MSUBac2001

Kingston plays Harriman and Rockwood every year. They do not always play OS, but with a Kingston guy now coach, it may turn into a yearly deal. They used to have a pretty good rivalry with Sweetwater, but its been a while since they played. To be fair, Loudon was 3-A with Kingston until 2004, so that is not a huge drop. Kingston has played a home and home with Tyner in the past as well, but then turn around and play Wartburg so I don't see them beefing up the schedule. Then again, I guess King feels they need a weaker OOR schedule to compensate for playing Fulton, AE, and the like in region.

Will this game be covered on the radio and, if so, will there be online access?

I can remember Wiley Bracket being involved in one of the craziest sports fights that probably ever happened in Roane County. The sight of Wiley chasing a Rockwood player around the basketball court at Cherokee Middle basketball game, dragging Rockwood's coach on his back, and the ensuing malee it created afterwards was something I will never forget. I still have a tape of that somewhere. I can't believe that was 15-20 years ago. In any event, Wiley grew into a good man & appears to have turned into a great coach. I am glad a Roane County man got the job & I wish him the best.

We don't know all the details, so lets not jump to a judgement of character based on Alcoa not playing a game. There may be many reasons for the change: cost, the effect of a new coaching staff, etc. While the team did sign a contract, these contracts are regularly broken in sports for a variety of reasons. If Trigg County wanted to ensure Alcoa played the game, they could have put a much larger buyout clause in the contract.

If Summertown can win its sectional game, then we are assured of something happening in single A that hasn't happened in 8 yrs.... a public school winning the championship. The multiplier system appears to have given public schools a better chance of advancing... That being said....predictions on the single A champion?

Great situation for both teams. Based on the performance this season Harriman should win & truth be known, the game is really nothing more than bragging rights & deciding who plays Sunbright or Oliver Springs. Either way, the NE section of the state looks down this season in single A, so both teams may end up advancing to the state. Congrads to Rockwood on earning their 10th straight trip to the regionals.

Several years ago, the rule was as above, the game is picked up in the same situation as it was left. However, both teams had to agree to this. In the mid-90's we were losing a game on the road in the top of the 4th, it rained out, and our coach would not agree to restarting the game. The entire game was replayed a few weeks later, which we won. That has been several yrs, so their may not be an option now.

It should be interesting to see how Rockwood does in the tournament. 11-15 is the worst regular season record they have had since '96 (they were still in AA then). It has been since 1998 since Rockwood hasn't made at least the substate round. This is the first time they have not finished 1st or 2nd in the district since 1998. That all doesn't bold well. That all being said, Coach Lane knows how to get the most out of his players, they have so much postseason experience, and the fact that it doesn't appear that any other team in the region is dominant (severall good squads)....it wouldn't suprise me if he somehow gets them into the substate again.

I agree Brad Howard was probably the best single player ever to come out of Morgan County, probably one of the top HS pitchers ever in TN. He was one of those once in a lifetime players to come through the area. The best fastball I ever personally faced. He basically carried Oakdale to the state tourney in 1995. If he had not had arm problems at MT, I believe he would have eventually had a great career professionally.

How many games does the TSSAA allow in the regular season? It use to be that teams could play on 24 calendar dates and each tournament counted as 2 dates. Does anyone have any info? Thanks in advance.

Actually, the referee has the authority to remove any player, coach, or fan who breaks the TSSAA sportsmanship code and disrupts the game. I have seen several fans removed from games. The offical (in any sport) has the authority to forfeit a team if its anyone associated with the game disrupts the game in to such a level that he or she feels the game has been compromised or if someone is potentially in danger (this is an extreme case that I have personally only seen once in basketball and heard of once at a baseball game). I have no clue about Pearl's case, what did or did not happen. He does have to realize that as a SEC coach, his behavior will be even more scrutinized and he will be expected to behave at a higher integrity level than the average fan. I assume that if he was kicked out, he was being unruly and would have been warned at least 2 times before being removed, unless he came out on the court...in either case the ref would have every reason to toss him.

The region could possibly get a 2nd team to the state, in all likely hood Rockwood, Wartburg, or OS will have to beat University in Johnson City, not that easy. However, that being said, which ever team joins Cosby out of Region 1 and 2 (Single A Northeast Section) will probably be the weakest team at the state tourney. It would be an accomplishment for any other team from the area to make it to M'boro.

