Metroman

I believe Region 6AAA is the only region in the state that has all quarterfinal games at one site. They have to petition TSSAA every 2 years to keep this going. The only reason they get approval is because all of the teams are geographically so close (Davidson and Williamson County + Dickson County).

Boys Classic at Overton High School in Nashville Tuesday, December 20th 4:00 Franklin vs Pearl Cohn 5:20 Marshall County vs Hillwood 6:40 Greenville vs Hunters Lane 8:00 Overton vs Maplewood Wednesday, December 21st 3:00 Pearl Cohn vs Greenville 4:20 Hillwood vs Stratford 5:40 Maplewood vs Franklin 7:00 Hunters Lane vs MBA 8:20 Marshall County vs Overton

Coach McGill passed away earlier this week. A good man and a good coach. He coached at Maplewood and Hillsboro (and probably other places). I believe he also was the coach at Fisk for a time.

Several years ago, I started to see a trend on where the best soccer teams in the state were moving from the suburbs into the city schools. I went to the Southeast Regionals in Little Rock back in the late 90s and several of the teams were dominated by foreign players. I remember seeing teams from Texas, Florida, and Georgia that had one or two white kids and the rest were Hispanic (mostly), African, or Asian. Tennessee's best teams were from Williamson County, suburban Memphis, and Knoxville. Now, the trend has moved into the high school ranks. As the coaching gets better in the urban areas, the high schools are starting to overtake the suburban schools. I have watched several Metro teams this year and almost every one of them could beat Franklin, Brentwood, Hendersonville, i.e. the traditional midstate powers. Look at Hunters Lane. They are 4th (or 5th) in district 12AAA. They have a stud African in the back and 3 great Hispanic kids up top. And, they are in the middle of the district. Just a few years ago, teams like that were laughing stocks. Granted, the coaching at the schools hasn't caught up yet. But if it does, watch for teams like Antioch, Cane Ridge, Overton, and Glencliff to make an interesting run.

I believe Mo is going to UNC-Wilmington or Asheville, not Princeton, but I am not sure. Great kid who deserves a couple of good breaks.

I find it remarkable that anyone would want to go to Lighthouse Christian.

I think Hillsboro's style of play is more to Mt. Juliet's liking than Independence's would have been. Hillsboro is more methodical and easier to prepare for because they run sets. Whereas Independence is more helter skelter and fluid, which makes them more unpredictable. I think if the matchups had been reversed with Hillsboro vs Station Camp and Independence vs Mt. Juliet, both the region 6 teams would have won. But, now I am not so confident. I still think both Independence and Hillsboro win.

Due to a last minute drop out, the Overton Christmas tournament needs a team for their tournament in Nashville on December 28th-30th. If interested in participating, or if you are interested in playing a game on any of those days, please contact todd.douthit@mnps.org.

I haven't read all of the five pages of posts, but to answer the first question, yes, coaches read CoachT. I coach a different sport and CoachT has always given me a little information about what is going on around the state. As a girls basketball coach, it was very helpful to have Warriorfan give a ton of information about Riverdale before we played them several years ago. They weren't in our region and we had never played them, but before I watched any game film, I knew who/what to focus in on. That being said, 95% of what people say on here is bunk. But it's worth the time for that 5% of gold that can help give my team the edge. (It only takes about 5 minutes a day to get the good info if you know how to look.)

Overton High School in Nashville is still looking for one team to fill out it's tournament on December 28-30. There is no entry fee and every team plays three games. If interested, contact Todd.Douthit@mnps.org.

Don't know if it is announced yet, but they have hired a coach.

Coach Barrett did a good job with decent talent at Hickman County and then went to a Riverdale team and won a state championship. Granted, to do anything less than win a state championship with that team would have been a disappointment, but they did win. The last two years have been really good, but could have been better. He is damaged goods right now and will do a good job if someone gives him a chance, but even if an athletic director wants him, the powers that be in the upper administration of a school system will have a difficult time taking the bad publicity. Hopefully, he will get a second chance.

