pinkpanther

I was being sarcastic. I don't know who either fastereddie or benchcoach is. Either one of them could walk up and punch me, and I wouldn't know who did it. You'll probably see me at the Bill Boruff Shootout this weekend. I'm going to try to go both nights. Speak if you see me.

Hey fastereddie! Check out the boys' basketball thread titled "Livingston vs. White Co." Benchcoach says on there that it is "stupid to blame a coach for every loss." He sure sings a different tune over there than he does on this board. He finds things to blame Hess for on this board even if the girls win. I just thought you might find that interesting.

Hey fastereddie! Didn't I see you at Wal-Mart the other day? Benchcoach, didn't I talk to you at Food Lion a couple of days ago? Come on, folks! This is a basketball board, not the dating game. If you want to hook up, go somewhere else. The rest of us want to talk about Sparta's boys' basketball team. Why don't you try Match.com or something to get a date?

I know what you're getting at ktown. I was sitting behind the bench. I just pay close attention to details. If I'm going to get on here and shoot my mouth off, I want to know what I'm talking about. You probably noticed that I didn't comment on the Cookeville game. I wasn't there, so I really couldn't say anything about it.

I was sitting behind Sparta's bench on Saturday night. They got the ball back, down by 1, with 38 seconds left. Slatten called a time out and gave them a play. They then dribbled around, as usual, until 12 seconds were left. Slatten called another time out and called another play. That time I think they threw up a bad shot, Livingston got the rebound, and that was the game. Livingston missed a shot which gave England a desperation heave at the basket, but it was too late. Please don't say that Slatten won't let the team run plays. It looks to me like they can't run the ones that he gives them. A coach can't do everything. Players have to step up at some point. Sparta really only has one player right now capable of stepping up. I don't think Slatten should say negative things like this is the worst team he has ever coached, if it's true that he really said that. Even if he thinks that, he should keep it to himself. It's not good for the team to hear things like that. Bad teams usually cost coaches their jobs. If Slatten leaves or loses his job, it won't be because he is a bad coach. It will be because he wasn't given the time, talent, or community support to get Sparta basketball back to where it once was. Maybe it will never get back to that point. You have to admit, there were a lot of tall, talented players who went through here during the state championship era. I'm going to irritate a lot of people with this post. I try to stay positive, but sometimes the truth hurts. [Edited by pinkpanther on 12-15-02 6:12P]

I thought Sparta played against Slatten-coached teams in the postseason during the two state title years. Maybe it was in the sub-state. I do know he had success at Cleveland, though. I was always proud to see a local guy doing good.

ktown...Sooner or later, the players on a team have got to be held accountable for something. Sparta had the Livingston game won. I was there. They were up by 4 with just over a minute left to play. They made 2 mental errors that cost them the game. There was a very questionable no-call by the refs in there, but those happen in every game. The boys blew it themselves tonight. I hate to say it, but it's true. A coach can't control anything once the players hit the floor. It's up to the players then. Livingston had a better team than Sparta. I think Slatten and Dotson had them well-prepared. The blame for this loss goes to the boys on the team. They played a great game, except for the last minute. They had the win, but let it slip away.

Can someone please answer a dumb question for me. There are the Varsity, J.V., and 9th Grade teams. Am I right? Now for the dumb question. What is the difference between the J.V. nad the 9th Grade team? When I was in school, the 9th Grade team was called the J.V. Have I missed something in the years since I got out of high school? Help!!!

It was a good game. Sparta's winning margin doesn't really show how close the game was. Anderson had a great game. Why isn't Agee getting to play? I noticed she was the only one on the team who didn't get into the game. I haven't seen her play at all this season. Lewis did well. I like her aggression. Sunday didn't have a lot of points, but she controlled the boards and played great defense. A question...Is Danielle Allen not on the team this year? I noticed her in the stands. Please allow me to ask a stupid question. Has anyone else noticed how some of Sparta's girls bounce, or hop, when they're on defense? Are they taught to do this, or is it a habit? A lot of defense is footwork. It seems to me that this constant bouncing would be disruptive to footwork. The two players I notice doing it the most are Cole and Sunday. Is it something that they carry over from volleyball? I guess I'm just crazy, but I thought I would ask.

ktown...To answer your last question to me, read layup's last post. It says exactly what I would have said. I even shot layup a good mark for it. People seem to forget that Slatten won when he was at Cleveland too. His teams were in the state tournament consistently, if I'm not mistaken. He was a winner at Perry Co. He was a winner at Cleveland. He spent 1 season at that school in West Tennessee. He had a losing season, but it was his first year. He probably took over a struggling program, so big deal. This is why I support Slatten. He hasn't won at Sparta yet. That's YET. He will. Rome wasn't built in a day. Everybody says they support Sparta's team. Slatten is as much a part of that team as any of the players. If you don't support him, your full support isn't behind the team either.

