What has happened to Jasper?

[2wedge]

20 hours ago, PlayActionPass said:

Never understood why you can't be good at all 4 major sports.

If you are talented enough, and athletic enough to be a Regional Finalist football team, then you would think you would be athletic enough to at least be competitive in basketball. If you wanted to be......

And as big a baseball town as Jasper is, where did that tradition go? Where are those kids now?

This is an easy one. We have let grifter unqualified coaches infiltrate our children and convince them that they will be D1 athletes if they only focus on a single sport. We've got kids, with single digit ages, playing their sport year-round to "maximize exposure" despite the fact that most college coaches on the recruiting trail will value a multisport athlete. This translates to the school year and ends up with kids being football, basketball, baseball only kids. Track is pretty much the only one left that keeps kids playing other sports and that's primarily because football coaches demand their football kids be track athletes. I literally talked to a man last night, who just moved to Texas from Oklahoma who was telling me his kid played on two different football teams during the season last year. One for his school, one for his select league. During the week the kid was a RB for his school, and on the weekends, he was a QB for his select team. This would equal 7 days a week of full contact football for a 6th grader......6th grader. Once that ends, rolls straight into 7 on 7 for the spring and back to football in the summer. All this for a kid, who seems to be a good athlete, but probably has a ceiling of D2 at best, if he doesn't burn out before that. Parents are silly and think they can develop their kids into being the next Quinn Ewers, but they completely miss the biggest factor in creating that type of athlete.....genetics. Genetics are undefeated. Always have been, always will be. Play sports because you love to compete then compete in everything you do. Quit giving bullsheet rings to "state champions" every single weekend all over the US and get back to valuing team championships won at the community level to build the continuity when they are young. This is the only way to reestablish the pride once felt by every kid in every town across Texas when they got to put on a uniform with their school colors. Otherwise, we can kiss the magic of high school sports goodbye. 

[PlayActionPass]

9 minutes ago, 2wedge said:

This is an easy one. We have let grifter unqualified coaches infiltrate our children and convince them that they will be D1 athletes if they only focus on a single sport. We've got kids, with single digit ages, playing their sport year-round to "maximize exposure" despite the fact that most college coaches on the recruiting trail will value a multisport athlete. This translates to the school year and ends up with kids being football, basketball, baseball only kids. Track is pretty much the only one left that keeps kids playing other sports and that's primarily because football coaches demand their football kids be track athletes. I literally talked to a man last night, who just moved to Texas from Oklahoma who was telling me his kid played on two different football teams during the season last year. One for his school, one for his select league. During the week the kid was a RB for his school, and on the weekends, he was a QB for his select team. This would equal 7 days a week of full contact football for a 6th grader......6th grader. Once that ends, rolls straight into 7 on 7 for the spring and back to football in the summer. All this for a kid, who seems to be a good athlete, but probably has a ceiling of D2 at best, if he doesn't burn out before that. Parents are silly and think they can develop their kids into being the next Quinn Ewers, but they completely miss the biggest factor in creating that type of athlete.....genetics. Genetics are undefeated. Always have been, always will be. Play sports because you love to compete then compete in everything you do. Quit giving bullsheet rings to "state champions" every single weekend all over the US and get back to valuing team championships won at the community level to build the continuity when they are young. This is the only way to reestablish the pride once felt by every kid in every town across Texas when they got to put on a uniform with their school colors. Otherwise, we can kiss the magic of high school sports goodbye. 

I am out of VOTES, but I will give a BIG AMEN!!!!

[longball24]

On 4/29/2024 at 9:12 AM, oldschool2 said:

Maybe.. however..  Many athletic director / head football coach have lost their job despite the athletic program as a whole being successful.. if the football team struggles.  On the other hand, when football teams are doing great but the rest of the program stinks.. AD/HFC still keeps their job.

WOS.  Newton. .. programs as a whole were fairly weak during those many years of football power and very few people even knew it.  Or cared. Yet, AD/HFC kept their jobs for years.

Meanwhile, I remember an AD/HFC at Barbers Hill lost his job after every program in the school won district championships and even had several team sports (baseball, softball, girls hoops, etc.) making runs at state.  But the football team was mediocre.  Fired.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that perception is reality.  And the perception is that your athletic program can suck as long as football wins.. it doesn't matter how strong the athletic program is if football sucks. 

This is why I would never make the head football coach the athletic director at a small school. They have a 1 tract mind when it comes to the athletic program as a whole. Jasper is not the only school going through this . Keep in mind they have arguably the best athletes in the state and cannot win in the other sports. A true athlete is good no matter what sport he or she plays. If they have a true athletic program they will all be successful.

