Mountain Football

Thanks for the advice Marla!!

I really thought they would go 6-4 as well. Cooke and Allen have really come a long ways from last year. Allen made a catch against Fort over the middle that was a tough ball and he got hit pretty good. Last year I'm not sure that ball would've been caught. The O line has probably impressed me the most. They're not the biggest or the most physical but Austin has brought them a long ways. He did the same thing with last year's group as well. I look forward to seeing how far these young men can go.

We have several kids that play little league football and travel baseball or travel soccer during the fall season. This creates an absolute nightmare when you only have 13-14 kids on a team. Come Saturday little Johnny may decide he wants to play baseball that weekend instead of football. Sometimes the coach gets a call from the mom and sometimes he doesn't. Practices are the same way. I have seen kids this year finish a little league football game in one league and go to the parking lot change uniforms and drive to another game for a different team in another league. That's entirely too much football for any kid IMO. Unfortunately in our area it seems parents are chasing the dream of their child becoming the next Ahmad Bradshaw. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having dreams but let that 8 year old child have a little fun and stop giving his little league coach/dad a hard time for not developing him into the next Bradshaw at 8 years of age. Happens all the time.

I'm sure the enrollment numbers for the schools in Tazewell county are probably down and in some ways that is having an effect on the level of talent in our area. From a football standpoint the option for kids to play different sports in the fall to me is hurting the numbers and talent the most. When I was a kid when August rolled around it was time for football. Today a kid can play travel baseball, soccer, join the swim team at the Y, or just stay at home and play the XBOX. The number of kids in the 5-12 year old age group that are playing football in the fall has drastically declined over the past 6 or 7 years.

Boys I'm afraid Cupid has shot JLA right in the butt. That will take a young man's focus off of many things.

7:00

Funny you bring this up. I work with a guy his boy played on the team last year and we had this very same discussion this morning. The team from last year was a much better team. Mostly because of the senior leadership at the time was much better. Those guys were a really tight knit group that worked together on and off the field. The leadership of Mance, Wade, Addison, Blankenship, Waldron, and many more is hard to replace. The group this year seems to lack some of that. Just my opinion from the outside looking in. I'm not saying this year's team isn't good just not where they were last year.

There's really no need to get worked up about basketball in SWVA!!

If they put wheelchair accessible seating on the visitor side at Ernie the credit goes to George Brown. I have spoken to Mr. Brown on a couple of occasions about the need for wheelchair accessible seating at Ernie and Tazewell. There are some things we all take for granted in life, myself included, having to sit on the track to watch a game by yourself isn't any fun. Mr. Brown told me he'd do everything he could to make it happen. Obviously he stayed true to his word. I'd like to thank Mr. Brown and the staff at Richlands for making this happen. Thanks for giving the update Ryan, I will call and thank him. It's not too often you find people that do what they say.

Yes he was the one they didn't ask to come back. Why? I have no idea. The coaches that were brought in this year were hired the day before practice started. So to be fair to them I wasn't a whole lot of time to prepare. I'm not sure if they would've had 2 years to prepare things would've been different though. I guess we'll see what happens next year.

Yes they did win some games and the kids improved as the year went on. Unfortunately, the head coach from last year got married and moved to Roanoke. It's my understanding one of the assistants from last year didn't want to coach again and the other wasn't asked to come back.

I'm not convinced playing several freshmen next year will help Tazewell out in the long run. For the past several years Richlands has played their JV team in part of the 3rd and 4th quarters for most of their games. In each of these games the score is obviously one sided, therefore the pressure of getting a "W" is not on their back. This has helped them out tremendously in the long run. In Tazewell's case over the next couple of years the pressure will be on the back of those freshmen to get a win. Which will amount to a lot of pressure over time. People that don't understand the game automatically assume their success in the 8th grade will follow them directly into HS. Expecting 9th and 10th graders to play with varsity kids week in and week out is setting the bar pretty high. Given Tazewell's recent history of kids transferring to other schools, coaching changes, etc. Wouldn't they benefit more from gradually working their way into the HS system? No matter what I would like to see these kids get a taste of winning and bringing some pride back to their community.

