DAFAN

First time back on the boards since the blow out. Crouch, Long & Bowlin, the keys to the high powered offense didn't/couldn't hit Duran. Defensively, every infielder made at least one error and one infielder made three. Story struggled the whole night. In short we didn't hit, catch or pitch well. We lost to a better team. Why was Story not pulled in the second inning or at least the third? In a do or die game, Johnny Whole Staff would have been put on the hill. The way Duran was pitching, we couldn't afford to play our usual sluggfest game that we have played all year. I don't think UT recruited Bowlin as a cather, I heard it was all about the pitching. Maybe not. None the less, he will be in the orange not THE BLUE!

Did someone say something about HIBERNATION? Where has Barnyard been? We haven't heard from you since football. Good to see you back on the boards. We really need you talk some major SMACK during the region, sub-state and state.

Welcome back DZ! You have been missed.

Ah, don't you just love IMAC baseball.

Story will start, I don't know who will be in relief. Story had the lowest ERA in our conference. When he's on, he tough. He's just a junior. A certain D1 prospect.

Team batting avg of +400, SAY WHAT! That's impressive. I think JC only has 3 guys over 400. How many HR's does Trent have?

Is Duran the "ALL AMERICAN QB" we heard about during football season? Did he sign a football scholarship? Does the Tribe hit the ball well? Any left hand hitters in the lineup? I'm not going to make any predictions since I haven't seen DB play. However, the PATS are hard to handle @ home!

Actually, I'm a fan of yours DZ. Just need to keep you strait. And please, don't get me started on Coach U. Never said one word about Holland, I like and respect Coach Seals. I was talking about the IMAC coaches as a whole.

Shouldn't logic be used in forming an opinion? Maybe not. Some stats that helped form my opinion. PER KNOX NEWS SENTINEL 05-13-05 PREP EXTRA Depew .449 12 48 Long .469 5 34 Bowlin .427 11 53 My opinion, based on the above information, all three of the above should be considered the best hitters in the league, regardless of the Standard Banners position. However, just for the sake of argument, we really need to see strikeouts and on base %. I wonder were we could get that info? Also, maybe quality of pitchers faced and position in line up should be considered, don't you think?

"Free-swinging" Bowlin. I thought he was one of the better hitters in the league? Of course, I get most of my info from the Banner, who knows if they get it right. To be labeled a free swinger he must of had alot of stikeouts? Does anyone know? Maybe a sports writer is online. I wonder what would happen if Long bats after Bowlin in the lineup. Maybe Seals should consider it. But, I agree, I wouldn't have walked him either. My biggest problem with JC was the base running and no bunting/stealing when the time was right.

I would hope that we made our IMAC foes feel welcome and that all IMAC fans & teams were treated well. If you are talking about coaching, your right, I was to busy trying to figure out why our coach didn't put the game away to wonder what your coach was doing. I wrote a post this morning only to delete it. The post was entitled "HILLBILLY BASEBALL". Don't think I'm a Yankee, I'm born and raised in ET. One point to ponder, why are IMAC players not being recruited? I know about Bowlin, but how about Long? Depew? I'm not talking about CN and WS either. Our (imac) brand of baseball isn't being played at the college level. To find our style of play we must look at the little league fields. Were's the "SMALL BALL"? Believe me, Halls & South Doyle know how to bunt and steal? We play Sunday afternoon back yard baseball in the IMAC and whole state know's it!

As a JCHS fan, I have no idea what your talking about............ Please inform us.

Jack, Jack, Jack, 3 or 4 singles in the 1st inning beat Greeneville, not the umps. The game was over in the 1st inning. G-ville got 9 walks and didn't score? How does that happen?

What about POTY?

Does anyone know?

Let me get this strait in my mind, I know the coaches pick the all conference team. Does the Tribune picks POTY? Or does the coaches pick POTY? Do you know DZ?

Dear PT, Being a sportswriter, you should know that your statistical sample has flaws and is unreliable. Please consider the following before you make judgements; PitchingDid you consider the fact, that as pitchers, Bowlin beat South Doyle and Science Hill while Depew lost to Cosby? Both South Doyle and Science Hill are highly ranked, is Cosby? Bowlin was 4-2 and Depew was 2-7. Of Bowlin's two loss, one was to Halls, WHO IS #1 IN THE STATE! Adding to the pressure of pitching against the #1 team in the state, Everytime Bowlin went into his windup, 4 speed guns went up, UT, ETSU, TTU and UNCA. HittingBowlin faced the #1 and #2 pitchers on everyones staff, As for Cocke Co, what coach is going to pitch their aces? If Depew has no help behind him, how did he led the league in runs scored? DefenseBowlin is one of the top catchers in the state, Depew isn't even the best SS in the league. Both are great players, but Bowlin should win this race hands down.

