Region2 Hype Man

17 minutes ago, The Double Deuce said:

Speaking of the HopTown area, did Charlie's Steakhouse ever re-open after the fire?

I'm glad Tilghman is good again, one of those programs that makes KY football better when they are rolling.  

So it did not re-open in Hopkinsville, but it moved to Springfield Tennessee and is now called Torinos. Had a bit of an Italian flair to it now.

26 minutes ago, Socially Distanced said:

Surely if/when consolidation happens that job will truly be open. To much potential to just go along with what we have witnessed when there are other options willing and able. 

I’m thinking the decision they’ve made now will be under review with the results of the last 2 years. But you would be surprised at the names who inquired about the HHS and CCHS openings over the last 4 years who wanted to jump in and get the consolidated job. But they have pushed away candidates and haven’t really gone outside the bubble. It would seem some in power made a promise to hire someone if it made them support consolidation.

But as of now, Clark has been the coach of Hoptown and the CCHS hires have been made to help implement some things so it’ll be easier to transition. He’s telling people that and the hires have been made support what he’s telling people.

Of course in 2021 the plan was the 2022 season being the last one. Then last week it was going to be this as the last season, but now they say they don’t know.

Now to be fair, this is a very good Clarksville team and Hoptown was playing a backup QB as they've had multiple injuries. They were outgained 409 to 95. It does not get any easier as they play Paducah Tilghman next week. It was 35-0 at half and Clarksville called off the dogs as they wanted to get home on a school night.

It appears the gains they made in building back the program during the Clayton years are falling apart. With consolidation up in the air as to when it's going to happen, the kids just don't have answers. Players aren't sure about their spots. Although Clark is telling people he's the consolidated coach, it still isn't official and it just causes confusion. Hard to plan for the future when one week it's the last season and the next week you do not know.

Even when the new school opens in 2026 (so they say), they will not have a practice field or locker rooms on the campus. It's possible they won't have any athletic fields for practice on site for possible 10 to 20 years due to bonding constraints.

Such a sad state of affairs in the community and it's hurting the kids. So focused on a building that everything else has fallen apart and it makes it much harder for all the kids to know their place.

On 9/2/2023 at 12:47 PM, Runcible Owl said:

Waaay too early projection question. With what is coming back/up, how might the new Christian County Tigers fare out west or statewide in the coming years?

A consolidated school could probably beat McCracken, Paducah, & Madisonville type schools. I would say they'd be a force in the Western part of the 4A and lower, but they won't really be much when you're talking competing with the Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, Covington, Boyle, etc type schools.

They're going to be in 6A and in no way do I see a program contending for a state championship in 6A and probably not 5A either. Clayton had some teams who could make runs in 4A the last few years, but even those teams never really looked like a team that could win it all. Christian hasn't been past the 2nd round of the playoff since 2010 and they always got dominated by the BG teams.

It would take a major change in youth and middle school football around here which would start with actually making a big time hire in football for high school. In all honesty, high school football has just lost interest around here. The lack of consistent winning really just keeps people from being interested, which is how you get kids growing up loving it. They've seen the great Basketball and Baseball around here and the kids are loving those sports and going to games. I remember kids dreamed of playing for County or Hoptown and the football players were the big stars. But even now they don't get the love they deserve. We've had some great players like Corey Trice & Maurice Jesse come through the last decade, but they didn't get the praise they deserved like they would've 25 years ago.

I will go support the kids, but as a CCHS fan we've always struggled to bring fans to games. Hoptown has an old generation of fans, alumni, and others that love watching them. The history of their program and tradition going back 100 years is something special, but even that has died down. And with the consolidation being very unpopular I know several of that bunch that won't be coming. I know the biggest CCHS fans won't have the same enthusiasm either. 

It is sad as I remember the Stadium of Champions opening and it was needed. I remember Tim Couch coming to town. I remember the battles of the HHS/CCHS game. Sadly I foresee it being used 5 or 6 Fridays a year and it'll be empty most weeks when they do play. And you'll never see a crowd like a Hoptown-County game ever again.

