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Perspective

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Posts posted by Perspective

  1. A couple of points: 

    1.  I can absolutely guarantee you this rule is not being enforced uniformly across the state (or even a given county) by the officiating crews.   Which means a coach my "get away with it" for a few games, start to think that perhaps it's OK (despite what the black letter of the rule book may say), and then make the mistake of blurting out the same "B.S. call" in front of a different white hat a game later and end up with a 5-game suspension.

    2.   Which brings me to my next point:  if the FHSAA wants to make "no cussing" a point of emphasis, they need to really do a big P.R. campaign.   More importantly, however, the penalty needs to fit the crime.   An excited utterance that includes one of George Carlin's seven dirty words should result in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the coach or player.  I might even entertain the thought that the coach should be kicked out of the game (especially for a repeat offense).   But a 5-game suspension goes waaaaa-ay overboard in my mind. 

    3.  This filters down.   Watch any of the miked up highlights of a pro game or a college game and hear what the coaches on the sidelines are saying -- either directly to the refs or loud enough for the refs to hear them.   

    4.  Is there really that big of a difference in yelling out "that's a bullsh*t call!" and yelling out "Excuse me, sir, I respectfully disagree with the last call that you made?"  Both are verbal forms of questioning the judgment and/or integrity of the officials, but only one of them gets you suspended for 5 games.  Oh, and if you say it the second way, but you say it really loud and perhaps a little sarcastically, does that matter?

    5.  I am very much aware of the dire need for officials statewide.  Raise their pay and thicken their skin.  Handle the cussing the same way baseball umpires typically do it (and very much like the umpire in the World Series last night had to do it):  recognize that you, the ref, also make mistakes and may have even just missed the call that prompted the outburst, allow for the 'heat of the moment' expletive so long as it's not directed against you or any member of your family, give the coach a warning and/or let him know when "that's enough," and keep the flag in the pocket until you're left with little or no choice but to throw it. 

  2. Jambun, this plays reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask.  If you watch the end of this play, 77 basically lies down on top of the DT.   Can an offensive lineman lie on top of a defensive player (thus keeping the defensive player pinned to the ground) or is this considered to be holding (even the OL spreads his hands out to make it clear that he's not using his hands to keep the defensive player on the ground)? 

    For what it's worth, I had to watch this clip a couple of times to find the guy who I thought the penalty could possibly be called on.  I figured it was 77.  I then watched it a couple more times.   I never saw the hold, but I could see how, in real time, the white hat may have thought he saw the OL pull the DT down to the ground.  All in all, a really bad way to lose a game. 

  3. I don't want to get off track and I don't want to open up a can of worms. But, to paraphrase the classic line from Blazing Saddles, "where all the white boys at?"     Seriously; I'm assuming both schools are integrated, right?  Do the white kids go to other schools?  Private instead of public?  Are there no white kids at either of these schools that play football?  Or do they just have to sit out the "Soul Bowl" game?    B)

    OK, so maybe I am opening up a can of worms, but about half way through the highlights, it dawned upon me that I had not seen a white player on the field for either team.   Perhaps I've watched Remember the Titans one too many times, but I always felt athletics, and particularly football, provided kids of all races and socio-economic backgrounds the opportunity to get to know more about each other in ways that benefited everyone on and off the field.  Is this not happening any more?

    Any thoughts?

  4. 21 minutes ago, badbird said:

    Are the Miami Dolphins elite?  They would beat 99% of the football teams

    Yes, they are . . . just not in the league in which they currently play.  B)

    Kind of reminds me of fans that look at a NFL, MLB or NBA player who has a bad game and say "that guys sucks."  Even the worst of those players are still better than 99% of all the people who have tried to play that particular sport and better than 99.999% of the general population.  

  5. Legion37's definition works for me.  But, "elite" also is a relative term.  A team could be elite within their district or county, but not necessarily be elite within the state of Florida.  Other teams (IMG, STA, Lakeland, to name a few) are, in my opinion, elite Florida teams, but not necessarily elite national teams.  Not that they couldn't beat 95% of the other high school football teams in the country; but there are probably a select group of teams (Mater Dei and SFA for example) that would beat the best teams in Florida nine times out of ten. 

    Also, "elite" is relative to a particular team in a particular year.  A team might be elite in 2019, even though they weren't elite in 2018.  Or vice versa.   But you can also use the term to describe 'programs.'   Teams that are in the Top 10  year in and year out for a given geographic area (county, state or country) are, in my view, elite programs.   But even elite programs can have an occasional off year as long as they rebound the following year. 

    Last point, for the most part, placing the tag of "elite" on a high school football team or program is simply a matter of opinion for the person doing the tagging.  And one person's opinion doesn't make a team elite; it just states that one person's opinion. 

