
Baldcoach
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3 tornados (or 1 that was hopping) around the 'nooga this morning from 6:30 until 7:30 or so. Small ones with 100mph winds or so, minor damage is what I am hearing. Sat in the basement for a few minutes as one was coming at us then bumped North. If they confirm that one of them actually touched down and did damage it will be #2 in the history of the city. Hope everyone is ok in West Tenn. Saw the pictures on the net.
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Stay down out there in Jackson. Trying to call my family there now. Hope everyone is gonna be ok...
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why democrats are silent
Baldcoach replied to dandy82's topic in Politics, National Issues, & Controversy
Was just browsing because this board is entertaining LOL! ELA, You know as well as I do your first statement above is misleading in about a dozen ways. I will elaborate... 1) We didn't defeat the Germans and the Japs, We, the Russians, the British, the Chinese, and a slew of other smaller countries including about a quarter million Free French defeated them. We didn't even begin the war with the largest military. In the current conflict We are pretty much alone. 2) To make a comparison with Germany or Japan, we would have to look at the actual time taken to topple the government from the beginning of hostilities (5 or 6 years vs. a couple of months) and the time of occupation seperately. We are occupying Iraq currently to secure it. So now we have been there as a propping up force for several years. How long were we in Germany and Japan after WWII...oh, wait, we are still there. Let's see, that is 6 years occupation vs. 63 years. If we are gonna cut and run anywhere let's cut and run in Europe and Asia...those countries have had more than enough time and money to get back on their feet. I'm thinking we could give Iraq at least a quarter that much time (15 or 16 years) before writing them off though... Finally, I don't know what vets you are looking at, but the military is full of people who volunteer to go back to Iraq, because they realize what a good thing we are doing there. My nephew just redeployed there 2 days ago for his 2nd tour...he is 20. He was so irate at the media here in the States when he came on leave over the Holidays. Asked where the mention was of the hundreds of schools and desalination plants that have been built, power stations and phone hubs. Roads repaved and widened, houses built and rebuilt. I'm thinking that any sensible military family wants any war to be over...that is a far cry from wanting to cut and run before the country you fought over is ready to stand on its on. -
Ok, Learned quite a bit about NCLB details I did not know. Correct me if I am wrong, but what I gather about the totality is that NCLB DOES provide a way for kids to get from one school to another, at least in some cases, even if that county has a 'no out of zone' rule. Most metro systems that I know of will let students move between schools in certain circumstances. Note that these moves may or may not affect athletic eligibility...but they certainly allow kids to move to better athletic alternatives if that is what they are trying to do, especially when the student first leaves middle school to enter high school. My point all along has been that while the small privates have a financially limited zone...there are only so many families that can afford tuition and are willing to pay it in lieu(sp?) of a free public education...most publics have at least limited access to kids outside their geographic zone. Whether those potential students are at another school in the county or in another metro school, there are ways to move to out of zone schools, especially when going from Middle to High schools. Our JV played a local public school in Basketball the other day. Their star player lives on the other side of town. Amazingly, somehow this year he is able to attend the school he is at. The school he is zoned for is very average in Football and Basketball...his two main sports. The school he attends is a 4a powerhouse. The overall point is that the mythical 'private advantage' of a larger pool of athletes is all smoke and mirrors. Perhaps if the small privates could offer financial aid and thereby get over the income barrier the argument would hold water, but because they can't, and couldn't afford it even if they could, there just isn't a large pool of athletes out there for them...in fact, fewer than are available to the good public schools of the same size.
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Well, actually I'm pretty sure I'm right...but I admit I could be wrong. In Maury as well as any other county if student A is zoned for school A but wishes to take a class only offered at school B then NCLB supercedes ALL zoning rules and requires that that child not only be allowed to attend school B but also be provided transport there if needed. So unless all 3 schools in Maury offer exactly the same classes, any Maury student can go to any school by simply saying they wish to take a class that that school offers that isn't offered at their current school. And that is just another way of saying that anyone can go anywhere if they want to. Further, almost all counties will allow students to attend a county school other than the one closest to their house if the school they want to attend is not overcrowded, even if they SAY they have a zoned policy. That way they avoid the "My parents moved to a bigger house down the road my junior year and you are making me switch to the school I hate" headache and you mitigate some of the uneven population problems that occur if part of the county is near a major interstate/highway while the rest isn't. Since I-65 runs right through (by?) Maury County, I'm guessing that their policy is the same. But regardless of whether this is true for Maury, NCLB is Federal legislation and non-negotiable if the school system wants Federal funding.
