From My eyes

[Chakra20]

This is a great point that ezell has some of the best athletes i have ever seen go throught any school at one time in their senior class. After this year who knows next year they could have alosing record and thats a fact. That is the only school i really know about. CPA will get athletes because if you take one look at their facility you would know why. USJ has been good for a number of years but this year its yet to be seen if they are on that level again because CPA is terrible on the offensive side of the ball.

 

All that beeing said there are some very good public schools out there as well but they simply dont have the athletes these schools have RIGHT NOW. Cloudland prolly has the best athlete in the state and Collinwood may have the best quaterback but as a whole the private schools ahve much better athletes, but they are also better coached better trained and better prepared, which has alot todo why you have seen them dominating this last couple of years.

 

Understandably, i see the publics beeing angry cause they cant compete with schools that have these types of resources. From an Ezell point of view, next year when we lose all those seniors and our coach we will be starting at square one all over again so moving us up would be a recipe for us to get killed.

 

This year is my brothers senior year so i might not be as involved in discussions about the matter but from a simple fans point of view what i see is that there is a disparity in the top teams of any division vs the bottom dwellars. There have to be winners and losers but if the trend continues with the private schools i would be concerned, and would be totally for a change in division. I really dont think there is that much of a differnce in 1a than 2a. 3a Would definatley be a stretch for my school and many other privates you would have them competeing with schools 3 times the size of them.

 

For an example... Ezell won the state last year and has 50 players in the team, which is the most they have ever had. How many players does a typical 3a school field?

 

What i am getting at is that there will be good public schools and good private schools. These divisions have been like this for many many years but it didnt matter when they werent winning. Maybe they have passed alot of the public schools and they should move up, but atleast in my eyes if ezell was to be moved up next year Losing their coach and bascially the whole team except 4 or 5 players that start right now would accomplish nothing except for them losing 8 or 9 games. I dont know if that is what the public school supporters are looking for but those are the facts.

[TheEgoHasLanded]

Has anyone ever heard of MUS?

 

My dad was a Division 1 calibur basketball player, and later walked on at Memphis State right after they went to the NCAA Championship game against UCLA. MUS has been down the last two or three years, but for over 30 years they have been one of the best teams in Memphis. Many times they don't have a player over 6'4 but will destroy you in basketball. They played smart, made free throws, and just didn't let you get anything easy. At the end you just lost by over 20 points. My dad went to John Overton in Memphis that had over 900 seniors in his senior class...they lost to MUS every time they played them. MUS has roughly 600 boys. They just were outplayed, outcoached, and out performed...but they didn't have the athletes that Overton had. Overton had two players that went on to play college basketball, and another that later went on and received a scholarship at UT. My dad was offered scholarships at Arkansas and a few other places. So why did MUS beat them?

MUS is probably 98% white, and are not that great athletically...

They are just well coached and it just so happens the average ACT score there is a 28% which is 33% above the national average...perhaps these things go hand and hand.

MUS is also pretty dang good in football too, and they have won the state title before. Athletes are probably more important in basketball then they are in football (one good player in basketball can be the difference in a game) one athlete in football is nice, but he still needs a decent qb, a great o-line, coaching, and a good defense...

 

Opperman, TJ, or anyone else that is from Memphis will probably agree with what I wrote, but that is the honest truth.

[itzme]

Good post, Ego. While having the better athletes is clearly a huge factor in fielding quality teams, coaching is perhaps an even bigger factor in High School. Why? Because there are so few really outstanding coaches at that level. If they are really great, they usually have options to move up for more prestige and more money. The great ones who stay make a big difference, and build quality programs that may have a down year or two, but never tank and have a lot more great years than not. Look at the consistent winners in High School, and you'll see a very good coach.

[ie3]

Far be it from me to agree with some private schoolers... but I do agree that coaching is a huge difference. I watched the North Greene - Cloudland game friday, what I saw just backed that up. Cloudland's players were, for the most part, smaller, and of about average speed (again talking in generalities). North Greene's line was on the average bigger and stronger, but were blown off the line nearly every play. The major difference was very obviously preparation. Every Cloudland player knew at all times what to do, and where to be. That may not sound like much, but to some of the smaller schools, that's a big deal.

Sometimes, like Cloudland, it comes down to loyalty to a school, sometimes, it's money. When the coach only gets $2-3000 to coach for the year (above the teacher's salary), that will always be a problem.

[VolunteerGeneral]

I sure hope Ela is reading this thread. We`ve had this debate.

[ie3]

don't get too excited! Coaching makes a huge difference, but only if the players are of near equal talent. I guess I should have been more clear. I know what you are thinking... I've read the threads. What I saw friday was simply a display of a team that was well coached and well prepared, against one that was not. Of course, dressing 46 players to 25 is a bit of an advantage also.

