ft bronc

What the....? :idunno: You do realize this is a Highlands thread, right?

If the three classes in front of them are any guide, some of those 8th graders who chose not to come out for baseball this year will come out as freshman. Not sure why they do this, but my guess is that as middle schoolers, they might be a little intimidated stepping into a high school team. The current soph class has one very good baseball player who didn't come out until his frosh year, and has actually picked up a couple more kids this season who sat out their middle school & frosh years.

Are there things at play here besides just sports? I have nothing to do with SK or any other Kenton County schools, but isn't SK kinda seen as a "rural" school, with Dixie a little more "urban"? That would have had a large impact on where I chose to go to school, sports or no sports.

Turner, Thurston, Saunders,...again no lack of size there.

Given the length of that list of schools, I wonder if there are some dynamics at play in Maryland different from KY. Otherwise, I can't imagine why that many schools wouldn't want to play for their state's championship.

It's the new bat performance standard replacing the older BESR rating. The NCAA started using it last season, and KY high schools this year. It dramatically reduces the "pop" of the bats, which of course reduces the speed of the hit ball. The changes in college ball were fairly dramatic, although the stats posted above don't necessarily reflect it. The BBCOR bats appear to very closely resemble the performance of wood bats. In fact, many college players last season complained they would rather just use wood.

2011 was the first year for BBCOR bats in college baseball. Not coincidentally, the single season ERA record was broken in 2011 by UCLA's Trevor Bauer.

This is a great subject. Here's some quotes from Augie Garrido, the winningest college coach of any kind, in any sport, at any level, on small ball: "Nobody hits a home run every time he steps to the plate, so why swing for the fences when it is so much easier to lay down a bunt, take a walk, or hit a ground-ball single and get on base? My contention is that we should use the best weapons available to us." "Our offensive strategy is based not on hitting but on scoring runs." "If your strategy relies on doing the big flashy things such as belting home runs, great pitching will beat you every time. But with small ball, you can kill them with a thousand cuts." "Today, the Longhorns practice bunting for twenty minutes during every practice in the preseason and at least twice each week during the season itself. Every player is required to master bunting." "Our offensive system rewards people not just for the usual glory plays but also for making productive outs, for advancing and scoring runners, for putting down bunts, taking walks, and even taking strikes that aren’t located in the right place for the hit we need." And on the results of his small-ball system: "We were 14-3 and ranked No. 3 in the nation. We had racked up only 6 hits more than our opponents so far in the season, but we had scored 26 more runs. Eye-opening, isn’t it?" "In the 2009 regular season, we had 22 fewer at bats than our opponents, but we had 125 more hits and 154 more runs. That happens when you keep people in position to score." If you haven't read Augie's book yet, I highly, highly recommend it.

The article appears to be mostly speculation, but I said this in another thread a month or so ago, within the next 10 to 15 years, there will be some significant, fundamental change to the game of football. The handwriting is on the wall. Our litigious society will not allow a mainstream activity to continue that leaves it's participants with permanent mental & psychological damage. If you don't believe that damage is occurring, then you have your head in the sand. As more & more former NFL players are autopsied, the linkage back to non-concussion, repetitive head trauma will only become stronger, and the lawsuits will increase in frequency and magnitude. Change is most definitely coming. The real question is, what will that change look like?

I sure would like to see the kid get a shot in a decent program. He was absolutely phenomenal to watch this past season. Working against him getting that D1 full ride is most likely his size, but in his favor are blazing speed with an ability to grab overdrive when already going flat-out, nice hands, and a very nice ability to go get the ball where it's at (see long TD grab against Elder if you don't know what I'm talking about). Best of luck to Ozzie!

Probably still thinking about the 22 points he dropped on New Cath the other night. Oops, sorry, wrong sport.

Is consensus opinion that he'll stay at receiver? I'd be awful tempted to put him in a position where he'd touch the ball more often.

The mountain schools will never have post-season success until they bring their offenses into this century. There's no way they can compete running the individual cup formation, which the NKY schools abandoned years ago in favor of the run & squirt. The run & squirt is only effective, however, with the latest in bottle technology, of which HHS has unfair access to through connections with former NFL players.

