observations

Maybe, but don't be surprised if an upset or two occurs tonight.

I never said that all your players aren't important. I simply stated that without Patsy, you would not be in the top four. I stand by the statement. Geez, I hope the younger guards on the team don't read your post. So listen assistent coach or sporting goods store owner or whoever you are, we aren't going to get healthy, another broken bone from the JPII game. So now two starters are injured for the duration. Oh well, thats basketball. I'm not sure that you really want Ryan to get healthly, but maybe you do, good health to your players as well.

I can't argue your point.

Not throwing no jabs at anybody, just stating the facts. Ryan is injured and beat up period, can't you understand English. And besides I don't have to tell you anything about anybody at Ryan, because you already know. And you are incorrect, the game was over before the tip-off.

With the injury situation being what it is, that will probably be correct. We will never know for sure without a healthly team. There are about a hundred things that you don't know about the inner workings at Ryan, but I don't have enough interest to go into it. Ryan's leading scorer at time of injury, leader in assists, leader in steals, and in top five in rebounding is injured and probably will remain injured the rest of the season. This had a devastating effect on the team as it would any team. It would be like Patsy Mahoney playing so hurt that she could no longer be effective for JPII. Would JPII still be a top four team without Patsy, I don't think so, in fact I know they would not. And before you start whining about disrespecting any other players. This is just a fact of life in basketball, you lose one of your top players, you are not the same team in strength or anything else, ask Bruce Pearl at Tennessee. I believe you already know this, but you failed to mention it, you are just interested in being right except for your prior post where you could not have been more wrong. One last thing, Patsy Mahoney is still the greatest impact player on JPII's team period, no matter whether you like it or not.

Lets hear it. Who's going to take this rematch between the Lady Irish and the Lady Knights.

I don't consider it that big of an upset. To beat Station Camp, you have to defend the three. They are not that strong inside. Kacey Kyle had twenty three points and Mary Smiley had sixteen points. And many good hustle plays by the other girls. The only time Station Camp made a run was when the defense did not get out and defend the three. I predict another victory against DCA if no unforseen circumstances come up. Greenbrier had so many sick students that school was cancelled this past Friday.

I believe Feb 16 is the scheduled date for the make-up game.

The Father Ryan-Ensworth girls and boys game has been cancelled. Will be played later in the season, time to still be determined.

I would go one step further, I would say that public schools are representing someone too that is equally important. A church school is just that a church school, a public school is a bunch of different churches that are being represented. I think the responsibility is equal as I think the people in both schools are. The private school my children attend draw about 80% from their particular faith, believe me sports is not number one. And we all need to act right. I believe we both have a few blessings that we are thankful for.

That may be true, but the same for mine with going to a private school. So if you are going to argue about sports, keep it to sports only, because the reasons for children attending private schools are as numerous as stars in the sky. And private schools are not all the same, not by a long shot, either of purpose or reason of existence. I'm glad the public school system is good where you are located. But even if it were where I am, I still would send my kids where they are attending, for different reasons. I would hope you will allow people to follow their own consciences without being second-guessed by others who may not fully understand. I still say the parents are what make the difference in any kind of school, so you must be blessed by a bunch of good parents.

I am not quite sure of your theology. Trusting God and not using your brain seems to be a conflict for you. The poster and what they posted has nothing to do with trusting God. They simply are using their God-Given ability to make decisions, (free-will) to do the best thing possible for their children and that was in their situation to send them to a private school. There are other reasons that people send their children to private schools that have not even been mentioned here. These reasons have nothing to do with sports at all. Some people send their children to private schools because that is what they believe is the right thing to do. Just like you state that your children aren't supposed to go to a private school, other people believe their children are supposed to go to a private school. For some people it is a faith decision to educate their children in their church schools. They want to ensure that the total child is being educated, morally, socially, academics, everything. For some, this is the private school setting. For myself and my children, this was the choice. I don't have a high paying job, and have struggled the whole way, but it is worth it to me. The results for my children have been nothing short of amazing. I would do it over again in a heartbeat. One other thing, posters keep saying that private school children may not be as prepared to go into the world, I totally disagree with that statement and have seen no evidence of that at all with my own children or other people's. A previous poster posted that the reason for rural private schools is the busing issue etc. That may or may not be true. But I can tell you that Catholic schools have been around for hundreds of years and their goal is to educate and teach to make good solid citizens period. There were Catholic schools before there was a bus invented. So when you link private schools into one big basket, you are giving a tunnel vision explanation that falls far short of fully explaining a complex and massive issue. What I find most interesting is that sports of all things could promote some of the comments that have been made about private schools and for that matter public schools too. As always, whether it is private or public school students, the parents of both have the primary responsibility of showing their kids how to live, how to act, how to study, and the importance of doing your best in any situation. Any school anywhere and how they achieve is directly related to the people who attend there and more importantly their parents and what they demand of that school for their children. Sad to say, there are great gaps in the demands of parents, some could care less, some care a great deal. As for sports, in order for a child to be successful IMO, the parents have to be heavily involved with the child almost year round. In other words, if a parent does this, they don't have much of a personal life. So what, we are talking about our children and sacrifices have to be made to garner success. If I had a dollar for every gym I have sat in, AAU, high school etc, I could retire tomorrow. But so what, that was for my children and I would do it all over again. One last thing, the previous poster has to trust a little or they would not even send their children out the front door. And when we do send them out, we all worry about them. If you don't worry, then you need to re-evaluate your notion of this world which is full of pit-falls and danger. And finally, if everybody could get to the raw truth, we all want the best for our children. As to how that is achieved is one of the greatest gifts from the almighty, free choice. The best of everything to all the children and the special people that try their best to raise them.

