Bob Jones High School Football Booster Website: My Site News

Mobile Register
Thursday, May 8
Sigler to Blount High School
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Blount High's New Head Coach
Former Tide star to head Leopards
Wednesday, March 19, 2008, By MIKE HERNDON, Sports Reporter
Former University of Alabama assistant Ronnie Cottrell and former Crimson Tide player Kelvin Sigler have been chosen for a pair of vacant high school football coaching positions in the Mobile area, pending approval from the Mobile County school board. Cottrell, the former recruiting coordinator at Alabama whose name became part of an NCAA investigation that landed the Tide on probation in 2001, has been recommended to take over at Alma Bryant. Sigler, who was a standout safety at Alabama, is the choice at Blount. Both recommendations were confirmed Tuesday by Calvin Crist, the athletic director for Mobile County public schools. Coaches are generally selected by a school's principal, but the choice must be approved by the school board before the hiring can be finalized. Crist said that approval might not come until the board's April meeting. Cottrell, Sigler, Bryant principal Larry Mouton and Blount principal Yvonne Matthews could not be reached for comment Tuesday... Sigler, a former standout at Shaw High, was a two-year starter at Alabama and also played briefly in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans and the Miami Dolphins. He is currently an assistant at Bob Jones High School near Huntsville, where the head coach is former Alabama defensive lineman Shannon Brown. Sigler would take over at Blount for Ben Harris, who stepped down as the Leopards' coach after leading the team to a 22-40 record in six seasons in his second stint at the school. Harris, who is still Blount's athletic director, guided the Leopards to a 91-16 mark and four state titles from 1988 to 1997 before leaving to take an assistant's job at Alabama State. The Leopards went 6-5 last season, earning a playoff berth out of 6A Region 1.
http://blount.mcs.schoolinsites.com/
The Bob Jones High School football program and families wish Coach Sigler the best at Blount. They are getting a fine young man.


Monday, May 5
STAR Sportsmanship on-line course
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Parents,

Per AHSAA, every athlete that wishes to participate in any sport beginning this fall must complete the STAR Sportsmanship on-line course. This requirement is just like their grade and physical requirements. If the student does not do this course, they CANNOT participate beginning in August. Below are the directions that you need to share with all of your athletes. You can print and give a copy of the instructions to each kid, email all of your parents or maybe take your team to the computer lab and do it all at once. It is your choice.

Go to:
http://www.starsportsmanship.com/

Choose "Student Sign In"
Enter our school log in code STAR01303
Confirm school's information
Select current grade
Click "register"
Enter first and last names (Do not use nicknames)
You will then be taken through the program.
Upon completion, please print out the certificate and give to your coach ton verify you completed the course.



Tuesday, April 22
Football Physicals
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Physicals will be given here at Bob Jones (in the auditorium lobby area) on Wednesday, May 7 at the times below. Please put a physical form in each of your player's hands prior to then. Emphasize the importance of them having it filled out with a parent's signature prior to that date. You can get a copy from the AD Office or on Madison City's webpage. One new thing we are adding this year is a copy machine at the end of the line. I will keep the physicals, but give each student a copy to take home, so they can't say we lost theirs. You can get copies too if desired. I will be contacting you later for volunteers to help that day. The cost is $7

5:30 PM - All current Bob Jones Athletes, except volleyball and football

6:15 PM - Liberty and Discovery Athletes

7:00 PM - Bob Jones Football and Volleyball players (after their practice)



Saturday, March 15
2008 Shannon Brown TV Promo from Z TV-11!
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preview Bob Jones Football Promo_02 19 08

Wednesday, December 5
I Need a Break in 2008!
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Please help me encourage parents to Schedule 2008 Vacations Accordingly (June 28 - July 6). Spring Football will start on May 5th and end on May 16th with the Spring game against East Limestone. Summer workouts will start on June 2nd with Varisty/JV at 6:30AM and Freshman at 8AM. Workouts will be held 4 days a week with everyone off on Fridays; I do know that we have a "voluntary" route and technique sessions each afternoon at 1PM for the guys if they elect too. We will take off June 28 - July 6; this is when I highly encourage all to take a vacation. We will resume summer workouts on Monday, July 7th at the same times above.

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Saturday, October 13
Flynt, 59, makes his debut with Sul Ross State
ALPINE, Texas -- To the shreiking delight of his wife, three kids, grandson and a legion of new fans, 59-year-old Mike Flynt returned to college football action Saturday night. His Sul Ross State teammates marched for a touchdown on their opening drive against Texas Lutheran and Flynt went in at left end on the extra-point unit. He sealed his block as the kick went through, marking his first game action in 37 years. He remained a fixture at that spot on extra points and field goals. His first block wasn't much, but it didn't matter. The play culminated a comeback that began almost as a dare at a reunion this summer, then was delayed by the kind of lingering aches and pains that slow most card-carrying AARP members. "I wasn't nervous," said his wife, Eileen, who'd met Flynt the year after he was kicked off the team right before what was supposed to be his senior season, thus had never seen him play before. "It was just exciting. I thought I was going to be nervous." Flynt might be giving new meaning to being a college "senior," but he's not the oldest ever as a 60-year-old played in 1997. However, he went in for one snap late in a blowout; Flynt is truly part of his Division III team, with expectations to eventually get in at his old position, linebacker. The Lobos have four games left and he expects to play in them all. When Flynt ran in for his first play, his son, Micah, was the first to holler, "There he goes!" All six members of his immediate family, even 1½-year-old Collin, screamed before, during and after the play. As Flynt ran back to the sideline, a fist pump showed his thrill. "Awesome, awesome, awesome," said his oldest daughter, Delanie Flynt-Swanson. Then she turned to Collin and said, "You're grandpa just played football!" "How many other grandpas can say that?" added son Micah Flynt. "None. Zero," she said...(More at ESPN)

