innocent bystander

You kind of make my points for me. My first thought is why wasn't a parent arrested? My second thought has to do with the whole innocent until proven guilty thing. You brought up Pac-Man. It is true he was never convicted of anything. However, it appears that all people had to do was ask a few questions, and it was clear what happened (most of the time). The other thing was there were like 2,000 instances. Back to this situation...I take from the fact that it hasn't been put out there that he won't play, that there might not be as much to this situation as it seems. It would seem like if the coach asked a few questions and the police or the investigator told him that this kid was knee deep in it, that the coach would have a relatively easy decision. The fact that there has been no decision, tells me that there could be more (or less) to this story than has been reported regarding this young man. All I have read implies that the kid is guilty and the coach is more interested in winning. If that is the case, that is one thing, but I have a hard time believing that.

I don't know how they qualify or get picked for it, but Smyrna is playing in it this year. From my limited contacts, apparantly they haven't been in it for a while. It will be a Smyrna - Riverdale rematch in the bowl game.

I don't know what you saw, but that was one of the Smyrna games I saw, and I didn't notice any bickering from Smyrna. Maybe frustration...they were inside the 10 twice and couldn't punch it in. I'm not sure why they didn't kick field goals, but the half-time score could have and should have been worse. The final was 40+ to 20 I believe with 2 touchdowns of those 20 coming on their back-ups. MBA had a very solid football team, and those kids will carry on the Big Red tradition more than adequately, but don't try to diminish what those kids from Smyrna have done. They announced the 8-0 record at the game on Friday, and they said that this was the first time in school history that the Freshmen team has gone undefeated in the regular season. The also announced that they would play in the Lion's Bowl. Any chance it would be against Tullahoma?

Just to speak about Middle TN for a minute... Smyrna has a really solid unit this year. They announced at the game Friday that they beat Blackman pretty good on Thursday. Somebody said they were currently undefeated and on a roll. They also announced that they play MBA's Freshmen next Thursday. I hope to make it up to that game (I'll have more details then). Should be a great one. You can always count on MBA to be a solid football team.

Smyrna's best Olineman is #65. If you were watching #69, you were watching the wrong guy. #69 is the Center, I believe.

nice way to support your school. Guys, Smyrna is not a bad football team, and Lebanon is not a great football team. From what I saw, Lebanon has a pretty good QB and a couple of good Dlinemen. Smyrna is just struggling on offense right now. I have a feeling they will improve as time goes on and the young QB's settle in and get more experience. Their D is pretty solid, and should continue to prop up the offense until they start clicking a little more. They just need to realize that they are 1-1 in region play, and will still be that way regardless of what happens on Thursday night.

Ultimately yes, it is up to the individual schools. However, if the TSSAA keeps raising their percentage that they "TAKE" from each ticket what are schools to do? I had no clue that this went on, but someone told me last year that each school has to pay the TSSAA a set fee, or dues, each year. They said 5A schools paid over $1500. Do the math on that guys. Then they take a percentage of the gates. Where does this money go? Schools are responsible for paying officials for each game (out of the gate money), so what do they do with that money? Just curious.

Sorry that I didn't see the other thread. This is just extremely abnormal for there to be 4 or 5 comments 48 hours before gametime. Usually there are 4-5 pages before the 1st game.

I looked on here half expecting to see 3 or 4 pages of trash talk, and I find NOTHING...no traditional Siegel trash talking, no 82cat pumping up the team. What is going on with this game? Any thoughts?

Great reply pattonboysdad. In my brief history of following Smyrna, kittypride's behavior is in no way indicative of the type of people that I know that follow Smyrna. The fact that he is a player's dad makes his behavior that much more reprehensible. Please accept my inadequate apology for his behavior. It sounds like he is probably jealous that his son is not getting the attention from colleges that he apparantly thinks he should be getting. Tell your son to keep up the good, hard work, and good things will continue to happen. That is all.

Not to sound antagonistic, but with all of these height and weights that are being put out there, it sounds like Blackman has a line-up some colleges can't get. 6'2"-6'4" linemen from 270-300 6'2" Linebackers from 195-220 running 4.6-4.7 (???) 6'5" Defensive Ends/Tight Ends that are 260 6'0" 210 Running Back It seems to me that these numbers might be a little inflated. I don't think it is any act of deceit or purposeful misleading, but I think it is natural to see people a little bigger and faster than they are in reality. For example, most linebackers at the NFL combine ran in the 4.6 range. I find it hard to believe an unheard of, senior linebacker in Middle Tennessee runs the same and has the same size frame as an NFL linebacker. I would ask each of you to go to a Titans mini-camp practice to see these men in person. Those are the "real" 6'3" 230 pound bodies. I want to make one thing clear. This is not a "TigerPride"-like rant ripping these kids. I am just saying that we tend to inflate certain characteristics. Another example...Smyrna played Brentwood Academy last year. Chris Jordan, their runningback, "is" 6'2" 205, and he is one of the most physically impressive kids I have EVER seen on a high school football field. I didn't see many bodies even close to that on any field last year...including the Smyrna-Blackman game. Montori Hughes from Siegel would be the other...he "is" 6'5" 260, and I tend to think he is a little bigger than the Brown kid is. Again, this is NOT a flame against the athletes at Blackman. They are very talented and athletic. I hope they can turn the corner soon. Good luck with the offseason, and I hope you guys have a great season (except when you play Smyrna). That is all.

