GR8BigBull

Manual's JV team "LOADED"? Please, I think that was a planted thread. The JV teams at Manual have been solid at times BUT never LOADED! While the main core of players are sophomore, there are a fair number of Freshmen playing JV as well. The Sophomore and Junior players who are good enough are already playing Varsity, and there are several Juniors who could play JV but are vital on Friday nights. Manual could take a lot of those players to the JV games, just to win, BUT that would be taking a risk that an "embattled?" Varsity coach should not take. If there was more depth at the starting spots, then yes, they should take all eligible JV players and win those games. I will agree that the importance of winning a JV game can be downplayed but it is vital to instilling that winning attitude and building confidence for the next year at Varsity levels. I will agree that taking these players to a JV game to win is easier with the added depth at X and T. That is not a jab at anyone.

I can guarantee you that he never said anything negative about any team's players (including his own). Maybe the quote about the better team did not win the game that night comment got twisted to be a jab at the players. He was being positive for his heartbroken players and let them know that he felt they were better but just did not win that game, what is so sinister about that?

Maybe I have missed something in the past several years BUT, show me an example of when Nichols has thrown players under the bus. I have yet to hear him say the players just did not get it done. I have heard him state that "WE did not do the things we needed to do" or "WE did not take care of the ball", etc. Sounds like someone has an axe to grind for you to come here and say these things. You say that you had a beloved offspring there as a freshman when X came back and beat Manual. I think that alone can be cause for some personal issues with Caoch Nichols but don't fabricate stories and take cheap shots at a person who probably had a positive influence (at some point) in your beloved offspring's high school experience. I KNOW that coaches at some of the other top football programs around here are not the most liked by their fans and alumnus and therefore do not expect all the Manual fans and alumnus to be all loving either. Just be fans and try to support your team through tough times and good times.

I do remember an emphasis on the "proper" way to tackle a few years ago when a lot of practice time was spent on teaching kids "how to tackle" without using the headgear. I also remember an extraordinary number of shoulder injuries that season. I feel like the rule needs to be utilized with a little EXTRA common sense. This past friday night I witnessed a perfect opportunity to implement the rule but it was totally missed and the result was a no call when a ball carrier was clearly at risk of serious injury. Two major mistakes were made with the call not being made when our RB was tripped up and fell to the ground (play was dead as soon as he hit the ground) he was hit again by a player leading with the crown of his helmet. The linesman maintained that the player (who came in well after the runner hit the ground) hit with his shoulder pad and not his helmet. Regardless, the hit was unnecessary and should have been penalized for one of at least two reasons. If safety of the young high school players is what we are focused on, this was clearly a safety issue and we were very lucky it did not cost the player more than just a bump or bruise. Again, common sense and good judgement could be more consistent in high school officiating.

My point would be that IF they were to cover area sports the way other Sports pages of comparably sized cities would, they could generate more interest in area sports. The more interest would generate more circulation, more circulation would generate more advertising, more advertising would generate more revenue, etc., etc., etc. It is not rocket science, just the fact that it has been a shabby sports page for a long time and until they commit to putting more staff on the payroll, they will continue providing MEDIOCRE coverage in ALOT of areas. A waste of 50 cents and $1.75 on Sundays. To the point of the thread, I think there has been some point of making it sound like Manual has been thumping their chest over passing league victories. To the contrary, there has been no talk whatsoever about those games. Even though the offense run in passing league is the Wing-T and spread offense run during the regular season (unlike alot of teams that play offenses and defenses you never see them play in the course of the regular season). It will be a tough season (as usual) with games against Central, Christian County, St. Xavier, Male, Henderson County, PRP. If stars are aligned and players stay healthy and the ball bounces the right way, who knows Manual MAY JUST WIN a few games and have a shot at the playoffs! Oh wait, most every team will get a chance at the playoffs this season. Maybe they can get through the first round and have a shot at a second round team or someone outside of the "meatgrinder".

