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WARNING/DISCLAIMER: Cranky old man rant to follow. My objection to VHSL Alignment as it is current practiced (and as it has been practiced since 1986) is that it has diminished the level of competition and meaning associated with state championships and competition in general. I realize that the demographics of Virginia have changed considerably within the last 50 years. But using the current number of schools from that article, 60% of all schools within the VHSL will qualify for postseason resulting in state champions who can ultimately claim to be the best team in a pool of 48-55 qualifiers. District and regional (newly restored) championships have very little meaning. And teams that are "fortunate" enough to make it to postseason very often find themselves facing multi-hour bus trips to play in the beginning round. Contrast that to the old three classification system in which 30% of schools at best would even qualify for postseason play (in regions that allowed for 8 playoff teams -- most only allowed for 4, which means that only about 15% of schools would make it). Sure there were some hard luck examples of 9-1 football teams who sat home in November, but making it to the postseason at all was a major accomplishment in and of itself that had real meaning. And missing out on the playoffs by losing 1 game was a true benchmark indicating that only the best of the best made it. The district and region structure also contributed to that sense of accomplishment. Winning championships at either of those levels carried a very tangible and definable cachet -- beyond the fact that you just couldn't advance without winning them. And the contests at the state level were true inter-sectional match ups that further promoted identity and accomplishment. Ironically enough, travel hardships were unusual and limited to the highest performing teams because of the regional- and district-based structure (there were extremes under the old system -- the most glaring example I can think of was a trip Clintwood took to Onancock). But ultimately before 1986, state champions knew that they were the best in a pool of over 100 teams. Given the disparity in school sizes that began to be apparent in the mid 1980s, it does seem that some appropriate action could have been taken. Adding a fourth classification would have diluted the competitive level (reducing Class pools from 100 to about 80), but not at the ridiculous level that the six class system has. The steady abandonment of the district and region promotion hierarchy has only served to further exacerbate the issue. Winning a state championship is still cause for celebration. But because of my long memory, I have to admit that the current context pales in comparison to the old system, and it doesn't mean as much as it once did. And regional and district titles have become about as valuable as participation trophies. Rant over.

2005 at a basketball game in Pocahontas there was one referee that was giving some very unfavorable calls. After halftime there was a "box & one" ran on that referee. Literally one player pulled up his shorts, got in a low defensive stance, and played defense on the ref. One of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Glass houses...

I wish the kid all the best as well but dam, the kids in New Jersey don't even want to go to the state university!

Hey, I'm all for open banter. And I may have taken my own shots at the namesake facility of K.M. Hicks on this board. But Slick Cook and the Richlands radio network are institutions and should be considered sacred. ;-)

Or it could just be shoddy reporting and it be C vs D and B vs A forever.... The way things change sometimes its just wait and see.

Kind of ironic who Graham's placekicker was in that game, huh?

Rutgers is a unique scenario, which is certainly to Rutgers's detriment. The quality of their institution as a "state school" is severely deflated by "runaways". They're on the southern edge of the Ivy League, one of which (Princeton) is about as far away as Bluefield is from Claypool Hill. There is also the proliferation of preparatory schools in the northeast, which further siphon off students from the motherland. Long story short, the above-average students from that area are going Ivy League or one of the almost innumerable small liberal arts schools that dot the northeast. Rutgers therefore turns into the Big Lots of the college world, and has to ramp up acceptance rates to keep itself afloat (60.5% in 2016, which is ABSURD for a flagship state university). And as MTV has taught us, New Jersey doesn't exactly produce the most socially aware or responsible citizens. Gate City, VA to Piscataway, NJ would be more of a culture shock than if you took Mac McClung, put him onboard the S.S. Atlantis, and shipped him to Mars. And I'm not even discussing the actual basketball yet.

I don't see reporters beating down your door either, but you still feel inclined to pollute this place with your useless commentary.

i agree...it does happen alot. I just for some reason figured he would at least ride the process out until say December or January and commit in the early part of the season. I think its a great idea for kids to commit and get the process over with where they can focus on playing stress free with their teammates and focus on academics their final year. Judging by the visits and timely commitment dates set by some of the other recruits Rutgers were in on, it seems like Mac may have been a silent commit to RU already.

