EAST TENNESSEE MEDIA

ETM Editor Scott Boles 

September 2, 2010

Tomorrow night is the opening of district play for most teams in East Tennessee, with dozens of games throughout the Grand Division setting the stage for what will be to come over the remainder of the season. A couple of district titles may even be decided by these early games - time will tell. We don't have a heap of time this week due to a heavy schedule at our real job, so let's jump right in.

All five Roane County teams see district play this week. We'll start with Kingston, who threw the ball much more than in years past en route to last week's County win over Harriman. The Jackets host Scott High tomorrow night. The Highlanders let a late lead get away from them last year in this one, with Kingston winning in overtime. Jackets just find a way. Kingston 24 Scott 12.

Elsewhere in the County, Rockwood travels to a resurgent Greenback, with both teams also still undefeated. Rockwood should have too much bulk. Rockwood 23 Greenback 7. In the northern corner of our county, Oliver Springs takes on Oakdale in that district opener. Bobcats should just have too much depth. Oliver Springs 34 Oakdale 0.

Finally, in the top game in Roane County, Midway and Harriman meet in the Town of Temperance. The Devils will be down from their rivalry loss a week ago, but in need of this district win. Midway is also coming off a loss, so neither of these teams can well afford to get off to an 0-2 start and be down in the district. This one will be a slobber-knocker, but, this is one of those years that Harriman may have the talent edge, particularly in the trenches, and be the more physical team. And they are at home. Harriman 22, Midway 14.

One of the two games which is arguably the state's oldest rivalry renews this week when Marion County visits South Pittsburg. The Pirates lost plenty of talent off last year's State Runner-Up squad but look to have reloaded. Marion County is off to a decent start, but not where they hoped to be. South Pittsburg 24, Marion County 10. Closer to home, don't let the early records fool you, Austin-East and Fulton's game this week could decide District 3-AA. These are very good teams. Fulton is going to be looking to avenge last year's loss to the Roadrunners and last week's loss to Powell. At home, Fulton 26, Austin-East 15. One more game we'll highlight here occurs in Alcoa where the Tornadoes, carrying plenty of momentum with the state's longest winning streak, host the Loudon Redskins. No one plays Alcoa tougher than Loudon, with the Redskins being an old-school, smash-mouth team. It's a good week to catch Alcoa, after the track meet of one week ago, but...Alcoa 32, Loudon 12.

You can see the rest of the picks below, and further below, look for my Week 1 notes. Now we'll get to our game of the week.

There were a number of games to choose from when trying to pick a game of the week, but one stood out. There will be an old rivalry renewed in Fountain City this week when Knoxville Central hosts Oak Ridge. These teams played some classic games in the old three-classification days, and then the game went away for a while. Oak Ridge comes off a loss that Wildcats fans believed was winnable, if the scoreboard show on BBB-TV12 in Anderson County was any indication. On the other hand, Central is coming off a big win over Morristown West. Oak Ridge has a veteran line and skill positions on offense, and are still expected to do big things in District 3-AAA. Central was not picked quite as highly, and came into the season with some question marks, but Coach Helton has his team riding high right now. With possibly a share of the district lead on the line, this one could be fun out on Essary Road. Central 21, Oak Ridge 20.

Week 2 picks

(1-0) Rockwood 23,  (2-0) Greenback* 7

(1-0) Oliver Springs* 34, (1-1) Oakdale 0

(1-0) Kingston* 24, (2-0) Scott 12

(0-1) Harriman* 22, (0-1) Midway 14

(2-0) Alcoa* 32, (2-0) Loudon 12

(1-0) Chattanooga Central 32, (1-0) Howard 21

(1-1) Elizabethton* 21, (1-0) Happy Valley 14

(1-1) Fulton* 26, (0-2) Austin-East 15

(1-0) Knoxville Catholic* 25, (1-1) Farragut 16

(2-0) Ooltewah* 28, (1-1) Soddy-Daisy 14

(1-0) Red Bank* 24, (1-0) East Ridge 13

(2-0) Sevier County 28, (0-2) Jefferson County 10

(2-0) South Greene 28, (1-0) Cumberland Gap 16

(1-0) South Pittsburg* 24, (1-1) Marion County 10

Game of the Week

(1-1) Knoxville Central* 21, (1-1) Oak Ridge 20

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A few thoughts from Week 1. Sorry it's going to be truncated this week due to time constraints.

** There were no fewer than three games that most pundits thought were upsets, including Powell over Fulton, Central over Morristown West, and, although not as pronounced, Farragut over Oak Ridge. There may be others that I am forgetting. This season is already exciting, and it's barely started.

** Our player of the week this week is Chad Voytik, quarterback at Cleveland. According to timesfreepress.com coverage, Voytik was 10-for-10 through the air for 248 yards with five touchdowns. He was also their player of the week. Your writer may have to make an appointment to see Cleveland play this season.

Honorable mention goes to Bearden's Devrin Young, who continues to roll along. You can see his stats at PrepXtra.com.

** Strength of districts: District 4-AA is 11-0 against non-district opponents thus far, with Alcoa over Maryville being its strongest win to date. On the heels of that district is District 2-AA at 10-3, where the four Greene County schools in the district are a combined 8-0 against non-league opponents. These are the kind of statistics that will be in play come November when playoff selections are announced.

That wraps up this week's prep coverage. Sorry that this week's coverage has not been up to standard. Hopefully in a couple of weeks it will be back to normal. See you next week.

Week 1 pick results

Midway* 24, Wartburg 14                        Wartburg 28     Midway 14

Oliver Springs* 40, Hancock County 6      OS 48               Hancock 0

Rockwood* 22, Sweetwater 20                Rockwood 23   Sweetwater 0

Kingston 21, Harriman* 20                       Kingston 33      Harriman 15

Bearden 29, Jefferson County 12             Bearden 49      Jeff. Co. 14

Cleveland* 25, McMinn Central 17           Cleveland 47    McMinn Ct. 6

DeKalb County 21, Oneida* 14                DeKalb Co. 25  Oneida 13

Dobyns-Bennett 33, Clinton* 15               D-B 44              Clinton 14

Fulton* 36, Powell 12                               Powell 36         Fulton 14

Greeneville* 25, Sullivan South 15           Greeneville 35 South 20

Loudon 28, Lenoir City* 6                        Loudon 10        Lenoir City 7

Maryville* 17, Alcoa 14                             Alcoa 35           Maryville 31

Oak Ridge 27, Farragut* 13                     Farragut 24      Oak Ridge 21

Ooltewah 13, Austin-East* 12                 Ooltewah 20    Austin-East 14

Game of the Week

Boyd Buchanan* 18, Red Bank 12           Red Bank 32    Boyd Buch. 6

This Week

Winners 10-5 (.667)

Spreads 9-6 (.600)

Season

Winners 19-11 (.633)

Spreads 17-13 (.567)

August 25, 2010

Admittedly, your editor may be even more excited this week than he was a week ago, since this week marks the start of the 2010 campaign for the Kingston Yellowjackets and all five Roane County teams. A couple of schools in the county are expecting great things this year, and we'll get into that a little later in this column, and as the year rolls along. Beyond that, there are several rivaly games taking place this weekend as well, so let's get into a few of them.

We will start our picks in Rockwood, where the Tigers, a Class 2A semifinalist in 2009, open their campaign against familiar rival Sweetwater. The Wildcats already have an impressive win under their belt, knocking off Tellico Plains to start the season. The Tigers were hit hard by graduation, but still have a big, physical team. The jury is still out on Sweetwater. One thing is for sure, though, this one will be a slobber-knocker. At Civitan Field, though, Rockwood 22, Sweetwater 20.

Let me again say that I miss Rockwood opening with Midway, but since it became a district game again, it moved deeper into the season. With that in mind, the Green Wave open at home against the Bulldogs from Wartburg. Midway had a forgettable campaign in 2009. They have a lot of returning talent, and expect a return, at least in part, to power football this year. Midway 24, Wartburg 14. Also in Roane County, Oliver Springs hosts Hancock County. The Bobcats are a co-favorite in District 4-A, while the Indians, now in about their fourth year of varsity competition, are still not expected to challenge in Region 1-A. Coach Wiley Brackett will have too much talent at his disposal in his team's home opener. Oliver Springs 40, Hancock County 6.

The biggest game going on in your writer's home county, though, occurs at Harriman, where the Devils host Kingston and look to end a 17-game losing streak to the Yellowjackets. Kingston won by a touchdown last year in a defensive battle decided in the late fourth quarter. The Jackets return most of their running attack, but have a new quarterback and several lineman, according to Roane County News coverage. Harriman, on the other hand, returns virtually every key starter on offense and several on defense, including All-State performers Shaquile Love and Dimitrique Inman. This one is going to be a barnburner, and it will be decided by defense, turnovers, and perhaps a key special teams play. My gut says this is the year for Harriman, but, until the streak actually ends...Kingston 21, Harriman 20.

Everybody else's game of the week will occur on Thursday night, and this year it will be broadcast on myVLT2 in the central valley. Which game, you ask? That would be Alcoa at Maryville. The Rebels are a motivated team after losing in the Class 6A championship game last December, and according to PrepXtra coverage, coach George Quarles's squad broke out a new conditioning program in the off-season to try to close that gap. Alcoa, conversely, is still riding high, holding both a streak of six consecutive State Championships and the state's longest active winning streak. Both these teams are loaded with talent, although Alcoa probably has the edge there. Maryville probably has the schematic advantage. The Rebels have the home crowd, and that might be the difference. Maryville 17, Alcoa 14.

There are several other games around the area that should be very entertaining and significant for playoff impact, including Dobyns-Bennett at Clinton, Oak Ridge at Farragut, McMinn Central at Cleveland, and a number of others. The biggest remaining rivalry game that we haven't discussed, though, occurs in Lenoir City, where the Panthers host county rival Loudon in The Battle of the Bridge. Loudon has dominated the series recently. Look for that to continue. Loudon 28, Lenoir City 6.

Finally, in our game of the week, Red Bank travels to Boyd Buchanan. Both teams had great years in 2009, with Boyd Buchanan scoring a state runner-up finish in Class 2A, and Red Bank making a deep run in Class 4A. This was one of the best games all season in southeast Tennessee a year ago, with Red Bank eventually pulling out the 14-7 win. The Lions graduated 20 starters from a year ago, but are still expected to be strong in District 6-AA. Boyd Buchanan also had graduation losses, but have returning players at offensive line, which will be a key for their 2010 campaign, protecting the quarterback in their pass-oriented offense. Red Bank may be inexperienced, but they will also have good linemen. This one should be a good one down in Chattanooga. I'm giving the edge to the team that I feel will put more speed on the field. Boyd Buchanan 18, Red Bank 12.

Week 1 picks

Midway* 24, Wartburg 14

Oliver Springs* 40, Hancock County 6

Rockwood* 22, Sweetwater 20

Kingston 21, Harriman* 20

Bearden 29, Jefferson County 12

Cleveland* 25, McMinn Central 17

DeKalb County 21, Oneida* 14

Dobyns-Bennett 33, Clinton* 15

Fulton* 36, Powell 12

Greeneville* 25, Sullivan South 15

Loudon 28, Lenoir City* 6

Maryville* 17, Alcoa 14

Oak Ridge 27, Farragut* 13

Ooltewah 13, Austin-East* 12

Game of the Week

Boyd Buchanan* 18, Red Bank 12

August 23, 2010

August 17, 2010

Ladies and gentlemen, the time we have all been waiting for has arrived. After eight long months, prep football is back, with the first of the Week 0 games kicking off tomorrow night when Knoxville Grace and CAK kick off on myVLT2. Several other games will also be played around the region tomorrow. There will be more than 30 games played over the next three nights in East Tennessee.

No Roane County teams play this week, but there are plenty of games that stand out. Without further ado, let's get down to the picks.

Once again, the City of Morristown hosts two of the finest from the City of Knoxville and District 3-AA, with West taking on Austin-East and East taking on Fulton. In the former, the Trojans will be trying to repeat as one of the top defenders in East Tennessee, led by Citizen-Tribune player of the year Michael Cantwell. Austin-East, meanwhile, will be trying to set off-field problems aside, and use their speed at skill positions to their advantage. I like speed. Austin-East 23, Morristown West 12. In the other game at Burke-Toney, Morristown East tries to stop Fulton and gain momentum for a strong season in District 2-AAA. That's going to be an uphill task. The Falcons return an all-district back, DaMetrius Thomas, who will be running behind a monster of an offensive line. That area just happens to be the biggest area of concern for the Hurricanes. This one might get ugly. Fulton 34, Morristown East 12.

