Schitt’s Creek during his career-best ‘18 season — which explains why he couldn’t narrow down his list.

“How do you really pick just one, though?” he asked.

Derek Shelton, manager — Tiger King: Shelton acknowledged recently that he, like many across the country, binge-watched the seven-episode Netflix series that turned Joe Exotic into a household name.

REDS

Jesse Winker, OF — Bad Blood: “It’s a gangster show. I love gangster stuff, so it’s right down my alley. If anybody has any other suggestions, throw them my way.”

NL WEST

D-BACKS

Mike Ferrin, pre- and post-game host — Tiger King: “The biggest upset of the series is that the whole thing doesn’t take place in Florida,” Ferrin said. “Never before has there been a collection of absurd personalities quite like this. And every time you think the documentary couldn’t get any weirder or have a more bizarre turn, well, it does. Not appropriate for kids, but definitely worth watching for parents right before bed.”

Steve Berthiaume, broadcaster — The Crown: “The dialogue, the attention to historic detail and the engaging character development using multiple sets of actors over different generations makes this my most engaging binge watch. Not just the Windsors, but multiple British political and historical figures. Beautifully produced and very compelling. I really enjoy Downton Abbey for much the same reason.”

DODGERS

Will Smith, C — Ozark, The Sinner, Little Fires Everywhere: Ozark is a thrilling crime drama series starring Jason Bateman, whose character relocates his family after a money-laundering scheme takes a turn for the worse. The Sinner, meanwhile, is a suspenseful crime drama that follows detective Harry Ambrose as he works through mysterious cases. As for Little Fires Everywhere, the miniseries drama — based on the book by the same title — stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.

GIANTS

Wilmer Flores, INF — Friends: No surprise here, considering Flores has used the classic show’s theme song as his walk-up music for several years. This one shouldn’t need much description, but for those that have yet to give it a shot, the sitcom centers around six friends living in New York City.

“I still watch it,” Flores said. “Before I go to bed. Whenever I take a shower, I’m just listening.”

PADRES

Wil Myers, OF — The Office: “I’ve watched The Office over 10 times, and each time I find something funny that I’ve missed before. Michael Scott is the single best character in any show.”

ROCKIES

Ryan McMahon, 2B — Money Heist, Narcos, QB1: “My big recommendation is Money Heist. Definitely not a show for kids, but my fiancé and I watched it in about two weeks. It’s a cool storyline of a bank robbery in the Mint of Spain. I also really like all the Narcos shows on Netflix, and QB1 was a cool show if you’re into high school football. It follows some big-time quarterbacks around for their senior year of high school before they become stars at the next level.”

Coffee County CHS junior basketball player Bella Vinson announced her verbal commitment to Lipscomb University on Wednesday.  Vinson received her offer from Lipscomb in October and after receiving a scholarship offer from Oklahoma State last week, Vinson had some thinking to do. “I sat down with my family and I knew Lipscomb is where I wanted to be in the first place” said Vinson. 

Vinson made her commitment to Lipscomb head coach Lauren Sumski on the telephone Tuesday night.  “She was so excited and all the coaches texted me and some of the players texted me and it made we feel really good that I am wanted there” said Vinson.  Coach Sumski expects Bella to compete at the “stretch 4” position to take advantage of her ability to play inside and outside.  When asked if playing close to home was something she was looking forward to, Vinson had this to say:

When Thunder Radio contacted head coach Joe Pat Cope of the Lady Raiders, he showered Bella with praise.  “She’s the perfect college athlete; her work ethic is off the charts” said Cope. “She works every day on her game.  I know she will excel in the classroom and on the court.”  When asked about what her recruitment meant to the program, Cope said “this just shows that Lady Raider basketball is getting looked at.”

Vinson led the Lady Raider team to the District 8AAA Championship in 2020. Additionally, Vinson helped lead Coffee County to the Region 4AAA Tournament for the last 3 seasons and a 24 game regular season district winning streak. Vinson was named the District 8AAA Most Valuable Player the last 2 seasons and won the District Tourney MVP Award in February. Vinson was named to the Tennessean All-Midstate team and was selected for the Class AAA TN Report All-State Team.  Vinson finished the 2019-2020 season averaging 17.5 points and 7 rebounds per game. Vinson scored her 1,000th career point in November.

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/GM David Poile announced today that the team has signed defenseman Alexandre Carrier to a three-year contract worth $700,000 in the NHL or $125,000 in the AHL in 2020-21, $750,000 in the NHL or $175,000 in the AHL in 2021-22, and $750,000 in the NHL or $200,000 in the AHL in 2022-23.

