The Gallatin News

Congratulations! You have just been granted a wish to go somewhere or do something that you would really enjoy but have never had the time, money or means to make it happen. What would it be?

A trip to Disney World? A ride in an air balloon? Maybe a return visit to your childhood residence.

I’ve always loved to travel so I’m sure I’d choose a special trip. In the United States, I’d love to spend some time out west to explore Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. I could easily visit four hard-to-get-to states that have escaped my list of visited states; Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Utah.

Outside of the U.S., I think an extended tour to visit most European countries would really be special.

My mother speaks fondly of her young married days in Arizona and while she always says, ‘I’m sure it’s changed a lot,’ she would love to go back and visit that area one more time.

The opportunity to fulfill such a wish actually happened recently for Donald Colburn, PhD.

The older I get, the less likely you are to find me in a large crowd.

In my younger days, I stood in long lines and fought the masses to enjoy things that were important to me at the time. I’ve climbed ‘The Hill’ in Knoxville along with thousands of others to watch the Big Orange run through the “T” in person. I’ve spent what seemed like hours searching for a place to park and still have to walk a mile or so to get the stadium for a Titan’s game, only to have to climb about another mile straight up to sit in the cheap seats. On a few occasions, I’ve even waded through throngs of humanity for a music concert, though I’ve never wanted to see anyone perform so bad I would campout on the sidewalk the night before just to make sure I got tickets.

Whether my lack of interest for such activities today is due to getting older, getting smarter, or just not having the patience for dealing with it anymore, I have definitely decided these activities are best viewed from the comfort of my recliner.

Despite all of that, there I was Sunday afternoon in downtown Nashville among the masses, standing in a long line; waiting. I wasn’t there for the Titan’s game, though the streets were full of people wearing Titan and Lion’s gear (and one lost fella wearing a Chicago Bears t-shirt). I wasn’t there for the Carrie Underwood concert at Bridgestone Arena, though the streets were packed with young ladies wearing their cowboy hats and boots. I wasn’t there to visit any of the dozen places to eat, drink, listen to honky-tonk music or buy western wear or cheap souvenirs. And I wasn’t there to join the tourists in snapping photos of bigger-than-life sized guitars or the less-than-life sized Elvis statue.

Photo by Tanya Long-Garro / Reflections by TanyaAll of Sumner County was rocked this week by the sudden loss of Dr. Gary Cohen and his wife Nancy who died in a plane crash in Alabama while returning home from Florida. While we mourn the loss of any of our neighbors, and it happens every week, this loss is far reaching because of the public lives these two lived and the large number of people that they influenced in a positive way.

One of those people is my wife, Judy, who worked the last 16 years of her dental assisting career with Dr. Chris Givens in White House. Judy was off every other Friday because Dr. Cohen and his staff would use their office space to provided orthodontic services to the White House community. He also met patients in a satellite office in Gallatin. Like so many others, Judy was stricken by the bad news. She shared stories of acts of kindness by the Cohens including gifts on special occasions to Dr. Givens’ staff as if they were his employees. She also attended several functions hosted by the Cohens where she met Nancy and greatly enjoyed their company.

On their recent visits, Judy mentioned that Dr. Cohen spoke often about how much he was enjoying his grandsons, Steven and Jonah.

Dr. Cohen specialized in giving people, especially teenagers, beautiful smiles through his orthodontist practice. He operated Smile Construction in Hendersonville for 20 years. Nancy was the smiling face behind the counter of Perkins Drugs in Gallatin for many years, dispensing warmth and advice along with the medicine.

The Smile Construction Facebook page is covered with pictures of Dr. Cohen and his young patients, many smiling to show off their new braces and others smiling to show off the final results. Either way, Dr. Cohen was bragging on how great each of them looked, even with the braces.

My friendship with Weyman Terry was way too short. News of his death on Sunday caught all of us by surprise. I’m told he was in great spirits at church Sunday morning and went home to watch the game. Before dark had settled in, the 87-year-old proprietor of Terry’s Market had left us.