Penalties were the story for both sides. 4 touchdowns were called back due to penalties. 

I think there were 3-4 times an offsides was called on a kick-off.

Hoptown lost their QB but then took the lead after his injury and had to play more wildcat.

It feels like the crowd gets smaller for this game every year. It’s a shame. Soon enough you won’t see crowds that size once the schools are consolidated 

Update.

The superintendent announced this week that it probably won't be the last game and a lot of things are up in the air. They've jumped the gun on this project so many times, no one knows what is going on. McCracken's new Super was the Assistant in Christian who was leading the project and it's been a mess since he's left. 

As far as football goes, no one has had a clue about the consolidation since it got started. Lovelace was probably the easy choice to get the job, but he's gone. Craig Clayton was openly against it and they pushed him out. Marc Clark is going to be the consolidated school coach and there won't be a search. Not rumor or gossip, it's what he's been telling people. The last 2 hires for CCHS have been guys who were supposed to help Clark integrate his offense and system at County before the merger. Which has made the job toxic and no big names have applied. CCHS has went from Lovelace, Gehres, Ladson, and now Self. 4 coaches in 4 seasons. They also got moved to 6A so that they could compete in that district when they merge, making it much harder. As a CCHS alumni it sickens me. 

You have to get a great coach here. A coach that wins no matter where they go and can motivate kids to win at the highest level. Look at Todd Adler at Logan County. No one would say they have some talent advantage, they just out-work everyone. It's all a culture of accountability and success.

As for football in the area, it's been a slow 20 year decline since Clayton left. Kids here don't grow up loving football like they did. There isn't a system or passion. CCHS has never had good crowds, but Hoptown did. Back 20 years ago Hoptown and County both could both stand and compete with everyone in the state from Louisville, Lexington, BG, Owensboro, etc. The best athletes play basketball. Even baseball has taken some of the better athletes at both schools. Hoptown and Mayfield was a fun rivalry and now it's lopsided to Mayfield. The schools here compete more on the level with Caldwell and Madisonville rather than being the king of WKY. So many times I've seen kids at both schools playing basketball as a 6'4 Center that would look like an easy D1 foottball player. Lovelace had some good teams, but even his teams that made state didn't belong on the same field as Highlands and wouldn't have come close to the Louisville schools. Even a few years back he had some major D1 talent all along the roster and even those teams were smacked by the Bowling Green teams.

Clayton seemed like he had gotten some of his tradition back as they finally got back to region titles and semi-state regularly when he got back. Playing tougher schedules too. More D1 signees. But it seems like there wasn't enough support and with Lopez being passed over that they didn't want to build that program again. 

As for the game. Hoptown and County aren't top teams in their leagues. I do think Hoptown probably is a better all-around team and have a well coached defense. But County has the better QB. In a game like this I would default to the team with the better QB.

CCHS 12

HHS 6

The last time Hopkinsville chose to not replace Craig Clayton with his defensive coordinator almost 20 years ago it sank the once proud program.

Clayton returned and immediately had them competitive in the playoffs every season. Going to region and semi state games. They had the chance to hire his DC again but they did not and look where they are?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Last time Hoptown was this bad was in 2011-2012. Christian isn’t much better. 

Going to enjoy wearing me red and blue for one last Hoptown County game on Friday. It will be the last time we may ever see that stadium with a big crowd. 6A is going to be a rude awakening for that consolidated school. 

UPDATE

The bids came in for consolidation. The district had a max of about $120 million they could spend on the school. The bids came in close the $220 million. 

They are way short on money. They voted down the bids and are going to see what they can do to move forward. They think the bids are too high. Even if they’re too high, how much lower can they go?

So now they’re stuck with falling apart schools and no backup plan to build. Looks like this will not be happening.

On 3/22/2022 at 4:39 PM, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Here are some more of the bigger football rivalries. I tried to tag some of the folks who tend to comment in threads involving the schools mentioned.


