[easyM]

What I am getting at (said another, more direct way)...

Bell County fans have not taken kindly to not only the Alcoa predictions of victory but also the margin of victory predicted. I was explaining that these predictions are not so much a show of disrespect towards BCHS as they are:

1) a show of confidence in their program, which, outside of Maryville, has run roughshod over pretty much every opponent in the last five years.

2) a reflection of their understanding of national power ratings (calpreps in particular) that, as flawed as they potentially can be, have shown that Alcoa has been the stronger of the two teams over the past half-decade.

3) an understanding that Tennessee programs, and the elite ones in particular, have had a significant winning percentage against Kentucky programs over time, both bad and good (and this is applicable to the current era, eras from 50s years ago - even the great Flaget teams struggled mightily against Oak Ridge, a national power in its own right at that time, and even eras almost 100 years ago - one Tennessee power laid 100 on Tilghman, a good program in its own right, in that era).

Note that I put the "throw out the record books" disclaimer at the end of my last post, which basically acknowledges what you said about comparing the two states. Actually, you can compare the two states, for what has actually occurred on the field head-to-head, but those comparisons aren't in play on the field Friday night. They are in play, however, in the mindset of Alcoa fans, and thus my explanation of why BCHS fans shouldn't see the predictions as disrespect.

As for the Kentucky-Tennessee all-star series, the tally is 15-9 in Tennessee's favor.

It might be in 15-9 in favor ot tn. but what about the last few years? That's what I'm getting at. And, I'll be the first to say, all star games is not a fair acessment of the two states either. It's apples and oranges in any of these comparisons.
Brentwood Academy back in the 80's and 90's ran roughshot over many teams, instate and out. Paducah Tilghman beat them several years back. Paducah wasn't one of the stronger teams during that era but Brentwood was. Paducah didn't even make it very far that year in the playoffs. Still yet, it's not a game that you can use to measure the two states.
And Ft. Thomas, one of the folks from Alcoa said you couldn't put them in the same league with Maryville. That is definitely a crazy statement. Ft. Thomas is ranked nationally year in and year out. He wanted to argue that Maryville was has always been ranked over Ft. Thomas. He needs to do a little more research. Ft. Thomas is the real deal. I don't care who you are, 18 state championships puts you in an elite status. And, I won't even mention the Louisville schools. No way can you compare in a fair way. I know I couldn't justify making the statement ky was better than tn in high school football.
One more thing to look at. Look at your top players nationally (top 100). Ky has more listed than tn.