The lone district game of the night occurs in Clinton, where the defending District 3-AAA champion, Clinton, hosts the Red Devils from Halls. The Dragons lost a heap of talent off last year's highly-ranked squad, and inexperience is a huge concern. Halls also has a young ball club, and depth in the trenches is a primary concern. This one is a toss-up, but Clinton's returning team has big-game experience, and that will come in handy at home. Clinton 21, Halls 13.

Arguably the biggest of the rivalry games will occur in Athens, where defending District 5-AAA champion, and the coaches' pick to repeat, McMinn County, hosts their eastern neighbor, McMinn Central. The Chargers will be trying to grab a key non-district win, against a schedule that is murderous. McMinn County does not bring back a ton of experience, but what experience they have is at key positions - line and wide receiver, especially running the pass-first offense that coach Bo Cagle favors. Central also suffered key losses from last year's squad. Look for the extra depth at Cagle's fingertips to play a huge key role in this one. McMinn County 24, McMinn Central 7.

In other rivalry games of note, our picks are: Greeneville over Jefferson County, Gibbs over Grainger, and Tellico Plains over Sweetwater. Also, a repeat of last year's best Week 0 game occurs in Oneida, with the Indians hosting Gatlinburg-Pittman. We believe the Indians will take that one.

Finally, in our game of the week, Farragut travels to Kingsport to take on the Indians of Dobyns-Bennett. Coach Eddie Courtney's squad, with youth in its offensive line, will try to keep a much-improved Indian defense off quarterback Cody Rule, and open holes for running back Monte Hudson. Dobyns-Bennett, conversely, will rely on all-state back Chris Sensabaugh and a number of stud skill position players to get the job done. Your writer likes Farragut's smash-mouth style of football, but Dobyns-Bennett has a lot to prove as they try to forget 2009, and they have the home field and the experience advantage. Dobyns-Bennett 29, Farragut 17.

Several more games of note occur this weekend, and, truthfully, with the new playoff procedures putting a much larger emphasis on overall record, they are all notable. These are our predictions for the best of the week. Try to get out and see some of these games if you can. See our 15-game pick list below.

" * " represents home team

Week 0 picks

Austin East 23, Morristown West * 12

CAK * 27, Knoxville Grace 14

Clinton * 21, Halls 13

Fulton 34, Morristown East * 12

Gibbs 24, Grainger * 14

Greeneville 22, Jefferson County * 12

Knoxville Catholic * 31, Rhea County 18

McMinn County * 24, McMinn Central 7

Oneida * 21, Gatlinburg-Pittman 14

Soddy-Daisy * 24, Science Hill 10

Sullivan South * 24, Knox West 10

Tellico Plains 24, Sweetwater * 9

Tyner 14, Ooltewah * 13

Webb * 34, Central 10

Game of the Week

Dobyns-Bennett * 29, Farragut 17

August 13, 2010

On this Friday 13th, we'll conclude our Division I prep previews by taking a look at Class A, where four of the five Roane County teams reside. 2009 saw several East and Southeast Tennessee teams do well, with both South Pittsburg and Boyd-Buchanan bringing home silver State Runner-up trophies. With that in mind, the questions we'll put forth for this classifications are these:

Can South Pittsburg and Boyd-Buchanan take the next step in 2010?

How will Knoxville Grace's troubles with TSSAA affect the standings and the pairings?

Is Signal Mountain as good as advertised?

Will one of the Roane County teams have a great run this fall?

And finally, which team from Northeast Tennessee is poised for a deep playoff run?

First, though, let's review the mechanics. The combination of East and Southeast Tennessee fields only 28 teams, split into six districts (which we expect to consolidate to five next year), with 15 of the 28 being Class 2A. Districts 1 and 2 combined due to a large number of non-football schools in their ranks. And, because of the statewide small number of small schools fielding football teams, both Class 1A and Class 2A will only field 24 teams for the playoffs, rather than the 32 teams fielded by the four larger classes.

With that in mind, let's look at how we and the coaches think this year will play out.

In Region 1-A, Hampton is the favorite to repeat as region champion, with the Bulldogs returning 16 starters, including all-district backs Taylor Edwards and Tyler Trussler. The Bulldogs, do, however, need to find some new linemen, which is where graduation hit them hardest. If they were to falter, both the coaches and your writer agree - Cloudland would be the team to be on the lookout for. The Highlanders also have an all-conference back, senior Matt Cole, and have the leaderhship to challenge for district supremacy. The Highlanders travel to Hampton to close the season.

Chasing those two teams will be Unaka and Cosby, in our opinion. The Rangers made the playoffs in 2009, but fell to Rockwood in Round 1, while the Eagles narrowly missed qualifying. Tough non-district schedules could hurt both teams. The coaches have Unaka slated to finish second, but a Week 4 trip to Cloudland could severely damage those chances. Cosby and Unaka meet in Carter County to close the season.

Coaches' picks: 1-Hampton (2A), 2-Unaka (2A), 3-Cloudland, 4-Cosby (2A), 5-North Greene, 6-Hancock County

ETM picks: 1-Hampton, 2-Cloudland, 3-Unaka, 4-Cosby, 5-North Greene, 6-Unaka

1A: no additional qualifiers

2A wildcard: Unaka

2A bubble team: Cosby

District 3-A could see any number of teams emerge, with the coaches picking Harriman as the favorite. Grace Christian, as mentioned, is ineligible for the playoffs, reportedly for violating financial aid policy. That being said, the Rams are still a threat to everyone in District 3-A. They meet Harriman in Week 8 in Roane County. The Blue Devils, though, have a strong returning squad, with one of the area's hottest recruits - lineman Shaquile Love, and another potential all-area back, Dimitrique Inman. Besides Grace, Rockwood, coming off their best year since the late 1970's, could challenge, although the Tigers saw a lot of graduation loss.

If Rockwood falters, Tellico Plains is still a team to watch, with the Bears bringing District MVP Deion O'Dell back to their backfield. The Bears also have the advantage of getting Harriman at home, but traveling to Rockwood. We believe those are the four teams to watch, but don't be surprised if Midway makes noise this year. We believe Craig Moser is far too good a coach to repeat a 2-8 season, and, we'll speculate that Green Wave opponents might see more smash-mouth football this year, even with an experienced quarterback under center. Greenback is also tradition-rich and will not go away quietly.

Coaches' picks: 1-Harriman, 2-Rockwood, 3-Tellico Plains, 4-Grace, 5-Greenback, 6-Midway

ETM picks: 1-Harriman, 2-Rockwood, 3-Tellico Plains, 4-Midway, 5-Greenback, 6-Grace

1A wildcard: none

1A bubble team: Midway

2A wildcard: Rockwood*, Tellico Plains

2A bubble team: none

* Note: We believe Grace will have a better district record than Rockwood, and do not know if TSSAA would consider Rockwood the Runner-up or a wildcard.

In District 4-A, the coaches and I agree that it is a two-team race again in 2010, between Oliver Springs and Oneida, with the coaches actually having equally split the vote between them. The Bobcats and Indians meet in Week 7 in Roane County, almost assuredly with the district title on the line, but also playoff seeding and much more. Coach Wiley Brackett's team returns a number of starters, including all-district players Garrett Miller and Jordan Romero. And, the good news for Brackett is that his team only has four senior starters, so they should be strong again in 2011. As for Oneida, they have a number of holes to fill from last year, as they only return seven starters. However, one of those starters is Sam Woodard, who was the District MVP from his running back spot. The one advantage the Indians may have, though, is that they will be tested early, opening play against Gatlinburg-Pittman and Class 4A playoff team DeKalb County.

Coalfield could lead the best of the rest. The Yellow Jackets haven't had a strong showing in a few years, but they return 12 starters, including six all-district selections. They will be tested early, as well, with a Week 0 trip to Bledsoe County, and a three-game mid-season stretch comprised of a trip to Tellico Plains followed by home games against Oliver Springs and Rockwood. The team among the last four to challenge could be anyone's guess.

Coaches' picks: 1-Oliver Springs (2A, tie), 2-Oneida (2A, tie), 3-Wartburg (2A), 4-Coalfield, 5-Sunbright, 6-Jellico (2A), 7-Oakdale

ETM picks: 1-Oneida, 2-Oliver Springs, 3-Coalfield, 4-Jellico, 5-Wartburg, 6-Sunbright, 7-Oakdale

1A wildcard: none

1A bubble teams: Coalfield, Sunbright

2A wildcard: none

2A bubble team: Jellico

In District 5-A, Boyd-Buchanan is the heavy favorite. The Buccaneers return only a limited number of starters, but with a veteran line, and a quick strike offense and tough defense it will be hard for anyone in this district to contend. The Bucs do have a pretty tough non-district schedule, though, that inlcudes hosting Red Bank and a three-week late-season stretch that sees them travel to South Pittsburg, Pope John Paul, and Marion County in consecutive weeks.

The coaches have picked Copper Basin to be the top challenger to Boyd Buchanan's throne this year, with the Cougars and Bucs meeting in Chattanooga in Week 10. Also important to the Cougars is a Week 4 tilt at Silverdale Academy, which could be the game to decide second place.

Coaches' picks: 1-Boyd Buchanan (2A), 2-Copper Basin, 3-Silverdale Academy (2A), 4-Grace Baptist

ETM picks: 1-Boyd Buchanan, 2-Silverdale Academy, 3-Copper Basin, 4-Grace Baptist

There are no wildcard or bubble picks from District 5-A.

Editor's note: With the 2009 closure of David Brainerd Christian, we fully expect that this district will merge with District 6 next year, depending on enrollment shifts.

Finally, we come to District 6-A, which was the strongest in the classification in 2009, dominating its non-district opponents. The coaches' have picked South Pittsburg as the pre-season number 1 in Class 1A, but have picked Signal Mountain to take the district crown. Your editor is not quite so committed. The Eagles return 18 starters, while the Pirates return far fewer, including some all state performers, but they do return all-state rusher Raquis Hale at running back. Signal Mountain has one of the top performers in the southeast, Logan Whitmire, under center. Signal Mountain has the potential to knock off the Pirates, but fell in 2009 by four touchdowns, which we are sure will motivate them even more this year. The two teams meet in Week 4 in Marion County.

Speaking of Marion County, the Marion County High Warriors look to knock both the aforementioned off their pre-season perches and grab a district title of their own. They are just two years removed from a state semifinal run of their own. The disadvantage the Warriors have is that they must play both Signal Mountain and South Pittsburg on the road. Lookout Valley and Whitwell could both move up the standings, although they both may be slightly undermanned to face the upper-tier teams in District 6-A. The Yellow Jackets, however, would appear to have a favorable non-district schedule, while Whitwell has more toss-up type games.

Coaches' picks: 1-Signal Mountain (2A), 2-South Pittsburg, 3-Marion County (2A), 4-Lookout Valley, 5-Whitwell

ETM picks: 1-South Pittsburg, 2-Signal Mountain, 3-Marion County, 4-Lookout Valley, 5-Whitwell

1A wildcard: Lookout Valley

1A bubble team: Whitwell

2A wildcard: Marion County

Summing up, of the 28 teams, we expect only five Class 1A teams to be solid selections to the playoff bracket, with an additional four competing for wildcard entry. Of those four wildcards, we believe at least one will qualify because of a much weaker non-district schedule than its counterparts. This is a flaw we find with the system. We'll see if it generates new tweaks in the procedures. With that said, the nine teams we expect to compete for playoff slots is similar to the eight that qualified in 2009.

On the 2A side, we believe there are 10 solid selections for spots, with an additional couple competing for wildcard spaces. This is fairly similar to the 10 selections from a year ago.

With that in mind, we look at the brackets and believe that South Pittsburg will be the top seed in the East bracket in Class 1A , with Cloudland and Harriman looking for the second spot. Whichever of those two teams winds up with the home game will win, but South Pittsburg will advance to the state semifinals. Watch for Gordonsville to find a way to meet the Pirates in the semifinals and renew one of the most common pairings in TSSAA playoff history, before South Pittsburg takes the victory and battles Union City for a second consecutive year, with the Pirates winning Championship number five.

In Class 2A, Oneida is our pick to be the number 1 seed in the East, with Boyd Buchanan possibly being headed for this bracket in 2010, in which case they would be the likely challenger for that seeding. Oliver Springs and Hampton could also challenge if Boyd Buchanan winds up in the Mid-east. If Boyd Buchanan is in the bracket, they will advance to the semi-finals from it, if not, Hampton is our pick to advance. The winner of that bracket will face either Boyd Buchanan, who would be the best team in the Mid-east as well, or some combination of Cascade, Trousdale County, or Friendship Christian. TSSAA's understanding of geography will again face a major test when the Class 2A brackets roll out, but our ultimate pick to win it all is still Trousdale County until someone proves otherwise.

