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.
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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