RHSfan

turbo, Good post! It is pretty much the same in baseball. The very best you have, ever will have, or even hope to have is just not good enough. It is as though you are playing up 2 classes. RHSfan

Perhaps the sky is falling, also! EGO, you probably are correct, USJ only came in second in the state in single A baseball. The dynasty is over!!! Can you name one single A public school that has beaten USJ in baseball? How far back did you have to go to find one? With the exception of Rockwood beating Friendship Christian in this year's state tournament, when was the last time a single A public school beat a single A private school in the state baseball tournament? Most single A public schools don't just run across an entire baseball team made of the caliber of athletes that USJ has, not even once in a lifetime. RHSfan

gobigred, The private school teams that the Rockwood baseball team plays are made up of kids just like mine. They are friends and fierce competitors on the field. We play Webb, Knox Catholic and CAK (all from Knoxville). Webb, especially, gives us a regular thumping on the field. So do the other AA and AAA schools we play. They don't beat us as badly as they used to, the tougher competition makes us better. We play them in the regular season to better prepare us for post season, but we don't expect to have to play them in post season. In post season play, we don't face AA teams, AAA teams or Div II teams, so why should we have to face the powerhouse Div I privates who could either dominate class AA or be very competitive in AAA? Again, I say, the kids are great, the competition is good; it's the system that is flawed when it comes to post season play. RHSfan

gobigred, I can't answer for turbo, but I will take the liberty of giving a reply to your question. Private schools are great and they are needed. I strongly considered one when my son went to high school. The distance from our home to the closest private was just too great an obstacle to overcome. My son has played baseball, both with and against players who attend private schools. He and I both have made wonderful friends with private school players and their parents. It definitely is not the schools that I have a problem with, it is the system. It is a flawed system that puts the powerhouse privates in the same classification as the rural single A publics. The real shame in my opinion is why did it almost take a revolt for the TSSAA to recognize there was a problem? RHSfan

EGO, All the advantages you listed are social advantages. Yes, you are correct they are advantages, but not athletic advantages. The debate in this forum is centered upon the potential athletic advantages the privates (open zoned-VG) have over the single A publics. RHSfan

If that is the case, how can a school such as USJ wind up with a record of 41-8? Even if you back out the eight post season games, that leaves them playing 41 regular season games. I have heard that if you play out of state teams, those games don't count against your 32, but I am not sure that is correct. How can 41 regular season games be accomplished? RHSfan

Co-Players of the Year- Robert Gilmore (Rockwood), Amran Adkisson (Oakdale) Coach of the Year - David Lane (Rockwood) First Team Rockwood - Brian Reed, Eric Webb, Seth Robinson, E.T. McCreary Harriman - Alex Hall, Kevin Monk, Tyler Miller, Jeff Hampton, Jason Eble, Billy Ledbetter, Dustin Smith Oakdale - Danny Perkins, Michael Paul Gilbert Coalfield - Ricky Lowe, Daniel Norman, Tyler Merideth Sunbright - Justin Durham Oneida - Andrew Burress Wartburg - Daniel Morgan, Joe Morgan, Matt Vann, John T. Armes Honorable Mention Harriman - Brett Grizzard, Cory Dryman Oakdale - Rex Ruppe, Chris Torgler Sunbright - Clint Newport, Jordan Young

VG, You are correct, the open zoned single A magnet schools will have the exact same advantages that we publics are complaining that some single A privates have. I personally don't think the multiplier will work, it will only move the problem to AA. I like the idea of a merit based plan such as silverpie's, but I haven't heard that TSSAA is even looking into such a plan. Other than better coaching and working harder , What are your feelings on the matter? What plan will work and satisfy all? RHSfan

