Bearcat Bob

If tradition has continued (and I am sure it has) those Battle girls are cute.  I'd stand over there if I were 30 years younger.

I actually saw this and was going to post it but you beat me to it. The starters were pulled pretty early in the game and they ran the ball. Not alot more they could do.
 
Sounds like some parents need to get over themselves. That has got to be embarassing for the players from the losing team, their mommy filed a bullying report because they were being picked on.
 
Couldnt the parents of the winning team(who subbed in backups, im assuming younger players) also argue that the losing team was attempting to intimidate their players by leaving their starters in(im assuming older players)?  Its all just rediculious
 
Bullying is a serious issue and needs to be taken seriously, cases like this trivialize the issue.

Great point there.  For this to be lumped in with true bullying cases with terrible outcomes, such as the one down in Florida recently, is a detriment to anti-bullying efforts.

You could come and tailgate with us Jethro...we have great food, and remember your always welcome on Battle hill so there is no need to stand the whole ballgame.

"Opposing fans understandably learn to dislike losing to GC"...
 
"GC's non-common opponents are a combined 27-10. A little more impressive than Battle's opponents at 16-12. Even if you take Sullivan South's 8-0 record out of the mix, GC's opponents would still be 19-10"...
 
"I would GUESS that GC would have Battle's record, even with all the injuries/turmoil, if they had played Battle's schedule." 
 
These types of comments are all too common with many Gate City supporters.  True statement? Maybe, sure.  Appropriate?  I guess.  Annoying?  Yes.  Why?  Because it happens all the time.  I doubt you even see why these comments are irksome.  And I am not from Battle.
 
My dear old grandpa used to tell me not to put much stock in people who felt it necessary to brag on themselves or who belittle others.  Just saying...

I was agreeing with you, I just said it more bluntly.
 
Like you said, the East teams aren't soft, but the tough physical football played over here is just different. Honaker/Clintwood was a tough hard hitting game, Haysi/Clintwood was a VERY hard hitting game(honestly idk if ive seen a harder hitting game, not dirty just tough).

Very well said redtiger. If our youth isn't our number one concern, then we should be checking ourselves first. I'm impressed that so many of us care about this topic.

I'd like to see Altavista or Essex play  teams from SWVA.  The Colonels are very good with athletes galore.  But I am not sure if they are football players, if you know what I mean.  I'd like to see how Ft. Chiswell or Honaker stacks up against them or Essex.

No matter what you think about this topic or what you do to personally address the issue; no one can argue that there is an issue.  Just look at our political system.  Most people used to work for a living.  Now MANY vote for a living.  Vote for the person who promises to give you the most, regardless of your need or ability to gain it yourself.  Back in the day, if you played sports, you practiced hard and HOPED to get playing time.  Now, I hear parents all the time saying that little johnny has to play because little johnny is little johnny (the I get mine and don't worry about the team mentality).
 
I recently heard a mom and dad rip into an assistant coach because little johnny wasn't playing enough.  Little johnny stood right there behind mom/dad with a smirk on his face.  Guess what, little johnny is a starter now.  If my parents would have done that, I would have been too embarrassed to show up again.
 
I am not sure there is as much pressure on kids to perform/succeed as much as there is for them to "get theirs".  Doesn't seem to matter that "getting theirs" seems to mean "give me mine regardless of the effort I put forth". 
 
I used to think reality would eventually catch some of these kids and their families...but it looks like reality is changing to match their attitudes. 

I wont go into detail but my career is devoted to trying to make a difference in the next generation.
 
I think barondawg is right, I would be willing to bet most of the regular posters on here are involved with helping develop the next generation in one way or another.

It's not the current generation's fault. They are only an image of the example set before them. Start by looking in the mirror and stop blaming the kids. It's a trend that was started a couple generations ago and now we are reaping the results. Hard times and hard work build good character and work ethic. It can not be coddled into existence. Just look at the view of most of this generation. "Ask not what you can do for your country but what you country can do for you." You are owed nothing just for existing. Only hard work should be rewarded. Ask many employers what they have to deal with just getting people to show up every day to give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. This is a result of the things that start with activities such as sports. It is the same as missing practice, not respecting the coaches authority or decisions, breaking the law and school/team rules and then being allowed to play Friday night because our precious reputation as a football power house is at stake. We get what we ask for.

Spot on.  Nice to see other people "get it."  And posted in a classy manner that is difficult to offer an argument. 

