Oak Ridge @ Farragut

[SweetScience]

oh yeah, alumni here also, graduated in 97, back when oak ridge was a very stout program... it kills me to see oak ridge the way they are now... to be honest it is WEIRD, cause ever since i have been alive oak ridge has been the dominant team in this area (east tennessee)at least in our region and classification.. i heard that track star for oak ridge was gonna play this year, thats another guy right there that could be helping the team out (jadon short)? i believe thats his name, guess that never materialized though... anyways, something needs to be done, in all credit to farragut, they should NEVER be beating oak rige 5 years in a row, just not acceptable.

[catback]

I agree!

[ORidgeKat]

Catback, take it one step further. When we were kids Oak Ridge had Glenwood, Woodland, Linden, Willowbrook and Cedar Hill elementaries. Every school had three youth football teams, sometimes four,if there were too many in one age group. That's 15-17 youth league teams all with pretty good coaching. Then you had two junior high teams with 45-50 players on each team,and both Jefferson and Robertsville were good teams consistantly. Then, of course the Atoms had many of the middle schools best players and were like a junior high all star team, almost hand picked. That makes 20 football teams ages 6-14 that fed the Wildcat program. Now, we have 4 Boys club teams from the West end and 4 teams from the East end. One middle school team allows their "coach" to flounder year in year out with no accountability, and one middle school team that's pretty good. And that's it! It's no mystery why we don't have the athletes we used to. It's really a hard pill to swallow, but that is where we are.

 

That's why I say if Oak Ridge plays as hard as they can play and gets better as the year goes along, I will be proud of them. We have some great kids, they're just not great athletes. My goals for Oak Ridge now have changed. It's no longer win region, beat DB then Riverdale, play in the state championship. Now, it's beat Farragut (0 for 1), beat Clinton (toss up), win the region (doubtful with AC and Powell) and host a home playoff game (unlikely). But hey, that's reality, that's where we are, and we have to play with what we've got. It's not the boys on this teams fault that we are in this position. Let's get behind these kids and support them all the way through the season win or lose. We may not be as good as we used to be, but we are still Oak Ridge and we should be proud of that and every boy that comes down those steps, they deserve our support and they deserve to wear the Cardinal and Gray, they've earned it. Let's go get Central, we can do it.

[STARPOWER2]

Went by to see the freshman and JV play last night. OR's freshman team had about 20-25 players. Their JV looked better, but it's hard to rebuild with numbers like that. After having to live through the long reign of the Wild Cat I can't feel for them too much, but how much time are you willing to give Blade in his rebuilding project?

[catback]

ORidgeKat,

 

I agree with your post, and your right about the number of teams in the system at the Boys Club compared to then and now. I have and will always support the boys playing for OR. I do think however, that more could and should be done to better prepare them for high school football. The situation at the Boys Club is what it is, and I don't see that situation changing much in the near future, however, the two middle school programs need be given the attention they desrve. They need to be treated as an important part and role in the development of our kids in regards to football. This is not impossible, if you look at alot of the surrounding teams in this area, the middle school programs are working hand-in-hand with their high school programs. You post about all of the things these boys deserve, and I coudn't agree more, but, they also deserve to have the same opportunities that you and I had. The format or formula may have changed a bit, but, not enough that it should be totally ignored like it is now.

Edited August 31, 2010 by catback

[ORidgeKat]

Catback, I agree, the high school coaches should be in lock step with the middle schools, they should be working together and running the same system, or at least the basics of the same system. And they should support those teams by attending whenever possible. People hate when I use Maryville as an example, but that is exactly why they are so good. The youth leagues and middle schools are on the exact same page with the high school. That's why they reload every single year. They know the fundamentals and the system before they even arrive at MHS and they plug them right in wherever they need them. It's not rocket science, but it takes a committment from all involved to work together for a common goal, which should be the sustained success of Oak Ridge football.

[bladerunner]

Catback, I agree, the high school coaches should be in lock step with the middle schools, they should be working together and running the same system, or at least the basics of the same system. And they should support those teams by attending whenever possible. People hate when I use Maryville as an example, but that is exactly why they are so good. The youth leagues and middle schools are on the exact same page with the high school. That's why they reload every single year. They know the fundamentals and the system before they even arrive at MHS and they plug them right in wherever they need them. It's not rocket science, but it takes a committment from all involved to work together for a common goal, which should be the sustained success of Oak Ridge football.

Alcoa seems to be doing everything right for sure.. I mean they have taken a lot of good players and made them great.. If you look at them,you can tell they are very well conditioned. Much better than Maryville. It looks like they live in the weight room.

Edited August 31, 2010 by bladerunner

[ORidgeKat]

blade, can't argue with that. I was at one of the Alcoa scrimmages 3 years ago at their place. At halftime they were killing us 4 or 5 touchdowns. They pulled the starters, sent them to the end zone and they ran sprints for the better part of the rest of the scrimmage. Randall Cobb (qb at the time) was bigger and stronger than anybody we had on the field. Except for a couple d tackles that were huge and out of shape. Both Alcoa and Maryville's committment to offseason training and the weight room are on a whole other level than what we do.

[bladerunner]

blade, can't argue with that. I was at one of the Alcoa scrimmages 3 years ago at their place. At halftime they were killing us 4 or 5 touchdowns. They pulled the starters, sent them to the end zone and they ran sprints for the better part of the rest of the scrimmage. Randall Cobb (qb at the time) was bigger and stronger than anybody we had on the field. Except for a couple d tackles that were huge and out of shape. Both Alcoa and Maryville's committment to offseason training and the weight room are on a whole other level than what we do.

The thing about Alcoa is they only have about 300 or so students....Amazing! They get it done year after year. I have a lot of respect for Coach Rankin and his staff.

Edited August 31, 2010 by bladerunner

[catback]

Ahhh..... another sore subject concerning OR football, Off-season conditioning and time in the weight room!

[bladerunner]

Ahhh..... another sore subject concerning OR football, Off-season conditioning and time in the weight room!

Uh oh... What do you know? Are we slacking?

[ORidgeKat]

I'll tell you what I know about it. The kids attendance is good. The training itself is not that rigorous. If you stand up close to these guys, especially when out of uniform, theres not that many muscles compared to other teams and previous OR teams. At one practice this summer, my 3 year old asked me, "Daddy, why are they puny", no kidding. I'm not ragging on the kids, they show up and they do exactly what they're asked to do. The difference is, at other schools, many kids go above and beyond what is "required" or "mandatory". They do additional work outs and running on their own or in groups, as well as training at D-1 and places like that. This team is very young, maybe being physically outmatched on the field all season will help them see the light as to what kind of commitment and passion is required to compete at a high level.