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So the only 'fair' scenario is for the private schools to never win?
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What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
I'll go read it. Legs and feet sounds like a mine. Glad you made it...the soldiers who fought in Veitnam were doubly heroes...had to fight the enemy and their own country...kinda like the kids fighting today. My Nephew redeploys for his second tour at some undefined time this week. He's up to Lance Corporal I think...a whopping 20 years old. The 2 or 3 times he has made it back to the States for leave (stationed in Hawaii) I have hugged him and told him that he and his buddies are my heroes and when they get done winning over there maybe they can come back here and clean up the mess that my generation is making of things lol. -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Let me be clear, I like you Grunt, and I've never even met you. We are actually much closer philisophically than most on this board. And my appeal to your sense of honor was because I know you have it by your posts. I also am in awe of TC as a Football team and their coaching staff. Anyone who knows anything about high school Football should be. Nothing but respect there. I have a real problem with dishonorable actions (even though I admit that I am guilty of them sometimes). Justifying them by saying "Well, but the other person deserved it" just doesn't cut it. In war turning the other cheek gets you shot. But this isn't about kill or be killed, this is about a personal grudge that one coach has against a whole school and, if we are being honest, against any school like them because of it. We are talking high school Football here, not Iwo Jima. Am I implying that I am perfect? No, and I don't expect it of anybody else. On the other hand, with power comes responsiblity, and acting badly for years is not "not being perfect", it is just acting badly. Does that make this person a bad person? Not necessarily. I hope that one day he will realize how badly this reflects and own up to it. Now THAT would be honorable. As coaches we tell our kids things like "be a man and own up to your actions" and "it doesn't matter what everyone else is doing, you do things right" all the time, just like every Coach in every sport does. I guess it just is terribly disappointing when a truly talented coach says one thing and does another in so radical a way. p.s. If I had played a school in the playoffs and the coach had refused to return my calls to swap films because he had a bunch on me from another coach who hated me, I would probably have said some not polite things about both of them too...wouldn't you? pps. By grunt I assume you were Noncom? Should I call you Master Seargant Grunt? Now every time I read a post from you I'm gonna think of We Were Soldiers. -
How can you say the 1.8 multiplier isn't much different than 1.5? For us it is the difference between 1a and 2a...or, to put it another way, the difference between being a medium sized 1a school to being 1/2 the size of the next smallest school we play. From your point of view that may not seem very large, but from where I sit...well...look at you guys for instance. Good school, good program, top of 2a, almost 3 times our student population and we have met up every year since the multiplier. If we 1.8 you guys you get to play Maryville every year. I bet if that happened you would call for a 1.5 or merit system... And why don't you 'care' about the urban rural argument? Don't you see that by casually ordering up a multiplier because they do things differently than you you have done EXACTLY what I warned everyone about...punished schools simply because they are good and not the same as you? It is a witch hunt...it boils down to this. If you are different than ME in any way and are better than me or any of my friends (some of whom are pretty bad) then I am going to punish you rather than reevaluate ME. Not only that, but I am gonna justify this by pretending some advantage you have that I don't is THE big advantage (but I'm gonna ignore any advantages I have that you don't, because, of course, those AREN'T relevant) so that any school similar to yours, even if they stink, is gonna get punished too. Finally, you don't seem to grasp the fact that EVERY metro system is open zoned by Federal Law, regardless of what they say. That means that ANY county with enough population to have a city/county system or a metro system or more than 1 school is open zoned (at least within that county). That means that 80+% of the public school population in Tennessee is open zoned. Maryville, Alcoa, and the magnets aren't the minority, the minority are the rural counties that only have 1 school. Why should 8 out of 10 student athletes in the State be punished because 2 out of 10 happen to live way out in the country? In reality the only closed zone schools in metro areas are the small privates. They can't offer financial aid like the DII schools, but they still have to charge tuition.
