KarmaZone

FYI, here's the state schedule. The draw will be in a day or two. And yes, as newellhartbaseball found, there's a one game championship. http://www.tssaa.org/2008Champions/StateBa...assAA/State.htm

Great win for D'burg, but I've gotta say that I'm a little disappointed. I wanted the win so much so the next game wouldn't be USJ, but they were upset. Here's hoping it works out for the best for the Trojans.

Thanks, Joe!

Anyone have the scores?

Dalton isn't nearly as good as it used to be.

Come on Choctaws. I may be a Trojan, but you've got to represent Dyer county!

Thanks for the updates.

First, as it pertains to this case, I agree with you. If players start the prayer, let the coach bow his head. There's nothing wrong with that. BUT, you can't really say that saying the Lord's Prayer covers all religions. Sure, it's not making anyone pray to another god (unless the person's god is vishnu or buddha), but it is making the atheists pray to a god they don't believe in. And, really, what's the use of a prayer during pratice? I could maybe see the use for a prayer before a game. As for coach Thompson, I do not know this man, and I am sure that he is a good, just, honest man who has done much for the community and his players. But, in this instance, he just seems kind of full of himself. I mean, why would it be so bad to say a prayer to yourself after practice? I'm sure god would be no less sensitive to your request than he would be if most of your players prayed with you. Again, I do not know the man and am not trying to say anything derogatory about him, but it just seems to me that school is not church. Now, if I was on the team, I'd just kneel there and be quiet like I always have -- it's just easier that way. But I can also see why some atheists wouldn't want to have to put up with that. And burroball, I'll get back to your last post hopefully this evening. Don't think I have forgotten about you. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> It's just been a long couple of days and we have a lot on our plate today, as well.

It is late, and I have to wake up in 4 hours to go to work, so let me quickly address a few things I've noticed in this thread and maybe I'll expand upon my thoughts when my brain is clearer: 1.) They will not ban FCA. It is a voluntary student organization. There is a difference (in my opinion, at least), in joining FCA and having a mandatory Christian prayer before and after each practice. 2.) To Topgun: I wouldn't have a problem with people form churches coming in to hand out bibles and answer questions. Iraq is mostly Muslim, though. So turn that around for the USA. Would most people be okay with Muslims from the local Mosque coming in to your local school to hand out copies of the Qur'an to their children? If we are honest people, we would have to say no. People around here would be in an absolute uproar. Then they would use the whole "separation of church and state" to their advantage. So, yeah, that freedom thing would be nice, but you can't blame that situation solely on we atheists. We just seem to be the malcontents because we are in the minority. 3.) And to Burroball: Thanks for saying that I actually sound like I know what I am talking about a little bit. While I am no theologian, I have read most of the bible and studied it a smidgen in an effort to understand Christianity better. I really do want to believe (I am the only atheist in my family, and my father-in-law is a preacher), but I lack the fundemental faith that is needed. And it just irks me to no end that I - a non-Christian - appear to have a better handle on Christian tenets than most followers that I have met over my lifetime. Ah, but I digress... Anyway, on to my point. I don't think at all that Christians are not allowed to express their belifs in the public arena. You can look everywhere and see Christians. The only time when you can't, really, is when it appears that you are doing ti to the detriment of other beliefs and almost forcing others to go along with it. Now, stay with me here, that's not as mean-spirited as it sounds. Let's take prayer after a football practice, for example. I'm sure the coaches would pray for everyone to be safe. Well, one guy has a brother in Iraq, so the coach throws him in there. Another guy has a missionary brother going to Afghanistan, so the coach asks God to help that man spread Christianity to the Muslims. Well, there's a Muslim on the team, and he asks why Christianity is better than his religion. Maybe there is a Jewish guy on the team, so he remarks that it doesn't matter, because both religions are wrong. I mean, where does it end? Now say, fr example, a player comes up after practice and asks the coach about Christianity. The coach can talk all he wants about it with that one curious player, because he asked for it. He's still talking about his faith in a public forum, but he's not forcing it on the kids that don't want to hear it. That's really all this is about. And as for Tim Tebow... people like to point out his flaws because the guy is untouchable. The nature of some people is to be jealous, so they have to tear him down. They make fun of his strong beliefs because that's just about all they have on him. I mean, I'm a Tennessee fan, but by all accounts he's a great guy, so they don't have much on him to make fun of. One thing I am curious about in your post... You said: "Christians aren't allowed to force non-Christians to stand up for their beliefs the same way in the face of scrutiny. One ideology is bombarding a group of people with pressure through every media source imaginable in addition to people they meet in public to violate God's standard. The other is legally prohibited from doing the same kind of bombardment to people to obey God's standard." You seem to be a very level-headed and reasonable person, but I have a little problem with this. How are you legally prohibited from bombarding non-Christians? The only thing you aren't allowed to do is use a government platform to attack other religions. I have met many preachers on the side of the road attempting to spread god's word. I've seen TBN (I consider this more of a greed channel than a Christian channel, anyway) and other religious stations that do nothing but try and attack non-Christians. Our newspapers are filled with articles of churches. We have pastors write weekly columns about religion. And I don't really see an attack on Christianity, other than the ACLU. But that is balanced out by the many Christian groups, anyway. It just seems like everyone is attacking Christianity because the majority of people in the south are Christians. I honestly believe that, if it were another religion doing the same thing, we atheists would be doing just as we are now. And maybe you would be joining us. (note: I do not agree with everything the ACLU does, and I certainly do not agree with every court case that is fought over freedom of religion.) I mean, you are taking all of this as an attack on Christianity. It is not. Yuo are free to say whatever belief yuo have. But you are not allowed to use a position of power (such as teacher, coach, etc) to convey a message of one religion's superiority over another. I mean, seriously, what will coaches do when one of their players asks not to be a part of the prayer? "I'm the coach, and I'm Baptist, so we are going to do a traditional Baptist prayer." "But coach, I'm Jewish. I don't believe that Jesus was my savior." "Then go stand over there. You're not going to be part of the team right now." That's just not right, man. I thought sports were supposed to be about comraderie, testing your limits, and building trust in your fellow man. How can you trust someone who just kicked you out of a huddle, not because you messed up, not because you talked back or did anything wrong, but because you believe in a different god or different prophet? So, then, I guess the kid is going to be kicked out of every prayer huddle for the rest of his high school career? Maybe he should just bow his head and say nothing. Wouldn't taht be considered praying to a false God? Isn't that breaking commandment number 1? (And, technically, maybe number 5, if the kid has got religious parents...) Again, if the tables were turned, I think few people would be willing to let their child kneel through a prayer to Allah every day at school. This is why I say, let the coach bow his head, but not lead the prayer. Let the kids work it out on their own. This is the south. You know there will be enough strong willed Christians that they will have a prayer every day anyway. Whew. I'm going to bed.

