Patveep

Coleman played for Wayland....not Wayman. I saw that tournamnet from start to finish at it was one of the very best ones ever played, if not the best. Fred Maggard of Carr Creek had 2 buzzer beaters, but was omitted from the All Tourney team. I think the State Legislature put him on the team. Most of us who went were on short money....an understatement. KU announced an open house for coaches. About 25 of us showed up and Ku looked the other way. Not only did we eat, but we did a little impromtu carry out inside our coats. I think Walgreen's took a little beating also. The following year, they changed the layout so some of the hustlers actually had to pay. I got my tickets by standing around and looking poor. Generous folks would give us unused tickets and we would sell them, saving one for admission. Many of us including me, slept in a car. The next day we would go to the YMCA for our shower (it cost either a dime or a quarter). Small wonder that so many of us are well off today. We learned to be resourceful at an early age. None of us could go to our parents and say...I need 50 bucks to go to the State tournament. The lies I told my mother to get her permission to attend!

Clyde....Uk football is already broken!

Ram...I agree with the theme, but you went overboard on the seating example. I attneded about 15 of the very best games and none of the stadiums were filled to capacity. I have been to a lot of basketball games where it was tough to find a seat and some at tournament time where the fire marshall ordered the doors closed. The regular season means very little in basketball.

A local coaching legend and friend of mine always gave his basketball ballot to a mutual friend to complete. His reasoning was simple....his job kept him from seeing a lot of games other than those in which his team participated. The guy who actually completed the ballot went to all of the tournaments and talked with another guy whose job took him all over the state where he filled in his evenings at the local HS gym. Both of these guys were and still are excellent talent evaluators. In fact, one was often consulted by one of Curci's assistants during the Curci era. This would not work as well for football, but I have to wonder how many coaches go to see CovCath when they play on Sat. after coaching their team on Saturday. I wonder the same thing about who attends the various pre-season bowls. This is not intended as criticism of the current CJ team, as I saw only the local players, and a few who played against local teams in the playoffs. One thing is for sure. The football selections are always going to be more flawed than the basketball selections for reasons to obvious to mention.

The definition of palming did more to confuse than enlighten. What does "more than a handshake" mean? Also, how can you talk about plaming without defining what is permitted and what is not regarding touching the ball on the side. In the past, you had to put your hand under the ball. The definition dels with perpendicular. Obviosly, "more than a handshake gived the dribbler some leeway, but the rest of the defintion would not pass muster in an English composition class.

Thanks Neerfan and yes, Bob played for Holmes. He is long retired and is healthy and living in Florida. I thought about naming Dave Bishop also, as he was a former Holmesman who starred in basketball and football and also in track. He won the decathlon the year before White. He was an end in HS, but became the leading ground gainer in the OVc at Eastern Ky. I nominated White as Bishop was 2 years older than White when he competed. A bunch of Holmes grads get together for lunch at The Greyhound the last Friday of the month. We have had guest appearances from both the Holmes head football and basketball coach. Both programs appear to be in good hands.

He was primarily a football player, but Bob White was the best athlete in the history of Northern Kentucky. It was well before most of you started watching sports ,but Bob became a first team All-American as the Ohio State fullback. He led them to the Rose Bowl. He played so well against Iowa in a big game, that Mel Allen called him Bronco Nagurski reincarnate. He was also a fine basketball player and he was the key to defeating a very good CovCath team at their place in the District Tournamnet, despite the presence of Roger Tieman and John Zalla. That year they had a decathlon meet at the end of track season. White absoltely smoked the competition as he could pole vault,run and throw.

The announcer who kept harping that there had to be a linmen down field needs to find something else to do on Fri and Sat. nights.

The ugly part imho was the fact that there were 4 refs and not 1 stepped up to the plate. Frankly, I question whether any of the 4 knew the rule. I heard Howie, Dandy Don and Gifford go crazy when Lem Barney picked up a ball that had been touched, but not blown dead. They yelled and made all sorts of cracks about Barney trying to con the refs. When a touchdown was verified for Barney, they were stunned. Not one of the three knew the rule, but they were quick to judge the situation. On another night, a team an inch from their own goal took an intentional safety so they could kick off from the 20 rather from their own end zone with only a short drop. The trio again had no idea what was happening when the qb ran to the back of the end zone, eating up valuable seconds before stepping out the back of the end zone. It isn't just local announcers who sometimes go off the deepend.

I am neutral and I don't want to hear the injury baloney. When someone is hurt at that level you bring in the next guy and he does the job. How about the fact that, after a great first half, Elliott was injured and played little in the second half. And when he did play, he did not carry the ball. His replacement stepped in and did the job...big time. Ryle conrolled the line and if you want to play "but for" had Ryle not made a decision to pass on first down after Highlands scored to pull within 8, Ryle well may have run out the clock. They made 4 yards on each of the next 2 carries and Ryle had complete control of the line at that point. On their final possession when the Birds stacked the line, they were knocked backward and Ryle made several crucial first down when everyone knew they were going to run and run between the tackles. The 2 teams are very even, but last night belonged to Ryle. Ryle will be voted #1 because of their recent victory.

Anyone know where last year's FC Quarterback went to college?

I am a Beechwood fan and I can assure you that there has been grumbling in the stands starting last year and well before being blown out by teams Beechwood formerly beat regularly. How can five losses (most not even close) followed by 0-2 this year not be called slipping? It looks more like plunging to many of us. Talent runs in cycles and Beechwood just does not have the huge linemen that they had in the past. This years team has some speed and talent at the skill positions but the line is a bit undersized compared to past lines. I expect a below average season for Beechwood, but not for lack of effort. I have no doubt that next year will be better, but the numbers don't lie and we cannot play with the tougher teams on the schedule and certainly could not last year.

