[quote=Anonymous]As the parent of a former IAC school lacrosse player, I thought this could have been a fun thread. I was deeply naieve as it has indeed generated into a nasty, mean-spirited effort to tear down schools and teams to build some peoples' fragile egos up as they live vicariously through their sons. Sad! The fake news quotient on this thread about schools and programs is absolutely astronomical now. Reader beware. Also, the number of times posts have had to be deleted because they stalk or name high school boys and make nasty comments about the students and their families is really disgusting. If I were the moderator, I would be concerned about legal liability about some of the things that are going on in this thread. I too say END THIS THREAD![/quote]

Translation;: These people are being mean and I don't like it.

Maybe I can threaten the moderator and make it go away.

As the parent of a former IAC school lacrosse player, I thought this could have been a fun thread. I was deeply naieve as it has indeed generated into a nasty, mean-spirited effort to tear down schools and teams to build some peoples' fragile egos up as they live vicariously through their sons. Sad! The fake news quotient on this thread about schools and programs is absolutely astronomical now. Reader beware. Also, the number of times posts have had to be deleted because they stalk or name high school boys and make nasty comments about the students and their families is really disgusting. If I were the moderator, I would be concerned about legal liability about some of the things that are going on in this thread. I too say END THIS THREAD!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The conversation/information is the same. Actually I think it's the same few posters going back and forth about Prep and Bullis. How many times do you need to hear the same opinions and positions? After a while it gets old and is not really helpful.

The idea that these club teams and lacrosse camps have far less value than people think could be a tremendous benefit to readers.

Not everything on here is people looking askance at high school recruiting / transfer practices.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Then I suggest you read posts 1-50. The rest is trashing schools by a bunch of wacko parents.

Maybe the answer is that some people shouldn't be so thin-skinned.

If the criticism is not valid you can either point that out or ignore it. If something is obviously not true, then why bother. As the saying goes, "The truth will out".

But if there is a ring of truth in it, It might not be a bad idea to try and understand it and maybe learn from it.

Your neighbors who send their kids to different schools probably aren't going to be direct with you. They see it as impolite or even confrontational.

But on an anonymous board, you'll occasionally hear what people actually think and maybe what they are talking about amongst themselves. You may not like it, but it is what they think.

I would rather know, than not know. At least then I can think about whether its valid or not and what we as a school ought to be doing about it.

The "I don't like what they are saying so I want to have the Administrator stop the conversation" approach doesn't sound like such a great idea to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The conversation/information is the same. Actually I think it's the same few posters going back and forth about Prep and Bullis. How many times do you need to hear the same opinions and positions? After a while it gets old and is not really helpful.

The idea that these club teams and lacrosse camps have far less value than people think could be a tremendous benefit to readers.

Not everything on here is people looking askance at high school recruiting / transfer practices.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Then I suggest you read posts 1-50. The rest is trashing schools by a bunch of wacko parents.

Anonymous wrote:Are kids getting recruited for women's lacrosse out of the WCAC? As compared to the ISL?

College recruiters go where ever they need to go to get talent.

But assessing talent is a hard job. They can talk to people they know and trust who have seen the athlete play.

They can ask the players coaches

They can watch games or more likely watch game films.

But one question they have is just how good is the competition the player is facing is.

In boys basketball, for instance, they know that the level of competition in the WCAC conference is very good. So if a player does well against that stiff competition, than that says something. The same player on a Montgomery County Public School team isn't facing the same high WCAC competition. So the coach wonders, "How good is this player really?"

The WCAC isn't sen as that strong of a conference. So there may be questions about just how good player that looks good on film really is.

Are kids getting recruited for women's lacrosse out of the WCAC? As compared to the ISL?

Anonymous wrote:

Why does that bother you?

They are obviously very happy with things the way they are and the way they have been.

Do you think everyone should be the same?

Do your feel left out?

Does this clannishness by other groups cause you to have the same level of concern?

I really pity you. You sound very un-educated. Good to know your Jesuit education has taught you to be "men for others"

New poster. I don't get how this sounds un-educated? I think the issue here is that the Catholic schools are always a target of hate, for whatever reason. The PP pointed out something very true. Other religious or ethnic groups tend to stick together or have certain tendencies in terms of where they live, pray, and play. Why is that okay, but not okay for Catholics who happen to be wealthy. I sense some level of jealousy as well as extreme bigotry and hate here. In any event, I feel sad for the hate posters.

