gatorbillmsu

How is CalamityJane doing? have not had a chance to see her play yet this year.

Have not seen it posted here yet, had to get a hearty congrats out to Alyson Roberts (Upperman High School) who hit the 1000pt Club over the weekend against Cannon Co.

When two good, well coachedteams play, one wins, the other loses. LA's defense just might have had something to do with them not driving to the basket. Two good coaches and two good teams met last night. One won. One lost. End of story--------- until Feb. 12. G-o-o-o-o-o H-O-G-E-Y-E! I agree with you 100% rabbit.....well...until that last lil bit about h-o-g-......I guess Im good with that also, until Feb 12th. The thing that bothers me is that I walk into every game at McWilliams Arena wearing my MSU Spartan gear.....for a few different reasons.....and while I may have MANY opinions, none of my opinions come close to what "spartan" has said here in this thread. I had a commitment at the middle school last night and couldnt make it to the game, but I look forward to see yall at McWilliams Arena in Feb. GO BEES.

yep. Small. fast. strong. Pretty good shooting team. Great hands. Had a bad shooting night at the end of the JC game. I thought the press was going to win one for ol' UHS, but the shots just didnt go in.

Just the typical BlueDivils Vs Bees game. Whoever scores last wins. Defence was the major factor. Yep. Several chances by both teams to put some distance between them and the other teams, shots just didnt hit the bottom of the net. (ok...one hit the bottom of the net...but never went through the top!!! )

Will see yall there. I always look forward to this game. Should be another good one.

do you think we should announce that this is a BYOS (bring your own spitoon) event, or should we just let them find out when they get there?? Im sure there will be several in the crowd that have one in their purse.

OSUNUT, I appreciate your perspective. I think you hit some things directly on the head. I played Tenor Sax at U of Florida (yeah, I know you dont have them at OSU), and I was in the drumline (quads) at Michigan State (we both hate the same school!!) I have two problems with the "competition mindset" of the High School bands these days. First and foremost, the kids are not enjoying it. The music, while challenging, is not fun. The kids get a ton of crap in their schools for being band geeks (even more so than when I was in HS) because they are not exciting. Their fellow classmates do not care about the soundtrack from harry potter. The students, and parents, are bored by the same routine every week. My daughter was freshman of the year at her highschool She was a darn fine saxophonist. But she quit after that because there were only 20 people in the band. She was tired of being treated like some kind of freak because she was in the marching band. She was tired of playing the same music day in and day out. She was just plain bored with it. And I imagine that these are a large part of why there were only 20 kids in the band. The second problem I have is this: When I was in college, both at UF and MSU, we were told right from the beginning "We are here to support the football team. Without them, this marching band would not exist". Period. Yeah, we were also there to have fun. We were there to learn. there to be better people. there to compete against the bands that we saw every saturday. But we were there to support the football team. When I was in HS in Lansing MI, we played a different show every home game. Different music to learn, different sets to learn (granted, i was in the drumline and we kinda just played and marched up and down the field while the rest of the band did pinwheels and arcs and crap like that, hahaha) but the point is.....we had a BLAST. We were entertaining. We were VERY VERY good. And it did not adversely affect my progress as a musician. I attended UF on a full music scholarship. I was well rounded, and I had FUN. I wish we could get bands back to being "fun" again, instead of this "all business" mentality that has sunk in these days. ALSO, for those who want to give me too much crap, here is more ammunition. I also played a little football in college. I stayed in shape all of those years by carrying drums around during the fall, and playing baseball the rest of the year. I was a musician. I was an athlete. And there is a difference. GO GATORS GO STATE.(MICHIGAN STATE that is!!) side note, MSU -v- OSU has always been one of my fav games, because I love the OSU band. have not always been a fan of their attitude....hahaha, it got them in trouble back in my days at MSU...but I love your band !!!

Anybody??? See ya there. GO BEES!!

and if you are looking for pictures of your teams in action, do not forget: www.crowderphotography.com That crowder fella is one of the reasons that JC is one of my fav non upperman schools!!! See ya Tuesday night.

OOOOOOH. Great game tonight. 2OT win by Upperman. CLUTCH shots and FTs by Daniel Taylor at the end. Couple of very key 3's. I have not seen every game the kid has played, but it is the best I have ever seen from him. A lot of kids stepped up. a ton of fouls called in the game, but there could have been a ton more called also. And, for what it is worth, I have officially met the best referee I have ever witnessed. Awesome job. And I still cant stop laughing. Go Bees and Good luck to Grundy Co the rest of the way.

