crazzyness

That Eagleton bunch was Downy soft on the line, and HV punished them for it. 

I mean it's real dang simple. The coaches are asked if the players are properly equipped according to NFHS regulation. That means all players are wearing all required safety equipment properly. The coaches invariably say yes. It's on them at that point. 

Maybe if coaches made sure they're players were wearing SAFETY equipment properly, the officials wouldn't have to worry about it. But, here we are. 

I mean how darn ridiculous would it be if a high school baseball coach sent a player to the plate wearing a batting helmet with no flaps, and then folks got mad at the umpire for making it an issue. Let's think about it guys. 

I'll ask the question no one else is gonna ask... If Greeneville and Elizabethton both REALLY want/need a game so bad, why in the heck don't they just get together for a non region game with one another??? Split the gate 50/50, heck maybe even try to get it at ETSU. Have it Thursday and it would be the must see event in all of NE TN. 

Everyone wants to run around fussing about Boone and West (that's a region game they MUST get in, and this evening would have been just as tricky as the last two) or the TSSAA, when as extremely simple, logical answer is right there in front of everyone. 

They probably couldn't have gotten this thing going again till at least after 10 right?? Then what? Folks don't get home till well after midnight. And that's only IF no more thunderstorms popped up behind it.. It's a Thursday, adults have to go to work and kids need to go to school tomorrow. There's more important things at play than finishing a non region football game. I mean, yeah it sucks they didn't get to finish, but let's have some perspective here. 

4 hours ago, cbg said:

Officials are leaving not due to the fans but due to two factors:

1.  In past years had judges, physicians, businessmen, etc.  that officiated games because in their younger years they played the game at a high level and want to stay involved in the game.  For whatever reason those individuals rarely ever get into officiating and now we have people that didn’t play the game at a high level and are doing it as a major source of income.

2.  If the pay is increased you will see more qualified individuals get involved in the game.  Like Dorris Armstrong once told me “all of these people say they are officiating for the kids but if you ever stop paying them they will stop officiating”. Simply put most people want to be compensated fairly for their work. 

I officiated for over 25 years and I only ever remember having one (1) fan ejected.  If the official walks into the gym like a professional everyone will know that they are in charge and rarely will confront them or act like a fool.  As an official you stop the game and give a verbal warning to the disobedient fan and that normally eliminates all issues going forward.

Friend, with all respect, if you think the drop in officials isn't directly correlated with the increasingly brazen and disrespectful behavior displayed by fans (mostly parents,) you've been out of the vocation too long to give an accurate assessment on the matter. Nearly everyday, you can scrounge through regional newspapers and find fresh stories about officials being abused/assaulted/mugged/stabbed/shot. These aren't isolated incidents. This is a growing reality.

Retention rates and want for better pay are factors too, but those are both directly tied to the disrespectful, all too often violent behavior being shown towards officials anymore. If fans weren't as bad, we could retain more officials. If pay was better, we'd have more officials willing to put up with it.

Concerning retention rates, in my local association, I'd imagine our 3 year retention rate for new officials is around 15%, especially in basketball and baseball. If we could just get one in three new guys to stick around, we'd be bringing in more than are retiring every year, but folks don't see putting up with the abuse as worth it. 

On 7/14/2023 at 4:32 PM, TryNotToSuck said:

So, what if a fan gets ejected, and no one knows who he/she is? Which school is getting the fine?

TSSAA continues to create crazy ideas where there are more questions than answers.

 

When in the history of interscholastic sporting events has some no-name vagabond, with no ties to either school, appeared out of thin air to pay admission into an event so they can make a scene and be ejected, just to disappear like a fart in the wind never to be seen or heard from again?

Let's be realistic and leave the strawman arguments at home. 

On 7/14/2023 at 11:27 PM, cbg said:

Since when has the TSSAA ever been proactive?  The TSSAA is the most politically charged and inept organization in the State of Tennessee.

Sure, the TSSAA, as a whole, is completely inept, with poor leadership. That said, what does that have to do in particular with this matter?

The TSSAA has no way of controlling spectators at any particular sporting events at any particular time. Game administration, on the other hand, does. Be it the AD, principal, or whoever is assigned the job that night, the game administrator's job is to make sure the event goes smoothly. That includes getting a handle on rude, disrespectful, and belligerent fans BEFORE it becomes an issue.  

