Pantherbert

I hear ya VG and on that point you very well may be right. JCM is right up there. I just personally don't see any big difference between Memphis and West Tn but you make a valid point. No offense taken. But you'll have forgive me if I do chime in when West Tn is discussed..lol btw....In my mention of West Tn teams with success I failed to give some teams their props. 1st of all, JCM has made appearances in the state final in 1976 and 1979 when ya'll played 3A ball. Haywood was a state runner-up in 1994 and 1995. Covington a state runner up in 1971(2A) and 2000(3A).Union City came up just short in the 2A state finals in 1997 and 2000. Milan is always tough and boasts sate championships 1971,1977,1991(2A), and 1999(3A). Teams like Obion Co. Central and Westview are coming off good 2002 seasons and until recently the Munford Cougars have had a great program. All that said just give cerdit to some other(non-Memphis) West Tn programs. These are only a few but just to show what you already know.....there are indeed some very tough and talented teams out there. Good luck to all you guys. Take care

Hi VG. Look, I gotta disagree with you and Turkey on this. JCM is not the best in West Tn. I watched the Cougars beat my Panthers 14-12 last friday and while Bartlett has made great strides since last year I would expect a blowout if they were that good ( and honestly...I was.haha)Germantown,Houston, and Collierville are all still at the very least as good if not better not to mention teams like Whitehaven, Melrose, Ridgeway, and...dare I say it..Bolton. Then you could go over to the country club division and find Briarcrest, ECS, and MUS. Now, I realize you probably meant just teams in 4A and not just from Memphis I'm just sayin but there are better teams out there. That said, for a team that was hit hard by graduation the Cougars are very tough indeed and could no doubt be a major player in 4A this year. They have a balanced offense with a great running game( Adam November did basically whatever he wanted all night long..haha) and a nice air attack. I think ya'll will have a real good year. Now as much as I hate to say it the Middle/East Tn folks have us in football. Briarcrest and Ridgeway finally took home state championships last year and Melrose was a big time powerhouse for years( and is pretty good this year) but we as a general rule don't have a clue as to what real football is. Case in point. My senior year Germantown, Houston and Bartlett were the 3 top teams in our area. Big threats out of the west or so we thought. Bartlett beat both Houston and Germantown with much hype to advance to the state semi-finals and got utterly waxed by Nashville Glincliff. Similar situation w/ G'town last year. We have flashes of glory ( the way they do in basketball) but we just don't own football. Now, go out there and prove me wrong guys!! Best of luck to all the west teams this year.

I agree about G'town. However, I wouldn't turn my back on Collierville.

Well, having seen some of these teams play in jamboree "games" I have a little better idea of how this district may shake out. I stress "little". 1) Bolton-Had a little trouble holding on to the ball( vs a bigger Collierville team) and special teams was a little suspect but they will come out on top. Senior tailback Victor Robinson ran for a 65- yard touchdown run in route to a loss but the Wildcats are still the team to beat. (lost 21-12) 2)Millington- Say what? You heard me. Millington will finish 2nd this year. The Trojans have a much bigger and more talented team than in recent years. No 1-9 finish this year. ( beat Houston 13-7) 3)Bartlett- I might be going out on a limb here but I have a pretty good feeling about the Panthers. After last year's 3-8 season, Bartlett has indeed improved but most importantly on defense. Should be an interesting season. (lost 7-0 to G'town) 4)Cordova- The Wolves have new coach for the third time in as many years and look to improve. However, with the steps forward the previous three teams have made I'm not sure they'll finish higher than 4th....maybe even 5th depending on how good Overton is or isn't. (beat Covington 7-6) I don't know a whole lot about Overton and Central but I'll say they finish 5th and 6th respectively. Again, it is to be noted that these were only jamboree "games" and don't really mean a whole lot but this was my 1st impression these teams.

I have no idea as to just who Cordova has coming back but they were not very good last year and Overton hasn't been fantastic. I'd be really surprised if Bolton doesn't run away with it since JCM is no longer in the district.

I agree Gomab. I saw JCM play twice last year and was very impressed with Bell. I too think he's got a great year ahead of him.

This very topic was brought up on a local sports radio show last week when a caller wanted to know if anyone else thought Dane was good enough to be in the SEC. The host of the show(sorry..don't recall who)said that it's important to remember that sometimes when a player like Bradshaw gains attention and awards like this people get the impression that he is always some flashy LeBron Jamesish player putting up 35-40 points a night. That is,of course, not always the case. Dane is NOT that kind of player. What he is a great leader and the kid of guy who does all the "little things" that make W's happen.I've seen Dane several times since his freshman year and I personally don't think the SEC is really where he where he needs to be but hopefully he'll prove me wrong. I wish him nothing but success.

Come on man. LeBron would have a "slight" edge? oh brother.....

Nobody said those guys didn't deserve the honor.Nobody said they were not any good. They must have been very very good to have even been up for the award. They just were not selected. The voters picked who they felt was the best choice.

Are we in 2nd grade here? Please tell me the insult well hasn't run dry so quickly.

Firefly The post you read was not the original. It was edited because,unlike you, I thought better of some of the things I originally posted. But that's ok, I wouldn't expect you to understand

Indeed [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-26-03 2:26P]

Oh firefly, My firefly See....Opperman and TJ actually know something about basketball and back up there posts with facts. You hurl insults. If these guys are wrong, they'll admit it. You won't. But..hey...you DO use those bug-eyed smilies better than an anybody on this board. Now that's really something to be proud of and I'm not just saying that.

BC is a good team. No Doubt. but......sorry WS is gonna take another gold ball back to the Spartan Palace.

