bigwes68

This is the problem I have. The young man in question worked out and lifted weights with Lake County all summer. From what I was told, he did not miss a workout up until the dead period. After the dead period, word spread that he was going to Dyer County, which turned out to be true. I don't think an athlete should be allowed to work out with one school the whole summer, then just up and decide to go to another school unless there is a "bona fide change of residence." Had the same thing happen about 9 years ago with an incoming freshman girls' basketball player at LC. She was a standout in junior high and was likely the future of the LC girls' basketball program. Unbeknownst to us, she practiced with BOTH Lake County and Dyersburg the whole summer, going to camps with both teams, all the way up until the start of school when she enrolled at Dyersburg. And she ended up being all-state over there, if I'm not mistaken. The TSSAA has that "three-day rule" where if a student-athlete participates in three days of in-season practice, he has an "athletic record" and therefore, if he transfers at that point without a change of residence, he must sit out a year. Given what LC has gone through in recent years -- and I'm sure other schools have experienced similar things -- I think the TSSAA should amend that rule to include off-season practice as well. And there should especially be a provision about a student-athlete practicing with two teams from two different schools at the same time.

I will second that. People can say whatever they want about Lake County, but the academic program is STRONG and has been for a while. The bottom line is still that the kids have to put forth the effort to succeed, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the instructional program at Lake County. There have been a large number of LC graduates go on to be successful, graduate from major universities with honors, turn in incredible test scores....you name it. Academics at LCHS are as good as you're going to find in a public school of that size. Oh...and if I'm not mistaken, didn't three of the Dyersburg schools fall short of the state requirements on the Gateway this past year? (Which, of course, was erroneously reported in the State Gazette and later corrected, sort of.) People can make whatever excuse they want for Flowers going to Dyer County. But his father flat-out told the people in LC that he was sending his son to DC because he thought he would get more media coverage playing for a 3A school and would have a better chance at a college scholarship. The State Gazette is the worst newspaper in North America, so Mr. Flowers obviously didn't do his homework there. But you know what? Had he sent him to Dyersburg or Milan or Westview or somewhere that had an established, winning football program where he would be certain to get looks from college scouts, I don't think you would have heard near the amount of bellyaching from LC fans. But sending him to play for a team that can't win more than 4 games just didn't make sense.

Which reminds me.....how's that "media coverage" in Dyer County been of a 9-23 team over the last three years plus one game? I mean, when the Dyer County newspaper spends more time covering Lake County news than their own (if you think I'm kidding, just ask one of their writers about cracks in the Spillway)...does it really make any sense to send your kid to DC so he will get more "media coverage" and play for a "winning program"?

Heard some good things about the Falcons' scrimmage against Humboldt today. Can someone there (wardawg2038, lakecountyfalconfan, etc.) give me a report? Nothing to report from this end of the state, there's only 3 games in Knoxville tomorrow night. I might try to find one of them to go watch; my first game isn't until next Friday.

OK, first of all....do NOT even try to compare Springer to Chris Lofton. Not even close. Chris Lofton is an amazing basketball talent. Springer is a great athlete but nowhere near the pure shooter or basketball player that Lofton is. Second, maybe Springer does like basketball more. But right now, it's football season. Basketball should be the farthest thing from his mind, and everyone's mind. He is the quarterback and a team leader, and he needs to have his full focus on football right now. Third, I can personally guarantee that you do not have as close of a relationship with Springer as does wardawg2038. If anyone knows what's going on with Brandon, he does. There may very well be some basketball programs interested in him, but I see him playing WR for a 1-AA football program a whole lot quicker than SG for a D-1 basketball program.

I called Byhalia at least 10 times. On about the fifth try, I finally got the coach to call me back. I asked them 3 times to send me a schedule, and they still haven't. This thing goes to press Friday, and I still don't have Byhalia's schedule. I'm still wondering if there will even be a game in Byhalia next Friday. And I still had two other coaches that never called me back before I had to leave to come back to Knoxville. The difference between what you were doing and what I was doing -- your one focus at the time was putting together a football preview. We still had a newspaper to get out every week, and with a staff of only 5 people (and only 3 computers), that isn't always easy -- especially at election time. My point in making the statement that coaches didn't always call back is that the folks at the Jackson Sun have to worry about putting out a newspaper EVERY day, and their focus in putting out a daily sports section is not limited to high school football. If they make repeated attempts to get someone to talk to them and they simply won't do it, and with deadlines such as they are for a daily newspaper, they have to go with what they've got. In your case -- and I haven't seen this year's On The Ball but last year's was great -- your single focus was putting together a football preview that I would assume had a fairly flexible deadline.