Carrier, 23 (10/8/96), was on pace to post the best statistical season of his professional career prior to the AHL’s suspension of play on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In only 55 games in 2019-20, compared to his 76 games in 2018-19, the blueliner produced the exact same number of goals and assists (5g-32a-37pts). Carrier’s 32 assists this season are good for the top spot among all Milwaukee skaters, and his 37 total points put him in first among Admirals defensemen. He also ranks fifth in the AHL in blueliner assists.

Making his NHL debut on Jan. 17, 2017 at Vancouver, Carrier then appeared in one more game with Nashville two nights later against Calgary, tallying one shot on goal. This season, he appeared in three games with the Predators and posted a plus-two rating.

Originally drafted by Nashville in the fourth round (115th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Carrier has played in 276 career AHL games with the Admirals, producing 141 points (20g-121a), the most by a Milwaukee blueliner since he made his debut in the 2016-17 season. In addition to being named an AHL All-Star in 2016-17 and 2019-20, he is the only Admirals defenseman to tally 100 career assists since the team joined the AHL in 2001. The Quebec City, Que., native played four seasons with the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques prior to turning pro, recording 137 points (29g-108a) in 242 games.

Team’s identity has evolved, name has stuck since 1978 inception

By Tyler Maun of MiLB.com

Nashville is the Music City, and what is the Music City without its sound(s)?
The Nashville Sounds have been a fixture in Tennessee’s capital city for over four decades, a legacy that dates to the late 1970s in a community hungry for baseball.

“The Nashville Vols had played in Nashville for like a hundred years from the Civil War era up through 1963, and then Nashville didn’t have professional baseball for about 15 years,” Sounds vice president of operations Doug Scopel said recently. “Larry Schmittou was involved with Vanderbilt as their baseball coach, and he kind of put the group together to get the Sounds franchise restarted with the first season being 1978.” Awarded an expansion club in the Southern League for 1978, Nashville needed an identity.
“They did one of those Name the Team contests,” Scopel said. “[The Sounds’ first general manager Farrell Owens] told me over the years and I can’t remember the number of suggestions they got, but being a city that hadn’t had a team in over a decade, the interest was immense. Out of that group, they ended up picking the Nashville Sounds.”
The name was concise. It didn’t limit Nashville to one genre or one element of its music heritage. It covered it all — with star power.
“At the time when the Sounds started with Larry’s group, they had several entertainers, most of which were country musicians, who were minor owners of the team, people like Conway Twitty and Richard Sterban from The Oak Ridge Boys and some of the Gatlins were in there and Jerry Reed,” Scopel said. “I don’t even know the full list off the top of my head, but those two elements going together ended up with Nashville Sounds. Obviously, it’s worked. We’ve been doing it for 40-something years.”
The club’s initial look was pure ’70s with bubbly lettering that incorporated musical notes and an instant hit of a logo featuring an old-time ballplayer swinging a guitar at a pitch.

“This is one of those myths that might be urban legend and may not be the truth, but I’ve heard it enough that this is what I tell people,” Scopel explained. “Larry Schmittou, the founder of the Sounds, there was a conversation maybe in somebody’s office, maybe it was over lunch and people were just talking about, ‘What could our logo be?’ Apparently it was kind of a rough sketch on a napkin that was created and given to somebody who had some sort of design sense at the time, and that’s how that came out, that famous guy using the guitar to hit the baseball.”
The red, white and blue color scheme, logo and wordmarks were largely unchanged for the franchise’s first two decades. It put down roots in Greer Stadium and moved up to Triple-A in 1984, with the music note “N” cap becoming iconic in a way that still resonates.
“We still use that logo to this day at Sounds games,” Scopel said. “We have our very popular Throwback Thursday promotion where the team actually wears those original 1978 uniforms. That logo, that theme, that image of that guy, it’s so historic — there’s probably a better word for it than ‘historic’ — people in Nashville love it to this day, so we make sure it’s part of our brand that we continue to use.”
In the late 1990s, change came. After the Sounds were sold to a group of Chicago businessmen, the team underwent its first redesign.
“Throughout sports a lot of times, [new owners] want to come in and make their own mark on the team,” Scopel said. “I think that was the genesis of that change. Not only did they go away from the original marks, but they got rid of the color scheme. They went to black and red primarily.”

