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Just a quick update on things. A few months ago Gman decided to step away from the day to day operations of this website and we no longer have McDonald’s as a sponsor anymore. I decided to pick back up and keep it alive. I guess almost 25 years ago I approached GMan with a plan to build this place as an all inclusive local sports website that would grow from the old yahoo based football page he had started. The idea was to build a bigger and better page with SWVASPORTS.COM as a one stop location for all things local sports. We never did anything for money, it was as free as you can get, we tried to have a fair place to discuss it all without censorship, although at times it was necessary to wield the banhammer, for the most part we let people sort things out instead of cutting it off. I feel like it’s been a great success story. When I took things over though a few months ago I put a “donate” button on the front page and figured if anyone wanted to help out keeping the doors open here it would be cool, if not I’m still going to do it, either way. Several people have kicked in some cash though and helped out. I don’t always know who sends it, it’s somewhat anonymous as most user names don’t correlate to real names here, unless someone specifically contacts me here so if you don’t get a personal ”Thank You!” from me, that’s why. I decided to make this post so I could thank you all for being here and supporting the effort! So…Thanks to everyone who donated a few bucks to the site. I’ve used it to pay for the hosting, the forum software license, tech support etc etc etc. basically you guys have helped keep the lights on. Appreciate you all for continuing to hang out and enjoy the site. In the days of social media places like this are a dying breed….but we are hanging on.

For the unlearned Union fans that are posting on social media that people are attacking the players on this forum. First, please read the posts. You will not find anyone attacking players. Secondly, learn about football. Don't have to be an expert. Just enough to understand the basic concepts. Then, you will understand that Union has a COACHING problem. NOT a player problem. Lastly, stop twisting calls for new play calling and/or a new head coach into attacks on players. That is simply not happening. For all the players...past, current and future...the Union community couldn't be prouder of your work, dedication and effort you display,not only in games, but all year around. Anyone saying otherwise really needs to keep their mouth shut. Anyone with a basic understanding of the game of football and half a brain can see what the issue is. And we KNOW it isn't the players.

Ewing. Where men are men and sheep are scared.

There will be no more talk concerning the Graham-Tazewell game last Friday, good or bad, about players, refs, coaches, fans, announcers or anyone/anything. Period. This is everyone's first and only warning. Any posts about the game or anyone related to the game will be banned permanently. I don't care who you are. We all said things that were not appropriate and this is the end of it. Carry on...

The kids would rather play in the snow anyways!!! It’s us old farts who hate the cold and rain

Great observations but, I will respectfully pull the curtain back for you some. I won’t comment on the appearance issues you speak of because that is like reminding water that it is wet. When we have a foul, we try to get together to double and sometimes triple check we have the correct enforcement before marking it off. It’s very simple to do that in the stands but on the field, you have to slow down to get it right. The use of radios helps but, sometimes it’s best to come together to get it right. You mention way too much dead time. Spotting on the tick between the 10’s (the hashes are in the middle of the field and align with the uprights of the goal post) is a very common practice all the way up through FBS. It’s very easy to say to the crew, this series starts on the 31 so we need to get to the 41 for a first down. If we start that on the 31 1/2 YL, now we’ve opened ourselves up to plenty of measurement opportunities, especially on grass fields which leads to….dead time. Ruling the runner inbounds or out of bounds is based on the axiom of where the forward progress is stopped, not necessarily where the player winds up at when a whistle blows. Finally, ONLY the box and ball need to be set before we wind the clock. If we waited on chain crews to get fully set, and god bless them for being there because we can’t do it without them, we’d have far more dead time.

