Luvdagame

Actually no, on the first goal the keep had the ball go over his head off hands into the goal. He turns around and grabs the ball at least a yard into the goal and the official does not credit the score. One the second the linesman calls offsides, but the ball was struck from 30 yards out and no one touched the ball as it sailed into the net. The center official confers with the linesman who made the inappropriate call and then says keeper interference. There was no one near the keeper who was simply badly burned. The third goal was dribbled in from the corner by the forward around two players from the left flag position. He then nails the back post for the score. No call from the linesman, but following the goal, the center official confers with the linesman once again and then says offsides was the call. It was a fiasco!

The answer is No. Greenville won 4-0 and in possibly the worst officiated game ever in Tennessee High Soccer History Grainger scored 3 goals in the first 20 minutes of play only to lose the game 3-0 to University High when the officials took each goal away from Grainger thanks to a head official that was not confident enough to make the right call and a sideline judge who had No idea what he was doing! It is a shame that this team of officials was ever assigned a Playoff game. Especially a Regional Semi-Final. Both teams deserved much better. University High cannot feel good about a victory they didn't earn, and Grainger should not feel bad about a loss when the game was taken totally out of their hands. I definitely am sorry for both squads!

There are two heavy favorites both hosting these Regional Semifinal matches: Greenville hosts Elizabethton, and University High hosts Grainger. Is there anyone who remotely thinks an upset could be possible in this Region? Apparently the referees have already been scheduled for the Regional Finals at Greenville with their listed oponent as University High!

This should be wide open. There are several good teams here. Greenville will of course be the favorite. They have quality players at every position. University High is also strong, but probably not as deep as Greenville. Elizabethton relies on one player way too much, but that one player is really strong. Chucky Doak is senior heavy and most of these young people should remember making it to the state playoffs a few years back. Grainger is a scrappy lot, but like UH depth is a real concern. Cosby is much improved but will probably not be a factor in the later playoffs. South Greene plays well with a co-ed roster, but a co-ed roster doesn't match up well with any of the aforementioned teams. Cumberland Gap and Claiborne are to be commended for restarting soccer at their respective schools, but neither will be much more than a warm up for their opponents in district play. Greenville and UH should be favored, but look out for Elizabethton, Chucky-Doak, or Grainger. It could be as simple as who gets hot in the next week or so.

I readily concur with these previous assessments. We had a shot on goal directly deflected by the keeper straight over the nets and the keeper was awarded a goal kick - even with the linesman pointing directly to the corner! It has become increasingly more difficult to remain silent while on the sidelines watching very poor officiating. With that said, I do want to thank everyone who is trying to officiate this year in East Tennessee because you are doing something I do not want to do. So thank you. You have my appreciation and respect - even with the poor calling that has marked most of this season. I would like to give a shout out to one "young" official who I think works very hard and is improving every game - Bryan McCarter. Thanks BMAC for all you do! To all the other officials who have endured my displeasure from the sidelines please accept my humblest and most sincere apologies! Perhaps there are some other freshly graduated college students who can be successfully recruited to help sure up the ranks of the High School officials in East Tennessee. Signed, Trying to be patient! - Luvdagame!

The recurrence of this topic sort of proves the point doesn't it. This phenomenon has been occurring far too long. With a wink of an eye we simply dismiss it as sour grapes and the offenders are never held accountable for poor sportsmanship or the irreparable damage done to the players or the game. Thanks to everyone who has responded and for your well spoken responses. I too realize, that High School soccer is not AYSO. But it is not the World Cup either, but especially there, lack of sportsmanship carries severe penalties.

With the new TSSAA districting there are some very lopsided matches that have been established in the process. Schools in larger metropolitan areas with more access to soccer playing and training versus rural areas with limited access to game time or training. In a recent match I witnessed a coach putting his starting fowards back into a match when the score was already 7 - nil and the opposing (losing) team was using their second and third string at all positions. The forwards were turned loose and encouraged to run up the score fueled by yelling parents and poor attitudes by players on the field. Since when was soccer about humiliating an opponent? Is this not the same as tolerating bullying in the schools? What are athletes really learning when placed in such situations? I do remember Bear Bryant's response when he was constantly asked about running up the score in SEC football, "Get better!" Maybe a good quote for that setting and the media, but bad sportsmantship on any level. Soccer is supposed to be the "beautiful game." Why are we allowing certain programs and coaches to turn something beautiful into something very ugly? - Luvdagame

Heard a rumor that many on the Pigeon Forge team were recently dismissed from the team. Is there any truth to this and does anyone have any information if this is true?

