First AP poll of the new year

[QSouth89]

Sad that no one from Knoxville voted.

If the staff of the Knoxville News Sentinel  won't cover the games, I'm sure they could care less about voting for teams.

[SweetScience]

If the staff of the Knoxville News Sentinel  won't cover the games, I'm sure they could care less about voting for teams.

Sadly, it's all about football this part of the state. Basketball gets zero coverage. I really dislike it.

[QSouth89]

Sadly, it's all about football this part of the state. Basketball gets zero coverage. I really dislike it.

You're not the only one that feels that way.  It's to the point that it's comical, then they will select a Prepxtra team and a KIL team and haven't seen one game.  They go by word of mouth.

[SweetScience]

You're not the only one that feels that way.  It's to the point that it's comical, then they will select a Prepxtra team and a KIL team and haven't seen one game.  They go by word of mouth.

I'd give anything if they did a game of the week like they do in football, but that's only a personal pipe dream I have. It will never happen. 

[osunut2]

I'd give anything if they did a game of the week like they do in football, but that's only a personal pipe dream I have. It will never happen. 

If they won't dedicate direct KNS resources to it, they need to get their freelance network more active for basketball, like they do for football. That would help, at the very least.

Edited January 10, 2017 by osunut2

[SweetScience]

They need to get their freelance network more active for basketball, like they do for football. That would help, at the very least.

Truth...He** I would be OK with a game of the month...Something..

[osunut2]

Truth...He** I would be OK with a game of the month...Something..

I'm sure HTV has an informed opinion on this, but I'm sure that KNS is in a difficult position financially. Back when they axed their entire Prepxtra online database, it made no sense at all. That was a surprisingly good resource for local football, basketball, baseball, and softball records, rosters, and stats, until it became evident that they weren't willing (or able) to dedicate the necessary resources to keep it up-to-date and accurate. Plus, Jesse Smithey was struggled to do it all on his own.

 

To me, if you are the KNS and you have $$$ issues (like every other newspaper in America), you have to utilize your freelance network. Even if you have to utilize a tool like Digital Scout/NFHS Network, there are ways for the KNS to give these prep teams some coverage.

[SweetScience]

I'm sure HTV has an informed opinion on this, but I'm sure that KNS is in a difficult position financially. Back when they axed their entire Prepxtra online database, it made no sense at all. That was a surprisingly good resource for local football, basketball, baseball, and softball records, rosters, and stats, until it became evident that they weren't willing (or able) to dedicate the necessary resources to keep it up-to-date and accurate. Plus, Jesse Smithey was struggled to do it all on his own.

 

To me, if you are the KNS and you have $$$ issues (like every other newspaper in America), you have to utilize your freelance network. Even if you have to utilize a tool like Digital Scout/NFHS Network, there are ways for the KNS to give these prep teams some coverage.

Couldn't agree more. The prepxtra page is back up and running now isn't it? I commend Smithey. He tries, at least.

[osunut2]

Couldn't agree more. The prepxtra page is back up and running now isn't it? I commend Smithey. He tries, at least.

Well the Prepxtra site is still running, but back in the late 2000s, he was maintaining a database on there as well. It contained detailed box scores/results, individual stats, etc. Area coaches were given login privileges to upload weekly statistics for all sports. It was pretty nice, as long as coaches and/or writers took the time to keep things updated. I think KNS killed that back in 2012. I've linked a couple of examples below, which have been stripped down (cached):

 

http://stats.prepxtra.com/football/boys/players/21436/2011-2012/

 

http://stats.prepxtra.com/basketball/boys/schedules/games/637/results/

[osunut2]

Couldn't agree more. The prepxtra page is back up and running now isn't it? I commend Smithey. He tries, at least.

If you've never seen the stuff Digital Scout/NFHS Network offers, check it out. My last year covering Powell (2013), I used Digital Scout to live stream the play by play of each game. It also offered a more user-friendly way of tracking stats. I've not used that since they merged with the NFHS Network, but my nephew uses it to cover high school basketball games in Columbus, Ohio, and he loves it.

[SweetScience]

Well the Prepxtra site is still running, but back in the late 2000s, he was maintaining a database on there as well. It contained detailed box scores/results, individual stats, etc. Area coaches were given login privileges to upload weekly statistics for all sports. It was pretty nice, as long as coaches and/or writers took the time to keep things updated. I think KNS killed that back in 2012. I've linked a couple of examples below, which have been stripped down (cached):

 

http://stats.prepxtra.com/football/boys/players/21436/2011-2012/

 

http://stats.prepxtra.com/basketball/boys/schedules/games/637/results/

That's cool stuff. Wish they still did that.

[12thmanGCA]

For some reason the "drop down menu" for voting in Class A did not include DuBois until after I voted and notified AP. Likely others were unable to vote them as well. I'm sure they'll break the Top 10 next week.

GCA schedule alone warrants a higher ranking than Harriman. GCA just beat Meigs 73-55 tonight - Arnold had 20+ again and Ledford had a bunch. Heard GCA hit 14 3s not verified though. Anyway WEB is a top 5 team no argument here