BMic014

It would be great for Mr. Burgess to send out a form to at least mail in stats, records, or five line game summaries to appear in the paper. I enjoy reading the Prep extra section of the paper but I like more than basketball and football. Give these spring athletes some credit, too. I know baseball, softball, track, and soccer will never carry the weight and prestige that football does here in East Tennessee but truth is most of the scholarships go to the athletes that play these spring sports. In a few words from Rodney Dangerfield "NO RESPECT!" just give these boys and girls some ink Mr. Burgess. I would be willing to help type up a mailer or cover something. Someone give this man my email address.

61. Your team's stats are more organized than your gradebook.

37. Every umpire in the state knows you by first name. 38. Your town's lawn/garden club ask you for tips. 39. The guy at the sports store brings you lineup cards to the front door.

You are correct about Lambert and the championships, but Lenoir City never had the pitching to match up with anyone else in the district. If a team's pitcher is not allowing runs and his offense is scoring runs, thats a good combination. A combination LC lacked, due to pitching depth. Greenback does have a summer team. I played against them 99-00. I saw them play last year. I am not sure who the coach is or whatever, but they do have a team. Last I heard all the kids who played on that summer team did not make their high school team. That is an indicator of their level of play.It was not pretty. If Greenback had a summer program with their high school players that would be rewarding for their baseball program. They are getting it on the right track now anyways. I intended in no way to take anything away from Greenback's high school team, in fact it sounds as if they have a really good team this year.

I agree you have to play good teams to get better. I however don't see how playing with players from other schools, benefits your high school team. It helps the team chemistry if you can keep your team together year round. Maybe some kids need that status symbol of playing for a traveling team, who knows. Greenback and TMG??? You have got to be kidding me? I know middle school teams who would beat those teams. That is not helping to play them that many times, I agree with you there. 2 or 3 district titles? LC hasn't had a dominating pitcher since Randall Brown back in '99. Without a dominating pitcher, you don't win district titles. Loudon had Greg Lambert; AC Shay Horseman, Matt Hensley;Kingston Matthew Buntrock. LC didn't have the talent to measure up to that until here recently. I will have to say the pitching in the district has gone down, aside from Everett at Loudon. I still believe McNish is a good coach. As for 90% of his players not liking him. I doubt it is that big of a number. If he is a good coach they probably don't like him because he pushes them so hard. Hard work is the foundation of winning.

Volfan2001, what do you mean he wants to be able to tell a couple of high school kids what to do? I think he has a great program going. His summer program is getting better every year and his off season programs are also going to produce some great results, thanks in part to his facilities. The kids on his team who see the biggest improvements are the kids who stay with his summer teams, sounds like he is doing something right. I believe that he still has some improving to do, but anyone who is ever satisfied is someone who doesn't care about being the best. That is definitely not Coach McNish. He will have LC baseball being a top notch program in the state. Give him time. He has also added a program at the middle school level to serve as a feeder program. That should start helping in a few years also.

Coach Glenn "Buzz" McNish, Jr. of Lenoir City is a great coach under thirty years old. He has given the baseball a total facelift, adding a great indoor facility onto their locker room. It has 3 pitching mounds and two batting cages in it. It also has a weight room, two coaches offices, and sporting goods store where you can buy LC baseball merchandise. He also won a disrtict title last year and is working hard to repeat this year.

From a scouting report I got from a local coach who scrimmaged Farragut they are not going to be as good as last year. He said the bottom half of their lineup was fairly weak and that the pitching depth has went down. After Cattapano, Sherrod, and Waldrop Farragut will struggle. The coach also said that South Doyle is far better than Farragut. All this said, Farragut is good. They will win games. They have too good of a program to have a bad year.

Best players in Loudon Co. I would have to say Trae Helton, Aaron Everrett, Jubal Duncan, and Justin Littlefield. I have heard very good things about the Morris kid from Sweetwater. A coach who faced them in the preseason said he is one of the better hitters he has seen, but not the best. That guy obviously has talent. I also should mention Daniel Curtis from Loudon as a good player in Loudon Co. Duncan and Littlefield are from LC. Oh yeah I thought Waldrop from Farragut signed with Vandy? If he did why are college scouts coming to watch him? I understand pro scouts but not College.

Greenback's program had no where to go but up! It was an underachieving program a few years ago. I haven't seen the field since they put the grass in the infield. I remember watching their coaches drag the field so pitifully a few years ago that it would leave a bald spot from the infield to the gate in leftfield. A path through the outfield more less where they were too lazy to take the drag off the tractor before they got off the field. As far as their talent goes, the Helton kid is a player. When the attitude of that school changes and they begin to appreciate sports, other than football, they should be competitive in everything. There is some talent in Greenback. Football is a great sport and I love it. I also encourage kids to play in high school. I just don't think you should put all your eggs in one basket such as football. It is tough to earn yourself a scholarship in football when you are not 6'0" or taller and at least 200-210 lbs. (for skill positions). Coaches in college look for size and speed, two things that can't be coached. I am sure there are some talented baseball players in that school that are not the size I forementioned that are not playing baseball because their heads are filled with this football talk. I hope to see more kids playing baseball and coming out for baseball teams, because it doesn't matter how big you are in baseball. Good luck to G'back and I hope your baseball program continues to improve.

I think Kingston wins the district as much as I hate to say it. They will run into tough games when they play LC and Loudon. LC is going to be good but I don't think they beat Kingston in the regular season standings. McNish won't let his boy's go down without a fight and Thompson never lays down in a district battle at Loudon. I look for LC to not start their best baseball until tournament time. That is after all what this is all about right? Your regular season records go all be overlooked if you don't make it out of your district tournament. Look for LC and Kingston to do that. How far from there? You'll have to watch Seymour, Gibbs and Carter in the other district.

I just wanted to hear some thoughts on how the season is shaping up for this district. I agree LC is going to struggle at points and I think Kingston is the front runner in the district. They always get off to a slow start and end up red hot. I think LC's new indoor facility will have to have somewhat of an impact for the kids who have been able to use it this offseason and pre-season. It might not make a big visible difference this season, but look for it to this summer and next year definitely. It also looks like LC handled Heritage very well after taking a beating from a great South Doyle team. I heard that SD may be the best team around this area.

Hey guys just wanted to give my opinion on this year's district predictions. I think Kingston will win the district. Loudon and LC will battle it out for second and third. Not sure of OS's talent, but I know they are getting better every year. Look for them to push for that second or third spot also. A 4th place finish for them will not be out of the question. AC is always tough and won't let their season be a waste. Scott will be the sleeper in the district and might ruin someone's season. I Know LC is not deep pitching but their top 3 and 4 can beat anyone if they get a little support in the field and at the plate. LC will struggle when they have played a few games in consecutive days. They should, however, be better than expected because of their new indoor facility. Look for them to go deep into their pitching rotation as the year progresses.