Let me ask you a question benchcoach. Should the plant managers of all the factories in Sparta live in White Co.? A lot of them live in Cookeville, and I'm sure with their salaries they are taking a lot more money out of Sparta than Hess is. It's not just plant managers, either. A lot of Sparta bosses and business owners live in Cookeville. It's more impressive to live over there. My boss would love to live in Sparta, but his wife refuses to live here. Maybe Hess is in a similar situation. What does it matter where he lives? To me, where Hess lives is a pretty thin argument to use against him. [Edited by pinkpanther on 12-14-02 2:53P]

Why does every discussion about Sparta basketball inevitably end up going back to Roy Whited? Yes, I did put in my two cents about him. That's all I'm going to say, though. It's time to move on. There's a new coach in town.

I try to stay out of the past, but I want to make this one point. I think Whited left because he saw this rebuild coming and he didn't want to have to go through it. Even if all the players that quit after Slatten was hired had stayed, the team would have still struggled. The only thing I question about Whited's leaving was the timing of his announcement. I think he should have waited until the end of the season. The team never played well after he announced his resignation. He did a great job at White Co. and I think the timing of his resignation was his only big mistake. I'm not going to start comparing then to now. Now is all that matters. I'm going to say it again. Give it time, folks. Give it time.

If Sparta were winning, we wouldn't be having this discussion. When they start winning, we won't. Give it time, folks. Give it time.

I think Sparta has a respectable team and a good coach. Yes I said it, I think Slatten is a good coach. He has just inherited a team in a rebuilding period. The team looks much better this year than they did last year. That's called improvement. I don't know how many games they will win this year like 85warrior does, though. I want to see them win more than last year. Will they? Only time will tell. A person's negativity reflects back on them and makes them look bad. I choose to look at the positives that I see. There might not be very many at times, but they are there if you're willing to look for them. Slatten is the coach, period. I will support him and his team as long as he is here. Haley made a bit of a good-ole-boy hire, but he was justified. How often can you hire a coach with a state championship on his resume that is from your own hometown? Not very often. If the situation hasn't changed in 3 or 4 years, maybe it will be time for a change. If a change gets made then, maybe you, 85warrior, Homerj, and anybody else that wants to can lead a parade for Slatten as he leaves town. I'm going to look at it this way. If people don't come out to see the teams play, they don't know what they're missing.

It bothered me that there were very few in the student section at the Upperman game. There usually isn't an empty seat to be found. When the boys players went down during the girls' game, it practically emptied out. Maybe the 18-degree weather outside had something to do with it. The gym as a whole was fairly empty. I hope people aren't giving up. Both teams need all the support they can get. And for you ktown...If you can't say something intelligent, don't say anything at all. OK?

How man games has Dodson won in the last 3 years? If we're going on that basis, I think we better keep Slatten around. You've got to do better than that homerj.

Upperman kept giving the ball to Mathis at the end of the game. Why not? He was the best player on the floor on either team. The intentional fouls at the end were not what turned the game. The refs had already given it to Upperman by then. Sparta was just doing what they had to do. They had the lead down to 6, then here came some more bad calls. Sparta never had a chance. I can't wait until they play again. If you can't get calls at home, though, you're sure not going to get them in Baxter. I'm anxious to see how it goes.

Let's hope it's not Bryan Haley. From what I have heard, it sounds like every effort is being made to get him to the high school. He coached a lot of these girls in Middle School, so I'm afraid that might create a connection.

What about Slatten not getting any T's in the Upperman game? I was proud of the way he kept his cool with those horrible refs. It would have been easy for anybody to go ballistic with some of those calls.

Please don't confuse "size" with "height." I didn't say King would add height. She is a bigger girl and adds more of a physical presence. She also moves better and shoots better.

Is Coach Haile retiring? I hadn't heard about it. A lot of the players will miss him. I hear he is very well-liked.

Who won the coaching battle is a moot point, Sparta won the game. That's all that matters. A win is a win. A coach can do nothing about his team playing down to the competition. Once they hit the floor, it's out of his hands.

Watch out for Upperman's #21, Mathis. He is a very good player. Their #33 is good too. I can't remember his name, but I remember his dunk against Sparta on Friday. The boy has hops.

I've heard they have a good team, but tell us more. I know Sunday has a younger sister, and the McFadden girl (hope I spelled it right) is supposed to be good.