SWD should come down to VA High and Marion again IMO
1A. VA High only had 2 seniors on that team last year that wasnt the best that Daniels had but still a well coached team overall and won the district. The health of Brody Jones will be a key factor in their season and they have to replace Issac Berry pitched 7 innings every other game and was a work horse for them. They need to find a good #2 behind Jones that is if he is fully healed and ready to play
1B. Marion also only graduated 2 seniors and one of which is playing for Emory now. They did however lose the Perkins kid to a prep school so between him and Thomas they lost a lot of innings on the mound. Coach Cannon is known for developing pitchers so if that trend continues they might be in the drivers seat. Offense shouldnt be a problem they return a lot of good bats from last season
3. Tazewell has a lot of key pieces coming back. I think they could challenge Marion and VA high if they can keep their heads on straight. Myers and Duty should be solid on the mound for them. They arnt quite at the level of Jones and Hale (Richlands) but they are pretty solid. Luke Childress has a great bat and should have a pretty good year for the bulldogs. Last season they seemed to let their emotions take over in big games and it cost them.
4. Richlands will have a lot a new faces where they got hit hard by graduation. They will have a fighting chance to win any game that Ben Hale pitches. He is only a junior and was a stud on the mound last year. They will have a chance to compete in game just off of Hale's arm but after that I do not think they have much. They did win the JV championship if that means anything to anyone last season
5. Graham hasnt had much to write home about baseball wise in a long time. Most of their best athletes are lifting for the fall and do not come out unless its their senior year. They will have their 3rd head coach in as many years so maybe he can convince some of those guys to come play but until I see different Graham will remain in the basement of the SWD
Guys to watch for POY- Brody Jones (VA high) Braehdon Merideth (VA high) Jack Pugh (Marion) Brady Roberts (Marion) Brody Taylor (Marion) Luke Childress (Tazewell) Ben Hale (Richlands)
This could all change because every team does have a new coach but should be a fun season to watch!
It was rumored Smyth County might have two head coaching positions come available but nothing has happened yet. Again rumors are rumors until something officially happens. Coaches put a lot of time in and deserve every penny they make as they are away from their families quiet a bit. I saw an article in the Bristol paper several years ago where Smyth County was the highest paying SWVA county in coaching supplements. Looking at this years county salary scale on their website head football pays around $7,000 to $8,000 and head basketball pays around $6,000 to $7,000 depending on number of teaching years and not coaching years. BasebalI on the other hand pays significantly less with a set stipend of $1,960. Again most coaches coach for the love of the game and not money as you're definitely not going to get rich by no means. Does any other county pay more?
They are going to allow Robinson at Chilhowie to do all 3 which blows my mind honestly but more power to him. I wonder if Chilhowie had a better year if he would have walked away. I would say its hard to end your coaching career by choice on a 0-10 season. I also heard rumors that Northwood's coach was stepping down but I only heard that from one person and it hasnt happen yet so I dont see it happening this season.
As far as the pay goes that all depends on teaching. If you are a newer teach or dont work in the school system Smyth pays much more. Because its a flat rate plus a 1/2 months. If I am not mistaken other counties go off a straight percentage. In Washington that is 11% so you would it takes longer to get up to even pay.
Smyth county did raise the baseball pay by giving the head coach a 1/2 month on top of the $1,960 which at least makes it kind of worth it but the extra hours spent working on the field as a head coach for baseball was almost of waste of time for under two grand.
No body coaches for the money they have to love the game but it is nice to be compensated for the time put in and the time spent away from their families. God Bless a coaches wife they deserve a metal and maybe even a stipend their self.
Tazewell did not make the region Marion should be the 3 seed in the SWD if they win Saturday against Richlands. Marion has also made some moves in the regions tournament in the past I wouldnt be shocked if they pulled an upset
Rather it be like that than how it was at chilhowie.
Don’t get me wrong I hate when a crew blows the whistle every 30 seconds of game clock that not fun to watch at all. Last night felt like an over correction from the last game. It was fair atleast they didn’t call a thing the game only last an hour and 10 mints from tip to final buzzer.
Officials refused to blow the whistle. It was the same group that had the Marion VA high game last night and it was the same result. If either game was remotely closer things would have gotten chippy. They had zero control of either game
I think Lebanon wins but it won’t be easy. Chilhowie has this us against the world mentality so they will come play like their playoff life depends on it (which it doesn’t but that’s what they said in the paper). I expect Emory to be packed with Orange but it won’t be a hostile as last game. Should be a wild environment I can’t wait to watch this one
I think there is way too much pride in the 3 fan bases for them to ever consolidate. That is the same reason I dont see Smyth county consolidating. I would make a ton of since to combine Chilhowie and Northwood that would put there numbers about the same as Marion but I dont think the powers at be will ever let that happen
For the SWD VA high will be the 1 seed for sure the 2/3 seed will be the winner of Graham and Marion in the district tournament and the 4 will be the winner of Tazewell/Richlands. That is assuming VA high beats the winner or Tazewell/Richlands. If they get upset then they are still the 1 but the district championship become for the 2 seed.
Because the M7 has Abingdon and they do not compete in the same Region tournament I am assuming they go to power points to determine seeding and the tournament is just a chance to earn more points. So GC Ridgeview Central Union if chalk holds in the tournament.