Wow. That's a good hire for Dickson if they are willing to put up with the bad publicity for a year.

It's funny how quickly the fall from grace can be in the coaching profession. Someday, Coach Barrett will get another chance and do well.

http://archive.theleafchronicle.com/article/20080229/SPORTS01/802290361/Lady-Bulldogs-clinch-Region-5-AAA-title I couldn't find the old article in the Tennessean, but I have posted a link to the article in the Clarksville paper. This story doesn't really get into the controversy of the game, but Region 5-AAA had to move their region final because of snow. Region 6-AAA played and McGavock upset Hillsboro. Coach Brandon didn't want to face the two Harrison girls (Deedee and Isabella) so he appeared to intentionally lose the game versus Smyrna. In the Tennessean article, it said Coach Wiley (now at Central Magnet) was yelling down to the Smyrna bench to get them to play, but Coach Brandon just smiled. I may have my facts a bit mixed up, but that was the general tone of the article. Both teams went on to win in the substate and Wilson Central won the state.

I have no inside information, but I would be really shocked if Riverdale fired Coach Barrett outright.

As much as I think that what Riverdale and Smyrna did was wrong, I think this is a dangerous step to take. If you have the current format, it is going to happen again and again. Next time, it may not be as blatant, but it will still happen. If something had to be done, I really think the step to take should have been to ban the coaches from the rest of the post season.

TSSAA can't really do anything. The only way to really fix it is to only have 3 teams advance, or just skip the district tournament altogether and seed the region tournament from the regular season standings.

I think you have proven my point.

Coach Barrett's job is to be an influence on young girls as they become young women, not to win gold balls. Basketball is just the venue he chooses to do that. If he ever loses focus on that goal, then he should consider a different profession. If a school endorses this type of game, then they need to rethink their mission in athletics. My fear is that all of the Rutherford County schools need to rethink their mission.

12AAA Girls 1. Overton 2. Cane Ridge 3. Hunters Lane 4. McGavock 5. Hillsboro 6. Antioch 7. Hillwood 8. Glencliff All games are at Glencliff Hillsboro and Glencliff on Wednesday Antioch and Hillwood on Thursday Hillsboro/Glencliff winner vs McGavock on Friday Antioch/Hillwood winner vs Hunters Lane on Friday Semis on Saturday Consolation on Monday Finals on Tuesday

I am several years away from this issue, but I think the answer depends on each father/daughter combination. Here are the factors I plan on weighing. #1-You are parent first. If you think that being your daughters coach is going to put a strain on your relationship that will hurt it forever, then you don't need to coach her. If she blows a lay up that would have won you a game, will you be able to get into the car after the game and cry with her like a parent should? Or will you be upset that the player next to you choked? #2-How will the people around the program react? If you are going to coach her, how will you respond to people that say she plays only because she is the coach's kid? You have to be fair to her. Don't be too hard because she's your daughter. Don't be too easy because she's your daughter. #3-Do you have good assistants? You will need someone to be honest with you when you are in your blind spots. The assistants need to be able to give you an honest assessment of your daughter. #4-What does she want? If she is scared of playing for you, figure out why. Overall, I am very excited about potentially coaching my daughter. I think the big key for us is drawing good boundaries about where the coach/player relationship starts and the father/daughter ends. Good Luck.

1. Blackman 2. Oakland 3. Ridgeway 4. Riverdale 5. Cumberland County 6. Mt. Juliet 7. Dickson County 8. Dyer County 9. Morristown West 10. Smyrna

I saw something interesting the other day that I have never seen before. There was a player on the bench that received a technical for having their shirt untucked. The player had not been in the game at all and had not said anything to the official. I went to the rule book and it stated that a player may not remove his/her shirt or pants, but nothing about a technical for it being untucked. Anybody ever heard of this before?

Don't worry, I won't have the opportunity. I just know what I have seen across the midstate.