bergil24

Im sorry, was I mistaken? Did all basketball players of a few years ago pay the full cost to go to Catholic?

First of all it hasn??™t been 20 games, second of all Catholic recruited players and gave scholarships all of those years except the last few and even then had the players they had recruited as freshmen and sophomores. Let's talk in a couple years when the playing field has been evened out. I feel like everyone is just arguing in circles (and starting to get off topic). If i remember correctly from what all has been said, the reasons people are giving for Coach Darden's dismissal are: 1: He drove away potential basketball players, 2: His W/L record. So I am going to take these one at a time. The first reason, while it is possible that some people didnt play because of the coach I would think that this would be a pretty weak reason for firing someone, especially someone who has the support 98% of his players over the past 6 years. How is it that nearly everyone who played for the man is shocked that he could be let go, if he really was that bad? Also, as i said in an earlier post, if you dont play because you dont like Coach Darden then you really dont want to play in the first place. There is no place for people like that on a team of any sport, they have negativity and they bring the team down. Also along this topic people may ask, "Why are so few people going out for the team if it's not because of the coach?" Well to that I would have one word: Football. Since CAK started a Varsity Football program the number of people trying out for basketball has decreased almost every year (as far as i know). To have a successful football team, a school like CAK needs almost every male athlete in the school to play. So, after football season when it's time for basketball a lot of the kids just want to relax. They've been playing football every day since summer, they have not been practicing with the basketball team in the off season and they are exhausted from non-stop football. So they don??™t play basketball and get to take a break for a few months. While I completely understand wanting to take time off, you can??™t blame a coach because many of the athletes are doing this. The second reason is his W/L record. After seeing the post earlier with the district record over the past 4 years i honestly was shocked. I didn??™t realize it was this bad and if this was a public school I could see how they could simply look at this and consider some coaching changes, but at CAK i would expect them to look a little bit deeper. You can't just look at the record and automatically blame the coach. You have to look at the situation, talent he has to work with and the competition he is up against. Starting with competition, they moved up to AA 4 years ago. So, yeah, instead of playing Greenback and Midway in the district, you've got Anderson County and Catholic. I would argue that most teams would suffer from a division change like this, especially when, for whatever reason, you have fewer and fewer people coming out for basketball. So, if you still think that the W/L record was because of coaching and not because of available talent or increased competition then i would say, look at the man??™s credentials. He took a CAK team farther than any CAK has ever gone after only 2 years at the school, not to mention his 599 wins and everything else that has been mentioned in this thread that would be redundant at this point. So I am wondering, how on earth does CAK think they are going to find anyone who can do any better? Yeah it will seem like coaching when next year??™s team does better than this year??™s, but the experience that this young team got is going to be the main reason, not coaching (im not saying the next coach will be bad, just making my point). But apparently for CAK a record is a record, if that in fact is why he was fired. I don??™t think Coach G will have to worry about losing his job either, even if he does have a losing record one year, but if he happens to have a parent with exceptional pull at the school go after his job that losing year, then I wouldn??™t be surprised if this whole thing started again.

