Kingfish Stevens

Your conclusion as to the basis of my opinion is, as usual, incorrect. Even the most rabid 16th Region fan would have to admit that there is no team in the region who could remotely have reached the final four at Morehead last year. The region had five D-1 scholarship recipients last year. There were several more seniors who received lesser scholarships. The truth is that there are no truly outstanding players left. Vanderhoof at Raceland is probably the best. Teamwise? Let's just say that, unlike the last two years, most all the other regions would be pleased to draw the sixteenth in the state tournament. Russell ninth? Wishful thinking on your part. Where am I wrong?

I'll bet our good friend, marooncat, was much more anxious to list Rose Hill as #16 than he was to list his girls at #3. I wonder why he listed Bath County twice and left Russell out. Personally, I will put the missing Russell at #1 with East Carter #2 and Ashland #3. I think that Rose Hill, even with their middle school makeup, will finish ahead of three teams on the list- at least one of which is in its district. One fact is undisputable. The region is very weak in team talent and individual talent. Of course, someone must win.

True and ridiculous. Teams like Boyd County, Ashland, Greenup County and many others around the state have about as much business playing in the playoffs as the Kansas City Royals have playing in the ALCS.

I agree completely. It is certainly understandable that partisans view their favorites in a more positive way than would someone else who is not necessarily tied to that team. That is merely being a "fan" which, of course comes from "fanatic". I would be the first to salute that Hager team that won all of those consecutive games against the other Ashland elementary schools and Holy Family. I am a proud "graduate" of Hager.

Ooooooooh. When basketball heats up and third parties wonder why there is no mutual love, regard, or respect between Ashland and Rose Hill, I suggest that your attitude be used as "Exhibit A". To be honest, from the families I know, I would suggest that they would never consider returning to the Ashland system. Strange as it may sound to you, Ashland needs them but they don't need Ashland.

After reading your post, I made a couple of inquiries to individuals associated with each school. Both have assured me that you received incorrect information. I would have to believe that that is the case since Rose Hill apparently has both a fully manned seventh grade team as well as a fully manned eighth grade team. I was further told by a representative of the Ashland "athletic community" that the middle school coach was told by a "higher up" that he was not to schedule Rose Hill. It is no big deal since schools can play whomever they choose. However, schools should not be "creative" in explaining the policy. I agree that it will be interesting to see what happens in regard to football at Rose Hill. I agree with Greybeard that it could produce a windfall for one or more local public schools. Apparently Rose Hill has some fairly talented players. With the less than amiable relationship between Ashland and Rose Hill athletics, I would be surprised if Ashland gets much of the windfall.

I heard that Rose Hill's eighth grade beat Ashland's eighth grade 22-0 in a gridarama at Boyd County. I also heard that Ashland won't schedule a regular game with Rose Hill for either the seventh or eighth grade teams. As I remember, RH's seventh grade beat Ashland 22-0 in the same gridarama last year. Any truth to this or did I receive bad information.

If four or five of them deserved it, I would agree with you.

The 16th Region group looks good. My only disagreement would be with Bonner as #10. I wouldn't place him near that high. Three EC players is enough. I know they are the odds on favorites and defending champions but, individually, they are not that much above a few of the other teams. I would, however, clearly put Evan Faulkner over Bonner. As is the case in football, Ashland will go about as far as Matt Thomas can take them. Bonner and Coleman will help but the cupboard is bare after that. Still, Ashland could very well win the well balanced district. I believe it will be played at Ashland and that, along with their coach, could well make the difference. Elliott County should repeat as region champions because of their overall balance and familiarity with each other.

Absolutely true. The only luck involved in Russell's season last year was bad luck. VanHoose's injury, in reality, ended their seson. Russell, both the boys and the girls, will be fine this coming season.

Good to see Matt Thomas have another big game. As a realist, I don't see much progress in Ashland as a team. Beating winless Boyd County in overtime doesn't do a lot for the resume. Nonetheless, 1-5 is better than 0-6. The trip to Versailles could be a long one since Woodford County lost to Franklin County tonight.

Oh, my. The boys are getting touchy. Facts are still facts but I guess I better just withdraw my query lest I upset a few of you. Consider it done.

Ah, true. However, you really didn't have the choice to be taller or to not be taller so that is a different situation. Nonetheless, it is all a part of "supposin'" and I'm just "supposin'".

Absolutely an interesting question and isn't it great that you actually took the words right out of Golden Gopher's mouth? And, to be truthful, all who read BGP have read about that exact Ashland "what if" over and over since 2002. It is also a topic of conversation during basketball season at the Ashland area service clubs and churches as well as with the maroon clad "man/woman on the street". I would speculate that Flynn would still be your coach and you would have likely made another trip or two to the state tournament. However, you wouldn't have won. When I posted the query in regard to Thomas I stated that I would make some of you Ashland partisans unhappy. Nevertheless, it is interesting to speculate. I just wish Thomas were in a situation where he could get the accolades and opportunities that he deserves. That is not meant to start any argument but merely to wonder what might have been in light of how it all turned out.

