CatsCatsCats

I love the Guru's questions every week after the games on Friday. I don't know if it's a new addition or not, but they always seem to get quite a bit of action on here :thumb:.

Interestingly enough, I even think some unexpected pro-style offenses fit under this as well. Boise State seems to have some old school power football, they use motion and formations to overload the point of attack instead of condensed formations and only pulling linemen, especially when the go power off-tackle. It's out there, just hidden behind all kinds of window dressing. As for straight up Wishbone, the last times I saw Belfry and Johnson Central (which was 2 years ago) it seemed like they both ran quite a bit out of the bone.

Excellent post Ram. The older offenses like the DW, Bone, Singlewing are still around, just packed much differently. Seems like Meyer's offense at Florida has alot of wishbone and power elements to it. :thumb:

Good luck to Ashland. I hope they really show out this weekend against Ironton.

What does Estill look like this year?

East Carter will play really hard, but I can't see them beating Raceland at this point in time.

I think this has to do somewhat with the resurgence of the Big Schools and the smaller schools not being at the extremely high level they were a few years ago. Ashland has continued to get better and better, GC seems to have turned it around (not to mention the improvement at Lawrence and Rowan). Raceland and Russell still have very good football teams but the are not at the level they were during the years were they were in the top 5 teams in their entire divisions, be it inexperience, or just growing pains that smaller schools tend to go through. Raceland and Russell will both be tough outs come playoff time. A loss to this Ashland team seems to be nothing to be ashamed about, they sound like they're flat out loaded. The Big Schools definitely have an advantage due to their numbers, but that's not to take anything away from Raceland or Russell, who are obviously two of the areas premier football programs. They'll both be back, and will get some wins over the big boys in the upcoming years, no doubt in my mind. :thumb:

I hate to hear that the signs were torn down, no matter what they had on them. Can't make an informed decision on how GC played the game since I wasn't there, but I don't see any way the signs should have been allowed to be taken down. I do hope that the players are punished for that, I don't think there is any place for that. Kids will be kids, but I still think you have to take a stance and show them that this kind of behavior cannot happen. JMO.

Wow, EC has really fallen off. The really had their moments were they played pretty decently, but they just couldn't score. I think at least 3 times when the game was close they were in the red zone or close to it, but go no points. They also lost self control a few times and got some unsportsmanlike penalties, which is always a bad thing. That said, I think WC played really well defensively. West is small, but I think that works to their advantage as there were always 3 or 4 men coming to the football. I do worry that their size will hurt them at some point against a big and physical team. Danny Cline had some really big runs last night, he's quick as a cat. I was glad to see Stamper get into the endzone after dropping a few passes he usually would have come down with. Bond and McGlone played a good game, they were pretty nasty running the speed option last night. West still has some things to work on though. Last night it was a little bit of feast or famine offensively. They did not really drive the ball down field much, but I guess when you have big plays you don't get much of an opportunity to do that. That's the thing about this West team, you can stop them and stop them, and then someone breaks a 60 yard run or catch.

Ashland, Rowan and Elliott will be tough. I like West Carter's team if they can stay healthy. Rayburn was hurt some last year, and Brown is recovering from a little bit of knee surgery. Lawson and Bond will be tough as well. I think WC could end up being one of the better teams in the region this season.

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Sounds like you might have to send in the Girls powder puff teams man. :thumb:

A UC player did it last year against Florida in the Bowl game.

I want to wish good luck to the Rocks this week. No matter your team in the state of KY, I think we should always pull for our state teams to take down teams from out of state, especially the evil football empire to the North. Here's to hoping Trinity lays the smack down on Elder.

Ram, it sounds to me like some teams are wanting some easier wins. I would hate to see Greenup drop Raceland. I don't know much about the rivalry, but being an in-county game that's competitive I think it should be played every year. I guess you guys will have to go easier on the bigger schools in the area :lol:. Lawrence will be a good addition to the schedule if that happens though.

I would look at the brand of football being played and see how it compares to what we had. Of course this is an objective and individualistic response, but I think if the majority is pleased with the overall progress of KY football then it's a success. I couldn't imagine a time when the Trinitys, St. Xs, and Highlands of the state will not be strong threats to win their divisions, so I don't think other teams winning championships means alot to whether 6 classes was a success or not. I always took the classes as being an attempt to offer competitive balance which I think you have in the bottom 4 divisions, and to some extent in 5A and 6A. It's going to be hard to compare a program to Trinity or Highlands, those kind of programs set the bar for excellence in KY through their dominance and tradition. I think the existence of super powers like that in the state is good for football because it provides a really good measuring stick for any program. Most programs probably won't grow to become the next Highlands, but it gives them something to keep trying for. I think we measure success in football in too shallow of terms as success in many places is having a good season or couple of seasons. I think that the current class systems gives more schools an opportunity to build a program and not just a good team or cluster of good teams for a short period of time. I think in 2014 or so, we could look and see how many programs have improved or declined, or if many have really changed at all before we could make a completely informed decision. JMO.

I don't feel sorry for the Spring sports. Maybe that's wrong (it probably is), but I have no sympathy for them and I don't feel like they should regulate what Football and Basketball do or vice-versa. Let the players decide. If they feel Spring Practice is more important than running a few track meets so be it. Not having spring football because it hurts the baseball coaches feelings is crazy to me. I don't think Spring practice should be mandatory for players in other sports though obviously. As for the basketball gets June and Football gets July idea, I hate that too. I think that is something that basketball coaches throw around way too much. Practice for football starts in July, so basically they would get no off-season work in at all with that idea I don't think other than weight training during the winter and spring. I just don't feel sorry for any sport, because any sport is demanding and takes alot of time and effort if it's done right. There is no fair way to do it other than to let the kids play what they want to play IMO.

Wow didn't know that. I just figured they were bigger than WC and LC. Has their enrollment shrunk or has it always been like that?

:thumb: The more I think about it I can't believe we don't have a spring scrimmage in KY. That would be a great way to keep getting more kids out. I think you could talk anyone into trying out football for 3 weeks to see if they like it.

How does Russell get to move down? Do they have a smaller enrollment than West Carter and Lewis County?

I think and hope he was talking about Orangecrush's proposal. I was not a fan of that one, because it eliminated Spring Football. I'd love to hear the argument that having 3 weeks during late April & early May with a scrimmage at the end would set the state back. I think that would be a win-win for everyone, players, coaches, referees, and fans.

I think reducing the number of playoff teams would go along way to bettering KY football. Teams are too satisfied nowadays with just making the playoffs IMO. Make it something that does actually mean something again. 4 or 5 classes with 2 teams per district, or 3 teams per district with the district champion getting a bye or something.

I want the 3 weeks, with a scrimmage at the end like some other states do it. That would really make Spring Football even more beneficial I believe.

Ohio has Ohio State, a football powerhouse. Kentucky has UK a basketball powerhouse with poor football tradition. Kids in Ohio dream of playing for OSU (or Michigan/Notre Dame), I think most kids in Kentucky dream of playing for the UK basketball team. California has USC (&other teams), Texas has the Longhorns (& Cowboys), Florida has the Big 3, Pennsylvania has Penn State (& the Steelers). I think it's just a mindset thing. Kentucky has some great football schools with a lot of tradition, but the ones that don't seem to favor basketball. Teams with both seem to favor basketball, like Mason and Lexington Catholic. Kentucky is becoming more of a Football state, but it will take some time to catch up to the big boys if it's even possible on the overall level.

I have no prediction on who wins, but I think Russell will bring their A-Game this week. It might not be enough, but I do expect Russell to hang in there tough.