The Countdown Begins...

[supersteve17]

It won't be too long before a decision is reached in the TSSAA/BA case before the Supreme Court. What are the real implications of the possible outcomes in the case? I have heard a lot of speculation that has run the gamut from "nothing changes" to "TSSAA goes bankrupt and schools must re-organize in a new way." What do you think?

[Bighurt]

TSSAA attorney Rick (Ricky to those who have known him a while) Colbert is quoted as saying -

 

. . . a ruling in favor of BA would be ‘potentially devastating.’

 

“It (TSSAA) would not have the wherewithal to pay the millions of dollars that Brentwood Academy would ask for in legal fees,” Colbert said. “But I’m not sure school officials would lose much sleep if TSSAA went out a business.”

 

He does not sound very confident. It doesn't really matter what you or I think. What matters is what the 9 Supreme Court justices think.

 

JMHO. I wish this case had been settled 10 years ago.

[cbg]

If the TSSAA wins the case you will see a complete split between the private schools and the public schools. IMO, the private schools would then establish their own organization.

 

If Brentwood Academy wins: Everyone will be placed back together in 4 divisions for football. You will see the financial aid rules changed to something similar to what they were before the split. The TSSAA will try to cut a deal to pay a % of the legal fees and the various boards will have 50% public school and 50% private school officials on them. The TSSAA will use their insurance to pay X amount of the legal fees and the remaining balance will be paid by the member schools.

 

Brentwood Academy will own the keys to the TSSAA offices and will instruct everyone as to how things are going to be done and we will really have no choice but to go along with them. IMO, you are going to see BA do a complete 180 and change directions in the way that they handle athletics. They will still hire good coaches and try to win but you will see them work hard to improve their academic and arts programs. The adminstration has been waiting for the day that Coach Flatt and his regime retires so they can run the school like a true Prep school.

[takedown3]

Get used to the BASSAA which will he located in the Carlton Flatt Building.

[Indian]

There are about 150 public schools in A and AA, in the rural areas or at least outside the largest state cities. I can certainly see them forming their own group. It could have about 75 each in two classes for everything but football, and three in football. Maybe some of the Class AAA schools would be interested, too. Or teams could play who they wanted without concrete districts or regions, and playoffs could be determined after that. I"m not too big a fan of that idea, but a football grouping around here of Sequatchie, Whitwell, Bledsoe, Marion, South Pittsburg and Grundy, possibly Lookout Valley (in Hamilton County but not very urban) would appeal to a lot more locals than playing teams such as Howard, Sequoyah, Silverdale Academy and David Brainerd

[Verb58]

Well either way it goes, I don't see how the publics and privates don't fully split. I personally wished they still played together but following a large school I can truly appreciate the dilema that the 3A and under schools actually face. It's a numbers thing and as much as we would like it to be, comparing numbers of a private school to the numbers of a small public school would be like comparing apples to oranges. If TSSAA wins look for a total split. If BA wins the TSSAA will be disbaned and most publics will form their own alliance. I hope it doesn't come to this but it looks like that is what is going to happen either way.

[Indian]

This is about 140 up through 1,000 enrollment, about 35 after that. Some might not want to jump, but if their neighbors did who would they play if they stayed. The largest schools probably wouldn't move, I'm guessing, but some might. I'm probably missing some that are rural, left in some that aren't really too rural, but this should be somewhat accurate. Some of them are far more rural than others on the list. It would be a help financially, too many of the schools have district games with city schools that literally bring less than 10 fans/parents to basketball games. And I'm not just throwing out schools for no reason, this has been discussed.

