Why Vanderbilt football broadcasters Joe Fisher, John Gromos reunited in the radio booth

Joe Fisher and John Gromos, who called Vanderbilt football games on the radio for 17 seasons, reunited Friday night.

Fisher and Gromos, like a famous rock 'n' roll duo, were together again for one night only when they called the TSSAA Division II A playoff game Jackson Christian and host Nashville Christian School on WNSR 560-AM/95.9-FM.

Fisher returned to radio this season to handle play-by-play for WNSR's weekly game along with analyst Greg Pogue. Pogue, who also serves as the voice of the Tennessee State football team, couldn't do this week's WNSR game because TSU was out of town for a game at Texas Commerce-A&M.

Pogue asked Gromos, a former Vanderbilt quarterback, to replace him and rejoin Fisher in the booth. Gromos left the Commodores broadcast team in 2015 to concentrate on his private business.

"I never thought we'd get to be together again, but it's wonderful," Fisher said. "John is a tremendous friend of mine. Even after we stopped calling games together at Vanderbilt we remained close friends. In fact, we had breakfast together last Saturday."

Fisher and Gromos were actually next-door neighbors in Bellevue in 1998 when Fisher landed the play-by-play job at Vanderbilt. Gromos was already on the broadcast at the time. He had just completed his third season as the analyst with George Plaster, who was doing the play-by-play.

It was Fisher who let Gromos know they would be working together heading into the 1998 season.

"I remember walking in one day and John was out in his front yard and I said, 'I've taken this job and I think you and I are going to be working together,'" Fisher said. "He was like, 'What?' and I said, 'I think we're going to be doing this,' and it was great. He is one of my best friends and this has been a blessing and a lot of fun getting to work with him again."

The two first met when Fisher was a sports anchor for WMSV-4 and Gromos was Vanderbilt's starting quarterback as a sophomore in 1985.

Fisher said he wasn't worried about recreating the chemistry he and Gromos shared for nearly two decades and Gromos said he didn't think twice about teaming back up with his friend.

"I knew Greg and Joe had been doing these games during the regular season and then the playoffs obviously are just a whole other level and a lot of fun," Gromos said. "When Greg called and told me he had a conflict with TSU and was hoping that I might consider doing it, I didn't even need to think about it. I told him I absolutely would be honored and would love to be back in the booth with Joe."

Fisher and Gromos weren't the only two involved in the reunion. Nashville Christian School coach Jeff Brothers was a Vanderbilt defensive back from 1990-93 when Fisher was at WSMV-4.

Also, the statistician at Vanderbilt when Fisher and Gromos were there was Todd Berry and handled the stats Friday night.

It was the second reunion Pogue has pulled off in the last few weeks. Because of his connections at TSU, he played a key role in retired Tigers athletic director Teresa Phillips' return to Vanderbilt where she is serving as the radio analyst for the Commodores women's basketball games.

Brandt Snedeker donates funds for Nashville Christian School practice facility

Speaking of Nashville Christian School, PGA Tour player Brandt Snedeker and the Tennessee Golf Foundation donated $55,000 Wednesday to the Eagles' golf program for the building of a new on-campus practice facility that will be shared with the Tennessee School for the Blind.

Junior golf programs in the area will also be able to use the facility.

Snedeker said he wanted to provide access to golf young players wouldn't have otherwise.

Joey Logano rolling into Nashville for NASCAR Champions week

NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano will be in Nashville Nov. 29 for the NASCAR Champion’s week and awards banquet, which will be at the Music City Convention Center.

This marks the third year the event will be in Nashville.

Logano is a two-time NASCAR Cup champion. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford also won in 2018.

He will be joined later in the week by the other drivers who made the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs along with rookie of the year Austin Cindric, Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs and Camping World Truck Series champion Zane Smith.

The awards show begins Dec. 1 with the Red Carpet arrivals at 3:30 p.m.

Four TSU players are finalists for the Black College Football Hall of Fame

Four of the 25 finalists for the Black College Football Hall of Fame class of 2023 are from Tennessee State.

They include Joe "747" Adams, Waymond Bryant, Jim Marsalis and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

The finalists were selected from a field of more than 200 nominees by an 11-member selection committee composed of sports writers, commentators, historians, former NFL general managers and football executives.

Adams, a quarterback from 1977-80, holds the TSU career record for touchdowns with 75.

Legendary TSU coach John Merritt called Adams "the best college quarterback in the country, bar none," in Adams' junior season in 1979. He ranks second on TSU's all-time career passing yards list with 8,653.

Bryant was a linebacker (1970-73) who made The Associated Press Little All-America first team in 1972. The Chicago Bears drafted Bryant in the first round in 1974 and groomed him to replace Dick Butkus.

Marsalis was a Sporting News All-American at TSU who set the interceptions record in the 1968 Blue-Gray game with three. He was selected in the first round of the 1969 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Rodgers-Cromartie was a cornerback from 2004-07 who made the All-Ohio Valley Conference first team three consecutive seasons and was an FCS All-American as a senior. He was selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

The inductees will be announced Dec. 8.

Bryce Lewis, Caroline Caudill named golfers of the year

Hendersonville’s Bryce Lewis was named the 2022 Tennessee Golf Association men’s player of the year and Clarksville’s Caroline Caudill was the women’s player of the year.

Lewis, a junior on the Tennessee Vols golf team, won the Sunnehanna Amateur, tied for fifth in the Southern Amateur, tied for fourth in the Northeast Amateur and advanced to the round of 32 in the U.S. Amateur.

Caudill, a graduate student on MTSU's golf team, was fourth in the Tennessee Amateur, ninth in the Ladies National Golf Association Amateur, a semifinalist in the Tennessee Match Play and a quarterfinalist in the Southern Amateur.

