UCRN

Pat will stay in Lexington because he is a man of his word. He didn't choose Joker, he chose UK. The next regime will open the QB competition and Pat may prevail. I positively know he will be working diligently (as he is now) to attain the starting role. I still believe Pat will have an excellent career at UK, graduate from there, and one day be Guvnah Towles from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

bump

Birds better not be cocky...CovCath has the weapons this year. To coin a phrase: "Fear the Bir". I saw a lot of routes that were wide open but passes were dropped or poorly thrown by Bird opponents this year. That won't happen against CovCath. But I have the ultimate faith in Coach Weinrich's D and know Coach Dill will come up with schemes to get pressure. And the comment previously made about Highlands' TE was so TRUE! (pun intended!) With that said my prediction...HHS 27 - CovCath 24.

Hopefully the Big East can steal an ACC team like Boston College.

Not with the $50 million buyout. CBK now has the cream-puff schedule he needs to get FB into the national polls. FB will join ACC when contract with NBC expires. Conference champ game will allow him to survive regular losses to Michigan and SoCal. Did anyone really think they's join Big 10? OSU, Michigan, Wisc, MSU....they'd be a middle of the pack team perenially.

I think you are exactly right about Birds working real hard on the passing game again this week. To beat CovCath, the Birds are going to have to be able to pass the ball well consistently. The last time we lost to CovCath (back in 06) we had a very strong running game and only an iffy passing game. CovCath figured that out in the regular season game and packed the box in the playoff game making it very difficult to move the ball. So I say, throw, throw and throw the ball some more this week. Get the finest edge possible on the passing game in preparation for CovCath.

Did the second coming of Jim Otis just utter the phrase "throw, throw and throw the ball some more this week." ??? BLASPHEMY! lol Hopefully you are talking about PRACTICE....because for the Birds to "get the dub", they are going to have to step up their game in regards to pass-D!! Bir is the best "chukker" Cov-Cath has had since Johnny Quast in the 70's! Hopefully Coach Weinrich has been working on some disguises and better technique for the D-backs! Special teams may have to be special for either team to win this one.

Gotta give props out to the O-Line of Cincy. Munchie-man had time to scan and deliver, backs had holes to scamper through...Big #18 Kelce looks VERY good as a pass recieving TE who can "ruuuuuumble" with the ball. Blair #51 had an excellent game and looks as if he will fill JK's shoes quite nicely. Our DE's were outstanding #99 Dan Giordano and #54 Walter Stewart were creating havoc all night...only because the other guys on the D-line were doing some "heavy lifting"! #91 Adam Dempsey was selected by his teammates to carry the City of Cincinnati flag out onto the field when the team entered. Quite an honor for the walk-on from Ft. Thomas Highlands! Oh, by the way, the boy also earned his first D1 college start and acquitted himself very nicely. Packed house, STUDENT SECTION WAS ACES!!!!, ESPN in the house and the Bearcats SHINED! AND....Samantha Steele is very pretty! Erin who???

I love them. Don't think there are plans to at this point but the hype they got yesterday might change that...

Bowl game attire for this year?

Hey...just wanted to let the Border Bowl People know...Former Border Bowl Defensive MVP, Adam Dempsey #91, will be opening his season on national TV (ESPN) tonite for the Cincinnati Bearcats against Pitt. He IMMENSELY enjoyed his time at the Border Bowl, made a lot of friends, and has very fond memories of the experience! I encourage anyone nominated to participate.

PS. did anyone find my wife's camera yet? LOL!

Prayers out for this young man!

Top Ten reasons to go see the Bearcats win.

10. Nippert Stadium sells beer! :thumb:

9. Nippert is nearing a sell-out.

8. students on campus with switch to semesters

7. Outstanding o-line returning, led by former Bengals son, Austen Bujnoch.

6. Beer is sold inside the stadium! :clap:

5. QB Munchie makes the Cats Legeaux, geaux, geaux!!

4. Would you rather stay home and watch/listen to Obama?

3. No NFL on TV...come join the "Black-out"

2. Did I mention the beer and co-eds at Nippert?

1. Local boy, former Highlands standout, and current walk-on Adam Dempsey will lead the Cats out of the tunnel carrying the UC flag and just may get his first D1 start on national ESPN TV!!!!!!!! :dancingpa

Didn't I see on BGP somewhere that SoCal opened the John McKay Center at a 7.5 million tab? How does UK match that?

My bumper sticker reads: "My 2 favorite teams are HHS and whoever is playing CovCath"........but in small print there is "except if the team is from Ohio!"

ok...nobody has mentioned it....but what in the good Lord's name was the problem with the squelching PA? I mean the sound system at DCM has been crappy for,,,oh...40 years...but tonite was borderline criminal! Kudos to the dance team for a great performance under less than ideal conditions.

"Big Bad" John is, indeed, a fine example of the many volunteers that toil anonomously behind the scenes to make the high school experience special for the kids, athletically and academically. They are at most every school and I have just two words for them..."THANK YOU!"

No disrespect, but if Lumpy did it (and he did it very well), I'm quite confident that Grubbs, Schlosser and Dierig could have done it too (and just as well, I might add).

Not to tell the Emperor he has no clothes on, (including the "likes"), but bad knees, bad ankle/shoulder, conditioning issues all factor in to platooning. It's hard enough to do it at a high level and almost impossible to do at a high level being "nicked". That '09 team was something else...but they also prolly led the leagues in "nicks"!

