You have got be kidding me by post this stuff.

No need to roll your eyes. The application of a smiley face emoticon at the end of my post should have been enough to tip you off to the tongue-in-cheek nature of my post.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing JC make one three or four hour trip to play a top team, whether in Louisville or Columbus, but I would prefer seeing that money being spent closer to home. JC is not a wealthy system and taking 60+ players, plus coaches, equipment, etc., is pretty expensive, especially with current gas and diesel prices. A few years ago, JC was moved up to 4A and its average district road trip was more than 2 hours and 15 minutes. Putting bus loads of players on the highway repeatedly for such long trips does not make sense if it can be avoided. It isn't fair to the players or their supporters and it needlessly increases the odds of the team being involved in a serious accident.

Do that. Check your map and get back to me.:lol:

 

I grew up in the Columbus area and I regularly drive to eastern Kentucky through Louisville on I-65/I-64 and Cincy on I-74/I-75/I-64. There are many people on this board who know football better than me, but I don't need a map to know how long it takes to drive from Johnson County to Louisville, Cincy, and Columbus.

 

You are correct about the level of football played in Ohio and that was my point. Those whose teams compete in Louisville, Lexington, and NKY tend to look down on teams from eastern Kentucky, just as the top teams in Ohio look down upon the NKY teams.

 

It is always best to understand that no matter how good you think your team is and no matter how much success they have had in Kentucky's playoffs, there is almost always a team north of the Ohio River waiting to deliver a good whoopin' to them. If it makes you feel good to belittle JC because it has never played in the state finals, then by all means do it. I hope that if Johnson Central ever does win a state title that their players and fans will maintaing some sense of perspective about them.

 

News to me. I travel to Paintsville often and I travel to Columbus often but never from one to the other. I'll check it out and may work it into my travels.

As far as the the Ohio teams are concerned, I know one little team from Kentucky they don't look down on. I know one team that whipped their D1 Champs and got their attention. You guys could travel down 64 and have a crack at those guys. I also bet that same team would come to your place for $15,000 and they would bring a bunch of fans.

Johnson Central can take the team to Columbus or Cincy in about the same time that it takes to drive a bus to Louisville. If JC plans to compete with Highlands and CCH in the future, they might as well play the same Buckeye teams that beat up on Kentucky's current AAA state powers nearly every time they meet.

 

The fact that Johnson Central would even be mentioned in the same breath with Highalands and Covington Catholic is laughable. Yes they have had some recent success, but you need to win at least in the playoffs before you start worrying about traveling to Columbus or Cincy!

No need to roll your eyes. The application of a smiley face emoticon at the end of my post should have been enough to tip you off to the tongue-in-cheek nature of my post.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing JC make one three or four hour trip to play a top team, whether in Louisville or Columbus, but I would prefer seeing that money being spent closer to home. JC is not a wealthy system and taking 60+ players, plus coaches, equipment, etc., is pretty expensive, especially with current gas and diesel prices. A few years ago, JC was moved up to 4A and its average district road trip was more than 2 hours and 15 minutes. Putting bus loads of players on the highway repeatedly for such long trips does not make sense if it can be avoided. It isn't fair to the players or their supporters and it needlessly increases the odds of the team being involved in a serious accident.

How can you say JC is not wealthy but someone else said there offering $15000 packages to get people in there to play,Something dont equal up here.

I think you must be kidding; never having heard of JC. In the late 70s, I had fear in my heart when my sister had band competitions at JC; but I do sweat when the heat is on.

 

Now that's funny...true...but funny.

That was not a typo. Matney said it was a $15000 package. I believe it was part of the Touchstone Energy Bowl being played this week.

 

Tell Coach Matney I will bring 10 buddies of mine and we will play Central for $15,000 next season......give me a break.

The fact that Johnson Central would even be mentioned in the same breath with Highalands and Covington Catholic is laughable. Yes they have had some recent success, but you need to win at least in the playoffs before you start worrying about traveling to Columbus or Cincy!

Johnson Central is just as capable at taking a beating from Columbus Bishop Watterson as Covington Catholic is - and almost as likely to come home with a win!:lol:

 

I think that if it is laughable to mention JC in the same breath as Highlands and CovCath, it is equally as laughable to mention those two teams in the same breath as the top Ohio teams.

 

The Ohio teams play good Kentucky teams for their potential win totals. I don't profess to understand the Harbin points system, but my guess is that JC is probably every bit as an attractive AAA opponent to the good Ohio teams as anybody else in Kentucky. The Ohio powers do not schedule teams from Kentucky because they expect to lose.

How did the program that Matney took over compare to the one that he left to Sean Hager? Was Hager not on Matney's coaching staff, or did he train under another head coach?

 

I agree that the consolidation of the Inez and Warfield middle schools should help Sheldon Clark at the high school level. Having the high school and middle school on the same campus has been a big advantage for JC.

 

I would think that the program Matney took over at Central was far ahead of the one he left in Martin County. He graduated about 17 seniors and only 2 starters coming back the following year. Sean Hager's first year at SCHS was misery. However he didn't complain about it he kept coaching and last year he led a group of overachievers to the Regional Championship. NOw it is appears to me that he is on the verge of building a perrenial state power. And it is not Jim Matney's team. All the credit goes to Coach Hager, his staff and those who have worked at the Middle School and Youth Football level.

 

It would seem Jim inherited a "no lose" situation. A school with bad coaching had suffered for a number of a seasons. Everyone knew the talent was there. To his credit he has done a fabulous job bringing confidence to the JC program. However as he becomes more and more successful which he will, the pressure will mount for him to compete consistently in the playoffs. He hasnt demonstrated that he can do that yet with Central. Although I suspect he will.

