Sad times for 5A NIL/Nashville Metro football!

[rigger101]

I just moved back to the Nashville area after being gone for 25 years. Being a former NIL player it is sad to see what has happened to the support of the Metro schools.

 

I have been shocked at the lack of support in the games I watched over the last year at the 5A level.

 

I've seen teams like Overton, Antioch, Glencliff and Hunters Lane have less than 100 fans in the visitor??™s stands!

These teams in the 80's were always supported by their community and traveled well.

I saw the same thing at Hunter Lane last year at the playoffs and it was on their home field.

 

I remember watching Bobcat teams for the late 70's and 80's and the crowds that the Bobcats had.

 

What happened?

 

The Overton team played a great game last night with little fan support.

 

 

Sad!

[coach763]

I just moved back to the Nashville area after being gone for 25 years. Being a former NIL player it is sad to see what has happened to the support of the Metro schools.

 

I have been shocked at the lack of support in the games I watched over the last year at the 5A level.

 

I've seen teams like Overton, Antioch, Glencliff and Hunters Lane have less than 100 fans in the visitor??™s stands!

These teams in the 80's were always supported by their community and traveled well.

I saw the same thing at Hunter Lane last year at the playoffs and it was on their home field.

 

I remember watching Bobcat teams for the late 70's and 80's and the crowds that the Bobcats had.

 

What happened?

 

The Overton team played a great game last night with little fan support.

Sad!

 

 

I was caused by (2) things:

 

1.) The dumbest "social experiment" known to man......................busing! And what is even sadder, it that those right thinking "idiots" that foistered the mess will go to their graves denying the folly of it all. It damaged all communities.........black and white! All the money wasted on this mess is truly a crime!

 

2.) The concept that........... Bigger is Better comprehensive high schools............thus the removal of neighborhood schools.

 

Nashville is now officially a "private school" town and will become even more so. Nashville is throwing money at schools like a drunken sailor and the results get worse as each year goes by.

Metro athletics do not even appear on Garcia's radar..............he is only interested in his next high-paying job. Scott Brunette (the AD) does the best he can, and when he is gone..................it will really "stink"

[hoosierdad]

What is sad is that Scott grew up and competed during that era as well as coached.

[nrgrizzlies]

"Bussing" started over 35 years ago in this area, so your reasoning on that count (regadring what has happened in the last 25 years doesn't really hold water)

 

Everything else is pretty much spot on.

People can't relate to a school they live 20 minutes from - example the outer edge of Bellevue to where Hillwood High is off Harding/west end ave.

 

Did this become a private school town? Yes. And it became even more of one when Ensworth built a h.s.

And J P -2 opened. It used to pretty much be MBA and Ryan (and to a lessor extent Lipscomb.) Start adding in all the CPA/DCA/Davidson Academy/etc.etc.etc....

 

Also, factor in the number of people who grew up and played sports in Davidson County that moved to Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Rutherford, etc. (where their kids now go to and play sports at Mt. Juliet/LaVergne/Brentwood/etc.etc.etc) That is maybe the biggest part that people don't talk about as much.

[coach763]

"Bussing" started over 35 years ago in this area, so your reasoning on that count (regadring what has happened in the last 25 years doesn't really hold water)

 

Everything else is pretty much spot on.

People can't relate to a school they live 20 minutes from - example the outer edge of Bellevue to where Hillwood High is off Harding/west end ave.

 

 

Also, factor in the number of people who grew up and played sports in Davidson County that moved to Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Rutherford, etc. (where their kids now go to and play sports at Mt. Juliet/LaVergne/Brentwood/etc.etc.etc) That is maybe the biggest part that people don't talk about as much.

 

 

Well then please explain why in the late 60's.............metro schools had 95,000 students (poputation fell into the 60,000 range quickly) and just last year......the enrollment creeped back over 80.000 students some 40 odd years later.......(*note, population of Mashville has almost doubled). So, where do you think the outlaying counties and private schools got so many Davidson Co. "wetbacks" from?

