Diogenes

Congratulations to both teams! X is on a roll. Kudos to Highlands...a smaller enrollment but a state power in a number of sports every year.

The Hilltoppers should have a very good year. They have an explosive offense. Season tickets are as low as $75. They play on a campus acclaimed for its beauty in an attractive stadium. Everyone should consider taking in at least a couple of games.

Go Toppers!!!

Brohm will not coach at UL when (or if) he leaves WKU. After being raided by an instate school for its head coach, Western put a no compete clause in Brohm's contract. He can not leave Western and go to an in state school.

Male had a remarkable achievement this year. They beat St. Xavier and Trinity consecutively TWICE this season. I don't know if that feat has ever been accomplished prior to last night.

Scott wins 37-34.

It is generally a pleasure to read predictions on football games by many of the posters on Bluegrass Preps. This is a knowledgeable bunch, and for the most part prognosticators see it as a close game. When picking a close game, many of us tend to lead with our hearts, not with our heads. I suppose I fit into that group also. Two years ago in Nashville Kentucky won a close game, but Western had a statistical edge. Ironically, neither team could consistently complete a pass. Last year at Lexington Western won in overtime on a trick play. Western lost most of our defensive line from last year's team. One in particular, Quanteras Smith, will be hard to replace. It looks like he is going to stick in the NFL. Kentucky lost most of their defensive backfield last year, but that may not be difficult to replace. Western features a top-flight running back in Antonio Andrews, and Ace Wales, the third leading rusher in Kentucky high school football history from Central high school in Louisville, played very well in summer camp and brings much-needed speed to the Topper offense. Kentucky will rely primarily on Sanders, who did not play in the Western game last year. It is said that Kentucky will go with two quarterbacks. Neither quarterback, in my opinion, is as good as Smith was last year, before his injury. Western graduated quarterback Kaiwan Jakes, who provided much needed leadership. However, Brandon Doughty will start and is a much more accurate passer. In the last two weeks Demarcus Smith has made remarkable strides, and he is now running second string and taking some snaps with the ones. Both teams will rely on freshmen at wide receiver. Nobody wants to rely on freshmen for the first game of the season, but it is possible that the freshmen receivers on both teams are on the cusp of remarkable careers. I feel certain that Western fans would not trade our O line for Kentucky's, and vice versa. Western's defensive backfield should be considerably better than Kentucky's, and Kentucky's defensive line should be considerably better than Western's. Both teams suffered losses at linebacker, but return a stellar linebacker. The talent as somewhat similar. I am picking Western for two reasons: First, as I said, my heart. Second, most reasonable football people would pick Petrino over a coach going into his first head coaching assignment of his career. I do believe that Coach Stoops will have a long career in Lexington, but at this point I have more faith in Coach Petrino. One other point: I believe that most Western fans are grateful that Kentucky entered into this series with us. The Cats really had nothing to win, and everything to lose. We were just coming into Division I football although we had a marvelous Division II history, including a national title. If Kentucky beat us, those that criticize Kentucky would pass it off as just defeating a team beginning to play Division I ball. On the other hand, when Western won, Kentucky critics could mock them by talking that they "couldn't even beat Western". Again, thanks for playing us and hopefully someday we can renew the series. Good luck on the rest of your season, Kentucky.

I drove down and watched Bowling Green play Lex Cath this past Saturday. I watched X against Ballard on Friday. Based upon those two performances only, both teams are far from being a top 25 national team. BTW, on September 13th I will be in Seattle, Washington watching a team that is top 25 most years--Bellevue, Washington.

I have seen WKU scrimmage three times. Each time Smith was third or fourth, IMHO. Doughty seems to be separating from the other three.

Former Flaget great and UK All-American Rick Norton died today at 69. Norton led Flaget to a state title in 1961, and quaterbacked at UK. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins of the AFL as the second pick in the first round. He was also a first round pick of the NFL. Norton played professionally from 1966-1970.

Paul Hornung, Rick Norton, Rick Board In that order, IMHO). Hornung may be the best high school player ever to play in Kentucky. He went on to be a College All-American, Heisman winner and an NFL all-pro. Paul Hornung was also elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

X wins in extra innings, 2-1.

Bases loaded, two outs.

X player HBP. Runner on 1st, two down.

One out (Strikeout).

Bottom of 8th, NO HITS so far.

Logan County up 1-0, bottom of 8th, 2 down, runner on second.

Stunner!

But a well spoken ramble. The portion all should remember is "First, both teams have fine young men."

You would probably be surprised to learn that many fans of the two schools would be pleased to be in the same region. That would result in an earlier meeting, and the two schools could keep and split the gate, rather than send it to the KHSAA. Since these schools are self supporting, the extra money would be helpful and needed.

Boone's football history commands a lot of respect. But a 30 point loss to Henry Clay bodes ill for this Boone team, going by comparative scores with Trinity's 36 point dismantling of HC. Boone will be long on effort but short on score tonight. Trinity 42 - Boone 14.

Looking forward to a good game this evening. I am told that Meade County is bringing a huge crowd. Two of the top defenses in the state hook up, with X prevailing 24-14.

Relax. The purpose of the allusion is not to rekindle that dispute, but to verify that it does not affect the overall percentage.

What Kentucky high school football coach reached the 250 victory milestone the fastest? An earlier thread established the Coach Yeagle reached the 100 victory milestone the fastest with the best winning percentage. Coach Mike Glaser of St. X won number 250 in the 3rd game of the 2005 season in his 24th year. His first season was 1982. Also, his overall record to date is 283-60 (or 61, depending on a disputed game). Either way, the winning percentage during his entire career is above 82%. Is there any Kentucky coach that matches this winning percentage with a career of over 20 years? (Duffy, Morris, Hauck, Hilton, Heywood, etc.)

And, to reprise a classic, here are a few advantages publics (rural and urban) have over privates: Look at the vast majority of private schools. What finances do privates have that outweigh public finances? Would your school trade its situation with Louisville DeSales, a private school? Compare DeSales with the advantages of your public school. Your public school has the initial multimillion dollar head start when it was built for you by tax revenues paid in part by the parents of DeSales students. Athletic facilities? DeSales has no football stadium. Your local public high school probably has a stadium. Throw a couple more million on the ledger in your favor. Those same DeSales kids’ parents paid in part for your stadium. Still believe DeSales is the wealthy school vis-a-vis your public school? Don’t forget teachers’ salaries. Every year the tab comes due for this bill. DeSales' supporters pay this entirely out of their pockets. The government pays all of this bill for your institution. Did we discuss furnishing that empty multimillion dollar school facility you were given? Desks, labs, lockers…. You may have taken these for granted, something the blue collar parents of DeSales students, located in a blue collar neighborhood, are acutely aware of. We still haven’t discussed support staff. Somebody has to keep the physical plant operational and clean. Set aside another huge block of money-every day. Is your desire to trade with DeSales for their hypothetical "wealth" waning? It just gets worse. We haven’t discussed medical benefits, pensions and vacation pay for teachers and support staff. And don’t forget building upkeep, expansion, legal expenses and myriad other expenses that go into providing a first class education to young people. Now substitute Covington Catholic, St. Henry, Mercy, Pres, Christian Academy, Lexington Christian or most other privates. If you are honest, you will admit that the financial playing field is not level, but it tilts in a direction that many do not want to admit, and this exists whether rural or urban.