Hokie1Pokie

You guys play Radford twice? Kidding of course, but I got the Blues at 8-2 this year. Bluefield and Graham will be losses. Union will be a win for the Blues and I think you guys catch Radford in a mess down at ole Ernie and upset them. 8-2 for the Blues. I gotcha beating Radford because Mance will slow it down on O and do some old school ground and pound this year compared to the past 20 years, and I got Richlands in a surprisingly close game (but a win) against Gate City because of the very same reason above.

Radford is going to be outstanding and maybe considered a favorite over Appo. Time will tell, but Radford returns 5 players that made either first or second team all state. One poster mentioned Prioleau was all they had. PJ Prioleau may have a higher ceiling by his senior year and will gather some D1 offers, but he was the third best player on their offense behind Justice Marshall, the other RB who was solid. The first best on their offense and returning, is Ben Cox, a Vanderbilt OL commit and other Div 1 offers on the table for him. Radford also picks up Green from Giles. Their offensive line is going to be the best in 2A Virginia. I listened to Appo vs Radford on Radford's broadcast and Appo turned over and left some points on the table, but in the second half, Radford started to gash them on the ground and was picking up 7-12 yards bursts straight off tackle. Graham jumped on em so fast their was just no chance at coming back as Radford is all run, or screen, but little down field passing. The QB was a just a sophomore, but he is 6'3 and smart, and he will be much improved. I heard Glenvar lost a bunch up front, but we will know more quick as Glenvar may open up with the 1A state title game teams in Galax first, and they then play Riverheads (of which Casto did not retire) and they return Coach Casto last I heard.

Appo will be good enough to win it this year as will Graham and Radford. But I think I'm making the call now, in the year of 2020, it's 2016 all over again for Appo. They are going to be dominate.

Graham's in pretty good shape as a program if the discussion is whether or not they win the title. That's a pretty good place to be. Also, I'm hearing Isaac is going to start on the offensive line. I believe Graham is going to be very, very good from tackle to tackle, but they will have little depth and will need to stay healthy, even though they lost 3 of 5 on the OL, they are going to be nearly as good. At WR, I think they are better, even with Lester moving to QB. Turner is going to be deadly, even at 150 lbs, he's going to cause problems. Justice is a freakish athlete and Dales doesn't drop passes. The WR's are going to be very good and the QB will be equally as good at the position of QB compared to Cam in my opinion. Cam was solid, but Lester is actually more accurate with the pass. On the OL, don't be surprised if Ray gets much more touches out of the backfield, and don't be surprised if Reed is starting at guard. Reed, Booker and Ray are all capable and good at RB, but only 1 kid can get the ball, and with Graham having little depth on the OL, Reed and sometimes, even Booker, will be playing up front on offense. Same for Kastner and Edwards on the offensive side. Graham's offensive line is going to be an offensive line with lots of guys rotating, even from linebacker to guard or center, or from RB one play to guard the next play. Graham will have about 7-8 playing from tackle to tackle at some point or another. I think Graham and Bluefield is going to be a close game. Graham has to many athletes and to good of a defense to be blown out or even beat by 17-20 points. The feel coming into the game I think by many is the question, "how well will Graham's offensive line do against Bluefield's defense." I personally feel that an equal question is, "how is Bluefield's offensive line going to block Grahams front 7." I think Graham gets pressure and we find a Bluefield offensive line having trouble keeping Graham's front 7 from blowing up plays.

I got Gate City in 2A at 6-4 and easily making the playoffs and I'm not sure it's a surprise, but Patrick Henry going to the state semi's and winning the region. I don't consider Union or Richland's a surprise. Both are excellent 2A programs.