Just some FYI history...... Coach Lane's First Year at Rockwood was 1993 as an assistant to Coach Lee Wilkerson. His first year as the Head Coach was 1994, leading Rockwood to its 2nd district tournament championship in 3 yrs (we lost in the regional first round to York at RSCC). The old baseball field was tore down in late Fall of 2003. My freshman year tryouts were on it in October, then it was gone. We played our home games at Roane State in 93 - 95. In 1996, RSCC did not allow us to use the field and we played all 29 games on the road. My last practice my Senior Year in 1996 was the first time the city let us on the current field. 1997 was the first HS game played on the field. Well over 1/2 of my baseball practices from 93-96 were in the paved parking lot beside the current basketball gym, in fact, 95% of our practices my senior year was in the parking lot or in the batting cage that was behind the football field house. Rockwood finished 2nd to Oliver Springs in 1997 and lost to Dekalb County in the Regional First Round. Then 3 major changes occurred that has lead to Rockwood's recent success. 1. Coach Lane got the team to believe it would win and set its goals past just making the regionals. Prior to that making out of the district was an accomplishment. 2. The talent at RHS has greatly improved since Coach Lane's first few years. (I feel safe to say since I was on the team the first 4 yrs he was at Rockwood). 3. In 1998, Rockwood moved to Single A. Prior to that Rockwood had 4 total district championships in the school's history. Look at the results since then. In another sidenote, Coach Lane now has over 220 wins at Rockwood in 12 seasons as the head coach, which is impressive considering our history and the fact that we were 30-53 in his first 3 years as head coach.

Does anyone have the scores of the 2nd Rockwood - Cookeville game & the scores of both games with Oakdale?

Thats why I asked. Either way, I think Coach Lane would be a great collegiate coach. With his coaching ability, I think he could even follow Coach Pete's path of coaching at RSCC and then move on to somewhere like MTSU. At Coach Lane's age and with his credentials, he has the options to do anything he wants. For the hometown's sake, I hope he does stay at RHS and doesn't have the itch to try the next level.

Just curious if anyone has heard this or not, bur the rumor mill has Coach Lane in the running for the HC job at Roane St next year, assuming Coach Works retires. Living out of state, I just get this word of mouth and who knows the validity of it, but I was curious if any Rockwood folks have heard the same? As for the State Tourney format, I think the TSSAA's new formula applied to private schools will really help the private schools. Most of the power private schools in single A (USJ, Goodpasture, Davidson Academy & FRA) will not be around. I think it leveled the playing field a bit.

I haven't had a chance to see him play, but from most accounts if he is this good, why play DI ball at all? Why not play 1 more yr of HS and go into the draft? If he is ranked 15 nationally in HS as a junior, then he would probably be top 5 - 10 next season meaning he would probably be drafted in the first 3 rounds. If he has a career is pro ball, why not go to the minors and get paid to get professional experience?

Do you have the scores of the games this weekend? Maybe we can update the schedule....

Any tourney updates or new schedules for Saturday games?

This will be Coach Lane's 13th year at Rockwood, 12th as HC. In 11 previous seasons, his record is 189-133 plus the 1997 season (I don't have that year's record; maybe Goose knows or can find out).

Will the game be carried on radio? If so, does the station have online streaming?

Thanks for the info folks. Ellis is the real deal. He is averaging 40+ PPG and I got the chance to watch him put up 72 last week. I was just curious to what the other MSU recruits are bringing to the table.

I am trying to get some info on both of the Delk boys: stats, profile, etc. I am curious to how good they are; I keep reading that they may be top player(s) in the state, but they are only the third and fourth rated players in the Mississippi State recruiting class. Any help would be appreciated.

I was at the Riverdale -BA championship game in 1995, well over 25,000 there. For regular season games, the Riverdale - Oakland games at MTSU in 98 had 15,000 to 20,000 and the playoff game had 20,000. The largest crowd I have ever seen for a high school game not played on a college field is probably 5,000 or so.

Rockwood can be added to the list of teams with Tigers as mascots and "The Jungle" as a stadium nickname. Probably like most of the others, they started that in the mid to late 80's when G-n-R came out with "welcome to the jungle". Had it written on the stadium until they did some stadium work a few years ago. I am not sure if the signs are still up or if they have given up on the song yet.