RichlandsAlum

Since the 2020 soccer season looks to be a complete loss, I'm in a mood to be hypothetical. Liberty (Bedford) was positioned to have one of its most competitive teams in the history of the program. A large contributing factor was the presence of three exchange students (two from Italy and one from Germany). One of the Italians played within the youth program of Juventus FC. The German kid played aggressively on offense -- in a manner that apparently not many opposing players see around these parts. All three exchange students had demonstrated some flashes of brilliance over the course of the past several months. They were supplemented by a group of upperclassmen (including my son and his senior classmates) who have been playing together pretty much since they were four years old -- and who had experienced some decent success in travel ball over the years. The level of chemistry of this team was pretty amazing -- both on offense and defense. They really seemed to intuitively know where and how to play positions and formations at any given time. In the fall our local club organization played friendlies against several private schools in our area and up around Charlottesville and went undefeated against them all. Same was true in a showcase event played in January. Before things were scuttled, LHS played two scrimmages on the road. We beat William Byrd and tied Martinsville. Fact of the matter is that the Minutemen likely would have crushed them both in matches that had any real meaning. (And the German kid broke his foot in the first scrimmage at Byrd -- so we played at Martinsville without him.) The Seminole District is pretty well stocked with good teams -- including many perennial contenders at the 4A level. But by all conservative estimates we felt like we had a chance to make a pretty deep run within the 3A level (where we play as the smallest district school in terms of enrollment). Western Albemarle would have been our biggest obstacle at the regional level -- but playing at our best and firing on all cylinders, we thought we could at least hang with them. Of course, this is all just my opinion. The fact that we'll never know just how good this team could have been is a bitter pill. I apologize for venting. The Seminole District isn't even within the geographic focus of this site. Just felt the need to get this off my chest. What other teams had high aspirations that were denied?

Initially I was pretty bummed about my son losing his senior year of soccer for a number of reasons. One is that I think this Liberty team really had some enormous potential. They played two friendlies before the plug was pulled and looked really good -- I mean they displayed amazing chemistry. On a personal level he was really starting to come into his own as well. After years of completely discounting the idea of playing in college (and passing on several pretty good options to do that), he had started talking about making an attempt to walk on at Tech this fall. [Reality check -- while I thought the chance of such was very close to zero, I wasn't about to discourage him.] But he's moved on completely now and so have his mom and I. I would still like to see Liverpool have a chance to get the 6 remaining points necessary to claim an EPL title. And I take some morbid satisfaction in the notion that the Nats are reigning MLB champs until they're not. But otherwise I've got several more important things on my mind right now.

I've got an odd personal connection to Mooresville. Bought my first dog from a breeder there (very nice gentleman named Max Nanney who lived right behind the MHS football field and had retired as principal there). He was a really great little hound, and I always think of him when I hear that place mentioned.

On its face that is a reasonable assumption. But it's not very practical in the specific case of Tazewell County. It's no overstatement to note that schools are enormously expensive to build. The politics associated with splitting the Tazewell enrollment zone could also get pretty ugly on a large scale. Plus you'd still probably have two Class 3 schools for a while as a result, and those would be geographically isolated from most of their other cohorts in that classification for some period of time. If there's any likelihood that you will end up with one county-wide institution at some point in the future, it makes very little sense to exert the resources necessary to construct two different schools within the interim period. If/when it happens in Tazewell, I think we will see the three schools dwindle to Class 1 numbers before they will be amalgamated into one school that has a shot at living within Class 2 at its maximum enrollment for a while. Buchanan and Dickenson appear to be the models for managing these variables very efficiently (albeit with "found money" in both cases). Counties that are able to do so will probably consider themselves wise to follow their example.