That concludes our Division I previews. We are getting antsy as the season is now less than one week away, considering there will be a handful of Week 0 games played on Thursday. Again, special thanks to all the prep writers around our state without whose work my aggregation of information would not be possible. One more time we acknowledge that much of our work was gleaned from Murphy Fair's "The Guru's Great Ones," prepxtra.com, timesfreepress.com, tssaa.org, and CoachT.com, as well as other historical information, long-time fandom, and sometimes, just a gut feeling.

Thank you for stopping by, reading these previews, and supporting our site. We hope to see you around East Tennessee at some of these contests. Now clear your calendar for tonight's jamborees and 16 additional weeks of Friday football!

SIX days until Week 0; 14 days until Roane County football. Go Jackets!

August 11, 2010

We are now only eight days from the first of the Week 0 games, so let's continue our Division I football previews by looking at Class AA, which produced a State Champion and a State Runner-up from East Tennessee a year ago.

First, though, let's look at the breakdown. East and Southeast Tennessee will field a total of 44 Class AA teams - 26 Class 3A and 18 Class 4A - split into six districts, most of which have a lopsided split between classifications. For example, three of the seven districts have only one Class 4A team. You can see the full breakdown by viewing the predicted order of finish per each district.

Your editor has about four questions that this season will answer:

Who, if anyone, can interrupt Alcoa's championship streak?

Who is the best team in Class 4A? And is Greeneville the best team in East Tennessee?

And how good is Red Bank and the rest of the teams in Southeast Tennessee?

These will be answered over the next 16 weeks, but here's our opinion.

In District 1-AA, the coaches believe that Elizabethton is the class of the district, and are a top 10 team in Class 3A. The cyclones return six starters on each side of the ball and have an experienced offensive line. Good indications of how good they can be will be in non-district road games against Greeneville and CAK, as well as their home district opener against Happy Valley and a week four visit to Sullivan North.

After Elizabethton, the water gets a little muddy, so to speak, with no clear cut favorite to take second spot. The coaches have picked Sullivan North second with Sullivan East second, but we are more apt to look at last year's playoff teams, North, Happy Valley, and Johnson County. Sullivan North travels to Happy Valley in a Week 7 game that we believe very important to the final outcome, while Johnson Cuonty travels to North in Week 6 and hosts Happy Valley to close the season.

Coaches' picks: 1-Elizabethton, 2-Sullivan North, 3-Sullivan East (4A), 4-Happy Valley, 5-Johnson County, 6-Unicoi County

ETM Picks: 1-Elizabethton, 2-Happy Valley, 3-Sullivan North, 4-Johnson County, 5-Unicoi County, 6-Sullivan East

3A Wildcard: Sullivan North

3A Bubble team: Johnson County

4A: no playoff teams

In District 2-AA, last year's Class 4A State Runner-up is certainly expected to be the class of this District. Greeneville returns a ton of talent from that team, including all-district runner BJ Spradlin, and several all-district defenders. That's probably why the coaches have tabbed them the state's pre-season number 1.

After that it gets tricky. The coaches have tabbed West Greene to finish second behind the Greene Devils in this district. The Buffaloes return 15 starters, several of them all-district on a team that finished third in this district a year ago. However, your writer believes Cumberland Gap is a team to watch for, as well as Grainger, who, with a favorable home schedule, could make some noise in 2010. I expect South Greene to also be in the mix.

Coaches' picks: 1-Greeneville (4A), 2-West Greene, 3-Claiborne (4A), 4-South Greene, 5-Cumberland Gap, 6-Chuckey-Doak (tie), 6-Grainger (4A, tie)

ETM picks: 1-Greeneville, 2-Cumberland Gap, 3-South Greene, 4-Grainger, 5-West Greene, 6-Claiborne, 7-Chuckey-Doak

3A wildcard: South Greene

3A bubble team: West Greene

4A wildcard: none

4A bubble team: Grainger

District 3-AA is an interesting study, as one of  the past decade's most dominant teams - Fulton - is ranked number 2 in Class 4A, but is picked by the coaches to finish behind Austin-East in the standings. Of course, Austin-East is the defending district champion and ranked in the top 10 in Class 3A, also. However, the Roadrunners have had some turnover, including at Head Coach, and that could be their downfall this year.

Moving along, the coaches and I agree that Gibbs and Gatlinburg-Pittman will fight for the next spot, although the Highlanders were able to overtake Fulton a year ago and finish second. The Eagles return many of their starters, and third year coach Brad Conley has installed high expectations in north Knox County. Gatlinburg-Pittman, though, has had high expectations for many years, and coach Benny Hammonds, in his 39th season, won't be changing that this year, in spite of several unanswered questions. Watch for dark-horse Carter as well to perhaps challenge either Gibbs or Gatlinburg-Pittman for wins.

Coaches' picks: 1-Austin-East, 2- Fulton (4A), 3-Gibbs (4A), 4-Gatlinburg-Pittman, 5-Carter (4A), 6-Pigeon Forge, 7-Union County

ETM picks: 1-Fulton, 2-Austin-East, 3-GP, 4-Carter, 5-Gibbs, 6-Union County, 7-Pigeon Forge

3A wildcard: Gatlinburg-Pittman

3A bubble team: none

4A wildcard: Carter

4A bubble team: Gibbs

In District 4, what more can be said about Alcoa? The Tornadoes are again the heavy favorite, in spite of losing record-breaking back Jaron Toney to graduation. There's still plenty of experience on the squad from Blount County. That being said, if there's a team from East Tennessee that can challenge the Tornadoes, it may be the one who almost everyone has picked second in this district, CAK. The Warriors bring an experienced aerial attack with all-everything quarterback Quinn Epperly leading the way, along with 14 other returning starters. The Warriors, who were defeated twice by the Tornadoes last year, have another year of experience to draw from, and are the coaches' preseason pick as the third best team in Tennessee behind Alcoa and 2008 and 2009 State Runner-up, Milan.

Looking down the rest of 4-AA, we expect that Scott High and Stone Memorial are likely to be casualties of the procedural changes, and will not contend for a playoff spot. If that holds true, Kingston and Loudon are likely to challenge for additional spots, with those two teams meeting each other in Kingston in Week 10. The Yellowjackets eked into the playoffs last year, winning several games in the very late going, while Loudon qualified with a solid eight wins. This year, though, Kingston has a more favorable home schedule, and could see an overall improvement as the young Jackets jell as a team.

Coaches' picks: 1-Alcoa, 2-CAK, 3-Loudon, 4-Kingston, 5-Stone Memorial (4A), 6-Scott (4A)

ETM picks: 1-Alcoa, 2-CAK, 3-Kingston, 4-Loudon, 5-Scott, 6-Stone Memorial

3A wildcards: Kingston, Loudon

4A: no playoff teams

Looking at District 5-AA gives me another opportunity to air one of my biggest gripes about the current plan, which is a five-team district, which is made even more flawed by only fielding one team in Class 4A. But that's on TSSAA, not on the five teams in this district.

Moving along, this district was a two-team race in 2009, and would appear to be the same two-team race yet again, with McMinn Central trying to overtake Polk County atop the leader-board. The Wildcats return 14 starters to a team that won 11 games a year ago, including two players who see time under center and in the defensive backfield, seniors Jared Allen and Logan Swafford. They also have experience in the trenches. The hard part for them may be the trip to Englewood in Week 2, which could decide the district.

Your writer does not expect any of the remainder of teams in the district to contend for playoff spots this year.

Coaches' picks: 1-Polk County, 2-McMinn Central, 3-Sweetwater, 4-Meigs County, 5-Sequoyah (4A)

ETM picks: 1-McMinn Central, 2-Polk County, 3-Sweetwater, 4-Meigs County, 5-Sequoyah

District 6-AA is intriguing, as the coaches have pegged Red Bank to repeat as district champion, with Tyner second, similar to a year ago. This is in spite of the Lions having graduated a whopping 20 starters. That's a ton of respect being shown that program. Of course, the Lions did have a number of opportunities last year for the younger kids to see action. Tyner is led by all-district quarterback Travis Jones, and return a handful of skill position players.

Behind these two favorites, East Ridge, Chattanooga Central, and Brainerd will fight for position. The Pioneers host Brainerd in Week 4 and Central in Week 8, which weighs heavily in their advantage, in this writer's opinion. However, by my count, East Ridge only returns five starters on either side of the ball, which could be a factor. Central, on the other hand, returns a number of skill position starters, if they are able to get adequate line play at spots where experience is lacking.

Coaches' picks: 1-Red Bank (4A), 2-Tyner, 3-East Ridge (4A), 4-Chattanooga Central (4A, tie), 4-Brainerd (4A, tie), 6-Howard, 7-East Hamilton, 8-Hixson

ETM picks: 1-Red Bank, 2-Tyner, 3-East Ridge, 4-Brainerd, 5-Chattanooga Central, 6-East Hamilton (tie), 7-Hixson (tie), 8-Howard (tie)

3A: no additional playoff teams

4A wildcard: East Ridge, Brainerd

4A bubble team: Chattanooga Central

Finally, we come to another five-team district featuring only one Class 4A squad, District 7-AA. The coaches picked Bledsoe County to repeat as district champion, with them returning two key wide receivers. However, the Warriors lost a lot of experience to graduation. Our pick is Sequatchie County, who have six returning starters on either side of the ball, but have the potentially uphill task of facing Bledsoe County in Pikeville in Week 6.

Among the best of the rest, look for Notre Dame and Grundy County to compete for the next spot, with the Irish hosting the Yellow Jackets to end the season. Chattanooga Christian, conversely, plays a murderous schedule that will be difficult to overcome.

Coaches' picks: 1-Bledsoe County, 2-Sequatchie County, 3-Grundy County, 4-Notre Dame, 5-Chattanooga Christian

ETM picks: 1-Sequatchie County, 2-Bledsoe County, 3-Notre Dame, 4-Grundy County, 5-CCS

3A wildcard: none

3A bubble team: Grundy County

4A wildcard: none

4A bubble team: Notre Dame

Summing up our Class 3A predictions, we believe that 16 teams are likely to make the playoffs, with an additional three competing for wildcard spots. This is pretty consistent with the 18 qualifiers produced from these same districts in 2009. The key factor in all this, if these predictions hold, is which of the three teams make wildcard, because that will set the geography of the brackets. It could also expose one of this writer's biggest concerns for this year's bracketing, which discounts district finish, so, Polk County could wind up runner-up in District 5-AA but a higher seed than McMinn Central. We are also concerned that Tyner could wind up being punished for playing a tough non-district schedule.

With all those things in mind, based on our schedule analysis, we think Happy Valley could pass Elizabethton for the 1-seed in the East bracket due to overall wins, although several other teams could contend. In the Mid-east, we have a hard time seeing anyone challenge Alcoa, considering the toughness of their schedule, although CAK could prove us wrong.

In Class 4A, we believe there are only four teams that we can say with relative certainty will qualify, and three of those we have penciled in as district champions. However, there are four more teams that we believe will be on that wildcard bubble come November. If all of them qualified, it would still be fewer qualifiers from the East than last year.

That sums up the mechanics, but we haven't looked at the fun stuff. Obviously, in Class 3A, we believe Alcoa is still the team to beat, and we believe CAK is their primary challenger from what will eventually be the Mid-east bracket. Last year the Tornadoes faced Elizabethton in the semifinals, but Austin-East and Gatlinburg-Pittman could find themselves in that game as well. Around the state, we'll still pick Milan to win the west unless someone proves us wrong. The Bulldogs will get Alcoa, who will defeat Austin-East, CAK, and Milan in that order to sew up their seventh consecutive championship.

Trying to determine anything in Class 4A makes my head hurt. In all likelihood, East Tennessee could field as few as six teams in their bracket, likely meaning that some combination of DeKalb County, Livingston Academy, and White House could fill the final spots. Let us hope that a couple of more teams from the east can prevent that. No matter who fills those spots, I'm picking Greeneville to advance to the state semifinals where David Lipscomb will await. I think that's where East Tennessee's road will end, with Lipscomb defeating Greeneville before falling to Liberty Tech Magnet School from Jackson in the state final.

That will do it for our Class AA picks. Again we want to  acknowledge our sources. Much of the information, including top players, and coaches' picks, came from Murphy Fair's "The Guru's Great Ones," with other information coming from, in no particular order, prepxtra.com, timesfreepress.com, tssaa.org, and CoachT.com. And, of course, some of these picks come from my long-time fandom and historical performance, leading to just the feeling in my gut about certain teams.

As a Class AA fan, your writer is excited about the coming season. And, we remind you that Week 0 games are only EIGHT days away (16 days until the Roane County teams take the field). We'll be back later this week with our final preseason preview, this one for Class A. 

