The Locker Room October 18, 2006

Hello again Cougar Fans, and welcome back to week 8 of the season, and another week here at cougarfootball.net. For everyone who stayed until the end last week during Pulaski’s loss to Hidden Valley, I just want to say thank you. You all are the fans that know what this season is all about, and you never left the kids alone for a moment. I know the players and the coaches appreciated it greatly that you stuck by them. Lets keep it going.

In the Sunday edition of The Southwest Times, Cougar Head Coach Jack Turner made an announcement concerning the rest of the season and the future of Cougar Football.

“This football program, the kids, and the fans deserve better. As head coach, I’m supposed to provide better and I have not been able to do that. I want everyone to know that at the end of this final four game stretch, I will do the right thing.. All I ask is to let the kids play these last four games, then things will change. I promise everyone that I will do the very best that I can and I know the kids will do their best. It’s been tough. Things haven’t gone our way. I regret that and take the blame for it, and I will do the right thing.”

I have my own thoughts on the problems that Pulaski County has had over the past few years on the football field, but I know for a fact that Jack Turner has worked as hard as he can to make this program successful. No one can dispute that fact. There have been times that I have thought that the man lived in the field house during the season. He’s always the first one there, and he’s always the last one to leave. You can ask anyone who has played with or for him or coached with him, and they will tell you he is one of the most intense and goal oriented individuals that they have ever met. That’s the way he played, and that’s the way he has coached. Sometimes you just have too many things going against you. I would like to just go on the record right now and say that I truly appreciate the hard work and effort that Coach Turner has put into doing his job.

Cougar Fans, these are some of the darker days in the history of the Cougar Football program. Our team is 1 and 5 on the season. That one loss, with an almost certainty, has put to rest any hopes of Pulaski County making the playoffs this season or winning the River Ridge District Title. Our Head Coach is going to step aside at the end of the season. The final straw is that unless the Cougars can win out……which by the way would seem to be an almost impossible task…….they will be the first football team in 27 years to have a losing regular season record at Pulaski County High School. We have fans who are down on the kids and down on the coaches. We’re facing an uphill battle just to break even for the season,

It’s time to pull out all the stops.

Folks, this team and this program are about more than wins and losses. This team and this program is about more than who is the head coach. This team and this program were build on two simple words that have carried us through good times and bad, wins and losses, drama and tragedy, and just about anything else you might imagine a team and a community could go through. Fans from the far western parts of the state all the way to Richmond have heard Pulaski County Fans talk about it, and now more than ever we need to pull together and believe in it.

COUGAR PRIDE

Pulaski County has lost before, but we’ve left the field with the other team knowing they were in a fight. It’s time play football. To quote Dan Callahan “Lets fight ‘em till their eyes bleed!!!” People have begun to dismiss Pulaski County as a viable football threat. I think it’s time for that to change. We still believe in you guys, and we’re still there to support you. Win or lose, you are still our team, and win or lose we still believe in you guys.

Let’s see just how big of a crowd we can take to Bill Brown Stadium next Friday night as Pulaski County takes on Blacksburg. A win might not mean that much in the grand scheme of things for the Cougars, but boy a loss sure would put a kink in the Bruins plans.

The Blacksburg Bruins are currently 5 and 1 on the season, with their only loss coming at the hands of Single A Giles High School in their first game of the season in a double overtime thriller. Since then, they have defeated Graham, William Fleming, Northside, Lord Botetourt, and Cave Spring. The Bruins are one of only three unbeaten teams remaining in the River Ridge District, with Salem and Hidden Valley being the other two.

Lets get out there and make some noise folks!! We might not win district, but by golly we can work to make it harder for some other folks to do it too!!!

GO COUGARS!!! BEAT THE BRUINS!!

I BELIEVE!!!

COUGAR PRIDE!!!

Cougars by the Numbers
by Ardent Cougar

I am saddened by the article written by Dan Callahan in Sunday's Southwest Times.

If the interpretation is correct, Jack Turner will not be coaching next year.

Something is wrong here.

I have heard rumors, from some trusted sources, about things going on behind the scenes.

If this information is correct, it stinks.  Big time.

This is from the Southwest Times article:

“This football program, the kids, and the fans deserve better. As head coach, I’m supposed to provide better and I have not been able to do that. I want everyone to know that at the end of this final four game stretch, I will do the right thing.. All I ask is to let the kids play these last four games, then things will change. I promise everyone that I will do the very best that I can and I know the kids will do their best. It’s been tough. Things haven't gone our way. I regret that and take the blame for it, and I will do the right thing.”

“This football program, the kids, and the fans deserve better."

So do you, Jack Turner.