lazarus

the officials are just part of the floor. over the past 20 years, every game we have played, the other team plays on the same floor and has the same officials we do. that seems fair enough to me. were one of our players to yank out his shirt at the ref & get T'd, it wouldnt be the ref feeling my wrath. we are supposed to be teaching our players how to act like men.

it was the perfect storm, vol-gen. i dont think there will ever be enough data to say for sure if 1.8 averaged out about right, as far as leveling the field between privates & publics. it seemed like it was probably pretty close, as some of the best private schools succeeded anyway, but the bulk of them were only competitive. there were a couple of reasons that wouldnt work as a permanent solution. first: if success wasnt virtually guaranteed, building your school's appeal by creating an athletics powerhouse was not nearly as appealing. simply put, the return on investment in athletics was drastically altered. withless emphasis and less success in athletics, those parents who might send a kid to private school to guarantee state championship experience are no longer attracted to the small privates. second: the economy. private schools have got to be hurting as much as anyone else, especially the small privates. they arent made up of "rich" people. i would be surprised if they arent hard pressed to keep enrollment up. and donations to any endowments have to be down as well. it doesnt take long for 1.8 to become onerous. as i predicted when privates were dominating; if the tables turn, they dont have any more stomach for impossible situations than the small publics. i know the small private my child attended is d-2 because it is where they can compete on an even basis with teams more or less like themselves. i might add that had we adopted a merit system instead of the 1.8, i think everyone would still be playing together. small privates would probably be settling into a cycle just like everyone else, climbing up classes as they succeed, and dropping back down when they played out the string.

some observations: 1) much of these sort of problems trickle down from the negative influence of professional sports. the pros try to convince the fans they are "part of the game" to justify the outrageous ticket prices. fan behavior at pro venues is just poor sportsmanship. at hs venues it is potential trouble. 2) on our staff, when games get "intense" we distribute ourselves among the players in the handshake line, and all the way to the locker room... especially when we have to pass thru the other team's students. i thought that was standard operating procedure. 3) at our games it seems like the officials shoot off the floor & into their locker room immediately upon the final buzzer. there is no confronting the officials unless you want to wait for them to come out after most people are gone. why were the officials still out there? 4) or maybe i know the answer to #3. one of the officials at that game certainly seems to be involved in an inordinate number of coach ejections, technicals, confrontations, and general trouble. does tssaa ever give any thought to weeding out officials who are unable to maintain control (over the game or themselves)? 5) the comments that the lchs SRO was in "his" version of a uniform. that does not sound like a uniform. at our school we understand that, if we are at a game not on the bench, or in some sort of real uniform, in the event of trouble breaking out we are to stay in our seats (ok, or leaning on the wall). maybe we do have authority, but to everyone else we just become another adult jumping into the fray. if the SRO wants to act in an official capacity at the game, he (or she) ought to wear a real uniform to the game. 6) praise to whit taylor & the schs administration for taking what has to be an unpopular action. a real man does the right thing, even when it is not popular, and taylor has always shown himself to be a real man. 7) i havent heard anything negative about ea prior to this. i hope this painful lesson will make him a stronger person, and wish him only success in the future. 8) this just reinforces how sorry the tssaa was last year, to allow "mr basketball's" team to continue to play after their incident following game one of the state tourney.

hello volgen. i havent posted in a while, since my current position is affected by this issue, but i got to thinking i might lose my place on coach-t if i never posted. magnets & privates present the same problems. 1) how do you deal with those who take advantage without creating an injustice for those who dont? 2) how do you determine if someone is taking advantage and isnt just lucky? the answer will always be the same. merit system.

there was a time i would have been right up at the front on this debate from the public side. but at that time the public-private competition was so one-sided as to be a farce. the current setup might be screwy as all get out. and it sure isnt as good as a merit system. but publics dont always lose and privates dont always win. i dont know what more you could hope for.

when did losing in the championship game, on a miracle shot at the horn, become laying an egg?

