TheEgoHasLanded

How come Tredwell, Westside, Overton, Southside, Carver, Raleigh Egypt, Manassas never win? You guys refuse to answer those questions, but it can be done...Melrose does it, East does it, Trezevant did do it...and recently Kingsbury has done it...They have superb athletes, a heck of a lot better than any other ones...PERIOD...I don't care about the athletes from rural areas, on the whole they are NOT better then the Memphis kids, yet the Memphis kids lose...and lose BAD, yet no one wants to address that, they just want to address how their school isn't winning cus of lack of athletes, yet when I show schools that aren't winning and HAVE athletes, then no one says anything.

They were the second worst team last year in D2-AA...and lost their all-state quarterback Saporito, with Harding, BGA, and BCS returning the majority of their team, it's not looking good...They don't have to stop Bowman, just contain him.

byrne harding/bcs BA

I help out with the rebels...is that invitiation exclusively for the TN teams...or can the Memphis boys take part in it?

Yankees is the worst name in the world...well thats what us rebels think anyway.

I agree that the competition is probably better at those prestigious tournaments but that is true in all aspects of basketball... I mean the Arbys classic in Bristol is probably better competition for the most part then lets say the average run of the mill district tournament. The Preseason NIT or the Great Alaska Shootout is always filled with great teams like Duke Cincy, Gonzaga, St Johns, Syracuse, etc. and from top to bottom they are probably better then the NCAA tournament. I would rather win the AAU title over most of the other selected touranments you speak of, only because 128 teams from just about every state are there...not to mention all the kids that were eliminated in substate or state touranments...but that is just my preference, having a good showing at one of those touranments is always nice, but I think the average basketball fan will judge you more on how well you do at AAU, but I could be totally offbase.

Riverside does BCI..they knocked the rebels out last year...had to 6'8 14 year olds...one had to be around 250 pounds or so. Where do the Southern Cal All Stars compete? Do you remember guys like Treyvlon Williams..he should be a senior now...is he still doing good?

YOMCA is sponsored by Nike...they are usually called Team Nike...they got the sponsors...wheres the championships?

OK here is my opinion I am a Memphis Rebels fan...the Rebels are 0-3 against YOMCA...and they have been winning in every game they played. As far as the Memphis teams not competiting against the Mustangs your wrong... HAHA ask the Mustangs who ended their BCI run...it was none other then the Memphis Rebels themselves...ahh yes yours truly was an assistant coach last year about this time, when we went into a Dallas Junior High School around 3 o clock in the afternoon and won in Overtime... 00 for the Mustangs was just as good then, and probably better, he hasnt grown and he made the mistake of going inside, getting called for blocking then slamming the basketball to the ground and getting called for a techinical...later on he got a nother techinical for hanging on the rim after a dunk, but the Rebels beat them...Yes that is the same Mustangs team that won the 14 and Under AAU nationals just a few weeks... They also beat the Arkansas Hawks, who went on to finish 3rd in the country, and had made it to the elite 8 at the time of this posting...I wish I could have met you guys Coach and Gomab, I am sure we could have had some excellent conversations I was able to watch...the Kansas City Keys, Wisconsin PlayGround Warriors, Arkansas Hawks, YOMCA, Ohio Red, Waco Tx, Dallas Mustangs... The solution is rather simple...let us first examine it The Arkansas Hawks (with whose coach I have become acquanted with) play about 50-60 games a year, and they draw kids from all over Arkansas, I mean all over. The Dallas Mustangs have kids from Dallas, Arlington, Denton, and Amarillo (the Denton Bulls picked up some Mustangs players and vice versa, They changed their name to the Amarillo Bulls, for reasons unknown to me). If you gave me the pick of the best players in the city of Memphis...then we would win or get very close, and if we had decent to adequate coaching. I mean let's look at the 15's u could have... Kinnard, Mincy, Stafford, Owens, Cromwell, Ingram, Brown, Lea, Henderson....there is no way to stop that team...and I mean no way, they are tall, big, strong, and can shoot... Unfortunately there are several quality AAU teams in Memphis... 2nd Pres, Rebels, Wildcats, Tigers, YOMCA, Wildcats, Raleigh Egypt All Stars, Idlewild... all those teams would probably get 2nd or 3rd in their pool in AAU. But when you have 10 teams, and you have 12 guys on a team...the talent level is spread out. SOLUTIONS 1-get one or two teams, and let that be that. 2-if a team finishes in the top 10 (like we have been known to have) give your automatic bid to another TN team...it lets more kids play and experience it 3-get some real good coaches 4-play quality teams like the hawks, wings, alabama ice...who have been there and will always pose a problem. 5-and probably most important..eliminate attitudes from players, we have that problem in memphis with kids quiting, showboating, or not playing hard..it causes problems from the inside out. 6-start the teams out at a younger age...have the midstate ballerz get a 14 year old team, that way when they qualify as 16year olds their seeding will be better, the rebels were seeded 100 cus they don't play AAU, that probably hurts them in terms of who they get in pool play. By the way, the best player I saw out of all the games and all the teams...#44 for the Jackson Mississippi Dream Team...I have never EVER seen a 15 year old built like that...he was probably 6'2 225...but was very very good, even though his team didnt win anything. [Edited by TheEgoHasLanded on 7/12/02 1:38A]

