BA-MBA

[BiggestElk]

Sore Loser?

After his team had lost the Doug Hall Relays to BA on Saturday, the MBA head coach says in the Tennessean, "Sometimes luck and superstition win out over skill and science".

What is that about? How about congrats to a fine team that just outran our team?

[Guest kenwoodrun]

Thanks for the heads up on that article, I find the whole thing intriguing. The first hilarious error is the Tennessean's typo," 'That is just a phenomenal accomplishment for us to be able to do that,'' said BA Coach Charlie Harper, who was also coach in 1990, the last time his team won a meet. "

OUCH, 13 years since BA won a meet? Yeah, right...it may have been 13 DAYS since BA has won a meet, but certainly not 13 years

Next, the MBA coaches quote...which unless it is majorly taken out of context, certainly looks like it is doing discredit to Brentwood Academy. That's almost got a "BA believes the earth is flat, yet found a way to outweasal us" ring to it. Ouch, again. Coach Harper is a gentle giant, and certainly on his own cutting edge of skill and science. What, does Bumbalough have a lucky pair of underwear that allows him to run 9:35? If so, PLEASE direct me to the "superstitious and lucky" section, I want to be the first in line. And this is nothing against MBA, I'm just taking this one quote at face value and scratching my head.

And another interesting one at the end...Harpeth Hall's studette Allie Bohannon says, "''We didn't know competition-wise if there were going to be other teams to push us because that always makes it a little easier...but there wasn't so we really had to push ourselves by ourselves..."

Uh, Allie...the score was HH 88, BA 83... what, is 5 points a blowout in track now? Some interesting Sunday reading in what sounds like it was a pretty good Doug Hall meet.

 

http://news.tennessean.com/hs/preps.php?pagename=tnstory&rc=y&id=3276

[Edited by kenwoodrun on 4-13-03 2:06P]

 

[WesVLT]

Furthermore, Jessica Hopp lists BA's winning Sprint Medley team as being comprised of "sophomores Chambliss Shillinglaw and Jay Pilkerton and seniors Nathan Mulherin and Clay Trammell." Yeah, those are most definitely MBA's runners and not BA's...Once again, the Tennessean fails to do an adequate job of covering Nashville's sons and daughters on the playing field.

 

As far as Pruitt goes, I cannot say that I'm surprised. Let's compare Coach Harper's words with his:

 

''We knew going into the last four events that MBA was going to be tough,'' Harper said. ''We would expect them to not do well in an event and they would come up and do well. That makes it even sweeter, realizing that MBA is such great competitors.''

 

''Sometimes luck and superstition win out over skill and science,'' MBA Coach Robert Pruitt said of BA's win.

 

The man is a very good coach, but has never shown Brentwood Academy a single ounce of respect. I ran for a few years for the Eagles, and have never been impressed with the man. I must say, though, that I sincerely HOPE he was misquoted. If he meant what he said, then he has murdered any sense of good will that I may have towards the man, and has assured that BA will be aiming for MBA's jugular when the region and state meets come around. Not that we won't be doing so anyway...

 

And regarding Allie's childishly ignorant comments...she's a great runner who surely meant no harm, and her words should not be held against her to any great extent. But still, she needs to be much more careful lest the Lady Eagles take exception to her foolhardy choice of words.

 

Never before have I wanted Brentwood Academy to beat MBA/Harpeth Hall SO badly...

[Edited by WesVols on 4-14-03 10:05A]

 

[crockpot42]

First of all, The Tennessean misquoted Allie Bohannon and I'm sure the MBA coach was misquoated as well seeing as both MBA and HH possess a certain amount of respect for their competitors. Not only was Allie misquoted, but in her quote she was referring to the 4x8 relay not the meet as a whole. In this relay, HH beat BA by at least 200 meters. Anyways, I think the Tennessean's article was not up to par with what it should have been.

[WesVLT]

crockpot, I sure as heck hope that Pruitt was misquoted, because how else are people reputations decided than by their words? Granted, actions play a large part in getting to know someone, but when a personal relationship is not possible, people form their opinions of a person by what he or she says. Right now, my opinion of Pruitt is not very high.