The guest announcer (the female college coach) tried but couldn't help not slanting coverage for Fort Defiance. Did anyone else catch her when she said she was over there recruiting them? And she mentioned that she knew them well. Meanwhile, she mentioned that Ridgeview was a good team "for where they are from". That, coupled with the one announcer calling the Wolfpack Ridgeway and Mount View several times didn't help either. The whole match was tilted to them talking about what Fort needed to start doing or what they weren't doing and not much was spent talking about what Ridgeview was doing and not letting Fort do. Although it always felt tense (full disclosure: my daughter plays on the team so it always feels tense), Ridgeview trailed for one point, 2-1 in the first set, all match. The truth is they dominated a very good Fort Defiance team. The Wolfpack crowd was about 2.5x the Indians crowd and they were loud. I've never seen a far SWVA team come out so confident and emotionally charged in a state championship game in a long, long time. It is a shame the announcers didn't recognize that. Those girls deserved better coverage and more "flowers" than what the announcers gave them. I do want to specifically call out the SWVA media. They have done a spectacular job of covering Ridgeview all year...Bristol Herald, WCYB (5) Kingsport Times, WJHL (11) ....they've been great and produced some of the best written articles I've seen in a while. Additionally, Dickinson County really got behind this team and packed the house at home and on the road. Those Region and State playoff home games probably drew 500-700 a game. The Radford coach was actually quoted in the paper as saying the crowd and atmosphere created problems for her team: And this excerpt was from a Staunton based paper and quoted the Fort Defiance team:

Anyway to hide our posts we all look like morons 😂

8:30 pm LOL

Quick shout-out to the Ridgeview Volleyball team. They defeated James River 3-1 to secure their trip to the state championship game. Congratulations!

I will humbly take credit for this win

Virginia High fans watching the Tazewell/Lebanon game, knowing they need an upset to jump Lebanon for the 4 seed

This is pretty damn accurate, IMHO. As I have stated previously, I've adjusted (softened) my view on transfers especially after my oldest son's experience. If you don't think there are cliques and "good ole boy" clubs in most of these small towns then you are fooling yourself. If you are a throwing QB, you want to play in an offense that throws and there isn't one dang thing wrong with that. Same if you are a WR...you want to catch the football and not be a blocking wing in some 1940's offense. Now, throw in parents that over value their kid's next-level potential and, particularly, fathers who can't NOT be involved in coaching their own kids.....and I haven't even mentioned the general sense of entitlement that exists in the kids and parents that wasn't there 20-30 years ago. It can be a mess. These master-plans concocted by the parents and some coaches don't usually result in titles. Just one year ago we were talking about Honaker winning a state championship and they are now on their third coach in less than a year and are fighting to even host a first round playoff game. Disillusioned kids/parents have burned up the road from Richlands down to Honaker going back to the 80's...seeking 1A glory. It will probably happen years from now. It used to be solely based on not-getting playing time. Now, it encompasses that, plus not playing preferred position or in the preferred offense or getting enough touches. Coaches have to recruit their kids out of the halls and onto the field and then they have to continually recruit them to stay with the program. Adapt or die.

Some Union folks on Facebook want this board banned over apparently nonexistent bashing of Union players by Union fans. Y’all got some panties in a wad down in Big Stone Gap 😂😂😂😂. I’m going to fix me a big bowl of popcorn enough to last the next 48 hours.

Last season many posters on here underestimated Radford after they had a close regional championship win over Glenvar. Quite the same this season however this Glenvar team isn’t like 2023 Radford. I’ll be watching the G-Men in person when they go to Salem next week. I’ll be in Tennessee this weekend taking shots of fireball and enjoying the Pigeon Forge life

Saturday afternoon playoffs are the way God intended it to be!

I agree with all this especially the sportsmanship. Players from both teams exhibited great sportsmanship in my opinion. Honestly, both played hard and both have tremendous athletes. I’ve not seen one Union person saying anything negative about any Union player. I don’t know what’s being said on Facebook but it’s obviously not an accurate representation of this board or the Union posters on here.

Well said. Everyone knows the talent Union has and I’ve never seen anyone go after a player. I’ve seen many posters on here from different schools compliment some of the Bear players. On another note, the sportsmanship I seen between both schools yesterday was awesome. Just about every play the opposing team was helping the other team up. That’s because of how much respect both programs have for one another.

Props to Bath on a great season. With such a low enrollment they finished with a 20-3 record for 2023/2024 and fell short to a 2A team in the region championship.

Bath Co's radio broadcast is reading local obituaries during the halftime break.

At least the Giles coaches are good human beings....Allen not so much

I hope bath beats the brakes off those chumps

Rv volleyball team wins state title in straight sets.