Is the Harris kid still playing or is he hurt? I listened to some of the game against Grundy on the radio on my way home from Bland. Seemed like every play was TJ Kitts up the middle. This is gonna be a long night for Tazewell.

Richlands loses 1 close game and people are like it's time to piss on the fire and call in the dogs cause this hunt is over!! That's a good problem to have. There are many teams out there that would like to be in this situation. I'm sure if you talked to those boys this evening when they walked out of Ernie Hicks Stadium they'd probably tell you Mance wore them out. He'll have them ready come playoff time.

Yes I got to see them on a couple of occasions. Once when they beat Graham in a blow out and when they beat Richlands. Tazewell's 8th grade team is made up of several very talented hold backs. Their coach has worked tirelessly with this team in the weight room and on the field. They go to 7 on 7's during the preseason and are attending a big tournament near Nashville in a couple of weeks. If they stay together and continue to grow they should be the best thing Tazewell has produced in many years. Unfortunately for Tazewell I just don't see the whole group staying together. Their HS program is in the toilet and isn't showing any signs of life.

Limited seating.

Graham's 7/8 team won their first game of the season against Marion. Then got smacked in the mouth every game after that. If the principal decides to bring back the same two coaches again next year Greg Mance will have several "recruits" headed his way. I don't think the JV won a game.

I hope you are wrong sixcat. It would be a shame for the community and the kids to finally get a great coach that's actually building a good program only to be ruined by the actions of a few. But in the end it only takes a few or one in some cases to ruin a good thing. After talking to Dixon last year at Mitchell Stadium I feel confident he would do the right thing if he has the backing of the administration and community.

Biggest surprise for me is Graham's defense. If someone would've told me they would be playing defense this well there's no way I would've believed them. Their offense isn't a surprise at all to me. Let down would have to be Bluefield. They have the two fastest kids in the state of WV, a very capable QB, and an absolute horse of a fullback.

I'm pretty sure that all the high school teams in the state have a clear understanding they have to finish out their schedule. Thanks to all the individuals who take the time and crunch the numbers for the rest of us......INCLUDING the scenarios.

I don't know who to pick in this game. If Galax is having off the field issues again that certainly doesn't play in their favor. I really wish they hadn't lost to Chiswell. I'd say we are heading for a hornet ' s nest. Graham's line is going to have to step up. Cut out the stupid very costly penalties. That's a discipline issue the coaching staff needs to work on. I'm definitely going to try and make the trip.

What schools combined to form Mingo Central?

There's no doubt that Coach Mance has built a program in which kids and parents like to be a part of. I know a kid that transferred to Richlands last year from another school within the county. After seeing the way the coaching staff and parents club(boosters) treat these kids and their parents I can understand a kid wanting to transfer there if they have the means to do so. Their entire program ranks very high on the list in SWVA. Unfortunately for the rest of us in the county we have went through some growing pains with different coaches, staff, etc. that probably hasn't helped our cause in keeping kids home so to speak. We still are losing kids to Richlands at the MS level due to the lack of a decent program. I personally don't think Mance is the best coach in SWVA. I'd have to put Dixon and Williams above him. I can certainly see why kids from across the mountain at RVHS(WV) would want to attend Richlands. Their program, if you want to call it a program, is in the toilet. With that being said I hope Mance settles into his AD position decides that is what he wants to do full time and gives up coaching. It wouldn't bother me at all to see him hang it up. LOL.

I had poison ivy from head to toe one time when I was a kid. An elderly lady at our church told us that bag balm was real good for poison ivy. The only thing it helped with was I was greased so much I couldn't begin to scratch it. Bag Balm 0 Poison Ivy 1.

I get a glimpse of Tazewell's practice on a regular basis. So I can see where you get frustrated. I don't think I have ever seen them practice in anything other than shorts and pads. Looks like a Thursday walk-thru every day of the week.