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TackerDad

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  1. But I bet he's from Knoxville . . . or at least East Tennessee.
  2. In partial response to the previous poster's desire for details . . . By the end of the game, MUS was playing with 10 players (thanks to the red card) and had lost a total of 5 starters (3 "knock out" injuries during the game plus the red-carded player plus one player who was injured going in to the game). In addition, MUS GK was also injured enough that an MUS FB took the goal kicks after a first-half collision between him and another MUS player. Also, beyond what has already been reported, CBHS' second goal was questionable in my opinion, as there may have been GK interference. It's a good thing that MUS has 8 days between games to heal. It looks promising that all but one (or two, if the red card appeal fails) players will be back to play McCallie next Wednesday. All this having been said, this is not "sour grapes" or whining, just an update. CBHS is an excellent team that played a strong game and took advantage of MUS's bad luck. I'm sure that they would've preferred to play MUS straight up 11 vs. 11 against MUS's full complement of players. The two teams tied 1-1 earlier in the season when that was the case. Good luck to all at state!
  3. Match 1: Father Ryan (#1 Middle) vs. ECS (#3 West) Match 2: McCallie (#2 East) vs. MUS (#2 West) Match 3: Knox Catholic (#1 East) vs. BGA (#3 Middle) Match 4: CBHS (#1 West) vs. MBA (#2 Middle) Semis: Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner Good luck to all!
  4. Match 1: Father Ryan (#1 Middle) vs. ECS (#3 West) Match 2: McCallie (#2 East) vs. MUS (#2 West) Match 3: Knox Catholic (#1 East) vs. BGA (#3 Middle) Match 4: CBHS (#1 West) vs. MBA (#2 Middle) Semis: Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner Good luck to all!
  5. Gameball, "unbiased" opinion?? I detect either a severe Eastern bias here or some misguided notion that the Eurosport "rankings" mean anything at all. A truly unbiased observer would realize that it's very difficult to compare teams from different sections of the state against one another, since they play each other so sparingly during the season. If one did compare, one would learn that McCallie – whom you hold in such high regard – beat West #3 seed ECS by only one goal (2-1), and that Father Ryan beat MUS the first weekend of the season by only one goal (3-2) after trailing almost the entire game. In fact, you're not giving any of the #2 and #3 seeds from the Middle and West enough credit. Recent history proves that to be a mistake. Last year, #3 West and #3 Middle knocked out the two Eastern teams, with MUS beating Webb in the first round and USN knocking off Catholic in the semis. The two #3 seeds than played for the state title. Consider also that an Eastern team has not made the DII state finals since this year's seniors were in the seventh grade! I'm sure that McCallie and Catholic have very good teams, and I know that Father Ryan and CBHS do. Maybe this is the year that the East will FINALLY get a team in the state finals after a VERY LONG dry spell. But please don't underestimate the possibility that ANY of the 8 DII teams could win. And please, PLEASE don't kid yourself that you are "unbiased." In fact, I'll go out on a limb and predict the following: BGA over Knox Catholic in the opening round. MUS over McCallie in the opening round. Sorry, gameball, but this is the way I see it from a BIASED opinion. *lol* Good luck to whoever your team is (I assume Knox Catholic?), btw.
  6. No elimination, but the stakes are still high. They're playing for the West #1 seed (at state), who will play Middle #2 (BGA maybe?) and be in the opposite bracket from apparent favorite Father Ryan. The loser will be the West #2 seed and play East #2 at state . . . then have to face Father Ryan in the semis, assuming Ryan can beat the West consolation game winner (Briarcrest or ECS). http://www.tssaa.org/2004Champions/StateBS.../DIIBracket.htm Plus, it's MUS - CBHS. No other incentive required.
  7. Scores from yesterday afternoon's Western Region DII semifinals: CBHS 2, Briarcrest 0 MUS 3, ECS 1. CBHS and MUS play for the West #1 seed on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. in the stadium at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. Both advance to state. Briarcrest and ECS play for the West #3 seed on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in the stadium at Mike Rose Soccer Complex. The winner advances to state.
