deadaim

BA will have a very good season even with the loss of their running backs. I think they are alot better than the poor performance from last week. Trinity may have added another two touchdowns had the mercy rule not kicked in during the 3rd quarter. BA will learn from this and will improve. Great talent, great kids and good coaches will prevail.

This division is important and there are some good teams that compete and some could beat DII-AA teams. All of the teams usually have one, two or three players-sometimes more- that could start on teams at the higher level. Depth is always a drawback due to the size of the student body but that does not mean that the games are not good or that the kids are not learning very important life lessons. Sorry shakinthefat, I should have followed your advice and ignored the topic but it was so pathetic that I felt compelled to respond.

No decision. No hurry.

Jonas Rodriguez, MBA defensive coordinator, is headed to Ensworth. Another MBA casualty of management gross stupidity in not granting at least a courtesy interview for head coaching position.

No.

What he needs is a tailback as the heir apparent who was a rising sophomore, was told yesterday that he will no longer be a student due to another incident of poor conduct.

I agree-BGA has some excellent finalists and they will, in time, have a fine person leading that program.

If Rodriguez from MBA gets the job, the odds on bet is that Webb will move to MBA.

Once again Hogan is probably correct. At this point and purely by the statitics, there is a one in four chance the new coach will be from BA. One in 8 from JP2. One in eight from Ensworth and MBA. Also one in eight from CPA, Riverdale and NCS. All excellent candidates.

The sequence of events were: 1.Simonis letter dated April 1, 2011 acknowledging taking the $1500.00 on September 12, 2008 2.McGugin called in and asked about it..tells them he saw it and passed it on as the note on the envelope said to do 3.MBA reports this and only this violation-TSSAA never contacts McGugin 4.No MBA investigation on source of funds or who put it in McGugins faculty mailbox/McGugin retains a lawyer 5.MBA and TSSAA reach deal on bag the coach and it is over/McGugin asked to resign-he declines 6.McGugin fired in the paper-never told face to face or even by email 7.Attorneys reach a deal for buyout of contract, no bad words will be said by anyone, MBA gives a positive press release and letter exonerating McGugin of any immoral or unethical conduct 8.Marty applies for position with at least 32 others including three MBA assistants 9.Complete silence by MBA on the search process but word leaks out of ME interview 10. None of assistants given courtesy interviews 11.Hire complete. MBA football staff remains in place 12.The posse of MBA alumni moves from an unorgaized group to a militia to counter attack MBA administration for way the termination was handled 13.Here we are.......

As a big Mcgugin supporter,and perhaps his closest supporter, this new hire is exceptional but time will certainly tell. For the first time in years, MBA has hired someone out of the Belle Meade loop. Marty may own a blazer but probably not a suit. He does not fit the traditional mold and will bring something in, perhaps spirit related, that MBA has not experienced before. He is a grinder from the public school system that will be a differet breath, whether good or bad, and time and the MBA community will tell. The fact that he is bringing his son is an affirmation that he wants his child to have a chance to have the best so Retired to the bleachers, you are misinformed about this. By the way, you have not missed anything before so I am not bashing you on this and I pay you respect. The only thing botched, once again, is that the headmaster did not interview, even out of a courtesy, the three staff coaches that applied which included an NFL player and a defensive coordinated who played college football. Really stupid with no foresight or wisdom. Another morotic move. And as before, MBA has taken no action against the parents who took took the money which needs to be done soon. Why the mistakes continue is a mystery but is easily solved.

This man has a solid reputation, is tough, experienced, and proven. He has a fine track record with only a small blemish from those who were not tough enough to pracice hard and play hard. The kids at BGA loved him and they will miss him. He approached MBA and wanted the job. I think MBA got it right with the small amount of time to find a head coach.

