maroonpride

So if Greeneville and Alcoa are back, I'd imagine DB will keep their rivalry with Sevier County and Oak Ridge going. Those two are tradition games.

With the 2018 Mid-Cycle Enrollment numbers coming out recently will any teams in R1-6A move down to 5A or any teams be moved up into R1-6A and into the conference? With Greeneville, Oak Ridge, Sevierville, and Alcoa being the non-conference opponents the past two years, will any of those contracts be renewed for another cycle? The success of next season could go either way based on the non-conference schedule, as the conference will continue to be challenging for the Indians. Any information to the aforementioned questions is appreciated. As always, Roll Tribe!

I know they are reporting it will be 1,700 capacity. It honestly would not surprise me to see it at more like 1,500. So many people are furious about this that Gate City, Boone, and DB are the likely landing spots for many. Remember Colonial Heights still has several areas that were annexed sending their kids to county schools. This may just push those families on to the city schools which they are already paying for anyway. Spoke with a few friends with athletes in the system in the South zone and "sending mine to Boone" was the response I got from several. Bloomingdale, parts of Lynn Garden, and Carters Valley are livid over this, as they should be. Gate City will see an increase in their student body. I guess we'll see. Fall of 2020 is the expected opening date.

Yes sir, Sullivan West they'll probably call it. I don't know how well they'll do in 6A football. Could be very rough.

I'd like to paint a different picture. This new high school decision is not motivated by athletics at all. They say it's CTE classes, but that's not it either. From all accounts, there is a hidden agenda here amongst certain BOE and Commission members. We'll see that fleshed out over the next few years. We cannot assume that Sullivan North and Sullivan South will continue sending their brightest and most athletic to this new school. Most from North will send their kids to Gate City and Kingsport has already hinted at managed choice for those Bloomingdale kids, of course they'll still need some of them to fill up North when it becomes a city middle school. Bloomingdale parents will not pass by a North city school everyday to drop their middle school students at a South middle or all the way to the airport exit for a Sullivan West High School. For Sullivan South, there are still students who have been annexed by the city who still send their kids to county schools. This may be to the straw that broke the camels back and forces them to send their children to city schools. There will still be students from Bloomingdale, Sullivan Gardens, and Colonial Heights going to this new Sullivan West High School, but it won't be the current state of things. I would look at many parents of athletes from these three communities look at Gate City for Bloomingdale and DB or Boone for Sullivan Gardens and Colonial Heights. Just my two cents.

Word was that Hilton had the Gate City job last year but they wouldn't let him bring assistants so he declined the position. I think this is a great move on South's part as he is supposed to be a great up and comer. As stated before, when this years sophomores are seniors, South should be formidable again. At Colonial Heights Middle the sophomores went 8-0 with conference championship, the freshman went 7-1 and were conference co-champions, this years 8th grade class went 10-0 with conference championship and Region 1-AA championship, the 7th grade class is stacked with talent too. When these 7th graders are freshman, South will have the most talent they've had in the building at one time in a few years, top to bottom.

Are any of the sophomores that quit playing looking at coming back out for their junior years next year?

I don't know why he isn't already on the staff. I figured they would've utilized this asset years ago.

Haha, not even close. 30+ years his younger, not even related (directly or indirectly), though my Dad played at DB with him. I'm a season ticket holder and DB alum with a healthy curiosity.

, guess I didn't realize it was THAT bad.

Is it favoritism, mismanagement, lack of skill development?

The 8th grade bunch appears to be pretty good. Be interested to see how they're handled at the high school level over the next few years. http://www.timesnews.net/Sports/2016/10/05/Sevier-claims-city-Middle-7-football-titles.html?ci=content&lp=11&p=1 http://www.timesnews.net/Community/2016/12/01/Boys-and-Girls-Club-of-Kingsport-14u-football-team-has-outstanding-season.html?ci=stream&lp=3&p=1

DB's starting QB went down in the middle of the game with William Blount. Not saying that's why they lost, but surely didn't help.

Thoughts on who they should schedule non-conference games with?

On the point somebody made earlier. DB is perpetually in the position of playing cupcakes and pad the win column or schedule challenging games and garner experience. in either case they make early exits in the playoffs so why not risk the latter and see if the experience gained from tough competition changes that fact. Playing cupcakes won't help in crunch time in big games down the line (by that I mean when it's crunch time with a playoff berth on the line) or when the going gets tough in a first or second round playoff game. Alcoa in 3A is a perennial state champion, as some have stated on these messageboards they would beat most teams in the state, including 6A. I want to DB to beat Alcoa as much as anybody, but if DB can't do it are they suddenly a bottom feeder? The same goes for Greeneville, a very good 4A football team. Would it be telling of how far DB has fallen. I think it definitley would. That seems like the wake up call most DB fans want anyway. So let it happen, squeak out with a close win over a 3A or 4A powerhouses, or get blasted by the same two. It'd rather play perennial powers from lower classifications than a 3A Johnson County or 4A Sullivan Central. We'll find out a lot about what 2018 will look like with the results of this 2017 schedule. We have to realize that the DB athletic director and the school board are not the equivalent of college athletic directors and college administrations, or even county schools AD's and school boards. We all know how Kingsport does things, ask Batman and Waco, they'll spell it out for you. I'm hoping this thing is cyclical and at some point the right moves will be made as my children grow and participate, but we'll have to wait and see. Going to be a long off season