RichlandsAlum 678 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 21 minutes ago, Bluefield researcher said: He didn't go to a school in the Tidewater area. He was at Patrick Henry in Roanoke in 1989. They played a game vs Homer Ferguson at Todd Stadium in Newport News. At Halftime he yelled at his team because they were losing. He was reported to have said, "Are you gonna let a bunch of N beat you?". He was fired. But Richlands hired him a year later. Not exactly the version I heard. In admonishing a player (or players) of African descent to avoid behaving at the level of members of the opposing team, supposedly he said something along the lines of, "Let them act like N, but we're not going to do that." Still wrong to say, but context is everything. A long-serving and respected local government administrator in the Roanoke area used the term "N in a wood pile" after Vaught's incident at PH and served on into retirement. Also, Richlands didn't hire him a year later. He was brought in by the Superintendent in 1990 with the notion that he would take over the next head coaching job that happened to be available in Tazewell County. Coincidentally that was Richlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hokiebird7 1,416 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 3 minutes ago, Bluefield researcher said: Yes. Won a state championship there. Thought so...with Anthony "speed" Merchant I believe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsntu88 84 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 6 hours ago, UVAObserver said: Perhaps it's different circles. If you ask a lifelong Salem fan who's in the 44-48 age range, you'll get an earful. I've tested this enough to publish this in a peer-reviewed journal. Well there’s those fans. I can certainly understand it if they were on the 92 team. Once Richlands was found out, they probably felt cheated out of something they worked hard for. If they were students during that time and not on the team then they may feel that their classmates got cheated. Not saying the Richlands players cheated. From what I gather, it wasn’t the fault of the players. That cleatgate was on Richlands’ coach. It probably didn’t make a difference. But the Richlands players on that team now have the asterisk on the trophy they won. Most Salem fans I see everyday do not whine about it. Why should they whine? From 1996 through today, they’ve been the cream of the crop in the Roanoke Valley. 9 state championships in 21 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW_VA_boy 492 Report Share Posted August 3, 2020 4 hours ago, Dookthecook said: Pine Ears not bit sceert green water. Wouldnt expect them to be. On a serious note, a couple years ago when both programs were having strong tennis seasons the coach at Narrows was explaining to the kids how far of a bus ride it could possibly be to Ewing. They ended up having a round trip to John Battle and got smoked by a loaded team there that season. But the point that hit home to the kids was that TWHS was actually further west than Detroit, MI on a map and it would be a long, full day and trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,739 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 13 hours ago, SW_VA_boy said: But the point that hit home to the kids was that TWHS was actually further west than Detroit, MI on a map I had never thought about that lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dookthecook 56 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 werd wee git hear is JayAre Ewing iz hour finder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted August 4, 2020 4 hours ago, redtiger said: I had never thought about that lol One of those “perspective” things that doesn’t seem right. Closer to 8 other state capitals than their own. redtiger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsntu88 84 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 9 hours ago, UVAObserver said: One of those “perspective” things that doesn’t seem right. Closer to 8 other state capitals than their own. One thing that hurts it is the lack of attention that Richmond gives them. Hell, I live 3 hours from Richmond and just under 3 hours from Charleston. Craig County borders on SWVA and the Virginia Highlands. Richmond would dump the part of the state from Bath County to Lee if they could. Irishman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dookthecook 56 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 15 hours ago, rsntu88 said: One thing that hurts it is the lack of attention that Richmond gives them. Hell, I live 3 hours from Richmond and just under 3 hours from Charleston. Craig County borders on SWVA and the Virginia Highlands. Richmond would dump the part of the state from Bath County to Lee if they could. Luv us'n taxes GMan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwhscoachT 162 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 On 8/4/2020 at 12:48 PM, UVAObserver said: One of those “perspective” things that doesn’t seem right. Closer to 8 other state capitals than their own. And we get more from those capitals than our own. The last time