  8. Hoya75, I was already pretty convinced that you were a knowledgable observer of soccer but your last comment ("exceptional goalkeeper") proves it conclusively. My screen name tends to give me away . . .
  9. I was hoping to stir things up a bit. Great post backatcha, Hoya. First, in terms of our stats overall, it just shows that the time period one picks makes a big difference. If you go all the way back to 1995 – as you did – the East stacks up extremely well compared to the West and Middle. However, if you look at the last 4 years – as I did – the East stacks up very poorly. (I'm sure that you wouldn't suggest that the East's "real" best team was upet in regionals and didn't make it to state FOUR years in a row.) As much as anything, I think this is reflective of a real improvement in the quality of high school soccer in Memphis the past four years compared to the previous six. What this also means is that while the East was VERY good compared to West and Middle from 1995-2000, they simply haven't performed very well since. Also, one of your statements isn't exactly true, at least with respect to the past two years. Ironically, though, it cuts both ways to actually support your broader point. You say: "The frustration of some fans in the East is that the automatic, additional, and annual 3rd selections from the Middle and West have seldom been as strong as the 3rd place teams in the East." That may have been the case in the more distant past – I'm not sure – but it certainly has not been true the last two years. Last year's DII title game betwen USN amd MUS was between the West 3rd place and Middle 3rd place teams. They beat the Eastern representatives head-to-head – USN knocked out Knox Catholic last year and MUS beat Knox Webb – so the "annual 3rd selections from the Middle and West have seldom been as strong as the 3rd place teams in the East" argument certainly holds no water that I can see last year. Similarly, MUS reached the finals in '03 against CBHS (an OT game, by the way) as the 3rd place finisher from the West. The Middle went 0-3 that year. Once again, the two finalists beat the East fair and square to make to the finals: CBHS beat Knox Catholic while MUS knocked off McCallie. But while your claim of "weak" Middle and West 3rd place teams is inaccurate for the past two seasons, ironically that fact makes your broader point, since it demonstrates the great opportunity that a STRONG 3rd place team from any region has at state . . . an opportunity that the East never gets. I hate the solution of rotating 3rd place, however: too arbitrary. And if an earlier poster is right – and Catholic and ND are leaving DII – the problem for McCallie, Baylor, and Webb is only going to get worse, since it would be hard to argue that all three should automatically make state every year. Personally – and speaking purely as a soccer fan – I would like to see DII soccer do what DII football did: create a "Super 7" (in this case a "Super 12" ) conference. Again assuming that the previous poster is right and the Eastern Catholic schools are out of the picture, it would be easy to pick the participants: McCallie, Baylor, and Webb from the East; MUS, CBHS, ECS, and Briarcrest from the West; MBA, BGA, USN, Father Ryan, and Brentwood Academy from the Middle. Travel would be an issue and you realistically wouldn't get to play every other team in a "balanced" schedule (neither do the DII football teams, by the way: they play only 4 league games out of a possible 6 each year). But at the end of the season for state you could either: 1) give the top 4 finishers (regardless of region) byes for the first round of state; have the other 8 play first round games seeded based on the actual 5-12 standings; then have a great, fair 8 team state tournament; or, 2) simply drop #9-#12 in the standings and let the top 8 duke it out for state. Either way, you'd be using current season HEAD-TO-HEAD performance to fill the state tournament field, solving the 3rd place dilemma.