Also, for the record..............that is why I moved my family out of Nashville. the effects of busing have been a long and insidious process. it wrecked the Donelson's, the Madison's, the Dupont's, the Bellevue.............Hillwood has always been an odd man out.....the community school should have been in Bellevue. The driver's of the great busing experiment would not stand for any "white" enclave. Hillwood was built because of the "free" property donation by the HG Hill family. Yes, the busing experiment was a bad idea because it wrecked all community schools both black and white. Another thing that aided the community school loss has been the concept of Metro government.........this is why Memphis still has that ring of good comminity schools.........they still have a city-county set of different school systems. The old NIL was a great athletic set of leagues in its "day"................those days are gone and will never return. At its height................26 schools played football. It was a lot of fun and great competition.

The mid-state programs are light years ahead now, not so in the "day".

[nrgrizzlies]

Those days won't come back is right...the more things change the more they DON'T stay the same.

 

The public suburban schools are not Hillwood, DuPont, Overton, etc...

 

They are Centennial, Wilson Cental, etc...and the suburbs keep growing further and further away from the Davidson County line (Indy, Stewart's Creek -when it opens, etc.)

 

We live in an increasingly "commuter" society and 99% of the people who moved to Williamson, Rutherford, etc. aren't moving back to Davidson anytime soon.

 

Besides, the neighborhoods such as Westmeade and Crieve Hall that were full of 40 year olds with 16 year old kids back then to fill the Hillwoods and Overtons - well, those moms and dads are now 70 and 80 year old grandparents. They are busy booking flights to go to their timeshare and/or to go see the kids and grandkids for the next holiday.

[Lost Old Dad]

All you have to do is look at ALL the surrounding counties to see where the folks went. Yes Nashville started bussing so the folks who could not afford private schools moved to places like Hendersonville, Smyrna, Murfreesboro and places even further out of Davidson County.

 

Another big problem I have seen is the 'ME' generation as parents. They will throw a $100 bill at the kid but will not spend 5 minutes because 'they' are busy with ME things. Another problem is BOTH parents are usually working now just to keep up with the 'THINGS' we all think we must have now. You know the 2 or MORE cars, cell phones and the like.

 

Another problem at historically power houses like Antioch is they now have a LARGE spanish speaking student body that do not care for our kind of football. I don't know why Antioch is NOT a power house in soccor though.

 

Can we go back to the late 60's? Unfortunately no. Just got to handle the now as best we can.

[tell the truth]

Most of the Nashville schools, in better times, were lead by principals who valued athletics. Most of these were former coaches themselves. Now, there are too many women and wimpy principals who fail to support athletics. I agree that the neighborhood schools being destroyed is the primary reason for the lack of support of athletics; however, a lack of administrative support is also a contributing factor.

Athletics can unite schools and communities. I wish somebody with the proper influences would realize that and do something about it. We had a chance recently, but we didn't elect Buck Dozier as mayor. Sadly, private schools will continue to flourish while public schools become more dangerous, inadequate, and unsupported.

[KWoodroof]

"Bussing" started over 35 years ago in this area, so your reasoning on that count (regadring what has happened in the last 25 years doesn't really hold water)

 

Everything else is pretty much spot on.

People can't relate to a school they live 20 minutes from - example the outer edge of Bellevue to where Hillwood High is off Harding/west end ave.

 

Did this become a private school town? Yes. And it became even more of one when Ensworth built a h.s.

And J P -2 opened. It used to pretty much be MBA and Ryan (and to a lessor extent Lipscomb.) Start adding in all the CPA/DCA/Davidson Academy/etc.etc.etc....

 

Also, factor in the number of people who grew up and played sports in Davidson County that moved to Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Rutherford, etc. (where their kids now go to and play sports at Mt. Juliet/LaVergne/Brentwood/etc.etc.etc) That is maybe the biggest part that people don't talk about as much.

 

I don't think your post and Coach763's post are mutually exclusive; you're both right. Busing was ulitmately the demise of any support for public school sports in Metro, but it didn't happen right away. As I recall (and I was 10 at the time, so forgive me if I'm off with a few schools), the first wave of closings came in the spring of '71 with Cumberland, Central, Two Rivers, Cameron, Donelson, and Litton at the least; I think Howard, Haynes and Meigs had colsed previously.

