rSquared

Just a reminder! This meeting is Monday, Feb. 3, at Knox Webb. ---rSquared

tenndirt: Has this Lenoir City asst. contacted Oakdale to let them know of his interest? Have they talked with him or interviewed him? If I can help him in any way with contacts or any type of information he desires, just let me know. ---rSquared

Not anymore, answer9! Collins resigned at the beginning of this semester, after just one season at Oakdale. He accepted a job at Rockwood Middle School and will be joining another former Oakdale assistant, John Daugherty, as an assistant on the Rockwood High staff next season. His successor at Oakdale has yet to be named, as far as I know, though asst. coach William Childers, formerly of Grundy Co., looks to be a candidate. Congratulations and best wishes to Travis at Harriman, and to Benny and John at Rockwood. Oakdale certainly misses these guys. ---rSquared

The Lady Devils might very well make it to the show for the 2nd year in a row, but my feeling is that they are not going to have it as easy as they did last year. I expect both Rockwood and Oakdale to have some say in whether or not Coach Cox's team finishes at the top of District 4A again this season, not to mention that the competition in the region should be improved this year as well! A couple of things in Harriman's favor though---first, even though they lost Tessa Tate and some girl that flat out crushes the ball but whose name I can't remember, they DO return some very skilled players and will have K. Pollit on the mound for her senior season. Secondly, they will be hosting the District Tournament this season. Almost time to crank it up, ladies!!! ---rSquared

was a Coalfield win in a hard fought game that was closer than what many probably expected and closer than the final score indicated. And I think you nailed it, goose, when you said that these two teams will probably play several more key games in the coming years that will prove to be more meaningful considering the young talent each team has! ---rSquared

With some new players coming out this season, Coach Jeremy Lowe's Jackets should be a much better team. Will they challenge for a district title? Sure they will, but every team in the district will "challenge" for the title in one sense. Will the Jackets be considered one of the top teams in the district? With no disrespect, probably not, and simply for two reasons---Rockwood and Harriman. Both of these two teams should be loaded for the 2003 season. On the other hand, I don't see Coalfield finishing at the bottom of the district again either! My preseason prediction is that they will probably finish somewhere in the middle of the pack along with Wartburg and Oneida. Nevertheless, best of luck to you Jackets and enjoy baseball season "rookies" Matt Bauer and Chris Jackson! ---rSquared

The "A" teams to beat in East TN would have to include Harriman, Rockwood, Midway, Cosby, and Unaka. ---rSquared

Goose, my lad, what can you tell me about Rockwood's girls and their matchup with Coalfield tonight? I know they're young and rebuilding, similar to Coalfield, but what are their strengths and weaknesses, who are their key players, etc. ??? ---rSquared [Edited by rSquared on 1-29-03 5:20P]

Those were my thoughts as well, queenbee! ---rSquared

are there any other REDS fans on this board? ---rSquared

From a HUGE, lifelong fan of the silver & black since the days of George Blanda (yes, I'm older than dirt!): Raidas---27 Bucs---24 Sorry Gruden---you coulda 'ad that Super Bowl ring if ya 'adn't a jumped shipped too early, mate! "Bucs"ll only getya so far, ya know! ---rSquared

uh, "Two Outta Three Ain't Bad" (it'd make for a .667 batting avg., right? ) from Meatloaf's "BAT Outta heck" album would seem appropriate to me! ---rSquared

Welcome to the board, bbnutt21! Glad to have you! Excellent first post, I might add. ---rSquared

I think you've left out some of the girls who'll be contributors to this team in the next few years, knoxbase. Players like freshman Melanie Morgan, who in my opinion will prove to be the KEY player for this team, freshman Andrea Swint, freshman Melissa Morgan, and current eighth graders like Sarah Walls, Holly Daugherty, Amber Hall, etc. I agree wholeheartedly with what you say, but I just wanted to make these additions so that the rest of the freshmen would get their due also! ---rSquared

Hurt: I joined today! It would be great if more posters (especially "softball" posters) would join---that way we could communicate by private messaging and coacht.com email as well as get together in the chat room occasionally! How 'bout it softball fans, players, and coaches! The money helps maintain a site that we all love and all the extra benefits are just icing on the cake! Do it TODAY! ---rSquared

What's the schedule for tonight's JR High tourney at Sunbright? Who plays at what times? Also, I just joined CoachTPlus and I'm hoping that some of the locals (you, goose, answer9, sportsmom25 (she may already be a plus member???), bbnutt21 and others whose user-id's I can't remember!) will join. That way we can take advantage of some of the perks like private messaging, coacht email addresses, and especially the chat room where we can get together from time to time and talk some hoops! How about it? I'd even be willing to pay YOUR $12 fee, kingB, since you were the one who informed me of this site about a year ago! ---rSquared Even if we don't use these extra perks very often, the money goes for a worthy cause! I think some of you feel the same as me about CoachT.com and would be willing to make a $12.00 annual donation just to help keep the site going even if there were no such perks that a CoachTPlus membership offers! [Edited by rSquared on 1-25-03 12:48P]

Whitney (Freeman) Cook and her mom (sportsmom25) told a coaching friend of mine the other night that Whitney's ACL was torn and that she would be out the rest of the year. Tough break for Cook and here's hoping that she's back better than ever next season. Geez, Dallas, have you been living right lately? Two ACL tears in one season to two top performers. Thing is, he'll probably have the Lady 'Dogs in the thick of the district tourney hunt regardless. ---rSquared

