DaBlueRaider

It was nice of the T$$AA to let a couple outside teams participate in the 7AAA post season tournament. The good part about the 7AAA tournament is, that the completely beaten up winner only has to play a couple games after it's over to win the state. Oh well, It's win or go home time. Tighten up the chin straps and lets play. One note: When Blackman said they wanted their season to end in Cookeville, this coming game isn't the one they were talking about. GO BLAZE!

As I said a couple weeks ago... Continue to improve, reduce turnovers, hang around and give ourselves a chance to win, and peak at end. Brentwood has very good team and this was a big win for Blackman as they get ready for the playoffs. Congrats to all the Blaze players for hanging around tonight and getting a big 'team win'. Enjoy the weekend and lets go get Lavergne. Every game matters. It's starting to look like District 7AAA is still pretty good.

You're right we aren't the hotbed of recruiting and never have been. I can't recall Murfreesboro ever producing more than two or three D-1 recruits in one year, even in our best years. And we'll have at least 3 this year. The total talent in 7AAA is down this year (blame it on Bush ) But I still think Murfreesboro will have two or three teams playing after week one of the playoffs and one of those teams will have a real chance at winning the gold ball. How many other cities can say that?

Big win for the Blaze. Simply the better team Friday night, tackled better, ran harder, played hard till the end and never lost faith. Blackman is only a couple plays from being 7 and 1 this year and is far better than most give them credit. They have been known to turnover the ball more than they should, but that is fixable. They are still improving and may peak at just the right time. I'll also say, I think Riverdale is still a very good team and the field conditions seemed to have hurt them more last night. I think Blackmans focus on protecting the ball (due to all the fumbles of late) really helped in the bad, wet conditions. It was a smart move by Blackmans coaching to practice with the slick, wet balls all last week. 7AAA is still the best district in the state and it'll show in the playoffs.

Is there any update on the condition of Chris? We are still praying for Chris, his family and teammates here in Murfreesboro.

Wow! I agree, It left everyone around me wishing "State Farm wasn't there", Maybe once a quarter, but every first down is way to much "Good Neighbor".

My father Hypnos said "just say no to drugs"..Good night. And GO BLAZE!

Adversity doesn't build character, it exposes it. GO BLAZE!

I just want to give a big 'shout out' to all the fans who drove down to Chattanooga and cheered for the Blaze in the scrimmage game. I guess, I shouldn't be shocked to see twice the number of fans in the guest stands as the home stands because I've grown to expect it from the Blackman fans. But, it's still nice to see. It's also nice to see the boys playing hard, having fun and getting ready for a season that may surprise many. A lack of playing experience really shows and the special teams need work. But overall the team has a lot of talent, even if they start out a little slow and I really expect the team to finish out the season very strong. GO BLAZE and again GREAT JOB FANS!

I saw Woodruff at the MTSU 'Friday Night Lights' camp last week and his leg and arm looked really well. He posted a quick 40 yard dash and the arm was stronger than ever. He is ready! Blackmans spring QB prospect Chase Smotherman was also at the camp and also posted very quick times, showed good footwork and a strong arm. None of the other local QBs were there but my guess is they are ready as well. I can't wait for this season to get underway.

Blackman had its Night of Champions weight lifting event last night. Really good to see the boys making gains in the weight room. Can't wait for spring practice and see the lifting pay off.

Spring practice starts April 30th. Scrimmages will be on May 11th at Wilson Central and May 18th at home against Buckhorn. GO BLAZE!

The jamboree returns for 2012 and Blackman will kick it off. This years All-7-AAA Jamboree will begin at 6 p.m., Aug. 10 at Riverdale High School with district teams playing their Week 10 opponent for a half of exciting football action. Blackman will start the night with La Vergne at 6 PM to get the event going. Then Siegel will play Smyrna, and Riverdale will play Oakland to finish the night. It'll be here sooner than you think.

