By TOM WOOD / September 24, 2020 To paraphrase Hank Williams Jr., “Are you ready for some SEC football?” Don’t know about you, but I sure am. That question has never been more appropriate than in 2020, a year that has been strange and sometimes strained by the deadly global pandemic Coronavirus which has affected every facet of life, including pro and college sports. The Southeastern Conference revamped Continue reading
In the Ledger: What would life in Knoxville be like without UT football because of the virus? By TOM WOOD / July 31, 2020 That’s the question put to me by editors of the Nashville Ledger, and in turn, I asked it of several Knoxville business people. I hope I have provided some answers and perspective in the July 31-August 6 edition of the Ledger. In talking with Continue reading
Nashville Superspeedway comes full circle with NASCAR Cup Series race in 2021 By TOM WOOD / July 2, 2020 Last year I wrote a “Secret City” story for the Nashville Ledger about the founding of Oak Ridge to develop the atomic bomb that ended World War II. The project was so top-secret that the East Tennessee city of 75,000 — fifth-largest in the state — didn’t appear on Continue reading
Transition from high school to college is full of unknowns as coronavirus danger rages By TOM WOOD / May 12, 2020 It has been more than four decades (and — wow — closer to five) since I graduated from high school in Atlanta, but I remember everything like it was yesterday. Cliche, I know, but it’s true. All the weeks leading up to that night, walking across the Continue reading
As coronavirus danger continues to worsen, we’re trying to inform, inspire and entertain By TOM WOOD / April 2, 2020 This isn’t a blog I expected to ever be writing, not by any stretch of the imagination. I am a journalist and I have a story appearing in the March 27-April 2 edition of the Nashville Ledger about the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on the construction Continue reading
In aftermath of Middle Tennessee tornadoes, media shows the horror and the humanity By TOM WOOD / March 4, 2020 This isn’t the blog I intended to write, but in a roundabout way, it does tie to the story I’ve written for the March 6-12 edition of the Nashville Ledger. But before I get to that, I want to talk about the tireless media coverage of the devastating Continue reading
You’re invited to Sisters in Crime Writing Seminar on Saturday on Brentwood Library By TOM WOOD / February 25, 2020 Happy Leap Year! If you haven’t already made plans to celebrate 2020’s extra day, then — Leapin’ Lizards — I hope you’ll join us at the Sisters in Crime writing seminar in Brentwood, TN. Jess Lourey is the featured panelist. But you can call her Jess … Here’s Continue reading
By TOM WOOD / February 14, 2020 Ten days ago, everything changed in the direction that Vanderbilt University’s athletics department was headed. On February 4, the school stunningly announced that Candice Storey Lee had been named interim vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletics director following the shocking resignation of Malcolm Turner after only one year on the job. It was a historic moment in time Continue reading
The business of sports booming in Nashville, but can we afford to keep the ball rolling? By TOM WOOD / January 23, 2020 When Nashville was crowned 2019’s king of the sports world last December by Sports Business Journal, my first thought was, “Great, but what do we do for an encore?” Some of the answers can be found this week in the Nashville Ledger, when I look at the Continue reading
By TOM WOOD / December 23, 2019 It sure has been a busy December between getting ready for Christmas, spending a weekend with fellow authors at Dickens of a Christmas and working on my next articles for the Nashville Ledger weekly newspapers, which will be posted online on the day after Christmas and in print in the Tennessee Ledger and Hamilton County Herald editions in East Tennessee and the Continue reading
