fromthetop2

Predator's Pick in the 18th slot in the 1st round of the draft (from TSN bio) 16. Ryan Parent TEAM: Guelph Storm (OHL) POSITION: Centre HEIGHT: 6'1 WEIGHT: 182 lbs. BORN: 03/17/87 - Sioux Lookout, ON NOTES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS:Helped lead Canada to a silver medal at the 2005 World-18 Championship...Won a gold medal as captain of Team Ontario at the Under-17 Hockey Challenge...Captained Team Canada to a Gold Medal at the World Under-18 Hockey Challenge in 2004. (Photo: Getty Images) BOB MCKENZIE'S TAKE: The Guelph Storm blueliner is smart and mobile. His supporters, some of whom see him as a top 10 pick, say he'll play in the NHL for a good, long time. His detractors, some of whom, don't see him as a first round pick at all, say he's not dynamic enough to warrant going that high. Not expected to be a huge point producer, Parent is a sound positional player who's smart and mobile. Statistics GP G A PTS 2004-05 66 2 17 19

Any insight into the Pred's picks today? What's the story on Parent? Any relation to former NHL great Bernie Parent?

Possibly Corey Larkins since he got cut by the Titans? Bruins have their own transfers that have come in, primarily TE/DE from Clarksville who is a stud. You'll see some hardnosed defense from them for sure. Best linebacker duo they've had in Sinclair and Goff since the state championship team. Offensively, they've got some work to do since graduation took virtually all of their point producers, especially the most prolific pass-catching wide receiver in Bruin history, Brian Heimerdinger.

The return of Ron Crawford to his first head coaching site. First time matchup between these two programs. Just hope no one loses any players in this early season matchup. No knowing much about Coffee County, what should the Bruins expect to see?

One's that I've seen that should have great seasons this fall-combining good arms with good feet; guys that will win games by themselves: McNarll from Henry County TC Jennings from Ravenwood McCurdy from Brentwood

At the high school level, having kickers and punters who have extraordinary range and accuracy really change the formula of how games are played. Case in point would be the years that BA had Kody Bliss and John Vaughn. All kickoffs to the opposing team entered the endzone so every drive started at the twenty after a score. It is hard to drive the ball 80 yards every time. Even when BA drives would stall, or your defense would bottle them up deep and they had to punt, field position would flip dramatically to almost a mirror image going the other way. What also became a factor was the pressure it put on your defense and kicking game. You constantly gave BA good field position, and once they crossed the fifty, they were in range. Your defense was on edge with very slim margin for error. If you gave up points, no matter how good your offense, you were in a hole. BA didn't have the best offense or defense-but they didn't have to. Bliss and Vaughn gave them points and short fields to work. Defense wins championships, but it makes it a lot easier to play defense when you're defending 80+ yards every time.

I'm going to retract my bet on Centennial now that Danny Newell is not going to be there. They should make it, but it would be more of a lock with a mix of Greg Gregory/ Newell. Now with the wishbone firmly in place (again), the Cougars will have to overcome inexperience and their past.

It's too early to tell how good any of these teams will be, but one thing is certain no matter who they play; The Preds had better get out of October with a winning record!!!

Wes-I'll let that "second tier" crack go. I'd have to go with Middle as well, with such traditional powers as Lipscomb, Hillsboro,Trousdale County, Goodpasture, DCA, FCA, etc. in the mix year-in and out. Strong 5A programs such as Dickson County and Hendersonville, not to mention HLHS's home boys at Hunters Lane, bear mentioning. As I've stated before, if you want to get REAL specific, take Hillsboro Road starting at I-440 down into Williamson County, and go a few miles either side of that road and you've got the real POWER corridor of Tennessee High School Football. MBA, Lipscomb, Father Ryan, Overton, FRA, CPA, Brentwood Academy, Brentwood High, Ravenwood, Centennial, Franklin, BGA. About 15 miles of pure football talent.

They found the money in Harold Ford's desk drawer in the Capitol.

In an ideal situation: In 1A or 2A they fit in as depth In 3A or 4A they fit in as blocking dummies In 5A, they are separated so they won't get killed. It is not smart to put a 128 lb corner who has been in puberty for a couple of years out on the field with an 18 year old young adult who has been working with weights for four years and might have 100 pounds and a foot on him. Sometimes, though, you have no choice to fill out a squad.

How about they just round up his posse and pay THEM not to involve themselves with Adam (no Pacman name until he earns it with the Big Boys) for the remainder of the season? All they want is the bling-bling, so I say give it to them, sign them each to 100K personal services contract with Bud Adams, and their personal service is to DISAPPEAR.

Fleming should be that back, but last year only one time did they put him in the backfield on third and short and have him run the ball.

