quickslick

I know .... I know .. BS. The proposal submitted from Boys Soccer requested 3 years .. not using school facilities ... but that is BS. Again ... I am listening ... please share your ideas on how things can work. As far as the 7th grade/8th grade playing against high school kids in soccer and football ... that 2015-2016 rule book should be out any day now!!!

I know .. I know ... lets continue to try to nail a square peg in a round hole. As long as the soccer team gets their way ... everyone else is just making excuses. Until you actually come to Beechwood and see what goes on in regard to facilities .. or lack there of ... it is extremely hard to find you credible. I said before--if you have any ideas on how things can work ... I am all ears. (Pretty funny that you again refuse to recognize that the soccer program submitted a proposal that said they would be off school grounds for 3 years). They got what they wanted ... but now ... screw everyone else. They got what they wanted and now they want to change the rules. I find it absolutely amazing that, instead of sticking to the plan that THEY WANTED, it is time for a full court press that includes slandering other coaches, players and programs (and YES .. that happens daily--and it is the only reason why I am tired of keeping quiet). Instead of trying to build relationships ... it is apparently easier to come down on the field when other teams have time scheduled ... and then wonder why programs take issue with how things are done. I will leave you with this to address your last point .. besides boys soccer ... 4 other sports at Beechwood have been added in the past 5 years I can't speak specifically to archery (but I am very confident saying that they have had well over 50 kids since inception) but I can speak to the other 3: Boys Track 2010: 54 Boys (Top 10 Outdoor state/4th indoor state 9 boys 1st/2nd/HM all state) Boys Track 2011: 65 Boys (Top 10 Outdoor state/2nd indoor state 13 boys 1st/2nd/HM all state, Middle school state champion in 1600) Cross Country (Girls/Boys) 2013 Girls: 25 (Earned state qualifier--4th place in the toughest region in Class A, 1 First team all state runner, 4 All NKY Runners plus numerous other honors) Boys: 22 (1 state qualifier, Shared football player 1st team all state, 3 middle school boys first team all state) 2014 Girls: 24 (5th place in Class A State championship, 2nd place team in toughest Class a Region in the state, numerous team wins high school and middle school) Boys: 27 (6th out of 13th--after not having enough high school boys for the 2013 regional, Boys middle school 2nd in toughest region in the state, 1 HM all state, 3 middle school boys all state, best NKY finish in middle school state championship) (*Not to mention ... the numbers are up again this year for the boys ... ) Keep in mind--those sports had to follow a much more rigorous process to become "programs" at Beechwood. There were no falsified numbers. There were no parents in the hallways righting down names of kids they had never spoken to. The eventual head coach for the above programs was not permitted in interest meetings. There were certain higher ups who tried to derail cross country--because they were already feeding the soccer contingent the line that boys soccer would be added in 2014. And when you think about the fact that there were 40 kids interested in cross country via the KHSAA interest survey versus the 3 kids listed for soccer ... please continue to tell me that "where there is a will ... there is a way". I guess that is right ... if you are talking about inside deals and intentionally providing inaccurate numbers miss stating interest. I would say that pretty much blows your argument out of the water. I am not even going into the part where the soccer parents got to appoint the coach that they wanted ... when other coaches had to basically fight for their lives to get jobs that they were way overqualified for. Boys soccer has gotten their opportunity ... and my thought is ... if they can make it work within the proposal they submitted ... very cool .. no issues from me ... then look at things again and see how everything works with facilities. That is exactly what Boys Track did and Girls/Boys Cross Country. And when you talk about facilities--let me tell you ... we made it work- But I refuse to sit back and watch people play the poor pitiful me act that they boys soccer team is not being treated fairly by Beechwood, by the Beechwood Football team or any other person who isn't a diehard soccer supporter. Maybe spend some time trying to build relationships with other teams and sports--instead of flipping their nose in the air ... complaining about not being treated fairly.

When the field is in use for what? Not sure I understand what you mean?

