SarahPalin2012

I had not thought about Coach McFerrin in years. How did his career go after he went back to Georgia? Is he still coaching? I think one of his biggest games at Central was when he knocked off DB in I think 1975, and went on to win the Big 9 Conference with an undefeated record. But if memory serves me correctly, they got drilled in the first round of the state playoffs.

I don't think anyone on here said that either McMinn County or WB were loaded. I think what was said was that they don't get the good fortune of playing NE TN schools in the first round. In the Blount game both teams were pretty even and I would call it no more than a mild upset. As far as the McMinn County game-it was the same coaching mistake that I see at every level. A team gets a big lead and gets overconfident while the coaches get too conservative and try to just run out the clock. I saw Coach Fulmer do it over and over, and it almost always comes back to bite you. And no they didn't have better athletes. We were just outcoached and GC would be the first to say so.

South and Tennessee High have only played a few teams west of Morristown. And when they did, they weren't little cupcake teams; they were dynasties such as Maryville who had a 74 game winning streak or Cleveland who won 3 state championships in a row in the 90's. That's not the case for DB. The "loaded teams" that have beaten DB in the first round have gone on to lose in round 2. DB had McMinn Co.'s number in the first half last year and then everything broke loose. I believe DB had a team that was capable of beating McMinn Co.; They should've beaten William Blount in '06. I can't speak for the first time WB upset DB, wasn't DB 10-0 heading into that game as well? I believe DB can beat those teams they just need to find a team capable of humbling them in regular season. WacoJaco would probably mention coaching as well.I'm not saying South and TN High aren't at fault. They need to break the apartheid and schedule some Knoxville teams as well. South, in my opinion, is taking that step this year by scheduling Knox West. I could agree with your point except for one thing. Some South fans have said that last year's team was the best in school history. But South lost in the 2008 playoffs to a Greeneville team that was nowhere near to being a dynasty. And that fact was proven the very next week by Maryville. On the other hand DB has beaten teams like MBA and have made trips to the Final 4 during this decade.

I'm guessing between 1500 and 1600.

I think you have to look at the population of the school rather than the population of the area. The only way I can see your logic working is if all the best athletes in Nashville went to two or three schools while the slower, less athletic players went to all the other schools, which is possible.

A sad note: Over the weekend DB and Kingsport lost a great educator and a truly fine gentleman. Coach Jerry Adams passed away unexpectedly over the weekend. He was only 52 and will be greatly missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Now that's funny!

I think they lost by about 14 points, but that was to a loaded Faragut Admiral team. I watched the game from start to finish. DB had far more speed and better athletes at nearly all positions as was evident in the first half. I truly believe the coaching staff thought the game was over at halftime and the team bought into it hook, line, and sinker. They thought there was no way McMinn could come back and outscore them in the second half, especially in the rain. To be frank, I didn't think it was possible either. But give the McMinn coaches and players credit for their "never say die" mentality. I do think you may be on to something about GC. Graham is by nature a very gracious gentleman. Unfortunately sometimes nice guys do finish last.

I don't think it was because the staff didn't come out of the restroom at halftime. I think the coaching staff was guilty of the same thing I have witnessed at every level from high school to pro. They came out with the strategy of playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Prevent defense almost never works. Think of how many times we saw Phillip Fulmer try that strategy only to see defeat snatched from the hands of victory. Think of how many times you have seen basketball teams get a big lead and try to sit on it, only to get beaten in a dramatic finish. Coaches at every level and every sport seem to get suckered into it and it's hard to understand why. Why can't they learn from it? It backfires more than it succeeds.

The McMinn County game from last season.

I know you probably disagree, but I think Coach Clark was distracted during that game due to the death of his longtime friend, track coach Coughenour. He had just eulogized him hours before the game.

Sounds like someone is having Obama fatigue. Real classy remark about Sarah's daughter too. Oops, I almost forgot you are a Souther aren't you. Just thought Coach T should be fair and balanced. Ever heard of Obama08?

Welcome TKO. You bring up some interesting thoughts. I think it was Albert Einstein who once said "the definition of insanity is to do things the same way over and over, but expect different results". And that's kinda what I think we are doing. In all fairness to recent teams, one thing I have noticed is that they seem to have had injuries to key players at the most critical times of the season. (Ex. Cody Sensabaugh, Justin Sylvester, Chris Sensabaugh). I don't know if you blame that on pure bad luck, lack of depth, conditioning, or a combination of all three. And I can't figure out why Coach Clark seems to do his best coaching jobs during the regular season, but seems unfocused when the playoffs start. If we are fortunate enough to make it to the playoffs this year I would try to do practices differently, if for no other reason, to try to affect the psyche of the players.

You sorta just described the Boys Club. I know the Middle school coaches are involved in that to an extent because I have seen them there coaching. The Boys Club play their finale games at J. Fred on an October Saturday morning. I know because my son got to play in two of those games. At the end of the season he also got a nice letter from Coach Clark encouraging him to continue playing until he reaches DB. The city definitely gives money every year to the Boys Club. So I can't agree with you completely.

Just curious Waco: I have heard you criticize the system before. If you were named DB head football coach tomorrow, how would you change the system to make it better?

You make a lot of sense, but I do think tradition does play a role in school programs. Some schools are traditionally strong in football while others are traditionally strong in basketball. Then you have other schools such as Unicoi County that are known for their baseball programs. Success breeds success, no matter what sport you are talking about.

Comp, You need to get over your inferiority complex..........................LOL.

Good post, but please elaborate on which part of my logic is flawed.

I think it's too early to get a handle on how all the classification changes will shake out. It will probably take about 5 weeks to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

Why are all the South folks ignoring my question? Get off the fence and tell me if my line of thinking is reasonable or am I all wet. I sincerely would like to hear your thoughts.

Yea, and I believe it's a home game for the Indians too isn't it?

Can you please explain how I was condescending to South folks? I wasn't trying to be.

That's right. I am looking forward to the border battle between South and Gate City on 9/11. I think it will be an interesting matchup. Both schools are normally playoff teams but play totally different styles of ball. I'm not a fan of either school, but I would pay to watch this game. There will probably be a lot of hard hitting going on, with both schools playing for bragging rights. TN vs. VA

This year could be South's last real chance to get the DB monkey off their backs and I'll explain why. Consider the following: 1. DB appears to be very strong in the 2010 and 2011 classes. 2. John Adams elementary school goes online this fall and will feed more kids into the middle school programs. 3. The city annexations of Rock Springs and other areas will continue for the forseeable future. 3. Mr. Barnes with the Sullivan county school system seems determined to make it mandatory that city residents no longer have the option to send their kids to county schools. This could dramatically lower the enrollment at South, North, and even Central. At the same time it could easily increase the enrollment at DB to above 2000 and possibly even surpass that of Science Hill. That would give them a huge pool of athletes to choose from and provide them with the depth which is so needed to compete with the state's 6A powerhouse programs.

I had car trouble yesterday and ended up not getting to go to the intra-squad scrimmage. Can anybody who went give us some details on how the Tribe looked yesterday? What areas impressed? What areas need work? Any kids that really stood out?