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What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Your gonna hate mapquest. Go there, find some road right at the border of Davidson County. Then mapquest it to Hartsville (which is 8 or so miles inside TC). You are gonna in the low 30 miles...following the roads. Just to show it, I'll post one set of directions here. 1: Start out going NORTH on AINTREE CT toward WINDSOR TRCE. <0.1 miles Map 2: Turn LEFT onto WINDSOR TRCE. 0.2 miles Map 3: Enter next roundabout and take 2nd exit onto WINDSOR GREEN BLVD. 0.3 miles Map 4: Turn LEFT onto CONFERENCE DR. 0.6 miles Map 5: Merge onto VIETNAM VETERANS BLVD / TN-386 N via the ramp on the LEFT toward GALLATIN. 8.4 miles Map 6: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto US-31E / GALLATIN RD / JOHNNY CASH PKWY / E MAIN ST / TN-6. Continue to follow US-31E N / TN-6 N. 6.9 miles Map 7: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto W MAIN ST / TN-25. Continue to follow TN-25. 16.9 miles Map 8: Turn RIGHT onto BROADWAY / TN-141. Continue to follow TN-141. 0.6 miles Map 9: Turn LEFT onto W MAIN ST / TN-141. <0.1 miles Map 10: End at Hartsville, TN US Map Total Est. Time: 52 minutes Total Est. Distance: 34.26 miles These directions are from a street near Rivergate (a mile or 2 from the DC border) to the courthouse in Hartsville. Hartsville is about 8 miles inside the TC border... As the crow flies border to border it is right at 20 miles. BUT, the point here isn't that TC is getting kids from DC...it is that the most successful small publics are ALL in or near major metro areas (even if they seem to be out in the country). It isn't a public/private thing, it is a metro/rural thing. -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
********************************************************************** Yes, I can name some publics that behave badly. We played one in particular in the semis in 2001 whlie we were in 3A. ( think Knoxville ). And. I'm familiar with the story you speak of. There is more to that story, which I won't go into, But this escapade was, shall we say, a little pay back. Now, whether that was right or wrong, depends on viewpoint. Back to the teams in the 3rd round above, the visiting team's coach made some very inappropiate remarks when leaving the field, which were overheard, either intentionally, or not. This team seems to make enemies whereever they go. So, you might come to the conclusion that to expect a lot of cooperation from anyone is a stretch. Without the circumstances, it would not be an honorable way to conduct business. All things considered, each can make their own decision as to whether it was proper or warranted. I would have done the same. If that makes me a butthole, then I guess I am. I thought a long time about how to respond to this. Mostly because I want to behave honorably even though I have little or no respect for the person involved given his behavior. I also don't want to bring others into this discussion because I really don't want to talk about this person behind their back. The only reason I brought it up was to illustrate that dishonorable actions and people exist in both public and private schools...so if you are gonna split based on honorability its gonna be tough. So here is my quick, vague, and hopefully to the point response: 1) NO reason justifies acting dishonorably. By your handle I gather you are current or ex-military, so I know you understand about integrity and honor. 2) This action WAS dishonorable, underhanded, and (to quote a public school coach who was outraged about it) "Just not right". 3) Trying to justify dishonorable conduct by claiming someone 'overheard' one of the injured party possibly saying impolite things or that they as a group are unlikeable is simply not reasonable. All of us have had other coaches or teams that said bad things about us or we didn't like very much. We all still swapped film and cleaned up the locker rooms and made sure they had toilet paper etc. for them just like we did for teams and coaches we like. Our honor and integrity is not based on how they treat us, it is based on how we treat them. 4) Grown ups should be able to act like grown ups even when they think someone else may not be. Especially grown ups in a position to influence teenagers. -
"I have the body of a god. Too bad it's the Buddah." Not a great quote, but pithy and all too accurate.