Tuesday, August 28
Fountain of youth: LB suits up for Sul Ross State after 37-year wait, 6 years before Medicare
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By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer, August 22, 2007
ALPINE, Texas (AP) -- Mike Flynt was drinking beer and swapping stories with some old football buddies a few months ago when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: Getting kicked off the college team before his senior year. So, one of his pals said, why not do something about it? Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt's only concern was if he was eligible. Finding out he was, Flynt returned to Sul Ross State this month, 37 years after he left and six years before he goes on Medicare. His comeback peaked Wednesday with the coach saying he's made the Division III team's roster. He could be in action as soon as Sept. 1. Flynt is giving new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he's a grandfather and a card-carrying member of AARP. He's eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates. "I think it was Carl Yastrzemski who used to say, `How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?' I'd be in my late 20s or early 30s, because that's how I feel," said Flynt, who has made a living out of physical fitness. "That's been my approach to this whole thing. I feel that good. I'm just going to find out if I can perform and make a contribution to the team." A longtime strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska, Oregon and Texas A&M, he's spent the last several years selling the Powerbase training system he invented. Clients include school systems and the military. His colorful life story includes being the son of a Battle of the Bulge survivor and having dabbled in gold mines and oil wells -- successfully. Flynt's life was supposed to be slowing down this fall. With his youngest child starting at the University of Tennessee, he and Eileen, his wife of 35 years, are planning to take advantage of being empty-nesters for the first time. Instead, they've moved to this remote patch of West Texas so Flynt can mend an old wound and, he hopes, inspire others. He became emotional discussing his goal of "helping a bunch of young men to make up for those guys that I let down." Then he laughed about the reality that fellow Baby Boomers are getting the most out of his comeback. "People are kind of in awe. They keep comparing me to themselves and where they are physically," he said. "If I can help anyone out by what I'm doing, then it's all worth it." Flynt's position is still being determined, but he used to play linebacker. Wherever he lines up, he'll likely become the oldest player in college football history. Neither the NCAA or NAIA keeps such a statistic, but research hasn't turned up anyone older than their mid-40s. And even those are rare, for obvious reasons. "I told him he's an idiot," said Jerry Larned, who coached Flynt at Sul Ross in 1969 and counseled him at the start of his comeback. "I said, `Gosh, dang, Mike, you're not 20 years old any more. You're liable to cripple yourself.' He understands all of that. But he has a burning desire to play. ... He is in great physical condition. He still runs a 5-flat 40 and bench presses I-don't-know-what. He's a specimen for 59 years old." Back in the day, Flynt was quite a player. In 1965, he was on the first state championship team at Odessa Permian, the high school featured in "Friday Night Lights." He was offered a partial scholarship at Arkansas when the Razorbacks were among the top teams in the land, but instead went to Ranger Junior College. He wound up at Sul Ross in 1969. An NAIA school then, the Lobos were in the Lone Star Conference with East Texas State, which at the time had future NFL stars Harvey Martin and Dwight White, and Texas A&I, which was starting a two-year run as national champs. The highlight of Flynt's two years at Sul Ross was sticking A&I with its only loss in '69. Flynt was going into his senior year in 1971 when he got into a fight that was far from his first. School officials decided they'd had enough and threw him out of school. He earned his degree from Sul Ross by taking his remaining classes elsewhere. "I actually grieved for more years than I can remember the loss of that senior year," said Flynt, who'd been a team captain and the leading tackler as a junior. "What really got me was I felt that was MY football team and I had let them down. ... I don't know if I ever got over it, but I finally learned to live with it." Then came word of a reunion of former Sul Ross students from the 1960s and '70s. Randy Wilson, who has been best friends with Flynt since they met as college roommates in 1969, talked a bunch of his former teammates into using that event as an excuse to get back together. During several days of reminiscing, Flynt's pain became fresh as ever, especially when one of the guys said their '71 season went down the drain without Flynt. That's when he told them of his remorse. And, he added, "What really gets me is that I feel like I can still play." "You might as well give it a shot," Wilson told him. "The worst thing that can happen is you get your head knocked off and come home." When Flynt returned home to Franklin, Tenn., his wife wasn't as fired up by the idea. "I feel like I'm married to Peter Pan," she said. It took time to accept that instead of joining their daughter at Tennessee's home opener she would be watching her husband hit kids one-third his age. Eventually she came around. They've sold their suburban Nashville home and are now living in Alpine, a town of about 6,000 residents near the Big Bend National Park, a three-hour drive from the nearest major airport. "I told her, for me to know that I can do it and not do it would be worse than losing out the first time," he said. A devout Christian, Flynt sees many religious undertones to his story. He also believes it touts the benefits of strength training. "People have asked me, `Mike, what is the fountain of youth?' Well, it's strength training that builds muscle, increases bone density and burns calories," he said. "It's the one thing you can do in your 90s and benefit from." Just to be clear, Flynt won't be playing football in his 90s. He'll be out of eligibility then.


