UPSGregg

My freshmen year was the last year they had 3 classes. I think having only 3 narrows the field down a bit better and weeds out the weaker teams. My senior year was the last year that public and private schools played for the same titles. We didn't like playing against schools that only had 300 students (Brentwood Academy..and that number included the females) but still won state in 5A. We were in the same region as MBA (enrollment was 770) and Northeast (about 1400) that year and those were two of the top 3 teams in the state that year. My friends that went to Northeast always joked that if public and private were split that year then they'd have been state champs instead of Brentwood Academy that year. I think that they should go back to 3 classes but keep the public and private split but maybe let the winner of the private schools play the winner of the 5A Public Schools for an "Overall State Title"

I don't know if the cold really had anything to do with the fans being dead. It really wasnt that bad actually. Just windy. The last playoff game I went to was the semis in 2000(I think) when Kenwood played eventual champion Memphis East and it was like 25 degres or less. The fans were wild though. Maybe Maryville's fans are just used to winning semi final games and just don't get into it as much anymore as other schools do. I wish I could make it out to the finals Saturday but won't be able to. Good luck to the Rebels though.

My parents moved to Maryville about a year ago. I was visiting them Thanksgiving and I went to my first Maryville game Friday night against Mo West and they were almost what I expected them to be judging by what I'v had been hearing about them for so long. The fans seemed quite dead though compared to other playoff games at other schools I've been to though. What I was wondering is what happened towards the end. It seemed that someone from Mo West was thrown out or something. I know he walked off the field and went nuts on the sideline. It was hard to tell from across the way on the Maryville side.

I'll back you on that. I played against Houston during one of their "down years" and they were still a top 10 team. I later watched them play my school one of the years they won the National Title and my school gave them one of their only two games in which Houston didn't just rip the other team apart. We scored first and ended up losing 3-2. That Houston team was much, much, better than either of the two Bearden teams that won state the past two years and Bearden finished last season ranked 8th in the Country and 1rst in the Spring Poll. It's not just the two national titles that makes them a powerhouse. I mean how many schools win state in their first two years of existence? Houston may have slipped in the end last season but the key word there is "SLIPPED".

When I played the best teams in the state were Houston, CBHS, Germantown, Brentwood, Franklin, Hendersonville, Father Ryan, and Farragut and usually one team from Chattanooga. Baylor probably. Gallitan was usually a good team but only known as such in middle Tennessee because they played in such a tough district with 3 of the other teams I just mentioned. This was the early/mid 90s and really the only thing that has changed is that other teams have emerged and one or two will occasionally be down a year or two. It's actually more competitive across the state now. West Tennessee was well regarded then and is now. My school was always good but they had many seasons where they started the season slow. West Tenennessee and East Tennessee are both equally respected but middle Tennessee has always seemed to be the most competitive overall.

Houston, Germantown, Collierville, Christian Brothers, Bartlet were all well known teams across the state and still are for the most part. Now you have Cordova too. A team from Shelby County won state 5 years in a row starting in 1989 and Houston made it to the finals recently and Cordova made a good run into state last year. West Tennessee has always gotten much respect.

Whos does Maryville play next friday and where?

Hey Champ111...where is the Clarksville/Bearden game at and when is it?

I think to solve all the problems they should just have the spring fling in Middle Tennessee every year. It works for Football and Basketball so why not soccer?

Nice try Toro..you almost convinced people that I was the one lashing out in anger over someone's mistake and that it wasn't you. You also almost persuaded people to focus on lower case and upper case letters as an attempt to deviate from your failed attempt to explain why you did so. Oh wait! Actually you failed in doing those things too! Keep up the good work Toro because at this rate you'll be on the same page with other people that post here in say about....4 years. Well that is my opinion so take note of it. "It's too bad you didn't take a class in anger management and vocabulary, because you seem to get easily upset and use language that you surely didn't learn in school." Now it would be very hard for someone to ever contradict themselves that bad again....LOL.

Toro...WELCOME TO A SPORTS MESSAGE BOARD! People dumping on other teams, players, etc. and stating their opinions, or facts and etc. is what message boards are all about. It's the little smartass brats like yourself that infect them with your outbursts. If you actually follow sports on tv at all then you'd realize that even the commentators and "analysts" do such things. What a boring thing message boards would be if everyone agreed and thought exactly the same things about everything. You need to learn how to not be a little ###### when you disagree with people. Grow up!

"Excuse me, but you were the one who posted that two teams from each region advanced. I didn't. You didn't say, "I think." You stated it like it was a fact. I may be in school, but you have proven that maturity doesn't come automatically with age." Yes my thinking that the top two teams in each region advancing to sectionals was a mistake but assure you I'm one of many people that made that mistake. I made an honest mistake which can be corrected or pointed out maturly but apparently you are incapable of that. Just keep sitting back and barking out at people for the small things and always be NO off. Oh yeah...and your assumption that age has anything to do with maturity just proves your lack of it. Read the last sentence of your post...and apply it to yourself...Watch your language [Edited by QueenBee on 12-5-02 6:22A]

You need to calm your nerves and get a clue. No, I didn't go to BHS and yes I did play soccer. I played for Clarksville High and I'm also a fan. Being a former player and a fan (fans pay to get in games and that brings in money for the teams) more than qualifies me to speak my 2 cents about the game whether I was a bench rider (which wasn't the case) or all-state. Yes, Clarksville High didn't make it to the final 4 until this year but I guarantee you that if they had played in Cookeville's region then they would have made a few more trips in the past. Actually more than a few. That's just my opinion but what is a fact is that that region/section has traditionally been the weakest in the state tourney every year with the exception of Ooltewa in 1993 and Cookeville last year. Clarksville has unfortunately played in arguably one the of the best regions in the state every year since they first got a team. I'm not knocking the individual teams in that area but it is a fact that they usually don't do too well in the state tourney. I was going to tell you to get your facts straight but then realized that you'd have to learn some first in order to do that.