[BBfan061]

Or…. Hear me out…. Jasper doesn’t have the talent to win in other sports and it’s not the ADs fault? Being a true athlete does NOT mean your good at everything lol

[oldschool2]

1 hour ago, longball24 said:

This is why I would never make the head football coach the athletic director at a small school. They have a 1 tract mind when it comes to the athletic program as a whole. Jasper is not the only school going through this . Keep in mind they have arguably the best athletes in the state and cannot win in the other sports. A true athlete is good no matter what sport he or she plays. If they have a true athletic program they will all be successful.

At small schools it's difficult to justify paying what it takes to attract a quality football coach without attaching AD to the job.  Not only monetarily.. but NOBODY that's any good will go somewhere to be the head football coach while having other duties (classes, etc.).  Also, at a small school it's pretty much impossible to justify paying someone to be athletic director only as an administrative salary.

Double edged sword.  I am personally a fan of AD only positions.. but understand completely why it's not normally seen in smaller schools.  Schools the size of Jasper (4A) could probably get away with it.  But that deep, "the way it's always been done".. mentality has a stranglehold on a lot of places. 

[longball24]

8 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

At small schools it's difficult to justify paying what it takes to attract a quality football coach without attaching AD to the job.  Not only monetarily.. but NOBODY that's any good will go somewhere to be the head football coach while having other duties (classes, etc.).  Also, at a small school it's pretty much impossible to justify paying someone to be athletic director only as an administrative salary.

Double edged sword.  I am personally a fan of AD only positions.. but understand completely why it's not normally seen in smaller schools.  Schools the size of Jasper (4A) could probably get away with it.  But that deep, "the way it's always been done".. mentality has a stranglehold on a lot of places. 

With that being said and I agree with everything you say. The only recourse some will have is to vote for the school voucher program. This will make it easier for parents to move their children to schools that best suit the interests of their children both academically and athletically.

 

[oldschool2]

8 minutes ago, longball24 said:

With that being said and I agree with everything you say. The only recourse some will have is to vote for the school voucher program. This will make it easier for parents to move their children to schools that best suit the interests of their children both academically and athletically.

 

That conversation shifted gears.

As far as parents moving their kids to schools that best suit their interests.. that's been happening since long before the talk of vouchers.  It can't be stopped.  I'm on the fence.  I see the arguments for and against.. but I think that maybe a parent's school tax dollars should go to the school of their choosing.  Schools should do better job implementing programs and others that A) keep kids there.. B)attract from outside.  Competition is good.. why shouldn't schools have to compete?

[longball24]

7 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

That conversation shifted gears.

As far as parents moving their kids to schools that best suit their interests.. that's been happening since long before the talk of vouchers.  It can't be stopped.  I'm on the fence.  I see the arguments for and against.. but I think that maybe a parent's school tax dollars should go to the school of their choosing.  Schools should do better job implementing programs and others that A) keep kids there.. B)attract from outside.  Competition is good.. why shouldn't schools have to compete?

Yes an international shift to show the different avenues that can be taken to promote a good athletic and academic standards for all. Either that or monetary penalties be given if academic or athletic standards are not met.Years ago Every time a school lost a student it cost the school $9- 10 k per student. that is what the state paid for each student enrolled. Yes competition is good for all even schools.

[LIBERTY82]

20 minutes ago, oldschool2 said:

That conversation shifted gears.

As far as parents moving their kids to schools that best suit their interests.. that's been happening since long before the talk of vouchers.  It can't be stopped.  I'm on the fence.  I see the arguments for and against.. but I think that maybe a parent's school tax dollars should go to the school of their choosing.  Schools should do better job implementing programs and others that A) keep kids there.. B)attract from outside.  Competition is good.. why shouldn't schools have to compete?

This.

That whole "your kid should go to school where you live" non-sense is for the birds.   Put your child in a position to win, in and out of the classroom.  The end.

[longball24]

18 minutes ago, LIBERTY82 said:

This.

That whole "your kid should go to school where you live" non-sense is for the birds.   Put your child in a position to win, in and out of the classroom.  The end.

Agreed, take away the tax dollars and Jasper’s problem and many more just like them are solved.

[SmashMouth]

6 hours ago, 2wedge said:

Genetics are undefeated.

Generally speaking, that's pretty true.

[Bulldogs92]

I'll chime in briefly on this from the perspective of a 50 year-old that saw what it used to be like in Jasper. Our athletes (even the iffy ones like me) played everything that they possibly could and we won a lot because of it. When you have these kids specializing, it limits what their bodies can do. Different sports require different lifting, training, etc., it increases athleticism and range of motion in general. We've got to get kids out of the house and doing all this stuff. Not only would Jasper get back on track, but it would help everyone else, too. I just don't know how we get out of the rabbit hole that they've gone into.