Disagree with you and actually believe you are 100% wrong and that your way of thinking is one of the reasons our kids are failing across the country when looking at most statistical measures of success and happiness.  Drug use, teen pregnancy rates, teen dropout rates, teenage crime, jobless rates among recent graduates, etc.....most measure show a generation that is in serious trouble when comparing this generation to historic generations.  One of the reasons for that in my opinion is your attitude.  Actually MORE pressure needs to be put on kids, not less.  Kids in this generation are in trouble because of the old cliche, "everybody gets a trophy" etc.  To truly summarize it....this generation isn't allowed to deal with anxiety, stress, or major challenging issues that require initiative at a young age.  In stead, we teach them to take a pill before learning the coping mechanisms of how to deal with stress and what later becomes.......life.  Therefore, I respect agree with your concern about these young men and I truly mean that, but I disagree 100% in your approach.  There is little to zero pressure.  In Africa, many kids have nothing to eat and have 1 parent who dies of AIDS and one of who is about to die.  In Afghanistan, one kid lost his brother to a landmine and his father is putting pressure on him to strap a missile to himself and blow himself and others up to get revenge.  In parts of Asia, a 12 year old girl is worried about her fathers recent decision to prostitute her.  See my point?  Worrying about "performing" in a High School Football isn't stress when we compare it to what is true stress and truly concerning.  

3 punks killed an innocent man, terrible thing. The fact that the media hasn't covered it, or blown it up like the Zimmerman/Martin case shows that all they are interested in is causing controversy and getting higher ratings.
 
Piers Morgan can kiss my ass, he really just needs to go back to Britain. Mentioning "automatic and semi-automatic weapons" in this article is stupid and has about as much to do with this shooting as a rocket launcher. Just more of his bs to stir up frenzy for his agenda. Its an insult to the young man that died and draws attention away from the real issue.
 
The issue here is that 3 young men thought it would be fun to kill someone. What is wrong with these people?
 
and as an American if Australians don't want to visit the US to put pressure on this country to reform its gun laws, they can just stay in Australia.
 
If the media is gonna talk about race in one case they need to do it in every case, or better yet don't talk about race when it has nothing to do with the case.

The same player that got Wheeler ran off also got our basketball coach (Rasnick) fired, all cause his dad is on the school board. Do not vote for Tyrone Foster

Jethro, I can't wait for the day we can consistently play with Gate City, but it ain't happening until we have a stable head coaching situation.  I mean we have talent, we have facilities, we have support.  We just need a coach to stay long enough to put it all together. 
 
I am afraid we are a baseball only school  for the foreseeable future.  Hope Crist can hang in there and make a go of it.

Bullying is stupid. I think any upperclassman that belittles a freshman or sophomore needs to be kicked off the team. High school ball is all about chemistry.

If you take pride in getting under your teams coaches skin and being a negative distraction to kids then please do not attend sporting events. Have a little pride and learn how to behave! Respect yourself!

Duh..... wow yes I am familar with sarcasm, and thank you for pulling for us thats sweet of you.

Well you are correct in that VHS does not travel very well.  We have basically no football tradition to speak of (at least not since Fred Fisher left).  But if our alumni that do travel to the games can't bring themselves to sit on the VHS side then when will that mentality ever change?  That is unless you travel to Battle, where everybody just loves the Trojans and sits on their side just because they are so darn lovable.

I can kinda' see why you apologized.  The kid did not seek or ask for a critique.  Like you said, this isn't college or the NFL.
 
BUT, do his parents also get upset and call the principal when his English teacher critics his research paper and makes suggestions on how to improve it?  My advice, grow thicker skin and ignore message boards if they are upset by comments posted on them.

That's such a gawdawful call, Mike London wouldn't even make it.

Thanks for finding that! I knew we finally hit double digits, lol.

Thanks for the perspective.  I definitely see where you're coming from now because '80 and '81 were absolutely wretched.  My recollection of 1981 is that you guys were up 42-0 at halftime and probably could've posted any final score you wanted.  My perspective is that Richlands was essentially mediocre over the course of the '70s and '80s with flashes of both competitiveness and absolute misery peppered within.  The weird dynamic that I observed in the '90s (when the program started to win with some level of consistency) was the fact that most long-time Richlands supporters weren't as excited about the experience of success as much as they'd expected that kind of performance all along.
 
And although the win-loss ledger has certainly been more pleasant to reflect upon in the last 20 years, I will confess that I am nostalgic for the days of the old 10-team SWD.  With rare exceptions, a win in that league against ANY team was worth savoring.