Guys, I respect the heck out of all of you, but Good Lord brothers, there's some things that are just not accurate. First, the accurate part IMO is... Numbers have dropped because of multifactoral variables, not one or binomial variables. The relevance of head trauma as it relates to CTE, but also increased chance of neurological illness (ALS) and early onset dementia has played a huge part. Technology and video games as a form of entertainment, social interaction, and even competition and competitiveness allows demonstration right in one's living room. Additionally, population decline is a factor. I agree with all of this. I also believe that the decline is NOT because this generation is lazy. I do believe it is Partially because this generation has a low emotional intelligence (EQ) and likely (keyword is likely) a lower IQ. I will get to that below. Now for the things I Disagree with mentioned by some posters. Past presidents and foreign policy or wars has zero relevance to the subject. That statement stemmed from a political ideology having no relevance. Lastly, the generational thing.... Western IQs have been falling for 2 decades. This is well proven in Scandinavia (highly technical) and Germany and France. There hasn't been a clear cut study proving this yet in the USA because we have become so politically correct (heavily influenced by younger generations) that we will not even study the topic. Literally, a researcher can't get the funding to do a large randomized double blinded study to investigate the issue. It stands to reason, IQs have actually dropped in the US regardless of who is writing computer code at age 8. Emotional intelligence is the huge topic in psychology, behavioral science and equally important, business. EQ is best summed up as social-awarness, self-awareness, and the awareness, empathy, and sympathy of others awareness. EQ may be described as "people skills or people smart." This area is one in which we have dropped substantionally in intelligence (in the form of EQ.) The younger generations have largely engaged socially by technology, computers, etc. Cell phones, social media, and video games all fall in this area. The personal-physical engagement, body language recognition and demonstration is practiced very little compared to older generations. This leads to a rising level of narcissistic and cluster B personality disorders, and much of this fuels the lack of participation in any area or sport that may be considered or actually is risky such as football. What I'm getting at is, every generation has its pros and cons. The ultimate demonstration of intelligence whether it be IQ or EQ is the ability to survive and sustain life. Sperm counts and the Quality of sperm in men has greatly decreased in millennials in ALL Western countries. The low EQ and likely low IQ of millennials would tell you it's because of the environment (possibly it is) without ever considering human behavior and social skills as an influence. This is because the ability to look at oneself, to challenge the ego is something unallowed with narcissism. With millennials, Knowledge and Knowing has greatly increased and this will lead to incredible gains in technology and cures for diseases, but don't confuse knowledge with IQ or EQ. The Ability to know (IQ) and emotion intelligence (EQ) has actually decreased. A kid who is writing computer code at age 8 does not necessarily have a high IQ or is smart. What the kid has is knowledge. For example, it's very likely that kid writing computer code can not do what another 8 year old is doing by having the ability to easily desalinate ocean water to fresh water, or understand why the current windspeed, temperature, time of day, and time of year, and type of insect determines when, where, and what a green cutthroat trout will hit. The latter 8 year may have a higher IQ or vice versa. Mother nature always has and always will maintain balance. Is information technology truly the path of the future? It might be and it might not. Is farming and agriculture the future? For example, with the dependence and interconnectivity on computers and technology on nearly all aspects of life (and it's increasing in dependence) what happens with one massive EMP or even a solar flair that knocks out our grid? Which skillset becomes more important? There's no question millennials are very gifted as a generation and I don't think they are lazy. But, they do have some incredible deficiencies just like all generations of the past. There is no binomial proposition comparing millennials and past generations. But, it's easy to make it a binomial proposition if one wishes to. I wanted to give the other side of the argument. This is my rant, but I just wanted to make sure posters had another viewpoint on the generational thing. Fact is, neither viewpoint is absolutely right or wrong.

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I agree with you Globogym. I love Lester, Meadows, and those super talented G-Men as I'm a proud Homer, but it's more than reasonable to have Atkins as the top player predicted. My pick in 1A would be brown from Patrick Henry.

Lester should be the QB this year I think. Meadows is going to be special and he will be an incredibly gifted QB in the future, and likely next year. But, he's not ready yet. Lester at QB gives Graham the best chance to win compared to Lester at WR. I know Devin would rather play WR and in the slot as this is where he's recruited and he's dynamic, but the gap between him, a senior, compared to Meadows is simply to much. In front of Bluefield, 10,000 people and that ungodly talent Bluefield has in the secondary and with Martin on the DL, you want a cool, experienced, senior, who could still make plays with his feet at QB, and Graham will be fine and still incredibly gifted at WR with Justice, Turner, and Mr. Mount View (a dynamic athlete) and Joey Dales. Graham has tons of people to throw the ball to, and that's even with Lester at QB. I think Meadows will get snaps and be worked in to the position on plays where Lester gets touches at RB out of the backfield, or on quick hitches where Toni wants him touches when he's not under center, for example, in the slot.

Wow. Thats some incredible and detailed history I had no idea about. I didn't know there was a point system and thought the schools were literally voted/invited. Based on the system used, it does make it clear the Beavers weren't jobbed. I still wonder "what if," in some of those Gainer years if WV took the top 4. As always Bluefield Researcher, thanks for the knowledge drop.

