Henry Steele

Clyde: "Ervin and his stats should have been second to Dicky Beal that year for Mr. Basketball." Amen, brother. Dicky went on to be the Most Outstanding Player of the Mideast Regional for UK..... Ervin was the second best member of his family to play at EKU and didn't last at EKU. Talent levels weren't even comparable. Taht was one of the few times a UK signee didn't get Mr. Baseketball.

"Waller used to be enrolled at Holmes and didnt Ricky Waller play there in the 70's?" Two years, then transferred to Boone County instead of sticking around at Holmes and winning a regional championship.

NCC has always had great success during the regular season against Holmes - at least twice (80, 08 I think) they were the only NKY team to knock off outstanding Holmes squads, but I don't recall NCC ever upsetting Holmes in the tournament. We'll see how it plays out this year.

There are actually three gyms on the Holmes campus...The big flloor at David Evans fieldhouse where varsity and JV games and practices are held, but then there is also what used to be known as the "senior" gym where younger boys teams (i.e. freshman, eighth grade) practiced and played, and the "junior" gym where the girls practiced. The senior gym dated back to the 40's and the junior gym dated back to the 20's or 30's, I believe, and both had/have balconies.

Yes, Waller played at Holmes and then transferred to Boone. Outstanding talent with good size, he probably should have stayed at Holmes to be part of the 76 regional champs. With respect to the technicals, I may have mispoken... I am not sure what the infraction was that led to the technical. I'm going back 35 years, but it seems like in one game there was a series of chaotic plays where a player was trying to get back into the game quickly (foul shots or foul related) and a technical was called after a consultation at the scorer's table. Might be a good test for Mr. Huhn's memory. Couldn't an incorrect uniform number also lead to a technical? Now that I think about it, I am pretty sure I saw a technical callled for that once when a player brought the wrong uniform.

Great guys all, but since I know him the best, I will comment about Gary Huhn as follows: 1. Best teacher I ever had at any level, through high school, an engineering degree and law school. 2. I don't know if this is true of any of the others, but I know that Mr. Huhn on at least a couple of occasions had a hand in the outcome of a game when technical fouls were assessed against players for not reporting in to the game (think Holmes/Boone County (Ricky Waller) in 75 or Holmes/Holy Cross in 76). Is that true of any of the others?

Comical? Please fill me in, because honestly I do not know, if another team from Kentucky has been ranked nationally in the top 5. If there hasn't been, then at least confirm that you think that those ranking Highlands this year among the nation's elite have a "comically" distorted perception of Highlands. I mean, we can debate the accuracy of national rankings all day, but you at least have to admit that there are those people out there that closely follow high school football that would not consider it "comical", don't you?

In the prediction thread, I especially liked the response to jimmyjr's post - "You can't be serious" I think it was, followed by more discussion about how big, fast and fierce St. X was.

A completely dominant performance in Ft. Thomas - and I am not going to get into the "ifs and buts" debate anymore than to say that if Bardo doesn't leave the game, it ends WAYYY lopsided. That observation is not to suggest what the score could have or should have been - it is to emphasize that St. X had no answer for Highlands' first team offense, contrary to what so many in the prediction thread had to offer. My comments are directed primarily to those who ridiculed anyone who had the audacity to suggest Highlands could win, or that Bardo and the Birds belonged on the same field with the Bombers. Frankly, given the vitriol in the St. X/Highlands predictions thread, I am surprised at the restraint exercised by Highlands fans after the game. Has there ever been a thread on BGP where more posters were more certain of an outcome that missed so badly? After reading the prediction thread, I think there are about a dozen posters that should acknowledge that, for whatever reason (relying on bad data or just not knowing the game), they didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Remember all the talk about the size and speed of St. X? The reality check that was going to come to Ft. Thomas? All of the "St. X by 4 or 5 touchdown" or "St. X by as many as they want" predictions? I appreciate that it's a game with an uncertain outcome, and some teams can have good, or even great, nights and pull off spectacular feats, and erroneous predictions in those situations are the ones that deserve a plate of crow. On the other hand, predictions with biting sarcasm about silly "loyalty" that blinds fans to the "truth", or predictions that mock posters who suggest Highlands might have a chance - I think those are entitled to more than just a helping of crow.

I would be surprised...guess we'll see. Just hard to put someone ahead of the state champs who return so much IMO. The Lexington Catholic that Holmes completely dismantled in the quarter finals beat next year's Scott County team, i.e. without Phares. I would have liked to have seen a rematch this year between Holmes and Scott County in which Phares played meaningfully, but without him I think Holmes is clearly ahead.

