whiskeyjoe

BCB - You've definitely got a claim for damages against whoever placed those ads on your post, but you've got even stronger claims against those posters who've infringed your trademarked spinning flowery smiley face thingy. Sue now and take names later!

B.B. - When are the Nationals? I thought they usually were held in March.

BigRB: Do not fall for that. Bear Cat Brown has no clue who you are. He still suspects you're Mrs. WhiskeyJoe. (I don't know who you are either, but I know you're not she, because your posts aren't filled with grammatical errors, and you know too much wrestling.)

Big Red Blooded says he'll be at the Cat at noon on Wednesday to deliver a lunch seminar on the ethics vs. legality of videotaping opposing wrestlers. He says it's okay to videotape his seminar so long as you use a tripod.

The schedule is now posted on the TSSAA website. Finals are to be on Friday, Feb. 16 at 4:00 pm. I'm surprised TSSAA didn't move them to Friday evening so more people can attend.

I've not seen the official itinerary either, but I expect the fun and frivolity will commence at the Holiday Inn on Wilma Drive (right by Exit 4 off I-24) shortly after the D 1 7:30 matches end. I spoke briefly with the folks at the Holiday Inn today, and they seem to be a likable, tolerant bunch. I think they'll be much more accommodating of us than the there'll-be-no-more-fun-of-any-kind manager dude at the place where we stayed last year.

FYI, weigh-ins on Saturday in Clarksville for Division II wrestlers are at scratch weight, plus the two-pound growth allowance that's been available since December 25.

A Dog: You may have to wait to the state traditional tournament to see a Manley/Baucke fight. CBHS will have to get by MBA to make it to the second round of the state duals, and I'd say that meet is a toss up judging by how well MBA did against F. Ryan on Friday.

Hard to say, because I don't think they had any common opponents in dual meets. For what it's worth, Christian Brothers came in second at the Father Ryan Invitational in early January with 187.5 points, and MBA was third with 163.0 points. (Father Ryan was first with 231.5 points.)

Final Score: Baylor 34 McCallie 27

We prepare for wrestling season, of course. What else would we do?

Do any of these schools wrestle today so that there's a one-pound allowance tomorrow?

I don't know what the secret plans are, but I do know that both Duncan and Whitaker have to work to make weight at 112 now, and there's five weeks of wrestling to go. Neither or both of them could end up at 119.

It will be an interesting D-2 112 bracket if those three (Duncan, Francis & Whitaker) stay there. I gotta feeling one or more of them may end up at 119.

18 teams are entered in this tournament: 1 Arab 2 Baylor 3 Brookwood 4 Central 5 Cleveland 6 David Crockett 7 East Ridge 8 Gordon Lee 9 Hixson 10 Lookout Valley 11 Notre Dame 12 Ooltewah 13 Rhea County 14 Ringgold 15 Soddy Daisy 16 Sonoraville 17 Tullahoma 18. Walker Valley But there will only be three mats until the semis, at which time there will only be two. It may be necessary to sneak out and grab a cold beverage if there's a break in the action. Anybody know a good place on 58 Hwy.?

I'm not sure which Walton it was supposed to be (probably the one from Cobb County), but they're not coming. Ridgeland will be there instead.

BCB: Are the green Irish coming to this tournament? I told one of the 112 pounders at the BSforBsandGs to start lifting weights immediately so as to be ready for Tee, but he told me he didn't think you all were coming. What's the deal?

Manley's smarter.

Manley and Bauke will be the obvious contenders at 103. My money's on Manley. If Whitaker, Francis and Duncan are all at 112, then 119 may belong to McKenzie or Scott.

The seeding criteria, according to the tournament director, is: 1. Head-to-head wrestling this season 2. McCallie Tournament Champion 3. State Champion 4. McCallie Tournament place finisher 5. State place finisher I don't get why Wes Brett of Soddy is seeded ahead of Whitaker. Wes is a fine wrestler, and may be much better than Bailey, but he's not had a head-to-head match up with Whitaker this year and he's not a former McCallie tournament champion. Another puzzler.

To my knowledge, Baylor has never let an 8th grader wrestle on varsity unless no high school student, regardless of abilities, was available to fill the spot.

After all this discussion, no one's come up with an explanation for how an 8th grader, who attended more than three practices at Baylor this season and has an "athletic record" from last season, can be eilgible to wrestle for McCallie this season. If someone knows the answer, please enlighten me, because I don't get it.

There's the "transfer student" ineligibility rules and the "three practice" ineligibilty rule. They're both in the bylaws posted on the TSSAA website under "Handbook." The "three practice" inelligibility rule (Section 14 under Article II of the bylaws) says a student who engages in three or more days of practice with a school in which the student is enrolled is ineligible in that sport for that reason if the student enrolls in another school without a corresponding change in his parents' residence. That means that if TJ attended more than three practices at Baylor School this season (he did), then he's not eligible to wrestle at McCallie School unless there was a "corresponding change" (whatever that means) in his parents' residence. I'm not the TSSAA and don't know how or whether they apply their own rules. Maybe they don't enforce their eligibility rules at all. Maybe they interpret their rules in a way that's different from the plain language of the rules. Maybe they consulted on the TJ eligibility issue with the same attorneys who advised them to tee it up with Brentwood.

There's a good chance Whitaker will be at 119 after this weekend and for the rest of the season based on the difficulty he's having making weight at 112. If that happens, maybe TJ will want to return to Baylor and wrestle there at 112. Of course, the TSSAA would have to ignore the 3-day practice rule, but that apparently is not a problem.

TJ's a fine wrestler. He'll be missed at Baylor and I'm sure warmly welcomed into the 8th grade at McCallie where he may be able to pursue his parents' goal of being a 5-time state champion, or at least join the ranks of the all time greats like David Vance. Whether he's eligible to wrestle for the Big Blue depends on how you interpret the TSSAA's bylaws. TJ is a "transfer student" under the bylaws, because he transferred to McCallie without having completed the highest, or terminal, grade at Baylor. He therefore is ineligible for some period of time to participate in wrestling at McCallie unless he had no "athletic record" in the previous 12 months in any sport "sponsored by the TSSAA" or unless one of the many other exceptions to transfer student inelligibility apply to him. TJ does have an "athletic record" if he played in an interscholastic contest at the varsity, junior varsity, ninth grade, or any other level at Baylor since Baylor is a TSSAA member school. Is wrestling on a middle school team participation "on any other level"? If McCallie lets TJ wrestle this weekend, then it thinks (i) wrestling in lower school doesn't amount to wrestling at a "level"; (ii) lower school wrestling is not a sport "sponsored by the TSSAA"; or (iii) some other exception in the bylaws applies to this boy. I don't think McCallie will let him wrestle because "Baylor chose not to pursue it."