Nickels always delivers… It doesn’t matter which hat is being worn, one can depend on Nick
Published 11:15 am Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Photo Contributed by C.Y. Peters Nick Nickels works the sideline while calling a game between Unaka and Hampton girls.
Photo Contributed by C.Y. Peters Nick Nickels awaits for a called timeout to come to an end during a contest he was refereeing in.
Photo Contributed by C.Y. Peters Nickels listens in as pre-game instructions are given before the tipoff of the Hampton and Unaka girls contest.
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To do a great job at your work, raising your family, playing sports and so on you have to love what you do.
You have to be happy when things are tough, keep smiling when times are bad, and make the best out of your life – you only get one chance.
On the softball field he was one of the best, a homerun king. He once told me he was going to put a new zip code on a ball, and he hit the jailhouse at Billy Bob Garrison Field.
Nick Nickels, better known as the Dr. Enuf man and formally the Pepsi man has been delivering drinks to East Tennessee for nearly 40 years.
He is one of the most competitive men you’ll ever meet whether it is playing softball, officiating a basketball or softball game, or just playing checkers.
Nickels became a TSSAA referee some 17 years ago and would have started earlier but enjoyed playing sports and did some traveling to games.
Nickels is one of the tallest referees and sometimes intimidating to the younger elementary players, but he loves the game. He played basketball all through school and now enjoys his time on the court.
For the past 21 years Nick has been a Dr. Enuf truck driver and delivered millions of drinks to our area.
He spent 17-years at Pepsi and has been in every store, restaurant, place of business at least once. Nickels may be the second best-known man in the area behind Jarfly.
Nick left high school with a scholarship offer to Liberty Baptist to play baseball, but he took a different path starting a family and entered the workforce and was blessed with his first child, Nikki.
Since that time she has giving Nick two awesome grandsons.
He would hold on to sports playing for Kenny’s A’s and then for Terry’s out of North Carolina.
“The best long ball hitter I ever played with. We probably played in every field from Piney Flats to Panama City Florida. There was never a dull moment with him on the team, number 25 was the real deal!” said Bart Lyon, friend, and official with Nick.
But just like Bart’s Boxing debut in Mountain City, Nick destroyed their concession stand.
Accidents happen and Nick had left the parking brake off during a delivery to Johnson County High School. It was 1985 and the Pepsi truck went rolling freely down the steep hill and ended up inside the newly constructed concession stand.
Nickels said they would never let him live that one down.
Nick also played for the Jonesborough TPS where he had some of the best times playing sports.
He attended David Crockett High School before attending Gateway Christian in Bristol. He begin his sports officiating when his playing time started slowing down.
He has worked games in seven counties including many district and regional tournament games.
Nick’s daughter, Holly, holds the school record in scoring at Gray Middle school where she played only two years of varsity ball. She attending Daniel Boone High School where when played all four years on the varsity and is listed in the top ten in scoring at Boone.
She continued her basketball career at King College. His son, Brady, is a 6-6, 340 lb Sophomore at Daniel Boone High School and his future in football looks very bright.
Nickels stated, “I do my best for the kids on the court. I like letting them play the game and try to call the fouls that need to be called. I hope I can keep calling games for a while until my legs tell me different.”