Congradulations to the Father Ryan Boys Bowling team for their Div II state championship. You make us all proud.

Could anyone from the Briarcrest area in Memphis tell me what happened to the post or power forward that is such a good ball player. I noticed she was not in the stats in their past game. Is she injured? Hope Not.

You simply don't know what you are talking about. We are 3-0 in the region, yet to suffer a region loss. If you can't understand that then go back to former coaching school. All the games don't count in the region standings, only one game does between all the teams. The game with Harpeth Hall and Ryan counted in the region, the game between Harpeth Hall and JPII did not count in the standings. And come region time when you are seeded, they will count, you can bet on it. I don't give a hoot whether you are Catholic or not, you disrespected them by not even mentioning them as a candidate for the top four spots in the region. That tells me one thing, you don't know a whole lot about basketball and I don't care where you have coached whatever. You are so wrapped up in JPII for whatever reason. Thats okay except when its clouds your opinion. So enough said on that, don't try to back track, most of the posts you have put on this web site have disrespected somebody, just ask Davidson Academy fans. And I simply don't believe that you are indifferent to Ryan, you just won't admit it. And your knowledge of local players is pretty much limited to JPII's driveway. By the way, if Patsy Mahoney wasn't on the team, you would not even be talking about state cause you would have no chance to make it. She is the biggest impact player on the team, but I have yet to see you post anything about her. One other thing, I bet JPII gets their hat handed to them when they play Harpeth Hall the next time when it truly counts in the standings. And lastly, Ryan does not play the cupcake schedule that the school you are affiliated with does, thus the only difference in their records. I use the word cupcake because that is the exact way you described Davidson Academy's schedule for no apparent reason except to post it or embarrass them or whatever. Come region time, we'll see. Keep talking, lots of people read these posts. By the way, the statement everyone can't beat everyone in Div II, that is simply a uninformed statement. All our players have been in town the whole season and will be for the tourney as well. Its funny that a person who claims to be neutral as far as Ryan goes would make such a statement or even know about it. You are not neutral, but you said you were. So thats the vein anyone in the future should read your posts especially when its comes to Div II basketball.

HMMMM, I guess the Lady Irish who lead the Division Region at 3-0 at this point should not even be considered. I believe JPII still has to go to Harpeth Hall in the division game that counts. Not an easy task. But the Lady Irish lead the Honey Bears the entire game in their gym, and beat them in the region game that counted. It may come down to JPII and the Lady Irish for the number 2 spot. The game that counts in the standings is at JPII. Maybe we should wait and see the outcome of this game before we start picking how teams are going to finish in the region regular season and surely who is going to state. It is obvious that you have no respect for the Lady Irish, so keep talking, we'll take all the help we can get. See you at the region tournament which is at Father Ryan.

I'm sure they are good boys, perhaps part of why they are good boys is the tender side of love they experienced from their mother or grandmother, could that be too. You don't take replys well, you think you are being attacked, thats not the case at all. And Coach, remember, unless your kids are in their fifties or sixties, you don't know whether all that tough love was productive or not, you just hope and pray it is. A good parent is very similiar to a good coach, they both know that the learning process for either job never stops, only an ignorant person would think otherwise. And lastly, although we all are different as far as names, locations, etc, we also are very much alike as to fears, trust, love, decisions, etc. The best of everything to your children and all of your family.