Don't feel bad. Most of the time, the Jackson Sun refuses to even acknowledge the very existence of Lake County. But I will say this -- oftentimes, high school coaches are difficult to get in contact with. It took repeated efforts to get the coach at Byhalia to talk to me, or to even find out if they had a football team. As many teams as the Sun has to do a preview on, if they make several attempts to get a hold of the coach and he doesn't call them back, they've done all they can do and they have to move on. It's not like our paper where we put together one sports page every week, or even the Messenger where Hutchens does one or two sports pages Monday-Friday, about half of which is AP stuff. Parrott pretty much has to put together an entire sports section every day, more or less by himself. I don't know how he does it. And even though my award-winning tab has no information on OC (LC doesn't play them, why should it?), it will be on newsstands in Lake County next Wednesday.

I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said. I do, however, feel that if this team can pull their offense together, find some leadership and get excited about playing football, they can do some damage. The defense against the run will be as good as any 1A team in the state. If the offense can shake off the cobwebs that appear to have hindered them the first couple weeks of practice, it will be effective, too. I do not think the best teams in Regions 5 and 6 are as strong as those in 7 and 8. Whoever emerges out of the third round among LC, McKenzie, UC, FA and JCS should be in the 'Boro. And if Lake County can find some enthusiasm and a strong will to win, I think they can be successful. But from where they are right now, they still have a ways to go.

Trousdale is still No. 1 until someone beats them. Period. Union City is still No. 2 until a 1A team besides Trousdale beats them. Period. After that, it's wide open. I don't think Union City will make it as far as they did last year, not after losing 20-something seniors and having their best returning player quit football to play baseball full-time (or so I heard). They could still win the region...or they could finish second or third. I fully expect three VERY close games involving UC, Lake County and McKenzie in the region 7-1A race. After all the good things I've been hearing about McKenzie, I'd almost be tempted to give them the edge right now, with LC second and UC third. Friendship, South Pitt, Hampton, McKenzie, Fayette Academy and Lake County will all be right up there. Friendship, SP and Hampton have the toughest road to the 'Boro, though, because they still have to get through Trousdale to get there. If I had to pick a championship game right now, I'd probably go with Trousdale vs. Fayette Academy, with TC winning big-time. But anyone that follows 1A ball knows this -- EVERYBODY is one or two key injuries away from disaster. The team that stays healthiest and gets luckiest may be the one to make it to the BCB.

Wardawg -- I noticed you said the conditions were slick -- how bad was the weather? It held off here for the most part and we got the Knoxville jamboree in with no problem, but I was wondering how much rain y'all got down that way. It rained on me all the way back to K-ville on Thursday, so I figured we'd get a ton, but it held off. I talked to my dad and he pretty much echoed what you said about the game -- great defense, sloppy on offense, fumbles cost us big-time. I guess we can take some comfort in knowing that tonight doesn't mean a thing as far as the season goes. As tough as the weather has been, I'm sure the guys will enjoy a couple days off and then get back to work on Monday. What's the latest injury report?

Massachusetts has 2 weeks, one semi-final round and a "Super Bowl" in each of about 7 conferences. Missouri has four rounds played over 2 1/2 weeks (last year, Round 1 was on a Wednesday; Round 2 was the following Monday; Semi-finals were the following Saturday, and championships were the Friday after Thanksgiving.) Those are just two off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more.

The first quarter starts at 6:30 with LC-Covington, followed by Covington-Halls, then I guess the third quarter will start somewhere around 7:30 with LC-Gibson Co. The Dyersburg band is playing following the third quarter, then D-burg plays GC and Halls. All the LC fans that are planning to go need to get their tickets in advance, either at the high school, the Banner or Ray's One Stop in Ridgely. All that money stays with LCHS; if you buy tickets at the gate, all the money is split between the schools.

