2004 VHSL & site news
other pages :
standings ,
ratings ,
weekly schedules ,
forfeits ,
changes ,
new coaches ,
new schools ,
regional college stuff
August 21st : Welcome to another season of high school football in (and around)
Southwest Virginia. As always, I'll provide some good information, including updated
standings, ratings and schedules, occasional comments, and anything else that I find (or
think of) that other football fans would enjoy.
Tuesday's
Bristol Herald Courier says to look for Clintwood's Justin Hamilton & Abingdon's Nick
Leeson to play against #1 USC Sat. night. (You know Beamer's not too happy about having to
play while they're racing at Bristol.)
Harrisonburg's
Daily News-Record ran a story on June 28th about a JMU grad who's starting a website
where any athlete can post their stats (for a fee) for anyone to see (for free). It's
called StatShare.com.
(Note : This is not an endorsement, just something I wanted to share.)
During a recent break to clear my head, I decided to work on a list.
I'm sure you've heard this before :
It's time for the 4 most famous words in racing : Gentlemen, START YOUR ENGINES!
I decided to use that as a starting point and here's what I came up with :
The 4 most famous words in ice hockey : HEY, seen my teef?
The 3 most famous words in wrestling : Let'em wrestle, Ref!
The 2 most famous words in basketball : AIR BALL !
The 2 most famous words in baseball : Yankee Stadium
The 2 most famous words in soccer (futbol) : Brandi Chastain
AND
The 2 most famous words in football : wardrobe malfunction
Aren't the similiarities between those last two uncanny ?!?!?!
(BTW, did you know, that "?!" actually has a name
?! )
And if you know the "most famous words" for
water polo,
let me know.
Now, as Jay London would say, "Thank You.
I'll just stand over here."
Sept. 3 : Hazing is in the news again this Fall. This year, it's down on the other side
of Knoxville. See the Aug. 23rd edition of the
Roane Co. News
and numerous stories from Knoxville's WBIR-TV (
8/18 ,
8/20 ,
8/25 &
8/28 ) and WVLT-TV (
8/23 ,
8/25 &
8/26 ).
A couple of SW VA schools will appeal
to the VHSL on Sept. 22nd over where
the R&R committee has placed them for next year. Lee will again request to play down in
Group A, and Va. High will request to be placed in the Hogo.
Found a little article in the Gate City paper about former coach
Harry Fry.
Sept. 9 :
Today's Roanoke Times says
the Northside - Cave Spring game has been moved to Sat. night due to mud around the bleachers.
Here's a field story from up in WV you may have missed :
Bush supporters damage grass, fork over the green.
The Bluefield
Daily-Telegraph recently ran a story on former Honaker standout Heath Miller.
The
Danville Register & Bee reported that former Dan River coach Ken Meador, who's in his 2nd
year at Bartlett-Yancey (NC) missed last Friday night's game because he had a heart procedure
done the day before.
USA Today reports that the nation's longest winning steak came to an end last weekend
(at 151 games !).
Sept. 15, 9:30 pm : Because of the heavy rain expected from Hurricane Ivan, school officials
throughout the region have re-scheduled MANY games for Thur. night.
Thanks to :
Bluefield Daily Telegraph,
Bristol Herald Courier,
Staunton News Leader,
Lexington News-Gazette ,
Fredericksburg Star,
Kingsport Times-News,
Newport Plain Talk,
Greeneville Sun,
PrepXtra (Knoxville),
Beckley Register Herald,
WDBJ, WOAY, WVVA, WCYB & WJHL.
The Bristol Herald Courier also had Va. High @ Graham moved to Sat., but that game was
scheduled for Sat. night at least a month ago.
They also said UVA-Wise at Mars Hill (NC) has been moved to Thursday.
WOAY said Saturday's Concord game has been switched from Princeton to the U. of Charleston
(Laidley Field) with kickoff changed to 1 p.m.
A story in today's Charleston Gazette
says Ahmad Bradshaw is "very doubtful" for Saturday's game at # 3 Georgia.
Va. Tech still plans to play on Saturday (WDBJ). Heck, Isabel wasn't all that bad
(at least not on the sidelines where I was).
Tech's game NEXT Sat. vs. N.C. State will be on ESPN at noon.
UVA & Va. Tech will get some off-the-field coverage over the next few days. ESPN2's
"The Season : ACC Football" will feature UVA (w/ Heath Miller) Thursday night (actually
Friday morning) at 1 a.m., according to today's
Richmond Times Dispatch. And today's Lynchburg
News & Advance says Va. Tech will be featured next Friday morning at 1.
WDBJ reported this morning that former Hokie
& Baltimore Colt lineman George Preas is closing the Best Western Red Lion Inn on Price's
Fork Road at the end of football season.
Yesterday's
Richmond Times Dispatch had a story about some seats that fell in UVA's Scott Stadium
last Saturday.
Sept. 16, 2 pm : Looks like all Region D games, most Region 4 & upper-east Tenn. games,
a bunch of WV games and a few KY games set for Friday have been moved to tonight.
Sept. 30 : The Bluefield Beavers game was re-scheduled for Oct. 22nd.