The baseball outfield doubles as the girls soccer field. No offense or anything ... but are you really going to compare facilities at Dixie to Beechwood? Not sure that helps your argument at all. I will speak to the band though .. there are times when the band is in the parking lot .. which is in horrible shape since the start of the new gym (there used to be teacher parking back there before construction now .. that has been pushed to the main parking area and Krogers .. both of which are a trainwreck). From there ... you have a minimum of 3 teams on the field in the fall ... and more in the spring .. and one to two using the track. (Again .. that does not speak to games at all). Not to mention .. when there is a game .. they lose the parking lot and the field. No clue how many tennis players there are .. no clue how that pertains to this discussion ... but I can tell you that we share the track with them at times when they are conditioning ... If you have ideas how to make all of that work ... bring them to the table. We are certainly listening. Let me be honest though ... your approach sounds like it comes from a person who is not willing to consider the fact that the football team/cross country/girls soccer/band/cheerleading may be the ones who are telling the truth. And as I said before .. the SOCCER TEAM is the group said that they would not use school facilities for their 3 year trial period. (which helped me get over it ... because all construction would be done by then). Then they want to come back and change the terms of their proposal. And by the way ... the BOYS SOCCER team is ALREADY using school facilities!!!! So that slanderous garbage needs to stop ASAP. Speaking about the field ... anyone who knows anything about Beechwood also realizes that the field has some drainage issues that are going to be corrected early in the coming year. That would be a great time to look at the situation again ... even thought it will impact 200 kids in an already bad situation. Whining and bellyaching? Feel free to come over tonight .. I will give you a tour.

I think I did a bad job stating that point ... The person who made that statement to me ... was a higher up-type person who --(who blatantly misled many people) was actually one of the driving forces to ensure that soccer happened .. even thought there was a ton of factual data that spoke to the contrary. And again ... a lot of those people are not around anymore ... I wonder why?

They don't have that many kids playing! I counted 14 yesterday ... from there .. it looked like there were 3-4 kids who I "heard were playing". The facility situation is horrendous. For instance ... Monday Night on the field: Varsity Football Middle School Football Freshman Football Cross Country Girls Volleyball (on the track for conditioning) Do you realize that a new gym is being built on the current soccer field? Do you realize that there are 3 football teams that would not have a place to practice if the field was further utilized? Do you realize that there is a National Championship band with 110+ kids who already wait until late to practice after the football team? That doesn't even go into the games. They have kids who want to play .. but they don't have 60 .. they don't have 40 .. .. it may be 20 .. for 3 teams (and only 8th grade and up can play against high school kids).

You don't have a dog in the fight ... but you are willing to go on record on an internet message board with some pretty serious allegations ... to each his own I guess. More texture: *The plan that the Soccer team SUBMITTED stated that they would not use school facilities for the trial period." Would this program have been approved had they demanded fair and equal usage of school facilities? Probably not. *You are right ... because there were only 3 (yes THREE) kids who checked off as interested on the official KHSAA survey (from there .. some very good people were slandered ... and had their character questioned .. ) .. from there .. high level players tried to manipulate the results .. and bypass KHSAA direction. Again ... 