interesting question this year. as a 30 year attendee of girls state, i dont consider myself a fan of any particular team, just girls basketball in general. there have only been a few single a teams that were good enough to take on anyone. this year's clarkrange team was one of them. i will have to throw out the d-2 champions, since i didnt see them play. gibson county was as good a basketball team as there was this year, but probably lacks the size to beat the other three. central and hillsboro were pretty much even, very athletic, but lacking the skills and flexibility to play more than one type of game. hillsboro's limitations were painfully evident against the press. CR's press, relying on more than just roughing people up, would kill hillsboro. clarkrange, in my opinion, could beat either of the two AAA schools, but the game would have to be officiated. HB vs central was very entertaining, but something of a foulfest. had the officials called a basketball game, we'd still be there watching the last players on those 25 man benches go 3 on 3. the more enjoyable game to watch would be clarkrange against gibson, but i think CR's size would win out. some of the more skilled AAA champions of prior years could play at CR's level, and would be able to wear them down with numbers and athleticism.

a couple or three things. 1) boy, did forest come out on fire. they are playing some great basketball right now, and their game with clarkrange ought to be something to see. 2) the gentleman talking to the forest girls on the way out. i was behind the forest bench, and what i thought he was saying was along the lines of; "it isnt you (that i am mad at) you are a great team (and clapping for them)." maybe i am just a pollyanna, but it was my impression that he didnt want the forrest team to think he was critical of them. 3) the officials were fine, as far as calling the game accurately goes. but the woman official had a bad habit of waiting to see how a play came out before blowing the whistle. i even commented to my wife earlier in the game that she was the kind of official that could lead to problems. for example not whistling a reach in foul until she saw if the offended team maintained possession or not, resulting in a late whistle. on the play in question, the wayne co girl undoubtedly pushed to get position on the rebound. in that situation (score & time), any good player would have done the same (you cant just give up and lose). instead of just calling the foul, the lady official waited to see if forrest would get the rebound anyway (which seemed probable). they did not. the wayne co girl got both hands on the ball, and pulled it down while turning away, and pulled the forrest girl over her back (forrest still had one hand on the ball and had her arm hooked). the weight of the forrest player caused the wayne co girl to stumble and fall with forrest on top of her. now what does the official do? call the pushing foul late, on the wayne co girl who was on the floor with possession of the ball and an opponent on top of her? call over the back on the forrest girl, who actually got fouled to begin the sequence? she settled for calling a walk. it caused an uproar as is obvious from the other posts. there is no excuse for the fan's behavior, but officials need to just make a call. any official who blows their whistle based on the outcome of a play is going to cause these sort of situations. hopefully the experience will make this official better in the future.

there are only two mysteries about tullahoma girls basketball: 1) why the parents expect different results 2) why any coach would take that job girls basketball in tennessee is played at a higher level than any other secondary school sport in the state, and playing at the highest level requires dedication. the tullahoma girls basketball culture is utterly anti-dedication. the tullahoma culture is one where i have heard parents say for literally decades; "we dont want *our* girls to be good at one thing, we want *our* girls to be good at lots of things." well, it doesnt work that way. just because they have more affluent parents (on the whole) than the other schools, their girls are not inherently superior to the girls from less affluent schools. if they want to have success in girls basketball, they will have to match the effort of their opponents, and this is something the tullahoma people are unwilling to do. sure, they probably have success at other sports; because the competition is not nearly as strong. the lessons of sports are the lessons of life, and this lesson is: a half vast effort yields a half vast result. i cant say whether this is bad or good. the pros and cons of high school athletes dedicating themselves to a sport is another debate altogether, but it is foolish to expect different results than your preparation would indicate. unless the tullahoma people decide to put in more of an effort, or their opponents decide to quit trying to be good, the outcomes are not going to change. and no coach, nor any coaching philosophy, is going to change that.

i cant quit going to high school basketball games. i just have to see what happens next. every time i think i have seen everything, i see something entirely else. perhaps the strangest situation of all came in a game this year: it started out as a routine free throw, but when the shot was missed, the defensive player on the block rebounded and put it back in. not so strange? we have all seen wrong basket shots. but what set this one apart was that an offensive player fouled him in the act. while the officials discussed the play, i racked my brains for the appropriate enforcement. does the shot count, and the player shoots a free throw on the wrong basket? does the shot count, and he gets the "and one" on his own basket? does the shot count, and he shoots two on his own basket? do they wave off the basket and he shoots two on his own basket? the official verdict? they waved off the basket and gave the fouled team possession under the basket (that was scored on). the official told me afterwards there is a rule that a team can not "gain advantage" by fouling. has anyone seen a stranger play than that one?

