KentuckyJAM

Wood ford has no connections to the 8th. Franklin County makes more sense or move in Ryle it is closer to the 8th. This was a political move to appease Scott County. Wood ford guy on board of control. He gets his school in an easier region and Scott County separates their schools in their district. This does not pass the smell test. KHSAA is so dirty they don't even try to cover up their corruption.

Except for the fact that the only request Scott County's BOE made was to have both schools play in the same district.

I know Frederick Douglass is the 5th team in one of the Lexington districts. Will #5 out of that district not make the playoffs? There's not another 3 team district to send that team off to.

The fifth-place team in Class 6A, District 7 will not qualify for the playoffs in 2017 and 2018.

I hear you.

 

We never know exactly what we are seeing after just one or two games.

 

I would love to see Lafayette crank it up this year, we need some Lexington Power in 6A.

It'd certainly be cool to see some local teams make it interesting this season.

Do you believe Lafayette will compete for a title in 6A this year?

I'm not willing to say yes or no outright based on one game and having not seen Trinity/St. X/teams of those ilk in person, but I think they've certainly got the talent to make a deep run. Gonna need those junior skill guys to play a big role if it's going to happen.

Did this start at 7:00? How is it already over?

It started at 6 actually. It was the first game of a double-header (Scott-Tates Creek was the capper. Another rout from what I saw.)

Walker Wood really impressed me in person. A bit indecisive but makes up for it with his improvisational skills. Lafayette size was just too much for PLD.

Nate Gay's definitely someone to look out for. I think the PLD sophomore's got a bright future ahead of him. Dunbar could have made it closer but they kept shooting themselves in the foot in red zone situations.

Appreciate that a lot.

^^^

 

Good job with everything as well!

Thanks a lot sir. I tweeted a link out to the top 50 earlier. Sometimes Twitter links will act differently thank direct links. Might have luck there?

'Fraid I can't do that. Can't bite the hand that feeds :-)

I appreciate all the support, folks. I hope to do Inez proud.

What are some of the things you'd all like to see, especially in a weekly notebook?

There will be a special football section this Friday, yessir, along with exclusive videos and blog posts throughout the week.

Mike Fields retired from the Lexington Herald-Leader after this past academic year. He did a marvelous job covering Central Kentucky high school sports and this time of year he always had a good flow of articles about the area football teams.

 

LHL has have almost no coverage of high school football this season. There is the ever present daily article on UK football. And that is OK. But that seems to come at the expense of almost any coverage at the prep level. High school coverage in the LHL since Mike has left is all but non-existent.

 

For those wanting to get some insight into Central Kentucky this year here is a link to WKYT's 27 teams in 27 days.

 

Kentucky Local News | WKYT | 27 Teams

Replacing Mike Fields (and Mark Maloney, who also retired and handled a lot of high school soccer, softball and girls' basketball for us) will be tough, but it's the job I'm tasked with so it's something I'm gonna pour my soul into.

Rest assured, the HL will continue to serve high schools under my watch. We'll have a ton of stuff online and in print starting this week.

Welcome to the site KJ! Looking forward to reading your articles and hope to interact with you here on BGP!

Thanks, nku. Likewise!

Don't forget the West.

 

Congrats and good luck.

There's a great deal of talent out there. It might be the state's biggest hotbed right now. Definitely can't forget it !

Welcome aboard. Will you be covering the All-A basketball tourney this January? Had the pleasure of having Mike Fields seated to my right for 4 days the last two years.

I can't confirm now but it's a huge event that I expect to be in attendance for. We'll have to see come winter to say for certain, though.

To be quite honest with you, the only thing that I have went to the HL for over the last few years was the Fields' Notes section every Friday. I always looked forward to reading those and then if a headline caught my eye while trying to find those, then I would click and read on, but the Fields' Note were the main thing for me. I would love to see something similar because you could do quick, bullet point style writing and cover a great deal of the coverage area in one article. Of course you won't be able to cover every team, but to see the random mentions from schools that get little to no coverage was neat.

Fields' notebook was a treasure cove of information and something I look forward to continuing in my own manner. The depth of his expertise in gathering that knowledge is something that'll be impossible to emulate (you don't just walk in on the job and replicate 40 years of experienced reporting), but I'm confident I'll be able to do things that make my work a prime destination for all HS sports fans. Stay tuned!

Welcome aboard. :thumb:

Thanks, Deuce! Glad to see this forum is so full of welcoming folks.

Welcome! It's awesome that you are so connected to what you do that you will reach out and join BGP to make the H-L/fan connection more of a relationship. It will be nice to share perspective, and hopefully some lively discussions can be had.

If it weren't for fans of all types -- coaches, parents, students, toddlers, -- there wouldn't be coverage of sports period. Who's keeping up with these things if not the fans?

