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Here is a list that I've found that has listed players implicated in the report. A few surprises, and a few no-brainers: http://blogs.thesabre.com/?p=1657 One thing I can say after a cursory glance at the report: there is negligible, if any, bias in the report. I certainly cannot find any.

If you want to separate New England from the rest, that would be quite fine. I guess then, New England would be the "superior" team, or whatever. However, I don't think you can lump together the 28 teams below the Patriots, Cowboys, Colts, and Packers. Especially the Dolphins, which deserve a class of their own. Too much of a discrepancy between the talent levels. Need 4-5 groups, in my opinion. Agree to disagree on that, perhaps.

Perhaps there will be a football championship to go in the cold, lonely trophy case after all! Just not the kind the Hokies generally pride themselves on .

How much you want to bet on this?

[ QUOTE ] That sounds like a fair sentence to me. [/ QUOTE ] Given the brutal depravity of dogfighting, the fact that he was the only one who had the sort of money to bankroll the operation, the fact that he lied concerning his marijuana charges, and the fact that he changed his plea to guilty only after his "friends" started singing like canaries, yes, I think it's absolutely justified. Still, 23 months is on the low end of the scale (1-5 year).

[ QUOTE ] Patrick Patterson digs for gold.... and doesn't stop there. Hahaha!! Nice find, Rocks. [/ QUOTE ] Too low-brow for Virginia...that's why the Hoos didn't take him! Yeah... :tounge:

[ QUOTE ] If you didn't watch the game, don't even let the 20 points fool you, the Raven's offense scored one against the Colt 1st team D, and that was when it was 44-7, the earlier score was a KO return affter it went to 30-0 ealry in the 2nd quarter. Raven's defense didn't fair too well , Manning and the Colt's offensive starters sat out mid-way through the third, and could've probably scored 65 points if they wanted, J. Addia and T. Gonzalez were on fire. Bottom line, if Indy keeps playing like this, the Patriots may start having nightmares about the AFC Championship. [/ QUOTE ] For all the parity that there's been in college football and basketball (so far) this year, there's definitely a lack of it in the NFL. There are four great teams: New England, Indianapolis, Dallas, and Green Bay. There are nine decent teams: New York, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Seattle, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Jacksonville, and San Diego. There is also one historically putrid team: Miami. The point is, there's the cream of the crop, good teams, mediocre teams, and the pathetic team. Not a lot of parity, that is.

Patriots: 16-0 Dolphins: 0-16 Book it.

A Cowboys-Patriots rematch in the Super Bowl would definitely be worth every ounce of attention it receives. Sure, I believe the Patriots would win, but again, Dallas would certainly have a fighting chance at it. However, it'd be one of the only Super Bowls in which I'd be cheering against both teams.

I figure I'd give this one a try: sounds like a blast! **1 Point Bowls** Navy Florida Atlantic Cincinnati New Mexico BYU Rutgers Tulsa **3 Point Bowls** Boise State Purdue Boston College Houston Oregon State Wake Forest UCF Air Force **5 Points Bowls** Penn State Alabama Arizona State Georgia Tech South Florida Florida State Oklahoma State **7 Point Bowls** Auburn Wisconsin Missouri Virginia Florida **10 Point Bowls** USC-SURE PICK Georgia Oklahoma Virginia Tech-SURE PICK **20 Points Bowls** LSU-SURE PICK Conference: ACC

Well, McFadden got the most first-place votes for a runner-up in the history of the Heisman voting. Much closer than the lay-fan would expect... I thought Tebow conducted himself as a class act tonight. In the end, if you're looking at the most talented player, that's McFadden. If you're looking at the one with the highest numbers, it's Brennan. Tebow was the best mix of the two, and in the end, he is holding the Heisman.

It has just been announced. Thoughts?

As keeper correctly stated above, there are obvious anomalies. Pahokee (by the way, the example I brought to everyone's attention) and Wheeling Central are anomalies. For every 2 teams that can buck this trend, there are 2,000 who can't. There is an obvious as morning daylight correlation between larger schools (and thereby a larger base from which to draw football players) and the best football-playing schools. It's implicit in the reason there are state classification systems in the first place: so incredibly small schools don't get beat 90-0 by a high school 8 times its size. Let me try yet another example. Say you have two public school marching bands that do not recruit superior talent, A and B. A has 20 players, B has 100 players. If you needed to take the best 10 players from each band, 19 times out of 20, which band of 10 do you think will be better? Obviously, the correct answer is B. You have the larger talent pool to draw from, and with a larger talent pool, you will have more great players than in the small band. Hence's B's band of 10 is better. If this was an issue that there was a valid competing argument against, I would use the mantra "agree to disagree". That's not the case here. Yes, there are aberrations, hence not "causation". However, there is a painfully obvious "direct correlation" in the works. You can say that the earth is square all day long, even in the face of a mountain of evidence; it still doesn't make it right.