August 10, 2010

With almost a week having passed and most of the results now certified, it is now time to look at some of the more intriguing happenings from last Thursday. Your writer did not see all of his supported candidates victorious, but, the truth of the matter, is that yours truly had a really good night, as local voters gave Roane Countians a new County Executive and six (of 15) new County Commissioners. It's exciting to think that changes may be on the horizon.

Obviously, the one race being followed by most people was the Republican primary for Governor, with Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam securing the nomination with approximately 47 percent of the votes. While we never made an endorsement from this column, in the interest of full disclosure, we will let you know that Haslam was not our first choice. Of the four candidates, we found him the most moderate. Your writer is of the strong opinion that multiple conservatives in the race once again helped the moderate candidate win. The Tea Parties and other conservative organizations need to start addressing this if they are really concerned about conservatism and constitutionalism as their goal.

Moving along, four Congressional seats lie within our easttennesseemedia.com footprint. We'll forgo any lenghty analysis of Districts 1 and 2, as incumbent Phil Roe easily won his District 1 Republican primary, while District 2 Congressman Jimmy Duncan was unopposed in his. They'll be faced by Democrats Michael Clark and Dave Hancock, respectively, with Independents also running in both races, but both incumbents will be heavily favored in two of the most Republican districts in the country.

That being said, District 3, which stretches from Chattanooga through Oak Ridge all the way into Jefferson and Grainger Counties, among others in East Tennessee, will have a new representative come January. On the Republican side, Chuck Fleischmann outlasted Robin Smith and nine other Republicans to be the Grand Old Party's nominee, while John Wolfe will again represent the Democrats. Six Independents are also on the ballot. The Fleischmann-Smith race may have been even more contentious than the Governor's race, if you followed any of it. Third-place finisher, Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble released a statement toward the end of the campaign that said it something like this, "I'm the candidate talking about issues. Robin Smith and Chuck Fleischmann mostly talk about each other." On the Democratic side, count your writer among the surprised, as I was expecting state legislator Brenda Short to be the nominee, rather than Wolfe, who lost multiple races to Zach Wamp. This one could remain fun to watch for the next three months.

In my district - District 4 - Dr. Scott DesJarlais from Marion County won a five-way Republican primary so quiet you could have heard a pin drop on most days. Many Republican analysts were a little surprised that Jack Bailey did not secure the nomination, but, in this writer's opinion, DesJarlais ran a better campaign. However, the good doctor will have a steep uphill climb if he is going to unseat several-term conservative Democrat Lincoln Davis in this district.

Around the state there were three other notable primaries, as Iraq War veteran and attorney Brett Carter secured the Democratic nomination to replace retiring long-term Congressman Bart Gordon, while on the Republican side State Senator Diane Black defeated activist Lou Ann Zelenik, State Senator Jim Tracy and four others to earn the nominaton. This is a district the national Republicans will be spending a ton of money to try to turn this November. Five Independents could also play a part in this district, which your writer refuses to acknowledge as a toss-up until proven wrong (Putnam, Smith, and several other rural counties are heavily Democratic). 

Also, in District 8, State Senator and former minister Roy Herron won the Democratic primary to replace retiring Congressman John Tanner, while farmer and former gospel singer Stephen Fincher won a five-way Republican primary. This race was reported to be the most expensive in the nation, which came as a total shock to your editor, as this district is heavily rural, while District 3 and District 6 are at least suburban, if not urban in nature.  And finally, District 9 saw lottery champion Steve Cohen survive another Democratic primary, this time against Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton. Cohen will easily win in November over his Republican challenger and two Independents.

Moving into the state legislature, we will start with the State Senate, which could provide the best opportunity for Democrats to see a gain in November. The Grand Old Party currently holds a 19-14 seat advantage in the chamber, with 17 up for grabs, 10 of which are held by Republicans. However, Randy McNally in District 5 and Jack Johnson in 23 are unopposed, as is Democrat Thelma Harper in District 19.

One incumbent Senator in each party faced primary opposition with both winning. Mae Beavers, whose district is primarily in Wilson County, held off two challengers, while Doug Henry, from Nashville, defeated Jeff Yarbro by a very narrow margin. For in-depth coverage of these races, try tennessean.com. Henry would be heavily favored in a Democratic district, while Beavers's race will be one of the ones to watch in November.

The other State Senate district that could see turnover is the 7th, formerly held by Tim Burchett, is now Mayor-elect of Knox County, as controversial conservative State Representative Stacey Campfield took that nomination. He'll face Democrat Randy Walker in a two-man race.

We will be surprised if any of the 11 races not mentioned are strongly contested.

Turning our attention to the state house, where all 99 districts are up for grabs, we'll focus on nine races from the primaries, and mention a few of our races to watch. As earlier mentioned in this column, there are numerous races throughout the state where only one candidate was fielded. Please visit the Secretary of State's election site for the rundown of those.

That having been said, there were nine incumbents - five Democrats and four Republicans who faced primary opposition. Of those, two Republicans fell - Eric Swafford in District 25, comprised of Cumberland and Bledsoe Counties, and Chad Faulkner in District 36, which is made up of Campbell and Union Counties. Your writer apologizes for not knowing the critical issues in these races. With the seats now open, keep your eyes on these races in November. Cameron Sexton, who defeated Swafford, will face Charles Ray Rains and an Independent, while Dennis Powers will face Keith Clotfelter in the 36th.

Three open seats to keep an eye on are the third district, comprised of Johnson County and parts of Sullivan, where Democrat Joe Mike Akard, Republican Scotty Campbell, and two Independents vie to replace the retiring Jason Mumpower; the eighth district, comprised of parts of Blount and Sevier County, where Democrat Marvin Pratt and Republican Art Swann try to win the seat being vacated by Republican Joe McCord; and the 10th district, which is all of Hamblen County, where Democrat Larry Mullins and Republican Don Miller will try to replace Democrat John Litz, who ran for County Mayor.

The next race worth watching will be the 18th District, where conservative activist Steve Hall will face Democrat Sam Alexander in the seat vacated by State Senate Candidate Stacy Campfield. And finally, a race that I think leans toward the incumbent Democrat, but you cannot be certain, is my home district, the 32nd, which includes all of Roane County, and a small sliver or Lenoir City. The District is has been represented for 18 of the last 20 years by Democrat Dennis Ferguson, who will be challenged by controversial enterpeneur, activist, and former model Julia Hurley, as well as an Independent candidate.

Around the state, look for most incumbents to hold their seats, but there are three open seats which could be an indicator of the political winds: the 34th District, Murfreesboro, being vacated by Republican Donna Rowland; the 57th, in Wilson and Sumner Counties, being vacated by Republican Susan Lynn; and the 60th, in eastern Davidson County, being vacated by Democrat Ben West, Jr.

Time will tell how these all shake out. It's a very interesting political climate these days. No matter what happens, your editor will always find politics a very interesting sport.

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Several more newsworthy quick hits:

* Bill Haslam's opponent from his first run for Mayor, Democrat Madeline Rogero, has filed paperwork to again run for that office, according to WATE. Rogero is currently on City of Knoxville staff, and is a former County Commissioner. She joins Councilwoman Marilyn Roddy in that race. For Rogero's complete resume, visit wate.com.

* The column's best wishes go out to Greenback Mayor Tom Peeler, who was recently injured in an alteracation with a home intruder. The Mayor suffered a broken jaw. Again, best wishes, and we hope justice is served. See complete reports and most major Knoxville news outlets.

* A recent law was passed in order to prevent illegal transport of cigarettes, with the intended goal of keeping those from the hands of minors, but that law, which recently took effect, has had the unintended consequence of prohibiting the smokes from getting to our troops. Yours truly is not a smoker, and is not always smoker-friendly, but this is just downright silly.

* According to Businessweek.com, Tennessee is the nation's fifth laziest state. The Memphis Commercial Appeal passed that story along, with commentary, with pollsters almost equally split as to whether Tennesseans were really lazy or whether or not we were just "laid back." Your out-of-shape editor is too busy to be lazy, but too busy to work out, too, unfortunately.

* Last week, WATE reported that consumer income and spending, as well as other economic indicators are still weak. This while the national party hacks debate whether or not the stimulus is working.

* One of your writer's favorite restaurants was destroyed by fire recently when the Log Cabin restaurant, whose feature dish was pork barbecue, was lost. Although I'm not in the City of Loudon that often, I enjoyed their food. Maybe they will rebuild.

* In an article that tells me that political correctness is running amok in this country, schools have gone to adopting - wait for it - recess coaches. Isn't the point of recess its inherent lack of structure? Owing to the fact that smaller children have a short attention span and need the mid-day breaks? Having said that, the recess coaches are there to make sure that children play fairly and play at all, rather than using the period to be sedentary, or at least that's how your editor understands it. For further details, view the archived story by the Associated Press or at ajc.com.

* Once again, the communities in Strawberry Plains and East Knox County have been disappointed, as the powers-that-be in Knox County have again denied the public's lobbying for a new Carter Elementary School. For full details, including public reaction, visit wate.com, or other Knoxville affiliates.

* In one of the saddest stories we have heard in recent memory, Knoxvillian Cheryl Beckett, along with five other Americans and four others, were killed while attempting to do mission work in Afghanistan. Our deepest sympathies go out to the friends and families left behind.

* WATE reported last week that parents can view a rating of their children's schools' performance on a list published by the Tennessee Education Consumer's Foundation. Your writer is somewhat hesitant about the list, but, advises the reader to view the story and the link before drawing your own conclusion.

Much of the above has been frustrating or sad news, but we do have a few positive things to pass along:

* This Tennessee Tech graduate passes along his thanks and gratitude to Mr. Larry Hester, who recently donated $4 million to the school's nursing program. Hester is the widower of Jean Whitson Hester, an entrepeneur who was also the granddaughter of Jere Whitson, one of the original benefactors of Tennessee Tech, then known as Dixie College. For more details about the gift and the family visit tntech.edu or herald-citizen.com.

* Pre-kindergarten programs are now availabe in all 95 counties in Tennessee. We believe this could be a good thing.

* Four Knox County schools will split $1 million in arts funding, according to a WATE report. The program, known as Arts 360, is used to integrate the arts with the learning of other material, such as math or history.

* Also from WATE, 36 projects will split just under $2 million in agriculture grants, with an auditorium for the Greene County Fair listed as one of the projects. If you have never been to the Greene County Fair, your writer suggests you put it on your to-do list. It's a good one.

We'll close with three final goodbyes:

* First, gospel music promoter Terry McGuire, who passed away August 1st in Cleveland at the age of 63. McGuire was involved in promotions in the Chattanooga area, often in partnership with Jerry Foster. Chattanooga has always been and is still one of my favorite places (other than in church) to hear a gospel music concert. Mr. McGuire, you will be missed, and our thoughts and prayers go out to your family and friends in Southeast Tennessee and the surrounding area.

* Actress and benefactor Patricia Neal, best known for raising the funds for what is now the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center, passed away at the age of 84 at her home in Massachusetts. Our thoughts go out to the family. For a good look at Ms. Neal's lengthy resume, a look that focuses on a global view, visit her obituary at nytimes.com.

* And finally, while we await details, former Senator Ted Stevens, Republican from Alaska, is believed to be dead along with several others as the result of an airplane crash. Our thoughts go out to all these families, and we will watch for updates to this story as it comes in.

We'll try to incorporate the multitude of sports-related topics still in our notes when time permits, as well as publishing our Class AA and Class A previews.

August 6, 2010

We are now only 13 days away from the first Week 0 games, so it's time to start making our projections and predictions for this autumn's gridiron season. East and Southeast Tennessee was again well represented on Championship Saturday in 2009, with two Division I teams from Blount County, two from Southeast Tennessee, and one from Northeast Tennessee having played for state titles a year ago. Adding to East Tennessee's resume was Knoxville Webb's capturing the Division II-AA state title.

Having said that, only one of the five aforementioned Division I teams captured its title. Today, we start in Class AAA, looking to see if there's a potential State Champion among them.

First, though, let's recap the new z-plan and the breakdown of schools. In Class AAA in East Tennessee, there are five districts comprised of 40 teams, 16 Class 6A and 24 Class 5A. The only automatic qualifiers this year will be the top two finishers in each district, regardless of classification, and everyone else competes for wildcard spots based on overall record, followed by a 17-point tie-breaking procedure. If it sounds cumbersome, it is, but it should make for an even more exciting season as teams know that their only goal is to win games to play toward November.

On to the picks:

In 2009, District 1-AAA saw Tennessee High ranked Number One for a good chunk of the season, having displaced Dobyns-Bennett from their normal perch atop this conference. As a matter of fact, the Indians fell into a tie for second, but, with tiebreakers considered, wound up fourth in 1-AAA. We are not expecting a repeat performance. That being said, three of the best players in Northeast Tennessee play for these two teams, with D-B boasting running back Chris Sensabaugh and Tennessee having big uglies Brendan Downs and Mack Crowder in the trenches. Time will tell if the meeting between these two teams in Week 7 will decide the District.