It looks like the VHSL wants to create a combined A/AA district in SW Va., even
though it doesn't have the power to do so. At the R&R hearings, Lee was again denied their
request to "play down" into Group A, and Va. High was denied admission into the Hogoheegee
District, leaving them in the LPD if they go to single A or in the Highlands if they
"play-up" to AA.
For more details, see last Friday's
Bristol Herald Courier and
Roanoke Times.
Bristol also had a good story earlier this week.
A new AA/AAA combo may pop-up in NoVa, according to newspaper articles in
Herndon,
Fredericksburg ,
Loudoun,
D.C. and
Manassas, which also has results of the other appeals.
Herndon also has a follow-up story.
Here's the VHSL press release, which
also states the "first play date" for 2005 will be Aug. 26th. But it doesn't say if
that will be Week 1 or Week 0.
My Solution :
Lee joins the LPD, making it a combined district (the Cumberland Distict probably wouldn't
let Lee in).
Va. High joins the Hogo., which is moved to Region D (and any Hogo. schools that might want
to stay in Region C can form a new district).
Abingdon & Marion rejoin the SWD, eliminating the Highlands.
Carroll Co. joins the River Ridge District, which is then renamed the New River District
and moved back into Region IV.
Regions C & 3 would then have about the same number of schools as Regions D & 4.
But this makes to much sense to ever happen.
USA Today says
Julius Jones' broken shoulder will keep him on the sidelines about 8 weeks, which means his
next game could be on Nov. 25th (Thanksgiving Day, 4 pm on Fox) against the visiting
Chicago Bears and brother Thomas.
Fri. Oct. 8 : Let's start with some schedule changes : Wednesday's
Roanoke Times
says Victory Stadium is still unplayable, and
today they confirmed that
Patrick Henry's "homecoming" game with Heritage has been moved to Lynchburg tonight
(E.C. Glass is open), and the HC game has been re-set for next Friday.
Haysi won their
Homecoming game against Castlewood 36-0 last night. The Tigers will hit the field again
Monday night as they host Jenkins (KY), which lost to Pikeville 63-14 on
Wed. night.
Big Creek (WV) beat Fleming-Neon (KY) 58-14 in the
last game
scheduled to be played at Mario Poletti Field. A new school is planned for that location
and should be under construction before too long. The Field formerly known as Harmon was
once the stomping grounds of Graham's Glynn Carlock and Northside's Jim Hickam (along with
brother Homer and the other Rocket Boys).
Well, it looks like the idea of a combination District in Northern Va. (NoVa) has been shot
down, according to a Wednesday article from the
Herndon Connection.
Tuesday's Bristol
Herald-Courier says Richlands' Mike Compton is back with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Can a ref take a TD off the board after the extra point kick is made? The
Washington Post
and
Manassas Journal Messenger both say it happened up in NoVa (Dumfries) last Friday night.
How bad can a first-year program get beat by a second-year program ?
97-0 (yeah, it was a Kentucky game).
Louisville's
Courier-Journal has some follow-up stuff.
Read about the team's
birth ,
female asst. &
consolidation note.
That shows how different things are in states where the grass isn't blue. One of Virginia's
first-year teams,
Rappahannock County, only lost to the defending WV Group A champs,
Moorefield, by 20.
Question : Does any school mascot appear on their concession stand menu? Tech's
turkey legs got me curious about that. Bland might be the only school that could do it.
Sun. Oct. 10 : Compiled my first ratings of the season and included some of the interesting
things I noticed at the bottom.
Mon. Oct. 11 : Today's
Kingsport Times-News
has a story on the LPD's proposal for Lee. A meeting is set for Roanoke on Tuesday for
everybody to get their ducks in a row before the Wedenesday meeting in Charlottesville.
'Hoo-ville already had something planned for Tuesday - a court hearing for Ahmad Bradshaw,
according to Charleston's
Daily Mail.
Tues. Oct. 12, 4 am : Haysi defeated Jenkins Monday night 56-8.
Corrected the ratings because of this "bug" : Christiansburg beat Northside on Monday,
Sept. 20th, but the AP had it backwards, so I did, too.
The only differences between the updated ratings and those posted Monday by the VHSL are
Haysi's Monday night win is included here AND I have Lee with 1 less point than the VHSL
(which I've contacted them about).
The newest
AP Poll is out, and Gate City is a unanimous #1 pick.
Congrats to the Hampton Crabbers, who appear to be just the 11th school in the nation
to win 700 games. See stories
1 &
2
in Saturday's Newport News Daily Press.
It was another bad weekend for reporting scores :
Appo did NOT beat Nelson Co. 60-30 ... they lost 30-6.
Brookville did NOT beat Jeff. Forest 14-8 ... they lost 18-14.
Cumberland Gap did NOT beat Thomas Walker 38-35 ... it was 40-33.
This is why I don't post scores ... it is IMPOSSIBLE to get them all correct without
seeing newspaper stories that provide scoring summaries.
Fri. Oct. 15 :
Yesterday's
Bluefield Daily Telegraph says Ahmad Bradshaw came out of court Tuesday with a
suspended sentence and commmunity service. Not bad for "Mr. Jefferson".
Tuesday's
Bristol Herald Courier says Va. High couldn't pull a rabbit out of the hat with just a
couple of weeks to work on it and will remain in the Highlands for another couple of years.
