kissinger

wholeheartedly agree.

There is a difference between the sports. But 6 weight classes between and including 125 and 152 pounds WATERS DOWN THAT SPORT too but remember, we are at the interscholastic (which means kid participants not adults), so extra participation doesn't seem to be a problem in every other sport. It won't hurt football either.

Have always respected your opinion and your right to express it. Just won't in this case, come close to agreeing. Some people on here seem to think that the wants and needs of the 30 and 40-something generation should drive what is wanted by kids. Thankfully, there are those out there who listen to what the kids want in spite of what their parents and other older ones express. Somehow a lot of the negatives expressed by you and others about changes in football classes remind me of the stories of my own folks, who of course walked to school five miles to get there, even longer to get home, uphill both ways .....

Heaven forbid they be late getting started with the "unofficial" "open gym" "informal" "non required" fall practice.

I can see the reality show now - dueling car seats and juggling sippy cups.

No, that is incorrect. You are giving kids a chance at the playoffs, not necessarily at winning. A chance to, at an early age, feel some satisfaction that may further drive them to be prideful about their experience, and then make them prideful about what they do in the workplace as adults. Same as you do employees in your workplace who are stuck in the doldrums of a boring task and you have to reward intrinsically to motivate them. You pat them on the back, you make them feel valuable. No, you don't make them CEO or give them things they don't deserve, but they are allowed to feel like they have accomplished something, albeit minor. In my opinion, the winners in the new playoff system championship games will likely be the same, just in different classes. You can either play football or you can't. But it does shake up the pot a bit and give some kids a chance to be in the postseason that may otherwise have not gotten a shot. Just like their brethren in baseball and basketball who can get in with winless teams.

Can I assume then that you think the state wrestling tournament is watered down (since you are a great wrestling fan) and has too many kids in it who haven't been taught that in life, there are few winners and everyone else is a loser? Or is wrestling participation a good idea in postseason but football a bad idea?

One of the best posts ever.

That one looks a couple of years old. I am sure that they would be glad to show you a more recent one (since that was the last year that they had that kind of revenue). Or you can contact one of the Board members, one of which lives in your town and is chair of their finance committee. You might as well go to the source.

agree, maybe i should have been more direct. its about the mis-prioritization. Somehow, we are now seeing insults and insinuations about a summer league game by parents, etc. and again, is it any wonder why the kids act like they do. Maybe its just me.

I am not from Northern Kentucky. I don't mean anything negative by what I am going to say. But 26 posts on Bluegrass Preps (which is a high school site or it wouldn't be called preps) about a Knothole tournament and the ensuing arguments between adults.... Do we really have to wonder any further about why kids act the way they do now a days?

Regardless of trophies, etc. there is one other thing that makes the need for looking at classes in baseball more relevant than any other sport. Forget softball. It doesn't have a pitching rule. Forget soccer. It doesn't have a rule that says "your goalie, if he plays tonight, has to rest tomorrow". But with baseball, and don't get me wrong, I favor the current 8 team tournament and semi-state format, the small schools are at a definite disadvantage. Oh, I can see a small school catching lightning in a bottle, like LCA last year or Beechwood this spring, but in general, you HAVE to have two and maybe three quality pitchers, to get past the three days of semistate play, and/or three games on consecutive days at the state. That's where the numbers game plays in. And certainly, I don't think anyone wants to say to waive the pitching limits just for postseason. It certainly isn't any safer then than any other time. Any ideas?

I can just see him sitting in that chair in his office saying "gotcha all"

If you are thinking like KHSAA staff or others, you should be scared. You never what will be posted about you now........

Good point, don't know if I had seen that one. But there seems to be an out clause "If and where possible". I guess that's why they can have 6 teams in the mountain Class A district (which we all know is only until Evarts and Cumberland close). Guess we have to wait and see who requests. But do you think it is set in stone that the limit will hard and fast stay at 5? Look at Harlan Central. Right now, they (if they opened tomorrow) would probably be in 6A. But if they did happen to hit 5A level, there is only one logical district, and that would increase it to 6. I know it is easy for me to sit behind my keyboard and say "make all the districts the same size", but in the end, schools aren't always built right next to each other exactly the same size, and surely, they wouldn't pull out Grant (or another school in the Harlan County example) and just move them somewhere in outer egypt just to stay within a five limit? Or would they?

