wheels

My recollection is that initially SBEC was kicked out when they moved to Mississippi. I understand that the provision under which they came back permits membership to a school that was formerly a TSSAA member that has relocated out of state, as long as the majority of students are Tennessee residents. On a related and interesting matter, Fort Campbell High School, which has won a couple of state football championships in Kentucky in recent years, is actually located in Tennessee.

TPS was one thing, Taft was another. TPS was a facility for kids who has become wards of the state, but had not been sentenced for a crime. Taft, in the old days, was a "reform school" (the non-politically correct term) and was run by the Department of Correction (not Children's Services, as it is now) for juveniles who had been convicted of a crime.

LA is Livingston Academy? If there was only one such game played at Taft, then I was the umpire for that game. It was a different atmosphere that Friday night, for sure.

Problem is not one for the refs, it's for the home administration to deal with. There's nothing in the rule book, or in any directive from TSSAA, regarding bands or fans with noisemakers.

1999, when they were champions in 3A.

Paul Poole and Johnny Tucker - each of which led their teams to a state championship. Both had a head full of sense, good leadership qualities, and decent throwing arms, even though neither was much of a runner.

IMHO, at this level, everyone should play. This does not mean that the kids should not get the impression that winning is unimportant, but they need to participate in order develop a love for the game. It's a delicate balance that, unfortunately, many little league coaches have difficulty with. And of course, parental pressure on the coaches and the kids makes things even worse.

That's going on at the University of Tennessee right now. I am told that Jonathan Crompton and his parents are steamed because he lost the starting QB job, even to the point of his family walking out of the stadium when Stephens was announced in the lineup. I would be interested in hearing from the kids, individually. "Would you rather get Mr. Football or win a state championship?" I think I know how 99% would answer.

I think it was when Blackman opened it was mentioned in the newspapers that Coach Alsup seriously considered immediately joining D-2 rather than playing a non-region/JV schedule until the next classification and realignment came around.

No. They are glorified regular-season games, not a post-season game played as a reward for a good season. Several of the jamborees played in this era are known as bowls, e.g. the "Tobacco Bowl" played annually at Hartsville. These shouldn't be regarded as bowls either.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that the small communities have fewer people than big places like Memphis and Nashville. TV stations charge for advertising based on the number of viewers. Nashville people are less likely to watch a rural game, so the station shows a game that will attract Nashville TV viewers. Yeah, a local business in a place like Pulaski could buy an advertisement on a broadcast, but even if the Pulaski businesses were lining up to do so, ultimately there would be less viewers and the station's incoming revenues would suffer due the drop in the advertising rate. You have the Nashville channels on cable in the rural areas because that's what viewers want. Otherwise, what would they show?

Breaking the huddle with 12 is not necessarily a foul under the high school rules - that's the college rule. The foul occurs when the "replaced player" does not leave "immediately Also, it's a foul (illegal participation) if a substitution or pretended substitution is done with intent to decieve.

I wouldn't say that without knowing a few more facts. If indeed this was a staffer, was it (1) someone who was doing legitimate work on the web site, and somehow accidentally made public something that was supposed to be a test. Or (2) someone with time on their hands and acess to the workings of the web site who was just screwing around. Or (3) someone who actually had malicious intent. I'd rather it be none of the above, but some tolerance should be exercised in case 1 and possibly in case 2 as well.

Actually, the requirement dates back to something like 1964. TSSAA got lax on enforcing it, and a couple of years ago, gave the schools until this year to get into compliance. In 2009, if the clock can't be operated from the field, the school will not be allowed to host a playoff game. See http://www.tssaa.org/BoardofControl/Actions/June2008.pdf Item number 19.

At one point this was a Constutional rights case alleging that TSSAA had violated BA's first amendment rights. As such, if BA prevailed, BA's "reasonable" attorney fees would be assessed against TSSAA. I expect BA's attorneys were expecting a huge award of fees if they won, but planned to write off all or most of the fees as pro bono work if they didn't.