I have said many times before that the C-J Sports section is "not worth lining a bird cage with". What does everybody expect from a sports page that covers golf, horse racing and college basketball YEAR ROUND!?! The same editor has been responsible for the coverage (lack of) for many, many years now. Go to a city like Indianapolis or Cincinnati on any day of the week and look at their sprts page. What a difference!

I know several districts started at some time last week! I do not know what else they CAN do but walk through indoors (gym), watch film, lift weights, etc.

Practice at 6:00 a.m. was pretty tolerable. (I think we will do that again!) By 8:00 a.m. it was already "muggy" and getting intolerable.:fire:

I don't know what 7 on 7 tournament some saw BUT the one I was at had Manual running the same type of passing offense they will run during the season. The play action (ball fakes) is absolutely a big part of the whole offense and that is why Manual has always (in passing leagues) run the same offense and defense they will use during the real season. We play cover 3 and a man coverage and that is what we work on in passing leagues. We run wing-T offense and that is why the ball fakes and rollout is utilized. All that being said, Manual had only TWO four second calls on the ENTIRE DAY! I will let everyone guess what game those two calls came in. Both times the calls were made, there was no play action and one was on a crucial PAT try after maybe 3 seconds. The officials were consistent all day with the "lenient" enforcement of the 4 second calls. As far as Trinity making it to this 7 on 7, what does it matter where they decide to play their 7 on 7 tourneys? They SHOULD do what their head coach deems to be the best for that program. I am certain they will "hold their own" this season regardless of whether they go to U of L's 7 on 7 or not. I do believe that many teams were missing players of varying degrees of importance. Just like the regular season, you adapt and overcome. Worry about what you will need to do to win with who you have. I will agreee that Boyd (Henry Clay) was a very impressive athlete. One side note is that he caught a couple balls but seemed to drop crucial passes when he got contact. That is something a bigger receiver will have to improve on as I am sure that many will try to play him physically to take his focus off the football. Last but not least, Coach Kragthorpe was around the Trager center during the entire tournament portion at the end. He was seen and not heard but very willing to talk to several coaches in a casual manner. I don't think he will be needing a publicity advisor hired for him.

I may not understand the question BUT the powerlifting meets are "basically like" maxxing out in the weightroom. The big difference is trying to lift the most weight you may have ever attempted, in front of a few hundred other lifters and spectators. You see other high school weightlifters lifting more extreme weights and using various techniques and you can measure your self against them. The competition gets intense but you will see many lifters from many different schools across the state rally around a lifter getting ready to try for a personal best. You can see these high schoolers cheer for a lifter attempting an outrageous amount of weight for a person their size. By the way Manual took third in this meet (just like the Meade County Meet) only 10-12 points out of second place. Scott County had several real impressive lifters and Trinity (as always) has "the most" lifters per weight class and they are very disciplined, stong young men. Their 125, 135, 145 weight classes have some of the strongest pound for pound kids I have seen with great technique in all lifts.

The Glazier clinic is loaded every year with coaches from the Big Ten, SEC, MAC (especially good speakers), as well as successful high school coaches from across the region. At any one time your staff has a variety of topics to sit in on from offense, defense, special teams, motivational, organizational, strength,etc. The sessions are broken down into 3 segment each. If a particular speaker is getting in to an area you do not wish to hear and another speaker is getting into something of interest, you can switch rooms during the breaks. All the sessions were filled regularly and the manufacturuers on exhibit there are always in force. In my honest opinion, the Glazier Mega Clinic is a MUCH better clinic for learning and getting better than the Nike "COY" clinic in Louisville. Want to get the most out of the Nike clinic?, Look at the Manual they send in the mail after you go (and pay) for the clinic!

Good Luck to Donnie and the family. A very prestigious honor for a great young man! The family should be rightfully proud.