I don't think you made a typo (if it makes you feel better) on that original enrollment. They were originally to be in 6A. But, According to an email to the Advisory Committee that I was shown, Southwestern's enrollment from 2004-2005 was erroneously originally reported. Seems as though the data had issues when Southwestern changed its name from Pulaski Southwestern in 2004-2005, to Southwestern in 2005-2006. Like with my computer here at home, its garbage in, garbage out. When that was fixed, they dropped down where they belong.

I am afraid you couldn't be more off base with the pulse of the schools in the state from the coaches and administrators that I happen to see as I routinely travel. Get out in circulation a bit and your mind may change. What is bad for the rest of the state with their proposed plan? Please realize that there is a world of 117 counties outside the tri-county area. If you want more teams in the playoffs, as most of the KFCA member coaches wanted, you have two choices. 1) more classes, 2) everyone in. In 1) you see how it would look with their draft. In 2) you deal with byes, etc. in some classes and the same coaches that complain about the draft alignment would also complain about the off week. What is a better option? Since remaining in 4 is NOT what a majority of the state wants? Change is uncomfortable, but this change puts football on par with all of the other sports as far as getting into the playoffs. And yet, the finals teams will likely (at least for a few years) involve most of the same teams from the past. That's the point. It isn't about the finals, number of games, or number of trophies. Its about getting more teams in the playoffs. More teams with extra weeks of practice. Think about a kid who has played for a school that has been in the finals for four straight years vs. a kid whose team hasn't made the playoffs in that time. That's five extra weeks a year, 20 weeks total practice, 20 extra games over the course of a career. And we wonder why the "rich get richer" in the playoffs? It's no wonder that some supporters of schools like Cov Cath, Beechwood, Highlands, Trinity, St. X and others would not like this change. They haven't necessarily seen life from the other side of the fence. More teams in the playoffs. Intra-district play first couple of weeks means more teams have a chance to stay a week longer or so than maybe in the past. Then cross bracket for the regions, etc. I see the groundwork being laid for a tremendous improvement in OVERALL football in the state for years to come, not necessarily the continued improvement of select teams. That is what parity and balance is all about.

No problem. Just wanted to be sure. I'm Getting old and skeptical.

Correct, which makes the 2011 project lots of fun for those KHSAA folks to look forward to. New school in Boone. Likely new school in Oldham. Possible new school in Hardin. Maybe Harlan Central will actually be open by then.

Coach Stellman has long been a great quote source (just call his school answering machine). I;d like to think that this is nothing more than exasperation by a coach who is at the 17th largest school in the state who knows that no matter what system is adopted, he must have to go through the two large parochial powers for a title. But if he looks down the road, as he has, he knows that the pairings alternations announced in May mean that in most years, he won't see the same one of those two schools, and certainly not both as has been the case in the past.

It IS NOT BAD For Northern KY. It is CHANGE for Northern Kentucky and there appears to lie the objection. With the draft, it appears that 12 or more N KY teams will make the playoffs. As per usual, they will be dominant in their classes as they year in and year out, week in and week out, play the most solid football. So more Northern Kentucky kids proving that the excellent youth programs and excellent high school coaching can yield more excellent results. Doesn't sound like its anything bad? The only possible bad would be for someone to try and espouse the view that somehow additional classes might be some sort of precedence for additional classes in other sports, and somehow down the road, damage the all A classic, a regular season tournament that started in Northern Kentucky. Allegedly, vocal reps of some of the All A schools have been some of the leading outspoken opponents of expansion of classes, and the reason was attributed to that thinking. Surely not?.....

The documentation on the web site says that if they play up, they are up for 2007-2010.

What is bad for the rest of the state? If you want more teams in the playoffs, as most of the KFCA member coaches wanted, you have two choices. 1) more classes, 2) everyone in. In 1) you see how it would look with their draft. In 2) you deal with byes, etc. in some classes and the same coaches that whine about the draft alignment whine about the off week. What is a better option? Since remaining in 4 is NOT what a majority of the state wants?

I guess I have one question old wise one. Why does anything about this new system break up old rivalries. With more free dates to select non district opponents to be played on, doesn't this actually INCREASE the changes of developing regional rivalries even with teams that aren't necessarily in the same postseason district. Or is the big objection simply change itself? Just curious.

Maybe that should be the next suggestion. Unfortunately, the number of schools that play football doesn't divide evenly by 32 so somewhere along the way, I guess they had to have an extra team or two. Harlan Central is the one out there on an island, but frankly, no one really knows the final number of kids that will end up in that new school and won't for a year or so, but they can't let one school hold up the whole process.