throwXaway

Unpopular post ahead.  Scroll on by if you are faint of heart.

Congrats to the Pioneers!

Several problems with the Blaze this season.  First, they were all told to go home and be distance learners.  What do you think these kids are sitting around doing all day?  Getting stronger?  Getting school spirit?  More than once I have been told that several senior players smelled like weed at practice.  I think it is time to stop worrying that someone on the team is gonna get quarantined.  Warren County just embarrassed you.  Round up what leaders you have and get them back to school.

Second problem - These Blackman kids are totally undisciplined.  Five personal fouls in the game before this?  Throwing helmets?  Seems like there are no real consequences for missing assignments or misbehaving.  I guarantee that you can go see the Blackman youth kids play on a Saturday and see more disciplined football players who will break their necks before they let their coaches down.  Discipline was a problem way back in the day but this is the worst I have seen.  If the players don't respect their assignments, their coaches and team, they shouldnt play.  This is an area where Shadowens excelled.  

Third - Senior Leadership - Who is the senior leader of this team?  The baseball player?  (don't get me wrong, he is an outstanding young man who is doing his level best)  I dont see any clear leaders.  A whole lot of ME out there.

Fourth - Player development.  Over the years, Blackman has had a hard time with this.  We have been blessed to have several amazing and talented kids who carried the team.  Mimms, Wallace, Mathers, Jennings, Murphy, etc.  Watch Maryville and Alcoa and count how many kids get to take varsity snaps during a game.  More than almost anybody.  We have too many kids going both ways.  We need to involve more players.  We have relied too much on those once in a lifetime athletes and now that there isnt one, you see the result.

Fifth - Legacy players.  Stop playing kids because their parents are educators, or influential boosters or because they are seniors.  A few come to mind that I wont name, but I can think of at least three quarterbacks in the last decade who I think werent the best kid for the job, but got the job because someone just decided that they deserved it.   Blackman needs to force competition for positions.  In the last few years, a few freshman and sophomore players have been picked out and given varsity time.  Getting them varsity snaps too early in their career takes away from their total durability, exposes them to more injury and prevents the development of other players.

Finally - Fundamentals.  You got to harp and harp on proper technique and execution.  Way too much arm tackling and wrong pursuit angles.  Watching this team try to tackle tonight was extremely haunting.

Hopefully this season can be salvaged.

After talking with my police buddies, there is more to the story than just the kid assaulting him. There was racism and name calling involved to start the incident. More to come to this story

You better watch it baseball....your desparaging remarks may get deleted when the Good News Only Gestapo sees it.  You better edit that and put the word "allegedly". 

I dont condone what that kid did btw,

BUMP!

Ok Warhawk.  I'll bite.  One last time.  Blackman63, I didn't like the fact that the stipends which were set aside for middle school teachers/coaches were diverted to coaches who A) don't work at the middle school and B ) whose primary coaching responsibilities are for the high school.  I didnt like seeing various coaches show up late to practice and games from time to time because of their primary high school responsibilities.  I dont like the fact that Blackman Middle has not been to the championship game since the high school took over.  My opinion is that the high school has used the middle school program to help pay for high school coaches.  I do think that many of those guys who were coaching middle school over the years cared about those kids and I commend them for coaching.  Its just not a formula for middle school success.

Now, I realize that my opining has caused some of the most ardent Shadowens fans (and family) to be upset.  What can I say?  I have a dissenting opinion,  It's not libel or slander or a beef, its simply an opinion from a person with a different lens.  You may be surprised, but lots of people outside  the immediate Shad circle have similar dissenting opinions but they wont take to this medium for fear of reprisal or unnecessary conflict.

Now, I'm gonna take the advice of others and change my password to something I will never remember and move on.  Good luck to the Blaze and good luck to the Govs.

Hey Blaze, I too noticed the post. The only thing I can figure is he may have been referencing some displaced coaches as a result of the high school taking over the middle school program, but that was also 5 years ago. I'm sure those involved would have moved on by now.

Yes, this. ^^^^^

And to blazeburning, you probably know what "moron" means, so I wont waste time with that but I will school you on the meaning of the word "oxymoron"  An oxymoron can be found in the following sentence.:

"I don't condone calling people names, but I think this is pretty accurate.....You ,sir, are a MORON!!!!!"

Who's the moron now?

And for the record, some bridges were singed pretty badly when Shads program took over the middle school at BMS. Hope Young manages to hang in there.

..... There's never been any explanation of what he supposedly did anyways.... And as some Blackman posters pointed out he was not fired from his job as a teacher. What's up with that? Wouldn't they fire him if they knew he really did something bad? It just doesn't add up.... I think the guys in charge of making this hire looked into things and thought it was bogus. There's zero evidence that he's done anything, his record is clean, and nobody has spoken a bad word.....