Just a few months ago I heard the news that the extension of Albert Gallatin Boulevard was going to run through the middle of the market that had served the community for at least 60 years. Being a lover of country stores, I was a bit sad to hear the news.

I had been in the market a few times over the years but I had never officially met Mr. Terry. I decided his story needed to be told before progress marked the end of a local landmark.

On my first visit, I walked up to the man behind the counter, introduced myself and proceeded with a sales pitch on doing a feature story on him and the store. The 65-year-old Ronnie Terry told me I was talking to the wrong guy. I’d have to ask “Daddy” about it.

That’s when I saw a blur of orange moving around behind the meat counter. Wearing his trademark “UT” orange polo pullover, Mr. Terry was busy waiting on a customer. I moved to the counter just in time to hear him ask, “And what else?” The question seemed to remind the customer that he also needed a few smoked pork chops to take home.

I waited around until there were no customers in line and finally introduced myself and explained my reason for hanging around. He was pleasant but he wasn’t interested a bit in having a story written about him. I was a little surprised. Most every small business person would jump at the chance to generate some free publicity. Not Mr. Terry.

When I was younger I would smile when older people would say ‘the older you get, the faster time passes.’  It didn’t make sense to me. Old folks had 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week just like I had. Time couldn’t pass any faster for them than younger people.

However, with each birthday moving me a little closer to those ‘older people,’ I’m beginning to realize exactly what they meant. Time certainly seems to pass faster between each birthday now than when I was a kid, or even a young adult. I suppose it has something to do with how much we used to look forward to birthdays versus how much we now dread them.

Time drug by when I wanted desperately to be a teenager to officially shed my ‘little boy’ status and earn the right to hang with kids a little older than me. And the three years from 13, when I thought I was big enough to drive, to 16, when it was actually legal, took forever. I was anxious for landmark birthdays of 18 and 21 and time passed at normal rates through the big 3-0. I suppose it was the 40^th birthday when I began to wish they would slow down and time seemed to start picking up speed. Before I knew it, I was celebrating a half century of breathing with the clock spinning a little faster and my brain going to new places like ‘retirement’ or ‘never can retire.’

The theory of time passing faster for me now was proven once again this past weekend as I celebrated one-year in my “new job” as a newspaper editor. It doesn’t seem like a full year since this ride began but it has, and what an eventful year it’s been for me.

For 12 months I’ve been knee- deep in gathering the news of Sumner County; from tragedies to celebrations, from political squabbles and budget shortfalls to amazing stories of perseverance and victory.

By Kim Duke

What does being fit really mean? According to the dictionary it means to be in good physical condition or in good health. So we strive to lose weight, keep our cholesterol down, kick bad eating habits, and other things that will keep our body functioning the way it should. Is that really all there is to being fit?

The more I thought about this my heart was convicted.  Although having a healthy body is important there are still attributes that are needed to complete our goal of being fit for life. Having a sound mind and being free from the things that have bound us are just as important as the food that nourishes our bodies. Recently, I’ve been working one on one with others and trying to understand the cause of their weight issues. There was a common factor in each case. Hurt. Something in their lives had caused them pain and through that pain they lost themselves. Food became a replacement for joy and darkness and denial set in.

How do you escape that loneliness and find yourself again? You reach out to others. Support of others is the key to your success. Another common factor among these cases was each one of them found support and encouragement which then led them down a path of hope. They rediscovered their joy and found the peace that they had lost. Their physical goals are not yet met, but their dreams are alive again.

By Kim Duke

As the end of summer approached, I eagerly awaited that back to school feeling. Buying school supplies, ordering school uniforms…begin making plans without the kids. Did I say that? Okay I confess. I love the kids being out for summer but somehow it throws my schedule off track and I’m often left feeling very unproductive at the end of the day. As most of us Sumner County residents know, we got an extended break this year. I know it had to be done, but I needed my schedule back!

