Sparky Anderson

It costs $225 per player to participate. Tickets were $12 each. The players are encouraged to solicit sponsors to pay for their fee. One of the players in the game showed me the info for the game. $225 per player - WOW!

I disagree. The college coaches that I have spoken to about this could care less about AAU. They would rather see kids play in a disciplined environment.

AAU is not basketball. It's thug ball. No skills are being taught, no drills are being performed; therefore, no improvement. Playing undisciplined street ball is not the path to improvement. Referees do not help either by not calling fouls, not calling palming, etc. It's just not basketball if you ask me. With all that being said, my son plays on an AAU team!

I was waiting for the cage to be dropped from the ceiling!

WOW is right! St. X has improved sooooo much since AD Donhoff got rid of Bergamini. He wanted the basketball program to go in a different direction and now it has! I hope the re-districting moves that powerhouse Collegiate away from us next year.

I think Rick Browning and Kathrine Edwards are from Louisville. That's a break for the 6th and 7th region teams.

It is an automatic 2 game suspension, so what games will Coach Fookes miss?

First of all, I'm a Louisville guy, but I must say that Boone County got "home cooked" by the officiating. I wanted to see a good game and check out Sydney Moss. What I got for my money was 3 guys in stripe shirts impersonating referees.

BigBoy, that's not nice! I'm not "casual" at all!

I have the utmost respect for those that enjoy doing it and want to get better at it (even the best ones). Unfortunately, when it comes to basketball officials there very few of those types. They are more or less like teenagers; once they put on a striped shirt and whistle, they think they know it all.

Bio, I'm not going to shoot you down, but I take it from your stance that you sit on the bench, coach your team, and NEVER question or say anything to an official during the game. I would have a tremendous amount respect for you if you can honestly say that you let the officials officiate without berating them. And by the way, what's the problem if a game lasts forever. If it's supposed to be for the kids then why are the adults worried about how long a game lasts?

Everybody seems worried that we would have 3 hour games if hand checking was called. I don't think it would take 3 hours to foul everybody out if the hand checking was called. It only takes 5 hand checking calls for a kid to realize that they won't play in the game anymore. Kids are somewhat smart these days. They foul out a couple of times, and I bet they quit hand checking. Worst response regarding hand checking from a referee was that the kids can handle it. Who do referees think they are to determine whether or not a kid can handle the brutality they allow these days? Get rid of the thugs and bring back the skill in basketball I say.

After watching the Lloyd Memorial Tourny, it must have been 50 years and 200 lbs ago, for most of those refs.

I think that was when he shot a free throw.

Fern Creek has won three games in this tournament by playing stupid ball (as other posters have paraphrased). Maybe this 7th region bottom feeder has got one more stupid game in them to win the chanpionship!

My son will turn 19 in May of his senior year. We made our decision about him in pre-school because he was not a bit interested in ABC's in August (when school started) but might have been ready at Christmas time. Our pediatrician made the statement to us at that time that he has never heard a parent state that they wished they would have sent their kids to school a year sooner, but many stating that they wished they would have held them back. If my son benefits athletically because of it then so be it, but that wasn't our motivation with him. It does make me sick though that parents have their kids repeat grades after being promoted because of athletics. I thought there was a KHSAA rule about repeating a grade after the 6th grade. Anybody out there that can share some light on that?

You people need to listen to dawgs83. This person knows what's going on with middle school in Jefferson County. Middle school athletics is a joke. Facilities are not safe, coaches are the school's PE teachers coaxed into coaching (and that's when they have a team), officials are all 1st year guys and gals, they practice maybe 1 or 2 times per week and play 5 or 6 games. At my daughter's middle school, they do not have a softball team, baseball team, track team or tennis team. This year, she is running track for the high school team in her reside area. Next year, she will be doing nothing in the Spring because of this stupid rule. It has nothing to do with her being recruited or not being recruited. It has nothing to do with an athletic scholarship. It has nothing to do with anything other than the incompetent, stupid and lazy athletic administration of JCPS taking opportunities away from kids.

And there's always a head or asst coach that gets one of their kids on the team year in and year out. Five (5) kids from the Louisville area on the team? I must have missed something this year because I didn't realize that the 6th and 7th region had so much more talent than the rest of the state.

Hiring Tackett really sounds like a big change with the KHSAA. Who are we kidding? The more things change, the more things stay the same.

You have just confirmed what this thread is all about. A coach makes a mistake = he pays. A player makes a mistake = he pays. A referee makes a mistake = give them a pass (aka no accountability).

Why do some coaches act the same way?

Ahh! My favorite BGP topic - referees. I agree with the blocks always being called a foul. In Louisville, there are several girls in the 6'-2" - 6'-5" range who block shots. It always seems that the 5'-8" and under referee always calls the foul. They just can't believe that girls can block shots. As far as the referee crew from Louisville, 2 of 3 are just flatout terrible. Have no idea how they could ever be considered for a state tournament - other than politics within the KBOA. I feel sorry for the the 3rd official who got stuck them.

It obviously doesn't take much to be the best referee in the BBA. I would think that you guys on here that are referees would be as arrogant on this message board as your are on the court. You all seem awful touchy. On another note Trojan, I hate to disappoint you, but my high school refereeing days are over. You missed your chance to belittle me. You will just have to do it on the message board.

I love all of the referees on here making excuses for the horrible call. You want to know what their responsiblity is? Get the call RIGHT! I love this "It's not my zone", "It's not my call" crap. That's the problem with basketball officiating. Since they have gone to 3-man crews, I think the officiating has gotten worse. It used to be with 2-guys that they had more coverage, and both officials made calls that "overlapped" their partners coverage - for the purpose of getting it right. Now with 3-man, they spend more time griping about a partner making a call "in their area".

Just be thankful that they are just referees with whistles and not cops with guns. Their attitudes are much to be desired. I stated in another thread that "most" are jerks. That's probably an overstatement, but a lot of them are, and it shows on the court. I've been a referee, a coach, an official scorer, a clock operator, announcer, gym manager, etc. for several years and a number of them walk into the gym with the attitude that "we can't have a game unless I'm here". Then they pull up their pants.