Frances Bavier

You should have spent the money, and gone to the game. Frances

LOL - I'm taking the "Under", at 10:39 PM. Frances

Were you at the game, or are you pulling my leg. If it's the latter, be careful. I'm old enough that it might pull right off. Frances

Final score in three overtimes. Great game. No one should question Kasey Clark as a stud running back, but it now looks like Matt Thomas is staking his claim as a "go to" back as well. Just a quote or two, from the "predictions" thread: How fond is your memory of tonight's game? Good call, Jeepman. Gleefully, Frances PS - my streak of never picking the outcome of a game remains intact - and I'm glad.

I'm with Scooterbob on this one. The day will never come when Ashland votes to draw. In any given year, it might be to Ashland's advantage to draw, but over time, Ashland will definitely fare better in a seeded district. This also applies to Boyd County. Conversely, Rose Hill and Fairview will (over time) benefit from drawing. That is why the schools have historically voted the way that they have. It is pretty straightforward, and easy to understand. I hope that Rose Hill does vote to seed. It will definitely be to their benefit for the near future, but as Scooterbob said, it will come back to haunt them over coming decades. It's been said many times - I don't really care whether district tournaments seed or draw, I just wish the state would dictate that everyone be the same. Frances

I'll leave the rest of it alone, but I'll reply to this last statement you made - As long as Dakotah Euton is at Rose Hill, they will be a power (if not THE power) in the 16th Region. The day after he plays his last basketball game at Rose Hill .... They'll still have talent, but nothing will replace Euton when he leaves. Nothing. Frances

MilfordFlash - If the game isn't played, it will be because Huntington buys out of the contract, for a bigger payday. Then again, the game itself might be played at a venue with more seating, to increase the gate for that date. Time will tell. Frances

At the risk of opening the entire can of worms again, I think we can safely say that the Rose Hill fan base and the Ashland fan base have a different view of how things played out during the two years of OJ's run in the 16th region. No question about the fact that Ashland refused to play Rose Hill in the regular season. They still played each other four times, with both teams winning 2 games. Bill Hornbuckle

Fair enough, Yak. Some fine points, regarding the stress situation. Frances

How well do you know Mark Swift? Would you say that you know him well enough to speak for him, or are you simply taking potshots at him, since he isn't here to defend himself? To be honest, I have no problem with you believing whatever you choose to, regarding Mark Swift. On the other hand, since you seem willing to question his ethics, you would have much more credibility if you didn't do so from a position of anonymity. If you don't want to reveal you identity on BGP, I can understand that. You obviously live in Boyd County, so it wouldn't be that hard to write a letter to the editor at the Daily Independent. Of course, then you'd have to sign your name. I have no idea whatsoever if the game between Ashland and Huntington will stay as is, or if Huntington will try to buy out the contract (I would think that they will look at virtually every game on their current schedule, trying to find a potential buyout - or four). If the game is played as currently scheduled, I'm sure we can count on you to be the first to post on this site, praising the team, the coach, and the AD for playing as hard as possible... Just to be on the safe side, I'll keep an eye on the editorial page of the Daily Independent. Frances

Ooooohhhhh! Going for my weak spot - ice cream on a hot, sticky night, and a double feature at the Starlight DriveIn Theatre... Okay, put me down for Tuesday, right after I finish up work, cleaning the cages at the dog pound. I'll be wearing my good coveralls, so I'm expecting you to act the gentleman and hold the car door for me. Looking for my toothbrush, Frances

If I missed your humor, then the apology is on me. I sincerely mean that. I think your example of the 72 Soviets is an extremely rare exception, in that after the third "reset" by the officials, the Soviets finally won the game. So, I'll have to say that I shouldn't have made my statement using universals (i.e. ALWAYS), and I stand corrected. By the same token, I'll stick with my position when it comes to games like last weeks Ashland/Raceland game, when the Rams won. This weeks game between Ashland and Belfry falls into that category, as do the the vast majority of all games (your example of the Olympic debacle was a nice touch). Frances PS - only my first husband called me "Honeypig". Is that you, Jethro?

