WEST SIDE SHOPPER-NEWS • FEBRUARY 14, 2011 • A-7
Seeing stars in Big Orange Country TALES OF TENNESSEE | Marvin West
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igh school talent evaluators and recruiting analysts sell the star system as if it was sacred science. Five stars go to guys who can’t miss in college. Tim Tebow. Vince Young. Reggie Bush. Adrian Peterson. They hold the keys to national championships – unless they opt out. Four stars are for the big, strong and swift. They are destined to be three-year starting studs, All-Conference honorees, probable All-Americans, early rounders in the NFL draft. Three-star prep players step up to meet needs. If they get good coaching and work like heck, they certainly can contribute to success. Evaluators and analysts advocate avoiding the commoners, the two-star multitude. OK, if you must, award the occasional scholarship to a grandson of a big booster and maybe spend two on really sharp students who can do one thing well plus raise the academic average for the entire team. But, don’t expect them to win football games. OK, there are exceptions. Here are numbers from a fouryear study: The odds are 1 in 5 that a five-star player will become an All-American; 1 in 54 for four-stars; 1 in 147 for threestars; 1 in 358 for the twos. Because recruiting junkies and excitable fans will pay serious money for information, there are many information providers. Some are very sincere. They and their sources chase each other around the country to see as many high school games as possible. They study highlight tapes, collect photographs and compare height, weight and 40 dash times. Their secret ingredient is input from elite college coaches. If Nick Saban discreetly nods toward Mark Ingram up in Flint, Mich., and whispers “Heisman,” one or more recruiting services promptly awards four stars. If Notre Dame and everybody else wants Jimmy Clausen, he must be a five. College coaches are more often right than wrong. Contract extensions, bowl bonuses and investment portfolios depend on it. Some information retailers are surprisingly accurate as far as they go. Alas, all err and fall short. As Derek Dooley has explained, a stopwatch and yardstick will measure basics but assessing character, courage, intelligence, work ethic and growth potential is no simple matter. Dooley prefers his own blend of in-depth evaluation. Tennessee got several fours but no five-star talent in the recent recruiting roundup. Pro-
jecting that tidbit, the Vols may not win a national championship any time soon. Larry Smith, 63, data technology specialist, UT fan and forum participant, has an awesome storehouse of Volunteer information (Google Larry’s Locker). Scanning his list of five-star recruits from the previous decade stirs many memories: James Banks, Gerald Riggs, Jesse Mahelona, Robert Meachum, Demetrice Morley, Chris Donald, Eric Berry, Brent Vinson, Bryce Brown, Janzen Jackson, Da’Rick Rogers. There were others. Some came up big. Some were busts. All contributed to highly ranked recruiting classes. Smith says most focus on signing success but retention is a comparable factor. “Based on my analysis, 30 to 40 percent of those who sign with a BCS school end up not finishing their eligibility with that school. The reasons vary – dismissals, academic failure, transfers, medical issues, just quitting football.” Smith believes in stars – with qualifications. “I certainly believe that more 4- and 5-star recruits will increase the chances for competing for a league championship. I think my charts clearly indicate that. “There are conferences where it is easier to win without a large percentage of star recruits. The ACC and the Big East are two. The SEC requires rosters dominated by 4- and 5-star recruits.” What are those two-stars doing in the NFL? “Recruiting services just miss on some recruits,” says Smith. “Players with poor grades are not tracked closely. Some players mature later, physically and mentally, and don’t blossom until college.” Dooley and his staff targeted talented prospects likely to improve, be dependable, stay in school and maybe stay out of trouble. One obvious goal was to fill voids. As a group, incoming Volunteers rank between 10th and 13th nationally in star power. That’s good. The bad part is several SEC foes scored higher. Can the Dooley plan close the gap? Smith studies say never diminish the coaching element in the championship chase. “There are years where teams with fewer star players win with good coaching, good luck and momentum.” And favorable schedules? Boise State? Cincinnati? Texas Christian? Connecticut? Just for fun, keep your eyes on the stars. Marvin West invites reader reaction. His address is westwest6@netzero.com.
Baum’s Greenhouses in Smithwood circa 1908. The home in the foreground near the greenhouses was built by the patriarch of the Baum family, Charles L. Baum (1863-1944). The hand-made brick home at the upper left was built in 1839 by John Smith (1795-1883) for whom Smithwood is named.