Graves County vs. Mayfield - Mayfield is the county seat of Graves County, so the rivalry comes naturally. GCHS opened in 1985 after 6 schools were consolidated into 1. Mayfield has always generally ruled the rivalry when it comes to football, but Graves tends to rule the rivalry when it comes to hoops.

Boyle County vs. Danville - Danville is the county seat of Boyle County, and has a football program that is one of the oldest in the state (1912). Boyle County High School opened in 1963. This has been a major rivalry in all sports between the two schools, but especially on the football field. @Rebel @Rebelstat @BEChargers @DanvilleFan @Shaquille_Oatmeal might be able to help out with details on this one.

St. Xavier vs. Flaget @Tigerpride94 @Tigercat @Xtiger69 @LongTimeReader @Tigers20-22 @Tigers88

St. Xavier vs. Trinity @SHAMROCK69 @NLTanker1 @JIM SEYMOUR # 85
Played since 1956. Trinity leads 48-39-2.

Lexington Catholic vs. Lexington Christian @Big Things Kentucky @Johnny_Utah @Tigerallamerican

Hoptown vs. Madisonville-North Hopkins @Big Fletch @Region2 Hype Man @Westernside @TylerDurden @WKY_Football @KingDeuce @tackle trap

Scott County vs. Frederick Douglass - This one is new, but heated. @16thBBall Fan amirite?

Feels like a program as old as Owensboro has to have a pretty major rival there around Owensboro/Daviess County...or maybe is their rival Henderson County? @Brown @Devils Fan @ApolloFan98 @zoneblitz2 any input here?
 

Sorry to be late to the party!

But as far as West Ky rivalries, the Christian County vs. Henderson County, Colonel Bowl has always produced some fun matchups. It’s always a can’t miss in a regional tournament.

14 hours ago, Big Fletch said:

Obviously you have never coached before because if you did you would understand the accusations on both Love and Ladson are the easiest ones to put on a well like coach in the community to fire them.  I think both got the short end of the deal.  As for the rest of your statement I have no knowledge of any of that so again I won’t make any comment.  However, I will say this both Hoptown and Christian County have very capable coaches now and you should throw your support behind them instead of bashing them.  

 They have a nice guy that will be the consolidated coach. Maybe they won’t win a lot of games or compete for titles, but learned long ago the Wins and Losses aren’t the most important thing in high school sports, it’s the memories and lessons you learn. 
 

I may critique winning and losing, but I’ll support those coaches and kids building future leaders. I’m not living and dying by them winning a title or being a top program. Clark will do that and who cares if he doesn’t win a lot of games.

4 hours ago, Big Fletch said:

Don't know enough about the situation with Dixie Jones to make a comment about that.  With the Love deal versus Ladsen deal it is a little more complicated then what you are trying to make it seem.  Plus I am pretty sure that Coach LAdsen was not fired from his coaching position he just moved over to help at Hoptown when they hired the new coach.  As for Coach Jaggers he seems to be rumored to always being a candidate in Western Kentucky but never actually makes the move.  As for consistency there is no such thing in the Coaching industry any more.

He was in town and interviewed from what I was told recently. Because I asked why he didn’t apply for Hoptown this year.

And Ladson was at HHS first, but taught at CCHS. The CCHS principal, no super, told him he couldn’t work at CCHS and coach at HHS. That’s true. He was then fired by the school district, as he was an employee. He was in a legal battle about how they handled the hire. He was back at HHS helping, but not an employee of the school. I won’t get into the accusations, but I’m saying that apply the same grace and benefit of the doubt for Love that you do Ladson.

Jaggers was told that getting HHS or CCHS this year wouldn’t guarantee him the consolidated job, so he didn’t want to move his family for nothing.

It seems a lot of candidates didn’t apply at either school because they were told it was a 1 year job, yet one candidate was told they’d get the job? Now he’s just 1 name I’ve heard recently, I don’t know the Jaggers other than remembering Marty when he was at Trigg. But I do know other coaches at big schools that did not apply because they couldn’t get the guarantee they’d be the consolidated coach. 
 

