soccerdad

The Commandos snuck up on the Bison while they were grazing and stampeded them into a trap where they were slaughtered (like in the days of old). Thick, woolly hides go on sale soon. They will keep you warm all winter and remind you of the demise of the "thundering herd". /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Man up and play the game! If you get past your next opponent, then you've got something to say. Otherwise.....

WAY to GO Hawks! Keep your talons sharp and you just might pick off that buffalo and drop him into a village of hungry Indians!!!! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Great job!!! Way to go!!! Let's hear it for BB! Also, great year ND - you rock!!! Start working on next year. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

You're 100% correct on that! Soccer officiating has not been able to keep up with the sport's explosive growth over the past 40 years. As our players age and go into officiating, as a part-time job, they find the demands to be great and the stress to be high. They often face disrespectful parents and coaches, who often don't understand soccer and rudely treat these young officials. Often, these officials are asked to do games above their level of competence, rather than breaking them in more slowly. This can lead to them making a higher number of mistakes. Usually, we don't have enough protections for these aspiring officials. Until we do something about this we will continue to have a shortage because so many of our youth are chased away from officiating. Ref assigners need to set a limit on how many Tu/Th games that can be scheduled, in a first-come-first-served approach! I always tried to schedule about 1/2 of my games on M/F - it made a big difference in the officiating.

Yet, it seems we always have the same problem: the lack of quality officiating. Way too often the cards are pulled unnecessarily. Our refs don't have enough experiences beyond city, club, and high school games to give them sufficient understanding of the rules and the situations which require a card and those that don't. Too often they bring their "city-league-protect-the-child" attitude to the high school game. Additionally, I've often seen the ref's emotions as a contributing factor in bringing out the cards. No other high school sport has such an easy route to ejection as does soccer. Two minor offenses and you're out. One major offense and you're gone. In football and basketball you see very similar rule infractions receiving either a "15 yard penalty" (which is not even assessed against the individual) or "foul" maybe even a "technical". Rarely, are they ejected. Additionally, our common, two-man officiating system adds to the problem - not enough eyes/ears/brains available to always make the appropriate call. The game we play has been fine-tuned over many decades and many continents. FIFA is not perfect, but it's rules are the best there are, so why does TSSAA think it can out-think them? Who does this help? The concept of expulsion is to remove a grossly troublesome individual so the game preserves it's "beauty" and the individual is given the chance to "come to his senses". Expulsion and missing a game should be seen as sufficient for our players. We're not dealing with professionals who have their "professional fouls" repertoire and other baggage, we're dealing with teenage boys and girls who sometimes don't think too clearly (due to their immaturity). Therefore, it is unfair for them to be punished in such an extreme manner by our inexperienced, under-manned officials. To protect the players from undue exclusion from games we should have the quality of our officials reviewed. Every time a player is ejected by an official, it should be noted on his/her review. Then the official is watched (by some supervisor) to see how regularly this happens. After so many, the official is called in to review his calls with the supervisor. If the official knows he/she was being reviewed, he/she would probably work harder at making sure his/her call was warranted. Of course this would only happen in a perfect world!!! /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

How do do figure that? Looking at the stats you don't know how much a player played. So no way to disqualify somebody's numbers. By the way, there are more first team backs than those cited and the second and third strings played in many games. So the att. average is the only way to judge on paper. Friday night will be the other. Hoping everyone has a safe trip and all players have a game they can look back on and say the gave their best. /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />

Hey, old timer, were you there for our first match up in '78 in Madison? You guys were HUGE! It was a great game that Alcoa won 27-0. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Please look closer at the stats. They have very similar Att. (attempts) = way of measuring like things. It doesn't matter how many quarters.

Thanks MVM for your thoughtful words! Yes, I too find it sad that public education has had to be given up in certain areas. But it's not due as much to the academics as it is to the intolerable social/moral decline many find happening in metro areas. As you probably read above, I've been in both AND I've had my kids in both - right now my last one is in a public school. However, we moved to find a school with a better social/moral climate .

Good post Rick! How can we agree on these "significant factors"? What might be some of them?

HMMM? Hey how about an Alcoa/Trousdale game? Great coaches, discipline, fundamentals, execution and no recruiting. Whoa, wait, I shouldn't even be thinking this way..... /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Are you close to this "epicenter" of football? If so, run for cover! I too wonder why no one, except for those teams that end of having to play them, ever say anything. When those from my school (who have a date this weekend with one of these) bring it up, those from this area act hurt, insulted, and haughty. What's the matter with the TSSAA and its member schools, can't everyone see it and stand up to it? /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

Hey, Gov. They do compare, in some areas. Today's private schools have changed with the times. With the great competition for students in metro areas, private schools have developed programs that reach out to many of these students you mentioned. I've worked in both types of schools (public and private) and so has my wife. Currently we work in two different private schools and in our work we work with the learning disabled, the emotionally unstable, the physically challenged. Check it out, many private schools now have speiclaized programs for these unique students. Of course, the poor are not present. But, the people who send their children to private schools are not all working in executive positions for Fortune 500 companies. Everyday, I see landscapers, plumbers, mechanics, carpenters, masons, electricians, car salespeople, public school teachers, etc. bringing their children to school along with the managers, owners, professionals, and other well-paid workers. There are many parents who sacrifice a better home, better vacations, more "toys" to send their children to a school they feel meets their needs best. Not all privates are like BGA, MBA, Ensworth, BA, or many other "elite" privates. Many exist due to religious reasons and these schools are the ones that are reaching out to these unique students.

HA! My unified league of non-achievers is just a joke. But it shows the extremes "fairness" can take us to. A problem I do see, in this area of fairness, is the disparity between urban and rural. /blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" /> Could we have a third division that sets them apart?