Grainger is playing better and played very well vs. GP on Wednesday, but Saturday is another day. Good luck to both GP and Grainger.

Ask GP and their coach to weigh in on the subject this morning. Grainger shell shocked them yesterday. GP's ace was rattled from the first pitch! There is a lot more baseball left, but one would be just flat out stupid to underestimate the Grizzlies right now - especially Pigeon Forge!

No one seems to be giving Grainger High School much of a shot in regards to GP or Pigeon Forge. Having watched a lot of basball around East Tennessee this Spring at the High School and Collegiate Level I would add one bit of warning to GP or Pigeon Forge. Do not underestimate Grainger. From what I have seen and heard from others the outcomes of the Grainger vs. Sevier teams matchups depend upon one thing - which Grainger team shows up. When they play respectable "d" they can play with anybody! Their losses have been self inflicted casualties including losses to Morristown East and West - Grainger had both teams beat, but gave those games away defensively. Here's to two good regular season series! Good luck to all.

Coach Bigdog, no need to get personal with your response. I simply responded with an observation that baseball is a game that deserves respect. Your slight was not necessarily to the players who have worked for a long time on their skills but to the larger issue of the game itself. Not being associated with Grainger athletics or the school I could care less who plays or who doesn't. You said he would help the team in "all aspects of the game." That probably simply isn't true. Your last comment "Hopefully this first season as a Grizzly will be a great one to remember" following your discussion of McBee assumes that McBee will be the savior of the Grainger High School baseball team. From my observations of conference games in Sevier County last year it looks like they could always use a solid player, but they don't need any "Messiah" figure. Best of success to you and the Grainger High School program. They will need it against Pigeon Forge and a vastly improved Gatlinburg-Pittman.

Seems like the expectations for McBee are a little unrealistic coming in. He is no doubt a stand up young man and a solid athlete. Michael Jordan may be one of the greatest athletes of all time, but he proved he should have stuck with basketball. McBee might be able to help in the area of pitching or even fielding in the outfield with natural ability alone. But hitting and forcing oneself to stay down on a one hop rope hit right in front of you on the infield is not a natural talent or skill - you have to learn how to fight the natural reflexes of bailing out of the way usually done over many, many years. With that said, a school the size of Grainger can use all the athletes they can find to fill out any athletic roster. Just don't make the expectations so great that you set this young man up for failure. If he can pinch run, field, or even pitch - be grateful for whatever you can get with someone like this. You mentioned his work ethic and that is great - just bear in mind that there are many young men on this team who have been spending just as many hours on baseball that McBee has spent on basketball.

My son has gone the last two years. It is worth every penny. Great experience for the young men - a little pressure and a lot of small college scouts mingled with a few major league scouts. It rained during the game part of my son's experience last year so he only got one inning in the field and did not have an appearance at the plate in a game setting, but it was still worth the money. Three coaches personally talked with him afterwards and it helped elevate confidence for personal workouts later on. It is a good local East Tennessee event that draws attention from all over the region. Best of luck

Gibbs has beaten up on a lot of people, but I have never once seen them rubbing it in. Their coaches and young people have always played with class when I have seen them. Best wishes to the Gibbs program and I hope that they and AE have a great year!

What's in store for fans from Northeast Knoxville this year? What does Gibbs have returning after losing some talented seniors last year?

In the East, Zane Wallen - Jefferson County, very quick with great ball skills, great scorer. Dalton Medford - Morristown East, great overall player. Zach Ballard - Grainger County, a Gorilla in the goal, but also has great overall ball skills. All three of these players are products of Allen Vital's Lakeway program with winter workouts with Mike McDonald.

