1A Public Schools Will File A petition for a Split

[itzme]

Posted by landersmom:

What about the fact that the private schools can recruit from all over the country. The public schools can't. That gives the private schools a big advantage. I guess that is why this works just fine for you guys. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right. And no I am not crying about it. It should just be an even playing field, that's all.

 

Sigh..... I'll just refer you back to a post I made a couple of weeks ago that detailed where all the Brentwood Academy (you know, the evil empire of TN football...) starters live. Go look it up, and stop posting support for your positions that have no basis in fact. I don't have skin in this game, the deed has already been done to the financial aid schools...I just would appreciate some dialogue based on reality, and not someone's fantasy of what really goes on.

[BDURHAM]

RollRedRoll:

 

There are students at schools such as McCallie and Baylor who are from Georgia, Alabama, etc. Private football teams don't recruit from all over the USA, but they don't come from houses up and down the local streets either.

 

I am not saying "it" is an advantage per se, but the debate is distorted if the arguments are not realistic.

 

For instance: take the Hannahs from Alabama off the old Baylor teams and the caliber of the teams decrease. Put Fred Fisher at Hillwood or Hillsboro in the old days, and what would have happened?

 

Past and present MBA teams are comprised of athletes from at least two counties and several different school zones.

 

Posted by rollredroll:

Posted by landersmom:

What about the fact that the private schools can recruit from all over the country. The public schools can't. That gives the private schools a big advantage. I guess that is why this works just fine for you guys. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right. And no I am not crying about it. It should just be an even playing field, that's all.

 

You are correct, landersmom. It's much easier for a kid living in San Francisco to make that five-day-a-week, multi-thousand mile commute to, say, Brentwood Academy than it is to Brentwood High School.

 

This concept of nationwide recruiting is ludicrous. In theory, yes, BA has "access" to the S.F. kid and BHS does not, but get real - 99.9999% of this country's parents are not moving (or commuting) hundreds or thousands of miles so their kids can play ball at a private school.

[Edited by rollredroll on 9-18-02 3:48P]

[VolunteerGeneral]

Stan...Why can`t you get it through your head that MBA, McCallie and Baylor have nothing whatsoever to do with this debate!!!!!

 

Geez...This is a Div.1 debate. Do you know what that means?

[VolunteerGeneral]

Posted by landersmom:

What about the fact that the private schools can recruit from all over the country. The public schools can't. That gives the private schools a big advantage. I guess that is why this works just fine for you guys. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right. And no I am not crying about it. It should just be an even playing field, that's all.

 

Landersmom...The air is thin up on roan mountain isn`t it? I`m just dumbfounded by the things some people post!

[rollredroll]

Posted by StanTrott:

RollRedRoll:

 

There are students at schools such as McCallie and Baylor who are from Georgia, Alabama, etc. Private football teams don't recruit from all over the USA, but they don't come from houses up and down the local streets either.

 

I am not saying "it" is an advantage per se, but the debate is distorted if the arguments are not realistic.

 

For instance: take the Hannahs from Alabama off the old Baylor teams and the caliber of the teams decrease. Put Fred Fisher at Hillwood or Hillsboro in the old days, and what would have happened?

 

Past and present MBA teams are comprised of athletes from at least two counties and several different school zones.

 

Posted by rollredroll:

Posted by landersmom:

What about the fact that the private schools can recruit from all over the country. The public schools can't. That gives the private schools a big advantage. I guess that is why this works just fine for you guys. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right. And no I am not crying about it. It should just be an even playing field, that's all.

 

You are correct, landersmom. It's much easier for a kid living in San Francisco to make that five-day-a-week, multi-thousand mile commute to, say, Brentwood Academy than it is to Brentwood High School.

 

This concept of nationwide recruiting is ludicrous. In theory, yes, BA has "access" to the S.F. kid and BHS does not, but get real - 99.9999% of this country's parents are not moving (or commuting) hundreds or thousands of miles so their kids can play ball at a private school.

[Edited by rollredroll on 9-18-02 3:48P]

 

Stan, we both know that Baylor and McCallie should be excluded from this discussion since (1) both are boarding schools and can house students from anywhere if their parents want to send them away to school and (2) Chattanooga's proximity to Georgia is such that a Georgia resident who is a day student at either school conceivably could have a shorter drive to school than a Tennessee resident. As for the boarding issue, I'd like to know how many out-of-state boarders are children of alumni. I bet the percentage is high.