Let me rephrase it for Gate City's numbers. 41 Devils and 2 Indians ;)

I guess I'll have to head up to College Park and catch him when he comes through.

It's fairly commonplace for those not in the Top 25 to commit prior to their senior years. I'd say probably 60% of kids do just that...why have that stress hanging over you with a year of basketball still to play?

I think Rutgers is a terrible fit for a whole host of reasons, but I wish Mr. McClung the best of luck on his collegiate basketball career, and I congratulate him on accepting a scholarship offer from a major university in an elite basketball conference.

This is one of my all-time most watched YouTube clips. I remember the first time watching it, not knowing what it was. The ending...just wow.

I think this game even won an ESPY for Game of the Year or something like that... it still holds true today as amazing.

You are, but I'm in there with you!

Heck far, if we're going to talk about games from abroad... and all of you younger folks who may have never had the chance to view this piece of legendary video history, I present to you THIS: The Texas state high school football championship game from Texas stadium in 1994. Probably still to this day, the most talked about high school football game nationwide of all time. Heck, I am pretty sure these radio announcers were the guys used in Varsity Blues, which in my opinion is still the greatest football movie of all time. For those who haven't seen this, sit back and enjoy 5 minutes of a fantastic story. For those who HAVE seen it... watch it again because this clip never gets old.

I remember the helmet episode. He hit the player so hard that the impact echoed in the stadium. That was a low point in my experience of being a fan.

I like the ones who know everything about the team, but somewhere along the line got some off the wall facts their buddy made up. I can normally siphon through the GC football lies due to family ties with a player, I like calling them out on the BS as well. But, all that said, there are a few GC people that come to mind when I hear delusional.

A lot of the "delusional fans" are the ones that sit home every time there's a ballgame, yet they seem to know everything. They can tell everything by a box score. They wait around, then if you're lucky enough to make it to Game 12 or 13 they magically show up.

Weirdest thing I've ever witnessed in any sporting event involved the two crazy special teams rules that occurred within seconds of each other. In 1992, Cherry Creek, CO vs Arapahoe High, Colorado. With 2 minutes left in the game, Cherry Creek was down 10 to 9, and they had the ball on their own 3 yard line. The game was all but over as Cherry Creek was going to have to drive a ton of yards under 2 minutes on a team in which they hadn't moved the ball much all game, but Cherry Creek had a good field goal kicker and they were going to try to drive half the field and try to win it with a long kick. They had 3 timeouts left. As the Cherry Creek QB took the snap from his own 3, the ball flew lose and when the Cherry Creek QB fell on it, he was laying in the endzone, a safety was called, and all of a sudden, it was a 12 to 9 game with about 1 minute and 52 seconds left in favor of Arapahoe, and the game surely or at least, likely out of reach at this point. After the safety, Cherry Creek elected to punt the ball instead of kicking it to Arapahoe. Cherry Creek had all 3 timeouts left and was planning on stopping Arapahoe and getting the ball back, and hopefully getting the game tied with a long field goal kick. In Colorado back then, you would kickoff from your own 30 yd line. Keep in mind that Cherry Creek had 3 timeouts left after the safety, so they elected to punt to Arapahoe instead of attempting an onside kick. The punt was mishit and went straight up into the air passing the line of scrimmage by 11 yards and landing at the 41 yd line, then taking a crazy bounce backswards for about 5 yards and stopping at the 36. Cherry Creek fell on the ball and it was first down Cherry Creek!. Keep in mind, a free kick situation/free punt after a safety is still like a kickoff, whether it's kicked or punted, and the same rules apply in that....if the ball goes ten yards, its a free ball. It was Cherry Creek ball at their own 40 with about 1 minute and 45 seconds left in the game and Cherry Creek was down 12-9 with a chance to tie. They drove the field, took some timeouts, and facing a 4th and 3 at the Arapahoe 20 yard line with 13 seconds left, they tied it with a 37 yard field goal. Surely, it's going to OT now. Well, not so fast. Cherry Creek kicks off, but the ball is badly hit, not sure if they were trying to squib it or what, but the ball went 20 yards in the air and Arapahoe fair catches it with 7-9 second left. At midfield and 7-9 seconds left (can't remember the exact amount), Arapahoe drops back to pass and attempts a hail-mary ball, but a personal foul is called allowing time for one more play from the 35 of Cherry Creek. Here's the rub on this one. Arapahoe lines up for a field goal and the officials stop the game. The Arapahoe coach is screaming at the officials giving an explanation and evidently, he knew his stuff. Fans are looking in disbelief, especially the Cherry Creek fans. The rules stated that even if a team didn't attempt a free kick after a fair catch on a kickoff on the very first play, a penalty negates that play and is enforced, and the team has the option to it again since the very first play after the fair catch was a penalty. And yes, a 52 yard field goal won it with no time on the clock giving Arapahoe a 15-12 win. The rule is or at least....it used to be......if you fair catch a kickoff, you immediately have the option to attempt a field goal/free kick the next play, but EVEN if you don't attempt one the next play and you simply line up your offense and run a play, if there is a penalty on that play, then you still have the option to kick it after the penalty is enforced. The Sporting News wrote an article on this game and ESPN even talked about it 2 weeks later. It had the 2 crazy special teams rules in full effect.

