The Last Saturday Morning 16 mm Film Run to Lexington

Ready for the trip to Lexington

For a second, I thought about taking US 68, smoking a cigar, and keeping the windows rolled up, just to recreate EXACTLY what it was like. 

Dickie Mays (old #65) in the middle of Trosper & his grandson, Avery

When I was growing up, Saturday mornings after a ballgame, we would drive to Royal Film Company in Lexington and pick up our 16 mm film from the night before. Those rides were always more fun after a victory. 

This morning was my last ever Saturday morning 16 mm film run to Lexington. I took a bunch of old 16 mm film to be digitized. After the process is completed, the plan is to create a private youtube channel and share it with the old players in those films. 

Lee Glasscock, old #84 (2022 & 1969)

Lee Glasscock was kind enough to bring those to me Wednesday at school. The film is from 1969 thru the early 70's at Boyle County HS. Mr. Mills gave the film to my Dad and Lee in 1990. They were at the 20 year reunion for the class of 1970. My Dad's first Boyle team was 1969 and Lee was a senior. 

While I was making the drive to Lexington, my good friend Chuck Smith called me. There aren't many guys that would understand the significance of what I was doing this morning, but Chuck is definitely one of the few that would get it. It was fun talking about the old days. Those games would go by fast and the games on film were short. They rarely threw the ball and spent much of the game clock in the huddle.  Alot of Chuck's Boyle videos are not real long either, but that is because his teams had a bunch of running clocks. Good grief they were good. 

Boyle lost one game in 1969. It was to Stanford HS. No one in black and gold wants to watch that one. We'll pass that one on to Mr. Patriot, Jonathan Smith. He loves Stanford and Lincoln County football, and has a long history with the programs in his hometown. 

I took the Parkway to Lexington, but I did drive back home on US 68. No cigar, but a bunch of great memories of the best Dad a guy could have. 

Mixed Emotions: Real, Part of Life, the Right Mindset

This past week I got to watch part of my first game at Mason County. We played at Bath County and it was the fall of 1996. In 30 years, I am not sure I ever had a team more excited to play a game than those guys were that evening. It was like they had finally figured out how to prepare and play the game of football and they could not wait to see what was going to happen.  They knew they were going to play well and they couldn't wait for kick off. It made an impression on me and was one of the best nights, ever.

As I watched that game this past week, I also remembered the other emotions of that night. My old Paris team was playing their first game that same night. I had been a Greyhound for eight years. I had an uneasy feeling about not being with them that night.  I had two strong emotions rolling at the same time.... excited to be a Royal and to watch those kids in blue, but really missing my Paris guys and thinking about them and how their first game would go. 

Mixed emotions are actually a big part of life. When we are younger parents, our life is chaotic, stressful and busy. But, for me, all three of my kids little & under the same roof... that was a great time that went by way too fast.  

I really wish I had a football team right now. But, the extra time with my family, especially with Trosper who only has a few weeks of HS left, I am thankful for that blessing. 

And, as much as I want a team to coach, NOW, would I give up anything from the past 30 years as a head football coach, or a lifetime of HS football going back to being a little kid with my Dad's teams.... ABSOLUTELY NOT. 

It meant the world to me that I got to be the head football coach in my hometown. I miss my kids and my coaches. But, I am also thankful that all of our work these past seven years left our program in great shape for a community, school and kids, I love.  I may not like my current circumstances, but I can sleep at night because I know the effort we poured into this program and how far Titan football came during that time.  To see the program now and where things are... absolutely wonderful. 

Some of my former players, coaches, and good friends are in awful tough leadership spots right now. Some of those spots are life and death.  Some of those leadership roles have taken a toll on them mentally, emotionally and physically. I hate it for them because I love them so much. But, the other side of the coin.... these guys are GREAT leaders and high character people! Is there anyone better than they are for these tough jobs and tall tasks?   No. I wish they didn't have to endure the trials and tough times. But, I also have to understand they are carrying out God's mission for their life. And, at the end of the day, there is no better place to be than right in the middle of who God has called you to be!

Good grief I miss my Dad. I can still get emotional missing him, often. But, you know what is much bigger than missing him... I had a GREAT Dad.  Everyday, he impacts my life, my character, who I am, how I treat others, and especially how I serve God. Often in the toughest times and toughest decisions, I can hear his voice and anticipate his thoughts and advice.  Would I rather have my Dad alive, but it not be John Buchanan.... ABSOLUTELY NOT. 

My Mom's mental illness was brutal. It took a huge toll on our family, especially my poor Dad. I won't lie to you, if I could take her mental illness away and it had never happened, I would do that. But, one day I was meeting with a player who was telling me about the mental illness of one of his parents. He told me, "there is no way you will understand what I am talking about or can relate to this." I told him, "What you are describing to me, on a scale of one to ten is about a 3 or 4. My Mom was a 9 and a 1/2!"  His jaw hit the floor.  The relief in his face was incredible. He had finally met someone who had walked in his shoes. From that time on, he had someone to talk to who understood his life and all the hurt, pain & dysfunction that goes with mental illness. 

