Prep Zone

By MLK Band Mom

November 6, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this

I feel that it’s the coaches’ responsibility to make sure their teams are prepared, physically and emotionally, for the game at hand. If it turns out to be a blow out, so be it … If the teams have done their very best then comes the practice of ‘Good Sportsmanship’. The coaches then have the responsibility to teach their teams to be both gracious ‘Winners’ and ‘Losers’.

By NSMom

November 6, 2007 11:07 AM | Link to this

The poor guys at North Springs must feel really bad, their whole season has been nothing but blowouts. How do you keep moral up in that situation? I tell people my daughters school is more academically inclined than athletically inclined. Great, great school, bad, bad football program. Oh well……

By Will

November 6, 2007 11:36 AM | Link to this

Jeff, I agree with Coach Adams that coaches need to get quality work for their reserves and JV players. If they continue to score, what can you do. Those kids are so excited to get in the game, they too want to make plays and score. It is up to the coach of the team on the other end of these games to try and prepare his team for whats coming. Surely, the outcome isn’t a surprise.

By GwinnettFan

November 6, 2007 12:12 PM | Link to this

I saw the Brookwood game when Meadocreek visited. Brookwood scored 46 points in the second quarter. At half-time, the starters sat. Coach Crews played EVERYBODY. Do we ask those kids who never start to not play? I don’t think so. When the other team quits, there is not much you can do. The substitute players did nothing fancy - no passing, just running. Some of the scores were defensive. Do we ask someone who just intercepted a pass to take a knee? BTW, Meadowcreek scored twice in the final minutes.

By Jeff Haws

November 6, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this

Yeah, it’s a tough situation for both sides. The coach who is ahead looks up at the scoreboard and cringes as his team hits 55, 60, 65 points. I can imagine that coach can be nervous a little bit heading out to midfield to shake hands with the other coach, hoping he’s not angry.

Adams and Stephens both said that it’s often fans that get more angry than the coaches because the coaches understand the situation a little better. Adams said there’s only one time is his career (17 years) that he has felt like an opponent ran up the score.

By Cougar Mom

November 6, 2007 2:18 PM | Link to this

Ok - honestly….is there EVER a time in a football game when a coach is going to stop and ask the question “think we shouldn’t run this one into the end zone?” THIS IS FOOTBALL! Perhaps the better question would be the selection of Regions that pit unequal teams against each other. Cherokee with 80 plus players on the sideline against teams that do good to dress out 40 but even in that arguement - no matter how you slice it your only playing 11 of them at a time so…eh - it’s football.

By GwinnettFan

November 6, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this

Cougar Mom

I do hope the coach asks that question from time to time. The games are played for everybody’s benefit, not just the team who is winning. When the score is a zillion to zero, the coach certainly should have the subs in or take a knee in the final minute.

By jc

November 6, 2007 2:34 PM | Link to this

Hey Idiot Cougar Mom,

When Cherokee dresses out 80 plus, they dress out the entire high school program. All teams are equal when it comes to the size of school.

By UnderstandingParent

November 6, 2007 2:41 PM | Link to this

My children’s HS has been on the receiving end of some pretty bad blow-outs (55-0, 48-0, 58-7). I do not feel like the other coach was intentionally attempting to run up the score. Our HS is in one of the most powerful Class A regions in the state. These Class A players are trying to improve their chances of gettng a scholarship. I try to explain this to the kids when they seem to be upset about the score. Some of them seem to calm down and understand when I explain it like that. But, it is usually the PARENTS of the football players that seem to be the most upset. I guess THEY are embarassed when their child is out there on the field during one of these blowouts.

