DCHS

No, I still think District 1 wins it. It will be a tough but I think it can happen.

I agree. However, I still think the Big 9 this year is a better conference. Greeneville is the best team in the region but overall the Big 9 takes the IMAC this year.

They recruit. So do most of the other area schools. That is why no one reports them. If they rat on Greeneville then they are telling on themselves. Volman, you are right. We dont have the level of talent in NE TN that Memphis or Nashville have. We have never had a consistent flow of blue chip talent up here. They do come around once in awhile but nothing consistent. WaCo, what is a good coach. I'm sure Coach Morgan was a heck of a coach in Salem. What did he do, forget how to coach? I dont think so. He has had mediocre talent at best. He has done a great job. Tony Vaughn wins the Big 9 tourny with a county school half the size of SHHS. That is pretty good coaching to me. The fact of the matter is coaching is overrated. Give me great talent and I will be a great coach.

Sullivan East is becoming a very dangerous team. We already know they are able to beat a quality team in Boone, but they are starting to click and fire on all cylinders. Boone and DB will be an interesting game. DB always plays Boone tough in the Dome. Big 9 is a good conference this year. SHHS is really good, THS is solid, Boone is the best 8 loss team in the state, DB has the potential to beat anybody, South has two very good athletes and is able to beat anyone as well; while Central and East are very scary. Even Volunteer and Crockett could upset someone. I just like the parity this year in the league. I also believe this year the Big 9 will win the Region.

There is a lot more for children to be involved with now than 20 years ago. Have you seen the graphics on the PS 3? Instant gratification with text messaging, e-mail, and cell phones. Society sends the message that we have to have everything now. Player development is playing 65 games in the summer on an AAU team and you are now a great player. What happened to playing pick-up ball??? What happened to shooting on you own??? Development takes time. It is like growing a flower from a seed, you have to water it and give it sun light. It doesn't bloom overnight. These children have grown up in an era we know nothing about. We can not understand 500 channels on the television. We had two when I grew up. ABC didn't come in. What else was there to do?? Don't get mad a the kids of today for not having a strong desire to play basketball. Sometimes we want "it" more than they want "it". We cram organized sports on our kids from the time they can start walking. Part of the reason teenagers dont have the desire is because they are seasoned veterans by the time they are 13. Playing organized ball for 8 years 20-30 games a year. They are burned out. Let's let kids be kids when they are in elementary school. Dont make them feel the pressure of a middle aged person with a mortage and high blood pressure. Thank goodness I grew up when I did. By the time I really understood what competition was about I still loved the game.

My coaches yelled at me. Called me bad things in the heat of the moment. Most of it was to get their point across to me. I turned out pretty good. You know why? Because my coaches had me for two maybe three hours a day five days a week during the season. My parents had me the rest of the time. They had a much bigger impact on me than my coach did. I do not condone cursing or name calling from a coach. However, when it did happen to me I tried to understand why I made him so mad.

A coach is not all powerful nor should he or she be treat as such. Coaches should not say whatever they want. Remember, the coach is suppose to be the adult and should act like one. However, basketball is an emotional game. You can go from 15 pts up and in 5 minutes be 5 pts down. Sometime you get caught up in the moment and say things you dont mean. If the coach did it in the heat of the moment and came back to their senses then I would understand. I promise I have heard moms and pops yell worse things at an official or coach than "they s---."

DB and SHHS are a great rivalry. Probably the best around. No two schools in NE TN can compare to what they both have accomplished. I will stick to my guns and say SHHS is the athletic program to beat after this school year. DB has been the best and will probably be again but after this year, they will be playing second fiddle to the Toppers for several years to come.

The Hill is on its way to NE TN supremacy in every sport. They are tops in Basketball already, baseball is as good as DB if not better (those two are head and shoulders above the rest of the area), and if they dont establish themselves as the team to beat this coming football season then it will be in the near future. JC schools are on the right track athletically. The are making a noble effort at developing their elementary and middle schools and youth league programs. I really believe the new guy will have a true backing of most everyone involved. Heck, they have always had the athletes and financial support all they have been missing was an adminstrative committment. Now they have that. If the rest of the area dont follow suit then it means a lot of SHHS Championships (in every sport) for years to come.

