Griffin tops in Tenn.

Matt Griffin's work at UT-Martin in 2005 didn't go unnoticed, not by the folks at Murray State (his new employer), nor by sportswriters around Tennessee, apparently. The Tennessee Sports Writers Association named Griffin its 2005 Tennessee Football Coach of the Year during a banquet Wednesday night, according to a release from Murray State.

In his third year at Martin, Griffin took the Skyhawks to a 6-5 record overall, 4-4 in the OVC. That's a big deal for a team whose football history can only gently be described as dismal. It was the school's first winning season in 12 years.

While I heartily approve of the TSWA's selection of Griffin, I throw these questions out to the state's sportswriters as a challenge: How many of you had heard of Griffin before you got your ballots? How many wrote any stories about UT-Martin in 2005, or ever, for that matter? The good sports stories aren't all in Knoxville (or Memphis or Murfreesboro, for that matter). The award is great, but an even better way to reward great performances is to cover them while they're happening. That goes for sportswriters everywhere, by the way, not just those in the Volunteer State.

We'll now see if Griffin can pull another turnaround job at Murray. The Racers went 2-9 in 2005, 0-7 in OVC play, including a 49-20 season-ending loss to Griffin's Skyhawks. Kentucky sportwriters, are you paying attention?