And perhaps hate isn't strong enough a word. Loathe? No.

Despise is getting close.

First of all, I think high school basketball holds this area back.

For years, we've given a sport whose potential championship is cared about statewide greater attention than one whose potential championship is cared about NATIONWIDE. I am speaking of High School vs. ETSU, of course, and I think that's unfortunate.

Especially when the talent out of here really isn't that good.

It speaks of being so townie. It's like something the little town in Indiana would do instead of a growing metro area (which we may or may not be).

Simply put, two radio stations should not clamor to broadcast Science Hill games while ETSU struggles to find a radio home every time their contract is up.

Furthermore, I don't like the way high school sports in general are covered. This year a Science Hill basketball player brought a gun to school. It was never even mentioned on the sports page- not even a "Danny Avery is no longer on the team" blurb.

But isn't a high school player bringing a gun to school so BASKETBALL?

But I might excuse Johnson City for being townie. What I couldn't excuse is when I was in Pittsburgh and Wheeling when they would ignore a growing sport like hockey that was producing more talent than hoops was locally and filling up modern rinks for the empty old gyms and pedestrian talent of hoops.

Not to mention hockey had a professional presense in town.

The fact is the sport is nothing but back and forth, back and forth. It is rap music when I like rock, it promotes individualism instead of the team, and it's played by people in their underwear.

Great thing to teach our kids, isn't it?

Any community that goes ga-ga about high school basketball is just limiting itself culturally. I kept thinking as sportswriters were telling us thousands were in the stands for the Arby's when it was more like hundreds how the only reason the so-called event had the crowd it did was because THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE HERE!

Nobody knew who was playing in this thing. The top draw didn't play (and they didn't refund the fans money) and the local teams all sucked.

Compare that to a real college sports program. Or a minor league hockey team with guys on their way up and a championship that, while not universally celebrated, is known nationwide.

Come on! Reggie Dunlop or guy bringing the gun to school! The Hanson Brothers or a group of girls with tattoos.

NO comparison!

A poster mentioned how the AAU was run by thugs. IT'S A SPORT OF THUGS! JAYSON WILLIAMS! MICHAEL RAY RICHARDSON! CHRIS WASHBURN! COME ON! JERRY TARKANIAN!

But at least the AAU isn't pushed down our throats like high school basketball is!

Does anyone else feel high school basketball holds back not just ETSU, but the entire area as well, and perhaps society at large?

Just wondering.

PittsburghBucs Wrote:A poster mentioned how the AAU was run by thugs. IT'S A SPORT OF THUGS! JAYSON WILLIAMS! MICHAEL RAY RICHARDSON! CHRIS WASHBURN! COME ON! JERRY TARKANIAN!

I take MAJOR EXCEPTION to this statement. If basketball is a sport of thugs than so is just about every other major sport. There are bad apples everywhere, that is no reason to indite the game of basketball or its players, the majority of which aren`t "thugs"

Football-Micheal Vick, Bill Romanowski, Ray Lewis, Pac Man Jones, Mark Chamura, OJ Simpson, this list could go for days

Hockey-Marty McSorley, Todd Bertuzzi, Chris Simon, I don`t follow hockey so those are the only names that come to mind at the moment.

Baseball-Darryl Strawberry, Ugueth Urbina, David Justice, Kirby Puckett

Let's see, Science Hill fans are getting picked on for supporting their team.
I root for ETSU, but I have more pride in the accomplishments of my high school than my university. Is it 3 titles at the highest level of competition in the sport (state titles)? What has ETSU done that compares in basketball?

If the ETSU program had the accomplishments to compare, the reverse would be true. Admittedly, I follow SHHS on the web and anytime they play in the Chattanooga area (I think Vince Yarb. was on the court the last time that happened). ETSU, I watch their games on TV, I attend locally, I will attend in JC if I'm up there. If they developed a team that made it to the NCAA and occasionally won a game (not just come close), fans would attend ETSU games instead of SHHS games (unless they are playing some non-rival from the A-Sun).

Isn't SHHS still playing on campus anyway? What does that gym hold, 1500? All 1500 of those fans won't go to an ETSU game. Not everybody that lives in JC cares about ETSU.

I'm with you, Pitt. I even despised high school sports when I attended high school. I never once went to a game of any kind. I wouldn't support it now if communist thugs pulled a red dawn and put a gun to my head demanding that I support it. Even then, I'd take the sweet release that only death can bring.

I'd rather have organized high school sports, atleast it gives the kids something to do. Everyone on here has mentioned how there isn't ANYTHING in the tri-cities to do, right? So you take away the mediocre high school athletics, and all that's left for them to do is to sit around, drink, and smoke the reefer... Granted, they may do that anyway, but atleast sports cuts down on some of it.
That being said, it's a rarity down here that you hear high school sports on the radio, granted, this area has two pro sports teams, and about a bazillion colleges to cover, not to mention NASCAR racing, the sports scene down here, atleast from a radio standpoint just doesn't have the time, plus, it doesn't sell down here.
Basically, if you guys want to fuss about the high school coverage, then ask these questions, why aren't the Predators on the radio? The Titans are covered, so why not the hockey team? Why not the Grizzlies?
Remember this, it's not what you like, it's what these stations can sell...

I don't hate high school sports. I think the way a community comes together for a high school football game- be it a big city or small town- is perhaps the purest form of Americana there is.

And I have nothing against other high school sports, which are often put in proper perspective.

But Beaver Falls High never pushed Geneva football off the front page- let alone Pitt or Penn State. And Science Hill football never pushed ETSU off the front page, either.

