gobigred

On most high school softball teams, yes, one girl pitches every game. Silverpie is right. The throwing motion of a softball pitcher is a natural movement that produces relatively little stress on the shoulder and elbow. They can throw every day if necessary. Consequently, one stud pitcher on a high school squad equals one very competitive team. It is a team sport in theory, but the success of any fast pitch team is totally dependent on the quality of their ace hurler. Softball is not a very good point of reference for this discussion.

You are basically correct, of course. Where there is a will, there is a way so to speak. Some folks seem to want to continue to either kid themselves or live in the past. If a classification was created for schools that did not let out of zone kids attend for ANY reason EVER, that classification would be VERY small indeed!

You are right on target VG. The fact is that the trend in public education is to increase the number of school options available to public school students. School boards across the country are offering more and more choices as new magnet and charter schools come on line, and the boards create various ways to open up zones for traditional schools. Antwan and others on here can try to wish this trend away, but the evidence says that the days of strictly zoned public schools are numbered. The change may be a few years away in some areas, but it is coming. Today's parents of public school children demand a choice for their kids, and they are going to get it one way or another. It just doesn't make much sense for anyone to continue to use "student athlete availability" as a crutch in the public/private discussion, or to promote a solution based on that premise. Solutions should be based on the realities of where we are headed, not where we used to be. Let's be honest, good programs, both public and private, will always attract the best student athletes, and the parents will find a way for their kids to attend the school of their choice.

I like it too. It combines a requirement for consistency through 26 races with aggression and luck at the end of the year to win the championship. NASCAR couldn't stand too many more years of the championship being decided with 15 races left. landergolfer, I agree with you on the on the point differential for winning a race. The winner should get 15-25 more points than the runner-up IMO.

It might be impractical for you, but people have done it for years, and continue to do so today! Don't kid yourself.

I agree. An eight man league would probably better suit our situation in Tennessee. A qualifier something like the Oklahoma (smallest xx schools) could work. There are several non-football playing TSSAA members and some small non TSSAA Christian schools like College Heights in Gallatin and Radnor Baptist in Nashville who might consider starting a program in this scenario.

I would expect that participating teams would want an enrollment limiter established.

OK. Why?

Exactly. One of the major stumbling blocks to resolving the current dilemma is the unwillingness of the majority of the coaching establishment to "think outside the box". Times have changed yet the most folks seem to keep trying to force a solution for small schools by tweaking an outdated system or even worse, diluting competition even further. The 6 man and 8 man programs are very successful in their respective states, and they offer small schools the opportunity to play an exciting brand of football against schools with similar participation levels and financial resources. Why not consider this idea as a viable option?

I spent some time during the holidays reading material on the 6 man and 8 man football programs in Texas, Kansas, Idaho etc. There appears to be a great deal of respect for these programs in these states and much enthisiasm in the small towns that field teams. It seems to me that this concept has some real positives for any small rural public school program that could very well benefit those in Tennessee. Some of the positives I see are: 1. Less players needed for participation. 2. Less financial resources required for the program 3. Smaller field, more intimimate setting for games in smaller communities 4. Wide open play generates exciting action for players and fans 5. Might allow some of the smallest schools without a football program to develop one 6. Very small schools could win a championship with only a couple of "studs" in a given year. 7. More level playing field for very small schools. Consider the following questions: -Could establishing a 6 man or 8 man football league / classification help resolve the concerns of our small rural public schools? -Could establishing such a league possibly allow more schools across the state to establish football programs? -Could such a concept ever receive serious consideration in Tennessee? If not, why not?

C'mon CSense, how would propose to make it possible for a team with 13 or 14 out for the team to win a state championship in 11 man football at any level? You know that is unrealistic!

I'm not a UT fan, but the same statement could be made about UK beating the Vols in basketball. The only difference is that you have to put Louisville in place of Clemson!

OK folks, beginning this season only the top ten and those within 400 points of the leader, will have a chance to win the championship. After 26 races the leader's point total will be reset to 5050 and the others in the top ten will be reset to a total that decends from 5050 in 5 point increments. Example: #2 will be reset to 5045, #3 to 5040, etc. Others outside the top ten, but within 400 points of the leader, will be reset and fall in the same decending order. The intent is to avoid having the championship decided too early in the season. See this link for further details: New points system What are your thoughts?

Absolutely not. No coach should penalize a player in any way for playing other sports either. The decision to participate in high school athletics, which are extra curricular activities, should be made by the student without interference. Sports are an enhancement to the education experience, not a core learning activity. Any coach who tries to prevent a kid from participating in other sports is putting his / her own ego ahead of the student athlete's wishes, and is disrespecting the other coaches at the school by hoarding athletic talent.

You are correct ELA, the split is dead for now. Everyone would be better off at this point spending their time discussing ways to co-exist. Continued finger pointing by the proponents of both sides of the split issue will do nothing but make it more difficult to work together. It is time to let the wounds heal and move ahead in a spirit of cooperation within the guidelines as they will be for the next few years.

