Well now that the dust has settled on the regular season I thought it would be fun for the Raceland guys to talk about their preseason predictions. We all had our opinions on what the Rams record would be after beefing up their schedule. There was a lot of unknowns to being the season. Most didn’t think that Hazard and NCC would be as bad as they were. For me I have to give the Rams a A+ grade. I was thinking as bad as 5-5 with the best possible outcome 7-3. Raceland got smoked by Highlands and LCA. There was no chance we could’ve won those games. We had a small chance to pull off the Assland win but feel short. I’m the end we won the games we were capable of winning and had a toss up with Assland. It was a great year for growth and I hope we keep the schedule the way it is. Now it’s onto the post season and a date somewhere along the line with Pikeville.
So let’s hear it. What are your thoughts on the regular season ??
(10-27-2023, 11:22 PM)RAMDAD50 Wrote: [ -> ]Well now that the dust has settled on the regular season I thought it would be fun for the Raceland guys to talk about their preseason predictions. We all had our opinions on what the Rams record would be after beefing up their schedule. There was a lot of unknowns to being the season. Most didn’t think that Hazard and NCC would be as bad as they were. For me I have to give the Rams a A+ grade. I was thinking as bad as 5-5 with the best possible outcome 7-3. Raceland got smoked by Highlands and LCA. There was no chance we could’ve won those games. We had a small chance to pull off the Assland win but feel short. I’m the end we won the games we were capable of winning and had a toss up with Assland. It was a great year for growth and I hope we keep the schedule the way it is. Now it’s onto the post season and a date somewhere along the line with Pikeville.
So let’s hear it. What are your thoughts on the regular season ??
Coming into the season I thought we would be 5-5 or 6-4 at best. This team really exceeded expectations in the regular season. I was proud of the growth since the Highlands game. Even though LCA firmly beat us tonight it wasn’t a total beat down like the Highlands game was. Against LCA we could have laid down but we played hard all night despite knowing the game couldn’t be won.
That being said I don’t want to hang my hat on having a good regular season and not finish the job in the post season. The biggest thing that happened on the regular season was getting the Pikeville monkey off our back and now the bigger test is finding out if that can be repeated in the post season.
Looking back, the Pikeville game was the highlight of the regular season. They have been mental (and physical) "Kryptonite" to us. Now we we see ourselves as a legitimate championship caliber team and really believe we can finally win one. We are going into the post season and for the first time there is no such thing as that one team we just can't compete with. Win or lose, it's a good feeling.
With RPI being in the formula, I don’t think Raceland should continue scheduling teams that will pound them. They can schedule 3 and 4A teams that are winnable and build our RPI. Then you probably wouldn’t have to play Pikeville until Kroger.
(10-28-2023, 01:21 PM)Statmaster Wrote: [ -> ]With RPI being in the formula, I don’t think Raceland should continue scheduling teams that will pound them. They can schedule 3 and 4A teams that are winnable and build our RPI. Then you probably wouldn’t have to play Pikeville until Kroger.
I get what you’re saying but that defeats the purpose of scheduling up to help your program grow. This RPI crap has really hurt how we view football and how we should be running programs.
(10-28-2023, 01:21 PM)Statmaster Wrote: [ -> ]With RPI being in the formula, I don’t think Raceland should continue scheduling teams that will pound them. They can schedule 3 and 4A teams that are winnable and build our RPI. Then you probably wouldn’t have to play Pikeville until Kroger.
A problem with that is the 3A and 4A schools that are close to Raceland stopped playing us after last season and we had to go outside of our normal scheduling area to find teams to play. Had we played the same schedule as last year we would likely be one of the top 2-3 teams in RPI right now.
You are right about RPI and scheduling. Raceland beefed up their schedule and deserve kudos for doing so. However, the 3 losses hurt more than the tough scheduling helped their RPI. Maybe schedule winnable games in higher classes is the answer but if you are a good team, sometimes those guys don’t want the smoke. Ashland was winnable. Having said that, I think Raceland will benefit from their schedule this year in regards to their ultimate goal. I don’t think the weaker schedule prepares them for harder teams. No one wants to watch running clock games where stats are padded or JV teams play half the game. Sayre played a weak schedule and are ahead of them. Truly ridiculous although I think Paris beats Sayre in round 2. No one cares if you go 9-1 or 10-0 and pad your stats if you flame out early in playoffs. This could be the year for Raceland. I think they’ll have to beat Pikeville again to do it.
(10-28-2023, 07:16 PM)Belichick Wrote: [ -> ]You are right about RPI and scheduling. Raceland beefed up their schedule and deserve kudos for doing so. However, the 3 losses hurt more than the tough scheduling helped their RPI. Maybe schedule winnable games in higher classes is the answer but if you are a good team, sometimes those guys don’t want the smoke. Ashland was winnable. Having said that, I think Raceland will benefit from their schedule this year in regards to their ultimate goal. I don’t think the weaker schedule prepares them for harder teams. No one wants to watch running clock games where stats are padded or JV teams play half the game. Sayre played a weak schedule and are ahead of them. Truly ridiculous although I think Paris beats Sayre in round 2. No one cares if you go 9-1 or 10-0 and pad your stats if you flame out early in playoffs. This could be the year for Raceland. I think they’ll have to beat Pikeville again to do it.
The worst part about it all is if Paris beats Sayre then Raceland would have to play at Paris. Traveling wouldn’t bug me too much had Raceland not beaten Paris to win the district a couple of weeks ago. This really makes playing districts look pointless.
(10-28-2023, 07:16 PM)Belichick Wrote: [ -> ]You are right about RPI and scheduling. Raceland beefed up their schedule and deserve kudos for doing so. However, the 3 losses hurt more than the tough scheduling helped their RPI. Maybe schedule winnable games in higher classes is the answer but if you are a good team, sometimes those guys don’t want the smoke. Ashland was winnable. Having said that, I think Raceland will benefit from their schedule this year in regards to their ultimate goal. I don’t think the weaker schedule prepares them for harder teams. No one wants to watch running clock games where stats are padded or JV teams play half the game. Sayre played a weak schedule and are ahead of them. Truly ridiculous although I think Paris beats Sayre in round 2. No one cares if you go 9-1 or 10-0 and pad your stats if you flame out early in playoffs. This could be the year for Raceland. I think they’ll have to beat Pikeville again to do it.
Don’t sell Sayre short. But I will agree there soft schedule will/could bite them.
This year is a success as long as we make it to Kroger, imo. If we don’t, it’s no different than any other year. The program is growing though and in an upward trajectory. As an individual regular season, it has went about as expected. NCC and Hazard being horrid did surprise me, so the toughness of the schedule is essentially just off of 3 games. That being said, I don’t think I have seen more growth, mentally or physically, as I have seen out of this years team.
Don’t get me started! The RPI is hopeless. Having districts with the RPI is hopeless. Playing the first two rounds against teams that don’t have a prayer is hopeless! The whole RPI and playoff system is hopeless. My wish is that both Pikeville and Raceland go on the road in the semis and annihilate KCD and campbellsville so I can tweet the KHSAA unmercifully about their inept playoff system!
(10-28-2023, 11:43 PM)RAM-A-DEVIL Wrote: [ -> ]Don’t get me started! The RPI is hopeless. Having districts with the RPI is hopeless. Playing the first two rounds against teams that don’t have a prayer is hopeless! The whole RPI and playoff system is hopeless. My wish is that both Pikeville and Raceland go on the road in the semis and annihilate KCD and campbellsville so I can tweet the KHSAA unmercifully about their inept playoff system!
http://bluegrassrivals.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=289500&pid=2428215#pid2428215