ft bronc

Website currently shows 12 varsity players, 10 srs, 2 jrs.:idunno:

Come on guys. No posts in over a week - we're loosing momentum.:idunno: Let's hear some chatter out there! How'd tryouts go? When will we see a roster? Any surprises?

I think a lot of it has to do with how fragmented our society is now days, and how much entertainment is available. Kids not finishing out their senior seasons is similiar to people not attending local amateur sporting events as much these days. People have so many choices now for entertainment, besides just playing sports or going to the friday night game. Let's face it, one of the reasons people did both of those in larger percentages 35 years ago is because what the heck else were they going do? No cable TV, no satellite TV, no Ipods, no video games, no multi-screen movie theaters in every city, no internet, no 24 hour sports & news TV coverage, etc, etc. Heck, it's the same reason people read more in the old days. It's weird. Our society is more sports obsessed now than ever, but that obessesion is more about watching sports on TV than actually participating in them in thier local community. Unless it's professional sports of course, then they'll spend insane amounts of money on personal seat licenses and season tickets to watch overpaid criminals give half-baked efforts.

I liked the old-school stiching around the vent holes on the previous lids. Are they going with a modern fish-net style like most of the colleges? Any word from try-outs?

My understanding is sometimes there haven't been enough high school kids to fill out the JV team, so 8th graders filled the open spots. With the increased amount of kids trying out this year, however, I assume there most likely won't be any spots left for 8th graders (I guess unless they actually beat out the freshmen). A frosh team would give those 8th graders a place to pay in the Highlands system (there is no middle school team).

I know there are a bunch of 7th graders who would have loved to have been working out with the team these past couple months. We shouldn't have the same problem next year!

Awesome :thumb: Now lets get that freshman team going next year! With the increase in amount of kids trying out, I can't imagine there'll be too many spots for 8th graders on the JV team. With no middle school team, we need somewhere for the 8th graders (maybe even 7th) to get involved with Highlands Baseball.

Why didn't I see that coming?:notworthy:

I give up.:isurrender:

What started this line of discussion though, was basically that UK was being compared to Stanford, and IMO (and I believe in most people's opinions), there is no comparison. It's like comparing Lexus and Pontiac. A Pontiac will most definitely move you down the road, but how nice was the ride, and how much is the Pontiac worth at the end of it all? Now if you compare a Lexus and an Acura (read Florida), well, the question gets tougher. While I'm sure there are people out there who when given their choice of free vehicles would take a Grand Am over an LS400, I think we can all agree that it's probably not the best choice over the long haul.

If you're looking for a good winter football read, check out the book Carlisle vs. Army - Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner and the forgotten story of football's greatest battle. I'm about half way through it now, and its very good. You'll learn all kinds of football (& US) history you didn't know - like the first football fields were lined in a checkerboard pattern!

I also don't really know him, but he appears to be a very genuine person, something parents always appreciate. Nothing worse than walking away from a meeting with your kid's teacher or coach feeling like you've just been fed a bunch of BS.

I'm going to throw out another name, Adam Hicks. He's a great kid, very athletic, did a great job on 7/8 Red last season, but is home-schooled. I'd love to see him play for Highlands, but I don't know what his parents have decided for him. I've joked about it with his parents a bit, but if others out there know the Hicks family, start lobbying for Highlands. He was very good at QB last year - throwing & running, and extremely quick on the D line - very rangy (is that even a word?).

Any word on where Streeter is going to school? Jehad Henderson will be interesting to watch. He showed some really nice moves running the ball this past season, and brought some nice wood on D from time to time. Seems like he toughend up as the season went on. True is unbelievably huge. If he gets his motor going next year, watch out!

I grew up in CA and lived for a while in AZ where the Jr. College system is much more developed than back here, and it's a great option for many kids, for many different reasons. Academically, many of the west coast JC's are as good if not better than many of the state colleges, and the tuition is significantly less (it was actually free when I was a student, except for a $50 token fee). Many also have very good athletic programs that are used by specific D1 schools in football, basketball & baseball as feeder programs. My cousin's kid just finished 2 years of basketball at a CA JC where I believe 3 of his teammates were from NY, getting their grades up so they could attend the state universities that recommended they go there. JC's also give kids a chance to figure out what they want out of life w/o spending larger 4-year school tuition fees, or commiting to lower-level 4-year programs they're not too sure of.

