On Thursday, Coffee County CHS Dance coach Ashley Kraft released the following press release regarding tryouts for the 2020-2021 Raiderette Dance Team.

Due to COVID-19, we have decided to go about hosting tryouts differently this year. We will be having virtual tryouts. You’re probably wondering how this works. Below is a breakdown of what is to be expected. 

1. On Saturday, April 4, I will release a video on the CCHS Dance Team Facebook page. The link to the page is www.facebook.com/CHSRaiderettes

The video I post will be like a “parent meeting.” I will cover practice expectations, season expectations, estimated costs for the year, fundraising, and more. 

2. On Monday, April 6, I will release a link to a video that teaches a dance routine on the same Facebook page. This is a 45 second dance. A link to the music will also be provided. The video has a “teaching” breakdown, a breakdown with counts only, and a breakdown of the routine with music.

I will also post a video/list of certain dance skills. 

3. All tryout participants will then need to submit a video or a link to a video via email to me directly using this email address. I will need you to state your first and last name ONLY in the video for identification purposes. Please do not share your age, grade, or any other information. You will perform the dance skills from the list first and then you will perform the routine (facing the camera) twice. 

4. I will also need your dance team tryout form scanned and sent to me, if you have not turned it in already. Physicals and other forms at this time are on hold. 

5. All video submissions will be due by Thursday, April 16 at 11:59pm. This gives you 10 days to learn the dance and skills and submit the video.

6. Judging will take place on Friday, April 17 and you will receive an email that evening regarding your outcome. I will NOT be judging. I have 3 judges not affiliated with Coffee County that will be reviewing and scoring the videos. 

***If you have any questions or concerns regarding this process, please contact me directly at krafta@k12coffee.net

Titans running back Derrick Henry signed his $10.2 million franchise tender on Thursday.

The move makes Henry officially under contract for 2020.

On Wednesday, Titans General Manager Jon Robinson made it clear the team would eventually like to sign Henry to a long-term deal, and he said the feeling is mutual.

“I think any time a player, when you have to use the tag on them, that’s something that ideally they probably don’t want,” Robinson said of Henry. “But still, at the same time, I know that he wants to be a part of this football team and I thought it was good that they communicated back he does want to be here, and he does want to keep working on this thing. It wasn’t something like, ‘OK, well, I’ll take the (tag) and I’m done, or I am just going to do whatever.’ He wants to be here, and he conveyed the message to me, through his agent, that he wants to keep working on this thing and we do, too.”

The Titans are allowed to negotiate a long-term deal to replace the franchise tag until July 15th, after which time Henry would have to play the 2020 season under the one-year franchise tag.

Henry, selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2019, was named the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Year and second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press after leading the NFL with a career-best 1,540 rushing yards on 303 carries.

Henry ranked third in NFL with 18 total touchdowns, and he ranked second in the AFC and fourth in the NFL with 1,746 yards from scrimmage.

At the Pro Bowl, Henry said he’d like to remain in Tennessee.

“I want to stay with the Tennessee Titans,” Henry said. “They are the ones that took a chance on me – 31 teams passed on me on the draft and they selected me. I have a lot of love for Tennessee. I have a lot of love for everyone in that organization.”

On Wednesday, Robinson said the team plans to keep negotiating with Henry.

“I met with Derrick, as I met with all the guys whose contracts were going to be up at the end of the season and told them we were going to start working on that, which we did,” Robinson said. “At the end of the day we couldn’t come to an agreement on that one, so we used one of the avenues to keep Derrick because Derrick is an important part of our football team.

“I have spoken to (Derrick’s) representatives after we used the tag and we want to continue to have those discussions … in hopes of reaching some type of long-term agreement and we’ll kick those conversations off again here certainly before training camp gets ramped up and going.”

Roman Josi is just like the rest of us.

He’s watched “Tiger King” on Netflix. He’s played some “Call of Duty” and “NHL20” on his Xbox. He’s been getting in some home workouts and playing with his dogs during the day.