Friday, August 24
Patriots Win Jamboree 20-14 over Decatur!

Other Jamboree Scores
Huntsville 24, Johnson 14
Lee 6, Madison Academy 0
Buckhorn 14, Butler 14
Sparkman 24, North Jackson 28
Mountain Brook 28
, Pinson Valley 0
#6-6A Foley 28, #1-5A St. Paul's 14
Hazel Green 14, East Limestone 37
Grissom 14
, Athens 7
Austin 14, Cullman 14



Sunday, August 19
BJHS Touchdown Club "Question of the Month" for August 2007

2007 6A Region 8 Predictions
1) Who will win the 6A Region 8 title in 2007?
   Austin
   Bob Jones
   Buckhorn
   Florence
   Grissom
   Hazel Green
   Huntsville
   Sparkman

Monday, August 20
Video Outlooks from Birmingham-Metro High School Football Media Day
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Friday, July 27
Bob Jones fares well at the 2007 Southeastern Select 7-on-7 tournament at Hoover
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Freshman RB Trai Ragland with catch!
Bob Jones High School and Nease High School from Florida (Tim Tebow alum) were the only two teams out of 36 teams that went undefeated on the 1st day of play. Bob Jones beat Patterson, LA (25-23), North Gwinnett, GA (22-12), Huntington, LA (42-13), Hillsboro, TN (36-21) and Hoover-A (20-18) to go 5-0 during Thursday afternoon's action.

Pool Play continued Friday morning with Bob Jones going out of their pool and defeating Don Bosco, NJ and edging out Foley, AL (school of #1 rated high school wide receiver prospect in nation, Julio Jones 6'4", 215 pound player) to earn the #1 seed in bracket play. Bob Jones then defeated the winner of Springdale High School and Huguenot High School, which was Springdale (35-24), in the 1st round of bracket play.

Bob Jones finally played a "not so good" game in the second round of bracket play when they lost to Whitehaven High. Since bracket play was single elimination, Bob Jones was through for the tourney but compiled an 8-1 record against some of the best football programs in the nation. Bob Jones was also the only team to defeat Hoover, the eventual tournament champion.

Coach Brown was the first to say that this is only 7-on-7 but also pointed out that the tourney provided our kids a good look at how our skill players stack up against other highly recruited players. It is almost time to put on the pads and add the lines and running game.


Birmingham News
Wednesday, July 18
40 teams from 9 states expected to participate
Wednesday, July 18, 2007, PETER STEINBAUER, News staff writer
The National Select 7-on-7 tournament hosted by Hoover and Spain Park will peak at around 40 participating schools, event coordinator Brandon Sheppard said. The original goal was to host 64 teams, but logistical issues prevented that. Summer competition rules are different from state to state and also the financial commitment was too great for some schools to make. "We want to make it one of the best 7-on-7 tournaments in the country," Sheppard said, adding 64 teams will remain a goal for future years. Sheppard said the real draw of the camp for coaches is the opportunity to keep their teams working during the summer. "They truly are looking forward to the level of competition," said Sheppard, who is also an athletic trainer at Hoover High. For fans, the main draw is seeing schools from different states they normally don't get to see. Teams from nine different states have so far registered for the tournament. Some top teams involved include Prattville (Ala.), Shiloh Christian (Ark.), Thomas Jefferson (Pa.) and Don Bosco Prep (N.J.). Seven-on-7 tournaments originally started in the mid 1990s on college campuses when universities held high school team camps. Since then, top high schools started hosting their own camps. Hoover started its event in 2001 as a way to keep in shape against top-level competition. Sheppard said Hoover had no say in who they would play in 7-on-7 tournaments at university camps, a large factor in the team starting its own tournament. "We started the event and solicited schools we thought would be competition for us," he said...(Taken from the Birmingham News)


Madison Record New
Friday, June 15
Patriots hope summer workouts lead to fall successes
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Bob Jones safety Scott McDowell works hard in the weight room
Jason Galloway, Madison Record
The Bob Jones football team has been hard at work this summer trying to increase their athletic ability to improve on their 5-5 record from last year. The team has been working four days a week from 7 a.m. to about 10 a.m. They work on strength through weightlifting and are adding to their speed and stamina by doing sprints and agility workouts. "Right now we are trying to get in the best shape possible and get as strong as we can," said offensive line coach Obed Ellis, who is also in charge of the team's strength and conditioning workouts. "We are working very hard right now," safety Scott McDowell said. "I think we have a better mentality this year." The Patriots went .500 last year and got blown out in the first round of the playoffs. Considering where the Bob Jones program had been before 2006, a year in which they won their first playoff game in 19 years, last year would seem to be quite successful, even though their record was mediocre. Wide receivers coach Kelly Fields feels that they are ready to take the next step. "In some areas last year, we didn't have the team we wanted," Fields said. "This year we're expecting bigger and better things; we have many starters returning and a lot more experience on the team." Fields is also the team's speed and agility coach, and he has added some extra form and technique drills that the team did not have last year. "We want to try to get faster during the summer and come into camp in shape," he said. The Patriots are hoping that their tough work during the summer will translate into production on the field during the season. "We believe that how hard you want it in practice is how good you will be in the game," McDowell said. Ellis explains the importance of getting stronger during the off season. "If you don't get stronger in the weight room, then you can't get stronger on the field," Ellis said...(Taken in full from the Madison Record)