Plucking a thistle and planting a flower HISTORY AND MYSTERIES | Dr. Jim Tumblin
Baum’s Home of Flowers
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n 1846, the widowed Katherine Schneider Baum and her 15-year-old son, Karl (1831-1916), left their native country during the German Revolution and immigrated to America on the sailing ship New York. The voyage of 47 days was stormy and, on a particularly tempestuous day, young Karl was tied to the mast of the ship with an ax in his hands. His instructions were to cut down the tall mast if the ship should yaw and threaten to capsize in the heavy seas. Finally, they landed safely in New York. Karl could not find work there and they set sail for Charleston, S.C. After some months there, they traveled to Augusta, Ga., where he was hired to lay railroad track from there to Charleston in Bradley County, Tenn. Eventually, he was employed by the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad to assist in construction of the first railroad bridge over the Hiawassee River between Charleston and Calhoun. On July 24, 1855, upon completion of the bridge, he and his mother came to Knoxville on the first train to run over the ET&G. For the next 56 years, Karl would be in the employ of that railroad and its successor, the Southern Railway. Karl Baum married Barbara Ritz on Aug. 7, 1860, and they became parents of 10 children, among them Charles Louis Baum (1863-1944). Charles married Mattie Ellen Galyon in 1884. He was employed in the iron industry as superintendent of a foundry but left that secure job to enter the florist business in 1889. His first venture was an open pit greenhouse on Tazewell Pike from which he sold a few plants and cut flowers in the old Central Market (now Emory Park). By 1892 he had opened a retail store in downtown Knoxville. As the business grew, each of his children entered the business which prospered to become the largest greenhouse operation, the largest rose grower and the second largest retail florist in the Southeast. In mid-life, Charles turned the business over to his children,
The Baum Brothers. Karl P. Baum (1885-1977) (foreground) and Floyd F. Baum (1898-1985) are pictured in 1952 when their sales at Baum’s Home of Flowers were more than $500,000 per year. Photos courtesy C.M. McClung Historical Collection
moved to Gatlinburg and helped develop the Cherokee Apple Orchard. When the National Park Service bought the property, he became an unofficial botanist to assist in identifying Smoky Mountain flora. Karl Porter Baum (1885-1977) was the oldest of the four children of Charles and Mattie G. Baum and Floyd Franklyn Baum (18981985) the youngest. Karl entered school at Smithwood Grammar School but quit when he was 13 to work full time with his father. When he was 17, he took over sales at Baum’s small store on West Clinch Avenue. The business continued to grow. Baum’s introduced gladioli to the South and had 25 acres of them at one time. His father had helped propagate the beautiful Lilium myriophyllum (regale), the Royal Lily of China, which was first imported from Tibet in 1910. Wild orchids from South America were imported and grown in the greenhouses. Roses were, of course, a major year-round item. At one time, the firm had 180 agents taking orders for its wares and eventually Baum’s had more greenhouses, including those in Smithwood and Bearden, than anyone in the U.S. They occupied 2 1/2 acres with
more than 340,000 feet of glass and an additional 70 acres in bulbs and other outdoor plants. Karl Baum was one of those responsible when Florists’ Telegraph Delivery (FTD) was organized in 1910. The then-novel idea enabled one to send flowers to any American or Canadian city and to some other parts of the world and grew to include a staggering 1,700 members by the end of the decade. Karl was vice president of the FTD association at one time. Floyd F. Baum developed the Bearden greenhouse operation beginning in 1926. By 1972 there were 34 greenhouses when they were dismantled to make way for Bearden Industrial Park. Floyd’s specialty was roses and his greenhouses once held 133,000 rose plants which produced 4 million blooms a year. One of his popular hybrids, named the Betty Baum rose for his daughter, is a beautiful white rose edged in pink. He also produced carnations, chrysanthemums and other fresh flowers and plants supplied to Baum’s local retail outlets and wholesale florists all over the South. A July 1952 issue of Fortune magazine included Baum’s among other successful businesses and described them, “A Knoxville iron molder who grew lilies sand roses as a hobby started Baum’s Home of Flowers in 1889. His sons now operate the most modern greenhouses in the South and sell over $500,000 worth of flowers a year. Karl Baum, president, believes in posting prices clearly in the window of his retail store to reassure hesitant buyers.” Karl P. Baum died in 1974 and Floyd Baum assumed the presidency until the retail shops at 631 S. Gay St. and 2916 Tazewell Pike and the greenhouses on Tazewell Pike were sold to Mark E. Ross of New York in March 1975. When the patriarch of the Baum’s Home of Flowers’ family, Charles L. Baum, passed away in 1944, it was said of him, “Not only did he achieve a little success and a lot of satisfaction from his chosen vocation, but his exemplary life and devotion to duty was such that all his children were influenced to follow his example and remain in the business that he established. It can truly be said that he plucked a thistle and planted a flower wherever he thought a flower would grow. He stood firm in his convictions and was loyal to his friends almost to a fault. He never forgot those who befriended him or gave him a kind word on his way up.” Subsequent generations of Baums followed his example of a principled life.
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