aliastn

We'll only have around 100 burgers/cheeseburgers tonight...we are trying to sell out without having any leftover. The pizza is Snappy Tomato. We will have plenty of hot dogs, nachos, fries, and some Tornadoes. In addition, there will be caramel apples with whipped cream and walnuts, hot apple cider, and hot chocolate. If you've patronized either concession, the band appreciates your business!

I posted this on Sat., but figured I'd better say it again: There will only be a limited amount of band burgers this Friday. Plenty of hot dogs, Tornadoes, nachos, and fries, though. If you haven't tried the chicken sandwich yet, now is a good time to try it; they're really good!

I can answer that: about 1/2.

Believe it or not, there are parents out there who want their child to get a good education. When we moved here, we researched all the schools in Blount & Knox County. We chose Alcoa because of their academics...at that time we had no idea how good or bad the football team was. That was the least of our worries. It just so happened that our first year at Alcoa was...7 years ago, and they've been on a roll since. Bigphil: FOREVER. Even when I was in school...in the dark ages.

Concessions alert: There will only be a limited supply of band burgers for the game next week. We will have hot dogs, french fries, chili cheese fries, tornadoes, and nachos available at the lower concessions. If you haven't tried the chicken sandwiches, they're as good as the burgers! The upper concessions will have the usual until we run out. Thanks to everybody who has visited both concessions and has supported the band!

This thread is cracking me up! As someone who lived in Dalton for 10+ years and was closely associated with the high school for a few years (during the Bill Chappell era), here's something for you: A community that will run a pastor out of town will run a football coach out of town. Dalton is a very strange place. It's not like any other place in the SE USA. At one time it had the most millionaires per square mile in the USA. Those people with $ think they can run the football program...and apparently they can.

I beg your pardon: We're up to around 45 members now! I can take the bands playing, what I can't take are the cheerleaders throwing those little footballs during plays! I can't tell you how many times I've been hit in the face because I was actually trying to watch the play instead of catch a little football!

As an "outsider" looking in, I'm going to put in my 2cents' worth: Congratulations for both teams for making it to the championship game. I know that noone thought Murvul would make it that far; I'm assuming it was the same for WS. Watching the game on tv last night, MHS definitely did not look like the Murvul we've seen before. From where I was sitting, it did appear that WS dominated. MHS had a really, really hard time tackling #11 & #4. I was yelling at the tv, willing MHS to tackle them, but I guess they couldn't hear me! WS had some talented players that were amazing to watch. Something just didn't appear to be clicking with MHS. I was proud of the MHS players when they held up the silver ball just like it was the gold. You guys went a lot farther than most people thought you would. I was hoping GQ would be able to pull it off, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Congratulations again to both teams for a remarkable season!

YOu cant come on here and say stuff like that, come on. Be mature. Austin has worked hard all year long and your opinion like that is surely not needed. I agree Rankinated! I believe Austin had a very good season. He really did'nt get much playing time at the QB position last year. With the tough schedule Alcoa had , I thought he was a great leader. Not sure if alot of the problems Austin had with his passing game was due to play calls from coaching or bad decisions???? I do hope he has a chance to participate in a good camp in the off season. Lets face it most all QB's can work on accuracy. However, one must admit that a 10-15 yard pass is a higher percentage play than one 35-40 yard down the field. Seems like we never really tried the short high percentage passes??? Again, not sure if it was decision making on Austin's part or play calls from coaching??? With that said, I am very proud of the year our TORNADOES had. The guys played with alot of heart and determination and all their hard work definately payed off!! Let's get ready for next year!!! GO TORNADOES!!! I completely agree with both of you guys. I have enjoyed watching Austin this season. He came a long way this year, and with some guidance this summer, should have an amazing year next year.

Interesting. I sure didn't hear any of that. In fact, every time I asked someone a question, the answer was "I don't know". Still like the MTSU atmosphere better. But, like I said before, it could just be that I'm not a big fan of change.

Nope. The role changes from being a football/band mom to "just" a band mom! Well I guess I lost track of time then. Guess that's easy to do! I'd like to see the streak continue. We have some really good athletes chomping at the bit for their turn. It was good that a lot of them saw some playing action this year.

