And on and on and on the merger talk goes...............................

 

I wonder how much talk there would be about the merger if Mercer's football team hadn't been so successful this year? I'll answer my own question. None. You see ladies and gents, the problem that people have is not with the merger, it's with the success.

 

ding ding ding.......ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. Nobody seems to like the new kid on the block. :cry:

Just let the kids Play

Just let the kids Play

Can we end it on this note???

 

(bet we don't)

I wondered where you were hidin'?

I wonder how much talk there would be about the merger if Mercer's football team hadn't been so successful this year? I'll answer my own question. None. You see ladies and gents, the problem that people have is not with the merger, it's with the success.

ding ding ding.......ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. Nobody seems to like the new kid on the block. :cry:

Don't ring the bell just yet. Some of us were discussing this topic long before the season started.

Don't ring the bell just yet. Some of us were discussing this topic long before the season started.

 

Fair enough, but would there still be talk of the merger NOW if Mercer were not still alive?

They would be 3A. Did people complain this much when Mason co. and Maysville merged back in the 90's and stayed in AA that year? I know message boards weren't around then but, they were pretty good and noone seemed to notice. There are so many ways to twist and turn everything. This has been a season long debate. Debating it isn't going to solve anything. I guess it's just somthing to talk about besides that game that has to be played on friday. I know the fellas get tired of hearing about it. But, they take all these negatives and feed off of it. They have for awhile now. They are seeing more of it this week then they have all year. You aren't helping the Devils any.

If memory serves, Maysville was much smaller than Harrodsburg ... there is a chance that Maysville's enrollment (about 150, maybe?) may not have been enough to put Mason over the 3A line. That was over a decade ago, so I don't remember it all that clearly, but it seems that Mason (before the consolidation) was a smaller-than-average 2A school.

Fair enough, but would there still be talk of the merger NOW if Mercer were not still alive?

Now? ... of course not.

 

But your original comment made it sound like no one had a problem with the circumstances of the merger and its effect on the football season until Mercer started blowing people off the field ... that isn't the case.

Someone posted, "How would A teams feel if they had to play Mercer?" I can't answer for NCC but Danville would not be making this kind of fuss at all. They played them in a scrimmage. They've played Manual and St X in the past, not to mention Highlands every year. Shoot, when they were playing in AA they actually beat the AAAA runnerup in 1993 by 14 or 21 points. As for playoffs they actually won a AAA title when they were closer to A size and won numerous AA titles when they were legitimately A size.

Yeah, but I bet Danville would have had a big problem with a school with 900 students playing in their district.

 

If Mercer had tried to do that, I suspect the KHSAA would have surely intervened and made the new team play the 2A schedule.

I don't agree with the KHSAA's decision to let a team that shouldn't be in 2A play for the 2A title but the fact is, regardless of the correctness of the decision, Mercer didn't make it. Mercer shouldn't be in 2A this year but they are, it is up to Russell to beat them next week. The Titans didn't make the rules, they just played the hand that was dealt to them. Sure, they may have been dealt pocket aces but that blood is on the KHSAA's heads, not on the Titan's. I don't for a minute think that it is fair that Mercer gets to play for a 2A title this year but since the ........well I'm not even going to come up with a name for fear of getting banned.........decided that it is okay then I'll recognize them as the champions if they win. They probably are the best team in 2A this year, SHOULD they be in 2A--of course not. However, I refuse to believe that the decision to merge was made to win a football title and was instead made, in fact, for the betterment of the community. The KHSAA dropped the ball on this one, don't hold it against the kids. That said if you're going to put an asterisk in front of Roger Maris 61............

I think most people feel this way.

:thumb:

I was sitting back taking it all in, and you guys had me believeing it. Until Orisonspi dropped in and there was no come back. I could care less one way or the other. But I thought that was funny!

Now? ... of course not.

 

But your original comment made it sound like no one had a problem with the circumstances of the merger and its effect on the football season until Mercer started blowing people off the field ... that isn't the case.

 

I was referring to the discussion as is being held these days, but I can understand how you might have interpreted otherwise. No biggy. It's cool. I'm hip with it.

I know it is just for one year but you have to think about the seniors from other 2a schools who have worked so hard for as long as they have played football in an attempt to get to the state championship game to have it taken from them by a team that should be playing in a bigger division. Its a shame really. If my team was beaten my senior year in a situation like this, I would be extremely angry.

I don't remember the timing exactly, but isn't it possible the merger was approved too late in the year (and I think it was) to move the consolidated Merger High into 4A this year? Wasn't the merger finally approved in the spring of 06? You have to remember that district schedules are filled out at least one year (2?) in advance, so I don't think the KHSAA could have moved them up to 4A without causing insurrmountable scheduling problems to the existing 4A teams. Its not like you just, with a wave of the wand, re-jigger everyone's schedules. There are existing contracts for games. Once you start breaking contracts, it has an almost domino effect on everyone else's schedules throughout the state.

 

No doubt the best outcome would have been for the school boards of Mercer and Harrodsburg to have approved the merger with an effective date of August of 07, instead of 06, so that the district schedules could have been reworked as part of the move to go to six classes. I have to assume because of Harrodsburg's financial problems postponing the merger date was not possible however. Thus, the problem. While the KHSAA is an easy target for the venom, I'm not sure they really could do anything about it without creating major scheduling ramifications throughout Kentucky.

What the KHSAA should have and could have done is allow them to play but as a non-district team.

 

That might be a little unfair to the players of the two schools involved in the merger. But how do you weigh this? Bend over backwards so that two schools that are now one don't feel slighted. Or... Make sure you keep the other 40 some teams in AA in mind and do what is right for the MAJORITY.

 

 

That way Mercer could have played the season as a consolidated school and not one other school in the state could cry foul.

 

JMO.

 

All that said, I still like Russell's chances against a VERY good Mercer Co team. May the best team win.

What the KHSAA should have and could have done is allow them to play but as a non-district team.

 

That might be a little unfair to the players of the two schools involved in the merger. But how do you weigh this? Bend over backwards so that two schools that are now one don't feel slighted. Or... Make sure you keep the other 40 some teams in AA in mind and do what is right for the MAJORITY.

 

 

That way Mercer could have played the season as a consolidated school and not one other school in the state could cry foul.

 

JMO.

 

All that said, I still like Russell's chances against a VERY good Mercer Co team. May the best team win.

I don't think that would have been fair to the Mercer County kids, either. If the KHSAA had proposed that solution, there may have been a lawsuit.

 

Or, Mercer would have done the most fair solution for everyone involved ... keep separate high schools and let them compete in athletics that way for one more year.