May 18, 2014

Former C-N hoops coach reprints “It Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek,” releases “It Still Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek”

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. It’s been 40 years since Dr. Chris Jones published “It Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek” – a chronicle of intercollegiate athletics at Carson-Newman from its humble beginnings in the early 1850s to 1974, when the book was first printed.

By Dave Gentry

Reprinted with permission from The Standard Banner

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. It's been 40 years since Dr. Chris Jones published "It Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek" – a chronicle of intercollegiate athletics at Carson-Newman from its humble beginnings in the early 1850s to 1974, when the book was first printed.

Recently, Jones released a hard-bound version of the original title and a new book, "It Still Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek," which picks up where he left off in the original title, and annals Carson-Newman Athletics from 1975 to 2012.

Jones says that the inspiration for his new book is to be a witness for the "greatest coach, the son of the almighty God, who gave me the inspiration to write this book to support Carson-Newman Athletics and the mystique of Mossy Creek. " He opens with a dedication to the athletes, coaches, athletic directors, and trainers, as well as military veterans, who "put their lives on the line so we could have the opportunity to play sports."

The biggest difference in his new title is that it chronicles every single team and athlete to play at Carson-Newman from 1975-2012. "This one (the original) has the greatest teams and the greatest athletes. You couldn't put everything from 1851 to 1974. But this one (It Still Gets Foggy) is only about 40 years. It has everything in it. I don't care if you were a manager, you're in here. It has every team and every player."

The original was a work of art for its time, an epic of sorts that archived over a century and a half of sporting activities at the college. Jones said his initial inspiration came in the early 1970s when he was completing his dissertation at the University of Georgia and then began working at Carson-Newman.

"I got a job at Carson-Newman College in 1970 or 71. And I told them I got a job to do. I don't want to do a dissertation on how many pushups a rat can do," he laughed. "I told them I want to do it on something historical."

It took four years from 1970-1974 to put together the original, 455 pages that has turned into a cult classic with locals and Mossy Creek Maniacs. Jones says the original paper-bound version has been reportedly sold for over $200 on Ebay, adding that it's a "relic."

The original was laid out and put together at The Standard Banner in Jefferson City, Tenn. during many late nights in which Jones enlisted the help of some of his Carson-Newman College physical education students.

"I believe there were about 200 of them," Jones said about the first printed copies. "We were selling them for 20-something dollars and they got gone quick. And people started saying they wanted the book."

A relic it was and still is in the new hardback version. He begins the new version with the same introduction from the original: "For four long years I researched the many events, teams and people that appear in this writing. It now feels like I was in the huddle when a young quarterback named "Frosty [Holt]" called the plays in the early twenties, or jumped for joy when 7'3" Slim Shoun knocked the ball from the opponent's goal in 1927. I saw Ira Dance slug that guy in the football game of 1921 to give us the name of "Fighting Parsons," was there during the construction of Butler-Blanc, and as we went undefeated in football in the fall of 1936. I feel like I was there when the school bus of 1937 slammed into that trailer killing two basketball players, and was proud when the V-12 guys came in to guard our athletic heritage during the war-stricken years of the middle forties."

The new hard-bound version differs only slightly in format to the original, and is a must-have for any Carson-Newman fan, history buff, and especially those Mossy Creek Maniacs.
The new title, "It Still Gets Foggy" gives back-story on the beginnings of the South Atlantic Conference, Ken Sparks' first coaching years in track and football, Bobby Wilson leading the baseball team to a slew of winning seasons, and Jones' "turnabout inaugural 1981-82 coaching season where he took the Eagle basketball team from a six-win season the previous year to 29 wins, finishing just one game short of a NAIA National Tournament berth.

It includes now Head Tennis Coach Jean Love's career reign in women's tennis, in which she lead the Lady Eagles to three consecutive VSAC Tournament wins, and a host of other C-N athletic highlights from the past 40 years.

The two books are printed by Mossy Creek Press, and Jones says he's already arranged with publisher David Tullock to reprint copies each homecoming with updated information of the year prior, such as Vickee Kazee-Hollifield's 1,000th career win as softball coach and the C-N Men's Soccer team's second place national finish last fall.

Two-hundred copies of each book, "It Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek," and "It Still Gets Foggy at Mossy Creek" were printed initially. Both have nearly 400 pages with hundreds of pictures. They are 9x12 hardback format.

Despite sporting a $59.95 retail value, Jones is selling them for $29.95 and $39.95 (It Still Gets Foggy) respectively plus $4.95 shipping. Or the two books can be purchased together for $59.95 plus $8.95 shipping.

Purchases can be made by calling David Russell Tullock of Mossy Creek Press at (423)-475-7308 or online atwww.parsonsporchbooks.squarespace.com/chris-jones<http://www.parsonsporchbooks.squarespace.com/chris-jones>.

Jones will donate a portion of the proceeds to Carson-Newman University.

Dr. Chris Jones earned his B.S. Degree from Carson-Newman College, where he was honored as the Eagles' first All-American in any sport in 1962. After graduation, he played professional basketball for the Cincinatti Royals in the NBA and the Kansas City Steers in the ABA. He received his Master's Degree from the University of Mississippi in 1965 and his Doctorate from the University of Georgia in 1972. He returned to Carson-Newman to coach the men's basketball team from 1981-1988 in which he led them to two 31-win seasons.
He is a member of the NAIA Sports Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
He lives in Jefferson City with his wife of more than 50 years, Diane.