"A big blue front carrying a big blue storm", if I may be rephrase that.
I honestly hope it comes down to Richlands/Grafton, because one of my ex-roommates is from York County, and it would be fantastic to show him which part of this state has it all together. But I digress.
Go for it Saturday, and play with all your heart and skill, and you will certainly be in Lynchburg in a week.
I am not sure whether to barade you or laugh at you. There will be four teams in the Southwest District next year better than Virginia High. That is all I have to say about that.
If Richlands beats Salem this weekend, my vote for "Coach of the Year" goes to Greg Mance in Richlands. He did not have to do the restoration Wyatt has done in Tazewell, but he has taken a strong team and made them championship material.
HOWEVER, if Richlands loses, Wyatt should get the nod. This contradicts what I have said in the past, but in retropsect, he did take a team that did not believe in itself, and gave them the spirit needed to advance to the Virginia semi-finals.
In other words, I abstain my vote until after this weekend.
Baseball: Tech is mediocre at best, as they had a record BARELY over .500 last year, while UVA had a record 29 games OVER .500 in earning a first place regional birth. The ACC is a monster conference in this, and we would like to welcome Virginia Tech, whom UVA will beat up on at least eight times this season.
Lacrosse: This is ludicrous. Virginia was the 2003 National Champions and the Women's 2004 National Champions. That is enough on that.
Swimming: I realized I forgot swimming after writing this. Six ACC titles, and four in the last six years. Only Florida State and North Carolina come close in the conference.
Basketball: UVA has just become the SEVENTH ACC team to become nationally ranked. UVA does not hold a candle to Wake Forest or Duke, but facts are facts. Virginia Tech will finish the season four or five games UNDER .500 in the toughest conference in the land, while UVA will finish seventh (which is not great by any means), but that will earn a record of six or seven games above .500.
Soccer: Where is Virgnia Tech? At home, watching UVA march into the national quarterfinals. One game has no bearing on the rest of the season in soccer...the playoffs matter. Just ask Grundy fans about that one.
Tennis: Again, this is not close. UVA is nationally ranked year in, year out. Mediocre at best? LOOK AT THE FACTS! The men's team rolled off fifteen straight wins last season, and climbed to twelve in the national rankings. Gentlemen, this is the ONLY sport that the NCAA ranks sixty-four teams during the REGULAR season. Where is Virgnia Tech? I am looking through the list, yet I cannot find them. Hmmm...
Volleyball: A third seed in the ACC tournament, after a lambashing of Virginia Tech (if there is such a thing in that sport). UVA has the best freshman hitter in the nation in S. Kirkwood. Virginia Tech had a seven seed if I am not mistaken.
I am not pulling facts out of my behind. Take a close look...the only sport I HAVEN'T named is football. Therefore, it's a crying shame when UVA does take the Commonwealth Cup, as it did in 2003.
Let's leave this topic to another day, or start a whole new post entirely. This is supposed to be for Tazewell/Gretna. Which, I may add, will look like the Cavaliers' 21-10 beat-down of Virginia Tech in baseball last year...
If Harrisonburg advances to the state championship along with Richlands, there will be such camraderie among Graham and Richlands fans as I've never seen before, regardless of the past "Cleatgate" or whatever. However, I have a good friend who is a Grafton alumnus, and I would not mind seeing that team in the championship, for competition's sake.
Bradshaw was Marshall's second-ranked running back in most offensive categories in the last year. I doubt his productivity in this year's bowl game, however, due to his injury against Western Michigan (which I'm honestly surprised did not make it onto this forum sooner...).
This is not a large surprise to me, being in the college sports scene. However, I am surprised the jersies were not sold this year, especially in the second half. They must go through the team as a formality, and then will go through either him or his agent (since he is not THAT famous yet, I would say through Bradshaw himself). I wish that young man the best, no matter what comes of this deal.
Yes, I go to the "Good Ol' University", sing my "Good Ol' Song", and get a "Good Ol' Education".
Virginia Tech flat outplayed UVA last Saturday, and I'll be the first to admit that to you. I will make you a deal: you stop being arrogant, and I stop talking about the game and how UVA is superior to Tech in most every sport (baseball, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, tennis, volleyball, [i could go on]) but football.
I forgot that Virginia Tech is the holy grail of civilization...
Well, Miami will knock the Hokies into reality and/or knock them senseless Saturday. If our defense can shut them down for one half, just think what Miami will do, with speed and a little something Virginia Tech lacks...RAW talent. The Scorpions did not write "Rock You Like a Hurricane" for nothing, folks.
He will not be stuck at halfback, we have Lundy next year, with Michael Johnson in to fill his shoes.
It's SLIGHTLY possible he will go to defensive back, because our secondary is porous, to say the least.
He will most likely be our quarterback after being redshirted as a freshman. He gave a verbal commitment to Virginia his freshman year, so I HIGHLY doubt Hall will go to a prep school. I do believe his GPA is at about a 3.0 (or so I have been told), so that's no problem.
YES, Virginia is in desperate need of a revised playoff system.
For example: Region IV, Division 3 football only has six teams (Grundy, Tazewell, Graham, Virginia High, Martinsville, and Dan River). Region III, Division 3 has eleven teams (Christiansburg, Gretna, Cave Spring, Hidden Valley, Prince Edward County, Lord Botetourt, Brookville, Rustburg, Buckingham County, Alleghany, and Appomattox). Alone, Prince Edward County (177 points), Lord Botetourt (171 points), and Brookville (170 points) would have beaten Graham (168 points) out for the third playoff spot in Region IV; the three teams I just mentioned did NOT make the playoffs for Region III.
