walkenvol

I believe Darren McKnight was an NCAA D1 academic all american for Michigan State in 2005.

Why are all you buying in to the fairy tale that the size of the venue is preventing double elimination in d1? There is an abundance of dead time right now during the tourney. Its always done early on Thursday. What was the length of the break on Friday before the semis? There is no reason to be limited to 3 mats on Saturday and the finals could be pushed back a couple of hours if needed. I think the TSSAA simply doesn't care for change...if it ain't broke don't fix it. They make money right now with minimal work on their part as there is a core group of volunteers in Chattanooga who make the tourney happen.

I'm not from Cleveland, but I know Coach Eslinger to be one of the classiest men involved in this sport and I will bet my house the truth of this story is far different from the picture being painted.

How many returning state champions didn't repeat a trip to the finals...I can think of 3.

Can you direct me to where this is stated in the rule book? thanks

Where in the rule book is the assistant ref empowered to make such a call. I observed this match and it appeared the assistant ref violated rule 3 section 2 article 2-i by confronting the red bank coaching staff. The rule clearly states "the assistant referee is not permitted to address the coaches, this is the referee's responsibility". Put me on the side with all the Emily supporters. If you know him at all and what he does, then you will be on the same side.

I have stated that IMHO it is fruitless to debate the finer points of stalling as it all comes back to the same place - judgement. I also don't wish to reflect negatively toward either of the wrestlers as again IMHO they both appeared frustrated in their joint inabliity to create the level of action desired - not their lack of desire to create action. I also don't wish to reflect negatively toward an individual ref and am glad no one has brought up his name - inappropriate. I mainly got onto this topic because of what I perceived as other posters slamming the red 275 which lead to the point that one of the officials was exponentially more aggressive with his stalling calls throughout the tournament and I believe the score book will back my stance. Should the Red 275 have recognised how the match was being called and adjusted - absolutely. Could stalling have been called during this match - yes. Was it appropriate to DQ in the 2nd period - IMHO no. Have I seen hundreds of heavy weights with the same or less action - yes, yes, yes, and no one was ever DQed. Does the TSSAA owe it to these competitors to attempt to provide a reasonably consistent level of officiating between individuals - yes.

Jakesdad's story wasn't Brands, it was Coach Henry and I was the official. WrestlingLover - I can respect you having a different opinion concerning a single match, but I noticed you didn't address the number of calls by a single ref in the other matches. What about the 160 match?Again, I knew what the Red's strategy was and I saw him attempting to implement that strategy although not too effectively. I will guarantee you he was not "coached" to run and anyone who observed the coaches from the bench would concur. Are you really saying in your opinion you thought the one official wasn't calling stalling much much more then the others? Boro - My "retrained" statement for all other refs was meant as a "joke". When one guy is way more aggressive then the others, pulling the one fellow back in line is the most prudent. Putting on the stripped shirt doesn't empower one to become a crusader for their own interpretation of the rules.

BoroRef - I wouldn't expect you to agree since your history on this board always sides with whatever the official did. If I'm wrong and you can produce one of your posts where you called out an official then I will gladly appologize. Where did I say all the refs were bad at the d2 state duals.....didn't happen. What I did say was a single official called stalling at a minimum of twice and probably 3 times the frequency of the average of the rest of the officiating crew. Again it is fruitless to debate what is or is not stalling, but surely we all can agree it is quite reasonable for a wrestler to have stalling called somewhat consistently between officials?