Finally, the long awaited day arrived. First day of school starts. Then I get the call. A friend needs a sitter. Not for one day. Not two. But four!  Yes, maybe I am able to work on a flexible schedule and don’t have to punch a time clock but I was really looking forward to my mother’s day off. So I did what every good friend would do. I said, “Sure, I’d love to help!”  The baby was only four months old so how hard could it be. As far as I could remember, all a baby does is eat and sleep. No problem. I’ve got this! Or did I?

A lot of people say that runners are a breed of their own. A local runner is proving that right by running 314 miles to Georgia. It’s important to set goals for ourselves but isn’t this taking it to the extreme? Not according to the Hendersonville Running Club.

Hendersonville Running Club has been gathering on Saturday mornings for at least the last seven years. Whether you are a beginner runner or a seasoned Boston Qualifier runner there is always a spot for you. The club was set up to promote running as a local fitness option and is helping others achieve their goals. What’s really great about this club is it’s free.

The motto of the club is “Build Friendships in Motion,” and that’s just what they are doing. Charlie Taylor, of Gallatin, is a member of the Hendersonville Running Club. Taylor is running the Last Annual Vol State Road Race. This is a 314 mile, 500km run across Tenn. ending in Castle Rock, Ga. Taylor has used his Facebook page to journal his miles with the public. There is an enormous amount of encouraging comments from people all around cheering him along the way. Pictures of blisters on his wall show that this was not an easy task but one that he has endured in spite of the pain.

Lightning bugs, sweaty kids, long days and the smell of fresh cut grass. These are the signs of summer to me! We’ve gone from being on schedules to carefree days and endless nights. Eating multiple desserts on a hot day may seem to be acceptable now, yet the rest of the year we wouldn’t dare indulge in these temptations.  With so much play how can we ensure we’re maintaining good eating habits?

With summer time being my favorite season I’m determined to show my family that healthy eating can be accomplished without having to sacrifice taste. Using the wonderful foods that nature has provided us with during this time of the year, we can create unlimited recipes that the entire family can enjoy and feel good about eating.  Fresh fruits and colorful vegetables can be exactly what are needed to make even the pickiest child eat their veggies.

Seeing how I love being so active I decided to start running. This was not something that came natural for me. It was something that I spontaneously decided to do since I was involved in other endurance activities. As soon as I started my new adventure there were 5k races advertised everywhere I looked. Having such a competitive spirit I knew I had to enter these races. After all, I wasn’t even a runner but my time was getting pretty good. Now that I was plugged into the running community I begin to hear so much about the Music City Half Marathon. That was it! I’m going to run the half marathon!

When Louisville guard Kevin Ware jumped in an attempt to block or alter a 3-point shot by Duke’s Tyler Thornton, he had no sense of what would happen.

Ware came down awkwardly on the floor without making any contact with Thornton, but there was a sickening sound as his leg snapped in two places right in front of Louisville’s bench.

Part of the tibia broke through the skin and was so gruesome, CBS officials decided not to keep showing the accident. They have now banned any other outlet from showing it.

How bad was it?

Louisville-based columnist Rick Bozich texted me, saying: “Worst I’ve ever seen in basketball. Several inches of bone were sticking out of his leg.’’

Bozich has seen as much basketball as anyone this side of Dick “Hoops’’ Weiss with the New York Daily News.

It was reminiscent of Joe Theismann’s injury, when his leg snapped after being hit by Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor during a 1985 Monday Night Football game. But that injury was caused by the hit Theisman sustained. Ware touched no one.

Theismann was watching the game Sunday at his Virginia home. He had a unpleasant flashback.

“My world came to a complete stop,’’ Theismann told USA Today. “It was just a horrible, horrible thing to see happen. I hate to see anybody have an injury that is anywhere near anything I went through.’’

Ware underwent two hours of surgery at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis to re-set the bone and prevent possible infection. Doctors inserted a steel rod in his tibia to aid in recovery.

Louisville Coach Rick Pitino said it was similar to the injury former Louisville running back Michael Bush sustained and noted that Bush is now playing in the NFL. Bush did have to sit out his senior year at UL, as well as his rookie year with the Raiders before he could return.

