hamlet7478

"NeonNippleNucker1"? You mean there's a "NeonNippleNucker2"?

Congratulations CoachMike. This is a good story. It is praiseworthy that young people at your high school seem to want to play for you. All the best this year.

Another reason to like Tim Howard. I'm happy for the Kingsbury program.

I think this is the first color posting I've seen on Coach T. Bean, you da man!

Congratulations to Brittany Hoffman for the well deserved award. There's also this about Coach of the Year Reid Estus of CAK: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/dec/0 ... estus-cak/ There was an article about the others who made the "Prep-Extra" team for the Knox News Sentinel circulation area, but it does not appear in the on-line version (at least for me).

Congratulations to all the schools and players. These are some impressive GPA's. The Hutchinson number is so high, I wonder if it isn't a misprint!!

Congratulations to Morgan. This is very prestigious. If I'm not mistaken,the State only had one player last year, Lucy Brient, also from Franklin High School. That's pretty good company.

Ok. You seem to have thought about it a lot. I didn't realize that the "true" West representation (i.e. Houston, C-ville, St.Agnes, B-crest, St. George, ECS, etc.) was as small as it was.

soccermom...it is kind of interesting. What's your theory?

This might be heresy or something, but I think the current split of small/big schools in the publics and small/big schools in the private schools is just about right. There still might be an issue with the private schools in the small school division because 3 of the 4 semi-finalists were, technically, private.

The participants are all excellent. Several excellent players are not included. There seem to be whole teams that are ommitted. Examples from the East: Farragut-- MC Suhocki, Lauren Ward, Morgan Brandon West - Caitlan Cody Notre Dame - Danielle Ciattabone (sp), Carey Lieper CAK - Brittany Hoffman, Ruth Edmunds, Mary Thompson Webb - Katie Proud

I'm with Bean, again. I'll lean on my Shakespearean name to pass along this thought: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves". I think Bean has hit the nail on the head. We parents and coaches scream at the other parents, we scream at the ref, we scream at the other team, we scream at the other parents and coaches. How many times have we heard and seen a hperventilating, hypertensive parent screaming, "Push / hit her back, Suzy!" "Don't let her push you around!" As for the slide tackles, maybe the scarcity of them reflects the generally high level of play at the State tournament? Maybe Bean's pleas have worked; and players, coaches, and ref's are not being so cavalier about the tactic? If so, Bean, thank you.

Yes, CAK must be considered soccer central in TN. What is it, 6 championships for the boys and 3 for the girls in this decade? Unbelievable accomplishment. Congratulations to all at CAK: coaches, parents, players (of course), and, I'd guess, the administration that supports the kids with coaches, fields, budget.

soccerref--I am struggling with your logic. To boil it down, are you saying basically saying that we should let the process work itself out? I'm with H20 dog on this one. The actions of the player from NM were exceptionally heinous. No one wants the game to go there. A very severe punishment is called for in this instance. All players and coaches must know that anything close to this activity will not be tolerated.

Daytime, ND is wonderful team, but they've not played anyone in the post season as talented as CAK. If they shut CAK out, it will be a tremendous accomplishment and their first State title will be very well earned against a very good attacking team.

I thought the Methodists were! Learn something every day.

Soccermom you're on the ball! You're our ace reporter at the scene! Thanks for keeping us informed.

Agreed on this being a very interesting matchup. Both teams play HARD! Hope there's a good center ref to keep the game fast but controlled. Good luck to both!

Leaving aside for a moment whether (or whose) comments are juvenile, the image of the elementary boys pouring glue on the ant mound is pretty funny, I have to admit.

Congratulations to Greeneville for making it to the State tourney. I'm sure G-ville will play hard and well, with a lot of pride, as they always do. It will be interesting to see how Page performs against Greeneville. Any team with a 21-1 record has to have some weapons and some coaching, so it seems like a good match. It also will be interesting to see if anyone can slow down CAK. CAK first eleven is just so skilled and athletic, as well as well coached.

Cleansheet--very gracious comment.

Here's an account from the OR web site that's as good as or better than the paper: "October 28, 2009 Oak Ridge, TN - After almost 107 minutes of soccer, it looked like Oak Ridge and Bearden were heading for penalty kicks to decide the Region 2-AAA semifinal match. But an opportunistic Kaelyn Angelo, pounced on a loose ball off a corner kick with a little over three minutes left in the final golden goal period and scored to give the Lady Wildcats the 3-2 win and a berth in the Sectionals. Oak Ridge and Bearden were expected to play in the region championship, however, West upset Bearden in the District 4-AAA finals forcing the early match between two of the top ranked teams in the state. The atmosphere for the game was electric. Oak Ridge students filled the parking lot with a tailgating party before the game and the stands were filled before kickoff with a raucous crowd. The game started off with as much drama as the pre-game hype. Just after kickoff, a Bearden forward struck defender Tania Ayala in the face, knocking her to the ground and delaying the game for several minutes. Bearden continued in that vain as they were whistled for several aggressive fouls. But the Lady Wildcats kept their cool and could not be baited into retaliation. Early in the half, it was clear that Oak Ridge was going to dominate the midfield while Bearden was looking to play long balls over the top of the defense. The Lady Wildcats controlled the flow of the game and stayed in the Bulldog end of the field for much of the first 40 minutes. A combination of some great keeping from the Bearden keeper and some bad luck kept the Lady Wildcats off the board. Oak Ridge couldn't capitalize on some great opportunities to score as they hit the cross bar three times, twice in the same sequence of shots. The half ended in a 0-0 tie. The second half started off with Oak Ridge again pressing the Bulldog defensive third. In the 55th minute, Merritt Monger's well struck shot off a pass from Angelo and trickled through the Bearden keeper's hands and Oak Ridge was on top 1-0. Bearden was energized after the goal and immediately pressed the Oak Ridge defense. The Lady Wildcats were whistled for a controversial foul and Bearden capitalized with a ripped shot on the ensuing free kick that whistled past the near post for the 1-1 tie. In the 63rd minute, Angelo gave Oak Ridge the 2-1 lead. After cutting the ball back, she got off a hard shot that slipped through the keeper's hands yet again. But Bearden was up to the task. The Bulldogs began to press the defense again and finally got the equalizer in the 73rd minute after a series of headed balls ended up being volleyed perfectly just under the crossbar from about 22 yards out. The game stayed tied through two 10 minute overtimes. Bearden pressed hard in the first overtime and got off five shots. But keeper Margo Quinn and the defense kept them out of the goal. The first five minute golden goal period ended with no score. With a little over three minutes remaining before going to PKs to decide the winner, Angelo scored her dramatic game winning goal, bringing the Oak Ridge students charging onto the field for the celebration. On Thursday, Oak Ridge faces West, 2-1 winners over Powell, at 7:00 for the Region 2-AAA championships. Both teams will advance on Saturday to the Sectional."

Words cannot express the sorrow one feels for the families and friends of the students from Chuckey-Doak. I'm terribly sorry for the losses.

Time?

Smeagle I like your screen name. Almost as good as NormanDale on the girls basketball board a couple of years ago.