leatherneck

Well written article indeed.

I can neither confirm nor deny your perceived thoughts about how Dale feels about Gamble. I can tell you how I feel about Gamble on the other hand. LOL.

Not sure it was the money. If Gamble was truly the linchpin to getting ESPN to televise, it was probably the excitement of playing in a nationally televised game that rules all. Dale surely remembers the excitement felt by his players when MaxPrep televised the 09 game against X (trust me, I had a son on that team and he thought it was super cool) and knowing Dale, it wouldn't surprise me (but admittedly I'm guessing) if his decision was based heavily on wanting the players on this year's team to be able to experience that same excitement.

You loved it; admit it. LOL!

Now hold the phone Curly. Not all Highlands fans have down played the last two games as nothing more than a time to experiment. Some of us freely admitted that T was significantly better based on what they observed in the scrimmages. If both coaches play to win this year, as they have in years past, and Highlands wins I will be bragging about it and the significance of it; likewise, if T whips us, I will admit that T had the better team.

It's an idea that's been brought up before, discussed at a high level and dismissed. The primary and foremost goal of high school athletics is participation. If all the platitudes of high school athletics are true (you know: life lessons, good for academics, etc.), thus justifying the expenditure of tax dollars on high school athletics, adults should do everything within their powers to increase participation. Unfortunately, I can assure you that if classification was based on roster size, there would be many a coach in Ky that would run off players or cut them to make sure his team ended up in a lower classification, thus hurting not helping participation numbers.

Highlands has in the past. Going back a few years but Dale was coaching. Hamblin missed a whole lof of summer workouts (including most of two a days) to play summer baseball but started in Game 1. Some years later, Drew Simons missed about a week of two a days to play in an AAU basketball tournament or two. While I'm sure Dale would have rather had them practicing football, he understood their desire to participate in other sports. Me too.

RIP Marine and thank you for all that you did. You contributed more in 28 years than a lot of people contribute in much longer lives. Semper Fi. Give Chesty my regards and assume your post guarding Heaven's streets. Prayers and condolences to his family.

Completely agree. If I had to do it all over again with my sons, I'd have zero reservations about them playing youth and high school football. If anything, they'd probably be safer today playing youth and high school football because of equipment improvements, rule changes and the much greater education and knowledge of concussions, heat dangers, etc. I do have reservations about playing college ball. In fact I strongly discouraged both of my sons from playing college ball. The higher the level of ball, the fiercer the impacts and the more likely concussions are to concur in my opinion. And I completely agree with your follow up post also!

I'm a big fan of Alan's also. One heck of a fine person and his decisions on the BOC always were based on fairness, participation and putting the interests of kids in front of the interests of adults.

I wasn't judging them by just W's/L's.

Highlands coaches are way underpaid. Given the success of their product over the last 20 years or so, they should be getting paid a whole lot more.

Is trolling now permitted on here?

I think you are right. If you are a fan, you have to go into the stadium not expecting to see good football or anything close to it. IF you do such, the game can be okay to watch. Weather was very nice. Anyone know how the ref who got hurt is doing? Hope he's okay.

He owes it all to Centre! :thumb:

Per Dale last night: game is on Friday and will not be televised.

Big congrats to Jeremy, asst coaches and the players (current and recent past). What you guys have done is truly impressive. Big tip of the hat also to the parents of the players. Great support. Let's get some more wins.

I agree with the above comments. I watched him on tape before the state game and of course saw the state game. I was extremely impressed, and I'm not easily impressed.

Man, after reading some of the comments in this thread, I guess all those Covington Latin School grads who graduated from high school not 6 months early, but 2 years early, weren't ready for college. However, since a whole lot of the ones I know have become extremely successful business men and women, doctors and lawyers, I kind of think they were ready for college even if they started college two years younger than the typical college freshman.

If you think your child can enjoy (endure) the intense structure and discipline of attending an academy, I'd thoroughly recommend it. Fantastic education and a network that will serve your child well the rest of his/her life.

I don't agree with the part of the bill that would have allowed schools to be sanctioned for following a court order if the court order is later overturned. Frankly that entire concept completely offends my sense of justice and fairness as an attorney. I do agree with the part of the bill that would have placed the venue for all appeals in Franklin Co. Circuit Court.

Scotty moves pretty darn well for a big man. So do Schweitzer and some of the other bigger than normal Highlands O linemen this year. They aren't going to move as well as the more typical 200 pound Highlands O linemen but with Coach Turner involved, they will all move better than the typical big O linemen you see at other schools and will have really good feet and technique.

Unless something has changed, the fact that a school doesn't contest the eligibility is irrelevant. So in other words, assuming the transfer form is accurately filled out by the sending school and the receiving school, an high school student that played varsity sports at the sending school is automatically ineligible for one year unless one of the enumerated exceptions is established. Now if the sending school failed to accurately report on the form that the student played varsity sports at the sending school, the KHSAA would automatically declare the kid eligible unless the KHSAA received information from another source that the kid had in fact played varsity sports at the sending school. The KHSAA is not the NCAA. They don't have near the budget nor manpower to check every transfer. They do rely on the schools accurately and properly filling out the forms. If the sending school doesn't report that the student played varsity sports while there, the KHSAA is going to approve eligibility. It has to, unless the KHSAA is provided credible information that the kid did in fact play varsity sports at the sending school. At which point the KHSAA is going to look into the matter.

Based upon my understanding of the rule, the mere changing of the coaching job by the Dad to another school is not an exception to the one year period of ineligibility period. One of the exceptions enumerated in the transfer rule must be satisfied (i.e. a bona fide change of residence). So your assumption would be incorrect. Not having to pay tuition is a local school board decision totally separate and distinct from the KHSAA's rule on transfers.

I'm not going to go as far as to say transfers are not challenged or are relatively easily allowed. At least that wasn't my observation when I was on the BOC even after the change in process or the change in philosophy from when there was a bias against transfers. It was my observation that the KHSAA still carefully investigated all transfers; it just didn't have a pronounced bias against transfers. But I've been off the BOC for about 2 years now. So I can't say with certainty what the mentality is today. However, based upon what I know of the administrators involved in the eligibility process (primarily Bilberry, Collins and Tackett) I would be very surprised if any shenanigans were going on, or any favoritism was being shown to Holmes because Steidl is on the BOC. I honestly would be very surprised. Steidl and I rarely, and I mean rarely, saw eye to eye on anything and I'd say it's safe to say neither one of us is in the other's fan club, so I have no reason to cut him any slack. If I had evidence that he was influencing the administrators decisions, I'd cry it from on high. I don't have the percentages or numbers of when I was on the BOC. They are out there somewhere I believe, but I don't know them. I think it would be safe to say that the percentage of transfers being declared eligible have increased since we changed the process and eliminated the BOC from voting on eligibility determinations. Personally, I think that is a good thing for the reasons I've stated in prior posts about BOC bias. I've always been in favor of eliminating the rule. If a kid is enrolled at a school on the first day of the school year, that's where he or she gets to play that year. I acknowledge that some parents/kids would abuse the rule. But I've never been one to penalize the 90% to catch the 10%.