I've only followed Smyrna for the last few years so I may not be as informed as the next guy about everything that goes on in this county. I don't have a dog in the race, but I have become a follower of Smyrna. One point I'd like to make is if your son "can play anywhere he pleases" how have I never heard his name before? What position does he play? What year is he? Here is my opinion. You need to tone it down and behave like the adult you say you are. You are putting Smyrna High School in a bad light, and more importantly you are putting your son in a bad light. Coming to a web site to post negative things about high school kids is an extremely immature hobby. Is this how you talk to kids when you "Scout" them? Personally, I don't think Blackman will be much better than .500 this year. However, to discount their kids and athletes is extremely naive. They are very athletic, and if the quarterback and coaching situation stabalizes, they may even surprise a few teams. And another thing....before you ever post again, you need to do some things. Grab your son's Grammar book and brush up on punctuation and sentence structure. Also, grab a dictionary and do some spell checking. That is all.

What is this....two pictures of a forward pass thrown at Riverdale? That's about how many they had all of last year, wasn't it? I guess it could have been pictures from where the defense was working on their pass coverage. That's probably what it was.

Not this mess again. For the thousandth (and final) time....The will be soph's next year, and they have "3" more years to play high school athletics. Quit spouting stuff you know nothing about.

Wow, that is something. I wonder if he had put in for that when he was putting in for the Smyrna Head Coach, or if he made some quick calls after he found out he didn't get the job? That is another position open at Smyrna...are there more?

I would highly doubt it until they offer financial aid. Then they would be with the big boys in DII instead of 1A. It might happen in the future, but not the near future. It might happen, but I would be very surprised if there were a great number of them.

Time Out! What a great and classy post (sarcasm intended). Just how in the world did he lie? Yeah, he said he was coming back, but if you have read the papers you would know that he had been denied twice. He probably thought that it was over with. So when he said he was coming back, he really thought he was. Then it seems like Mr. Throneberry got involved and "suggested" the board vote again. This was well after the point that he said he was staying. You cannot fault him for what he did. Saying that he used his family as an excuse is preposterous and shows just how ridiculous and uninformed you are as a person. First off he has two daughters that will be in high school and middle school. If you look at MTCS' web site, that adds up to close to $12,000 per year. That is not chump change, and I expect that faculty members receive all or most of the tuition discounted for their children to attend there. Most private schools have that kind of deal. This sickens me to see a parent of a player take cheap shots at a coach that got his son 2 Championship rings. Seems like you need to use your efforts getting behind the new coach and giving him your support instead of tearing down the previous coach that only gave everything in his power for Smyrna High School. Things change and time moves on, and you can sit and sulk or move forward. It seems pretty obvious which you have chosen. I just hope you haven't passed this venom to your son. Smyrna needs all its players AND parents to support the new coach and help keep the momentum rolling. I don't have a son at Smyrna or really any dog in the fight, it just made me sick to see a cheap shot like this taken at a class guy.

I seriously doubt that that is still the way it is. There is no way they can enforce that. Metro is hurting for good teachers as it is. They cannot make teachers live in the Metro zone.

It has nothing to do with having a simple mind, that is not a rule in 99% of school systems (It's probably 100, but I'll leave it open just in case). Please provide a link to a school system's web site that has this rule. I know several teachers that live in one county and teach in a neighboring county. It may be that way in other states, but in TN, it is not a rule. School systems cannot enforce where their teachers live OR where their teachers' children go to school. So maybe you should check your educational credentials. Back to the topic of the thread..... Good luck Coach Shad. He will be successful wherever he goes.

Told what team? This should be interesting. If you are going to hire a DC, why wouldn't you hire the DC from the staff that has gotten you 2 titles. I'm not saying this is a bad hire, because I do not know the parties involved, but it should make for some interesting banter if this is the case.

My bad....no ill will intended, just got in a hurry. They fall in line with everyone else in that they lost a significant part of their team. Wilson Central - Lost Majors and the QB (who was one of the grittiest players in the Region)...Who will fill those shoes. There now everyone is accounted for. Should be a great Region race with several teams having a shot. There is no more fighting for just the last spot or two, all 4 spots will be battled for. Each week in Region will be critical.

This region is completely wide open. I wouldn't know how to rank them. Initially my thought was this was Smyrna's year to climb over that hurdle, but with the coaching search who knows. This year is going to come down to who can replace what was lost from 07. In alphabetical order Blackman - The balleyhooed class are now Juniors. How will they step up? Replacing QB LaVergne - Lost just about as many athletes and lineman as anybody. Who will their QB throw to? Lebanon - Lost their QB - Will somebody step up? Oakland - Coaching change - How will they respond to the change? Depth and overall athleticism will be a question Riverdale - O-LINE...how will you replace 5 college bound linemen? Who will be the "go-to" back that Riverdale is known for Siegel - too many to list Smyrna - Everyone knows about Rod and Sonny leaving - who will step up at QB? Who is going to be the Head Coach? Who is going to be calling plays? Defensively they should be pretty solid, but can they score? You can make a case for every team NOT to be able to win the region this year, but somebody will win it. This will be a great year with so much balance and teams struggling to establish an identity. I can't wait.

If you are talking about the Smyrna job, I think somebody said interviews had already been done. It's hard to keep up with some of the threads getting shut down.

When are these to high school's scheduled to be open? I wonder how this will affect their classification (5A to 4A??) standings more so than what they will lose. If both schools affect Blackman, they might drop to 4A. I don't know how many kids will be diverted from Smyrna when SCHS opens, but they should still be 5A I would think. Maybe somebody in the know can shed more light on that.