FootballDad

Now Irish you know the truth is that KCHS had to get turf because you were killing all the grass on the practice and playing fields with all of those "voluntary...no coaches allowed" practices Actually I would prefer to keep the grass field, just make sure it drained well and was well maintained by diverting all the other activities to other playing/practice fields. Ensworth probably has more money than CAK & KCHS combined, but they have a grass field. Of course the subsurface drainage system on it rivals Neyland Stadium. I'm sure we will get good use out of it and I think it looks good, but I still like playing on grass and getting a little muddy ever now and then.

You better smartin up and don't wear these fancy yuppie shoes on the recruiting trail....they leave distinctive tracks

I know..I know. Maybe we should start using words like "OOZR" (out of zone recruits).

There was an announcement at CAK today that the Warriors are getting field turf for the football field this season. When Grace, Maryville and Catholic got turf that really didn't bother us, but when Alcoa raised taxes to fund a new playing surface ...well, something had to be done. I heard that hamburgers and nanner puddin was going to have significant price increases this year...hum. Looks like the Warriors are positioning themselves well for the upcoming recruiting wars! Personally I preferred to play on grass if it was well maintained, but that seems to be old school now. Here's to turf burns, heat exhaustion, snorting crumb rubber, and more broken ankles....but I'm sure it will look pretty and impress the recruits we will have on campus this fall. I'm a bit disappointed that I won't get to witness the doctor and lawyer daddies painting the field each Wednesday or Thursday evening before home games anymore. It was fun to see them get their hands dirty and accidentally paint their expensive loafers

Heart felt sorrow for the McKamey's loss and for all of Will's closest friends. A tragic loss for them, but a loss for us all as well. We (society in general, and America specifically) laid a truly good one to rest today. He was and is loved by many. May we continue to celebrate his short, but sweet, time with us here on earth and use him as inspiration. Our loss is heaven's gain. Continue to uplift the McKamey's in your prayers.

The other thread was locked so I had to try this one. Congratulations to the Tornadoes on their championship! I was in Lake Tahoe with several of my rich CAK friends wondering what all the poor folks back home were doing . (just a joke for any of the newbies). I flew standby, stayed in a deeply discounted hotel room, and washed dishes for a fee lift ticket. But I did come across a couple California kids that looked like good prospects. I showed them a couple photos of some CAK girls that were on the Equestrian Team and they seemed very interested in a visit to our warm, comfy, W.Knoxville campus...... I actually was getting texts from my son, who was watching the game, and from a CPA relative. It sounded like a typical ground and pound Tornado/Rankin kind of game. I was surprised that Alcoa didn't throw the ball much or give it to Love any more than they did...but I guess the weather and #2 took care of that. I heard Wall drug a few guys down the field as well. Complete domination of the 3A classification still belongs to E.TN. I wish my warriors could have been more competitive with you guys this year, but maybe in another year or so we can challenge you again. Again, congrats.

Ha...thanks. Thats kind of you to say. Just for saying that I will throw in the book and DVD for FREE My son hung up the old ball gear after the championship game (surgery, crutches & rehab...but all turned out well) and now he terrorizes UT intramural flag football newbies (he forgets he is not playing tackle anymore...ha). Good luck to your Lions. I've followed you guys from afar for the past 3-4 years. Its good to see CPA get over the hump and get to make a trip to Cookeville. Soak it all up. Alcoa will be a difficult game but you can't worry about that, just go play and see what happens. We got our noses rubbed in it for a VERY LONG time before we finally beat them. They are the standard bearer for 3A for sure. I know many of the "goons" from Alcoa and they are good guys that like to have fun during football season. They are as good at what they do (poking the other team) as their team is on the field. Good luck, play hard, play fair, have pride, stick together, show class....and you will have no regrets

Very perplexing situation for me! GO PRIVATES. GO KNOX AREA E.TN TEAMS! RECRUITING VS. OPEN ZONE CHAMPIONS VS NEWBIES FRIENDS VS FAMILY...... I will stick with what I know...until someone, anyone, in 3A can step up and beat Alcoa/CAK I will say the collection of Gold Ball Trophies continues to grow in E.TN. However, I do expect a much different game with CPA than what we saw with Upperman. I believe the Tornados win, but CPA should keep it close for at least a half if not longer. Good luck to both teams for a competitive and injury free game. Safe travels to the GOONS.

