SoccerItToMe

1. Even Einstein made typos... 2. We'll just have to agree to disagree on the "D coverage issue". Go re-read the KSent articles for the year. It's conservative to say the offensive coverage : D coverage ratio was 3:1 - maybe worse if you look at all the coverage and count the sentences... Go back and read about 10 articles and check it for yourself... 3. I'm not questioning the motives of the writers or their quality as human beings. I'm confident their swell folks and are trying hard. I'm just critical of their balance (or lack there of) in reporting... 4. The problem isn't limited to the newspapers. When I first joined the forum, one of the very first things I noticed was the stronger relative balance on the offensive aspects of the game.... It's just an American thing I guess. Americans focus on scoring. Witness basketball and football. I have the impression most Americans view games with low scoring (baseball, hockey, etc.) as somewhat boring... I often wonder how American's view of soccer would change if FIFA awarded 6 points for a goal... Anyway, I'm really not trying to pick an argument. Different perspectives is one of the things that makes the game so great....

1st Team (7 from Farragut, 6 from Bearden): Tom Webster (Bearden) Ryan Radcliffe (Bearden) Brandon Wyrick (Bearden) Aaron Schoenfeld (Bearden) Cesar Ruiz (Bearden) Bryan Walker - GK (Bearden) Ben Backstrom (Farragut) Jake Russell (Farragut) Nic Paolucci (Farragut) Robert Fisher (Farragut) Mitchell Ishamel (Farragut) Joseph Muth (Farragut) Adam Greene - GK (Farragut) 2nd Team (3 from Farragut, 2 from Bearden): Brendan Cook (Farragut) Jake Holt (Farragut) Tyler Swift (Farragut) Trevor Cook (Bearden) Patrick Harmony (Bearden) Other: Coach of Year: Turner (Bearden) MVP: Backstrom (Farragut) Midfielder of Year: Russell (Farragut) GK of Year: Walker (Bearden)

Tron / All.. I just ment that when you add Club + HS + College, I'm not aware of another keeper that "scores" as high as Greene. There may be, but I haven't heard of him... (Again, I'm not dissing anyone. There are lots of good keepers in the area...) About my "obsessed with offense" comment... what I meant was that the Farragut coaches seem to almost never give their defense the credit I think it deserved based on the games I saw. If you read the Sentinel and the Farragut Press, you would think Farragut played 2 v 11 all year...For instance, Turner ALWAYS touts his defense - especially Walker. But Culbreth usually says little about his defense - at least in the newspaper coverage I read this year. It's been all about two or three of his offensive players. Farragut had some really, really good offense this year, but it was their defense that saved the day on a few occassions - especially in the Districe 4AAA title game with Bearden. Greene had the best game in the goal that night I say from any keeper this season. The back line played exceptioally well also. Bearden would have beaten Farragut by 2-3 goals that night without the D. Didn't see any of that in print. Part of the problem is that the east Tennesee papers seem to have a bunch of illerates covering soccer. They don't seem to understand anything except offense. Unless the coach promotes his defense, it usually gets virtually no print coverage - unless it does something wrong, of course. Just my two cents...

Definitely Adam Greene from Farragut. I believe he has been the only keeper on his club team for 3-4 years. They've won the D1 state cup two years in a row, the Region III southern division premier league last year, and now with Farragut, the state HS championship. I don't think any other keeper in the state can match that record. Plus, I read that he just signed with Marshall University. Walker is great - no doubt about it, but Bearden always plays 4-5 defenders in front of him. Farragut usually played two or three in front of Greene this year - at least in the games I saw. Greene saw a LOT more pressure. He and his defenders probably would have gotten a lot more attention if the Farragut coaches weren't so obsessed with publicizing their offense...

News Sentinel is terrible. I don't think they have anyone who understands anything about the game. Too bad.

I'm wondering who's going on from this year's crop of east-Tn-area HS seniors to play D1? I know Farragut has Jack Russell (Univ. of Richmond), Adam Greene (Marshall Univ.), and Ben Backstrom (Western Kentucky).

Amazing Game!!!! I was at the game. I would have never believed 9 goals against the two best keepers in the state. Both keepers played extremely well - robbing the other side of probably 3 goals each. But the goals that were made were practically unstoppable - for a variety of reasons. Farragut goals by Russell, Backstrom, Fisher, Cook, and Moser (the last one). Congratulations to both teams for a fantastic "All Knoxville Final".