  6. 3 hours ago, Steinbrenner Warriors said:

    You are forgetting a very popular one in Plant who started 0-6, is currently 2-6 and #9 in 8a region 2. Their SOS is absurd and helping them a lot. They will likely end 4-6 although their SOS will come down a bit. Will be interesting

    I was thinking the same thing until I re-read the question . . . "teams that would make the playoffs today if it was the end of the season."  Right now, as you stated, Plant is the ninth highest team in 8A Region 2 (up from 11th a week ago).  They still have to jump at least one more team (without getting jumped themselves) to make the playoffs.   But, if the playoffs started today, Plant would be sitting home.  

    Fortunately, four of the teams above Plant in the PRI rankings play each other this week (Riverview plays Lennard and Kissimmee Osceola plays Lake Nona).   If I've done my math right,  two of those teams will pick up a loss this week.  B)  From Plant's standpoint, they'll probably be rooting for the higher ranked teams (Lennard and Osceola) to win. 

  7. 30 minutes ago, Stangs1 said:

    Seems district winners will celebrate that Friday.  Other 4 not till Sunday likely. I wont pretend to know but that kind of goes with last years style.  I say top 4 should gwt a by, make 5-12 play it out to get the final 4 spots.  Then u end all of the talk of who should be in or not. 

    Not really; it just kicks the can down the road so to speak.  Then, instead arguing over the 8 seed that got in vs. the 9 seed that got left out, folks would be arguing over the 12 seed that got in vs. the 13 seed that didn't get in.  I'm not saying that I don't like that idea; I'm just saying it doesn't solve the problem. 

  8. 38 minutes ago, gatorman-uf said:


     If 4-6 Plant makes the playoffs, I think that will be an indictment of the system, just like last year an 0-9 Gadsden County making the playoffs was.  

     

    Before you indict Plant or the system (and assuming this were to happen), I think you have to look at two things . . . in addition to the combined record of the teams that Plant has lost to this year (41-7; 41-3 if you take out losses to other teams in the group of six):  First, until the changes a few years back (3 years ago??), district runners up automatically made the playoffs.  Because Plant won its district 14 years in a row, it never had to worry about sliding in the playoff backdoor as a runner up.  But that would be the case this year if we were still operating under the old system that was in place for more years than I can count (and, again, assuming Plant wins this week).  Second, I think you have to look at the other teams in Region 2.  Take out the top 6 teams or so (for purposes of argument, Dr. Phillips, Kissimee Osceola, Lake Nona, Steinbrenner, Sarasota Riverview and Newsome and perhaps Lennard if you want to add a 7th team) and there really aren't that many, if any, other playoff-caliber teams.   Perhaps I have just proven your point and that it is the new system, and not any one team, that will deserve to be indicted if all that comes to fruition.  But just remember, the reward that a 8 or 7 seed gets for sneaking into the playoffs is a road game against the best or second best team in the region.  In other words, after week one of the playoffs, it really becomes a moot point.

  9. 3 hours ago, Legion37 said:

    A lot of flapping gums about "cheating" but with no evidence offered of that.

    Something within the rules isn't cheating, and transfers are within the rules. And if the parents make the effort to do the paperwork for a legitimate transfer it seems that is what they believe is in the best interest of their kids. 

    If people can prove or offer evidence that coaches are recruiting then please do so. 

    Agreed.  Either work to change the rules or learn to play within them. 

    One correction:  recruiting isn't limited to coaches.   Any representative of the school's athletic interests (or even someone acting on their behalf) that engages in an effort to pressure, urge or entice a student to switch schools is guilty of improper contact (i.e., recruiting). 

    Another point I'll make on this topic:  often time, the person (player or family of the player) who is on the receiving end of the improper contact, whether that person (player or family) ultimately decides to transfer or not, considers the improper contact to be complimentary.  And especially if that contact comes in the form of a telephone conversation or, even more so, in a face-to-face meeting, with no email or text tracks left behind, it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to make a recruiting accusation stick.  In other words, it's easy to get away with making overtures, either because the player/family on the receiving end is flattered or because they're just not interested in making a big deal out of the overture.  I know; I've been there.

    Finally, it is rare that "direct evidence" of the recruiting exists (although that happened earlier this year to an STA assistant coach who has no doubt learned his lesson about leaving a text trail).  More often than not, the evidence is circumstantial.  I'll give you an example from the Tampa Bay area.  This past summer, a kid who started at QB at his high school as a junior made the decision to transfer to another bay area school that made the playoffs last year behind a sophomore QB.  The transfer happened just before fall practice began (and, not coincidentally, just as all-star 7 on 7 season was winding down).  Now, you can have the kid who transferred in, his mom and dad, and the coach of the team that he transferred into all swear up and down on their family bibles that there was absolutely no contact and no communications between the two sides prior to enrollment in the new school and I'm probably not going to buy it.  There had to be some sort of conversation about playing time (mop up time, occasional series early in the game to get some good game film, etc.) before that move was made.  It just doesn't make sense otherwise. 