it has always been my opinion that officials are just part of the floor, and people who worry about officiating are just wasting their energy. i have attended a lot of basketball games, more than 700 games just counting state tournaments. no telling how many total games i have seen. more often than not, i have no emotional investment in either team. what i have found is that in games where i have no personal stake, the officiating almost never seems to be a factor; except for games where teams refuse to adjust to the game being called, or let their concern with officiating interfere with their focus on the opponent. yet, somehow, in games where i do have a personal involvement, it invariably feels like my team is getting the short end of the stick. on that crew, the two older guys are among the best HS officials in the midstate. the younger guy is less experienced, but he is hardly terrible. ya'll got a good crew that night, and they were a non-factor in the outcome. you really cant ask for more than that.

i was at that game. tremendous defensive effort on both sides had a lot to do with the offensive output. all in all, it was a well played game. that was also an excellent officiating crew. i would agree they didnt have their best game, but it is still a good crew. the important thing is that the game outcome was decided by the players & coaches, as it should be.

'monster man...let me give you the opportunity to tell everyone when these private schools got their "unfair advantage" playing in 1A. What year did that start? Have fun with that one.' well, i'm not monster man, but i dont think usj had any unfair advantage in 1-a.... no more than the 2-a (or did you say 3?) publics have any unfair advantage over usj. it seems the shoe is on the other foot now, and apparently usj doesnt like it any better than their erstwhile opponents did. for what it is worth, i get no joy from their current situation, and i hope d-2 works out well for them.

"Dude! Learn the rules of grammar and punctuation if you want your posts to be taken seriously." geez, bigfoot, he's talking about soccer... surely he never expected to be taken seriously!

"Have you seen CPA or DCA or Ezell?" hevent been to cpa, but have been to dca & ezell. maybe, just maybe, someday we'll have facilities that nice. "Where do you think that private schools get the money to pay for anything?" i suppose you raise it from your parents just like we do. what percentage of *your* target market makes under 20K a year? lazarus rule of thumb: it's dang hard to raise money from people whose car is worth more than their house.

your concern for the small public is touching soupersteve. but arent you a supporter for a small private that could get back into 1-A without the multiplier? who is it wanting to see competition removed? i dont remember hearing any of the publics talk about union city's student count, and i know one of the coaches they beat on the way.

hi BH, you missed a great basketball game in lynchburg. it was played the way the game was meant to be played. looking at your examples; siegel & ravenwood, playing in the largest classifications & situated in major population centers really dont have anything in common with the single a teams. stone mem is a largest classification team that split into two middle classification schools. the girls basketball team (already playing at state contender level in the largest classification) miraculously seems to have ended up together in the same school. they didnt get good overnight. looking at it from the standpoint of the girls, it wouldnt seem fair to take them off a team of that quality after they had been working together for so long to reach that level. none the less, it doesnt seem all that fair for them to play in a lower class than they really are, either. i dont think you would consider me an anti private. i think there have been plenty of private teams accomplish amazing things. the early temple teams were mostly average talent with great coaching. the team that beat ezell harding for the single a title, i thought was inspiring. one of my favorite teams i have seen play. ncs this year, they accomplished great things with really pretty mediocre talent. hard work and good coaching are obviously how they were built. i like to believe that i am fair enough to give credit where credit is due. on the other hand, sometimes it is hard to maintain an evenhanded view of things. not a lot of the news out of temple recently has been the sort that leaves me feeling all warm & fuzzy. and the athleticism of their recent teams doesnt create any sense of underdog sympathy for their small student body. quite the opposite, that concentration of athletes makes me feel a little suspicious. how would you expect me to feel? when i go to watch a region game, and there is a clarksville academy that lost 20 plus games a year ago and this year wins 20 plus, my instinct would be to admire the turnaround. but.... it would be different if i went and saw a team like ncs that simply plays better ball than more athletic opponents. what i saw was a team that was no better than last year's team, but had miraculously acquired three big-time athletes. is it anything other than human for me to joke about them being one more good free-agency period from making a run at a state title? of course, in every example there are a lot of facts that i simply dont know. it is high school ball, no doubt in most cases i shouldnt know. over the years, when i have been personally acquainted with the facts, suspect situations are generally not at all what they seem. in those cases where they are what they seem, it is usually the parents, not the schools or coaches with less than honorable intentions. that said, i do know of some people (private and public) who are not particularly ethical. i do not believe that there is any greater percentage of private coaches who would do unethical things. i do think it is a lot harder to actually pull it off in a small public school than in a larger school or a private. but perception is reality, and i cant escape the perception that any private school can simply decide to be good, and make it happen overnight. i know we cant do that. the thing is, i like private schools and i cant escape that feeling. how do you expect people with less familiarity with ya'll to feel? just some thoughts i have to offer. i would be interested to hear what you think. we both know there is only one fair solution. have a merit system, let people get as good as they can get, by whatever means they feel is right. and let them play against their peers.... public or private.