Nope. The role changes from being a football/band mom to "just" a band mom!

I agree. Maybe it was because it was a new location, but we had some trouble finding parking, and were surprised that parking in some locations was $8. Ended up finding a free lot and walking a little. It didn't seem like a state championship game; just seemed like a regular game. I also missed the big screen and music. Maybe for next year TTU could contact MTSU to find out about what music to play. "YMCA" wasn't the same without the big screen, and we really missed the dancing football. Thought it was really weird that we were the home team, but we seemed to be sitting on the visitor's side. Also, what's up with our boys having to walk to the Athletic Center to change? Ended up having to mingle with some Milan players waiting on our boys. That was a little awkward, but probably more so for them. We had a hard time getting into the stands as well, much more difficult than at MTSU. Could be that I'm just not a big fan of change. I suppose if this was your first champ game, things would've been great. It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night! Mama Rosa's was great! Well worth the wait!

awww, here's the real question: Can Alcoa win a state championship without any Coopers and Marshes on the team? For the past 6 years Alcoa has not lost a championship game when there has been a Cooper & a Marsh! I have my faith in Alcoa and the coaches. They'll have the boys ready for next year and the great tradition will continue with the younger boys stepping up, just as they've done for the past 6 years!

That would be incorrect. I was there this morning and they had no such thing. Nice try, though.

1. Unbelievable support. If you were able to be at Alcoa Schools tomorrow you would witness what I'm talking about. The send-off for the football team is incredible. There will be a pep rally at the high school, the boys will get on the bus and ride a few yards to the middle school. They'll get off the bus, greeted by the middle school students, shake hands/give high fives before getting back on the bus. Then, they'll ride down the hill to the elementary school. This is really something to see. All of the elementary school kids are outside waiting for them, cheering and jumping up and down. The excitement in their eyes brings tears to mine. I remember what it was like, being their age and looking at the high school kids like they were heroes, not wanting to wait to be one of them. 2. Great feeder programs. We have former Alcoa football players coaching the peewee and midget teams. The middle school & high school coaches work closely together. 3. Hard work. Our boys are dedicated to being the best. Our second string would be first string at a different school. Those boys push our first string so there are no surprises during the game. Do our boys work harder than other schools? I can't say. Rankin made the comment in an article in the Elizabethton Star that "It's a traditional football town... "We get a lot of support from the community. I was fortunate to put together a good coaching staff and have some great kids. The program's really important to the kids and the community. " The article also said "Football is a way of life in Alcoa. People eat, sleep and breathe football. And winning's remained a tradition, especially since Rankin left Riverdale, a program he had built into a power." 4. It doesn't hurt to have some good athletes! A lot of our boys play at least 2 sports, so they don't specifically train for football the whole year. Oh, and it also doesn't hurt that Murvul HS is only 10 minutes away from AHS; our rivalry is one of the biggest in the state.

Jaron is definitely a role model for future Tornadoes. All of the players have a "54" sticker on their helmets to honor the fallen Sullivan South football player. The character in these kids is amazing; we have our coaching staff to thank for that.

lbjtn: I must correct you on a couple of points you made in your post: Kids that live in Alcoa don't "have to" go to Alcoa. They can go to a county school without paying tuition, since their parents pay both city & county taxes. If they go to Maryville, they have to pay tuition, since their parents pay Alcoa & county taxes, but not Maryville taxes. Also, ALCOA (the aluminum company) is now a mere shadow of its former self. Personally, I know very few people who still have a job there. It used to be true that most of the kids' parents worked there, but now I don't think that's the case. fiftyish: here's another point to your question: How about parents who stay out of the coaching business and let the coaches do their job? Maybe I'm just not around the coaches much, but it does seem that at Alcoa we don't have parents getting in the coaches' faces about what plays they called or whether or not junior got to play.

EHS definitely had the nicest high school stadium we've seen this year. No bathrooms on the visiting side, but there were plenty of stalls once you got in! I'd much rather walk over to the other side instead of using portables! The only think I didn't like about the stadium was the band seating. Both bands were in either endzone. I don't know about other bands, but our band likes to be next to the student section, but I suppose if they had gotten there earlier they may have had that option. The atmosphere was good; I think our boys like playing in front of a crowd! GET 'EM UP!