And just like the rest of us, Josi misses hockey.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Predators captain joined an NHL video conference from his home in Nashville, along with fellow Central Division captains Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks and Alex Pietrangelo of the Blues. The half-hour group interview was one of many in a series of video chats hosted by the League with a star player from each of the 31 teams, the first chance for the media to hear from NHLers as they deal with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

The three captains were fed questions from a moderator, and while some elicited rather entertaining responses, others gave the players a chance to speak to their fans and their cities amidst these trying times.

For Nashville and Middle Tennessee, March has been a difficult month. It began with a tornado that struck just north of downtown Nashville and continued east through a number of surrounding communities. Less than two weeks after that, the NHL season was put on pause as the coronavirus truly arrived in North America.

But through it all, Josi has been thoroughly impressed at how his adopted hometown has faced the presented challenges.

“Start with the tornadoes, and now with the coronavirus, it’s been a tough month for our city,” Josi said. “But I think if you take one thing out of it, when the tornado happened, [you saw] how this community came together and how everyone was helping each other. It was pretty cool to see, and it shows how tight of a community this city is. [It’s the] same with the virus right now. I mean, everybody’s trying to stick together. We’re all in this together, so it’s pretty awesome to see how this city has come together in the last [month].”

Josi and the Predators have spearheaded efforts to make a difference in their community, starting with the Nashville Strong tornado relief efforts earlier in the month of March. The Nashville Predators Foundation empowered by SmileDirectClub sold T-shirts and sweatshirts to raise funds to support those efforts, while Josi and a number of his teammates took time during a day off to help collect and sort supplies at the Nashville Community Resource Center.

The Preds have continued to give back to the community, as the coronavirus has altered everyday life by assisting part-time Bridgestone Arena event staff, supporting local restaurants and offering thanks to doctors, nurses and others on the frontlines facing the pandemic.

There will certainly be more to come on that front in the days and weeks to come, but Josi again took the opportunity during Tuesday’s conference to say thank you.

“We’ve all got to come together, and like I said before, the past month has been very challenging for us, especially the city of Nashville,” Josi said. “When the tornadoes happened, you saw the city come together and help each other out and be a strong community, and I think it’s the same thing now. It’s a little different, obviously – you’ve got to stay home and do your part to stay healthy and make sure everybody says healthy – and I think it’s also important to thank all the people that are still working that are keeping us safe, that are keeping us healthy. You guys are heroes, and we’re so grateful for all those people.”

Josi, Toews and Pietrangelo also shared some lighthearted moments on the call, like when each player was asked which teammate he would most want to be quarantined with, and then on the contrary, who he would prefer not to be stuck with at home.

“I’m going to go with [Preds center Nick] Bonino to quarantine with,” Josi said. “He’s a good chef, first of all. He likes to cook, so he will cook some good meals. He’s a pretty smart guy, reads a lot of books, so [he would] make me read a little more too. And, he’s good at ping pong too, so you could have some good ping-pong battles.

Roman Josi says he would most want to be quarantined with @NickBonino because he’s a good chef, pretty smart, good ping pong player. Josi says he wouldn’t want to be with @RyanJohansen19. Says the house would get pretty messy – he can make good Brussels sprouts though. #Preds

“And then least, I’d probably go with [Preds center Ryan] Johansen. I feel like we would be a bad team at home. Our house would get pretty messy. I don’t know if he’s a good cook either. He makes some great Brussels sprouts, I know that. But other than that, I don’t think we’d be a great team at home.”

Josi likely won’t have to wait long to hear from Bonino and Johansen, as well as the rest of his teammates, as the captain revealed everyone has been keeping in touch through social media over the past few weeks.

“[In addition to group texts], we have a Snapchat group too, so there’s a lot of videos, a lot of pictures and a ton of pictures and videos of kids, kids doing fun stuff,” Josi said. “It’s always fun to watch.”

