OS91

I never posted that there wasnt excpetional from the North. But, there are far more Div. 1 Athletes in southern states than northern. I am not going to get into a name dropping athletes who's who. Check out Unapproved Website or any recruting service- southern states win hands down when It comes to Div.1 athletes with less of a population. Better athletes are in the south. And yes, Northern schools raid the south. Have you checked a Big 10 roster or Big East roster lately?

.We are familiar with Brentwood and Macallie and some of the Big Boys in Private schools, but The State of Tennessee or the South for that matter hasn't seen real Recruiting until it sees some of the Catholic schools of the North in how this process is tied to youth leagues in cities. The same thing in basketball. Also, I am well aware of education and the importance and firmly understand that school systems are decided in TN by not only the state, but mostly the counties determine the schools in public from K-12 and in some cases cities decide. Yes, Public schools are at a disadvantage vs. Public schools and alot of times larger schools have an advantage over smaller schools with a larger more advanced curriculum. However, say for instance we used Roane County as an example and there was only One high school compared to the five currently- Midway, Kingston, Rockwood, Oliver Springs, and Harriman ( even though its a city school, this year) With One high school, only 80-90 would participate in football. With only 45 seeing significant playing time. With 5 schools, there are aprox. 210 dressed out this year with over 140-150 kids seeing playing time. You can make the same argument in all sports basketball, baseball, softball, and golf. Games such as Kingston/OS taken Rockwood/harriman Mid/Rckwd. Athletics build bridges and life lessons that are invaluable that are crucial skills that otherwise might not be taught. Just as you think larger schools that bring this curriculum and higher applitude, it also creates a disenchantment. The students that would benifet from the larger school/campus would almost do so regardless of school enrollment, the kids that suffer would be the students that smaller enrollment schools can reach out to through athletics, smaller classrooms, personable relationships with parents and teachers. Examples of large high schools that were built ( not going to give examples, its not about that) have shown in the most cases were mistakes with oversized schools, high dropout rates, and only a percentage of the kids being reached and even though a larger curriculum, a lesser percentage of student involvement. In some ways, you could compare the Private schools of the North vs. the rural smaller schools- they both reach kids that would otherwise would not be involved if the circumstances were different

OSHSMAN, there is absolutely no comparison to ahtletes in football in the north vs. the South. BC, West Virginia, Syracuse, Michigan, Wisconsin, Mineesota, Iowa, Nebraska have all raided the South for skilled positions from high school athletes from Texas, Florida, AL, GA, LA, MS. you never see SEC schools, with excpetion to UT recruiting in the north. ALL Big Ten schools recruit in the SOuth. Taking that into consideration that the Big Ten Schools have almost a 2.5 to 1 populaiton difference its obvvious where the athletes are. Sure, when you have Large schools like MOeller, Berwick PA, St. Ign. Cleve, ALlentown, Woodland Hills, PA you are gn to have powerhouese national powerhouese. The one poster who spoke of these schools beating on TN high schools- well frankly they should- but I would take southern high schools such as Valsota, Baton Rouge St. Evg., Odessa Permiun, Dallas Carter, Charlotte Ind and put them in 60 degree weather and the southern teams win almost regulary becasue of the athletic fast paced nature of the game- skill postion players. You mentioned Chris Simms- I would hope you can give a better example- 11 ints 0 touchdowns before playing K state last week against top 25 competition.

My bad on that goose, I was pitting 2 vs. 3 and 1 vs. 4 from the region, but actually works differently. Thanks

Rockwood secures playoff berth- 34-14

Remember that Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and PA double the state of Tennessee in population, so therefore USA today top 25 rankings are going to be more from these states. ALso, a team might be as good from TN, but not get the respect or rankings because of the need to adhere to a high school frm one of the more populated media dominated states. Furthermore, with Mich. having 16 teams to TN's 13 and Tennessee having half the population speaks volumes. OSHSMAN is right though, my uncle played for Elyria High School just outside Cleveland in the early 70's on Ohio's second ranked team his senir year that only gave up 12 points all year. The crowds at ELyria's home game averaged 15,000. Teams from the Buckeye conference Lorain, Elyria, Sandusky, Avon Lake, etc. all have stadiums that seat over 10,000 and enrollments well over 2500 students. In Ohio, its easier to have this becasue of the population difference. The City of Elyria has a population of 50,000 and is located 7 miles west of cleveland. Just 6 miles north of Elyria is Lorain with a population of 60,000. Both these schools have enrollments over 3,000 kids and a football rich tradition. In the south, where small towns are defined by athletics in alot of cases, teams like Rockwood, Oliver Springs, Onieda, Seymour would not have have high schools- there would be magnet schools creating large high schools. For instance one high school in Loudon County with an enrollment of 1800 or in Roane County with one or two schools. I think I would much rather have smaller schools and more participants and towns that idnetify with their schools than massive stadiums that are half filled when teams arent having a good year. Also, I think athletes are usually better in the south than north- more athleticism and speed compared to the big lineman type the north produces. This is te case alot as you see in recruiting Big Ten vsl SEC SPeed and athleticism vs. try and be more physcial Big 10. IN most caes in matchups we have seen the SEC come out on top in thse matchups.

