Two goals in the third period from the visiting Chicago Blackhawks helped them to a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. The result moves Nashville to 15-14-6 overall on the season and 8-7-1 against the Central Division. “We have to learn from it, stick with it,” Captain Mike Fisher said. “We can’t get frustrated or down. It is frustrating, no question. But, we have to learn from it, and it’s going to start going our way. It’s going to start falling our way once we start making some better plays throughout the game,...

The Coffee County Red Raider and Lady Raider basketball teams were back on the court on Wednesday playing games at nearly the same time separated by 170 miles.  The Red Raiders claimed a 75 to 42 win over Grace Christian of Franklin in the King of the Smokies Tournament in Pigeon Forge.  The Lady Raiders dropped a heartbreaking 57 to 53 decision to Lenoir City in the Whitwell Christmas Tournament. The cold shooting which plagued the Red Raiders in Tuesday’s loss was quickly forgotten as Coffee County raced out to a 25 to 12 lead after 1 quarter and...

Rarely do you find a 12 year old young man that understands patience, honesty and the Beatles.  Rarely at 12 years old does a young man have an idea what they want to do with their life.  Rarely at 12 years old does a young man have the maturity to plot a course to achieve that goal.  Rarely will you get the opportunity to meet a young man like Darryn Strickland. Darryn, the son of Danny and Janine Strickland, is a quiet, self-assured and modest young man with a bright future in front of him.  Darryn gave up Manchester Youth...

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at the highlights from the prep baseball teams.  The Westwood Rockets opened the season with a new coach and the hope of breaking a winless streak that was nearing 2 years.  The Rockets did exactly that with a 6 to 2 win at Huntland on March 7th Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on March 8th The Westwood baseball team got their...

A shot from half court as time expired in the first half, helped give Grainger the momentum to drop the Red Raider basketball team on Tuesday 62 to 44 to open up the King of the Smokies basketball tournament in Pigeon Forge.  The Grizzlies, who led by 7 before the shot, took that momentum into the second half as they opened the 3rd quarter on a 7 to 2 run.  The Red Raiders rallied to get the deficit to single digits, but back to back three point baskets stretched the lead back to 13 points effectively snapping Coffee County’s...

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at a highlight from each of the middle school and high school soccer teams. In the fall, all 3 girls’ prep teams enjoyed incredible success as each team advanced as far as the semifinal round of their postseason tournament.  The Lady Rockets fell to St. Andrews-Sewanee in the DRVC semifinals on September 30th. Thunder Radio reported on that matchup with a story we published on October 2nd The...

As 2016 draws to a close, Thunder Radio Sports looks back at some of the highlights of the calendar year for each of the 12 prep sports.  Today we look back at a highlight from each of the middle school and high school soccer teams.  We began the year in the spring with boys’ soccer.  The highlight of the soccer season came on April 23rd as Westwood defeated Webb to win the CTSC conference tournament title. Thunder Radio reported on their success with the following story we published on April 25th For the 2nd year in a row, the...

Jared Spurgeon scored in overtime and the Minnesota Wild collected their 11th consecutive win as they topped the Nashville Predators by a 3-2 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives Nashville a point in the standings, as well as points in four of their last five games, but that fact didn’t provide much consolation for a team trying to stay in the thick of the Central Division race coming out of the holiday break. “We need to find a way to be ready to play,” forward Filip Forsberg said. “We have to be ready right away....