They certainly crossed my mind - anyone know if this past year's game was part of a multi-year deal, or if there are plans for them to meet in 09-10?

Lafayette only lost 1 game in 79. Any other state champs got a record to top that or even tie it?

For the past 5 years, Holmes has had a good run of athletes, has won 4 of 5 regionals, the state, etc., but for the first 4 years of that run CovCath was a constant and worthy adversary. This past year, I would say that, even though they didn't play until Saturday morning in March, Elliott County stepped into the role of Holmes chief adversary (fueled in large part by BGP). So who is there next year? Every Superman needs a Lex Luther, after all.

The Male teams were great, but the best one - Griffith and Turner's senior year - didn't even get out of the district. So which team do you include? 1979 Lafayette - COMPLETELY dominated. I think only one flukey loss, and blowouts of practically everyone else. Early 90's back to back Fairdale championship teams - hard to argue with back to back.

Doug is a good lawyer, but I think I've got the evidence to win the argument - tell him to check the box score in his "Lest we forget".

The story's wrong. Two guys played 35 minutes that night for Holmes (4 eight minute quarters and a 3 minute overtime) - Dicky Beal and Mark Moeves. Schloemer, Wimzie and Malik all fouled out. Derkson did not play at all in that game. In the story as you've heard it, who started at the point?

Chris Berns played in 76 or 77. Dave Derkson started on the 78 squad until the state finals against Shelby County - that was Dicky Beal's first start of the year, even though he did make the District All Tourney team coming off the bench.

Fundamental problem with this thread - what does "best" mean? If it is who beats who, then I would probably agree with 09 Dogs being the best. But I would say that, as matchups go, the 80 Dogs would have presented more problems for the 09 Dogs than the 78 team. None of the 09 Dogs, the 78 Dogs, the 81 Pioneers, the 67 Colonels, had an answer for the lightening fast guard play of the 80 squad. This year's Dogs biggest flaw was that they always let the other team dictate the tempo. They just happen to be tremendous athletes that also played great defense. As the only even semi close comparison I can conjure up, I would point out that the quick little guard from Christian County got to the basket pretty doggone easily against Holmes early in that first round game and, while he was quick, he was no Dicky. End of the day, I say in a tournament it's 1. 09 Holmes/80 Holmes - pick'em; 3. 78 Holmes; 4. 08 Holmes; 5. 81 SK/Highlands

This issue is a political minefield. If the public Board of Education expends funds like this, it will almost certainly be criticized - heck, even if the funds are PRIVATELY raised, there may be criticism (see "Highlands purchases turf for field using private funds" as the precedent). On the other hand, once the solicitation for funds is sent out, you get something like "the sorry state of the Covington School System". I think I could find reasons to praise, or criticize, every school system in the state. A decision by a school system to not only not use taxpayer funds, but to invite participation by alumni and fans, is not a decision I would ever think merits criticism. Having said that, I am 100 percent certain that the funds will be privately raised to pay for the rings. I also think that with a few well placed phone calls this could have been done without any publicity or fanfare.

Sorry, and somewhat surprised, to see Willie step down. He had an exceptional group coming back that should be a contender next year - just a little bit of bad timing to be in the ninth region right now with Holmes. With respect to Mike Flynn, if he is in fact a candidate, he did coach Holmes to a state finals finish in 1990, but my recollection of his time there was more frustration that success. After 1990, didn't Holmes have a few outstanding state ranked teams through about 1996-97 that kept getting upset in the region? Carr and Shumate would both be good fits in Ft. Thomas IMO.

Strong! So where do they start in the 2009-10 preseason rankings?

Not sure from the post if you know this, but there is already a street named after him in Covington. I think Basement Barbers is expressing his frustration because he thought the street should be named after some other Bulldog great like Tommy Gullett.

Yeah, you're right about the street. We should save that honor for professional athletes that set all-time records.

Sniff...sniff....smells like bait.

A. Holmes lost by 2. Goaltending call would have meant another overtime, although the entire overtime would have changed - so who knows. B. Giving up the 3/4 length of the court pass to let Hurt tie the game was a mistake, but Holmes certainly did not fail to return to the bench. In fact, immediately after Beal's go ahead basket, Shelby County called a timeout; when they came out from the timeout, Holmes then called its own timeout. Reynolds told them not to foul, and that gave Charlie Hurt and Mike George a chance to make a great play. It's a shame it happened that way, but other coach's have had the same play used against them successfully on a much bigger stage.