Alcoa03, besides Maryville, Oliver Springs has three teams -Smith COunty, Kingston, and Boyd Buchanon that are better than West, WB, Heritage.. Speaking of Region Teams, Rockwood destroyed Region 1 second best team West Greene 40-0. It look like a sweep is very possible for region 2 teams again this year. That is why Next weeks Oliver Springs vs. Wartburg game is very important. If Rockwood beats ALcoa ( which they shoudl easily I think), they will be pulling for OS so they dont have to play Sweetwater in the 2nd round at sweetwater. IF Wartburg were to win, OS would most likely play the Bulldogs again in week 2 of the playoffs. If OS win, ROckwood would play at OS and Wartburg would travel to Sweetwater. OF course this is if all region teams win in week one- which is a distinct possibilty as evidenced by Rockwoods thrashing of West Greene and Sullivan out of region one in the last three weeks.

KingBrian- You need to remember OS usually gets half of Norwood Middle schools enrollment and alot of the Norwood athletes. This adds greatly to OS and had long been a feeder of good to great athletes for OSHS that never played at OSMS.

That is what I responded to. The facts are YES people can hang with Sweetwater, as OS proved. Sorry if that ruffles your feathers a bit, but the comment no one can hang with Sweetwater has ALREADY been proven INACCURATE. If you are using analogies out of 10 games, then here is one for you- OS would win 3-4 games against Sweetwater if played 10 games, let alone play with them. As you said this is a coffee county- SW thread and just resonding to an inaccurate comment.. that was it... Good luck to sweetwater in this game.

Oliver SPrings not only hung with Sweetwater, but almost came away with a win. Until the late saftey the game was in serious jeapordy. Some can more than hang with Sweetwater, my friend. C-you in round 3.

great poll Matt

Lesson One Well, I would at least think Alcoa can spell this destination, as well participate in this game every couple years unlike you. Murfreesboro, btw..

KingBrian, I agree with you. Like OS, Wartburg has turned the corner building a solid football program. Its good to see programs like OS and Wartburg ascending. Also, its great to see these two teams battling it out for two years in a row for playoff seedings. When was the last time that happened? I think the key to this game is a magic number of 17. I believe OS needs to score 2 touchdowns and a field goal to pull this game out. I think at home, and home field advantage in playoffs at stake Wartburg will get 2 touchdowns on Oliver Springs. The question is, can the Oliver Springs offense score more than one touchdown. The Warburg Defense isn't really comparable to any team OS has played all year. Its better than Alcoa's, LC and Harriman's. Not as physical as Smith County, Kingston, Sweetwater, BB, and Rockwood. OS scored 87 points on ALcoa, LC, and Harriman. Against the SC, King, Sweet, and BB, and Rckwd OS just managed 35 points in 5 games. I believe Wartburg's Defense is lodged somewhere in the middle. That being the case, if OS offense can get 7-8 minute drives, then Wartburg will be in trouble. If Wartburg D proves tough and the Cats cant muster offense, the Bulldogs get more chances with more possesions, then advantage to Wartburg. Should be interesting to see who wins The Wartburg Defense vs. Oliver Springs offense.This is where the game will be decided.

Even with the Bulldog upset last year, Oliver Springs leads this series close to a 46-4 all time lead in series.

When are these two going to start playing each other?

Even though Oliver Springs has a 4-4 record, they are easily a top ten team in AA. No one in AA has played a tougher out of region Schedule than the Bobcats- 7-1 Boyd Buchanon, 7-1 Kingston, 7-1 Smith County. OS also gave Sweetwater all they wanted losing a close game 16-7 that was in doubt until the last. Look for a deep push into the postseason for the Bobcats. If OS get the offense clicking this could be lethel for any team they line up against.

Bobby Tinker, Shannon Sexton, and Keith Duggins played on the 88 team that won a District Championship. All three running back gained close to 1000 yards or exceeded it for the season. Tinker received a scholarship to University of South.

McMinn Central should be on that list. The Lady Chargers could be the best team in the state. They return everyone off a 34-2 team and gave Jackson County a nightmare before losing in last couple minutes.