Your editor expects to see two other teams contend in this district. They were contenders in 2009 as well, and they are Sullivan South and Daniel Boone. South has a new coach, but returns their quarterback and several key starters from a year ago, not expecting to change the system. Unfortunately, I have very little information about Daniel Boone. I also expect Science Hill and/or David Crockett to be a potential dark-horse in this District.

Coaches Picks: 1-Dobyns-Bennett (6A), 2-Sullivan South, 3-Daniel Boone, 4-Tennessee, 5-Science Hill (6A), 6-Volunteer, 7-David Crockett, 8-Sullivan Central

ETM Picks: 1-Dobyns-Bennett, 2-Tennessee, 3-Sullivan South, 4-Daniel Boone, 5-Science Hill, 6-David Crockett, 7-Sullivan Central, 8-Volunteer

6A Wildcard: none

6A Bubble team: none

5A Wildcards: Sullivan South, Daniel Boone

5A Bubble team: David Crockett

If I remember correctly, defending 2-AAA champion Sevier County has adopted a motto of "one more point," or something similar, after losing to Bearden in the opening round 35-34 a year ago. But first things first, the Smoky Bears need to replace a lot of graduated starters. That could be the key to holding off their challengers, long before November. Something else I remember: I have been really high on Jefferson County for a while now in this column. One thing that I did not realize, though, is how front-loaded the Patriots' schedule is, hosting defending 4A Runner-up Greeeneville and then traveling to Bearden before opening district play against the Smoky Bears. That's a tough row to hoe, but, if they can down Sevier County in Dandridge, they have a good shot at their first district crown in quite some time. Watch for Morristown West to contend in this race.

Unfortunately for the rest of the pack, the rules changes could hurt them. Based on schedule analysis, we are not sure we see anyone having a solid chance to make the playoffs, although we do have a couple of teams on our "bubble." See the picks below.

Coaches' picks: 1-Sevier County (6A), 2-Jefferson County (6A), 3-Morristown West, 4-Morristown East, 5-Seymour, 6-Cherokee, 7-South Doyle, 8-Cocke County

ETM Picks: 1-Sevier County, 2-Morristown West, 3-Jefferson County, 4-Seymour, 5-Morristown East, 6-Cherokee, 7-Cocke County, 8-South Doyle

6A Wildcard: none

6A Bubble team: Jefferson County

5A Wildcard: none

5A Bubble team: Seymour

Last year, the Clinton Dragons, with a full stable of skill-position players ran through District 3-AAA, with their only hiccup being a vacated win against Halls due to using an ineligible player. This proved costly, with Clinton falling from 1-seed to 2-seed in its bracket and later losing to Anderson County. This year, though, the coaches and your writer agree the Dragons may struggle. If so, who will step up and fill that void?

Our money is on Coach Scott Blade and his Oak Ridge Wildcats. The 'Cats, who finished 7-3, just behind Clinton a year ago, return the heart of their offense, and a number of defenders, and you can always count on them having good size. Big non-district games against Maryville and Farragut may be just as important to their playoff positioning as some of their district games. Having said that, challenging the Cats will be not Clinton, but their other rival to the northeast, Anderson County. The Mavericks like to sling the ball around the field, and their field general, Tanner Williams, returns for his senior campaign. The biggest drawback for him will be his loss of the element of surprise, and now teams - especially Oak Ridge - will be preparing for his style of play. He'll also depend heavily on a trio of senior linemen to protect him.

We believe those teams to be well above the rest of the nine teams in District 3-AAA in terms of potential. However, if we were to pick a dark-horse, we would agree with the coaches and pick Powell, as the Panthers do bring back quite a bit of experience. None of the other six teams are projected highly by many, so the opportunity is there for tradition-rich programs like Knoxville Central and Halls to step back into the limelight.

Coaches' picks: 1-Oak Ridge (6A), 2-Anderson County, 3-Powell, 4-Clinton (tie), 4-Central (tie), 6-Halls, 7-Karns (6A), 8-Campbell County, 9-Hardin Valley (6A)

ETM Picks: 1-Oak Ridge, 2-Anderson County, 3-Powell, 4-Campbell County, 5-Clinton, 6-Central, 7-Halls, 8-Karns, 9-Hardin Valley

6A Wildcard: none

6A Bubble team: none

5A Wildcard: Powell

5A Bubble teams: Campbell County, Clinton, Central

Moving to District 4-AAA, the question to be answered is still, Who can knock off Maryville? Bearden is the trendy pick, with the Bulldogs bringing back one of the best skill prospects in the Knoxville area, back Devrin Young. That being said, the Dogs lost some beef in their line to graduation, and that could be hard to overcome. If so, watch for Eddie Courtney's Farragut Admirals to leapfrog Bearden. The team to watch, though, could be Knoxville Catholic, who has one of the area's top linemen - Kyler Kerbyson - as well as plenty more big, ugly linemen to complement him, as well as returning skill players. The Irish are too loaded with potential to quite be labeled a dark-horse.

Those four should run rough-shod over the rest of the district again this year, although Heritage made some noise in 2009, and could be the actual dark-horse among this group of eight.

Coaches' picks: 1-Maryville (6A), 2-Bearden (6A), 3-Farragut (6A), 4-Catholic, 5-West, 6-William Blount (6A), 7-Heritage (6A), 8-Lenoir City

ETM Picks: 1-Maryville, 2-Farragut, 3-Catholic, 4-Bearden, 5-William Blount, 6-West, 7-Heritage, 8-Lenoir City

6A Wildcard: Bearden

6A Bubble team: William Blount

5A Wildcard: Catholic

5A Bubble team: none

Lastly, we move to southeast Tennessee, and District 5-AAA, where McMinn County threw the entire East bracket into chaos last year with a Week 10 defeat of highly-ranked Ooltewah. The Owls, in contrast, came into that contest with a 9-0 mark, only to finish 9-2. Coaches have these teams highly rated again in 2010, but your easttennesseemedia.com writer is high on Cleveland. The Blue Raiders have a new coach, who is really pushing the Raider tradition, and, it doesn't hurt his cause that he boasts one of Southeast Tennessee's top prospects, quarterback Chad Voytik. We look for Cleveland to at least double their win total (three) from year ago. The Raiders host McMinn County in Week 4 and visit Ooltewah in Week 9.

The team we think is being overlooked in District 5-AAA is Soddy-Daisy. The Trojans finished 5-5 a year ago, and wound up on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. Look for them to move up the standings.

Coaches' picks: 1-McMinn County (6A), 2-Ooltewah (6A), 3-Cleveland, 4-Bradley Central (6A, tie), 4-Rhea County (6A, tie), 6-Soddy-Daisy, 7-Walker Valley

ETM picks: 1-Ooltewah, 2-Cleveland, 3-Soddy-Daisy, 4-McMinn County, 5-Bradley Central, 6-Rhea County, 7-Walker Valley

6A Wildcard: Soddy-Daisy

6A Bubble teams: McMinn County, Bradley Central

5A Wildcard: none

5A Bubble teams: none

Summing up, we believe that nine teams from these five districts will make the Class 6A playoffs, with three or four bubble teams that could add to that total. In our opinion, Maryville will be the number-1 seed in the East, although, if they falter, we believe there are several teams who could assume that mantle. Nine qualifiers in Class 6A would be one more than in 2009. In Class 5A, we have a total of eight that we are confident in qualifying, three fewer than what qualified a year ago. Four other schools would be on our Class 5A bubble. In Class 5A, we believe Anderson County and Tennessee High will compete for the 1-seed in the East. We believe also that Cleveland will be a high seed in the mid-east.

Around the state, coaches have three teams from Murfreesboro in the top 10 in Class 6A. You can almost guarantee that one of those teams will advance to the state semifinals, likely to face Maryville, consistent with what happened in 2009. Last year's State Champion, White Station, is picked in the top 5, and, you can never count out the schools from Williamson County in Class 6A. Our pick: Maryville over Brentwood High in the Blue Cross Bowl.

In Class 5A, defending champion Beech is the coaches' pick for number 1, and no one can predict on which side of the bracket they would be placed. Other teams to watch out for include championship programs Melrose and Hillsboro, among others. We believe Anderson County will make a deep playoff run, but also watch out for Knoxville Catholic in that eastern bracket. However, we're going to agree with the coaches about Beech, who will probably be placed in the mid-east bracket this year and down the Mavericks or Irish, and defeat Melrose in the finals.

That does it for our Class AAA picks, but we want to go ahead and acknowledge our sources. Much of the information, including top players, and coaches' picks, came from Murphy Fair's "The Guru's Great Ones," with other information coming from, in no particular order, prepxtra.com, timesfreepress.com, tssaa.org, and CoachT.com. And, of course, some of these picks come from my long-time fandom and historical performance, leading to just the feeling in my gut about certain teams.

It's going to be a fun season. I can't wait for kickoff. 13 Days until Week 0 games. 21 days until Kingston and Roane County football.

August 3, 2010

Last Saturday was the baseball trade deadline (that's really not a deadline because there will be an August deadline and a September deadline) and today we offer our thoughts regarding a few of the trades that were and were not made.

But first, we offer you a look at the standings, through games of August 2nd:

In the American League, the Yankees and Rays sit tied atop the American League East, with Chicago leading Minnesota by a single game in the Central division, and Texas running away with the AL West. In the senior circuit, Atlanta leads Philadelphia by three games in the East, while St. Louis trails Cincinnati by a half-game in the Central and San Diego leads San Francisco by two games in the West. (The Dodgers, one of the coldest teams in baseball, now sit in fourth place in the West, nine games back).

Perhaps the biggest acquisition of them all was Thursday's trade that sent pitcher Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia from Houston for AJ Happ, with a couple of minor leaguers also involved. This should help them threaten the Braves for the division, and certainly be among the running for the wildcard if unable to catch Atlanta. Atlanta, in a multi-player deal, acquired pitcher Kyle Farnsworth and pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel from Kansas City for Gregor Blanco and Jesse Chavez. I'm not a Braves fan, but I'm not sure this move addresses their needs. I've seen Internet traffic really chiding the Braves for grabbing Farnsworth. Time will tell.

San Diego got a couple of veteran players who should help in the west, acquiring 3B Miguel Tejada from the Orioles for minor leaguers and Ryan Ludwick from St. Louis in a multi-team deal. This could help them stay ahead of San Francisco in the West.

These were the major trades among contenders, although the Dodgers were among the busiest of teams picking up players, including pitcher Ted Lilly and infielder Ryan Theriot from the Cubs, and outfielder and leadoff-man Scott Podsednik from the Royals. The Lilly deal also sent Blake DeWitt to the Cubs, but also saw pitcher Kyle Smit move from the Lookouts to the Smokies. Chattanooga also lost Andrew Lambo in a deal that saw the Dodgers acquire pitcher Octavio Dotel, as the Pirates again sent away many of their best players mid-summer.

This year could see one of the better pennant races in a long while, with five of the six divisions being really tightly contested. That NL Central race could be fun to watch, although, your editor wonders if Cincinnati has enough in the tank to hold off St. Louis without making any moves (Go Cardinals!). Let's see how this thing plays out. See the "players" tab at mlb.com for all the personnel moves in the league.

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* Congratulations to Mike Craigen, who was named the new head coach of the Knoxville Ice Bears on Monday. According to the coverage at volunteertv.com, Craigen skated in Knoxville for five seasons and was on two championship teams. We hope he can get the Ice Bears back to championship form.

* A couple of Titan notes: it was widely reported last week that Vince Young will not be punished for his role in a bar fight earlier this summer. Your writer wonders what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's reasoning was, considering how hard-core Goodell has seemed to be during his tenure.

Also, the Titans saw first round pick Derrick Morgan sidelined with an injury this week according to a WVLT report. This just continues the frustrating summer for fans of the baby blue.

It could be worse, though, Titans fans...you could be Panthers fans like me. There's nothing going right in Charlotte right now.

* Two former Vols are sidelined for very different reasons. Tight End Brad Cottam is out with an injury in Kansas City, according to reports. We wish him a quick recovery.

Troubled defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth is out in Washington, as he, after a holdout, has found himself in Coach Mike Shananan's doghouse after the latter has felt Haynesworth's conditioning sub-par. Time will tell how this works out, but we'd put our money with the Super Bowl Champion coach.

* Our best wishes go out to NASCAR team owner Jack Roush, who was involved in a helicopter crash a couple weeks ago. We wish him a speedy recovery.

* WVLT passed along a report that Bobby Labonte will replace Marcus Ambrose in the number-47 car. For details of this and all your NASCAR silly-season reports (silly season seems perpetual, these days) we recommend jayski.com.

