Unaka Basketball and ALL the tradition

[TheLastWord]

To Ex-Players,

Your blood, sweat and hard work is at stake. Please explain the tradition to those who are obviously unaware of what it really is. Thanks for your time.

[CLINE]

Well if you can't tell by my username, this is Derek Cline. I played for Unaka from 2001-2005. I started playing true varsity minutes my sophomore year at point guard under Donald Ensor. I hardly and rarely post on CoachT for a number of reasons... being I'm well out of high school, this seems to be nothing more than a place to poke-fun of kids, and I'm pretty heavy into school so that takes a lot of time. People question the tradition of Unaka on here more than ever now. I'm here to set that straight. Not with hurtful and stupid comments but with things that most people don't see when they're in the stands watching.

 

Unaka Basketball is all about pride, first and foremost. I've never been more proud to be able to walk onto a basketball court in a Unaka uniform. It didn't matter the team. It didn't matter the situation. I was always just happy to play for a program with such high prestige and great background. I played for Donald Ensor who taught me more about the game of basketball than I could have ever learned anywhere else. Yeah, I went to the summer camps and all that jazz but nothing taught me better than old fashioned, get-after-it practices. We never had the best equipment or anything but we got down to buisness with old school basic fundamentals. Sometimes before games, we would go into the gym and run through situations without a basketball. Not to get off the point, Coach Ensor, Coach Thomas, and Coach J taught me the game of basketball in such a perspective that I am currently in school to be a teacher and hopeful coach someday.

 

Tradition... what is tradition? I could hear a million definitions of what it is but what does it mean to you? Playing in front of sell-out crowds that were so loud to the point you couldn't hear yourself think. Being able to walk off the court knowing that I played my butt off gave me a sense of worth-while effort. Winning the state championship my junior year was nice. I mean it was actually great but by no means is that the reason that I loved Unaka tradition. I loved the fact that fans were dedicated and competition always top notch. Some say we are in the easiet conference in Tennessee but I beg that. Teams always brought everything to the table when we played them. You know why? I'll tell you why. Unaka had a reputation that teams wanted to put to shame. That's one of the biggest reasons I don't get on here anymore... I read a post that had some people from Cloudland running all over Unaka this year. Oh well, we aren't having a record-breaking year but that's neither here nor there. Our reputation was being the best and all the teams always wanted a piece to put us down. That's what tradition is to me. Being the most loved and hated program.

 

I hated to write a short novel but it needs to be said. Unaka Basketball will always be in my heart. I bleed maroon. Always will. But the fact that people question one of the most respected programs makes me sick. I played, I know. Ask anybody else that played for Unaka. They wouldn't want it any other way and some people wish they could play for a program this intrigued. If anybody says anything else, they're lying to you.

 

Thanks for your attention. I hope I've gave you a better understanding of what it means to be a Unaka Ranger.

 

-Derek Cline

[THE KING]

QUOTE(CLINE @ Jan 25 2007 - 03:20 PM) 826345666[/snapback]

Well if you can't tell by my username, this is Derek Cline. I played for Unaka from 2001-2005. I started playing true varsity minutes my sophomore year at point guard under Donald Ensor. I hardly and rarely post on CoachT for a number of reasons... being I'm well out of high school, this seems to be nothing more than a place to poke-fun of kids, and I'm pretty heavy into school so that takes a lot of time. People question the tradition of Unaka on here more than ever now. I'm here to set that straight. Not with hurtful and stupid comments but with things that most people don't see when they're in the stands watching.

 

Unaka Basketball is all about pride, first and foremost. I've never been more proud to be able to walk onto a basketball court in a Unaka uniform. It didn't matter the team. It didn't matter the situation. I was always just happy to play for a program with such high prestige and great background. I played for Donald Ensor who taught me more about the game of basketball than I could have ever learned anywhere else. Yeah, I went to the summer camps and all that jazz but nothing taught me better than old fashioned, get-after-it practices. We never had the best equipment or anything but we got down to buisness with old school basic fundamentals. Sometimes before games, we would go into the gym and run through situations without a basketball. Not to get off the point, Coach Ensor, Coach Thomas, and Coach J taught me the game of basketball in such a perspective that I am currently in school to be a teacher and hopeful coach someday.