Two years ago Blackman traveled to Bob Jones and last year they went to Buckhorn. I spoke with a lady (from Buckhorn)at the Birmingham Alabama D-1 combine and she stated that she thought that Buckhorn was planning on coming up to Murfreesboro this spring. That's all I've heard.

With spring practice less than 60 days away, I was wondering if anyone has any idea who the spring scrimmages might be against? I heard in Alabama that Buckhorn (outside Huntsville) may be planning on coming up here to play this year. GO BLAZE!

I'm glad to hear Coach Shad has now taken over the helm as the track and field coach. I also hear he's using some of the football players on the track and field team. I feel one of the best ways of getting kids ready for the next football season (other than in the weight room) is by building team speed and strength with the track and field team. I think Riverdale has done a good job of this in the past and I'm glad to see Blackman doing it as well. Go Blaze!

Great to see nine players from Rutherford County competing in the fifth annual Toyota East vs. West Tennessee All-Star Classic, at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City. The players were Treyton Harris (Siegel), Brandon Hathaway (Smyrna) Edwin Locklayer (Oakland) I'Tavius Mathers (Blackman), DeAntae Glover (Riverdale), Jalen Smith (Blackman), Brad Hughes (Oakland), Scottie McCullough (Riverdale), and Mikey Smith (Oakland). Congrats to them all and thanks for making district 7AAA proud. Now all you guys go sign with MTSU and you can make history. (only kidding) But wouldn't that be fun to watch.

I'd say you're most likely right. CONGRATS and enjoy that gold ball.

I think all the teams in district 7aaa except Riverdale (they'll have to wait one more week) will be able to get back together with the coaches this week. I, like you feel the teams will find out what's expected in the offseason and how hard they'll have to work at getting stronger and faster. Although I agree with most of your early thinking and logic. I can't see LaVergne being at the bottom again next year. If they improve as much in the offseason as they did during the past season, they might very well be middle of the pack next year. Smyrna will still be fast but, If the feeder schools tell us anything, Smyrna may be about to fall on hard times. Blackman will have to show a completely new offense after losing some bigtime receivers, a two year starting QB, THE TRAIN and some line spots. On the other side of the ball I think you'll see what was a young defense this past season to be much improved. Oakland used this past season as a reloading year and will be much better. Siegel was the biggest surprise this past season. There is still some concern for one of the QB's knees but Siegel will for sure return a great running game. The team must work on the defense in the offseason and learn how to finish out the big games. Riverdale was the best in the district this past season and showed great promise at the JV level. I'll leave them at the top until someone proves they're better.

Best call of the night went to the ref in the 6a game giving Oak Ridge a timeout. Only problem was Oak Ridge wasn't playing.

The biggest surprise for me was Mathers (AAA Mr. Football / Blackman) picking Ole Miss for college. Of all the schools he could picked from, why Ole Miss? He may have a great reason but I haven't heard it. He's a great kid and I wish him nothing but the best but.... Ole Miss?

With 2011 behind us it's time to look to the future. With what each team has returning, how would you rank the teams today? Who will you put at the top, Riverdale, Oakland, Blackman, Smyrna, Lavergne, Siegel, or Smyrna? And Why.

With the exception of Siegel (who played two QBs) give us one example of any team in Rutherford County that gave their backup QB any real reps. Building depth doesn't seem the be a big concern in district 7AAA. I know a few players get reps in practice and a few unorganized JV games. But on Friday night, when the lights come on, it's just the same 17 or 18 players every week. Looks to be the same on all the local teams and this may be the reason District 7AAA doesn't have a team in Cookville this week. Lets face it, The way its done here will work as long as you don't have any injuries. And if you do.... Well, it's over.

Philosopher George Berkeley said it: "a life is just a dream, one of God's many." So just enjoy. By the way, Your son isn't the only one who's proud of your working out. Keep up the good work. Never, never quit.

Congrats to MJ and a season to be proud of Siegel.