Perspective

I'm thinking this might be too far of a trip for that Lakeland guy who wears a boat on his head.

So, is this going to be a situation where Dillard will have a fantastic regular season, going 10-0 or 9-1, and then falter in the playoffs because they didn't play anyone challenging in the regular season?

In your opinion, which of those games, if any, will Dillard be the underdog and have trouble winning?

Respectfully, this just isn't the way that high school sports are supposed to work.

Again, that means there are a lot of parents of tennis players, soccer players and baseball players overpaying for their kid's education/athletic development so that IMG can field a football team full of D1 prospects.

I don't know of many (if any) people who fault athletic/talented kids for taking advantage of the opportunities that come their way. I certainly don't -- although from time-to-time I do catch myself looking over at the sidelines at a football game involving a private school and wondering how many of the kids on that team would have any desire whatsoever to attend that particular private school were it not for sports. But, I usually resolve that issue in my brain by concluding that, in all likelihood, a kid at CCC or Berkeley or Jesuit is probably getting a better education and overall high school experience than if they were at their local D or F rated public school . . . and that's a good thing. From my standpoint, athletic kids can go to whatever school they want to. Those kids are entitled to attend a public school. They are not entitled to attend a private school. In order to attend a private school, the kid and his/her family must go through the same application process that any other kid goes through. If they meet the academic standards established by the private school, and if they qualify for financial aid and the school is willing to provide financial aid to all kids who get accepted and who qualify, that's great. Everyone wins. But, as it stands right now, no schools - public or private - are allowed to recruit kids to come to their school for the purpose of playing sports. And private schools are not allowed to offer 'scholarships' to kids as an inducement to get those kids to attend. Sadly, this is what is happening. I say "sadly" not because I hate on kids who might benefit from their athletic talent to improve their station in life. I'm all in favor of that. I say "sadly" because we end up with a system where schools are breaking the rules in hopes of winning a state championship in a particular sport that likely will be forgotten by most everyone but them in a decade and doing so in a manner that gives them a distinct advantage over the schools that try to play by the rules. Just remember, each time one of those rule-breaking schools wins a state title, there's one other team that has been denied a state title and/or one other team that was denied the opportunity to play for a championship.

If the school is giving financial aid/scholarships only to athletes, that would be an impermissible benefit and would violate FHSAA rules. As long as all the students are on an even playing field, the aid can be provided. It's uncanny, however, how many 'underprivileged' kids end up at these expensive schools and what percentage of them play sports. The reality is that the families/students that can afford to pay full freight do so and end up subsidizing those kids who can't afford it and then up hold their chests out all proud when their school wins a state title.

Armwood and Plant still draw good crowds, especially when they play each other. Plant's crowds dwindled a little after Coach Weiner left and the team struggled for a year or two, but they seem to be back on track again under Coach Brown and the good crowds have returned. Apparently, there's a correlation between winning and crowd size.

Responding to Nolebull's comment with an SAT-like question for everyone on this board: Here's the scenario (and I'm making it as blatantly obvious as I can): Assistant coach for Local High School ("LHS") identifies a rising junior skill position player from another high school that the LHS coach believes could be a real difference-maker for his team. The LHS coach pulls the kid aside after a 7-on-7 tournament and starts extolling the virtues of LHS and telling the kid what a great fit the kid would be. He then meets up with the kid's parents and offers them housing right down the street from LHS. He then tells them he can make arrangements for the kid's mom to get a new "job" at the car dealership owned by former LHS quarterback and long-time LHS booster, Rooster Calhoun, who took LHS to the state championship game back in 1974. In short, the coach commits what everyone and their brother could only describe as 'recruiting,' and extends an offer of what everyone and their sister could only conclude would be 'impermissible benefits.' And the kid and his family members willingly participate in the recruitment process and, ultimately, gladly accept the benefits. Who should be punished: A. The assistant coach. B. The head coach (and, yes, I was intentionally vague on whether the head coach participated in or had knowledge of the actions). C. The school. D. The kid. E. All of the above. Unlike the SAT, you are not limited to one answer. Put down the letter for each one (unless you think all should be punished, in which event you can just put down "E").

If those teenagers truly want the ability to compete for a state title, they can simply transfer to another school. Apparently that's a thing now.

Thanks. I couldn't remember if you had a line of communication open with DarterBlue, as I haven't seen him on this board in quite some time.

Ray, just saw where the head coach resigned? What's up with that?!?

From your profile picture, you appear to be a Lightning fan. Knowing that, I'd like to offer you some tickets to the first round playoff games between the Lightning and the Florida Panthers. No mark-up; face value. If you're interested, just let me know and I'll send you my Venmo info. Seriously, how difficult can it be to program in a response message that says "Tickets can no longer be purchased for this event, as it already has taken place" when you try to buy tickets to an event that has already taken place?

Only people from Auburndale.

Are they members of the FHSAA?

And I don't even need to go back and look to know where that game will be played.

Where did he play last year?

Most shocking part of the story is that there are 7 people in Tampa that wanted a used Lakeland helmet. All kidding aside, this is a very sad story.

Yeah, well, that's because they didn't have Petey, Alan, Gary, Julius and Sunshine.

Parents absolutely have a responsibility to do whatever they can do, within the existing rules, to benefit their children. However, the schools/school districts/state/FHSAA all have a duty and responsibility to create a system that is fair, equitable, and competitively balanced for all high school athletes. Historically, these entities have established rules and regulations to promote a system that works for benefit of the whole and not necessarily for the benefit of a single individual (for example,specific school districts, rules limiting transferring, rules prohibiting recruiting, etc.). Like many things in life, the pendulum sometimes swings too far one way or the other before it starts swinging back the other way. That's kind of the way I see it right now. A system that only benefits a select handful of kids and teams could ultimately kill the sport. And that would be sad.

Worked out pretty well for the T.C. Williams Titans. Remember the Titans?

No disrespect to any of the other teams on Lakeland's schedule, but this early-season stretch of games could either propel the 'Naughts to another state championship or completely demoralize them: Aug. 29: at De La Salle (California) Sep. 5: vs. Lake Mary Sep. 19: at Miami Booker T. Washington

So, a team schedules an inferior opponent (one that it should be able to beat fairly easily) at the beginning of the season and pays them some amount of money to come play the game and take the loss . . . . Hmmm, sounds like almost every top tier D-1 college football program in the country (and every mid-to-low level team trying to bolster their athletic budget).

I don't know . . . I seem to recall that Florida teams have done pretty well against Alabama teams -- especially Auburn teams -- this year. Then, again, I may be confusing high school football with college basketball.

With officials from the STA Officials Association, no doubt.