* WVLT is also reporting that the Kentucky Speedway will finally be getting its Sprint Cup event. This would seem to have been in the works for quite some time. For details, view volunteertv.com coverage.

* We still have a ton of NCAA news and notes, but we'll come back to those at a later date, for sake of space and time.

* 16 DAYS until Week 0 games. 24 DAYS until Kingston and Roane County football.

* Turning to politics and the Governor's race, we pass along the endorsement of Minutemen Project founder Jim Gilchrist, who is backing Congressman Zach Wamp for the Republican nomination.

* According to an Associated Press report, Tennessee broke an early voting record with more than 540,000 ballots cast. Thanks to wate.com for passing the report along, and, thanks to you, voters, for being concerned enough about your state, federal, and local governments to get out and do it.

* The Hawkins County Commission is expected to face legal battles after voting to hang a display called "Foundations of American Law and Government" in their new Justice Center. There will be much debate, which can be followed at timesnews.net or many of your favorite Knoxville and Tri-Cities news sites. As for easttennesseemedia.com, I won't speak for any other writers but your editor stands behind Juvenile Court Judge James Taylor and the Commission.

* According to a Boston Globe article (boston.com), the State of Massachusetts State Legislature recently voted to award all its electoral votes to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. According to the article, Massachusetts joins Illinois, Hawai'i, Maryland, and Washington in the decision. Your Constitutionalist editor just shakes his head. Special thanks to Matthew Hurtt for the link.

* According to a WATE report, the courts have now changed the Miranda rights. Please see wate.com for the details, as they are far too complicated to explain in a three- or four-line blurb.

* Your US Government has lost track of almost nine billion dollars in funds related to the current war efforts. A sad state of affairs.

* Much of Arizona's immigration policy was struck down by the courts. While we won't go into great detail about the issue itself, more troubling to this writer was that the Judge issuing the injunction never once cited the law in her opinion, at least in the interviews that I saw. Whether we agree with their appointments or not, justices absolutely must be reined in to the point of using the law - and not personal biases or public opinion - to decide the law.

* According to a WATE report, Scott County's employment numbers jumped back up to 22 percent recently. Please see the article for ways you can help your neighbors to the northwest.

* According to a Times Free Press report, the funding colleges receive will be based a number of outcome-based points. This is a dangerous precedent to set in your writer's opinion, in that, professors could be asked to lower standards of practice or ethics in order to get more funding dollars. For this and other drawbacks, see the full article at timesfreepress.com.

* The final note we will hit today, also from the Times Free Press, is that public library funding has also suffered due to the economic downturn and states of the states. Unfortunately, according to the report, this appears to be hurting those who most need library services - folks using library resources to look for work.

We'll be back later in the week with more news and notes, not to mention our prep previews coming soon.

July 30, 2010

Your writer really has no idea where to begin this week's notes, because of the multitude of happenings around the University of Tennessee and the NCAA over the last couple of weeks, not to mention the handful of things going on in high school sports and state and world events. Alas, we have to start somewhere though, so let's start with...

Derek Dooley. Most reports suggested that he represented the University of Tennessee well at Southeastern Conference Media Days last week. I didn't see the entire exchange, but, from what I was able to absorb, I'll agree with that assessment.

While we are talking about the head coach, let's talk a little about recruiting. Tennessee is expected to have 10 commitments for next year by this weekend, according to Internet reports. With that being said, many of the state's beat writers have expressed that Dooley's m.o. appears to be athletes who may be rated slightly lower by scouts, but are young men of character. At least one of those writers believed that the method will not result in long-term wins. Your writer, who is bored stiff by recruiting, will judge this new staff almost exclusively by on-field results.

Moving along, your writer is baffled by the whole Bryce Brown saga. The fact that he chose text messaging as his medium for telling Coach Dooley he was departing just seemed apropos. While we will miss some of Brown's ability that he showed at times last year, the drama that came with it is exactly the opposite of what this program in transition needs at the moment. If Brown lands at Kansas State as expected, we wonder how a veteran coach like Bill Snyder will handle him.

Equally baffling to me is Dooley's refusal to release Nick Lamaison. The coach was quoted on GoVolsXtra.com in an Austin Ward column as saying Lamaison "hasn't really given it a chance." You have to feel for this kid, or any kid now playing for his third coach in as many years, who is being handcuffed like that. This one isn't on Dooley, though. It's a bad policy on the NCAA's part to force kids to stay at a program that has seen more than its share of turmoil in the past couple years.

While we're on the subject of quarterbacks, junior college transfer Matt Simms was reported to have been among the best performers at the Manning passing camp a couple weeks ago. That, combined with things said by the UT staff lead us to believe that Simms will be the starting quarterback against Tennessee-Martin on Labor Day weekend.

In our last Vol football note, WATE has reported that, based on last-minute input by Derek Dooley an ongoing facility upgrade will require an additional nine million dollars. One wonders when the house of cards that is the college football arms race will come tumbling down. Athletic Director Mike Hamilton said (paraphrasing) that he wanted Coach Dooley's input.

Speaking of Hamilton, a John Adams article at GoVolsXtra.com suggested that Hamilton may be on the hotseat, although the article seemed really convoluted. Is Hamilton on the hotseat? Maybe. Time will tell.

While we're still talking Volunteers, reports have both Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith to play professional basketball in Turkey. We wish them well.

And, in our final Tennessee note, our sympathies go out to the friends and families of former Vol footballers Ray Dalton, Harry Galbreath, and Gary Moore. While your writer is somewhat unfamiliar with Dalton and Moore, it has been refreshing to hear many of the kind words spoken about Galbreath this week. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families left behind.

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Now, to Southeastern Conference and other college sports notes:

* The biggest SEC news to come out recently has to be the resignation/retirement of Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson. Johnson, who took Vanderbilt to its first bowl game in eons following the 2008 season, cited burnout as a reason for his departure. He is replaced by Assistant Coach Robbie Caldwell on an interim basis. Johnson has been quoted lobbying for Caldwell to be coach for more than year one, but a lot of speculation revolving around Coach Phillip Fulmer and others has been pointed toward the Music City. For the record, your writer is still a Fulmer supporter, but thinks any overtures from Vanderbilt should be turned away. Better opportunities should exist.

That aside, Caldwell was one of the coaches most praised by the media for his brand of honesty at Media Days.

* Both Florida and South Carolina could be facing some level of sanctions with former Gator Maurice Pouncey having been accused of taking money from an agent prior to last season's Sugar Bowl, and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders possibly in trouble for rules violations as well.

* Speaking of SEC players with troubles, Georgia running back Dontavius Jackson, one of two arrested earlier this summer on alcohol-related charges, is set to transfer. Hopefully his new coaching staff will continue the lesson on responsibility that Mark Richt was set to give.

* While we're speaking about Georgia football, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that Richt would not be conducting two-a-days, but would rather employ the unorthodox method of practicing every single day until the season. Perhaps in this summer's heat it's the correct move, but Richt could be feeling a little warm around the backside if his team doesn't succeed in 2010.

* The same article that mentioned the forgoing of two-a-days also mentioned, however, the sad situation of Bulldog strong safety Shawn Williams losing his home in a fire. The Georgia Athletic Association was allowed by the NCAA to assist in fund-raising efforts. Contact them if interested in making a donation, or visit the archives of timesfreepress.com for contact details.

* Moving out of the Southeastern Conference for a moment, the troubling trend of college athletes - and the general student population - being on the wrong side of the law continued a couple of weeks ago in South Bend, where some 43 Notre Dame students, including more than a dozen Fighting Irish athletes, were arrested for underage drinking and other related charges.

* Several sources have reported that Texas A&M has gone back to the Big 12 with the demand of a guaranteed payout of $20 million, which, if not met, will see the Aggies leave that conference and move, in all likelihood, to the SEC. Conference Commissioner Dan Beebe had to know that he was setting up a house of cards when he committed the lion's share of revenues to the University of Texas, didn't he? Thumbs up to A&M for standing up for themselves.

* Lots of stuff is going on with USC and Lane Kiffin, which we just do not have time to address right now. However, once again, next year's Chick-fil-A Kickoff game is in the news, with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution floating the rumor that USC and Georgia were currently invited with Georgia having to decline. Your writer continues to be baffled that no one is pointing out that USC has a game against a BCS opponent - Minnesota at home - already scheduled for that week.

* 20 Days until Week 0 games; 28 Days until Kingston Yellowjacket football.

We really had a lot more to get to this week, but just cannot work them in to this piece. We do have these final notes that we must get published though:

* My gospel music readers may have been aware that Kelly Bowling (The Bowling Family) and her daughter suffered serious injuries when their tour bus crashed near Charlotte on July 2nd. If you are going to be in the Nasvhille area on Tuesday, August 3rd, please consider attending the benefit concert for them at the Trinity Music City Coliseum. Many artists will be performing. Please visit the link at SingingNews.com for the full details.

* The gospel music world lost a legend a few days back, when Doug Oldham passed from this life at the age of 79. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the Gaither Homecoming Friend favorite.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

July 23, 2010

Every Autumn we hear it - "college football is better when [insert school here] is good." Lately that blank has often been filled in by Notre Dame, although for a while it was Alabama, and at some point soon it may be Tennessee. But we're not going to look at college football today - we're going to look at four area high school teams looking to recapture past magic. And, yes, readers, high school football IS better when these teams are good.

We'll start with the only team from Southeast Tennessee on our list today, the Cleveland Blue Raiders. Cleveland has an all time playoff record of 33-26, which would place them 23rd all-time in Tennessee. Included in those wins are five appearances in the championship game, including three consecutive Class 4A State Championships from 1993-1995.

Unfortunately for Blue Raiders fans, Cleveland has not had a deep playoff run in several years, although they have been competitive in district/region play, with the exception of 2009 (Cleveland posted an overall record of 3-8 last year). Cleveland has exited in the first round six of the past seven years, and failed to qualify once, with their last quarterfinal appearance occurring in 2002. On the plus-side, Cleveland has posted seven or more wins in four of the last seven years, and, with one of the best prospects in southeast Tennessee -- quarterback Chad Voytik -- under center, 2010 could be a special year for the blue and red.

Moving just up the valley, the next school we'll discuss is Sweetwater High School, where the Wildcats are just 11-20 over the past three seasons, including a 2-8 finish last year. All-time, however, Sweetwater has a playoff record of 32-23, including three State Championships. Sweetwater was also a state semifinalist in 2002, and a quarterfinalist in 2006, but the Wildcats have also had losing records four of the last five seasons.

Of the four teams we will discuss today, Sweetwater may have the toughest road. The blue and gold have seen multiple coaching changes this decade, including this past off-season, and they will need a couple of years to get their swagger back. Their fans should not lose hope, though. It will be back. (Personal note: as a fan, I'd really love to see a renewal of the Kingston-Sweetwater series. Something about it just made both teams better.)

Next, we'll move to the east of Knoxville, where the second program we'll mention is Jefferson County. The Patriots have an all-time playoff record of 31-19, which places them 30th in the state, based on wins. The Patriots have played for three State Championships, bring home the Class AAA gold in 1987. Jefferson County last played in a state quarterfinal in 2002, then went 10-2 in 2003, but since then has gone 25-36 and only qualified for postseason play once, falling in the first round in 2007.

But things could be looking up. The Patriots missed the playoffs by only one game in 2009, finishing 5-5. Looking at their schedule and results, Patriots fans know that there were some close losses that could have gone the other way, if only...  Plus, they were a very respectable 5-2 in District 2-AAA. Watch out for these guys in 2010.

Finally, and reluctantly, we'll discuss your editor's alma mater, Roane County High School. The Yellowjackets have had a rough decade, with an overall record of 51-46 over the last nine years, and no finish higher than third in district/region play. Since being State Runner-up in 1998, Kingston has only advanced past the first round twice, in 1999 and 2008, and is 1-7 since 2000. Historically, Kingston has been stronger than that, with a total playoff record of 28-23 (37th), including a Class AA State Championship in 1973 and four silver balls as State Runner-up.

My sources tell me that this year's Yellowjacket squad is young, but should be improved over their 5-6 season of a year ago. If that is true, the good thing about Kingston's schedule is that, based on recent history, the schedule is largely back-loaded, giving the young players time to mature and jell as a unit.

There are other teams that have had historical success but have not met expectations lately. However, due to time, and their overall historic ranking, we chose only these four for the time being. We may revisit this topic from time to time, to see which new teams move into history's top spots...and which move out.