In addition to eschewing its patriotic colors, the team retired its character-centric logo for a new music note mark prior to the 1998 season — when it moved from the disbanded American Association into the Pacific Coast League.
Seven years later, the Sounds were at another turning point, outgrowing a ballpark just past its 25th birthday. Once more, the franchise’s visual identity changed with its circumstances. “Greer Stadium in its heyday was well loved by everybody, but over time, ballparks get outdated,” Scopel said. “Once we got to pretty much 2000, there was chatter in town and among our ownership group that they were trying to get a new ballpark built for Nashville.
“That logo with the skyline was actually part of a marketing campaign that we had done as an organization to try to garner (support) — ‘Sounds Good’ was the actual branding — to try to generate interest and get some steam built up to get a new downtown ballpark. The look of that skyline is how I guess either our ownership or the marketing team they hired envisioned people seeing the skyline of Nashville from the potential new ballpark location.”

The skyline logo became Nashville’s primary in the mid-2000s as a push for a new home gradually gained momentum. It took over a decade, but by 2015, the Sounds were readying to move into what is now known as First Horizon Park. Another new chapter in team history came alongside a new look — this one not without challenges. Following the 2014 campaign, the Sounds worked with renowned design firm Brandiose, requesting options for a possible team name change before deciding to stick with what had worked for nearly four decades.
“I believe the feedback was that none of the other ones that were presented would’ve had quite the impact to us,” Scopel noted. “Plus the ‘Sounds’ is obviously the sounds of Nashville, sounds of music but also the sounds of the ballpark. There are so many ways you can do it and use it. It’s one of those classic names that I don’t know if we’re ever going to change it.”
Ahead of the move, Nashville unveiled its latest visual package centered around a guitar pick-backed “N” and an F-hole-inspired wordmark supplemented by a new color palette that drew the most attention of all: “Broadway Burnt Orange, Sunburst Tan, Neon Orange and Cash Black” according to a 2014 story on the release.

“The original unveiling of that logo scheme, we went with a brand new color [set] so that it was orange and there was gold,” Scopel said. “It was definitely a departure from the red and black, going to more neon-type of colors to try to tie into Nashville. There were good storylines behind it. “[Brandiose], they do their research and put out great products for everybody. That one, when we came out with the color schemes on it, we just got a lot of pushback from the public on that. A lot of folks were, ‘Well, the University of Tennessee is orange. We love the red and black of the Sounds. That’s been your colors for a long time. Why are we changing that?'” The new colors were scrapped. When the Sounds hit their new home in 2015, red and black were back.

“Whenever you make a logo change, there’s always going to be people that love it. There’s going to be people that hate it. The majority of people won’t say a whole lot,” Scopel said. “That one, gosh. That one really sparked a lot of discussion and whatnot, and we ultimately made the decision to keep the logos but go back to our red and black that the Sounds had been for the previous 10, 15 years or whatever it was before that but still incorporate the notes, the music industry with the picks and some of the neon signage on Broadway and the ‘Music City’ across the chest of one of the jerseys to try to really come back and embrace Nashville. I think that’s what was missing from the previous (1998-2014 look). Yeah, you had the music note. Yeah, you had the skyline, but you can’t see that skyline from our new ballpark. There wasn’t really as tight a connection to Nashville. That was kind of the thought on why we made that change back in 2015.”
After three seasons in the ballpark-opening look, the Sounds “remastered” their visual brand into a modern classic, heading into 2018 with a fresh vision from Nashville-based RARE Design.
“What we left out of [the 2015 redesign] — it wasn’t a bad rebrand — but it embraced Nashville more for the Broadway and more the Music City and the ‘It City’ era,” Scopel said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. The redesign [for 2018], we brought it back, classic, made it more about the history of the Sounds going back to the red, white and blue, keeping things a lot cleaner.”

Tributes to the state, city and team history are threaded throughout the club’s current logos from the three stars of the Tennessee flag to special sloped crossbars across the “A” and “H” in the team’s custom typeface “to pay respect to the unique shape of the right-field hill at Sulphur Dell,” the city’s first home to professional baseball.
“The’N’ that’s on our hats still has the F-hole of a guitar,” said Scopel. “We still have some of the music industry in there. it was just kind of a way to focus. not just on Broadway. but also the full communities that make it truly Music City and the history that got us there. It was a goal to do all of that, and the feedback we’ve gotten has been really, really good on that. We hope this one has a lot of staying power and sticks with us for a while.”
Like their city, the Sounds have evolved over the decades. Now one of the Minors’ staple franchises in one of the sport’s top facilities and one of its hottest destinations, the Sounds are in the midst of a renaissance and a love affair with their dedicated base.
“If our fans weren’t passionate and really cared about what we’re doing, we wouldn’t have heard the overwhelming feedback of what they want,” Scopel said. “That’s what you have to think through. At the end of the day, it’s all about making sure that the people who are a part of the Sounds experience truly enjoy it. Do they approve of a logo? That’s one small part of it, but that is a big factor. We want people to be passionate about us.
“We want everybody to feel like they are a part of the Sounds, and that passion cannot be understated.”