boysfromsi, I am a public school supporter, I do not believe private schools cheat to win. The problem I have with private schools is their ability to build powerhouse programs completely within the rules. Because of their lack of zones, the stronger programs attract the better athletes; something the single A publics can't do. There is really no limit as to how strong a program the privates can build. Good coaches attract good athletes, good athletes build strong programs, strong programs attract even better athletes, the cycle goes on and on. The single A publics really can't build anything, they just take the coaches and athletes they have and do the best they can. The people who want the private schools out of single A are not whiners, they are just being realistic. It is not a level playing field, and never will be under the current system. In another thread in the Baseball Forum, it was posted that at the state baseball tournament, Rockwood's players looked like Jr. High School players. The players on the team who remind others of Jr. High players are all that Rockwood has. We can't attract bigger better players the way privates and open zoned schools can. It is debatable, but it can be said that Rockwood had the best single A public school baseball team in the state (maybe not the best, but finished highest in the tournament) and the best the publics have to offer in single A looks like a Jr High team to some of the private supporters. In the 2003 Spring Fling, Rockwood beat Friendship Christian. This was the first instance of a public school beating a private school in a single game in the state tournament since 1999, when Coalfield beat Jackson Christian and went on to win the state championship. Something is seriously wrong with the system when only two times in five years, a public school has defeated a private school in a game in the state tournament.

BNA, No, Rockwood does not have a summer travel team. Part of the problem with single A publics is they are located in fairly small communities. These small communities for the most part have stuck with Dixie Youth and Little League rec ball. Several of the small communities have only had one or two ballfields, therefore they go with one of the above mentioned baseball organizations so they can play all age groups on a T-Ball field. Some communities such as Rockwood have recently built baseball complexes which can accomodate several size fields. Those places are beginning to see the need for AAU, AABC, or USSSA baseball. Playing on graduated size fields and by real baseball rules will help these communities develope stronger HS programs. With the competitive level of baseball going up, some players and their parents are seeing the need of travel teams, tournament teams, etc. Rockwood's recreational baseball program is now at the level that urban areas were at twenty years ago. I may be mistaken, but as far as I know, there are only 2 baseball players on the high school team playing summer ball on a competitive level. One is playing for the Yard Dogs out of Knoxville and one is playing for Pro Concepts out of Jefferson City. Year before last, our HS coach tried to get several HS teams (within a 20-30 mile radius) to play a limited summer schedule. It was very difficult for the Rockwood team (probably others also), because of summer basketball practice, football practice, athletic camps and some athletes having to work. I envy schools who have a talent pool large enough to allow them to have single (or even dual) sport athletes. RHSfan

Hey BriC, congratulations to you and your team for getting as far as you did! Webb had a lot of fans from Rockwood pulling for you guys. Get rested up and hopefully I'll see you around the ballfields this summer. RHSfan

ditto..........RHSfan

Ego, One thing that you may not realize is that in most single A publics, all the athletes are playing. There are so few really good athletes in the small publics that most of them are 3 sport players. I don't think you have a lot of that in the privates. It is very difficult for an athlete to become really good in any sport when they are stretched so thinly over 3 sports. Very few good athletes specialize in one sport because there are not enough athletes in the small public schools to support 3 sports. It's not just the matter of convincing more students to participate in athletics, there generally are no more athletes to get. In small towns, even the summer rec programs have problems fielding enough teams to qualify for leagues. In some small towns, there just isn't enough athletes to build a bigger program. (This may not be the case in basketball, but it is in baseball and football) RHSfan

99, Ruby Tuesday's, Hiwassee gets his colors mixed up! RHSfan

Rockwood sends its congratulations to Farragut. Good job guys! RHSfan

Hey VolGen, I didn't give you permission to use my photograph in your post! RHSfan

Ego, The food issue is probably just needing to be familiar with the area. Now that we know this information, we will just have to work extremely hard to get back next year so we can put your information to good use! RHSfan

itzme, Yeah, you probably are correct, but I thought it sounded better my way! It is a very tough class and I make no excuses, the teams still in the tournament when Rockwood left are to be commended for putting together a great bunch of players and doing their job on the field. Congratulations to all the baseball players this season who played their hardest to go as far as they could go, no matter if your last game was in the districts, regionals, sectionals, or state. RHSfan

