Master of the Hardwood

Sounds like a close race according to my sources: Up for grabs: Estill and Wolfe Tommy Hall should have: Letcher, Jenkins, Knott, Cordia, Powell, Breathitt Steve Poppas should have: JBS, Perry, Buchorn, Leslie, Hazard, Riverside, Owsley, Lee, Jackson City Still have a lot of time to go in this thing before a decision is made, all could change in a heartbeat.

I feel the same way, I think it would be better to have someone outside the school system so they wouldn't have any ties with any school. The official experience I believe was a good thing they put in their, because how could you evaluate the talent you have as officials if you haven't ever done it yourself. I'm sure Oz had someone in mind when they came up with the pre-requisites, I guess we will find out in a couple weeks after the interviews and voting. Will probably be very close with one living on the lower end of the region and the other living on the upper end of the region. They may have to flip a coin!

As of today, the last day for them to get in an application for the job. The only 2 applications they have is from Tommy Hall and Steve Poppas. Should be exciting, others can still send in an application if they have it post marked by tonight at midnight. Should be interesting to see how this comes out.

Hazard is hitting the heck out of the ball, but pitching is where they will struggle. If they could get a couple of good innings from a couple of their pitchers and not make a ton of errors, they have a shot at winning because of their offense. They just keep on hitting, but that has been against most of the weak pitching we have in the 14th. Good luck at the big park>

Have heard that Coach Hatcher from Perry Central is interested in the Madisonville job? Anyone know who is the front runner for that job? With his track record, he would have to be near the top of the list.

Kids do this all the time. They play with whoever they want to during the summer and are right back with their teams when the season starts. The boys from JBS are going to have a hard time getting eligible, so unless they want to give up a year of eligibliliy, then they will go right back to JBS because they are having a team and that will be the only place they will be able to play.

1. Tommy Hall has to be the front runner, with Larry Thacker as his helper doing the jv schedules. 2. Manis Blair, has he ever been a referee? He has to have 5 years exp. 3. Steve Poppas and Carl "Snake" McIntosh, both are ready to retire from officiating and could possibly throw their names in the hat. 4. Glen Napier and Jeff Ritchie are not ready to give up officiating yet. They are still both calling a lot of games. 5. Would also have to throw in another name in the mix. Mike Melton, he does baseball/softball assigning and pretty sure he is getting the football too. If he is ready to give up high school basketball officiating, he would probably have all 3 assigning jobs if he wants them. He is probably the best person for the job and would do a professional job with all of these. 6. Bill Dixon (Hazard) is also an eligible person for this job.

I guess Coach Whitman has realized that Coach Napier will coach until he dies, so he should look else where for a Head Coaching spot. Good luck to him, Owsley had a good young team and should be pretty good in a couple of years.

Got to remember that coach of Breathitt used to be an umpire in this region for a long time before taking over as coach, and he also still referees with most of them too. So if he questioned that his player foul tipped the ball, they probably went with that without even thinking the play through.

Who is going to apply? Who are the front runners for this job? They have to be employed by a school in the 14th region(retirees not included) and also they have to have 5 years officiating experience. This limits the number of applicants in the region quite a bit. Should be interesting to see who comes out on top in this.

All schools have the option to turn in their form to get in the tourney or not. If they choose not to turn it in, they are not eligible for it. I guess Clay always turns theirs in on time! And 4 14th region teams is because of the money thing. If the teams are from closer to where the tourney is at, the more fans will come. I would say that is their thinking on that. If there are 4 14th teams worthy of being in, that is what they have done, but if not, they usually have went with the 3,3,2 setup.

Word was he asked for to much money. I guess he must be making a killing over in Perry County to ask for that big of an amount. Yes he is a great coach, but give me a break, this is not a college position.

Have heard the same thing last night! Just wondering if their was any truth to it or not. Also heard that Coach Hatcher and Bobby Keith are pretty good buddies and gone on a golf trip for the weekend. Wonder if Hatcher could end up at Clay? Who would be interested in the Perry job then? Many, many questions that need answered! Anyone got some of the answers?

If it wasn't for the poor decision making skills of the Perry 1st baseman, who was right next to the bag and didn't step on it for an out, which helped Hazard to score 2 more runs after that play when they should of been out of the inning, and for an atrocious attempt at baserunning by the same kid who got caught in between 2nd and 3rd and of course made an out, which would of scored on the next play, which is 3 runs by the same kid's mistake. Would of definitely been a different ball game. But all in all, it's early still and these two teams will both improve for the district and regional tourneys. Should be fun to watch at the end!

Hazard's infield is very weak and very slow, if a ball is hit at them they should stop it, but if they have to move laterally, will be a hit every time! I would bunt and make them throw it around a little bit and cause some errors to get people on the bases. Neither has real great pitching so it may be a high scoring game. If it comes down to better hitters I'm going to have to go with Perry in this one. TJ Searcy is about all Hazard has in the hitting department, while Perry has Napier, Amis, and Goodson that make good contact just about every at bat.

Hatcher done a great job with the mess at Perry Central and went to the finals of the regional tourney with young pups. Can you imagine what he could do with some really talented seasoned players. Hatcher will bring Greenup County back to Rupp like they are used to doing. Would be ashame to see them have a chance to get him and they go with someone else who is just a mediocre coach.

Several coaches are available, just wondering where they will all end up. 1. JBS, are they even having a school? 2. Jenkins 3. Boyle County 4. Russell 5. Greenup County 6. Rose Hill 7. Carroll county 8. Tates Creek

If it's by our wonderful sports department at wymt, I can see why?

Coach Alan Hatcher would be a good fit here don't you think??

Coach Whitaker with his two boys should be #1 on anyone's list. Coach Hatcher is a great coach with almost 600 wins, he must be doing something right! Both I'm sure would leave where they are for the right job!

I look for them to go to 4 classes soon. 6 is way to many. That will put the final 4 of all classes at rupp. Will still be the sweet 16, but will have the final 4 of Class A, 2A, 3A, and 4A. Will still be something great to see and give these other schools an opportunity to have a state championship. This will move the All A tourney to the end of the year instead of in the middle of it. Give all the teams the option if they want to play up or not and then go with what you have left.

I hope the seats go all the way around kind of like a stadium and hope there is a rail or wall seperating the fans from the floor...best thing for the players and coaches when it's that way.

On course experiences or at the driving range? Have heard a lot of different opinions on this topic, just wondering what everyone else thinks. I kinda like both myself, you do have to use the range to hit balls and learn really how to hit, but out on the course with different lies and things like that really makes it different than the range. Same way with putting, you can hit on the same green all day from different spots or use the 18 greens in a round for practice only you really don't get a lot of putts that way. I would like to have a practice facility that has a great driving range and putting facility, but also have like 3 holes, like a par 3 and 2 par 4's or something that you could also use for practice. Would be a dream set up. Kind of like Man O War golf in Lexington. Great facility.

Have to agree Pikeville will be the front runner, what about Hazard? They had a young team last year and did pretty well, should have all of them back this year too.

As long as they schedule their games every 3 days so Puckett can rest, they will do fine. He will not have much of an arm left half way through the season.