fromthetop2

LSMFT, I don't know about Maryville moving up to 5A (which should be a lock), but it is not because Williamson County Schools will all be 5-A. Page and Fairview High Schools could in no matter shape or form garner enough students to make the move. The only 5A schools in WillCo are the ones in Region 6. If Northeast drops down to 4A, that won't be a huge factor for 6-5A. You could easily swing Overton into that group, geographically speaking. At least it would be a huge football upgrade. In a few years, Nolensville High School (if not one further south) will be built, so another Williamson County 5A will be added to Region 6.

If you didn't watch the series, then you missed some compelling television. Game 5 was a classic, and how Game 6 played out, with the puck sliding parallel to Osgood about three inches from the line as time expired was as good as it gets. We aren't into hockey? Nashville was the #7 market for the finals. Beat out NYC, Boston, Chicago, and Dallas. Vegas was in the top ten, but we all know the reason for that. Great way to end the season- looking forward to the Preds being there someday!

Celtic D was impressive last night. And as Pat Summitt said, rebounding wins championships. Celts punished the Lakers on the boards. Kobe had very few clean shots all night. Should be a very interesting series with the top two teams going at it. I hope it is as exciting as the Stanley Cup was!

Interesting reading when you start comparing individual schools within a system- who's bringing scores up, who's bringing the average down. It may help to explain why some schools have tougher times attracting talent than others- both administratively and as teachers.

No matter how talented freshmen are, they are at a physical mismatch with 18-19 year olds. Some skill players might get some PT, but in large part they might be running for their lives against the players and teams on their schedule. If Blackman starts a number of them, they will be in for a rough season. The good news would be that by the time they are seniors, they would have four years of varsity experience and could be title-contenders (see Ravenwood and Indy).

At this juncture, it is a viable question, "Will Northeast offer football in the fall?" To me, it would be no different than the kids who attend a school that doesn't offer a sport, and are immediately eligible for that sport in a neighboring school. The administration owes not only the students and their families an answer, but also the other teams in Region 6-5A. They would need to hustle to set up a game to fill the hole in the schedule. No need to have a repeat of the Hillsboro-Franklin situation of last year.

Frankly, from all of the comments, I was surprised that you had a scrimmage. Nice work on the video. Any scoring results?

The stone cold facts are that even if NE had a stable coaching situation, you were still looking at being the last place team in the region. Since moving up to 5A- and having the unfortunate curse of being in Region 6- the Eagles have been outmanned and outschemed. The reality is that they will have to improve tremendously to have a chance against even the lower echelon teams of the region. They are not competitive with Brentwood, Ravenwood, Dickson, Franklin, and Independence. That's five losses guaranteed. Centennial is not far away from the big five, so add a sixth loss. You are almost guaranteed a losing season coming in. Prospective coaches look at this situation and know it's not a fair fight for the Eagles. Add to the malaise with administration, and it is a lose-lose propostition. Maybe the NE Administration recognizes this and have decided to further de-emphasize football. At least basketball gives the school some credibility. I hope whomever takes this position has a ton of patience. It is THE toughest assignment in the region.

It was great to see Brentwood and Ryan in the finals of DII. There is a long history between those two squads, and a history of very intense, very physical games. The series in 2000 when Brentwood and Ryan played is one I'll remember for a long time. First game, Brentwood squeaks out an OT win, second game, Bruins crushed Ryan at their place. The second game was memorable for the intense checking and turned when Ryan's leading scorer got thrown out of the game in the second half- and nearly had an old fashioned street brawl after the game. Since it was the last game of the season, both teams were told that it might be the only reason they weren't banned from playing anymore that season. Not a lot of finesse play back then when things deteriorated. Trust me, it is a lot better play now.