Being happy is good. Joy is better. You can be happy with mixed emotions, often. You can experience joy and gratitude, all of the time, with mixed emotions. We don't always choose our circumstances. But, we certainly choose our mindset. 

I was wearing orange & black in September of 1989, teaching history at Paris HS and making the daily walk to Garrard Park for football practice.... where were you?   I mean...  you do know that song, don't you? 

If you want to get an idea of what a Roger Gruneisen Thursday post-practice talk looked like.. basically an old rock and roll guy being who he is.... watch this video:  

Mixed Emotions: Rolling Stones, Billboard Top 40 September 1989

Working for Roger was pretty cool. Like having Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger as your Boss. 

Mixed Emotions are a very real part of life.... just ask the Rolling Stones...      😎 

Cold Weather and Early Mornings.... Why I love them

In the good old days, we were tough! If you don't believe me, just ask an old guy. 

How tough we really were, or we were not, we could debate that all day. And, the three-a-day practices that served us so well in getting ready for the season, those are no longer permissible.  They took careful planning, an ocean of Gatorade,  and we never did them for more than two days in a row( Wednesday & Thursday, one practice on Friday; Monday & Tuesday the next week were three-a-day... after that, we were one practice a day). Our guys were acclimated and ready to roll when that first Friday night or Saturday night under the lights in August took place. 

But, a couple things that will never change... cold is cold and early morning is early morning. Both are GREAT opportunities to help our kids get tougher. Anytime our guys can learn not to allow the circumstances to determine their effort and performance, we help them.  Anytime they can give their best effort for their teammates when they don't feel like doing so, they grow as young men and teammates. The team gets stronger. It is tough to have a great team without having great teammates. 

One spring practice day, the temperature was in the high 30's. Before we got started, I asked our guys, "How many young ladies do you think are out in the sun today?"  They looked at me like I was crazy and said, "None!" I told them, "Exactly! We are doing spring practice when it is cold!  When the weather gets better, and the young ladies are out and about, the other schools will be doing spring football, but you can hang out with the girls!"  They liked that thought. We had a good laugh and went on to have a great day of football and getting better. 

On a very practical note, before school practice became the best time to have a productive day the longer I coached.  Before school, sharing the facility was not an issue.  Most of the time, other sports practice after school. And, most faculty meetings are after school. In the 21st century, people are busier and busier. But, if you start practice at 5:55 am, there is a good chance that most people have nothing else on their schedule... other than possibly sleep.  The only negative of early morning practices is that kids have to find transportation to practice. But, that is also an opportunity for team building. Our kids and families step in to help each other get to practice on those early mornings. The huge positive in regards to transportation is that the kids can ride the bus home after school.

In the 21st century, we can still help our guys be tougher. We may need to be more creative. And, some of the methods used in the past were not good and need to be left behind.  But, yes, we can still help our guys get tougher and be successful. 

Cold weather and early mornings can be a coach's best friend. Besides, EVERYBODY plays football in warm weather. The BEST teams play when it's cold!

We got us a ballclub... the annual trip to Highlands

Visiting with Coach Mueller before a July 7 on 7

Every July before workouts would begin, I would be concerned.... will everyone show up, work hard, do what they are suppose to do, etc?  The days between July 4 and July 10 could be a little stressful. As I have been told before, I think too much. 

When I was at Mason County, we really benefitted from doing 7 on 7 with the Highland's Blue Birds, coached by Dale Mueller.  Dale was an elite football coach and the Blue Birds are one of the finest football programs in the nation.  Fort Thomas was only about an hour from Maysville. In fact, during my time at Mason County,  Coach Mueller, his staff, and their program were good resources. I could visit a spring practice or workout and always benefitted from those experiences.  

To stay out of the heat on those 7 on 7 days, we had to get up there pretty early on a July morning. We always wanted to make that trip the first Thursday after the dead period. 

We would take around 25 guys. When we would get there, they would have about 60, or more. One time, Dale caught me off guard.... he wanted to split our squads. We would have offense on one end and defense on the other. Now, keep in mind, to compete with the Birds, it was going to take all we had just to keep seven fresh guys out there out of our 25! They could run bodies off and on that field like nobody else and they could all play.  I acted like it was no big deal, but wasn't sure how in the world we could hang with them for two hours with the limited bodies we had. Still, I was smart enough to know that we were getting more out of the experience than they were, and if that is what is was going to take for us to get this workout, that's what we're going to do. 

Well, we split our squad, and had about 12 guys on each end. We would move guys back and forth between offense and defense so they got both sides of the ball. It seemed like every guy in a white helmet could run, and they had an endless supply. We did that for two hours, non stop. Our guys worked their tails off and hung in there. It was doggone tough but they battled. And, we got a ton of reps and good work. It was always one of the most productive days of the summer. 

