boyfromsi

Hey Willie! Appreciate the support from out-of-town! I will try to keep things posted for fans like you.

Sequatchie, I'll try to be as descriptive as I can... SD runs a lot of option from the I with a man in motion. Their basic defensive set is a 3-4 with a lot of blitzing. I was impressed with their number 33, good speed. To be honest, they looked pretty young and their seemed to be about 50 players on the team.

Just a report from the scrimmage tonight... Oak Ridge varsity scored 4 touchdowns to SD 0. JV scored another 3 times to SD 1. Booker and Gulmire looked good. The line started slow but picked up the pace as the game progressed. SD looked good on their opening drive, but was stopped inside the 10 yard line. The Cats defensive shut them down the rest of the way. Next week's Maryville scrimmage should be interesting.

Indian, What is sad is the attitude displayed by you and many others in this state in regards to competition in this state. In Florida we didn't mind playing the privates because we usually beat the pants off of them. What I am seeing in this state is an obvious inferiority complex. Public schools don't compete well because they think they can't. I say let them all play together, put in some real rules regarding recruiting, and quit this insane way of thinking.

...and your point is. Come on, isn't 4 years after the fact a little late to be grousing over a ballplayer. Whatever the reason, Cory and family made a decision to move to Oak Ridge and play here. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, that is a choice every parent of a player can make. Also, having a reputation for excellence will get you some of those families, both on the basis of athletics as well as the academic. BTW, good luck to the Cats in tomorrow's scrimmage @ South Doyle.

Oak Ridge should do well this year, if the line steps up. We are very deep in the skill positions. Have a better than even chance of going to the Boro, in spite of all of the hype from JPATS . As far as fans, I know things are not like the past, but guess what, attendenced is down everywhere.

Beagleboy, As much as every coach would like no staff turnover, it happens. Coach Mullins will be missed and we wish him the best. However, I'm pretty sure that he wasn't "run off" as you would imply.

Those 'Cats from Oak Ridge!!

Is it right? What a joke!! If it is wrong, just float that argument in Florida. I'm sure the folks at Tallahassee Lincoln, Pensocola Pine Forest, or Kissimmee Osceola would just laugh and laugh and ..... well, you know. This talk is not just stupid, it is an embarrassment for otherwise reasonable people to discuss. LET EM PLAY!!!

Silverpie, Have you studied OH's playoff system? It is similer to IL's in that playoff teams are seeded based not only on record in their Region's, but strength of schedule. Again, from an outsider's perspective, the split is not good. It is the whimp's way out. Can't win on the field, change the system. Tennessee is the only state that segregates privates and publics solely on the basis of competitive advantage. No other place I have lived has done it this way, except FL, and only from the smallest rural schools. If this way of thinking came from the coaches in this state, then shame on them. I have found if a community wants to have a winning program in football then they must put their time and resources (taxes) where there mouth is. Okay, that is my vent. I like your plan only if this state can have the publics and privates play each other. It better spreads the field and results in the best teams playing each other with the best progression in competition in the playoffs.

As far as insight... The Wildcats should be a much improved team, especially on offensive. We have good balanced offensive, not just Booker anymore. This should be the best receiver corp we have had a while. We return all of our defensive secondary, but we have to replace a good d-line. I felt we played DB pretty even in last year's playoff, but it was hard to gauge because of the weather. Our guys should be hungry for the win in week 3.

SirPettus, If you would go to any of the practices, you would see that Cody gets his chances. Bottom line, he has to earn that position just like the others. I still think we will be a vastly improved team, especially towards the end of the season. They will be very fun to watch, lots of offensive weapons, not just Cory Booker. Also, teams are going to get burned stacking 8 in the box like they did last season. Just a few more tid-bits.

Just my 2 cents, The Wildcats should be much improved this year. The only problem is schedule with most of their tough games on the road. (We have DB, Sevier County, Ooltewah and Soddy Daisy away this year). The biggest improvement should be on offense with Booker getting help from a better QB, Gulmire (who looked awesome in the spring) and a solid reciever corp with experience. They return everyone in the Defensive backfield. The big question is replacing an excellent D line that graduated 3 seniors. If there was ever a team to make a run at the big game, this one could. Regardless, it should be a fun season watching these cats.

Indian, So you want to solidify the reputation that TN is a state of whiners when it comes to HS sports? Look around the country, this state is the only state the FORCES it's private schools into a seperate division. stink it up and compete. VG has defined the real problem here; can't win within the system, so change the system....very sad.

Again, Show me 1 instance in the past five years where you know a student was "recruited" to any private school. I'm sorry, it is WRONG to assume that just because a private school is not restricted to any particular geographic zone that they automatically cheat. Sorry, I don't buy it. In fact, what is to keep any school public or private from recruiting? It's just too easy to fabricate a local address. Please, I know it is deeply held belief in this state that privates cheat to succeed, but it is flat wrong and slanderous to assume that it is fact.

ok, I will say this again and I will keep saying it while members of this board keep throwing around stupid comments like "recruiting private schools." This does not help the debate one bit to be throwing around the "r" word like you know it actually happens. I'm sorry, just because a school is private or open zoned does not mean they recruit or that their success is based on recruiting. You are just flat wrong to accuse the privates in this way. Envy has no place in this debate. Why don't we talk about the real competitive disadvantages here, like a metro privates having a greater pool of kids to draw from. If you have followed this forum any, you would have discovered that there is pretty much a consensus about that. Now what to do about it is still up for debate. I think also that there would be great competition at the 1a level without the metro privates there. Just don't assume that there is cheating when a program experiences success. Not being so nice this time.