The proficiency of football fundamentals at Highlands, and how that leads to a level of execution that I believe is unsurpassed in this state, and maybe any other state, just simply cannot be overemphasized in discussions such as this. We can debate about how they and a few other schools achieve this level of execution, but the bottom line is they do, and if you do not, and your athletes are not better by a significant margin, you're going to loose. I’ll give just one example. I watched about 12 Highlands games this year. In those games, their QB was in the spread shotgun formation for all but maybe 2 or 3 plays. Off the top of my head, I don’t know how many total plays Highlands offense ran in those 12 games, but I do know this: I saw exactly ONE bad snap, and ONE late snap by their starting offense. Their center’s rate of proper execution must have been something like 99.999999%. You’d be hard pressed to find a college, or even NFL center that executes with that level of efficiency. And what is that worth? Apparently a state championship.

Four more thoughts on Stanford: 1) John Elway. 2) John Lynch. 3) Number of Stanford alumni arrested while playing in the NFL: zero (OK, I'm guessing, but you get the point). 4) Number of Stanford alumni who played in the NFL and eventually lopped off the domes of their ex-wife & her friend: zero (not guessing on this one). Hmmm.

Dude, Stanford is tied with MIT as the 4th highest ranked university in the entire nation behind only Harvard, Princeton & Yale. If my kid turned down a free Stanford education for UK, I'd freaking ... well, better not say it here.

While I thought he had a great year, the regular season left me wondering if Tony G. was truely D1 material. His play in the post season, however, put those doubts to rest for me. He was excellent, especially in the second half of the championship game. I'm not sure he's Florida or Oklahoma material, but UC, Louisville, you bet.

I'll say this. Playing with small barrel bats in another state for three years forced my son to develop the proper swing mechanics required to get the kind of hits he wanted. Never having seen big barrels used before moving here, I couldn't believe how kids could drive balls deep into the outfield with terrible swing mechanics, or get the same kind of distance with decent swings on terrible pitches. IMO, the big barrel bats retard development of proper swing mechanics and pitch selection in little kids. Wood bats seem to be a different discussion. Most little kids can't handle the weight of wood bats, which also can lead to poor mechanics.

I agree that feel & confidence are by far the biggest factors as long as it's a decent bat from one of the better companies. Just watch the college game. Even at the College World Series, where each team has a contract with TPX, DeMarini or Easton, you'll see players swinging older versions of their less than the top of the line models. :idunno: I do feel that different types of bats, however, fit different players swing styles better than others - just like different golf swings call for different shafts.

I'm not him, but I did stay at a Holidy Inn Express last night.

Sorry to be off-topic, but I couldn't pass on this examaple of exactly why open-rollment, school-choice or whatever you want to call it is a GOOD thing. If students weren't leaving due to open-enrollment policies at other schools/districts, what motivation would Scott have to improve? They could continue to provide what apparently at least a couple hundred families feel is an inferior educational product, and the kids would have no other public school option. If Scott doesn't like what's happening, then they should improve themselves! Improve their academics, improve their athletics, improve their extracurriculars. Competition is always a good thing!

To me, that quote pretty much says it all. It makes no sense to have only 1 class for baseball.

I don't disagree with you, assuming there are SWOL teams readily available to play on, which in the Ft. Thomas area, they're generally not. The overwhelming majority of SWOL teams are based in the the Kenton/Boone county areas, or Ohio. Many parents are not able or willing to get their kids to 5:00 or 5:30 practices two or three times/week when the drive time to get there borders on a half hour. Money becomes an issue with SWOL teams also, with total costs significantly higher than other lower level leagues. A freshman team would provide a much lower cost, more convenient option for many Highlands 8th graders - and being connected with the high school hopefully would motivate more kids to stay in the game. I do agree with you, however, that the experience of playing in the SWOL would be excellent for anyone.