previous 1999 VHSL & site news


July 2 : Well, my job just got harder. You may know that Va. has adjusted their system so that we are now in sync with our neighboring states in the area of scheduling. This means that more Va. schools will be able to easily schedule out-of-state teams. Which means I have more teams to keep up with when it comes to compiling power points.

So, bear with me during the season as I try to track down those scores.

I'm not aware of any closings/mergers of football-playing schools in SW Va. over the next year, so take this year's schedule and switch the home/away designations to get the schedule for 2000 (Note - A really small school may decide at the last minute not to field a team, so you never know).

Since this is the start of a new 2-year cycle, some schools will be changing classifications (like Amherst), while others will only be changing Divisions (like Grundy).

Being in the middle, Group AA bears the brunt of this, especially up north.

All 3 schools that move up to AAA are from Region II's Northwestern Dist. : James Wood, Fauquier & Sherando (the Warriors were Div. 4 runners-up in 1995 & 1996, and regional champs in 1997. Their 4-year record is 43-10.)

In return, Region II picks up former AAA schools Potomac Falls, Broad Run & Park View (Sterling). They also get Louisa & Orange from Region I, and William Monroe & Central (Woodstock) from Group A - Region B.

Region I picks up former AAA schools Chancellor and Courtland (they drop because of last years opening of Massaponax H.S.), and Powhatan, which jumps from Div. 2 to Div. 4 (The Indians were Div. 2 champs in 1996 & runners-up in 1997. Their 4-year record is 42-8.). They lose Franklin & Nandua to Group A - Region A (where Chincoteague & "Colonial Beach" dropped their football programs) and Prince Edward Co. to Region B.

(NOTE - I later received word that Colonial Beach did NOT drop their program. I had seen an 'incomplete' on the VHSL's 1999-2000 Football Divisions page.
(Thanks, Mr. Myers)

In Region III, Dan River and Tunstall move to Region IV's Piedmont District from the Dogwood, which replaces them with the Nelson Co. Governors from Region II and Appomattox from the Seminole Dist. The 'nole welcomes (?) back Amherst Co. from AAA (the Lancers claimed the Div. 4 title in 1995 and was the Div. 5 runner-up in 1998. Their 4-year record is 30-18). Meanwhile, Lord Botetourt, Liberty (Bedford) & Christiansburg change Divisions.

In Region IV, Dan River and Tunstall will join Magna Vista in Div. 4, and Patrick Co. drops back to Div. 3, where they will be joined by Grundy.

In Region C, Rural Retreat drops to Div. 1 while Auburn moves up to Div. 2.

In Region D, Pound drops to Div. 1 while Thomas Walker moves up to Div. 2.

Overall, AA gains 9 schools and loses 6, AAA gains 3 and loses 6, A gains 3 and loses 5. Another 33 schools stayed in their Group but changed Divisions.

The entire, state-wide enrollment list is available from the VHSL.


New schools update :

Colonial Forge (AAA) opens up in Stafford County, but won't play a full varsity schedule until next year.
The still un-named Shawsville/Elliston area (replacement) school is scheduled to open in Aug., 2000.
The new Roanoke school is still in the planning stages. But "Woods End"? should open in Aug., 2001.


New coaches:

J.J. Kelly (Wise) welcomes Kevin Saunders from AAA Osbourne H.S. of Manassas. The former Radford Bobcat led William Campbell to consecutive Region 3 titles in 1994 & 1995.
(NOTE - Aug. 5 : Received and corrected some info on Saundres, which Coy at The Coalfield Progress had REALLY mangled. ( thanks Marcus ) .

Abingdon promotes Scott Allen from JV head coach. Allen was the Group A Player-of-the-Year in 1991. The former QB led Lebanon to a 25-2 record during his Junior & Senior years.


Fox Sports Net is stirring things up with plans for a national title game.


Speaking of title games, a re-vamped BCS formula for the colleges was announced this week.
Also, the WAC split in half on July 1st, with most of the 'name' schools (like BYU, UNLV and New Mexico) starting the new Mountain West Conference.