Does anyone out there have a Roster for the Grundy County Girls and Boys team?? If you can help me out real quick it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. gb

Does anyone out there have a Roster for the Grundy County Girls and Boys team?? If you can help me out real quick it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. gb

Does anyone out there have a Roster for the Grundy County Girls and Boys team?? If you can help me out real quick it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. gb

You left out that she played all last season with extream pain in her shoulder. She looks good after the surgery. And, yes she has been underrated. Glad to hear the surgery went well. Im looking forward to the start of the season. GOOOOO BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!

Caught this in another thread and thought it deserved a thread of its own. According to vandymania.com, Miss Ferriss has committed to play basketball for Vanderbilt. This is a great, GREAT opportunity for Miss Ferriss and I wish her the very best of luck at the next level. Work hard, play hard and you will do great things. You are heading to an extremely good program, and an EXCELLENT education. Im sure you will do well. I look forward to watching you progress through your career.

Congrats and good luck to a fine young lady, and a fine basketball player. MTSU is a rising program and you will have a chance to do great things there. I wish you the very best and look forward to seeing you play through the rest of your career at JC and at MTSU as well.

bump again, just cause Im jonesin for some drumline.

Hey thanks Termite. The foster thing has been a great experience. I knew what we were getting into before we started, but nothing really prepares you for this until the first kid walks through the door. We now have a 1 year old boy, because his 16 year old mom ran away. And have a 14 and 17 year old girls for the next month or so, until school is out. The things that these kids have been through are very sad. Sad, disappointing, scary, there are not enough words to describe. But I highly recommend it. We felt we had a chance to give back, for all that has been given to us in life, and I think we are doing the right thing. Sorry, was wandering off topic a bit, but I would love to talk others into getting into Fostering. There are a ton of kids out there that could use a new chance at life. You are dead on about Baxter. I am a huge fan of basketball, baseball, softball. All of that. I love them. But football. Football is just different to me. It is more of a culture than a sport. I played football until I could not drag my body out on the field any more. I dont understand how a school like Upperman, with all of the great athletes walking the halls, can put out a team that is substandard. But they are so committed to the other sports, and they dont believe in letting a kid play football if they are playing the other sports. It is sad. So much potential, wasted. Im hoping that Upperman can at least bring football to the point that Mich States football team was when I was growing up (sorry, it is a great comparison though). When I was growing up, MSU was not winning a ton of football games, but they were in all of the games until the end. And teams dreaded having to play them because they knew they were going to get beat physically. They were going to get pounded, and would hurt for days. Worse than any weekend of the season. They knew that MSU was going to bring it hard, every play, all game, win or lose. (unfortunately it was more losing than winning!! haha) Rambling again. Moving on!!! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" /> /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Thanks. If they do not improve, then he is done with football. Coach and I talked about that already. He would hate to lose him, I would hate to see him have to quit, but everyone is finally on the same page with this kid. Coach didnt know much about the kid, just knew that he transferred in, middle of the first semester. He has a better understanding now The kid has a better understanding of how to keep his school work up. He is in school early everyday, different class every morning, getting things caught up, and ahead if he can. Learning process for him. Biggest thing he learned is the power of communication. I think if he had been talking with his coach more before this, that it could have all been avoided. Coach has a tough exterior, and I think that scared him off. But they seem to have gotten past that now. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" /> /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Your post is kind of hit and miss. First off. I have screwed no one here, because when I talk to a coach or administrator, it is not to accuse anybody of anything. It is to get answers. Once I have solid, first hand answers, then I can go about the business of solving the problem. Sometimes the kid is just plain wrong. Sometimes the staff could bend a little and not look stupid. However, I never attack the coaching staff, and I didnt do it here. I was simply looking for answers, trying to be prepared for the questions that I was going to ask. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not an idiot. I have played sports, I have coached sports, and I am the parent of an athlete. (I was very successful as both a player and a coach, I was not a "participater) My kids have never been allowed to quit ANYTHING. And that doesnt mean that they show up and go through the motions. My kids will fight you for every breath of air you take, if that is what it takes to win. They compete on the field, on the court, in the classroom, and at the dinnertable if they think they can find a way to make a game out of eating. I have a box hidden in my garage that is full of the "participation trophies" that my oldest daughter recieved growing up. I pulled each of them out of the trash, and have saved them because she might actually appreciate them when she is an adult. But as for now, participation means nothing, all that counts is winning and losing. (my kids are not the greatest athletes, but nobody competes harder. period) So, dont go that direction with me. The reason I started this thread is because I needed to know what I was dealing with before I talked to a kids coach. The kid had no intention of quitting, and he wanted a "couple weeks" to get grades back to where they needed to be. They had been slowly slipping, but he had important things coming up in class. He was trying to take care of the most important business, and that was his grades. Kids are kids. I cannot believe I am sitting here defending a kid for trying to get his grades back to where they should be. He is not a gameboy, or playstation kid. He is a kid from a bad situation that is trying to do his best. And he is living a much better life than he ever has, but more freedom, and more choices, also means that he has to learn to juggle better. His grandma also needs to learn that this is not the 1970/80s anymore either. and raising a grandkid is not like raising her own kids. Either way, kids are not made with cookie cutters. THey are all different. And they sometimes need to be handled differently. anyways, the coach put it to the team captains. The team captains put it to a team vote. The team voted to have him back when it gets back to strength and conditioning. He is voluntarily doing his homework at practice instead of heading home. The track coach has cut his workout in half and is having him show completed assignments before competing. And my boss has recieved 3 phone calls (2 from the coach, one from the principal) asking for him to give me afternoons off in the fall so that I can join the coaching staff. (that is NOT going to happen though) Successful week for the kid. The staff handled it all good. Im a big fan of theirs now. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" /> /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

