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Nov092009

A statement from Tony Johnson

Filed under Uncategorized by gary fitz at 2:41 pm

Feeling his school’s intentions have not been accurately portrayed in the media or on the internet concerning what division Bishop Guertin football will compete in next season, Tony Johnson, the athletic director and football coach at Bishop Guertin released this statement on Friday.  

“The process of realignment has been a new one for all of us at Bishop Guertin. BG submitted its request based on where we are now. We have petitioned up in all sports, well above our Division III status based on population. We basically proposed to stay where we are in everything, but also stated if it is in the best interest of both Bishop Guertin and the NHIAA football comittee we were open to moving up to Division I. We had hoped that this process would include some discussion once the makeup of the proposed divisions was drafted by the football committee.  We have been told the process possibily could be close and since then there has been no more dialogue. We have since contacted the NHIAA and said we are willing to move up based on the proposed divisions for football. At this time we have no idea whether the proposal will be considered or the committe might now be responsible for any potentional change. We have indicated our openness to the move. We will need to see how the process unfolds through the various stages of approval.”

Based on the proposed divisions submitted by the football comittee last week, Exeter moved up to nine-team Div. I because its enrollment is now the ninth largest among football playing schools in the state. Bishop Guertin, whose enrollment of just below 900 students, was the smallest Div. III school based on the numbers, but has traditionally petitioned up to Div. II.

Should the football committee reconsider and move Bishop Guertin up to Div. I without a current Div. I team moving down, it would leave just eight teams in Div. II with nobody in Div. III currently interested in moving up.

The unbeaten and top-seeded Cardinals, 8-0 in their division and 10-0 overall, will open this year’s Div. II playoffs when they host Alvirne at Stellos Stadium on Friday night at 7. Alvirne is making its first post-season appearance in 10 years.

Viewing 33 Comments

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    Well said, Tony. Stay classy and don't let the naysayers get you down.
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    Well said???? What? This is ludicrous. If he did the right thing, like all of the coaches urged him to do in the meeting, he wouldn't have to make this ridiculous statement. What a joke. Great coach, great recruiter, probably a great guy, but classy I think that is the last thing that comes to mind. This is probably the most pathetic letter I've seen from an AD. He doesnt need to justify himself to the media, and doing it is making him look like a hypocrit...
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    Sounds like JohnJohn2 was at the meeting - care to divulge any other secrets?
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    No, I wish I could've been there though. Go to nhfootballreport.com to read all about it. Great website. Roger Brown has quotes from a coach on there.
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    I know all about Roger's website and for $20 bucks you too can respond on his seacoast biased blog... Be careful as to how much you read and believe as the gospel from that website since it's a business venture, too...

    So "which" coach do you think Roger is referring to? He seems to get an awful lot of information from one specific coach of a program that competes in football directly against BG and would stand to gain if BG went up and his program got to stay down. Just so happens that same coach is on the football committee (see http://www.nhiaa.org/PDFs/2620/2009FootballPoli...). In case the link is broken, go to nhiaa.org, click on "Policies & Procedures" in the left hand column and then select "2009 Football Policy and Procedures Manual" from the middle of the page.

    Do I know this for a fact - no, but having followed things now for a few years I have a pretty good idea of how/where Roger gets his inside information... Be sure you think about both sides of the story before you paint your picture of big bad BG.
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    Following him, I would assume he gets his info from either the dover or winnacunnet head coach. Local coaches that he is tied into. I highly doubt it is the Exeter coach because in all his interviews he never speaks badly of anyone. I would guess one of those other guys is a hot head and loves stirring the pot.
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    My assumption is based purely on who is on the committee. Unless the Winnacunnet representative talked to their head coach who talked to Roger to let him know that BG petitioned "only" up to D2...

    The "gutless" comment in Roger's article doesn't necessarily have to come from the same person who originally "leaked" the information. Roger could have got the information, called another coach to get his reaction. That part is not clear...
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    just checked the link you added. So you really think it is Bill Ball feeding Roger Brown. Hmm, I dont know about that. He is the classiest guy in NH sports. Runs a great program and is always respectful. His team has won the sportsmanship award countless times. I would highly doubt it is him. It's just against everything he seems to preach. doesnt make sense...
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    Never said the guy isn't classy. Never said he doesn't run a great program. It still doesn't mean he doesn't want to stay in D2 where he's been dominant for years and has natural rivals in Winnacunnet and Dover. Teams his players grow up playing against during youth football...

