wheelhouse

Yep. I went directly back to my alumnus source on this and he admitted he was just playing with me. D'oh!

I have spoken with a CCH graduate who claims it is indeed a class, though we didn't discuss whether it was for credit or not.

Okay, I'll bite -- respectfully and with absolutely no agenda. What is it about an 'urban' squad that would dampen the crowd's enthusiasm?

Those are excellent points. As for electronic gadgets, well, needless to say phones aren't supposed to be used during class but they're pretty easily concealed; plus, I know of at least one high school where students are allowed to get onto their phones as long as everyone has finished classwork for that day. As for auto shows and concerts not being connected with the KHSAA, that's pretty much my point: if a basketball tournament is considered a legitimate learning experience, then plenty of non-KHSAA events -- spindoc's hunting trips being a great example -- also have to be viewed as potential learning experiences, at which point the lines could get fuzzy. Personally, I think your suggestion of a blanket policy is spot on; the question would be how big a blanket to use when crafting the policy.

Not to divert the thread, but the majority of current studies and surveys suggest that the #1 reason for parents home-schooling their children is religion.

No dissent here -- great post! The fetal pig example alone is worth the price of admission (though I'll never look at a pork chop the same way again).

Without necessarily disagreeing about students being allowed to attend the tournament, as a basketball fan who is also an educator I’d like to throw in a few cautionary notes: 1. When it comes to quizzes and exams, every absence is a potential opportunity for someone to gain an unfair advantage. In the age of the smart phone, any student can send an absent classmate information on an exam’s content or even photos of the exam itself. Yeah, I know, it’s not my kid or your kid, it’s our neighbors’ kids. Actually, recent studies suggest it’s at least six out of every ten high school students, with approximately one-third admitting they do it repeatedly. 2. On a more important and less cynical note, if we excuse students from class to attend a basketball tournament because it’s a learning experience – and I’m not saying it isn’t – then we must consider dozens of other learning experiences. What about a speech by a public figure? An auto show? A out-of-town Miley Cyrus concert? (Okay, bad choice – maybe a Peter Gabriel concert?) How many make-up assignments for how many students for how many reasons amount to too many? This could be a pretty slippery slope, friends. 3. I absolutely support the idea that learning is not confined to the classroom, and that sports provide important life lessons. However, we fans should remind ourselves that the lessons learned by playing or observing sports often can be learned elsewhere as well. Teamwork is just as crucial in concert band as it is in football, and using preparation to conquer fatigue is as big a part of a forensics competition as it is a basketball tournament. And no sports experience enables a student to solve a quadratic equation or identify the capital of the Czech Republic. Again, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing to let students attend this type of event. I just think there’s a bigger picture to be considered. [descends from soapbox]

I had heard Moore from Holmes was also with the Legends this summer. Not true?

This has been Holmes' arrangement the entire season. Even when Bolden was running point he rarely if ever guarded the opposing PG, but rather it was always McClendon, Housely, or Herndon up top. I was puzzled by it so I asked a local college coach for his thoughts, and he informed me that many coaches -- himself included -- try to avoid putting their best offensive player on the opposing team's best offensive player. He said something along the lines of, "That's not where I want his energy being spent." This might not be the explanation for every situation and other coaches may disagree, but I see the line of reasoning.

Agreed on the sour grapes (though not necessarily agreed about the grabbing). Look, this kid does what any of us would do if we spent our careers being guarded by larger players: he moves his body hard into opponents to create space for the shot, he gets defenders into the air and then draws contact, he sells it a little when contact does occur. We don't necessarily see all of that from, say, Hatton or Bolden because their physical attributes afford them some advantages from the git-go. If someone wants to cry "punk" on Ruthsatz, so be it, but his moves are within the rules, they allow him to be a highly effective player, and he should get credit where it's due. The only move I don't get is the quadruple rolling-up of the shorts. Maybe it's a good luck charm.

As Mr. Sixer has suggested, if we need to move threads with this I absolutely understand. In the meantime, though, I'd like to remind everyone that this year's Holmes JV squad 1) finished with a better overall record than the varsity and 2) includes the entire starting five and more from the middle-school team that won state as eighth-graders -- and that was without McClendon. Though Chames and Hill are big losses (pun intended), soph-to-be Jaiden Greene is actually taller than either of them though still on the raw side. Add Avery, Moore, and Arnold plus the current coaching staff and the Bulldogs should be just fine without having to send five guards out there.