It's about darn time for something like this to be implemented. If the hosts school's game administration would act proactively instead of reactively, 95% of fan issues would be resolved before there was ever need for anyone to be removed from the game. 

On 5/24/2023 at 10:37 AM, Cactus Jack said:

Having been to all of these, I think its about right. DB did a nice job modernizing J. Fred, although I agree with some that the baseball stadium should have been moved to be by itself. The visitors side at DB does leave a little to be desired as well as their visitors locker room!

Agreed, they've done J Fred up to be an impressive place to watch football. But it has to be arguably the worst place in America to watch a baseball game. Every seat is a terrible seat. 

11 hours ago, davidlimbaugh said:

We need to get TSSAA to start season a week earlier....

You've normally got some pretty darn good takes sir, but imma have to absolutely disagree on this particular one. 

In a perfect world, IMO, baseball would begin alittle later, and the TSSAA would finally concede that trying to have everything wrapped up before June is just too compressed, and have baseball continue after traditional school ending dates. I'd really like to see the regular season start a week or two later, wrap up the regular season the Thursday or Friday prior to Memorial Day, then come back and crank up the post season after the holiday weekend. 

I mean, in Tennessee, we play regular season football for 11 weeks, regular season basketball for 13 weeks (and a post season that lasts over a month,) and regular season baseball for (checks notes) 7 weeks?!??!?     

That's absolutely ludicrous, trying to get in a 30-40 game regular season PLUS the entirety of the post season in only 10 1/2 weeks. All the while, basketball gets nearly 19 weeks for a 25-30 game regular season and postseason. Baseball in this state is just entirely far too compressed. 

*Edit* 

After rereading what I typed, I suppose we could also help things out if we didn't drag basketball out for 4 1/2 months in this state.

19 hours ago, noonesfool said:

Looked at the video several times the runner comes into third standing and puts a forearm elbow into the 3rd baseman. 3rd baseman not inhibiting any further advancement of the runner. HOWEVER, the 3rd baseman cold cocks the runner and the benches clear. Coaches do a great job. Some fans do a great job as well. I’d say the TSSAA working overtime today. UC runner sneaky dirty. Per my wifey, a proud 1974 Unicoi County cheerleader. Go Toppers!

Agreed, the contact created by the runner was somewhat excessive.

That said, the guy in 3rd was absolutely obstructing the runner's path. Directly on the bag, without the ball. IF the game continues (I'd honestly be surprised if it did,) if officiated correctly, that runner should be granted home by rule. Wether he had intent to advance to home is irrelevant in NFHS rules. Once the runner is obstructed, by rule, he is awarded the next base. (6-1-H.2 NFHS)

30 minutes ago, Tab said:

It was not the 3rd baseman it was the pitcher covering 3rd. If you were there looks like you would know. There is a video that shows the whole episode on the Times News site.

Oh, well just pardon the the heck out of me!!!

Would it make you feel better if I went back and replaced "3B" with "the fielder standing on 3B?"

1 hour ago, WaCoJaCo said:

Sorta off topic but does anyone know what started the big fight between Unicoi and Elizabethton today. The game was at Cardinal Park in Johnson City. I was told it was a bench clearing fight that involved coaches and players on the field as well as fans fighting in the stands. Said they counted 11 police cars responding. 

There was an extremely moderate collision (obstruction) with a runner rounding 3rd and 3B just standing on the bag with his teeth in his mouth on a shot down the right field line. There was no immediate play at 3rd, I believe the runner was being held up, but he was still rounding and there were bodies bumping. 

Now allegedly, the runner spat on the 3B, maybe said some words. I couldn't confirm that from where I was sitting. What is clear cut though, is 3B absolutely waylayed the runner after that. Like Manny Pacquiao would have been proud of how fast the kid was landing punches. He was able to land a solid 5 or 6 punches at least before anyone got to him. Erwin bench clears; somebody flies outta Erwin bench like a missile and tackles the puncher. Pitcher then gets involved, then someone tags the pitcher a few times. By that time most, if not all of Elizabethton's bench has cleared. That was all I could clearly make out before complete chaos ensued.

I don't believe any coaches fought. The stands were about 3 seconds from being a melee before a couple level headed parents backed each side down, I didnt see any pounches thrown in the stands. Just some pushing before it was quelled. 

Within 30 seconds both schools had administrative personnel on the field clearing their guys off. Hermitage was called, game was suspended. I'd imagine neither team has enough players to continue due to ejections. I'd personally be surprised if they're not both disqualified from post season. 