[89Falcon]

Good thing is that football is doing better than it has a while. As long as the football team is winning, the rest can sort itself out whenever. Similar approach to what Newton and Carthage use (football 1st, everything else after). 

[2wedge]

1 hour ago, 89Falcon said:

Good thing is that football is doing better than it has a while. As long as the football team is winning, the rest can sort itself out whenever. Similar approach to what Newton and Carthage use (football 1st, everything else after). 

This is true in typical communities. Unfortunately, Jasper has a recent history of trying to run off pretty good football coaches in the name of scratch and sniff ball. 

[PlayActionPass]

17 hours ago, longball24 said:

Agreed, take away the tax dollars and Jasper’s problem and many more just like them are solved.

Can you expound on this statement?

[AHUDDLESTON]

2 hours ago, 89Falcon said:

Good thing is that football is doing better than it has a while. As long as the football team is winning, the rest can sort itself out whenever. Similar approach to what Newton and Carthage use (football 1st, everything else after). 

What makes you say that? 

[BBfan061]

3 hours ago, AHUDDLESTON said:

What makes you say that? 

Because they were in the regional finals (Or State Quarter Finals pending on who you talk to)

[89Falcon]

6 hours ago, AHUDDLESTON said:

What makes you say that? 

Because they we went to the Regional Final? That is better than what they have been in about 20 years. Make sense?

[AHUDDLESTON]

Great playoff run, no doubt.  They did make the 3rd round(1 less) 4 of the previous 10 years, only one first round loss. 6 district championships and 4 second place.  The only 4 years Carthage was in the same district. So no, I'm not sure it does make sense.

[AggiesAreWe]

25 minutes ago, AHUDDLESTON said:

Great playoff run, no doubt.  They did make the 3rd round(1 less) 4 of the previous 10 years, only one first round loss. 6 district championships and 4 second place.  The only 4 years Carthage was in the same district. So no, I'm not sure it does make sense.

Wasn't that 1st round loss last year?

Also, during those previous 10 years I am pretty sure Jasper didn't go 2-58 in district play in the other 5 sports.

[89Falcon]

6 hours ago, AHUDDLESTON said:

Great playoff run, no doubt.  They did make the 3rd round(1 less) 4 of the previous 10 years, only one first round loss. 6 district championships and 4 second place.  The only 4 years Carthage was in the same district. So no, I'm not sure it does make sense.

Let me help you understand: "Making it 4 rounds deep is better than not making it 4 rounds deep". 

[AggiesAreWe]

2 hours ago, 89Falcon said:

Let me help you understand: "Making it 4 rounds deep is better than not making it 4 rounds deep". 

So if Jasper fails to make it to Regional finals next year, then things are not better?

Saying things are better because of one football season (when the discussion is about the overall athletic program) is pretty narrow minded.

But, coming from you, I completely understand.

[89Falcon]

46 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

So if Jasper fails to make it to Regional finals next year, then things are not better?

Saying things are better because of one football season (when the discussion is about the overall athletic program) is pretty narrow minded.

But, coming from you, I completely understand.

Yes, that is how sports and playoffs work. Teams that go farther are considered better than teams that dont. 

As you have lost contact with the transcript and revealed your narrow scope of concentration, my comment was in direct response to the question about "how the football team was better". 

[AggiesAreWe]

49 minutes ago, 89Falcon said:

Yes, that is how sports and playoffs work. Teams that go farther are considered better than teams that dont. 

As you have lost contact with the transcript and revealed your narrow scope of concentration, my comment was in direct response to the question about "how the football team was better". 

Your first comment on this thread was saying how Jasper athletic program is so much better because the football team had a good season and despite the fact that the other 5 sports went 2-58 in district play. That's narrow minded.

[89Falcon]

5 minutes ago, AggiesAreWe said:

Your first comment on this thread was saying how Jasper athletic program is so much better because the football team had a good season and despite the fact that the other 5 sports went 2-58 in district play. That's narrow minded.

Got it, you definitely lost track of the transcript. "YOU" specifically referenced my comment about the question about "how football was better" and then you convoluted it with an opinion you made from one of my earlier comments. 

For the record, if Jasper continues to go 4 rounds deep in football there will not be enough losses available in Spring sports to matter and if Jasper can continue to make deep runs the coach will probably receive a raise to entice him to stay. It might be "narrow minded" but is "reality".