UofM1977

I think that siegel Park in Murfreesboro is a great venue. The boys tournament was held there. All in one complex. Great Stadium, too.

You know, we can go around and around the subject of packing the box, we can discuss till we're blue in the face, and opinions will not change. Potato - Potatoe, Tomato - Tomatoe! There are two issues here, the first one is that even though I do not think this is soccer, I do agree that this is a strategy, and if works for you, fine! I have no problem with this. I am sincere in my congratulations to Bearden for pulling it through. So this is not about Bearden and their style! This is about... The second (and my subject of extreme frustration) is the issue I have with the referees! (and am trying to take my own advice and think of a nice way to put this)... As with the "good judgment" that was made by not calling the foul a pk in the finals, the same "good jugement" was not afforded in the semi's. A call that should have been made, and was not, could have changed the outcome of the game, but we'll never know, will we? At half time, everyone present knew that this game was going to come down to who made the first mistake, and it was true. However, in anyone's wildest imagination, no one ever figured on the first mistake being a referee mistake! Again, I do not want to take anything away from Bearden; their style, their strategy, their good luck, nothing! They won. Period. End of Story. Congratulations!

GREAT reply... Thank You!

When you don't agree with a statement that is made, it is usually a good idea to sit back, take a deep breath and collect your thoughts prior to firing a reply that does nothing to contribute to the open discussion intended on this board. Had you done this prior to your reply you could have seen that there was more to the statements made. There's a big difference between being a "sore loser" and being totally frustrated! Had you also looked a little harder, it could have occured to you that maybe, just maybe the statements in question were not made about the Bearden-Collierville game! I agree with your statement about shifting the defensive play and packing the box "when you have the lead'. Most smart coaching will plan for this. However, when the whistle blows to start the game and you see a massive wave of 6-7 players dart for the box, and never get out... that's not soccer! Again... it's a strategy and it worked! Congratulations! My biggest frustration is, has and will always be the officiating! If you attended the games that lead to the championship, and you look at them from a truly objective point of view, you know what I'm talking about!

You're right... Stats can be run up by many factors, and usually do not tell the whole picture of a player. Probably the most important factor that is considered is how much a player contributed to the overall success of the team and how said player made everyone around her better. As far as forwards are concerned, you have to take into account that ususally your better, stroner and more consistent ones, towards the end of the season are "marked" heavily. This is where they need to shine; how are they contributing to continue the teams success? Does their team continue to produce goals despite this? Are you able to find the open team mates and help them, help the team. Midfielders, well... they usually have to control the pace of the game. Who was able to do this, game in, game out. Defenders. A tough one to judge, specially if their team has a strong midfield. Not many opportunities to shine, and when you do have this opportunity, what did you do with it. A great midfield makes for an awsome (in paper at least) defense. Keepers. Again, tough to measure unless you where challenged consistantly. Usually, the keeper that shines is the one with the weaker teams; they have an opportunity to shine more often than those with the better teams. Just because you have a low number of scores against you, does not mean that you necessarily have an awsome defense or an outstanding keeper. In my opinion, you have to look deep to find these shinning stars.

I beg the differ... If TSSAA took this subject seriously, we wouldn't be talking about this issue at this stage of the game; it would have been addressed a long time ago. What makes you think I'm a Hendersonville fan? What do you know that maybe I'm not aware of?

Congratulations to Coach Eric "PacMan" Turner! Your strategy of packing the box, kicking the long ball, most ofter out of bounds, and plowing through your opponents, worked! A little help from the refs didn't hurt you either. To bad your opponents stuck to playing soccer instead of playing your game. Hey, I'm not blaiming you! At least you had a strategy! Congratulations, once again! We'll see you next year!

I tried to send a message to TSSAA throught their website feedback and came back with an error... I guess they were just to busy responding to all the messages they receive that they system crashed on them! One of the semi's last Thursday was decided by a referee error, go figure! Just wanted to let TSSAA know that I was greatful for them sending their most qualified refs to this game, but I was out of luck... again!

Nice List, finally something worth commenting on!