The blueliner also revealed he enjoys listening to music artists like EDM stars Tiesto and Steve Aoki when working out at home, and the soundtrack turns to country when cooking or just lounging around the house. And when it comes to reading?

“You know what, I bought like three books, but I haven’t started,” Josi laughed. “I’ve got to get on that. This is a good reminder.”

Tuesday’s call brought about a sense of normalcy – if only for a few moments – affording the chance to hear hockey players discussing their teams and their lives away from the rink, the familiar voices and faces of the game bantering back and forth.

It was a welcome reprieve, and soon enough, it will be the norm once more. But for now, as Josi and the others said, it’s important to support those who are saving lives, and to also do our part to save even more of them.

“We miss hockey, and we miss playing it in front of the fans at Bridgestone [Arena], but it’s more important to be safe and to be healthy right now,” Josi said. “And hopefully, we’ll be back soon.”

Coffee County CHS basketball player Bella Vinson was honored once again on Tuesday for her outstanding junior season.  Vinson was named to the 2^nd team All-Midstate basketball team by Nashville’s Tennessean newspaper. 

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 finished the 2019-2020 season averaging 17.5 points and 7 rebounds per game. Vinson scored her 1,000th career point in November.

The Titans hope to get more production on the edge in 2020.

Enter Vic Beasley.

The Titans on Tuesday officially agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Beasley, a first-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons who has 37.5 career sacks.

Beasley, the No.8 pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, joins the Titans after spending the past five seasons in Atlanta.

He should add more pop to the defense this fall.

The 6-foot-3, 246-pound Beasley had eight sacks in 2019, and five sacks in 2018. He led the NFL with a whopping 15.5 sacks in 2016, when the Falcons advanced to the Super Bowl. Beasley was named to his first Pro Bowl and earned AP All-Pro honors for his breakout performance in 2016.

Beasley ranks 16th in the NFL over the last five years in sacks by “edge” rushers (OLB’s/DE’s).

The Falcons announced in February they would not look to re-sign Beasley this offseason, and the Titans began examining the possibility of adding him to their roster.

Beasley played in all 16 games, with 15 starts, for the Falcons in 2019, when he recorded 42 tackles (28 solo), including eight for a loss, eight sacks, 12 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed.

In his career, Beasley has played in 78 games, with 60 starts, while totaling 156 tackles (119 solo), 37.5 sacks, one interception, 36 tackles for loss, 11 forced fumbles, 12 passes defensed, and 46 quarterback hits.

Beasley played collegiately at Clemson, where he appeared in 48 games. He is the all-time sack leader for Clemson with 33 career sacks, and is fourth in tackles for loss with 52.5, and seventh in forced fumbles with seven.

The Titans need help at outside linebacker to assist Harold Landry, a second-round draft pick in 2018 who led the team with nine sacks in 2019. On the edge, the team also has Reggie Gilbert, Derick Roberson, and DeAndre Walker, a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft who spent last season in Injured Reserve.

Earlier this month the Titans released veteran Cameron Wake, who signed with the Titans last offseason finished the year on injured reserve.

The Atlanta Braves, through the Atlanta Braves Foundation, have created a special COVID-19 disaster relief fund to help gameday workers and certain other affected members of our baseball community with special financial needs that may come up before Braves baseball begins, and will position the club to support our baseball family and our communities in the coming weeks and months.

The Atlanta Braves Foundation serves as the fundraising and funding mechanism for Braves Care and allows organizations, individuals, companies and communities from across Braves Country to engage with the club in social good.

In 2019, the Atlanta Braves defined and committed to aligning our community engagement and social responsibility efforts under the banner of Braves Care with a programmatic focus in 5 key areas:

• LIVE – health & wellness
• LEARN – education & school engagement strategy
• PLAY – growing the game
• SERVE – recognizing those who serve & Braves service initiatives
• SUSTAIN – Braves care for the environment

You can donate at: https://atlantabravesfoundation.givingfuel.com/atlanta-braves-foundation