WesVLT

50-14 BA. That's pretty close to what I expected. Best of luck to the Irish the rest of the year!

I would miss the heck out of him at BA, but I completely agree.

I was a BA sixth-grader that year. I'll never forget Tito Lee's game-winning run. We were sitting next to his mom and she was overjoyed.

Can you believe that until tonight, Brentwood Academy had never beaten MBA in a state title game? In the Eagles' long history, this is one of their greatest wins.

Pure class as always. Props to the Big Red for a stellar performance.

Brentwood Academy head coach Cody White is a superb coach and a better man. I am ELATED for him and these kids. MBA is a fierce rival. It's always special to beat them because they're extremely well-coached and talented. Great season for the Big Red. It's great to be an Eagle.

Pure guts.

I'm thankful neither team won state on that debacle.

Tennessee's best prep football classification has been given Tennessee's worst officials.

Embarrassing officiating.

No matter how this one ends...man, it was a classic. Both teams should be incredibly proud.

Why don't personal fouls grant automatic first downs in prep football?

I am eager for tonight's game and expect to witness a close contest. Nobody has a more explosive offense than BA, but Baylor proved its resiliency and toughness in the last meeting. The Eagles may have the talent edge, but both teams are well-coached enough to pull out the win. I think we'll see some points scored tonight. I'll put the over-under at 65.5. BA 37, Baylor 28.

Dominant performance by the Eagles. Their coaching staff had them very well prepared. MBA will learn from the defeat. We'll hear from them again this year.

Ensworth has an exceptional football program with great coaching and strong administration. Mercy-ruling them is big, even if they're down. And they appear to be way down this year. Great job, Eagles. I'm proud of the players and the coaching staff.

I'm pleased that the board voted not only to keep the league together, but also to give representation to private schools. Yesterday was a good day for Tennessee prep athletics.

The tea leaves suggest that when the next reclassification period occurs, Division II is going to include every private school in the State of Tennessee. The vote isn't until tomorrow, but I will be out of the country, so I figured I would write a pre-emptive note to our likely new members. Dear new DII member institution, Welcome to our classification! Unlike your previous league opponents, we look forward to competing against you. I thought I would take a couple minutes to tell you how you can expect to be treated in your new league. We will: Respect and congratulate you if you beat us in an athletic competition Work hard to provide you with a stiff challenge every time you take the field or court instead of challenging your legitimacy through legislative avenues Give you the benefit of the doubt that you did not recruit your players Graciously welcome you to our campuses, just as we welcome the DI schools that are still willing to play us, and Battle you on the fields of friendly strife instead of waging a war of words in the media. We will not: Refuse to play you because of a perceived competitive advantage you may hold Levy recruiting allegations against you when you win championships Exclude you from league-wide decisions that impact you Complain about "playing for second place" when one of your teams builds a dynasty, or Water down our league by adding new classifications each time a perceived inequity comes to light. Best of luck as you finish your DI tenure and prepare for your public-school-imposed switch to Division II. We look forward to competing against you for championships, even in contests where you'll be favored to win. Sincerely, A DII supporter

That's not accurate. DII schools will still be bound by TSSAA rules, as they are now. They could still get reported and sanctioned. But where you are correct -- if all private schools are kicked out of DI, they may be inclined to start their own league altogether. With so many new schools joining the old-guard DII schools, there would now be enough teams to financially and logistically support a new association. And if that happened, DI publics would have no way to sanction schools who chose to recruit.

I don't care about recruiting. Schools like Lipscomb, CPA and Knoxville Catholic don't need to recruit to attract students to their academic and athletic missions. I care about the declining sense of competition, which exists in an inverse relationship with our athletic leaders' sense of entitlement. "We can't beat them. They're winning at a disproportionate rate. Rather than raising our own standards, let's refuse to play them and kick them out of our league." That's a poor lesson to teach the kids who are developing athletically, mentally and morally under their care.

Status quo, or bring the current DII schools back into DI and split during the playoffs. The public schools will take advantage of the privates' lack of representation and ram through a complete split, but they'll be doing their teenagers a disservice. Next up: Ousting schools with open zoning. Before long, we'll have 11 football championship trophies and be an embarrassment around the nation. Some schools will always have inherent advantages over others. Rather than legislating those schools out of our leagues, why don't we work to level the playing field...ON the playing field?

I share this opinion.

Glad you're still lurking. I don't post much anymore, and for the same reason. For those less jaded than us, here's the typical progression: 1) DII poster starts well-meaning topic discussing a game or relevant prep sports issue 2) DI poster ventures over and makes an attack, usually unfounded and unprovoked 3) DII posters defend themselves, sometimes excessively and always without chance of changing any opinions 4) The original DI attacker calls aforementioned DII posters elitist 5) The thread grinds to a halt after two pages of pettiness 6) The DII poster knows better than to start another thread on a well-meaning topic

Amen. George is almost as successful as he is humble. For such a brilliant coach, he handles himself with utmost class. I'm thrilled for him and the Maryville program.

Go Falcons! Hope you guys continue your dominance tomorrow.

It's only a small division because public schools kicked us out. That wasn't our decision. If it were up to us, we'd each play in ten-team districts and battle our local rivals for the right to make the playoffs.