After 2 hours of chasing the Blue Birds all over both ends of the field, we would let our guys get a drink. Then, we lined them up to run our conditioning. We called them Royals. Most of the guys (Danville & Highlands) familiar with the conditioning we did, called them jingle-jangles. Now, most of the time, we dramatically abbreviated the number we would run that day. Our legs were shot. But, we start them,  just to see how our guys would react.  Our guys would line up and be ready to go.  No complaining. Tired, but no bad body language.

The best part of those July 7 on 7s... when  they were over and we were headed back to Maysville, I knew we had us a football team.  I knew our guys were tough, would compete and they would work. By the second Friday in July, I felt good about our football team. 

Seems like everyday, something comes up to remind me of an old team, player, game, memory, coach, etc. I guess when HS football has been such a big part of your entire life, it's gonna be that way.  A July morning in Fort Thomas with the Blue Birds and Royals... those were great days. 

Don't Mess with the Purple Haze Defense & Perry Thomas: Paris vs. Campbellsville, 1993

Coach Perry Thomas & I.  2005 All Stars, KY - 41, TN - 27
Papa Johns Stadium-Louisville, KY
Photo by theguru, BluegrassPreps

September, 1993, the Campbellsville HS Eagles coached by Perry Thomas, were ranked #1 in KY Class A. Good grief those guys were good. 

We (the Paris Greyhounds) were also undefeated and ranked in the top ten of Class A.  We were playing at Campbellsville and were excited about the challenge. Their head coach, Perry Thomas, was a good friend and still is today. We had become friends through Chuck Smith because he had been on Chuck's Allen County- Scottsville staff in 1987. They both went to Campbellsville HS in 1988.

1993 Defensive Prep Notes: Campbellsville HS

We did not get off to a good start. We had not charged our headsets. Strike 1. During pregame, I hollered at a coach, "throw me a ball."  He throws me an old kicking ball. I throw it back, "throw me a game ball!"  He throws it back at me and says, "We forgot the game balls. This is all we got."  Strike 2.

The game gets started. This was a good football team. We were battling, but they could move the ball and were tough to stop. Perry is especially a GREAT defensive coach.  We struggled to move the ball all night. And, we had some cats that could play. Good grief, the Purple Haze defense was tough!

Then, we have a fan get ejected. To get the full effect, he is escorted across the game field. This is a great night only getting better. My best guess.... he is mad at me. Not the refs. Usually when my teams have struggled over the past 30 years, I'm the one everybody is mad at. Goes with the job. 

Finally in the 4th quarter, down three TD's, we are moving the ball and about to score.  But, Marcus Anderson (#32) intercepts the ball in the endzone and takes it to the house for a pick six. One of my best players, incredibly frustrated, stands at midfield and flies the double bird at the Campbellsville crowd.... they have a packed house and are going crazy on the play. My defensive coordinator, Phil Burbage, grabs him and pulls him off the field. He tells the player, "You will pay for that on Monday!" The player says, "Yeah, I know. But, it was worth it."

1993 Paris Greyhound Football Staff

Over the years when my teams would struggle and I would talk to my Dad, he would say to me, more than once, "You don't want to hear this, but you need to get your a$$ kicked." He was usually right. Our 93 Greyhounds did not lose another game until Beechwood beat us in a war, round 2 of the playoffs, on their way to a state championship. The Purple Haze had given us a wake up call that we really didn't want, but we sure did need. They showed us what a great Class A football team looked like in 1993 and that we had a bunch of work to do. 

And, looking at those notes... we did not stop #40 (Timmy Mays) or #32. 

Perry Thomas is still a good friend and excellent football coach. We got to coach together in the KY-TN All Star game in 2005 when we beat Tennessee by two TD's. 

Trosper loves Jimi Hendrix. How can you not. But, dang.... every time I hear Purple Haze, I think about that night in Campbellsville and that great defense.  Still, if this Friday night, I could visit with Perry Thomas before the game, and get ready to have the Hounds and Eagles put the ball on the tee and play some football, I sure would take it. And, I bet you it would be a great football game. 

Purple Haze(live) - Jimi Hendrix

Blanton Collier: Quarterback Reminders

 Here are Coach Blanton Collier's "Quarterback Reminders." 

Once again, coaching of the eyes and attention to detail are the overriding theme to his insights.

Film Breakdown: Blanton Collier... the Pioneer

Blanton Collier was famous for his ground breaking work in video analysis. Here is a window into the thoughts and work of a genius. Head Coach, Paul Brown assigned developing a film analysis to Coach Collier when they both coached the Cleveland Browns. 

Now with Hudl and the extensive video work at all levels of football, we take for granted that someone blazed the trail. In the modern era of football, when coaches evaluate video, the roots of that process and what they are seeking to understand and evaluate, go back to Blanton Collier.  

Kay Collier McLaughlin (Blanton Collier's daughter) was kind enough to share this with me a few weeks ago. Considering his NFL winning percentage (76 - 34 - 2; .691), World Championship with the Browns in 1964, innovative contributions to the game of football, and his legacy of how he treated everyone, Coach Collier is most certainly deserving of induction into The Pro Football Hall of Fame.