Everyone I talked to was as pleased as could be with the way Lake County held its own against a school six times its size (LC enrollment--258; Brighton enrollment--1,310). The defense was salty against the run, especially on Brighton's second series when they completed a pass for 35 yards to get inside the 10, then the Falcons held on four straight plays. I thought that really made a statement. Brighton brought 81 players to Tiptonville (Lake County has 29 and had one missing), and did not bring any freshmen and only half their sophomores. They also platooned 11 on offense, 11 on defense, then brought in a different group each series. Lake County's same 13 or 14 played both ways all day until the JV portion, and even then some of LC's starters had to stay in there. And to hold a team with that much speed and numbers scoreless while moving the ball quite well against them...that says a lot. I'm excited.

Actually that is not until 2010. But I agree, pointless rule. I don't mind the rule saying that the visitors must wear white, that is how it should be. But regulating how much white is on the home jersey or how much color is on the road jersey is a load of bull. Besides, what is the TSSAA going to do, forfeit a game because a team's uniforms have an inch too much color on them? I'll believe it when I see it.

More prayers and best wishes from Lake County. My heart truly goes out to the Bruceton football family and the community.

It was apparent to most LC followers that the Falcons mostly mailed it in after the McKenzie game last year. They did not play with the heart and intensity they had the first eight weeks after the heartbreaking 54-53 loss (which, by the way, was likely the greatest high school football game in Tennessee last year, maybe in the last 10 years). By the time the playoffs rolled around, I think they were more or less ready for it to all be over. So I wouldn't put much stock in that 53-14 score. FA was the better team, yes, but it's highly doubtful they were 39 points better. Lake County lost some experience and size, but its speed returns mostly intact with Springer, Yancy and Valentine in the backfield. Replacing Poole, Rodriquez and Leinweber on the line and Lemonds at fullback is a concern, but if those holes can be filled along with Jones at one tackle and Bogan at a guard spot, I'd look for this offense to be just as good as last year's, if not better -- especially if they can add a consistent passing element to their trademark veer option package. There are a few more holes to fill on defense, and the secondary must improve or pass-heavy teams will continue to have a field day, but I still like their chances. Can they win the region? We'll see. Union City lost a bunch of seniors but they are still Union City. McKenzie lost the franchise QB, so I think they are a solid third-place team in 2006. Clearly, it should come down to LC or UC. Only 57 days until we find out!

Sorry, but I saw several of Independence's games and I wasn't nearly as impressed with them as I was with Belle Glade. I saw Independence lose two or three times in the morning on Saturday and am really surprised that Belle Glade only beat them by that small of a margin.

Semi-finals were Belle Glade vs. Ravenwood and Franklin vs. Anderson Co. The other two teams that participated (not on wheredaat.com's list) were West Ashley, S.C. and Greene County, Ala. Belle Glade was far and away the best team there. Stone Mountain looked great on Friday night but just didn't seem like they came to play on Saturday. Anderson County looked pretty good all day Saturday as well.

Just thought I'd point out that historically, Lake County does better playing the Tornadoes at War Memorial Stadium than they do at home. The Falcons have only beaten the Tornadoes 2 or 3 times ever in Tiptonville against 10 or 11 losses (I'm not 100% sure on the numbers, but that's pretty close, don't have my records in front of me as I'm killing time in class), but are at or above .500 in games played at Union City. So home-field advantage, in this series, has meant absolutely nothing.

That all depends on how long the pitching holds out.

If it follows the pattern of most high school schedules, it should be essentially the same as last year with home and road games reversed.

That still doesn't make any sense. Trenton's field is all grass and generally drains very well. They should have been able to play.

Right on top of it as usual. Good job.

OK, multiple problems with this one. First -- a ball that hits home plate is NOT automatically foul. The plate is completely in fair territory, therefore the ball cannot be foul because of hitting the plate. After hitting the plate it might BECOME foul, but the simple fact that it hit the plate does not make it foul. A ball that hits the pitcher's mound and rolls foul is a foul ball because it had not, at that point, passed first or third base. The key in the original situation is when the ball passes first base. At that point, wherever it first contacts the ground determines fair or foul status. The whole "complete rest" thing ONLY applies if the ball has not yet passed first or third base. Here is the rule from the MLB rule book: A FAIR BALL is a batted ball that settles on fair ground between home and first base, or between home and third base, or that is on or over fair territory when bounding to the outfield past first or third base, or that touches first, second or third base, or that first falls on fair territory on or beyond first base or third base, or that, while on or over fair territory touches the person of an umpire or player, or that, while over fair territory passes out of the playing field in flight.

I'd think the record would have to be a lot higher than that.