On 4/5/2023 at 8:14 PM, IPOPU2022 said:

Don’t sleep on Unaka they’re going to get better as the season goes on

I hate to say it, but no. Sure, Ramsey is a good arm, but they can't hit, they are error prone, they're fundamentally unsound, and they're undisciplined. I mean they're somewhat better than than they were last year, but that was bar none the worst team Unaka has ever produced in it's 80+ year history. If they win more than 5 games this year, it'll be a good season. 

UH is young and just not really that sharp, I think they'll end up in Murfreesboro come May just by process of elimination. NG is down. Hampton isn't very good. In district 2, I think Hancock County might come out on top, and they couldn't play dead in a cowboy movie. 

Coalfield is obviously the best team in section 1, and I'm not even sold on them being THAT good. Only other region 2 teams I see doing anything are Oneida or Greenback, and I don't see either of them bussing up to Johnson City and winning two games in a 3 day period. 

It's just not a good year for 1A baseball over on the far eastern side of the state. 

On 3/24/2023 at 10:53 AM, BigOrangeBaller said:

I think from what I have heard from some decent officials about why they don't get high profile regular season games, much less state tournament games is because their mechanics isn't the old "bird dog" type that Mr. Menees looks for in an official. Now, I understand that some of that stuff is important, but just because someone can call a foul and stand like a statue in doing so with my hands in the right position doesn't mean that it was the right call. I think that it is time that the officials that don't make the games about them and do/try to do a decent job of getting the calls right and communicating with those involved should start getting those important regular season games and state tournament games. Just my 2 cents... 

Yeah, the sooner folks realize that MOST the officials in the higher profile games are there because they are:

1) butt kissers

2) yes men

3) part of the good 'ol boy clique

And not because of their actual ability, then everything would make much more sense to them. Rules knowledge and hustle are secondary to politics. And this culture is promoted from the very top down. 

Also, they'd get much better consistency in the State Tournament if they let officials familiar with one another work games together, instead of just throwing 3 random fellas from different ends of the state on the court. 

26 minutes ago, Tab said:

I meant no Cloudland or Unaka 2 easy games and North Greene was not really that good. Plus region 2 was real bad.

WG is just as bad as Unaka/Cloudland. And HV is even worse. CD graduates alot of their talent. SG loses a decent chunk, I think. Now, Johnson County? They had arguably the best JV/Freshman team in the area, regardless of classification. Plus Atwood's kid will be a freshman next year. The '24-'25 & '25-'26 Johnson County teams could be special. 

2 hours ago, THE KING said:

Best chance our girls had of winning gold was in 2014 when we had the trio of Clarke, Wilson, and Mull.  We lost to Meigs 68-66 in substate.  They lost to eventual state champ union city by 9 in the semifinals.  We were as good as the best teams that year.  

Well I was referencing district 1A boys and the 2012 Cloudland team. But the same could be said for girls too, piggybacking a bit off of SG's stay in 1A.

1 hour ago, Tab said:

Hampton goes to 2a next year. So they will have a real hard time making it the next 2 years.

Well Hampton will have a different make up next year, so it's kinda apples to oranges. That said, this season, I believe they very well could have made it to state in 2A, and I certainly think in 3A. They were better than Volunteer and Unicoi County.

1 hour ago, THE KING said:

Our district is always good in basketball.  The girls from our district may get one too eventually 

Very true. Most folks don't think about it, but we've sent 4 of our 5 teams to at least the semi finals over the last 20 seasons. And Cloudland was soooooo close to making it that one year. 

Hampton has gone ice cold. They're gonna let it slip away. 

Middleton is certainly the favorite, but Hampton has the horses to pull it off.

UH shot the ball absolutely horrible (by their standards) and they were still only down 2 with about 30 seconds left in the 3rd. So they showed Middleton isn't in a completely different echelon like alot of folks thought.

UH is making Middleton work for it, that's for sure. 

I don't think UH has the horsepower to keep up with Middleton, unfortunately. If they shoot it as hot as they did the other day, I think they can make it interesting though. 

Either way, Herman has done a fine job coaching them this year. 

When's the last time a Hampton team didn't make a single 3 point basket, and WON?? Had to at least been when White was still at the helm. 

I don't know any details. But from the outside looking in, it certainly looks like this "school" was conjured up so this cat could have his travel basketball team play school ball.