MIKE ORGAN

Ric Flair, Lawrence Taylor, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Jerry Lawler, others coming to Music City collectibles show

Mike Organ
Nashville Tennessean

On their way back from the "Field of Dreams" sports memorabilia show in Iowa, Judi Katz and her husband, David Glaskin, came up with a dream of their own.

The Franklin residents decided the Middle Tennessee area needed a show similar to the one they had attended, which included a reunion of the "Field of Dreams" cast along with several major league players.

"We said a show like that in our area would be great," Katz said. "Lets get it done."

They hosted their first Music City Sports Card Collectibles and Autograph Show in 2019 at The Factory in Franklin when they brought in Earl Campbell, Pete Rose, Denny McClain, Ted Simmons and Bobby Hull.

Plans to expand the show in 2020 didn't happen because of COVID-19. But it will be back bigger and better Oct. 1-3 at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park.

Former pro football, wrestling, baseball and basketball stars scheduled to be at the show include Ric Flair, Rose, McClain, Lawrence Taylor, Johnny Bench, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Bob Lilly, Randy White, Wade Boggs, Andre Dawson, Doc Gooden, Spud Webb, Tony Perez, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Koko B. Ware, "Captain Marvel" actor Jason Bostick, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart.

"When you bring in a name like Ric Flair in a very big wrestling area, that just soared. That just went off like a cannon," Katz said. "People obviously love Johnny Bench and Pete Rose again. We're bringing in Lawrence Taylor because we needed a phenomenal football name. We've got bigger names up our sleeves for our next show, but I think this lineup is going to rock it."

Lawler and Steamboat will conduct question-and-answer sessions.

Admission is $10. Each star will charge individual prices for autographs. 

Photos, bats, baseballs, footballs and basketballs will be on sale to have autographed.

About 100 vendors will be on hand buying and selling memorabilia.

Show times are 3-7 p.m. Oct. 1, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 2 and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 3. For tickets or more information, visit musiccitycollectiblesshow.com.

Nashville ranked 25th for smart sports fans

Nashville is among the top 25 cities in America for smart sports fans, according to a ranking by US Bets.

The Music City was 25th among the 46 cities in the ranking.

New York was No. 1 followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix.

US Bets analyzed more than 1,500 sports-related Google search questions in every major sports city across the country to come up with the ranking.

The only other city in Tennessee on the list was Memphis at No. 19.

Tickets on sale for UT-Memphis basketball game at Bridgestone Arena

Tickets for the Dec. 18 men’s basketball game between Tennessee and Memphis at Bridgestone Arena are now on sale at Ticketmaster.com.

The teams have met twice in the last four seasons, with Tennessee winning on the road in 2018 and Memphis winning in Knoxville in 2019.

This will be the third neutral-site game played in the series, which dates to 1969.

“We’re excited to see another great Tennessee turnout,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “Every time the Vols play in Bridgestone Arena, Tennessee fans make their presence felt in a big way. With the SEC Tournament moving to Tampa this season, this game allows us to continue our annual appearance on Broadway. We love Nashville, and we know Nashville loves the Vols.”

Memphis, led by fourth-year coach Penny Hardaway, is coming off a season that saw the Tigers win the NIT championship and finish with a 20-8 overall record. Hardaway has signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for the second time in three years.

“We are looking forward to the matchup against Tennessee,” Hardaway said. “We hope to see a sea of blue at Bridgestone Arena as we take the court in front of our Nashville Tiger fans.”

Lady Vols in preseason Top 25

The Tennessee Lady Vols were ranked 19th in Lindy's Sports Preseason Top 25.

Tennessee finished the 2020-21 season at No. 13 in the AP poll and 16 in the USA TODAY Coaches poll after finishing third in the SEC and advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Connecticut is No. 1 in the poll, followed by South Carolina, Stanford, Maryland and Baylor. The only other SEC team is Kentucky at 14th.

Tennessee Titans season-opening TV ratings highest in six years

Local television ratings for the Tennessee Titans season-opening game against Arizona last Sunday were the highest in six years.

The game played at Nissan Stadium earned a 24.9 rating, according to WTVF-5 senior programming director Mark Binda.

That was the highest rating since the Titans' 2015 opener at Tampa Bay earned a 26.6 rating.

Sunday's broadcast on WTVF-5 was 32% higher than the 2020 opener against Denver, which was played on a Monday and earned a 19.1 rating.

It means 277,780 Nashville households watched the Titans lose to Arizona, 38-13.

The average rating for the Titans' season openers over the last five years is 21.6.

Lipscomb soccer is highest-ranked team in Tennessee

The Lipscomb men's soccer team is ranked 22st in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25.

The Bisons (4-0-3) moved up from No. 23 after tying East Tennessee State 3-3 and Belmont 1-1. 

Georgetown is first, followed by Clemson, Washington, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Lipscomb went 6-5-2 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the ASUN Conference Tournament.

Belmont inducts 2021 hall of fame class

Belmont inducted its 2021 Athletic Hall of Fame class, which was revealed in July, on Thursday  in the Maddox Grand Atrium of Curb Event Center.

The class featured Jay Ayres (2008, soccer), Ian Clark (2013, basketball), Christy Csorna (2004, track and field, cross country), Kerron Johnson (2013, basketball), Cat Mundy (2009, volleyball) and Derek Wiley (2009, baseball). Each was unanimously selected by the school's athletic hall of fame committee.

Casey Alexander vs. Kermit Davis featured at BCAT clinic

Belmont coach Casey Alexander and Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis will share the podium at the Basketball Coaches of Tennessee Clinic.

