More Than a Game
October 2, 2026
When I am rooting for my favorite team, depending on what sport I am attending or watching at the time, I have a huge desire to see the score be in favor of the team that I am passionate about at the time.
Opinion
303 articles
Guys talking football with Russell Bush and Eric Swenson podcast
October 1, 2026
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Hunker Down With Kes: When Laughter Abounded On Every Side
September 29, 2026
We laughed a lot growing up. I’m not sure why. Some days weren’t so easy. Dad always had us doing something. Mostly in the yard. Or cutting firewood. Or staking out tomatoes. I think he planted those mimosa trees just so we’d have something to chop down years later.
Letter to the Editor: Get in the Game!
September 29, 2026
Too many people are sitting on the sidelines of their own communities, watching life happen as if it is a sport for which they didn’t sign up. Sometimes we shrug and say “not my circus, not my monkey”. Apathy is weakening our communities & getting involved matters more than ever.
Editor's Sidelines: Who Said You Can Never Go Home Again
September 28, 2026
Thomas Wolfe wrote, “You can never go home again.” That wasn’t true Friday afternoon. With the diligent work of the McKenzie High Alumni Association, homecoming has become a big deal. I roamed around the reunion area Friday evening before the game, and something rose in me. It was a sense of comfort. Like I was among friends.
Beating Around the Bush: Time to Celebrate or Not
September 26, 2026
I have always been a firm believer that when something great happens, it's okay to celebrate, and each of us has our way of doing that. I remember standing on the sidelines in Chattanooga last December when the clock ticked zero and secured the Huntingdon Mustangs their second…
The Wit and Wisdom of David Johnson: My Grace-filled Christmas
September 22, 2026
December 2010. I felt lost and unsure which way to turn. For the first time since I was fourteen years old, I didn’t have a job. Up until then I hadn’t realized what a significant role working played into my self-identity.
Beating Around the Bush: It’s Classified
September 22, 2026
The new numbers that reclassify high school football teams across the state of Tennessee were released last week, and I believe the TSSAA has been reading my column. A couple of years back, I wrote a column that was titled, “Is the TSSAA killing the Huntingdon-McKenzie rivalry?”
Hunker Down with Kes: Talk About A Great Way to Kill Time
September 22, 2026
People often ask how I got into the clock business. Well, it is a way too-long-story to even begin to tell. And I have never, one time, ever, in my whole life considered it a business. A love story, maybe. But there is nothing commercial about it.
Hunker Down with Kes: News Not As Good As Doc Proclaimed
September 15, 2026
Here is a story that tickles me, and saddens me a bit at the same time. If you are a mature reader, you may relate to it more than you care to admit… It started with a bad hip. Mine, of course. I spent the summer recuperating from replacement surgery. Thankfully, it all went well. I am doing great and walking around pain free. My three-month checkup was this past week.
Beating Around the Bush: Indoor Practice
September 15, 2026
One of the greatest things to happen at Huntingdon High School over the last several years is the growing number of sports student-athletes can compete in. With the growing number of sports also comes issues that are unavoidable.
Hunker Down with Kes: Come Watch the Parade with Me
September 8, 2026
For some, it might be the long-gone City Café. Or the Polar Bar. Or Freemen’s Menswear. Or maybe you remember buying some chocolate-covered peanuts at the Ben Franklin 5 & 10 Cent Store. Or a spiral notebook for going back to school from the Golden Rule. Or shopping for a Christmas toy in the basement of J. A. Abernathy’s Hardware…
Hunker Down with Kes: ‘Hello Again’ Was All She Said…
September 1, 2026
But she would say it each week with the most genuine smile I have ever witnessed. I couldn’t think of anything to say. She was a rising country music star. I was just hanging around backstage because Mr. Bud Wendell, the manager of the world-famous Grand Ole Opry, had taken a liking to me.
The Wit and Wisdom of David Johnson: The Ultimate Gamechanger
September 1, 2026
Before the world was breathed into existence, Holy Spirit, Christ, and Father contemplated the plan for mankind. At the forefront of their discussion was the means of redemption.
Hunker Down with Kes: Those Operators Had Everybody’s Number
August 25, 2026
People look at me like I’m kinda weird when they learn that I don’t own a cell phone. Most just roll their eyes in disbelief. Some think I am kidding. A few try to explain the absolute necessity of having a cell phone. Some want to know how I order food. One asked, “Who do you talk to?”
The Wit and Wisdom of David Johnson: Any Way You Measure it Camping is an Adventure
August 25, 2026
I could probably write a book solely devoted to my camping adventures and the crazy, wonderful, amazing, unexpected things that happened. I’d grown up camping with my family, but it was something brand-new for my wife. However, she became a devotee even when our two daughters were babies. Tents. Tents that leaked. That’s how we started out. Sleeping bags on the ground. Camping with no electricity, a bathhouse lit by a skylight, and cold showers.
The Wit and Wisdom of David Johnson: They Call Him 'Rambo'
August 18, 2026
His check has been signed by the Lewis County School District in Tennessee for forty years, but he works for the kids.
Hunker Down With Kes: Our Minds Need Bigger Yoga Pants
August 18, 2026
I had to write a report in Miss Belle Alexander’s history class in the third grade. I asked Dad for some direction. He deadpanned, “Son, don’t tell them everything you know in the first paragraph.”
The Wit and Wisdom of David Johnson: The Preacher’s Wife
August 11, 2026
I had a conversation with a church leader who was telling me about the new preacher their church had hired. His comments about it revealed much regarding his expectations of a preacher’s wife.
Hunker Down with Kes: Talk About Truly Hunkering Down
August 11, 2026
I remember August 14, 1965, very well. The problem was, I hadn’t prepared a lick for it. I clearly didn’t understand the significance of the entire situation until I got out of the car…and watched Mom drive away.