Honakers red clay field was bull$#!t if you think JIBs field was nice then you obviously never set foot on the field at Ralph Cummins Stadium. Incredible grass field. There wasn't anything particularly terrible about ervintons field other that the home side sideline was only 118 yards long, at the corner of the end zone on the home side going toward the hill the field actually went up hill lol

As a Radford guy, I know in my sports experience the only school anyone up in the New River Valley talked about from far Southwest Virginia was Gate City in football and basketball. We had some rivalries with Virginia High in soccer but how many schools play soccer? Football and basketball are the main cash cows for a small school like us and I would guess Gate City. Hearing you talk on here it sounds like this may be a year where the basketball team may bring in more money than football. Maybe, maybe not. Gate City has been the one team I have always heard of from people living up this way. Like Radford our goals in basketball are not to win the district/conference title. Our goal is the state tournament yet some schools celebrate like they won a state championship when they defeat us. It's all about your reality and your culture. You either have a championship culture established where your players are focused on the end of the road in March or they just have a date circled to beat somebody local. I'm sure for some of Gate City opponents beating them is the best thing in the world and the only thing that matters. Yet for people like us up here all we are concerned about is meeting schools like Gate City at the end because then we know it takes the best to beat the best It's all about perspective.

You are. Cause it leaves a slight hope of RV making it.

A coworker and I got a personalized tour of Valdosta's stadium and facilities once by one of our vendors that we were visiting. Very impressive facilities and tradition.

Sounds like yet another dumbass decision by the VHSL to keep travel times down...yea sure VHSL...what a bunch of morons

He was a massive turd, and just about single-handedly caused the collapse of the Jeff Jones era at UVA. Jeff was (and is) a great coach, but was a little too wet behind the ears to take over an ACC job. He took chances on talented players of poor repute, and it burned him. That, and the affair.

UVAO.........I can assure you the vast majority of GC fans are not "patently delusional" about the upcoming basketball season. Believe most of us are saying that we COULD win a state championship this season.........a point that you seem to agree with. Looks like we are all on the same delusional page. :) I will agree that there is a lot of closed-mindedness in SWVA. Just like in all parts of the state, and our great nation. Is really just a matter of what that particular region's minds are closed toward. I'm curious. How many times did you see GC play last year?

You kill me bro ??

If you're talking about Ron Brown's crew, then you are crazy. He get's animated in big moments, but EVERY radio guy should. It brings excitement to the broadcast. And he is certainly not a goon.

Ervinton was horrible.

Big Creek was the first field to permanently install lights in 1931. Princeton was actually the first to play a night game in WV vs Shady Spring in 1929. They brought in the "portable flood lights" from Concord) Since everyone wanted to have the experience of playing at night Big Creek played a lot of home games in 1931 and 1932. They were originally called the Big Creek Warriors. This was a compromise with the people from Coalwood and Berwind. The people in War wanted to call the new high school War High like the old school in War was called but of course the people of Coalwood and Berwind objected. So the name was taken from the voting district which was the Big Creek district but the nickname was the Warriors. But since Big Creek played so many games at night everyone quickly started calling them the Owls and it stuck.

and JIB? really? crab grass and seats they manually move out of the way during baseball season? That place is trash!