Knoxville News

[KevB1990]

jgarrison,

 

It is my opinion that Pigeon Forge is better than a few of those teams in the top 10. They are just as good if not better than than Harpeth, and they are ranked #4. You can't get caught up in the AP Poll. Voters simply look at records. Not level of competition.

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I'll tell what AP voters do look at...regional teams.

 

Very few will research and try to give an accurate poll of the top 10. It happens everywhere and the midstate and the Tri Cities are notorious for putting all their votes in for teams in their respective coverage areas.

[PTSportsWriter]

I'll tell what AP voters do look at...regional teams.

 

Very few will research and try to give an accurate poll of the top 10. It happens everywhere and the midstate and the Tri Cities are notorious for putting all their votes in for teams in their respective coverage areas.

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notorious is being kind, to say the least.

 

If you need help w/ anything over this way, drop me an email....

[barb]

Not to steal your thunder barb, but McMahan was sick during the Jefferson County game according to our guy that was covering...she had a really bad night.

 

Not sure how she was in the GreenEville game, but it seems as though the Lady Greene Devils didn't want a repeat of the sectional...

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I am not sure what you meant by this statement. Greeneville beat Heritage in the sub-state last year. Cait had a few more points, I believe it was the first time most of the Greeneville girls had even seen her. She had like 40+ points and Heritage still lost.

 

OK so Cait was sick during the classic. That is my point. The rest of the team did not pick up her slack. I can't say that Greeneville would not be in the same situation if, God forbid, Lyons were to go down with an injury. Huff and Ogan has the same effect on their respective teams. Maybe if we benched our stars we would have a better idea how good our teams really are.

[WriteStuff]

I'll tell what AP voters do look at...regional teams.

 

Very few will research and try to give an accurate poll of the top 10. It happens everywhere and the midstate and the Tri Cities are notorious for putting all their votes in for teams in their respective coverage areas.

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KevB,

 

To make a blanket statement about the Tri-Cities AP voters is very wrong and you should apologize. I vote on the AP poll for the Johnson City Press -- a Tri-Cities area paper -- and have done so for the last 16 or 17 years. I take my time and check out EVERY TEAM'S record.

At no point have I EVER voted for a Tri-Cities area team that wasn't deserving. And I have only voted for more than one Tri-Cities area team in a given poll on a handful of occasions over the years. And I NEVER vote a team higher than they deserve just to get them more poll points. I leave that to another area paper who does it quite regularly. I won't even include some area teams with good records because I know they are not worthy of consideration for the state's top 10.

So do me a big favor and next time you want to rip the entire group of sports writers in the Tri-Cities area, how about including this disclaimer: except for the Johnson City Press.

[KevB1990]

I am not sure what you meant by this statement. Greeneville beat Heritage in the sub-state last year. Cait had a few more points, I believe it was the first time most of the Greeneville girls had even seen her. She had like 40+ points and Heritage still lost.

 

OK so Cait was sick during the classic. That is my point. The rest of the team did not pick up her slack. I can't say that Greeneville would not be in the same situation if, God forbid, Lyons were to go down with an injury. Huff and Ogan has the same effect on their respective teams. Maybe if we benched our stars we would have a better idea how good our teams really are.

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I meant another 40-point night obviously...I knew that GreenEville won.

[KevB1990]

KevB,

 

    To make a blanket statement about the Tri-Cities AP voters is very wrong and you should apologize. I vote on the AP poll for the Johnson City Press -- a Tri-Cities area paper -- and have done so for the last 16 or 17 years. I take my time and check out EVERY TEAM'S record.

    At no point have I EVER voted for a Tri-Cities area team that wasn't deserving. And I have only voted for more than one Tri-Cities area team in a given poll on a handful of occasions over the years. And I NEVER vote a team higher than they deserve just to get them more poll points. I leave that to another area paper who does it quite regularly. I won't even include some area teams with good records because I know they are not worthy of consideration for the state's top 10.

    So do me a big favor and next time you want to rip the entire group of sports writers in the Tri-Cities area, how about including this disclaimer: except for the Johnson City Press.

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It wasn't a rip unless you took it as such. It was based on years of seeing the polls come out and having mid-state and Tri Cities teams peppering the top 5 and top 10.

 

But I am sorry if I offended you with the blanket statement.

[barb]

I meant another 40-point night obviously...I knew that GreenEville won.

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I believe the competition has gotten wise to Cait. Her 40 point games are getting mighty scarce. Other local teams have talented players, many of whom play aau with her. She is not the lone talent in Northeast Tennessee this year and she isn't the lone star she was last year. She is really just one of many talented girls the area is producing lately. Ogan, Lyons, Huff and others are putting up comparable numbers. (although Lyons is eclipsing everyone this season) Heritage isn't having trouble with most of the teams it plays only teams with big-game players like these. Cait the great undeniably lives up to her reputation but she is having to share the spotlight this year with some formidable competition.

[barb]

It wasn't a rip unless you took it as such. It was based on years of seeing the polls come out and having mid-state and Tri Cities teams peppering the top 5 and top 10.

 

But I am sorry if I offended you with the blanket statement.

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Could it be the mid-state and Tri-cities teams are just ... I don't know...BETTER?

[jgarrison]

Could it be the mid-state and Tri-cities teams are just ... I don't know...BETTER?

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If I was looking at this and had to decide which teams were in the top spot I would look at the district standing and the teams that the top winners have played.

 

If I looked at district 2AA, Pigeon Forge is clearly a lot better team than Claiborne County. Does that mean that Pigeon Forge should be 10th? NO!

I would look at the over all teams that Pigeon Forge has lost & beat in their 13-3 record. Only because they are the number one team in their District (8-0).

 

If a team like Caiborne County is 10-3 in their record but are 4th in their District

and some their win are from weak non-district teams then there is no way I could vote them in the top 10.

 

I believe in AAA Heritage does get a lot of votes because of Cait

Edited January 13, 2005 by jgarrison