All credibility gone.

The first time I saw an article with "leather helmets" in the headline, I thought it was nuts, but after reading the article & giving it some thought, there really is some validity to that line of thinking. Go back to leather helmets & shoulder pads and everyone would have to learn how to block & tackle correctly again. The days of leading with your head would be OVER. And if you think speed kills now,....

Ram, our school also uses the Revos & Revo Speeds, but we have gotten pretty good service out of them. Breakage - that I know of, we have had one break in a similar manner just forward of the ear hole on the portion that kinda protrudes forward to protect the jaw area, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. Facemask retention - no problems at all. It took a while to get used to the new quick-connections on the Speed, but once figured out, no problems. Helmets coming off - Personally, I don't think this has anything to do with brand of helmet, but rather type of chinstrap. The new hard plastic chin straps all the kids want to wear seem to not grab the chin as well as the soft leather chin pocket on the traditional chinstraps. The foam inside the plastic allows the pocket to move more on the chin, and traps sweat as well - not a good combination for retention. I do understand why the kids want to wear them, however, as I suffer from jaw problems today caused by getting hit in the chin by helmets 30 years ago. Hope this helps.

Am I the only one with the gut feeling that litigation will drive some fundamental change in the game of football within the next 15 years? Despite the increased media coverage concussions have received over the past 4 or 5 years, IMO, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of this issue. The autopsies performed on former NFL players have really only just begun, but already there have been surprising findings. Many experts now believe that you don't even need to suffer a true concussion during your playing days to suffer from diminished brain function later in life due to the cumulative effect of the "normal" pounding your brain receives in football. I worry/predict that jury awards will one day drive insurance companies to withhold coverage of schools & leagues unless significant change is made.

A key to success for any organization is constant evaluation of what you're doing versus the results you're getting. Sounds like Ryle is doing that and I would expect them to bounce back next year and continue moving forward.

From what I saw, Beau did a fine job with the frosh team this past season, but I would be very, very surprised to see him pass Drew on the depth chart. Best of luck to both kids.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times; competition is (with very, very few exceptions) always the way to go!

Last night I watched both of HHS's kick returns for TD's against Lex Cath in the semi's, and in both cases the HHS returner began to pump his arm forward, not up, in celebration before reaching the endzone (luckily his arm without the ball!). This would be a good one to discuss how this rule is applied, because in each case it was 100% CLEAR that the HHS player was celebrating out of excitement, not taunting the opposing team in any way, and in neither case was a flag thrown. IMO, the officials handled it perfectly - they met the intent of the rule without being unnecessarily rigid towards a kid who was clearly sky-high with excitement and emotion.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" It's freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. Nowhere in the constitution will you find a "separation" of church and state. I like it.

The rule used in the Cathedral game was that of the NCAA. Are we certain that the NCAA rule includes a ban on "celebratory" as well as "taunting" gestures? The article I read yesterday, stated the new-for-this-year NCAA rule included a ban on only "taunting" gestures, which I would not consider the QB raising his arm to be.

I also agree that good points have been made on both sides of this argument, and I waffle back and forth on what's best, but you can feel the tide coming in. Some time within the next four or five years, there will be an ESPN promoted, high school national championship game. Everything professional - rules, equipment, celebrations, taunting, travel, schemes, uniforms, television - has migrated down from the professional ranks, through college, to the high school level. Sports are now an enormous part of American culture. Fans nationally would eat-up a high school national championship game. For better or worse, in my opinion, it's inevitable. In the early '60s, the Dad of a friend of mine was drafted in the second or third round by the Los Angeles Chargers of the then AFL. But already having two kids, he declined in order to get his credential to become a high school teacher to support his family. Anyone not think sports in America have changed?

Actually Sweep, that is only true with a certain type of tires know as "unidirectional." If you're unsure of which you have, please consult the owner's manual which came with your vehicle, or contact the manufacturer of the tire.