Richmond cared about this end of the state, the Native Americas were still the majority land owner. Deleted Account, WVU44 and chipinbogey 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted August 5, 2020 6 minutes ago, TwhscoachT said: And we get more from those capitals than our own. The last time Richmond cared about this end of the state, the Native Americas were still the majority land owner. This we can agree on. Irishman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldindian444 3 Report Share Posted August 26, 2020 Giles is done!! In everything. Doesnt matter if they are 1A or 2A. No athletes, and lack of interest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inStripes 932 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 Giles is now a member of the Mountain Empire in the next cycle after winning their appeal. redtiger, GMan and jarhead24219 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hokiebird7 1,416 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 30 minutes ago, 1inStripes said: Giles is now a member of the Mountain Empire in the next cycle after winning their appeal. Good sixcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,913 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 1 hour ago, 1inStripes said: Giles is now a member of the Mountain Empire in the next cycle after winning their appeal. I suspected Giles would win on appeal. They are in a very similar position as Fort Chiswell and Grayson County were in recent years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublue 939 Report Share Posted September 2, 2020 Timesland @Timesland VHSL reverses decision on allowing Giles to drop to Class 1. The Spartans will now move down beginning in the 2021-22 season #Timesland Giles wins appeal to drop to Class 1, join MED Robert Anderson https://roanoke.com/sports/high-school/giles-wins-appeal-to-drop-to-class-1-join-med/article_26a80078-03e6-52f4-8267-b1e2927abcad.html great state Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Sasquatch 1,864 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 Good news for the Giles faithful, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hokiebird7 1,416 Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 9 hours ago, Real Sasquatch said: Good news for the Giles faithful, I suppose. Great news Real Sasquatch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,739 Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 Stay in 2A and get your guts stomped out by schools that are almost twice as big as you or move to 1A and be at the very top in terms of size. I imagine its VERY good news 1inStripes and Real Sasquatch 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Sasquatch 1,864 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 Or play up a division like Graham did for nearly 40 years. They still managed 2 titles in 2A with 1A numbers. Graham is getting dangerously close to 1A numbers again. If they go to a 4 classification system with the cutoff around 500., Graham and Tazewell may be dropping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BandanaVTDavis4321 1,710 Report Share Posted September 3, 2020 57 minutes ago, Real Sasquatch said: Or play up a division like Graham did for nearly 40 years. They still managed 2 titles in 2A with 1A numbers. Graham is getting dangerously close to 1A numbers again. If they go to a 4 classification system with the cutoff around 500., Graham and Tazewell may be dropping. "3A" Division 3 for Graham, not 2A. Graham won 2 titles at the Division 3 level while playing with 1A numbers. Back then, there were 6 levels of classification like there is today, but they were called Divisions. Div 1 through 6. Graham was Div 3. You also had single A, AA, and AAA and in Single A, you had Div 1 and 2. In AA, you had Div 3 and 4, and in AAA, you had Div 5 and 6. Most people used the lingo of Big and Small instead of Divisions when describing a team. For example, Richlands in 1992 was "Double A big," or Division 4. Graham was "AA small," meaning Division 3, biut not to be mistaken as the 2nd out of 6 levels of play. In 1962, Graham had 2A numbers at best (borderline 1A numbers) when they won the Triple A state title, and VA only had 3 classes or levels of play then. From 1970 to 1985, vA still only had 3 classes and Graham was AA and should have been 1A the whole time. Graham had several state semis and one state title loss while in Div 3 in addition to the 2 titles won while in Div 3. In all truth, Graham played not just up for 50 years, but played 2 levels/2 classifications up for about 45-50 years. That's the remarkable part to me in that they truly were borderline playing up 2 classifications from where they should have been. Last of all, how about Tazewell's 86 and Richland's 92 titles. Both would be equal to 4A today as both schools then were 2A "big," Division 4 and VA having 6 classes of play, both schools won titles playing at the 4yh highest out of 6 classifications. That's impressive. Gridiron60 and Deleted Account 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Sasquatch 1,864 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 5 hours