Have you been paying attention, youngster? Coalfield already beat Sunbright on Sunbright's home court a couple of weeks ago and will play them again tonight at Coafield. Plus, Coalfield has beaten Oakdale at Oakdale a couple of weeks ago in the only matchup between these two teams so far. So what gives? How do you rank Coalfield behind BOTH of these teams? Coalfield also split with Wartburg, by the way, with each team winning on the road. I would have to rank the teams like this, based on the season to date: Harriman Oneida (tie) Wartburg (tie) Coalfield Sunbright Oakdale Rockwood Have you been swimming in some leftover eggnog or what? ---rSquared

Goose or anyone else: Can you tell me if either/both of these games are still going to be played tonight as scheduled? I'm in serious need of some HOOPS and would like to go to one of these games tonight! Also, NO SCHOOL IN MORGAN COUNTY tomorrow (Tues.). I just got the word from my asst. principal a few moments ago!!! ---rSquared

Goose or anyone else: Can you tell me if either/both of these two Roane County games are still going to be played tonight as scheduled? I'm in SERIOUS need for some hoops tonight and want to go to one of these two games!!! Also, there is NO school tomorrow (Tues) in Morgan County. I just got the call from my asst. principal a few moments ago! ---rSquared

Sidetrain: We have a Jugs softball machine and we use the Jugs Sting-free Yellow Dimpled Softballs, both indoors and out. We usually buys ours through a local sporting goods dealer, but softballsales lists them at $27.95 per dozen.(softballsales.com or maybe just softball.com) These balls hold up pretty well and have proved to be the best ones that we have found. ---rSquared

I agree, FPFanatic, and so I salute you, motlowshortstop and SBCoach, both with good marks! ---rSquared

answer9, they really DID take it to Coalfield tonight. Coach Davis's girls outplayed, outhustled, and outworked the Lady Jackets. No doubt they were the better team tonight. Heather Bunch looked like she was on a mission early on to prove that the Lady Dawgs could survive without the post play of the injured Whitney Cook. I thought Amber Jeffers played a better game tonight than she did at Wartburg earlier this season, and Heather Gunter drained a huge three in what I believe was the only time I've seen her shoot the ball in the two games. Kimberly Diden and Ashley Howard played well also, as did Ginger McGhee. I know that Coach D. got on Ginger a couple of times for typical freshman mistakes, but he probably would admit that she's having a very good freshman season. She brings a LOT of athleticism to this team, and I have to agree with Ray and Keith (WECO radio) that SHE IS going to be a very good player! A good effort by the Lady Dawgs! Congrats on a big win. The Road Streak continues in this rivalry. And, yes, sportsmom, as usual, my prediction was just plain WRONG on this one! ---rSquared [Edited by rSquared on 1-10-03 10:21P]

and I have to agree with WECO's Keith Adcock and Ray Tucker that the crowd tonight was more indicative of a district tournament type atmosphere. But then that's what a good rivalry's all about, right? Both teams had excellent crowd support. The officials called a plethora of fouls, but just maybe they more or less had to in order to keep the game under control. The fans around me evidently didn't see it that way at times, though, and to be honest, on occasion, neither did I. Probably not either team's best showing, (stress "lots" of turnovers here) but the effort wasn't lacking. Several players with good efforts on both teams, but what stood out most for me were the abilities of Kody Phillips and Justin Dagley to penetrate and finish the layups and/or create easy baskets with their slashing-type skills. Coach Joe Layne seems to have done a very good job getting this Wartburg team back to snuff after a down year last season. It seemed to be a game of "runs," with Wartburg appearing on more than one occasion to be poised for a blowout, going up by as many as 15, 17, and 19 points only to see the Jackets bring it back within reach and even take the lead a couple of times. In the end, I felt like the Jackets inability to take care of the basketball during a couple of key occasions seemed to swing the final momentum back to the Dawgs. And both teams free throw shooting was atrocious, though the Jackets fared a little better in the second half than they did in the first. Maybe coach Ronnie Wilson could get "Basketball Bucks" winner Taylor Newberry, a Coalfield sixth grader I believe, to work with his squad at the free throw line. Taylor won $100.00 by sinking six free throws in under sixty seconds during halftime of this game tonight! He even had about 17 seconds or so to spare when he sank the sixth and final one. Guys (and girls) across America---SHOOT MORE FREE THROWS---WORK HARDER ON THIS CRUCIAL PART OF YOUR GAME! One last note, I can't help but believe that if both these teams continue to shore up their games that the district tournament next month will NOT, as previously believed by many such as myself, be a Rockwood/Harriman cakewalk. Congratulations to Wartburg on another good win and kudos to both teams on their efforts tonight! ---rSquared

I was not there and have no idea what could have been going on and am certainly not suggesting that I condone or condemn any action that I did not see and have no details about, but just remember that coaches are human, too, and have feelings and emotions just like anyone else. I've seen Coach K. and have been on the opposite bench from him over many seasons and have nothing but the highest respect for him and have never seen him get out of line. Regardless of if he has in the past or was tonight, however, just keep in mind that coaches put themselves into the game and intensity can sometimes drive you to do things that you probably wouldn't do in a different set of circumstances. Congrats to Harriman on a big win! ---rSquared [Edited by rSquared on 1-10-03 9:20P]