I think it is worth noting in the SWD where every is class 2 the regular season really doesnt matter and any sport outside of football. A team can go 0-8 in district pay in the regular season then win the 4-5 match up and make the region tournament as a 4 seed
Graham - must win against Tazewell to lock up the 2 spot
Marion - could take the 2 seed if they win out AND Tazewell beats Graham. If they only beat Tazewell and Tazewell beats graham it will be a tie for 2nd. Not that it really matter they will play each other in the first round anyway
Richlands - will be playing in the 4-5 game regardless of what happens It just depends on who is home and who is away
Tazewell- Can still reach be tied for the 3 seed which is a pretty big deal because that locks them into regions but they have to win against Marion and Graham even then there would be a tie for 3rd with Marion (assuming Marion loses to VA high)
Love the teams in the north south alignment the travel would suck! Thats almost a 2 hour trip for Lee, Wise and Gate City to Marion but really Wise and Gate City already have Marion on the schedule. That trip from Lee to Marion is brutal
East/West makes more sense travel wise and really looks like the old SWD
Whiffed BIG time on Chilhowie did not to expect that from them this season. Lebanon was way better than I thought and Rural Retreat did not really have as good of a team as I thought they would coming into the season
Hit the Graham prediction on the head which honestly wasnt that hard- A+
Tazewell ended up 6-5 did they win one big game in VA high but thats about it as far as winning games they werent favored to win so- B
Richlands- It was a long season for Richlands finishing 2-8 out side of the first game Brown never really got going just because of lack of QB play- A-
VA High- 9-3 great year defense was much better than I thought they would be I didnt see Brody Jones being the player he ended up being- D
Marion- 1-9 missed big time on thing one they still have some stuff to figure out. I thought I nailed this after week one but- F
One of the College football podcast I listen to (Late Kick with Josh Pate) did a segment before the football season called bold predictions and now that the season is over they are going back and looking at those predictions. On the sites there were a ton of predictions that we all made and since there isnt much to talk about right now lets go back and pick some of your predictions and see how they turned out. We can leave out the ones that said Riverheads was going to win another state championship there isnt much skill in that. But I did see a few people in an old tread that said there was no way Rye Cove would compete for a district title this year.
This should be fun. So just pull an old post and see how far off we were or if we hit the nail on the head.
Seems like I remember them not playing a few times in the recent past as well but kind of surprised it isnt being continued at the moment unless they just couldn't find a date that worked for both teams. It looks like Lebanon moved into the date they played last year I believe.
Northwood dropped Marion 2 cycles ago (19-20) but it really only effected one season because the 2020 season was a mess because of covid. Northwood was going to drop Marion this next cycle regardless and I dont blame them because historically it is a blow out. Last year was a big exception and hats off to Northwood for going out on top. The Northwood Marion game really doesnt help either team. I have seen it give Marion teams a lot of unearned confidence only to get boat raced the next week or even worse they lose the game and its an embarrassment. For Northwood if they win it makes their year and its even sweeter if they can beat Chilhowie but I feel like every time these 2 play Northwood always seems to lose at least one sometimes more key players for the season. That is just not worth the risk IMO
Ah. That is so sad. I'm sure it's not the easiest thing to pull off -- but those kids deserve it, too.
It really is and hopefully it come back. They didnt do it during the shortened COVID season but brought it back last year. From what I heard most 4 out of the 5 ADs didnt want to fool with an extra JV championship game. Which in all honesty it makes for a long day when you have to work the 3rd place game, then JV Championship, then District championship game.
Not for JV. Usually just a district championship tournament.
District championships for the JV no longer a thing for the SWD. The reason I heard stated was it "Too much work" for the host teams. Which is a big load of BS honestly
SWD- I used Max Preps/ Bristol paper to get these games so I think they are right
1. VA High 6-0 (Marion/Graham left) They have not clinched yet mathematically but if they win one of the next 2 they will
2. Graham 4-2 (VA High/ Tazewell left) If VA High drops the next 2 and AND Graham wins the next 2 it will be a tie for first between Graham and VA High not sure what the tiebreaker is since Graham and VA High would have Split. I am assuming they will play a 3rd time to determine the 1 seed. but if everything goes the way I think it will the top 2 spots are pretty much locked
3. Marion 2-3 (Richlands/Tazewell/VA High) Marion can go as high as 2 (Graham loses out and they win out) or could drop all the way to 5 if They lose out. Win 2 out of the next 3 and and clinch the 3 seed.
4. Richlands 2-5 (Marion) Tuesday night is a big game as far as these standings go. If Richlands wins That 3rd spot will be wide open with a path for Marion, Tazewell and Richlands to clinch a Region bid. If Marion wins then the only team that could possible catch them is Tazewell.
5. Tazewell- 1-5 (Marion/Graham) This one is interesting because Mathematically Tazewell is still alive for the 3 seed they need some help though. First thing that needs to happen is they have to win out or there is no chance. If that happens and Marion drops all 3 Then Tazewell will be tied with Richlands. IF Mairon beats Richlands and loses the other 2 then they will be tied with Marion. If Marion only beat VA High they its a 3 way tie for 3rd with Mairon/Richlands/Tazewell with all 3 going 1-1 against each other. And we have a head ache of a tie breaker situation.
The incident at Graham was 100% started by Graham with that shove. The one at Marion, that was avoided luckily for both teams, was started by the 2 Tazewell kids. Now was there something said by the Marion kid, no doubt in my mind there was but if you cant handle a little trash talk then sports isnt for you. But just because someone is running their mouth a little does mean it time to square up in a high school basketball game. You have to have a little more control there especially if you are just coming off a 3 game suspension
Looks like this scuffle cost both teams a district win.. honestly I don’t think Tazewell beat VA High at full strength but I know Richlands isn’t 29 points better than Graham
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I’m surprised I heard they were gonna let him do it all