uppercumberlandbb

At the end of the year York played tight games with both Livingston and Jackson Co. They lost to LA by 2 and were within a point of Jackson Co. in the 4th quarter before losing by I think 11. York will be there as a top team in the state next year without question.

What a LAZY job the Tennessean did on the Boys' State Tournament page! Is Portland the only team which the Tennessean cares about? They don't even have records for a lot of the teams. A few years ago they had detailed information on EVERY team. Now they have a fluff page with nonsence facts which have almost nothing to do with the tournament.

Next year the AP voters should contact the Herald-Citizen in Cookeville to get an idea who to vote for since this is the only newspaper which voted with any knowledge of AA. In the last 14 years, this district (now 7AA) has won the title SEVEN times. They have come in second FIVE times and in two of those state championship games it was two 7AA teams involved (Jackson Co. vs Livingston and Jackson Co. vs Upperman). No other district in the state comes close to this kind of domination. Next year, just remember that Jackson Co., Livingston and York should be voted #1, #2 and #3 in which ever order their play indicates, but chances are great one will be the 2004 state champion.

I thought The Tennessean had done a better job this year, but today's paper shows they still don't get it. They have amost 3 pages on an average hockey team which 99% of their readers have never gone to see. Then they run a fluff page on spring sports. Couldn't they wait a couple of weeks until the winter sports are finished and give good coverage to the boys' substate games? Email them! tnsports@tennessean.com

I would like to see (after the split) the A tournament, AA tournament, AAA tournament and private school tournament. Each would have a state champion. Then, have a Super State Tournament with the 4 state champions playing...A vs private, and AA vs AAA. The winners then play the super-final for the All Classifcation state championship (or just draw to see who plays who in the first round). This way there is one super state champion, but each of the 4 classifications still has a state champion. And there would be more money for TSSAA.

I have heard this is a team made up of Georgia players. Is this true? If so, the private/public split can't come fast enough.

York got hammered under the basket all night with few being called. Portland had several over the back violations which were never called. I agree with the previous writer about York's missed opportunities, plus when Ledbetter was hurt there were two fouls committed by Portland and neither was called. This game should have gone into overtime. The boys deserved better from the officials. York played a great game as a heavy underdog. They can win Monday!

As for waiter03's comments...perhaps this is true for the 8A part of the district, but certainly not for 7A. Perry Co is #1 in the state. They beat Sante Fe by 4 points. Pickett Co. beat Sante Fe by 9 and Pickett is the #2 team in 7A. Our 7A teams will do just fine.

This was a great game which went back and forth all night and either team could have won. Congratulations RBS and Pickett Co. on a great game! Pickett's biggest lead was 4 and RBS' biggest lead was 5. The lead changed hands 11 times, was tied 7 times. After both teams went to the bench once the game was over, the RBS players went back over to the Pickett bench to shake hands which to me showed a great deal of class by RBS and showed respect for the game Pickett gave them. Both schools' fans had tremendous school spirit tonight! Now, 7A needs to sweep the first round of the region. Good luck Bulldogs, Bobcats, Bulldogs and Buffaloes!

It really wasn't that bad, actually it was mostly great as I saw it, but they should stick to supporting their team and not making fun of their opponent. I hope they do keep supporting their girls like that, just keep it positive. It was nothing like Upperman a few years ago.

The AP voters usually vote for their local teams and there's no one except the Herald Citizen of Cookeville to vote for RBS sine it is so isolated. Plus, tradition is a big factor. RBS has a great team. Pickett played poorly, but that takes nothing away from RBS. Pickett beat a great Clinton Co team by 97-72 tonight and beat Sante Fe by quite a bit at Sante Fe...#1 Perry Co. only beat them by 4...yet Pickett dropped completely out of this week's poll. Don't worry Bulldog fans, you'll show your stuff in Murfreesboro! RBS should have been a top 5 team all year, no question. RBS is as good as Temple or Cosby and better than overrated Perry Co.

eaglemgr...if you go back to the first post, you will clearly see that I said that it was not the officiating which cost Clarkrange the game. It was their play. That does not take away the fact that the officiating was terrible and was for two games in a row. I also watched the Clarkrange/LA game and didn't feel that the officiating was anything like the previous two games. And, the officials there last night are always fair. The problem was not missing a call or two, or bad calls in the Celina or RBS games. Anytime someone questions officiating, someone comes on and dismisses it as complaining because of losing a game. RBS deserved that win. But both teams deserved fair officiating and didn't get it.

1st:19-13 RBS, 2nd 14-10 RBS, 3rd: 16-15 RBS, 4th: 23-19 Clarkrange Game: 68-61 RBS Meador: 19 and Rice 18 RBS Green 19 and Thompson 17 Clarkrange [Edited by uppercumberlandbb on 1-25-03 11:28A]

The score was Red Boiling Springs 68 Clarkrange 61 Someone joked with me saying, "What will they do when Clarkrange plays Pickett Co., the refs nail both teams all the time...who will they go after?" Maybe Clarkrange the first half and Pickett the second half.

Last week after the officiating at Clarkrange, Coach Pile had the guts to speak out about the quality of officiating. Tonight against Red Boiling Springs, Clarkrange had 33-35 fouls against them to 7 against RBS. This was a shameful display by the officials. Nathan Thompson fouled out after stealing the ball and was just about tackled as he headed down court. The foul was called on him! Another time Michael Green was accidently hit in the head but that was overlooked, then when he was fouled again, it was called on him. This may not have changed the outcome of the game as RBS was much more disciplined and the Buffaloes threw a lot of bad passes and forced the ball. Plus RBS has a great team and this post by no means is knocking them. But, both teams deserved better when it comes to officiating.