I haven't seen anything official on the VHSL meeting concerning Lee & Va. High, but the
Herndon Connection says the NoVa combination district issue is NOT dead, and the
Executive Committee will take up realignment again at it's December meeting.
I wonder if the ideas I sent then earlier this week for Lee
had anything to do with that?
Yesterday's
Charlottesville Daily Progress says Heath Miller "won't gain anything" vs. FSU.
Bluefield fans should be happy to hear that the Wheeling Island Stadium field is back in
playing shape after being under 9 feet of water a couple of weeks ago, according to
Charleston's WV Gazette.
Sat. Oct. 16 : Wow. What a night. In Group AA, HALF of the Top 10 LOST : #1 Salem, #5 Orange
Co., #6 Pulaski Co., #8 Monticello & #10 Amherst. In the River Ridge, the 3 Div. 4 schools
lost to the 3 Div. 3 schools. Graham lost at home to Tazewell (and what a finish!). Group
A #1 Gate City got a scare at Clintwood, trailing at the half. The Highlands falls to 0-13 on
the season vs. the SWD. And Gretna's Vic Hall broke Ronald Curry's record for career yards.
See the
Danville Register & Bee)
Sun., Oct. 17 : My favorite ex-Hokie (of the fairer sex... sorry,
Kylene
Barker)
has a story on the VHSL's NoVa combination District push in yesterday's
Washington Post.
Today's Charleston Gazette,
Bluefield Daily
Telegraph and
Beckley Register Herald say Ahmad Bradshaw scored 2 third-quarter TD's as Marshall ruined
Kent State's homecoming yesterday, 27-17.
Found a story in yesterday's
Knoxville News about some female prep fooball players in Minnesota.
At least 1 more Group AA unbeaten will fall next week as Lafayette hosts Grafton.
Sat., Oct. 23, 9 am : Sorry I haven't posted anything this week ... I'm trying to get over a
bug from last weekend. but I'll make up for it ... BIG NEWS ... #1 Gate City lost at home
to Powell Valley last night. But you probably knew that already. Here's something bigger...
I have PROOF that the current power ratings system actually WORKS !!!!
If a team loses to a better team, then they, too, become a better team just because they
played them, right? Well, here's what we've seen so far this season:
Grundy lost to Richlands.
Richlands lost to Gate City.
Gate City lost to Powell Valley.
Lebanon has played none of these teams.
So, who's the "best" team in SW VA, based on the power ratings point totals, right now ??
Grundy 169
Richlands 168
Gate City 166
Powell Valley 163
Lebanon 156
Weird, huh????? (If you fell for that, I've got a take on the BCS that you'll love.)
Sat., Oct. 30, 7 am : District champions crowned : Richlands, Lebanon, Honaker, Va. High &
Gretna.
#1 seed clinched : Richlands & Grundy.
Sun., Oct. 31 : Did you set your clocks back an hour ?
Breathitt Co. (Ky), which handed Powell Valley their only loss, finished the regular season
undefeated for the 5th time in 10 years. They also scored more points than anyone in E. Ky.
(483) and gave up the 2nd least (77). Their closest game was the 13 point win over the
Vikings.
Bluefield had a BIG win Friday night against 3rd ranked James Monroe to finish undefeated
again. And Tenn. High finished off their perfect season with a huge shutout in Bristol.
Now, can a SW VA team finsh the year undefeated? Lebanon has to win at Richlands and Floyd
has a big game at home against Radford Fri. night.
We're down to just 2 undefeated, defending state champions now. The
Washington Post
said Div. 6 Westfield saw their 21 game win streak come to an end on Homecoming night as they
fell to Oakton 24-20. Only Gretna & Sussex Central are still rolling.
Last week, the Manassas
Journal Messenger reported that C.D. Hylton's 17 game regular season win streak had been
halted.
Today's Kingsport Times-News
says former Radford QB Todd Woods is having a big year at Emory & Henry.
Is the ACC a great football conference or what ?!?!?! When I saw the Maryland QB leave
the field at halftime, just after getting picked off at the goal line, and he patted the Terp
on his way into the tunnel, I knew FSU was in trouble. And who thought Chapel Hill was a
football town? ESPN said it's been over 25 years since Fla., FSU & Miami all lost on the
same weekend. And how many 0-21 streaks were busted?
Note to Cecil Phillips : I'm sure that a bunch of Radford people gave you a bunch of advice
before your moved out to the coast, but I don't think that's what they meant when they
said "don't be offensive". Wednesday's Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot
ran a great story on the King's Fork (Suffolk) football team, which has now been outscored
450-0 in their first 8 games.
Carroll Co. coach Tom Hale missed the chance to play on another "two-cent field" up in the
SWD Friday night. Coach Hale didn't make the trip, since his father passed away earlier in
the week, according to Saturday's
Bristol Herald-Courier.
Today's Roanoke Times has a
story on Tech upsetting #2 UVA.
Fri., Nov. 5, 4 am : Here's a reminder, since at least one regional web-site seems clueless.
We have no "weather-delayed" games to play & the playoffs do NOT start next week, nor
do they start on week 11 (which is this week).
