(11-1) Oakland @ (11-1) Blackman Part 2

[blazeburnin]

I have debated posting on this all weekend.  First off, I really wish they wouldn't put playoff games on tv in the first place.  The earlier talk about the atmosphere not being to the level that it usually is was a result of it being a little cold and most people that would have come to the came decided to stay home on the couch and watch.....can't say I blame them.

 

As far as the game.  Oakland won, and you can't say much more than that.  They made the plays they had to and shut Blackman down when they had to.  Add to the fact that Blackman kept shooting itself in the foot with drops, mental errors and penalties and you have the result we saw.

 

Now to the "extra" stuff.  For people to sit and just watch that game either on tv or in person and not have a clue about anything involved with these 2 teams to call these kids thugs etc, is completely clueless.  I guess I could come to where you are and throw an unsportsmanlike flag on you for calling a 17 year old kid a thug.  These 2 teams played one of the best high school games I have ever witnessed 13 weeks ago.  These kids know each other very well and for 3+ months all they have talked about back and forth is the opportunity to play each other again.  With the lone exception of Hoover, they have stayed perfect in that task.  When Friday finally got here, the lid blew off all of that pent up angst and build up.  Would I have liked to see a clean game that looked like the game 13 weeks ago, sure....but that was never going to happen.  These kids are not professionals, they are emotional 17 year old kids.  The penalties were most definitely out of hand.  You would think that they would see that one of Oakland's best players got tossed early and settle it down.  Nobody is blaming the officials for throwing the flags because they were most definitely warranted, but I do believe the game got away from them very early.  I wish the TSSAA would let the same refs that have officiated the games all year to work a game in the playoffs if two teams from the same district are playing.  There is no need to bring in refs from West or East TN if 2 teams from the same county are playing each other.  I don't think they were ready for that kind of intensity, and think guys that were used to it could have handled it better. 

 

If you've ever had a brother, you would understand.  These kids fought like brothers all night.  And at the end they behaved the same way brothers would after a fight.  I'm not sure what the cameras showed about Jennings, but I can assure you he shook hands after the game...goodness, 2 of his future teammates were on the other sidelines.  By the way the game went you would think these 2 teams would have been going at it in the hand shake line, but that is not what happened in the least bit.  There were hugs, hand shakes and well wishes.  Blackman players were telling Oakland to go win it all and Oakland players were consoling the Blackman players.  These kids are still friends and have played either with or against each other for at least 6-7 years.  I just love all the holier than thou crap that some people spew when they don't know what they are talking about.  I'm glad your lives are perfect and you guys never make mistakes.

 

Overall, it was a sloppy game, and it was such a shame given what was on the line.

[blazeburnin]

I agree. I've been told they will appeal

 

Unfortunately there is no appeals process for this stuff.  Or at least that is what Blackman was told last year when they had to have a player sit the first round of the playoffs after the Bowling Green debacle.  Same thing...kid got 2 unsportsmanlikes - gone next week.  TSSAA said there was nothing they could do.  They wouldn't even look at the film.

[mat73557]

Who called them thugs?  Seriously.

[blazeburnin]

Congrats to Oakland and their fans!  They were certainly the better team last night and deserved to win.

 

With that said, I am so disappointed by the terrible display of sportsmanship and poor attitude by both teams.  I was embarrassed to sit on the Blackman side last night and most of our long time fans and supporters felt the same way, and told me so.  I wish that game had not been on TV for everyone to see.

 

Both teams had kids who just couldnt shut their mouths.  Why is it that our kids have to physically restrain some of our players over and over again?  Many of the Blackman seniors have been placed on pedestals and walked around with their heads swollen for some time now.  I think Blackman created their own monsters by allowing that to happen.  Several of those seniors have set a poor example for their younger teammates to follow.  I am afraid its happening again with some very talented freshman players who are being placed on the pedestal by allowing them to dress and play varsity downs when that has not been done in the past.  Bowling Green called us thugs last season and several of our players acted like it last night.

 

It seemed the same was true for several of the Oakland players last night as well.  Pedestals are bad.  Keep kids off of them.

 

As for the game, the Oakland coaches will take credit for executing their game plan, but simply put, Blackman beat themselves last night.  The team that I saw play last night wasnt even close to the team that I have watched all season.  Jennings throws out a terrible decision which leads to a costly INT, I dont know how many passes hit our receivers right in the hands or chest and were dropped...all at very key points in the game.  The stupid running of the mouth penalties that cost us TWO drives.  Those were especially egregious and stupid.  I dont understand why some kids are SO undisciplined and selfish.  I will lay down some Adrien Peterson style discipline on my sons if they act this way, but several parents think this kind of attitude is admirable and acceptable.  The terrible play calling and execution at the goal line when we failed to punch it in was also confusing and disappointing.  When Oakland lined up the two point conversion, Blackman fell for the spread and Oakland runs it right up the gut for the easy 2. That really got them excited.   I could go on and on.

 

Blackman had a very successful season, but relied too heavily on a shallow depth of players.  I think when we played Hoover there were probably 35-40 kids who played meaningful downs.  It seemed to me that they had 11 on offense and 11 on defense and reserves for both.  I know its not the same at Maryville, but it has to be close.  It seems to me that Blackman may be in the low to mid 20s.  Why with 100 kids, do many of our kids have to go both ways?  Last night, 24 was limping, 7 was limping, and 2 was getting hammered, but they all have to play defense because no one else is better?  Really?  I understand you have to put your best players on the field, but until we work on developing football players instead of relying only on the most talented ones, we, and this county are never going to beat Maryville or Alcoa, or Hoover, etc.