By Play the Game the Way it's Intended

November 6, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this

If a team is significantly ahead and have back-ups in the game AND are not passing AND are running basic plays AND are not going out of bounds to stop the clock AND are not taunting the other team AND not going for a first down on 4th down AND being respectful to your opponent as you crush them, then it is not running up the score. It will embarass a team more when they see the other team letting up on them. Also, if anything the team that is getting smoked takes it out on the other team’s subs. Most of the subs are younger and smaller players and are playing against starters that have getting their butts kicked all night. Now it the trailing team time to kick some butt. I’ve seen worse sportsmanship by the trailing team in the fourth quarter than I have by the leading team. It may be hard to believe but a good thrashing sometimes builds character especially if the defeated team is young and has potential. They learn real quick what it will take to rise to the next level.

By Raider from the start

November 6, 2007 5:06 PM | Link to this

Last year we had a few games that got out of hand. We caught some flack for it. What we are doing this year is playing an extended number of players. The offense continues to operate with the full compliment of plays. The best thing here is our younger players get real game experience and will be ready next year. The opposition still gets the feel of being in a competitive game. The result has been to develop dependable depth for the playoffs.

By GC

November 6, 2007 5:25 PM | Link to this

It is tough to ask a kid to slow up in late-game circumstances after you’ve asked them to go hard in practice. Ever heard the cliche “play one speed?” That’s what they do. It does bring into question the GHSA responsibility to place teams in regions where competing week in and week out is a real possibility, not just a formality.

By Jeff Haws

November 6, 2007 6:24 PM | Link to this

GC-

Good point about playing “one speed.”

The old coaches’ maxim is that it’s when you slow down that you get hurt. There’s an inherent danger in these blowout games, where kids on both teams may slow down while their opponents might not. If your focus isn’t there, but your opponent is trying to make an impact in his coach’s mind, maybe you’re more susceptible to a hit that normally wouldn’t be an issue.

That may, in fact, enhance the GHSA’s responsibility to attempt to even out the playing field in the regions.

By Raider Fan

November 6, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this

I get tired of hearing the blubbering of teams and fans who are on the receiving end of these blowouts. It’s not the winning teams fault for this. A team is trained to score and win. If a losing team has not been trained as well as a team that wins don’t blame the winning team. Of course these days there is the “you make the losers feel bad” crowd. Political correctness run amuck, again. We are having that problem with E. Paulding these days. When E.P. was going 0-10 for a season noone said a thing about scores. Now that they are 9-0, region champs, and headed to the playoffs for the 2nd season in a row it’s, “stop running up the score”, “that’s not right” and other assanine statements. Let the better team play and win the way they have trained to and stop the all the dang crying. Maybe next season the teams that don’t do so good will work harder or bring in better coaches, whichever it takes to win. GO RAIDERS!!!…..

and the higher you score the better.

By NTH Trojans

November 6, 2007 10:19 PM | Link to this

North Hall has been killing teams all year, but in their defense, they have been putting in their JV in the second half all season long. When you have done all that you can do to limit scoring, sometimes it’s up to the other team to stop you.

By NC FAN

November 6, 2007 11:24 PM | Link to this

i agree with all the comments about the winning teams. they should be respectful, yet the kida are gonna PLAY FOOTBALL. even if they JV is in they are going to try and score, thats what they’re taught to do. but the losing coach should know when he’s done and start playing his backups as well. we were up 42-0 against Kennesaw Mountain and their coach had the starters in against our JV in the 4th quarter trying to throw the ball deep. that’s just as bad as the winning coach having his starters in late in a blowout.

By BLUELION

November 7, 2007 8:44 AM | Link to this

In the defense of COUGAR MOM, JC be a little more commpassionate. OK you are in the know on why Cherokee dressed out 80 plus players. Congradulation you win nothing. But since you knew that answer can you answer this. What is the secret formula for coca cola and where is it kept. Since you can’t answer these questions does that make you a CLOD?!

P.S. I got your back COUGAR MOM.

By Scott Hornibrook

November 7, 2007 9:54 AM | Link to this

Somebody needs to take a look at Christopher Hornibrook at Piedmont High School. He a quality football player.