How much money you want to put on this. Seriously, I'll bet every dime I own on this.

Indeed. It was a fantastic season: nothing to hang your heads about. From someone who's seen Monticello, they were a fantastic team; absolutely no shame in a loss. 3 state title games in as many years is something to be very proud of. Congratulations, Richlands!

[ QUOTE ] the size of the school doesnt matter in how good a program is. im telling you. Pahokee is a 2A school and Booker T. Washington is a 3A school. I know that for a fact. Also last time I checked, I believe 15 of those top 25 schools were 4A or smaller...so that proves that they can easily hang with bigger schools. [/ QUOTE ] Yes, but even at 3A, that's still at least twice as large as the schools in this region! You say that 15 of the 25 schools are 4A or less. I counted 11, but that was a quick glance, of course. Populations of schools in the 4A school range often number in the 1750-2250, especially in larger states (Texas, Florida, etc.) in general. And it deflates your point just the same: if a school that is merely 2-3 times as big is that much more superior to those in southwest Virginia, what about the ones that are even larger? Again, Virginia has been in a slight downswing as far as football talent goes lately, with no teams in the national top 25, but regardless: more people = more talent = better team, if coaching/feeder systems are equal.

[ QUOTE ] bigger selection of kids.....a better chance to have more athletes.....you can't tell me that a A school can compete w/ a AAA school.. [/ QUOTE ] Ding, ding, ding! Likewise, how do we know that Wheeling Central can compete with the AAA high schools in the state? Do they schedule them? If so, then that is exactly one aberration in a trend, which does very seldom occur.

Who said the 11 players were good and that the 50 were horrible? In my hypothetical, I sure didn't, nor did I imply that anywhere. Do yourself a favor: get out and about. Take a weekend and go to Virginia Beach. Go to a Landstown or a Hampton football game. You'll be surprised, amazed even, how much better the quality of football is among those schools than here. Why are those schools much better than SWVA schools? SWVA schools have good coaching, undoubtedly. The local feeder systems are solid. What's the difference? Could it be that those two high schools are between 4-5 times BIGGER than the schools here? As I have established ad nauseum, if the caliber of coaching is the same, and the feeder programs are solid, then there are two differences. One, *a larger talent pool to draw from, therefore a higher number of athletes given the same percentages, therefore a larger number of athletes on the football team, and therefore A BETTER TEAM.* It logically follows in a chain: if A, then B-C-D-E. Two, those larger and better high schools will compete against each other, thereby competing against the best teams in the state, thereby becoming more battle-tested in the process. Do me one favor: look at the ESPN Top 25 high schools. Tell me how many of those high schools have enrollments under 1000. Can you find any? I know of one, Pahokee, and it has 900 in south Florida. It's not a coincidence that 24-25 the best football-playing high schools in the nation are the largest ones?! It would be foolish to assert otherwise.

[ QUOTE ] While I agree that medical technology has been a tremendous help in Everett's recovery, I think that most people are way too quick to credit the doctors. I think it was by the grace of God that Everett is doing what he is doing! [/ QUOTE ] I definitely give God the glory for it, but one might also say that God allowed the doctors to develop the technology, and placed the right doctors in the right place at the right time. Point well taken, though. Still, a great story.

[ QUOTE ] The O-line and blocking out of the backfield look very in sink. Why wouldn't a D-1 be making offers. Monticello is a UVA town school, why aren't they talking to this guy? 5'10" 190 lbs. ???? [/ QUOTE ] A good question, seeing Groh's trend in recruiting backs from smaller schools. I believe that Virginia's not giving him a look because the team's fairly stocked at running back for the next two/three years. Cedric Peerman, Andrew Pearman, Keith Payne, and Mikell Simpson all got significant playing time this season. None of them are seniors. He would be mired far too deep in the depth chart.