Sorry, he was not a tuition student. He's a home grown Alcoa boy whose dad was a heck of a basketball player for Alcoa back in the day!

In all honesty, we had room reservations with the reason being that there are not as many hotels in Cookeville as there are in the 'Boro, and I wanted to make sure we had a place to stay. I also reasoned that if the season didn't turn out as planned, I could always cancel my reservation. I did cancel the reservation after finding out that the 3A game will be played at 3:30 (Central). Cookeville is losing out on a lot of hotel revenue that the 'Boro would have received, especially with Maryville & Alcoa both being in the championships. Of course, this could not have been predicted, and really should not have any bearing in where the games are held. My guess is these are the fans who may stay in Cookeville, unless they decide to go to the Nashville area to spend the night: Union City (1A) Milan (3A) Giles Co. (4A) Greeneville (4A) (iffy) Columbia (5A) White Station (6A) I'm not certain about the Chattanooga area schools (Boyd Buch & S. Pitt). I hope Cookeville isn't sorry they decided to bid for the games.

Okay, I've read enough without a response. First off, I think you meant taunt instead of "taught". I think there were many lessons "taught" on the field last night, but I don't think our fans taught your seniors anything. Now, on to the answers: #1: Who cares? I'm sure if a Carter Co. resident wanted to go to EHS and pay tuition he would have that option, just as I'm sure if an Elizabethton resident wanted to go to a Carter Co. school he could. #2: Right off the top of my head, I don't know of any parents who work together other than the teachers. I know I don't work with any parents; we also have several parents who work in Knoxville at various places. #3: My son isn't "originally from Alcoa"...we moved here when he was in 7th grade from SC. Had we stayed, he would have been on one of the top large teams in the state. Does that mean he's not a legitimate player? I think not. I've always heard that there's no such thing as a dumb question, but these questions come awfully close. We don't have "100 players" on our roster; I'm assuming you're rounding up, but that's a bit of an exaggeration. Every team has fans that others may deem "classless". Fans get caught up in the moment, no matter their age. The coaches can't control that. Maryville will not "take our players". We both have a tremendous fan base. They are both football towns that happen to have the top schools in the state academically. Alcoa is not a private school, and will never be a private school. You accuse us of recruiting: if having 5 rings in 5 years is recruiting, then we're guilty as charged. Going back to 6 years ago when we got our 1st ring in this string of championships and seeing how hard those boys worked, you're really doing our kids a disservice. They bought into a new way of doing things, worked their hind ends off, and are reaping the benefits. In the meantime, they've learned the life lesson that to get something, you have to work really hard to get it. The current coaches teach the boys humility and being thankful for what you have. Sorry, your post sounds like sour grapes to me. I think all of us are a little disappointed that the game wasn't closer, but I know I was relieved at the same time for catching a little bit of a break before the championship game. The last 2 games were tough, so it was nice to have a bit of a "breather". Rankinated was estimating the student population as 20% tuition. That's not the football team. I don't think the team is that high. We have tuition students in the band, on the soccer team (men's and women's), tennis team, basketball team, track team, cheerleading squad, etc. I think you get my point. Nobody is questioning them, although I suspect the men's soccer team will come under fire next. Anyway, my point is that there is no way we have more than 20% tuition students. Most of the tuition students come to Alcoa for the academics, not sports. When we moved here 7 years ago, the academics are what sold us on Alcoa, not the athletics. Hope that clears up some things for you. Now, this thread has been complete. It should be closed.

I think it's hilarious that you Elizabethton people keep talking about being "small town"! I think Alcoa's got you beat in that dept. Population of Elizabethton:13,372 Population of Alcoa: 7,734 Students at EHS: 800 Students at AHS: 513 (Data taken from http://www.city-data.com) So, I'm not buying your "small town" talk.

It really stinks that this new format won't allow you to hit delete after you post something, so I know what you're saying about wanting to take your post back. But, don't use the "woman" thing as an excuse to not know about the rules; you're making us look bad! Congratulations to Loudon for a really good season. I spoke with one of your players after the game who was really having a hard time with the outcome. Loudon played an awesome game; it's been our toughest game this far.

Does anyone know what time the gates will open?