Sad times for 5A NIL/Nashville Metro football!

[wheels]

I have lived in Nashville for the last 30 years, although I have continued to follow athletics in the area of the state I came from and also in the area surrounding Davidson County. There are a zillion factors as to why Metro is not competetive, and most of the posters here have validly mentioned them.

 

We can wish for times long past, but those times won't come back. To me, the biggest factor is, parents don't give a #%@& about what's going on in their children's lives. That's a darn shame, but it's true. Society is suffering in a lot more ways than just in athletics.

 

In football, we have had Hillsboro and Pearl-Cohn during the Fitzgerald era, and not much else. I had a friend who taught at Hillsboro several years back, after having taught at a couple of other comprehensive high schools. His take on the biggest difference - Hillsboro had parents who cared, and demanded a lot from the school. As for Pearl-Cohn, Fitzgerald promoted a community-school concept, and cared very much about his kids, even in an inner-city situation, and it worked.

[stuman89]

While driving from Memphis to Knoxville this weekend ( one kid at UT, my high school senior may go there. It's tough on a UoM dad and Ole Miss mom ) my family discussed this issue. I went to to White Station in the 70's, my wife started out in a publis school, but graduated from what is now Briarcrest, and my son is now at a Memphis public school. All the points above are valid, as is the one about " those days are gone" . I have to agree. A good public educational system is so very important to the long term well being of this country that it's a bit scary to see what shape it's in in so many areas. I do think the key is parental involvement, and schools can do some things to encourage that, but only so much. I also think school boards way too often overlook the importance of athletic programs.

 

Around here we have our versions of the Smyrna example above, think Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett ( not to say all growth in those towns are the result of white flight, but I believe a lot of it is ).

[KWoodroof]

While driving from Memphis to Knoxville this weekend ( one kid at UT, my high school senior may go there. It's tough on a UoM dad and Ole Miss mom ) my family discussed this issue. I went to to White Station in the 70's, my wife started out in a publis school, but graduated from what is now Briarcrest, and my son is now at a Memphis public school. All the points above are valid, as is the one about " those days are gone" . I have to agree. A good public educational system is so very important to the long term well being of this country that it's a bit scary to see what shape it's in in so many areas. I do think the key is parental involvement, and schools can do some things to encourage that, but only so much. I also think school boards way too often overlook the importance of athletic programs.

 

Around here we have our versions of the Smyrna example above, think Germantown, Collierville, Bartlett ( not to say all growth in those towns are the result of white flight, but I believe a lot of it is ).

 

I'm not particularly familiar with Memphis...did they experience a sharp rise in the number of private schools in the early to mid '70's?

[rigger101]

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

 

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.

 

Great Post from everyone! I'm an Old Madison Ram who played from 76-78!

Now I live in and cheer for one of my HS most hated rivals the Hendersonville Commandos. Everyone I grew up with lives in the counties around Nashville. Their kids go to White House, Portland, Wilson Cen, etc!

My family moved back to Nashville in 1970 from Texas. I remember Madison not having great teams during the the early 70's (great players) but great community support.

 

I like the point about fewer teams mean fewer players. It also means fewer band/cheerleaders/dance teams. I agree about the differance in Knoxville vs and Nashville HS football.

 

I recently was hit up for fund raising in the Rivergate area for support of the Little League Football. It was for the Madison Titans! My heart sunk knowing my old school and community was gone. Now the name had even changed for the little league. I was a scrooge for the first time ever and said if you were the Little Rams I would buy every thing you have. The parents had no clue what I was talking about!

 

My HS was a little under 800 kids and we played the larger schools and competed! It seams like I knew most of the other kids in my school. My older son went to a public school of over 2300 kids where he was a top athelete in 3 sports that won or competed in State Championships but I would run into kids who had no ideal who he was.

 

The best Madison did when I was there was 9-2 and an invite to a bowl game. We didn't have State Championship teams. However, I felt like everyone knew me and I knew everyone. It was a community school!

I'm not sure about Goodpasture/Libscomb etc but these schools seam to be what we use to have.

 

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who felt that it was a shame to see the decline of most of the public schools in Nashville. I recently talked to a former Coach from Madison who transfered to Hunters Lane when Madison was closed down. He said that the first 5 to 6 years at HL the community came out and supported the teams but over time that it declined and that parents starting sending kids to Goodpasture and Davidson Ac.

He said they couldn't get parents from the other side of town to get involved with a school between Madison and Goodletsville. In addition it was hard for either community (Madison/Goodletsville) to get behind HL. It didn't represent their business /community etc.

 

I agree Nashville has become a Pro Sports town!

So is Detroit! I hope we don't turn into a Detroit.

[stuman89]

I'm not particularly familiar with Memphis...did they experience a sharp rise in the number of private schools in the early to mid '70's?

 

 

Yes. Both the number of schools increased, as well as the number of students attending. By dramatic amounts. ECS , Briarcrest , and SBEC , for example, all popped up about when busing was being discussed, or actually started in Memphis in the early to mid seventies. Other private schools' enrollment increased, and the small towns of Germantown, Collierville and Bartlett increased dramatically in size.

 

All due to busing ? Of course I don't know that. But was it a factor, imo absolutely.

[bellgo]

I have enjoyed watching football in Nashville for 25+ years,sad to see so few at games involving Metro public school teams. I go to more games now to watch private schools play or bordering counties. The games and the crowds are more like the old NIL games.

 

 

Same thing with basketball. When Metro teams make it to the 'Boro, they don't bring a lot of fans and very little students.