Jiminy Cricket #2

volnative, Brandon McMahon is a very talented athlete. It would be an asset to any football team. To the best of my memory, the STATS you provided in your message seem pretty consistent to what Brandon contributed as a Halls junior midget football player. He also played super midgets at Halls, but the talent of many young men contributed to the success of this team. Halls was strong in running as well as receiving. Brandon always displayed much determination and athletic ability in whatever role was asked of him. However, it takes more than one player to make a team. Brandon can and will contribute to Gibbs success, and I hope there are other athletes at Gibbs that will step up and play to their potential as well.

From my standpoint, I was only stating a fact about the Burnette situation. Personally, I don't care, but I must say that many people are glad they are not going to be involved in the North Knoxville area because the dad controlled every sport the kid played. If he wants to surround his kid with the best football athletes, then Maryville is the place to be. They have a great football tradition. Halls/Central/and Powell football will continue with their football programs without the likes of the Burnette dominance. One player does not make that much of a difference when there are other kids as talented are more multi-talented than the Burnette kid. I only hope that Maryville will play the 'best' without letting whats 'slipped under the table' influence their decision. I wish all teams the best and stay injury-free!

Knox Halls has a strong freshman class in Tyler Brock, Austin Noe, Jaren Newgent, Jake Carr, etc. These kids will be a part of the rebuilding process that Halls desperatley needs. Brock brings a lot of speed and good hands to the team, whereas Carr, Noe, and Newgent bring strength and power. Hopefully, these kids will stay with the program which will benefit them as well as the school.

The issue that the Burnette kid did not stay at Halls/Central/Powell was that the dad went to each coach and told them that Brent would attend their school IF he could be the starting QB. Its pretty bad when you ask Joel Helton to move his son, Zac, to receiver, with the excuse that he needs to touch the ball more. The father's goal is to surround his kid with the best possible athletes so he will be noticed in the position he feels his son is destined for. He wants to control the outcome, and the dad knows that his son is one-dimensional, whereas some of the other QB's can play other positions due to the fact that they are more athletic. As for the Price kid, he is a very talented athlete, but needed a 'new' start due to some personal conflicts he had, and Powell was closer to his home than any other school. These are the only two freshmen that Halls lost to transfers. Halls did not lose many seniors and they should be more experienced and improved than the last couple of years. I guess time will tell.

Halls has some young skilled players moving up in the ranks, such as Corey Myers/Cameron Sharp/Tyler Brock/Blake Gilner, etc. However, a lot depends on if the game plan will include passing, as Halls has previously been more of a 'smash-mouth' team in running the ball. Halls has some talent for the 2004 season, but in my opinion, not a lot on depth.