Other tidbits from my research:

Tennessee's top 10 playoff teams by total wins*:

1 Brentwood Academy (88-24)

2 Maryville (84-19)

3 Alcoa (73-12)

4 Trousdale County (69-21)

5 Milan (65-21)

6 Riverdale (57-19)

7 Goodpasture (56-22)

8 Oak Ridge (56-24)

9 South Pittsburg (55-23)

10 David Lipscomb (52-17)

We understand it isn't quite an "apples-to-apples" comparison since the advent of Division II, but we were a little surprised to see that Maryville hasn't caught Brentwood Academy with Maryville having more playoff games per season than the Eagles. Notice also that Brentwood Academy is the only Division II team in the top 10. The next highest would be Memphis University School at 18th.

Tennessee's top 10 playoff teams by percentage*:

1 Alcoa (.859)

2 Maryville (.816)

3 Brentwood Academy (.786)

4 Trousdale Co. (.767)

5 David Lipscomb (.754)

6 Riverdale (.750)

7 Hillsboro (.733, 33-12)

8 Battle Ground Academy (.732, 30-11)

9 Goodpasture (.718)

10 Boyd Buchanan (.714, 30-12)

* 43 of the current 334 teams have won 25 or more playoff games. All rankings based solely on those 43 teams.

- Of the 43 teams, 35 have won 30 or more games, 16 have won 40 or more. All teams winning 50 or more are in the top 10 listed above.

- 11 teams have played in five or more playoff games and are winless, with two schools topping 10. We won't name them, but one is in the east, the other is not.

That's all our tidbits for this week, except for these acknowledgements: All historical playoff data was found at tssaa.org, and records and results for the past nine seasons were found at CoachT.com. We apologize in advance for any errors in our compilations.

27 DAYS until Week 0; 35 DAYS until Kingston and Roane County football…

Go Jackets! 

July 21, 2010

The All-Star break is now behind us and the stretch run is jsut ahead of us, so let's take a look at the baseball goings-on. We admittedly have failed to devote much time to baseball in the first half, but will try to stay on top of that as the season starts heading into its stretch run. Off we go...

In Major League Baseball, the six division races are going to be really fun to watch. In the American League East, the Yankees hold a two-and-a-half game lead over Tampa Bay, the White Sox hold a three-and-a-half game lead over both Detroit and Minnesota, with Texas holding a five game lead on the Angels. In the senior circuit, Atlanta holds baseball's largest lead, at six-and-a-half games over New York and seven over Philadelphia. In the National League Central, baseball's tighest race is shaping up, with Cincinnati a half-game behind the Cardinals. The West sees San Diego holding a three-game lead over San Francisco, three-and-a-half over Colorado.

Our predictions: in the AL, New York will widen its lead over Tampa, the Central is too close to call, and Texas will wind up running away with the West. In the National League, Atlanta holds off a late charge by Philadelphia to hold on to the East and San Francisco wins the West. St. Louis and Cincinnati will both play in the post-season, but, starting with this past weekend's series, St. Louis begins to pull away from the Redlegs in the Division. And, by the way, have the Reds fired Dusty yet?

Turning to the Southern League, our Tennessee Smokies, who won the first-half North Division, hold a one game, second-half lead over Carolina and Huntsville, with Chattanooga two games behind. In the Southern Division, three teams are tied for first place. Plenty of baseball left to be played, with teams just passing 25 games played in the second half of the season.

That's the update on the current seasons, but we continue on with many more baseball notes:

* Congratulations to the National League, as the senior circuit broke a long drought by winning the 2010 All-Star game, with Brave Brian McCann the hero at the plate, and Cub Marlon Byrd with a huge defensive play to seal the win. From what I understand, this was one of the most exciting All-Star games in recent memory, although your writer skipped it in favor of Deadliest Catch. (More on that later.) The National League's win clinches home-field advantage in the World Series, which is yet another moronic brain-child of Commissioner Bud Selig. Too many All-Stars play for non-competitive teams for the ones that do matter to have to depend on an exhibition game for that advantage, Commissioner.

* Congratulations to our Tennessee Smokies for placing nine players on the All-Star roster. 

* Congratulations to the Smokies, as well, for being the host site for the 2012 Southern League All-Star game, according to WVLT Sports.

* Big news in the Cubs organization, as skipper Lou Piniella is set to retire at the end of the 2010 season. Your writer sees this as the end of an era in baseball, with Sweet Lou being one of the last managers to be willing to have a fiery spectacle of a showdown with the umpires. We wish him well.

Among those rumored to be interested in the Cubs job for 2011 are current Assistant Alan Trammell, and Iowa Cubs manager Ryne Sandberg. Several of us affiliated with easttennesseemedia.com believe long-time Cub Sandberg will be the ultimate choice. However, this writer thinks it will be a great public relations move that has disastrous on-field results, with Sandberg's road to a Major League managing job being really rushed.

* Belated congratulations to Sandberg and current Smokies Manager Bill Dancy, each of whom was a coach in the All-Star Futures game.

* In a youth-league note, this column wishes the best of luck to Kingston Dixie Youth All-Stars Class A (age five and six) and Class-AAA Minor League (age nine and 10), as well as Harriman Class AA (age seven and eight), all of whom advanced to their respective state tournaments this month. Congratulations as well to the other East Tennessee community teams who join them there.

* In our final baseball note, our sympathies go out to the Yankees organization, with the Bronx Bombers having lost not one, but two, key figures last week. First, their long-time PA announcer Bob Sheppard passed over the weekend, and then, on the day of the All-Star game, long-time owner George Steinbrenner left this life. While we're not Yankees fans, and were not terribly familiar with Sheppard, we still send our sympathies to the organization and the families they left behind.

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* In a summer hockey note, my son's favorite player, Kevin Swider, is leaving the ice to move into a front-office role with the Knoxville Ice Bears, according to WVLT. We wish him well, but will really miss his on-ice play.

* In our lone NFL note, Tennessee Titans fans, after a spring filled with bad news, can breathe a little easier, as it looks like the organization and Chris Johnson have finally negotiated a contract deal that will see the star running back on the field in September. This writer is not a fan of Johnson or the Titans, so, we'll just leave it at that.

* We have a ton of political notes to pass along, as well, as we are in the heat of early voting season. We'll start with our lone Democratic note. Vice President Joe Biden was in the Volunteer State recently, touting the administration's record and stumping for Democratic candidates. One of the things from the speech that stood out to us was Biden's challenging Republicans' credibility regarding the deficits and debts. And, this may surprise some of you, but we agree with him. Specifically, we believe that the debt problem belies runaway spending, which neither party seems to want to address. Biden's speech decried the tax side, but, in this columnist's opinion, the collections side of the equation will never matter until someone steps up and addresses spending.

* It has been really interesting to watch two races really heat up. In the Tennessee Governor's Republican primary, the rhetoric has been getting more colorful. That being said, there have also been a number of endorsements issued recently. In alphabetical order, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam was endorsed by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's PAC, according to WATE, and by one editorial page of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, among others; Lieutentant Governor Ron Ramsey was endorsed by a large number of legislators from West and Middle Tennessee, and from the Tennesseee Firearms Association, all announced on Ramsey's Twitter page; and Congressman Zach Wamp was endorsed by 2006 candidate and State Senator Jim Bryson, a couple of prominent Republican businessmen - Ronnie Barrett of Barrett Firearms and Bill Baxter of Holston Gases, and by a different editorial page in the Times Free Press.

The third district Congressional race has also been heated. A good chunk of our readership lies in that district. We encourage those of you in that district, especially if you use Twitter, to follow the  ongoing, heated battle between the district's several Republican candidates. If you're on Twitter but not keeping up with it, let me encourage you to follow @chuckforcongress, @RickKernea, @robints, @timgobble, and @VanIrion, or the hashtag #tn03.

* Our best wishes go out to State Representative JoAnne Favors (D-Chattanooga) who is recovering from neck surgery, according to the Times Free Press.

* Revisiting the third district Republican primary, one of the accusations being thrown about is that current candidate and former GOP chair Robin Smith left the party short of funds following the 2008 election cycle. Smith, however, denies the allegation and touts her accomplishment of giving the Grand Old Party majorities in both houses. For a full transcript, see the story at timesfreepress.com.

* According also to the Times Free Press, the states of Tennessee and Georgia have been among the slowest to spend stimulus funds. View the article for details.

* WATE reported last week that Congress is debating moving the retirement age to 72. We can only fathom to what number it will have been raised by the time we get there.

* In one of the more intriguing stories lately, the Associated Press is reporting that contractors working at the World Trade Center site unearthed an 18th century relic - parts of a ship that may have been used for structural fill at one time. Let's see how they treat the perceived artifact.

* The State of Tennessee will be investing $15 million in a tuition program known as BEST - which deals with the allocation of prepaid tuition.

* Chattanooga's mayor, Ron Littlefield, may be facing a recall effort, according to the Times Free Press. We'll see how that plays out, and, we don't envy anyone involved.

* Speaking of Mayors, Councilwoman Marilyn Roddy recently filed paperwork to run for Mayor of the City of Knoxville. Please view wate.com for her resume and for coverage of the upcoming race.

* And, in our final note, the City of Knoxville recently tabled its debate on city residents' ownership of chickens, according to WATE. We really have no opinion, but thought the story to be intriguing.

We have several other notes regarding college football and a few miscellaneous items, but we have neither time nor space to get to them today. Please look forward to them in the coming days.

July 15, 2010

When your writer was in high school in Tennessee, football playoff seedings were fairly simple. The top two teams from each of 16 districts per classification made the playoffs. There was no Division II. There was no private school multiplier. There were no distinctions between automatic qualifiers and wildcards. Had that system been in place in 2009, the brackets would have been done quickly, and looked a lot like this:

AAA

Morristown West (8-2) at Tennessee High (10-0)

Farragut (8-2) at Clinton (9-0)

Coffee Co. (3-7) at McMinn Co. (8-2)

Lawrence Co. (8-2) at Blackman (9-1)

Oakland (8-2) at Columbia (9-1)

Ooltewah (9-1) at Cookeville (7-3)

Oak Ridge (7-3) at Maryville (10-0)

Daniel Boone (8-2) at Sevier Co. (10-0)

AA

Claiborne (8-2) at Elizabethton (8-2)

CAK (9-1) at Austin-East (7-3)

Tyner (6-4) at Polk Co. (10-0)

Livingston Academy (7-3) at Bledsoe Co. (8-2)

Sequatchie Co. (6-4) at Cannon Co. (6-4)

McMinn Central (7-3) at Red Bank (10-0)

Gatlinburg-Pittman (9-1) at Alcoa (10-0)

Sullivan North (8-2) at Greeneville (7-3)

A

(Districts 1 & 2 combined)^^

Oliver Springs (8-2) at  Knox Grace (9-1)

Signal Mtn. (9-1) at Boyd Buchanan (9-1)

(Districts 7 & 8 combined)^^

(Districts 7 & 8 combined)

Silverdale (5-5) at South Pittsburg (8-2)

Rockwood (8-2) at Oneida (8-2)

(Districts 1 & 2 Combined).

However, times changed. TSSAA decided in 1993 that more teams should qualify, and that devovled into five classifications, which, through a number of further iterations, became the convoluted eight-classification system we have now.

Last year in November, TSSAA suffered embarrassment at their own hand, when they prematurely released playoff brackets that were incorrect, with teams being incorrectly seeded, or wrong opponents announced, etc. That resulted in a dozen or so coaches being appointed to a panel to install changes. TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress trumpeted these changes as wholesale, as being the closest thing to a brand new system. But is it really? With five weeks until the start of the season, let's look at what would have changed, had these policies been in place in 2009.

In Class 1A, there would have been quite a few changes. The 24-team bracket was comprised of five district champions, two runners-up, 11 automatic qualifiers*, and six wildcards. Four of the automatic qualifiers with posted a record of 3-7, including Coalfield and Cloudland from our area, and would not have qualified under 2010 procedures. Instead, those four teams would have been replaced by teams from among a pool of six additional teams, all with a record of 4-6, with no teams from the east and only Whitwell from the Southeast among that pool.

The Class 2A comparison is much cleaner. The 24-team bracket from a year ago featured eight district champions, 11 runners-up, three wildcards, and only two automatic qualifiers*. Neglecting re-seeding, the only change to this bracket had the new procedure been in place, would have been 5-5 Mt. Pleasant replaced by 6-4 Dresden.

Class 3A's comparison is almost as clean as the one for Class 2A. That bracket featured nine district champions and seven runners-up, in addition to seven automatic qualifiers* and nine wildcards. Lewis County, who automatically qualified with a record of 3-7, would have been replaced by the higher finisher between South Greene or East Literature, each of whom posted a record of 5-5.

Likewise, Class 4A would have seen minimal change. Stone Memorial, an automatic qualifier at 3-7, would have been replaced from a pool of five teams which posted records of 4-6, among them Knoxville Carter, Sycamore, and several teams from West Tennessee. The 2009 bracket was comprised of sevn district champions and nine runners-up, along with nine automatic qualifiers* and seven wildcards.