i do not know why tssaa does not advertise this, but you can buy reserved seats for the entire tournament (boys also) for only 64$ that comes to $3.05 per game. call 615-889-6740 for info. if you want to see all the games, this is the way to go! glad to hear about the 9:30 start on wed. i would have been pretty mad to have missed a game.

"I really did not think that TSSAA member schools could play non TSSAA members (i.e. home school teams or MTAC teams). Can someone give an example of this happening." the only example i know is that a baseball team i was helping on played a home school team. we were penalized and even had to give up games off our schedule the following year. this was about 10 years ago, but i dont think tssaa has changed its stance on home school teams. on the other hand, i know of some play between tssaa teams and teams in that state church league, for which i dont think there was any penalty. the closest i can come to a current example is boyd something or other (mcminnville) which just switched from that league to tssaa and i am certain they still played some church league teams this year.

"Neither. I have pressing needs at work." well, thats a shame. one of these days i hope to meet you (sort of a brush with greatness, i suppose) and i think it will be a particularly entertaining game.

more co 8, sorry, no intent to offend. i just meant that your home gym would be too small for a substate game. esp with these two teams. you both have big, loud, crowds. apparently your school admin agrees.

"I don't read all these posts, and I have a poor memory. Didn't you state that the multiplier was working?" i believe i said something to the effect that the results so far were within reasonable parameters. i still feel that way. it isnt perfect, there are some losers on the private side, and some on the public side. but overall, things seem reasonable competitive this way. a merit system would still be a better solution. "The multiplier didn??™t cause any real changes. It wasn??™t necessary,??? Carter said. ???I said at the time that if you moved nine teams up, then there were nine other teams that would move down.??? i will be darned if i can understand what he means by this. if he means competitively, it certainly had an effect. a 65 or 70% winning percentage is a lot different than 95%. if he means it didnt eliminate all complaints, does anyone think we'll ever eliminate all complaints? eliminate the multiplier and go back to where we were, and i think there will be trouble.

bighurt, are you going to lynchburg monday or will you be at cpa's home game? as for ncs, anyone attributing their success to being a private stockpiling athletes is way off the mark. pretty much every single a team is a little short of loaded with every asset you need to have a perfect team (thats what makes single a so much fun) and ncs is far from the most athletic team even in single a. they have outstanding basketball players and play the game beautifully. coach a is as good as anyone around at covering his deficiencies and making the game hinge around his strengths. that said, it is always a challenge when you are way outsized. moore co is a lot like ncs. great basketball players more than raw athleticism and very well coached. it should be a quite entertaining game. i assume it will be played up at the JC i dont think i'd want to go to a substate game in that blue shoebox.

"They don't have to explain themselves or answer questions about their calls." you couldnt be more wrong. just because something isnt reported thru the media doesnt mean it doesnt happen. public reporting of when officials are being scrutinized, questioned, reprimanded, or even reassigned would serve no one's best interests. look how people treat them now.

it is always a pleasure to watch one of coach anderson's teams play. even if you are on the bench on the other side of the scorer's table. as impressive as his achievements on the court might be, he is a hall of fame person as well. congratulations coach.