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Remember that the New York Times is a very liberal newspaper so you have to take the results with a grain of salt. While it is JMO I would guess that the "Prep School" (Baylor, GPS, McCallie, Harpeth Hall, etc...) students would do very well when compared to any school. US News & World Report has made the claim several times that Catholic education is the best education value for your money in the United States but again that is only one publication and who knows if the information was slanted. I have felt for several years that the top 5% of the public school students could do well if you put them in the basement of a one room school house. For the most part those students are self motivated and their parents/guardian are very aware of what they are doing in the classroom. The problem with the public schools are the "middle of the road students" that need some extra attention and a swift kick in the britches every so often. The public schools are so large and have so many students in each class it's often difficult for the teachers to get the know their students and have a personal relationship with them and their family unless you are a young male middle school student in McMinville (that's a joke). To help the majority of students the public schools would improve their test scores if they would have no more than 15 students per class and have the teacher teach no more than 4 one hour class periods per day.

Why does Father Ryan have the following tuition rate: Catholic student with the parish contribution. Catholic student with NO parish contribution. Non-Catholic student fee. Most Catholic schools in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio have one tuition for all students (no Non Catholic fees) and some of the parishs contribute and some do not. What is the % of Non-Catholic students at Father Ryan and JP2? I heard a rumor that Father Ryan was less than 5% Non-Catholic while JP2 was around 50% Non-Catholic.

Do the research on how many basketball players participate in Spring Fling. It wil probably be less than 10% which would be a minority the last time I checked.

For a team that got their tail handed to them last season by JP2 you sure are doing alot of talking. The team and you would be better off if you worked harder and did less smack talking. You use the name Father Ryan Wrestling very loosely but I am not so sure that your wrestling coach Pat Simpson would be happy with the way that you talk smack. All of the state champion wrestlers from Father Ryan that I have ever been around were very humble and complimented their opponents on their effort. You must be some type of "want to be" Father Ryan wrestler.

The following schools would be great to bring into Nashville to play some of Tennessee's best: Valdosta, GA DeLaSalle, CA Southlake Carrol, TX Hoover, AL Cincinati Moeller, OH Byrnes, SC (maybe another team would have better luck than MBA) The problem is what local Middle Tennessee teams could compete with any of the above schools?

The taxes are being paid but as a citizen of the great state of Tennessee I am not sure that I am getting what I am paying for. Have you looked at where Tennessee ranks in education with the rest of the United States? While you are doing the research don't forget that we are now a global society and have to compete with the World and the United State is not exactly on top of the world when we look at high school education.

This is very simple: Rankin could not stand getting beat by Carlton Flatt and Brentwood Academy. No one even proposed the split when BA was playing in A and AA and beating the schools that were their own size but the minute that Riverdale got beat the wheels started to turn and the split took place. They should have named the split the "RANKIN RULE".

Who cares if kids are playing basketball, football, wrestling, etc... ? If they are participating in sports they will be to busy to steal my car, break into my home or any of the other vices that will get them into trouble. While it's JMO, I feel that the high schools need to define what is in season and what is offseason. If I could wave a magic wand I would have the following season for high school sports: Football & Fall Sports: practice starts the 2nd Monday in August with the first games on the Friday before Labor Day Basketball & Winter Sports: Practice starts the 1st Monday in November with the first game being the 1st Monday in December (If most every school didn't qualify for the football playoffs you would have very few conflicts) Spring Sports: Practice starts the 2nd Monday in Feb. & the first games will be the 2nd Monday in March (Spring Fling would start the 2nd Monday in June. This would allow for very few if any problems with graduation and exams during Spring Fling) I hate to hear of seniors having to choose between graduation and playing in a state championship game. Let's keep in mind that athletics are fun but we send our children to school to receive an education and graduation is a major part of that academic education process.

Riverdale has alot of talented athletes in the school and as long as they continue to play football Riverdale will be successful. However, several factors may play into Riverdale not playing for a state championship most seasons: 1. They are not going to be able to get the transfers from Rutherford County like they once did. 2. Several new high schools have opened in the county with more on the way. This only dilutes the talent pool. 3. If D1 & D2 are placed back together with only 4 classifications the competition will be much stronger.

JMO, but BA will offer to allow the TSSAA to pay a reduced portion of the legal fees if the TSSAA will agree to make some concessions. I could see BA requesting that the TSSAA do the following: 1. Do away with D1 & D2 and place everyone back together 2. Terminate Mr. Carters contract with the TSSAA 3. reserve X number of spots on the Board of Control for private school members The TSSAA would have no choice but to do what BA request unless they can find the money to pay the legal fees in full. Let's keep in mind the fact that the TSSAA will have to pay the fees when the legal battle is over. There will be no payment plan over a period of time unless Brentwood Academy grants the TSSAA permission to pay on an installment plan.