100% fact. But when the group pushing this says .. we won't use school facilities/resources for 3 years ... then people come on a message board and try to act like football and other sports are preventing the soccer team from using the facilities ... it is .. first and foremost not true .. and 2nd .. it intentionally slanders a ton of people. Don't come to the table with a proposal .. .then when you get your way ... try to go back on it ... and try to force people to renegotiate the deal you originally ask for. *Football constantly comes up with this topic ... but I always find it very interesting when I read this thread and people try to act like football was worried about losing kids. NOT TRUE" Football coaches and a couple players didn't show up at the meeting where soccer was approved (or other meetings) and speak against approval? There were 3 football coaches who made appearances at a few of the meetings. There were FORMER players who attended ONE MEETING .. who didn't participate in the conversation at all. Going further .. the football coach NEVER mentioned being worried about losing kids. NEVER. I will tell you straight up ... I did .. because we had a brand new program that was just getting started (and had immediate success on the Varsity/Reserve/Middle School Level). I take full responsibility for that ... but at the end of the day .. I have a responsibility to protect the program that I am responsible for. They deserve to be fought for just as much as the kids who wanted soccer. There were soccer kids there ... and let me tell you why ... because I pulled one of them aside and told him that he should get some of his friends to show up .. so people could see that they were interested. From there .. were no football coaches/cross country coaches at the last few meetings .. we accepted the fact that it was going to happen .. even though a certain group of "supporters" did some very questionable things to find a way to have an "emergency" school board meeting ... which wasn't openly communicated to the public in the manner that it should have been. I won't address the rest of this rather lengthy post because I'm not intimately involved in this issue but on the two items above, I believe my info is accurate. It seems clear that the "interest" in soccer is there on both the boys and girls side. I find the comments about "sharing" kids/players a little odd. Sharing them? Aren't they allowed to play whatever sport they want? If a coach doesn't want to share kids IN SEASON .. that his their choice. If a coach wants to .. and there are kids that want to .. we have ALWAYS found a way to make it work. (Which we ended up doing ... but let me tell you .. it is not an ideal situation at ALL .. but it basically has to be done now .. because we have too many sports and not enough kids .. that is a trainwreck ready to happen). There may be interest ... but let me tell you this ... the interest was not captured per KHSAA guidelines ... and the interest was falsely communicated. As I said yesterday ... there were MANY kids whose names were on the parent driven list .. who had never even spoken to anyone about soccer. Like I said ... forgery isn't that big of a crime I guess ... Bringing up the Girls team ... where their leadership has and continues to work tirelessly to get the respect that they deserve. Do you realize that they were not even allowed to have a 2 week "interest" camp until they fundraised 10,000? A lot of people were rubbed the wrong way with that one ... because a certain few higher ups and personal friends of those higher ups manipulated things behind the scenes ... funny how they aren't around anymore ... ). At the end of the day ... a lot of really good people and approximately 200 other athletes/band members/cheerleaders have moved forward ... after they were treated like 3rd class humanoids ... but thats okay I guess .. as long as a few others get their way .. all is good with the world. I will leave you with this ... there are more than a few people (high up) who ... lets just say are not involved at Beechwood anymore ... one of those people made this direct statement to me after the first Site Based meeting I went to: "Don't worry ... this isn't ever going to happen because we do not have the facilities or resources to do it"