Like Theismann, Bush was watching the game on TV. Like everyone else, Bush was sickened by what he saw.

“Oohhh (crap). I just cried. I feel so bad. Flashback of myself. Anyone, if he needs anything please let me know,’’ Bush tweeted.

“I can’t even get myself together. I don’t even wanna watch the rest of this game.’’

So while there is hope that Ware’s basketball future will resume in time, there will be months of healing and rehab ahead.

Theismann never played again. There are no guarantees Ware will, although he has youth on his side.

It cast a morbid pall over Lucas Oil Stadium. From fans of both Duke and Louisville, to Pitino and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and their players, it caused everyone to pause and grieve for Ware.

Some Louisville players collapsed on the floor, sobbing with their hands covering their faces. Pitino wiped away tears, as did Krzyzewski.

During every timeout after the accident, the Louisville players chanted, “Bring Kevin Home.’’ They held themselves together long enough to secure the 85-63 win and punch their ticket to Atlanta.

Atlanta is Kevin Ware’s hometown. If he can travel, Ware will join Louisville at the Final Four. He played at Rockdale County High School and originally signed with Tennessee. But with the coaching change to Cuonzo Martin, Ware asked for, and was granted a release from the Vols. He then signed with Louisville.

Fate changed Ware’s life with no warning – a lesson for all.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

How long has it been since Middle Tennessee State’s men’s basketball team played in the NCAA Tournament?

So long that current Blue Raider Kerry Hammonds Jr.’s father was on the last MTSU team to make the tournament field.

So long ago that none of the current Blue Raiders players were even born.

So long ago the Blue Raiders have had three coaches since Bruce Stewart’s 1989 team upset Florida State in the tournament.

David Farrar couldn’t do it. Neither could Randy Wiel. It has taken current coach Kermit Davis 10 years to take them back to the Big Dance.

But tonight in Dayton, Ohio, the Blue Raiders take on Saint Mary’s of California in one of four play-in games to be played Tuesday and Wednesday. Both teams are vying for an 11 seed in the Midwest Regional. The winner will play 6-seed Memphis at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The at-large bid didn’t come without Raider Nation sweating it out. Having lost to Florida International in the Sun Belt Conference semi-finals, MTSU had to rely on its regular season credentials to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee. It’s always a risky proposition.

They posted a 28-5 record, including a 19-1 Sun Belt regular season championship. Their RPI rating is 29. Their strength of non-conference schedule is sixth.

The three non-conference games they lost were to Florida, Akron and Belmont. All three teams won their conference regular season championships and all three were road games for MTSU.

Also factored in their favor was the fact that no team has ever won 28 games and been excluded from the NCAA Tournament.

But without the automatic bid, they had to wait a week to learn their fate. The days grew longer. The palms were clammy.

Davis gave a tweet out to fellow college coaches whose teams seek publicity.

He told them the best way he knew to get national attention was to become a bubble team. Then you will be talked about for a solid week before Selection Sunday.

MTSU drew a tough first game against Saint Mary’s, a California school whose team is one of the top offensive teams in the country. They are guard oriented, which is always a plus in the postseason.

But MTSU is deep at every position. They play a lot of players and keep the defensive pressure turned up, not worried about incurring foul trouble.

And, if they should defeat Saint Mary’s, the Blue Raiders will find themselves playing Thursday against 6-seed Memphis, led by former All-State high school guard Joe Jackson. Not the shoeless one.

Unlike a lot of NCAA Tournaments, there doesn’t seem to be a dominant team, or teams, in this field.

While MTSU is one of eight teams playing in the First Four, it should take notice and use it as inspiration.

In 2011, Virginia Commonwealth and Coach Shaka Smart made it from the First Four to the Final Four. If Dayton was golden for VCU, why not MTSU? It’s been done before.

Davis talked before heading to the conference tournament about how his team went through the season with only one conference loss.