By Terry

November 7, 2007 10:16 AM | Link to this

A Coach should play every player he can in a blowout, and should avoid trick plays, but to ask an athlete to do less than his best is an insult to him and to the opponent as well. No one wants to get beaten by a large margin but no ones wants to be considered an object of pity.

By Veteran Fan

November 7, 2007 11:52 AM | Link to this

No one would argue with a situation where the dominating team coach uses his reserves in the second half and they play hard and compete. The problem occurs when the coach decides to make a statement and leaves his starters in when the game has gotten out of hand! Walton did this in a game a few weeks ago after a close game at halftime had turned into a blowout(4 point lead to 30 point lead going into the fourth quarter). They were taunting and trash talking but that is an issue for the officials. The real problem occured when he left his starters in the entire game and with four minutes to go threw a 40 yard pass into the end zone from midfield on the last possession. After a resounding chorus of boos, he finally figured out this was probably not a class thing to do and switched to a more conservative play calling mode which was appreciated. Unfortunately, he left a bad taste in everyones’ mouth and tainted a nice performance by his team. This would not have happened 20 years ago as the QB who threw that pass would be in mortal danger of a broken leg in the final four minutes of the game and the coach would not have called that play because of that.

By Will

November 7, 2007 1:08 PM | Link to this

As a side not to the comments about balancing the regions and classifications, does anyone have information about the GHSA reclassification for the next two years.

By Warrior Dad

November 7, 2007 1:59 PM | Link to this

We had this come up in our game this weekend. We were only up 36-0 with the second string in and they were driving vs South Cherokees starters. They called timeout and gestured toward our sidelines like “what are you doing”. They became very cheap in their hits the last 4 minutes. I don’t feel that is the second strings fault since they are excited to score touchdowns too. I think if you aren’t that well versed in coaching a defense to at least stop the second string, you may want to look for something else to do with your Saturdays….

By EP SENIOR '08

November 7, 2007 10:56 PM | Link to this

East Paulding is not getting almost any recognition this year. We are 9-0 and region champions w/o any contest, yet we are not scoring 60-70 points like we did last year. We beat teams so horribly last year that i was in shock that we could do that, it was enjoyable, but daggum, 70-0 is pretty harsh (our fault Woodland). Even though u can’t stop us, we changed to put just about everyone in this year. Our win margins are less and our rankings are taking a hit for it. But because of being scorched last year for “running up the score” we almost started putting in cheerleaders and band members against some of these teams we’ve played. Just don’t think that lowering our score margin has made us weak, we are still an amazing team; and when we get into the state championship against Northside WR, i have no doubts that we will “run up the score” just to prove a point. Keep EP in mind. Peace.

By Cougar Mom

November 8, 2007 8:57 AM | Link to this

OK - seems I stirred things up a bit here…

1)Thanks Bluelion :)BUT he didn’t know the CORRECT answer to the 80 player statement he made - but I won’t call him names - I will TRY to educate him. 2)Gwinnett Fan - the game is being played to win. I think everyone involved would like to see the end result benefit everyone involved in some way but you go ask the players on both sides of the ball if they are there for “benefit of experience / play time” or “to win”…even an idiot knows the answer to that question. and finally 3) JC: Your astute observation that cherokee includes their freshman (all high schools include their JV) on the sidelines on friday night does not negate my observation that their program out numbers almost all of their opponents programs considerably. Currently the GHSA uses “school enrollment numbers” as the guage for placing schools into regions. It, again, doesn’t take an idiot to know that a school that has an established football program will draw more football players than say soccer players. Cherokee with 80 plus in their TOTAL program has more than say Alexander or Lithia Springs (being generous here)who have around 60 in the TOTAL program - that includes the JV and freshman. If you are going to get on here and attack someone for something they have said - at least do ALL of the research so that you can speak intelligently on the subject matter before declaring someone else the idiot. Most all teams have their own websites - as does the GHSA. You obviously have a computer and access to the internet….. :)