Signing the RIGHT free agents (restricted or unrestricted) is far more important for the Predators in the short term (like this upcoming season). I haven't heard much talk of the talent beyond Crosby,or how the draft pool looks overall. Here is also hoping that David "The Muffin Man" Legwand grows into a player he was supposed to be. "The Muffin Man" moniker is what the coaches call him, because he's so soft.

Still need a back to get the 3rd and short yards that the Titans got stuffed on all last year. Don't know if Henry is that back, or if Fleming could be the answer, but that is still a HUGE need.

Okay, I've got a guess--- you?????

It doesn't matter if the Rangers (or Islanders) are good or bad, they are NEW YORK and that means media exposure and Madison Ave-for the league. At least if he went to NY, and they do start getting better, then their fan base will explode. If he goes to Chicago, same thing, but on a smaller scale. If the Kings get him, it will be a media bonanza, but they could go undefeated and the fans wouldn't care. Anywhere else in the US and the needed impact will not happen. I've seen the kid play on some clips and he reminds me of Gretzky.

Let me see. . . "With the first pick in the NHL Draft Lottery, the New York Rangers select Patrick Ewing, er Sidney Crosby." Either they, Montreal or Toronto will get him. No way the NHL would let him come to Carolina, Florida, Nashville, or COLUMBUS

Hey man, join the club. HLHS speaks his own language- we've been trying to crack the code all summer! Saw a kid at Clarksville a couple of years ago-looked like a perfect cube-around 5'6" and about 320. Legs splayed out like a tripod, couldn't touch his knee pads, last running on and off the field. Really a sad sight. Too many of these kids are just plain fat-hypertension, diabetes, dead before their 35-and not worth much on the field in the fourth quarter.

And to think that Jones just came back from the NFL Rookie Seminar that touched on these and other topics! Reading that this is the third "incident" since he has been drafted, and clearly he does not respect management or his coaches, has yet to garner any respect from his teammates, SOMEONE needs to clean his clock, get in his grill, work his sorry butt to death and get through to him. He is acting just like many fan's first impression of him from draft day-all about the bling-bling, ghetto-rap-punk lifestyle, roaming the bars with his posse and hangers-on with more money than sense. He is hanging Floyd Reese and Fisher (and others in the organization) out to dry for picking him. His contract negotiations will be brutal-as will his reception at the Coliseum unless he becomes an ALL-WORLD playmaker.

My argument is the process of having more games to win a championship makes D1 more competitive. It is not the teams. To point: If the argument is that DII is better competitively, solely because you have eight teams , then in theory you could take eight teams from Class 5A (or make a class of just 4A, or 3A, etc.) and have the same comparables. For example, a Riverdale, Oak Ridge, DB, Germantown, then throw in Jeff Co, Antioch, and say Overton and Houston. You would have eight rather competitive teams, with a natural breakdown of some teams being on the bottom and having a losing record, and some being at the top with a better record. In this postulation, the random sample of the small group of numbers will make it inherently more comptetitive than a larger sample. This group of 5A would be just as competitive as the existing DII group of eight I think that is wrong. My contention is that because you have just eight teams in DII, and you don't have to win as many games to qualify for a playoff, nor do you have to even play as many games to be a champion, it can't be as competitive as having to win more games (as D1). I contend that in the D1 playoff format, where you play teams you more than likely haven't faced all year, potentially have to go back and play someone you know, then face two more teams you've never seen-all of whom have gone through the same process-makes it a more competitive situation. If I haven't clarified my argument, I beg forgiveness for a very long day.

The sheer disparity in numbers of schools renders this poll kind of moot. How can you compare just 8 teams in DII to the numbers of schools in any of the other classifications? Those schools have just as much tradition in many cases, although their coaching resumes might not be as flashy, nor are they paid as much or have as much economic resources as their private counterparts. Is DII competitive because it has so few teams, or is it competitive because of the eight teams it has? If you added another 50 teams to DII, how competitive would it be? Conversely, if you took a representative "eight" from any other division, I would say it would be very competitive. I would argue that DII is not as competitive as the other divisions for the sheer fact that the overwhelming majority of the teams will qualify for the playoffs-and then play an abbreviated playoff schedule. Isn't it more competitive to have to play more games to win a championship?

THE WAR IS OVER!! Officially announced over ESPN at noon central daylight time. Both sides claim defeat

Predictability is a good thing when it comes to Centennial. Especially with Coach Gregory at the helm.

Doug Dyer is on crack. That truly would be a bad disaster for the season if it were to occur-but upsets can happen if the Bruins are as banged up going into this game as they were last year. Bigger chance of upset now is with Centennial, now that I have heard from a very good source that Danny Newell will NOT be going to Centennial, but will join Tim Johnson at Giles County. A pass happy offense versus the wishbone favors the pass in a shootout.