Suwannee Sports
Back on the air
Live Oak —
corey.davis@gaflnews.com
LIVE OAK-Since 1958, fans have been tuning into 98.1 FM every Friday night to listen to Suwannee High football games. And for the the 52nd consecutive year, the Big 98 will once again serve local fans with coverage of football.
After various talks and discussions between the school, the school board and the station, 98.1 was given the rights to air the games again for the upcoming season.
However things could be changing at the conclusion of the upcoming season.
WQHL “will be airing the games again this season,” Hunter Abercrombie stated. “However, after next year at the end of the season we will sit down and work out what the best route for us and our broadcasts is.”
Talks have been concentrated on getting better clear and precise broadcasts something that continues to be a problem.
“We want to have clear accurate broadcasts, when they go on the road they don’t always have access to press boxes,” Abercrombie said. “We’re not going into the situation blind and get burned, we will think about all our options with all of the info and do what’s best for the fans.”
The Big 98 was elated to hold onto the rights for the upcoming season again.
“This is really big for us, its been a tradition over the years from WNER to WQHL to have the games,” General Manager Dean Blackwell said.
Blackwell confirmed that play-by-play announcer Andy Day, color commentator Tom Daniels and special assignment reporter Dale Allen will all be back with the commentary.
As far as addressing the broadcast’s problems Blackwell went to say, “we are not doing anything different, they will just have to get there earlier and find the best cell spots.”
Using only cell phones, the crew relies on precise cell coverage area and has no problem at Paul Langford Stadium. It’s when they step outside the area to cover games in towns like Fort White, Alachua, Madison that problems can arise.
“Out of town we have to use cell phones and the cell service is poor at times, its at the mercy of the service,” Blackwell said. “Even with getting a laptop and a USB you’re still fighting for quality service.”
Sometimes the broadcasters are able to get into press boxes, sometimes they aren’t -- and sometimes they can’t get a landline, either. For now fans will have to bear with them as they try to fix the problems.
“We have Verizon cell phones and sometimes we have marginal cell coverage in other towns, but we do the best we can,” Blackwell said.
Fans won’t have to wait much longer as Suwannee kicks off its season August 27 at home against Chiefland in the annual Kickoff Classic.
- Suwannee Sports
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Jamboree time for Dog Pound
The Suwannee Dog Pound travels to Starke Saturday to participate in the annual Putnam Athletic League Jamboree. Admission is $3 for adults and free for kids under 17-years old.
All four teams including the Tiny Mites, Mighty Mites, Jr. Pee Wee and Pee Wee, will play a 20 minute running clock quarter at Bradford County High School.
The Tiny Mites will meet the Gainesville Blue at 10:40 a.m., the Mighty Mites will meet host Bradford at 11:55 a.m., Jr. Pee Wee will meet Gainesville Orange at 2 p.m. and Pee Wee will meet Santa Fe at 5:20 p.m. -
Dress rehearsal
Since the end of May when Spring football practice ended both Suwannee and Branford have been extremely busy in the summer preparing for the fall.
The wait over, as both schools will participate in their annual Kickoff Classic tonight. One of the many things that kept the teams busy was competing in a 7-on-7 passing league, conditioning and attending camps.
Branford coach Bill Wiles said in addition to his team playing 7-on-7 they have been lifting weights and conditioning. -
A new beginning
LIVE OAK-Another school year has begun and one school is taking the phrase “a new beginning” to another level.
Before leaving her post as principal at Suwannee High, Dawn Lamb hired Willie Spears as the new football coach. Newly hired Athletic Director Hunter Abercrombie has been on the job for two months now, joining newly hired principal Ted Roush, and in that short period, Abercrombie has had to replace several coaches as well.
Abercrombie accepted the job over the summer after working at First Federal for the three previous years. -
Back-to-back champs
LIVE OAK-Despite winning the regular season title, there was one team that remained a constant thorn in Suwannee River Community Church’s side: First Baptist Church of Live Oak.
SRCC (16-2) held off Tabernacle Baptist (15-3) by one game to win the title, with First Baptist (14-4) two games behind.
The lone team to knock off SRCC was First Baptist, which did it twice, so when First Baptist and SRCC met in the Suwannee Parks and Recreation Men’s Church League tournament at First Federal Sportsplex, you know SRCC was looking for some revenge. -
Dog Pound kicks off
The Dog Pound met arch-rival Columbia Tigers in a running clock scrimmage Thursday at Paul Langford Stadium.
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85 years of history
LIVE OAK-Suwannee High football celebrates its 85th season this year, having started in 1926.
This reporter has been researching the history of all four area schools and has come across many interesting stories. I am still in need of help of schedules and scores from several years, the attached chart shows some of what I have found and still need. -
Suwannee football history
^-Need schedule/scores
1939: (10-1) ^
1960: (2-8) ^
1961: (6-4) ^
1962: (11-0) ^
1967: (10-1) ^
1970: (6-5)
1971: (7-4) -
Quarterback Club on the move
LIVE OAK-The Suwannee High Quarterback Club has been busy over the summer with various activities.
Among them was handing out scholarships to deserving student-athletes to go towards their college tuition.
Recent graduate Joe McMillan now at Cumberland, was the recipient of the Ken Baldwin award and a Wesley Silas $500 scholarship winner.
Silas was a very active as a volunteer with the Suwannee High football team before his accidental death on the job on March 1, 1994.
Minnie Silas, mother of Wesley Silas, donates $100 towards the scholarship, while the Quarterback Club chips in with $400. Initial funding for the scholarship came from a successful charity golf tournament. -
Babe Ruth wrapup
LIVE OAK- We watched them compete for district and state titles for weeks at the First Federal Sportsplex, but what happened when they left town?
In the span of a month, about 60 Babe Ruth baseball teams competed in the District 6 (June 10-13) and North Florida State tournaments (July 15-17), but after winning or losing in the tournaments they all went their separate ways. So what happened to the winners from each of those tournaments? -
Green, White game this weekend
After two weeks of intense practices, Suwannee High will have its annual Green and White football scrimmage game Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Paul Langford Stadium.
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Jamboree time for Dog Pound