In the really cosmic scheme of things, I believe that consolidation is the future for most (if not all) school systems -- including Tazewell County. But the exact timing is the issue that has to be defined -- and there are very definite hazards associated with jumping too quickly. Enrollment/population numbers don't work for Tazewell County to venture too far down that road right now. There are still estimated to be 40,000 people living in Tazewell County. The population in 1900 (before the coal boom really impacted numbers) was about 23,000. To hit the number that roughly existed prior to the coal-based economy, 42% of the current population would need to move away. That very well may happen over time -- but the timing is both unknown and a very important variable within the equation. Graham, Richlands, and Tazewell have a combined enrollment of over 1,700 students. That would land a consolidated school squarely within Class 5 and create a geographic outlier of huge magnitude within the Commonwealth. An ultimate loss of 42% would still equate to a Class 3 enrollment. Presumably Abingdon and Carroll County would be available as local traveling partners, but you'd still be facing trips to the New River Valley/Roanoke area for the closest competitors come playoff time. Of course, this is assuming that all other things remain equal.

Hard to imagine any statistical model that allows Tazewell County to give serious thought to consolidation at this point. And an unforeseen influx of capital probably wouldn't resolve the impact of VHSL classification policies. Unless there is a clear trend in population decline pointing to historic numbers (like a reduction to levels in the year 1900 or thereabouts), Tazewell County probably doesn't have any better option than to simply sit tight for a few years.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/392962652?fbclid=IwAR20u2386i2hZUQR7olyXhShA1itcYvgRpBgKpcOkIFS3vI4wP1qyYdP7NY Had the honor of coaching him in rec basketball when he was much younger. Great kid back then. Extraordinary young man now.

Although the ultimate decision rests with the good folks of Buchanan County, I am hereby declaring that I will be disappointed with any mascot/nickname choice other than Wood Booger.

Easy for me to see things from Mance's perspective because my wife and I are big "beach" people. My folks live at Cherry Grove three months out of the year and we have gone to Holden Beach for the better part of the last decade. If we're not on the coast at least 3-4 times a year things feel seriously out of whack for us. Although our ultimate retirement plans depend on where our boys wind up when they're grown, we've seriously discussed buying property in Brunswick County. (And if a job in my line of work were to open in Southport, I'd definitely apply.) Used to be a big fan of Hilton Head, but we were there a couple of years ago and I was somewhat disappointed. Appeared that the cycle of overbuild and then the real estate bust of the late 2000's had some significant effect there (which I hadn't really expected).

My second born is actually excited about the prospect of going up against Grundy wrestlers at the 3A state level. He is currently in 8th grade, so depending on his own performance he should have that kind of shot before he finishes high school.

Selfishly I'd love to see Mance hang around, but my opinion is that there wasn't a lot left for him to accomplish at Richlands. And knowing when to step aside at the right time and allow the next leader to take over demonstrates a rare gift of discernment on his part. Reading between the lines more than a bit, I suppose he has an affinity for that area of the country. He also probably has enough time within the Virginia Retirement System to get a decent pension benefit and now he can "double dip" from a second source of income within the South Carolina system. South Carolina has some pretty strict rules about publicizing hiring for public positions. (Essentially, they usually publish the names of finalists for vacant positions before hiring decisions are actually made.) Don't know for sure if that's what happened here, but it would explain a lot. Coach Mance may not have been aware of the fact that the SC media would report it before he had a chance to let folks know back in Richlands. Or maybe he has actually kept his direct chain of command in the loop. In any circumstance, I doubt that there is anything malicious at all at play. No clue who his successor will be. But I think there will be a very solid pool of local candidates to choose from.

