embarrassedsaintsfan

right now st. george's doesn't have any good ex-briarcrest players that i know of, but we will gladly take them! most of our best players have gone to st. george's since preschool. we are just very well-coached, and play in an easy league.

 

is that thing about the letter jackets really true? wow. this whole thing sounds completely insane. "liberal arts" does not mean "no support for sports". what a great way to kill a high school.

The letter jacket decision has been reversed after many complaints from parents and students. What I am hearing most recently was that anyone could buy the jackets that players use for letter jackets (without the letter) even if you aren't an athlete.

I am also hearing that there are many middle school students looking to leave Briarcrest not just because of footbal, but the whole atmosphere has changed since Bill McGee came to the school.

In addition I have heard that most, if not all, of the assistant coaches won't be coaching there next year either. The main one that needed to go other than Hamstra was the offensive coordinator Dodd Gengenbach and the defensive coach McGee. They will NOT be back on the sidelines and they have been told that. Gengenbach was the WORST excuse for an offensive coordinator in the history of high school football. It is no wonder St. George's fired him. He was horrible, didn't know what players to play in which positions and called the stupidest plays anyone has ever seen. In short he is a total loser.

Coach Powers is a fine man and a good coach, however given the current administration's view on athletics he is going to have a very tough time turning it around, but I hope he can because like I said he is a good man.

This is a sign of how 'cut throat' our society has become. The coach at Briarcrest replaced a very good coach and in his first season they had a very disappointing year. Dismal at best. Every one likes to think that they aren't a cut throat type person, but let your winning school fall on hard times in a particular sport in which they were good. Firethecoach.coms will pop up out of the woodwork.

 

Nevermind that Briarcreast is a very excellent private school that it's graduates reap huge benifiets just because they attended this fine institution and they have received a top notch education.

 

Winning is EVEYTHING! So what if these coaches have families. So what if these coaches probably spend more time at the school then they do with their own families. So what if they have signed contracts with this institution to coach for a particular time period. Losing is UNACCEPTABLE. Forget these folks families. Forget the mortages and whatever else responsiblities they may have. Fire them now! Who cares what they do for a livivng, as long as we WIN! Don't give them any time to establish themselves or a system or anything. They didn't win. Their team stunk. FIRE THEM NOW and go out and hire someone else! If we don't win, at least be respectable!

 

It's PRIDE plain and simple. Your team didn't win. They lost miserably. You hate it. Therefore ... the coach must go! I don't care how elequent you respond to my statements ... this kind of thinking stinks to high heaven! Period!

 

This thinking permeates all the way down to youth football. I'm not exagerating either. I'm sure there are those involved in youth athletics that have witnessed it as I have. I can understand it in the professional ranks. Those orginizations are in it for the money. I can understand big time college football. Those schools are in it for the money as well ... let's not kid ourselves, why else do we not have a playoff in D-1 college football? Now ... it's in high school, middle school and youth football as well. This is a prime example.

 

That's my $0.02 worth.

I don't recall anywhere in my question where I said that Briarcrest must fire Coach Hamstra. All I asked was if anyone had heard what they were going to do. I am well aware that he has a family and I wish him no ill-will, however what about the obligation a coach or a teacher or administrator has to do a good job at their job. Why do does no one get upset if a math teacher's contract is not renewed because too many students were failing their class because they were a lousy teacher> I am sure that just as many parents complain about poor teachers as do about a bad coach, or at least they do at private schools. In my line of work if the guy that is supposed to pick up trash doesn't do what he supposed to do we replace him with someone who will the job. But I guess in today's society doing a good job is not as important as not "hurting someone's feelings" Maybe that is why the administration won't allow varsity athletes to wear their letter jackets to school anymore, because not all of the students have one. It might make someone "feel bad" So all of the coaches who aren't good at their jobs should just keep on do a bad job because we don't want to hurt thier feelings by making a change. This all goes back to having lower standards for some segments of society than for others and not expecting as much from some.

If a coach is willing to coach then he should be willing to take responsibility for doing a bad job. Or maybe we should just turn varsity athletics into church ball and let everyone play the same amount of time each game and give everyone trophies at the end of the season. Then it really won't matter if the coach does a good job because we still get a trophy and everyone will feel good.

And that is my $.02 worth.

The facility was built before the current administration was in place. Not to place blame or fault on the current administration, but according to some recent grads and current students there has definitely been a change in the direction of the school in general, not just with its sports programs. The football program is the first example of what may come and how the programs will be managed in the future. High School is not just about sports and it's not just about academics, it’s the overall experience to prepare students for life afterwards, I now realize this at MS State. Some of my best high school memories were from the football team and the State Championship games and playoffs.