July in which year? /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" This is an absolutely terrible situation. Whomever the school gets to take this thankless job will have to be a miracle worker just to catch up far enough at this point to see the tail lights way off into the distance of the second worst team in that region. Unfortunately, the Wildcat players are the ones who will pay for this administrative malpractice. In reality, if this goes on much longer and I am not entirely joking, they should forfeit most of their region games and schedule JV just to get experience and give the coach a chance at putting in his system. Sorry Wildcats. Your administration apparently does not think football is an extracurricular activity important or worthy enough to treat it any better than the Science club.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Brentwood Bruins on their first state title in lacrosse. Having been affiliated with the program off and on for a number of years, it really is a proud moment for all who have participated in the program; both in the past and now in the present. The stability of the program in the last few years, the creation of the middle school program, and the resulting increase in skill level and "attitude" all led to this point. For years, the lacrosse program was plagued by coaching turnovers, lack of lacrosse skills, and the "its only a club sport" attitude. Once it became important, then things stabilized, parental involvement increased, skills dramatically increased, participation grew, sacrifices were easier to demand- and the result is a state championship. Props out to Coach Cat for all of your years of hard work and belief, all of the parents who put time into the program, all of the players who laid the foundation, and to the Father of Brentwood Lacrosse, Mike Skiera. Coach Sky's influence and vision has paid off. Without your tireless effort, there would not BE a program. I know that a lot of former players had a smile brought to their faces when they heard the news! It has been a wonderful journey (and at times there were doubts), but oh my, the view from the mountaintop is very much worth it. Again, congratulations!!! Now, what are you going to do for me next year?

Which level of football are you talking about? Yes, the spread offense (or a variation of it) is becoming the flavor of the month, much like the evolutionary cycle of wing-T, single-wing, split-T, veer, wishbone, I-back, West Coast at colleges across the country. High Schools mimic colleges. Pros don't get as fancy, of course. Why? Because of superior athletes on defense and very sound schemes. High Schools don't have that luxury. Each team has all levels of "athletes" in their program, as well as abilities of coaches. A smart coach runs an offense to suit the talent he is given- not the other way around. One-three step passing patterns (which are heavily dependent on timing) are a good bet if you don't have the best line, but good receivers. Five-seven works if your QB has the arm, you've got a good line, and decent wideouts. If you have not much in the skill department you primarily run the ball. HS Coaches may install the spread to appear current, score more points, confuse the defenses that aren't up to speed in attacking it, or attract talent that might not be coming out for football. It will work only as long as he has the personnel to run it- and plays against better coached defenses.

VG is right Solly- you got to step up for the woman who changed your diapers and cleaned up after you (that is, until she married you off and gave the job to another woman). I bought my parents a new flat screen for Christmas. I had to have someone come out to their house to hook it all up, though. They JUST mastered e-mailing a couple of years ago so I didn't want to come back and see the system still in the box. They love it. Just make sure you get a big enough size (42-46" depending on how far away her chairs are). Let her know how successful you are that you can afford these trinkets. Write it all off as a tax consultant job. LCD prices have come down as production has increased, so go that route, IMO.

Many households still unready for DTV 21 April, 2008 12:33:00 As you know at midnight on 2/17/09 all full-power U.S. television stations will stop broadcasting their signals in analog and will switch to 100% digital broadcasting. According to Nielsen, unready homes, which present the greatest cause for concern, are concentrated among Hispanic homes, Households with older viewers and Households in rural areas. DMAs that are the most ready for the upcoming change include: NY, Hartford, Boston West Palm and Philadelphia. The most ???unready??? DMA??™s are: Portland, Minneapolis, Salt Lake, Houston and Albuquerque. According to Nielsen Media Research, 17.3% of Hispanic homes have only unready sets versus 12.4% for Black and 11.7% for Asian homes. Quick Facts about TV ???readiness???, from Carat Programming: Consumers have several options from which they can choose 1. They can keep their old ???rabbit ear??? TVs in which case a special converter box is required 2. Connect their TVs to a cable or satellite service (an analog TV connected to cable, satellite, or some other form of pay TV service does not require a special converter box). 3. Purchase a new TV with a digital tuner (An HDTV is nice, but not necessary). Congress created the TV converter box coupon program for households wishing to continue to use their old analog TV sets (with an antenna) after the switchover to digital. This program allows U.S. TV Households to obtain up to two coupons worth 40 dollars each that can be applied toward the purchase of eligible converter boxes that will cost somewhere between 40 and 70 dollars at retail. According to the latest figures from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, about 5.3 million households have taken up the government on its offer of discount coupons. Approximately 10 million coupons have been requested since the program was implemented on January 1. Redemption of these vouchers however, is going far more slowly as consumers wait for manufacturers to roll out the converters and for major chains such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart to stock them. As of April 11 just about 280,000 coupons have been redeemed to date. Carat Programming reports they don??™t know how many of these ???unready??? homes will connect to cable or satellite TV, purchase the converters or upgrade their sets in time for when stations collectively make the big switch. In the worse case scenario, some will wind up having their sets go dark on transition day: ???Clearly, there is a great need for public education in order to reach out to the groups most in need of having this information. While the government has a very informative website, chances are it is not accessible to a low-income elderly person who most likely has no internet access.??? To date the Federal government has spent just 5 million dollars on public outreach, not nearly enough money to get the word out to those who need it most. Over the coming year, a massive consumer education campaign-valued at 1 billion is being deployed by the cable and broadcasting industry. According to a recent NAB survey, about 79% of Americans are aware that TV ???will change in some way

