Chrome

Mental part is by far the worst thing to deal with. Especially with a daughter. Mine tore hers in her 2nd ever varsity contest as a sosphomore & never made it back to the floor thanks to coach who never thought she put forth enough effort afterwards. Tore on Thanksgiving, played soccer then next fall. Getting rehabbed & fit was not an issue. Having confidence & dealing with others totally differnt story. Good luck.

Where is 4AAA tourney? Ae brackets up yet?

$130 a night? Where? For $65, my buddy gets to leave at 4:30, drive an hour, watch a little of a JV game & try to help younger officials learn, then get dressed, work a couple of games. Most nights he's dressed & out of the gym by 10P & on his way home to wife & kids already in bed. Why in the world is everyone always looking to find something wrong with the game? Rick Barry commented this weekend that NBA players have lost sight of the fact they are playing a game for a living. I'm afraid a lot of people following high school athletics have followed the same path. I'm sure some officials fall in this category as well. In the world of officiating, it is a long road to the top, & high school officials are not very far up that ladder. The angry, upset, & misguided will always be louder than all other voices.

As a Heritage alum, I wish them luck. I was fortunate to play 3 years there & lose only 1 game to either of the 3 in county schools. Those days are long gone. As someone who still follows HS sports closely, kids have to somehow taste success before they can become successful. Dropping Alcoa is an option that I think is overdue. And if I get to choose to play Maryville or Alcoa, no choice there. Maybe my kids can see what it takes to win with class & discipline at the one. Not certain who actually puled the plug, but I commend them for at least trying to lay some groundwork for success through the schedule. As a junior, I remember playing Maryville the first game of the season. That loss literally stuck with us for weeks. We were fortunate to made the playoffs, but that was really a setback. Then, with the game later in the year the next year, it did not mean as much- non-conference game that we just wanted really bad (ironically got basted at Rule first game of the year in non-conference affair.) As for keeping community together, hogwash. I grew up going to Alcoa games watching Todd Upton & Terry Whitted. Thankful my parents sent me here I was zoned on that part. WB, HHS, & Alcoa all had one thing in comon, we hated Murvul. Still will not wear red & black to this day together even though I don't live close. County kids never have liked Maryville, never will unless there is a mass influx people who have no links to the past. However, if I still lived there, I'd darn sure try to make certain my kids went there. Good luck to Heritage- they sure have not had much in the past decade!

and there is the probem, he's been in Blount County before with some success, & decided the grass was greener elsewhere. Is Reeves the Off coach at Blount? Seems to me like he's done a pretty good job, been a servant now under 3 head coaches, has served his time, & deserves a chance.

School board & county commissioners are simply politicians. They'll keep the masses happy, & the masses are not crying for winners. Yeah, they would be nice, bit hiring a winner costs money no one seems to have or can find. You think Walland, Porter, & Everett would have settled for this mess year in & out? I for one do not. They'd sell the shirt off their backs for their children to play for a winner. But when they get to the big school, they just want their kids to get through. Consolidation of schools in Blount County was the single biggest detriment to to athletic success of the kids in that county. And why consoldiate, it was cheaper to have 2 big schools than several smaller ones to upkeep. While I just hope the academics are not in as poor condition as the athletic programs, I'm afraid they are simpy a mirror of what is going on in the classroom. In my lifetime, Blount Countians have been far more interested in stopping a road or liquor & beer sales than they have been in athletics. That being said, I was fortunate to have had some success in this system. Played on 3 playoff teams & had really good peope for coaches who I have admired to this day. Seeing Jim Nelson's name on a list stirs up passions I have not had in some time. I can still remember that stick up beside my helmet at Eagleton. The man could have made me run through a wall. I hope they can find someone to stir up those feelings in a community & not just in the kids. I firmly beleive there is nothing you can do in Blount County that will bring in more money to the schools than put a winner on the field. I'm quite certain that a good hire would pay dividends for years to come.

Coach Thomas one night at Sullivan Central had his whole game plan to stop Witten. He was stilll preaching it as witnessed him carry 3 defenders from the 10 yard line into the end zone. Think he had 2 touchdowns that night & no telling how many tackles. What was really neat was to watch him whip someone's butt, reach down to help them up after the play, & then go do it again. I thought we'd gone back in time. I'd never seen or heard of the kid until that night, but I never forgot after that. Don't know if I'll ever see a high school player I thought any more of

I've been to schools from Lake County & Memphis Germantown Chattnoga East Ridge to Mountain City- Clinch is smallest gym I've ever seenthat actually allows people to attend tha games.

It really helps know how to play & want to. The Ramsey kid is classic example. I saw the kid with his cast on trying to throw left handed. Seem to be a really classy kid that i oneof thr briight spots for East next year!

8th grade & awesome. Friend of mine coached against him, says he is the real deal already.

I am a firm believer that athletics mirror the classroom. Is Blount County that far behind there as well? Facilities are much more than adequate. Unfortunately, the Walland, Porter, & Everett successes just seemed to vanish when they poured them all into "the big school." There have been a couple of good football coaches come back through the county in the last couple of years, but both left for the opportunity to leave (Reid & Wilson). While it would be nice to win, it is just not important enough for the communities for the county schools to win. For Maryville, I'll hate red & black forever, but success & image is important to them. Just look at how they've handled bad situations. One gets rid of an administrator in a bad situation, the other lets a much worst situation go on his way & foots the bill for it. I respect how Maryville's was handled, I have none for the later and still listen to people snicker about it. If the Superintendent, school boards, & communities don't support & require success, this is what they will get- in the class room & on the field.

I cannot believe they could not get someone qualified to run a program. How can West hire coaches who are moderately to highly successful, & East be the flavor of the year?

Thought I heard they were doing interviews, any news??

When the family took it to the papers, then "all is fair." You're exactly right about athletes getting out of hand. There seems to be little reward for hard work, discipline, and no one seems to care about integrity. I may not have when I was 18, but I rely on them now. It is a shame this whole thing got into the media like it did, but I think this article was an appropriate excalmation point.

I thought they just had to lifeguuard at the pool in the summer- should have known there would be more to it