cbg

IMO, the only way to fix the problems at Columbia Central is to give "EVERYONE" in an administrative capacity a pink slip and start again with new blood. It's time to exterminate all of the rats from the building!

It’s more than a rumor that with the current administration Columbia Central is a complete **** Show. Someone that wants to become a head coach will take the job but absolutely no one that has a history of winning state championships will go within 20 miles of Columbia Central.

SP does not want the private schools in Chattanooga to see their kids and recruit them. The fact is that if the top private schools in Chattanooga (Baylor or McCallie) want a kid from SP they will get them provided the kid is academically qualified.

Most people that are familiar with purchasing commercial insurance know that the TSSAA is blowing smoke up everyone's backside with regards to how much catastrophic insurance is for high school football.

Per the TSSAA website you have 343 teams playing high school football. If the cost of catastrophic insurance was $1000.00 per team (I have a difficult time believing that it would cost that much) that cost should be passed along to the schools.

1. If school officials are drinking on school property or at a school function that is wrong! 2. Assuming that WV charged $10.00 per person to enter the game that would only be 1000 fans for a playoff game. Only 1000 fans for a high school football playoff game is a major problem in and of itself. 3. Everyone is always told how high the catastrophic insurance is for high school football but to the best of my knowledge no one has ever been shown the invoice from the insurance company. If the insurance premiums are so expensive then how are the youth football leagues able to afford the premiums? What about the many middle schools that are not part of the TMSAA and the school district is forced to purchase catastrophic insurance on their own? Simply put, the TSSAA should receive a great group rate and maybe a national rate through the national federation. I am not buying the catastrophic insurance BS.

Often times the head coach does not specifically tell kids not to participate in another sport but they sure don't encourage participation in two or three sports while in high school. Again, to have a "GREAT ATHLETIC PROGRAM" the various teams must share the athletes. I have spoken with NFL HOA running back Emmitt Smith about how he would run a track meet in the afternoon and then change uniforms in the back of an old station wagon on the way to a baseball game that night. Emmitt also played football and basketball, so he was a 4-sport athlete. While most people hate the man, the very best at helping develop a complete athlete was Major Worsham (Baylor) and Carlton Flatt (Brentwood Academy). Those two men basically told the good athletes that they were going to play sport X, Y and Z. Kids need direction and part of that direction is telling them that they are going to participate in multiple sports.

I totally agree with your assessment. Until kids are juniors and often times seniors you cannot predict what is their best sport. If schools work together to put the best athletes on the field the whole athletic department benefits.

Like I said most Tennessee high school football coaches are not smart enough or familiar enough with wrestling to understand how wrestling helps develop better football players. Not only would I require my football players to wrestle that did not play basketball, I would also make them participate in track & field if they were not on the baseball or soccer team. The goal is to develop the best and most competitive athletes on the field in order to win state championships.

Unfortunately injuries are a major part of collegiate athletics. It’s difficult to perform at ones best when someone is hurt and the injury disrupts ones training.

Very few of the high school football coaches in Tennessee truly understand the benefit of wrestling and how it makes better football players. The combination of learning hand fighting skills and improving ones foot work along with learning how to fight the one on one battles truly makes football players much better. If I were a high school football coach I would require all of my players to wrestle that didn’t play basketball.

I wish that i could say that I am shocked about the situation at Lawson but this is typical MNPS. Just another MNPS cluster ****

Just asking a question so don't shoot the messenger: It has been widely reported that Whites Creek currently has less than 550 students so why would you place turf on a field that should be closed? Would it not make more sense to place turf on the new Lawson school field over WC?

My thoughts are part personal and part just an old mans common sense. As a former public school athlete I was never intimidated by wrestling against private or parochial school kids and to be honest I only ever lost one wrestling match to a private school kid and he was better than me. Wrestling, swimming, track & field, golf, tennis, etc… are all individual sports and therefore should only crown one champion. Wrestling in particular is a sport that lends itself more to kids from “Blue Collar” families and kids that are raised on a farm and know the value of hard work which in and of itself are typically public school athletes . Yes, some of the private schools have better coaches and better facilities but so do some of the public schools. Life is never going to be completely fair and the sooner that people realize that fact and move forward the better off everyone will be. Shinny new facilities and uniforms do not win state championships! Wrestling like most things is a people and relationship business and those individuals that work the hardest are normally the ones that are rewarded at the end of the season. The public schools across the nation have done little to help themselves and continue to water down both academics and athletics by passing legislation that keeps them from competing against various school types across the country. Much like when I graduated from a public high school I was forced to compete against private school kids for admission to colleges and jobs with private school graduates. Competition makes everyone better but most people want to spend their time focusing on fairness instead of out working the competition.

Ok