By Raider Rowdy

November 8, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this

This topic in right in line with a game we had earlier this year. Our posted a 42-0 score by half time. To begin the second half the coach left the starters in just to practice coming out of the halftime break strong and sharp. From that point on the started could do nothing right on offense. Missed assignments, dropped passes, fumbles, etc. ocurred possession after possession. The defense remained strong and players began more of a rotation through the JV squad on the defensive side. You could see that the coach wanted to get the offensive starters out but did not want to take them out after another poor possession. He did not want them to takeout because of the perception of poor play. What suggestions would you have a head coach do in this position?

By Cougar Mom

November 8, 2007 12:40 PM | Link to this

I think that simple communication with his players would have worked, “Hey Smith, I am putting Jones in so he can get some reps in the posiiton while we are up” End of controversy. He should be concerned about what anyone elses perception of the situation is - last I checked most coaches run their programs the way they see fit. That is why they are the head coach. In all reality - I don’t see where the issue was in letting the players think they were pulled for poor play. Had the score been closer and his offense was not doing the job - would he just leave them in and not try to adjust to correct the problem? If not - his probably wouldn’t be putting that game in the “W” column. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine just happens to be that this is football, the object of the game is to win. Game situations are not the place to be teaching lessons….that should happen in practice. Game situations is where the best player for that job at that moment is expected to suit up, lace up, show up, shut up and do the job. :)

Go Cougars!

By Cougar Mom

November 8, 2007 12:40 PM | Link to this

I think that simple communication with his players would have worked, “Hey Smith, I am putting Jones in so he can get some reps in the posiiton while we are up” End of controversy. He shouldn’t be concerned about what anyone elses perception of the situation is - last I checked most coaches run their programs the way they see fit. That is why they are the head coach. In all reality - I don’t see where the issue was in letting the players think they were pulled for poor play. Had the score been closer and his offense was not doing the job - would he just leave them in and not try to adjust to correct the problem? If not - his probably wouldn’t be putting that game in the “W” column. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine just happens to be that this is football, the object of the game is to win. Game situations are not the place to be teaching lessons….that should happen in practice. Game situations is where the best player for that job at that moment is expected to suit up, lace up, show up, shut up and do the job. :)

Go Cougars!

By Cougar Mom

November 8, 2007 12:41 PM | Link to this

I think that simple communication with his players would have worked, “Hey Smith, I am putting Jones in so he can get some reps in the posiiton while we are up” End of controversy. He shouldn’t be concerned about what anyone elses perception of the situation is - last I checked most coaches run their programs the way they see fit. That is why they are the head coach. In all reality - I don’t see where the issue was in letting the players think they were pulled for poor play. Had the score been closer and his offense was not doing the job - would he just leave them in and not try to adjust to correct the problem? If not - he probably wouldn’t be putting that game in the “W” column. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine just happens to be that this is football, the object of the game is to win. Game situations are not the place to be teaching lessons….that should happen in practice. Game situations is where the best player for that job at that moment is expected to suit up, lace up, show up, shut up and do the job. :)

Go Cougars!

By Cougar Mom

November 8, 2007 12:41 PM | Link to this

I think that simple communication with his players would have worked, “Hey Smith, I am putting Jones in so he can get some reps in the posiiton while we are up” End of controversy. He shouldn’t be concerned about what anyone elses perception of the situation is - last I checked most coaches run their programs the way they see fit. That is why they are the head coach. In all reality - I don’t see where the issue was in letting the players think they were pulled for poor play. Had the score been closer and his offense was not doing the job - would he just leave them in and not try to adjust to correct the problem? If not - he probably wouldn’t be putting that game in the “W” column. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine just happens to be that this is football, the object of the game is to win. Game situations are not the place to be teaching lessons….that should happen in practice. Game situations is where the best player for that job at that moment is expected to suit up, lace up, show up, shut up and do the job. :)

Go Cougars!