Who picks the all conference team? the coaches? The MVP for the conference will be picked by the news paper people? I think?

Based on the very few games I have seen this year, how could Derrick Long not be included on the list. The Knox News Sent. has him rated pretty high in Batting ave. Does anyone have the batting avgs, slg %, rbi and run scored totals for JC. I hate to say it, but baseball is a game of stats. Maybe someone from the news paper reads Coach T? Go Pats

I heard that at the Halls game a few weeks ago, UT, ETSU, Tenn Tech & UNC Ashville was on hand. I haven't heard if he had any offers yet.

From what I hear, JC is cocked, locked and ready to rock. I heard Story done a great job against Rutledge. We know that Jenkins and Chapman are two of the better pitchers in the conference. With the big bats of Long & Bowlin driving in the speedy Crouch and Chapman, the JC pats should be posting some big run totals. However, its very early, lets see if things go as they should. From the plains of Strawberry Plains to the hill of Chestnut Hill, PATRIOTS RULE!

Has anyone heard about the Bowlin kid @ Jeff Co. ? I heard he is the real deal. I heard some pro scouts say that he is the best kept secret in ET.

I havn't seen the McFall kid play but have seen him in person. He looks like one of those kids that matured early (MAN AMONG BOYS). I have heard nothing but big things about him. I hope he's the real deal.

SMOOT FOR PRESIDENT! I said it first, SC beat us on the field. We had a hard time on defense at Karns, but had the opportunity to win. U blew it! We won the game at DB except for our offensive genius's game plan, the worst game plan of the year. Smoot had them in the game all year other than SC & Karns. How can we do anything but sing the praises of Smoot? How many TD did the defense give up all year if you take out SC & Karns? I have seen all the defenses over the last 30 years, this defense ranks in the top 5.

I will address the smack later in the post. Not a banner year for the Pats. Worst case senario, this team should have been 8-2. Sevier County is the only team that beat us on the field. A better game plan, offensively, we win the DB game. Coaching errors beat us at Rhea Co., DB and Karns. Had someone told me at the beginning of the year that our defense would only give up 10 TD (anybody have the actual number) and that we would have a running back rushing for over 1500 yards, I would have first said they were crazy and would have then made reservations for the State Championship game. This year would have been a golden opportunity to win the district. This past season, the district is the weakest I have ever seen. The kids deserved better than what was given to them. I'm not calling for anyone's job, but hopefully, Coach U will recognize his failures and rethink his system. SUGGESTIONS: 1) Scrap this non-sense kick-off coverage. After 10 games we lost more on-side kicks than we gained. Not to mention a couple of KO returns for touchdowns. We gave up field position all year long. That's pee-wee stuff. 2) Let the punt returner return punts, we gave up field position all year. We returned a punt for a touchdown against SH and someone said Coach U was being Sly. I think not, I wished he would have been sly against Rhea Co, DB, Karns and SC. Punt returning is a fundemental part of football, Coach U, teach the game! 3) Player management (a) we suffered all year because a few key players on the field didn't have the atheltic ability to play the position assigned. Move someone else to the postion. ( play the younger players, the young guys could have gained an additional 7 quarters of game time experience if he would have played them earlier in blow outs. If I'm a player standing on the sideline, I feel unwanted, unneeded and undeserving. Am I going to be motivated to work hard in practice and in the weight room, I think not. That's not the caring Coach U that I hear about on this board. I will laugh next year in August when Dale Gentry interviews him about the 2005 Pat's and he says " we don't have alot of experience". YOUR PROBLEM COACH! DEAL WITH IT! 4) In close games, Coach U should hand the clip board to someone else and take a seat in the stands. Does everyone realize that we lost every game that was close? He should ask himself why. 5) Was Coach Meadows at the game last night? I was SHOCKED AND AMAZED when Acuff pulled his stunts last night. It's bad enought to be 6-4 and not going to the playoffs, but to act like that against a team that is 1-9. I was even more suprised that U didn't go crazy on him. I have no doubt that Bearden was talking alot of smack, they always do, but show some class. His little deal was as embarrassing as the tearing down the signs at M. West last year. FINAL THOUGHT- Seniors, you will be sorely missed, You guys played hard, good luck in the future. Underclassmen, work hard in the off-season, take advantage of every opportunity to work-out and go to camps.