bulldog77

Just as with the "9th region" freshman tournament, it is not really a "REgional" tournament, as in sponsored by the KHSAA. These are basically invitationals and include most teams from the No. Ky. area or at least the three-county area that used to be strictly 9th Region. Not all teams are invted to the freshman tourney just as all teams were not invited to this JV tourney. But, that is why you see SK, Scott, etc. in the tournament.

Are you kidding? Enrollment 345 versus enrollment 2400 is "level?" Just making the rules the same doesn't "level the playing field."

Clearly you're all about bashing someone and have your own agenda. I know what happened and why and the reasoning you infer had very little, if anything, to do with it. Sure, everyone wants a favorable draw, which is exactly why when the "easy fix" didn't favor two other schools it was immediately scratched. It appears no matter what explanation you get you're bent on crucifying ONE school (To quote your previous inaccurate statement). It worked out, the draw still has the favorites in opposite pools and all is well for them.

Unless I'm really bad at this guessing thing, I'm guessing that qualifies you as a pretty seasoned coach. But, you are absolutely correct.

And most seasoned, veteran coaches do exactly that. It's the younger, up and coming guys or the guys that are trying to learn the coaching gig that suffer the most. That and some of their spouses who have to sit in those same stands and listen as their husband or wife is ripped. And no one has a "right" to openly criticize another individual. It may be their choice, but it sure isn't a "right."

Again, I'm sorry but I'd like to correct that observation. The objection WAS raised DURING the actual process and was done subtly in an attempt not to embarrass or belittle the person running the draw. The hint was ignored at the time.

Ummm, just read the other responses.

OT. Bellevue missed two shots at the end of regulation to win it. Hang on in OT to pull it out.

It's all about approach and damage. Being a fan and second guessing are things every armchair quaterback does. Most "fans" love to kibbitz about how a game went. The damage comes in when a fan, a parent or an AAU coach or anybody else clearly degrades a coach, a team or a program merely because they are dissatisfied for personal reasons. Trashing a coach in front of other parents and especially in front of the players (their own son included) shows nothing but disrespect. Disrespect for the position itself if not for the person in the position. This is counterproductive and leads to all kinds of issues with a team and its players. No, a democracy it will never be and should never be. And lastly, you try taking some of the criticisms leveled at some coaches (personal attacks, villification, rumor mongoring) and see if you wouldn't take some of it personally. Despite what you might believe, coaches are human and humans have emotions and feelings. ]

Also very important to note that Monday was a KEA or PD day at most school districts so the kids were not in attendance. I'm sure that had an effect, I know it did with us.

S3 I gotta admit, I did this once in an out of town tournament that we had already won and were playing like the 12th game that week. It was all for fun and we did have fun!! Still won too!

I stand corrected.

Oh my . . . I absolutely believe that!! Nothing surprises me anymore.

You are right on. The good people at Dayton are working very hard on this tournament. I don't believe the person responsible intended to make the mistake but I also believe that person showed poor judgement by not owning up and just admitting the error and making the necessary correction without taking it personally. Coach Dilts and his staff are great folks and should be commended for their efforts all year long.

Hey, and they could hold voting in the lobby after the practice to determine tomorrow's starting line-up. Post opinion pages on the school's web site. Do a parent survey as to what offense they might run. Okay I'm being facetious . . . and that's not fair. But do you have any idea what a can of worms this would open? SOME parents only see what they want to see. SOME parents wouldn't know a flex offense from a foul shot. Opening practices doesn't solve this kind of problem, it adds to it. The biggest problem is that SOME parents don't want to accept the fact that their child might have a deficiency of some sort that keeps them from playing more, or playing at all. Maybe its skill, maybe its attitude, maybe its chemistry. I can't speak for all coaches obviously, but the vast majority I have played for and worked with are hard-working honest people. Yes they make mistakes, they may even be flat wrong at times, but to villify a hard-working coach because you disagree is selfish and misguided. The last part of your statement however is where the real problem lies. MOST people who approach the coach about issues like this do so from the standpoint of "The coach is obviously wrong and I'm going to straighten him out." You cannot please those people no matter what your response. The responsible parents who ask legitimate questions and have had their son or daughter approach the coach themselves FIRST are really an exception to the rule.

Spoken like a true large county school fan.

Sorry, but you have a couple facts wrong. Two schools complained, one just didn't do it publicly. Second, when the offer was made to "fix" the draw in the correct manner, yet another school threw a fit because they would have had a tougher draw. How convenient that you leave that portion of the meeting out entirely. Throw stones all you want, right is right and wrong is wrong. The entire process is laid out on the KHSAA website so that there can be NO questions. Because somebody chose not to do the job correctly is no reason to fault anyone else.

If you are a fan of tough, hard-nosed basketball you have GOT to see this kid play. He epitomizes hard work and effort everytime I've seen him. Worth the price of a ticket and the drive down Rt. 8

You are exactly correct. Why is it that the big schools say "the small schools need to suck it up and compete," while they complain that a blind draw is somehow "unfair" to them? What, they shouldn't be forced to "suck it up and compete?" The ENTIRE rest of the state tournament is based on a blind draw or modified blind draw (Regionals). Why such an uproar over the Districts?

This one is simple. Those players at the smallest schools DO work their butts off and do SOMETIMES pull off the giant upsets. But the FACTS of the matter are that smaller schools simply don't have the bodies available to them to compete with a Highlands, or other large school. Not every district has that problem but there are some that do. The whole public /private debate to me was such a joke when by far the most glaring inequity in high school sports is the single class competition in basketball. baseball and other sports. I'll gladly compete with a NewCath and work like crazy to play up to their standard of competition, but expect a small school to routinely compete with the like of Male, PRP, Henry Clay, etc. is simply ridiculous and self serving. At this time the only recourse available to small schools is to force the issue by forcing blind draws.

Wrong. Not everyone else does. Not gonna happen.

No comment

Yes the draw was conducted incorrectly. Conducted is the wrong word, the bracket was laid out incorrectly and submitted. KHSAA was involved and did state that a redraw would be necessary. Not sitting well with a couple of people who had "nice" draws but right is right and wrong is wrong.

You must also remember that in the case of Bellevue and Dayton and schools of similar size that every sport shares the same athletes. the basketball players are also the guys playing football, baseball and running track. AAU is exactly where advanced development can take place, but remember these kids are also committing to summer baseball, summer conditioning for football, football practice in August as well has trying to hold down a job in some cases. As usual with small schools, it comes down to a numbers issue. The younger kids definitely need AAU ball and the coaching staff is trying to arrange to promote just that. Long term commitment to the program is essential.

S3, as usual is right on the money. What Yeagle did at Beechwood was a nearly miraculous thing. Success like that doesn't come often. Mike will build a good solid program at Lloyd and will meet with success I feel. But to have expectations of repeating his enormous feats at Beechwood is unrealistic frankly. The time was right, the athletes were right, the copmpetition was right, the stars and the moons aligned etc.