oh, yes I think he would use that time to study. He is trying hard, he is just behind the 8ball a little bit. Not only is this his first spring practice, it is his first practice of any kind. he was not allowed to play up until this year. Cannot really tell the whole story, because Im sure the good folks in his hometown read this place too, but it is a sad situation. Good kid. Hard working fella. Just has not exactly had the best life up to this point.

oh, and back to Baxter. The new coach is from the old staff. So he should be very familiar. But it seems he is having a bunch of kids walk away from the team. I think that most of these kids are just not cut out for the hard work. And that does indeed explain the efforts of the team on the field the past few years. If the kids do not want to work, they will not win. My theory since I have been watching Upperman football, "If there is time left on the clock, there is time left to lose". They have been very poorly conditioned the last couple years. Not certain that the coaches can do anything about that. You can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink!!! I think they just dont care that much about football. And that is sad. I wish the new coach there the best of luck, he will surely need it.

This kid is not at upperman, but it is a very similar situation. (not even in the same district) I work with his grandmother who now has custody of him. We talk often. I have foster kids, my neighbors have foster kids, I can feel for this kids situation. In fact, my neighbors foster kid is in a very similar situation at Upperman. But this is not about him, Im staying out of the local politics this time!!! hahaha. have been burned too many times!!! anyways. I am not a fan of quitting ANYTHING for ANY REASON. I think kids need to be tougher these days, and in general they tend to want to be lazy, and get out of the hard work to make life easier. I think your "untimely attitude adjustment" theory may what what hurt this kid. The kid comes from a bad situation, a horrible home life. I know him very well. I trust what he says. I also have some pretty good connections to his coach, and one of his teachers. The kid was just trying to get spring ball off, and then pick back up with strength and conditioning. I believe, from what I am getting from both him and the coach, that the coach felt he just wanted to skip out til fall. That is not the case. I think we will get this worked out. But no, the kid had never dealt with athletics before. He is juggling a lot of things he has never had to juggle before. It is an adjustment. As I said, I am not a fan of quitting ANYTHING. Once you start, you follow it through til the end. But if the kid sees that he is having some problems in class, he should have a chance to try to avoid a collossial failure. Sports will not be what defines this kid in life. But he should not be shown the door just because he doesnt want to fail a class or two. But thanks to all of you for the info/advice/opinion. Very much appreciated. A kids grades are ultimately no ones fault but his own. But is just seems a bit out of line to tell a kid that if he needs time off to keep his grades in line that he is off the team.

I got a few answers yesterday. Turns out that the HC was in on the end of the conversation. But it came down to academics -v- sports. The way they work things is that if the kid is at football, he does not have to attend track practice. And if they are at a track MEET it excuses them from football practice. But they still run practices very late, and do not leave a lot of time for academics along with it. But the lack of communication, and the attitude that football comes before academics has ultimately cost this kid a year of football. Unfortunately, he will be a senior next year and this was his LAST chance at football. He would have been a starter on one side of the ball or another, possibly both. It is unfortunate for the kid. Thanks for the information guys. It is much appreciated.