Cumulus
Sunday, May 6
Patriot Spring Game to be on Radio, Shannon Brown Show Renewed!
Bob Jones’ Spring Game on May 18th with East Limestone will be broadcast on WVNN AM770/FM92.5 and available worldwide at www.wvnn.com. “The Patriots usual radio home of WUMP-AM730 will be broadcasting Huntsville Stars baseball game on that night so the broadcast was moved to WVNN,” said Bill West Market Manager of Cumulus Broadcasting in Huntsville. Cumulus Operates both WVNN and WUMP radio stations along with WHRP-FM and WZYP-FM. Announcers for the game will be Zack Bennett and Ray Greene. West also announced that The Shannon Brown Show will be heard again this year prior to every Patriot game this fall on WUMP-AM730 and worldwide at www.730ump.com. “Coach Brown did a great job for us last year and we were very pleased with the ratings for the show.” West said. Coach Brown hosts the 30 minute radio show that focuses on each upcoming game. Bob Jones Football has been heard on WUMPAM730 for almost 15 years.


Htimes
Thursday, March 29
Vipers want glory days back after disastrous '06 season
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Viper's Kelly Fields
Thursday, March 29, 2007 By REGGIE BENSON, Times Sports Staff, reggieb@htimes.com
There was a time when the Tennessee Valley Vipers were the toast of arenafootball2. From 2000-2004, the Vipers were the winningest franchise in the league, averaging almost 13 wins per season, playing in the inaugural ArenaCup title game and reaching the semifinals on three other occasions. Kelly Fields, the Vipers' offensive specialist during their heyday, was arguably the league's best wide receiver with 344 passes for 4,174 yards and 65 touchdowns in three seasons. Quarterback Matt Sauk was one of the league's best passers, and defensive ends Wes Stephens and Andy Fuller were standouts. Tennessee Valley left the league after the 2004 season, but came back last season. The comeback was a flop. After losing 17 games during their first five seasons, the Vipers went 3-13 in 2006. Coach Chris Williams was fired with six games left in the regular season and Milt Theodosatos, a former Vipers assistant under Kevin Guy, finished up 1-5. Despite his struggles, Vipers owner Keith Jeffries gave Theodosatos the full-time job. Theodosatos and the Vipers open the season Friday night at the Von Braun Center when the Alabama (formerly Birmingham) Steeldogs come to town. Kickoff is at 7:30. "We've got to win," Theodosatos said. "Winning cures a lot of problems." Before last season, the Vipers rarely had any worries. Joe Stroud, the team's general manager during the early years, is back in that position. He remembers those early days and is eager to get the team back to the top. "We're trying to climb the mountain again," Stroud said. "We were at the top once and we want to to get back. It's a challenge to come back and get the team where it needs to be, which is actually Coach T's responsibility, but my job is to get it back where we were packing the stands and rocking the joint." Tennessee Valley played before big crowds in the early years. Last season, the Vipers averaged fewer than 4,000 fans per game. Some of last year's season-ticket holders have bolted, Jeffries said, but he thinks they'll come back. "If we put the kind of product on the field that we expect, they're not going to be able to stay away," he said. "It's a rebuilding process," Stroud added. "We're not going to do it right off the bat, but as we grow and gain respect back into the community, we can get back to those early days." Ron Evans certainly hopes so. The executive director of the VBC was on hand during those first five seasons. He remembers how good things were, but he isn't naive enough to think fans will flock back after last season. "I don't think any of us are in the prediction business," he said. "Minor league sports are an incredible challenge ... except for baseball, which has a totally different structure. Unfortunately, in every other sport, it's kind of a revolving door in terms of what team can make it and what market. "With the history of success we've had here with football, you have to believe you can build it back up to stability." What if they don't build it back to stability? "The plan is not to shut down," Jeffries said. "The plan is to continue. We've got to play better than we played last year. We've got to really judge if the fan base is still here. Last year was not a good judge." Evans and Jeffries, who also runs the Huntsville Havoc hockey team, both believe football can turn the corner. "You've got to make these teams economically viable," Evans said. "We've got to find a way to accomplish that with football in a way that it has been accomplished in hockey. Probably as much as anything, that's what gives us the optimism." While hockey has 28 home games, football has only eight. "That changes the whole economics drastically," Evans said. "In football, on those eight home days, you've got to play well. "You can't be off a night or two with eight games and look really bad. Unfortunately, that happened to us last year." Jeffries has watched this year's staff and team and believes it will be greatly improved. "There's night and day difference in the feel, attitude and the motivation level of the team," he said. "There's a different style of coaching and a different style of player and we all hope and pray that will translate into a typical Vipers season and not the season we had last year."


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Thursday, March 15
Bob Jones invited to 2007 Southeastern Select 7-on-7 tournament at Hoover
July 26th (Thursday) - July 28th (Saturday)
Some teams invited for 2007 include;
Buccaneers, Evangel Christian Academy, Foley High, Harrisburg High, Hoover High, Huguenot High, James F. Byrnes High, Jefferson County High, McGill-Toolen Catholic High, Memphis University School, Nease High, North Gwinnett, Olive Branch, Parkview High, Rock Bridge High, Shiloh Christian, Spain Park High, Springdale High, Thomas Jefferson High & Wooddale High.


