By Staff
Feb. 1, 2002
Frantically fumbling through the files on a Friday while wondering who is going to be the next head football coach of the Wildcats …
Meridian High School has begun the interview process in the search for a new football coach to replace Bill Sartin who resigned at the conclusion of the 2001 season.
While many names are being bandied about as candidates for the job, I prefer to just wait and see what happens.
It is reported that six men either have been, or will be interviewed. Those half-dozen were chosen from an original list of over 30.
It is likely that a decision will be made within two weeks. MHS athletic director Billy Burnham has assured me that as soon as a decision has been reached, the media will be notified.
No matter the win-loss record over the past few seasons, the Meridian job is still one of the premier high school football coaching jobs in the state. At least it should be.
The enrollment is high and the talent is there. The hardest thing, as it always has been, is keeping the athletes focused and getting them out of the halls and onto the field.
The first month of competition in the Participation Award has come to a close and the first totals will be published in The Meridian Star early next week.
For those who may have forgotten, The Meridian Star established the award to honor the area school who did the best job of communicating athletic results and news items to the Star, as well as providing rosters, schedules and other pertinent information.
In all, 45 schools are competing.
I won't give away which schools are leading, but I will note that three of the four junior colleges in the area are near the top.
It may become necessary to award both a junior college and a high school as tops when it comes to cooperation with the sports staff.
Several schools in particular Patrician Academy in Butler, Ala., and Sumter Academy in York, Ala. went from virtually no participation to becoming two of the most dependable when it comes to calling in results.
When the rankings are released, the schools will be ranked from No. 1 to No. 45 as to their participation through a rating system that was distributed to the athletic directors and heads of school of each of the area schools at the end of December and the beginning of January.
The point system is a complex one, but basically gives each school an average. Games which are staffed by The Meridian Star don't count for or against the standings.
The system is only used to rate the willingness of the schools to work with the newspaper in order to enhance the school's coverage.
Each month a total will be printed, as well as that previous month's total. That way not only can the overall standings be viewed to see how the teams rank, but the last month's progress can also be determined.
There will be some teams that will have a score of 40 points or better, while others will be as low as minus 20. That is certainly a wide range.
The interesting thing about the results, which I will finish tallying this weekend, is that the size of the school doesn't seem to matter. Some large schools do well, others do poorly. Likewise with the smaller schools.
Some of the numbers may be a little lopsided in the early going as well.
For instance, schools that have already turned in all of their spring schedules will have a huge lead in the early standings.
But as the season goes on, if the results of those games, matches and events, are not reported, then those numbers will drop.
The totals at the end of March and April should be very telling.
Remember, the top five schools (at the minimum) will be recognized for their efforts, with the top school being presented a plaque.
The contest runs through Dec. 31, 2002, with the next year's contest beginning the following day.
Keep looking for the totals. You may just be surprised.