FYI:
The first practice date for teams is Monday, August 2nd.
The regular season opens Fri. Aug. 27th.
The state semi's will once again be over Thanksgiving weekend.
The state finals will be Sat. Dec. 4th.


The Title IX lawsuit filed last year by the 11 girls from Suffolk is scheduled to go to court in October.



July 25: Once again, the Va. high school football season will be opened by a Buchanan Co. team. Whitewood will host Rye Cove at 7 p.m. on Fri. Aug. 20 (the only game in the state that weekend). Kentucky also begins regular season play that weekend, although the VHSL master schedule doesn't list any of those games.

The 'real' opening weekend will get started with another BuCoVa team taking the field first. Grundy plays Sheldon-Clark (KY) in the Pepsi/Family Bank Bowl opener on Friday Aug. 27, at 6 p.m., while those Indians from Whitewood will mix it up with the host Pike Central's Hawks (which dropped to class 2A this season) in the nightcap.




July 29 : Fox ranks Hampton #5 in America (check out the "national title game" link above).



Aug. 27 : So much stuff... where to start ???

THE BIG NEWS : I am SUCH a happy camper. I've spent the past couple of days buried in the greatest thing I've seen on the Internet in a long time.
I don't do this often, but it's time to say a VERY good word about the VHSL. Over the past 4 years, the VHSL has had UVA interns working with Va. high school sports guru Marshall Johnson (formerly with the AP) in compiling a 'book' of VHSL records. While the project is far from done, the football section is looking pretty good!
The 'book' is available FREE to whoever takes the time to download it (Adobe Acrobat reader 3.0 or higher is required). ENJOY !!!

Because of the Busch race tonight in Bristol, Gate City and Tenn. High decided to move their game back to Thursday night.

Speaking of Busch, Vol fans are getting ready for the first Fla-Tenn battle of the season. Sterling Marlin will be in the #14 U. of Tenn. Chevy, while Brandon Sperling will be driving the #55 U. of Fla. Pontiac.

Word out of Indy is that former Hokie and Denver Bronco RB/KR Vaughn Hebron is hanging up his cleats. Hebron, a free agent who signed with the Colts on Aug. 17th, has a knee problem and said he has no desire to continue playing.

Speaking of the Hokies, Tech announced Tuesday that they will be leaving the A-10 to join the Big East in all sports in the fall of 2001.
And exploratory surgery on Jake Houseright's right knee came up good. The Soph. LB from Gate City should return to practice in early Sept.
Also, ESPN's Lee Corso said last night (Thur.) that he sees Tech playing FSU in the Sugar Bowl for the national title in January (a nice thought; however, Tech didn't cancel homecoming this season, so I don't see them going undefeated).

Meanwhile, cross-state rival UVA has a better chance to go bowling this year. The ACC announced they signed a one year deal to send their #5 team to the Aloha/Oahu Bowls double-header on Christmas Day in Hawaii, where they'll battle the Pac 10 #4 or #5 team (a negative for Tech, since this decreases UVA's incentive to play better this season, and Tech needs all the help they can get when it comes to opponents records and strength of schedule).

A run-through of the area high school schedules shows that gas prices aren't expected to rise too much anytime soon. A number of schools are playing 2 or more out-of-state teams this year, with Graham playing FOUR (two from TENNESSEE) and Thomas Walker playing ALL FIVE out-of-district games vs. non-Virginians.
The biggest surprises in all of these new schedules ???
1.) No "Breaks Bowl". Why in the world aren't Haysi and Elkhorn City playing this year???
2.) The first Group A vs. Group AAA encounter thatI can remember. If you aren't busy Saturday, Oct. 23rd, head up to Roanoke's Victory Stadium to watch William Fleming's Colonels (a contender for the RVD crown with lame-duck head coach George 'Kila' Miller, who's announced he's stepping down at the end of the season) battle those always tough Single-wingers, the Giles Spartans (who are expected to contend for the Three Rivers title, despite having just 25 players currently on their roster).

Finally, HEY!, IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN THE BILLON-DOLLAR COALFIELDS!!!! Go out and root the boys on!!



Sept. 2 : Are you ready for a new millennium? The Hokies are. This Saturday at Lane Stadium, Va. Tech will play JMU in the 1,000th game in Hokie History.