So let me address these points-

84- Good for you. You have every right to be proud of your prep athletic accomplishments. No disrespect to them intended.

The support of Science Hill is not the issue here. Besides, from where I stood when I went to the games I saw more empty seats than filled during the football games and the cagers play at the Topper Palace because they couldn't get the crowds to make games at Freedom Hall worthwhile.

But why are there two radio stations broadcasting Science Hill games? There isn't enough support for that.

And the thing that I couldn't get over was when people were trying to say Science Hill could beat ETSU in the '90s. You have to have absolutely NO knowledge of sports to believe that.

22- Every sport has their bad apples. I'd call Tom Brady a less-than-likeable character or a thug simply because he knocked up one woman then didn't marry her, but instead left her and went out with another babe.

I realize he's far from the only one. And despite the fact he is having what I believe is the greatest season a quarterback ever had, I was outraged when I heard a national sports talk show host tell me how "cool" he is.

Cool is standing behind the mother of your baby and finding a way to make it work.

But you have to realize the way football deals with something and the way hoops does. Have you noticed Tom Brady is not necessarily Mr. Spokesman?

Now, let's look at another legendary Boston athlete with his own share of kids with women he did not marry. Larry Bird.

And I want you to compare the amount of endorsements Bird had instead of Brady. You can even remember them.

Converse shoes. "Take two of these and call me in the morning" with Dr. J.

And Dr. J had his own share of kids with women who were . . . DAMN! In basketball you just can't get away from it!

Point is, in other sports they tend to rid themselves of these undesirables. Yes, a Ray Lewis is still around, but Lewis, though no squeeky clean guy, was in a bar when a crime happened- and that can happen to any of us.

This difference between football and basketball is this:

When O.J. Simpson used his fame and fortune to beat a murder charge, society at large punished him by making him a pariah.

When Jayson Williams did the same, the Cleveland Cavaliers gave him a tryout.

Some of the other things you say just don't hold water. I'm not going to say a baseball player couldn't commit a crime. Heck, 100 years ago Marty Bergen killed his entire family in a murder/suicide.

But other athletes actions aren't defended the way they are in basketball circles.

Which is something you almost did yourself by trying to link Chris Simon with a local athlete who brought a gun to school. Simon is a dirty player who deserves his suspension- no doubt.

But tell me how being a dirty player is akin to taking a gun to school?

Charles Barkley was a dirty player. Additionally, he spit on fans, made racist statements, and defended unbecoming behavior by himself and athletic figures at large by saying "I am not a role model!"

But the basketball press wants to keep alive Charles Barkley as a candidate for GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA!

It's basketball culture. It's Jerry Buss' brother being interviewed by Rita Crosby outside a Nevada brothel and saying he uses prostitutes because it's cheaper than having a real girlfriend (the women working in the brothel Buss was about to patronize, incidently, were later shown charging their johns between $1,800 and $6,000 a session for their services). It's 75% of the NBA smoking pot. It's Qyntel Woods and his whopping 2.4 points a game holding dog fights at his home years before anyone suspected Michael Vick- and then THREE OTHER TEAMS EMPLOYING WOODS AFTER HIS GUILTY PLEA!

Heck, it's Stephon Marbury DEFENDING Vick!

I'd like to believe high school basketball taught what high school sports are supposed to- to exercise the athlete's body as well as their mind.

But I just don't see it. I see a bunch of misguided youths of both genders trying to emulate these "professionals."

Thankfully, boxing lost its popularity when it got too thuggish and the same thing is slowly happening to basketball.

But how many more high school kids do we have to lose by surrounding them with this culture? How many more kids are going to be influenced to take guns to school because they have to "keep it real?"

And the next time it happens, will he or she fire it and kill your son or daughter?

OHHHHHHHHHHHH THE ARBY'S CLASSIC!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH THE AAU!!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH SCIENCE HILL!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH GEORGE PITTS!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHH REGGIE DUNLAP!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHH JERRY TARKANIAN!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THUG LIFE!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH PICK UP GAMES WITH THE DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHH TIM SMITH!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHH NBA 1ST ROUND PICK!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHH MIKE WHITE IN THE PARKING LOT!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHH KIM REECE WITH MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHH ROD SHAW!!!! OHHHHHHHH ORGASM!!!!

Lover- Part of the reason the Predators aren't sold here are because the sales and programming staffs of local radio stations are made up of hillbillies.

However, I have to give greater amounts of blame to the Predators themselves.

I actually tried to do some stories on them back in the day at Sports Talk. And I found them to be extremely uninterested in marketing themselves beyond Nashville.

MO- Reggie DunlOp.

Not DunlAp.

Dunlop.

That will be all.

MotherDucker Wrote:OHHHHHHHHHHHH THE ARBY'S CLASSIC!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH THE AAU!!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH SCIENCE HILL!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH GEORGE PITTS!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHH REGGIE DUNLAP!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHH JERRY TARKANIAN!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THUG LIFE!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHH PICK UP GAMES WITH THE DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHH TIM SMITH!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHH NBA 1ST ROUND PICK!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHHHHH MIKE WHITE IN THE PARKING LOT!!!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHH KIM REECE WITH MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS!!!!!!!! OHHHHHHHH ROD SHAW!!!! OHHHHHHHH ORGASM!!!!

LMAO

But it still doesn't change things, 22.

Basketball has a serious image problem.

And around here in the high schools, it's the same old same old. Science Hill and Dobyns-Bennett will battle it out for supremacy while everyone else might as well be the JV.

BORING!