CLASS 1 A Rappahannock 56 Westmoreland 14 A Essex 72 Middlesex 0 B Altavista 64 Sussex Central 8 B Buffalo Gap 65 Brunswick 30 C Bath Co 49 Narrows 14 C Grayson Co 18 George Wythe-W 16 D Rye Cove 61 Grundy 28 D Eastside 31 Patrick Henry-GS 14 CLASS 2 A Poquoson 22 Lunenburg Central 8 A King William 21 Bruton 14 B Buckingham 27 Madison Co 7 B Strasburg 35 Riverheads 7 C Glenvar 42 Floyd Co 14 C Gretna 14 Radford 7 D Graham 34 Virginia High 0 D Union 21 Ridgeview 14 CLASS 3 A Lafayette 56 Colonial Heights 7 A IC Norcom 35 Tabb 21 B Thomas Jefferson-R 38 Skyline 7 B Kettle Run 36 Armstrong/Kennedy 34 C Liberty Christian 35 Heritage-Lyn 14 C Turner Ashby 44 Alleghany 20 D William Byrd 28 Abingdon 23 D Lord Botetourt 36 Magna Vista 19 CLASS 4 A Phoebus 41 Churchland 0 A Hampton 28 Smithfield 7 B Dinwiddie 69 King George 35 B Varina 26 Huguenot 0 C John Champe 44 Woodgrove 21 C Tuscarora 34 Loudoun Co 7 D Salem-S 24 George Washington-D 3 D Sherando 20 Jefferson Forest 14 CLASS 5 A Green Run 22 Indian River 19 2OT A Salem-VB 42 Deep Creek 3 B Maury 41 Warwick 7 B King's Fork 35 Nansemond River 14 C William Fleming 27 Louisa Co 26 C Lloyd C Bird 17 Matoaca 14 D Riverbend 35 Stone Bridge 21 D Briar Woods 39 Massaponax 27 CLASS 6 A Oscar Smith 35 Manchester 0 A Highland Springs 23 Glen Allen 20 B Patriot 10 Battlefield 7 B Colonial Forge 17 North Stafford 6 C Round 1 delayed by Hayfield lawsuit C Round 1 delayed by Hayfield lawsuit D James Madison-V 35 Westfield 28 D Washington-Liberty 20 Langley 14 CLASS 6 C (Round 1 on Thursday) C Hayfield 75 Thomas Edison 7 C Fairfax 29 West Potomac 19 C Lake Braddock 56 Mount Vernon 6 C West Springfield 27 41 South Co 12

Everyone on here was drinking that Golden Kool-Aid. Turned out to be urine:)

I’ve watched them a few times. Now that is a well coached team. They are the regions best shot at a state title in the fall sports from what I can tell.

There have been a couple of seasons where injuries ruined the season, 2019 comes to mind. 2015 and 2016 also, but those would have ended the same way. Maybe closer scores, but no change in outcome. My personal opinion is the players watching the inept decision making throughout the season and this leads to frustration and lack of motivation in the playoffs. It's almost like a "what's the point in playing hard, the coaching decisions are going to blow the game anyways." Once they reach that point, they just give up. You can see it from the stands. It happened against Abingdon.

I hope none of the players from either team get hurt. I hate to see any kid injured especially an injury that could end their season or impact the season of the next sport they play. Prayers for both teams to play their best and come away injury free.

In a perfect world, parents wouldn't be coaches. Does that mean coaches shouldn't have kids or that they should forbid their kids to play the sport they coach? Face it, if parents didn't coach, there would be a huge shortage of quality coaches in the area throughout all levels. Every parent will show some level of bias toward their kid, sometimes good/sometimes bad. The issue in this matter as I was told is that one parent was upset because Rasnake's daughter was in the school gym every day shooting and working out when others were not. Who's fault is that? Everyone in southwest VA knows that Neil would allow anyone gym access at any reasonable time and he would definitely work with anyone individually. I know that he offered various offseason training and camps but nobody would show up. Those families chose not to work as hard then couldn't accept that their kid never improved. It was obvious that she was the best player on the team by far. In games that I watched against quality competition, there wasn't another girl on the team capable of handling the ball or scoring for that matter. This is varsity level basketball not rec league. The game is played to compete and win (hopefully more than you lose). I have witnessed jealously ruin more teams than I could list on here. This time it caused a school to lose the whole program. Well done!

Buddy she's a train wreak just let her vent. She will be old news in less then 48 hrs.

Grayson is ridiculous!!! Crazy! No respect for that leadership whatsoever!