 

Clinch 32

Hermitage Springs 90

Frank Hughes 108

Hampshire 112

Big Sandy 143

Clarksburg 150

Oakdale 163

Gleason 166

Greenfield 169

Santa Fe 171

Sale Creek 179

Sunbright 179

Washburn 187

Pickett County 192

Red Boiling Springs 201

Bradford 208

Copper Basin 208

Cloudland 218

Huntland 222

Hollow Rock-Bruceton 224

Greenback 226

Coalfield 227

Clarkrange 231

Lookout Valley 233

Middle College 241

South Fulton 244

South Pittsburg 247

Clay Co.249

Van Buren 254

Lake Co. 258

Midway 268

Cornersville 281

Moore Co. 286

Harriman 301

Eagleville 310

Hancock County 318

Collinwood 324

Westside 326

Culleoka 328

McEwen 329

Community 334

Perry County 336

Monterey 339

Wayne County 339

White House Heritage 341

Scotts Hill 343

Whitwell 343

Gordonsville 345

Watertown 347

Unaka 348

Jellico 353

West Carroll 354

Jo Byrns 356

Middleton 356

McKenzie 382

Halls 383

Mt Pleasant 385

Union City 391

North Greene 400

Forrest 402

Huntingdon 407

Peabody 407

Summertown 411

Cosby 411

Trousdale 414

Cascade 422

Oneida

Houston Co.425

Wartburg 425

Dresden 432

Humboldt 433

East Robertson 436

Richland 441

Adamsville 442

Hampton 443

Decatur Co. Riverside 451

Rockwood 455

Marion Co. 478

Upperman 479

Oliver Springs 492

Jackson County 494

South Greene 497

Westmoreland 507

Meigs County 513

Tellico Plains 519

Loretto 526

Bledsoe Co. 532

Lewis County 553

Chuckey-Doak 569

Polk Co. 569

Happy Valley 576

Milan 577

Sequatchie 578

Gatlinburg-Pittman 588

Camden 605

West Greene 608

Sweetwater 611

Cumberland Gap 618

Westview 627

Harpeth 627

Smith Co. 644

Waverly 653

Stewart Co.661

Grundy Co. 676

York 668

Cheatham Co. 672

Cannon Co. 674

Loudon 675

Kingston 677

Johnson Co. 683

Chester Co. 706

Scott 741

Gibson Co. 754

Unicoi Co. 754

Pigeon Forge 769

DeKalb County 771

Elizabethton 774

McNairy 775

Crockett County 778

Marshall County 779

McMinn Central 802

Claiborne County 804

Rutledge 814

Macon Co. 820

Greenbrier 821

White House 827

Bolivar 865

Spring Hill 875

Obion County 888

Union Co. 888

Livingston Academy 889

Ripley 900

Lexington 903

Stone 920

Montgomery Central 927

Sequoyah 943

Dyersburg 948

Giles Co. 967

Springfield 977

 

 

Dyer County 1,014

Portland 1,049

Seymour 1,079

Hickman Co. 1,108

Lawrence Co. 1,110

Volunteer 1,125

Cocke Co.1,142

Hardin Co. 1,159

Cherokee 1,160

Clinton 1,160

Shelbyville 1,172

Tennessee 1,178

Lenoir City 1,183

Tullahoma 1,189

White Co. 1,205

Daniel Boone 1,229

Henry County 1,338

Campbell Co.1,362

McMinn County 1,363

David Crockett 1,390

Rhea County 1,398

Dickson Co. 1,436

Columbia 1,464

Franklin County 1,498

Lincoln Co.1,552

Coffee County 1,597

Sevier Co. 1,640

Franklin High School 1,715

Warren County 1,802

Cumberland Co. 1,994 (doesn't have the numbers lost to the new Stone High School)

Cookeville 2,004

Jefferson Co. 2,047

 

There would be about 52 in a three-class football system with these schools. If Jefferson, Cookeville and those types did not join, I think two classes could be used. In basketball there would be nearly 60 in three classes or about 90 each in a two-class group.

 

Around Chattanooga, districts in basketball might include

A: Whitwell, Lookout Valley, Sale Creek, South Pittsburg, Copper Basin, Richard Hardy

AA: Marion County, Bledsoe County, Sequatchie, Grundy County, Tellico Plains, Meigs County, Polk County, Sweetwater

AAA: McMinn Central, Stone, Sequoyah, Cumberland County, Rhea County, McMinn County

 

Football would probably be similar, Marion and McMinn Central might drop in football to replace schools that don't have that sport such as Hardy and Sale Creek.