ok let's add some more to public schools... 5. More money for athletic teams (D1) 7. More support from parents and administration for athletics in general 9. Not tied to the state budget Those can be reversed, these are all generalizations, I think the parents at the public schools care a lot...they have PTA's and things like that...the private school me and my brother attend do not have that.

If I had an AAU basketball team...obviously I would want to draw kids from all areas and not one neighborhood...I completely understand that. But when I look at teams like...Covington, Trousdale Co. Maryville, DB, Melrose, East, Hillsboro, Whitehaven...who are consistently good, and trounce the private schools...then I start to think about it again. I honestly didn't know there was a problem until I got on this website, I think some of the people that complain are unhappy that their teams are 3-8 or 0-10...and that's not the private schools fault. People love to blame others for their misfortunes... My brothers AAU team is now 0-2 in pool play, they had 7 fouls in the first 6 minutes of the game yesterday, I guess they could blame the referees. They hit a shot with 2 seconds left that was called back cus of traveling. The other team hit a controversial shot with no time left. They have been called for 3 times as many fouls as the other team. Replays have shown the other team called 7 time outs in regulation...you are only given 5, but the guy who does the clock was on his cell phone for the majority of the time. Yeah we could blame the refs, that would be the easy thing to do. But what about the 50% we were shooting from the free throw line. What about us not coming out ready to play, and getting down real quick and having to play catch up. What about us having only 2 guys in to rebound on a 1-1 oppurtunity? People need to look at themselves before they start making accusations, and I am guilty of that as well. My school lifts weights 4 times a week, and 3 times during the football season. We were supposed to drink protein shakes, run up the bleachers, run sprints at 2 in the afternoon, and drink a gallon of water. Coincidently, when we started doing that, we started winning...now let's say we extended this to kids woh were in the 7th and 8th grade...the odds are they would be pretty darn good when they became seniors.

You know I got to go to Clarksville today, and I was at Clarksville Academy...a 1A private, and I glanced at their second place football trophy in 1997. They beat teams like Ezell, and other teams like that...then I glanced at the playoffs, they beat USJ 27-26 in the semi-finals...and then lost 46-0 to Trousdale...46 to 0 in the state championship? And you are saying that privates just beat up on publics...will someone please explain that to me?

Give me one reason why it is an advantage of having kids from all over a city as opposed to one particular area... Are you saying one area can not compete with the majority of the city? I mean can you tell me that East, Melrose, Whitehaven, Covington, Bartlett, and other public schools wouldn't be dominate, if they got to draw kids from all over...I mean Melrose thrives on Orange Mound and its athletes. So you get kids that live through out the entire city. I just don't really see the advantage of being able to draw kids from an entire city, when all those kids that are going to that particular school are PAYING to go there. How does Trousdale County, South Pitt, Cloudland, and now teams like Collinwood...continue to be good regardless of where their kids live.

I'm not real key on those numbers, a lot of private schools play public schools because for the most part it is an easy win...my school only lost to one public school in the four years I was there, and that was an upset, doubt we would have scheduled them if we thought we were going to lose. I am just saying those numbers might be skewed some, but numbers dont lie.

I was under the understanding VG and whoever else that he meant that schools were lowering their tution so athletes could attend their (DI schools like Goodpasture)...common sense and recent history would show us that schools have always raised tution each year, but obviosuly he was either mistaken or I misinterrpreted it.

In concept, VG's is the best...it puts teams that are winning against harder competition, thus evening the talent pool. It doesn't add numbers to ALL private schools, thus teams like Lighthouse Christian do not continue to struggle. It does allow us to see who really is better in terms of enrollment...we won't have to wonder if Collinwood would have really beaten USJ (because they are not split). I think the concept and ideas are there, I like ELA's too, but I do not like mathematical concepts used to determine whose the best...once again I use the example of Nebraska and Miami last year.

When did schools start lowering tution...I would think teams would be raising the prices? [Edited by TheEgoHasLanded on 7/7/02 8:02P]

Ezell is church of christ...which is not baptist, southern baptist, jewish, or catholic...trust me I know, I am church of christ. You guys really don't know what you are talking about, it's not like they are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, maybe some of the kids parents work at the school, or their parents are pastors, or their parents just want them to go to a good academic school and not worry as much about drugs and such...or they want them to go to an all boys or girls school...

