State Semi-Finals Set

[GREYHOUND ALUM]

Are they informed on who is giving money or the school? To me I don't think it has much to do with the school as much as the $. For instance I talked with a father about his son and the first words out of his mouth was how much you gonna give me. Nothing about the school itself just how much money are you giving me. He then went on to name Gilman and GC is talking about giving him basically a free ride. I ran into him a week later when I was talking to a group parents and ignored him. He didn't like this to much and went to say out loud, CHC had me on their sidelines, Gilman had me at their game, GC came out four times and had me at their game. Don't get me wrong I think a majority go to schools because of the school, family ties, coaches, or location. But you be kidding yourself it the cream doesn't follow the $.

I don't think in this case that the parent knew a whole lot about the process.

The story you have said sounds all too familiar. I can think of a big time athlete right now at one of the MIAA schools(not Gilman) that dad basically pimped him around to the highest bidder. He was so arrogant about it that although Gilman was the front runner, they walked away from the kid. They're just too many "stage dads" running around right now. You were smart to not speak to the guy.

[Outside Looking In]

We are actually not disagreeing. I don't think Gilman(or GC and Dm) should be compared to the publics. It's not me who is doing the comparison. It's other that are. I'm not bad mouthing other schools, it's only when others try to compare those schools to Gilman. Sherwood is a very good PUBLIC school program. Westminster is having an amazing season and starting a good PUBLIC school program.

In years past, the great Public school programs could play with and beat the top privates. Not now. It's a different game now. Too much money in high school football. And I'm talking about TV and sponsored out of state, out of conference games. The Internet and sites like Rivals has made the game different. So the schools that are playing by these rules are benefitting. The publics are handcuffed by the state and their respective counties.

At the Gilman-CHC game this weekend, I had the fortune of talking with a very engaging 9 year old who apparently is pretty good right now at football. He was a CHC fan because Donald Davis spoke at one of his kids camps and now he wants to go to CHC. I was messing with him about coming to Gilman and playing for a winner. But he's dead set on CHC, his mother on the other hand told him that when the time is right and if Gilman gives him money, he will be at Gilman. This is just an example of how informed parents and even younger kids are these days.

I agree with you but to me it is not right. All this money should not be dumped on these kids and programs. I get that they are private and they can do what they want but it still does not make it right. I am glad that publics are handcuffed becasue they should not be traveling out of state to play games. To me that would be absurd. High school sports and even rec sports are becoming a business and no one is doing anything about it. There is no more loyalty to a school and or program. High school and AAU basketball is even worse but football is not that far behind. Publics handing out special transfer requests is bogus and should be stopped. The whole system is flawed big time. The days of growing up in a community and going to the school in the neighborhood is over. That is sad to me because I think that is one of the problems with our school system as a whole. No one cares about it and it is a "Me" type of mentality, not a "We" like it should be. Some schools are just bad but most are not. But the special transfers for publics bothers me more than a kid getting recruited by a private. Just my take.

[eaglesinsider]

He did but he was at Gilman. Norris won a National Championship with Aquille Carr in youth basketball. Jennings played at Gardenville. Tilley played youth ball somewhere as well. I think the only kids that didn't play youth ball was Poggi and Emala.

Pretty much every serious football player at the MIAA schools that have middle school football also plays youth ball. The school-sponsored middle school teams only play about 4-6 games and don't start practice until after school starts.

On a related note, how many school sponsored middle school teams are their in the area? The ones I know are:

- McDonogh (has A and B teams)
- Gilman
- Loyola
- Calvert School (K-8 school that is feeder for Gilman and to a lesser extent McD)
- St. Paul's
- Boys' Latin
- Friends
- Severn

McDonogh also played City Springs School this year, which I'm assuming is a charter school and has played Bluford Drew Jemison, to my knowledge the only MPSSAA-sanctioned school with a middle-school football program.

[First_Down]

At the Gilman-CHC game this weekend, I had the fortune of talking with a very engaging 9 year old who apparently is pretty good right now at football. He was a CHC fan because Donald Davis spoke at one of his kids camps and now he wants to go to CHC. I was messing with him about coming to Gilman and playing for a winner. But he's dead set on CHC, his mother on the other hand told him that when the time is right and if Gilman gives him money, he will be at Gilman. This is just an example of how informed parents and even younger kids are these days.