[ QUOTE ] im sorry, but i completely disagree that a smaller school couldnt compete with a bigger one. "A" classes simply dont matter, im sorry. Any school that is good in a smaller class could compete with those of a bigger class. Bluefield could beat any team in AAA this year in football. Im sure Richlands could compete with most AAA teams in VA in football also. All you need to be is a good team. It doenst matter how many people you have in your school, doesnt matter how many people you have to choose from, its just how good your players are. My friend that moved here from Florida went to a 6A school with over 3,500 students and he assured me that Bluefield, Richlands and even Graham would most likely beat them in football along with many other 6A, 5A, and 4A schools. You can have as many students as you want and have as big of a school as you need, but that doesnt mean you will be good at a sport. [/ QUOTE ] Let me say, I don't agree with a lot of this. In Virginia, there is such a talent leap between A/AA and AAA in football that it is startling. Here's one example: in 2002, a fairly good, 8-2 Graham team came out on top a AAA George Washington-Danville team 28-21. GW-Danville's record? 4-6. As one of my Virginia friends from Danville said: "we didn't really give a lot of attention to football". My friends from Halifax County confirmed this. With regards to Richlands, I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Blue Tornado: to make it to the state finals for three years in a row is a great feat, no matter what level of football you're playing. However, put Richlands on the same field as Potomac and Stone Bridge (AAA, Div. 5) or Westfield and Woodbridge (AAA, Div. 6), and the aforementioned teams would blow Richlands off the field. I don't think it's close. It certainly DOES matter how many people you have in your school. If School A has just 11 guys try out for football, and School B has 50 guys try out for football, which team do you think will be better? Of course, you go with School B: much more talent to choose from! The larger schools: Westfield, Woodbridge, and Landstown, for example, often have over 100 students trying out for football every year; the number is so much that they have to repeatedly cut the numbers. I am not as familiar with SWVA schools, but I bet not that many come out for football tryouts. Often times, this would be a sizable fraction of the school (and I remember from my own high school days that not THAT many came out). Given my school A and school B hypo from earlier, 90%+ of the time, the school with the far greater, consistent turnout will have the better team. There are obviously aberrations, such as Wheeling Central in West Virginia. This gets at the issue at the end of my post. The underlying reason more people come out for football at the larger schools: hmmm, could that be because the enrollment is larger? If it's not that, what else could it be? There are a few reasons that smaller schools occasionally beat larger schools: better feeder systems, an aberration in the quality of athletes, and overall better coaching. However, as much as the schools in southeastern and northern Virginia pride themselves in football, do you think that this would generally be an issue in those parts of the state? I say not: far too much competition, not only for high school, but for collegiate offers. The competition often pushes those kids to the limit. I would hate to see the best teams from around here go against good teams from Virginia AAA. It might be interesting for a quarter. That's honestly about it.

[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Hit him early,hard, and alot. If Richlands can hold him to 100 yards or less they will be fine. [/ QUOTE ] 100 yards or less? More like 30 yards or less. They haven't faced "The Storm." [/ QUOTE ] Give it a rest, you'll be lucky to win the game. Richlands is going to have to play their best game of the season on saturday, this will be the best competition they've faced all year. I hope they can win, but I do believe they are the underdog in this one. [/ QUOTE ] That's pretty much spot on. I generally don't post on this board, because I'm not back home to see the teams play: I'd be running on blind faith. However, I was in Charlottesville from 2003 until this past May, and was able to drop in to see a Monticello game last year. My prognosis then: a very talented, young team that could be almost unstoppable if the players show solid development. It looks like that's what's happened. Guys, this team is quite good and intact, and run the ball with a vengeance. I agree with fulbolking: I wish the Blue Tornado all the best of luck in Lynchburg this weekend. Trust me, they will need every ounce of it.

[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] And most teams are anywhere from 6-9 games into their seasons. Conference play hasn't even started yet. It's far too early in the season to debate which conference is stronger. Heck, the projected ACC bottom-feeder is 9-0 right now. Let's give it some time. [/ QUOTE ] I will agree with that. I will also say that over the last two years that SEC has been the strongest. Don't believe me? What conference does Florida play in? Big East and ACC can put 7 teams in the tourney, but if none of them make it into the final game, then they have no argument that they play in the best conference for that year. [/ QUOTE ] Florida WAS about the only good team in the SEC...FSU has already beaten them this season...LSU and UT were OK...UK, not your typical UK team...ALA, don't think so...ARK, nope...MSU, nada...SC, please...GA, forgetaboutit...do I even need to mention AU, Ole Miss, or Vandy??? SEC is/was EXTREMELY top heavy... [/ QUOTE ] Agreed. I'll even take it a step farther, and say that it was top-heavy just in the SEC East. Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky: all in the East. The best team in the SEC West was Mississippi, at 20-12 (8-8). They missed the NCAAs. The SEC has made strides in basketball, but is nowhere near on par with the ACC/Big East.

[ QUOTE ] Ran across this story on Yahoo. Such an amazing miracle... inches from death to walking on his own. Talk about a blessing! http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-bills-everettwalking&prov=ap&type=lgns [/ QUOTE ] A great story indeed! Not only a testament to his will to keep fighting, but also in the great advancements in medical technology. Just think if this had been around when Reggie Brown suffered his catastrophic injury in 1998; he might not have been able to walk, but he may have been in better shape than what he is today. A step forward for the both athletics and the medical community in saving the majority of the quality of life of Kevin Everett. There are miracles every day, and I thank God for granting this one, since that young man's future looked as grim as it did.

[ QUOTE ] if you dare to ACCept it... [/ QUOTE ] Ba-zing!