I'm sure there is no better or more dedicated team player than is Matt Thomas. However, I am merely an observer who wonders what could have been if he had gone to Russell as could have been the result. It is kind of like wondering what the Reds could have done if they had a better pitching staff. Or, what could Harang accomplish if he were in the Mets rotation? Or what about the Bengals with a defense? No harm in speculating what could have been. That is one of the beauties of "what if". And, the idea that all are "team players" is part of that perfect world that exists only in hypotheticals. Reality doesn't often work that way.

Thanks for the information, happy ol' dad. I heard Dicky compliment the officiating several times during the game. I appreciate you pointing out the reason for the accolades. According to the newspaper, Ashland was penalized 0 times for 0 yards for the game. That is, to me, amazing. I don't remember ever seeing that result before at any level. As for Hart, you may remember one of my previous posts when I said that he would never be confused with Herb Conley or Jake Hallum. After the fine article in the DI, I suppose we can add Fayne Grone to that list. My main point, at the risk of making Ashland people mad, is that Matt Thomas deserves a better fate in both football and basketball. I really don't see how anyone could disagree.

Very reasonable response. I was merely suggesting that a different shade of maroon would have brought trips to both the football finals and state basketball tournament with an increased chance for both Thomas and Russell to bring home more championships. At Ashland he has not and will not experience any of these. If you are familiar with school districts in the northeastern kentucky area, you know that student athletes don't always attend the government school located closest to them. Most of them, including Ashland, have several "out of district" athletes or "convenient" relocators. That just seems to be how it works around here. People speculate on BGP all the time so I am just saying "what if?".

Regardless of how good or bad Ashland teams are, they still gather drama, controversy, and emotion like a magnet gathers certain metals. It comes with the territory when you have longtime tradition, a "bit" of a superiority complex, and many passionate supporters and dissenters. I listened to the game on the Dicky Martin Network. He did his usual fine job of reporting the onfield struggle. During the second quarter, shortly before MC scored on the fake punt, Dicky and his fellow occupant of the broadcasting booth, wholeheartedly agreed that MC was a very poor football team. However, after the game Hart stated in his interview that MC was the best team Ashland had played all year. Dicky did not disagree. I can only conclude that MC sure improved in the last 2.5 quarters or that Hart was using the usual "coach doubletalk" for a team that is still winless after 5 games. I feel sure it was the latter. I would suspect that Ashland will win three of its 10 games. They should beat Boyd County, Greenup County, and Bryan Station. They should lose to Woodford County and Johnson Central. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Matt Thomas had transferred to Russell rather than Ashland when he left Rose Hill. He could have done so. It is a shame that his only real trip to the state playoffs/state tournament will have been as a seventh grader at Rose Hill. Of course, as they say, hindsight is 20-20 and Matt will succeed regardless of which color of maroon he wears.

I am honored to know all three of the men featured in the story. They have all been great assets to Ashland and the area. Bun Wilson is a fine attorney. However, he is an even better family man. The article by Mark Maynard is outstanding. The late 1920s and early to middle 1930s were truly the years in which Ashland built most of its tradition- not just in football but also in basketball.

Has Ashland really improved any or were they just fired up to play a bitter and superior rival? We should get an answer of sorts on Friday night.

Well, we have all been inundated by the Thomas testimonials and the endless requests to send up prayers on his behalf. Now, maybe we can get past all the smoke screens and Paul Harvey will come along and tell us the rest of the story. It better be good after all the posturing that has taken place. In light of the original approach, I would believe that the truth would be a needed and appropriate subject for the remainder of this thread. After all, reading between the lines can be more dangerous than the truth.

Boy, Greybeard better cash in on all of these accolades and testimonials and run for public office- or at least for an office in the Ashland Booster Club. The clock on his 15 minutes is running.:thumb: To paraphrase oldrambler, unbelievable indeed.

Chad is nearing 6'5" and is a point guard.

Actually, it is Chase Jackson of Rose Hill. He is a senior but will not play this year due to a knee injury. Chad, a sophomore who has a definite big D-1 future, is Chase's younger brother.

All of these posts about fair weather fans brought to mind a comment made to me a couple of weeks ago by a longtime Rose Hill fan. It has nothing to do with the game last night but it ties into the fair weather fan angle and I think some of you will get a laugh out of it. I told the fan that I intended to go to some Rose Hill games this year to see Euton and Jackson play. His response was to ask me if I was allergic to moth balls. I asked him why. His response was that, now that Rose Hill is on the rise again, many of those fans who left with Mayo would be taking their Rose Hill sweatshirts out of storage and would be back in the stands. Thus, a strong possiblilty of the scent of moth balls. I think that the analogy can be made in regard to many fans who like to board the bandwagon in good times but are never around in lesser times.