Toro...you are the the real problem here you NO little kid! You know it is possible to correct someone without being a NO? I guess you'll learn that once you grow up. For everyone else who responded the right way...yeah there has been allot of confusion about it. It's been discussed on here before and it seemed that it was overwelmingly thought to be true. Oh well. It would be better though. It's really not a complicated thing to do. Basketball has been doing it forever. Toro will catch on one day but for now I guess he is a little too confused and blinded by his inmaturity that comes with being a high school kid sometimes. Thank god they are not all like that. Thank God not all adults respond like you do, UPS...that kind of language is inappropriate for coachT boards [Edited by QueenBee on 12-5-02 6:20A]

Bearden and Farragut will be back. Franklin and Brentwood will be tough as usual. Houston should be back after having their worse team in school history last season. Clarksville, Gallitan, and Hendersonville will be fighting tooth and nail to get in those final two region championship spots. It should be a pretty good season now that two teams from each region advance to sectionals.

Clarksville Northeast of the 1995/96 school year is arguably the best team "EVER" to not win state in Tennessee. They pummeled, ran over, and around, EVERY team they played that year with the exception of BA which was their only bad game of the year in which they fumbled the game away yet only lost 7-3 to the eventual champs. They beat down the 10th ranked team in Kentucky 80-20 <~~~not a typo....and embarrassed MBA something like 41-14 (who would eventually go on and take BA into several overtimes in the semis). Northeast's region was probably the toughest in 5A that year featuring good teams such as MBA, Whites Creek, Henry Co, Dickinson, Hunters Lane, etc. Northeast had 3 running backs rush for over 1,000 yards. One of them was Travis Stevens who had over 2,500. This team was considered definitely the most quickest team (overall team speed) in Tennessee history by many coaches that had been around for many years and had coached against or saw NE play that season. That was definitely unarguable as far as their defense was concerned. I played against them and they were ridiculously quick on both sides of the ball. It really was amazing that they didn't win state that year. The only people that could beat them that year was themselves and that is what happened against BA. So not only do they get my vote for best ever to not win state but they are definately one of the best teams overall that their has ever been in Tennessee.

I really agree. I was pointing out the fact that area teams havnt really done anything since he left though. He wasnt a bad coach though. He didn't always have the Trenton Hassels and Sean Marions. In fact, he usually didn't have that much more talent, if any, than Northwest and Northeast. He still managed to keep them in the district/region mix and this was going on long before Sean Marion and Trenton Hassel came. CHS and Northeast were two good teams for years and years. Hopper wasnt a great coach as far as the Xs and Os but its like you said...he kept them in top shape. In a way he was like the soccer coach (Dave Donahue)at CHS. They have ruled their district for years. Many of his teams in the late 80s, early 90s won the district with less talent than the other school in Clarksville. Those kind of coaches tend to under achieve with the teams they get that actually do have talent though and that was Hopper's problem. Donahue pushes his players to the limits and but also is a above average coach so he has been very successful. Northeast never really did anything in basketball except when they were loaded which would suggest that they usually never really had any talent but were successful because of a hard coach. Now it seems all the teams have dropped talent wise but are barely hanging around simply becuase they are pushed by those type of coaches.

I say Mike Irby at Houston. He is the boys coach as well.

All the Clarksville team's coaches are ok I guess but none of their teams have really done anything around here in a while. A district championship is really not a big deal like it was in the 90s and before now that its mostly made up of Clarksville schools. When was the last time a team from Clarksville has made it past regionals? It seems like every since Coach Hopper left Clarksville high and since the three new schools have opened that Clarksville has dropped off the map for basketball.

Clarksville

I sure wish we had played in that region and section Tullahoma plays in. We would have made it at least to sectionals every year and to state just about every year and I know the teams since I graduated would have made it every year.

Isn't there a phone number or email address you people can call to get in touch with someone at TSSAA that might be able to look into this? If people put half the effort into contacting TSSAA as you do into dramatizing this thread then Knox Central might be in deep ##it! If it continues this way than nothing will become of it. You people will argue back and forth and threaten each other and insult each other but a month from now after the season is over it won't matter because no one bothered to put any effort into actually doing something about it. If this stuff is really true then its certainly not fair and something needs to be done about it that will actually solve the problem. This route here is to the point where it's a waste of time and going nowhere fast.

Isn't there a phone number or email address you people can call to get in touch with someone at TSSAA that might be able to look into this?

I think this should have been done years ago. Basketball has been doing it forever. Last spring it just didn't seem right for Gallatin to not be in the qaurter finals after losing in the region by penalty kicks to Clarksville. The same thing happend the year before except Clarksville was on the losing end and was undefeated up until that game. Teams like Brentwood and Farragut were sitting out the state tourny while weaker, but good, teams from weaker regions were playing against Bearden and Clarksville. This will give teams that play in tough regions another shot at state such as Farragut, Brentwood, etc. Another example...when I was in school Clarksville had two very good basketball teams (Clarksville and Northwest). Clarksville High was the better team but northwest was just below them. We beat them in the district and region finals but they were still able to advance to state because the top two teams in the region always advance.

Gone are the days when Clarksville was considered a baskteball town. You used to be able to count on Clarksville, Northeast, or Northwest having a shot at winning the region and maybe advancing past sub state. Now it seems all the teams are just average mediocre teams. What happened???