The Optional School students for Washington County (Asbury) go on Crocketts attendance. That is why they got a waiver from the TSSAA. Those students are from all over NE Tennessee but Crockett has to count them. Those students there are not able to play sports. Those numbers add about 300 students to Crocketts attendance in addition their test scores and graduation rates count on Crockett's numbers. In addition to the optional school, Crockett has to take all of the county's Behavior Modification students. These are the students that can not function in a normal school setting. However, their test scores and enrollment all count against Crockett. Boone doesn't have to fool with these issues. These are little known facts that drastically effects Crockett's reputation academically and as a whole. If they took their numbers at Crockett in house then people would look at the school in a different light. The worst thing that has ever happened to Crockett was when they moved fromt he IMAC to the BIG 9 in all the other sports. Football has never been real strong but we could compete in Baseball and Basketball in the IMAC.

Maybe that will show them how good they can be. I still think they'll get them (THS and SHHS) when it counts. I'm from the other end of the county but Boone is still our county so if one cant do it I'm happy the other end can. We had an average run the last two or three years. This year, well we are just young and lack experience. Good Luck the rest of the year.

They will be just fine. They have played a tough schedule. Probably the hardest in the Big 9 thus far (Non-Conference-Greeneville, South Greene, Cloudland, Elizabethton).

It is just a feeling I have. Of course the feeling might be gas.

My memory might be a bit foggy but it seems like Boone had a little trouble early in the season last year. But after they beat Crockett, in a thriller 73-70, that seemed to get them on a roll and eventually played for the D 1 AAA Championship. Campbell is a good coach and has done an outstanding job. His teams always play hard and have a real nose for the ball. They will pull out of it. However, the Big 9 has a lot of balance. Last year, South was the best 8 seed in the state. They have some talent. Williams might be the best all around athlete in the conference. East is a big team (height wise) top to bottom and that will give teams match-up problems. The book on East in the past has been that they cant handle the pressure. This year they have a guard that can control the ball better. They have missed that in the past. The balance in the conference will only help the four teams that advance out of this District. I truly believe D-1 will win the region this year.

East and South beating Boone were the upsets.

I have no dog in this hunt but I have been listening and the last word I heard around JC is the Job is Turner's (if he wants it). Carter would be a good hire though. Whoever gets it, best of luck. It just seems like being a head coach there in any sport (as of late) is a miserable job. From the outside looking in, the patience level for the SHHS faithful is very short for the head coaches.

Brent Bledsoe took a David Crockett program and made them competitive for a few years. '99- 3-7, '00- 7-3, '01 5-5 and then up and went to Georgia for a couple of seasons. He is back and wanting to coach in the area again. He is hard to get along with but he knows football and can coach.

Please do not compare the Big 9 to District 1A. District 1A is a good conference but comparing the two leagues is like comparing apples to oranges. There are too many differences between class A schools and class AAA schools. The best in District 1A would usually finish third or fourth in the Big 9. Just to many factors to consider before comparing the two leagues.

Soph. Lauren Murr from David Crockett.

At David Crockett Nov. 16th Sullivan South v. Unicoi County 6:00 David Crockett v. North Greene 7:30

I agree. For a jamboree, it should be in a central location. However, eating Ridgewood bbq is worth driving to Bluff City to watch an exhibition.

Usually the jamboree goes to the school that asks for it. No one ever objects. It is a head ache for the host school and most of the work falls on the head coach. They really dont want to deal with the extra work of putting a jamboree on. If you polled the coaches, I would say that most of them would be very happy if the jamboree was terminated. It is a long night that most coaches would rather use to practice or scrimmage. Some get lucky and get a quick scrimmage in before but most have to cut their practice short and go to a never ending night that the outcome means nothing. Oh well, it is good for the fans to get a preview, and if another team wanted to host I'm sure East would let them have it.

A Big 9 school will win the region this year.

5 wins for both teams in the last ten years. Boone and Crockett have been playing for over thirty years. Boone leads the overall series by quite a bit. It is an exciting event for both county schools. It is important to both sides. It is one time a year that we both get top billing in NE Tennessee HS Football. The game has some potential to be a good one. Both teams run the ball pretty well and they both have some big play potential.

November 14th at Sullivan South. 5:00 South v. DB 5:45 Vol. v. Central 6:30 Crockett v. East 7:15 THS v. Science Hill 8:00 South v. Boone