Class 5A, much like Class 1A, would have seen substantial change. Last year's bracket included four district champions, seven runners-up, five wildcards, and a whopping 16 automatic qualifiers*. Three of the automatic qualifiers, including 3-7 Cleveland and White County, who qualified with a record of 1-9, would be out. In their place would be teams from a five-team pool, who were 4-6. Three of those five teams were from our coverage area: David Crockett, Knoxville Halls, and Knoxville West.

However, Class 6A would have only seen one different team. Franklin County, who posted a record of 4-6 as an automatic qualifier*, would have been replaced by a the top finishing 5-5 team from a six-team pool that included Jefferson County, Soddy-Daisy, Bradley Central, and three teams from the mid-state. The original bracket was composed of 12 district champions, nine runners-up, five automatic qualifiers and six wildcards.

Summing up the math, the six Division I classifications fielded a total of 176 teams in 2009. Of those 176, 90, or roughly half, qualified as either a district champion or runner up. That means the other 86 were either automatic qualfiers or wildcards. Having said that, the new procedures would have only resulted in a total of 11 of the remaining 86 teams changing, and most of that change would occur in Class 1A or Class 5A.

What does that mean for 2010? Mass confusion in Week 10. If there was confusion last year, with a clear cut progression from champion to runner-up to qualifier to wildcard, imagine how it will be this year when the automatic qualifier category is eliminated, and the district finish falls subordinate to overall record in the seeding. For example, McMinn County's 2009 week 10 win over Ooltewah, which clinched the 5-AAA crown and propelled the Cherokees to a 3-seed.   

But, the bottom line is this. Coaches need to just win games. In most classifications, five wins will put a team on the high side of the bubble; six win teams will almost certainly qualify; and seven wins will make you a playoff lock. The trick will be in the seeding.

What would I have done? Truth is, I don't know. I was never a fan of the most recent previous system because it seemed to punish teams from stronger regions. Plus, the goofy region assignments sometimes created their own special set of travel nightmares. I don't know who pays less attention to topography and the major road plan, TSSAA or state legislatures.

On the other hand, the current system has its own problems. Among my biggest criticism is that all the reasons for initiating this plan have not held true for the smallest schools, i.e., Class 1A districts have had to combine for football, resulting increased travel. Additionally, there are too many five- and nine-team regions, resulting in scheduling difficulties. And, the districts should be balanced, e.g., three of the seven Class AA districts in East Tennessee have only one Class 4A team.

It's going to be an interesting fall. It's going to be even more interesting to see what happens when it's over. Will there be a Z-plan version 2.0? Or will this system be scrapped? Don't forget, the new enrollment numbers come out this year, and that will result in a handful of teams moving up or down in classification. It would be as good a time as any to install a new plan, should the need (real or perceived) arise.

Go Jackets!

* In 2009, teams not finishing first or second in district could still automatically qualifyby finishing in the top half of teams in their football classification within their two-classification district.

^^ In the current plan, some Class A districts combined with their neighboring district due to have having large number of non-football schools in the class. In the earlier system, District 2 runner-up would have played District 1 champion, etc.

Please note: While we have done our best to correctly identify the teams for the purpose of our exercise, these numbers are unofficial in nature, and should not be considered gospel.  For the complete official 2009 brackets, visit tssaa.com and go to the "Champions" tab, or visit http://www.tssaa.org/2009Champions/StateFootball/1ABracket.htm. For complete regional standings, www.tssaa.org/schdir/regionalstandings.htm.

July 12, 2010

With Major and Minor League Baseball at their official mid-season points, with high school football just a little over six weeks away, and with changes taking place here at easttennesseemedia.com, we want to be as diligent as we can about staying on top of newsworthy items, not letting them get lost in the shuffle. With that in mind, we take this opportunity to clear off our desk of a plethora of notes that have been backing up. Off we go...

* First and foremost, and grudginly, we want to mention all the college athletes that have been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late. Of course, at the top of the list is the so-called "Vol Brawl," in which a number of Tennessee footballers were in an altercation at a Cumberland Avenue bar. As widely reported, the incident has cost one player, Darren Myles, Jr., his spot on the Volunteers, and two others have been suspended. And, I'm afraid, the Knoxville press, Knoxville authorities, and the Tennessee coaching staff are still piecing together the events of that night, with further repercussions to follow.

How this situation is ultimately resolved will be an interesting commentary on Coach Derek Dooley's management of the program, with this being the first major off-field issue of his tenure. We wish him well.

Tennessee was not the only program to suffer off-field troubles. The University of Georgia had players arrested on alcohol-related charges over the weekend, as well. According to a report at ajc.com, Dontavius Jackson is suspended for at least six games, while Tavarres King will miss the opener. Mark Richt is quoted as saying he is still "gathering information."

Over in the ACC, North Carolina linebacker Quan Sturdivant was cited for possession over the weekend, and faces disciplinary action, according to a charlotteobserver.com article. Sturdivant was all-conference last year, according to the article. Coach Butch Davis did not give specifics about how Sturdivant would be disciplined.

With all that said, again your writer wonders what these kids are thinking. Moving on...

* In some positive news involving former Volunteer athletes, WVLT has reported that both JP Prince and Wayne Chism will participate in NBA summer league action, with Prince a Washington Wizard and Chism a Sacramento King. We offer our congratulations.

* There's a heap of upheaval in the wrestling world, according to Roger Ealey of herald-citizen.com. The WWE continues its roster-juggling in light of recent injuries, as well as the departure of Dave Batista. Along the same lines, we wish Ricky Steamboat a speedy recovery from his burst blood vessels. Get well soon, Dragon.

* Another wrestler who is out-of-work is one Scott Hall. According to the same writer, Hall was axed from the lineup of TNA Wrestling, a result of his falling victim to the same demons that have been plaguing him for years.

* Speaking of TNA, it is being reported that President Dixie Carter is re-thinking her roster, and is going to unload some of the high-priced, low-result talent on her roster and renew the youth movement in the organization. This writer gives that move a huge thumbs up.

* Jerry Lawler has started a new wrestling promotion, called, Jerry Lawler's Memphis wrestling. As a regular viewer of East Tennessee's EWP wrestling, we would love to see more traditional wrestling and less silliness in the business.

* Also according to Ealey, the WWE is embroiled in multiple lawsuits: one vs. Martha Hart, widow of Owen, regarding royalties she claims to be owed for the promotion continuing to use his image; and another by European golf franchise NXT over the use of a too-similar logo.

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That will do for the sports and sports entertainment topics we need to clear today, but here are a number of other topics we'd like to share:

* Your writer finished the book version of The Blind Side over the past weekend. As big fans of the movie, we highly recommend the book as well. The book is not nearly the study of Michael Oher as the film was; the book is about Oher but also about the evolution of the position of offensive left tackle, as well as a socioeconomic study of the inner-city athlete, a study of recruiting practices in general, and and expose' of loopholes that exist in the system. There are also a couple of slip-ups, with the wrong school or the wrong drive time being listed here or there, but, overall a good, and highly recommended read. Contains strong language. B

* While this article is getting pretty far back in the rear-view mirror, an article that I have neglected to mention to date, but everyone should read is Mike Strange's News Sentinel piece regarding fathers, the gist of which is that most of us had a regular Joe for a father as opposed to a superstar.

* We're sad to pass along that nine people lost their lives over the Independence Day weekend, most of which were accidents due to alcohol and other factors, with several of those wounded in auto accidents having lost their lives for lack of wearing a seat belt. This according to multiple reports throughout the Volunteer State.

* A press release last week teased that postal rates are again increasing. Your writer has no real problem with the increase proper; however, as one who knows just enough about manufacturing to get himself into trouble, one wonders why the Postal Service doesn't raise rates by a larger amount but less frequently. Seems like that would be the more efficient way to go.

* Also widely reported in recent weeks is that in-state tuition would be raised at both the University of Tennessee and the Board of Regents systems. If memory serves, the UT system is raising rates by an average of eight percent, the TBR schools six and one-half percent.

* According to a WATE report, additional funding from the state will save a number of teaching jobs in Knox County, but Blount County is set to cut 34 positions, albeit through attrition rather than outright layoffs.

* Reports are conflicting between sources about joblessness, with some reports saying that claims are up, while other sources are claiming that claims are down, but largely due to unemployed individuals falling off the rolls due to time limits on the benefit. One thing that has not improved, though, is morale, and the economy still feels largely stagnant.

* In a related story, Scott County, the county with Tennessee's highest reported unemployment rate, saw that rate fall below 20 percent in June, according to WATE. We wish the good people of the county well and hope that rate continues to fall.

* More bad news: WATE reported recently that several Knoxville-area Cadillac dealers were closing. We wish the owners and staff a smooth transition into other employment, and we really want to see the overall economy pick up soon.

* Also according to WATE and the Associated Press, Metro Nashville has sent over 300 buyout letters to property owners victimized by the May flooding. We hate to see anyone lose their home, but this seems to be a decent solution to a bad situation. In the end, though, there are no winners.

However, not all news is bad. Metro will only have to spend about $5 million of its own funds, with federal and state funds and insurance making up the balance of the estimated $250 million in damages.

* There's good news for folks in Northeast Tennessee, as the Department of Energy has issued a $1.3 million grant to Stone Mountain Technologies of Unicoi to develop a more efficient water heater, according to a WATE/AP report. Those of us who stay in the shower too long look forward to the product being on the street.

* Former Knoxville Mayor and US Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe was appointed to the Broadcasting Board of Governors recently. We never knew there existed such a board, but we wish him well.

* Celebrity Kentucky Wildcat fan Ashley Judd has drawn the ire of the coal industry. Visit your favorite news site for the bizarre details. And remember, "Coal Keeps the Lights On."

* In a news story that really had your writer's blood boiling, a publishing company issued copies of the founding documents, including the United States Constitution, complete with a warning label, that begins, "this book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today." For a complete transcript of the label, visit the archives at timesfreepress.com. What a sad commentary.

* Larry King is stepping down from his CNN talk show. Does anyone still watch that guy?

* According to a recent widely-cited study, Tennessee ranks second in the United States in obesity. That being said, your writer is again going to attempt to start a diet and exercise routine.

* According to WATE weather, we have far surpassed, and by now probably doubled, the number of 90-degree days that were seen in 2009. Maybe there is something to that climate change...or not. (Side note, your writer prefers it over cold weather.)

* Not sure of the importance of this, but a Greeneville-based publisher is acquiring the Blount County-based Daily Times. Time will tell what the effects are.

* According to an Associated Press report, two siblings fought over whether or not to put butter in the macaroni to the point that the 17-year-old girl tried to cut the throat of the 21-year-old man with a serrated spatula. What a bizarre world in which we live.

* Speaking of bizarre, most major outlets reported that a raccoon has been "terrorizing" Legislative Plaza in Nashville. We have to give a thumbs up to "Rocky," as he has been named, for staving off whatever perils the legislature was to afflict upon us, if only for a few fleeting moments.

* In our only Public Service Announcement of the day, we warn you to break out the repellent of choice for your outdoor activities this summer. According to a WATE report, an increased mosquito presence this summer has increased the risk of encephalitis in our part of the world.

* Your writer did some sightseeing over the past weekend, and tells the reader that a trip to the North Georgia mountains will produce some great scenery, particulary through Union and Towns County. Unfortunately, I also learned to pay especially close attention to road signs in Cherokee, winding up in Maggie Valley when I wanted to be in Gatlinburg. I knew I should have taken that left turn at Murphy...

* Another 6 News report indicates that many national politicians hanker for the taste of Grainger County tomatoes that they receive from members of the Tennessee delegation. That really goes without saying, doesn't it?

* And in our last note of the day, we want to give our praise to southeast Tennessee heroes Joe Palmer and Hudson Smith, who, according to a Times Free Press report, saved an accident victim from further injury by moving his burning vehicle sufficiently away. For full details of the incident, visit timesfreepress.com.

That does it for today. We'll come back later in the week with and talk baseball, and perhaps a little TSSAA Z-plan.

Scott Boles was born in East Tennessee and is an almost life-long resident of Roane County, where he currently lives with his wife and two children. Scott is a 1991 graduate of Roane County High School in Kingston and a 1996 graduate of Tennessee Tech with a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering.  He is a huge fan of high school sports and considers himself an advocate for mid-majors and so called political "third-parties."  Additional interests include Southern Gospel music and being a roadway enthusiast, as well as interest in current events and a growing interest in youth league sports.

Scott has contributed to EastTennesseeMedia.com since its inception and is a the current owner and editor.

Scott was a regular contributor to The Weekly Times publication in Roane County in 2001, and worked as a stringer covering high school and middle school sports for the Roane County News from 2002-2004.   Additionally he is the publisher of  http://www.volstateroads.com/ and http://www.wbcministries.net/.