RedRobin

And that is exactly why TSSAA applies a multiplier of 1.7 to the D1 private. Given your numbers, TSSAA considers the enrollment at the private to be 680, which is pretty much in line with your thoughts. Let's not forget that the parents of every one of those kids at the private is paying thousands of dollars in tuition (in addition to the taxes they pay to support the public schools in their county). Meanwhile, the open-zoned public which they are both competing against gets to enroll as many football players as it can for a couple of hundred dollars of tuition, with the county and state picking up the rest of the tab. Yet TSSAA applies no multiplier to these schools. I just do not understand why everyone complains about "recruiting" whenever a CAK wins big, but no one seems to understand the huge advantage realized by Beech, Alcoa, Maryville or every one of the other open-zoned publics. Why is no multiplier called for in these circumstances, and why aren't you complaining about that?

How do privates (especially privates that play in Division 1 and are thus subjected to a multiplier) have an advantage over open zoned publics?

Sounds awfully low to me as well. The last time they came to Ensworth (2011 season) Webb had just as many on the sidelines as did Ensworth (which had about 48 on the team, including freshmen).

My beef is not with Webb - they are, as you say, playing in the division that TSSAA put them in. My beef is with TSSAA for making the cutoff between D2-A and D2-AA too high. It is currently at 500 students. This puts Webb, with TSSAA enrollment of 453 students in the same division with schools that have as few as 123 students (which means that each class at that school has about 15 boys). Assuming that every boy at that school played football, the team would have about 60 players. It is simply unrealistic to believe that schools of that size can compete with a school like Webb in football. Webb's region games in D2-A this year are against Friendship (TSSAA enrollment of 217), DCA (237), BGA (324), Ezell-Harding (230) and King's Academy (168). That means that they have 129 more students than the next biggest school they play (BGA) and about or more than twice as many students as the other four region teams that they play. This does not make for a competitive situation in a sport like football, which requires a certain minimum number of players to be competitive. The average score of Webb's regular season region games last year (excluding a win by forfeit) was 46-5. I can guarantee you those games were not fun for the kids from the tiny schools that were getting creamed on a regular basis. One team actually had to forfeit a game against Webb because they had a couple of injuries, which left them without enough players to field a team that week. I believe that the TSSAA should move the cutoff between D2-A and D2-AA to 400 students, which would move Webb up to play against similar-sized schools like Ensworth (422 students) and BA (473). As it stands with the current cutoff, D2-AA has only 9 teams for football (plus Ensworth and BA, both of which move up to make a total of 11). Moving the cutoff to 400 would ensure that D2-AA, arguably the best division in the State, would have a minimum of 12 teams every year. This would also pit Webb against schools with similar missions, rather than against the very small primarily parochial schools which it has been beating up on for the last several years. Once again, I am not faulting Webb - they are breaking no rules - but I am asking that the TSSAA take a look at changing the cutoff from 500 to 400. Anyone else have any thoughts on this???

yes, we are - I agree with you 100 per cent. Just thought I would throw a few facts into the discussion.

I am not blasting anyone, but for historical purposes, Ensworth/Webb has not been much of a series. Webb and Ensworth have played 3 times, with the following results: 2007 (the first year Ensworth had Freshman through Seniors and their first full season of varsity football) Ensworth 57 Webb 21 2008 Ensworth 28 Webb 7 While playing in D2-AA during 2007 and 2008, Webb compiled an overall record of 11-10, with a district record of 4-7. Webb then moved down to D2-A, where they won the 2009 and 2010 State Championship and compiled an overall record of 25-1. 2011 Ensworth 40 Webb 0

Agree 100%. This is definitely the game of the week in the midstate for Week Zero (with CBHS at MBA a close second). MUS showed up at Ensworth for Week Zero last year loaded for bear; they were in excellent game shape and ready to roll. Good luck to both teams - it should be a doozy!!!

I agree with everything you say. Wish you could talk your staff and administration into signing up for a home-and-home series with Ensworth. White Station has been playing MUS and Christian Brothers for years, and I think it has been well received and useful for all. Ensworth has been having a hard time finding D1 schools that will play home-and-home. I know Ensworth is willing to travel to Memphis (played MUS in a non-region home-and-home last two years) and it would give y'all a trip very close to the same distance as Cookeville. Would love to see it happen!! Good luck to both Whitehaven and Maryville this year - I would love to see them strap it up in Cookeville again this year!!!

As long as Ensworth has had a high school, BA has had "better athletes" than has Ensworth - just look at the numbers recruited to play D1 football each year. Ensworth has won with far better coaching and athletic administration. While it will not always equate to wins on the filed, this situation is likely to remain unchanged as long as Bowers is associated with Ensworth - he is that special.

I saw it and was not all that surprised. Though this is in a boys basketball forum, the numbers equate to all sports - both boys and girls. While Ensworth has had the upper hand lately in football and basketball, BA has excellent teams in many other sports, including baseball, track and wrestling. I was more surprised with the numbers at JP2 as compared with Father Ryan.

You say you would have done it differently, but are apparently not willing to leave USPS for UPS. Hmmm - there must be some reason why you stay, so you should probably think of that while looking with envy as the brown trucks drive by. Perhaps it is because they work their butts off or get sent home while USPS has lifetime appointments? Back to TN high school sports: what do you think of the "unfair advantage" enjoyed by the "open zoned" publics, which have an even bigger advantage than the D1 privates? Where do they fit into your notions of equality for all and do you have a problem when they dominate the state championships against traditionally zoned publics? If so, why do you direct your rants only at the D1 privates? Should the traditionally zoned publics refuse to play the open zoned publics? Should we place them into different categories for state championship purposes? Since you seem to want to include academics in this thread, where do you stand on public magnets, which suck all of the most-qualified kids, teachers and parents away from the traditionally zoned schools? How "fair" is that?

Average salary for all USPS employees is $52,619. Clerks can make an average of $21.66/hour. No college degrees required. All kinds of benefits, including some of the best health insurance in the world. Almost impossible to get fired. You may want to rethink spewing your communist cum socialist rhetoric - that salary would have been cause for execution by the bolsheviks, whose views you seem to think you share.

Even assuming a kid gets financial assistance at a D2 school (based, by TSSAA rule solely on need, not on merit, either athletic or otherwise), that kid's family is still paying something for him to attend. Any athlete must pay full tuition at a D1 private. Contrast those with an "open-zoned" public, where kids can transfer while paying a mere pittance to attend. I don't understand why you don't seem to have a problem with schools like Beech absolutely trashing their competition using kids from various counties such as Davidson. Check the D1football champs for the past decade or so and I suspect you will find the "open zoned" schools asserting dominance at nearly every level. Do you have a problem with that, or is that ok since you don't see these as the rich ruling class which you seem so fond of disparaging. P.S. I find it funny, though somewhat dangerous, that you don't even seem to realize that the fat-cat bureaucrats (you make how much at the post office???!!!???) were some of the first victims of the Russian revolution.

I guess you weren't paying attention when we saw where that same argument ultimately landed the Soviets. As they say, those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.

Pretty strong accusations there, devilfanatic. You got something to back this up, or is this just yet another "Yo' mama wears army boots" sour grapes rant of someone whose team got schooled by a better team. We all await the evidence that you rely on to show that you are something other than an extremely poor loser.