 “Our motto has been that we are re-creating our identity every day – day to day, practice to practice, week to week," Davis said.

“This is going to be hectic. It’s a quick turnaround, but it’s just as quick for Saint Mary’s."

    Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

It was a day of firsts at Daytona International Speedway.

It was the first time a female driver finished in the top 10 of the legendary Daytona 500.

It was the first time racing on the newly resurfaced 3.1-mile tri-oval track.

It was the first time racing 500 miles in NASCAR’s new Gen-6 car.

Was it a perfect race? Winner Jimmie Johnson thought so, but perfect races don’t exist, especially on superspeedways. This was no exception.

The drivers were anxious to race, but in the back of everyone’s mind was the horrific crash during Saturday night’s Nationwide race that sent nearly 30 fans to Halifax Hospital and other local emergency rooms.

The catch fence did its job. Barely. It did prevent even more parts and debris from going into the stands, but a tire and other dangerous objects were hurled over the fence and into the stands like missiles. One fan said it resembled a war zone.

Unless the drivers had been instructed to say nothing but good things about the new cars, most comments were positive. Like anything new, tweaking is standard procedure.

Racing two and three together at speeds as high as 200 miles per hour on the backstretch demands a driver’s undivided attention. They found out that when the cars are side-by-side, the air produces a negative drafting effect that needs to be addressed.

But since NASCAR had proclaimed the new cars to be the best thing since Barney Oldfield was racing his Lightning Benz up and down the packed sands of Daytona Beach, it was impossible to match expectations.

Was there hard racing as when the Hueytown gang of Allisons, Cale Yarbrough, David Pearson and Richard Petty were bringing the sport into the mainstream? No. Not a lot of swapping metal, no punches in the infield. 

They were reluctant to mix it up very much, and over the last 10 laps only Dale Earnhardt Jr. could gain significant ground to finish second.

Pole sitter Danica Patrick was content to ride along in third place in the faster upper portion of the track while those on the bottom part of the track found it difficult to pass each other and catch up to the field.

Patrick admitted she didn’t know what to do when those around her made their moves to improve. She basically froze and that comes from having never been in that position before. Inexperience is a frightful thing on the high banks of Daytona. She will get better in her Go Daddy car.

She led some laps earlier in the race, didn’t embarrass herself and didn’t cause mayhem on the track during the run for the checkered flag. She settled for eighth place, a solid day.

The race gave the experts something to work off of now. It will be a work in progress as they tinker with the aerodynamics, handling and horsepower. Next comes working out the kinks on shorter tracks, as they are two different animals.

But it was unanimous around the garage area that the new cars are so much better than the joke NASCAR called the cars of tomorrow, it’s not even funny.

It can’t help but make the racing better and that is what everyone desires.

It’s a start, a good start at that.

Wilson Post Sports Columnist Joe Biddle can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It may not have been the most flawless Super Bowl, but it was top tier in my book when it came to excitement and action, both on and off the football field.

Off the field, kudos to whoever made it happen for the Sandy Hook Elementary School students to sing just prior to kickoff. To see those young kids, full of life and innocence, makes you wonder how on earth anyone could ever shoot and kill some of their classmates.

I also enjoyed the National Anthem, performed by Alicia Keys. It wasn’t the way Francis Scott Key intended it to be sung, but hardly anyone sings it that way anymore. I think because they are singing it at the Super Bowl, they have to inject all these extraneous notes.

Beyonce was her bouncy, dancing machine self during halftime and far better than some of the retreads the NFL has trotted out there in the past.

It was unfortunate the Superdome experienced a blackout during the game. It covered approximately half the field and took 34 minutes to regain full power. Everyone seems to be passing the buck for how it happened. I heard a cluster of squirrels providing the power had a 30-minute break in its union contract.

Now to the game, which drew a preliminary 52.5 rating in the Nashville market. That means 596,761 local homes saw all or part of the game. That beat the overnight rating (48.1) from a selection of big cities. It was the most watched TV event in U.S. history.

