cityofRaven

Not always a safe assumption. When Central was formed, I thought with all the success at JJK plus some more athletes from Pound in baseball, the Warriors would be a juggernaut. They have been mediocre on the diamond since the get:(

Back when the transportation wasn't as good and kickoffs were at 8pm.

And the games took less than two hours.

Back when the transportation wasn't as good and kickoffs were at 8pm.

Fog is really dangerous! 
 
My great-grandfather was struck down by a group of fog back during the big war.

I've been told that Shane Wicks drove by, and the scoreboard tried to hide from him. 

This is why it is critical for the varsity head coaches to organize and work with their youth programs. Their is a myth, in my opinion, that travel sports will make your team better. It would be more beneficial for the youth teams to spend a majority of their time practicing and then play teams closer to home. I've seen a lot of money wasted on travel ball with parents and players sold the lie of college offers and receiving poor coaching at the same time. 

True. But I will add that Ethan & his parents did an excellent job of marketing himself on social media since he was in middle school. They constantly updated his X (Twitter) page with his size, weight room PR’s, camp visits & accolades. 
 
To any upcoming recruits: use Ethan as a blueprint & make it easy for college coaches to find you. 

Ethan Lawson should be proof to everyone that you don't have to leave a small school to get noticed. 
If you're good enough, they will find you. 

Let me preface this by admitting it’s a speculative long term view of Richlands baseball (and possibly Tazewell being closely connected) and not a prediction.
Declining enrollment, more choices in spring sports, and the nature of the necessary investment into travel sports to compete makes it very difficult to consistently compete. The biggest challenge is location, location, location. Using Stelly’s explanation for Lebanon’s success it costs a lot of money and time for travel sports. That cost is higher simply due to being farther away from the Tri-Cities and a shrinking monetary base. Every weekend costs more with shrinking margins than those located closer. For comparison, the programs that are arguably on par/better than Lebanon (John Battle/Abingdon) have greater enrollment and are closer. (I have no explanation for the Bearcats fall). I think some of Tazewell’s and Richlands players already combining somewhat but not as seamlessly as say Honaker/Lebanon since the Tigers have been down.
I think Richlands has a good core group of kids and parent/coaches. They will be successful some years it’s just tougher to be elite in baseball and softball.
Congratulations to this year’s team and coaches and hopes they continue.

Ethan Lawson should be proof to everyone that you don't have to leave a small school to get noticed. 
If you're good enough, they will find you. 

Ethan Lawson should be proof to everyone that you don't have to leave a small school to get noticed. 
If you're good enough, they will find you. 

Looks like the Blues pulled off the magic. Richlands upset Union in round 1 today 8-6 final. 

The Lebanese, fueled by Bonanza.

The Lebanese, fueled by Bonanza.

Actually this was somewhat of a project of mine a couple of months ago then i got sidetracked.  I went back and compiled standings in the SWD from 1956-1969. Not 100% sure its accurate due to teams coming and going but this is what I have........Im not sure if Saltville was a SWD member in 1956 but I counted them. Maybe someone else can figure that out. The interesting thing to me was that every team in the district got at least a share of the championship over 14 seasons. And every team finished last in the district except for Tazewell.
 
1956:  SWD Champions Graham (1)     1957 SWD  Champions  Saltville(1)             1958:  SWD Champions  Graham (2)    1959 SWD Champions   Tazewell (1) /Saltville (2)     
Graham 4-0                                            Saltville 5-0-1                                                 Graham    6-0                                       Tazewell     5-1                                                             
Tazewell 4-1                                           Tazewell 4-0-2                                               Marion      4-2                                       Saltville       5-1                                                          
Richlands 3-2                                          Graham 2-1-3                                                 Saltville     3-2-1                                   Richlands    4-2                                                     
Marion  1-2-2                                          Richlands  3-3                                                Tazewell   3-3                                       Marion         3-3                                                          
Grundy 1-3-1                                           Grundy 2-3-1                                                 Richlands  2-3-1                                     Grundy         2-4                                                     
Saltville   1-4-1                                         VA High    1-5                                                 VA High     1-3-2                                    VA High        1-4-1                                                   
VA High   0-3-1                                        Marion       0-5-1                                            Grundy       0-6                                     Graham        1-4-1                                                  
 