With Wednesday’s decree from Governor Bill Lee to close schools until the end of the school year, the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association(TSSAA) has officially ended the spring sports season.   After talking to representatives of both the Coffee County School System and the Manchester City School System, both have reluctantly agreed to end the spring sports season.  Each system will issue guidance to summer workouts and fall sports at a later date.  The TSSAA released the following press release on Wednesday afternoon.

With the Governor’s announcement of school closure for the remainder of the school year, all remaining TSSAA events for 2019-20, including all spring sports and the postponed state basketball tournaments, are cancelled. This is an unprecedented time across our state and country, and we do not make this decision lightly. We thank all of the participants, their coaches, administrators, parents, and everyone else who has dedicated a tremendous amount of time, passion, and effort to high school athletics, especially these affected events.

To our senior participants – we thank you for everything you have done for your schools and communities and wish you the very best in your bright futures. This is difficult, but the lessons you’ve learned and friendships you’ve made through high school activities will last your lifetime. We look forward to the resumption of high school athletics during the 2020-21 school year, and will continue work on those events at this time. The TSSAA thanks everyone involved for their patience and understanding throughout this process.

After more than a month of no live local sports in Manchester, Thunder Radio continues to broadcast encore editions of some our favorite sports broadcasts.  Each Thursday night at 6 PM, we will bring you the repeat of a Hometown Sports Series broadcast of a middle school sports event featuring Westwood Middle School or Coffee County Middle School.   Each Friday night at 6 PM, we will bring you the repeat of a Coffee County Central High School sports broadcast. 

Coming up this week we celebrate a pair of fall sports broadcasts.  On Thursday night at 6 PM, we will bring you an encore broadcast of the Westwood Middle School football team’s opening game of last season.  The 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series traveled to Woodbury to bring you the Rockets season-opening win over Cannon County.  The Rockets rolled up 306 yards of total offense in a 22 to 6 win. 

On Friday night, we will rebroadcast a Coffee County Central High School Lady Raider soccer broadcast from 2018.  On September 9^th, 2018 the Lady Raiders opened the District 8AAA Tournament at Shelbyville.  The Lady Raiders rallied for an overtime win and Thunder Radio brought you the broadcast.  Tune to listen to both contests at 107.9 FM, 106.7 FM or AM 1320 on your radio dial.  You can also listen on your computer at WMSRradio.com.  You can also get the broadcast on your cell phone or tablet by using the Manchester Go app.

A former Coffee County head football coach has taken on the task of kick starting a high school football program.  LeBron Ferguson, who was the Red Raider’s head coach in 1995, has accepted the job as the first head coach for the high school program at Providence Christian Academy in Murfreesboro.  Joining Ferguson on the inaugural staff at PCA will be former Red Raider player and assistant coach Blake Finney.  Providence Christian Academy will begin high school football this fall.

The school introduced the program’s first coach earlier this month.  The Lions will play eight-man football in the beginning and work toward 11-player football.  There is not an exact timetable for that move.  The school’s other athletics programs are TSSAA sanctioned and compete in Division II-A.

The school has fielded a middle school football program the past three years, which will give Ferguson some experience with which to work. Finney has served as an assistant coach for the middle school Lions and will help aid in the transition.  PCA has a field on campus that is also used for soccer and other athletics.  The team will play its home games there but with no lights on the field, games will be played during daylight hours.

Ferguson, who attended Sewanee and later MTSU, is a 27-year coaching veteran.  Ferguson served as a graduate assistant under legendary MTSU head coach Boots Donnelly.  He was an assistant coach at Coffee County in 1993 and 1994 under Ron Crawford.  He took over the head coaching position in 1995 before leaving to take a position at Oakland where he served until 2007.  Ferguson and Finney worked together on the Oakland staff in 2004. Ferguson coached at Franklin Road Christian from 2008 through 2019.