2007 ITINERARY Check website for latest
THURSDAY | JULY 26 
   12:00 PM -  2:00 PM - REGISTRATION (COMPETITION GYM – HOOVER HIGH) 

    2:00 PM -  3:00 PM - HEAD COACHES MEETING (COMPETITION GYM – HOOVER HIGH) 
 
    4:00 PM -  9:00 PM - POOL PLAY (STADIUM / SOCCER FIELD, SEE POOL PLAY SCHEDULE)
 
FRIDAY | JULY 27 
    7:30 AM -  8:00 AM - HEAD COACHES MEETING MANDATORY (COMPETITION GYM – HOOVER HIGH) 
    9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - POOL PLAY (SEE POOL PLAY SCHEDULE) 

   12:30 PM  - 5:00 PM - ON YOUR OWN

    3:00 PM -  4:00 PM - TOURNAMENT SEEDING / HEAD COACHES MEETING (COMPETITION GYM – HOOVER HIGH) 
 
    5:00 PM -  6:00 PM - 1ST & 2ND ROUND TOURNAMENT PLAY (SEE BRACKETS) 
 
    7:30 PM -  9:30 PM - TBA

SATURDAY | JULY 28 
    7:30 AM -  8:00 AM - HEAD COACHES MANDATORY (COMPETITION GYM – HOOVER HIGH) 

    8:30 AM -            CONSOLATION PLAY BEGINS (SEE CONSOLATION BRACKET) 

    9:00 AM -            CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY BEGINS (SEE CONSOLATION BRACKET) 

   11:30 AM -            CONSOLATION SEMI-FINALS (FIELD #9 & #10) 

   12:00 PM -            CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS (FIELD #1 & #2) 

   12:30 PM -            CONSOLATION FINALS (FIELD #1) 
 
    1:00 PM -            CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (FIELD #1)


Spain Park Combine
Monday, March 12
Spain Park High School 2007 Football Combine
Rivals.com & Scout.com
Attention Upcoming Freshmen to Seniors
All Athletes will be ranked by grade and by the best of the best.
When: Sunday April 15th
Registration: 11-1 Combine Begins at 2 p.m.
Where:
Spain Park High School                                 
4700 Jaguar Drive                                 
Hoover AL 35242
Combine Tests:
40-Yard Dash
Pro Shuttle
Vertical Jump
3-Cone Drill
Standing Broad Jump
Position Skills        
Cost: $40.00
Pre Registration is $40.00 / $50.00 at the door        

Event will take place Rain or Shine
Athletes need to bring tennis shoes, spikes, & cleats. Be prepared for all surfaces!
Contact: Coach Chris McDougal
Cell (256) 415-3141
School (205) 439-1400

Give your athletes a chance to showcase their talents to the likes of Scout.com & Rivals.com. This is a perfect opportunity for athletes to see what they are made of and see where they stand among the states ELITE. This is a great recruiting tool and a great training tool for all athletes interested in becoming a college athlete. This will let them know where they stand and where they need be! All athletes are welcome to provide highlight videos for the recruiting agencies.


Htimes
Thursday, March 8
Artificial sweetener at Milton Frank
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Dave Dieter / Huntsville Times (Scanned)
Thursday, March 08, 2007, By JOHN FERRY, Times Sports Staff, john.ferry@htimes.com
Longtime hub of local athletics getting synthetic turf, new track
Wade Lipscomb has seen plenty of changes in the 30-plus years he's been involved in local high school athletics, but he has a hard time coming up with something to compare with what's going on now at Milton Frank Stadium. The city is replacing its turf with Pro Grass, a synthetic turf system, and it is also putting down a new surface for the track. "It's one of the best things we have done," said Lipscomb, the Huntsville City Schools athletic director. "We will have a truly multi-purpose stadium." Milton Frank is the site for some 65-70 football games in a year, as well as band competitions, track meets, and, occasionally, soccer. Whenever it rains, surface can quickly become a quagmire. A few years ago, some games had to be moved because the playing surface was declared unplayable. "We will now have a safe facility," Lipscomb said. "One we can use every day, even in the rain." No more cutting grass twice a week, no more fertilizing, resodding or repainting lines on the field. Milton Frank will be like football fields at Jacksonville State, Troy, Prattville and Vestavia Hills high schools, plus stadiums like Ladd-Peebles in Mobile and Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. The cost for the field and new track is $883,000 according to Herbert Wheeler, executive director of business and CFO of Huntsville City Schools. The drainage system for the field has already been put in, as has a stone layer. An inch and a half of loose rubber goes on top of that, followed by the turf, which has an eight-year warranty. "It will be a heck of a lot easier to adjust to than freezing in the mud," said Grissom football Ronny Massey, who has had players in the past play on similar surfaces at Tennessee, Auburn and Alabama. "Screw-on cleats must be reduced to a smaller size," Massey said. "Milton Frank did have a pretty good crown on the field. It will be flat now." Artificial surfaces in the 1970s and '80s were much tougher on players' bodies, but this kind of turf has been universally lauded. Massey said that while players will "need to cover (their) elbows and shins on a dry, hot day, the surface will be safer. And adverse weather will not affect the games as much as in past years. Lipscomb is also glad the track will be a first-class surface. "We are doing it so it will be state of the art," he said. "We would like to have some state events up here." Lipscomb said work at the stadium could be finished by late April and there will be a dedication of the new facilities at a football game this fall. Track, which usually holds the Metro meet at Milton Frank if not also other competitions, has had to make some quick adjustments for 2007. Coaches met on Wednesday to map things out. "Milton Frank Stadium is not available for varsity meets this season," Huntsville High track coach Terrance Young said after the meeting. Young added Lipscomb did mention the possibility of middle school meets there later if the work is finished in time. The Metro meet, on April 2-3, has been moved to Bob Jones. That school will also host the Red Coat Relays on March 16, Patriot Games on March 30, and the Bob Jones Invitational on April 20. Young said it is possible other meets may be added at other locations as the season goes on...(Taken in full from the Huntsville Times)