Don't bet the Carthage farm on it!!!!!!! I see no way that the TSSAA can pay the legal fees for both the TSSAA and Brentwood Academy in a timely manner, do you? Before anyone starts the talk of folding the TSSAA or filing chapter 13 or 11 they need to understand that the TSSAA is a state actor and the state would more than likely be responsible for the legal fees along with the schools that were members when the Supreme Court handed down their opinion. If you feel for one minute that BA does not want the TSSAA (mostly Carter and the Board of Control) to feel some pain you are wrong. They will use this opportunity to try and show the world that they were not treated fairly and have had their good name and reputation tarnished by Mr. Carter and the board. Don't be shocked if some people loose their job over this case.

The TSSAA has not passed anything at this time but several proposals have been floated around to see what the response would be. If your school does not like the proposals they need to voice a strong opinion to your local TSSAA board of control member. Don't forget that any rule that passes will have to followed by all schools that are a member of the TSSAA. The thing that we had all better hope for is that Brentwood Academy allows the TSSAA the option of not paying some of the legal fees in exchange for some of the rules being changed to benefit everyone that is a TSSAA member. At this point and time the TSSAA is gambling with their memberships money and Brentwood Academy owns the casino. Don't forget what happens when someone fails to pay their Las Vegal casino debt!!!!!!!

JMO, but public school sports will not be a thing of the past and will only get stronger. The coaches and schools will work harder and do what is necessary to compete with the private schools just as they did 30+ years ago. Let's stop trying to use scare tactics and go to work like the schools in other states. Tennessee is one of the few states where public school athletics are not as strong as the private school sports programs.

JMO, but the TSSAA will try to get the US Supreme Court to hear the case but I have no reason to beleive that they will take on the case for a second time. The TSSAA has to do this so that they can avoid paying the legal fees for Brentwood Academy. This is uncharted waters for the TSSAA as they had never been challanged like BA went after them and to my knowledge they had not lost a legal battle over eligibility. Look for the landscape of high school athletics to change over the next several years. Just like all organizations the TSSAA has some rules that are antiquated and should have been changed 20 years ago and some of the rules are great but one thing that yo can bet on is that things will be different and the private schools and public school will have to truly work together if they want to accomplish anything in the future. All things happen for a reason and let's hope that this becomes a positive move to bring all schools back together as they once were and should be again.

If he is really young and having some academic problems it could be that he would benefit from attending a prep school for one year.

Most every successful business is a member of a trade association and while many hate to say it, the TSSAA is a business. I have no problem with the TSSAA attending conventions to educate their employees as this will only help their members. If you have a problem with the trade association and where they host their own convention maybe you need to take that issue up with them. As far as I know there is only one national association for the state associations and if you don't belong to it you have no other options.

What did it cost Alcoa to drop the game? This is why I have said the contracts should be for $20,000.00 for football, $10,000.00 for basketball, and $2500.00 for minor sports. This would stop this type of thing from happening. If you sign a contract you need to honor that contract unless the other party starts to change the rules.

You don't drop/cancel games that are on your schedule. This is the way that Rankin operates and it is one of the things that give the man a bad name. I am disapointed in the Alcoa adminstration and school board for allowing this to happen.

What happened to your former coach?

Shadow, Let's tell the truth about Hillwood. Yes, it's a very tough school to win football games at for numerous reasons and IMO with it's great neighborhood location it should become an academic magnet school like Hume Fogg. To say that the region that Hillwood plays in is tough is not really true. Compared to most of the other Midstate regions it is very weak and with coaches leaving various schools it could become even weaker.

And being a graduate of Notre Dame should translate into much more money than most any school he would transfer to. Their alumni association and connections are second to no one. Let's not forget that we seek higher education to improve our status in life.

I got my information from a very well known and respected high school coach. Hey I don't have a dog in the fight but I didn't like the information that I received.

Why would he consider a transfer to MTSU when he is so close to having a Notre Dame education? Does this kids not know the doors that will open because he is a Notre Dame graduate?

If you are going to college for football you may want to give some thought as to why they often call colleges & universities ACADEMIC institutions.

Stan, We all know that a scrimmage is quite different from a real game! Most teams don't even play a practice game they just have one team run 10 plays and then the other team runs 10 plays.