Thoroughbird

actually, it makes sense, as it gives team an opportunity to avoid playing on consecutive days in the even of a rain-out. And having all the opening round games played on one day was a good opportunity to see a number of games. Of course, the weather delayed the Boone-Holy Cross game, which pushed the last game back almost an hour. If games go as scheduled, 9th region champ will have several days to prepare for sectionals, which start next Tuesday (9th region champs hosts 10th region champ)

Opening round of 9th region tourney ends w/ a great game as the Crusaders are able to hold off the Bluebirds, 1-0. St. Henry played a solid game and won by playing strong on 50/50 balls, stepping up and ultimately finishing a scoring opportunity by netting a mid way through the 2nd half. Two interesting "no-calls" by officials went against the 'Birds worth noting: an obstruction call on St. Henry's keeper gave Highlands an indirect in the box about 8 yrds from the goal. When the whistle blew, the St Henry defenders rushed the ball before it was played, deflecting it away. No call on a clear infringement of the 10-yd rule. Then, late in the game (4 minutes remaining) a Bluebird forward blew past defenders on a thru ball and was one-on-one w/ the keeper when he was tackled from behind in the box. No call--clearly should have resulted in PK. Too bad...a great game by both teams that (once again) was allowed to end with officials refusing to make the right call when a clear scoring opportunity should have affected the outcome. If St. Henry continues to play the way they did tonight, they can make some noise in the tournament. Good Luck Crusaders.

In the oddest District tournament of them all (only two schools w/ soccer teams), NewCath prevails with late goal by Matt Tolle. One of the most enjoyable games I've seen all year. Good rivalry, clean play (no cards) and both teams--who are having mediocre years--played very well. Highlands controlled the ball most of the game, but NewCath capitalized on one of only a few scoring chances the entire game. Kudos to both keepers--Grosser was solid and Breslin made some spectacular stops. Good luck to both teams in regional tourney.

I completely agree. Make the initial call and nothing happens. In a previous game, HHS had a guy pulled down from behind in the box with seconds left in the 1st half--no call. Same game, 2nd half, same guy winding up to shoot in box was hacked from behind, 3-4 yards into the box. Ref called foul and placed the ball 3 yards outside of the box. In another game, I saw a player convert a cross by heading into the net w/ seconds left in the game to score tying goal--only to have goal disallowed....official said the player jumped into the defender. We have photos to show that the players never touched. The officials have been (mostly) bad on a consistent basis. It's a shame.

Is it just me, or is the officiating in HS soccer the worst of any HS sports in NKY? I've been following boy's HS soccer, and I simply can't believe how inept the officiating has been for the last several years. As an ex-official (baseball umpire), I can empathize with the challenges of calling a game---there are literally hundreds of acts to evaluate in the course of any game. I know it's easier to see the whole game from the stands--but I witnessed an infraction occur this evening at the HHS v. Holy Cross game that blew my mind. A complete failure by the AR (line official) to call a blatant foul resulted in the play erupting into a near melee that resulted in a player ejection (straight red card) and a yellow for another player. And it all happened with an official less than 5 yards away. What is going on?

Can't say enought about both teams. Coach Baioni had his guys ready to play and they stayed up the entire game. NewCath keep their composure when Birds took early lead and finally were able to get some hits at the right time---that was the storyline for NewCath's run through this tournament. Pangallo's defensive plays will be talked about for a long time as well. Bright future for the both teams. The final match up of Miller (Sr) v. Murray was everything you could ask for in a championship game. Two team leaders battling for the crown. If Pangallo doesn't make a diving catch to end the game, I can't say that he wouldn't have knocked in the game winner. Severe nail biting by both sides...not to mention the neighborhood rivalry which added that much more to the game. Glad I was there to see it--it was a good one.

For every parent who has spent too many weekends at baseball tournaments or trying to get white baseball pants clean.....don't take it for granted. Must read. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110824/EDIT02/108240326/Guest-Column-raising-baseball-lover

Congrats to Doug--Papa is surely proud. First met this kid when our boys were playing in Bluegrass organization---top notch kid, great player. EKU has done a good job securing this guy early. Sky's the limit.

I saw that blast in person as well. I still think the PRP shot was more impressive. Jacobs had a smooth swing indeed.

You're right on! NewCath simply couldn't get the big hit (with runners on base) that they've been able to get all year long. And when Sullivan got in trouble, Coach Schulkens had all of his pitchers in the field. His decision to play Cain (at 3B) over Murphy kept him from having his big gun available to warm up when he needed him to be ready. Sullivan was very effective through 4 innings--but PRP was able to adjust once they got through the batting order a few times. NewCath's defense finally had a let-down as well...despite some spectacular plays by Hightchew, there were a few "uh-ohs" that you normally don't see from the 'Breds. Nice year (nonetheless).

That HR was a no-doubter from the second it left the bat---maybe the best looking hit I've ever seen from a HS player. It was a thing of beauty, despite the fact that it all but finished NewCath's season.

The fact that staying at WV wasn't an option has already been stated. And your comment about "Dad's reaction" is really not germaine to this thread--any time a kid has to change schools is obviously tough on everyone: student, family, etc. So stating the obvious provides nothing worthwhile to this discussion. So if you're intention is to poke this kid's father or family--find another forum. If you have something to contribute--please do so. Otherwise, start a thread and see if anyone is interested in responding to you. I'm not interested in hanging around to see what other barbs you can cast. Sounds to me like you are getting too much enjoyment from a tough situation. Remember--the article was printed for the purpose of acknowledging the achievements of a baseball player who's had to overcome the adversity of changing schools mid-year.

Just to be clear--I have no issue with the writer. I find him to have done a good job--good story telling, good reporting, etc. I think he's fair and put together a good article. I hope that my previous posts do not indicate otherwise.

Having met Richard Skinner only once, I can't attest to his "intent" in writing the story, other than the fact that NCC is workign through the State Tournament and he's covering them. I would be surprised if he was intentionally "misleading" or doing anything other than reporting on a side-bar story about a kid making (what could be) a tough adjustment to a new school--and handling it very well. IMO, this seems to be a good kid from a good family. Not sure that I would call it bad journalism because writers can only report on what they know or can verify...and I'm sure that he followed the normal protocols for following the lead. He may have asked the question "why did you transfer", and maybe he simply chose not to follow that thread, based upon the response. Everyone knows that most articles only include a small portion of the actual interview anyway. It's a "feel-good" piece about a kid playing on a local team playing on a big stage. And as a parent, I'm glad that Skinner chose to leave it at that.

Good points all-around. But from the perspective of someone close to the team, a few things to note: First--there is much more to this story than was reported. Everyone associated with HS athletics understands that KHSAA has strict guidelines regarding the issue of transfer, so know that this matter was handled with extreme caution. Second--The mood of the article indicates that the transfer of this student was done casually--that is simply untrue. There were reasons why this boy had to be transferred to another school and the article failed to mention this. I can say that he was not allowed to participate in anything pertaining to baseball (including off-season, voluntary conditioning) until cleared by KHSAA to do so. Anyone who knows Coach Schulkens and the NewCath administration can attest to the fact that the school always tries to lead by example--and given the fact that this team had high aspirations prior to these events, it's hard to believe that they would risk the qualification status of a high-quality team for the sake of one player. I'm certain that all the proverbial "ducks are in a row" concerning this matter. And simply put, if given the choice, I'm sure this player would not have chosen to leave his school mid-way through his senior year.