Notes, quotes and a thought or two...
One of the most interesting sidelines to walk this upcoming football season will most likely be in Union.
Veteran coach Brad Breland returns for another season with the Yellowjackets, and he will have some new faces.
One of those will be Brad’s brother, Jeff, the former head coach at Lake and Newton County. The same Jeff Breland that went out with a win as head coach of the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star football game.
Joining the Yellowjackets is Jeff Breland’s long-time assistant, Mark Spence, who will be the defensive coordinator. Combined, these three coaches have well over 75 years of coaching experience and then some.
The younger Breland will need the help as he’s the head coach for the Mississippi-Alabama game this year, and while it’s not meant to be an extra burden, it adds up on a coach.
Here’s what I do know. The Yellowjackets return one of the best offensive lines in Class 2A, and Jeff will coach the line this season. Jeff’s best teams were really good up front and could run the football. His best teams were also really good on defense and had Spence calling the shots on that side of the ball.
So, don’t be surprised if you see some new wrinkles out of the Yellowjackets this season, and don’t be surprised if that offense has a familiar look about it.
Another win for the SEC
And just like that, the SEC added another national championship to its ever-growing list. This time, it was the Vanderbilt Commodores who overcame a game 1 loss to Michigan and won the College World Series for the second time in school history.
I don’t think coach Tim Corbin gets enough credit for what he’s done at Vandy. One of the announcers said it during the championship games that Vanderbilt was now a top 5 national program, and I can’t argue with that. While Mississippi State is certainly one of the nation’s top college baseball programs, the one thing they don’t have is that national title. And until they do, they can’t consider themselves an elite program.
But the Commodores have established themselves as an elite program and were the best team in college baseball all year. The Bulldogs were close but not quite on Vandy’s level.
Summer doldrums
Now that college baseball is over and we won’t see college football for another two months, sports on television is basically professional baseball, which I can only watch so much of.
But in the last few weeks, I have become more and more interested in the Women’s World Cup and the USA team. I have even watched several of the other matches and enjoyed them. This past Saturday, I watched two of the quarterfinals that didn’t include the U.S. team. It was either that or a Harry Potter marathon.
I’ll be excited that Wimbledon will start this week. I’ve become more and more of a tennis person here of late. As I’ve continued to lose weight — I’m down to 227 now and that’s more than 85 pounds since August of last year and no I’m not sick as the Blackburn brothers suggest — I’ve played more and more tennis as a form of exercise.
As a child growing up in rural Kemper County, we didn’t have cable television, only the three stations we got over the antenna and we didn’t always get those three. So, when Wimbledon came on in the summertime, I would watch it because there was nothing else to watch. I was enamored with the grass courts and those white outfits. I had a huge crush on Chris Everett and thought Boris Becker was the man.
So, before we get busy with high school football and back to school, I’ll enjoy some World Cup soccer and grass-court tennis. It’s either that or find a new series to stream on Netflix or Hulu, and I just don’t have two or three days to lose.
Robbie Robertson is sports editor for The Newton County Appeal.
