ojsimpson

Great. Shifting gears, the D2 Playoff picture is really muddy. Looking at remaining games the matchups are intriguing. The Ensworth/Baylor game and the BA/MBA game should be really interesting. i hope all teams stay healthy so we can witness the best football possible.

Wow, what intelligent remarks and brilliant observations! Sure, let's be honest. What you have characterized ( the composition of the Ensworth crowd) is diversity, or at least some reflection of it. Perhaps the Ensworth crowd is in some way a microcosm of America. The beauty of football is that it is enjoyed by gang members and wine and cheese lovers alike. Have you considered that gang members may love wine and cheese also. it warms my heart to see an independent school take on this challenge. What is even more impressive is that their children are learning to sit, eat, talk, work and play together. As far as sitting together, oh well, maybe they will get there someday. As to Bowers, i have a hunch he will land on his feet. He has a pretty impressive resume that includes championships and pages of victories in two sports.

OK OwlBooster that is the second jab you have thrown at me. I attempted to ignore your first comment. First, JohnJacob is free to spend his hard earned money where he chooses. Its great to live in a land of freedom. However, my experience has been that those who accuse others of playing the "race card" are usually uncomfortable discussing some of the more subtle legacies of our unfortunate racial history. The "race card" has a negative connotation, and typically implies that race has been introduced as a variable inappropriately. I honestly don't think that designation applies here. I and a few others resented the fact that the young men who worked very hard to achieve victory Thursday night would have their brilliant effort on the field overshadowed by subtle and coded hints of wrongdoing because they chose to wear longer hair or wear an earring. And now we are here. Again, i don't blame Johnjacob for reallocating his modest gift to a place more near and dear to his heart. I would also advise him not to venture to far from home. Human experience is rich and varied. It could get intimidating.

I appreciate your response, but for the record I never indicted any school. i referenced the reality of white flight as one manifestation of the Nashville climate of race that helped to spur the creation of many suburban and private schools in the area. In your previous text you listed the dates when a few of Nashville's older schools were founded. However, it is undeniable that when the older academies were founded there wasn't much racial diversity on their boards, or in their initial student bodies, or on their faculties. This is important because attitudes and expectations of social norms were not reflective of the broader Nashville demographic. Finally, I'm sure you are not prepared to argue that these older academies have been exemplary in their efforts to break down the barrier of race. Please do not use Brentwood Academy as an example. They do not represent one of the older academies.

I apologize if i have offended you and the "fine" schools you represent. There is an entire section of Eyes on The Prize, (an award winning documentary on America from 1954-1968) devoted to Nashville's role in resisting desegregation. There is also David Habelstram's book The children, in which he depicts Nashville as one of the most challenging centers of resistance to progress. More specifically, there was a recent documentary that chronicled the violence, white flight, and proliferation of private schools that came into being in the wake of the busing plan for Nashville. If you are suggesting that the Nashville citizenry was free of the South's shameful racial past then perhaps I should send you a reading list. Moreover, if you are argue that white flight did not occur in Nashville and that Brown and busing did not lead to the creation of new private schools in Nashville, that would also concern me. I have read your posts in the past Mr. Woodroof, you have always struck me a s a reasonable man. If you read my previous post carefully, i was responding to the statement that the" BA players did not have earrings." I will reiterate my basic point. The world has changed. The harsh judgement of an earring and length of hair, reflects by comparison to todays fashion standards, something from the past. I hope we can move on from this discussion as it overshadows a great high school football game Thursday night.

So what, why should Ensworth, a school that was founded in 2002, copy every social and cultural norm adopted by its white flight independent school peers. Hats off to Ensworth. I have a friend who plays football for Stanford and his hair is very long. He is an engineering major with an impressive gpa. I'm not sure why length of hair, or even an earring for that matter should be so controversial in 2010. Neither one, in my mind, are indicators of anything evil or immoral. Guys, surely you don't think that anyone who wears an earring or chooses to wear longer hair has to a bad citizen or is untrustworthy. Some of the finest and most creative citizens in this country have longer hair. These include scholars, entertainers, and poets, to name but a few. And guess what...if you choose to look carefully in the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, and NFL you will see a diverse range of hair styles. Come out of the cave! The world is so much larger than a handful of white flight enclaves. I am really astonished that this is our discussion.....

That is absurd. This kind of talk lowers the quality of discussion on these boards. Whether you like him or not, Bowers has an impressive body of work in two sports at three different schools in Nashville. What he has done at ensworth in a mere 3 years of varsity sports is not to be trivialized. As far as bball is concerned he has already won a title there, his team was number one in the midstate last year for most of the year, (a rebuilding year) and essentially dominated until they stumbled to an MBA bball team he had beaten 6 straight times. No one wins a championship every year. Boy, you have a strong case to get rid of him. haha