My wife and I lived in Charlotte for a while right out of college and absolutely loved it. But we had a sense that we didn't want to raise kids there (or at least within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district). Ultimately after seven years we jumped at a chance to move back to Virginia -- although not back home to Richlands. Don't really have any complaints. In fact we're pretty happy with the way things have turned out. But I still miss living down there and I really enjoy every opportunity I have to go back and visit for any reason. Furthermore, I appreciate sixcat's observation and my own view is that North Carolina has some significant advantages over Virginia. Some of that is due to the nature of the economy as it exists. But some of it is because the government of Virginia is backward to begin with and goes out of its way to hamstring itself. The orange traffic barrel is a perfect metaphor for this discussion -- you'll rarely see one in Virginia because its leadership and bureaucracy rarely have the ability to even start a project (let alone get anything done). There was some speculation about the possibility of Thad Wells succeeding Mance elsewhere on this board. In somewhat of a coincidence, if my wife and I had stayed in the Charlotte metro area, Mooresville was one of the non-Mecklenburg options that appealed greatly to us. Only Coach Wells knows his own heart, but the pull of kith and kin would have to be enormously powerful to outweigh the advantages he has in his current situation.

Population all over SW Virginia is decreasing. Probably a direct relationship between that and attendance at sporting events.

I think it might be more accurate to describe Loris as being 30 minutes inland from North Myrtle. Still close to all the amenities of the Grand Strand but you probably get a lot more bang for your buck in terms of property considerations.

I'm thinking that the Mountain 7 could merge with the SWD and pick up another member to create..... Wait for it..... MS-13. (Admittedly, I'm pretty ashamed of myself for this one. But it couldn't be helped.)

Kid's family experienced a change in employment status and his parents are both Richlands natives who decided to move back home. I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone, but this one isn't particularly compelling IMO. As for his athletic ability.... Who knows how things will work out? These are teenagers in public schools that we're all talking about. All kinds of entropy involved.

Pretty sure that tracks back to the early years of the Tom Rife era. And to the point about the quality of basketball there, you're probably showing your age with your post and I am showing mine with this response. Beginning with the '82-'83 season Richlands went on a consistent winning trajectory. The Blues won the SWD tournament (under the old 11 team configuration) twice in three years and closed out the end of that decade by sweeping both regular season and tournament titles three years in a row. Even as enrollment was beginning to decline, the program put five different teams on the court on a consistent basis (varsity, jv, 9th grade, 8th grade, and 6th/7th grade) while still cutting kids in tryouts. Oh, and the girls were pretty good during that stretch as well. Pretty much mirroring the boys side -- although the Lady Blues actually had better success in the postseason. 1986 team lost a close game in the Class AA state semifinal (well before the basketball playoffs were expanded to 6 groups). All of this contributed to a solid identity for Richlands as a "basketball school."

Agree with the point about talent and youth. But statistically this team and the 2012 verson are extremely comparable. 2012 (per game averages): Passing Rushing Total Offense First Downs Penalties Turnovers Split G Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Att Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg Pass Rush Pen Tot No. Yds Fum Int Tot Offense 13 17.2 33.6 51.3 230.9 1.4 39.0 145.8 3.7 1.4 72.6 376.8 5.2 9.8 8.4 1.0 19.2 6.0 51.0 0.7 1.3 2.0 Defense 13 16.2 32.4 50.1 199.1 1.3 37.3 134.1 3.6 1.0 69.7 333.2 4.8 8.7 7.1 2.1 17.8 7.0 54.6 0.6 1.0 1.6 Difference +1.0 +1.2 +1.2 +31.8 +0.1 +1.7 +11.7 +0.1 +0.4 +2.9 +43.6 +0.4 +1.1 +1.3 -1.1 +1.4 -1.0 -3.6 +0.1 +0.3 +0.4 2019 (per game averages): Passing Rushing Total Offense First Downs Penalties Turnovers Split G Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Att Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg Pass Rush Pen Tot No. Yds Fum Int Tot Offense 12 14.4 24.7 58.4 217.3 1.7 44.3 172.9 3.9 1.7 69.0 390.3 5.7 8.4 9.6 1.9 19.9 5.6 54.2 1.2 0.7 1.8 Defense 12 19.3 35.4 54.6 237.0 1.7 33.4 123.4 3.7 1.3 68.8 360.4 5.2 9.4 6.3 1.9 17.7 7.3 56.3 0.3 1.1 1.4 Difference -4.9 -10.7 +3.8 -19.7 0.0 +10.9 +49.5 +0.2 +0.4 +0.2 +29.9 +0.5 -1.0 +3.3 0.0 +2.2 -1.7 -2.1 +0.9 -0.4 +0.4

