5-at-10: Friday mailbag on TSSAA, Rushmore catch-up, value of coaches

Gang, another excellent week.

We will have abbreviated 5-at-10s next week because we are taking the kids to Disney to see the Mouse. We’re stoked.

You guys play nice and pull the Mocs through the tournaments. Deal? Deal.

From the “Talks too much” studios, hope you enjoyed the snow.

From Randy

I wanted to send a note and say I enjoy your views on things outside of sports on A2 of the paper. I have been reading your writing for a longtime and am excited to see where you take this promotion.

The 5-at-10 was very fun this week — but I kept checking back to see your Rushmores on bight-sized candy and wrestlers this week and I must have missed them.

Thanks.

Randy –

Thanks for the kind words and for playing along.

Fair point about the Rushmores Here are this week’s.

Our Rushmore of Bite-sized candies: Hershey’s kisses, Junior Mints, Sweet-Tarts, and old-school Jolly Ranchers (although this was tough because that leaves off a ton of good ones; side note: We eliminated regular canny that was simply downsized like bite-sized Reese’s, which rock, and the like)

Our Rushmore of wrestlers: Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin

Our Rushmore of sports game-changers off the field: Phil Knight (Nike), Curt Flood (free agency), Marvin Miller (Godfather of players’ unions), Pete Rozelle (NFL Godfather)

Our Rushmore of snow (and we had this on Press Row Thursday, too, although the choices are different because of caller suggestions): Snowman (Jerry Reed’s character on “Smokey and the Bandit”), Chrissy Snow from “Three’s Company,” the sound advise of “Don’t eat yellow snow,” and Sno-Cones – although Percy Snow made the Press Row list over Sno-Cones.

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From Bob

Jay,

Yes, you can debate the merits of the TSSAA having so many teams in the post season that you can lose and still advance. Unfortunately the public school basketball playoffs aren’t win or go home.

This is the fault of the TSSAA and its greed. They get half the gate of every playoff game. Why not fill the playoff brackets with mediocre teams? With that greed, eventually it had to come to this. Coaches are students of strategy. Why not lose so you don’t have to face Blackman in the next round? Wouldn’t you rather have your team run deeper in the playoffs and face Blackman in the semi finals? Seems more like giving up a pawn to take a rook or maybe even SMHS football playing in 4A instead of 3A so they don’t have to play Alcoa in the playoffs. Okay, maybe that last one was a stretch, but this is what you get when you have a money hungry third party organization running the athletics for the state.

Granted if my kid played for Smyrna or Riverdale, I’m sure I wouldn’t have been too happy about it. But, blame this on the TSSAA, not the coaches.

Bob –

Interesting point, and there is certainly some truth to the fact that the TSSAA’s greed and overextended playoffs have some tangental fault in the debacle that happened last Saturday when Smyrna and Riverdale made national news for playing to lose.

And, yes, we agree that having a playoff system in which you can lose back-to-back games and still advance is cracked.

That said, if the coaches wanted to make a statement about the system, then have that discussion and come to center court and flip a coin in protest.

The fact that they went about this in a flagrant and overwhelming manner – kids telling refs to call three-seconds; kids shooting on their own goal; purposely committing over-and-back violations – is a disgrace to the nature of sports in general and the mission of school-aged sports in particular.

The TSSAA is not without fault on a lot of fronts, but this is firmly on the coaches.

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From John Proctor (from last week – sorry)

Greetings Master Jay:

I have a question for Friday’s Mailbag. First though, if Jameis Winston is “our brother” I’m going to go home and slap my momma and then beat my daddy about the head with a tire tool.

My question is one that has plagued me since the Canton nominations were announced last month. Why hasn’t Jerry Kramer been elected to the Pro Football HOF?

Dude, in his day, was awesomely fearsome. Much of the Packer’s success was based on the power sweep and Kramer was the pulling guard that made it work. He played 11 years, was on 5 NFL championship teams and has 2 Super Bowl rings. In addition to being a lineman, he was the team kicker for a couple of years plus played with all sorts of serious injuries. He is the ONLY member of the NFL’s 50th anniversary team that is not in the HOF. Those credentials make this oversight hard to understand. What else does a player have to do in order to be worthy of induction?

I am old now but I remember those Packer years. His Ice Bowl block is the one everyone remembers but nothing was sweeter than watching that Packer Sweep with Kramer leading it. He deserves enshrinement. Why hasn’t it happened?

JP –

In truth, we’re not sure what has happened with Kramer, and we would have guessed that he was in the Hall of Fame already.

The numbers and stats for offensive linemen can easily get jumbled. Plus, with the number of guys getting on the ballot each year with serious stats, it’s tougher and tougher for old-school stars like Kramer – and former Minnesota defensive end Jim Marshall – make the cut.

Great question.

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From Chas

I thought local fave Dane Badshaw showed a lot of promise in the late SEC network game last night. For the bag: How big is his future?

Chas –

We are huge fans of Dane Bradshaw, who has been a a fairly regular guest on Press Row this basketball season.

He is well-prepared and sharp and really knows the game.

Here’s saying if he can survive the first year or two that frequently can side-track people trying to get into that BID-ness, he could be a long, Long, LONG-time SEC Network guy that has a bigger ceiling than that truthfully.

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From Moctastic

Don’t coaches Foster and Wes Moore prove that coaching actually matters? They have taken rosters that have had very few, if any, players that were recruited by SEC schools then beat the SEC schools. Coaching, especially in women’s basketball, really matters.

MT –

Great point.

And yes, we believe that in women’s basketball, especially, coaching matters way more because the players listen. The same could be said for a lot of other high school and college sports in which there is limited professional futures, such as wrestling or volleyball.

Look at what Heath Eslinger has been able to do with the Mocs wrestling program for example.

An excellent coach – like Eslinger, Moore and especially Hall of Famer Foster – can make a huge difference. Look at the teams each year that are in contention, and there are few surprises because the elite-level coaches do such great jobs.

And getting players to listen is arguably the single most important skill for a coach, and makes guys like Saban and Calipari so effective in the major college sports in which you have to have athletes as well.

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From JMC

Mailbag: Given Tull’s impression at the combine minus the runs and Lott’s as well, what’s the prediction of rounds one or the other would be drafted in? Also, does the NFL have a deep-rooted bias against the FCS just “because” its the FCS? Just because Tull or Davis didn’t play for Oregon or Alabama doesn’t mean they’re not qualified for Sunday. Also, because Faysal wasn’t invited to the combine, are his chances slimmer unless he REALLY impresses at UTC pro day?

JMC –

There is zero bias against FCS-level players in the eyes of the NFL. Zero.

If you can play and help a team win games, they will find you and love you. Forever. Or until you become overpaid.

• TFP ace David Paschall asked Mel Kiper where he pegged the Mocs tandem, and Kiper said in the fifth- and sixth-round range.
• Tight end Faysal Shafaat will get a shot, and next week’s pro day will be big for him.