minnow

Western Hills and North Oldham look to have their programs headed in the right direction. I still think Henry will be tested well in each of these games. Especially since North Oldham gets 2 weeks to prepare.

Why implement a new rule. Isn't there a rule for unnecessary roughness already? If it is not unnecessary roughness, then why need a rule?

Henry shouldn't have much trouble in this one, or any of their other non-district games. I understand scheduling some conference foes, but I would be concerned how these games will prep Henry for a very competitive 3A district. I hope Owen can keep it respectable and good luck to Henry the rest of the way.

I expected Lone Oak to have a drop of production after Graduating Mr. Football. Sounds like the Purple Flash keep on rolling with the move of one of the best recievers in the state, Jamarielle Brown, to QB.

I couldn't agree with you more. I hope Gallatin has a great season, but in my heart, wished the Panthers could pull out this rivalry game.

From the game description, it sounds like after the first 2 series, the Rebels would have had reason to say, "here we go again". Sounds like this version of Rebels just tightened up their chinstraps and went back to work. Congratulations on a hard fought win and good luck the rest of the season. :thumb:

There may be a reason there aren't as many "great" 4A and above teams in the west side of the state, maybe because there aren't that many large population schools? And then they are separted by some good long drives. To be the best, you have to play the best and beat the best. That's hard to do when your a 1.5 to 2 hour drive away from one another and MUCH easier to do when you're separated by 30 mile drives or less. I'm not trying to take anything away from schools from the west, but central/eastern schools have an advantage when it comes to ease in developing a good and challenging schedule. And, I would think Tilghman has had good teams in the last 20 years and they were playing 3A and scheduling teams like Bellville Althoff and Brentwood Academy. I think there was a time when they had difficulty finding teams willing to play them outside of districts, with of course the exception of Mayfield. But then again, maybe they were "playing up" since they are still in 3A after the re-alignment. Good luck Coach Wyatt and I hope you get the chance to change the minds of some people who think the end of the football world is slightly west of Louisville.

For a school the size of their size, I would think it is pretty significant.

The best thing that could happen for this community would be if everyone could let by gones be bye gones and let the new coach have a chance. Anyone know what kind of system the new coach is implementing? Anyone know if he's made any connections in the younger ranks to look at specific fundamentals and/or plays that need to be worked on at each level?

I'm sure no one from the west, who got to hear how much more dominant football was in the east, is going to comment on this score. I'm kidding. But it should show that even if the east won more state titles, that there are is alot of talent in the west.

Isn't the main difference between D-I and others for softball pitchers their height? Most are close to if not taller than 6 foot. I think the girl from Virginia Tech was the only 5'5" or so that I have seen on TV in the playoffs.

I know Cassie Aldridge of Frankfort, who was Class A all state, was also a pitcher.

Transfers are an entirely different debate, just as public/private is. However, it does show that if you have a strong pitcher and catcher, smaller schools can compete with bigger schools. I don't think, with the amount of developed talent in that area, that you could say any school could develop a dynasty. Both Reidland and Marshall could have easily lost in the first round of the region and any of the teams in there could have taken the title. When it could be 1 and done, it's hard enough to make it out of your own district in that region. There is just too much talent.

Obviously 200. But... What if you only needed 1 pitcher. If you had a 3 day best 2 out of 3 substate in softball, then you need 1 pitcher. Then, if you played an 8 game single elimination tournament for the championship after a weeks rest, and you play 1 game a day, then you need 1 pitcher. With the current set up, a team would have to win anywhere from 5 to 7 games in a two day marathon. That is why, in sticking to whether softball should be classed, I don't think so. Should the playoff method be looked at? Maybe.

I thought I said that you had to have a large track team to be competitive. That's why even Bardstown would have difficulty competing against 3A schools with more athletes and depth. Even if an A team had 5 or 6 highly talented athletes, they could have difficulty competing. Likewise, you need many more than 11 players to be competitive in football. Only 11 play at a time but that doesn't mean that is all the players you need. Again, if you had 5 or 6 highly talented athletes on a football team, they couldn't compete at the highest level with the larger schools where they are consistently playing 11 fresh guys on each side of the ball. (I know Highlands played up two classes and still won, but I'm thinking A vs. 6A). However, if you had 5 or 6 talented players in baseball or softball, or others, you can compete with larger schools. It all depends upon the nature of the game.

Larger populations increase the talent pool for a track team. Competitive state track teams have many members that participate on a wide variety of events. To me, it makes sense to class track because population would make a big difference. Whereas I wouldn't expect golf to need to be classed, just because of the nature of the number of players on the team and the likelihood of competition independent upon school size. In my eyes I think the same about softball. The teams that make it come from areas where you have large numbers and highly competitive summer programs. I see the difference being that more location than size, the smaller schools are likely more rural and have difficultly getting highly competitive summer programs, unless they travel. Was/Is soccer not classed because of the number of teams there were/are competing in soccer?

Sorry, I thought Owensboro Catholic had been in the "All A". Small schools have such a greater advantage of competing against the larger schools in softball than in other sports. For instance, Walton Verona has a strong, young team that could make runs at regional titles for the next several years. Region 1 is small school dominant with Reidland, Heath, Ballard Memorial, and Hickman County. 5 of 8 schools in the regional tournament were "All A" schools. If it is all about giving smaller schools a chance, then maybe a change in the playoff structure could do this will still crowning a true state champion.

Ryle and Greenwood are large schools and account for the past 3 titles. Owensboro Catholic and Reidland are not and accounted for 3 titles. Calloway County is more average. With the "numbers" game out of the way, high school softball is about pitching and hitting good pitching. Usually these go hand in hand. Larger schools may have more opportunity to get talented girls, but you see most of the same 8 to 10 schools that are at the tournament every year. Not because of the size of the school, but because of highly competitive feeder programs and pitcher development. However, You get to the tournament and you have to play lots of games. That could give larger schools an advantage of going to a number 2 or 3 w/o much of a drop off. I voted for no class.

Congratulations to Coach and good luck at state.

According to MapQuest, Mayfield's drive is 3 hours and 18 minutes. According to MapQuest, Highlands drive is 3 hours and 17 minutes to WKU.

Score from Friday night versus Evansville Memorial. Somebody down there has to get the scoop on what was up with this.

Playing some of the most disciplined and well coached teams in the state is bound to exposed your weaknesses. But then again, if you don't know where your weaknesses are, you can't get any better. Owen could have scheduled weaker teams with losing record, and could have a better record than 7-13, but they probably wouldn't have made the improvements they have made during the season. After beating Gallatin, you'd have to give them as good of a shot as any to win the district. Hopefully they are working on things that will get them better for next season, the post-season.

You hit the nail on the head. He should definitely get a chance to sit down and choose the assistants he wishes to have stay with him. This is not always the case and could lead to conflicts within the coaching staff. After all that has been said on here about the issues in the past year, I'd say the new coach would want to ask alot of questions. But then again, if this position stayed open for so long because of a lack of teaching positions, there may be limited possiblities for bringing in anyone else as well.

I can't believe a school district would let their AD be a part of the hiring committee for another school. THAT would be much more of a conflict of interest. Having and using mentors is a major part of education, kind of like a journeyman's union. Being a young administrator with limited experience, it would only make sense to get advice from someone whose opinion you trust. Which would be the better way to go about getting the advice, in public, or behind closed doors. That would open up a whole new debate.

I would have thought it would have taken alot more rain that what we got to force a rainout at Henry. Was there more rain there or lightning?