 

Tradition... what is tradition? I could hear a million definitions of what it is but what does it mean to you? Playing in front of sell-out crowds that were so loud to the point you couldn't hear yourself think. Being able to walk off the court knowing that I played my butt off gave me a sense of worth-while effort. Winning the state championship my junior year was nice. I mean it was actually great but by no means is that the reason that I loved Unaka tradition. I loved the fact that fans were dedicated and competition always top notch. Some say we are in the easiet conference in Tennessee but I beg that. Teams always brought everything to the table when we played them. You know why? I'll tell you why. Unaka had a reputation that teams wanted to put to shame. That's one of the biggest reasons I don't get on here anymore... I read a post that had some people from Cloudland running all over Unaka this year. Oh well, we aren't having a record-breaking year but that's neither here nor there. Our reputation was being the best and all the teams always wanted a piece to put us down. That's what tradition is to me. Being the most loved and hated program.

 

I hated to write a short novel but it needs to be said. Unaka Basketball will always be in my heart. I bleed maroon. Always will. But the fact that people question one of the most respected programs makes me sick. I played, I know. Ask anybody else that played for Unaka. They wouldn't want it any other way and some people wish they could play for a program this intrigued. If anybody says anything else, they're lying to you.

 

Thanks for your attention. I hope I've gave you a better understanding of what it means to be a Unaka Ranger.

 

-Derek Cline

 

 

Sniff, sniff Boo, hoo, hoo!! What a joke!

[THE KING]

QUOTE(Landshark @ Jan 26 2007 - 11:34 AM) 826346844[/snapback]

King--You got No dog in this race and all I can say about Cloudland beating Unaka is you better Savor the Flavor!

 

 

Tasting awful sweet!

[dave_chapelle]

Good Lord...somebody call Dr. Phil so these guys can work this out!

[THE KING]

QUOTE(dave_chapelle @ Jan 26 2007 - 05:15 PM) 826347275[/snapback]

Good Lord...somebody call Dr. Phil so these guys can work this out!

 

[CLINE]

Hey King, you know who I am and I def. know who you are. So let me ask you 2 quick questions... 1) Why are you on a Unaka thread acting like a true classless moron? 2) Why are you 30+ years old and still wear your Cloudland letterman jacket? I mean I'm really just wondering.

[THE KING]

Everybody that knows me can tell you that I wear a black motorcycle jacket. I usually stand out in a crowd because I don't follow the trends. I'm not 30 yet, still a couple years away. I don't know where you get your information, but you need to find better things to do with your time besides checking out the King. I'm starting to think your a little bit funny there, boy.

[CLINE]

And you should find better things to do than write about Unaka's program.. catch my drift, boss?

[Rangerbook06]

QUOTE(THE KING @ Jan 27 2007 - 02:05 PM) 826348199[/snapback]

Everybody that knows me can tell you that I wear a black motorcycle jacket. I usually stand out in a crowd because I don't follow the trends. I'm not 30 yet, still a couple years away. I don't know where you get your information, but you need to find better things to do with your time besides checking out the King. I'm starting to think your a little bit funny there, boy.

 

 

Whoop-de-doo. Cloudland has beat Unaka 7 times in the past 10, 15, heck, maybe even 20 years... King, at Unaka, basketball has a tradition of excellence. At Cloudland, you have a tradition of mediocrity.

[THE KING]

That has not been evident for some time now. We started it by putting you all out of both tournaments last year and then beat the haydees out of you this year. Thats three times in less than a year. I think its absolutely hilarious that all of these former players are crying the blues now that Unaka is consistently losing!!

[CLINE]

I'm not on here crying about anything buddy. I give it to you. You all beat Unaka. Wow, are you wanting some kind of special award or congratulations? I suppose you have taken all your great smack talking from football to basketball because you all have had a decent year and football seems hopeless now. Please tell me what all this bullcrap has to do with Unaka tradition because all your posts say the same thing, somewhat like a broken record! Tradition takes longer than a year to build. When you guys win a few conference championships then you might consider speaking of tradition.

 

Question. Do you like apples? Try winning more than 5 straight conference titles in a row, how you like them apples?