Belmont men's basketball coach Casey Alexander and former MTSU coach Kermit Davis, now at Ole Miss, will be among the speakers at the Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee Clinic Oct. 1-2 at Franklin High.

Alexander and Davis will lead a session called Kermit vs. Casey where one will present an offense on the floor and the other will counter with a defense.

Other speakers include Belmont women's coach Bart Brooks, former NBA and college coach Tim Floyd, LA Clippers officials Kevin Eastman and Dave Severns and Vance Walberg, inventor of the dribble-drive offense

Four college teams — Alabama-Huntsville, UT-Martin, Union and Lee — will have practice sessions during the clinic.

To register or for more information click on bcathoops.com.

Goodpasture's Lynn Dearing claims 750th volleyball win

Goodpasture Christian volleyball coach Lynn Dearing won the 750th game of her career recently.

In 2020, Dearing led the Cougars to their first state championship since 2016.

Dearing's career record is now 750-216.

Glencliff's state champion baseball team plans 50-year reunion

Glencliff's 1970 baseball state championship team will have its 50-year reunion at the school on Oct. 2. The baseball championship on June 4, 1970, was the first for a Nashville high school in 21 years (North won it in 1949).

The Colts, under coach Len Anderson, defeated Memphis Christian Brothers 3-1 in the championship. 

Pitcher Gilbert Holt was the most valuable player of the state tournament. Some of Glencliff's other top players included Ron Redding, Danny Neal, Buddy Harston, Alex Wray and Tony Barnes.

Cumberland coach Jim Seckel qualifies for 13th Boston Marathon

Jim Seckel

Cumberland cross country coach Jim Seckel practices what he preaches. Seckel recently qualified for the Boston Marathon for the 13th consecutive time.

The 2021 Boston Marathon is Oct. 11.

Seckel, a former Franklin Road Academy coach, has been a competitive runner since 1980. He has completed 35 marathons.

The Boston Marathon was moved this year from its original spring date to the fall because of COVID-19.

Wade Mangrum, Jackie Henderson win James H. Fyke Municipal Amateur 

Wade Mangrum from Brentwood won the men's division and Jackie Henderson from Nashville won the women's division in the 30th annual James H. Fyke Municipal Amateur Golf Tournament at McCabe Golf Course.

Mangrum won the three-day tournament with a 19-over 233. 

Shane Matthews and Van Fletcher tied for second (20-over).

Henderson, a Battle Ground Academy golfer who is only 14, became the youngest competitor to ever win the tournament. She shot 18-over.

Annie Paris, the 2020 champion, and Ashley Scism tied for second at 19-over.

Doug Harris won the senior title for the fifth time by shooting even par. Harris also won in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2019.

Butch Bowers (1-over) was second, and two-time champion Craig McElhaney (3-over) was third.

Celebration of life set for MTSU baseball coach Steve Peterson

A celebration of life for Middle Tennessee State hall of fame baseball coach Steve Peterson will take place during the program's alumni weekend Oct. 29-30. Peterson died March 11.

Peterson is MTSU's all-time winningest baseball coach with 791 victories during his 25-year career. The Blue Raiders won 11 conference regular-season championships, nine conference tournament titles and made nine NCAA regional appearances under Peterson.

Peterson was inducted into the MTSU Blue Raider Hall of Fame, American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Rutherford County Old Timers Baseball Hall of Fame, Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and Huntsville-Madison County (Alabama) Athletic Hall of Fame.

The celebration of life will include a special program at MTSU's Reece Smith Jr. Field Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. and a former players tailgate party Oct. 30 at 11 a.m.

Anyone interested in attending should email Tony Stinnett at Stinnett@BlueRaiders.com.

Performers announced for Scott Hamilton and Friends

Retired gold medalist figure skater Scott Hamilton speaks during an announcement  on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019 that the US Figure Championship is coming to Nashville's Bridgestone Arena in 2022. The announcement was held at the new Ford Ice Center in Bellevue .

Figure skating great and Nashville resident Scott Hamilton will host the fifth annual Scott Hamilton and Friends live from Bridgestone Arena on November 21 at 5 p.m.

This year’s event will be a tribute to Michael James Ryan, known professionally as Busbee, a Nashville songwriter, record producer, publisher, record label executive and multi-instrumentalist, who died in 2019 just months following his glioblastoma diagnosis.

The show will feature performances by Lady A, Cece Winans, For King & Country and Sixwire. Hamilton is expected to announce more performers in the coming weeks.

World, national and Olympic skating champions will take to the ice for choreographed group and solo performances including Katia Gordeeva, Ilia Kulik, Kaetlyn Osmond, Jefrey Buttle, Meagan Duhamel, Dylan Moscovitch, Jeremy Abbott, Gracie Gold, Kaitlyn Weaver, Andrew Poje, Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley and social media sensation Elladj Balde.

Tickets starting at $30.95 are available at ticketmaster.com or the Bridgestone Arena box office.

Whitaker takes over Nashville Christian soccer team

Nathan Whitaker, who spent the previous three years as Nashville Christian School's middle school and fifth/sixth-grade boys coach, is the school's new high school coach.

Whitaker also was an assistant on the high school team the previous three years.

Registration open for Overton golf scramble 

Registration is open for the annual Overton Baseball Booster Club Golf Scramble at Nashboro Village.

The tournament is Nov. 6. There will be a shotgun start at noon.

Fees are $100 for individuals and $400 for four-member teams.

There also will be putting and closest-to-the-pin contests.

To register or for more information, email johnovertonbaseball@gmail.com.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter. 

Sports on Nashville TV

The five highest-rated sports events locally for the week ending Sept. 12 in Nashville: