Straitshooter

Lafayette also plays Paris week 3. I wonder if that is a typo.

That's the irony in the Broncos mascot...broncos are wild and don't live around here.

How are they a cluster in athletics? Their volleyball team was state runner-up and the farthest a public school has ever made it. Their boys soccer team won the state championship. Baseball is ranked in the top 25. Swim won the combined state championship. They have had the same football coach for 5 years (that is an eternity in FCPS). Their athletic director passed away so that is unfortunate. The boys basketball coach is moving to the AD role. The school administration situtation is certainly odd but to say their athletics is a cluster doesn't seem accurate or fair to the school that is going through a lot by no fault of their own.

All FCPS schools have to play each other in every sport, even if they aren't in their district or class, in this case. It works both ways too. I think most FCPS schools would rather not play Douglass.

You aren't seeing a lot of coaches in the profession standing up for an "unfair" dismissal for a reason.

This website isn't strong enough to host all other straws that led to this. It should've been done last year.

The Carter G Woodson Academy is the single biggest athletic advantage in the state. It is housed at Douglass and just makes it so much easier to get the talent in there. Jamarrion Harkless may not be in that academy but a good number of their players are.

If you believe that then I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you. My guess is Lafayette wrote that letter and said "sign this".

You may be right, but I also think they had no choice but to flex their muscle. From what I have heard, this was a no-brainer and a dodged bullet for the school.

Maybe not right now, but it is just February. The end is not far off and they will be ok with the right person- a good role model and teacher.

I think more importantly, hopefully the kids come out of this with someone that is going to be a good role model. Looks like Lafayette may have dodged a bullet there.

I think some things came to light from his time at BE, from what I have heard.

He was the prison chaplain down there. Those jobs move around a lot I think. I am sure he just had to relocate.

I think Alex Matthews is pretty happy teaching and coaching at Lafayette. I wouldn't be surprised to see him take on a bigger role at Lafayette in the very near future.

If there's not, we will have a lot bigger problems in our world.

Another great coach. The Sweet 16 is going to be full of guys with experience at Rupp. This should be a fun week.

Collins will have the best player on the floor. Male might have the next 5. I'm sure both of these teams would like this matchup to have been later in the tournament but it will be fun.

Berea is in a travel-challenged district with Eminence, KCD, and Frankfort. Those are some long bus rides for a team that struggles to field a team year in and year out. Best of luck to someone!

Damon Kelley is an underrated coach. He's now taken West Jessamine to the Sweet 16 twice and took Lafayette once before that. He's had a pretty successful career. I believe he was also the top assistant when Lafayette won the state championship in 2001.

It simply isn't a priority for most of the schools in the area of the state I live, and maybe because of that I will never fully understand it. For true "A" schools it is probably a great thing. At the 2A level the number of teams that have a legitimate chance of winning the real title increases exponentially and I think that tournament is pretty useless.

I am not against classification. At least at that point it would be run by the governing body of KY HS sports, a real trophy would be given, all teams would participate, and it would be at the end of the season. Classes would not be arbitrary as KHSAA gets enrollment numbers from KDE and regularly evaluates class sizes. Look, coming from the perspective of someone that has experience in a district with an "All A" school it is really annoying that this tournament holds everyone's schedule hostage for 3 weeks in middle of the season and these "All A" schools refuse to schedule other games during that time because they might still be playing in a tournament when we are trying to get the necessary district games in.

I think the irony in all this is a large percentage of people on this board Probably think there are too many participation trophies given out but they sure do love their mid-season tournament that eligibility is determined by an arbitrary number.

What region are the officials for this tournament from? If you get a group of refs that are not used to the style and pace of play that the Louisville schools play at it can be a rough week. I'm sure that if they did a good job in this one, it bodes well for their week.

I'm going to put together a tournament and invite Adair, Allen County-Scottsville, Anderson County, Apollo, Ashland Blazer, Atherton, and Augusta and call it the All A State Championship. It carries just as much weight as what they do now.