November 12th (week 12) is a bye week for Region D & most of Region IV. When the VHSL
'adjusted' their schedule for this year, most of the teams in SW VA opened 'early', compared
to the rest of the state, in order to maintain most of the out-of-state match-ups against
teams that started the season even before we did. Therefore, we got an 'off week' at the end
of the season, which gives all the players a chance to take a breather and some schools a
chance to scout their 1st round opponent (or so I thought back before the season started).
The way the Piedmont is going this year, it's possible that both Richlands & Grundy, which
have already secured #1 seeds, won't know who they'll open with until after all those
rider-point games are finished next Friday. But I'm sure that won't stop the coaches from
visiting "The Hole" and Hooker Field next week.
I'll update the pages tonight when I can. Of course, if you live around Richlands, tune in
to 105.5 FM at 10, 10:30 & 11 and I'll announce what I know.
And I gotta say thanks to Lloyd for mentioning this site on his "playoff preview" special
Thursday & Friday at my former home, the voice of the Wave.
Former Franklin Co. head coach and Tech asst. Ravis "Red" Stickney passed away Monday
in Va. Beach, according to the
Roanoke Times &
Manassas Journal Messenger.
Sat., Nov. 6 : Will a Richmond area AAA school have to
forfeit their first 4 wins?
Sun., Nov. 7 : Looks like Rap. Co. won yesterday, giving Bassett a home game in 2 weeks.
Tues., Nov. 9, 9 pm : We have our first forfeits of
the year, for now.
Can you believe this ..... the latest AP state-wide
football poll is out, and even though Richlands handed Lebanon their first loss of the
year, the 9-1 Blue Tornadoes, with the best power rating in SW VA, received NO votes, and
Lebanon dropped only 2 places! But that's not the worst of it .... idle George Wythe moved
up FOUR spots, and is now ranked AHEAD of the Pioneers, because the Maroons received twice
as many points as they did
last week!! (This was helped by the fact that three other teams, Essex, Franklin &
Floyd Co., also lost their first game last week.)
I don't know who deserves to be blasted the most ... the newspaper sportswriters (voters)
across the state who don't know what they're doing, or the guys at the Bristol Herald Courier
and the Roanoke Times, who failed to vote this week.
Thur., Nov. 11, 10 am : :
I've enjoyed my time here on this Earth.
But I fear that's all coming to an end, soon.
For we have seen three Signs of the Apocalypse :
1.) The Olympics were held in Greece.
2.) The Red Sox won the World Series.
3.) The VHSL has overturned a ruling on forfeits.
Robert Anderson has a playoff scenario write-up in today's
Roanoke Times.
The Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot ran a great story Wednesday on unsportsmanlike conduct.
Fri., Nov. 12, 10 am : Shew! Just when ya catch your breath from one, here comes another
Richmond-area forfeit.
Sat., Nov. 13, 2:45 am : About 15 games being moved to Sat. or Mon.
8:15 pm : Congratulations, Graham! You have qualified and will open at Tazewell!
10:45 pm : Region IV pairings are SET !
Graham opens at Tazewell, Magna Vista @
Richlands & Carroll Co. @ Bassett. Way to go, SWD ! All 5 are in !
Tues., Nov. 16, 4:30 am :
Posted the final ratings and
standings, and the tentative playoff
pairings and schedule.
More, official info should be released later today
by the VHSL.
Looks like Bluefield's game at Mitchell will be played at the same time as Graham's game
in Tazewell - Saturday @ 1:30.
Congrats to former Bearcat coach Paul Wheeler, who picked up his first Bay Rivers District
title last night in Williamsburg as Lafayette improved to 10-0, according to the
Newport News Daily Press.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the James, former Radford asst. Cecil Phillips has just
finished living a nightmare. His Kings Fork Bulldogs, a rookie team full of underclassmen
which should have been playing a JV schedule this year, finished 0-10 and never got on the
scoreboard. If the old saying is true, those kids built a MOUNTAIN of character.
The final Va.
AP Poll is out, and, once again, the Bristol Herald-Courier didn't vote. So thank you,
unknown Roanoke Times voter, for picking Richlands 8th. That gave them enough points to
finish tied for 10th in the state, since only 7 (not very up-to-date) people voted. I mean,
who gave Graham a 10th place vote????
Wed., Nov. 17, 7 am :
Ya gotta love it when Swords Creek is mentioned in the first paragraph of a story in the
Richmond Times-Dispatch and the 2nd graph in a
Charlottesville Daily-Progress story.
BTW, after watching the Miami game, I was wondering.... where IS that one stop-light?
Are they still working on the road at Plaster's ???
While we're on the subject, UVA's last 2 games have been set for a 1 pm Sat. kickoff on ABC.
But wait!!! There's more...
Current ACC leader Va. Tech will also have their last 2 games televised by
ABC with 1 pm Sat. kickoffs. Weird, huh?!?
Don't forget the Hokies are on ESPN tonight as they try to 'protect their house' against
Maryland and Coach Friedgen, who, just a few years back, actually
OWNED a house (a cottage,
actually) with Beamer.
BTW, know why
'Fridge' is in those commercials? Under Armour founder Kevin Plank was a special-teams
captain at Maryland back in the mid 90's.
Fri., Nov. 19, 10 am :
Once again, a big city paper publishes something without doing some checking.
