hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Looks like someone drew up these conferences without looking at a map.Marion and Grayson with the 3 SWVA schools? What?! It does beat leaving Graham out in the MED for all sports, though. Graham and Grayson would still be in the MED for the regular season. Richlands, Tazewell, Marion, Graham and Grayson will be competing against each other in the first level of post-season play (kind of like a sub-regional). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,742 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 makes sense...i have not been to Union or Central yet, so I'm not sure where exactly they are located. Same buildings as Powell Valley and JJ Kelly. For Union - Exit 2 in Big Stone Gap(1st exit you would come to) and for Central - on the backside of Wise(same way you would go to the College) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Couple of observations.... #1 It'll be possible for the new Clinch Mountain District to have 4 of the 8 teams in the 2A West regional since Richlands, Tazewell and Marion will be in a different conference than the other CMD teams. For example: Richlands wins the Conference 39 tournament and Tazewell finishes 2nd; both advance to region. Virginia High wins the Conf 40 tournament and Lebanon finishes 2nd; both advance. #2 As I understand it from looking at the presentation, the regions would be allowed to divide themselves in half geographically if the chose to reduce post-season travel. So we COULD end up with something like 2A West (western half): Conf 39 (Richlands/Tazewell/Marion/Grayson/Graham) Conf 40 (Grundy/GC/Lebanon/VHS/JSB/Lee/Union/Central) 2A West (eastern half): Conf 37 (Appomattox/Chatham/Dan River/Nelson/Gretna) Conf 38 (James River/Floyd/Giles/Glenvar/Martinsville) So basically, the far SWVA schools MIGHT end up only seeing the 37/38 teams once--in the 2A West final. More or less the 39/40 schools would end up being like the old Region D with the 37/38 schools being like Region C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futbolking 766 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Looks like someone drew up these conferences without looking at a map.Marion and Grayson with the 3 SWVA schools? What?! It does beat leaving Graham out in the MED for all sports, though. Probably looked at enrollment figures ....... didn't bother looking at a road map.....or saw that Marion & Tazewell and Grayson are all connected by route 16, but don't realize that you'd have to go over 2 mountains between Marion and Tazewell...and probably puke up your lunch. Graham, however wouldn't have too bad of a trip to get to any of these places... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 This is a great setup overall IMO. The only real issue I have is with both the regional champ and runner up advancing to the state final four. It's kind of dumb for the two regional runners-up to get a do-over at a neutral-site, state semi-final game--you're playing for absolutely nothing in the new regional final. I'm not a fan of the current setup where the region runner-up goes on to the state quarterfinal either, but at least in that, the regional finalists have something to play for--a quarterfinal game closer to home. Also, having only the finals (instead of the Final Four) in Richmond on a Friday or Saturday would greatly cut down the travel expenses and missed class time because the teams involved would have to stay overnight only once (and maybe not even at all). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 The whole setup is a disaster...that's what happens when you let folks who are clueless try to run things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,742 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 The whole setup is a disaster...that's what happens when you let folks who are clueless try to run things... care to elaborate? or point out what you see wrong? Overall I dont think it is too bad, needs tweaking. But isint any worse than the system(regions) we have now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swvacsas2 15 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 If the system is going to be "all in" there is no reason to even have small conferences. You could simply have two conferences of 13 teams in each division with a playoff site to determine the top 4 teams for regional competition. The top 8 teams- based on points- could receive a by and a playoff for the bottom 5 (probably at different sites). Common sense dictates the conferences should be as even in size as possible- if more than two are needed in each region- have a couple of 7 member and a couple of 6 member conferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 The whole setup is a disaster...that's what happens when you let folks who are clueless try to run things... So how would you reclassify the state? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 For one, no school should be forced to play another school that isn't in their classification...see new "district" set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Probably looked at enrollment figures ....... didn't bother looking at a road map.....or saw that Marion & Tazewell and Grayson are all connected by route 16, but don't realize that you'd have to go over 2 mountains between Marion and Tazewell...and probably puke up your lunch. Graham, however wouldn't have too bad of a trip to get to any of these places... You know, that's likely exactly what the dunces in Charlottesville did. Looked and saw that Route 16 connected Tazewell/Marion/Independence, and didn't factor that you have to take a Dramamine before loading the bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futbolking 766 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I just don't see the point of the conferences...... or assigning new districts.....just use the football example.... establish the enrollment cutoff for each classification ...establish a power point system and have a playoff similar to football's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) I just don't see the point of the conferences...... or assigning new districts.....just use the football example.... establish the enrollment cutoff for each classification ...establish a power point system and have a playoff similar to football's. The problem with doing the other sports like football is the travel distance. In basketball, baseball, etc. you pretty much have to play at least one or two post-season games midweek whereas in football all the games are on Friday or Saturday. This affects attendance also--for example, the furthest Grundy is going to have travel for its first post-season game will be to a CMD or LPD school. Under the half-state/football-type setup they could be going to a Dogwood school. Also, you have take into account sports with individual champions like wrestling, tennis and golf because there has to be a way to narrow down the field of competitors at the regional and state levels. While I agree that the VHSL has done some dumb stuff over the years, it looks as if they have finally come up with a plan that addresses the enrollment disparities while keeping travel at a minimum AND one that can get enough votes statewide to pass. There's no plan out there that will satisfy everybody. Edited March 19, 2012 by hoard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 While I agree that the VHSL has done some dumb stuff over the years, it looks as if they have finally come up with a plan that addresses the enrollment disparities while keeping travel at a minimum AND one that can get enough votes statewide to pass. There's no plan out there that will satisfy everybody. Conference 39. The defendant rests. Summary judgment for the defendant. Including court costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Conference 39. The defendant rests. Summary judgment for the defendant. Including court costs. Are you referring to the geographic alignment or the fact that it's numbered (in an INITIAL plan, BTW). If it's geographic, how would you align the teams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,742 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) I think some adjustments need to be made but it seems like a solid setup overall. The conferences arent perfect but the concept is solid. If you have the proposed 6A setup but only allow districts to be made up of teams from the same classification then there are gonna be some really long regular season travel times. Edited March 19, 2012 by redtiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barondawg77 115 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 http://www.vhsl.org/doc/upload/rr-march-presentation-2012.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghs73 157 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 You know, that's likely exactly what the dunces in Charlottesville did. Looked and saw that Route 16 connected Tazewell/Marion/Independence, and didn't factor that you have to take a Dramamine before loading the bus. but if you look at it tazewell is 25 miles or so from graham so in fact would only have to travel that much further than graham to anyone of the aformentioned schools. i would not want a school bus traveling over route 16 but the other way is 4 lane road so an additional 25 miles is not bad considering the alternative of the mtn. road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) but if you look at it tazewell is 25 miles or so from graham so in fact would only have to travel that much further than graham to anyone of the aformentioned schools. i would not want a school bus traveling over route 16 but the other way is 4 lane road so an additional 25 miles is not bad considering the alternative of the mtn. road. Tazewell is less than 25 miles from Bluefield, VA. I get 16.2 miles between the two high schools. Actually closer from GHS to THS than THS to RHS (18.7 miles). To complete loop, a straight shot from GHS to RHS is 33.4 miles. Contrast that with Graham to Independence, which is 67.7 miles if you take I-77 to US-21. And that's the 2nd-CLOSEST trip to GCHS (excluding the VA-16 suicide route) in the VHSL's stupid proposal. 