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Saturday, December 2
Discovery's Head Coach Corey Collier accepts BJHS Freshman Head Coach position
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Head Coach Corey Collier at DMS
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After highly successful coaching careers at both of Madison City middle schools, Liberty and Discovery, Corey Collier has accepted the head coaching position for the BJHS Freshman team. Corey's teams have compiled an impressive overall record of 18-5 in the last three years and 14-1 over the last two. The 2004-05 team defeated rival LMS to claim the City Championship. The 2005-06 team went 8-0, winning the County and City Championships being the first year DMS was allowed to compete for the County Title. The 2006-07 at DMS the team went 6-1, winning the County and City Championships and was runner-up in the North Alabama Regional division after loosing to an undefeated Hartselle team. This was also the first year for the regional tournament. Before coaching at Discovery Middle, Corey coached and ran a very successfull football program at Liberty Middle including starting their booster club and increasing overall player participation. Corey is well liked by his former players and considered to be one of the best recruiters at the Middle School level. With Corey's past experience, Coach Shannon Brown thinks that Coach Collier will be an integral part of smoothing the transition of middle school players to the Bob Jones high school program.

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Monday, October 23
Football dad pulls gun on coach to get son in game
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -- The father of a young football player pulled a gun on his son's coach because he didn't think the boy was getting enough playing time, Philadelphia police said on Monday. Wayne Derkotch, 40, was charged with aggravated assault after getting in a fight with the coach over the amount of time the boy was getting on the field at a game for 6- and 7-year-olds on Sunday morning, said police spokesman Officer Raul Malveiro. "There was a physical altercation about what child should play or not play and then he pulled the gun," Malveiro said. There were no injuries and Derkotch fled before being arrested after a complaint was made by the coach, whose name was not released, Malveiro said. Parental behavior at children's sports events has come under scrutiny from groups such as the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance. The group's study gave parents a D grade for their conduct and involvement at kids' games. An Internet straw poll of nearly 3,000 by the Center for Sports Parenting found that 85 percent of the participants had witnessed parents or coaches becoming verbally abusive during games. Forty percent had seen physical abuse...(Taken from CNN News)

World Class Fields
Wednesday, October 18
Bob Jones High School field gets award at World Class Paints!
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Congratulations to the staff at Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama for creating an outstanding looking field.

CNN_Logo
Monday, October 9
Artificial turf taking root with high schools
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Taken from CNN.com
CENTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- It's been raining on and off for three days but the locker room at Centerville High School is throbbing with rap music as the football team suits up for a full practice on their field. Cleats would have torn up the soggy grass last year, turning it into a sea of mud that would dry into ruts and grooves. But Centerville has joined the growing ranks of high schools around the nation that have replaced grass fields with a new generation of synthetic turf that sheds water, requires little maintenance and can be used around the clock by football, soccer and field hockey teams as well as bands and clubs. Even though they're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time when most school budgets are under pressure, schools from Ohio to California are putting in the new turf as a long-term investment. In many cases, they're getting help from boosters and other private donors. Matt Miller, a 17-year-old defensive back at Centerville High who has played on both natural and artificial turf, said he gets better traction on the new synthetic turf. "I play coverage a lot, so when they throw the ball I can jump a little bit higher. And I can cut on breaks and stuff," Miller said. "And it's a lot softer. When you hit the ground, it doesn't hurt as much." Artificial turf has been around for decades, but the early versions such as AstroTurf were more like carpet than grass. The turf could be hard, giving knees and ankles a pounding and leaving players with ruglike burns. High schools see synthetic turf -- used by colleges and pro teams, as well -- as a way to get more use out of their fields at a time of heavy student participation in sports and the growing popularity of team sports such as soccer. Natural grass often won't hold up under heavy traffic. Researchers have indicated that the market for companies installing artificial turf doubled between 2003 and 2005 and is expected to double again by 2009, according to Wayne, Pa.-based Sprinturf. They estimate that the prep market accounts for 70 percent of the total market and is believed to be growing at least as fast as the overall market, said Elliot Levine, the company's president. The number of artificial turf fields installed at high schools in the United States by Montreal-based FieldTurf Inc. increased from 35 in 2002 to 133 in 2005. The company has installed 128 so far this year, with contracts to install 13 more. "I know it's up because we're working about 100 hours a week," said Brooke Beard, administrative manager at the FieldTurf USA plant in Dalton, Ga. Co-Creation Sports Fields of Provo, Utah, installed its first artificial field in April at nearby Timpview High School, where the grass field wouldn't drain properly. Since then, four other Utah high schools have expressed interest in getting fields next spring...(Visit CNN to read entire article)