I attended the game with my dad, who played for Upperman in 1960. He has been watching Alcoa vs CAK games for the past 5 years, so he was very familiar with the Tornadoes and knew what was in store for his alma mater. But with all the "Superman" hype he wanted to see York and the boys first hand. When we walked into the stadium we were impressed with the number of fans that the Bees had brought with them. (The gate would have been a nice bonus for Alcoa if it weren't for the TSSAA taking such a large cut). However, when we saw the teams warming up we knew Upperman was in trouble...lets just say they didn't pass the eye test for what it takes to compete with Alcoa. Once the game started we weren't surprised to see Alcoa score on the 3rd play, but we were surprised to see the Bees drive down the field and score to tie it up at 6-6.(Side note: the Tornadoes need to work on their kicking game). So we were thinking we might be wrong and that Upperman may be more competitive than we had assumed. Wrong ... it really never was a contest until the freshmen team was inserted for Alcoa in the 2nd half. And the Tornado freshman won that contest as well. 1. Congrats to Alcoa...looking strong for another championship, but don't take CPA too lightly. 2. This game, being a semi-final game, just shows once again the discrepancy in the balance of power in 3A football in TN and the flaws with the way the playoff brackets are set up. I believe CAK would have beaten Upperman handily, GP would have beaten Upperman, etc.... 3. Congrats to Upperman for a 13-1 record, not your fault that your strength of schedule was weak. For your area of the state you proved to be a good team. 4. York appears athletic, tough and has had a very impressive statistical season. He plays very "loose" with the ball, too small and not nearly fast enough to be considered a high level college prospect IMHO. Maybe he will get a chance at the small college level.

I assumed that CAK was doing something like this for the kid when I heard about him being injured, but I had never heard anything publicly. However, I was impressed by the size of the donation. I was also impressed with the efforts of the other schools that held fundraisers and contributed to the cause as well. There are certainly times when our differences should be put aside and we should come together, and this was one such situation. Good luck to the kid and his family during his recovery, and blessings to all of those who have stepped up to help them out.

Since Baxter has never played Alcoa on the football field, there is one thing I would like to express to them about this game. With ALL DUE RESPECT to my Tornado friends and players, IMHO the Bees will not be facing the strongest Alcoa team that the Tornados have put on the field over the past decade. Some of the teams in the past truly established the "Beast from the East" moniker. Not to say that this years Alcoa team doesn't have some "beastly" players, because they certainly do. My point is that this is a very good Tornado team, but there have been even better teams in recent years. This years team is tough enough, but you really wouldn't wanted to have faced the 2009 or 2010 teams. Good luck to both teams for an injury free, hard fought game, and safe travels to all. I will be pulling for our district brethren. I say Alcoeee by 28pts.

Now thats an explanation worthy of a doctoral thesis!!!! ha

This is "fun" reading, especially when the "goons" are smack talking with a team that has never played them. It took some of my CAK brethren quite a while to "acquire a taste" for the Alcoa "goons" but now its all good. By the way, when did we all settle on "goons" as the universal term of endearment for the "milk jug shakers"? About the game: I've heard great things about the York kid and I look forward to seeing him play. My folks are from the "bloody 8th district" and downtown Baxter respectively, so its good to see the Bees having some success. But after being in E.TN for a long time, and watching Alcoa & CAK destroy teams with good records from other areas year after year...I've got to believe Upperman is going to get over powered. But the game is played on grass, not on paper...so we will all find out soon enough. If the Bees keep it any closer than 21pts then I will be impressed.

