sixcat

I was in a group behind several high school golfers who were preparing for regional play a few weeks ago at Blue Ridge Country Club. A young lady who has a talent for the game unfortunately has a complete tool for a father. He was constantly yelling at her for every missed fairway, green or putt. After several holes of arguing back and forth, she gave up and inserted her face into a cell phone and disconnected from everything else while he kept yelling at her. While walking off the tee box on #11, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and walked face first into the cart her father was riding.

He didn't play against Cave Spring. I have no idea why and won't speculate. Families move around in the Roanoke Valley all the time so it wouldn't be something new.

I went back to the VHSL Book-of-Records. Lebanon lost in the state finals in 91 and 92. I would have already graduated the 92 football season and played at Carroll in 90 so it had to have been 91. To clarify my comments, we played Lee in the first or second week of the regular season. Lebanon came to Independence for the, I believe, regional championship game and beat us 48-28. Grayson was very good at that time shortly after consolidation with Fries in 1988. The first year or two were a little scattered as parents, administrators and community leaders tried to figure out where the kids surrounding Fries would ultimately wind up. I was sent to Carroll for the first couple of years even though I lived in Grayson as was many others. Some of my neighbors even wound up at Fort Chiswell, the current varsity basketball and baseball coach being one. I may be a little biased but don't believe many who were here at that time would disagree. Once Grayson got all of the Fries kids, they really spiked for a decade or so before Grayson stated losing population.

Skipping class or parents not hug you enough? Or both?

Thanks

I think we beat Lee 12-7 in 1991. It was very early in the regular season. If memory serves, something happened on a state level with out-of-state scheduling and we were forced to drop Alleghany, NC and Lee was forced to drop someone and we had the same open date just a few months prior to the season starting. Glory days of Grayson football. They have pretty much sucked since the mid 90's. I still don't know that I understand how we played Lebanon in the playoffs if someone could be so kind as to enlighten me.

Nope, now they connect over the internet and play Call-of-Duty. Funny story. A friend of my oldest daughter came over for a sleepover a few weeks ago. She ended up calling her mother to come get her before going to bed because my children don't own a video game console. Her mother texted my wife later saying her daughter had said we were "abusing our children" by not allowing them to have video game consoles. For the record, we have never disallowed gaming consoles. My children have simply never had an interest.

Way back in the mid 90's, I recall PH Glade Spring and George Wythe both missing the playoffs at 8-2 while Grayson made the playoffs at 5-5 and got destroyed by Radford in the first round. The playoff format must have been different when I was in school. We were very good for a number of years in the late 80's and early 90's shortly after Fries and Independence consolidated. I was a senior in 1991, we went to Lee and beat them when they were the defending state champs. Lebanon came to Grayson and beat us 48-28 later in the playoffs. I believe Lebanon ended up losing in the state finals that year and maybe the year after. I wasn't very perceptive nor did I care enough at that time to recall how the regions were divided. Maybe someone can refresh my memory. I don't recall Grayson ever being Region D but I could be wrong.

Abingdon Union Virginia Graham Galax Giles Hurley J.I. Burton Twin Springs Chilhowie Patrick Henry George Wythe Ft. Chiswell Notre Dame Wake Texas A&M North Carolina Virginia Tech Florida Tennessee West Virginia Alabama Ohio St. Pittsburgh Philadelphia San Diego Green Bay Oakland G(s)otW Amherst 52 Tazewell 62 Ridgeview 52 Miami 60 Carolina 35

It used to be that way for many, many years but the "Twin County" area cannot get along for any reason whatsoever.

Fall baseball isn't a big thing around here. Soccer runs year around but doesn't distract from football. There just isn't any crossover there. We do have several dad's who think they, being 5'-8" tall weighing 155 pounds, will produce a 6'-2" 250 pound kid who will become the next Caleb Spurlin. I agree, nothing wrong with having dreams but perspective matters just as much. Galax separated it's youth football program from Grayson and Carroll several years ago and refuse to play them. The result is, a group of dad's got together and formed a Galax team that plays a full season schedule in Galax against the other 3 Galax teams as well as all of the Grayson and Carroll teams. Those kids are playing 2 and sometimes 3 games per week from late August until early November.

I don't know the issues other communities are having but several local kids are being placed in 2 or even 3 sandlot leagues at the same time by their idiot fathers. I can give you a dozen or more example by name and the dad's think they are doing these kids a favor.

They are happy and content with life on the river. I don't believe they will leave the area again. If he does leave Grayson, it would most likely be for his Alma-mater, Carroll. Wes is a player and Grayson has an amazing string of basketball talent coming up right now. With John's coaching ability and the talent coming along, he is sitting on a treasure trove!

They may not rise to the level of Gate City, Graham or Richlands this season but Grayson will be significantly improved. The new/old coach, John Ayers, was my brothers high school coach. He will eventually bring Grayson back to being a regional and sometimes state contender in basketball like they were in the 90's.

One would think, given the recent athletic success of Galax, they would have more fan and community support. I know politics play a role and probably always will. As I have said before, Galax and Abingdon have a lot in common from a community standpoint. Art, music and "hippie" culture prevail. It also says a lot about this area that nearly 10% of school age children are home-schooled according to state statistics.

I attended a game at Gate City in 1997 when they destroyed my brothers team at Grayson. It was impressive as was Gate City's football team. I went to the Graham-Abingdon game a few weeks ago and enjoyed the experience. I look forward to getting to Richlands and Union for a game soon. Hopefully in the postseason.

Graham, BIG!!!!!!!! Fort Chiswell is headed in the right direction but so is Graham. Graham may be in Salem come December.

This is my opinion, therefore, likely to not pan out! George Wythe does not match up well with Galax but will likely beat the rest of 1A west, handily. Galax doesn't match up well with Hurley but would likely beat the rest of 1A west. The Fort Chiswell game was an aberration in the fact that Galax was in upheaval and completely distracted by circumstances surrounding the football team, and still may be to some extent. Not intended to be an excuse and Fort Chiswell deserves significant credit for punching Galax in the mouth, repeatedly. Match-ups, however they fall, will be significant this season for 1A west, which isn't always the case. As others have said previously, Riverheads has taken a tough schedule to the woodshed. They are the odds on favorite in my mind.

I don't sense the same level of "community" surrounding high school athletics that existed when I was in school. I can't help but think consolidation has had a significant impact. Home football games at Fries, with a town population of less than 1,000, had more support than what I see at any of the three local high schools today.

Hurley supporter butthurt about to commence..............................

I think most people would agree George Wythe, Hurley, Galax, Fort Chiswell and Parry McClure would be the cream of the crop in the west. The rest would be based on match-ups. In my opinion, match-ups are more critical this season in 1A than in recent years.

Abingdon Grundy Marion Lee Gate City Union Graham Narrows Richlands Giles Glenvar J.I. Burton Castlewood Chilhowie George Wythe Rural Retreat Galax Georgia Tech Louisville West Virginia Baylor Miami Washington Wisconsin Auburn Tennessee Clemson Cincinnati Detroit New England Arizona Atlanta Philadelphia Honaker 52 Twin Springs 55

I believe, in part, that is an issue in Carroll and Grayson. Carroll has support in and around Hillsville but little from the remaining 80% of the county.

Yep! Having 28 kids on the roster and facing teams with 40+ week in and week out will not have positive results. Ridgeview will be fine in time. Consolidations are never as simple as they may appear, especially when trying to blend a couple of distinctly different fan bases and football philosophies such as Haysi and Clintwood.

Giles product Brian Mann broke the Ferrum single game rushing record Saturday with 254 yards on 33 carries.