cricket1898

Wayne Boyd will truely be missed! I had the absolute pleasure of living across the street from Wayne Boyd for 18 years and my parents are still there. Wayne Boyd was a true friend, mentor, and wonderful ambassador for the game of baseball. I cannot put into words the type of impact he had on my life and the impact he had the many people he came in contact with. If you ever met Wayne you know there was noone like him. The passion he had, not just for baseball, but for life was infectious. Please keep the Boyd family in your prayers as they go through this tough time. Wayne...thanks for the memories, you played a GREAT GAME!!!!!!!!!

Any idea where Melinda Patterson from Camden will sign?

I don't think anyone should be talking bad about kids. If you made it to state then you should be complimented, especially if you were the top finisher in your region by more than 30 seconds. Don't count anyone out at state because sometimes heart wins over talent. Who would have ever picked McKenzie to win the baseball state championship. Don't count out heart.

Mark Cole (McKenzie) 17:31 as a sophomore

Mark Cole will still light it up today! He likes to run in this weather.

SEEK HELP

People probably wouldn't make fun of the band so much if they didn't wear those ridiculous outfits.

Melinda Patterson from Camden.........only a junior.

That is not a negative question...just a curiosity question.

Congratulations to Seniors Megan Suggs, Heather Purcell, Amanda Bagwell, Emily Dickinson, and Natalie Weissinger for their 200th win with Goodpasture on Tuesday. Hope your college careers are as blessed.

Good grief, how many games do they get to play a year?

Just wondering what teams are playing in the McKenzie tournamemt Saturday (March 18) and what players to watch for?

McKenzie, Camden, Milan, and Hardin County. Patterson from Camden is one of the best players I have watched in high school in a while. She a really good leadoff hitter and catcher. She wears my beloved Rebels out every time we play them.

Why do band kids act so weird. Just curious because all the ones that I have been around act really really strange.

Band is not a sport and the members are not athletes, come to my high school and you will see that, and they win awards all the time too but they are still not athletes.

Which West girl broke her ankle? One is a senior and the other a junior I believe. But both are strong and will come back. McKenzie should be great this year, but so should TCA.

The senior broke her foot, hoping she will be back soon.

Please name one incident where a boy got hit in the face by a ball coming off the bat. It doesn't happen, they may get hit by a high inside fastball but not by a batted ball. Girls are at risk when they slap the ball that is why the rule was put into effect. Until we saw an increase in the number of slappers in softball this was not an issue but when girls started exposing their faces safety became an issue. This is not an arguement of boys and girls because that plays no part in the ruling, it has to do with the differences in the two games. As many changes as the TSSAA makes every year if this was an issue with the boys the rule would be changed for them too. It has nothing to do with discrimination. And this is coming from a former college softball player and and current coach, the rule is good.

what about neck injuries with head first slides? ERA didnt a lot of riverdale girls where the mask last year?

I have never heard of a neck injury from head first slide, wrist and finger injuries occur alot. But if you don't know how to head first slide you don't have to, you have control of that, batters don't have control of where a ball goes off their bat or out of the pitchers hand.

I am a coach and I played college softball. Softball players are more likely to be hit in the face when they slap a ball because they expose their faces toward the pitch. That is the only time I have ever seen a player hit in the face. The only other time it is a risk is when a batter is bunting. I hate the things but I think it is a good safety precaution, all sports have safety precautions or there would be a lot more injuries seen. These are just kids and most of them are not going to be doing this the rest of their lives, why hurt them at this young age and make them live with that injury for the rest of their lives. If you are a parent you should be thankful that the TSSAA is working toward the protection of their kids. I know none of you would like to see your child have to have extensive plastic surgery because they got hit with a foul ball when it could have been prevented. That is what happens when hitters take foul balls off their face trust me I have seen it.

I think Camden and Lexington will be really good this year in W. TN. Also USJ moved up to AA so we will see how competitive they are this year in the new division.

Do you know of any public schools who recruit?

East Tennessee examples:

 

Maryville in football; three state titles in a row - they have kids from all over.

Gibbs in softball; kids move to that district in middle school to play for mitchell.

Alcoa in football; pay a small fee and you can play on their team.

Oak Ridge in all sports.

 

If you have a good program, it recruits kids for your school.

If your coaches have summer camps, it recruits girls for your school.

If you have good facilities it recruits for your team.

If you do the right things in your program, it recruits kids.

 

If your field is terrible, your coach stinks, you have no tradition, kids move to others schools.

 

STOP whining about recruiting. Publics and privates do it !!!

They do it through having a good place for a kid to grow at what they are looking for. Some kids change schools for a Drama dept.

Maybee for a math program. Those schools should stop recruiting, too. right?

Because our kids won't be able to get jobs if math dept's. or science dept's are better than the ones at our school.

Let's make everyone get rid of whatever their school does well and play down to the worst programs and the weaker kids so no one has an advantage.

Then, and only then, will there be peace in the valley.

I went to public school my whole life and have coached at public schools my entire coaching career and have never had a player transfer in just to play sports. Most public schools have zoning rules anyway, if you don't live in the zone then you can't go to that school. Plus there is the transfer rule that if you transfer in and don't live in that school district you are ineligible for one year. I don't think most athletes want to sit out a year of high school ball just to play for another team. I don't know how things are done in middle and east TN but recruiting does not happen in public schools around here. But I don't think my team has to worry about that because they will more than likely be at state this year without having to recruit.

I agree, I love Trinity and think they have done a fantastic job over there. I can't believe they asked Mr. West to help coach them a few years back though. They are doing a great job with those young athletes.

I don't believe that every private school recruits but the majority of them do. That's why so many of them make it to the state tournament every year. Trinity is not one of them that you see there every year but teams like USJ are there all the time because they can recruit. I think private schools should play in a division by themselves because it is not fair to the public schools that have to make a team out of who they have. That is the sign of a great team to me!

USJ will be brought down a notch or two this year though moving to AA. I think McKenzie and Trinity will go from the west and it will be exciting.

Oh I agree Camden is always good. They kicked McKenzie's butt every time they played each other just about, even in years when McKenzie had the better team. I think they will always be a force because they have a good little league program, which all schools aren't lucky enough to have.

McKenzie took a blow this week, with West breaking an ankle while dancing. Hopefully she will be back early into the season, but you never know with ankles they are tricky.

There are several good teams in Northwest TN they always seem to get put out in substate by Creekwood and Marshall County in AA.

McKenzie didn't lose much and dropped down to A, it should be them and TCA that come out of the area in the state tournament. Camden lost a good pitcher and a first baseman that I know of but they are always tough, and their catcher is an awesome player and they have one of the best leadoff hitters I have ever seen.

What about in A?