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| Coach Tom Jones |
It’s been a weird week in local sports as the Coronavirus
has shut down all sporting events for at least the next few weeks. I hope that
things will eventually settle back down, so that our local high schools can
wrap up their baseball and softball seasons. Spring football will follow soon
thereafter, that is, unless the Coronavirus messes that up too.
My hope is that it won’t also mess up the local Cal Ripken
baseball and softball seasons. This level of baseball and softball provides
kids (and parents) with a lot of great memories, and I’d hate to see all of
that get cancelled. Certainly, by the time all-stars roll around, the virus
will be long gone.
This type of situation is not unprecedented. In the 1950s,
football season and school was interrupted for a few weeks due to an influenza
outbreak. Off the top of my head, I believe this took place in 1957.
Like all things, the Coronavirus situation will eventually
wind down as long as everyone abides by the information being provided about
how to stop the disease. Once the virus has run its course, the local sports
scene will be able to return to normal.
Major League Baseball is looking at playing a shortened
season due to the Coronavirus, but they hope to get in as many games as
possible. One possibility is that Opening Day will be pushed back to mid-June,
but most sources agree that Opening Day will be held in mid-May. Regardless of
what happens, teams will need at least four more weeks of Spring Training to
get ready for the season.
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I was looking through my notes the other day and noticed
that today – March 26 – marks 56 years since football coach Tom Jones of Lee
High School in Montgomery was the guest speaker at Evergreen High School’s 1964
Athletic Booster Club’s annual “All Sports Banquet” in the school’s lunchroom.
Jones was an interesting man. He played high school ball at
Tallassee and the University of Chattanooga before serving in the Navy during
World War II. After the war, he played football and baseball at Troy.
His first coaching job was at Hayneville High School, but
when Lee High School opened in Montgomery in 1955, Jones took a job as the head
football coach there. In his first 11 seasons at Lee High School, Jones went
92-13-5 overall and collected a number of state titles as determined by various
polls and newspapers. This was in the days before the start of our modern state
playoff system.
From there, Jones went on to Auburn, where he was coach of
the university’s freshman football team. He later became the head football
coach at Troy. From there, he went back to Lee High School in Montgomery, where
he coached two more seasons, and he also coached at least one season at Lowndes
Academy.
Overall, Jones posted a record of 151-46-14 as a high school
coach and was also induced into the AHSAA’s Hall of Fame in 1992. As best that
I can tell, Jones is still alive, and one is left to wonder what he thinks
about the condition of high school football today. It would also be interesting
to know if he remembers his trip to Evergreen way back in 1964.
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