A couple quick thoughts here ... *The plan that the Soccer team SUBMITTED stated that they would not use school facilities for the trial period. That is what they asked for to prove that things could work. That is a FACT ... and documented. *Football constantly comes up with this topic ... but I always find it very interesting when I read this thread and people try to act like football was worried about losing kids. NOT TRUE (there were other fall teams that were worried about losing kids--cross country being the main one ... especially since they were added the previous year ... and was added due to KHSAA Survey completion interest--which were 40+ .. there were 3 kids who wanted soccer--I am not even going into the part where a certain group tried to discredit the validity of the survey--which was submitted to the KHSAA without issue). Then you have an "interest list" .. created by parents with MANY kids names who were listed as being interested in playing soccer .. WHO NEVER SIGNED/AGREED/OR WERE INTERESTED in Soccer .. I guess that is okay though ... forgery isn't that big of a crime. *Football (MS/Frosh/Varsity)/Band (110 Kids)/Girls Soccer/Cross Country and many parents/teachers, etc listed their main concerns as Facilities .. we don't have places/fields/locker rooms, etc for the programs that were already in existence (which is another reason why the Soccer team -- to their credit -- came to the table with the idea of not using school facilities for the few 3 years). *The 2nd point .. was that we are out of kids ... EVERY fall sport (and the band/cheerleading) was already sharing kids (yes ... including all levels of football)--and the concern was--at one time .. we were really good in some specifically chosen sports ... now--we have kids who are spread out to 2/3 and sometimes 4 different sports/activities. The fall and spring sports coaches have been able to make this work ... but it isn't something that anyone felt great about. Our kids are running ragged already ... now .. we put kids in a situation where they have to make choices. Everybody says ... think about the kids ... think about the kids (meaning the soccer kids) ... I agree ... but the other fall sports coaches were not thinking about the 18-20 kids who ended up playing soccer ... we were worried about the other 200 who have worked their guts out for years to build up successful programs. Now .. those kids/teams are missing parts of their team that they have worked with .. who either are no longer involved ... or are told .. soccer first ... who cares if you are worn out when you go to football/cross country/band, etc. *There are behind the scenes situations that I will not put out on the board .. but I would be more than willing to entertain in conversation in person or .. in a PM. *From there--boys cross country was added not just for interest .. it evened up fall sports .. to where we were nearly perfectly even on Title 9 money spent per student athlete. Then you have some behind the scenes people either high up ... or connected high up who tried to skirt those numbers .. and I am not talking about the current AD. I can tell you ... the boys to girls money spent is no longer even ... and not close (because ALL money has to be reported via title 9/KHSAA guidelines--even DONATED MONEY--which certain people knew .. but ... followed their agenda anyway. Title 9 reports are online for anyone who questions this ... if this past years isn't on the website yet ... if will be soon. *I was asked to put together a class A (for cross/track) that included cross country/football/soccer/volleyball comparison .. that speaks to which teams/schools had which sports. At the time--there were 92 schools in Cross Country Class A (which is basically the same thing as football Class A plus Class AA) ... At the time: Total Schools (A/AA or Class A in Cross): 92 Total Schools Playing Football AND Soccer: 17 (15 of those schools fit in the highest number of students in the combined class) There were MANY that just had football and cross country There were some that had Soccer and not football. That data .. which was requested from HIGH up ... was never presented ... because it did not fit the back door plan that "certain" behind the scenes players were trying to manipulate. (I have this data ... and I am more than willing to send it to anyone who wants to see it ... all of it comes straight from the KHSAA). *When the school was looking at adding cross country to even up the numbers and for interest ... parents/coaches/etc were NOT ALLOWED inside the school to drum up interest or support ... and were not even allowed to come to the interest meeting (I know this .. because I am talking about me). But for some reason ... parents were allowed in the building to drum up interest--as well as having parents and potential coaches in the soccer interest meeting. Again ... fact ... been there .. witnessed that. *As far as the field goes ... there are major issues with the field that are going to be corrected in the near future. If soccer is successful ... they have a great chance to add lines to the field. Oh yeah .. thats right ... you then take away a lane from a four lane track that already stinks because one end has square corners. Or .. you get lines on the track .. which is extremely dangerous for any high school kid with cleets on their feet). That's okay though ... lets punish the 100 kids in the track program with one less lane when they already have only 350 Meters/4 lanes and two 90 degree corners plus--dodging the 3 baseball teams and 2 softball teams long toss and infield. Ever seen an 8th grade girl get hit with a 70 mph baseball? I have ... NOT PRETTY. (google map it). Then you have to chop up a TON of concrete in front of the fieldhouse. People think that football is pushing here ... nope. Things are already squeezed in down there .. just to fit the football field. If you don't believe me ... bring up a tape measure .. and I will meet you there in 30 minutes (no joke). *Lacrosse ... not sure WHY they are included in this argument ... Beechwood does NOT have a lacrosse team. If you are talking about the NKY Warriors .. that isn't Beechwood .. its a club team .. they pay to use the facility/they paint their own lines on the field (which is drastically smaller than the football outline or a potential soccer outline). They work hard to make it a home field for their program ... but they have absolutely no dawg in this fight unless it becomes a KHSAA/school sponsored program. I know that I am going to regret posting this ... but I can back everything up with FACTUAL data--which I am more than happy to discuss. I have kept my personal thoughts and feelings out of this ... and basically for one simple reason ... we got over it (football/cross/girls soccer/band) ... we had soccer kids on the cross team .. everyone did a great job ... we (meaning cross country/parents/etc). At the end of the day ... say whatever you want .. I haven't ever told a football player/soccer player/volleyball player/band member/cheerleader that they had to come to cross country out of season workout as opposed to going to an inseason regional week practice or game. And if a kids showed up like that ... he would have been sent back immediately. Those things HAVE happened from the beginning. Don't expect people to work with you ... or support you .. when you disrespect kids/coaches/parents who are trying to prepare properly for a championship.

