TTownTigers

To answer your question with your own words......less writing and more reading. You do realize the question was asked only a few posts ago as to who Gate City could possibly beat and opinions were given on the subject. I answered the question, and again, with you being a Tazewell fan of which I respect, lets keep it about Gate City and Lee. I gave my opinion on that also. I pick Lee to win big. I'm not fancy EH31, just a common sense guy. When a question is asked, I give an honest answer, just as I did about who I thought GC could beat. It's interesting that when Tazewell is mentioned, you seem to commonly be in the equation.

Giles Union Pulaski Bluefield Graham Galax Richlands Ridgeview Marion Virginia Flip a coin with the first 5 and place in any order in my opinion as they are all close. Flip a coin with the second five and place them in any order as 6-10 are very close as well.

True that. We are hurting pretty good this year. Lee should be able to run and throw it on us at will, and we will have trouble moving it for sure. Hopefully, we can get some first downs and takeaways and kill the clock enough to keep it respectable. At this point, I would just like to see us making it a game by half-time.

I might have worked with you. I was in Appy for 4 years of my young life. Love it over there.

Go Bulldogs! The Bulldogs are back!

Ahhh, there it is. It was the Tazewell comment. That was the give away. Hey, if you makes you two feel better, Tazewell would beat GC this year, nahh, just kiddin, but EH31, your "not a Tazewell fan" so you shouldn't be offended. The real question is....being a GC-Lee high thread, why are you 2 posting? No need to answer that question as I respect your opinions and posts either way. Gate City was throttled by Marion. Tazewell played em closer. Gate City played Richlands closer by score than Tazewell. That's the two common opponents. Marion is MORE improved from Game 1 to now than any of the 4 teams above. I simply like our chances against Tazewell, and will next year if we play, the year after, the year after that, and that......etc.

Wow. I sense anger. Apologies for anything I've done or said to offend you. To answer your question though.....I'm posting the same as scores of other folks on the message board such as yourself; therefore, your post could have fell into place anywhere in any thread. To be more specific, if that is truly what you wish (I sense it's not), but to be more specific as to why I posted, the thread was about Gate City and Lee and thoughts on that game. As a Gate City fan, I gave a "thought" on the game like the other 11 posters (to be exact) in the thread. Wait, it must have been the Tazewell comment? No offense, but I think the Gate beats Tazewell this year.

I like our chances over Tazewell in 2A. If Tazewell's on the schedule, I like my chances. Just sayin.

More reasonable for sure!

That's my point SWVA boy, Giles is certainly in SWVA. Bluefield doesn't play the schedule in WV that is tough because one doesn't exist. For that to exist, they would have to travel and the other team travel on the next year a long way "North and South." Being only 11 AA schools in Virginia that are larger than Bluefield proves my point Like I wrote, Bluefield is larger than the overwhelming portion of most AA schools in Virginia, and for context, we are talking recently. Bluefield has historically been MUCH larger than most of the current AA schools in Virginia and those numbers have become closer in the last 10-15 years as Bluefield has dropped in numbers. Back to the point though and not to shift the argument to a more favorable one. 1. Bluefield plays a weak schedule. Ryan, you gave reasons why you feel that's the case, but again, the outcome is the same. They play a weak schedule which was my point. 2. VA High School football is better than WV High School football. Researcher gave numbers in populations for Va and WV and again, he gave reasons why, but the point still is the same and the outcome stays the same. Va Football is still better. 3. I stated in the first post that the top 2 in WV AAA could play with Va's best 2 in Class 5-6, and the same for WV AA playing against comparible competition-size, those top two could match Va's top 2 and the same for Single A ball, but the drop-off is there from schools 3 through 16 and you know it. You know it's true. We can argue reasons why for eternity. With that written, I actually gave Bluefield props and stated they would give Appo it's closest game compared any other Virginia AA team this year. P.S. Not that it matters, but you wrote 11 schools in Virginia's AA are larger than Bluefield, then wrote, Bluefield is not larger than most schools. If only 11 AA Virginia Schools are larger than Bluefield, this means the overwhelming number of Virginia's AA schools are Smaller than Bluefield.