Grainger should have four to five good outfielders to call on at any time. Should also have four to five solid infielders. Who plays what is of course for the coaches and what they see this spring in practice. It is too early to tell or even predict who will be playing where at this point. Your question pertained to the middle D - center field and catcher will probably be patrolled by juniors and seniors. The double play combo will more likely be left to some combination of sophomores/juniors. They should be better defensively than last year. But this question should really be answered by someone who knows this team much better than myself. Maybe someone from Grainger can join in?

Dane McNabb - Loudon, Everyone knows about this MTSU signee. Adam Beznardyk (sp?) Morristown East - this young person is the most under-rated player in the state in my estimation. A D1 should be all over this young man. He has great heart, a good bat, and has all the catching tools.

Great question. Grainger returns some respectable arms this year with senior Connelly, junior Wesbster, and sophomore Jake Corum. Senior Jed Corum will certainly get an opportunity returning from arm surgery last year. Beyond that it is probably anyone's guess. The pitching area is where the McBee rumor becomes interesting. If he does play will it be as a pitcher? Or put him in the outfield to run about anything out there down? Or do they allow his natural athleticism to contribute at short or third? Pitching is the X factor for this team. If it steps up they could be very, very good. If not, well....

/sleep.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="-_-" border="0" alt="sleep.gif" /> "Pigeon Forge will hand it to them this year. They are going all the way." Please.............., don't be too brash with false bravado. I give homage that Pigeon Forge can be a good ball team, but Carson Newman signee Lucas Watson from GP can shut anybody down on the right day. And what Grainger lacks in quality pitching can be more than made up for with the big bats all through their lineup. This will be a wide open race with potentially three very good teams.

Pigeon Forge is a good team with a quality coach. Guinn did an excellent job last year in his first year there. The weakness I suspect is that they will not be very deep. They didn't appear to have many quality folks on the bench last year and they lost probably there best all-around player in Harveston. The players they have are talented. They were one of the only teams to beat "almighty Farragut" last year. The fun dimesion to Pigeon Forge's district is that not enough people take them or Grainger seriously as legitmate baseball powerhouses and every year they wake up somebody who was napping. It will be fun to see if they can hold off Grainger HS and Gatlinburg-Pittman again this year. Grainger lost a couple of starters, but have better overall depth than Pigeon Forge. If GP makes the same progress this year as they did last year they may have much to say about district scenarios. Their coach and players may the hungriest in the district.

Should be a strong inaugural season for the Grizzlies. Yes, McBee may add something to this team, but even without McBee they have a good mix of older and younger players with experience coming back. They only lost two starters off of last years team and they lost no significant pitching to speak of. Seniors Jed Corum, Zach Blanken, Billy Connelly, and Brack Ballard have all played significant innings at the Varsity level and in good summer travel situations. Corum, Blanken, and Ballard can hit with anyone in East Tennessee and all three can go deep at any time. Connelly probably ended last year as the best pitcher in the rotation with a decent fastball and a better curve. Juniors Ryan Webster and Lucas Cope will be back making significant contributions. They both add great size in the 6'3" to 6'4" range. Webster can be an effective pitcher and a very respectable hitter. Cope has such tremendous promise as a catcher and a hitter, but honestly needs to follow the seniors' example on working in the offseason to get better. What he hits goes a long way, but he needs to to add consistency at the plate. Dylan Evans worked hard in the offseason for a team playing out of Carson-Newman College. He should push Cope a bit for playing time. Jake Graves is also a junior who is improving and could also add help at first base. Sophomores Jake Corum, Konner Brabson, and Brandon Sautorius also return having played significant innings as freshman. Aaron Carter probably has the most upside with more work of any of the sophomores. He has a big body and is a very strong young man, but lacks the reps to probably help a great deal at the Varsity level this year. Cody Glascock may also add depth in the middle infield. There are a handful of other players who may contribute, but these are the bulk of what the Grizzlies will be calling upon this year. Ought to be a good conference with Pigeon Forge losing two major players (Guinn and Harveston) and Gatlinburg-Pittman consistently getting better.