I have had the Note 2, Note 3 and now have the Note Edge. By far the best phones that I have ever had ... and it is not even close. The Note Edge has actually made my life significantly easier ... I can basically do 90% of my phone related activities right on the edge portion of the screen. Very solid quality ... light but tough. Hard to go wrong with the Note Edge.

I believe he is heading to Beechwood ... to teach math ... not coaching.

I was in Charleston last week when this happened ... and for 3 days of the after math. Let me tell you makes me sick ... the news coverage for this situation. There were reporters on the street trying to bait race arguments amongst different races, drew conclusions about things that were completely off base and never happened ... completely pathetic. At the same time ... the people of Charleston (to me anyway) were 100% first class. I can't tell you how many times I witnessed all races coming together ... naturally ... the racist aspect of this situation is something that must be dealt with. But the people of Charleston were much more concerned with taking care of their city and especially people who were in from out of the area. From the beginning--they refused to let the situation define their city. It is an absolute shame that the news stations didn't just sit back ... and watch the city come together. If I had a dollar for every time a Charleston native (black, white, brown, whatever) gave me a hug ... and thanked me for being there (and I was freaking on vacation) ... we could throw a heck of a party. With that said ... back to the news people. It is eventually going to take someone making a very tough decision (from a national news channel) to not glorify a mass shooting/incident like this. That may be impossible ... but every time CNN, Fox News, NBC, CBS, ABC does their crappy full court press ... it just gives the psychos exactly what they want: a platform for attention for their jacked up cause. So ... that is what I walked away with ... the news channels breed this crap because their give the shooters/psychos/deranged so much freaking attention for their act. I have no clue how to change that ... but they breed a TON of this type of stuff with their horrible coverage.

I can shed a light on some of this .. *As Content posted ... there were 3 National Elite performances (off the top of my head .. that may be the most that this meet has produced since we started it. There were a TON of season best performances ... more than any other time in the meets history. *For this year ... the Class A Regional is Wednesday, May 12th ... so most of those teams did not want to run that close to the regional (more on Class A below) *The original intent of this meet was the best of the best from NKY .. with one high quality heat .. ... with 2 solid heats ... allowing for each teams depth to play a part (instead of scoring 2 from each school ... any scorer scored--meaning .. you could have 8 athletes from the same school in the same heat ... and all would school instead of just 2). And ... for once last chance for great seed times before the regional as well). *The state championship time schedule is used so the athletes learn to manage the schedule. *Overall .. this year was the best quality that we have had top to bottom. *More athletes were entered this year than any others. From there ... there are certain schools who choose not to attend .. regardless of how close the meet is to the regional. For some reason ... they are just not interested. I have thoughts on that ... which I will keep to myself ... and it is extremely difficult to throw as much time and effort as we do for this meet. From there .. a big shout out to Dixie Heights High School ... and coaches Ed Cook and Steve Saunders. They do everything possible to work with us to ensure the meet runs smooth and successful.

To put this situation into a different type of perspective ... GAME SUMMARY 1st Quarter E: -14 (Under 21 in a Bar) K: -14 (Under 21 in a Bar) E: -35 (Speaking to a Female in an unsportsmanlike manner) End of 1st Quarter Score: E: -49/K: -14 2nd Quarter K: -28 (3/4/5 Guys Against 1/Possible weapon usage) E: -7 (Scholarship athlete embarrassing school--fighting) K: -7 (Scholarship athletes embarrassing school--fighting) K: -7 (Hanging out with high school buddies who need to be defended by their "big time" buddies) HALFTIME SCORE: E: -56 K: -56 3rd Quarter K: -21 (K Players Going to Dorm when they should have left) E: -21 (E Players/Students Surrounding 3 K Players) THIRD QUARTER SCORE: E: -70/K: -70 4th Quarter K: -7 (K Player making animated comments while surrounded by E dudes) K: -14 (K Player/guy on phone--watching E player walk in/take off sweatshirt and moving towards K Player without calling it out to him) E: -14 (E Player steps to the right so other E player can get unnoticed side shot) E: -35 (E Player side of the head shot) E: -14 (Big E Player with unnoticed shot still not hard enough for a knockout) K: -35 (K team mates make no attempt to defend/help teammate) E: +7 (E player picks up K players hat) E: +7 (E players get K players to leave dorm) K: +14 (K players finally get smart and leave) FINAL SCORE: E: -119 K: -119 GAME NOTES: *Both sides should have known better *Both coaching staffs need to tighten up on their players *Appearance of behind the scenes deal with both schools enables more crappy behavior as opposed to stopping it .. or even lessons learned. *Tons of soul searching should be done by all involved parties *QB of the future (and supporters) that, whether right or wrong, the spot light will ALWAYS shine brighter on said QB of the future (future course of action--WWPID "What Would Patty Ice Do") *Detractors of QB of the future--whether you like it or not--the bar video is not even close to being evidence of QB's participation--and definitely looks like he didn't do much outside of jawing) *Everyone--change the word "athletes" to "students" and this is something that happens WEEKLY or even more often .. and never even gets reported. If you are going to hold athletes to a high standard ... hold EVERYONE to a HIGHER standard. *At the end of the day ... both sides did some stupid things ... both sides actually did a few good things. It certainly should not be forgotten. I am sure that all the involved parties are under the microscope a little more than they were before this happened.

That's right ... Clyde knows everything. You know ... I am not surprised that you would say that you would tell a team that you were coaching to delete pictures in this type of a situation. And your line of bull saying that would be to protect the kid is the biggest pile of cow dung I have read in a while. Some times you have to be a man and do what is right ... even if you are concerned about the "humiliated" athlete ... those of us who have actually coached in our lives realize that part of the reason for the humiliation is because no one in a position of authority ever put a stop to what was going on. Clyde ... your self serving arguments really are pathetic. You are trying to protect your buddies ... and you admit that you are "loyal". As a coach ... I am too ... loyal to the kids that I am responsible for. You on the other hand ... have a history of supporting arguments ... that benefit you and your buddies ... case in point: http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/conner-pulled-plug-242391-page2.html#post4475467 I know ... I know .. what does that thread have to do with this? Easy ... you are blindly loyal and apparently have poor judgement in regard to your fellow man. Not to mention ... it proves that you talk out of both sides of your mouth ... and are willing to accuse people of things that you heard as opposed to actually hearing. You care about your opinion ... and your buddies. Pretty sure that link proves that you really don't care if coaches are accused of things ... you only care if your buddies are accused of things. You were doing a ton better when you were just keeping your mouth shut. I will close with this ... I haven't accused any coach of anything ... or done anything more than barely touch on this story ... but ... Bullying is a culture of SILENCE. Reading the twitter crap .... the posts here .. people keep saying that this situation is humiliating to the young man in question. Did it ever occur to some of you that he wants it to go away because there are people on the internet and at school ... saying that this is his fault? Those of you who are in a hurry to bring this situation to a close because it is "humiliating" the young man need to realize that SILENCE is usually a symptom of being treated like crap by someone who is trying (and has been successful) to assert power over you (usually due to ones own set of insecurities). If you guys want this to go away ... go speak to the young man and let him know that you support him. And QUIT trying to speak for him and talking about how humiliated you think he is.

Ha, ha ... TOUCHE' (and thanks for the laugh ... much needed in this thread)

So ... the bully's continue to win ... because he is so humiliated that he shouldn't stand up for himself? Not sure I follow the logic. If this young man was bullied ... and there were other instances of him being bullied .. It would be a great statement to speak out and let others know that they do not have to put up with being bullied ... or they don't have to sit around and do nothing when someone throws pee on them. It sounds like the young man stood up for himself when this happened ... defended himself ... then made a decision that he doesn't want to be part of a program where he is treated like a 2nd class citizen. For his sake ... and the sake of others ... I hope he continues to stand up for himself ... because that may be the difference in helping someone else who is treated in a similar manner. If the young man wants to speak out ... I will stand with him on TV, Sportscenter, Good Morning America or the Price is Right. Encouraging your son ... or any child to speak out against people who bully others or treat them with disrespect is NOT BAD PARENTING. It is a statement made to whoever will listen .. that they are not going to tolerate being disrespected by anyone.

Actually ... from hand timing to Fully Automatic ... the common conversion is PLUS .24 (that is what every state uses in track and field anyway). So the reality is ... if it was hand timed ... more like 5.14 Hand timing is notorious for being faster than FAT. The other thought here ... it surprises the heck out of me that any type of combined associated with the NFL would not be FAT or Laser timed. My only conclusion there ... is that they really don't care too much about 40 times. They could have found a high school coach to set up a FAT or Laser system for a couple hundred bucks for a day. At the end of the day ... if they think you can still play ... they will get a shot. Even if it takes a calendar to time the player in the 40.

Richie Williams ....

Ha, ha ... who has the hurt feelings? Sounds like you think the world should stop for the baseball team. Whether you like it or not ... the school sunk a nice load of money into the field VERY recently. Guess what .. there were other areas where that money would have had more of an impact ... guess what ... we got over it. It is pretty pathetic that you are whining about how horrible the field is ... when there has been ONE DAY of time put towards working on it (and that isn't necessarily the baseball teams' problem--no mystery that there are HUGE facility issues). I am up there every single day for a minimum of 4 hours after school ... usually 6 hours. I have no clue who you are ... but I would bet money that I haven't seen you out there ... working on the field this season. As far as it being baseball season ... whatever. Everyone has to make sacrifices ... one of our track kids sacrificed herself with a hit to her head because the baseball team had to be on the football field to practice. Trust me ... I feel your pain ... but you need to look around a little bit and realize that all of the programs at Beechwood have to make sacrifices. At least the baseball team, could at one time, play games on the field. Why don't you bring yourself down to the track ... and see if you can drum up any interest in seeing if teams want to come to a track meet on a track that has two 90 degree corners ... and no rubber left from the baseball and softball backstops. Kind of makes you wonder how the track team continues to have a ton of success for a fairly new program. At the end of the day ... there are other teams at Beechwood who make MUCH LARGER sacrifices EVERY DAY ... and HAVE FOR YEARS ... and will continue to have to make those same sacrifices. Thank goodness the kids at Beechwood embrace this stuff.

Didn't Beechwood just spend about 88,000 on that field a few years ago? (YES ... they did ... I was in a meeting with the Administration just the other day where the number came up). The whole thing where there are "no plans to make it better" is really getting OLD ... especially when the track team practices on a track that has 90 degree corners ... and a ton of missing rubber from the softball backstop, baseball backstop, etc .. not to mention the whole thing where the kids have to dodge baseballs just to run. So ... give it a break about "no plans to make it better" because a ton of money was shelled out for the field a very short time ago. There are other much more pressing needs than the baseball field. I love our baseball team ... and everyone involved--and they deserve a little luck here in the near future ... the weather this year has been miserable for field prep ... Wednesday is the first day anyone attempted to do work on the field (that is not a shot at anyone ... weather, more weather, then a lot more weather ... plus the construction that was supposed to start). The entire team/coaches worked hard on Wednesday to get things rolling ... and as of this morning ... it looked pretty freaking serviceable to me. The baseball team may get to play a few games on the field ... construction may get pushed back (it may not ... but it sounded like it would a few days back). Wouldn't surprise me to see a game or two end up back on the field.

That needed a slip in 14 inches of mud (interesting since it had not rained in WEEKS) to beat Conner in the 3rd round ... (Yes ... I am still bitter--but definitely a great team ... and the guys in that picture were/are good dudes). I have a few pictures from the game in question ... I hope I can find them.

Politicians of all type have constantly thrown around the word "traitor" in regard to the POTUS. As a few others have said ... the Republicans are so set on discrediting the POTUS ... not only have they missed a golden opportunity ... but they have now proven who the real traitors are. From there ... they look like the biggest bunch of tools ever ... IE: *Paraphrased--McCain says that the letter was rushed because his buddies rushed things so they could get out of dodge before the big snow storm. *Paraphrased--Our great Rand Paul ... says that he thought the letter was going TO the president ... Seriously? Lets blame a snow storm and act like we are completely clueless when it comes to trashing our president ... again .. who are the traitors? The republicans have no one to blame but themselves ... THEY HAD A CHANCE TO VOTE THE POTUS OUT 3 YEARS AGO ... AND THEY FAILED. (And according to most Americans .. they already hated the POTUS ... what does that tell you?)