67.7 miles is more travel than the following arrangements to schools of reasonably comparable enrollment: Graham to Giles: 44.0 miles (all 4-lane) Graham to Honaker: 49.6 miles (mostly 4-lane) Graham to Lebanon: 55.7 miles (all 4-lane) Graham to Marion: 62.6 miles (all 4-lane, mostly interstate) Graham to Grundy: 67.1 miles (mostly 4-lane) Any proposal that doesn't have GHS/THS/RHS clumped together should immediately be met with harsh criticism, considering the schools' enrollments are so close and that they're all along 4-lane roads. It'd also be goofy not to throw Lebanon in along with him, and it'd seem strange to exclude Honaker from the geographically convenient mix. Since the Hogo doesn't have the stones to include Marion, that's not too farfetched, either. Grayson would probably be the 7th team that I'd consider-and even then-it's not a good fit for THS/RHS/LHS/HHS. Would probably add VHS/JBHS/AHS before them. Would add Grundy, but that's a bear of a drive for Marion. Edited March 19, 2012 by UVAObserver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucfan64 307 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Couple of observations.... #1 It'll be possible for the new Clinch Mountain District to have 4 of the 8 teams in the 2A West regional since Richlands, Tazewell and Marion will be in a different conference than the other CMD teams. For example: Richlands wins the Conference 39 tournament and Tazewell finishes 2nd; both advance to region. Virginia High wins the Conf 40 tournament and Lebanon finishes 2nd; both advance. #2 As I understand it from looking at the presentation, the regions would be allowed to divide themselves in half geographically if the chose to reduce post-season travel. So we COULD end up with something like 2A West (western half): Conf 39 (Richlands/Tazewell/Marion/Grayson/Graham) Conf 40 (Grundy/GC/Lebanon/VHS/JSB/Lee/Union/Central) 2A West (eastern half): Conf 37 (Appomattox/Chatham/Dan River/Nelson/Gretna) Conf 38 (James River/Floyd/Giles/Glenvar/Martinsville) So basically, the far SWVA schools MIGHT end up only seeing the 37/38 teams once--in the 2A West final. More or less the 39/40 schools would end up being like the old Region D with the 37/38 schools being like Region C. Not throwing stones at you, you seem to have made some sense out of this boondoggle. But, reading this post reminds me of how I felt taking Calculus for the first time! .....................my head hurts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghs73 157 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Tazewell is less than 25 miles from Bluefield, VA. I get 16.2 miles between the two high schools.Actually closer from GHS to THS than THS to RHS (18.7 miles). To complete loop, a straight shot from GHS to RHS is 33.4 miles. Contrast that with Graham to Independence, which is 67.7 miles if you take I-77 to US-21. And that's the 2nd-CLOSEST trip to GCHS (excluding the VA-16 suicide route) in the VHSL's stupid proposal. 67.7 miles is more travel than the following arrangements to schools of reasonably comparable enrollment: Graham to Giles: 44.0 miles (all 4-lane) Graham to Honaker: 49.6 miles (mostly 4-lane) Graham to Lebanon: 55.7 miles (all 4-lane) Graham to Marion: 62.6 miles (all 4-lane, mostly interstate) Graham to Grundy: 67.1 miles (mostly 4-lane) Any proposal that doesn't have GHS/THS/RHS clumped together should immediately be met with harsh criticism, considering the schools' enrollments are so close and that they're all along 4-lane roads. It'd also be goofy not to throw Lebanon in along with him, and it'd seem strange to exclude Honaker from the geographically convenient mix. Since the Hogo doesn't have the stones to include Marion, that's not too farfetched, either. Grayson would probably be the 7th team that I'd consider-and even then-it's not a good fit for THS/RHS/LHS/HHS. Would probably add VHS/JBHS/AHS before them. Would add Grundy, but that's a bear of a drive for Marion. like i said less than 25 miles did not know the exact milage as you do but i know it is less that 25 miles from tazewell to blfd. va. i lived in blfd for almost 50 years.my point was people talking about the drive from tazewell to independence over route 16 a road i