 
1961:SWD Champs  Graham(4)/Saltville(3)         1962: SWD Champion   Graham (5)       1963:  SWD Champion     Grundy(1)       1964 : SWD Champion   VA High (1)    
Graham      4-1-1                                                     Graham      6-0                                        Grundy         6-0                                      VA High        5-1                                   
Saltville       4-1-1                                                    Tazewell     5-1                                         VA High        3-2-1                                   Tazewell       4-2                              
Grundy         4-2                                                      Grundy       4-2                                       Tazewell       3-2-1                                    Grundy          4-2                              
Tazewell       4-2                                                     Richlands    3-3                                       Graham         3-2-1                                   Marion            3-3                              
VA High        2-4                                                     VA High        2-4                                      Richlands      2-3-1                                  Richlands       3-3                              
Richlands      1-5                                                      Marion         1-5                                       Marion           1-4-1                                  Graham           1-5                                  
Marion           1-5                                                      Saltville       0-6                                      Saltville         0-5-1                                  Saltville           1-5
 
 
 
1966: SWD Champions   Graham (6)            1967: SWD Champions   Richlands (2)            1968:  SWD Champions   Marion (1)/ Tazewell (2)                     
Graham     4-1                                                 Richlands       4-1                                               Marion           4-1                                                                        
Tazewell    3-1-1                                             Tazewell          3-2                                             Tazewell        4-1                                                                       
Richlands  3-2                                                VA High           3-2                                              VA High          3-2                                                                     
Grundy      2-2-1                                             Graham            3-2                                             Graham           2-3                                                                   
VA High     1-3-1                                              Marion            2-3                                              Richlands        2-3                                                                    
Marion       0-4-1                                             Grundy            0-5                                             Grundy            0-5                                                                     
 
 
1960: SWD Champions     Graham  (3)                             1965: SWD Champions   Richlands  (1)                 1969:  SWD Champions     Tazewell (3)    
Graham  5-0-1                                                                    Richlands     5-0                                                      Tazewell        5-0
Marion    4-1-1                                                                    Marion          2-1-2                                                    Marion          4-1
VA High     4-2                                                                   Grundy          2-2-1                                                    Graham         3-2
Saltville      3-3                                                                   Graham         1-2-1                                                    Grundy           2-3
Grundy       3-3                                                                  Tazewell         1-4                                                      VA High           1-4
Tazewell     2-4                                                                   VA High         0-4-1                                                  Richlands         0-5
Richlands    0-6
 
 
Edit:  Sorry they are out of order, the page wouldnt display correctly unless I moved these to the bottom of post.

Central, D-B & Betsy were the 'designated' district games Gate City had in '70.
----
Saltville had the shortest run of any school in a VHSL district - one year.
They switched to R.B. Worthy in 1957. 
---
1956 has some probs.
Totals are 14-15-5 - that doesn't work. 
Richlands went 3-3. Grundy went 2-3-1. 
Didn't look at any of the rest.
Total wins has to equal total losses, and total ties has to be an even number.
Exception - SWD from 70-85... wins/losses should always be off by 1.
And Region D did the 'designated' district games thing a few times in the 70's.
 ----
Side note - The first SWD game was played in Tenn... Grundy-Va. High at Municipal Stadium. The only score came when Grundy recovered a (forward) fumble in the end zone.
 

None of the above will regret it because they are Comfortable being stagnant. They enjoy and need to be average with the occasional 2 or 3 above average seasons. This is their MO. Its who they are, and they aren't changing, nor will the on field results. A drill sergeant tells you to "bang your head against the wall continously" and asks if it hurts. You say, "Yes." He then asks what you could do to make it stop and you say, " I could stop banging my head against the wall." You then stop banging your head. Some people don't stop. They need the continous banging of the head. If you disagree with what I've said above, then the proof of me being right is already evident. Tough results with the former, some pain caused, rinse and repeat. It is what it is.
I don't know about Saunders. Might be more of Centrsl problem. I hope Harris wins and VH wins. Some coaches do better in round 2 and they might turn things around. Hard to tell.

The SWD and Highlands coexisted for many years. There has been a Southwest District since Noah put a basketball hoop on The Ark.

Okay, I didn’t even have to chew on it! Tazewell will be content to be mediocre under Harris. They’ll still be undisciplined and lose even when they have talent, no one will care. Virginia High, ehhhhhh…they’ll be okay. That leaves a hard nosed old school coach going into a lair of whiny parents who want their babies coddled. Central wins the 🏆! 
 
As always, I could be wrong. 😂😂😂😂😂

What a great thread topic! 😂 I’m really going to have to chew on this for awhile before I decide. 😂

As long as there are Europeans playing basketball, Twin Springs has a chance to be viable. 

As long as there are Europeans playing basketball, Twin Springs has a chance to be viable. 

The SWD and Highlands coexisted for many years. There has been a Southwest District since Noah put a basketball hoop on The Ark.

The SWD and Highlands coexisted for many years. There has been a Southwest District since Noah put a basketball hoop on The Ark.