Arguing stats" I didn't argue stats. I argued facts. Fact 1. Bluefield plays a weak schedule. Fact 2. Bluefield has been historically larger than the overwhelming majority of AA schools in SWVA over the years. Fact 3. High School Football in WV is nowhere near as tough as that in Virginia. If you anyone cares to argue the 3 above, then they are making a fool of themselves. If you read this post, I gave Bluefield much credit and stated they would play Appo as close or closer than any team in Va's AA this year. The above paragraph if one objectively reads it is pretty common-sense straight forward that few would disagree with in my opinion. But, as for the comment made about Bluefield being better year in and year out than every school in SWVA, well.......we simply disagree on that, and as for shutting me down, I can hold my own pretty well when nothing is debated but common sense. Can one really reply, "WV football is BETTER than Va football'? Can one reply, "The Beavers play a wicked schedule?" Common sense answers those questions. The two best teams on Bluefield's schedule reside in Tazewell County, not Point Pleasant, WV.

If it's true as you agree, can it actually be a "rant." My apologies Bluefield Researcher if you took it that way. I certainly wasn't ranting, just responding to a post made about Bluefield's schedule and scores that was brought up first by another person. I agree with everything you wrote about the size-population in Virginia with the exception of Bluefield being year in and year out better than most AA teams in SWVA on a few points.... 1. Hopefully, Giles isn't considered SWVA and if so, you all shouldn't scrimmage them anymore. 2. Gate City has been better over the years with almost 1/2 your school size on many of those years up until about 1995 when Bluefield starting losing it's school population at a rapid rate. Gate City has been sending kids to Virginia Tech, Tennessee, and others over the decades while Bluefield has been sending their "100 meter track stars" to Concord and Marshall. 3. Bluefield to my knowledge, would still be a class 3A school in Virginia and over the years up until perhaps 10-15 years ago, it would have been a class 4A school. Therefore, your school even to this day, is still much larger than the overwhelming portion of AA schools in SWVA. When you all play against teams that are a bit larger than you, you have struggled. Ask the Charlotte, NC, area if they think so. 4. The most important point even if you disagree with the 3 above is.....you don't play the schedule. Again, the strength of schedule for a southern WV AA school is simply not difficult and Bluefield only has to get up 2 times, maybe 3 per year of it's 10 games and it's been like that for years. If you had to play the schedule strength which leads to more injuries which then cuts into your depth chart, things are a bit different, but again.......I agree with you that for this year, Bluefield could not just play with or beat any AA team in SWVA, they would play with any AA team in Va including Appo (wouldn't win, but it would be within 14 points).

Wasn't Graham a dropped TD pass as time was near to expiring against Richlands last year in regular season to being the #1 team in SWVA? It doesn't quite work like that my friend. That is who Graham is. That's a part of Graham. The knock has been their size and strength on the line and their mental toughness. I didn't see the issues with their line on the internet against Bluefield. It looked pretty solid to me and their defense did as well, but mental toughness? It was apparent from game one there's still some issues there. Only my opinion. I've seen Va High in person this year and Graham on the net, and in my opinion, no way is it more realistic for Graham to win by 35 than it is for Graham to lose the game. It would be the case on 9 out of 10 years with Graham and Va High, but not this year. Va High is much improved. They also are not beating Graham, but it won't be by 35. The true answer rests in the middle. Graham by about 14-17 points in my opinion.

Oh stop with the "literal" response. You and I both know I'm joking about the peeing part, but I'm not joking about GC being inside your head for along time. You all have had some teams that have been better than ours over the years that surely should have won, but somehow managed to lose. And yes, some of those losses were mental. Gate City will score on you because what some of you fail to realize is how bad Gate City is, which means.....the game is over by 3rd quarter, and Lee's starters come off the field in the 4th. GC will score.