Perspective is tough to establish if your terms are vague. If "let it go" means you know what "it" is, then you know more than the rest of us. And if by "like that" you mean highly energetic behavior and an occasional audible piece of advice to a JV player, trust me -- I've been at every Holmes game this season save one, and Coach Listerman doesn't discriminate. As for direct confrontation with CCH coaches and players, please read my earlier post: something did occur at last year's regional contest but it was strictly between the two coaches, there's no way of telling whether or how they've resolved it, and we have no idea how it relates to the current situation. I personally have not seen Listerman address any opposing players directly other than to shake hands at the end of games, but I'm open to correction on that.

I never discourage healthy dialogue, but am I the only one getting a little uneasy with this thread? Coach Listerman himself may not care what other folks say about him online but the young men whom he currently coaches are, well, young men. I assume they can access this material and I worry that they may have some trouble processing it.

Okay, I'm pleading ignorance here -- probably very big ignorance. Were there indicators at some point that Hatton was going to play at Holmes?

Great reference! Foghorn Leghorn was a classic Warner Brothers cartoon character: a large -- maybe human-sized -- rooster with a distinct drawl and a sarcastic delivery. And yes, the character did start every other sentence with, "I say, boy...." Keep in mind that he was typically addressing other talking animals.

Heavens, you did not just use that term after a young African-American man's name. Please consider the larger context.

edit

Last year's confrontation had nothing to do with referees; according to several direct eyewitness accounts it started with an exchange the two coaches had before the game. I know everyone here dislikes vague and mysterious posts, but in this case I feel obliged leave it at that out of respect for all parties. I only chimed in because I don't want misinformation to gain momentum.

To be more team-specific, Avery is playing at Shroder. In what some would consider an interesting twist, I believe one of the Shroder head coach's sons plays at Holmes.

Huff for Beechwood -- Cov Latin representative did not attend and I can't remember the name.

I honestly can't predict this one. Who do you think will win this evening?

The big-picture approach apparently does not work for you, Danny, so please consider the following scenario on a more personal basis: It is your junior year and this season you’ve been playing some decent JV minutes. As for varsity, well, you are a member of the “20-20 Club”: if your team is winning by 20 or losing by 20, you see the floor for the final two or three minutes of the game. It’s the district semi-finals and, though they played hard, tonight your team is on the short end of that formula. Like many teams, your school’s squad does not allow seniors to play JV so as the fourth quarter begins you realize that this is not only the end of the season: it is also the end of your high school basketball career. The opposing coach calls a time out and motions five subs off of his bench. Your coach does the same. As you run out onto the court you look up, and there it is: your jersey number on a Division 1 college scoreboard, complete with a stat line that just might include two or four points before you’re done. Some other notable attendees can see it too – the parents or grandparents who have driven you to and from practices since second grade, the siblings you’ve taunted during backyard one-on-one contests, the significant other who sacrificed many a “real” date to come to the gym and cheer you on. They all see your number up there and they’re all proud. Can’t speak for you, Danny, but I’m okay with spending a few extra bucks – and no, I do not have many to spare -- and I’m also okay with whatever legitimate financial arrangement goes down between schools if it enables this type of scene to play out for even one or two kids. You do remember there are kids involved, right?

Moore, Arnold, and Englemon will be playing with the Legends for sure, several others are probable Legends but unconfirmed. McClendon will be with the Travelers. Brolley will be with Ohio Basketball Club's travel team.

That is a logical fallacy, friend. If you were not at the games you did not know whether they were bad or good, especially since you rendered your judgment before the games had taken place. By the same token, if you judged these games after the fact it would be on the basis of hearsay rather than evidence, and you could not rationally decide whether you wanted to attend or not because the event had already passed. Many of those who did attend considered these games worth watching...after they had watched them, at which point it makes sense to offer an opinion. More to the point, these games you dismiss as "bad" involved kids who do not necessarily get onto this type of court very often. It would be wonderful if every high school tournament guaranteed at least one appearance for each team in a college setting, but in the meantime it's great that some teams who may not always emerge from districts (and whose players may not get chances to play college hoops) get a small taste of college basketball atmosphere.

So where's he been Haydn?