  10. Some posters have complained about the DII state tournament format, particularly the fact that the East only gets two teams vs. three each for Middle and West. The reason for the 3-3-2 split is purely mathematical. The West has 9 DII schools; 3 of them or 33% advance to state. The Middle has 8 DII schools; 3 of them or 37.5% advance to State. The East has 6 DII schools; 2 of them or 33% advance to State. Seems imminently fair to me. Also, until the state tournament was moved to the Mike Rose Soccer complex in Memphis, only 4 teams in each division – not 8 – advanced to state because of a lack of fields. (No other facility in the state could handle 24 teams from all three divisions). I hope we don't have to take a step backward in this regard when the tournament location starts to rotate again next year. I keep picking up from some posters in other threads that the East is unfairly penalized at state because of how strong their region is. Recent history tells a very different story. • The last FOUR DII state champions have been from the West (CBHS 3 and MUS 1). • The only teams to make more than one appearance in the DII state finals over the past four years have been from the West (CBHS 3 and MUS 2). • 75% of the DII state finalists over the past four years (6 out of 8) have been from the West. • Over the past years. the West has put three different teams (CBHS, MUS, and ECS) into the state finals; the Middle two (USN and MBA); and the East zero. • The last time the East had a team advance to the DII state finals was 2000, when this year's senior players were in the 7th grade. Perhaps this will be the year that a team from the Middle or East finally breaks through. But until that happens, the West continues to reign supreme.
  11. There is apparently a limit to what you can See. *lol* MUS is graduating 6 seniors: Paul Moinester Doug Pleiman Clayton "Bear" Thomas Winfield Clifford Blake Wiedman Scott Warren. Hope I didn't forget anyone. Paul is going to play college soccer for Washington University in St. Louis.
  12. QUOTE FROM A PREVIOUS POSTER: "I imagine a match-up between Farragut and CBHS later in the season would have had a considerably different outcome. In the early season, Farragut was dealing with several key players out/hampered with injuries and mono. By tourney time, they were riding the crest of a futbol tidal wave." You can imagine all you want to, but that's all it will be: your imagination. A loss is a loss. "Excuses are like (a certain body part): they stink and everybody has one." Plus, I don't buy it anyway. Farragut may have had injuries and illness but CBHS had just graduated 11 seniors and lost a 12th outstanding player – Coleman Whitsitt – to transfer.
  13. PSAFOUR probably assumed Jon Ring was playing defender because of the way ECS packs it in on defense, espcially when they get a lead. *lol* Seriously, it's probably because he is such a strong player who always seems to be everywhere on the field. Does anyone know what club team he plays on? Is it Fury 87? Next year, ECS is returning not only Ring but John Michael "Bull" Leppert, who appeared to be their #2 scorer after Trey Adams. (Soccer trivia: John Michael is "Bull" to MUS's Clayton Thomas's "Bear"; both played for Bear's Dad Herbert – who has a penchant for nicknames – on the 86/87 Dragons as U10/U9 players.) On a separate note, the USN team that beat CBHS and that MUS played in the finals was much stronger than the USN team MUS beat 4-1 in the USN tournament finals on April 3.
  14. TackerDad

    DII Final

    There is no question that the ghost of CBHS was at the state title game on Saturday. While I was obviously happy for Ben and his MUS teammates (the thrill of victory) I really did feel badly for CBHS players (the agony of defeat). We both have a lot of friends (players and parents) associated with CBHS soccer. Also, it's hard not to respect such a good team and such a great track record. I felt especially badly for Evan Griffin (CBHS senior keeper). In my opinion, he was NOT off his line on that first PK he blocked: he moved side-to-side, not forward. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go from the elation of stopping their first PK to the depressing reality that it wasn't going to count. I'm not a ref basher and I know they aren't perfect, but that call very likely changed the outcome of the game. The state title is great, but I think most MUS soccer players and parents would rather have played CBHS in the title game. Like all real competitors, many/most of us wanted a third shot at you guys. That attitude, of course, stands in stark contrast to that of the ECS players and parents I saw OPENLY and LOUDLY pulling for USN during the PK shootout in your game. I've always believed that if you're from Memphis you pull for the Memphis team, which is what I did. Obviously, those ECS people preferred an easier path to the title instead over local ties. I imagine that's why I saw so many CBHS peole pulling for MUS/against ECS on Thursday night, despite the longtime rivalry. Props to your guys on a great season, including YOUR WIN IN KNOXVILE over the supposedly invincible Farragut . . . and YOUR TWO WINS over D2 state champion MUS. P.S. I will happily pass on congrats to Ben if you tell me who you are.
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