Bearcat Bob

We would not have argued BD15.  VHS attracts players because of their facility, coaching, and most importantly, their ability to get players to the next level.  Seems that some schools are perceived to be better for a particular sport than others.  I have no qualms about transfers coming to VHS for baseball...I just wished we could get a few football/basketball transfers!

Good call!!

And she conveniently forgot that 4 Americans were killed in Libya (Benghazi).  I cannot believe the "moderators" allowed her to get away with that...

FYI:
 
Richmond and No. Va. are different areas of the state.  There is a significant stretch of I-95 separating the two regions.

VHSL enrollments are based on actual attendance ("Average Daily Membership" is the precise terminology), which means kids are only counted if they are actually enrolled and present at a particular school.
 
The extent to which school systems in Virginia have to account for home schooled kids seems pretty nebulous.  While I think parents are required to file a notice of intent, the degree to which individual school systems manage that data does not appear to be standardized.  For example, right now in Bedford County approximately 20% of the school aged population is not accounted for in the enrollment of the public schools.  But when pressed about this fact, the County's central office personnel don't seem to be able to account for the location of these couple of thousand kids nor do they seem terribly concerned about it.  From a taxpayer perspective, I personally find that to be aggravating to say the least.

Pretty much the point I was trying to make.  But Bearcat Bob did a much better job of it than I.

Exactly!  Tennessee divisional breakdowns are much more equal throughout the state which means the NETN schools have to face the talent rich programs in Nashville and Memphis. 

After giving this some thought, the answer to the original question is fairly obvious, IMHO.  SWVA teams are mostly 1A or 2A.  Because of the population centers of Virginia, SWVA schools do not have to regularly play schools from the talent rich Tidewater/NOVA areas.  Most, not all schools, in those areas are 5A or 6A.  The few smaller schools that do exist in those areas, notably George Mason, usually lose what real talent they have to the privates and larger schools surrounding them. 

After giving this some thought, the answer to the original question is fairly obvious, IMHO.  SWVA teams are mostly 1A or 2A.  Because of the population centers of Virginia, SWVA schools do not have to regularly play schools from the talent rich Tidewater/NOVA areas.  Most, not all schools, in those areas are 5A or 6A.  The few smaller schools that do exist in those areas, notably George Mason, usually lose what real talent they have to the privates and larger schools surrounding them. 

Sleeping on that pillow will give you pink eye...

Sleeping on that pillow will give you pink eye...

(1) So long as the child is maintaining as rigorous an academic schedule as his or her peers, and is maintaining the grade point average necessary to participate in athletics, do you not run into due process concerns? I'm not so confident one can avoid them. There are many home school students who abuse the system, but there are many thay adhere to a rigorous schedule that make public school look like the cakewalk it is. And there's certainly nothing stopping public school children from walking around in a daze for 8 hours/day.
 
(2) I see the potential abuses. There are many. It's the reason I support the end result of vetoing the Tebow bill, so don't misunderstand me. It's just much more complex than dropping the hammer. Many compelling nuances on the other side.
 
(3) Your rebuttal on taxes is based on two flawed assumptions. One, the buses are solely for the use of children. Two, the buses are not entitled to take the children anywhere (Nationals game) but school-sponsored activities.
 
Again, I support the prohibition, but it's difficult to reconcile it with legality. And naturally, I don't trust Democrats like McAuliffe to do that.

For a public school child to participate in sports, there are rigid  requirements.  The public school child has to get up every morning, attend a set school schedule, abide by a standard set of behavioral rules, maintain a GPA as determined by his teachers (not his mom/dad), interact with a student body in an appropriate manner, etc.  If he is sick in the a.m. and misses school. he cannot participate that day, even if he feels better in the p.m.  Not so with home schoolers.  Public school sports participation carries many requirements for the student athlete that can be circumvented by the home schooled student. 
 
Additionally, cannot you not see the potential abuses?  Residency requirements may as well be thrown out as we know them. 
 
The taxes argument does not hold water, IMHO.  I also pay taxes on the buses that carry the kids to school but that does not mean that me and the family can take one Saturday to a Nationals' game.  That is only one example.  There are MANY things I pay taxes for of which I cannot use for personal use. 
 
And quite honestly, if the public school is not adequate to educate your child and you chose to do so yourself, why are the public school sports programs adequate?  I say go start your own travel team and be happy. Or attend a private school. 

For a public school child to participate in sports, there are rigid  requirements.  The public school child has to get up every morning, attend a set school schedule, abide by a standard set of behavioral rules, maintain a GPA as determined by his teachers (not his mom/dad), interact with a student body in an appropriate manner, etc.  If he is sick in the a.m. and misses school. he cannot participate that day, even if he feels better in the p.m.  Not so with home schoolers.  Public school sports participation carries many requirements for the student athlete that can be circumvented by the home schooled student. 
 
Additionally, cannot you not see the potential abuses?  Residency requirements may as well be thrown out as we know them. 
 
The taxes argument does not hold water, IMHO.  I also pay taxes on the buses that carry the kids to school but that does not mean that me and the family can take one Saturday to a Nationals' game.  That is only one example.  There are MANY things I pay taxes for of which I cannot use for personal use. 
 
And quite honestly, if the public school is not adequate to educate your child and you chose to do so yourself, why are the public school sports programs adequate?  I say go start your own travel team and be happy. Or attend a private school. 

