By TOMMY BRYAN
Prep football season is right here. Never to be one to throw a wet blanket on a roaring fire, I do have an issue or two I'd like to discuss.

First off, the high school season starts way too soon for my taste.

The reason is of course money, as in playoff dollars. The expanded postseason formula sends dang near every team with a .500 record on to the playoffs.

As it stands, no one really knows who is in and who is out until the final week of the season rolls around. Call me old fashioned, but I really liked having the top two teams from each region (or district) advance to the playoffs. While we're at it, let's cut the six public school divisions down to five again.

BY TOMMY BRYAN, sports editor
It's been a while since I've worked up a blog entry -- blame it on the heat, laziness, writer's block -- what ever.

Bobbie Kay and I took the kids on a week-long vacation to Orange Beach, AL. We had a great time, but I made an important discovery. Our boys (15 and 10) take up way too much space for a 1 BR, 1 BA condo. Next time, we're moving up to 2 BR, 2 BA if it kills me.

By TOMMY BRYAN
It is with mixed emotions I write about Sunday night's passing of Sister A.A. Stafford of Lebanon. I'm saddened because those of us who knew her will surely miss her, but  there's a certain amount of relief because she's not in pain anymore.

I'm quite sure Sister Stafford offered up more prayers, held more hands, and reached out to those in need more than any single person I've ever known.

* Congratulations to all 28 Wilson County teachers who have been named "Teacher of the Year" at their respective buildings and are finalists for the county-wide Teacher of the Year Award. The banquet is set Friday night, April 15 at Cumberland's Baird Chapel.

Lebanon High baseball coach Tracy Slone is a finalist for his work at MAP Academy. Former Lebanon High girls basketball coach Barbara Hallums is the Lebanon High finalist and Ken Fountain, former Watertown High boys basketball coach and longtime local sports historian, is representing the Wilson County Vocational Center.

*Hats off to Sally Geis Smart, winner of the women's division in Saturday's third annual Roar Run to benefit the PE programs / equipment at Byars Dowdy Elementary.

Sally, who reportedly hasn't trained in quite a while, is a mother of four and the wife of local pastor Matt Smart. She ran a 24:33.

And by the way, Sally is considered by many as the greatest female distance runner in the history of Baylor University. She was inducted into the Baylor Sports Hall of Fame back in 2008 and still holds a record or two in Waco.