Deleted Account

Deleted.

He left it because he was disenchanted with the level of corruption in amateur (high school and collegiate) athletics. Recruiting of high school athletes was a large piece of it. The death knell for him was the Virginia General Assembly essentially enacting law that allows people and businesses to buy high school athletes effective July 1, 2023. I’ve spoken with him about it IRL and I’m comfortable sharing it. I don’t reckon he would mind.

Deleted.

I'll take any addendum that helps make my point stronger, LOL. As an aside, I vacation at the southern NC beaches, about 35 miles as the crow flies from Myrtle Beach. The development that's going on, even with price tags of $500K+ for modest homes, is mesmerizing to me. I wonder where this money's coming from. I remember as a young child, being awestruck by a $900K price tag on a beachfront 3-story development. That same home would run $3M+ today.

Or maybe…just maybe…he figured out that (1) he could draw full VRS while (2) teaching gut HS classes and coaching football while (3) living 20 minutes from the ocean and (4) being within 30 minutes of several world-renowned golf courses. You show me a soul alive that wouldn’t make that trade in a heartbeat, and I’ll show you a liar. Mance wasn’t scared of Palmer. If he were scared of challenges, he wouldn’t have gone to Loris, which was a doormat before him and now is competitive.

Precisely. The talent’s there and the schemes are effective when executed well. I would presume that the offensive gameplan will be “bread and butter” type plays, focusing on (1) executing correctly; (2) making the best reads; and (3) lack of penalties. Defensively, focus on keeping contain and improvement within the secondary. Chilhowie has some raw, but talented athletes last season. Just 6 days away!

Neither. There's a lot of folks anointing Graham as an unbeatable machine, and I don't think folks understand just how much Graham lost to graduation last season. Graham is plenty talented and deep still, and you can absolutely pencil them in for a game on Thanksgiving weekend and feel very comfortable about it. However, from what I've seen thus far, 2022 Graham is stronger than 2023 Graham, and I think that's going to be evident about 9:30 PM on the evening of August 25th. Graham will be tested in the regular season, and perhaps multiple times before (likely) meeting Appomattox again. Doesn't mean they won't win them all, and surely they could go 15-0 again. But let's pump the brakes a smidge on crowning a team that has yet to play a meaningful snap. It doesn't appear as if the M7 has any particular team that stands out as a contender on a statewide level. What I see are several good but well short of elite teams. Also, John Battle is participating. It's going to be a fun season in the M7 with a significant amount of parity. It's very possible the M7 champ is 7-3 and wins on tiebreaks. Can it be August 25th already?

I heard it from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who heard it from another you've been messin' around. Buying a lake-house at South Holston doesn't equate to a change of residency. Not saying it can't or won't happen, but that's not the case as of August 1, 2023.

The staff was able to run JV-specific stations during practice this week. What a difference a couple of years makes!

Looking like 48 for the Bulldogs.

Honaker’s had some great combos over the years.

Those are the plans (made public) thus far. Of course, construction schedules and labor shortages being what they are, it leaves some uncertainty. There are a few other things in the works that I’m not at liberty to discuss beyond telling folks to “stay tuned.”

I’m not being flippant or snarky. Just letting folks know to stay tuned.

You’re correct on Peterstown. And you’re correct on the effort required to get the youth leagues in order so that the middle/high school teams have good, experienced players to coach onward. I think the world of Danny, and his work (and the work of others) is certainly is showing dividends in the County seat.

The youth football system was in full-fledged collapse in Mance’s final years here. We’re seeing the effects of that now. While not perfect, you can look at youth leagues and extrapolate pretty well what these teams will look like in 7-10 years. Even now, some places have positioned themselves well, while others should have alarm bells sounding.

Patience, Grasshopper. 🙂

It would be a major shock if Dixon ever coaches high school football again.

Still at Tazewell as far as I know. She's spent much of the summer out of the area with her Birmingham, AL based travel softball team

Not true.

This is a no-brainer decision: Hankins should absolutely go to Miller School. Baseball's its own animal when it comes to seeking opportunity for elite players. I know that there's been a hullabaloo over his commitment to Tennessee...but let's not kid ourselves. Hankins is well within the Top 10 rounds of the 2025 MLB Draft, and virtually no player that falls in that range attends college. The slot contract values are much too high to justify it. Baseball America (the preeminent baseball publication in America) listed its Top 50 high school draft prospects for 2025, and Hankins came in at #39. The difference in Hankins staying at Battle and improving his draft stock at Miller School is literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. Even if he doesn't raise his stock, he'll still have a choice to make between taking a slot value of $150K or going to Tennessee for 3 years. The floor is exactly the same, and the ceiling is WAY higher. A good friend of mine coaches baseball at one of the schools in Albemarle County/Charlottesville. He's had multiple players essentially "poached" from his program by Miller School over the years. That's neither here nor there, but Miller School does its fair share of 'cruitin'.

I know you doth love that cardinal red colored Kool-Aid, but this is legitimately funny. If I'm starting a team, and I have to choose Clements or Cook-Cash, I'm taking Cook-Cash with 0 hesitation. I have seen both play multiple times live, and I'll venture to say that you have not. Obviously, Cook-Cash is bigger and stronger. What Cook-Cash lacks in straight-line speed (where he's no slouch either, just not as much as Clements), he makes up with blocking prowess and field vision. Clements isn't asked to block in a meaningful capacity in Graham's offense. Clements's field vision is also average on his best day, and I think we'll see this year that having a line including a Brody Meadows or Connor Roberts has helped him tremendously. (Not saying Graham's line isn't strong, because it is, but the numbers in the weight room aren't exactly what they've been in the past. I've seen them.) There's a good argument to be made that Clements isn't even the best player on Graham's roster this season. I'm not saying it's a winning argument, but if you're talking about the best player in an entire Classification, you need to be the best on your own team first.

Yes, The Railway Depot. It's definitely worth your while to try. I've been there a few times and always left satisfied.

I'll double up on that and say that they'll win it. Having the very best player in Class 2 doesn't hurt. Plus, the team Riverheads faces won't be from Region D.

Second. Virginia High faced Fleming, KY in 1939 and lost 34-0. Shame on the Bearcats for scheduling this game.

I did get to call it from the 2nd floor of the tower! We tried a new setup that unfortunately resulted in much vocal interference from those around us. Very nice facility, likely the nicest I’ve called a game from that’s not Emory & Henry. A great experience and a lifetime of memories! Region D flooded the place. Even though it was essentially a hop-skip-jump for James River, they only outnumbered Tazewell fans about 70/30. Saw Lightning-Rs and G-Stars aplenty too. It makes SWVA special, to see that turnout from all over.