"Keeping up with the Jones'" : now that Thomas & Julius are gone, the big back in the LPD may be Clintwood's Justin Hamilton, who had 3 TD runs of over 80 yards last weekend.

A note to 'Timesland' and Carroll Co. surfers : Teitlebaum got it wrong in the previews today. Grundy did NOT lose an SWD tilt to Tazewell County last week. First, it's Tazewell High School, not Tazewell Co. More importantly, it was RICHLANDS that lost to the Bulldogs, not the Wave. Grundy lost last week to a Kentucky school.



Sept. 12 : Things seem to be running smooth in Va. so far, but the same can't be said just across the border. Tennessee High School of Bristol is facing major sanctions from the TSSAA for a couple of no-no's last season. Seems the Vikings let a home-schooled student play in 5 freshman football games. Then they ended the year using an ineligible transfer student in a playoff loss. For these errors, the state has fined the Vikes over $4,000 and will not let them back into the playoffs until the 2001 season. An appeal was continued until Tenn. High submits a list of the other activities the transfer student participated in.
The Vikes have already lost to Gate City & Graham, and still have games left against Grundy & cross-town rival Va. High.

Here's a correction you may or may not need... Seems that the AP got a score backwards Friday night.
So, if you keep up with these things, Patrick Co. did not win the game 16-7... Heritage did.

What is it about Miami ??? For years (7, to be exact), former Va. Tech record-setting QB Don Strock played backup for all-everything Bob Griese down south. Now, San Francisco has sent Jim Druckenmiller to the Dolphins for a future draft pick. By leaving that other Offense out on the West Coast, Druck should see more playing time after he gets re-acquainted with dropping back. And I don't expect 15 year vet Dan Marino (who had Strock as a back-up for his first 5 seasons) to stick around much longer, so maybe THIS Hokie will get to start before too long.

Meanwhile, up the road a piece, former Hokie Will Furrer looks to be the #4 QB in Jacksonville this season.

Former Tech Center Jim Pyne "starts anew" today. Pyne, the first player selected by the Cleveland Browns last Feb. in the expansion draft, was more than happy to leave Detroit after just 1 year. Pyne will move back to his old Tampa Bay position, left guard.



Sept. 18 : HEY!, rasslin' fans, got plans for Wednesday? No?!?
Wanna meet Mean Gene in person?

100 tickets will go on sale Monday for the Hokies battle with Clemson on TV Thursday night from the 'Burg.

Updated the current standings, added the late-season schedule.



Reuters Photo
Reuters Photo

Sept. 23 - Southwest Virginia loses a 'hero'

Actor George C. Scott, who refused an Oscar in 1971 for his portrayal of Gen. George S. Patton, died in his southern California home at the age of 71.

Scott, who also played Gen. Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 spoof ''Dr Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb', was born in Wise on Oct. 18, 1927.




Oct. 4 : Updated the current standings and posted the first power ratings of the season.

Welcome to my soapbox....it's sound-off time.
Over the past few weeks, a lot of things have been happening which have led me to believe that :
(1) the full Moon is lasting longer than usual,
(2) sports, art, and life are becoming too intertwined,
(3) America will be the laughing stock of the world for years to come, and
(4) it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.

I'm not going to catagorize this stuff, just spew about things for a little while. So, hang on!

Northside Coach Jim Hickam's little brother (and Tech grad) Homer will be speaking at SVCC NEXT Tuesday, Oct. 12th at 9:30 am in the community center gym. Afterwords, you can get his autograph and/or a copy of his new book, Back to the Moon.


More news about Tennessee.
First, Tennessee High has been fined an additional amount by the TSSAA for using their ineligible player during 5 regular season games last year, but they had their post-season penalty reduced to 1 year.
Then came news that ESPN.com is investigating academic fraud involving the University of Tennessee football program. Seems that Vol tutors were doing more than they should for the athletes (like actually writing papers for them).
Will something come out this week about the Titans to complete the Tennessee trifecta ??