That was not a typo. Matney said it was a $15000 package. I believe it was part of the Touchstone Energy Bowl being played this week.

Those were exactly the words and dollar figures that Matney quoted last night on the pregame. Johnson County is not a poor school district by any means. I dont know that I would refer to them as being wealthy , but hardly poor. They have pumped a ton of money into their athletic facilities the last few years. Also one must keep in mind that Big Sandy RECC is the corporate sponsor of the game, not the school district itself.

 

Matney never came out and said it but I had the feeling that Prestonsburg was who he was referring to. I know that PBurg has made a habit out of cancelling baseball games with Central over the years. Sometimes not even showing up without the common courtesy of a phone call. If indeed it is Prestonsburg to whom he was eluding to, I am not in the least bit surprised.

Those were exactly the words and dollar figures that Matney quoted last night on the pregame. Johnson Central is not a poor school district by any means. I dont know that I would refer to them as being wealthy , but hardly poor. They have pumped a ton of money into their athletic facilities the last few years. Also one must keep in mind that Big Sandy RECC is the corporate sponsor of the game, not the school district itself.

 

Matney never came out and said it but I had the feeling that Prestonsburg was who he was referring to. I know that PBurg has made a habit out of cancelling baseball games with Central over the years. Sometimes not even showing up without the common courtesy of a phone call. If indeed it is Prestonsburg to whom he was eluding to, I am not in the least bit surprised.

 

Thank you and i too believe it was P-Burg.

I like it. We have enough teams around here that are solid opponents so we should never have to go out of state or towards the western end of the state. You have Belfry, Sheldon Clark, Prestonsburg, Russell, Corbin, Rock, Bell, and etc. I dont understand why no one around here wouldnt want to play JC, they have a good following which would lead to a good gate for that school.

Corbin, Rock and Bell would be a long haul. Some even farther than they traveled to Laurel County. As a Rock fan I only wish to travel to North Eastern Kentucky during the playoffs because it is a long drive. Not to mention not sure why Bell County or Rock would want to play anyway if they had the chance to meet twice in the season. But I hardly doubt many teams avoid scheduling them because they are AFRAID. A lot of factors go into scheduling, like 2 year contracts and 1 year contracts conflicting with each other and managing out to have 5 home and 5 away games. The exposure that they received in the Cumberland Valley Bowl was excellent, LIVE coverage, etc. Surprised they are complaing about it.

Corbin, Rock and Bell would be a long haul. Some even farther than they traveled to Laurel County. As a Rock fan I only wish to travel to North Eastern Kentucky during the playoffs because it is a long drive. Not to mention not sure why Bell County or Rock would want to play anyway if they had the chance to meet twice in the season. But I hardly doubt many teams avoid scheduling them because they are AFRAID. A lot of factors go into scheduling, like 2 year contracts and 1 year contracts conflicting with each other and managing out to have 5 home and 5 away games. The exposure that they received in the Cumberland Valley Bowl was excellent, LIVE coverage, etc. Surprised they are complaing about it.

 

:thumb: Well said 3wishes!!! :thumb:

Jim Matney is a good guy!

 

 

:thumb: Hey Jim Matney is a great guy!

It cracks me up that Johnson Central has had a couple of good years (not including the playoffs) and all of the sudden they are the BEAST OF THE EAST at least in their minds.

Central has a great thing going right now and they should, they are the biggest team in the area but let's not act like programs like Belfy and Pburg are scared or something. Belfry playing NCC and teams like Pikeville playing Henry Clay pretty much show that those guys will play anybody.

 

Well....you left one out Pburg.....how about them.

I would think that the program Matney took over at Central was far ahead of the one he left in Martin County. He graduated about 17 seniors and only 2 starters coming back the following year. Sean Hager's first year at SCHS was misery. However he didn't complain about it he kept coaching and last year he led a group of overachievers to the Regional Championship. NOw it is appears to me that he is on the verge of building a perrenial state power. And it is not Jim Matney's team. All the credit goes to Coach Hager, his staff and those who have worked at the Middle School and Youth Football level.

 

It would seem Jim inherited a "no lose" situation. A school with bad coaching had suffered for a number of a seasons. Everyone knew the talent was there. To his credit he has done a fabulous job bringing confidence to the JC program. However as he becomes more and more successful which he will, the pressure will mount for him to compete consistently in the playoffs. He hasnt demonstrated that he can do that yet with Central. Although I suspect he will.

I am sorry that my questions were not more clear. You compared the time that it took Matney to reach the playoffs at Sheldon Clark to Sean Hager's playoff success after he took over the job. The question that I attempted to ask was what kind of program did Jim Matney have when he took over the job as a young, inexperienced head coach at Sheldon Clark? How many parents of his prospective football players had even played the sport in high school? How many people in the school system's administration had ever played the game? Did Sheldon Clark have a strong football tradition, or was Martin County known better for its rich basketball tradition?

 

Your implication seemed to be that Sean Hager has accomplished more in less time at Sheldon Clark than Jim Matney did. My recollection is that Matney is the person most responsible for Sheldon Clark's rise to respectability as a football school and that Coach Hager was a beneficiary of Matney's hard work. I mean no slight to Coach Hager, but building a program almost from scratch at a school that was formed by two schools who never fielded football teams was quite an accomplishment, whether or not it took Matney 10 years to field a playoff team.

 

Johnson Central's football program went through the same kind of growing pains. The early years of the program were characterized by a long steady stream of short-term coaches. Some of them had little or no head coaching experience, and some (Ed Vanhoose, for example) had enjoyed good success elsewhere. What they had in common was an impatient administration that expected a new coach to instantly create a respectable football program. That finally changed after JC stuck with Bill Musick following a 0-10 campaign in his first year on the job. (Following a 1A state runner-up run at Evarts.)