As opposed to say, a level headed BrewDog??? Old Frances doesn't need any help, but thanks for the concern. As for your statement that "The team who wins, wins." - I have to say that I've seen some very deep thoughts posted on this site, but that is an absolute jewel. Staying with that line of reasoning, I'll gamble, and say that the team that loses, loses. Or the teams that tie, tie. Am I getting the hang of it? Unless I'm badly mistaken, winning is the yardstick by which one measures whether a team is "good". So, I'll stick with my original assessment, and say that a team that finishes a season with a 16-0 record is a "better" team than a team that finishes 0-11. You take the "better" 0-11 team, and I'll take the team that wins, wins. Not all of "us" do it, not all coaches do it, and going by what was said about the Belfry players, not all players do it. If someone wants to talk "smack", then go ahead - just don't try to pass it off as if everyone else is doing it, so it must be okay. I don't know of anyone that would say that Haywood talks smack, or that he would condone it. Frances

For my money, the best team ALWAYS wins. The only thing that matters is which team is best at the time of the game. Injuries, penalties, lucky breaks, coaching decisions, home field, height of the goal posts, season stats, size of the players, use of mud cleats, color of jersey, motivation, momentum, pre-game prayer, and post-game interviews don't really mean anything. The team that puts more points on the board from the time of the opening kickoff, until the last whistle is blown is the only measure of who is the "better team". The bottom line is that the better team wins every game. ALWAYS. Everything else is background noise. When your team is on the short end of the scoreboard, tell the other guy "congratulations" and "good luck", mean it, and then move on. Frances

LOL - knowing my record in picking winners, you surely didn't think I'd pick Ashland to win it, did you? Talk about putting the "curse" on a team - it doesn't get much worse than having Frances pick you as a winner... Frances

That is a killer stat. Hard to overcome turnovers for anyone. Frances

I think Leon Hart and the Ashland coaching staff have made some key moves in personnel, and have the Tomcats going in the right direction. I like the fact that we just beat a sound Belfry team, coached by a legend. I think we'll continue to get better as the season progresses. All of that said, we now face another coaching legend, with an even stronger team. Clark is (in my opinion) one of the best backs Russell has ever had - and that's covering some ground. He is definitely one of the top three backs in the state this year - if not THE best. Having a strong candidate for Mr. Football in your backfield has to make Russell the team to beat in this one. Put a good line in front of him, and I think the Devils have to be the favorites. I love the Tomcats, and I know we're at home, but speaking from my head and not my heart, I think Russell wins this one by a final score of 28 - 14. Frances PS - please keep in mind that I have never gotten a prediction right yet...

Don't tell me - let me guess. You got beat at Putnam Stadium when you were a senior, when you clearly had a better team, and naturally, we payed the referees to cheat you out of a state championship ... After losing by a final margin of 48-8 (by the cheating Tomcats), your team went on to lose 9 more games, and finish with a final record of 1-10, because the boys got down after they had their hearts broken. When you got home that evening, you discovered that someone had hit your dog with a car. Of course, your neighbor saw the whole thing, and the driver of the car was wearing an Ashland Football hat. He didn't even stop to check and see if Rover was okay. Later that week, a hurricane hit your home and wiped out everything you had. The hurricane had been predicted on TV, by an announcer that had graduated from Ashland. Ten years later, you lost your job at the mousetrap factory, when someone from Ashland invented a better mousetrap. The nefarious Ashlander even bought the radio station in your hometown, and has Dickie Martin piped in on Fridays nights. Am I close????? Frances

Good post, Belfry Boy. Your comment about May reminding you of Doug Howard must be true - Dickie Martin kept saying the same thing last night on the radio. Not bad, being put in the same class with Howard. Then again, by the time he's done, May might well be in a class all by himself. Frances

I think anytime a game goes to overtime, and the visitors are on the short end of the stick, you could probably make a good argument that if the game were played on the other field, the outcome might well have been different. I'd say that there is probably a good chance that if this game had been at Belfry, the Pirates might well have won it. We'll never know. Frances

In my opinion, this is becoming a lost art. Acting like this reflects on how these young men were raised by their parents, and just how much of a class act Phillip Haywood is. I have been lucky enough to be in Louisville for both of the Belfry state championships, and got to see them both. When you talk to people that have coached against Haywood, and then watch his teams play, it's painfully obvious why he is so highly respected. The guy is a class act, all the way through. That is reflected in his teams, as well. Frances

Heck, Devilologists - I'd rag on you some, if I had ever picked one correctly. As it is, I feel your pain. Frances

LOL - that's only fair, Red Shift. I'm guessing GIAT is celebrating right now. Frances

My apologies, TBF. I simply misread the intent of your post. I have to agree with you on one point - many of the predictions that were picking Belfry by 20 or more were based on a lack of respect for Ashland's opponent last week. Frances

What in the world caused that post? Ashland didn't really play well, but Raceland earned the win. No shame in losing to Raceland. Most of the Ashland fans on BGP were giving Raceland their due last week. What gives? Frances