Every time someone tries to give you guys a clue as to what smells, they get shouted down and threatened with slander......libel rather. Good luck To the Govs. I've got no reason to not wish you all success. Like someone else said, time will tell.

I hope Shad is ok with his boys at WB talking trash on CoachT. If he can't keep his assistants from doing it, it'd be a double standard to ask his players to refrain from doing it either

I'm not crazy people.  Everyone likes sausage, but no one wants to see how it is made.

That's not nice way out of line.

Says the guy who called David Watson a loser in public

I understand Blackman supporters standing behind their former coach. However, at some point, you have to start thinking that you do not know the entire story. The principal and director of schools are educated people and have made their decisions based on the facts so far. This is not a witch hunt, there are legitimate findings that have brought them to this point. They are not required to publicly disclose all of the information that led them to the decisions they have made. It is probably in the best interest of Mr. Shadowens that the entire story is not detailed in a somewhat unreliable news source such as the DNJ. It is their job to do what is best for the school and your children. It is that simple. Based on the facts so far, it is best for everyone involved for him to look to another county for employment.

 

As far as the anonymous posters who use this forum as a way to publicly slander a coach, administrator, parent volunteer or even worse a player, you are nothing but a coward. The purpose of these message boards are to discuss sports and voice opinions, not slander someone's character.

Libel.....you mean libel. 

Allegedly.

(Thanks to RR for straightening me out earlier)

Blackman has no middle school football coaches who are employed at the middle school that I am aware of. All the middle school stipends go to coaches whose primary football jobs are at the high school. The head coach of the middle school will commonly show up late for practice and sometimes games depending on what the high school is doing that day and what his high school responsibilities are. They run similar stuff, but it's mostly vanilla and no championship appearances since the high school guys took over a few years back.

Dang! Treyrae don't just burn the bridges he nukes em and everything around them.... allegedly

freeagent11....I have not said anything slanderous.  Slander is saying things that are untrue with intent to harm.  Show me.  What is driving me crazy is the fact that so many people are providing ferocious support and trying to shout down anyone who might doubt the story that he did nothing wrong.  I am not Wayne Armstrong, but I am very familiar with Blackman.  If you are worried about slander, Wayne and Dr. Justus have been slandered from the people that you seem to be defending. The fact is that the coach at Blackman was told that he could no longer coach in Rutherford county.  From that, you either believe there was a good reason or you don't.  I believe there was a good reason and I believe that it didnt have to be that way.  I think the county probably tried to help him since he has been a teacher for so long here.  If you or anyone else cant handle some back and forth on the subject, i suggest that you find another website. 

Have a good one Wayne, hope Miller's Senior year is all you ever dreamed of.

Wayne is not the type to come on here and stir up people. With that said I agree that this is probably the most classless post I seen on CoachT in a long time.  since you are such a strong supporter of Shadowens I now wonder if the apple doesnt fall far from the tree.....Do you think Shadowens would approve of your classless comment about a hard-working kid?  Your credibility is gone...

....So he was supposed to have accepted responsibility for something he had ZERO control or responsibility over? The booster club and their funds are NOT the responsibility of the head coach..

So you're saying that Shad was not in control of his program? Why didn't he just cooperate with the principle and the board? Why did they recommend that he not coach any longer in the county? is everyone crazy except Shadowens?

Feom the beginning this narrative that the new principle was on a power trip didn't seem possible Or make sense.

http://www.dnj.com/story/news/2015/03/06/sheriff-offices-blackman-investigation-confirmed/24546181/

People love coach shadowens because hes generally pleasant and hes a winner but there are also plenty of people who would tell you that he has a big ego and isn't very easy to work with unless you are in his inner circle.

hes not a bad guy but you have to change with the times. Rumor is that all he had to do was accept responsibility and punishment for the improprieties that were reported and he would still be coaching and life would have went on. Instead he threw a fit and went and said a bunch of stuff I'm sure he regrets to the newspaper. Bridge burned......

this topic is awful quiet lately. no more newspaper articles. no more meetings. no more petitions.

Lots of people are making really ignorant assumptions about this situation.   Does anyone really think that a simple disagreement of philosophy would lead a new principle in Rutherford County to axe a very popular and successful coach all on her own?  Surely she understands just how important football is in Rutherford county right?  A power hungry woman? The school board is involved and has made this decision. It wasnt about simply philosophy and It appears that last season was the last season that Shadowens will coach in a Rutherford County public school. Those who are passing around petitions and having meetings and calling for blood are making ####es of themselves.