I was going to let the first one slide, but the second one showed me that fact-checking seems
to have become a thing of the past, despite the fact that the 'net makes it so much easier.
Last week, a
Fredericksburg
story said Orange Co. would "likely" be the only VHSL team to go 9-1 and miss the playoffs.
This was published 5 days AFTER Haysi had finished 9-1 and KNEW that they wouldn't be in.
Yesterday, a story in the State's Newspaper form
Richmond said the new ratings/seeding system could let a district runner-up be
seeded higher than the district champ. To quote Charlie Brown, "AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!"
What's even more irritating is the fact that the Richmond and Lynchburg papers are owned
by the same "outfit". Shouldn't they get together on things like this??? I'd love to be in
Richmond when the Lynchburg guy says "Hey, I have a district runner-up that's seeded ahead of
THREE district champs".
"Western Va." has three teams in the playoffs with just 4 wins each, while two 9-1 teams
missed out. Let's see how that happened.
Haysi finished 24 points behind Gate City for the only wild card spot in Region D, Div. 2.
Gate City had more "gimme" points to start with by playing 2 AA teams - Richlands & Tazewell.
GC's beaten opponents combined to win 6 more games than the teams Haysi beat - thanks to 2 win
seasons by East Ridge, Jenkins & Castlewood.
George Wythe lost a wild card spot to Floyd Co. by 16 points. The Buffs did this by picking
up more "gimme" points by playing 3 AA teams - Carroll Co., Patrick Co. & Bassett. A loss to
either Carroll or Bassett would have put Wythe in.
Hurley & Magna Vista were in "weak" divisions. No team that missed the playoffs had more than
4 wins, either. Va. High was in a weak District, and only 5-5 Martinsville had a better
record but missed the playoffs.
Things are a bit wilder in Region III, where 8-2 Pulaski Co. missed the playoffs as a wildcard.
The big news, though, is that a wildcard team got the #1 seed over a 10-0 team they lost to
and 2 other distrct champions. With 4 non-district weeks to fill, (and eliminating a win over
a common opponent,) Amherst had 3 wins over AAA schools, including a 9-1 G.W.-Danville team,
while Liberty played just 1 other AAA team (which only won 2 games) and a AA team with just
1 win.
So, there you have it. There's only 2 things you need to remember - you get rewarded more for
playing schools that are in a larger Group, and playing schools which only win a couple of
games will kill you.
On the college scene, the
Bristol Herald-Courier says Lou Wacker is stepping down at E&H.
Here's a couple of stories about Tech from today's Newport News Daily Press : the death of
momma Beamer and an
NCAA violation to be announced today.
And when will ESPN (and the other networks) figure out that talking to a coach or player at
the end of either half is a really stupid idea? Personally, I think they desevre to
catch an obscenity or two just because of the stupid questions they ask. Figure it out,
people. Wait 'til after the game in the interview room.
Sat., Nov. 20, 7:45 pm : The first round of post-season play is over, and, as usual, some of
the favorites didn't survive.
A handful of #1 seeds lost Fri. night. The biggest upset was Va. High's 6-0 overtime win in
Grundy. But fans out east will say it was L.C. Bird's 28-25 win at Varina, which has been
ranked #1 in the Group AAA poll for the past month. Other #1 seeds eliminated include
Rockbridge Co. and Bath Co.
We also saw two defending state champions lose Friday night : Westfield (Div. 6) and
Powhatan (Div. 4).
A couple of 2nd round games have already been scheduled for Friday afternoon to
avoid conflicting with THE GAME in Blacksburg.
Brookville's
Union Star had a good story Wednesday on William Campbell's scheduling woes for next
season.
Tues., Nov. 23 : I need to mention some other big games this weekend involving 'area' teams.
Our neighboring states are playing their semi-finals this weekend, and a bunch of schools
just across the borders are involved, so good luck to Bristol's Tennessee High Vikings,
The Bell Co. Bobcats, the Corbin Redhounds, Pike County's Pikeville Panthers & Belfry Pirates,
Bluefields Beavers, and for our northern folks, the Martinsburg Bulldogs.
Wed., Nov. 24 : Just a quick reminder that the NFL continues it's tradition of
bringing families together this Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, Julius Jones welcomes brother
Thomas and the Bears to Texas Stadium for a 4:15 game on Fox. (Let's not forget the Cowboys
also have former Hokie OL Matt Lehr & WR Jason Witten from Elizabethton via UT.)
And on Sunday, it's the battle of the second cousin QB's from Newport News in Atlanta as
Mike Vick (& DeAngelo Hall & Kevin McCadam) hosts Aaron Brooks and his Saints at 4:00 on
Fox.
And Richlands will play at 7:30 Friday night - got the word from my boss last night.
Fri., Nov. 26, 8:30 am :
Forget those TV commercials. The cure to tryp-to-phan isn't a trip-to-Cancun or wherever,
it's a trip-to-bed. Always has been, always will be. Watching KJ & Thomas get smothered
like momma's mashed potatoes when the gravy bowl arrives wasn't fun, but at least the UT
fans are happy. Here's some more stories on the boys from Big Stone from DallasCowboys.com on
Tuesday and
Thursday, and Scout.com stories for Chicago
and Dallas.