Wow. I agree that coaches should be able to pray with their teams. They shouldn't lead the prayers, but if kids want to pray then that is their business. Neither should a coach preach to his kids. A sports arena is not a church. If kids want to be preached to, then let them read their bible or talk with the coaches after practice. Why have a chaplain on game days? If kids are that worried about getting hurt, let them pray before they go to the locker room or something. "If a kid doesn't want to pray, then that's fine." It's not fine. You are underestimating the power of religious beliefs inthe South. What happens when one guy on the team just walks away as the rest of the team prays? Why would the rest of the team still consider him a teammate? What would all of you think if, after a football game, you saw the team and the coaches kneeling in the middle of the field to pray, but one kid stood 10 or so feet away? I bet most of you would start whispering to yourselves and wondering what was wrong with that boy. And wat happens if your shild is on a team of mostly Muslims? Would you want him to be made to sit in a locker room and listen to a coach pray in Arabic to a God that you don't believe in? I am atheist now, and I was an atheist is school. I didn't go out of my way to stop people from praying around me. If they prayed, I just stayed quiet. I said nothing derogatory to anyone. But just as soon as people found out what I believed, everything changed. People looked at me differently. They automatically assumed that I worshipped the devil. I mean, here I was, an A and B student. I didn't drink. I didn't smoke. I didn't cheat. I didn't cause any trouble. Yet I was the bad one. And here were all of the popular kids, posing for annual pictures with their church groups. Not all of them, but quite a few of them drank, smoked, slept around, and generally did what they wanted to do. But THEY were the good ones, because they went to church. And all of that continues to this day. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't cheat on my wife or my taxes. I'm nice to everybody and I go out of my way to help people. But what happens when people find out that I don't believe? "Do you worship the devil?" "No." "Then you believe in God." "No." "Then you worship the Devil." "Ugh..." I almost have to give a Christianity lesson to anyone who finds out my beliefs. I've got to explain about Heaven, heck, Lucifer and all that. But it still doesnt work. They always still look at me funny, assume that I'm a bad person, and many times dismiss me as such. Does this court case go too far? Probably. But is it wrong to make coaches stand a few feet back and bow their heads while the team does the prayer? Not at all. So before you say "It's just prayer, kids can do what they want," just think about it a little. It is not just prayer. Knowingly or not, Christians in the South can ostracize non-Christians for not believing. It's happened to me. It's happend to some of my friends. Sorry for going on for a bit, but I just get so mad when people start blaming society's ills on taking prayer out of schools. Making a kid listen to a prayer eveyr morning does not insure that the child will believe in it. And even then, Christians are not perfect. Jimmy Swaggart, anyone? Ted Haggard? Jim Baker? How many Catholic priests molested children?