Rick, you do realize there are several as in.....scores of your fellow alums who disagree with you. 1960- They won the state title in 1959 and at the end of the 1960 season, had a 23 game winning streak. Went 10-0 in 1960 and was only scored on 3 times. Had 7 shut outs. They didn't get an invite. Nitro and Weir played for the title. Weir hammered Nitro, but Weir actually had 1 loss in the regular season to a 6-3-1 Wheeling High team. So yes, for the kids on the 1960 Bluefield team that has just won a title and had a dominating season with only 3 times scored on, it's a joke that they weren't picked. Now, if there's a reason I don't know about such as a forfeit, probation, school issues or something like that, it's different and you would certainly know much more on it then me. I'm only going by what I've been told from scores of former Beavers over the years. 1968-You mentioned this team which clearly comes to mind. Here's what makes it a "jobbing" in my opinion. It's similar to what happened in 1960. Let go back the year before 1968 which of course is 1967. In 1967, state champions, 11-0. In 1968, 5 of the 9 regular season games-shut outs. No invite, forget about being the obvious first team or whatever, but simply not in the top 2!. Also, from 1964 until the end of the 1968 season, Bluefield had a 49-2 record! Yes, the 68 team in my opinion was jobbed. One other salt in the wound pouring. Charleston played St. Albans for the state title. St. Albans had a loss that year in regular season to...……..Charleston by about 20 points. Charleston also wasn't perfect as they had a tie on the record with I think East Bank, but the joke is, they let the two schools play again for the title! That's not jobbing. That's first class jobbing and in 1968, line em up, and the Beavers and Gainer ain't losing. 1966-Bluefield's only blemish was to an incredible Big Creek team (of which Big Creek had many great teams over the years). That Big Creek had only one loss to a very, very good Graham team at Mitchell Stadium the last game of the year 13-0. Bluefield destroyed Graham that year, but Graham played EC Glass close and Tazewell close. In 1966, Huntington and B. Upshur were invited and played for the dance. Bluefield at 9-1 was better than both of them. Huntington and Bluefield did have a common opponent. That was Woodrow Wilson which Bluefield beat badly 32-0 at Beckley, and Huntington beat Woodrow Wilson 37-15 at Huntington. Bluefield had just won the title in 1965, but as one could see, the Beavers didn't get the benefit of the doubt with 1 loss unless they were perfect, and even then, such as in 1960 and 68, perfect wasn't enough, they weren't even selected in the top 2. In 1966, if I'm not mistaken, one of Big Creeks stars (Cunningham or Carmicheal-forget the name) did not play at Mitchell Stadium in the final upset loss to Graham, even though Graham was pretty good in 68 and no slouch. But, the thing I'm getting at is, even with Bluefield and Big Creek's losses, both should have been playing in the state title game (at their levels of play) and the teams from Charleston and up always seemed to get the benefit of the doubt. 1961-Going way back, Bluefield's only loss was Graham (huge rival).the Beavers lost 32-25 and that was it, and Bluefield went 9-1. Weir and St. Albans played in the dance. Weir had 1 loss on the regular season and St. Albans had a tie. Kind of a pattern here, the Beavers left out. Oh yea, at the end of the 1961 season when Bluefield was left out behind Weir and St. Albans, the Beavers in 1959 were 11-0 and state champs, undefeated at 10-0 in 1960 and of course by seasons end in 1961, they had a recent record of 30-1, and again, if Gainer and company are sent to the dance, they would have another title. From 1958 through 1971, there were 14 state titles in WV's Triple A. Bluefield won 4 of those 14 and during all 4 titles, they were perfect. No losses or ties. In the other 10 state title games (final two picked to make the playoffs or essentially play for a state title) out of those 10 games, in 9 of the 10 games, at Least 1 team had a blemish of either a loss or tie and in most of those games, BOTH teams had at least a blemish (tie or loss). The exception to the above....in 1963, B. Upshur did not play a title game and they were perfect. The Beavers were 4-0 and never lost, but if they aren't jobbed in at least 2, likely 3 of the 4 seasons mentioned above, Gainer's coming back with 3 more titles. They absolutely were jobbed.

