cooperstown

I was just going by the line scores posted on the site. If so, that's a pretty nice jump for the young man - going from freshman team to the cleanup hitter for one of the larger and better teams in the area.

Yeah, seriously. I hadn't a clue. Get a grip, sport.

Maybe Cooper didn't either. They played Ryle last night and may have used them then. Couldn't care less whether HC used their top pitchers or not - if you can play as bad as Cooper apparently played and still be in the game to some degree, it's at least a small positive.

11 chargeable errors would be almost impressive to watch - kind of like staring at a car accident. That being said, if you can play that miserably and still be in the game, it would qualify as a small silver lining.

Did Trey Martin play for Ryle's freshman last year? Did they move? (Not trying to stir the pot, I honestly don't know, assuming it's even the same kid.) Will he hit cleanup regularly for Boone?

No, the 9th region is regularly overlooked in polls like this, which are stacked primarily with Lexington and Louisville teams. Maybe 9th region coaches do not heavily participate in the voting and that accounts for the reason. But year in and year out, you only see 1, 2, or maybe (rarely) 3 teams from the 9th (or NKY in general) ranked in this poll.

Ryle scheduled to scrimmage Bishop Brossart at Ryle's field this coming Saturday, March 17. I believe game time is 1:00.

Where in Straycat's post did he do that?

Interesting. While I certainly think Ryle will have a very solid team this year, they - like a lot of teams - will need quite a few JV players from last year to step up and perform well at the varsity level. Curious what gives them such a high ranking at this point. Not complaining or questioning - just find it a little interesting for a team that didn't advance out of districts last year and lost some very important senior talent. Best of luck this year Raiders!

Conley is an absolutely outstanding hitting instructor, first rate. And that's certainly not to imply that Berger is not - he's also very good. But I was ultra-impressed with Conley the few times my son went to him a few years ago. His facility is a fair drive for NKY'ers, but well worth going to see him.

Mark Downs (Ryle). Already has scholarship to pitch at University of Cincinnati.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2011/11/21/hoosiers-turns-25/ Pretty interesting article written about a month ago that provides updates about the cast of the basketball team in the Hoosiers movie. Much of the article centers around the suicide of one of the actors (Kent Poole, who played Merle Webb, and delivered movie's signature line, "Let's win this one for all the small schools who never had a chance to get here.") in 2003.

The "bad apple" to whom you so eloquently referred has been with the program for a number of years, put in countless hours, and done some really wonderful things for the program - not the least of which was organizing the fundraising efforts that culminated in Ryle's new field and Ryle's annual Sportsfest banquet. Apparently there was a difference of agreement within the staff. So be it. It happens. But I think you'd have a pretty hard time finding many people that would refer to this individual as a "bad apple."

February 15th, I would assume, which is when schools can begin baseball practices.

I have no comment on any alleged "going ons" at Ryle because all the rumors I hear are second and third-hand at best. Now two seasons removed from my son playing there, we had nothing but a great experience with the football program and terrific memories. I'm proud he played at Ryle and was thrilled with the coaching he received. I still miss seeing him out on the field. One day I suppose I'll get over it. The only comment I will make is that I have a lot of respect for straightshooter. Not saying there are problems just because he says so, but he is indeed a guy worth listening to. With respect to the comments above, I don't think Clyde was implying in the slightest that Ryle's coaches ask for less than the best effort from their players. But that is not to say that the very toughest approach you can find automatically equates to the "'best." You can be less physically-demanding on kids and still require their best effort, hard work, and dedication. You can always find a way to have an even "tougher", more demanding coaching style, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's better. There are limitations. If you normally do 20 gassers at the end of a practice, does bumping it up to 30 mean it's a better or smarter coaching style? Does it mean your kids aren't giving their best or putting in hard work if they only do 20 gassers? There are indeed more ways than one to skin a cat. That all being said, I am not applying those comments directly to Ryle and Coach Warner. I truly don't know the situation. It would be hard to disagree that he has not had some nice success at Ryle and elevated the program overall. I guess the question is whether some changes can be made - if it's even deemed necessary - to even further enhance those successes.

Wow. 2000 views in 3 days. Regardless of whether there's anything "going on at Ryle," there certainly is a lot of interest in the topic.

I don't disagree with that (most parents' concerns being self-centered and trivial - true of all schools). While I still believe Ryle's AD would politely listen to concerns that "Johnny isn't starting" or "Johnny should be running back" or "Coach Warner calls too many running plays", I think he would then appropriately tell them it was an issue for the head coach. For other more serious matters, however, (probably best not to attempt to list any examples, as I don't want someone to assume they apply to Ryle) I have no doubt that the AD would be extremely approachable and look to personally handle the situation as his position requires.

I would seriously hope - and am very much certain - you are wrong about this. You think it's not the AD's responsibility to listen to complaints from parents? Absolutely they can go to the head coach, but if for whatever reason they do not feel they can or want to, parents have every right to expect to be heard by the AD. And this is not to imply some knowledge of any problems at Ryle or an unwillingness of the head coach to listen to parents' concerns, only that it is silly to state the AD would refuse to listen to such concerns.

Tall, thin, nice-throwing motion, throws reasonably hard, good control. Assuming he's picked up a little more on his fastball since last season, which would put him into the "hard thrower" category. He will be very tough to hit, especially with the new bats. Midland was very anxious to have him pitch for them next summer.

Left-hander Mark Downs will be ace at Ryle. Recently signed to pitch for University of Cincinnati next year.

It really is amazing to hear about the high number of ACL injuries these days, especially in young kids. I played a lot of competitive sports in the late 70's and early-to-mid 80's and am not sure I recall any of my teammates incurring this injury. I'm sure they did and either I do not recall (likely) or it simply was not diagnosed as such, but I feel completely confident in saying the number of these injuries has increased several thousand-fold over the past 25 years. Are these injuries just being diagnosed more accurately or are athletes doing these differently these days that are causing the increase?

Actually, I believe the MCL can regenerate itself from a partial tear as there is blow flow to this ligament. Apparently, that is the key - whether or not there is blood flow to a particular area. The ACL receives no such blood and therefore can repair itself and always requires surgical correction. Is this right, sidelinedoc?

So to sum up: You appear not to have been in agreement with his "athletes" statement?

"Sally, over here. This is the ref I was telling you about that keeps "adjusting" himself all the time."

CardsFan - what year is your QB? Runs well, can't say I was overwhelmed with his passing. I know passing isn't an overly critical part of your offense, but still a nice weapon to have when teams are putting all their efforts into stopping the run. He missed a couple wide open guys tonight for what could have been long gains.