Perspective

Nolebull, I'm not sure who you're referring to when you talk about the "jealous" and "disdainful" people. Bridgewater has put the MNW administrators in between a rock and a hard place. He basically came right out and said "I've been breaking the rules and if you don't like it, tough sh*t." The MNW admin folks have two choices: try to take matters into their own hands in hopes that the FHSAA will go easy on them or, alternatively, put their collective heads into the sand, ignore Bridgewater's public confession and hope that the matter quietly goes away. Oh, and it ain't going away.

If Bridgewater does get 'taken down,' I'd like to see him take a whole bunch of other guys down with him. No reason why he should be the singular sacrificial lamb.

I think the argument is this: if 'free adults are allowed to give gifts to poor kids who happen to be good at sports,' we move from an amateur environment into a professional environment. Historically, high school sports, college sports and even the Olympics were reserved solely for amateur athletes. Within the last couple of decades, the barriers for professionals started to erode for the Olympics. You may recall that Jim Thorpe won gold medals in track in the 1912 Olympics, but was stripped of those medals because he had played minor league (or "semipro") baseball prior to participating in the Olympics. Ultimately, those medals were restored a few years ago. The USA Olympic basketball team used to be comprised only of college players. Now, it's all pros (with one or two college stars). Within the last 5-10 years, NIL changes have permitted college athletes to receive compensation. Before then, the rules in place for decades allowed college student-athletes to receive room, board and tuition. The $100 post-game handshakes from alums in the locker room and brown paper bags filled with money - although they happened everywhere - were illegal (and arguably still are; they just don't happen as much because the athletes can receive money legally through NIL). The NIL world is quickly filtering down to the high school level. However, the rules in most all states, and certainly in Florida, are rooted in the concept that only amateur athletes can compete in high school sports. And if you allow athletes to receive gifts, or otherwise compensate them or their families, such athletes are no longer considered amateurs. Simply put, the rules has always been that if you get compensated to do play a sport, you are considered a professional. And professionals cannot participate in amateur sports. Again, the rules in place (FHSAA Rules) are rooted in a clear distinction between amateur sports and professional sports. There was a clear line that is slowly becoming more and more blurred. If you want the argument as to why the rule makes sense, I think it is this: there is a certain beauty in amateur sports, knowing that everyone who is playing is playing for the love of the game and not for money. Everything changes once you start compensating athletes. As I have stated before, the concept of compensation is a slippery slope. What do you allow and what don't you? FHSAA rules prohibiting impermissible benefits were written before Uber even existed. But the rule is pretty clear: if you give something to football players that you don't give to all other students, that's an impermissible benefit - especially if the benefit is given to entice a kid to come to your school. If you allow schools/coaches/alums to compensate kids to play sports, then you take away the somewhat-level playing field. And, over time, certain schools will dominate high school sports because they will have the financial wherewithal to attract the most talented athletes. While this might be good for the handful of select, talented athletes, everyone else suffers. I guess the real question is whether we just want to eliminate the distinction between amateur athletics and professional athletics altogether and simply allow the free-market system to play out for all athletes and all schools? If you're inclined to answer this question with a "yes," I have only six words for you: be careful what you wish for.

ESPN quotes Bridgewater's Facebook post as follows: "The suspension came from MNW and it's impossible to suspend someone who doesn't work for you. So if im suspended from MNW im free to go to another school of my choice but IM NOT GOING ANYWHERE. "And if it comes down to it, I will volunteer from the bleachers like I used to in 2018 and 2019 when no one had a problem." Honestly, it seems like the guy has a bit of 'the rules don't apply to me' or 'I don't have to follow the rules' mentality.

Nolebull, You are making a good argument for what the rule ought to be or why the rule ought to be changed. I'm telling you what the rule is. Interestingly, I witnessed first hand the FHSAA deal with a case that was very similar to the (presumably, hypothetical) one you just described. A family provided a kid with a bed for the night because that kid had an unfortunate family situation that would have left him homeless for the night had a teammate's family not stepped up and given him a place to stay for the night. Yep, you got it, impermissible benefit. Coach and school penalized. The difficulty is coming up with rules that can't be taken advantage of. Where do you draw the line? If paying for an Uber is OK, why can't you just buy the kid a car instead? More convenient for all parties. If you can buy a kid a meal, why can't you take his family grocery shopping and let them stock up? Or, better yet, just give then a gift card and let them spend the money as they please. What do you do when one school offers up a $1,000 gift card, but another school is willing to give the kid a $2,000 gift card? Do we really want to turn high school sports into professional sports?

Say what you want, justify it however you want, wish the rules weren't what they are, but there is no question that a coach or other school representative paying for Uber rides for kids playing sports is a violation of the existing FHSAA rules. Period. And Teddy Bridgewater may be or have been an elite athlete, may be or become an excellent high school football coach, and/or may have his heart in the right place, but tweeting out a message to the world that you have done something that undoubtedly constitutes a violation of the rules is just plain stupid.

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.