 

Congrats again to Oakland, I am rooting for them to win and I certainly hope that they represent our county better than both teams did last night.

 

So you have a problem with kids running their mouths, but are willing to go "Adrian Peterson" on your kid?  I hope you are just being tongue-n-cheek and not serious.

 

As to the players playing....they are playing the best players they can that give them the best chance to win.  Even Oakland put Jones on Defense Friday.  There might be 100 on the sidelines, but there is no where near the depth to support playing more kids than that in that type of ball game.  The opening of all the high schools has spread out the number of "players" but the success of football in the county has increased the number of "participants". 

 

As to the Freshmen dressing and playing....I hate to break it to you but that has happened most every year.  You do realize that Shad started 2 Freshmen on one of his State Championship teams.  Every year a handful of the Freshmen get to dress out and if they are good enough they will get some reps.  They will be mop-up reps or special teams reps, but it only helps the future.

[blazeburnin]

Who called them thugs?  Seriously.

 

It was several pages back...

 

Edit: you pretty much did too....do you read your posts?

Edited November 24, 2014 by blazeburnin

[mykidsdad]

In thought the game was poorly played on both sides. So many penalties, blown coverages and dropped passes. I thought Oaklands QB was the x factor. I thought Blackmans front seven was exploited. The weak linebacker play really stood out. The reality is a team will only go as far as the senior class can take and for Blackman it was the quarter finals.

 

Next week you will see a team that is the standard for the opposite of what we witnessed Friday Night. 

 

MTFB, please expand on the looming storm clouds.

Edited November 24, 2014 by mykidsdad

[blazeburnin]

In thought the game was poorly played on both sides. So many penalties, blown coverages and dropped passes. I thought Oaklands QB was the x factor. I thought Blackmans front seven was exploited. The weak linebacker play really stood out. The reality is a team will only go as far as the senior class can take and for Blackman it was the quarter finals.

 

Next week you will see a team that is the standard for the opposite of what we witnessed Friday Night. 

 

MTFB, please expand on the looming storm clouds.

 

Well said MKD.

 

I think the looming storm clouds he is referring to doesn't have anything to do with the game or Blackman football, but the school in general (if we are thinking the same thing), and any further insinuation or speculation would be highly irresponsible.

[mat73557]

It was several pages back...

 

Edit: you pretty much did too....do you read your posts?

 

Yeah, I read my posts.  What I said was this:

 

"Bowling Green called us thugs last season and several of our players acted like it last night."

 

I didn't say that I thought our kids were thugs.  The lack of self-control and self-discipline that was put on display combined with the selfish, seemingly uncontrollable urge to pick a fight led me and other parents near where I was sitting on Friday to think about the comments after the Bowling Green game last season where chippy play was interpreted by many of the Bowling Green fans as thuggish behavior.  Friday night was way beyond chippy play in a lot of instances and that's undeniable.  If you or anyone else wants to allow or condone that behavior and simply brush it off as mistakes made by young men, go ahead, but my standards for young men are higher than that.

 

Lighten up Frances.  Hopefully, they will learn from it and that's that. 

 

I am curious to see how many Maryville kids play both ways on Friday night.  It wont be many, and its not because they have all the talent in their county at one school. 

[MJGOLDENBEARS]

Yeah, I read my posts. What I said was this:

 

"Bowling Green called us thugs last season and several of our players acted like it last night."

 

I didn't say that I thought our kids were thugs. The lack of self-control and self-discipline that was put on display combined with the selfish, seemingly uncontrollable urge to pick a fight led me and other parents near where I was sitting on Friday to think about the comments after the Bowling Green game last season where chippy play was interpreted by many of the Bowling Green fans as thuggish behavior. Friday night was way beyond chippy play in a lot of instances and that's undeniable. If you or anyone else wants to allow or condone that behavior and simply brush it off as mistakes made by young men, go ahead, but my standards for young men are higher than that.

 

Lighten up Frances. Hopefully, they will learn from it and that's that.

 

I am curious to see how many Maryville kids play both ways on Friday night. It wont be many, and its not because they have all the talent in their county at one school.

Haha

[MidTennFootball]

Well said MKD.

 

I think the looming storm clouds he is referring to doesn't have anything to do with the game or Blackman football, but the school in general (if we are thinking the same thing), and any further insinuation or speculation would be highly irresponsible.

I agree, which is why I am going to let the process play out before commenting further

[PJM]

For what its worth, in Coach Shad's post game interview he said Blackman's lack of composure throughout the game was a factor in losing the game.

[blazeburnin]

For what its worth, in Coach Shad's post game interview he said Blackman's lack of composure throughout the game was a factor in losing the game.

 

Couldn't agree more.  It was absolutely horrendous (the actions of the players not the officiating just to be clear), and there is no defense to be made for it.  I was not trying to defend the players from their actions.  I just took exception to the labeling of the kids when that is not what these kids are about and haven't been all year.  I don't know if anybody could explain it.  I would love to be a fly on the wall to hear what the coaches had to say about it.  Bottom line is hopefully the kids will grow from it and learn some very difficult and harsh lessons about the consequences of their actions....because at the root of it is that these are still kids just playing a game.