I've never understood this argument that teams like Bluefield and Graham are coming out somewhat even. On the surface of it, it looks like 50 K for Graham and 38K for Bluefield are about even since the citizens of Bluefield, WV, do pay taxes to the city of course. But, it's actually not even and not even close and here is why.... Where does the 50K each game for Graham for a total of 250K on average per year plus the 38K for Bluefeld each game for an average of 190K per year go? The above totals on average for the season just for the rent is about 440 thousand. That money goes BACK into Mercer County. Be it the City of Bluefield, WV or if not the City of Bluefield, WV, then Mercer County, WV. The citizens of Bluefield, WV, live in Mercer County; therefore, they are still getting the benefits. Tazewell County (Graham) is coming out definitely on the short end of the stick when one looks at it this way. If anything, the folks in Tazewell County to include not just Graham, but Richlands and Tazewell are getting screwed over because this hurts those 2 schools funding. Additionally, other Mercer County Schools, such as Montcalm, Pikeview, and Princeton are reaping the benefits and happy with Mitchell Stadium because those schools are getting a piece of that pie IF, and again, IF that money goes to the county. If the money goes only to the city of Bluefield, then the more the better for the Beavers. Either way, it's money going to Mercer County, WV.. In summary, the so called 38K paid by Graham and 50K paid by Bluefield truly aren't anything in the ballpark and not close to a true cost-benefit for each school when you look at the monetary gain for all of Mercer County because their economy is still being reinvested in, even with the 38K by Bluefield, but Tazewell County gains nothing. It's cost effective it seems for Tazewell County/Bluefield, VA/Graham-whoever to build a stadium of their own in the long run in that they are not just hurting their own economies and funds, they are actually helping a neighboring state and county capitalize on them. As for Union, I don't even want to talk about that screw up on behalf of Wise County, VA and Big Stone Gap. It's a mess, and their issue shouldn't be as complex because it's at least in the same state. Union's situation would be comparable to Bluefield's. There's the whole Mercer County vs City of Bluefield thing I'm sure.

We shall see about that. I disagree some on that point. Gate City will be back. Lee wins this one by 17. It should be worse, but whenever Lee sees anything remotely resembling Gate City, it pees its pants, and that right there accounts for 14 points for GC. Final Score and somewhat alarming, 34-17 Lee. Much of this due to the rivalry component and much of this due to the physicality of what a Union team does to opponents. Either way, Gate City will advance on the season as "defeated" and attempts to go "Defeated" for the first time in the history of Gate City High. I know Bluefield Researcher, Shoemeaker High went 0-10 in the early 50's, but again, since the new school was built and called "Gate City High School," we have never been 0-7 in the history of our program, so last week was a first for us. Each and every game we lose from this point is a "first." It's record breaking, for example, never an 0-7 start, or 0-8, or 0-9, and incredibly, we may actually be able to pull it off and for the first time, go "Defeated" at 0-10. We have always attempted to go "Undeated," but never "Defeated." 0-10 is not an easy task and it's actually somewhat hard to do. But hey, "lets not talk about it."

WV High School football is arguably some of the worst played High School football in all of the United States. This does NOT exclude their "tops 2" at each level. Meaning, year in and year out, the top 2 A teams in WV could play with the top 2 A teams in Virginia and the same for AA, and the same for AAA, but.........only top 2 at most. The drop-off from the 3rd best team to the 16th best team is not even comparable to Virginia. It's simply light years different in talent and quality of play. Bridgeport will be the team standing in Bluefield's way, but could Bluefield give Appo a game as close or closer than any other double A or Class 2A team in Virginia? The answer is yes. But again, the drop off, for example, a team like James Monroe compared to a team like Graham? No contest. My point is....the Beavers are legit, but their schedule is not, and it's not their fault. There are simply not many good teams in WV other than going North and playing the AAA schools, and this is evidenced by Bluefield nearly losing (probably should have lost to Graham) and Graham is considered perhaps what, the 4th to 5th best Class AA team in Virginia compared to Bluefield which is considered 1 or 2 in WV AA.

I respect your opinions EH31, but respectfully disagree. Good luck to Tazewell in the future.

LOL, a novel? I already sense a little bit of worry with such a terse response. I never called out your coach, just stated he was unproven, and he better be good because coaching and talent are the recipe for winning. As for "beating a dead horse" about Tazewell's past coaching issues. Those are your words. I didn't bring that up. I brought up one thing and one point....your coach is unproven and anytime there is an unproven coach, it causes worry or anxiety. That's human nature. Time will tell. But, I hope some fans definitions of a good football coach aren't Only described as you put it...."getting 100% effort out his kids every game." That's a great tenet, but equally important, the kids need to get 100% out of their coaching staff every game. This is more than the ole coach saying, "run through that brick wall for me" and the kids do it. That's great, but it also means the x's and o's of football and that coach being able to match wits, align his defense, motion his offense against a guy like Mance, and it's that part that raises concern. He's got the brick wall part down and that's good. We will find out if he's got the x's and o part down. I hope he does. One final point my friend. One Tazewell poster mentioned in this thread about "people doubting the dogs." He basically called some people out or doubters out of which I respect 100%. But........with that means people actually get to respond back. Therefore, your point about "no need for anything else to be brought up" is kind of not the way it should go, if a fellow Tazewell fan raises the issue first, correct? So, if your point about "not need to bring anything else up" is true, then is should have been placed under the fellow Tazewell fan's post who "called out all the doubters." I in fact, am a doubter of Tazewell football. I don't trust it, sorry.