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What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
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What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Ok, my bad. Typed Williamson when I meant Wilson. What I said is valid. Maybe you need to get your map out. If you go down I-40 and turn North on 231 it is about 20 miles from the border of Davidson County to the border of Trousdale County. It is about 16 miles from the edge of DC to the edge of TC as the crow flies. Point being, TC is easily within the mythical 30 miles from a city zone. -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Fulton is a small public in the sense that they play in 1a, 2a, or 3a...the same classes that the DI privates play in, which is what this discussion is centered around. We have been told many times that Maryville and Riverdale are not germane to the discussion somehow because they are "big publics". So I just included those schools that have to play the DI privates. Trousdale County is well within 30 miles of Davidson County. DC is a metro county with a million + people in it. Williamson, which sits in between, is also a populous county and would be included in the "Metro Area" of Nashville as would all surrounding counties. Thus, Trousdale is 0 miles (shares a border with Williamson) from the Metro area of Nashville and about 25 miles from the Davidson County border (as the crow flies). No implications here, just refuting the "most small publics aren't within 30 miles of a population center" argument. I don't think we are talking about the same thing with the 'puddle scenario'. FCS absolutely does have to get kids from a wide area, because there aren't enough kids nearby to fill the school out. Because they are private and have to have tuition to keep the doors open, getting kids from a wide area has nothing to do with athletics and everything to do with total enrollment. Just because their kids come from a large geographic area doesn't mean that they have more kids available. In fact, they have about as many available as they have enrolled, just like the small publics. How do we know? Because they could hold more but can't get them...they have used all the water in the wide, shallow puddle. Thus there is no mysterious "big pool of athletes" for them to draw on...they are pulling in every available kid as it is. So are almost all the small privates. I agree 100% that FCS is the underdog in the series. My point exactly. TC is better than the best privates in 1a. As is South Pitt. And plenty of teams are as good. The same can be said for Alcoa in 2a. And there are many 2a publics (Smith, Tyner, Huntingdon, etc.) that are as good as the small privates. My point being that if the small privates REALLY had an advantage in their available athletes then 1) you would expect several of them to be better than ANY publics and 2) you would expect them to grow significantly after down years as they pulled in some of those mysterious extra athletes to fill out their teams. Neither is the case. -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Not if you had to charge 7k a year tuition. Then you would find yourself with about as many kids as you have now...maybe fewer. Zones can be closed financially as well as geographically. -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
For some reason you keep trying to pretend we are talking about the total population when you know very well we are not. And you keep deflecting the open county discussion...could it be because you are in one? OF COURSE there are more kids within 20 miles of us than there are withing 20 miles of you...which has exactly 0 to do with how many are actually available to us and how many are available to you. ALL of the kids in your county are available to you. Because your county (like most) will allow any county resident to attend any county school. Likewise, ALL of the kids in your county are equally available to Gordonsville. That isn't saying that there is much if any crossover, just that the potential exists...much like your idea that the potential exists for small privates to sell out and admit a bunch of athletes from their area over other students. Thus, your county has a potential advantage over other counties that may just have 1 school, or don't allow out of zone students to go to any county school. Further, your potential athlete pool is that of a large 3a school, not that of a large 2a school. Again, we aren't talking about whether athletes really move back and forth, just the potential, right? After all, for 20 years or so wasn't Gordonsvill the Football power in the county...I wonder how all those good Football players just happened to be born in the south of the county? Maybe they were, I don't know, but there is a possible explanation not based on birth demographics... Friendship has kids from 9 counties. Great. But that does NOT mean that they have a bigger zone than you. Surely you can grasp that every kid from those 9 counties simply is not available to Friendship as a student. They DO have a closed zone. It is just closed financially. And, unless you are accusing them of illegal practices, their zone is even more closed than yours. The reason is that you have 1000 or so kids available to your high school for 0 tuition, they have to go through 9 counties' populations to get their 260. Their zone is SMALLER than yours. A small but very deep puddle can hold more water than a wide but shallow one. Privates have a wide puddle...they have to because not many kids are available to them (it is shallow). Public zones are limited by county lines, but EVERY kid is available to them within that zone (small but deep). By the way, South Pitt, Tyner, Alcoa, Trousdale County, Fulton and a dozen other small publics are within 30 miles of an urban area...see anything similar about them? I'm betting you do... -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
But whether 'crossover' actually happens isn't the question. After all, you said the advantage small privates have is potential. Open counties have a potential for more athletes. Just like your theory that small privates have that potential. And it all depends on what you call an 'urban' and a 'rural' area. If that means within city limits then magnets like Tyner fall right in there. If it means within 30 miles of a big city then lots of small publics fall in there... I'm still waiting to see if you have checked actual financial records to see what the zone is for small privates. Don't forget to include all the privates in an area, and don't forget that many of the kids' families who could pay simply won't do it with free public ed available. I am thinking the records are probably publicly available. I'm also thinking you won't like the results. The reason is that I know that most small privates are not completely full...thus they are taking all of the kids they can. The implication is that there is not a large, mysterious "pool" out there that they are drawing from...they are taking every available kid. And that makes their "pool" the same size as every school with their enrollment. But I'm willing to see the actual population demographics. -