So that’s my big complaint. It seems like the board wanted to let the HHS hire be the new consolidated coach. Other coaches that were reached out to were told no guarantee and one was given that guarantee. Almost appears like they wanted to scare off the competition for the guy they wanted?

1 hour ago, Big Fletch said:

Mr Region 2 Hype man here is the deal in all of the years I coached one of the questions people would ask when talking a bout a coach is would you let your boy play for him.  The bottom line is this all of the coaches mentioned even the ones you obviously have an issue with are great coaches.  Coach Clark, Coach Lovelace and Coach Ladson are all coaches that I would have been happy for my son to play for.  Now are they human yes and if you want to pick at their flaws then go ahead but if you want to have success in that area you will let them Coach and see what they can do for the athletes in the area. 

I mean I agree. The #1 guy in this area like that would be Dixie Jones. But for some reason he was run out of here because of wins/losses playing a tough 5A schedule. 
 

And back to Lovelace, Love got fired for the same reason Ladson was let go a few years back. Yet, Ladson is hired back a year after they showed a great man in Steve Lovelace the door.

Both things above are about consistency. You can’t run off one good man for wins and losses, then get mad when people critique the next guy for wins and losses. You can’t fire one guy for one thing, then a year later hire someone who had the same thing happen as the guy you just fired.

What I do teach kids is consistency. The same rules and standards should apply to everyone. 
 

Also, if it’s true Christian County had a chance to hire Marty Jaggers son last year, a man that’s more qualified than any of the hires here the last 2 years, then this process has been fishy. I was just told last week we had a chance to have Jaggers coach the Colonels last year, but they wanted someone else that the parents wanted. That guy didn’t make it a year.

32 minutes ago, CoachHB said:

Well once again you are making up opinions as bashing a good person! At least not telling the whole story? 
Yes he was falsely accused & fired few years ago.  That was proven in court to NOT be true as he won his lawsuit against CCPS!  
 

IF those accusations were true , NO WAY who’d he be hired again there. 
You sure Seam to spread a lot of negative gossip at your Elementary school!!

I never said he’s a bad person? I just stated he was let go for the same reasons Steve Lovelace was let go for and I happen to love Steve Lovelace.

So if me comparing him to Steve Lovelace is wrong, then you must have an issue with Coach Lovelace?

Also, the legal case you’re speaking of did not object to the truth of the allegations. The lawsuit was about how the board handled the matter of his dismissal. 

19 minutes ago, Big Fletch said:

You need to do your homework before you make those accusations.  Coach Ladson is a great man as well as a coach.

So is Steve Lovelace? Are you saying they’re both not great men and coaches?

Interesting.

Ladson was previously let go from coaching the CCHS football team for a similar reason as to why Steve Lovelace is no longer the head coach at CCHS? Just wish I knew the logic behind it.

They should’ve never fired Love if this is the case.

1 hour ago, BigRedTopp11 said:

Yes, exactly right... Accepted the Hop Town job on paper and accepted the Academy job with a good ol boy handshake.

I mean that is in fact what happened. 

On 3/12/2022 at 9:21 AM, BigRedTopp11 said:

Good decision by Clark I think.  He is a great coach, but I believe he had peeked at McCracken.  Lost a lot of kids, saw a dip in numbers and wins last season.  Made the right decision in the long run for himself to rebuild and stay at a larger school.  Strike while the irons hot!  

basically what Mike White did leaving Florida before Georgia is what you’re saying?

1 hour ago, Big Fletch said:

If you do not think that whoever that was involved with the search had a pool of names that they talked to you are pretty naive about how the process works.  I am sure that many of the names that have been thrown out on this forum were contacted about the job.  Based on what I know about some of the people at the board I would say that they either will or have done what is best for the program in the long run.

Ok so if they’re doing what’s best then they’ll be conducting an actual interview process in November and be more open about the process instead of just letting one person with a lot of power push the Super into hiring his guy?

4 hours ago, CoachHB said:

For some reason that guy just wont accept the fact that a search was already done! the guys they reached to all said NO! 

Clark is the best candidate that actually wanted the job! 

So you’re saying he was given a job that was not posted yet nor was there any interviews?