    Other boards I've read indicate Exeter tried to petition down. *IF* that's true, does it change your perception? How do you think he feels as a coach going to D1 and not facing his natural rivals, while BG stays in D2 not facing their "closest" rivals... Doesn't matter how classy, respectful, or sportsmanlike you are as a coach you still want to give your team the best chance to win.
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    Oh, I have no doubt Exeter wants to stay in D2. I mean why wouldnt they? I think the enrollments put them up. Obviously, they didnt petition down, because all of the reports were that Exeter stayed where it was placed. And I'm sure the nhiaa would have granted to request based on travel. I do think you are a little confused about the process. The meeting that places teams is purely a football meeting. Only football coaches were there, therefore all of the coaches in the state shouldve been there.
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    Can you imagine 58 coaches in one room trying to decide how to split up the divisions? It'd be chaos. No, I believe the process is - submit your request to the football committee and the committee will review it, make the decisions, and present that to the "powers that be" in the NHIAA.

    As for granting waiver down for travel purposes - I disagree. Going up, sure - Pelham is an example there - they got placed in D4 I think by size, but didn't want that kind of travel. I think waivers going down have some pretty specific requirements dealing with size of program and recent history.
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    well, whatever the case, exeter did not petition down. I have not read that anywhere. No idea where you heard that. They do have those meetins, btw, happens every year with the all state meeting. Anyway, that is where all this info came out according to nhfootballreport. They had a pre-meeting to explain the proposed moves and so everyone was on the same page. Then the schools had a week or so it seems to make a decision. Exeter chose to stay where placed and bg chose to stay in d2, despite the fact they knew exeter would be d1 based on enrollment.
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    exeter didn't petition down because they knew it would be denied
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    JA, I assume you are a BG supporter. obviously I am not. NHS grad, but won't you admit that this looks bad for BG? I mean Johnson came out in the papers and spoke about the economy being bad as a reason for his program to to stay in D2. If he wanted to be in D1, then why did he make excuses in the first place? I just call em how I see em, and this looks like a cover up all the way. I dont know, what do you think? You cant be happy if you're a BG fan?
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    NHS grad, but kids at BG. Not sure how it looks "so bad" for BG. Do you think your original response would have been worded any differently after what you've read and thought about in the last 24 or so hours from just these posts? Is it possible that you'd change any aspect of that? Is it possible that someone leaked BG's position without also leaking the "whole proposal" so that they'd look bad? There are those that have it out for BG and in particular have something against Tony Johnson. Other coaches like to win too, having a successful program "in your way" year after year could give reason enough to try to discredit that program.

    If you accept that originally the plan was status quo - petition up to D2 like has always been done, but also let the committee know you are open to a dialogue, then perhaps you work under the assumption that the "end result" will be what's best for NH HS Football. What I find strange/frustrating is that the NHIAA doesn't seem to want to be part of a 2 way communication effort.They have a formula and they're sticking to it regardless of countless "opinions" that it's broken. It's ludicrous that there's 6 divisions and that divisions are split purely on enrollment, but that doesn't change the reality that this is how it's done so deal with it.

    Choosing to go to D1 "this time" means in 2 years it is very hard to choose to "go back" to D2. If you do well in D1, it's impossible to go back. If you do so-so in D1, then going back to D2 makes it look like you want to be dominant again. If you do poorly in D1, then you cannot say "see I told you so" because no one is listening - there are 8 teams gleeful they got to stomp on you for 2 years and 8 teams ticked off and saying it's not fair for them because you're back. Classic no-win situation.

    As for "economic" reasons - while I agree that's a tough sell, it is also a reality and "a" reason, but not the only reason. You never know when a current or potential player's parents cannot afford to send their child to BG any more. Not everyone can afford it. Assume class sizes of about 200 where 1/2 are male that "typically" play football. So, there's a pool of 400 to choose from. Contrary to popular believe not everyone goes there to play football, but there are about 120-130 boys in the football program - let's say 30%. If you drop your pool to 300 males, then your program size could be 90 and that has an impact in your ability to compete. Check out what happened at West High this year when their pool dropped because Bedford HS opened. They didn't have a JV program this year...

    Personally, I'm happy that I have the capability to afford to send my children to a school with an excellent reputation to prepare them for college. It's a bonus that there are solid athletic teams that they can also be a part of. HS Football is part of that and I'm happy the team wins. I'm happy my children have had the opportunity to play and be part of the program. They've learned some "life's lessons" as well that they may not have learned elsewhere. Other teams at BG that they've been on haven't been as fortunate to win, but I'm happy that they've had the opportunity to play.
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    Well said JA, I had an unbelievable experience at Guertin. I first met Coach Johnson on the first day of freshmen practice, not before, I ended up a varsity player. I went to BG to go to school, meaning the whole experience.

