UNION COUNTY Shopper news • FEBRUARY 15, 2014 • 5
Basketball must be part rocket science This is basketball rocket consistency is the primary science 101. Please set aside problem. a block of time to study and He has told the Volunanalyze. teers that even if their shots aren’t falling, they must remain committed to the other elements of the game, give good effort, run and Marvin jump, defend as if your life West depends on it, fight for rebounds, value each possession, protect the ball. Doing all that is just a Synopsis 1: Most teams matter of focus, effort, incan win when everything tensity, toughness. That they throw toward the goal sounds very simple but it falls in. must be quite complicated. Synopsis 2: Good teams Why else would a mature win even when they don’t team fail to get it? shoot well. These Vols are maddenPremise: Tennessee is ing. Some games (at home not a good team. against Florida) they play Any day now, coach Cu- with passion. Other times onzo Martin expects to find they are hard to watch. the solution. He thinks inSome nights they come
Precious memories Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. (Psalm 145: 3-7 KJV)
charging out the gate as if to strangle opponents, 10-0 jump start, bang, you’re finished. Other nights, they come strolling along on their way to a picnic and get slower as they go. They lose to Texas A&M. Either way, high octane or just coasting, the coach can’t explain it. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. That is scary. Martin is not big on flame-throwing pep talks, spiced with colorful adjectives. He thinks all players should show up ready to play. He was. He thinks the desire to win should be built in. There are so few games guaranteed, just four seasons, to do the best you can
Cross Currents
Lynn Pitts
No Return.” My family saw it at a drive-in, back when drive-ins were still respectable places for a family with small children to see a movie. When the soundtrack started, Mother exclaimed, Precious Memories, how they linger, “That’s Tennessee Ernie!” How they ever flood my soul. Daddy said, “No, it couldn’t In the stillness of the midnight, be.” But Mother insisted, Precious sacred scenes unfold. and the final credits proved (“Precious Memories,” J.B.F. Wright) her right. “Sixteen Tons” followed It was Tennessee Ernie Ernest Jennings Ford soon after, and not long Ford who introduced the old was born in Bristol, on the after that, Mr. Ford had hymn “Precious Memories” Tennessee side, and grew a weekly television show. to me, in one of his many up singing in the Methodist His trademark was that he recordings. My mother was, Church there. He did some ended each show by singing and is, a fan of that warm radio in Knoxville then dis- a hymn. “Those who know baritone, and his staunch appeared from the scene best” in the entertainment insistence that each of his for a while. He turned up industry warned him not weekly television shows end again, singing the title song to do it: that it would not be with a hymn. in the movie “The River of received well by the televi-
to make marvelous memories. This may be the most talent Cuonzo Martin ever has in his coaching career. That it would fall so far below expectations is confusing. Was the forecast flawed? Southeastern Conference contender. No more of that hand-wringing NCAA bubble stuff. No more excuses. We thought Antonio Barton was the answer at point guard. He isn’t. We thought Jeronne Maymon had overcome injuries and ailments and would be what he once was. He is a gladiator but he’s lost some quickness and explosion. Jarnell Stokes is a double-double. We thought he had developed a jump shot.
Not yet. We were certain Robert Hubbs III, five-star recruit, would make a big difference. There are brilliant freshmen all across America. Didn’t happen here. Some games, Jordan McRae is the best offensive player in the league and one of the best in the country. Going 1-for-15 is inexplicable. Darius Thompson is often a precise system engineer. Alas, he doesn’t shoot and can’t guard good guards. Others have that problem. Armani Moore is a hustle guy. Some games, he has been used as the fast fuse to ignite listless teammates. Strangely enough, some games he doesn’t play.
Nobody said Tennessee was a championship team. Syracuse has better players. So do 10 or 15 other teams. Two play in the Southeastern Conference. Nobody is saying this season is over. There is still a way to break into the tournament but it will require a change. Even if shooting forever fluctuates, everything else must become dependable. This is the frantic time of year. If this veteran team does not get it together, Tennessee basketball will need life support – and a mask for empty seats at Thompson-Boling. That is not good. Old, black curtains are so ugly.
sion audience. It was Ernie’s show, however, and he loved the old hymns, and he was, by golly, going to sing one every week. The audience – both in the studio and at home – loved it. It was later that he started making records, and several of those were collections of hymns: standards, old-time favorites, spirituals – he did them all. When his recording of “Precious Memories” came out, it was a new hymn to me, but my mother remembered her father and mother singing it in church. Interestingly, the composer of that old hymn was a Tennessean also: J.B.F. Wright, born Feb. 21, 1877. (I had chosen this subject for this week’s column before I knew that the composer’s birthdate was this week: happenstance? coincidence? Kismet? Interestingly, these days
I can’t remember what was on my grocery list because I didn’t remember to take the list with me to the store! But when I woke up with the song “Memories, light the corners of my mind, misty water color memories of the way we were” running in my head, I knew that “Precious Memories” was where this column was headed. And, like the folk songs I learned in high school, which I can still sing in their entirety, these are
precious memories, laid down in the bedrock of my memory, far below and sturdier than more recent lyrics or events. A wise man said that the only Scripture available to you when you most need it is what you carry in your head. The same is true of your hymnody. It is wise to tuck away some powerful verses from the Bible and a few sturdy hymns to get you through!
Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com
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