Can't compete against it, so get rid of them...lifes lessons 101.

When you decide things like that, based on a mathematical situation you are playing with fire... How in God's name did Nebraska get to play in the National Championship but couldn't win their own conference?

My only problems with ELA's plan is this. 1-Humans are deciding it, meaning that everyone likes the idea until they are the 17th team picked. 2-If head to head is not at play, how do you decide which team is better if both are 7-3 (remember there are seeds so that definitely matters) 3-Because mathematics are being used in to play, teams would try and run up the score, for two reasons...A- to have a larger winning margin, B- to prove to the committee that they are vastly superior to any other team. 4-I keep harping on this but scheduling would be a concern...no one is goin to want to play a team like Goodpasture, Lipscomb, Brentwood Academy at their place, especially when each game means something OR if the fellow team is also in your classification. I mean if I am knoxville catholic high school...I'm not going to be too thrilled about playing Webb at their place. I mean just as ELA said you have to play some quality teams and not only that, you have to WIN. 5-How much stock do we put in to overall record...let us look at Tennessee High last year...they were 10-0 at the end of the regular season, but no one had them in their top 5 in 4A...Hillsboro, Maryville, Morristown West, Memphis East, and possibly Red Bank would have beaten them...THS is a team that did everything they were supposed to in order to win...how can you say that THS shouldn't get the #1 seed over a team like Maryville, who lost at home to West, yet everyone knew Maryville would still be a serious contender. 6-Injuries, suspensions, recent perfomances...would those be at play in deciding how a team was seeded...Remember in 2000 when Kenyon Martin broke his fibula, and UC got a 2 seed...the NCAA finally admitted it was because they were looking at injuries...should the committee also give a team a better seed if their star player is SUPPOSEDLY returning from injury...let's take Red Bank for instance, Riggs goes down...suddenly the team isn't that great yet it is only week 5...so do you give him the 1 seed because 6 weeks later (week 11) he will be back hopefully and they will play like the state contenders everyone thinks they are. Or what if its just bologne and he can't play...I remember Webb's middle linebacker got hurt two years ago in the regular season, he had committed to Virginia...now that really put a damper on their playoff hopes (althought I don't think it changed their seed). 7-I think a lot of teams would cry foul about who was selected, and the committee would have to take a geniune look at how many east teams or west teams were picked...I mean if I am Cocke County or Science Hill...I'm not really looking forward to driving across the state to play Melrose or East at their place, it can be intimidating and dangerous. Or wouldn't it look kind of odd if Germantown and Houston were seeded against each other, yet Bartlett had to go across the state (even though it is better then one of those two teams?) 8-I could be totally off based, but the way I see it a team could theoretically play 3 away games in the playoffs (is that legal?) I know in Division 2 a team gets to host a second round game if it has to go across the state in the first round and the other team got to host their first game...remember this isn't like it is now, where you would play someone from around your county...you could in all honesty see a Maryville East match up...your talking about 80 to 90 kids spending the night at a hotel, feeding all of them at least 3 or 4 meals, transporting them, and that could in all honesty happen 3 times in a row...kids missing a friday and sometimes a thursday for 3 straight weeks. Then they make it to the finals and miss even more school and it costs even more money. 9-Is more respect or points given to teams who won on the road? A team beats a really good team away (like maybe Briarcrest beats Germantown at GHS)...yet Briarcrest loses to USJ at Home...obviously we know that USJ is no string cheese, and neither is Germantown, but do we punish Briarcrest for losing to USJ because they are a classification lower (sometimes the lower classifications are better then the upper ones...examples Ezell Harding, Alcoa, Lipscomb, Goodpasture, Bishop Byrne, Maryville, Morristown West, Memphis East...all of those schools could play with teams that were in a higher classification). Maybe this year USJ is better then Germantown (odd but could easily happen, hard to tell whose better, might not have common opponents or play each other). 9-Let us look at the committe rules -Couldn't choose from schools they attended or graduated. -Couldn't be choosing schools from which their school lost to or beat (I'm not picking Houston they beat my team Germantown this year, they cheated!) -Couldn't be choosing schools from which their son or daughter attended. -Couldn't be choosing schools from where their spouse or maybe even boss attended (Oh come on Darling you know my school is better...Gee you want that raise dont you Junior?). -Couldnt be choosing from schools that their son or daughter beat (I don't care that we beat them in week 1 by a single point and they didn't have their qb...we are so much better then them they dont deserve to go!). -Couldn't be choosing from schools from the county or city they lived in...I can see it now (Everyone complains cus the Memphis guy picked all Memphis teams) -The committe would also have to be comprised of people from the entire state...but should more people come from Nashville and Memphis and then Jackson, Chattanooga, then the Tri-cities? I know that ELA has adressed some of the issues I have spoken about, and he has probably already answered them...I like his plan, but I just don't like the idea of people choosing who gets to go and who doesn't get to... Responding with...."Ego why do u got to worry about these things" is not a valid excuse...these little things are a big thing! [Edited by TheEgoHasLanded on 7/6/02 8:23P]