I have been part of this basketball program for about 8 years now. When I started we had a very talented team who underachieved because we had a coach who did not push us how we needed to be pushed and players who cared more about what the CAK basketball program could do for them than what they could do for the program. If we had had Coach Darden those two years I can almost guarantee that some of the people who played would not have. They were talented basketball players but overall they were more harm to the team than good. When Coach Darden came everything was different. Those of us who wanted to be there did what he said and did it as hard as we could because he made us believe that that is what it took. During those years there were people in the high school who could have played basketball, and to the outside observer would have seemingly made a positive difference for the team. But no one said anything because, hey we won 26 games or whatever and went to state (never mind that the competition was less than what they are playing against now). There was even very little fuss made over the dismissal of the 6th man mid way through the season. We put our trust in the Coach that he knew what was best and look where it got us. Now, back to the present. If there were students in the high school who could have made a contribution to the basketball team but didn??™t because of Coach Darden then I don??™t understand how or why anyone would want that kind of player. If you don??™t love the game enough to put up with a coach then you shouldn??™t play, and that should be OK. For a team to succeed they have to have passion and they have to have chemistry. If some players care less than others they bring the team down. Athleticism is not the only thing a basketball player or team needs. The team first and foremost needs to be a team. They need to be brothers and learn to work together to achieve a common goal. Again, if someone can simply give up basketball because of a coach then they do not have the fire that they need and in the long run it is better for the team that they are not on the bench but in the stands. An exception would be if the coach is over the top abusive or somehow offends the players or at least gives them a good excuse not to play. From what I??™ve heard no one quit because they got yelled at, they quit because they didn??™t play as much as they wanted to. Either way, I think it is safe to assume, after seeing all the positive response from past players, that there is nothing about the man Johnny Darden that would qualify as an acceptable excuse for someone to give up a sport that they love or to even not play in the first place. The team this year was young and had their problems, but I would argue that Coach Darden helped the basketball program in the long run. The kids who wanted to be there were there, and regardless of what happened this year, next year those kids are going to be better than they would have been if they had had uncommitted juniors and seniors leading them. If Coach Darden had never come to CAK then yeah, maybe some more players would have played, but it would have been the same situation as my sophomore year (2002-2003) when a team with more talent than any CAK team I have ever heard of, underachieved because of a few talented kids who didn??™t REALLY care about basketball. I??™m sad to see this happen because I know that my last string connecting me to CAK basketball just got fired, and that I will probably no longer have an affiliation with the team that I use to love. That being said, I wish the best for next year??™s team (most of whom I have coached before). I know you guys aren??™t lazy. Also, best of luck to the new coach. Most importantly, Coach Darden, I am a different man because of you as I know so many others are too. You deserve the best and I hope you find it. I will be praying that you do.

Most of the things that I wanted to say have already been said on this thread so i will try to not be repetitive. My sophmore year of high school we had 5 seniors and 4 juniors, we lost the first round of region. My junior year Darden became the new coach. 5 seniors and 1 junior, we lost the first round of region. But in only his second year with only 1 returning starter Coach Darden brought a group of guys together and made us a team. As far as I know we went 4 games further than any CAK team had ever gone. Without Coach Darden I can say without a doubt in my mind that that never would have happened. The point I'm trying to make is my senior season we had less tallent and less experience than either of the teams the two previous years, but Coach Darden was able to accomplish what no other coach at CAK could, and I think I can speak for the rest of the players on that team in saying that we had a lot of fun doing it. I could not have asked for a better coach or leader than Coach Darden and I thank God that I had the opportunity and privilege to play for him. To those of you who complained that he was too hard on you, the only thing I have to say is: grow up. Love you Coach.

well then its a good thing that they only have to do it in 4.

its dissapointing to get this far and lose in a close game like that. i know that i will never forget many of the things that happened durring the game. i would like to thank all the fans for comming and supporting us through out the season. high school basketball is one of the greatest things in life and i am going to miss in alot. good luck to cak next year.

i figured the 200lbs was a mistake but noone for ezell has corrected it. so can someone who knows please confirm the actual weight of ezells "big" man.

6'11 and 200 lbs., cant wait to see that.

I think the Temple vs. Middleton will be one of the best games of the tournament. too bad its in the first round. Temple should win the whole thing, but in basketball any team can play well one game and win so ill be looking for some upsets.

i really dont think you can tell what team will win state. alot of stuff has to go right. if cak does win tonight they will have to win two more games and then play temple in the simi-finals to even get to state, and that will not be an easy thing to do. anyways good luck to both teams tonight.

im just glad the jerks from midway are out of it.

does anyone know how the games went tonight?

CAK lost, but it was a much closer game than the first time.

Phillipsism #9) (After a loss) "Lord we thankyou, because you tell us to." Phillipsism #10) "Adversity doesn't build character, it reveals it."

Jeremy was sick yesterday with a 102 temp. He watched the game from the stands. Dont know if he will be in tonights game against Catholic. With Jer gone it was time for someone to step up. Eric Webb did just that. He came out and hit his first three shots. He had 12 points in the first half, and many assists. The warriors played a great game but i think the key to the win was the fan section.