That would be my comparison as well but as TigerKat said, he needs to get his grades together before anything else. If Higgins DOES take over the reins, the fresman QB will have his opportunity to shine at Fern Creek. I just hate all this transferring and kids (parents) trying to take their show to all these different schools. Heck, if the kid is struggling to keep grades up at Fern Creek, what is he gonna do elsewhere. Stick it out, stick your nose in the books and your butt in the weightroom.

He hasn't lived in Indiana for over a year, maybe closer to two years. Must be nice to be a front runner with no official application in though.

How about the Creek? When do they plan on an announcement? This, seems to me, to be a little late to be starting a coaching search.

I ask TigeKat to produce some proof of this application from Joe Nichols. I always thought these rumors needed to be sustantiated before posting. The reason I am asking for proof is that I stand to gain a windfall ($1,000,000) if I can see this proof. I know some people are "in the know" about a lot of things, it is not always enough to bet the house on though. I spoke to Nichols already today and he assures me that he has not applied for anything. I have known of past openings he "considered applying for" but he never did. I am sure someone else "in the know" wiill tell us that he applied for PRP and Butler as well. That was not the case! Just saying, "put the rumor mill to rest" he is not applying. He must be causing enough of a disturbance to get such emotional responses though. RP, "That would be best for Manual"? Can anyone remember a time several years back when Manual was lucky to get to the playoffs? Just last season all the talk about Manual "so young" and "have to replace a huge senior class from the previous season"and "Manual will finish behind Butler and Iroquois in the district". What happened? They made beat PRP, Butler and Iroquois, made the playoffs and had played St. X well before losing both QBs in about a 3 minute span. Say what you want but there are alot more people glad to have Nichols at Manual than you want to believe. Don't worry about Manual this season, Nichols will still be on the sidelines screwing things up! Take that week of practice off guys, it's in the bag!:dancingpa :dancingpa :dancingpa :dancingpa :dancingpa Now, back to the regularly scheduled thread topic, who is going to coach Fern Creek next season?

Who is the head coach going to be?

In all reality, I DO think that the former U of L head coach would be Bobby Jr. At least the photos (with his parents) after the Orange Bowl referred to "his" father as Bobby Sr.

I obviously missed the Jr. part of that:thumb: Would not expect Jr. to stay but you never know, huh? Imagine the reception a kid coming to your high school would have, coming from a back to back state champion team and your father is the head coach of the professional football team in your metropolis. He might just be able to walk on water there.

No way:thumb:

Current deal at U of L is said to be 10 year 24 million. Maybe he has plans on winning a Super Bowl and then retiring by age 50.

Doubling his salary maybe? 5 year 24 million is reported to be the deal.

There were some who believed that the current Principal was going drop the football program but ended up keeping it. Now, a coach can take that job and commit to staying for the long haul but it is going to take and actual effort by everyone involved to rebuild that program. An experienced coach has many more options than to go to a school like Atherton so they will have to attract a young inexperienced Head Coach. I believe whole heartedly that if the Principal was committed to making things happen they could get it done. A great place to start would be finding a football minded AD who will support a young, inspired coach implementing an entirely new system and building a winning attitude. Other than that, it is a coaches graveyard. A slim (if any) budget to operate is hard to ask of any program, let alone football.

The administration needs to decide IF THEY WANT a football team or not. If the football program doed not generate revenue, then what do you do with it? There are a lot of people in the halls who will not play football because they hear about the futility and see the humiliation the players face the Mondays after games and the Fridays before games. The teachers ask if the players "Believe" they can win, the students come out to watch and see how bad they will lose. The Athletic Director needs to do whatever is possible to see the football team succeed, not try to undermine what the coach is trying to build. If the AD and the Administration put forth half the effort that the coach and team have been, then there WILL be some more success. I was there in 2000 and part of 2001, I could not have tolerated what Coach Satori had to endure week to week to TRY and field a competitive team. The coach should be able to put the team together and expect the Principal and AD to do whatever possible to make it happen. They will have an easier go of it next season but not a lot better than previous years.

I googled him and found out, was curious to see how he had been doing.:thumb: