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We shouldn't just focus on the negatives. I remember the Richlands' community graciously opening their doors for a family from Big Creek, WV after their high school closed.

I think if any school is looking for any kind of coach in any sport they need to come to Eastman in Kingsport because there are probably around 2000 of the 8000 that work here that believe they can coach any sport and they would do it for free because they already have a day job!

How the hell else are you supposed to find out during a pandemic, carrier pigeon?

I agree. The Narrows players would be in their mid-80s by then. No way they catch Caleb Jennings.

great read here by Brady Hess check it out here - http://coalfieldsports.com/2020/02/20/the-end-of-an-era-richlands-greg-mance-to-coach-at-loris-sc/

That’s quite the realization for someone who has been on the board for 2 days... 🤷🏻‍♂️

I know we aren't SW team but I also know there are some prayer warriors down there that would be willing to lift our head coach, Doug Smith up in your prayers. Coach had been dealing with what he thought was a pulled muscle for some time in his core area and last week found out it actually was a tumor. He's been told he has bone cancer in his spine and a biopsy was done yesterday to find out more. For those that have knowledge of the Raiders know that coach leads this team with an extreme amount of faith and love for his Savior Jesus Christ. We've played some of y'all in the past and you may have witnessed the prayer circle that our team does an hour before each game. That's the kind of commitment he has for the Lord and he tries to instill in his players. Here is just a small paragraph that he wrote to the football family, "Please know I am OK. Many people have had much worse. I am trusting God all the way through this. He has been my ROCK all my life. Anything I can do to bring glory to Him is good with me." I've said many times that I feel very blessed to have a man like this coach my boys and that statement just solidifies that more. Our team mottos over the past 5 years have been: PO1 (Power of One) scripturally based BELIEVE FAITH STRONG JOY FOCUS All of these he has pulled from a verse in the Bible somewhere. Now these "mottos" are being applied to his fight. Thanks for your prayers. We look forward to an opportunity to cross paths with one of y'all this year.

So, to all who like to sheepishly follow our faithful leaders in government, and to those who thought that voting at some point was not your problem, I hope your happy with yourselves. This Covid-19 isn't even 10% as dangerous at the "experts" said it would be back in February (thankfully). Everyone needs to see the situation for what it is in this country, buffoonery combined with a power grab. And for all those hiding under the bed (yeah that goes for the ones "afraid" for your family to), well, got a surprise for you; every one's gonna die sometime, and for 99+% of the world's population, Coronavirus WON'T be what sends you to Heaven or Hell. Oh yeah, for those who think that was too brash, I know a couple people with the Covid right now, in my own family in fact (they social distanced and wore masks to, didn't work). Guess what, they're gonna make it. Even if God forbid, they weren't, I'd still feel this way. Grow a pair, and start fighting those that have been neutering America for years!

If your child's math or science teacher left without calling a meeting would you still be upset?

Nobody wins. Somebody will be elected. But nobody wins.

Disagree 100 percent. The grape flavor is something to avoid, but the cherry flavor is something I was raised on. Other than Diabetes, Heart Disease, a few rotten teeth, and a near death experience at a religious gathering in a jungle in South America, I've had no issues with it and I love the taste

I realize that this includes examples other than football, but given recent discussions on this board centering on an apparent fascination with this particular school I offer this as a therapeutic exercise for all board participants. In no particular order... 1. The cleat thing, because…..well…..just because. 2. At one time Blue Tornado basketball players used Stick-Um to assist in dunking the ball during pregame layup drills. 3. Placing the WGTH broadcast table for basketball games next to the “Krazy Korner” fan section. (And subjecting the fine God fearin’ clientele of that station to the occasional off color cheer and/or naughty comment caught and broadcast over the air waves.) 4. Certain members of the golf team “requisitioned” range balls at Fincastle during the SWD tournament event held there once. 5. In the mid 1980’s half the student body of Richlands perpetuated a rumor of rampant Satan worship among Tazewell students. (The other half of the Richlands folks pestered their Tazewell counterparts for several months thereafter in an effort to get them to use their “special relationship” to provide an advantage in securing Ozzy Osbourne concert tickets.) 6. It has long been suspected that the trombone slides used by the multiple year award-winning Virginia honor marching band are at least 1/8” too long. 7. On one occasion the visiting Richlands fans apparently provoked members of the normally docile and hospitable Big Creek crowd into firing shots at the school bus transporting the Blue Tornado marching band. 8. Holding up dollar bills as opposing basketball cheerleaders performed on the court during timeout breaks. 9. During the 1972 football playoff against Radford, Richlands players apparently spit tobacco on Bobcat players. Thus providing complete justification for Saint Norman Lineburg to run up the score on that occasion. 10. In a section of 9th grade Physical Education, members of the class organized and began a softball game prior to the arrival (and without the expressed permission) of teacher/coach Bruce Sizemore. 11. During the 1970’s the school experimented with a color scheme that included a garish shade of light blue accented by red. (When everyone knows that Powell Valley is the only school that ever came close to making that a decent look.) 12. The visitor side bleachers of Ernie Hicks Stadium. 13. During a stint which saw the program win one game over two years in the early 1970’s, the head basketball coach at the time burned all of the written records associated with the entire athletic department. 14. A Dennis Vaught-led football team once wore uniforms that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Dallas Cowboys. (A bigger travesty than the cleat thing in certain circles.) 15. One senior class was so lackadaisical in its approach to the tradition of painting the water tank above the school campus complex that they left it painted blank white over the course of a week. This invited someone to spray paint “F--- You!” on the face of the tank in large black letters. Despite efforts to allow it to remain as an unofficial class motto, administration called certain Seniors out of class to immediately correct the issue. 16. A large green banner depicting the demonic Bulldog mascot mysteriously disappeared from Tazewell High School the week before the 1987 football game against Richlands. It reappeared during the fourth quarter of the game in the student section, where it was subsequently torn to shreds. 17. A Model UN delegation from RHS once pushed a unanimous resolution through the Security Council which condemned the United States. 18. The “crown” in the middle of the old natural turf field of Ernie Hicks Stadium (which varied in height from apparently 3 to 12 feet at any given time). 19. Male middle school students used to leave visible notes on their lockers for visiting teams which used them for football and basketball. Many of these contained speculative comments about certain physical abilities of the female relatives of visiting players (although they could also be construed as oddly complimentary). 20. A member of the RHS golf team once carried 15 clubs in his bag in a match played against Giles at Castle Rock golf course. Oddly enough, this example of cheating apparently escaped the attention of the usually vigilant Spartan fan base. Feel free to add to this list and/or edit as you may see fit. Personally, I know I feel a whole lot better after posting this.

You must’ve not been around for Lucastookis

TJ Rasnick if not for cancer he most likely would’ve ended as Tazewell’s all time leading rusher and would’ve had a good chance of making a run at the state record for most soccer goals

That's a shame! Not to toot my own horn but a family from Central Lunenburg left their headlights on during the 2011 state semifinal at Galax. Not only did my wife and I jump start their car, we bought them dinner at The Smokehouse to give the battery time to charge and make sure it held a charge. Most things in life are bigger than football. It's just a game. One played by 16 year old kids at the high school level at that! Often, those 16 year old kids are more mature than the 46 year old parents in the stands.

How many of the folks in the thread can be seen in the infamous viral video from Wise County sandlot a couple of years ago? I mean, odds are pretty high for at least one, amirite?

I don't bother trying to discuss anything even remotely political anymore, and these days, that's nearly everything, because I found myself making everyone mad. No political party has a monopoly on ignorance. If Republicans passed a resolution that the sky was blue, Democrats would oppose it, and if Democrats passed a resolution that grass was green, Republicans would oppose that. I miss the days when people did what was right, NOT what is right for THEM. If people are so stubborn/ignorant that they will not believe the very truth that is before them because it doesn't align with their private "reality", then that only leaves us with a cleaner gene pool. Might be harsh, but you can't fix stupid.

Without wandering too far into a political discussion, I also like the idea of honoring local folks who made a direct contribution to the community. Much better than generic names referencing directional quadrants and/or landscape features IMO.

I hope that no one in Richlands gets staff this season.

Congratulations, Rick!! It is so awesome that we have such an amazing source for high school sport history right here on this forum!!! I am very thankful and grateful that you are here and share your knowledge with all of us. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that this little forum covering sports in southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia would have such an outstanding gentleman in it's presence. Well done, good Sir!!

I just really enjoy the challenge. I actually did not know about this and was not contacted. Tim Hayes pointed it out to me. The interesting thing is that while I know a lot about Virginia High School football and her history I know much more about WV high school football history. One because I have been researching WV much longer and Two) there is much less to learn because of the smaller population. I still have a long ways to go before I can claim to be an expert or THE AUTHORITY on Virginia high school football. If I had to do one thing over in hindsight I would do Virginia research first because when I started Marshall Johnson was still alive. By the time I really got into Virginia he had passed and all I have is his scattered notes and notebooks. BTW. There are literally dozens of notebooks by Marshall Johnson containing Virginia High School basketball history and scores. I know where they are.

And Mac McClung is an Oak Hill Academy alum

Well, we had a good run ! I will always be grateful for all the fun we as Blue Tornado fans have had over the last 20 years. A lot of programs have never come close to the kind of success Richlands has had under Coach Mance ! I have a feeling that some of the fans I heard complaining about his coaching ( it was a small minority ) will find out that you better be careful what you wish for, sometimes wishes come true. Thank you Coach Mance for all you have done for our little town............you will be missed, but I wish you and Ann all the best in your new journey ! Also a big thanks to all the other coaches on his staff over the years for all their hard work !

Aren't you guys all adults getting paid? Criticism comes with the territory, if you can't handle it, find another profession. And it's not about him personally because no one actually cares about him in that context. You're aware of what memes and jokes are, right? Havoc wasn't mocking Akers, it's mocking all the debate on here about his coaching acumen. no one is going to kiss your ass because you're a coach, and it's insane that you think coaching makes you above reproach. Just because people can't devote their life to breaking down high school film for free doesn't mean they can't share their opinion. It's up to you to figure out if you find the criticism valid and actually take it to heart or brush it off because the person doesn't know shit.

I probably wouldnt quote Greg Schiano very often.

Another excellent article by Tim Hayes... https://heraldcourier.com/sports/history-with-hayes-the-1985-powell-valley-vikings-had-muscle-guts-toughness-and-a-group/article_fcb82d5c-0051-11eb-aca8-0f015c30097d.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_heraldcourier&fbclid=IwAR11Vogh4Qcjxs6mMC1pculjgkeOBK91uBtItElen43NEf_6lDGad8KGmL8

Such a Bastian of discourse, this thread.

Being in healthcare for 33+ years the one thing I can say for sure is you cannot stop a highly contagious virus. No paper or cloth mask or amount of social distancing is going to stop us from getting it. You will either get it and not know you had it, get it and be sick for awhile, get it and die, or hopefully be lucky enough to not be exposed.

Since the word 'random' is in the topic line...I'm posting the following here: Timesland @Timesland Chris Paul with a Bluefield State sweatshirt on the podium.#timesland great state

Oh I follow that advice closely. We are certainly not rich. And I could probably do more to make some more money on the side. But I’d rather spend my time with family and friends. Memories mean more than money.

Tug Valley..........also what Bob Kraft calls his summer home in Tampa ZING

I've always been such a sports fan,and I never would have in a million years thought I'd say this,but while this pandemic is rough,it's actually been in some ways a blessing to me. It's given me time to set aside worldly matters (other than work of course),and focus on my faith and my family. It's made me realize what matters most and really just how trivial sports are when you compare them. My relationships have strengthened,and I've enjoyed and absorbed the meaningful conversations that we should have been having all along.

As long as the kids get a chance to play this year with all this mess going around. Pray for all county teams

In no way am I a Gate City fan but what John Marshall did should make them ineligible to compete in the VHSL. An AAU coach should not be allowed to to lead that and a high school team in my opinion. It creates an unfair advantage by blatantly recruiting players to create a super team.

I'm not an expert on Fort Chiswell, but he took a 500 student school competing in 2A to the 3rd round of the playoffs in his 2nd season. He improved their ability to compete which would indicate that the kids bought in and he improved their mindset. Something you definitely want in a head coach. You don't always have talent to compete, but you can tell if the kids give up or not.