I'd like to say that Union has cleaned everything up, but I can't. Maybe not as bad as the first Graham game, but they are still doing things that shouldn't be happening after 12 games. Definitely want a clear winner and not a bunch of "if only" regrets after Saturday.

I’m not disputing the refs, they were awful. That type of PI is called at all levels. I thought it was a bad call but not the first time I’ve seen it. The missed punter call was bad, and the missed false start was kind of comical. They still would’ve scored on the false start p, but I get your point. I just mean every fumble Union had bounced right back to them. Especially on that last Union score. I’m not saying Union didn’t deserve the win, they did. The RV defense played good enough to win the game. The offense had way too many mistakes and the turnovers killed them.

100% agreed. The game is for the kids to decide, not a bunch of adults in the stands or wherever they are blowing train horns to distract or intimidate the other team while they are trying to run their offense. Administrators at all schools should put a stop to this practice.

If Loris defeats Keenan on Nov. 29, it would host the Class 3A Lower State championship game on Friday, Dec. 6.

I like the horns, but I’m not on board with blowing them while the opposing team is on offense, in the huddle & at the line. Blow them to celebrate your own team & when they make a good play or score but not try to psyche out a bunch of high school kids at the LOS.

2-0 Graham

As soon as I saw BlueDevil4Life pick Grundy in a blowout, I knew Rye Cove would win because I think he picked GC to go to Salem this year too. Lol

It’s in Bluefield. Book the Union win.

Going to be some great matchup's this weekend, may the best teams win and no one injured. Good luck to all.

Mike Keith (6'2" 210lb, TB)-Rich Valley Steers Scored all 42 of his team's points (6 rushing TDs, 6 PATs) in a 42-22 playoff win over the Fries Wildcats in 1978. He finished with 288 yds rushing and 2 punts of 52.5 yds avg. Sport Illustrated recognized the feat in its 'Faces in the Crowd' section. Per BHC's Tim Hayes, History With Hayes HISTORY WITH HAYES: Keith wore Superman's cape in a 1978 game for Rich Valley

You mean clowns who are undermining the varsity program by passing around petitions to get VARSITY staff removed, and telling everyone who will listen what a bad job the varsity staff are doing while they themselves are supposed to be supporting the very foundation of the program(little league)? Yeah, those guys get fired. If you're part of the program then you better be loyal, if you're not loyal then you don't get to be part of the program.

Graham definitely has a history of improving as the season progresses. That is very apparent. Union does not. That is also very apparent. A lot of the people on the sidelines could be classified as roadies. They're needed and do a great job, but they should also disappear once the game starts. As for the extra "coaches" or the people that think they're coaches...they just need to disappear altogether. And Turner needs to stop calling the plays. He tries too hard to make the game a battle of will. Football may be that, but it's also a battle of skill and strategy. The strategy part eludes him.

Thank you for picking up the slack!! And thank everyone for helping pay the bills! You all are the reason this is the best place on the internet for High School sports and other stuff. I know we all get into it from time to time, but that's what families do! Thank you for being one big, happy, high school sports loving family!!!

The worst refs I've seen are in SW VA. Can't even count 12 players on the field for 3 straight plays.

That’s a very impressive showing for Poquoson. They seem to be a heavy favorite for Salem.

There is a back story to this coaching staff. When Salyers was fired from J.J. Kelly, his son came to Sullivan North to play and that is where the Norris-Salyers relationship started, Salyers spent time at E&H and at DB on the coaching staff, where Norris was a former assistant. Robbie Norris had the Gate City coaching job, but he wanted to bring most of his staff from North but the school board said no, they hired Akers instead. Collier was a long time GC assistant and he thought he deserved the Gate City job, post Akers but didn't get it. So you have a fired coach, a retired coach and a coach coaching with a chip on his shoulder making the perfect storm for a once almost destitute program! I hope they can go a long way in the playoffs!

The term "beasts" may be overboard, but I think his basic argument was a 260 lb body wouldn't get pushed around as easily as a 180 lb body. I'm not sure which players he was specifically referencing. Union's O line is good, but I don't think it matters how good when 5 guys are trying to block 7. With Graham, it felt like they were sending 15 guys because they knew exactly what Union was doing and daring them to pass. I guess it's hard to win any game of equal or greater talent when they know exactly what plays you're running.

Cheesy?!?!? That movie single-handedly put an end to the Cold War!!! Put some RESPECT on Rocky IV!