You would have to go back nearly 50 years to GC 1970. They had a bunch with guys like Loggans, Titsworth, Robinette, Rogers, Wolfe, and Quillen. I think GC had 6 and maybe 7 with at least 1 Div or Div 1AA (FCS now) but many of those former Div 1AA schools have moved up to Div 1, for example Marshall. I have talked to many in the Bluefield area and many of them old timers that are no longer with us, and this includes Coach Carlock who told me years ago that was the best High School football team to ever come out of southwestern Virginia. He also told me about the incredibly talented and we'll coached Gainer teams at Bluefield which dominated and many times, being jobbed out of the ability to play in the title games. Bluefield Researcher can speak to that. No question though, you would have to go back years to find the level of talent the 2019 Beavers will have. Tazewells 1986 had a few also. Big Viney, Holloway, Reed, Jesse Davis. Viney played at Hampton and was an All American. Davis played Div 2, but had an offer from Hampton and Norfolk St. Those were all Div 1AA (FCS) offers except for Holloway. Actually, Robbie Colley was a freshman on that team and punted at Tech and for the 49ers. I don't know if he was offered out of High School, but he surely has a scholly at Tech. What makes it incredible for Bluefield is the school size. That's insane talent for an AA team. It's not like we're talking about a school in Charlotte, NOVA, or the Tidewater with 2000 plus kids or at least 1000 boys to choose from.

I love how Tony has darkened the cardinal Jerseys and given them a bit more of a maroon shade. Grahams school colors are maroon and gray. The old Graham teams from the 40's through 1971ish were close to modern day Salem in appearance. Coach Carlock loved the cardinal and gold/Khaki look. I like the khaki pants ok, but love the maroon Jerseys. I have told Tony this many times and Tony also likes the darker/closer in color to maroon instead of cardinal Jerseys. If you look at Graham now and before, those jerseys have darkened some and the helmets have also. I would like to see them all the way maroon and the helmets as well, but the yellow/gold in the G Star on the helmet should always remain if I had my way. Thats a tribute to Coach Carlock, and so are the khaki pants. Before 1971/1972ish, you couldnt find yellow/gold in the Graham helmet.

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Graham's my primary concern with the football board but here goes. 1. Sexual harrassment and sexual assault are not the same. Giving data for assault and attempting to make it applicable to harrassment isn't applicable. 2. But, since the discussion turned to sexual assault data, the data shows from the 2010 study referenced in this thread that the 2-10% false accusations number is closer to 6% (5.9%) to be exact and not closer to 2%. The FBI concluded the number approaches 8% for false reporting (allegations). 3. The FBI concludes the number of total prisoners that are found guilty of a crime that are truly innocent is approximately 1.9%. This puts the rate of false reporting or allegations for sexual assault at approximately 400% higher than all other crimes in which the accused is found guilty in criminal court. 4. The media and many articles and studies will say, "the rate of false accusations for sexual assault are really low." The fact is, compared to false accusation for other crimes, its dramatically HIGH. 5. The above data are for sexual assault, and not for sexual harassment. The numbers and studies are not quantifiable for false sexual Harrasment claims because the overwhelming majority of those who falsely accuse are never prosecuted. Also, it's hard to prove or disprove what is true or false regarding sexual harassment, but if sexual assault is 5.9 to 8% in flase allegations, common sense says false allegations for the lesser offense of sexual harassment is much higher than assault. In conclusion, I'm not saying the Coach in discussion is guilty, innocent, liable or not liable. I also hate sexual assault and harassment. I Am saying that false allegations or reporting for sexual assault and most likely harassment are overwhelmingly High compared to other crimes. Finally, sexual assault is underreported. But, because it's underreported does not mean the rate of false allegations for it are high, and the false reporting rate is actually High compared to other crimes.

The 1981 Snow Bowl was Graham hosting Tazewell and an unthinkable long pass and catch from Eddie Neal to Lee Crimes in heavy snow, thus winning the game. Of interest, the Tazewell defensive back slipped and fail leaving Lee Grimes with wide open terrain down the middle of the field. That DB for Tazewell was the super talented Jimmy King, a multi star athlete and former John Battle Baseball coach who won 2 state titles and he coached football. Now, he's of course the principal at John Battle High. In 1981, Graham had a first class jobbing at Martinsville in the state semis in which 2 officals were actually intoxicated, yes... they were literally intoxicated. Graham lost 15-6 in probably the worst one sided officiated game at the High School level I have ever seen, and that includes all sports. Martinsville lost 20-6 the next week to powerhouse Tabb in the state title. Around Bluefield over the years, some will tell you that the Graham of 81 left a state title on the field. (I've heard this from a few including to former Graham assistants. Graham has a solid team, but Tabb was the real deal in the early to late 80s and Graham would have had a lot of stuff go right to beat Tabb, but they should have beat Martinsville. Graham outplayed them and got absolutely jobbed. One other thing about Tabb in 1981, they only played 6 teams in regular season. They played 10 regular season games, but played 4 teams twice. Now, thats weird.

