jbwill2

Ugly Mary's... best beets and turnips in the bluegrass! Ask for Snotty... he'll hook you up!

You can pick your nose, and you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friend's nose. I say this mainly due to the concern I have that several BGP'ers have been taking liberties with their friends' noses. Consider this a BGP Public Service Announcement.

Given that several of the likely starting LBers for Highlands in 2008 did not start for the 'Birds last year, I think it's premature to say they are the best in the state. The 2007 group was certainly something special... hopefully this year's bunch can continue the trend!

Any word on the Highlands players who will participate?

Well, my job is to educate. Seriously though, does anyone know what became of the girl who played Vicky on the TV show Small Wonder? Man, that kid had some talent!

Chinese proverb... He who go to bed with itchy backside, wake up with smelly finger. Think about it. There's a lesson to be learned.

Well, it depends on what your definition of "snow" is... it also depends on how you define "accurate."

Per chance, is this girl "Vicky" from the 1980's show Small Wonder???

Cheaper, yes... but also bloodier.

Better your Blackberry than your ragin' case of 'roids, wouldn't ya say???

Well, keep in mind that the point of these games would not be to "settle" issues of which team was better from last year. You are absolutely correct... teams can vary greatly from year to year. The point of this would be to generate a greater interest in the beginning of the football season. Let's face it... the teams that win titles are rarely great one year and bad the next... they tend to be great football PROGRAMS... therefore the chances of these being exciting games year in and year out are strong. By starting off the season with matchups like Highlands vs. Trinity and LexCath vs. Central, a lot of interest would be built up at the very start of the season.

I remember that one or two years ago a BGP'er suggested that there should be a bowl at the start of the regular season that would feature the defending state champions playing each other. I wanted to revisit this idea. It could be called the Bluegrass Champions Bowl or something like this, and the 1A and 2A champs could play, the 3A and 4A champs could play, and the 5A and 6A teams could play. The locations for all three games could be in different places. In fact, perhaps the smaller class's champion could host each game, to help level the playing field a bit (i.e. 5A Highlands would host 6A Trinity). I think this would generate some extra interest in the start of the football season. Also, it seems that the beginning-of-the-year bowls (especially the Recreation Bowl and the Thoroughbred Bowl) have lost some luster over time, and this could reverse this trend.

Could someone please list the returning starters for Highlands? I know that on offense RB Conner and OL Dempsey are coming back, and on defense DB Collinsworth is returning. Who else??? How about Laber... did he start on the defensive line last year?

Looks like ol' Roy is finding yet another way to blow it! Way to go.

A major determining factor of how the 'Birds will fare in 2008 is how they will match up with CCH this year. It sure sounds like CCH is going to have an experienced, monster offensive line this year, plus an experienced, athletic QB. HHS' defense and defensive coaching staff will have their hands full this year!

A previous post mentioned the offensive line as being a question mark. I will add that the change in starting QB will be a question mark... HHS lost a two-year starter and state title game MVP in Clay Cecil. Guidugli (the presumed starter) will really need to step it up for the 'Birds to pick up where they left off in 2007. The encouraging news is that apparently Guidugli looked very good in spring practice.

I'll be bold and maybe even ruffle a few "Birds" feathers here, and say that if such a Super Class were made, T, X and Male would win 17-18 out of every 20 super class titles.

The KHSAA shift from 4 to 6 football classes has been pretty controversial, with many supporters and many detractors. What does everyone think of the idea of going back to 4 traditional classes (based solely on male enrollment size, no exceptions) PLUS a "super class," which would be for any programs who wanted to "play up" in it, regardless of school size? I know that geography is a complicating factor in this scenario, but consider this concept in theory at least. Would any program want to play in the "super class," besides the major Louisville Class 6A powers (like Trinity, St. Xavier, and possibly Male)? Teams like CovCath and Highlands pride themselves in "playing up" in football (for geographic reasons) while still maintaining their traditions of excellence as powerhouses... would they consider "playing way up?" Would that be football suicide?

I'll tell you what, how about I start a separate thread for this... it's an interesting discussion.

What I am referring to is a team shifting from the "super-class" back down to one of the four "normal classes," because they found that they couldn't successfully compete on a consistent basis with T and X in the "super-class." Here's a question: why would any team want to join this "super class?" What would be the incentive? As for the ability to compete with T and X, keep this in mind... it's one thing for a team to give T and X a good game and maybe beat them every now and then, and it's something VERY different to CONSISTENTLY compete with them, such that you have a 50-50 chance of beating them every year. Not many programs can honestly say that year in and year out, they can evenly match T and X in competition. As for 5A this year, it is really starting to sound like the Class 5A, District 5 winner (i.e. HHS or CCH) will be the HEAVY, HEAVY favorite to win the state title this year.

The issue I have with the "super-class" idea is that, realistically speaking, the chances of a team other than T or X (or to a lesser extent, Male) winning this class would be pretty low, and so I don't see much incentive for other programs to want to play in this "super-class." What I would imagine in such an arrangement is the following: other programs like Highlands, CovCath and LexCath might consider playing in this "super-class," and then after a few years of being knocked out of the playoffs by either T or X these teams will no longer want to voluntarily compete in this class, and so they will drop back down to their appropriate class. Teams shifting classes up and down for the purposes of trying to increase their odds of winning titles would weaken the prestige of winning championships, in my opinion.

Now that spring practice 2008 is over, what's next in store for Highlands this offseason? I've heard something about the 7-7 passing leagues... when is this?

But isn't the loss of Grimm going to be a tough one to overcome for JC? Also, I left out Lincoln County in my previous post. With the loss of their head coach, I'm thinking that they will most likely be down some from last year's team.

I'm with LN on this one... if an Ohio D-II team has this kind of talent, then something strange must be going on for that team not to be a major contender for the state title. And it seems that T-M was definitely not a major contender last year, as they only won one game in the 2007 postseason. Could someone please tell me what kind of community Trotwood-Madison is? I wonder what kind of community support T-M has? Also, how big was T-M's fan turnout at the Herbie against HHS last year? Interestingly, there is a big prep football event going on in Texas this year (unofficially referred to as the "Texas Herbie") which features quality out-of-state teams playing quality Texas teams, and Trotwood-Madison has been invited to participate (along with Cincy LaSalle, the only two Ohio teams to be invited). No KY teams will be playing in this event.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Highlands and CovCath end up being the best two teams in all of Class 5A in 2008. It sounds like the western side of the Class 5A playoff bracket (Bowling Green, John Hardin and Owensboro - the "Big Three" of Class 5A football from the western half of the state in 2007) will be down some from last year, and I'm getting the sense that 2007 contenders Dixie Heights and Johnson Central will be down as well. I wonder about Woodford County this year? They made some noise in 2007. Also, I wonder about Clay County and Letcher County Central. One thing's for sure, neither HHS nor CCH will get away with a 40-point playoff win against the other one in 2008!