cooperstown

Last reported enrollment numbers for Mt. Healthy High School (2010) showed 853 students, so let's assume the graduating class was roughly 1/4 or 215 students. Two-thirds of the school's students are on the free lunch program, indicating some type of economic need. 70% of the students (approx. 600 total, so possibly 150 in graduating class) are black. Yet only 4 students were affected by this rule affecting excessive outburst during the ceremony. We don't know the race/economic situation of these other 3 students, but just seems to me that there would have been a heckuva lot more people affected by this "socio-economic"-oriented rule. Or perhaps it just affected selfish persons who have an issue with self-discipline and respect?

Not sure whether they were that much younger than normal. They've almost always got a fair amount of young kids that play. And he somehow always figures out a way to win with whatever age kids he has. They had a slightly off year. It happens. I don't know the man at all. I know people that swear by him, but have to say I also know quite a few people that he indeed rubs the wrong way. Hard to argue that's he been incredibly successful during his reign there though.

Apparently not a good thing to fall short of 20 wins in the Beechwood baseball community.

Well, gee, maybe it's not a big deal BECAUSE 99% of the other families have actually chosen to follow the rule. We should overlook it because only 1% of the families choose not to follow it? When does it become unacceptable? When 10% of the families behave this way? 25%? Half of them? And the fact that the following student wasn't "harmed" is irrelevent. He certainly could have been had someone not held up the speaker. We all have rules we don't particularly wish existed or care to follow, but do because someone of legitimate authority established the rule. Someone of legitimate authority set this rule and for good reason. You don't want to follow it - don't go to the graduation or accept the consequences when you break it. And they weren't excited for 5 seconds. It went on longer than that. There are certain events that carry with them expected and standard levels of decorum. Graduations are one. If you think it should be akin to an outdoor concert, you have stepped outside this accepted level of decorum. They would be best served to simply shut their mouths, do the community service, and move on. Interesting that apparently 3 other families were also affected, but aren't on the news complaining about the penalty.

I guess that depends on when you feel it became "excessive." After a couple (2-3) seconds, it's excessive to me. As I recall watching the video last night, the cheering was so loud and lasted so long that the subsequent student had to be held up at the stage in order for his name to be read. That's ridiculous IMO. Just make your quick hoop-de-doo, then shut your pie hole for the rest of the students who also happen to be graduating and whose familes are following the rules. Everyone does the same thing as these selfish people and graduation ceremonies would lose just a tad of their pomp and circumstance and be nothing more than a Saturday afternoon football game. I absolutely love the stance the school took. As as far as the socio-economic explanation/defense for their actions, :puke:. It's called class, respect, decorum - and certain people in all classes/cultures lack it.

Perfectly written. Exactly my sentiments. You want to clap and cheer for one brief second during the ceremony, I've got no problem like that. To carry on like they did as if their child was the only one graduating and almost cause the subsequent student's name from being heard by his family is ridiculous. They knew the rules (or should have), but couldn't care less and apparently felt they were above them. Love the punishment quite frankly.

Bartels has to be close to being star of the game though, I would think. Kid shut down one of the top ranked teams in the state (and I believe the 2nd or 3rd highest ranked team in the tournament) and apparently threw pitch for pitch with PRP's ace. I would say he will enter the 2013 season as the top pitcher in NKY.

Bartels is simply one very good pitcher. Congrats to NCC! Absolutely loving that NKY now has two teams in the Final 8 !!!

And a nice place to stay as well. I've seen the rooms and they are very nice.

See the Grand Canyon. Meet Billy Graham. Participate in Cincinnati Reds Fantasy Camp.

Any chance it could be a hernia? Let's hope so. Best of luck.

BTW, if staying on the river (Covington/Newport/Cinti) is not all that important to you and you want to save a little money as well, there are a ton of nice hotels in Florence around the Turfway Road exit that are only 15 minutes (at most) from Newport Aquarium/Levee. La Quinta, Courtyard Marriott, Springhill Suites, Hilton, Hyatt come to mind. A couple of them (I think Hyatt and LaQuinta for sure) allow you to work out at Urban Active nearby for free (very nice gym). One other thing I'll throw at you - definitely a kid thing. There's a place in Florence called Wildwood Inn that has these themed rooms - Pirate, Western, Ice Cave, 50's, etc... They also have a domed pool/game area. You'd have to go online to see what I'm talking about. Not overly cheap and I hear mixed reviews about it - some people love the place and some don't. Haven't been there in 7-8 years. I couldn't stand the noise in the domed area, but the kids did enjoy it.

I can't really comment, as people that come into town for my office always stay at Embassy or Marriott (Rivercenter). I know it was renovated a few years back when it changed ownership. It does have a very nice restaurant up top that revolves as you eat (takes about one hour for full revolution) and gives you a great view of the city and river. The younger kids would love the view and that fact they're rotating, but it is more of an upscale restaurant that probably doesn't cater quite as well to younguns'. From Embassy and Mariott Rivercenter you can walk down to the river (basically a block) and there are restaurants there the kids would enjoy.

Next up for Brossart is a very tough matchup against St. X on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.

Go Brossart! Best of luck in representing your school and NKY! (Same to NCC).

Embassy Suites and Marriott at Rivercenter in Covington are both very nice, within a mile of Aquarium and Levee. There's also a Marriott Courtyard in Covington close by. Never put anyone up there, but it is fairly new and looks nice.