I take it to mean the poster doesn't believe this new coach will be good for d'burg.

Alright lincoln, I'll bite. You want the definition of classless? You said: Any day that the Trojans go down in defeat is a GREAT day in my book. That was in your first post. THAT is classless. I take it that you are either a relative or friend of Bowling or Kennedy, and that's why your hatred of Dyersburg comes from their experiences. You should, then, hate every school and every team in the world. Why? Because EVERY TEAM HAS FANS THAT COMPLAIN NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. Every single sports team will have someone be negative most times. Every sports team will have someone go too far in the criticisms of the team. Having class, diginity, and tact is when you know this is true, know that there are some people that will complain too much for the wrong reasons and you still KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT about it. What good does it do to dance on Dyersburg's grave? Not a thing. So just sit back smugly and feel good to yourself.

Classless.

Good luck, Trojans. I hope you come out on top, but -- more importantly -- I hope everyone comes out healthy. But please, for the love of all that is good and pure, don't call for a "black out". That has to be the most overrated gimmick in the history of football. It is made only slighty less ridiculous by the fact that black is an actual team color of the Trojans. Go to the game, stand up, make noise (when appropriate), and cheer on your team for better or worse - no matter what color you wear.

I'm a little late on this, but congrats to all of the xc teams that ran at state. I'm especially proud of my alma mater Dyersburg. Way to go, guys. I ran in 96 and 97 and we were always stuck behind JCM, Houston, Germantown, and the like at regionals. We never could quite crack the top to go to state. Where did all of this speed come from? I don't know, but keep up the good work!

Thanks! I try to keep up with Dyersburg, but it's difficult to do from Georgia.

Anyone have anything for A/AA D 14? Who will JCS and USJ be playing in the next round?

I think the only reason that DHS FB64 got that riled up is because he was responding to some of the other posters that were calling out the Northview fans for calling out the refs. Check posts by bigredatheart and advisor.

I Believe Kyle Youmans from Dyersburg kicked a 49 yarder in a game earlier this year.

With Westwood losing games by scores of 49-0, 51-12, 39-0 and 34-0, I feel fairly confident that I can predict a Dyersburg victory.

Seriously, guy. What is your deal? Are you just trolling or do you seriously believe that you are in the right on this?

It also would have been more effective if he would have paid more attention in English class. Capitalize Dyer County, put a period after "year", Capitalize "all", replace "I" with "I've", put a colon after the word "say", capitalize the proper name Counce, and put a period at the end of the second sentence. Your enthusiasm for Dyersburg football is admirable, but your apparent lack of enthusiasm for the English language is disappointing.

You're probably right. We try and make it back for 1 game per year, since my wife's brother is on the team. Unfortunately, it's looking a lot like the game we'll be back for is at Ripley. /sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> It's a tough region game, true, but I wouldn't mind seeing that Bolivar game the next week.

I'm 29. Graduated form DHS in '97, so I missed all of the football's team success by a year, so the only war stories I have are watching the football team go 3-7 among about 200 fans (mostly students and parents). The time or two my wife and I make it back to D'burg, I am still amazed at how packed that stadium is...

Aw, come on, fellas. Are you going to start telling us yunguns what is was like to walk 20 miles to and from school? Uphill bothways? What was it like walking over sharp rocks with no shoes on in 2 feet of snow each winter? Exactly how did y'all feel when those new fangled horseless cairrages came along? Did electricity take some time to get used to? /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> But seriously.... Dyersburg's gonna win.