bluclearsky

The only rationale that I can see is that Cleveland was eliminated by the State Champion (#1), Bearden by a semi-final team (#4) and SDHS by a quarter finalist (#8). All games were by a 1 goal difference. In this poll, like many, the last game seems to weigh heavily in the voters mind.

I have great respect for Bearden. Their record for the last 3 years is one that any coach, player, parent or fan would want for their team. However, if you had made your "bet" before the season, you would not have done well at all. Bearden did play #4 - #7 this year and lost 75% of the time. Could it be that, in the end, those who vote on the rankings cast their ballot on this year's results rather than reputation?

This raises an interesting question. Should the recognition be on the player's 2008 high school season or should it look at past accomplishments and resume as well?

Could it be because there are far more schools and players in both AAA and A/AA than there are in D2?

MVM - You watched Clair play most every game I would guess and that makes your belief in her understandable because you have seen her at her best and on occassions where she might have been average. Her equals on other teams, you have seen once, twice or not at all. Perhaps when you saw them, they did not have their best day due to injury, illness or whatever. I had not seen the D2 teams play this year but have heard many good things about their defenders. So I do not feel able to declare one player or another to be the best. However, I do respect your strong feelings for your team's players.

No doubt Claire Lantner is a strong defender but let us not overlook the other strong defenders both in Chattanooga area AAA schools as well as A/AA and Division II. More than one among that group is equal in both skill, tenacity and leadership qualities. Relying on the Goals Against stat can be misleading if you do not factor in strength of schedule. Looking at that, you will see that other defenses gave up more goals but played much more challenging schedules. Defenders are most definitely at a disadvantage for Player of the Year awards. There are no individual stats which help their cause. It makes comparison among them difficult. That is where offensive players have the clear advantage in award selections.

Although I did not see Brentwood this season, I did get to see many top teams. siegel was with out question the best. I would pick siegel to win tomorrow.

CAK 4 Station Camp 1 http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/nov/05/c...s-state-opener/

As reported in Knoville News Sentinel: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/nov/05/c...s-state-opener/

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Interesting that you would leave off a District Defensive MVP while including a teammate at the same position. That certainly casts a shadow of doubt on your list as a whole.

Cleveland - Siegel http://www.clevelandbanner.com/index.cfm?e...74F120086233C90

Siegel - Cleveland http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...025/1006/SPORTS Riverdale - Soddy Daisy http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...EYvAQqKD8B1g%3D

Soddy-Daisy/Cleveland http://www.clevelandbanner.com/index.cfm?e...754CCC90A4E781B

MVM did that on 10/8 and, based on his post that day, it would have been Cleveland @ 2-4-1. That may have changed in the last 3 weeks though. Many games have been played since then. Nevertheless, you and I seem to agree that it is tonight that matters. Our hope is that all players, coaches and referees will have their best game of the season tonight and be able to leave the field with the pride of a game well played.