Thrilled to have you join our BGP family. Can't wait to read your input in the basketball forums. If you needs scores or info on teams/players. Just ask, we have many knowledgeable posters on here. I just followed you on twitter. I love keeping up with teams and players from all regions.

You've been super kind in my short foray into joining, Goldie. I can't wait to interact with ya as time goes on.

Welcome to BGP and good luck in your new position!

Thanks so much, lawildcat.

Welcome, sir.

 

You familiar with Gene Bartow?:lol2:

I bet that got him searching through the google machine. I am sure Josh would rather think of himself as Tommy Lasorda, versus Gene Bartow.

Ha! I was familiar with Bartow, actually. Here's hoping I can at least be a Joe B.

I am not sure about the HL. But being from NKY, look at what the KY Enquire has been doing, and do the exact opposite! The number one reason who stopped that paper is the tremendous lack of local HS sports.

 

Good Luck at the HL, and welcome!

I can't speak for what the Enquirer does in print or on its website, but I'm going to make every effort to have high schools represented well at the Herald-Leader.

Berea named interim coach Michael Tate their permanent head coach yesterday.

Welcome aboard KJ!

 

I look forward to your contributions to BGP.

Thanks a bunch!

Welcome to BGP & best of luck in the new job! :thumb:

Thank you, Randy. Big shoes to fill, but I'm confident/crazy enough to take it on!

Welcome to BGP KJ, I think you will love it here...looking forward to reading your input.

Many thanks Jumper_Dad. Look forward to reading ya'll's comments as well.

Well, now you've hit on the information gold mine Josh.

 

And I rescued my wife from Inez many moons ago as a SC grad. Good people in the Turkey Creek neck of the woods. I have many friends from Beauty and Lovely.

The best thing Martin County has to offer is its people. The salt of the Earth, most of them.

Good to have you aboard!

Thanks mcpapa!

Welcome aboard I love reading the Herald keep up the good work. Can you start including NKY football teams?

I want every corner of the state to feel welcomed at the H-L and Kentucky.com. I won't lie; lengthy game stories aren't likely going to happen for NKY teams but there's no reason we can't find ways to share and tell those schools' stories in other ways.

Welcome aboard, Josh. The Herald-Leader is definitely one of the go to sites for prep sports news in Kentucky.

Thanks for the kind welcome, colonel-fan. I look forward to keeping that the case! I know it can be difficult to find papers (especially in smaller areas), but I want EVERY county to feel welcomed and appreciated on our website.

Welcome Josh. Hope you find a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction in your new job. Don't forget to interact on the site here from time to time during the different sports seasons. You will find lots of good info here too.

Thanks, BigVMan! I'm thrilled to take on the opportunity. I look forward to being a part of this community. Sure it'll be a good place from which to glean nuggets of info and positive relationships.

...and I hope to serve as many fans of Kentucky high school sports as possible! I've been doing a bit of leg work for a month now in preparation for the upcoming fall sports season and have already written some stories you may have read. (Before taking a short vacation, I most recently covered Kash Daniel's announcement since Ben Roberts was en route to cover the Peach Jam.)

Here's a little bit about me. I'm from a small eastern Kentucky town called Lovely and graduated from Sheldon Clark in 2009. I got my bachelor's degree in Integrated Strategic Communication (advertising focus) and English from UK. I've been at the Herald-Leader for nearly six years, starting as a very part-time news assistant, becoming a full-time copy editor about two years ago and now realizing a dream of actually being paid real American dollars to write about sports. I'm a huge NBA fan (Go Cavs!) and own a decent-sized Power Rangers collection.

You may have heard that Mike Fields retired from the Lexington Herald-Leader in June. Mike is a tremendous individual who did more for high school athletics than is calculable with his top-notch insight, ears-to-the-ground approach and love for all things preps. It takes a special human being to stick around on the high school beat for as long as Mike did; I can only hope to do it justice. Mark Maloney, who aided in our high school coverage as well as many other events, has retired too, making the transition all the more exciting/terrifying!

Part of doing it the job justice involves re-examining what works best and what doesn't work so much in the digital world. Moving forward Kentucky.com will become an even more integral part of how we approach athletics coverage at the Herald-Leader.

My question to you is, what do you want from us? What has the H-L done that you liked? Didn't like? What would you like to see more of from us? This board is home to an array of the state's most passionate high school sports fans; your opinions matter!

If you don't mind, please spread the word that a new man is handling things at the H-L. You can follow me on Twitter @HLpreps. In the coming weeks I'll have a blog up and running that I hope you'll bookmark, too.

Only 49 days until football kicks off. Can't freakin' wait! Thanks for your time.

(Some recent photos of me. If you spot me on the street feel free to say hello!)