Funny you should relate this incident. Well, I was at the Gwynn Park vs Douglass game last weekend and Shawne Merriman was in attendance to cheer on his alma Douglass with tons of folks huddled all around him. The place was packed to overflow with a lot of youth team kids there and they were talking how they wanting to come to Douglass to play football. Why not Gwynn Park and I can only guess because Douglass was winning or won and kids love a winner. Now when I stated to a guy next to me that DeMatha would be a very good option, that Douglass person I assume said, and I quote, "...Paul Harris and Demory Monroe, former DeMatha players who played on the same Upper Marlboro youth team as those kids thought the same before they went to DeMatha but they are now at Douglass and they are quite pleased with their re-selections. He said Paul Harris left DeMatha with little playing time and thus zero offers. In one season at Douglass he received 20 D1 offers. The DeMathas-CHCs-Gilmans-GCs of the world isn't for everyone including the elite."

Interesting, at least to me.

[Outside Looking In]

Funny you should relate this incident. Well, I was at the Gwynn Park vs Douglass game last weekend and Shawne Merriman was in attendance to cheer on his alma Douglass with tons of folks huddled all around him. The place was packed to overflow with a lot of youth team kids there and they were talking how they wanting to come to Douglass to play football. Why not Gwynn Park and I can only guess because Douglass was winning or won and kids love a winner. Now when I stated to a guy next to me that DeMatha would be a very good option, that Douglass person I assume said, and I quote, "...Paul Harris and Demory Monroe, former DeMatha players who played on the same Upper Marlboro youth team as those kids thought the same before they went to DeMatha but they are now at Douglass and they are quite pleased with their re-selections. He said Paul Harris left DeMatha with little playing time and thus zero offers. In one season at Douglass he received 20 D1 offers. The DeMathas-CHCs-Gilmans-GCs of the world isn't for everyone including the elite."

Interesting, at least to me.

I agree with you. I just hate seeing kids bouncing around becasue of athletics.

[GREYHOUND ALUM]

Funny you should relate this incident. Well, I was at the Gwynn Park vs Douglass game last weekend and Shawne Merriman was in attendance to cheer on his alma Douglass with tons of folks huddled all around him. The place was packed to overflow with a lot of youth team kids there and they were talking how they wanting to come to Douglass to play football. Why not Gwynn Park and I can only guess because Douglass was winning or won and kids love a winner. Now when I stated to a guy next to me that DeMatha would be a very good option, that Douglass person I assume said, and I quote, "...Paul Harris and Demory Monroe, former DeMatha players who played on the same Upper Marlboro youth team as those kids thought the same before they went to DeMatha but they are now at Douglass and they are quite pleased with their re-selections. He said Paul Harris left DeMatha with little playing time and thus zero offers. In one season at Douglass he received 20 D1 offers. The DeMathas-CHCs-Gilmans-GCs of the world isn't for everyone including the elite."

Interesting, at least to me.

I agree with you. The Privates aren't for everyone and this includes non athletes.
There's nothing wrong with that. But it we my understanding that Harris and Monroe left DM more than anything because they were McGregor kids, not Brooks kids.

[First_Down]

I agree with you. The Privates aren't for everyone and this includes non athletes.
There's nothing wrong with that. But it we my understanding that Harris and Monroe left DM more than anything because they were McGregor kids, not Brooks kids.

May be BUT the Douglass coaches best keep an eye on their players cause I think I saw a couple Gonzaga folks and other privates at the game and they appear to be really eyeballing the Douglass freshman QB.

Just sayin' if you know what I mean...

[benhur]

It sounds all "Relative" to me. So Gilman supposedly play better competition and you also indicate that they have some of the better talents. Yet the better competition of Gilman seems to have been the three-four out of league games they played and they lost several of those with, according to GA, a no brainer that anyone would assess that Gilman would walk through the MIAA enroute to yet another champtionship. I don't assess that as playing better competition by any stretch of the imaginative thinking. It is what is it as they say, The Big Dawg in a lil pound of puppies who is at best only the second best team in Maryland behind a LADY nonetheless with a team in Onley.

Only Just Sayin'

Boy did you miss the point. Gilman walked through the "valley of death" this year. There is no public in the state that could give them a better game than they had against chc. They really are that good. Quite a few public schools do not even see competition until the state playoffs. If a public really want to earn statewide ranking, they must do what Dunbar did. Play the privates during the regular season.