The week JFK died, Tennessee football played on

President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. The University of Tennessee football team was in Lexington, Kentucky, for a practice. They were to play the Kentucky Wildcats the next day. John was a freshman in high school in Frankfort, Ky., and his band practice was interrupted by the news. His freshman basketball team's season opener was cancelled. Sam Venable's high-school colleague Sam describes the same thing at his school. Some high schools cancelled or postponed their basketball games.

It's been 59 years since the assassination of JFK. The Sixties were changing the world. Tennessee beat Kentucky 19-0 on Saturday. The game was postponed because of the NFL schedule. It was the biggest mistake of Commissioner Pete Rozelle's career. He had to reschedule the game for the next week. Doug Dickey was hired with the promise of bringing the T-formation offense to Tennessee.

Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel and currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.