I cannot stand Terry McAuliffe but I am glad he vetoed this bill. 

For a public school child to participate in sports, there are rigid  requirements.  The public school child has to get up every morning, attend a set school schedule, abide by a standard set of behavioral rules, maintain a GPA as determined by his teachers (not his mom/dad), interact with a student body in an appropriate manner, etc.  If he is sick in the a.m. and misses school. he cannot participate that day, even if he feels better in the p.m.  Not so with home schoolers.  Public school sports participation carries many requirements for the student athlete that can be circumvented by the home schooled student. 
 
Additionally, cannot you not see the potential abuses?  Residency requirements may as well be thrown out as we know them. 
 
The taxes argument does not hold water, IMHO.  I also pay taxes on the buses that carry the kids to school but that does not mean that me and the family can take one Saturday to a Nationals' game.  That is only one example.  There are MANY things I pay taxes for of which I cannot use for personal use. 
 
And quite honestly, if the public school is not adequate to educate your child and you chose to do so yourself, why are the public school sports programs adequate?  I say go start your own travel team and be happy. Or attend a private school. 

Don't do it, folks!!!  Last year, they had all sorts of issues with this...not enough bandwidth and lots of people paid for something they never got to watch...

I cannot stand Terry McAuliffe but I am glad he vetoed this bill. 

"Come on guys, just one more stop"!

2 votes separated Larranaga and Williams. Hard to justify that when Williams just beat Larranaga, and soundly, further exceeding his predictions. 
As for POY, Brogdon was the correct choice by a mile, and the ACC voters got that right (33-9). The two teams played 8 days ago, and Brogdon ate his lunch. It's the defensive end that separates the players. Johnson is far too often disinterested on that end of the floor, while Brogdon never is.

Forgive me for thinking (or typing) out loud, but here's my theory.....
 
I think there are two factors, and one has a tremendous impact upon the other.  The first is what I would refer to as relative demographics -- more specifically, the way that SW Virginia and NE Tennessee relate to their respective states.  Given the geographical distribution of population in Virginia, there is a greater concentration of smaller schools in Southwest Virginia compared to the rest of the Commonwealth.  So from a statistical standpoint, with all other factors being equal there is always a greater probability that a state champion will emerge from Southwest Virginia within the smallest classification(s).
 
The second factor is the nature of the classification system itself.  The middle classifications in Virginia (AA and Divisions 3 and 4) have been and remain remarkably equitable in terms of standard deviation.  (Put simply, there is never a huge gap between the smallest and largest members of these groups -- or at least not to the extent that there may be in the lowest and highest classifications.)  Beyond SW Virginia's statistical dominance of the lower classifications in terms of sheer numbers, the largest schools in our particular region have still had the benefit of participating in a very equitable statewide system.
 
On the Tennessee side, the Tri Cities area serves as an isolated pocket of high population within the overall state.  As a result, my understanding is that a lot of the more powerful NE Tennessee schools in our region are competing within the highest classification of the TSSAA where there can be wide disparities in enrollment.  The talent disparities compared to emerging metropolitan areas like Memphis and Nashville is a symptom of this demographic factor, IMO.  And there is also the matter of private schools competing within the same system as public schools in Tennessee, which probably generates some impact upon relative levels of competition there.
 
Long story short....  SW Virginia schools are typically competing against peers of the same relative size and nature for state championships, while NE Tennessee schools are swimming in the shallower end of their respective classification pool.

Something I've long wondered about is why Southwest Virginia schools have long been more successful on the State level than our neighbors in Northeast Tennessee. This is especially confounding given that SWVA is much less socioeconomically identical to the rest of the state compared to NETN
 
This goes beyond football, but it is the most obvious and glaring example. Since 1970, (Chilhowie (1), Gate City (5), Appalachia (6), J.I. Burton (1), Clintwood (4), J.J. Kelly (1), Powell Valley (8), Jonesville (1), Tazewell (1), Richlands (2), Graham (3), George Wythe (2), and Galax (1)) 12 different SWVA teams have won a State Championship; with a sum of 36 between them.
 
In comparison, only two (2!) NETN schools have football State Championships during that time (Tennessee High (2) and Greeneville (2)) for a combined total of 4.
 
Note: Sorry Dobyns-Bennett, pre-playoff/poll championships don't count!
 
For those keeping score, SWVA teams have been either six or nine times more successful than their friends on the other side of State Street
 
So, does anyone have any thoughts or insights on this phenomenon?

Bluestone is not a state caliber team IMHO.  But I like George Mason to win the State.  Too deep, too well coach to not win.  Only disappointment is that their fans are pathetic.  They may literally bring 20-30 fans and those are all relatives of players.

Madison lost to Bluestone at Bluestone and is done.  Madison started 4 freshmen in that game.  They are going to be good the next few years.  They went 21-5 this year with 3 losses to George Mason.  They only lose one player and he was literally the last guy off the bench. 
 
Mason is the EAST team, IMHO.  They go 10 deep and I think all are seniors.  Bluestone will not win away from the friendly confines of their home court.  I am not sure they ever run a play.  All one on one stuff.  No size, but are athletic.  Odd thing is that they are athletic but have only one player I would call a basketball player.  He is the point guard and can flat out shoot.

I guess you got me there.  What seed are you guys going to be in the State Quarterfinals???