Keep in mind this is just one guy's opinion and, given how heavily Montgomery County-oriented it seems to be, loses some credibility. Makes no sense that Bezold (Brossart) is not on the list and clearly indicative that not enough of the NKY contingent was viewed. I asked a knowledgeable baseball source I know in that area about MC and he described them as a nice, solid, but not overly special team that played a relatively weak schedule compared to some of their contemporaries in the 10th.

When I started this thread, the only thing that bothered me about the Freedom was the all-turf field. There is nothing else about the place I don't like. After seeing the 2011 financial reports, I must say are some things that surprise me. I understand the 9th coaches obviously agreed to the deal, but I also think that the park does have some responsibility to make the deal as financially beneficial to the teams as reasonably possible. The park was indeed built with public funds. And that fans are, after all, coming to see the teams, not the park. So let's look at some numbers: Freedom charged $16,700 to play 7 games last year. That's a cost of $2300 per 2-hour game. That's seems steep to me. Do they deserve to make some money? Heck yes, but let's also remember they are doing pretty well on concessions at these games, or one would assume given the cost of some of their items. I also find it interesting that Freedom allows teams to play there for free during the regular season, as long as there are enough fans to make concessions sale worthwhile, but then charges $2300 per game during the tournament when there's most definitely enough fans to support the concessions. Compare this to another minor league park, Whitaker Bank, being used in Region 11. Their charge for using the facility was $10,523, or roughly $1500 per game. $800 per game is a pretty substantial difference. It also resulted in Region 11 teams each receiving $500 more in payouts than Region 9 teams, who made roughly $300 per team last year. Region 4 used WKU's field at a cost of under $3000. This resulted in those teams receiving $1200 per team. Regions 6 & 7 both used U of L last year (14 games total) at a cost of $4666, or roughly $333 per game. The teams from those two districts each earned $1100 per team. When you add it all up, when the Freedom generated by far and away the most gate revenue ($21K) of any region, the 9th teams probably deserve to make more. I am surprised that 9th teams don't insist on this. There has to be something more to it. Would love if bulldog or someone could provide some insight. Now, that all being said, there are some severe limitations IMO on using high school fields. First off, there truly aren't that many quality choices here in NKY. St. Henry and Dixie for sure. Everyone else has some limitations with regard to sufficient and quality seating. Even though games at high school fields would not draw as big crowds as games at Freedom, they would still draw well. 9th region fans support their teams very well. As long as an equitable arrangement can be worked out so that the host site is not the only team that makes money, it makes sense to me. It appears that different regions handle this differently. In the 10, 13, and 15th regions, the host site keeps all of the profit after expenses. I don't care for this at all. Other regions allow the host site to keep a certain percentage (15-20%) of the profit and dispense the remainder to the individual teams. Some regions pay all the teams equally (such as the 9th does), while others pay higher percentages to the champion, runnerup, and semifinalists. Ultimately, as Clyde said, I guess the 9th coaches are all good with this, but from an outsider's perspective, it sure looks like Freedom is making a killing and there should be more to share with the 9th teams.

3 to 5 innings only mandates 1 complete day rest (starting day after game pitched). Less than 3 innings, no rest needed.

Ok, Mr. Numbers man , do you know how that breaks out into total gate revenues and then what was left for the schools after Freedom's expenses were removed? Also, are baseballs and umpire fees part of Freedom's expense? (I am assuming not).

To be clear, I'm not asking him to reveal his identity. Just curious if he is connected to any of the players/schools that he lists, given that he (or she, for all I know) have previously identified themselves as an independent, third-party high school baseball evaluation/reporting source (listed they have two "employees" in another thread).

Since you appear to have "outed" allstarwinners, in the interest and fairness of full disclosure, do you have any personal affiliations with any of the listed players or schools?

So is it accurate to say that there aren't more players from regional champ Bishop Brossart or schools like Scott, Mason County (beat Montgomery County as well), and Bracken County because you didn't see them as much as therefore aren't as familiar with the talent on those teams? I know nothing about these players - other than the big names like Mullins, Martin, McQuery - just curious about the process and did notice the list seemed heavily slanted towards Montgomery County for some reason and was curious why. I would only say that if you are trying to get exposure to these players, comments such as "needs to work on attitude", "average bat", and "needs to work on a couple pitches (for your UK-bound player of the year, nonethless) would not be classified as overly positive exposure. Not saying the comments aren't accurate, just not sure the benefit of including statements like that and might make sense to leave the comments all on the positive. Oh, and just to be clear, I'm not a kid (by a long stretch ) and not affiliated with any school or kid in the 10th. Just a high school baseball fan.

NCC lost in the quarterfinals last year. Won their first game (Round of 16) over Lawrence County and lost their next game to PRP.

I'm not sure what difference it makes whether this thread came about before or after the tourney. The tournament site was set for the Freedom this year and nothing was going to change that. For me personally, I've found myself less and less enthused about the playability of an all-turf field and after this year decided that my decreasing enthusiasm had reached at point where I simply am not a fan of the surface. It did not have to do with any singular event or performance of the team I root for. I love everything about Freedom, except one thing- the field. But my dislike of that is such that I would be in favor of playing games elsewhere. I am also curious to know how much more financially beneficial it would be for the schools if the tournament was played away from Freedom. Money for school baseball teams is hard to come by these days, trust me. As far as being able to practice at your school's football field, that's great, but doesn't change my opinion about all-turf baseball fields. This isn't a gripe thread that my team (Ryle) was eliminated because of turf and I made that clear from the outset. I just don't like turf for baseball.