Congratulations to Davidson Academy, the 2003 Single A State Baseball Champion! RHSfan

opperman, Don't get me wrong, it is difficult sometimes for me to convey in the written word the difference between dissatisfaction and constructive criticism. We had a great time (especially since we had cell phones and walkie talkies to occupy our time in the traffic delays!!). I think SoupKitchen will take offense to your remark about fast food workers, he told me that eating establishment employees were the smartest people in the world!!! RHSfan

Congratulations to Davidson Academy. RHSfan

muffin, Rockwood is still rockin'. You don't rock right out of it, you just keep plugging along! Being among the top 6 or so teams in single A in the state is nothing to be ashamed of. RHSfan

I felt right at home seeing all those orange barrels, I thought TDOT was hoarding them all in east Tennessee! Actually, I-40 was closed down to one lane Wenesday. It took us over an hour to get from exit 12 to exit 16. Coming home Thursday, the entire I-40 east was shut down. We heard that where the construction was, I-40 was reduced to one lane, there was a wreck on the one lane and they closed the interstate. Luckily, we were able to cross the median, get off the interstate and go east a few miles on a state hwy, then get back on the interstate. I blame TDOT for all that mess. I will be critical of TSSAA in one area, they should have had contingency fields available for making up rain delayed games. Once the fields became playable on Wednesday, if there had been other fields available, everything could have remained somewhat on schedule. As it turned out, the Rockwood vs. Friendship Christian game didn't start until after 5 pm, so Rockwood (and presumably, Friendship also) did not get to participate in the opening ceremony. Rockwood had the late game Tuesday night at Christian Bros.HS (beautiful facilities). by the time we got back to Germantown Blvd, all the fast food eating establishments had closed. Seems most of them close at 10 pm. We really didn't have time to eat anywhere other than fast food because we had an early game Wednesday. All the players missed curfew and had to get up early Wed. to get to Autozone just to find out there would be a 2-4 hour delay getting the field ready (because of rain Tuesday night). A simple phone call to the concerned teams motel would have been nice. We were at Autozone Park from 8:30 until approx 1:30 just waiting to find out if, when and where we were to play. I seriously wonder if Autozone had any intentions of having the park ready for the first game anyway, the clean-up crew did not show up until after our scheduled gametime to clean the staduim, the concession stands were not open the entire time I was there. (As a side note- not one single eating establishment that our team members and parents ate at on Germantown Blvd. knew what the Spring Fling was! How well did TSSAA and the Memphis Sports Authority publicize this event?) The fields are so spread out, and there was not much communication between the venues, we had a difficult time trying to keep up with how the other east TN teams were doing. I would have thought there would have been a set of tournament brackets posted with scores at each venue, but I never did see any. If Rockwood again has the opportunity to participate in the Spring Fling, we will go wherever is required. I have nothing against Memphis, but it does seem that the Nashville/Murfreesboro area would be more convenient to all concerned. We had a great time and it was a great experience. RHSfan PS. I got to see some old friends and met some new ones. To those CoachT posters out there that I got to meet, I appreciate the opportunity. To those who were there that I did not get the opportunity to meet, hopefully we will get another chance next year. You sure can make a lot of friends watching your sons play baseball! Thank you CoachT for helping to bring us all together............RHSfan

soccerpro1, The baseball teams remaining in the state single A tournament when Rockwood was ousted are great baseball teams. They are single A, they are private schools, and they are stronger teams than Rockwood. I applaud their efforts and their ability, but I will not stoop so low as to belittle a single one of them. You may think my post to start this thread was a joke. For your information, I was dead serious. To be the top single A public school in the tournament is a great accomplishment for our sutdents and athletes. I, for one, will give them the praise they deserve, even though the TSSAA (and some self righteous, arrogant private school supporters) won't. I find your remarks offensive, but don't worry too much about that because I will get over it. Congratulations to a small public school which played hard and went as far as they could go. RHSfan

I had the pleasure of getting to watch one of your games at the Spring Fling. You came close! You have a great team and a great bunch of parents and fans. The Rockwood bunch was pulling for you but, I guess it just was not to be. Dice1550, I didn't get to meet you, but I did get to meet your parents. I wish you the best of luck in your baseball future. Good luck to all you CCS players, work hard and maybe we will have a chance to meet up again in Memphis. RHSfan