Bronco99

I agree with you Pepper II, this is a nice overview of the 4-7 district.

I would be interested in hearing everyones thoughts on who could possibly be a team that could pull off an upset in their 4-A district. For example, in district 4-7 can a very much improved Knox Central pull off an upset against Bell Co. or Rockcastle. Can a team that has improved in non-district play, like McCreary Central, come into a strong district like 4-7 and upset Knox Central or Madison Sothern and make it to the playoffs? I think there will be interesting questions like this throughout the 4-A class.

I think this is exactly why athletes should play more than one sport and why football is the sport that gives are athletes better opportunities to advance to the next level. It is hard to advance in the hoops world if you are 6 foot, give or take a few inches. You just don't see shorter athletes playing D-1 B-ball let alone NBA. However, there are athletes that are vertically challenged that move on to play D-1 football every year. I have seen many athletes over the last 21 years that could have played D-1 football but they decided to put all their eggs in one basket(literally). I mean playing B-ball 12 months a year and still didn't get any interest from D-1 schools because they were only 6'1" or 6'2". So, (dubbbledribbble) I think you hit it right on the head, there are way more opportunities to advance playing football than there are playing basketball and KY. high school b-ball coaches should explain that to their players and encourage them to play football so they will have a better chance to advance to the next level. Common sense tells us that it is way better for our athletes to play multiple sports and it is that same common sense that tells us it is only the self-centered coaches (know matter what sport they coach) that try to keep athletes from playing a sport different from the one they coach. As coaches we should all do what is best for our athletes not ourselves. Coach Crews and any other coach that thinks like he does needs to re-evaluate their motives for coaching or at the very least re-evaluate their thought process. IMO.

I agree with you as well. That's the problem, we have to many coaches, teachers and administrators for that matter who make all their decisions based on what is best for themselves and not the kids. Face it, to be self-serving is human nature and at one time I would have to say I fell in that catagory as well. However, when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and come to realize the magnitude of his selfless act for the salvation of all man-kind it really puts how you veiw what is important in life into perspective. I will continue to pray that the people in the positions I named earlier will find a way to put their players/students first. I believe in my heart that kids coming from programs and school systems that make sure their players/students needs are met and put the kids needs first over their own on a regular basis produce positve and productive adults and those communities thrive. I know that their are many coaches in Ky. that are Christians and who show it through the way they deal with their kids everyday. I will continue to hope and pray that as all of you continue to set positive examples through the way you deal with kids, this will become more and more our "real world". With that being said, I want to take this opportunity to speak for everyone who has ever had a coach, teacher ect... influence their lives in a positive way because they always put their players/students needs first and say THANK YOU and God Bless! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol::lol: :lol: :lol:

Remember, as a coach of one sport you do not have to be a fan or even support any other sport. But...........as a coach you do have to support the kids (in every thing they do). :flame:

I know their is an under-noticed QB at McCreary Central. His name is Chris Hale and he will be a 3rd year starter as a senior this year. I watched two of Mccreary centrals games last year and this kid threw the ball extremely well in both games. I also was able to see him during a 7 on 7 camp at KY. Chritian College this year and he was impressive their as well. The Raiders were beating everyone with Hale connecting with his two favorite targets sophmore Aaron Watts and Senior Anthony Musgrove, both of whom was equally impressive as well. The Raiders went 5-5 last year and seem to be steadily improving each year. However, they are back in district play this year and it is a tough district (4-7,Bell Co. Rockcastle, Madison Southern and Knox Central). Also their non-district schedule is pretty tough with the likes of Leslie Co., Williamsburg, Oneida Tn., and Campbellsville. If this kid can put up some descent numbers this year he should get some recognition. He has some very talented recievers and the Raiders will have 3 senior running backs that are all quality kids so they should be able to mix things up some. They are returning all of their offensive line except one at the center position and they have an upcoming junior who is pretty good ready to fill that spot. They did however lose several seniors off of their defense and had an upcoming sophmore LB/FB (named Ryan Harlow) who has supposedly moved to Johnson Central. Harlow will be a big loss for the Raiders (presently and in future) seeing how he started both ways as a freshmen and was won of the teams leading tacklers. However, there are some quality kids stepping into the vacated positions on defense so they should still be solid. The Raider team is relatively young (4 senior starters on OFF and the same 4 will play Def.). Although, the Raiders did have some ego problems last year because they had talent at all of the skilled positions and everyone wanted the ball and this probably costed the them a game or two. However, I have heard that Senior WR. Anthony Musgrove, Sophmore WR. Aaron Watts, and Senior QB Chris Hale has stepped up as leaders during the offseason and now has the entire Raider squad on the same page for the upcoming season. I for one am very interested in seeing how Chris Hale and the Raiders fair this year. I bet Coach Gay and his staff are excited about this season. :dancingpa

Here, here! I agree. I played 3 sports in high school and then played baseball all summer and then right back into football in the fall. I know times has changed but when athletes limit themselves to one sport they limit there chances for scholarships at the next level. I didn't play the sport I loved in college. Why you might ask? Because I was offered a scholarship in a different sport. Michael Jordan loved baseball and if he would have only played baseball growing up we probably wouldn't know who he is, why? Because he was not that great of a baseball player. There is no doubt that playing multilpe sports helped me be better at every sport I played. There was another factor back in the day. At my high school two of the basketball coaches, the head wrestling coach, the head baseball coach and the tennis coach were assistant football coaches. The head football coach took stats for the basketball team and was the track coach. Not only was most all athletes multiple sport athletes but the coaches were multiple sport coaches (it's amazing at the success you can have when everyone works together). I am in my 21st year coaching football(I have also coached baseball, baketball, softball and wrestling over the years) and I came to the conclusion over 10 years ago that kids will do what they enjoy doing. I mean, no coach of any sport will be able to get an athlete to quit a sport they love playing. All we can do as coaches who have the kids best interest at heart is to keep supporting our kids and showing them that we care about them unconditionally by supporting them know matter what decisions they make. My phylosophy has changed over the past 21 years. I use to think the game was larger than life and nothing was more important than winning the game. However, making the decision to put God first in my life helped me realize that when life comes to an end that football, basketball, baseball ect... was just a game. It is not worth putting your family second in your life or making a young man feel bad because you put him in a position to decide what sport to play. Most of the kids I coach look to their coaches for guidence and I am sure that is the case at most schools. It is a shame that grown men who call themselves coaches can't make better decisions when dealing with our young athletes. I know this thread was started quite awhile ago but I am new to BGP and have been looking over as many threads as I can and this particular topic has been around for a long time so I had to preach some. My mother told me since I was a boy that I wouild grow up to be a preacher or politician so I became a coach which allows me to be both! "Be wise, use your time to make healthy relationships with God and others"

I heard Stuart Shepherd was offered this position.