Today's
Bluefield Daily Telegraph headline shows us why the VHSL really needs to realign. The
'Dogs really have their work cut out for them tonight.
Sat., Nov. 27, 2 am : What happened Friday night ?
3 more previously undefeated & #1 seeded schools saw their season end : Lafayette in Group
AA & Hermitage & Oscar Smith in AAA. 3 other #1 seeds fell : defending Div. 5 state
champion Hopewell and two from Region III : Christiansburg & Amherst. A #4 seed from each
Group won their Region : Rural Retreat, Handley & L.C. Bird.
Across the state line, Bell Co., Corbin & Pikeville all lost, but Belfry closed out Vipperman
Stadium with a win to advance to next Saturday's state finals, and Tenn. High got trounced by
Maryville, which won 3 of the past 4 titles in 4A.
5 pm : FOUR #1 seeds fell this afternoon, 2 of them were previously undefeated, and BOTH
Group A defending state champs were eliminated, leaving only Gretna with the chance to defend.
And how about this : In Div. 4, their are THREE #3 seeds in the semis ! And Div. 3 ALSO
has just #1 seed in the semis.
Sun., Nov. 28 : Salem fans : If you're coming to
Richlands, this will come in handy.
Group A fans : NOTE : starting times for the finals at JMU have been CHANGED to 2:30 for
Div. 2 and 6:00 for Div. 1.
Tues., Nov. 30 : Stories from last week's
Fauquier Times and
Fauquier Citizen say former Bluefield asst. Tom Ferrell has resigned at Fauquier.
A story on Va. Tech's NCAA rules violation concerning creatine was published last week in the
Radford News Journal.
Sunday's
Richmond Times Dispatch has a nice story on former E&H coach Lou Wacker. The
Washington Co. News also has a story online.
Sat., Dec. 4, 10:30 pm : First, a big WAY TO GO to the Group AA teams from just across the
state lines on their BIG wins yesterday (both of which I got to listen to).
Belfry
went to Louisville and successfully defended their Ky. title, while giving "Pond Creek Nation"
a real rush, with a 28-21 win over the Owensboro Catholic Aces. The Pirates gained ALL of
their 526 yards on the ground.
Meanwhile, the third time was the charm for
Bluefield
as they rewrote the record book
in a 66-24 win over the Wayne Pioneers. The Beavers had lost at Wheeling Island Stadium in
the last 2 title games, but finally bring home their 8th crown.
(And those stats : half-way through the 1st quarter, Bluefield had only 5 yards of offense,
but lead 13-0. About half-way through the 3th, they only had something like 100 yards but
led 35-0.)
Today wasn't a good day for either of the Group AA teams from the SWD & Tazewell County
(again, I got to listen to both games, unfortunately), but the Group A teams from the LPD &
Wise Co. will play in a double-header next weekend.
Possible stadium & fan conflicts were worked out this afternoon after both James Madison and
William & Mary posted come-from-behind wins in the NCAA Div. 1-AA quarter-finals. Since the
Tribe had won in Harrisonburg last month, and the high school finals have long been set for
Saturday, the rematch will be Friday night in Williamsburg.
And how about 10th ranked
Va. Tech's 16-10 win in the Orange Bowl over #9
Miami ? WOW!!!
Although the official BCS match-ups won't be revealed untill 5 p.m. Sunday, it looks like the
Hokies will head back to Naw'lins to face undefeated & #3 in Auburn the Sugar Bowl on Monday,
Jan. 3rd at 8 p.m. The Tigers, who went to the Music City Bowl last year, are riding a 14
game winning streak and will be looking for a share of the national championship.
Wednesday's
Richmond Times Dispatch had a story on how much $$$ today's win was worth for Beamer & Co.
Sun., Dec. 5, 5:25 pm :
Yesterday's Group A semis ended in opposite fashion for the two LPD victors. Both the
Roanoke Times and the
Bristol Herald Courier say Powell Valley "threw" salt into the wound with a long TD in the
final :15, while the
Kingsport Times News says JI Burton "refused to score" when they had the ball inside
the 2 yard line with 1:45 left.
The LPD DH in Harrisonburg Saturday won't be affected by the college playoffs. In fact,
we have 1 more Friday night football game left this season as the NCAA Div. 1-AA semi-final
game between JMU and W&M will be played under the (temporary) lights at Zable Stadium in
Williamsburg. The first-ever semi for ANY Va. I-AA team will be on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.
Yesterday's Roanoke Times
said Patrick Henry & William Fleming MIGHT not be able to play at Roanoke's Victory Stadium
next year.
And, it's official - it'll be the battle of the embattled coaching staffs from last year
as #8 Va. Tech plays #3 Auburn in the Sugar Bowl.
Wed., Dec. 8 : Now that we're down to the final week of the season, I thought I'd get a
chance to catch up on some stuff I'd put off the past few weeks. But I've picked up
quite a few things over the weekend that need to be shared.
First, a note to the LPD fans going to the H'burg Saturday.
JMU's Fall Commencement ceremony will be Sat. morning at 10 in the Convocation Center.
The NCAA Div. 1-AA championship game in Chattanooga next Friday (the 17th) will
FINALLY involve a Va. team.
