heb12:2

Temple wins by 9

Grace up 2 @ half

Evidently Tubby Smith and Bruce Pearl as well.

I thought Sexton was the player of the year @ Ooltewah Middle before moving to Temple. Seth could easily play NAIA bb. Josh is 235+ and could play football in college if he desires. You have 4 players (3 srs) who are athletic enough to play in college. Yes I would say that is exceptional. Grace was runner up at the state with 4 players of that caliber although I do not think they were as athletic as this Temple team. Grace has 4 this year but they are too young and inexperienced. Payback is coming but Coach Skogen will only see it from afar.

You give the crowd and Coach Skogen too much credit. It was a double tech and Sexton challenged #50(Jordan) after receiving a hard foul. Congrats to Temple on a good win. It is a shame Coach Skogen will not be around to enjoy then benefits of his coaching style when he is not loaded with exceptional athletes. If he were coming back he might not be pressing late in a blow out. What are the odds that Sexton stays after everyone else leaves next year?

This game is at Temple.

Who do you think will stop Grace? Grace has already beaten the other top teams of region 3 besides Temple. Grace beat Jackson Co who beat Pickett. Who else is strong from Region 4.

Grace will only get better as their young players gain experience. With only 2 players who got minutes last year, they are a work in progress. They already have a huge road win against Jackson County and will get to play Temple at least 3 times and probably 4. They will also play ER, ND, Greenville, Ooltewah, Central, and McCallie. Playing these high level games will only help the freshman guards to mature. The talent is present only toughening needed.

Jurick is stated to be #1 on UT's board now for 2008. His value is way up from last year.

In game matchups will be interesting in this game. Will Carter defend Jurick or will Shaughnessy? Will Carter then have to match against Wells? Who will Jurick guard or will East Ridge zone? Does Grace even have a zone? I do expect a huge crowd. Another interesting question is how many college coaches will be there. UT's fan site is already posting about this matchup. They are even wondering if Coach Pearl will be back. Maybe this will be as big as Mackey vs Lightfoot.

6. Grace (6-0)- In same boat as Temple, no real quailty wins. Very young team. Grace has a quality win @ Jackson Co. They have been unimpressive against weaker district teams. Being a young team they will play to the level of their opposition. When they learn how to ride on Carter's back they will be very tough.

"are preseason favorites to be finalists this year" Yes you do have a good team. I do believe the strong teams out west are much more likely to be finalist and are the favorites. Your team did not even make the final eight last year. Congratulations on your new coach he seems to be a good hire for the kids that remain.

What concerns me the most is the appearance of serving personal interest over the responsibility of his job. I know they were volunteers but they still agreed to be the football coaches at Temple. I am glad the Navy Seal in Iraq did not consider his family before his follow soldiers when he covered a granade with his body. I am not certain of any former coaches motive and that is why I chose the word appearance. I do know for fact that families involved with Temple football do feel deserted by what has taken place. On this web site many fans have complained about coaches being fired without justification. They want the schools to be more concerned about developing young men than winning games. Coaches who parents and supporters have praised have been removed for not winning. The returning Temple players must be feeling the hurt for their coaches resigning. I for one will definitely be impressed with any of the Temple players that have the toughness to continue playing for their school. I hope they do not think their coaches have given up on them like other schools have given up on coaches I believe that as part of a team you stay through thick and thin.( like marriage vows). I hate that because Temple's team appears to be not as strong due to losing their great senior class we (the fans) give these transfers a pass. It seems that I is before team.

Grace's jv only had 3 players that even dress varsity. How does your jv much up to the Grace varsity which consisted of 3 freshman, 3 sophmores, 4 juniors, & 1 senior. Your jv basically played the Grace freshman. I do not think Grace played well has a team. They had way too many turnovers and got lost defensively a few times. Foul trouble was also a huge problem in the post and we were already minus one post player. McMasters was forced to play more than he should in the first half and that hurt his 2nd half production. I cannot get a handle on Arts but Grace can play much better. If they hope to compete with Temple they must play better.

Arts was the experienced team. Grace started two freshman guards who will only get better with experience. Shaughnessy sat 12 minutes in the first half with 2 fouls(only a sophmore playing his first year at this level). Grace was without their senior leader due to illness. I realize we are talking about high school athletics but I see tremendous room for Grace to improve. Besides you have no answer for Carter. I did like the way you attacked us defensively at the start of the 3rd quarter.