FOX Sports
Monday, August 14
Mangold's sister following in his footsteps
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5'-9", 300 lb, Holley Mangold can squat 525 pounds
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) - When Jets center Nick Mangold started playing football in third grade, he developed his own little fan club. Baby sister Holley idolized him. She got dragged to watch him practice and play in games. She used to play a little game with Nick at home, too. Nick would get down on his knees and then tell Holley and their other sister, Kelley, to tackle him. Holley loved every second of it. She loved the hitting and tackling. Then she thought, "I want to play football, too." It hardly mattered that she was a little girl, and wanted to play offensive line - practically unheard of for women getting involved in such a physical, violent game. Their dad, Vern, was also against the idea. He admits, "I was old school. I didn't think girls should play football." Finally, mom Therese convinced Vern to let Holley play. She started in second grade and has followed in the same footsteps as her big brother, going into her junior year at Archbishop Alter High in Kettering, Ohio, with a chance to start at guard on the varsity team. "I'd like to say I did it all on my own, but I was a little girl, he was my big brother. I saw he played football, I saw it was fun," Holley said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "So I said, 'Yeah, I'll play."' Holley, 16 and going into her junior year, played offensive and defensive line on her junior varsity team the last two years. Sure, there have been female kickers who have gotten into games, but watching a 5-foot-9, 300-pound girl play offensive line is a different story. Holley said she never considered kicking, and offered apologizes to Jets starter Mike Nugent when asked why she decided to become a lineman. "When anybody talks about being a kicker or anything like that, no offense to Nugent, but I've always thought kickers were not really part of it," she said. "They are a big part of the game but they don't get that rush of being out there. That's what I love about football, that's what kept me playing is being able to hit, and being able to run into somebody." The 6-4, 300-pound Nick Mangold also starred at Alter, then went 80 miles down the road to Ohio State, where his stellar play allowed him to be taken No. 29 overall in the draft in April. He is penciled in to start for the Jets, replacing perennial Pro Bowl selection Kevin Mawae. Though they have much in common, Nick rarely discusses football with anyone in his family. When he decides to say something to Holley about the game, it is only to give her tips or criticism. "I stay out of it because I don't want it to be something like, 'Hey that's Nick Mangold's sister, fill in the blank,"' Nick Mangold said. "I let her do her own thing and let her make the mistakes and I'll be there. Unfortunately I don't get to see the games, but if I get back and see something, I'll tell her, 'You need to get over there, you need to get in better condition. As an older brother, I need to dig on her a little bit." Nick is six years older than Holley, and he looms large over her because he blazed the football trail first. But because Holley has been playing since she was young, she has the respect of her teammates, coaches and opponents and has been completely accepted. When her team plays an opponent from outside the area that tries to attack her because they think her spot on the line is weak, they quickly are proven wrong. Vern recalled the last time it happened, against a team from Cincinnati her freshman year. "Like a lot of rock-headed coaches, they tried to run the ball at her twice in a row. They got stonewalled," Vern said. "They didn't run that way anymore. She makes believers out of folks. Holley just enjoys that cold rush when you smack into somebody. It's hard for me to say about my little buttercup, but it's true." She even has attended Ohio State football camps since eighth grade, winning the Best Offensive Lineman Award several times. "It was an eye opener for a lot of guys," she said. Holley does more than play football. She also throws the discus and shot put, and set the AAU girls record for squat lifting at 525 pounds, breaking the old mark of 470. When asked about whether he could top that, Nick said, "I can always beat her. It's the big brother syndrome." Good genes run in the family. Vern played right guard in high school, and Therese was captain of her swim team in college. Kelley is on a swimming scholarship at Agnes Scott College starting in the fall. The youngest child, 7-year-old Maggey, plays basketball and does gymnastics. But it appears only Nick and Holley were the only siblings to catch the football bug. "I have a lot of people come up to me and ask since I play football am I a feminist?" Holley said. "No, not at all. I don't think, 'I am woman hear me roar.' It was simply because football is one of the greatest sports there is and if I can keep doing it like my brother, that would be amazing."...(Taken from FoxSports)

Htimes
Wednesday, July 19
Bob Jones classified as the largest high school in Alabama
Wednesday, July 19, 2006, By GREGG L. PARKER, For the Madison Spirit writeone35758@yahoo.com
Bob Jones High School has received a new distinction. Madison's high school is the largest in Alabama. The Alabama High School Athletic Association released the classifications (www.ahsaa.com/classifications/2006-08-6A.asp). Statistics were based only on grades 10 - 12, like all other counts at AHSAA, Principal Robby Parker said. Bob Jones' 1,751 students placed Madison at top. Sparkman High School with 1,518 students in the Madison County School System was the fourth largest Class 6A school. Rounding out the top five are Murphy High School in Mobile, 1,676; Hoover High School, 1,639; and Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, 1,500. When the new high school opened for the 1996-1997 school year, Bob Jones had a student population of 1,184 for grades 9-12, said David Smith, interim chief financial officer for Madison City Schools. Ninth-grade students returned to the middle schools in 2001. In 2005 for grades 10-12, the count was 1,689 students. For the last academic year, 1,811 students attended the high school. The forecast for the student body at Bob Jones in 2011 is 2,240, Smith said. The school's amazing expansion keeps administrators on alert. "We address the growth every year," Parker said. "It's always a challenge. We are crowded but not overcrowded." The capital planning committee studies the growth trends each year. Five "floating" teachers at Bob Jones move from room to room instead of having their own dedicated classroom. The Edward A. Zompa Auditorium can't accommodate a school assembly because it seats just more than 1,200. "Getting everyone into the gym creates an extremely crowded situation," Parker said. "However, the lunchroom is fine. The parking is fine." The latest recognition at Bob Jones does not directly affect the job of principal. "There are just a lot of people, 2,000 students, 110 teachers and about 50 support employees. It's a full-time job," Parker said. Parker considers the announcement for largest school as "a great honor. I am blessed." "We have great kids and a great faculty. We also have the best facility in the state and it is getting better," Parker said. For more information, call 772-2547 and visit www.madisoncity.k12.al.us.(Taken from the Huntsville Times)