Congratulations to Alcoa. The Tornadoes played hard and physical throughout the game and certainly proved to be the better team. Agreed, CAK didn't fold up and really that was all I expected out of them. They were competitive throughout the 1st qtr and even led briefly. Alcoa forced some big turnovers on some good hits and took command of the game in the 2nd qtr. While most teams fold at that point against Alcoa, the Warrior coaches rallied the troops for one last push to start the 2nd half and marched down and scored on a very nice drive and then perfectly executed an onside kick. If we could have scored at that point then maybe we could have made it a little more exciting, but the outcome was inevitable based on the depth of talent for Alcoa vs. CAK. Good luck to the Tornadoes...looks like another trip to the championship! For my CAK boys....keep your heads up and keep working hard. Most of you have experienced some pretty special seasons and some nice rewards the past few years. So you know what it takes, now commit yourself to improvement and start getting ready for next year. I'm proud of the way you didn't fold up despite some close losses, injuries, and an "unlike-CAK" record. You stood in there and battled toe to toe with some good football teams this year, you have a promising future ahead with all the youth on the team....just dust yourself off and go back to work.

I missed a couple of days reading the T and the thread exploded with smack between Alcoa & Baxter. wow! Its been a good read though. As far as the game tonight between Alcoa & CAK goes, it will be difficult for CAK to win. GVK mentioned that you have to have some elite type of players to beat the Tornadoes, and CAK was fortunate enough to have a few of those the past several years. This year is a little different. CAK has some good players, just not enough of the elite level players to beat a team as talented as Alcoa without some help. The wildcard tonight could be the weather. I've always believed that bad weather helps the underdog. Conventional wisdom has always been that bad weather helps the team that runs the ball. Although CAK is a passing team they have proven they can effectively utilize their offensive scheme in wet weather. A couple of years ago when CAK beat Alcoa for the first time the field was wet and became somewhat muddy over the course of the game, and CAK actually passed and ran the ball effectively. Of course that was with different personnel than we have this year...but I still think the weather forecast could help the Warriors. Maybe Alcoa slips, stutters and fumbles a few balls away which could allow CAK to keep it closer this time. CAK has had a good week of practice and they are in a familiar position...deep into the playoffs and facing Alcoa. The Tornadoes should win this one, but they know they will have to go out and earn it. Good luck to my Warriors....I will be there cheering you on, eating band burgers and rubbing elbows with the Goons

I wonder how the corndogs liked it in their new district?

Nice...I'm getting hungry all of a sudden.

Agreed...both teams have made each other better. Playing each other twice a year certainly accelerated CAK's maturation process for an upstart program like ours was when we moved into Alcoa's district. I believe we certainly could have added a few Silver Balls to our trophy case and Alcoa could have as well if we were in different sides of the bracket. But heck, now that we have a couple of the Gold ones, and Alcoa has a trophy case full of Gold ones, who wants the Silver ones anyway....ha

Pleasantly surprised to see the Warriors in Round 3. Some gritty play down the stretch, good coaching and some fortunate seeding has allowed CAK to get further than I expected. Once again, for the umpteenth time, these 2 teams will meet for a 2nd time in the same season. And once again someone will get eliminated by the same team that has eliminated them in the past. In fact, since CAK moved up from the old Single A and into the same district with Alcoa, has anyone eliminated either team from the playoffs other than Alcoa or CAK??? As far as this game goes, I expect Alcoa to win. CAK can be happy about regrouping after a disastrous stretch in the middle of the season, but realistically the Warriors just aren't ready to challenge the Tornadoes IMHO. I want to see if we can improve on the last meeting between these teams, thats really all I am looking for. Now if Alcoa comes out flat, or makes a lot of turnovers and penalties, then maybe CAK can make a game of it. Good luck to both teams for an injury free and hard fought game.

2 quick scores against the JV/Freshmen, now its 42-19 CAK. May need to put the Ones back in pretty soon. late 3rd qtr.

21-6 CAK @ halftime...

Agreed. This team is certainly improving, but it will take quite a bit more improving to get past a team like Alcoa. Happy to see the boys fight through some adversity and put some of those bad losses behind them. I don't know very much about Johnson County, but realistically the Warriors should be able to get past them so long as we play good solid football and don't have a 5+ turnover kind of night. The disparity between districts/regions is glaring when you see what CAK did to GP and even how Scott Co. played against Betsy. Of course Alcoa does that most of the time to everyone as well.

Priceless.

Sorry Buc, I was out of town and didn't make that game or I would have tried to find you. Hope you had a safe trip.