    Last point I'll make (again and again):  whether you believe it is right or wrong, and with rare exception (see the whole Braden River/Venice saga over the last couple of years, as an example), high school coaches operate with a mentality of "honor among thieves."    With rare exception, they just don't turn each other in, even when they know.  Perhaps because they know their house is made of glass, as well. 

  10. 14 minutes ago, badbird said:

    Bad situation.  Rule needs to be changed.  Coaches are here to help kids Believe it or not it happened to my family and we took the kid in no questions asked.  It wasn’t about football it was about saving a kid.  If you  Turn us in we might have to forfeit the 1981 and 1982 season.  Problem is if they change the rule too many people would take advantage of the rule.

     

     I wouldn’t have brought it up if a Plant person didn’t accuse Armwood of cheating.  If I was Plant I would worry about Plant right now.  Or keep casting stones at Armwood.  heck it use to be a good rivalry.  Hope one day it comes back

    Your public forum secret is safe with me.  :D

    Trust me, the coaches and players at Plant are only concerned with Plant.  It's been a humbling year for the Panthers.  That said, it is somewhat frustrating for Plant fans to see other nearby schools like Armwood and Lakeland prospering under the new free-agency rules when Plant is not able to play by the same rules (because of capacity).  It makes it an even tougher pill to swallow when stud athletes at neighboring schools talk about being reached out to by other area schools.  And it's not all just on social media.  Bottom line, to your point, Plant is trying to work on the things they can control in hopes that there might be a back door into the playoffs. 

  11. As much as I want to avoid dragging this into the weeds, it's also important to set the record straight on exactly what the Plant coach did wrong.   In short, the allegations involved a young man that already was enrolled at Plant who found himself in a untenable position (I'm not going to go into the details, but suffice to say, a difficult 'home' situation went from bad to worse).  Coach Weiner asked another volunteer of the football program to make a few after-hour phone calls to see if someone would be willing to provide temporary shelter for the kid.  As an aside, after several phone calls, a temporary arrangement was found.  The temporary situation ended up lasting longer than initially anticipated and, in fact, eventually led to a guardianship arrangement.  But during this entire process, the kid was not eligible to play and never suited up for a single game. 

    For asking the volunteer to make a phone call, Coach Weiner was suspended six games (later reduced to three) and fined $5,000 (or more than a thousand dollars more than his annual stipend for being a head coach). 

    So, if you want to say that the coach violated an FHSAA policy (by indirectly assisting in the providing of impermissible benefits), go right ahead.  That's what the FHSAA determined - at least for the time being.   But, before you call the man a cheater, ask yourself one question:  if you were a coach (or a representative of any school's athletic interests) and a kid walked up to you one evening after work-outs and said "Hey, Coach, I don't have anywhere to eat or sleep tonight; can you help me?" what would you do?  If you can honestly say that you would look the kid in the eyes and say "Sorry, kid, I can't help you," then feel free to cast the first stone.  Otherwise, be thankful you've never been put in this no-win situation. 

     

  12. 1 hour ago, DarterBlue2 said:

    In Orange County, it was due to today (Friday) being a student holiday. Since several Seminole County teams were in districts with Orange County teams, inter-county were play was on Thursday. In Dade County Thursday night games are usually due to shared field arrangements as many (probably the majority) of Dade public schools don't have their own fields. 

    Thanks. 

    Just out of curiosity, what holiday is it?  End of Hurricane Season?  Start of Snowbird Season?  I just want to make sure I didn't ignore any one of my Facebook friends on their special day.  B)

  13. 11 hours ago, gatorman-uf said:

    https://www.tampabay.com/sports/high-schools/2019/10/15/gulf-high-cancels-remainder-of-football-season-due-to-injuries/

    I know nobody will care that an 0-7 team that scored a total of 14 points for the entire season ended early, but this is what I mean when I say the sport might end up dying because we don't allow fair competition. Look Gulf is bad, last week they lost to Tarpon Springs who has given up 50+ points in 5 of their 6 losses (42 in the other). Tarpon Springs had scored a total of 7 points before winning 20-0.  Gulf is 14-85 in the last 9 seasons (technically 14-88 if the rest count as forfeits) or .159 Winning Percentage.  If you count boys soccer, basketball, and baseball over the past 9 season the schools is 118-411-14 or .299 Winning percentage across the other team sports.

    If you are a Head Coach, Athletic Director, Principal, or Superintendent, how do you fix this culture of losing at a school?

    Do what Dunedin did. 

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