[supersteve17]

QUOTE(Indian @ Apr 15 2007 - 12:39 PM) 826437934[/snapback]There are about 150 public schools in A and AA, in the rural areas or at least outside the largest state cities. I can certainly see them forming their own group. It could have about 75 each in two classes for everything but football, and three in football. Maybe some of the Class AAA schools would be interested, too. Or teams could play who they wanted without concrete districts or regions, and playoffs could be determined after that. I"m not too big a fan of that idea, but a football grouping around here of Sequatchie, Whitwell, Bledsoe, Marion, South Pittsburg and Grundy, possibly Lookout Valley (in Hamilton County but not very urban) would appeal to a lot more locals than playing teams such as Howard, Sequoyah, Silverdale Academy and David Brainerd

 

 

I assume you are saying this IF the TSSAA loses? I thought the point has been made many times on these discussion boards that the NFHS would not endorse/approve two organizations or sanctioning bodies in the same state. Is that true or is that merely speculation? You seem to be advocating a split on stricly urban/rural lines. What about the rural private schools (of which there are really very few)? Would you play with them?

[MrPeabody]

I have been under the impression that the NFHS rule about recognizing only one sanctioning body per state is part of the problem as well; being that a game between two schools from different sanctioning bodies is not allowed. (And I think the penalties for such a contest can be quite harsh.) If the TSSAA wins, and there is a total split between public and private, I would expect discussion and possible future legal action in that area.

[MPHSTIGERS87]

QUOTE(wave88 @ Apr 15 2007 - 02:01 PM) 826437949[/snapback]Well either way it goes, I don't see how the publics and privates don't fully split. I personally wished they still played together but following a large school I can truly appreciate the dilema that the 3A and under schools actually face. It's a numbers thing and as much as we would like it to be, comparing numbers of a private school to the numbers of a small public school would be like comparing apples to oranges. If TSSAA wins look for a total split. If BA wins the TSSAA will be disbaned and most publics will form their own alliance. I hope it doesn't come to this but it looks like that is what is going to happen either way.

 

 

Either way, I hope they do split.

[fan6]

QUOTE(cbg @ Apr 13 2007 - 09:37 PM) 826437117[/snapback]If the TSSAA wins the case you will see a complete split between the private schools and the public schools. IMO, the private schools would then establish their own organization.

 

If Brentwood Academy wins: Everyone will be placed back together in 4 divisions for football. You will see the financial aid rules changed to something similar to what they were before the split. The TSSAA will try to cut a deal to pay a % of the legal fees and the various boards will have 50% public school and 50% private school officials on them. The TSSAA will use their insurance to pay X amount of the legal fees and the remaining balance will be paid by the member schools.

 

Brentwood Academy will own the keys to the TSSAA offices and will instruct everyone as to how things are going to be done and we will really have no choice but to go along with them. IMO, you are going to see BA do a complete 180 and change directions in the way that they handle athletics. They will still hire good coaches and try to win but you will see them work hard to improve their academic and arts programs. The adminstration has been waiting for the day that Coach Flatt and his regime retires so they can run the school like a true Prep school.

 

 

Interesting take on the situation. Are you basing this on anything but your opinion? As someone pretty closely involved in the school, I feel certain that BA has no designs on "instructing everyone as to how things are going to be done". Our wish is that this thing a) would have never started and /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" /> would have been settled about 9.5 years ago. We just want it done. It would be nice to have things be the way they were pre lawsuit, but it won't happen. We just want to move on . . .

 

As for the "180 degree turn . . . you've missed the boat. BA has a nationally recognised forensics team (competitive acting), a band program of 150+ (over 20% of the student body) one of the finest drama departments in the state (I encourage you to come see "Once Upon This Island" next weekend) and kids who are being accepted to Ivy's each year. Not sure how you missed it, but BA did the "180" about 10 years ago . . .

 

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. In the end, I find it interesting how little this has to do with BA or the TSSAA any more. It is a Free Speech argument with far reaching ramifications for a lot of groups -- we are all just small players in the drama.

[tnsddeveloper]

This case is starting to get some serious press! Today's USA Today - Page 4A. Homepage of ESPN here: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/highschoo...tory?id=2840971