:lol:

Since we went to a two platoon system (in 09) with heavy rotation within the 2 platoons, Highlands hasn't started near as strongly as we used to. It used to be we were in mid season form at the first game. While we improved some, the percentage of improvement wasn't real big. Now, we come out of the gate much slower. I've talked to several non-Highlands coaches about it and they agree with me that the two platoon system forces Highlands to place a lot more inexperience on the field at the beginning of the season; much more than they did before they went to the two platoon system. Take the 09 season for example. Without the two platoon system, in the first game, you have Roller starting at LB and at TE; you have Buten starting at WR and at Corner; you have Schlosser starting at OG and either starting or getting significant reps on the DL. Same with Grubbs. Combs may have played some LB in addition to starting at Center. Dierig may have started at OG, as well as played Dline if Grubbs and Schlosser had played some DL too. Point is, that had we not two platooned in 09, you'd have have senior players with game experience at multiple positions in the first game. that helps coming out of the gate big time.

 

But with a two platoon system, you have a lot of inexperience at the beginning of the season. You are having more juniors and sophomores either starting or being rotated in. You have a lot of experimenting with kids to see who are the best players. As the season goes on, the coaches figure out who are the best of the 6 or 7 d linemen or who are the best of the LBers being looked at early in the season. As the season develops, those players selected gain experience. They get a huge amount of coaching as they are only practicing one position on one side of the ball.

 

These days, Highlands at the end of the season is a completely different animal than it is at the beginning of the season.

 

Plus, as you pointed out, the coaches figure out the strengths and weakness of those ultimately selected to start, and they make adjustments. Regular season game against CovCath last year and CovCath ran the ball down our throats the entire game much like Boyle did in the first half. 4 weeks later Elder had limited success running the ball against us; 7 weeks later Johnson Central had little success running the ball against us; 8 weeks later a CovCath team that had ran through us like Swiss Cheese in the regular season, had extremely little success running the ball.

 

PP92 may be right about Highlands not winning state. But I've watched Highlands as close as any one over the years. I've seen Highlands improve dramatically during the course of the year since we went to the two platoon system. I'm not betting against them, that is for certain.

LN, ain't no way, no how some of those '09 linemen go both ways. Roller, yes, Collinsworth, yes, Bardo, yes...I'll stretch and say Combs, yes...other than that the platoon system is it. And I feel that the Birds need to "selectively"

have a couple two-way players ala that big ol' Lumpy #63 in '08.

The Draper family has been strong for many years, as I know them personally. Prayers go out to them in their time of need. God Bless them, Mr. & Mrs. Draper now have two angels looking down on them..

Prayers to the Draper family from my family and all of Bluebird nation in this immense time of sadness. It's times like this that really bring home how trivial the inter-school bantering is, as we are all one family in God's eyes and when one is in pain, we all are in pain. To have two children taken to the Lord so early is just unfathomable to me. Ralphie and Theresa are wonderful people and fabulous parents. May the Lord shine His blessings down upon you as Evan is reunited with his brother in Heaven.

If this year's game can be like the last 2, it will be fun to watch, win or lose. It's up there this year, the day after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure we will be making this one, due to my father's health.

Sorry to hear of your Dad's health problems. I'll add him to the prayer list.

Swamp...love that post #34! Just got back from "Family Day" at Higher Ground for the Bearcats! As Al Bundy would say "Lets rock!" Are you ready for some footbaaaaaaaaaaa-l? I am! Good luck this year...except that "one" game (wink-wink)

Congrats to the Birds on a "gut-check" comeback victory! Shout out to Coach Weinrich for excellent half-time adjustments and also to "the Magician", Coach Scott Turner, for moldng an O-line that seemed to be busting massive holes in Boyles D-line all night. I reckon' it helps to have a stud like Scotty Jr. leading te troops. (If anyone can post the names of the entire O-line, please do. These boys deserve as much recognition as the stable of horses that tote the ball!) A someone posted in another thread, (albeit about another team) "New year, same Highlands".

Is the RB for NewCath named Hayes related to the RB for Highlands named Hayes? Both seem to be beasts!!

Would you send your son to a school that just had a pedophile as the #2 man in charge of the program you're admtting him to? By NOT disclosing what he knew, and the admininistration also coving it up, Penn State indeed DID have a competitive advantage. I'm sure the recruits PSU have/had also have other options as good as or better. IF given all the facts, school choices may have been altered. My kid wouldn't have gon there (...to play FB!)

Addicted to the "blue meth" show! Can't get enouh!

Impact meaning a player that without them the outcome of the games may have been substantially different. They really made a difference out there. They were game changers

Collinsworth, Sheehan, Roller, Stein, Hurtt, Cecil (pick one), Bardo, Hempfling, Schlosser, Bathiany (K), Dempsey (HHS last two-way player), Bruns, Fitzgerald, Rosenhagen, Laber, Kremer(s)...I think I may have left out about a thousand other worthy names.

It's not "academics" in the strict intellectual sense. Much of it is again driven by money and the amount of research dollars flowing around major universities and the size of endowments DWARF the amount of money even the biggest athletic programs can deliver.

I understand the research dollars, endowments, academic integrity and such can entice universities to bind together around such commonality and form a "conference" (ie Ivy league). That being said, it has little to NOTHING to do with the blatant money grab going on with major college FB. The other sports matter as much as the science department research on moth migration. I truly feel Congress will be looking acutely at this situation and the "golden goose" may be led to slaughter.