I heard that several Beechwood players were injured. Any details?

Fletcher Carr was a UK coach under Curci. He also headed the wrestling team at Uk. Is the wrestler from Johnson Central a relative? I think Fletcher won the finals of the tough man contest in well uns der a minute. Sorry for the post being only tangential to football.

Great bunch of well thought out opinions. However, the answer seems to me to depend on so many variable. First, are we talking about going to a small school or not going to college at all? What about a situation where one turns down an opportunity to go to a prestigious school because a d-3 offers an opportunity to play football. I spent nearly 40 years in HR and which school the degree comes from matters to some and matters little to others. If you want to work on Wall Street or get accepted to an Ivy League school for your masters, you can do that from a school like Centre, but perhaps not from many small schools. My brother-in-law wanted to be a doctor but could not get into med. school with a degree from Villa Madonna. He eventually did get in at age 30 when an influential doctor got him in Alabama. There is just so much to consider before making a final decision.

I agree with Neerfan. Holmes has been unable to replace Riley. It usually takes a Holmes fan to recognize just how much Riley contributed last year. ASgain I agree with Neerfan about Holmes offense. They throw it around outside until someone either makes a one on one move or they take a three. They are not famous for their three point shooting without Riley out front. I saw Carlisle County's offense and either Henley does not run it at Holmes or the Holmes players do not run it the way it is supposed to be run. Earlier in the year a GRC poster posted about the lack of depth on this team. He surely got that one right. Holmes has several players who just take up space, miss shots and throw the ball in the general direction of a teammate. If this does not change, I don't see much chance for post season success. On the other hand, Holmes does play excellent defense and they help each other better than just about any other team I have seen. Princeton is very well coached. Beating Holmes on their floor is no small task. Their ability to run a few plays and their shot selection was far better than Holmes. I have to agree about the Princeton coaches hair.

I like some of what Henley brings. He does bring more discipline than predecessors and his substitution patterns are well designed to provide rest so that he has his best players on the floor at crunch time. Having said that, he does seem to know only one style of play. I do not think Holmes is one bit selfish. In fact they tend to overpass and then settle for the same shot that they could have gotten earlier. They also tend to make inside passes to players who are well guarded with poor results. They really do miss Riley. When you have the most athletic team imho you utilize it to the fullest by running. Letting the other team hang around will sooner or later get you a loss, particularly when you are not famous for your foul shooting. In the second half of the first Newport game, the Bulldogs ran and they ran away with the game.

I was very surprised to see that the newspaper gurus liked CCH in this game. I thought this was clearly an off year for CCH and JC beat CCH rather badly last year. Loyaty to NK and judgment are 2 different things.

HC is the fastes team I have seen thisyear and I have seen a lot of football.

It is nice to be a big school with lots of players tp pick from. Beechwood has to double up in a lot of spots. Max Nussbaum played varsity for Beechwood on Friday and he is a freshman. But for the injury, Erdman would probably have played. Nussbaum made several tackles on kickoffs. That said, there are differing viewpoints on bringing in players for certain games and sitting those who "got you there". A Moeller coach who was there during the Faust era admits they brought in freshman from wherever they could find them, but told upperclass kids who wanted to transfer in, that were very good players...no thanks. They felt it was bad for the team's morale. I see both points of view and both have merit and both have a downside.

Cooper should never have been permitted to play in this division. While they are a new school, their players are not new to football. They came up thru the feeder leagues just like everyone else. Cooper should have been given an opportunity to play with Highlands and Covington Catholic so they can determine what it is like to compete with the big boys. Beechwood uses 7th graders as starters at several positions.

The players for both teams gave it their all and are to be congratulated. The Ryle sidelines did look like a Chinese fire drill at times. The decision to go for it on 4th and 13 on Ryles first possession was a bummer. A pooch kick or even a kick into the end zone is a much smarter choice and numerous statistics support the fact that the further you have to go,the less likely you are to score. There are not a lot of 3rd. and 13 plays that work vs Highlands. Also, the music was opressively loud and continued while the game was underway. My congratulations to the guy with the big voice who shouted up to the press box to tell them to shut off the music. There were 4 neutrals in our crowd and we agreed after the game that the refs did a fine job and had to make a number of very close calls. All of us thought the interception that was waved off hit the ground. Eliott needs to get under control and had the same problem the first time I saw him. He has a possible d-1 career facing him and he would not want to mess that up.

I am a Beechwood fan, but I agree with those who say that NewCath's big line will dominate Beechwood's line. Beechwood had trouble getting Buckler on the ground and NewCath's Kelly is bigger snd stronger and gets better blocking.

Cooper was the better team, but as pointed out Beechwood would have made a better showing with Erdman. The Cooper goal line stand at the end of the first half was huge. Beechwood had Nussbaum rush 4 straight times and he came up a foot short. With Erdman as a ball carrier, Cooper could not have stacked the line the way they did. I thought Nussbaum was the game's outstanding player by a wide margin. He made several great catches of balls that were thrown into a crowd. He not only made a leaping one handed interception well downfield, but secured the ball before falling to the ground. Everyone knew who would run the ball for Beechwood, but stopping him was another matter, The Cooper quarterback was absolutely excellent also. He has a strong accurate arm and with better receivers, would have put the game away in the first half. Cooper also has excellent running backs. Until I saw this game, I thought freshman football was down from last year when True and Vocke led their teams. This game restored my faith that there are still some top freshman coming along....and not just the ones I mentioned. Congratulations to both teams who played hard and played well.

Jake Geisler is the best Junior lineman I have seen this year.