CSense, You conveniently omitted the other vital point that Baldcoach makes as a part of his post. How many families from this list are willing to pay $6000 per year to attend Boyd? I believe the kids in Marion County receive a free education from the public schools there, right? Quite a difference, right?

Look for Eddie George (if he will not agree to reduce his salary significantly) and either Brad Hopkins or Fred Miller to be salary cap casualties. If Rosenhaus continues to press for Kearse to be the highest paid DE in the NFL I would like to see them let him go via free agency They will probably designate him as either the franchise player or a transition player and keep him for at least one more year.

Do you have any private boarding schools in the KHSAA?

I obviously don't know the facts of the Ky situation, but I would suspect that the Jefferson County schools and other big publics like Dunbar and Warren Central are the driving force behind the split proposal at this point. They have the most to gain by booting you guys out of the mix. Do you know if that is true? The original split in TN was precipitated by complaints from some of the largest and most successful public schools.

rockmom, The description of this year's Trinity team by their coaches mirrors a description of the MBA football team. We seldom have a physical advantage over the teams we play. For instance, the offensive line of our championship team two years ago averaged considerably less than 200 lbs. per man. The major factors in winning in high school football are coaching expertise and personal discipline by the players. Innovative coaching and well prepared, motivated players will almost always win over predictable schemes and raw, undisciplined athleticism. I doubt that any kind of split will change the makeup of your team or X's. I also doubt that the Catholic Church will stop giving need based financial aid to Catholic students who meet the qualifications of your financial aid clearing house. Most parents choose a private school education for their kids for reasons other than athletics. In the case of Trinity, I would assume that a Catholic education is the number one reason a parent would choose to pay for their child to enroll there. At MBA, the emphasis has always been and always will be academics. Families choose our school because they want to provide their children with an opportunity to receive a premium education. Students who do not meet the academic criteria are not admitted, and students who do not perform in the classroom after they are admitted, regardless of their athletic status, are not allowed to remain, period. In answer to your final question, a total p/p split does not level the playing field for the larger publics in any state. It just eliminates some of their toughest competition. I do think that the small, rural public schools need some kind of classification revision to allow them to be competitive in Tennessee. After doing some study on 6 man and 8 man programs in TX, KS and ID, I wish the small schools would at least seriously consider that option. The games are very exciting and the coaching, roster and financial requirements are considerably less than those for traditional 11 man football.

The point silverpie makes is essentially correct, beethoven, because the multipliers proposed are higher for private schools than they are for open zoned publics. Since the battle cry of the publics for a split is the ability pf the private schools to get players from anywhere, the multiplier for open zoned publics should be the same. The discussion on the football board linked here by itzme in his post above, proves what everyone has known for a long time. Many public schools, not just Maryville, have the ability to get student athletes from other zones admitted to their schools. This activity is not illegal, but it renders the rhetoric of many of the public supporters as open hypocricy. Here is the smoking gun at a high profile public program that all of you have tried to discount for the past two years. Kudos to Volgen for his tireless commentary on this issue.

I know what you mean here. The unfortunate thing is that the public schools far outnumber the private schools and the desire of the publics to split will never end. Private schools that cannot not participate in a regional league would eventually have to form a league of their own in each state in all likelihood. That is a sad fact, but there really aren't many other options in the long term. It may still be a few years, but the publics will eventually force the privates out all over the country IMO.

Ouch!! The silence on this thread is deafening!

rockmom, I, for one, would love to see a long Trinity - MBA series. As more states struggle with the P/P issue, the incentive for financially established private schools to form multi-state alliances and possibly leagues is much greater. There seems to be more and more interest from the local and national media to televise high profile high school football games. It is very possible that if a super southeast private school league was formed that included the major players from KY, TN, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC, and perhaps northern Fl, could at least break even financially if TV and internet broadcast contracts could be established. Teams like De La Salle and Evangel Christian are televised often. This would have never even been considered a few years ago, but the anti-private sentiment prevailing in the the public school associations coupled with the increase of the public awareness of the national landscape in high school football due to the USA Today natonal rankings and ESPN coverage adds a new option for the higher profile private schools. Sure would be some great football!!

The MVP award goes to the player who means the most to his team. Granted, that player is almost always chosen from a successful team, but that is not a requirement for selection. Most knowledgable fans realize that the Titans success is almost totally dependent on the play of Steve McNair. I was quite pleased to see the award split between Manning and McNair. Both are the "franchise" for their teams, and both players were the keys to success for those teams this year. Most NFL coaches would love to have either of these guys as their QB. It is a shame that Steve's injuries limited him so much late in the season. His lack of mobility in the pocket and limited ability to run on busted plays made a huge difference in the Titans offense. Peyton Manning, on the other hand, is healthy and playing at a level that is astonishing. The Colts look to be playing the best football of all of the teams in the hunt for the championship, and are arguably the team to beat going forward.