Some quick thoughts ... *Get yourself on the Kentucky Track ListServe (you can find setup instructions at KTCCCA Home Page). *Start using http://www.kytrackxc.com--this site has basically taken the place of http://www.ktccca.org--you can find meets, results, team information and a ton of additional information. *I assume that you are going to coach middle school ... if so ... keep in mind .. you have to make it fun and interesting for the younger group. For us ... a ton of middle school kids always come out .. but we usually lose a bunch because they can't equate hard work/winning/having fun. Be creative. For us ... we have approximately 100 kids (high school middle school combined). *We breakdown into Sprinters/Distance/Throwers ... if you have an assistant to handle each group .. that would be ideal. You can also do boys/girls separate--but it is much harder to manage things that way. For instance--with our distance team ... it is combined boys and girls--then we break things down based on their level of fitness and talent. *If possible--try to work on specialties towards the end of practice (hurdles/block work/relays/etc)--too many coaches spend time on these things when they should always make sure that their team is getting their daily workout in. Get the workout in for the sprinters/distance runners ... then move to specialties. *Over communicate to middle school parents at all times ... publish your schedules, team information, meet information on a team website (ours is http://www.beechwoodtrackandfield.com). *Understand your facilities *Always have an adult with your groups (supervision is very important to parents and school administrators. *As a coach always tuck your shirt in ... (track coaches think it is okay to show up wearing whatever). Carry your self as a coach (our coaches are also required to dress appropriately to meets-meaning long pants, team shirt--tucked in). Some people will say that none of that is important ... I beg to differ. Especially since you are working with middle school kids -- you buy yourself a little respect upfront if you carry yourself in a manner that speaks to leadership. *Look around on the internet ... there is a ton of good training ideas on the web--most importantly ... always err on the side of caution (they are physically young as well ... so don't crush them with hard days). Here is a look at our practice shell on a daily basis: 3:20 pm: Team Warm Up (3 to 6 laps on the track) 3:30 pm: Team Dynamic Stretch/March/Stride work 3:40 pm: Team Workout (Sprinters/Distances break off and do their daily workout) 4:20 pm: End of Workout/Team Static Stretch 4:30 pm: Specialty Work (Relays/Hurdles/Starts/Etc) 4:40 pm (Our official practice end time) 5:00 pm All Specialties complete 5:02 pm High School Weights/Younger Group body weight resistance (We lift 3 days a week--you probably won't need to do that yet) 5:30 pm All activities complete. We rarely run that late ... and when we don't lift .. we are always out by 4:40 pm (unless it is a specialty day). Hopefully some of this will help .... if you have any more specific questions .. message me.

I am happy to see that they are investigating possible additional factors. (And I am most happy to see that they are not investigating the "rumor" that there was a fight on the plane where Buddy Holly's gun was used to shoot the pilot, Buddy or everyone else ... or the "rumor" where the pilot let Buddy Holly fly the plane ... which resulted in the crash). Regardless of what the owner of the plane says ... they will always have a hard time getting around the fact that the pilot was inexperienced as a instrument rated pilot (which was necessary based on the weather that evening).

Actually it was VOR and his lack of awareness regarding our play calling ... I spent a few minutes running the numbers on our season ... against teams that were "solid" to "great". (aka--Teams that VOR has mentioned this season: Mount Healthy, Dixie, Franklin County, Cov Cath, NCC, Frankfort, Mayfield) Total Offensive Plays (NOTHING EXCLUDED): 341 Total Runs: 203 (60%) Total Passes: 138 (40%) Heck ... here are a few more numbers for the sake of conversation ... we broke down 269 plays of the Mayfield offense ... Run: 197 (73.23%) Pass: 72 (26.77%) (We don't break down plays against blowout efforts--so the numbers are solid comparisons) Against Mayfield: Total Offensive Plays: 61 Total Runs: 40 (66%) Total Passes: 21 (34%) Total Runs for a Loss and Yards: 3 for -4 yards Total Passes for a Loss and Yards: 2 for -14 yards Naturally the last few days have been hell ... but when I look back on what cost us the game last week--it was not the offense and it most definitely WAS NOT the play calling. Based on the numbers above (and the fact that the Mayfield fans have been pretty upfront about the fact that running the ball has been their bread and butter) ... it was our inability to get a stop on defense. We did a good job against the run .. we did not do such a great job against the pass. Now--if I had a dollar for every time a Mayfield fan said that we would struggle running against the Mayfield defense. Well ... guess what ... based on the numbers above ... it sure looks like our offensive coaches were 100% squared away with their game plan (pretty sure they got it right all year as well). So ... if you are going to question coaching (our fans) then maybe you need to fire away at the defense. So fire away at good ole' quickslick. At the end of the day: *Two exceptional small school football programs met in the semi-finals *One team won *One team lost *Both teams had success and failures *All the kids played as hard as they could *Whether I like it or not ... or agree or disagree ... the better team won. From there ... I am out ... I am taking my ball ... and going home and putting the football clothes away--and unpacking the track and field costumes. Good luck to the Cards against Williamsburg. I hope that we can find a way to keep a series going with the Cardinals.