Viewers saw the quarterback of the future in San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick. He is 6-4 with a powerful arm and an ability to run, which he did seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick threw for 302 yards, with one interception. Remarkable numbers, as this was only his 10^th NFL game as a starter.

To coincide with Kaepernick’s start, we perhaps saw the NFL offense of the future. That may be a stretch as the NFL is slow to change from a pocket passing offense. The 49ers read option offense requires a quarterback who can pass/run and make split second decisions.

I saw more imagination in the 49ers offense than I have seen from the Titans since they came to town. Locker may be an inch shorter and a little lighter on the scales than Kaepernick, but Locker has proven he can run. But that is another column for another day.

Kaepernick was not widely known going into the 2011 draft. He was the sixth quarterback taken that year and lasted until the fourth pick of the second round, one spot behind Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton. Locker was the No. 8 pick that season, the second quarterback taken behind No. 1 draft pick Cam Newton.

We also saw the value in the traditional NFL offense with Baltimore’s Joe Flacco. It was Flacco who earned MVP honors Sunday night. The fifth year pro plays with a steady hand and is Joe Unflappable.

He finished the season with a remarkable 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions in four playoff games.

It wasn’t a perfectly played game, but then Super Bowl games never are. The pressure is enormous.

Just when you thought the Ravens would run away with it, the 49ers made it a game. And what a game it was.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  

Call it karma. Call it right place, right time.

Could former Tennessee and recently inducted Hall of Fame football coach Phillip Fulmer return to the coaching stage?

He was in Johnson City last week, speaking at a Boys & Girls Club fundraiser.

Fulmer has been out of coaching since being let go by Tennessee in 2008. He never saw it as the end of his career, but the years have gone by and there have been no solid offers land on Fulmer’s desk.

“I’ve always said I would coach again if the right opportunity presented itself,’’ Fulmer told the Johnson City Press. “I would coach again, but it would have to be a real unique situation.’’

Unique? I’ve got that one covered, Coach.

Like Fulmer, East Tennessee State has been out of football. The then-president dropped the sport in 2003, citing financial reasons.

Things have changed at the state school. They have a new president in Dr. Brian Noland. He is said to be a high energy visionary and bringing back the football program is a priority for him.

Imagine if Noland stepped to a press conference podium and announced the school will reinstate the football program and the new coach will be Phillip Fulmer.

The initial response would be resounding. It would make national news and allow alumni and fans across the country to support it financially.

It would get Fulmer’s competitive juices flowing again. By not coaching since 2008, Fulmer knows just how much he misses the aspects of coaching that get in your blood. Once a football coach, always a football coach.

It’s not far from his present home in Maryville. He would be mentoring college athletes on a college campus. That’s a pretty effective way to stay young.

If Fulmer has the burning desire and passion it would take to resume coaching, recruiting, traveling, he would be the man for the job.

Fulmer is younger than 73-year-old Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, younger than 67-year-old South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. Their teams were 11-2 this season. South Carolina finished No. 8 in the final AP poll and Kansas State was No. 12.

When he was inducted into the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame recently, the 62-year-old Fulmer quipped: “I’m graciously accepting it, but I’m too dang young.’’

A return to coaching would be Fulmer’s Fountain of Youth. The Winchester native knows the state and was once regarded as one of the best recruiting head coaches in the game. He is still a high profile name in football.

East Tennessee State would be an attractive school for football recruits that don’t quite measure up to the BCS conference players.

Atlanta Falcons Coach Mike Smith played at ETSU, having been recruited out of Daytona Beach Father Lopez.

Johnson City has always been a Tennessee fan base and a suitcase school. The ETSU Dome has been renovated, but they need to build a new facility. It is an antiquated dome that really never caught on with fans.

“I’m really anxious to watch the progression of this. I was really sad when they dropped football. … I look forward to seeing if they are really serious about moving forward,’’ Fulmer said in the Johnson City Press article.

As an ETSU alumnus, I think it would be a win-win for both parties.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it