RaiderNation

Thomas Walker vs Patrick Henry @ Emory & Henry Thursday at 7:00

Some of y'all just sit around, watch the news, and hope it's bad just so you'll have something to bitch about.

Yes these statistics are very true, however, the situation and narratives are a lot different. H1N1 occured during the middle of a presidency and the republicans weren't fighting tooth and nail to get rid of Obama, the Demorats have tried every way possible to get rid of Trump, then this in an election year. Yes, 13,000 people died out of the millions infected with H1N1, but how many more died that were labeled as deaths related to heart disease, pneumonia, diabetic, etc. This illness has numerous deaths that in no way should have been linked to Covid, while heart disease, pneumonia, diabetic, etc have all declined this year. So we have all of a sudden found ways to help lower those death rates, it is a miracle. You can spin the narrative however you want it to, donkey or elephant, but the fact remains these numbers aren't true and this is an over publicized case of the flu to create mass media hysteria. I know people who have went to have the test performed, backed out after getting in and seeing the swab, yet still got a positive test result with no swab. I know of car accidents and heart attacks, where people had previously had covid, but didn't when they died, yet it is still labeled a covid death. Believe what you want, look at a map and blue states are the ones not playing and red states are for the most part. 

Yes these statistics are very true, however, the situation and narratives are a lot different. H1N1 occured during the middle of a presidency and the republicans weren't fighting tooth and nail to get rid of Obama, the Demorats have tried every way possible to get rid of Trump, then this in an election year. Yes, 13,000 people died out of the millions infected with H1N1, but how many more died that were labeled as deaths related to heart disease, pneumonia, diabetic, etc. This illness has numerous deaths that in no way should have been linked to Covid, while heart disease, pneumonia, diabetic, etc have all declined this year. So we have all of a sudden found ways to help lower those death rates, it is a miracle. You can spin the narrative however you want it to, donkey or elephant, but the fact remains these numbers aren't true and this is an over publicized case of the flu to create mass media hysteria. I know people who have went to have the test performed, backed out after getting in and seeing the swab, yet still got a positive test result with no swab. I know of car accidents and heart attacks, where people had previously had covid, but didn't when they died, yet it is still labeled a covid death. Believe what you want, look at a map and blue states are the ones not playing and red states are for the most part. 

2A
MountaIn 7
Union, Abingdon, Ridgeview all are a toss up and could go either way. All three teams are well coached and have a ton of talent coming back. Pollier and Adkins are two of the best players not only in this area, but the entire state.
Central will be the sleeper, always talking about being good, now it is time to be good. If they can't win with this great group of kids they all talk about, might be time to move in a different direction.
Battle and Gate City should be in the mix for the 5 spot, both are rebuilding, but Gate City will be good again in a year or two, just wait and see
Lee with the new coach is a ?, very young and a new staff
 
SWD
Graham is the team to beat, maybe in state again
Richlands is always good
Va High should have a few athletes
Tazewell is always the underachiever, but might take a giant step this season
Marion has a new coach so we will see what happens, been pretty competitive the last few years
Lebanon might have another long year
 
1A
Cumberland
J.I. Burton - Loaded with young talent, speed, and size. Should be one of the best teams in the region, if the QB can step up. Thacker was a stud and good leader for them.
Eastside- Lost the best QB in the area as stated above, but have some big time  talent and a good coaching staff.
Thomas Walker- Won 7 games and made the playoffs for the second straight year, but they need to move forward this year and win some more important games. Have to beat someone good in order to be considered a good team. Eastside and Burton are top dogs until anyone proves different. 
Rye Cove - Had a great season, honestly were about 3 plays from being 7-3, but look for them to improve record this season. Should win 5 or 6 games with the schedule they have and who they got back. the key will be replacing Houseright, he was the heart of the team and the players played hard for him.
Twin Springs- Warner is doing a great job and I look for them to win 3 or 4 games this season
Castlewood- This is a complete cluster and it won't get any better. Good luck to those poor kids.
 
Hogoheegee
Patrick Henry- Best team in Region 1D, should be undefeated and playing in the Region Championship again. Palmer is a great coach and has a ton of talent.  
Chilhowie- Still Chilhowie until someone proves any different, should win between 7-9 games in a reloading year
Rural Retreat- to be determined
Holston- Should be competitive again, lost a lot, but Patterson is doing a great job with this team.
Northwood- Give him a few years and Johnson will have this team competing, he is one of the top offensive coaches in SWVA. Just needs to find some players to help.
 
Black Diamond
Honaker- Should have a great season, one of the better teams in Region D. Alot coming back, but they play a very tough schedule.
Grundy- Lost about 18 Seniors so this could be a long year for Grundy, could finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the district depending on how the young kids step up. The Hurley game will be huge in determining position.
Hurley- I look for Hurley to get back to the playoffs and win about 6 or 7 games. They have a great core coming back, and the coach should do a good job with what he has. Look for them to be very much improved.
Twin Valley- Lost the best 2 players they had on the roster, but the Ward kid is an up and coming star. Look for about the same out of the Panthers.
 
Region 2D Playoff Predictions
Graham
Union
Ridgeview
Richlands
Va High
Tazewell
Central
Battle
 
Region 1D Playoff Predicitions
Patrick Henry
J.I. Burton
Chilhowie
Honaker
Eastside
Hurley
Thomas Walker
Rye Cove, Grundy, or Holston
Top 5 could finish anywhere in between 1-5
 
 
 
 
1
Gridiron60 reacted to this  

I am pretty sure that a transfer has so many days to go back to the prior school with no punishment

This is the problem with high school sports right now, too much specialization. If you have a good athlete, and they enjoy playing multiple sports, that need to play. Instead, you get a coach in his or her ear saying focus on this and you will be great, or don't play that you might get hurt. Any school in SWVA, I don't care where it is and what size, is only drawing from a limited number of kids anyway, if you have 700 kids, you might draw from half or less of that. So when you take a kid who is a stud out of the mix, it can really hurt a program. No sense in coaches ever discouraging a kid from playing a sport, you are only hurting your school and his team mates. 

This is the problem with high school sports right now, too much specialization. If you have a good athlete, and they enjoy playing multiple sports, that need to play. Instead, you get a coach in his or her ear saying focus on this and you will be great, or don't play that you might get hurt. Any school in SWVA, I don't care where it is and what size, is only drawing from a limited number of kids anyway, if you have 700 kids, you might draw from half or less of that. So when you take a kid who is a stud out of the mix, it can really hurt a program. No sense in coaches ever discouraging a kid from playing a sport, you are only hurting your school and his team mates. 

This is the problem with high school sports right now, too much specialization. If you have a good athlete, and they enjoy playing multiple sports, that need to play. Instead, you get a coach in his or her ear saying focus on this and you will be great, or don't play that you might get hurt. Any school in SWVA, I don't care where it is and what size, is only drawing from a limited number of kids anyway, if you have 700 kids, you might draw from half or less of that. So when you take a kid who is a stud out of the mix, it can really hurt a program. No sense in coaches ever discouraging a kid from playing a sport, you are only hurting your school and his team mates. 

This is the problem with high school sports right now, too much specialization. If you have a good athlete, and they enjoy playing multiple sports, that need to play. Instead, you get a coach in his or her ear saying focus on this and you will be great, or don't play that you might get hurt. Any school in SWVA, I don't care where it is and what size, is only drawing from a limited number of kids anyway, if you have 700 kids, you might draw from half or less of that. So when you take a kid who is a stud out of the mix, it can really hurt a program. No sense in coaches ever discouraging a kid from playing a sport, you are only hurting your school and his team mates.