Your perception is wrong if you are implying that I did not grow up with tough love. Tough love is by definition when a parent has to make hard choices concerning their child when the child don't agree or like it. It hardly applies to sports and should not since sports should be a pure choice of any child when they have the ability to weigh all factors involved in playing. As for myself, I grew up with a lot of tough love, so you see, your implication is incorrect. And I bet your daughter plays sports too, I just hope it is a decision made by her for her and not to please anyone else. There is one thing that a three year old understands a little bit and that is what pleases a parent. They quickly learn what to say, how to act, and what to do to please a parent. That is still not the end all of what they truly want sometimes. Only when they see that a parent will be just as pleased if they decide to go another direction will they truly feel free to make their choices. This is not easy to accomplish. As to the size and strength of a three year old, it doesn't matter, they are still a three year old in emotions and maturity. I have been to coaching clinics and profanity does not make any coach a better coach, its just exposing their inability to use the English language correctly. And you seemed to imply that profanity does not matter if you are a successful coach. In other words, if you are winning, who cares. Profanity makes any coach a failure in setting a proper example to a player, if in no other way then to show the player that they cannot speak properly. Would you want anyone using profanity to your daughter or is there a certain age where it just doesn't matter. I never said you were stupid, just a little overzealous about sports in general. Its a lot different teaching or coaching your own kids than someone else's kids. How do I know, because I've done both, probably longer than you have. You may know all the X and O's in the world, but the thing those girls are gonna remember most that you are coaching is how you treated them, hopefully, with dignity and respect, no matter what the outcome of a ballgame. I'm sure you are a good fellow, just be cautious and go slowly so you will always know that any decision any child makes is their own and not some pressured one they really did not want to make. One other thing, I had no zeal to find something wrong with your earlier post, it just disturbed me. Not trying to upset you, just hope you think about it.

It could cause damage and indeed it does on many occasions. I wonder who told you that a three year old is endowed with a lot of self esteem at that age. And whether she smiles or not, if you tell her she did something terrible, it still hurts. Maybe she is hiding it in order to gain time with her dad. As to shot form, how can you teach shot form to a three year old. If she is going to shoot any kind of shot at all at a basket even a lower one in height, she will have to do whatever is necessary to get the ball to the goal. The shot form can wait, because it will change anyway when she gets older. I know a lot of coaches that would not consider shot form a fundamental for a three year old. I have several children that hug and kiss me every time they see me. So What. As a professional counseler, I can tell you that children who are not in good circumstances at home do the same thing to their parents. I would be careful about giving advice about how to handle children at that tender age. But then again, aren't you the person that openly criticized one of you own players and revealed personal infomation on this public forum. Better be careful about being hard on your children concerning sports or it may come back and bite you some day. Let them be kids. I wonder how much quality time will be spent with Dad if she decides not to play sports. There are instructional books on three year old children that would greatly assist you in not making assumptions on what your child knows and doesn't know especially when it comes to interacting with a parent at that age. Coach, a lot of people have already seen some of your prior posting on this web site and this particular post has done little to nothing to enhance people's opinions about you. A parent told me one time that his expectations were so high for his children that they had only one way to go and that was DOWN, nobody could live up to it. One other thing, on some of your earlier posts, you state that you don't use profanity, but have no problem with it. You cite successfull coaches that use profanity as an example. Whether a coach is successful or not has nothing to do with using profanity. Its not all about success or failure, but how you play and respect the game. Ease up.

I haven't missed a Ryan-JPII basketball game since they started playing each other. You can bet I will be there.

You mention Father Ryan as one of the better teams that JPII plays on one post, but when you talk about competing for region on another post, you did not mention the Lady Irish. Does that mean that JPII or its fans have written the Irish off? Just wondering.

Exactly correct. Ensworth is on the rise.

My reply would be that at least the girls get a few wins this season. I am not sure getting the fire kicked out of you every game makes you better. And there may be some seniors on the team, who will have a few wins under their belt before leaving for college. About four or five years ago, they had a group of girls that were tough to beat. Its a small school and very difficult to keep the talent level up every year. I believe they play all the D-2 schools in their region at least once. So they are going to take some hits no doubt about it. Perhaps after moving to Sumner county, they will toughen up their schedule a little, bigger school etc, we'll see.

Agree 100%.

Pujo, your statements about you feelings toward your children speak louder than what kind of school anyone attends, how good the facilities are or anything else. You are winning the game of life and your children are very lucky to have a parent like you. I totally agree with your statement about parents being the big difference in the two types of schools. But I certainly realize that there are thousands of good parents doing their jobs in both school systems and I see you do too.