What is going on with the scores this year?
Are they getting weird, or is it just me?
A few weeks back, a reporter wrote in a SW Va newspaper about a game where the clock ran almost continually during the 4th quarter. He wasn't very happy about this. The final was only 33-6.
By coincidence, I was back in Grundy that night, probably doing the same thing I had done on that night 10 years ago... 'running the dial'... listening for scores from other games around the region.
Well, I happened to hear this particular game on the radio at halftime. Meanwhile, 1 county over (which also happened to be 1 state over), another game had just reached the end of the first QUARTER. You know, a quarter can last a LOOOOONNGG time when you score 44 points. So, with a 70 or so point spread (in a DISTRICT game), they 'turboed' the entire second half and ended at the same time as the other games.

Personally, I approve of this activity. I mean, after a certain point, it's no longer a competition, it's an embarassment. I would like to see something similar to the '15-run rule' introduced for football & basketball, say, a 40-point rule, which would be used only if both teams agree to it (which, if I know my coaches, means it would seldom be used).

Back to my question. Are teams this year running up the score more than usual? Two weeks ago, 16 games were decided by 40 or more points. Only 5 of those were non-district encounters. Come on... 62-6? 89-14???
And last weekend, there were 12 more 40+ games, including finals of 74-6 & 69-0.
Guys, remember, this is only a GAME!!!!



Kevin Costner's new movie, "For Love of The Game", has a last-place team coming into the Bronx near the end of the season and knocking the seemingly playoff-bound Yankees for a loop. Costner's double/stand-in was Devil Rays pitcher Dave 'no man is an' Eiland.
Anybody catch that Wednesday boxscore ???


A 23 year old Brewers 'fan' jumped out of the County Stadium stands between innings and onto the back of Astros (and former Brewers) outfielder Bill Spiers. The guy said that he wanted to grab the attention of the 14,000 or so fans there, and had also considered 'streaking'.


In the "spirit" of the "new look in sports", my website now has "official sponsors". Look for them every week!!!


Ever heard of Frank Meeks? He owns a BUNCH of Domino's outlets in the DC area. Big Redskins fan. Runs a special every week... $1 off every pizza for every TD the 'Skins scored the previous day. Sept. 20th was his personal 'Black Monday'. $7 off EVERY pizza. That means free mini-pizza at lunch and a medium pepperoni for dinner only cost $2. Said he would probably lose around $300-400,000 that day.
With Davis and Johnson, he could be in for a looooooooooong Fall.


Meanwhile, the haves and the have-nots just got easier to figure out in DC. In an effort to reduce the MAJOR parking and (Beltway) traffic problems associated with Redskins Stadium, the new owner announced some changes to their parking system ... including the elimination of cash parking at the stadium in the area formerly known as Raljon. People who didn't buy a season parking pass will have to pay $15 to park on the OTHER side of the Beltway at USAir Arena, and take a (free) shuttle bus to the stadium.
Interestingly, it worked great yesterday for the Panthers game.


This week's news brought to you by Gateway, the official computer system of VHSL-helper.


Hillary's been "gettin' jiggy with it".
She announced plans for a big New Year's Eve party on the Washington Mall later this year. Live music by B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, 'Dead' drummer Mickey Hart and others. Fireworks. Laser shows. A Spielberg mini-film. Hosted by Will Smith. All day. Free admission. No alcohol. Broadcast on CBS. So, what's it called? America's Millennium!
AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Now the government is in on it.
Folks, it's not the end of the decade, century or millennium. This is just another New Years' Eve.

I though this started going over the edge when the the Y2K problem got the 'millennium bug' nickname, but it seems that people have trouble counting years in general.

Did you catch SNL's 25th anniversary special Sunday? Guess what? They've only been around for 24 years (debuted in October, 1975).
And Fox's MAD TV had their big 5th Anniversary show, too. But they've only been around for four seasons. (And might not be around much longer. Seems the Britney Spears skit and a few blue words have made them the talk of more than just a few water coolers. And do you know what she's being called now? Can't repeat it here.)



Oct. 8 : Welcome to my nightmare. It seems that an unusually large number of games/scores are being mis-reported across VA this year. I'm still trying to get everything together, but it'll take another week or two to get all of this straightened out. When I'm done, I'll post all of the corrections that I have somewhere.


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