Preacher210

There is no Baylor or Blackman left on the schedule. But from now on out, all the games count. Each game will be a fight. The Bears have to come with their "A" game, or they will face unpleasant surprises. I have seen them not show up and lose games they had no business losing. Ooltewah and McMinn won't roll over for us, and you know Cleveland and Walker Valley save their best for us. Bradley better buckle up and buckle down for the final run.

They are in 6A...what poll are you looking at?

He is a fixture - like most stadium announcers I have encountered. I have heard some doozies through the years.

Why, thank you (although I can't take any credit; the field's been there a lot longer than I have). I wish we hadn't treated you quite as well as we did (if you know what I mean).

Hope you can make the road trip to Bradley next year. We have a nice stadium, one of the few I've seen with equal seating for home and visitors. From your statement there, we may be somewhat like Oak Ridge, in that you climb DOWN into the stadium instead of UP into the stands.

What are you smoking? Blackman didn't put up 42 on the Bears.

Got to agree with that! Only quibble: I neither have nor claim superpowers. I just have figured out that the TSSAA bracket machine works in mysterious and inscrutable ways, and almost anything is possible.

Better to say "one man show on offense"...but even that is not entirely accurate. O-line looked very good; the I-train would be spectacular no matter what, but without a decent line it would be much harder. Only negative thing about having a clear superstar is that other positives (like O-line or defense) can get overshadowed. Defense looked very solid - lowest offensive output of the year for Bradley.

Well, Bradley certainly did start out flat, but I don't know if was necessarily the travel. I've seen them come out flat at times at home before. Bunches of teenagers can be quite unpredictable.

On the other hand, we could end up playing again this year, depending on how the season plays out and brackets get drawn.

LOL. It was said of Herschel Walker in high school that he had to practice half speed to keep from killing his teammates.

Thanks. I've seen them play better. Took them too long to get on track offensively, and the hole was too deep by then. Never did get the running game going. (I suppose if you practice run defense against Mathers every day, you are forced to get somewhat good at it!) Which chain guy were you? I was the stat man with the clipboard and the band shirt.

This game reminded me of the Baylor game: with quality opponents, you can't afford to waste possessions. Bradley didn't produce on offense, and wasted possessions. Some good halftime adjustments were made, especially on defense, but too late by then. Mathers is indeed a beast, a special talent.

True. But you have to be able to make that point after, should the loss come. Growth comes not just from success, but also from coping productively with failure. Beforehand, you say, "We can win this. This is what we must do." Afterwards, you either get to say, "Good job! You see what you are able to do now." Or, "We fell short of our goal. Here is what we learned, here is what we know we need to improve."

If you want to get better and tougher, you have to play better and tougher teams. Sometimes that doesn't turn out like you want (see, Baylor game). Regardless, you have the chance to become better and tougher. (I suspect Signal Mountain is better positioned to compete in their own class having lined up against Blackman). How will the Bradley/Blackman match turn out? One will come out with a win and more character; the other will not have the win, but will still have the opportunity to gain character.

Can't believe I converted Siegel to Siegelman, LOL. Siegelman was lt. governor when I lived in Alabama years ago!

But then again, only Baylor has scored more than 14 against the D. However, they do have some inconsistency there.

I know what you mean about which team shows up. The Bears have been prone to that syndrome, but have been pretty consistent so far this year. Bradley has a reasonably balanced attack. Rushing star is Houston, receiving star is Stovall. Quarterback has shown surprising running skills this year. Our loss was to a very disciplined Baylor squad. I know Siegelman took Blackman. Seems like those were both "quality losses", if there is such a thing.

Nobody else chiming in, so I'll start it off. 3-1 Bradley makes the long trip over the plateau to 3-1 Blackman. How do you see this one playing out?

Thanks again!

Don't get too excited. I understand that none of the four players have actually played in their games so far. And only one was expected to play much anyway.

A sobering reminder that football, at its essence, is a violent collision sport. Prayers not only for this young man, but a compelling case for pre-game prayers as well (they may sound trite, but safety for players is always an appropriate prayer).

Once I would have put this in a runaway category for Cleveland. But with their struggles so far, and with the Pounders taking down Polk County, I'm not so sure. Cleveland better start ironing out the kinks. (Of course, if history is any indicator, they will hit their peak in a few weeks when my Bears go across town.)

I guess y'all can blame that partly on me. I call in the game info to the Times-Free Press when they don't have a man at the game (I do stats for Bradley). Like you, I assumed they had it covered, since they had done so for the previous games, and Soddy is a metro Chatt school.

Thanks for the info, EHGreen! I know you guys are excited to finally be able to play at your own place.