Anonymous wrote:The conversation/information is the same. Actually I think it's the same few posters going back and forth about Prep and Bullis. How many times do you need to hear the same opinions and positions? After a while it gets old and is not really helpful.

True. But I loved it when a few moms stormed the stage and started talking about girl lacrosse! Those wonderful moments are why I hope this thread doesn't get axed. Eventually the two posters about Prep and Bullis will get bored and move on, then the rest of us can resume reasonable discourse with some hopefully interesting tangents like girl lacrosse that we've had in the past.

Anonymous wrote:The conversation/information is the same. Actually I think it's the same few posters going back and forth about Prep and Bullis. How many times do you need to hear the same opinions and positions? After a while it gets old and is not really helpful.

The idea that these club teams and lacrosse camps have far less value than people think could be a tremendous benefit to readers.

Not everything on here is people looking askance at high school recruiting / transfer practices.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

The conversation/information is the same. Actually I think it's the same few posters going back and forth about Prep and Bullis. How many times do you need to hear the same opinions and positions? After a while it gets old and is not really helpful.

Anonymous wrote:The same circular discussion -- Bullis. KILL. THIS. THREAD. PLEASE.

If I were a parent and I were looking at private schools, this would be just the kind of information I might be interested in.

If the purpose of the forum is to share and provide information, these facts and opinions would seem to have some value.

If, on the other hand, I wanted to squelch conversation or criticism, I'd be lobbying to get his thread killed.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, the sour grapes about Bullis is astounding.

FYI, when Bullis "led the movement to kick out Prep last time", it's headmaster was Tom Farquar, who ended up getting booted soon thereafter and moving to Sidwell because, at least in part, he seemed indifferent to the value of sports.

Is there more than one fable about "Sour Grapes". Because the one I know and its moral wouldn't be appropriate in this context. As I recall, the fox after trying to get the grapes and failing says, "They were probably sour anyway". Relating this to a situation in which one school appears to be operating in an unprecedented manner is quite a stretch.

Although the old headmaster may be gone, not everyone who was at the school when Bullis led the charge gone. Has there been some sort of wave of amnesia that has swept over the campus that resulted in no one remembering anything about the IAC's past?

There was another effort in 2011 to kick Prep football out. It was never brought up for discussion in the meeting of the IAC Presidents. But there was an effort because there had to be a proposal they specifically decided not to discuss and vote on. (See Washington Post report of this via Google)

The same circular discussion -- Bullis. KILL. THIS. THREAD. PLEASE.

Wow, the sour grapes about Bullis is astounding.

FYI, when Bullis "led the movement to kick out Prep last time", it's headmaster was Tom Farquar, who ended up getting booted soon thereafter and moving to Sidwell because, at least in part, he seemed indifferent to the value of sports.

Anonymous wrote:

If they keep up their current approach, they won't leave the IAC voluntarily. They will just be thrown out using the same logic that Bullis used when it led the charge for Prep football to be expelled. So much for your strange idea that the other IAC schools won't back down from an athletic challenge.

The other schools just aren't going to start chasing athletic glory using the same techniques (e.g. Mass transfers of football players in).

And Bullis will never be a Prep or Landon or STA "Rival". The school just isn't viewed as an equal. As has been said many, many times, Bullis is the public school you pay for

Well said. Bullis will be kicked out soon if they continue to keep up their current approach.

Every school in the IAC has their hands in the recruiting ring, I am not denying this. Bullis however operates on an entirely different level. This year alone, their lacrosse team added in a very high profile transfer from STAB and another kid from Sidwell. There football team has brought in at least 6 new faces for the football season (maybe even more). It will be interesting to see how many stay enrolled in the school after football season ends. Yes folks, Bullis brings in kids for a semester.

Falls Road has fully embraced a win at all costs mentality and the IAC will do something about them very soon.

I think they must know that they can't continue down this path without being thrown out of the IAC. Bullies is, after all, the school that led the effort to do that to Prep.

But I think they will continue to emphasize Athletics and take these shortcuts until they are made to stop with threats of expulsion.

Bullis probably sees this as one of the key strategies that they can stop being Bullis in the minds of their core market of Montgomery County residents who are looking for an alternative to the public schools. They need to change the perception of the school as being second-rate. And they badly need the exposure and internal pride that very good sports programs generate. When you are as far behind as Bullis was (is.?), just continuing to do the same things the same way is not going to close the gap.

Building a high profile athletic program is not an unheard of strategy to improve the standing of a school. The question is how long the other IAC schools allow them to do it.