VG, Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I am nice guy, but I love high school football, even though growing up in a basketball state. Tennessee may not have the greatest concentration of blue-chip football players, but dang-it, I'll put the typical Fri. night game atmosphere in this state against anyones. That is why as a fan I am more than just a little ticked at the current football alignments. I hope you coaches can see that as well. BTW, one thing this state has on FL is the quality of the football coaches. Much better here. Takedown, I'm still laughing....actually as long as I pay to get into games I will find a way to express my opinion to the powers that be. Actually, how do we fans let the TSSAA know what we think?

That is true. I guess I need a history lesson here: why then was BA a 5a school? I guess I don't buy the argument that the larger school don't want them or MBA or whoever else in the higher classes. Maybe they do, but it is the wimp's way out. I guess where I come from it is not unusual to see a private school of almost 2000 students. We could argue the meaning of fairness until the cow come home, but what I have seen in most of this debate is that fairness is being defined as what is "fair to me." One part of the debate I am most distressed about is the assumption that privates can only be successful by cheating somehow. I did not go to a private high school, but my wife did. From my experience, it's not the schools that search, but the parents who search out the schools. I know that runs counter to the predudice of the majority of posters to this forum, but I'm sorry it is true 99.99% of the time. The other is called recruiting. However, the fact that parents choose should not ever be thought of as evil or some kind of unfair competitive advantage. I do not favor a total split, but a system like Florida's where the schools are brought together at the state semi-final level. (I hope I got that right). That may still make the Cloudland folks howl, but at least you know the stronger small schools might not get picked off early in the playoffs. All that I know, to completely split the privates and publics simply because of who they are does nothing but harm to Tennessee athletics.

Pujo, You are way too kind. Now that we agree, let's start working on the rest of board. I'm ready to see the best play the best. Shoot, I'm ready for Riverdale to have playoff competition before the semis. Heheh.

Silverpie, Thanks for the update. I wish the TSSAA would study FL's solution to what I feel is our problem. As far as the larger privates, let's bring them altogether. I couldn't imagine a FL playoff with St. Thomas playing Tallahassee Lincoln or Pensacola Pine Forest. That is real football competition. What we have now is much less. I wish our state athletic authorities would make that a major factor in their decision making. Pujo, I agree very much with your assessment. Your school (Cloudland) is an excellant example of a community that prides itself on excellence on the field. I don't think you all could be more dedicated. Hopefully I can get around to seeing you all play. As far as the split, if you take out the privates from Class A (in football), that still leaves 40 schools. To me, that would be more than enough to make a class. Now, only if the powers that be could listen to some reason.

Having just lived in Florida. I would say that there athletes are definitely better across the board. They are hugely underrated in the National media. I would say that the Fri. night game atmosphere in better in East TN. I had a blast last year. Neil Thompson Oak Ridge

Pujo, Can we face facts here. Sunbright is never going to win a football championship in the state of Tennessee. However, my first high school football game I watched was their game with Wartburg Central last year. It also happened to be the best game atmosphere I witnessed all of last season. There are many schools across the country who have never won a state championship in any sport, but they still gladly field a team. Trust me, I am sympathetic to the plight of small rural schools. Check out what the Florida High School Athletic people did with small schools. They seperated them out into a much smaller class, recognizing that there was an insurmountable talent difference between them and metro area privates. I don't see why TN could do the same. I would limit the class size to about 30 schools. (which is still almost the size of DIV II). And, if I got my count right, would cluster those schools at less than 300 students per school. What do you think? Neil Thompson Oak Ridge (new to the state)

oops!! That should be pretty GOOD defensive line.

... Still hoping for an intelligent discussion on Oak Ridge Football.... anyway, we should be a better team, the only hanging question is replacing a pretty defensive line. However, the schedule is pretty brutal. We have DB, Sevier, Ooltewah and Soddy Daisy on the road. That said, I am glad we are playing 2 strong teams from our neighboring region. I like the strong competition. See ya tribe in Sept. at your place!! Neil Thompson Oak Ridge

RHS, I am new to this state and I live pretty close to Rockwood (Oak Ridge) and frankly from an outsiders perspective, the forced split between privates and publics is some sort of sick joke. I have lived in Illinois, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and now Tennessee. If the problem is indeed between very small public schools (such as Roane and Morgan county schools) and metro privates, then seperate just the small publics into a class of their own (like Florida) and bring everyone else together. When comparing states, I don't think that any state our size has public high schools this small that haven't already been consolidated. So... I do somewhat understand Rockwood's (and even more so Sunbright's) plight. However, the TSSAA has made a grave error with the DIV I / II split. Bring em back. Neil Thompson boyfromsi Oak Ridge