myspace
Sunday, July 16
MySpace more popular than Yahoo and Google
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FREE MySpace Contact Table
Thursday, July 13 2006, by Charlie Taylor
Online social network MySpace.com has become the most popular website in the US, according to new figures from internet traffic measurement firm Hitwise. The website, which was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in a USD580 million deal last summer, accounted for 4.46 percent of all internet visits in the US during the week ending 8 July, making it the number one ranked site in the country. MySpace pushed Yahoo Mail into second place. Yahoo's online e-mail service accounted for 4.42 percent of total traffic last week while the search giant's homepage drew 4.25 percent of all internet visits in the US. Google continues to be popular with users, and it accounted for 3.89 percent of total traffic last week. The latest figures indicate exactly just how popular MySpace has become with internet users in the US over the past two years. Back in July 2004, the website accounted for just 0.1 percent of all internet visits. Since then it's grown to become the leading social networking website both in the US and elsewhere. According to Alexa Internet, an Amazon subsidiary which monitors internet traffic, MySpace is now the fourth most popular website with internet users, behind Yahoo, MSN and Google.

Big Deal! What does that do for me? The Touchdown Club has created a Contact Table you use on your own MySpace. If you want use the Contact Table shown here, copy this code into the 'About Me' section of your MySpace profile. IMPORTANT Add a "<" in front of the style> and /style> tags.

style>
.contactTable {width:300px!important; height:150px!important; padding:0px!important; background-image:url("http://bjfootball.nss-corp.com/myspace/images/2006BJHS_Sch.gif"); background-attachment:scroll; background-position:center center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-color:transparent;}
.contactTable table, table.contactTable td {padding:0px !important; border:0px; background-color:transparent; background-image:None;}
.contactTable a img {visibility:hidden; border:0px!important;}
.contactTable a {display:block; height:28px; width:115px;}
.contactTable .text {font-size:1px!important;}
.contactTable .text, .contactTable a, .contactTable img {filter:none!important;}
/style>

Check out the 2 new ones by adding a 2 or 3 to 2006BJHS_Sch in the script above. Like 2006BJHS_Sch2.gif or 2006BJHS_Sch3.gif

2006BJHS_Sch3
2006BJHS_Sch3.gif
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Htimes
Saturday, May 6
Great Gaines in distance
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Luke Gaines wins State Javelin
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Saturday, May 06, 2006, By BRUCE McLELLAN, Associate Sports Editor, brucem@htimes.com
Bob Jones senior wins state javelin championship
PELHAM - To understand how Bob Jones High senior Luke Gaines won the Class 6A javelin championship on Friday, go back about a decade. Gaines was playing youth football and became the quarterback for his father/coach, Robin. "The reason I started out as quarterback is because I could remember all the plays," the younger Gaines said with a grin. Once he had the position, Gaines started working on passing. He also became a pitcher in baseball. So when he reached 10th grade, a natural track and field specialty awaited - again for his father/coach, now on Bob Jones' staff. "I've always been decent at throwing things, so why not pick up the javelin?" That decision paid off Friday under overcast skies at Heardmont Park. On Gaines' third throw of qualifying, he sent the javelin through a crosswind and past the final arc marked on the field - 180 feet. Nobody else reached that arc, even in the final round, and Gaines' 182-2 gave him first by 40 inches over Dothan's Jermaine Potter. "I saw it was flying good," Gaines said of his winning effort. "A lot of how far a throw goes is the flying of the javelin." Teammates and friends in the stands cheered when the javelin landed beyond the 180 mark. Gaines, who played quarterback on Bob Jones' football team, nonchalantly walked to retrieve his javelin and finally clinched his fist in his only show of emotion. He got three more throws in the finals but couldn't better that effort. He didn't need to. "Your dad can breathe now," Robin Gaines told him afterward. Luke Gaines was one of four individual champions from the metro area Friday in the Class 4A-6A state track and field meet. The others were Butler's Latoya Ragland (18-101/2 in the 5A long jump) , Huntsville's Cody Hood (4 minutes, 26.55 seconds in the 5A 1,600 meters) and Johnson's Reneisha Hobbs (39-5 in the 5A shot put)...(Taken in part from the Huntsville Times)


Friday, March 17
Madison to spend $550K on athletics
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Fieldhouse Drawing
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Facilities to house batting cages, wrestling mats, weight room
Friday, March 17, 2006, By WENDY REEVES, Times Staff Writer wendyr@htimes.com
MADISON - The Board of Education voted Thursday night to spend more than a half-million dollars on the Bob Jones athletics programs. The school system has also awarded a grant for than $1.5 million to be a regional training center for a statewide technology initiative for teachers. For the athletes, Bob Jones High School will get a 70-foot by 120-foot metal multipurpose sports building for an estimated cost of $300,000. The facility will be equipped with four batting cages for baseball and softball teams, new