spectrum

I played football at Lenoir City this year. Last year to, since this year I am a senior. Coach White may not be the most winningest coach ever, maybe he has some faults, maybe some people don't like him. All I know is that in my many years playing the sport, it was the most fun under this man. He was very disciplined with his players. Even if I go on to play else where, Coach White will always be my favorite. I just hope he can land on his feet and keep going. He is twice the man than anyone on this board.

This game is so over, so who really cares. But since you replied to me, Peeblee, I will try to explain. What I meant was is that the refs were from your conference. If you were offended by that, too bad. I guess I was trying to make the point that this wasn't a case of "home cooking". And I said what I had heard was hearsay. I couldn't see anything once Jesse went down. To be honest, I wish it hadn't happened at all. Guys, I hope you have things look up for you and your year gets better. Peace.

Have you ever been to a game that was so hot and muggy? Talk about miserable... that had to contribute to the heated play on the field. The problem for Campbell County is that Campbell County was never in it. Johnson may have had 88 yards, but they were meaningless because he never came near the endzone. The only offense CCHS showed was on the drive they scored on. Nice throw and catch, by the way, but how many third and longs did they have? Way more times than they were in the red zone. In fact, it seemed they were never in the red zone (either half) and it seemed at the end of the game, your line was whupped and your qb was running for his life. He only had time to throw when he rolled right to the wide side of the field. What you really need to improve is your special teams play, turnovers, and overall team speed. You can't fumble kickoffs, tackle that poorly on kickoff and punt returns, and have that many short kicks. And how long was that last punt anyway: 2-3 yards, top? I figured it was going to hit a LC lineman who wasn't looking and you were going to get it back. Luckily for you, LC didn't get a shot at returning it. Turnovers were a real key, too. Thanks for the short field, by the way. On the other hand, CC was pretty tough up the middle. Of course, they were a not real fleet of foot. Why do you think LC went to their outside game? Hightower scored twice on sweeps and went in untouched (once for 33 yards) but got squat on the delays and draws. He may have only had 71 yards rushing but he had at least twice that in all-purpose yards and he scored three TDs. Oh, and he was out most of the fourth quarter while your guys were going three-and-out and our JV players were mopping up. The LC players were also complaining about the cheap shots and leg twisting in the pile. My son was in the game at the end and was punched in the helmet on one play and in the ribs (luckily he was wearing a rib protector) the next play by your #22. Boy, don't you know it hurts when you punch them helmets? But, hey, that's football, right? If you've got a beef about the ejection, talk to your refs. They were your refs, after all. Otherwise, that would have been a safety when your qb was tackled at the goal line. I know I had a better angle on that play than anyone on the visitors side. I don't know what happened between the Johnson boys prior to that kickoff return, but it was obvious that Chris rode Jesse out of bounds and didn't get off of him. Good thing for CC, too, because he saved a TD. I didn't see Chris fending off any blockers but I was watching the ball carrier. The sideline there is only five or six yards deep so I knew he was in the bench, at least. What's that old saw about the refs always seeing the last hit and not the one that started it? I'm glad he showed some remorse, but maybe next time he'll keep it on the field because he hurt his team for not one but two games. I didn't have a birdseye view, but it was my understanding that Jesse ended up under the fence and that he was being punched by several Campbell County players and that #26 pulled Jesse's helmet off. Of course, that's all hearsay, but that's the story being told. I hope you guys turn it around and have a good season.

Well now, ain't that a horse of a different color! If I'm not mistaken, that foul occurred at 1:46 left in the game. Sorry about that two-minute thing, I should have been more precise. Anyway, good luck at Oliver Springs.

The official never looked at Coach Lee. As soon as Tara turned around, he tee'ed her up. What a joke. We will never agree on this. You will always see it as a great comeback, I will always see it as a great travesty. Yes, Kingston had to make their shots and they did. Good for them. But in all honesty, Lenoir City should have been taking some free throws at the other end considering the mugging they got while trying to inbounds the ball and Kingston would not have had forty seconds. But hey, it was easy. All the refs had to do was do nothing. They succeeded. I suspect the outcome will be different at Lenoir City, but you know what? I really hope I'm wrong. It's like the NBA last year. The officiating got so bad that even Ralph Nader felt the need to get involved. Nader complained because the impartiality of referees is a vital ingredient to the integrity of sports. Coach Lee warned his girls on Thursday that if they were not up by 15 with 2 minutes to go that they would lose the game. Must have been a self-fulfilling prophecy...or after 30 years, he's just seen it all. Naw, I'm wrong; he's wrong. Kingston is just that good. So I'm not as irritated that Lenoir City lost as I am at the way they lost. In the end, it was just a high school girl's basketball game after all, right? And I can complain all I want to but the fact remains that Kingston still won the game. Yippee. Good luck at Oliver Springs. You're gonna need it. I honestly hope you win. Peace.

No doubt. You're absolutely correct. Granted they were wonderful shots, but the fact remains that Kingston should never have had that many possessions to take those shots in. Next you'll be telling me about how great they played defense during those forty seconds. Well, it's easy to play tenacious defense when you don't have to worry about having a foul called. It's difficult to get the ball inbounds or up the court when you're getting mugged. And that technical on Tara Tuck. What a joke. It was just poetic justice that Kingston missed all three of the technical free throws and the two bonus free throws. From your post, I gather you were at the game and from your profile you're probably a Kingston fan. So we'll just have to agree to disagree. We just saw the game from different perspectives: you saw it as a great comeback and I saw it as a great traversity. It seems to me that the impartiality of referees is a vital ingredient to the integrity of all sports, but I didn't see a lot of it on Friday. However, the game's over and it goes down as a Kingston win, so making a big deal about it is a probably waste of time. A win is a win is a win, right? But I won't congratulate you. For what it's worth, Coach Lee warned his girls on Thursday that if they did not have at least a 15 point lead going into the last minute they would lose. So there is some truth to what the earlier poster said about the referees. From what I've seen this year, there are two venues I never expect the visiting team to win a close game in: Oliver Springs and Kingston. If Oliver Springs doesn't win the District Tournament, it will come as a great surprise to me. As far as the upcoming Oliver Spring-Kingston game is concerned, I think Oliver Springs will avenge their earlier loss and I predict that the Kingston folks will be up in arms about the officiating. So we could go on ad nauseaum about this, but it's useless. Peace.

OMG! Someone from Kingston complaining about the refs? You should be ashamed of (or proud of, as the case may be) the exhibition that the refs put on at Kingston Friday night. Newsflash: Kingston girls overcome 9 point deficit with 1:46 to go, commit no fouls, win by 3! Film at 11!

Well, you've seen 'em now and the results are in. Game was at Kingston. Official calls technical on LC's Tuck for no apparent reason. Kingston misses five straight free throws. Darn! LC leads by 9 with less than 2 minutes to go and loses by 3. No fouls called on Kingston during those two minutes, yet LC is unable to inbounds ball or get it past mid-court. Amazing finish! Crowd goes wild! Officials skitter on all six legs to dressing room! By the way, LC's JV girls lost by 1 on a last second shot after leading and the boys lose in overtime after leading by 14. Just a bad karma day for Lenoir City.