Federal Income Tax
Baldcoach replied to ImaSavage's topic in Politics, National Issues, & Controversy
Markets surge and recede. The dollar waxes and wanes. The deficit really isn't a deficit...the money to operate it comes from bonds and as long as the return on them is within normal parameters the 'deficit' doesn't exist. But I still don't like the idea of borrowing on future returns...I do like the idea of a balanced budget. Clinton balanced the budget is false...Congress controls the purse strings, not the President. And the last 10-20 years worth of economic policies set up the present ones. To blame current poor market performance on the current administration or Congress is too simplistic. Sure, they have an input BUT it is the general Big Government policy of constantly expanding its services that is really to blame...and that is our fault for letting the central Gov. get so large. The only way to get things under control is to radically curb spending = cut a lot of programs. I'm for closing our bases in Europe and combining our military into one single service. Make it smaller but much more mobile and responsive. Save gajillions on all the bases and immobile heavy units in Europe left over from the Cold War. It would be a start... -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
I would say that that assumption must be true. I would also propose that it is a multiplicative effect...not only do you reduce the families available to pay as you raise tuition, but you begin to draw from the same incomes that are already being mined by the elite preps. Since they can offer financial aid, you actually cost MORE than they do too...a tough place to be. We are seeing some of this in the 'nooga right now. The preps get 5 or 6 of our best academic/athletic kids every year by giving out enough financial aid that they can attend for LESS than what they pay to attend our school. It is why I get a laugh when small publics complain about the DI privates having more and better athletes...many of our best get siphoned right off to the elite preps. -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
I think we should all be in the same division, aid, non-aid, magnet, open zone, closed zone. I never had a problem with playing the aid schools. It was really BA beating Riverdale that got all of that (and this) started. I think the potential for abuse is greater for those schools that offer financial aid, but that does not mean that all of those schools actually abuse the system. From the beginning I thought the TSSAA should severly punish intentional violaters rather than force a new division. If you want to discourage cheating you smash it hard every time it turns up, you don't declare a whole group of schools guilty and separate them. It would be the equivalent of me catching an athlete cheating on a test and giving all athletes in the classroom 0s because I thought they were more likely to cheat than non-athletes. I'm thinking most people wouldn't stand for that. I don't know why they stand for this. Here is a question back at you. Wouldt you agree that publics in open counties or magnets have even more athletes to choose from than small privates? And here is a question about your assumption that we have more to choose from. Have you actually checked population demographics vs. incomes to come to that conclusion, or is it just a 'feeling' you have? -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Put up some figures. I don't have them. In the major sports (Football, Basketball, Baseball/Softball) what are the championship numbers for 1a - 3a for the last 3 years. I haven't checked them, but if you are gonna say something at least back it up. I suspect that you are correct...I know that Temple has won 1a BB several times, and I know that in girl's softball the privates dominate. Then the question becomes is it a public private thing or a rural urban thing. So to make your argument stick you need to go to 4 and 5a in those sports and check urban vs rural schools. I suspect that you will find that urbans beat rurals in the same ratio or a greater ratio than privates beat publics. If so, I trust that your sense of fairness will require that all urban schools be kicked out too...LOL /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> -
What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Not using Baldy math, just stating facts. The small privates do NOT have more athletes to choose from. Our zone is closed...as closed as any public zone. Our zone is just financial, not geographic. So your 1 main reason is that the small privates have more athletes? That is why they should be split? -
Let's keep in mind that by Top privates we are talking about DII privates...which have already been split. The DI privates don't pay nearly as well as most publics, and they have worse insurance and much worse retirement plans. Further the coaches and teachers have heavier class loads in general. The trade off is that the parents and kids are generally achiever types. Just wanted to clarify the debate. McCallie etc. = elite privates with lots of $ = DII.
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What the heck is a "level playing field"
Baldcoach replied to Baldcoach's topic in Public-Private Debate
Wow Devil, you can read my mind. Cool!!! Let's do it some more! Ok, I'm thinking of someone who was debating Football and small privates splitting, got his head handed to him because he didn't know very much, and changed the subject to other sports with no warning so that he could claim victory and that those who disagreed with him were unfair and mean and darn it, just didn't care! Without me giving too many hints, can you pick up my psychic waves like you did when you somehow became aware of my thoughts and motives in your last post? Frankly, as I have said many times, playing in 2a has forced us to try to get better. In the long run that will help us. I argue for a merit system if we are going to use anything other than school population because a merit system ACTUALLY PUTS SCHOOLS WHERE THEY BELONG based on record, not someone's opinion about what advantages they may or may not have. It would put my team right where it is, or one division higher, so it isnt' helping us. But it is, unlike a multiplier for some schools (did you realize that the multiplier actually only makes a difference for 9 schools...betcha you didn't) and not for others with the same advantages, a fair system of classification.