FlyBy

Nice find, Baylor! I'd love to take BA, MBA, MUS, Ensworth, Baylor, and McCallie on a road show across the country. I like our chances.

Wow, it's been forever since I've been here. It's playoff time; therefore, I thought I'd give the forum a quick read. Dead, this post and many like it over the years have always confused me. As you suggest, Ensworth does win a lot, and yes, they do have top tier athletes; the second half of your statement, in particular, is 100% accurate. Ensworth is the "best coached team week in and week out." While Ensworth's talent is certainly solid, BA's talent year in and year out is certainly deeper, and more often than not, it is better. One can/could look at the sdelines on any given Friday night and see that BA has, for the last 20 years (at least), been the bigger, faster, stronger, and, most importantly, deeper team. On talent alone, how BA has not enjoyed a dynasty with its own string of gold balls in D-II is hard for any of us that have been around for a long time to understand. Here's to a safe and enjoyable 2014 playoff! RRR!

If one of my employees acted in a similar manner as the white hat did, I'd issue an apology.

Owl, Both teams will tell you that it was obvious. You may doubt it "seriously", but anyone that was there will confirm that. That said, I don't buy into the BS that the refs had an agenda to have Brentwood win so that MUS wouldn't have to play Ensworth. To suggest facing Brentwood is somehow a better option is ridiculous. Furthermore, it doesn't matter from where the refs come; the bottom line is that this was a personal issue, and the white hat simply lost it. I think that what we witnessed was a white hat that thinks highly of himself, came into the game "aware" of the coach's reputation of "working" the referees, and felt that he could thump his chest and show the world how important he was by keeping the coach from coaching in the finals. A referee in that circumstance has to understand that his personal feelings can't get in the way of calling a fair and balanced game; from that perspective, he failed.

Wes, Correct me if I am wrong, but Brentwood only had two penalties; one was an illegal participation penalty for five yards called by the back judge and then the flagrant personal foul at the end of the game. The White Hat actually did throw that flag. Please also correct me if I am wrong in stating that the White Hat was the only referee that sent players to the bench for shirt tails being out and that he only sent Ensworth players on several instances to the bench and no Brentwood players even though their shirt tails were also out. Since the last penalty on Brentwood was after the game was already decided, that would leave the penalty yardage at 5 yards effectively for Bretwood. If I recall correctly, several of the holding calls and the unsportsmanlike call on Ensworth were called by the White Hat as well. His actions during the game coupled with his theatrics at the end of the game are certainly worth a review.

I think a review of the game film would provide ample support that the official's action were odd the whole game. On several occasions, he sent Ensworth kids off the field for shirt tails being untucked while the Brentwood Academy players were not sent to the bench with the same issue. His sending Ensworth's big back off the field for the shirt tail infraction on a critical 4th and 1 after he lined up in the TB spot was really odd. I remember two penalties called on BA; one was the late hit at the end of the game, and the other was an illegal participation; there may have been more, but I do not recall them. Ensworth was flagged in excess of 10 times with multiple holds called by the offical in question and an unsportsmanlike call following one of his holding calls that gave Ensworth a 1st and 30 at a critical point in the game. Opinions are opinions and worth nothing, but I think his days of wearing the white hat may be done after they review his theatrics at the end of the game. His stating that the coach will not be coaching "next week" is very peculiar; all he had to do was say "you're gone". I think that anyone with a law degree would have a field day with that one. Sorry to see the Big Red lose another one to MUS, but as another poseter stated in another thread, MUS is always one of the best prepared and best coached teams in the state year in and year out. I love the way they play, and it should be a heck of a game in Cookeville. Congrats to the Owls and Tigers! Roll Red Roll!

Everyone who visits this board (including this poster) is a homer to some degree. Owl, Baylor, and Wes all support their teams and post through their schools' colored glasses; that should not matter. We should all understand and know that prior to visiting this site. I like that Wes attempts to rank the teams; he provides as good of an attempt as anyone else. That said, his qualifications are no greater or lesser than Owl's, Baylor's, or anyone else's. Wes has an opinion and states it; at least he makes the effort to do it. For the record, I believe that Brentwood Academy absolutely has the most athletic team again this year (pretty much every year for the past 20 years or so). I think Ensworth's top 11 are better, but Brentwood has more quality depth. It should be an interesting game coming up soon. After Brentwood, I think that MBA, MUS, Baylor, and Ryan have the next best shot. I guess that would sum up how I'd rank the top 6 as of this week...