He may have played 13 years in the NFL, but his body must feel like it was in dog years. He provided a lot of thrills for the fans, and was the face of the franchise from the first days he came to Tennessee. One of the toughest players in the NFL, he and Favre defined what tough meant for the QB fraternity. Before injuries eroded his talent, he was about as dangerous a QB on the field as you could get. Not the most artistic or blessed with the greatest arm- he just played ball. It was a sad final chapter when he went to the hated Billick Ravens, but Father Time has now called him to join his team. I hope the Titans do something this season, and retire his number. From tiny Alcorn State to possible HOF consideration, it was a good career for Air McNair.

Huge night for the Preds and they come through, taking a game away from the stunned Red Wings and the Dominator. Two goals in a back breaking nine seconds. Never saw that stretch coming. As tough as I have been on Suter, he played a career best game last night. Great energy in the building, Vince singing the National Anthem, crazy loud crowd- lots of fun. Why doesnt' the league do something about Kromwell before Darcy or Jordan take matters into their own hands? Three straight games he has tried to injure a Predator- this time, Bonk somehow survived a potential career ender. His head better be on a swivel. Keep it up Preds!

I've got a great story about the Blackhawks game I need to IM you on, Dandy. Now to the playoffs! First game, Ellis stood tall in the goal, but a questionable call and the almost predictable defensive lapse cost the Preds the game. First line has to start throwing pucks on the net. Tootoo needs a little "fair" officiating. He plays hard, will throw down with anyone, and hits like a truck. As long as it's within the rules, what is the beef? However, the officials seem to look the other way when he gets rocked- and takes a shot to the head AND the offending player left his feet to deliver the blow. A little equal justice this game would be appreciated. The Red Wings in a less than full Joe Louis Arena don't need the extra help. Hopefully today we pick up a split and the first road victory for the franchise!

This might get harsh. . . Way to choke off a National Championship, Cal. The first thing I thought was those comments about making clutch free throws when they counted have come back to bite you. The fact is that you were a 58% seasonal FT team for a reason. The last few games success at the line was apparently an abberation. But hey, FT stats are for everyone else, right? Up by 9 with about three minutes left. Having regulation expire with two freaking TO's in your pocket. If you listen to the Westwood One broadcast of the last regulation possession by KU, you hear John Thompson call "timeout!" and then "foul him." Were you trying to imitate Roy Williams on that one? What was Cal thinking- or was he? It has been discussed all day about this situation. Not he nor anyone on his staff had any game plan apparently for the situation. And to say "we were trying to foul" is totally off base. Look at your point guard Rose- he is running with hands up trying NOT to foul him. Where was the coaching? Personally, I would have burned ONE of the TO's after KU stole the inbounds pass, which was unexcuseable inattention on the player's parts. Another thing I couldn't believe was Coach Cal FINALLY recognizing that they were in some sort of zone defense (actually a box and one). They only were running that D off and on all game long. Too bad he didn't coach his players to recognize a zone while on the court. Does Memphis know how to run a zone on their end? Or does he do just like his detractors say he always does- rolls the ball out on the court and gets out of his players way? Outcoached all game long- and particularly at crunch time when your team needed a strong hand at the wheel, you were MIA. Not fair to your kids, buddy, not all. I had a strong feeling all day that if the game was tight at the end, KU would be the mentally tougher team. Proven right on that one, I guess. I really had no dog in the fight, but would have liked to have seen Memphis State win for some friends and relatives of mine sake. I can't imagine the emptiness real supporters have today.