 

2004-05 AA State Champ alumni

Speakerbox2, everything that you said in both of your posts is exactly right. You are so right when say that there has been a change in the directionof the school in general. I am not saying it is good or bad, but it is definately changed. It is my feeling, as well as many others, that winning and athletics are not as important as they used to be.

What has also increased is the "politics" at Briarcrest. We have too many parents and donors that give money to the school with the expectation of having certain things done the way they want them, i.e. which kid gets to play and what coaches are hired. Don't you think we would have faired better the last two seasons if Phil Massey or Major Wright had been hired instead of Coach Hamstra? I have heard that certain parents prevented Massey and Wright from being hired and now certain parents are demanding that Coach Hamstra be fired.

Lastly it saddens me that Briarcrest has become what it has as it used to be a lot different.

Has anyone heard if Briarcrest is going to hire a new football coach or a new staff?

Question: Can Briarcrest upset MUS and knock them out of going to the playoffs? Your thoughts.

I was at that game and from what we were told it was a significant injury. While I would have liked for the game to be completed I think it was the right decision to end it in the 3rd quarter. We were told the injured player's parents were not there and he needed immediate medical attention. I know if my son was 200 miles from home and was injured that badly I would hope that football would be second on the coaches minds. So while I have questioned some of the Briarcrest coached decisions this season I agree with how they handled this unfortunate situation.

Briarcrest had a player break his collar bone in the first half.

My prayers go out to the injured player and wish him a speedy and full recovery.

i agree that it is for the most part cowardly on behalf of most who do it

the one exception is if you have a coach that doesnt know how to use his players

running 140 RBs behind a OL that averages 220 into DLs that are 300 and the coach run the backs right up the middle deserves some criticizim

thats all i have to say

I totally agree with you, as that is what we have going on at Briarcrest. Too many 140 pound sophomores playing ahead of 200 pound plus seniors all because the coaches are afraid of the underclassmen parents. It is really sad that the parents there have way too much influence on who plays and what coaches weren't hired.

Well lets put it this way, boys. Father Ryan has scored 33 points againt teams who have not won a game. They've allowed an average of only 3 points against teams who have not won a game.

 

BGA is winless.

 

You do the math.

In my opinion, Father Ryan is a very good team. They beat us with their second string quarterback. I was very impressed with them on both sides of the ball. They are fortunate to have their new coach as they are much improved, unlike us.

Also I was very impressed with their fans. They were very friendly and gracious winners over Briarcrest. I appreciate their attitude and congratulate them on a fine year so far and wish them the best of luck the rest of the year. I do hope they make the playoffs and go far.

So that is why Ole Miss is doing so well this year.

It is not Coach Freeze's fault Ole Miss is so bad this year. When he left Briarcrest two years ago we were state champions. He is a great offensive mind and a very good coach. He can also coach girls basketball. Briarcrest won several girls state championships under Coach Freeze. One of his girls teams was ranked 9th in the country by USA Today at one time.

This one should be yet another good game between these two rivals. What does everyone think about this one? I think CBHS wins in a close game.

Eric Watson is a very fast and slippery running back. He ran all over Briarcrest. John Michael Skinner is a very good quarterback and doesn't seem to make a lot of mistakes. I haven't seen MUS this year, but they don't seem to be as good as they have been the past two years. I think CBHS will win this game.

With the Saints headed into the last four games of the season, what are people's thoughts on the coach and what should be done with the program?

This week's New York Times Magazine features former Briarcrest and current Ole Miss. star, Michael Oher on its cover. It tells Michael's amazing story of going from homeless to a collegiate star and the people who helped him along the way. I am neither a Briarcrest nor an Ole Miss supporter, but I found this story to be extremely inspirational. I had heard of Oher, but had no idea what he has gone through to get to where he is today. Take the time to read the article. You won't regret it.

 

The Ballad of Big Mike

Big Mike is a great kid and was a great player the Saints. It is one time that Briarcrest did the right thing football-wise. Not that they have done anything right football-wise in the last two years, since Coach Freeze left for Ole Miss.

Sounds like embarrassedsaintsfan has spoken. He said Briarcrest is in the running for one of the worst teams in the state. Sounds like Briarcrest has some issues to resolve.

 

Looks like the Irish might be 2-0 in the region after Friday's game. Good luck Irish!

They have a lot of issues, none of which will be solved until after the season is over.

How terrible? I have nothing to compare them to since we have never played them. They beat a team called Treadwell. Does that mean Treadwell is beyond all hope?

 

Thanks for the information.

 

If Ryan shows up like at CBHS then they win by 21. If they show up like Franklin then they still win by 7. Go Irish!

Treadwell may be the worst team in TN, but Briarcrest is right there with them. When are they going to fire their coach? How do you go from state champs two years ago to one of the worst teams around?