Expatriate

Sure, and the Patriots shot the lights out, and that how it goes. But this was the District 1 loss that's most puzzling. SH and D-B losing I can see (Brady Lawson being pukey sick didn't help), and WR didn't have much of a chance against the Fighting Cloningers. But the 'Blazers....

Leading me to wonder what happened to Daniel Boone. Huge win on Tuesday, bad loss on Saturday.

I used to live in a state that used to have totally pre-assigned matchups for the first round of the basketball tournament AND pre-assigned sites for every game. The latter was intended to put every game on a neutral court, but it didn't work out that way. That state had a strictly single-elimination tournament. A team had to win five games to get to State. That state's governing body worked around its neutral court issue in two ways: 1. Instituting a seeding system for the early rounds like Tennessee and a lot of other states. Higher seeds would get home court, but for no more than the first two rounds. After that it was all neutral courts. 2. Asking schools to sign up to be neutral site hosts, creating a pool of geographically-friend places for the governing body to assign games. Nearly every time, games would go to a school that was roughly the same distance from each competing team. It was a fan- and player-friendly move that cut down on travel time. Schools had to volunteer to be neutral site hosts. Those with better facilities became regular fixtures on the tournament landscape, and I'm sure they made a little money on the deal. The host school would get a (small) cut of the ticket revenue and all of the money from concessions. Such a system requires participation from just about every member school, and agility by the schools involved as competitors and/or host sites. The governing body would give potential host schools as much lead time as possible; they'd tell a school a week or more in advance that it could be the venue, so it could make the necessary arrangements. It's a system that works pretty well.

Uh-oh. If Fulton really puts it together, they could be maybe historically great.

An underrated event that gets a little bigger every year.

Me, too. Big fan. It can't get here soon enough.

Here's one way to look at it: This was supposed to be a comparatively "up" year for Science Hill and a comparatively "down" year for Maryville. This was supposed to be the best chance ever for Science Hill to beat Maryville in the playoffs. Maryville won by 26 points and the game was basically over in the 2nd quarter.

Marky Billson sends the moving vans to the coach's house the day the coach is hired.

After Elizabethton, but ahead of Greeneville?

Yes. He's been the starter ever since that game.

Will all this band talk cease after Elizabethton wins -- and this is important -- the football game?

I'm with you, but it's never going to happen. Don't underestimate the TSSAA's ability to do nothing about anything.

Thanks. I feel so bad for him. He gives that offense an extra dimension.

Why is Moog out?

Better than Anderson County that night, or better than last week?

Something tells me you could be wrong. Who knows? We'll see how the game winds up.

I'd be surprised, too, if the game were allowed to continue. By the way, it's now past 12:00 pm on Monday. Has anyone heard anything from the TSSAA about this matter?

If the TSSAA worked -- much less worked overtime --- on Sunday, they'd have issued a ruling on the status of Unicoi County and Elizabethton by Sunday. But they've announced one won't come until Monday. Because it's the TSSAA.

(on set of "Jeopardy") HawkGuy06: I'll take "Completely Obvious Things" for $800, Ken. Host: Why won't Tennessee ever have a shot clock in high school basketball?

They're going deep into the playoffs. Home court in the district and regional tournaments. Nobody in the Big 5 can touch them. No beast of a team coming out of the IMAC. Which puts the (clears throat) Tribe into the Sectional, very likely at home. Which means they have a good shot at getting back to State. The only thing that can stop them is a bad night of 3-point shooting. But with three scary outside shooters and McHugh coming on, if two of them struggle the other two would pick them up.

These lizard people using laptops to traffic babies out the basements of pizzerias with gas stoves and sexy candy will stop at nothing! And how DARE Kingsport school officials call the renovated Sullivan North the TRIBE Athletic Complex!

It does seem to be wide open, and that's really exciting. As for the Indians, they'll cruise through the district and regional tournaments -- there's not a team in the region that matches up against them. It'll take one of those "their worst game and the opponent's best game" kind of things to keep them out of the sectional. IMO the difference between last year's state championship team and this year's team is where the scoring comes from. Last year they could get points from every spot on the floor, but this year it's really guard-heavy. Not that the back court they have won't be enough, but an athletic team that can defend the perimeter might keep them in check enough to beat them.

Crockett does look really good. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them win their region. Their games against Daniel Boone this year could be classics. But if Crockett runs into an opponent with a good big players they could have a tough time. Especially if that team has a bigger point guard. But if they get past the region quarterfinal, where they washed out the last two seasons, they could be on their way.

If ETSU's only recruiting base is Johnson City, they'll continue to struggle. Much like any other FCS program that limited itself to recruiting to only city with a population of 70,000. None of which exist.

It's easy to imagine Region 2 sweeping Region 1 in the first round.