What really impressed me was the cohesion of Cloudland, it was like a machine. That is good coaching. The talent level I saw was at best a little above average, the size and speed was not. Again, I'm talking about the team in general, not individual players. As a team, I think they will go much further than they ever could individually.

It reminded me of some of the private schools I watched play in New Orleans, very dedicated, with an expectation not to win, but to dominate. That is something rare in small public schools.

[VolunteerGeneral]

Posted by ie3:

don't get too excited! Coaching makes a huge difference, but only if the players are of near equal talent. I guess I should have been more clear. I know what you are thinking... I've read the threads. What I saw friday was simply a display of a team that was well coached and well prepared, against one that was not. Of course, dressing 46 players to 25 is a bit of an advantage also.

What really impressed me was the cohesion of Cloudland, it was like a machine. That is good coaching. The talent level I saw was at best a little above average, the size and speed was not. Again, I'm talking about the team in general, not individual players. As a team, I think they will go much further than they ever could individually.

It reminded me of some of the private schools I watched play in New Orleans, very dedicated, with an expectation not to win, but to dominate. That is something rare in small public schools.

 

ie3...It`s my opinion that coaching 46 players as opposed to 25 is good coaching. Good coaching is more than the x`s and o`s, it`s about leadership as well. Show me a 1A school that has numbers approaching 50-60 kids on a team and I`ll show you a coach that is doing something right. Especially at the 1A level, a coach must be able to motivate kids to come out for the team. In a sport like football where there are so many positions to fill (as opposed to basketball) a good coach can get the marginal kids (those being the ones who could really care less if they played or not) I don`t think anyone would disagree with the fact that the shear number of players on a team will make a big difference especially in terms of practice and intra-squad competition. Not to mention the fact that there will be more parental support.

 

When it comes to 1A schools, most of the times the athletes are there, but some may just play basketball. A good coach/motivator can get the good athletes out there. Once they are on th practice field, I believe a good coach can take the marginal players and make them good ones with proper instruction and getting them to play as one, as a team, a good coach will eventually develope success and tradition at the school. I don`t think that Rod Sturdivant at Bruceton is overly blessed with great athletes every year, but I`ve been on his sideline enough to know that he has trained his kids well. I`ve seen other schools who act like a 3 ring circus on the sideline, with the head coach being the ringmaster. Holding the chains for several years, gives one a great opportunity to sit back and observe and listen and see how much of a difference a good coach can make. You can`t get that kind of view by being a coach. I can tell when a coach has the respect of the coach and when they don`t. I can tell if a kid knows what he`s supposed to do. I can tell if a coach knows what he`s suppose to do. You don`t have to be a high school coach like some on here would have you think to know what makes a team successful.

[pujo]

You are very smart in your observation.We have been beating teams with more talent for years.We are well coached and we work hard and mistakes are corrected.We play to win.We never and I mean never go into a game expecting to lose.Will we ever be talented enough to win a state championsnip,I doubt it, although we may have enough heart and desire to bring it home anyway.This is what I've been trying to explain to these people for a year and they just don't understand.

[TheEgoHasLanded]

Look at Maryville...they have decent athletes...but Hillsboro and East probably have better talent and athletes...they would be favored against both of those teams if they played right now.

[ie3]

I agree that the sheer number of players from such a small school is a credit to the program. Like any other endeavour, success breeds success. Cloudland having such a large number of players to draw from is a big advantage for them. During the game I noticed that nearly every play, two or three players came in. This is something when playing a team that cannot do that for lack of linemen.

Pujo, don't let your guys get over confident. The line they were playing against, while bigger, only had 2 experienced players both ways, with 1 only being released to play Thursday afternoon. Cloudland should do well if they keep their heads together. I know they will recieve one of the berths in the playoffs, I hope North Greene can continue to improve and sneak into another. They have never made the playoffs 2 years in a row. Pujo, were you at the game Friday? If so, private message me, I have a question to ask.

[VolunteerGeneral]

Posted by pujo:

You are very smart in your observation.We have been beating teams with more talent for years.We are well coached and we work hard and mistakes are corrected.We play to win.We never and I mean never go into a game expecting to lose.Will we ever be talented enough to win a state championsnip,I doubt it, although we may have enough heart and desire to bring it home anyway.This is what I've been trying to explain to these people for a year and they just don't understand.

 

 

You don`t give Cloudland enough credit. They had a team good enough to win a state championship, but just not last year. Ezell had a great team last year. Had that Cloudland team been in the Clinic Bowl in a different year, they might have won.Its just like USJ. They have had some very good teams, but the years they have been fortunate enough to make it to the championship, there was a better team in 1A. I think if you took last years USJ team and played them in their first Clinic Bowl against Trousdale, then USJ would have won that one. It takes good play and some luck to get the gold trophy.

[pujo]

Yes I was at the game Friday night, but I can't do a private message. If you want to email me at pujo1965@ntelos.net that would be fine.