Harlan County has no business playing 3A football.....Unfortunately, we may witness another Mercer Co travesty....

Harlan County has no business playing 3A football.....Unfortunately, we may witness another Mercer Co travesty....

How could the KHSAA let another Mercer happen? Your suppose to learn from your mistakes.

How is the KHSAA at fault? They didn't start the new school up. How could they have put them in 5A this year? It is the second year of the cycle.

Just a point of discussion: Cooper is playing up at the varsity level in their first year in existence with no senior players.

No Central to it, just Harlan County.

 

You may be right, but that is why they play the games.

 

The Mercer County consilidation was amongst 2 teams that didn't have great season in years prior to the merger either. Both teams combined were 13-10 the year before they won the State.

 

Who merged again...Cawood, Cumberland and Evarts?

 

I really don't view those three as bad teams. They've all had some pretty strong teams at one time or another and they seem to be fairly competitive most year. To me, combining those three schools and putting them in the weakest class in the state means they could make some noise. Especially with a great coach like Larkey.

 

I'd be a little surprised if they aren't one of the ten best teams in 3A.

How is the KHSAA at fault? They didn't start the new school up. How could they have put them in 5A this year? It is the second year of the cycle.

 

 

Why penalize legitimate 3A schools by letting a 5A school participate for a 3A championship? KHSAA set a precedent by letting Mercer get away with it.....If nothing else they should be competing at least at a 4A level. Much closer numbers in regards to enrollment vs. # of boys.

 

It's a joke. If nothing else, they should be exempt from post season competition. Russell lost a championship to a 5A school. Ask their fans how they feel about it?

Why penalize legitimate 3A schools by letting a 5A school participate for a 3A championship? KHSAA set a precedent by letting Mercer get away with it.....If nothing else they should be competing at least at a 4A level. Much closer numbers in regards to enrollment vs. # of boys.

 

It's a joke. If nothing else, they should be exempt from post season competition. Russell lost a championship to a 5A school. Ask their fans how they feel about it?

So your solution is to put them in 4A where their numbers don't belong either? Doesn't make any sense, but for conversation sake, you tell me the solution to making them go to another class in a 2 year cycle? You say ban them from post season play? 1st of all if they were in another class they wouldn't even have a regular season schedule to get into post season play with. How do you fit them in a district? And you talk about punishing kids at these other schools for having to play them, yet you are fine with punishing the kids at Harlan by not letting them have a chance at the playoffs? Makes no sense, it isn't like the kids are the one's who should be punished for something out of their control. It is call life, it isn't the KHSAA, the players or the parents faults for the alignment. It is just called Life, to be the best beat the best, like other have said before these three schools weren't any good anyway, remember.

So your solution is to put them in 4A where their numbers don't belong either? Doesn't make any sense, but for conversation sake, you tell me the solution to making them go to another class in a 2 year cycle? You say ban them from post season play? 1st of all if they were in another class they wouldn't even have a regular season schedule to get into post season play with. How do you fit them in a district? And you talk about punishing kids at these other schools for having to play them, yet you are fine with punishing the kids at Harlan by not letting them have a chance at the playoffs? Makes no sense, it isn't like the kids are the one's who should be punished for something out of their control. It is call life, it isn't the KHSAA, the players or the parents faults for the alignment. It is just called Life, to be the best beat the best, like other have said before these three schools weren't any good anyway, remember.

 

In your initial thread you stated "why blame the KSHAA, they didn't start up the new school". From that statement...one could discern that the school district made the decision...so they must deal the consequences.

 

I never said the solution was to move them into 4A. I stated that IF they're going to play outside their legitimate class...they should at least have participated in the class closest to their enrollment/ # of boys.

 

Please don't lecture me about Life......We all know that life isn't fair at times. However.....this decision shouldn't be quantitified by "that's just life". We should learn from our mistakes and try not to repeat ill advised decisions....much like the Mercer Co fiasco.

 

Whether Harlan is good, bad or just plain ugly doesn't factor into the equation. The bottom line is....Once again....all legitimate 3A schools across the commonwealth will have to compete against a legitimate 5A school for a championship.

 

Where's the logic??

So your solution is to put them in 4A where their numbers don't belong either? Doesn't make any sense, but for conversation sake, you tell me the solution to making them go to another class in a 2 year cycle? You say ban them from post season play? 1st of all if they were in another class they wouldn't even have a regular season schedule to get into post season play with. How do you fit them in a district? And you talk about punishing kids at these other schools for having to play them, yet you are fine with punishing the kids at Harlan by not letting them have a chance at the playoffs? Makes no sense, it isn't like the kids are the one's who should be punished for something out of their control. It is call life, it isn't the KHSAA, the players or the parents faults for the alignment. It is just called Life, to be the best beat the best, like other have said before these three schools weren't any good anyway, remember.

 

The only issue I have against those who defend these circumstances comes in the arguement that it seems fine and dandy to let a school dissolve into a previously alotted district (in this case Cawood). But the schools who also expected to be playing Cumberland and Evarts are now left having to fill their schedule.

 

It sucks... the system is flawed..oh well...

 

My only question is that a consolidated school doesn't go through the planning stages to being operable in less than one year. This school has been in the works for a while. Why can't the KHSAA be proactive when new schools are designed and give a timetable and a proposed district preemptively? Then teams in the expected districts can already have a heads up to scheduling and a transition to a proper classification.

 

Heck...when we quote lighting packages on schools being built it usually is 4 or 5 months before they ever get installed....

No Central to it, just Harlan County.

 

You may be right, but that is why they play the games.

 

The Mercer County consilidation was amongst 2 teams that didn't have great season in years prior to the merger either. Both teams combined were 13-10 the year before they won the State.

A couple of differences in the mergers:

 

1. Mercer County, even without the merger, would likely have been a legitimate contender in 2A. The addition of the Harrodsburg kids, especially the element of speed, turned Mercer into a juggernaut on the 2A level.

 

2. Harlan County will have an even bigger enrollment advantage on the rest of the class than Mercer did, plus their consolidation was from three established programs. Mercer's was just two schools.

On a side question:

 

Had the KHSAA taken a different stance in the situation and instead told Harlan County that they would be playing in 6A until the next alignment, because it is unclear as to what the exact enrollment would be when the doors open, I guarantee we would see all these loud and proud Bear supporters being quite disgusted at how they have to play in a class where they are at a distinct disadvantage in terms of numbers.

Why is it that Cooper, a brand new high school, was able to be put in a district, and play a varsity schedule without problem?

Why is it that Cooper, a brand new high school, was able to be put in a district, and play a varsity schedule without problem?

The plot thickens....

So if you were the KHSAA, you would just ban them from playing this year?

 

Because if they were not in a district then they would never find 10 games or even half that in the second year of a cycle.

 

It doesn't matter that the school district is the one responsible for the new school or not, the kids shouldn't be punished because they live in Harlan County. The school district itself shouldn't be punished either because they are trying to change the atmosphere and the environment in their county and improve education. I mean how would it look to the community if the school board said "we cannot build our new school this year becuase it will interfere with our football schedule"? This wasn't done for athletic gain for the 2008 year. Therefore, there is no one to blame it is just that simple.

 

Offer me a solution if you were the KHSAA instead of being so quick to blame them if the one I stated above is inaccurate.

One other point ... many of us remember how hastily the Mercer-Harrodsburg consolidation was put together, resulting in the football team enjoying a distinct enrollment advantage.

 

Could the process have been accelerated at Harlan County? I seem to remember the consolidation originally being scheduled for next year.