truthsquad

Questioning every move they make. If they pass, parents say they should run. If they run, parents say they should pass. If they punt, they should went for it. If they play one QB, they shoulda played the other. Parents yelling from the bleachers. Parents playing Monday morning QB on Facebook.

Both teams are way down this year. It seems the whole city has turned on the coaching staff in Bristol. What happens with this one on Friday?

Just came across this ranking site for Tennessee. http://www.bestwrestlerlist.com/

No--that's not what I said at all NewCoach215. You may have chosen to interpret this way for arguments sake, but not what I said. What I said was those from Region 1 who post on here have their heads in the sand. I don't think many of the posts are from the wrestlers themselves. The point is there seems to be a vague sense of reality amongst the parents. You, for example always seem to tout the Morristown squads who were, for lack of a better term, AWFUL, last year. I'm just saying...I live in a small town near some of the power house teams in the state. I rarely, if ever, see parents here go on a message board trying to blow smoke about how there team will dominate. Maybe its blind optimism on your part, or maybe its just a different take on reality up there in East TN. Keep the change.

I have watched the Region 1 threads for a while but I can longer sit by and watch as you all continue to stick your heads in the sand. Region 1 is so far from being competitive on the state level its beyond funny. What did you have, 2 or 3 place winners last year? Out of a possible 84--not a very good percentage. And then to hear this talk of the kids from Science Hill who will "dominate" and move around at will to gain an easy 6. This is just ridiculous. Come on Region 1, get your blinders off!

Yes I have!!!!! Not only have I had discussions with him regarding his calls but I have witnessed several other coaches doing so as well. This ref is always right, just ask him. He is very arrogant and unprofessional. I attempted to discuss this referee with Darrell and was told that I should speak with Don Elsea. I already had but nothing has changed. I applaud you for putting in a rating system, I believe this is a step in the right direction, but I believe you could get more benefit by taking some feedback from coaches. Do an anonymous survey of referees at multiple tournaments and I'm certain you will see a pattern witht this guy. And don't just wait until there is a problem, because as a tournament director I know the benefit of the doubt always goes to the referee and most issues are chalked up to a coach/dad being dissatisfied that his wrestler lost.

Good tournament and overall good officiating but there is one huge exception. The ref with the brown curly hair that always verbalizes (loudly) his near fall count. This guy is a complete joke when it comes to officiating. I don't get why he is allowed to ref matches after the amount of disputes I see him in at tournaments. This guy makes up the rules as he goes. He stops matches for illegal holds that the rule book clearly shows are 100% legal. He is constantly talking to the kids throughout the match saying stuff like "improve, improve, improve; or "watch that, watch that"; or "careful, slow down" With a higher level wrestler they may ignore him, but I have witnessed many wrestlers putting themselves in bad situations because of his urging to "improve." He almost always calls arm bars and power half's as potentially dangerous. I witnessed one match where one wrestler had the other in a cradle and he was urging the top wrestler to "improve." I saw him call stalling on a top wrestler running a 1/2 while the bottom man was balled up almost fetal position. I saw him call a stalling less than 5 seconds into a match on a final OT ride out. He wants to be seen and "in the match" so to speak, so bad that he is costing kids matches and really upsetting many coaches. I know the other refs see it and heard a few actually talking about how bad he was. And before you say its sour grapes over a loss, it is not. Luckily he did not ref my kids matches and my kid won every match without controversy. This is simply an observation I have made over the past several tournaments where he is a ref. I'm thinking there should be some type of rating system in place to elminate fools like this guy. He really leaves a sour taste.

If your kid is the true #2 in the bracket then he will beat the others who are seeded ahead of him. It makes no sense to use the Top 100 tournaments as seeding criteria because attendance is sporadic. Its a fact of life to those who live in tougher regions that your kid who is 2nd best in the region may be 2nd best in state. If so, thats great, but its not equitable to the Region Champ from another Region to be seeded below a runner up or 3rd placer in your region because he was the unlucky kid who's parent does not live in Chattanooga. This situation happens in high school every year. There are some wrestlers from Region 3 & 4 (high school) who placed 5th or 6th in their region and could be top 6 in the state, when you see the Region Champ from other regions going 0-2. Its just a fact of life, but the region champ from the other region is doing what they are supposed to do, they beat the best in their Region. You can't punish a kid based on sporadic attendance at other tournaments especially given the fact that out of state wreslters attend these tournaments and some of the better TN wrestlers are traveling to national tournaments on these dates and you shouldn't force a kid to choose a lesser tournament because they are worried about state seeding. The only fair way is to seed based on region placement. If your son is truly the #2 seed, he should see your region champion in the finals because 1s & 2s from the same region should be seperated in a standard system. If you are going to use a point system, throw out the Region Tournaments all together and only invite the top 16 from the state at each weight based on your point system. Not a good idea.

Gasp! Airing AAU dirty laundry on a message board. Why, the nerve!!! Please, please don't let the word get out that something is not perfect in the land of TN AAU. You're right Darrell, lets keep it hush hush since Salter has now publicly showed his character.

Why do my posts get you so fired up? Hmmmm TRUTH hurts?

Cause Salter is quitting...

Where is Team A-East?

Too many teams with the word "Academy" in their name, when the teams are really not academies at all. Webster defines Academy as a: a school usually above the elementary level; especially: a private high school b: a high school or college in which special subjects or skills are taught c: higher education —used with the <the functions of the academy in modern society> None of which are actually who seem to be representing themselves as these "schools" for wrestling.

Salter, First of all, thank you for all the sacrifices you have made and time you have given to our state! You sir deserve the Congressional Medal of Honor! Really??? You jackwagon! You come on here as a representative of TN AAU and act like a thug running off your mouth about ALL you have done to better the state, well guess what man, there are tons of others who are working their butts off just like you behind the scenes that take away time from their families and teams for the betterment of the state. I'm sorry, but you are not the state savior! You created the Top 100, well big deal. I never thought it was the best idea anyway, but great job, kudos to you. And you introduced the paperless system to TN? HAHAHAHAHAAA You may have suggested that we use it in the one state tournament (and it was not good). Others in the state have been running a paperless system far longer than when you "introduced it to TN." I guess you & Al Gore must have also invented the Internet?? You are the reason we were slow to transition to track because your love for the paperless tourny. Just because you send out an email with selection criteria doesn't mean you have reinvented the wheel. Thank you for finally quitting. Have fun coaching your team. Stay in your corner and thank god we don't have to listen to your mouth on the pa any longer. I hope the state can survive without you. Fingers crossed.

OMG! I'm agreeing with Sommers. Please say it isn't so!!!