ago, vtdavis4321 said: "3A" Division 3 for Graham, not 2A. Graham won 2 titles at the Division 3 level while playing with 1A numbers. Back then, there were 6 levels of classification like there is today, but they were called Divisions. Div 1 through 6. Graham was Div 3. You also had single A, AA, and AAA and in Single A, you had Div 1 and 2. In AA, you had Div 3 and 4, and in AAA, you had Div 5 and 6. Most people used the lingo of Big and Small instead of Divisions when describing a team. For example, Richlands in 1992 was "Double A big," or Division 4. Graham was "AA small," meaning Division 3, biut not to be mistaken as the 2nd out of 6 levels of play. In 1962, Graham had 2A numbers at best (borderline 1A numbers) when they won the Triple A state title, and VA only had 3 classes or levels of play then. From 1970 to 1985, vA still only had 3 classes and Graham was AA and should have been 1A the whole time. Graham had several state semis and one state title loss while in Div 3 in addition to the 2 titles won while in Div 3. In all truth, Graham played not just up for 50 years, but played 2 levels/2 classifications up for about 45-50 years. That's the remarkable part to me in that they truly were borderline playing up 2 classifications from where they should have been. Last of all, how about Tazewell's 86 and Richland's 92 titles. Both would be equal to 4A today as both schools then were 2A "big," Division 4 and VA having 6 classes of play, both schools won titles playing at the 4yh highest out of 6 classifications. That's impressive. Im old. It used to be A, AA and AAA before all that Division 1, 2 and 3 crap. And it was A Division 1 and 2. AA division 3 and 4 amd AAA division 5 and 6. I go way back before that 6 division stuff. Grahams enrollment has been as low as about 475 in the recent past, but not "Division 1" numbers. They have been at the lower end of"Division 2 for a while now. In the 80a it hovered around 600-700. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 17 hours ago, vtdavis4321 said: "3A" Division 3 for Graham, not 2A. Graham won 2 titles at the Division 3 level while playing with 1A numbers. Back then, there were 6 levels of classification like there is today, but they were called Divisions. Div 1 through 6. Graham was Div 3. You also had single A, AA, and AAA and in Single A, you had Div 1 and 2. In AA, you had Div 3 and 4, and in AAA, you had Div 5 and 6. Most people used the lingo of Big and Small instead of Divisions when describing a team. For example, Richlands in 1992 was "Double A big," or Division 4. Graham was "AA small," meaning Division 3, biut not to be mistaken as the 2nd out of 6 levels of play. In 1962, Graham had 2A numbers at best (borderline 1A numbers) when they won the Triple A state title, and VA only had 3 classes or levels of play then. From 1970 to 1985, vA still only had 3 classes and Graham was AA and should have been 1A the whole time. Graham had several state semis and one state title loss while in Div 3 in addition to the 2 titles won while in Div 3. In all truth, Graham played not just up for 50 years, but played 2 levels/2 classifications up for about 45-50 years. That's the remarkable part to me in that they truly were borderline playing up 2 classifications from where they should have been. Last of all, how about Tazewell's 86 and Richland's 92 titles. Both would be equal to 4A today as both schools then were 2A "big," Division 4 and VA having 6 classes of play, both schools won titles playing at the 4yh highest out of 6 classifications. That's impressive. It was Class AA, Division 3... Real Sasquatch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMan 3,569 Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 11 hours ago, Real Sasquatch said: They have been at the lower end of"Division 2 for a while now. In the 80a it hovered around 600-700. In 1985, there were 510 students at Graham. My class had 120. I don't think Graham has ever had over 600 students...been close but never over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichlandsAlum 678 Report Share Posted September 4, 2020 45 minutes ago, GMan said: In 1985, there were 510 students at Graham. My class had 120. I don't think Graham has ever had over 600 students...been close but never over... Population in Tazewell County peaked right around 1980. At that time Richlands had an enrollment of about 1,300 and there was a lot of chatter about us being bumped up to Class AAA and playing in the old Roanoke Valley District. (Guessing that we may have even been the beneficiary of a classification appeal ourselves at that time.) But those numbers started to drop pretty consistently shortly thereafter. By the time I graduated in 1989 RHS was down to about 1,100. Pointing all of that out on our end of the county because I'm curious if things were the same in Bluefield. Narrative I always heard growing up was that Graham "played up" consistently from the point of the 1970 realignment. And that does indeed make the athletic accomplishments of those teams more impressive, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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