WrestlingLover and ghouse - How can you say the red hvy was running away when he had both hands on the back of the FR's head for much of the match? If he was running he would have been pushing away from FR's chest or shoulders or not touching FR at all. Surely you've seen taller wrestlers utilize the strategy or pulling down the shorter wrester's head before? The shorter and stronger wrestler simply came forward pushing the taller guy backwards instead of bending over - a huge difference then the picture you guys are painting. I've been heavily involved in wrestling for over 35+ years from youth leagues to college. All these matches operate from the same basic set of criteria for stalling. In all that time I can recall only 2 other matches stopped for stalling and one of those was because the wrestler had a meltdown and refused to return to the center of the mat. The other occured late late in the 3rd period. This match was stopped in the 2nd period - never happens...never. He called the 1st stalling 20 something seconds into the match - for heavyweight??? While we all can debate what is or is not stalling, I think we can all agree the most important thing is for it to be called somewhat consistently. No one at the D2 duals can say with a straight face that the one ref was even remotely consistent with all the others - not just in the 275 match. Either all the other refs need to be retrained or this one guy needs to get in line with everyone else so the wrestlers will know what to expect.

Anything for you, the honorable Bayou.... Baylor has 4 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 sophs, 3 fresh, and 1 8th grader currently starting. We were lead as we have been all season by our seniors of which 3 out of 4 won their individual matches against FR.

YOUTHCOACH16 - Thanks for the thought, but I had already been to that site....just wasn't real clear to me. Hoped to speak with someone whos "been there done that".

RMC - I've heard there's a way to fly into NY city and take a train from there, but no details. Pass my number (can get it from Raider76) along if your brother is willing to help a brother out.

What's the best way to commute to West Point? Time? Price?

90 - Once again, you need to fast forward to something relevant to the present instead of dwelling on hypothetical situations that won't ever happen. No need to ask me to talk straight as that's the only way I talk, therefore why I ###### you guys off so much. If you are asking me if I would consent for Baylor to withhold the same opportunity afforded all the other children in their school because they deemed it somehow beneficial to the greater school body or another individual student to the detriment of my child then I say NO WAY NO HOW. Now if I don't perceive it as a detriment to my child then its probably OK - would depend on the situation and whether I thought the recipient of our charity was deserving. You think this stance makes me a bad person? That's OK - you're entitled to your opinion. Grow up, raise a family, work hard to provide the best you can for them, then let us know if your opinion stays the same. My first allegiance always lies with my family over any institution, business, organization, etc. Is that "simple" enough for you? Private schools are in the business of selling an education for children. They can do so because for the most part folks believe their children receive a superior education to the one they can get for free at the local school. They charge huge sums of money to provide these services and the paying customers expect excellent service for their money and for the most part their expectations are met. When those expectations are not met, folks get fighting mad - comes with the territory of dealing with someone's children. Maybe you can relate to this since you are childless. Imagine you purchased a new Lexus with all the bells and whistles and when you have the car in for service the dealership removes the air conditioner and puts it in another car because they felt that the other person needed an air conditioner worse then you because they weren't as healthy or strong as yourself - would you be alright with that? Are you a democrat as you appear to be quite benevolent with other folk's property or rights.

90 - Get ready.....you are right. My association with the EBE was long ago and has nothing to do with TN wrestling in 2008. Givehimsix needs to fast forward a few years if he wants to discuss whatever the current situation may be with your beloved school - so do you, goiowa1 and the others who can't find a better argument to defend your team's 2008 performance. I will give you credit though as you have been the lone blue voice who labeled it a "rebuilding" year from the start. Believe it or not, the guys on the red team don't get their blue info from me as I have no 2008 "inside" info to share. They do get lots of info from blue grads out in the community which filters back to coacht. They also read the paper where the blue's varsity selection policy was explained by GC, but again that may no longer be current. Oh and you are right again in that I am very selfish when it comes to expecting equal treatment when I write great big fat checks but what does that have to do with 2008? Let me repeat again as I've said many times, my son received an excellent academic education at McC which has served him well in his college studies. There are some outstanding people at McC who do their jobs well. My customer dissatisfaction was with a single employee there and I took my business elsewhere where we are very happy. I'm sure the EBE is happy to not have my boys as their clients any longer. These schools aren't churches or charities. They are businesses with well paid employees that demand a large chunk of change for their services. Your blind support of whatever they do appears to lack perspective but if it makes you happy then stick with it. Good luck to each of the boys (red or blue) who step on the mat tonight. Don't buy into all the hype and hate. Wrestle your best and be proud regardless of the outcome.