    I believe that Exeter petitioned down to D2 while Guertin petitioned up to D2 all the while believing that that was the beginning of the process not the end. Guertin later on Friday Nov 6 requested to move up and were denied by the NHIAA. That is the facts, I also know first hand how the Bill Ball deals with his players after loses. When Guertin made that come back in 07' this is how he said thaqnks to his seniors "you guys @@@@@@ blew it and did not shake the hands of the Guertin kids after the game...so you can say classy. I've got another word....."gutless"
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    JD and JA:

    I logged on expecting some pretty nasty discussion about the issue, and I was pleasantly surprised at the intelligent, thoughtful comments here. Nicely done.
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    wow! typical guertin right here. First of all, Exeter never petitioned down, second I highly doubt Bill Ball ever said that to any team, let alone his own. This is good. Quite obvious you played at guertin with the crap you are spewing here. Man it is sad...
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    1. Exeter didn't petition down. They said from the very beginning they would play wherever they were placed.

    2. The economic argument on the part of Tony Johnson is ludicrous. Bishop Guertin refuses admission to half its applicants. If the conomy really starts denting Bishop Guertin's enrollment, what do you think will happen? They'll lower tuition and start accepting more students to make up for the shortfall. The economy is absolutely NOT going to affect the Bishop Guertin football program in the slightest. It was a pathetic attempt, quite frankly, for BG to justify its unwillingness to move to D-I, even though everyone in New England knows they belong there.

    The NHIAA should stop with the meetings and the petitions and just place BG in D-I...period.

    Actually, they should shrink the state to three divisions with two conferences each and have only three state champions...but for some reason the NHIAA thinks a state with less than 60 football teams needs to dilute the accomplishment and have SIX champions.....
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    John D, I played in that game for Exeter and saw our coach shake everyone of BG players hands. You were probably off celebrating with your d coord, who is a joke, that was yelling dynasty at the top of his lungs. Coach Ball never once blamed anything on us. Shut your mouth and know the facts. You are a joke and ruining bishop guertins reputation. Dont libel anyone here. What a complete waste of life you are. Making up lies to make your program look good. Coach ball is the best coach I've ever had and never blames things on his players, or the refs for that matter (coach Johnson). Grow up. That is just pitiful. You never once heard that, because it never happened.
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    ^5 to Brett
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    I was on that field too brett, your coach never shook our hands. He walked off with his tail between his legs and didnt acknowledge our win. Our coach has the right to chant dynasty, 3 in a row and the majority of the 07 class played in all three. The fact is he was a sore loser and didnt shake our hands. You never saw him shake our hands so stop lying because i remember a group of seniors and I walking over to him to offer our respect and he walked away and didnt look at us. Thats what happened. Not to mention his entire im better than you attitude is just ridiculous. If he was a good coach he would open the field up and run more than 6 plays. How much fun is football when you have a playbook that is a page long. His obsolete offense and refusal to change shows his ego.

    04, 05, 06 state champions 35-1

    Keep it up BG
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    this is sad. If any of you guys were real players, you would not be on these blogs. I am old and have no life, so I am on here. You guys need to grow up. The real players I have met from BG are all stand up kids and have the utmost respect for exeter and all the teams they play against. Dont forget about the 14-13 game that I was at. That was the poorest display of sportsmanship I have ever seen. Coach Johnson was actually suspended for a game because of it. So if you want to come on here and talk about sportsmanship, I suggest you all look in the mirror first and reevaluate. It WAS pass interference. I saw it first hand. Also two plays before was PI on the TE and the refs did not call it. From a non biased observer, BG always seems to look bad, not Exeter...
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    Couldn't agree with johnjohn2 more. I was at that game as well. The call was clearly pass interference and there was interference on the play before as well. The penalty didn't give Exeter a TD, BG still had a chance to stop them but wilted like a fall flower.

