truthhurts

The only thing that makes sense is that the white cap is also a minor league baseball ump. Other than that I am still lost. Paul wade does not use abusive language either. I promise you that. Where things get interesting is if ensworth lawyers up. They can no doubt do it. And might to prove a point. The TSSAA better get ready. Ensworth could bust their budget in lawyer fees. Ricky and Paul's character are being challenged here. If they can prove that they have taken a hit in the reputation category then it is fair game.

I have known Bowers for a long time. I have friends who are very close to him. I have never ever heard him use profanity - never. If "crap" is a bad word, then I have maybe heard that. But other than that absolutely not. This is a joke and the referees report already is a big fat lie. He is just covering his rear end. Also a joke is that the ref cannot work this next round. So what. The next round is for the best crews in the state. he was probably going to be off anyways. Anything less than a 4 game suspension next year is a joke.

Don't be shocked if he jumps to DLU. Many could not make the jump from high school to college but he could. DLU is his alma mater. He is in their Halll of Fame. He is from the Don Meyer tree. He is local and can garner support. His daughter played there in college. He is the right religion. And he can flat out coach. The timing may be right for him to do this. If he ever had the itch then it may be perfect timing.

I think it just depends on the sample of folks you talk to. I know I ran into a few people who stated "everyone else does it why don't they get them too ?". Several others said "we were just helping people who needed it during hard times". Other comments were "why is it that you can help out a regular student with financial assistance and not athletes?". (Ummm....because it is a rule that's why and if there were no rules then the playing fiels would be so unbalanced that it would be even more of joke than it is now in some cases.). Again, all depends on the age bracket, how much they care about sports, and how informed they are about actual rules regarding financial aid.

MBA, in their press release has in bold letters the following statement: "Importantly, however, the TSSAA found that none of these instances involved an intentional attempt by anyone connected with MBA to circumvent the Tuition and Financial Aid Rule or to gain any unfair athletic advantage in any sport." I find this comical. No, they did not get a direct advantage intentionally by having someone pay for the tuition of the those 2 seventh graders. They just wanted to get them in school any way possible before another D2 school offered them more "incentives" for them to go to their school. Once they had them on campus and (several years later) when these two students were on varsity teams THEN they would have a direct athletic advantage because of their actions. Anyway you wanna spin it, Gioia, any way you wanna spin it. Do they think people are that dumb to accept that rationalization ???

3 Comments: 1)This is an absolute lack of institutional control. It happened under Brad Gioia's watch. He should resign effective the end of the year - the honorable thing to do. He will still be "hireable" to an extent somewhere else. MBA needs a clean slate. New AD. New headmaster. New vision (or at least back to the vision that has worked for over 100 years). Period. 2)Generally when these things happen schools like to take others down with them. I am guessing there are some nervous folks out on Highway 100 right now. The guilty start "chirping" and the dam breaks loose. 3)To be honest - I think they got off light all things considered

A good move might be getting both Pack and Paul Wade back together again..Pack as HC and Wade as OC. That would make some serious waves over on Granny White and throughout D2. They would have to open up the wallet but you gotta pay to play.

You have me pegged wrong. So let me give you my thoughts: I am anti-recruiting, anti "Swetts coach's lunches" (I mean seriously - it is a bit much), anti paying kid's tuition under the table, anti Private school coaches showing up constantly at middle schools that are out near the airport trying to sway the star athlete to go to their school, anti teams with their starting lineup filled with players who live 40,50, and 60 miles away from their campus, anti spineless headmasters who have filled the board of trustees with "yes men", anti schools sending vans and buses to Murfreesboro and North Nashville to pick up star athletes each day before school (a privilege that is only offered to the star athletes), anti special tudors who work with star players 4 and 5 days a week just to get them to pass, anti coaches who make their players feel inferior if they play another sport other than theirs, anti schools having a "recruiter" who is disguised as an admissions employee whose job it is to go "get players", anti "Big E camps", and anti students who are encouraged by their football coach to lead hateful cheers at athletic contests. In other words I am anti Bowers, anti McGugin, anti Flatt (sorry Carlton - you started all of this), anti Gioia and what their two schools have become. I respect Ensworth middle school and what MBA USED to be. My wish is that the whole thing will blow up at both schools and we could get back to what high school sports should be about. MBA used to be a place that did not have to follow anyone in the country - they set the bar and others followed. The problem is that they got caught up in the arms race by chasing Ensworth's actions out on Highway 100 and it is way too far down the road to change the culture without blowing it up. So, blow it up. Mr Childress. Blow it up.

Actually, I think the post was spot on. Anyone who knows Ricky Bowers and knows the "family tree" of coaches that he comes from will argue that NONE of his mentors (Tommy Owen and Carlton Flatt) would ever let their players wear earrings on the sideline, after games, etc. One can argue "modern times" as long as you want but the fact remains the Ricky has strayed far from the way he was schooled and has lost respect in the community and amongst those who have known him for many years. He is a fine coach but has lost a lot of friends in the process of his "empire building".

She is having a child. Maybe she did not apply or even want to coach for a while.

I follow Ryan sports fairly closely - not a close as stbullog - but I am amazed at how long this has taken. I was at an AAU event last week and saw some Ryan followers. Frankly, I am shocked at some of the names they threw out that really were extremely interested in this position and did not even get an interview. I am talking pretty prominent names too with local ties and tons of successful experience. Not trying to be too sarcastic here but neither Geno nor Pat are not going to be walking thru the door over there on Norwood Drive anytime soon. Ryan made a very good hire with Lawson as AD. But as the posts suggest above I really thing it is a bad bad move not to have let him go thru the process of hiring a coach.

[My question is I remember someone being offered the job or supposedly offered the job, but the head master said he wasn't offered. You know what I'm getting at, he said , they said, you said, bull crap that always comes along. Who was that person because I can't for the life of me remember who iit was? Would they be interested again this time or not? That person was the Kingsport coach. He was offered the job and the Gioia pulled the offer after the staff about had a mutiny. Rutledge was 4th choice. After Pack, after the Kingsport coach, after Ed Caudill (an assistant who is now at Ensworth who turned the job down). Of course Gioia told Rutledge all that never happened. Therein lies the problem. Distrust from day one. Alums are split on this one and there are some very hard feelings. How do you start a www.firegioia.com site ???

He wears Gilligan hats - you know Gilligan, Skipper's buddy.

Look for David Pack to get consideration at McCallie. Some McCallie alums are already chirping about him.

I agree with Robjim. Someone earlier said that the major deal would be the cost to the TSSAA - that's not the case. It would be the cost to the schools !! The shot clock is very difficult to operate. You could not have some person over there who did it every two or three games. Having a shot clock basically means having another official. Schools with negative budgets already could not handle the probable $2,000 in shot clock scoreboards with operating boards and the additional fees for more people at the table to run them. One day maybe it will happen but not in the near future.