 

You still had some of the neighborhood schools like Goodlettsville, Madison, Cohn, East, North, Joelton, Dupont, and Bellevue. As time went by, they were closed and Whites Creek and Hunters Lane opened. As neighborhood schools closed and or became comprehensive, HS sports became less accessible. Do the math: fewer teams mean fewer players, coming from bigger schools. I've never seen any numbers, but I'll bet my pension that the percentage of high school boys playing football now is much lower than in the '60's to mid-'70's. HS football is more pre-professional activity than extracurricular activity now.

[sofine]

Take it for what it's worth, but here are my opinions.

 

I lived in Nashville from 96-00. During that time I attended many high school games. I saw McGavock, Brentwood Academy, MBA, Pearl-Cohn, Maplewood and many others...BEFORE the public/private split. To me, the rivalries and crowds were still there.

 

I also remember a weekly newspaper devoted to the local preps action as well as some show on the WB that showed all the highlights from all the local FB games. Do those even exist anymore? I still remember that annoying Loco Lupes commercial from the highlight show.

 

During my time in Nashville, I witnessed the construction of the Arena (or whatever its called now) and the Coliseum (or whatever its called now), and the Tornado that hit downtown Nashville (still called The Tornado). I also attended many games of the Arena FB Kats, NHL Predators and the NFL Titans.

 

One thing that I distinctly remember is the Governor (Sundquist), Mayor (Bredesen), local media, TV stations, sports radio shows, etc selling their political and marketing souls to the National Media in the hopes to convince the nation that Nashville was ready for professional sports. Unfortunately, The Nashville Sounds were, and still are, the proverbial forgotten red-headed step-child. WHY???

 

In 2000, I moved to Knoxville and I have been here ever since. I miss Nashville, but I love it here Knoxvegas and do not plan on leaving.....ever.

 

One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Knoxville was the priorities of the people in East TN. Politics, Religion & UT Sports......in no specific order.

 

Granted, Knoxville is a college town. But one thing I quickly realized is the passion of the people in East TN and how serious HS Football is to them.

 

In Knoxville, there is weekly radio show that previews the upcoming Big high school football games, as well as interviews with head coaches. On Friday & Saturday, there is a separate sports section in the local paper devoted to HS Football. Also, on Friday night, ALL the local TV stations devote AT LEAST 20-30 minutes reporting the highlights and scores from the area games.

 

I recently had to drive to Nashville on an early Saturday morning, make a pick-up, and then drive right back to Knoxville. During my drive, I tuned in to the local radio shows. And from Knoxville to Crossville (1 hour), I heard the complete rundown of local area HS football scores four times. From Crossville to Nashville, and back to Crossville (3 hours +), I heard the local HS football scores ONCE!!!!!! The rest of the time it was talk about pro sports.

 

 

To me, Nashville has become a Pro Sports city and all of the local sports shows and TV highlights devote their attention to the Titans & Predators. I definitely understand the reasons why the media does that, but they have neglected the local athletes as a result. And this can have a HUGE negative impact on recruiting of local athletes.

 

I wasnt around for the bussing or rezoning, so I wont offer any opinions. But I think one HUGE contribution to the downfall of HS football in the Metro Area relates to the value of the entertainment dollar and where you are able to get the best return for your investment. TITANS vs. COLTS, or Antioch vs. Hillwood.??????

 

 

Once again. Just my opinions

[runtheball]

Most of the Nashville schools, in better times, were lead by principals who valued athletics. Most of these were former coaches themselves. Now, there are too many women and wimpy principals who fail to support athletics. I agree that the neighborhood schools being destroyed is the primary reason for the lack of support of athletics; however, a lack of administrative support is also a contributing factor.

Athletics can unite schools and communities. I wish somebody with the proper influences would realize that and do something about it. We had a chance recently, but we didn't elect Buck Dozier as mayor. Sadly, private schools will continue to flourish while public schools become more dangerous, inadequate, and unsupported.

 

Amen to this and all other posts.

[wingman10]

very interesting posts. I am glad folks still care. The old NIL was very competitive. I remember the Glencliff teams of the 60's. As good as anyone in the state.