Uhh I think we should stay away from Pennsyvlania the schools up there are nothing like the schools in TN...I have a friend who went to Pensbury which would be a 6A school in TN...they were horrible there but would do pretty well in TN...ever heard of Central Bucks West? They won 59 games in a row and were rated #23 in the country, and have been in the top 10 a few years ago...they also had a school by the name of Cathedral Prep Erie (who beat CB West last year)...and was ranked number 4 in the country...they played for the 4A title...I don't think anyone wants to have public vs. private or Riverdale vs Brentwood Academy for the state again...

can we stay away from personal attacks and tweak or modify plans instead, I will be posting my own ideas in a few days.

I like ELA and VG... VG my problem with your plan is simple...like I said about the Bishop Byrne thing...they won state, yet lost to ECS a team that lost in Division 2-AA in the first round...if you look at the numbers they would have lost to BCS (beat ECS 19-3) lost to Harding (beat ECS 14-7 and 7-0) and would have lost to BGA (state champs) Webb (a team that beat BCS)...I know I know Byrne still might not have moved up, but that is a perfectly good example. We can also say that BGA would have lost to every division 2-AAA team...considering they went 0-2...and no D2-AA team was able to beat a d2-aaa school... I like the idea of picking your schedule, but I don't see it happening, that causes a lot of headaches, traveling, and like I said earlier not to many teams are going to want to play Melrose at Home, or East at Home, or Goodpasture or Lipscomb at home when they can schedule someone else to play them at their house, and get an easier win. Remember, several Memphis city schools don't have fields and must play at Halle stadium, John P. Freeman, the fairgrounds, or somewhere else, I don't know how them picking their schedule would effect that, but it might not be a good idea. As far as private schools not bringing people, I buy that, your football knowledge and history is better then mine...some privates bring a lot of people though, MUS, ECS, CBHS, HARDING, BCS are all known for bringing people Something needs to happen, I don't think the D2-AA schools are going to survive..St. Benedict is losing every game they play (and only have 1 scholarshipped person) and Father Ryan and Catholic have expressed an interest in possibly leaving...that is scary, but I understand it completely...when you make a team pay that cross state game, it really hurts gate revenue, which is bad for both parties. I'm not going to sit here and bad mouth VG or ELA for their plans, because I am still trying to figure one out on my own (it might take me a while) but I commend you guys for trying.

I'm just saying...private schools should get put in 2a because they have a larger pool to draw from? You can't recruit...don't you understand that? I know you said your school is smaller than others...and I understand that, my school isn't the biggest in Division 2AA...or the second biggest, or the third biggest, or the fourth biggest, or the fifth biggest...but we still have gone the semi-finals the last 2 years. As far as getting athletes...private 1A schools are getting athletes who pay to go there, these guys aren't mercenaries, and as someone said earlier...most of these kids enroll as 9th graders...who can tell how good someone is in the 9th grade? When I was in the 8th grade I scored 5 touchdowns and 2 2point conversitions in 5 junior high games...as a senior I only played defensive end (no touchdowns in 4 years of varsity football, 1 reception thats it)...Wouldn't you agree that the kids get better not by themselves but by the program they are in? That's a credit to the coaches, and work ethic...which has nothing to do with finances...most of the teachers at private schools get paid signicantly less then public school teachers, and their budgets aren't very big either, as I stated before, we raised money and were then able to buy things...coincidently the last 2 years have been the best years my school has ever had. As far as being in 2A that's fine...but what ELA doesn't realize is...he's fixed the problem for himself...good job ELA, but that isn't going to help the schools in 2A or 3A...if you are going to put all the private and public schools in their, and ESPECIALLY if you let the Division 2 Financial aid teams come back...then you are going to see heck on earth...privates will start winning again, 2A will be mad cus these guys are playing up and forced to play them, and they will complain that 1A escaped doesn't have to play these teams and that the private schools should play the 3A and 4A teams (which I honestly understand)...I enjoy your remarks pujo, I think they are informative and well thought out. -P.S. I was never looking for the sympathy vote, I played 4 years without injury, got to go on road trips, win some games, lose some games, and enjoy every minute of it...I feel blessed not gloomy.