    The reason no one gives BG any slack is because they've been a classless operation for so may years. Officialls needed a police escort after that Exeter game. What about the foul-mouthed assistant coach? I'm guessing no other school in the state would allow him to remain on staff.
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    Hey Johnjohn and SFarmer,
    I think BGThreepeat07 was talking about the BG come from behind win at Exeter in 06 and he's part of the Class of 07, and if it is the kid I think it is, he was a very good player.
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    They were, but I brought up the 07 game to refute their feeble attempts at making Exeter look bad. If he was a good player, he would be worrying about his game today, not a game three years ago...
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    What do i have to worry about. I won three years ago. It feels great not having any regrets about my high school football career. Im just telling it like it is. Bill Ball walked away from us when we offered our hands. Mr Mustache does not have the guts to admit when he has lost. Winning three titles in high school and losing only one game was a great accomplishment for my team, especially the group of us that played in all three. Coach Johnson is like an uncle to me and was concerned about where i went to college and helped all of us every step of the way. Hes a class act and a great guy. Yea he can be a tad emotional but thats because he truly cares so much for his players. If it wasnt for BG i dont believe i would have been as well prepared for college (the classroom). I now am a deans list student, Student tutor, and about to be inducted to a national honor society and I owe much of my classroom work ethic to bishop guertin high school.

    04 (domination) , 05(Back to back Domination) , 06 (Finally found our match in a great Exeter team, And won when it counted Revenge was sweet).

    Go BG bring another title home.
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    no one ever said you guys didnt have great teams. I for one don't think it was a dynasty. It will be after this year though. This years team is by far the best and is dominant. The other teams weren't dominant. Anyway, back in the late 90's and early 2000's I never heard any coaches from Exeter chanting dynasty when I went to those games. By the way, how many chances did it take Johnson to beat exeter? go look that up. The coaches for the teams havent changed, so what do you think is the thing putting them over the top now? Obviously BG is getting much better players... Keep winning, I dont have much of a problem with the fact they bring in football kids. theyre a private school, they have to do it someway, but win with class.
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    Dominant in a second class league. When alvirne makes the playoffs than it is a down year. No offense to alvirne but they are perennial losers. We had a d2 with stacked teams and beat them all. Lost one game after winning 30 straight then went on to beat exeter in their home town. Our line was better than this team today (no offense to them they are tough and fast and great kids) and our defensive line was the heart of the D. This team is great but they still have a championship to win and Winn. has shown that they will make it tough against teams that beat them bad the first time around. Bg should win this game by a good 3 or 4 touchdowns. My teams played in a much tougher d2. apparently 3 championships isnt a dynasty but considering high school is only 4 that makes it 75 percent of the time we were in high school. and 100 percent of our chances to play varsity. 04,05,06 are a dynasty. But putting all the comparing of great teams aside these guys are still our freshmen, therefore i consider them teammates. In the end we are just one great team
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    John
    This group of seniors have lost 4 games in their three years while the 04-06 group only lost once. I have seen all the BG games since 1994 and this current group is by far the fastest but the lines on the 04-06 and 99 teams were better than this group. Also, I think the overall league was better than it is today. I think they also just figured out in the last 5 years how to play the Exeter Offense. Exeter coaches yell stuff to but usually that goes unnoticed, but it does get exciting when you go through a tough home loss to break a 30+ game win streak and then in the Championship come from behind using a second string junior quaterback in what is usually the greatest homefield advantage in NH football in Exeter. (I've got to confess I have never seen D3,4,5,or 6 so I'm assuming Exeter is the best home crowd). You can't blame threepeet for defending his team and coach. I guess this is how this whole bickering back and forth started.
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    I am a parent of a BG graduate, now a college athlete. My child had the privilege of being coached and mentored by Tony Johnson and I can attest that his highest priority is BG students. Not just football players, not just boys and not just star athletes. He has helped countless students, not all college athletes and not all from BG. All his flash and drama on the football field is misleading to those who don’t know him because he is truly generous and devoted to the school, its sports, and especially its students.
    Bill Ball is also a gifted and devoted leader and role model at Exeter who puts his players and students first. Certainly his results as both a coach and an AD over many years bear that out. His current and former players are loyal to him for good reason and they should defend him. Exeter may be out of the finals this year, but they will be back to excel in Div. I next year. Too bad the NHIAA is too bogged down by their own process to correct Coach Johnson's mistake, which he admitted, and put BG where they belong.
    I suspect there are many other similarities between Bill Ball and Tony Johnson, but those dramatic differences in style and personality are what people on the other side of the field see before, during and after highly competitive football games when emotions are high, and what makes good copy for the local press.
    Both of these men have raised the competitive bar for NH high school football and sports in general and we should be grateful for their contributions. If they didn’t make a difference, we wouldn’t be talking about them now. Stop insulting either one of them, and their schools with all the cheap shots and hating.
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    Great post Pat. I couldnt agree with you more.
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