The
Richmond Times-Dispatch also says that, contrary to what you may have heard, Friday's game
WON'T be the first night game played at W&M.
One other college note - our annual Christmas Day tradition, the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic in
Birmingham, has been cancelled yet again because a sponsor couldn't be found.
Gotta love the
Telegraph - their story says Salem beat Richlands 48-21.
I've got a couple of stories out of Kentucky that are very lengthy, so I put all the info on
the forfeits page. I wouldn't miss this, since one
involves Region D & the other is a Magna Vista-like situation.
While looking for stories on the Ky. stuff, I noticed that WV isn't the only state where
people (re: newspaper columnists) are complaining about playoff locales. I found a
Cincinnati article on moving the Ohio finals after a 14 year run way up in Canton, and
Ashland has a columnist to wants the Ky. SEMIS played at neutral sites.
Not to add any more distraction with the finals set for Saturday, but will someone, ANYONE,
please play Grundy next year. Word is that only 1 non-district team (let's call them "Grundy
South") wants to play the Wave. I don't understand this. If Grundy is expected to be "down",
then looks like those "High" teams would want to get a win. On the other hand, if they think
the Wave are still rising, does that make us "too good" to play them? The new ratings scale
was set up to REWARD teams that play a tougher schedule, so why won't they???
Here's my question... what would happen if Grundy only had 6 or 7 games next year?
Yes, it would hurt the athletic dept. because of the loss of gate revenue, but what would the
VHSL say? I think the only requirements to make the playoffs are that you have to play every
team in your district (the "Martinsville rule") and have a top ratings AVERAGE.
We've seen 9-game seasons recently (Magna Vista was LUCKY to get 9 games this year), so can
a 7 game season be on the horizon?
And how, you ask, would the ratings be affected?
Let's use this year's results with the three Highlands teams removed.
Grundy would have finished with 171 points (227 - 56) and an average of 24.43, which would
have been the best in Region IV, best in Div. 3 and 4th best in AA.
Richlands, which beat Grundy, would have picked up 6 fewer bonus points. No biggie.
The SWD teams that LOST to Grundy would've received 3 fewer bonus points. That doesn't sound
like much, but it would have dropped Carroll Co. to the #4 seed in Div. 4, and, even bigger,
would have knocked Graham OUT of the playoffs by 1 point (behind Martinsville).
Maybe the SWD should consider emulating the DelMarVa schools and play each other twice for
the next 2 seasons. Talk about some great games!!!
And if you've wondered what an artificial playing surface costs,
Fairfax H.S. is getting Field Turf at about $9 per square foot (slightly over $700,000).
Fri., Jan. 7, 2005 : A handful of area players earned
AP all-Group A honors this season. See the
Bristol Herald Courier,
Bluefield
Daily Telegraph,
Roanoke Times,
Richmond Times-Dispatch,
Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot, Staunton
News-Leader and the Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star stories.
Here's a twist - the first QB in Group A to ever gain over 4000 yards offense in a season,
Manassas Park's Zach Terrell, was named the Player of the Year, but NOT the 1st team QB.
That honor goes to Powell Valley's Brad Robbins. Terrell DID make 1st team at DB.
The
AP all-Group AA team is also out, with just 1 player west of Roanoke making the first team
- Richlands OL Jesse Smith. A few other SWD players are on the 2nd team, including Smith's
teammate Cain Ringstaff, Grundy's Colby Owens & Va. High's Jerome Lockett. See the
AP,
Bluefield Daily
Telegraph,
Bristol Herald Courier,
Roanoke Times, the Staunton
News-Leader,
Richmond Times-Dispatch &
Newport News Daily Press stories.
And here's the
AP all-Group AAA team, with stories from the
Richmond Times-Dispatch,
Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot, and Newport News
Daily Press .
The Northern Region Council (Group AAA) & the VHSL have created a monster.
The
Loudoun Connection says the NRC voted to let Loudoun Valley, whose enrollment numbers for
next year will push them above the AA cutoff number, compete in the AAA National District for
football, but remain in the AA Dulles District for all other sports in the regular season
(due to travel concerns), then go to the AAA National Dist. for post-season play, based on a
seeding system that has yet to be ironed out.
The
Loudoun Times-Mirror says that proposal was then approved by the VHSL Executive Committee.
Before all of this mess, we were down to just one TRUE combination district for next year -
the Eastern Shore (since the Dogwood will become purely Group A), and the NRC had a plan that
seemed to benefit everyone up there by spliting up the schools into 2 Div. 5 districts
& 2 Div. 6 districts, but that's all history now.
(What we actually have here is the Dulles becoming a combo. district in all sports EXCEPT
football, and Loudoun Valley becoming the first combination SCHOOL in Va. [like Va. Tech
used to be "all sports" in the Big East, but they wrestled in the EWL]. I wonder if the
VHSL wanted something that they could later apply to Lee Co. if they had to?)
Speaking of Tech, head coach Frank Beamer has been named both ACC Coach of the Year (by the
media), and National CoY
(by SI.com).
And the Hokies picked up a 'Macho' recruit earlier this week. The Richmond Times Dispatch has
stories on Victor Harris'
announcement and what he now
has in common with Coach Beamer. The
Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot and
Roanoke Times (#2)
have additional stories.