Hubris and Confidence are first cousins, and first cousins often look alike and if you haven't seen the two in many years, you may get em confused. What I'm getting at is...…..GC won for a long, long, long time, and after a program wins that long, you don't lose all fan support, confidence, hubris, or arrogance (whatever one wishes to label it) in the short 4 years of being down. Even in 2015 at 5-5 in regular season, they had decent showings against Bluefield and Union (beaten handily in both games) but not blowouts. GC is at a turning point in my opinion for 2019 and 2020. They have a Houseright in place, and given the state of demise the program has been in for 4 years, he will get a 1 year pass to make progress and it will likely be 5 years of ugliness for the Devils. If it's 6 years (a horrible year in 2020), the hubris will have succumbed to the prison shower. But if they do well in 2020, the Devils will have some serious hubris. I really think the golden question everyone is wondering or asking or arguing is......the talent. It is gone at GC? Houseright can and will get the kids out, and he knows football. The question is whether GC truly has hit a talent bottom in which there is just really not much of a way to turn it around. That question is about to be answered shortly.

I predict the Dogs win at least 6 games this year. Tazewell has some talent there and I think it translates to 6+ wins this season. I sure hope so. I want to see Tazewell move in the right direction. I got the Bulldogs winning over Virginia High in game 1, Mount View, Princeton, Honaker, Marion, Lebanon, and Grundy, with losses to Graham, Bluefield, and Richlands for the Dogs going 7-3. Virginia High will be close, and I understand Mount View lost a lot after their great season last year, including the one transfer to Graham. I don't think Mount View will be as good losing 13 seniors from last years team and most of those were big time contributors, and likely their best player is transferring to Graham. Virginia High and Mount View are possible wins for Tazewell. So for the Dogs, I got them at 7-3 at best and 5-5 at worst.

There isn't a need to argue it and this will be my last post in the thread. I can tell you with 100% certainty no member of the Graham coaching staff called this kids family first. To put it another way, the first inquiry about this kid playing for/interest in Graham can from Giles County, VA, not Bluefield, VA, and I know that exactly. Follow up or phone calls about his interest? Of course, Graham obliged and who wouldn't. I can tell you with that the call to the young mans father came AFTER the folks at Giles had reached out/contacted/inquired about Graham. I will leave it at that and Hokiebird7, I respect your take and dont deny or question what you were told. I'm saying the first inquiry was from Giles Co, VA, to Tazewell Co, VA, and not the other way around. For the comments about kids transferring or being recruited or whatever you want to call it in the Bluefield area, of course it's gone on for 50+ years with Bluefield and Graham. The two are in the same city. Sure, different states but Bluefield is Bluefield and these kids grow up with each other playing at the local community center, families have families on both sides of the state line and cousins, etc. When Graham has a good run, some of the Bluefield kids will come over, and Bluefield got some from Graham in Grahams down years after Coach Carlock passed and up until a few years ago. There's a couple of kids out at the divide (Western part of Springville towards Tazewell) that have come to Graham for football and some that have gone to Tazewell over the years for Tazewells baseball. This stuff happens. I dont blame Richlands for having the kids from McDowell Co, come over. Richlands is a better school and theor football team is solid. As for Bluefield, you cant tell whether your in WV or VA unless you pay close attention to the state signs (for people not familiar with Bluefield). The shifting and transferring of players from Graham and Bluefield has and will happen for as long as they have High schools simply do to proximity. Graham has the edge now or the momentum. Bluefield will have it or take it back in a few years. It goes in cycles.

Things do happen and have always happened, but.........the fallacy rests in making the assumption that......... Because things happen and have always happened, then Automatically this must surely be what happened with this kid in discussion. I dont know on the Giles end, but I can tell you on the Bluefield end, it did not happen. Now, if you feel this post isn't related to where the thread has shifted, then that is cool, disregard it. But Hokiebird 7, a reasonable person may conclude your comments "hint" that this is what may have happened, and you are spot on, these things DO happen, but they did not happen in this situation.

Disagree.

Agree.

Well, you are straight to the point. To continue with your theme, the Graham fans are going to be Mountain High with a perfect "View" of the football season and the one from Mount View is pretty much a sure thing. Graham gets exactly what they needed which were the two biggest question marks and that's another lineman as the offensive line was a question mark and another athlete at WR/DB and who will get touches out of the backfield. If both are on the field in August, Graham will be tough to deal with it. They may be considered the favorite in every game, and that includes game one in my opinion.