 

True, MBA (and other Nashville privates) students come from different counties and school zones, but wouldn't you say all are from the Nashville MSA? I live in Brentwood (Williamson County) but also live a half-mile from the Davidson County border and two miles from CPA, which is in Nashville. It would be a stretch for someone to say that CPA is digging into the bowels of the Nashville MSA to grab my boy if he went to school there - he would be living closer to a Nashville/Davidson County school than he would Brentwood Academy, which is in Williamson County.

 

I understand your point, but in the spirit of the post to which I originally responded, I think it's important to understand that geography limits private schools more than the public supporters think (although privates obviously have an advantage by not having zones). If the best football player in the state resides in Cookeville, Cookeville High will get the kid (if he's zoned there), not any of the privates in Nashville or Knoxville which don't board.

[Edited by rollredroll on 9-18-02 11:48P]

 

[BDURHAM]

The reason I responded to your post was the statement about people travelling to attend a private school from out of state. It doesn't matter if the school is boarding school or not...and I might add a couple of Memphis schools to the list if I knew more about Memphis.

 

Your perceived insignificance of the short driving distance from Brentwood to CPA, which crosses a county line reflects a "private school" bias. Wayne County, Cascade, Moore County, etc. technically cannot get students from across county lines, no matter how short the distance. But Columbia Academy has students from 2-3 counties.

 

Boarding schools are private schools...and you must include all private schools in the equation.

 

Alumni, short driving distances, etc. may be factors, but the reality is that privates are not bound by school zones which govern public schools.

[landersmom]

Thank you StanTrott,

You said it in a better way that what I said. That was my point. Our boys are from Roan Mountain and they have worked very hard to get where they are at. I am proud of them and I hope we make it to state again.

[Bighurt]

Is anyone happy with the current split? Probably not. Why did it happen? Several reasons but the main reason is because Riverdale got clobbered by Brentwood Academy and the principal at Riverdale got mad. So, the knee jerk reaction was the split.

 

But not all private schools give financial aid. So, there are still private schools in Division I. That's not fair. Let's kick them out.

 

Instead of another knee jerk reaction, why don't we look at what is best for everyone involved? Maybe, that is a multiplier for private schools but another split just penalizes the private schools in Division I. I agree the playing field is not always level. You can always find examples both ways. Some private school cheat and recruit. Well, some public cheat and recruit, too. I can give examples. You think to Locke kid just moved from Cookeville to Murfreesboro because Riverdale had a better Math department? (I seem to be picking on Riverdale and I don't mean to. I have nothing against them.)

 

I love high school sports. Let's just stop slinging mud and let the kids play.

[rollredroll]

I acknowledge that not having geographical boundaries (no zones) is a significant advantage for privates. I doubt anyone on either side of the debate can dispute that fact. I also doubt anyone can give me an example of a private school (at least in Tennessee) saying, "Johnny Football, who lives 1,000 miles from our school, is a heckuva ball player. Let's go get him". I also doubt anyone can convince me that the public schools don't have an equally significant advantage of not being hamstrung by the stringent academic and financial requirements with which the private schools must contend (not to mention politics, alumni pressures, character issues, etc.).

[Edited by rollredroll on 9-19-02 10:30A]

[TheEgoHasLanded]

Even if they did go get Johnny Footballer...he would still have to make the grades and shell out 6,000 a year to go there...they aren't a dime a dozen you know.

[rollredroll]

Posted by TheEgoHasLanded:

Even if they did go get Johnny Footballer...he would still have to make the grades and shell out 6,000 a year to go there...they aren't a dime a dozen you know.

 

Exactly (and in some cases as much as twice that amount).

[Edited by rollredroll on 9-19-02 10:27A]

 

[JaxMan]

The truth is most kids at private schools do come from up and down the local streets. McCallie and Baylor, Brentwood Academy may not, but they are the exceptions. Here in Jackson there are three private schools, USJ, TCA and JCS. All of the players on these teams are Jackson kids. The problem is weak teams, jealous people use a few extreme cases to attack something they don't like. Put the three teams causing the problem out, not all private schools. The truth is if they succedd, what do they have...teams playing for a title of the weak teams...boy isn't that every coaches dream. I am state champ of the weaker schools. WOW! So What. The truth is teams who can't win on a level playiong foield are looking for an advantage. They are using a few extreme cases to sterio type all private schools so they can win.