1) Where are you from originally? Oliver Springs 2) Where are you living now? Downtown Knoxville 3) What do you do for a living? Software Consultant 4) Which school(s) do you support? High School- Oliver Springs College - UT of course and West Virginia, Pro- Indians, Browns, Cavs, Maple Leafs and Celtic ( Scottish Premier Soccer League)and Ajax (Holland ) 5) Where did you go to school (high school, college, etc.) Oliver Springs, Univ. Of Maryland European Division, University of Tennessee, and Univ. of Toronto 7) What other message boards/web sites do you frequently visit? ESPN.com GOVOLS.COM, Wvusports.com, Knoxnews.com 9) How did you find out about coacht.com? Internet search

You are right Matt! That eliminates Alcoa.

1. Sweetwater- claimed region championship and will play at home at least the first 2 rounds of playoffs 2. Oliver Springs looks like the second team and would secure this with a victory over Wartburg in week 10. However, if the Bulldogs win it get tricky. A Rockwood win over ALcoa and a Oliver Springs loss would create a three way tie for 2nd place. I believe overall record comes into play which seems to favor Wartburg in this instance, then ROckwood, and then Oliver Springs. That would make Wartburg the 2nd team, Rockwood the third team, and OS the fourth team. 3. Rockwood with a win over Alcoa and a Oliver Springs victory puts the Tigers in 3rd place. A Rockwood loss and Wartburg win over OS, puts OS in third place in the region. A Rockwood loss to Alcoa and Wartburg loss to Oliver SPrings, makes a three way tie for 3rd place between Wartburg, ROckwood, and Alcoa. I believe Wartburg wins the tie-breaker with overall record and depending on how Rockwood fares in its next region game, as well as Alcoa will determine the tie breaker. IF both teams are 5-5 and 2-3 in the region I believe it goes to point difference and possibly head to head matchups. If Rockwood wins their next out of region game, I believe they will clinch a playoof spot regardless becasue that wold ensure a 6-4 record at worst, thus securing a playoff birth since the best record ALcoa could attain would be a 5-5 record. Alcoa's next week out of region matchup will be Willima Blount which presents a huge challenge. 4. Oliver Springs loss to Wartburg and Rockwood win over Alcoa give this spot to Oliver Springs. An Oliver Springs loss and Rockwood loss give this spot to the tigers. Alcoa is still alive if the Tornadoes beat ROckwood and Wartburg beat Oliver Springs. This would put the Tornadoes in 4th. A Wartburg loss and Rockwood loss, still gives the Tornadoes a chance, just barely. Alcoa has to beat William Blount, Rockwood loses it's next out of region game and both teams are 5-5 2-3 ( along with wartburg who wins 3rd place becasue of overall record) in region then tie breaker comes into play which Rockwood seems to have the edge in this department of scoring difference. whew! I might have missed some things. Does anyone know exactly what the tie breakers are?

Matt, you are feeling energetic!

Goose, I thought I was alone in this area who followed the big 3 closely. Glad to find another Browns, Cavs, and Indians fan out there that is very similiar. I was born in Elyria (Lorain County)which 8 miles west of downtown. My parents moved to Oliver Springs at age 6 where most of my mothers family lived. Like you, I thought Municipal Staduim was the best staduim becasue of the size over 70,000 for a baseball staduim. From 7 until 14 I would spend summers in CLeveland with grandparents. Again, like you, I listened to 1100 AM religously ( reception was only good at night, so missed day games) to catch all sports talk and games of the Cavs, Indians, and Browns. I remember Daughtery, Nance, ""Hot Rod Williams, Ron Harper, and Mark Prive came togehter and listening to each game and being disappointed when The "shot" over Craig Ehlo and Michel Jordan slaying the Cavs every year on basketball. Like you, Price was my favorite player- liked him before he was a Cav during his Georgia Tech Days. Remember Joe Carter, Cory Snyder, and Phil Neikro one season and even before that Andre Thorton swung for the Indians in 82 I think. Similar to Chicago in basketball, Denver was te Brown's slayer of championship hopes in football. The Drive and the fumble. I am just happy my parents and rest of family had the influence not allow me to become a Buckeye fan.

you guys rock- over 3000 hits! Go OWLS!

I admit, I got carried away and should not have allowed this to have gone as far as it did. I was more defensive than I should have been and my apologies on again on that. Too bad, We cant backtrack and erase this, I feel embarrassed now. Tank, I admit I know little about you except when I played ball you wrote for the RCN at that time. I just know you are passionate and care tremendously for high school athletics and the particpants- that is evident in your posts/work. Doesn't Midtown have a roller rink? thanks to goose to for refereeing