OHSOWLS2

Ooltewah plays at Rhea County this Friday night. How do you think they match up?

Looks like a tough year for Central. They'll be lucky to go 3-7 as suggested in an earlier post. They play a tough schedule.

Saddaddy is correct in that the Owls have not lived up to the expectations of many since the 2002 season. In 2002, Ooltewah went all the way to the final 4 with an experienced and talented team. Since that time, the team has been loaded with talent, but very young. This year is different in that they have the talent and experience.

The Owls will come out and play a strong game. Whether Caldwell and/or Williams play or not, the offense will play a strong game and the defense will step up. Prediction: Ooltewah: 35 Farragut: 10

While the Times Freepress claims "To give the News impartially, Without Fear or Favor," this is rarely the case. They are extremely partial to schools like McCallie, Baylor, GPA, Boyd Buchannon etc. Favor is an understatement at the minimum. Don't get me wrong, I believe these schools deserve press coverage just like all the rest. However, they are almost always on the front page of the Sports Section, with color photos and detailed articles. The public schools take the "back seat" with either B&W photos, or none at all, and smaller or non-existant articles. This happens over and over again. Look back and examine the layouts and you will find this to be true almost all of the time. My point is this, there is no doubt that in all sports, there are key match ups and performances that are more noteworthy than others. Coverage, photos, larger more detailed articles, and front versus back page location of each should be determined by the relative importance of the match up, sucess, and noteworthy events of each, not by the current method of which schools are apparently popular with the newspaper. I realize this is still subjective, but the reporters/sports writers should be tuned in to what's going on and who's doing what. It's a shame that the Times Freepress apparently doesn't get it, or doesn't care. Prep coverage in Chattanooga is extremely pitiful when compared to almost every local newspaper anywhere else. I challenge anyone from the newspaper to refute this perspective. If they dare attempt the challenge, they need to carefully examine the facts before attempting to do so.

Don't want to disrespect Coach Weathers because his career speaks for itself. He's a great coach. However, his record at Dade Cty wasn't that great. It probably has everything to do with talent and depth. Coaching only goes so far. Not really certain of the talent and depth at SD, but probably above average. SD is a good football team, but how good...only time and Wins/Losses will tell. I know one thing, in his final couple of years at RB, the Off. and Def. Coordinators, made all of the calls in the games. He merely watched. Could it be that without the right Asst. Coaches to help that SD falters? What's the scoop on the SD Assistants?

No way ER will upset the Owls. Ooltewah's defense will shut down ER.

The Owls play at Red Bank tonight. Any predictions?

It just goes to show you, on any given day, any team can beat any other team, if they just show up ready to play. Odds and predictions, especially based on limited information, can often be deceiving and downright wrong.