To the excellent points you raised, there is no guarantee about the number of players who will return based on the nature of the transfer portal. (Our incumbent starting QB entered it himself just this past January.) And the expectations of the Hokie fan base aren't necessarily reasonable, either. A significant portion of Hokie supporters (including donors) were ready to chase Fuente out of town following the Duke game. With all due respect, he would be a lot dumber to discount that factor when calculating his future plans. In terms of competition within the SEC West, Alabama and LSU seem to be the only unreachable targets within the near term. Jimbo Fisher appears to be a poor match for A&M and Auburn is often its own worst enemy. Winning one of those four matchups on a regular basis (which is not unthinkable) might be enough to provide something akin to job security in Fayetteville. Ultimately it depends on Fuente's own personal career plans and ambitions. If the media reports can be believed -- incidentally, they can't -- then it appears that the Razorbacks are looking in another direction. But I'm positive that there has been communication between Fuente and Arkansas within the last couple of weeks.

I hesitate to post this as a lifelong Hokie fan, but there was a definite bias against SWVA players during the Dooley years. Even if they did make the team, uber talented guys like Eddie Hall from Graham rarely saw the playing field. That changed under Beamer (maybe as a result of necessity in his first years -- playing under the effects of the probation terms that Dooley earned). Maybe that's also perception due to Beamer's roots. Fuente seems willing to go after talent wherever it is -- Mitchell is proof of that theory. But there doesn't seem to be the same level of commitment by the current regime to SWVA that Beamer had shown. (And more immediately I am really perplexed by the fact that they made little or no use of Mitchell yesterday.) For the sake of argument I will offer a theory. Virginia Tech will welcome students from Southwest Virginia in a broad and sweeping manner. But only the truly extraordinary athletes will ever be considered within the revenue producing sports.

With regular season complete, I will rate this team as roughly comparable to 2012 team in terms of outcome -- assuming we draw a bowl assignment as "winnable" as the matchup with Rutgers in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Really perplexed by a lot of things today that go back to coaching. But that might be a moot point. I wouldn't be shocked if Fuente accepts an offer from Arkansas.

There probably is no video evidence of the post-game shenanigans from 1984. I don't think the game itself was televised. But anyone who stuck around to witness it probably remembers. In an effort to break things up (police presence was seriously overmatched) they turned on the sprinkler system and played "The Star Spangled Banner." Triggering effect was UVa fans making a bid to bring down the goal posts (just like Tech fans had done at Scott Stadium the year before). They didn't get either one. First attempt was at the south end zone, but that was blocked by quick reacting students/fans. The Hoo faithful then turned their attention to the north end zone. As a throng ran the length of the field, the first line of defense was the VT cheerleaders along with the Hokie Bird mascot. As the UVa fans arrived on that end, the Hokie Bird (pretty much blindly, I would assume) just started throwing punches. Quite a few of those connected and absolutely cold cocked some people. Like I said, not a really proud moment for either side. But still makes me laugh to think about it.

I'm completely devout in my adherence to the Hokies, but I've always enjoyed some of the more colorful elements associated with the UVa rivalry from all angles. I actually found the old "scramble" band and their halftime shows satirizing Tech to be pretty hilarious. I also laughed at a sign one year that said, "The REAL score: UVA 1300, Tech 800." And although it's probably completely inappropriate, I chuckle every time I think about the fight between students/fans on the field at Lane Stadium after the 1984 game. But I will readily admit that I have a pretty screwy sense of humor. Here's hoping for an injury free -- yet spirited -- experience all around on Friday.

Bringing in Jerry Kill was also a stroke of genius (easy to say in hindsight, of course).

Look, if you need help watering the field ahead of your playoff game, don't beat around the bush -- just ask.