They will need it. They have Graham, Richlands and VH on the schedule (I don't know the order of them) but they got those three and that spells trouble. All 3 of those teams they play better be equally leery of Marion as well. They have a quality football team and are very well coached.

The answer to you question is......YES. We are showing class with losing. Why? Because you see how much and how bad we don't like losing and like winning, and try to take action to alleviate the situation. That's class and winners do that, even when down. Losers ACCEPT their plight. They accept their current situation. Therefore, the answer to your question is....yes, still setting the standards high we are, and it's a perfect example of how a fanbase should react when they see the direction of the program taking a dramatic shift or turn for the worse. If you don't react the way we have, then you become a.......................... No need for me to write it down. You can feel in the blanks yourself with the historical programs I'm talking about and there are a many of them that can be placed in that blank. Gate City simply doesn't want to become that, and more important, we don't want to become that because we feel more intense about "not losing" than most other programs. This is why you see the reactions witnessed.

Is there any coincidence in Parkersburg being the "Big Reds" and a school that is one of WV's oldest and even starting before Point Pleasant, and only 55 miles from each other? One is the Big Reds and one is the Big Blacks. I just wonder if the naming of the mascots which probably occurred in a same-similar time-frame and the schools not being terribly far apart has some relation. The nicknames are identical other than the color named. For example, why the word "Big" in both nicknames. The word Big is not terribly common I wouldn't think, yet it's interesting how 2 schools within 55 miles of each other both have the word "Big" in their nickname followed by a random color and not only that, the colors are plural as in..."reds and blacks" not red and black. There has to be a link there I would imagine.

When you are 0-7, anything is possible and new learning, reality, and many matters of everyday life seem a bit unclear, lol. My first concern and final concern and foremost worry and primary worry has always been Gate City, not the competition. Call me self centered, but that's the way I am.

Tazewell has great young talent and the prevailing thought is......look out, dynamite in 2 years. There is also that underlying area of doubt in most Tazewell fan's minds (that they choose not to discuss or try to think about) that is.....even with the talent, are we coached well enough? What if we have the talent (and we know we do and will in 2 years) but the coaching is not on par with the talent? Let's let the genie out of the bottle. You and I both know many of you think that way, and I haven't been to Tazewell, VA, in a long, long time, but I can guarantee it worries many Tazewell fans. My points are this.....I am not calling your coaching staff out. I am certainly not doubting your youthful talent and know they will be the real deal in 2 years, but your coaching staff is still unproven and this may not automatically translate into 7-3,8-2,9-1, or 10-0 in 2019. Your kids are certainly proven as evidenced by the junior high dominance they had and this is a fact, but the equally important fact is....your coaching staff is not proven to be at a very, very high level yet. Again, the keyword is yet, but one thing is for sure, it takes both to win. If you don't believe it, go to Martinsville, VA and Buckingham County and Danville, VA and Halifax, County over the years, or the Washington DC area or the Eastern Coast of Virginia and you will see some talented football teams that go 3-7 all the time, yet these teams have players in which 1 or 2 of them go Div 1 with another 2 playing small college. Coaching also matters, and just because you have the coaching doesn't mean you are going to get the wins with talent alone. The inverse is also true. Richlands is the example this year. Their coaches are proven and Mance is proven a great coach, but you have to have solid talent to get those W's, and not saying Richlands isn't talented because they are, but they are not more talented than a Blacksburg or William Byrd or Union this year by any means.

To you it does, to some it doesn't. I certainly think it counts to me. My point is/was/still is.....since Gate City High, the modern (if post 1956 is modern), the school hasn't started 0-7. That's 60 years of Gate City High (at least the new school) formed in 1956ish and of course, called Gate City and no longer called Shoemaker. That was all I was saying and referring to. I wasn't debating whether or not one "counts" this school or that school. Things like that can go on forever and are far to time consuming. For example, with Bluefield High, would people count "Beaver" High and if the answer is yes, then certainly they would also count the African-American school (I don't know the name) that was present in Bluefield, WV, at the time of Beaver High? The true answer is.....most people who think of Bluefield High Beaver football only think of exactly that........Bluefield High Beaver football and not Beaver High School or the African-American school that was located in that town at the time. The same applies to Gate City, at least in my opinion only.