The boys junior player of the year was Blades Brown from Brentwood, the girls was Lynn Lim from Gallatin and the men’s senior was Tim Jackson from Williston and the women’s was Erica Chappell from Nashville.

Longtime AP photographer Mark Humphrey retiring

Mark Humphrey, who has spent 40 years as a sports photographer for The Associated Press in Nashville, will retire on Nov. 22.

Humphrey has shot the Tennessee Titans/Oilers every season since their arrival 26 years ago. His final game was last Sunday's against the Broncos. The Titans recognized Humphrey for his service before kickoff of the game at Nissan Stadium.

Humphrey's final sports assignment will be the Nashville Predators-Arizona Coyotes game Monday at Bridgestone Arena.

Master P's son Hercy Miller getting playing time at Louisville

Hercy Miller, the son of rap superstar Master P and a former TSU basketball player, is now at Louisville and played in each of the Cardinals' first two games.

Miller did not score in the first game, a 67-66 loss to Bellarmine, and then played 11 minutes and had three points, one assist, one steal and one turnover in a 73-72 loss to Wright State.

Miller is a walk-on. In his one season at TSU he played in six games before suffering a season-ending injury. He averaged 10.2 minutes and scored a total of 12 points.

Austin Peay's Bill Herndon, Johnny Miller die

Two individuals who were associated with Austin Peay athletics – former Voice of the Governors Bill Herndon and former athletics director Johnny Miller - died on Monday. Herndon was 76 and Miller was 90.

Herndon was a high school basketball star at Clarksville who helped lead the Wildcats to the 1964 state tournament. He started working on the Austin Peay football and basketball broadcasts in the 1970s before taking over the full-time play-by-play duties for three different stints – 1982-87, 1991-93 and 1996-99.

Herndon was the first president of the Governors Club and in 2016 received the OVC Media Lifetime Achievement Award.

Miller was an Austin Peay alumnus who served as the athletics director from 1978-84. He also served as the Governors golf coach.

Miller left Austin Peay to become director of Clarksville-Montgomery County schools.

Earlier in his career Miller was a coach at Clarksville (1964-71) and assistant director of the TSSAA (1972-78). He was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame in 1999.

Miller also was a high school official for 18 years and an NCAA official for several years, earning recognition as one of the top 25 basketball officials in OVC history.

He spent the last 11 years of his career as headmaster at Clarksville Academy, which named its athletics addition the Miller Activities Center in his honor.

MTSU's Diane Turnham on NCAA track and field, cross country committee

MTSU deputy athletics director Diane Turnham will serve on the NCAA Division I men's and women's track and field and cross country committee.

The committee meets each summer to select championship sites while also deciding on qualifying procedures, officiating changes and technological advancements among several other pressing issues that come up.

"It's one of those things that's an honor, certainly," Turnham said. "But it's also giving back to our sports and the things that we love for our athletes to be a part of." Turnham has served on three others sports committees including women’s basketball, soccer and volleyball.

Her first assignment as a member of the committee is this weekend at the 2022 Division I cross country championships in Oklahoma City.

Belmont women's basketball receives Top 25 votes

The Belmont women's basketball team gave No. 6 Louisville some trouble before losing 75-70 last Sunday. It dropped the Bruins' record to 1-1, but they still received seven votes in the first poll of the regular season.

Belmont opened the season with a 56-54 win over Chattanooga. The Bruins lost Wednesday at MTSU 80-62.

Junior Destinee Wells, who scored 20 points in each of Belmont's first two games, was named the Missouri Valley Conference player of the week.

She went over 1,000 points for her career in the game against Louisville and was added to the John Wooden Award watch list Tuesday. Wells is one of only four mid-major players on the list comprised of 50 of the top players in the nation.

FCA basketball clinic coming in December

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes Basketball Skills Clinic for fifth-eighth graders is Dec. 19 at Shafer Middle School in Gallatin.

The 10 a.m.-noon clinic is for boys and girls and will focus on ball handling, shooting, basketball IQ and game situations.

The cost is $50. Sign up at nmtnfca.org/fca-sports-basketball#SkillsClinicForm.

Murfreesboro Central great Luther Allen dies at 69

Luther Allen, who helped lead Murfreesboro Central to the 1970 Class AAA state football championship, died on Nov. 15. He was 69 and in hospice care.

Allen was an offensive tackle who made The Tennessean All-Midstate first team and All-State second team. He earned a scholarship to Oklahoma State.

Allen helped Murfreesboro Central post a 12-0 record as a senior.

Music City Turkey Trot is on Thanksgiving

The Music City Turkey Trot 5K and One-Mile Waddle is Nov. 24 starting at 8 a.m. at Nissan Stadium in parking lot A.

The fee is $10. The course travels over the Gateway Bridge to The Gulch and back.

Early registration is available at Dick's Sporting Goods in Mt. Juliet on Nov. 22 and on Charlotte Pike on Nov. 23.

Tennessee Tech's Mr. Basketball is freshman of the week

Former Clay County basketball star Grant Strong, now a freshman at Tennessee Tech, was named the OVC freshman of the week after the first week of the season.

Strong, a 6-foot-6 guard, averaged 5.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds in games against Tennessee and Tennessee Wesleyan.

Strong was a two-time Class A TSSAA Mr. Basketball Award winner.

Sports on Nashville TV

The five highest-rated sports events locally for the week ending Nov. 13:

1. NFL: Titans-Broncos, 22.4

2. College football: Alabama-Ole Miss, 16.8

3. College football: Tennessee-Missouri, 13.4

4. NFL: Cowboys-Packers, 13.0

5. NFL: Chargers-49ers, 9.0

Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 senior programming directorEach rating point is equal to 11,685 TV homes in the Nashville market.

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

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football broadcasters Joe Fisher, John Gromos reunited