This could be solved in more than one way. First, a revision on the current system would work. One could easily implement a strength-of-schedule force into the VHSL points equation, by giving teams who beat opponents with higher records more points within the framework (i.e. a certain number of points for beating a 5-2 team as opposed to a 1-6 team). Therefore, a team with an 8-2 record COULD in theory be beaten out by a 7-3 team that played a rigorous schedule, and it would come down to the strength of schedule.
ALSO, I proposed a little while back scrapping the divisional system, and placing an A-AAAAA system in place (A-0 to 225 students, AA 225-450, AAA 450-800, AAAA 800-1200, AAAAA 1200+), combining the best traits of West Virginia and Tennessee football. I honestly like the lack-of-a-district system in West Virginia: the top 16 teams make it, no matter what location within the state. The same could go for Virginia, and it would be especially beneficial for the large ratio of A-AA schools southwest Virginia would have under the new system. Imagine the matchups that could possibly come in the playoffs...possibly Graham/Tazewell, or Gate City/Powell Valley, or Pulaski County/Salem for a state championship.
This is just my thought upon the system...run with it, boys!
He has the quintessential quarterback stature, and therefore, I think he will play quarterback. His speed will set him apart. If he does not play quarterback, I think he will play in our sub-par secondary.
It is one thing to have hope. It is another thing to be REALISTIC.
Ergo, it is downright laughable to predict Tazewell over Gretna. I would be happy if Tazewell would win this game, though it would take minor miracle for this upset to happen, especially on behalf of Tazewell's defense. GMan is totally right on this one. My result is under the poll on the main page...57-3
By the way, Don't hit Vic Hall too hard...he's UVA's future.
On a good year, Richlands has one of the top ten bands in Virginia. Richlands is a regular Virginia Honor Band. However, there are some powerhouse bands in northern Virginia (namely Lake Braddock and TJ-HSST). Also, you have E.C. Glass in Danville and Kempsville in Virginia Beach. I would certainly put Richlands in the top ten, but the best is Lake Braddock, by miles.
I wish I could have been there to watch that game tonight, but I had a ton of prepping to do for the largest UVA game in a decade.
I expect next week to be nothing short of legendary for Richlands. I cannot wait to see the battle in the trenches Richlands will give to Salem. This will be the marquis game of the season for SWVA, and I have no doubts about it. With a win this upcoming week, Richlands has a shot at a state title. I am starting to believe in "The Storm"...
Unless an utter miracle happens, either Tazewell or Virginia High will get completely shalacked IN Gretna this year. It's not like last year...Graham had home field. This year Gretna will, and I see something like the 56-14 thrashing Graham gave to Liberty-Bedford in the state semifinals in 2001.
Bluefield CANNOT be limited to just 14 points (or some similar total) by ANY team in West Virginia, and Weir is not special in that regard. Bluefield's defense will step up...that team is HUNGRY, especially after what happened last year. What is worse, this team is a machine, that will roll right on through Wheeling with a state title in a couple of weeks.
Richlands has the better shot of bringing the Region IV, Division 4 trophy than Tazewell does of winning the Region IV, Division 3 crown.
A. Tazewell has to go through Gretna. Richlands does not. This is the major reason.
B. Tazewell has played too many close games, and cannot pull away from opponents. Richlands has shown this in the last nine games, though Magna Vista exposed them as suspect.
Talent-wise, it goes to Richlands; schedule-wise, it also goes to Richlands.
In theory, I agree more to the 5A system with Regions I-IV than I do with the 6-team playoff system. Other states (i.e. Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, etc.) have adopted a similar system and have had it work quite well.
In my revision, however, one would have to totally demolish the old standings for A, AA, and AAA schools (i.e. 1700+ kids for a AAA Division 6 school, etc.). The breakdown for such a system under waveman64's format would be something like:
0-225 in grades 9-12: A
225-450 in grades 9-12: AA
450-800 in grades 9-12: AAA
800-1200 in grades 9-12: AAAA
1200+ in grades 9-12: AAAAA
In this system, you wouldn't have a Harrisonburg dropping to Division 3 before the playoffs just for the sake of easing a bid at the state championship. Am I bitter? No: Harrisonburg had the better team that day. Was it right? That's questionable, and part of the reason I suggest this sort of revision, to make the boundaries more well-defined, which is the reason this got started in the first place.
You wouldn't have a Grayson County in A-ball with 606 students, nor a Graham in AA-ball with 467. It would refuel the old flames...imagine a district with Tazewell, Graham, Grundy, Lebanon, Marion; that's somewhat reminiscent of the ol' days. In another district, you'd have Lee High, Gate City, Powell Valley, Grayson County, and Virginia High.
This is my explanation, it's open to interpretation, but it is just my addition to the system mentioned before.
Weir has the second-best football squad in AA West Virginia football. However, they're running up against the first-ranked football squad in Bluefield, and the best team in West Virginia in my mind. Bluefield will bring the "A" game this week, and the game, although competitive, will be Bluefield's from start to finish.
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" STORM WARNING" Salem vs Richlands
in SWVA Football
Posted
"A big blue front carrying a big blue storm", if I may be rephrase that.
I honestly hope it comes down to Richlands/Grafton, because one of my ex-roommates is from York County, and it would be fantastic to show him which part of this state has it all together. But I digress.
Go for it Saturday, and play with all your heart and skill, and you will certainly be in Lynchburg in a week.