I'll agree Hamilton's coach couldn't coach his way out a of wet paper bag but Hamilton doesn't recruit. That's just lame

Yeah...and I still claim Troy Jenkins was fouled on a last second three point attempt against Raleigh-Egypt in the...oh wait...that was 3 stinkin years ago!...Trust me , you'll get over it BHS Panthers: Deserving cheated champions of 2000! [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-21-03 9:18P]

I like MTSU. I've been there many times following Bartlett and it's a nice place. Now with that out of the way let me explain why I wouldn't mind seeing it somewhere else. This state has a lot a great teams with great tradition and while I realize Tennessee is more of a football state I think these players,coaches,and fans deserve the best venue possible. My home is Bartlett but my family is from Ky. Up there the state tourney is alternated between Freedom Hall and Rupp Arena and they sell out. Granted, we could never ever do that here but there are nicer places to play than the Murphy Center. I mean to name a few, you've got the Pyramid in Memphis and soon the FedExForum.Don't like Memphis? ok. How bout Thompson Bowling Arena out in Knoxville? The only problem with these arenas(as it has been mentioned) is distance.So, why not Nashville? There is the Gaylord Entertainment Center not to mention Vandy's homecourt. All I'm sayin is it's worth looking into. I personally would favor Nashville for various reasons. But hey, if it never leaves MTSU it won't break my heart. I'll keep going back everytime my Panthers do Just my two cents. Take care [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-19-03 11:28A]

Dburg played such a great game tonight. They without a doubt earned the win and the region championship. What i,pressed me even more than the win was the level of class the team displayed afterwards. I think they are a great group of kids and they earned my respect tonight. Good luck guys. I hope to see ya'll again at MTSU

Yeah, Bartlett and Dyersburg play tonight at 8pm

First off let me say that JCM played 4 quarters of good, solid basketball. The effort was there and they showed a LOT of heart and desire.One guy in particular,Tristan Bell, had a fantastic game with 16 points.What ya gotta understand is Bartlett **NEVER** gets all or even most of the calls, even at home. Now, I will agree that a foul ratio of 10-1 in a half is pretty stupid but it's not as if Bartlett took advantage of it. Bartlett was 5 of 9 from the line in the 1st half and they were still only up by 5 at halftime. That is a credit to JCM. The second half was much more even and Bartlett still came out and outscored JCM 15-6 in the 3rd. The Cougars played a great 4th quarter and outscored Bartlett 16-8 but it just wasn't enough. They played a great game though. and as long as we are complaining about stuff that doesn't matter, Bartlett's Chase Hardin( who was the 14-AAA District MVP) did not run the offense tonight due to back spasms( as his early 3-point attempts showed..) but still played. That hurt us more than most realize. Oh and...if we are gonna talk about refs....let's talk about that last minute of the game. [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-4-03 12:00A] [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-4-03 12:08A]

Bartlett has a good a chance as anybody to win the region and it will be a good game tonight w/ JCM. I'm a little more comfortable playing the Cougars rather than Millington. I say this only because this will be the 2nd time we've seen JCM this year(and the 1st time in Oman). It would have been the 4th time we would have played the Trojans and it is hard to beat a team 4 times( in elimination no less).The last time Bartlett and JCM met the Panthers got up big and then mentally checked out and JCM got back in it. So, all said, should be a fun game. As far as Dyerburg goes, I know they beat Bolton but they didn't impress me a whole lot in that game.I don't see them beating Northside.Even so, the Trojans know how to make big baskets when it counts.Josh Mann( I believe that is his name) is a good player and I loved that GREAT block at the end of the game( by whom I don't recall) against Bolton. Anyway...Go Panthers and thanks to the great folks up at JCM and Oman Arena. They have treated us(KPTR.. Bartlett's broadcast team) 1st class and I just wanna give them their due. Good luck tonight everybody! [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-3-03 8:11A] [Edited by Pantherbert on 3-3-03 8:11A]

So correct me if I'm wrong but 13-AAA finished in this order: 1)J. Northside 2)JCM 3)Dburg 4)Hardin Co. 14-AAA finshed:1)Bartlett 2)Bolton 3)Millington 4)Munford So the region should be (1)JNC vs. (4)Munford (2)Bolton vs.(3)Dburg (1)Bartlett vs.(4)Hardin Co. (2) JCM vs.(3)Millington Good luck to all! Sounds like a great Regional Tourney! [Edited by Pantherbert on 2-27-03 11:50P] [Edited by Pantherbert on 2-27-03 11:51P] [Edited by Pantherbert on 2-27-03 11:51P]

He plays for Booker T Washington High School in Memphis

I'm with Opperman. I just don't see Bradshaw getting big minutes in the SEC. I hope he does well,though. As Opperman said, White Station is VERY deep. Opperman and I were having a conversation about the Spartans on the way home from the Bartlett-WS game and the point came up that there are guys like J.P. Prince on that team who, were they on most other teams, would have 30-40 points a night. However,they only score 8 because they are on the Spartan squad. They are that good and it's a scary thought. But, you should enjoy watching them. They are fun see play(except when they beat my team )

White Station won 54-38. Both teams played GREAT defense but I think Bartlett was somewhat intimidated playing the Spartans on their home floor.Give all the credit in the world to the Spartan defense but the Panthers never got their offensive game going save a small spurt in the 3rd quarter. What really killed Bartlett tonight was 23 turn-turn overs. You just can't do that and expect to win any game but even more so against a team like White Station. Even so, Bartlett's defense kept them in the game allowing a Spartan team that averages in the 70's to 54. However, you have to score to win and the Panthers didn't. White Station is SOO DEEP it isn't funny. They are a terrific team and these two teams could possiby see each other later in the year. If so, it would be a great re-match. If not, best of luck to both squads and congrats to Coach Tippet and White Station on a solid win.