I would think that’s very unethical to promise a job for a position that is not open. I just want to know who promised him he’d get a job? Are they going to do an actual search? 

This is truly a big test.

Lyon should win and win big, but there’s always something about those 8th district teams always winning the big game to go to Rupp. It took a truly special Madisonville team to break that streak, so it’s not gonna be a walk in the pack for Lyon this afternoon. 
 

But I still see them as the favorite.

22 hours ago, Big Fletch said:

That may be the case but a ten year veteran is not just going to leave a school where he at least has a shelf life of one more year to try out for the big job  (I know he had some issues there).  It makes no sense to uproot your young family to take a one year job when you could just wait it out at another school that is paying you a considerable more amount of money.  I just don't see Coach Clark agreeing to something like that and/or being someones assistant.  

Then something is fishy at that board office. You have to agree that if a position of that magnitude is promised to someone, then that’s highly unethical. There needs to be a search. I assume there will be one and that one influential person that’s pushing so hard for Clark will be upset in the end. 

23 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I guess you have me kind of confused. Hopkinsville High School's campus is only 3-1/2 miles away from Christian County High School. I'm assuming if they're going to have a consolidated football team, that they're going be holding their off-season strength and conditioning workouts at one campus instead of two...and I'm just not seeing the huge problem with that.

Less convenient for some? Yes. "Chaotic"? "Disaster"? I'm just not seeing it being quite so bad as you say.

Google Maps says it's a 10 minute drive. Is it that chaotic to have a bus waiting outside of one school to drive the football players 10 minutes over to the other school? And again...this is a temporary measure. I get it that there's some headache involved until the new campus is up and running. But again, this isn't the first time in history that two schools have consolidated. 🤷‍♂️

Have schools this size ever consolidated in a land area as large as this? 
 

No. Christian County is landwise the2nd  largest in the state behind Pike. Depending on enrollment, it’s going to be a top 3 enrollment for a public school in the state. Like a kid living in Oak Grove (basically by Clarksville) and a kid from Crofton (near Madisonville) will have to navigate 2 campuses through all that traffic to get it done. 

3 hours ago, Big Fletch said:

I don't disagree they should do a search I am just wondering if any of the big names would actually come.  I am not sure if Coach Keith is interested he seen the writing on the wall when he was here and seems to be very happy in Tennessee, however, I am sure if he did have interest that there was a conversation.  The only point I was making about Clark is that I do not see him leaving McCracken to take a job that would only last one or two years. 

I just think there’s more to the story. I think 1-2 people at Hoptown wanted Clark back and have loud voices in the community. 

That person may have been told that Clark will have the job, but was told that so they’d be quiet. I can tell you that Clark was being lobbied by 1 individual with some big weight. I’m just thinking he was told that so he’d back off. 
 

It may be true he believes that and was told that, but the promise wasn’t really one that he can rely on.

23 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I don't think it's THAT crazy. These aren't the first schools in history to consolidate. How did things go at McCracken County when they merged all of their schools...I'm gonna assume that with three schools consolidating, they were having to have at least some kids working out in weight rooms/campuses that were not the one at the school they attended.

I had someone tell me recently that when Muhlenberg County consolidated, they a school year where it was a "consolidated" school with freshman/sophomores at one of the old campuses and juniors/seniors at the other campus...then they all moved into the new campus once it was ready.

Hell, Cov Cath had to drive all their players to Devou Park for football practice until the mid-80s, and the soccer team was practicing in Pioneer Park. Highlands has the baseball and softball teams both drive across town to Tower Park to practice because they don't have a baseball field. Same with Trinity - their baseball team won the state championship last year without having a baseball field on campus.

This may not be ideal, sure, but it's a temporary headache, and it's manageable.

I’m talking about the consolidation before the building. The county is so large land wise and having the kids on different sides of town and not in 1 building is going to be chaotic.

It’s going to be a disaster. Where will they practice? Will kids be bused everywhere? Having all those kids on 2 different sides of town will be so hard to manage. What building will the principal be in?