I lose again; just like Vegas! To your point, I think that some MBA and HH alumni are sending their kids on to Ensworth or keeping them there as many attend Ensworth's lower school prior to matriculating on to MBA. As Ensworth continues to prove the quality of its education, more and more will choose to keep their kids there.

As far as the topic of the thread goes, many of us go to coacht on occasion to see if there is anything of interest to discuss. The problem is that most of what gets discussed on here these days is simply garbage and trash talk from people that simply don't understand the bigger picture. Some of us still like to engage in relevant and meaningful "conversation"; however, most folks on this board these days have a sense of self-worth that is highly inflated, and their knowledge of the game and the institutions is simply lacking.

Who's irrelevant? BA and MBA? Those are two of the most storied programs in Tennessee football history, and they are far from irrelevant in 2013. All three boast ridiculous facilities. MBA is undefeated, and BA, as usual, has more talent than anyone in the state. They're simply young this year. I do not have the numbers, but I'd be willing to bet a decent sum that MBA's endowment is substantially greater than BA's and Ensworth's combined. Neither BA nor Ensworth have the history or the sheer numbers of wealthy alumni that MBA enjoys. Like it or not, MBA is by far the most succesful institution in Middle Tennessee in terms of developing Nashville's leaders past and present and developing the financial support from those leaders.

It's been a long time since I've been on this site, and a lot has changed. MBA was dominating on the field and in the classroom. Folks seemed to have a hard time understanding how MBA was able to handle BA more times than not even though BA was almost always the more physically dominant team. MBA was able to compete with BA because of MBA's greater preparation, execution, attention to detail, and its ability to adjust. For those of you asking why I bring this up, I think it is somehwat similar to where we find ourselves in 2013 with a new powerhouse firmly in charge. The main difference is that Ensworth looks and performs like a combination of MBA, BA, and MUS from a few years ago. Ensworth physically looks as dominant as BA always did back in the day, but the real scary part is that they play as fundamentally sound and with as much heart and character as the old MBA and MUS teams did. MBA looks bigger and stronger than it used to, but they don't play like the MBA teams of a few years ago. I think BA has continued down its path of putting great athletes on the field and always has the potential to win it all. As we all know, potential is... , well, potential; could have should have, would have... I'd say that MUS has continued to play its brand of ball better than MBA and BA have; MUS is still a really fun team to watch play. Like MBA used to do, MUS continues to do more with less than most of the other schools in the state. That is not a knock at all on MUS; because, I know they have had their share of great athletes. I simply love seeing a tiny little NG and MLB dominate the middle against guys twice their size. That said, it's hard to find flaws with a physically dominant and fundamentally sound team that plays with heart, character, and great knowledge of the game; the Ensworth teams are the most complete teams that I've seen since MBA's dominance a decade or so ago. Ensworth is operating at a different level right now; it could change this year, but the early returns do not suggest that will be the case. I'll say one thing for sure: thanks to Maryville, MBA, BA, MUS, Riverdale, a few others, and of course Ensworth, the level of ball in the state of Tennessee is at an all time high. Regarding the classroom, I'll tend to hold MBA, McCallie, and maybe MUS at a higher level, but Ensworth is not far off as witnessed by where its students and athletes choose to go to college. Roll Red Roll

Here is the first result from doing just that: http://www.knittingparadise.com/. It looks like that subject could benefit from some SEO.

Just trying to help folks get a reality check... It's HS football.

Football is a game, a great game, a microcosm of life. One should enjoy it for what it is and not expect anything more. Life is much greater than coming on to a message board and airing one's anger and citing that he'll never forget the actions of some during a game; please, really? Anger and vengeance thrive in the heart of the victim.

I haven't been on this board in a long time, and in reading this thread I understand why. Last night was a great HS football game. Both teams fought hard, but neither played particularly well which is what happens when good teams play each other. Both programs will be better as a result of this game. I was very impressed with both defenses, and I was extremely impressed with Ensworth's line play. I look forward to seeing a rematch of this one. I do have one request: BA supporters suggesting that your program has greater integrity, class, or whatever else you use to try to create an air of superiority, please stop. The fact that one would go there is indicative of the lack of integrity in the statement itself. BA is a good school with good kids; Ensworth is as well.