A few days later, the
Richmond Times Dispatch reported that his mother passed away on Christmas Day.
Congrats to Tech O.C. Bryan Stinespring, whose alma mater, JMU ('86), won the Div. 1-AA
national title in Chattanooga (which is now considering artifical turf).
And former Hokie Mike Vick had a Merry Christmas, signing a MEGA deal with Atlanta, according to the
AP
& Norfolk
Virginian-Pilot.
Heath Miller's name has been popping up all over the place recently.
The
Bristol Herald-Courier & WJHL, along with the Charlottesville
Daily Progress,
Richmond Times-Dispatch,
Bluefield Daily Telegraph &
UVA
report that
Heath has won the 2004 John Mackey Award
for best Tight End.
The Charlottesville
Daily Progress says Heath was named to the AP first-team, and Lynchburg's
News & Advance says that makes Heath just the second unanimous All-American ever from UVA
(the other being Jim Dombrowski in 1985). "Big Money" & "Big E" (Elton Brown) also become the
first 'Hoos to make consensus All-American since Thomas Jones in 1999.
Emory & Henry will have a new football coach for the first time in 20+ years. The
AP,
WCYB, and the
Bristol
Herald Courier say Mount Union def. coordinator Don Montgomery is bringing his 27
years of sideline experience to Emory, replacing Lou Wacker (164-77, 88-31).
The BCS will undergo yet another
"tweak" ,
but not because the undefeated Auburn Tigers were left out of the title game.
It started when Mack Brown pleaded for the voters to move his Longhorns up in the polls.
After some of them did, the Cal coach and some newspapers wanted to have the ballots of the
USA Today / ESPN coaches poll disclosed, which the AP (sports writers) poll already does
(see Fanblogs).
Then the
Charlotte Observer announced that they will no longer vote in the AP poll, and now the AP
has told the BCS that they
can't use the AP poll anymore, according to the
Knoxville
News Sentinel and the
Newport News Daily Press.
The
Washington Post has a great commentary.
Geez. Just remember that it's the schools that don't want a playoff system.
What happens when a media guy gets turned loose in Naw'lins? He
screws up all the bowl sponsors.
Back to the h.s. stuff - did you know that the stadium in Sumner, Washington (which will be
shared by 2 teams in 2005) has a corporate name/sponsor? Says so in their
Courier-Herald (hmmm, wonder if Roanoke might go this route).
And, finally, here's another story from a neighboring state of the courts sticking their nose
where it doesn't belong. The Parkersburg (WV)
News & Sentinel recently said a wrestler for the Big Red has been granted a FIFTH year of
eligibility after his parents filed a civil suit against the WVSSAC. (It's also posted in the
forum at WVmat.)
Tues., Jan. 11, 6:30 am :
Heath Miller will forego his Sr. year at UVA to enter the NFL (date is April 23rd),
according to the Charlottesville
Daily Progress, the Newport News
Daily Press,
UVA
and the
AP.
And today's Kingsport
Times-News has the complete VHSCA (coaches) Group A All-State team.
Sun., Jan. 16 :
Today's
Bluefield Daily Telegraph lists the locals from the VHSCA (coaches) Group AA All-State
team (can't find another paper that has it).
Here's a Roanoke Times
article on Heath Miller turning pro and a story from Tech in the
Roanoke Times says
Justin Hamilton will move from tailback to free safety in 2005.
Ky. is changing their eligibility rules for transfer students. See stories in the
Jan. 13th &
14th Ky. Post and the 1/14
Lexington Herald-Courier.
Wed., Jan. 19 : Today's
Roanoke Times reports that Heath Miller had a "sports hernia" operation recently.
The
Charlottesville and
Lynchburg newspapers add that he has a new nickname, although they don't agree on what
it is.
Fri., Jan. 21 : Here's a follow-up from a couple of weeks ago about the 5th year wrestler
in WV. The newsandsentinel.com in Parkersburg ran a story
Sunday
saying both Jake Hays and transfer Josh Neal were again declared ineligible by the WVSSAC. A
Tuesday
story said they'd be back in court later in the day to get back on the team, and a
Thursday
story mentioned their wins in a BIG dual the top-ranked Big Red had Wed. night against their
cross-town rivals, and #2 ranked, Parkersburg South. Meanwhile, a Thursday story in the
Charleston Daily Mail says the
WVSSAC still might appeal the court ruling.
Whoever said "rules were made to be broken" has a following in a Wood Co. Circuit judge.
How nice of them to consider going to court over this. Stay tuned over the next
month to see what happens and if they get to compete at state.
Sat., Jan. 29 :
More news on those 2 Parkersburg wrestlers fighting the WVSSAC over eligibility.
The Parkersburg News & Sentinel reported on
Tuesday
that the court would again hear arguments about the transfer student, Josh Neal. On
Wednesday,
the paper said the court let the injunction to keep the wrestler eligible expire, since the
WVSSAC appeals process hadn't been finalized.
Saturday's Charleston Gazette
says the WSSAC denied an appeal on Thursday.
On Saturday,
it reported that the WVSSAC plans to appeal the judicial ruling that gave Jake Hays a 5th
year of eligibility, but not before the end of wrestling season.