Since the topic of this thread is The Truth, it is appropriate to discuss the ramifications of where this path has lead and should take the school. The source of the funds and how they got into the coaches faculty mailbox will apparently never be known. We do know that the coach, when called in to the headmasters office early this month, could have lied and said he did not see the cashiers check in the unmarked envelope on October 12, 2008. He told the truth and said that he saw it but did not question it-we all know now that he should have. You can decide for yourself if you think he lied about not questioning the funds. What is known for certain is that the family took the money knowing full well that it might be a rules violation, paid bills, and said nothing for two and a half years even when the father was talking with the coach and exchanging emails. During that time they exposed the school, their son, and all the players to potential penalties for the money they received. The parents kept the chip in their back pocket and played it at the perfect time on April 1, 2011 obviously knowing it would wreck the coach without realizing they had just committed themselves to a pay for play conspiracy. You can chose to believe the coach or not. It matters not now. Either way, the family knew the money was dirty, not earned and was not part of any legal financial aid. That is the truth as painful as it is. To this date the money has not been returned and the family retains the funds with no aplogy to the school, the parents or to anyone. How will MBA deal with parents at games who took dirty money? That is the next issue that needs to be addressed.

Chattcity, cbg and retired to the bleachers and all of you that are kindly reading and following this mess, thank you for the nice and interesting comments but sparring here is akin to going to the restroom on a forest fire. MBA must follow the money to get answers. That is always the case. The bag man-who is the former coach- has been washed miles downstream. His first mistake was to not make a copy of the cashiers check put in his faculty mailbox and take it to the headmaster and demand an explanation on September 12,2008. That is the reason stated to the media that he was fired-"lack of leadership in financial aid"- although he has still not been told face to face or by any means other than in the newspaper that he has been fired. He is still teaching. MBA could have bought out his contract for any reason or no reason and said thank you for your time here but it decided to use the pretext of "lack of leadership in financal aid" as a smokescreen or thick fog to appease TSSAA hoping the investigation would end. They guessed or perhaps gambled correctly. The issue now is not whether the coach was pitiful in his job, or whether,as some say, he was a liar, or as others say, he was abusive to players. Alums, donors, parents and the public should seek the truth and demand answers and solutions. That is why disclosure and swift action must be taken against the money man who purchased the cashiers check, all those that handled it and the parents that took it. None of the people should be able to walk away from this for they are some of the spokes of the wheel that came off and went over the cliff.

The last four posts have fortunately taken this mess back to some sense of civility and reflection which is somewhat refreshing. If MBA wants transparancy, accountability and fairness on this transfer of money, I would suggest it should take appropriate action against those involved in the money train-starting at the top with the person that went to the bank and got the cashiers check down the chain to anyone that handled it all the way to those that cashed it.

Integrity rests on the foundation of truth. Nobody seems interested in inquiring as to how a cashiers check in an unmarked/no postage envelope with forwarding instructions on it was placed in the head coach's faculty mailbox.

TSSAA cleared MBA today without penalty. Investigation is closed.

The All State team should be published around December 22. Conner Caldwell is a great player. If there were one or two more spots, he would be on the list.

I agree that Fentress probably needs to be on the final consideration list as he did it right. You stated that well and it is an honet assessment. I do not think he was effective as the linebackers already noted so a slot at running back makes sense. There are so few slots that it will be close especially when Elder is the more likely pick at running back. That alone may keep Fentress from making All State. Renfro was just superb at punter and had a great year. Franks was the only offensive threat for MBA and he had a very good year behind a young but ineffective offensive line. He deserves just consideration. Prevost is a solid player but is not as good as the four on the list. He has another year so 2011 may be his time.

With the presumed additional spots, the best players have been mentioned in this list. Renfro is a great punter and headed to, I believe,Northwestern on a scholarship. Is Baker better? We need some help here from someone who has seen them both this year. What about Spellman? I am not sure that he even played last year. I do know he beat BGA on a long kick.I have seen Beathard light it up where the crowd is amazed and have not sen that from Parker but he is steady and solid. I could go either way on these two.

You are right in that the victor gets the spoils and for that reason Parker may have the edge over Beathard who was brilliant most of the year. He beat Derek King so badly that BA took King out of the game. A late interception against MBA cost BGA a win and Parker was mistake free.

Elder certainly needs to be on the list but as a running back. The problem is that I have not seen another defensive back that deserves to be on this selective team.

BA 35-7. No team other than Ensworth can play with the size or strength of BA.