Loris is closer to the NC line than it is South Myrtle. This is a chance to retire in VA, go to a vacation destination type of job, not have to teach and get paid to coach while pulling from his VA stuff. Smart life move, IMO. I know I'd do it in a heartbeat. I only wish we had gotten the chance as a town and fanbase to come together and say thanks for all he's done for our little town.

End of an era. Hopefully they stick the “post-legend hire” better than Gate City and Graham.

I’m too old for madden. Can we do Tecmobowl?

No, you two are being douches. Havok didn't say anything nasty but you two sure did.

I think he was "kidding on the square" about the virus's disappearance on 11/4. While obviously the virus will be no less transmittable or no less deadly, you're kidding yourself if you think the narrative won't change, for better (Biden) or worse (Trump).

What about life has been “normal” since March 12, 2020?

After reading several posts, I think I know what's going on with Hokiebird7....

I can also attest to the fact that Ronnie's level of personal hygiene is beyond reproach. (At least it was back in the day.) Oops. Not sure if this qualifies as on topic. Would someone be so kind as to summon a marshal?

Did you miss the post directly above yours giving you personal examples of how this virus has affected people in this area or are you deliberately ignoring it?

He is not teaching or doing the AD job. He has resigned from both. I know Thad reads on here from time to time, and I'm not the person to say why he does one thing or another when it's their personal life. But if a man can make the same amount of money in another industry and also be home to see his young children grow, I'm not sure there isn't a father out there who would take that option.

I’d be willing to bet that you don’t have an MPH in Epidemiology, either. That makes your opinions on the topic about the same as everyone else’s. Why leftists get so butthurt when people use objective data to disagree with them, God only knows. As for recruiting, anyone with a computer and 4th grade math skills can track this stuff. It’s not exactly neuroscience. Not my fault that objective data pretty clearly shows exactly the point Sixcat was trying to prove.

Of the 56,238 cases in Virginia, 47,159 are considered active. There have been 1,586 deaths out of the 9,079 closed for a total death rate of 17%. This probably reflects the most vulnerable dying quickly, and as the other cases are closed that rate will fall. Even if the other 47,000 cases completely recover, the 1,586 deaths would represent an approximate death rate of 3%. That doesn't sound huge, but if that average held up for the entire country and every citizen contracted coronavirus the 3% death rate would translate to 9 million dead. There have been 5,100 cases for the under 20 age group with 0 deaths thus far. However, that is not the issue. What happens when those teenagers contract the virus and spread it to a parent with asthma or an 80 year old grandparent? That's where the problem lies. Even if these kids are perfectly safe, other people that they come into contact with may not be. And if the VHSL or individual school districts ignore official CDC guidelines and a grandparent dies as a direct result of a player contracting the virus from a rival team during the course of a game you better believe that lawsuits will start flying. At this point, every organization's; including schools, churches, businesses and athletic leagues, primary goal is to avoid a lawsuit. Whether that involves signed waivers or just staying closed to avoid any liability, they are going to do what they must to survive financially. I don't believe any brainwashing is involved. It is simply a case of unknowns. One 40 year old person can get it and have zero symptoms whereas another is dead in 2 weeks. It's a matter of not wanting to find out which 40 year old we are. As more data is compiled from the people who have contracted coronavirus, we will have a better understanding of exactly who is likely to be fine or likely to die. Then, we can make an informed decision as to whether we, as individuals, can attend a ballgame or if we should just keep our butt on the couch. My wife has already been warned by her physician that she's part of the higher risk group due to lung issues, so we know that we need to be more careful than most when we go to get groceries. I feel very confident that I'll be just fine to attend a sporting event, but what if I contract covid and then give it to my wife? Statistics are just numbers until one of them is your spouse, parent or grandparent. Testing samples from sewers in the US and Europe indicate that this virus may have possibly been around since September, and further prove the death rates will be very low. I hope that turns out to be true.

https://www.maxpreps.com/news/kLiySqf4ekqHwoEWyBQllQ/25-pioneers-in-the-high-school-sports-media-industry.htm

Never heard of a coach stepping down like this during a tournament run. Strange to say the least. Worst kept secret in Wise County. Wild career that involves various incidents that overshadowed a pretty mediocre coaching career. God bless whoever gets that job. They are 5-6 years away from competing for anything and next season they could finish dead last.