You're dating yourself Uncle Buck as Leonards has long been gone. Boy did they have a good burger.

Chig - I'd hate to imagine how they'd treat a boy they didn't "love". GATOR ROLL!!!!

Since the blue boys are already conceding they will not field a full team and therefore have no hope of providing a competitive match, can we assume they won't be charging admission? I know these shools add sports (fencing, lacrosse, crew, etc) programs to service the interests of their student body. Is McC considering dropping wrestling to add a sport that will draw more participation from their current students?

Buck - there's been no sandbagging on my part. Anyone who has followed our lineup this season knows we have fought the injury bug in our upper weights with 4 different guys out for extended periods of time. Can't tell you how the weights will shake out against FR as our coaches are "old school" and utilize the wrestle off system to determine the starters. There will be a couple of those injured guys trying to wrestle themselves back into the lineup before the duals so at the least we will have some depth. Yes, Hayes is that strong - bothof them. Don't worry, BCB called me this am. Remind me, what did I say to call for an apology?

Since when was coacht talk not a waste of time?

Buck - Bearcat was only stirring the pot with some regurgatation. I must admit - I fed the cat the upset special and stand behind it on paper. If all of the Owls had shown up (one seperated from the program and one was relaxing in the bleachers) and if the Owls had won the 3 swing matches (they won 2) - the upset would have occured except for the coming out party for Ragland. Popp's a winner, always has been and no reason to think he won't continue. IMHO, Miller is the definate underdog in that match, but that's why they wrestle em. Marchetti vs Hayes still looks exciting to me. Our young heavys are growing up. Watson won Greeneville and Scott gave up 2 penalty points to get to overtime on his way to 2nd. Don't get me wrong - I'm not declaring them equal to the FR heavys, only that they are not guaranteed wins and certainly not guaranteed bonus points as they appeared to be earlier in the season. Our freshman 171 has been competing hard all season, showing the expected type of progress. From recollection, Tolbert beat him by 6 and Young by 9 so he's staying in matches with the very best and winning against most of the rest. Remember - we have the brothers Shufford ready to come of the DL. Have the FR boys below Marchetti made similar progress in closing the early season gap? If not, Baylor by 16. If so, pick it. (still waiting on that apology to our lovely Baylor girls who look nothing like our boys)

Bayou - why so contemptuous? You boys are certainly entitled to schedule as you choose, but no need to twist the facts. 12/27/2007 Boys Basketball Baylor 42 - Bradley 39 .... obviously there is no school rule against competing with the d2 schools. This came directly from the head man's mouth but possibly he could have confused it with a prior year? It is easy to understand his reasoning for declining the invitation though. I bring my team to your tourney for many a year, year after year. You become upset and uninvite my team the next year leaving me with an open tourney weekend. I have to go to my rival team with my hat in my hand to beg my way into their tourney the same weekend. They give me an open invitation to return the following seasons. After several years you invite me back....how do I know you won't become upset again and uninvite me in the future leaving me hanging again? Guess I better stick with the one I can depend on attending. Based on very very very early results, Watson vs Hames could be the next great match to never happen just like Simpson vs Keller.

Now Buck, I'm all for having some light hearted fun but either your blind or so old that you've wondered away from the nursing home if you thing the red team's managers look like boys. You just lost some credability with that one. I request that you adhere to the coacht posting rules - only insult the other posters, coaches, refs, wrestlers, table workers, fans, teams, rules, and cities....stay away from moms, wives, and daughters.

Bayou - I heard things were smoothing out between the Bear's leadership and their cross town rival's man. If the hachet can be buried there then maybe there's an atmosphere of reconciliation to be extended in other directions. Heck, you guys invited us back to your tourney this season and as RMC noted there is this alledged dual tourney next season? Maybe a renewed dual series is not so far away as you think. Either way, I'd like to see our Watson in a competitive match and it appears your Hames may be the only one around who can participate.