One good thing in Pearl's favor- he played more guys from Tennessee than any of the other major Universitys. Anybody had a Willie Kemp sighting recently? Memphis/KU is as good a matchup as either team will have. The game will be at warp speed. UCLA looked pitiful- but not nearly as out of sync as UNC in the first half. Was it just me or were the announcers doing everything they could to play up the Uclans? Yea, major market and all, but give it a REST! I think they all wanted a UCLA- Carolina matchup. Right Dickie V? Hey, baabEE, Carolina is close to Duke, so it counts, am I right? Seriously, good luck to Tiger High. Bring the trophy back to the state of Tennessee- not Arkansas, or Mississippi.

The Back-From-the-Dead Preds did the right thing last night and played like they should have and lost to the B-hawks. The only troubling thing is that Chris Mason is not stopping anything anymore. Or, maybe the defense knew the "script" and let Mason out to dry so he'd allow goals. That way he could step aside for Renne, who played well. If they started Renne, he might have wanted to play so well he might have actually (gulp) won the game. Now, rather than facing the Sharks, the Preds can turn their attention to a team they match up far better with- Detroit. I know some of you skeptics will say, why do you want to play the President's Cup winners? Simple- we can beat Detroit, and they know it. They also know they have developed a pretty nasty reputation for choking in the first round. Dead Wing fans can't be feeling all smug about this matchup. The last home game (which I had to miss because of prior commitments) was, by all accounts, one for the ages. That kind of crowd support is what this town will bring the rest of the way. Playing Detroit guarantees it. Go Preds- Barry Trotz, Coach of the Year.

The Bruins need a QB to step up. They thought they had an answer going into the fall, but it didn't work out. AJ was thrust into a tough situation and performed admirably. He is a winner and a leader, but I was never impressed with his ability to throw in game conditions. That's not necessarily his fault, but just how things fell. I was never impressed at practice or games with the receiving corps. Way too many drops. All of it needs to be fixed, and should be fixed this season.

As long as Ron Crawford is there, Brentwood will have a stout defense. Now the offense. . . is in dire need of some playmakers to step up. Need desperately to develop a passing game (which is incredible to think when the word "Brentwood" pops up). And that starts at QB and goes through to the WR position. That was the one glaring problem Bruins had last season. I don't think the play-calling there last season was anything more than a reflection of the limited nature of the skill positions. You didn't have a Whittemore throwing to a Davenport, or a McCurdy throwing to a Heimerdinger, or have an Everson, or a Lifsey, or a Smith, or a Fugate rumbling down the field. You did the best you could with what you had. Depending on personnel (as a learned person analyzed the situation there), the Bruins will either be like Florida or like Air Force each season. If the Bruins can develop some offensive firepower, they'll go far. If they have what they had last year, it will be a dog-fight with the top teams in the region. Any team breaking in a new QB will have challenges competing for the top spot. The only sure thing you can count on this upcoming season is that Clarksville NE is going to get there lights put out each week again this year. Not having a coach this late in the season borders on administrative malfeasance. They are not even giving their kids a chance to be competititve.

I bet Rich Rodriguez vouched for his character as well. . .

The more you read about it, the more the Indiana job is looking like looking for the latest Emperor in the Last Days of Rome before the Huns sacked the city. Two more players were kicked off the team, their best player is going to the NBA, and after your graduating seniors leave, you've got a bare pantry. Heard from numerous directions that the NCAA is going to pounce on the Hoosiers for lack of institutional control. Daikich is the focal point for player discontent. I don't whether or not he is a poor coach or not, but it is obvious the players tanked the remainder of the season once Kelvin got canned. The fans blame Mike Davis, they blame the Administration, they blame Miles Brand; they all want a Bobby Knight clone- except the ones who think the IU Administration is setting up black coaches to fail, and thus won't hire another minority. Not a good situation for any coach to walk into. Also, you absolutely have to have outstanding point guard play to get to the final four- something UT never had the personnel to acheive. Maybe in the future, but not now.

Last week of the season. Ellis has turned into Gump Worsley, and sets a freaking franchise record for consecutive shutout minutes. Where has THAT been all season? Did Renne physically threaten him, or what? Need to sweep this week- any losses and the Preds are Dead. What do you think? Do they pull this out of the fire, or collapse and burn? (Can't believe Suter missed an open net against the Wings!!!)