have driven on many occasions and not one for a bus load of kids. but that it would only be less than 25 miles further for tazewell to travel 460 to 77 to 81 for these schools nothing more nothing less. i have no idea about the realignment the vhsl has in mind nor does it matter to me because no matter what if i want to drive to watch ghs i have to drive 175 miles give or take a few anyways so driving to marion or grayson to watch ghs is actually closer for me.as for anyone else it is their choice to drive or not to drive.things change and we need to adapt to change, some can some cannot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghs73 157 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 like i said less than 25 miles did not know the exact milage as you do but i know it is less that 25 miles from tazewell to blfd. va. i lived in blfd for almost 50 years.my point was people talking about the drive from tazewell to independence over route 16 a road i have driven on many occasions and not one for a bus load of kids. but that it would only be less than 25 miles further for tazewell to travel 460 to 77 to 81 for these schools nothing more nothing less. i have no idea about the realignment the vhsl has in mind nor does it matter to me because no matter what if i want to drive to watch ghs i have to drive 175 miles give or take a few anyways so driving to marion or grayson to watch ghs is actually closer for me.as for anyone else it is their choice to drive or not to drive.things change and we need to adapt to change, some can some cannot. actually to correct my self did not say less than but 25 miles or so. still much safer drive than over route 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoard 18 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Tazewell is less than 25 miles from Bluefield, VA. I get 16.2 miles between the two high schools.Actually closer from GHS to THS than THS to RHS (18.7 miles). To complete loop, a straight shot from GHS to RHS is 33.4 miles. Contrast that with Graham to Independence, which is 67.7 miles if you take I-77 to US-21. And that's the 2nd-CLOSEST trip to GCHS (excluding the VA-16 suicide route) in the VHSL's stupid proposal. 67.7 miles is more travel than the following arrangements to schools of reasonably comparable enrollment: Graham to Giles: 44.0 miles (all 4-lane) Graham to Honaker: 49.6 miles (mostly 4-lane) Graham to Lebanon: 55.7 miles (all 4-lane) Graham to Marion: 62.6 miles (all 4-lane, mostly interstate) Graham to Grundy: 67.1 miles (mostly 4-lane) Any proposal that doesn't have GHS/THS/RHS clumped together should immediately be met with harsh criticism, considering the schools' enrollments are so close and that they're all along 4-lane roads. It'd also be goofy not to throw Lebanon in along with him, and it'd seem strange to exclude Honaker from the geographically convenient mix. Since the Hogo doesn't have the stones to include Marion, that's not too farfetched, either. Grayson would probably be the 7th team that I'd consider-and even then-it's not a good fit for THS/RHS/LHS/HHS. Would probably add VHS/JBHS/AHS before them. Would add Grundy, but that's a bear of a drive for Marion. You're looking at this from Graham's perspective and ignoring the big picture. So lets say you get Grundy, Graham, Richlands, Tazewell and Lebanon in one conference as you suggest. I left out Honaker because they won't even be 2A, they will be 1A. The other one, I presume, would be Gate City, Lee, Marion, Central, Union, VHS and Battle. I'm not sure why you mentioned AHS/Abingdon because they are 3A. -- What's a worse trip---Marion to Lee, Central AND Union, or Grayson to Richlands?? -- Then Grayson ends up in C38 with Floyd, Giles and Glenvar, which isn't too unreasonable--until you factor in that Martinsville and James River are also in it. So I ask again, how would you align the conferences? More specifically, where would you put Grayson? For years Tazewell, Graham, Marion and Richlands were all in the same district--with Carroll County--which geographically is about the same distance from all those as Grayson. Now suddenly it's some type of absurdity to put them all in the same playoff grouping??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beamerball 566 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Don't think you could include Honaker either, believe they'll probably be 1A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 actually to correct my self did not say less than but 25 miles or so. still much safer drive than over route 16 I don't disagree that it's much safer. In fact, completely agree. I tried to drive at this in my initial post...the extended distance makes that district ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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