StThomasMore

Very true, All Tell. Success begats envy. Envy begats jealousy. Jealousy begats animosity. Unfortunately, animosity often begats efforts at revenge. Thus, the continual assault on LexCath, X, T, and Sacred Heart.

Obviously, the answer is in the affirmative. The Eastern Kentucky regions are weak. The 15th and 16th are probably the weakest. None of those teams could really compete in the 9th Region, 10th Region, or 11th Region.

It is interesting to see that 6 of the 9 who have not won in their respective regions are private schools. Would the publics say that these 6 need to be reigned in and handcuffed in order to create that "level playing field" for their public opponents?

Private school representatives must be alert. They better take nothing for granted. They better not trust anyone representing the public schools in regard to fair treatment. If they do, all private schools will be shafted. It is time for hard, demanding negotiation and not for turning the other cheek.

For that level playing field, shouldn't we also make sure that the immediate family is paying the costs for an athlete to attend a public school? If you don't pay property taxes to the applicable school or if you don't pay income taxes that are funneled into the public schools, your kid should be excluded unless, of course, you pay an appropriate amount to cover the "tuition". The immediate family proposal is ridiculous since the KHSAA would never know who handed the money to the immediate family member to pass on to the school. In formulating these "edicts", I believe the rule of thumb should be that what is required of the privates should be required of the publics. Otherwise, all that is being done is extending "affirmative action" through "entitlements" (welfare) to the publics to help them compete. It is similar to giving extra bonus points to certain applicants for jobs because, without them, they cannot compete for the jobs (championships).

The Bishop

I believe that the county seat of Lee County is Beattyville and that one of its most famous graduates is former UK basketball player, Larry Stamper. There are many fine people in Lee County. Nevertheless, Bishop Brossart will win tonight. I look for our Mustangs to do well in the Class A tournament. I would love to see us in the finals against our good neighbors, NCC.

Another good win for our friends at MMI. If the KHSAA sides too much with these publics, the Cadets may well be the "trailblazers" for what could occur.

Actually, Blue Blazer, Ashland High School is in the Springfield museum for winning a national tournament in 1928 and not because of any other achievements or legacy. There are a goodly number of high schools honored in this museum. That does not diminish Ashland's accomplishment in 1928, it merely documents why it has a place in Springfield. As for being a "tough out" in the state tournament, I would suggest that the 16th Region has rarely been a "tough out" in recent years with the exception of the 2003 Rose Hill team which featured a goodly number of imports from neighboring states. Regardless, those Royals were the best from up in your part of the state in many years although, I understand, that such a fact is still not politically correct in the Ashland area.

It is never a good sign for a school when its fans must find solace in reasonably close losses. Does the Blazer schedule seem to offer any relief (sure wins) in the coming weeks? I hope so. and I know AT41 and the others will agree.

Final. Not one of LexCath's better games or one of its better teams but a win is a win.

I don't want to get involved in this 64th District backbiting but Mr. P brought my Bishop Brossart Mustangs into the discussion. Maybe, Mr. P, Blazer just doesn't like to play private schools who are non-Catholic. If so, the results seem to indicate that they should reconsider. Ms. Bavier, I am sorry that you seem to be offended by my extended "family". I, in truth, feel a kinship to all private schools. However, I do support the others with bundles of tax dollars many of which are wasted. To follow gold sunrise's admonition and to return to the subject at hand, I would say that Blazer has a big problem since Fairview's top scorer had an off night, Barker was having back problems, and Fairview still prevailed convincingly.

Frances Bavier, I agree with you that rankings may be different when tournament time rolls around and I also realize that that is a major theme for you Blazer supporters. However, it is now January 7, 2006 and all we have are the facts as they stand on this date. A lot can happen or not happen between now and district tournament time. That is completely speculative. However, what we have today is fact. Odd developments occur in basketball. For instance, my good "cousins" at Covington Catholic probably wouldn't beat your team by 50 plus again. Nonetheless, they did so at one time. That is fact. My prediction that it wouldn't happen again is merely speculation. It is also fact that my Mustangs won your A.I.T. Could they win it again in March? Who knows and, in reality, it doesn't matter. All that you can do now is to see how some of my other "cousins" at Lexington Catholic handle or don't handle your team later today. However that game turns out will be fact. What might happen in the future, like district tournament time, is really just wishful thinking at this time. Who was it that said that hope springs eternal. Sadly, hope often evaporates.

I was wrong about the foul shots last night but I must hasten to state that, from what I have been able to find out, many of Blazer's fouls and Fairview's foul shots came in the closing minutes when Blazer was trying to catch up. Congratulations to Fairview. Does this game make Blazer number three in their district and ahead of only little Rose Hill?

Don't what? Don't have an answer? I already knew from a review of the real factual statistics that that was the case. Fariview better be good from the field as was Christian County.

Title IX does not apply to schools who receive nothing from the coffers of the federal government. Most of our private schools come under the sword of Title IX by being members of KHSAA.

Boy, I wish I could catch fish as easily as I can bring AshlandTomcat41 out of the woodwork. Your laughing smiley is nice but you know that the statistics show that my prediction is on pretty firm ground. Can you offer credible evidence to the contrary? I think not.

Neither CovCath nor NDA should have to cater to the demands of Title IX. Why must the male or female private school always be required to adjust how it operates just to "accommodate" the public schools? Possibly the publics should divide into male and female schools. Silly? Of course. But just as reasonable.

Being a Bishop Brossart supporter, I would not attempt to predict the outcome of this game. However,after witnessing a very enjoyable A.I.T. with my tournament champion Mustangs and after following each and every game, I would be willing to predict that, since the game is at Blazer, Blazer will shoot more foul shots than will Fairview.

CovCath owes no more consideration to the area public schools than those public schools extend to CovCath. If the public schools use such a petty matter as "ammunition" in their fight against the private schools, it should indicate to all that the gunpowder of the publics is quite wet.

I understand that several school representatives have called KHSAA specifically inquiring as to the makeup of the committee and have been given a runaround. I saw a copy of the December 23, 2005 letter from the commissioner and it stated that a committee had been formed. Why not let the membership know the makeup of the committee? Under the circumstances, I would hope that the private school representatives, assuming there will be a few, wear clothing designed to prevent knife stabs in the back. By the way, does anyone know the time of the meeting or is this still privileged information?

This should be a most "interesting" meeting. In the December 23, 2005 letter to schools from the commissioner, she stated that a committee had been formed. Nonetheless, as of earlier this week, no one at KHSAA was disclosing names of those on the committee or how they were selected. Although the letter mentioned a meeting this next Monday (January 9, 2006) in Lexington, the time of the meeting was not included. Does this sound like a set up to anyone else or am I overly suspicious?

Good win for the Mustangs. The A.I.T. is not one of the top holiday tournaments in Kentucky anymore but still provides good competition and is run well. It is difficult go to that part of the state and to come out with three victories.

Good win for our Mustangs. Glad to see that our boys play Christian County rather than the host school since it will provide a more "level playing field". Also good to see that Simon Kenton thumped Letcher County Central by 30 points. As expected from the tournament pairings, LCC was the weakest team in the tournament field.

Your 16th Region didn't fare too well up here in northern Kentucky as the region's two top teams, Morgan County and Boyd County, lost handily to two of our publics, Beechwood and Campbell County.