 

Furthermore, I find it hard to imagine how the Tennessean could have misquoted Pruitt. I mean, regardless of the angle the paper puts on it, there is not a hint of sportsmanship in his words. Saying that your opponent won due to "luck and superstition" over your "skill and science" is just about the most condescending and ignorant statement a coach can make, regardless of how he meant it. His words make me sick, and I am calling the Tennessean today to offer my opinion of a poorly-written article.

[rollredroll]

I find Pruitt's quote to be disappointing. My hope is that he was misquoted, or that this quote was taken out of context.

 

Pruitt is one of the old-timers at MBA, and my memories of him as one of his students 20+ years ago was one of an intelligent man but an occasional smart-aleck. I could picture him saying what he said, but more so in a private moment to some of his own players than to a journalist with a pen.

 

His e-mail address is available through MBA's website. I think it would not hurt to ask him directly if he was misquoted, if anyone is so inclined.

 

Congrats to BA.

[WesVLT]

rollredroll, thanks for the info. I apologize for some fiery comments earlier...I am understandably somewhat angered by his words, as is most of Brentwood Academy (it's a small school, and pretty much everyone knows about it). I have placed calls to the Tennessean and to MBA this afternoon, leaving respectful messages both places. I am disappointed with the article written by Jessica Hopp, who usually does a good job. It had several rookie mistakes.

 

So anyway, I'm trying to cool off a bit. So is our track team. An apology from Coach Pruitt would be wonderful.

[rollredroll]

No apologies necessary. I would be POd as well (actually, I am somewhat, too, as it reflects badly on the school and those of us who support it.).

 

Hopefully one or both parties will call back.

[caeagle16]

OK, first off, the Tennessean needs to get its facts straight with that relay misinformation. Next, that harpeth hall girl needs to realize the competition she IS up against. HH lost by 5 POINTS!!! Hey, i thought 5 points was barely a win where I come from, but I guess its a blowout for them. Am I the only one who feels that way? Next, I have some serious issues with Coach Pruitt. I ran XC, and at meets where BA and MBA competed against each other, he was the biggest jerk off ever. Here's just a few examples. At one meet, Pruitt (MBA was hosting the event) claimed that he had designed a whole new course just for his meet (at Highway 100). However, COACH HARPER had designed that course the year before, and Pruitt claimed it as his own, when MBA had run at the meet the year before at which Harper had designed the new course. Next, as a runner, you people should hear what Pruitt yells at his runners in relation to BA runners. It is despicable. Not only does it make him look like a fool, it embarrasses other runners. Instead of encouragement to try and get his athletes to perform better, he uses threats and derrogatory comments towards other runners. Some of the stuff he says should not be repeated on this board. I seriously doubt that Pruitt was missquoted. No offense to MBA athletes, but MBA needs to consider its stance on Pruitt. Either explain to him that he needs to conduct himself with a little more dignity and respect for others, or consider a new coach. Unfortunately, he is an embarrasment to MBA. What happened to the days of "Hey they were a better team than us today. We'll try and get 'em next time." And I agree with Kenwoodrun about Bumbi's superstitious undies-- man, i wish there were more of those around-- oh wait, his nuts are bigger than Pruitt's and everybody else that he dusted at the meet, so he probably can't fit in to underwear, just running shorts like a REAL runner

[Edited by caeagle16 on 4-14-03 5:30P]

[steelerwhit]

Coach Harper is pure class. He is one of the early sub-4 milers. I was at BA when he arrived and we won 3 states. He was class then and he is still class.

[KGP3428]

I will second that. Coach Harper is classy guy and a very good coach. I run for a rival school, but I always enjoy going up and talking to Coach Harper at meets. He is a kind man and deserves all the success that comes his way.

 

With that said, I can't say the same for Pruitt. I will not go into any details, but in my mind, Coach Harper and Pruitt are at opposite ends when it comes to respect (along with a lot of other things).

[BiggestElk]

Looks like we got a hot one going here.

Back to the article, the writers interpretive statement following the MBA coaches quote is even more puzzling than the sore loser's quote itself.

"Translation: They wanted it more than we did." Say what?

I missed that translation all together.

 

Interesting how no one has leaped to the defense, isn't it?