[NIECE]

No its not right but you still have 4 other schools in your district. Estill,Powell,Fleming,Breathitt. You still have a chance to make playoffs. They also have to play Harlan. You make it sound like its only your school and Harlan in the District and they will only take the top team. Remember 5 teams in drastic and 4 advance. If you did lose against Harlan that doesn't mean you cant make the playoffs. With the new playoff like it used to be you may never see them again and the may be knocked off. How far will you make it in the playoffs by not playing in it, nowhere. So all I'm really saying is just suck it up and go with it.

Excellent quote, maybe the best on here yet. Unfortunately they did not suck it up so they will not be playing for the playoffs. Wow, wonder how we would have felt if our coach would have told us that we were not going to play the 3A district we had to play when we were a 2A school? Unfortunately we got knocked off by the eventual state runner up that year. We ran from no one and played all that would play us. And for that we will always be family!

[MR.PERFECT]

Your point is well taken Mr. Perfect and if I were in your shoes I'd be aggravated too. BUT... I'm a Black Bear fan and I'm hoping to win every game we play. I ain't gonna lie, it would be awesome to win a state championship, put an asterick beside our name on the record, it wouldn't make a difference to me. I don't even know if winning state is a possibility. This consolidation will be good for our county. I'm of the opinion that Harlan County is due.

Next year we will be playing a 5Aschedule , but this year we ain't. We hope to enjoy this season and hopefully it will be a springboard for our team's future. Our boys are working really hard in the weightroom and are anxious to get some pads on here in a month or so. Who knows what will happen this year? Two things are for sure: We have us a dandy coach that knows how to win and we have a bunch of home grown mountain boys that want to win!!!

Fair or not fair, it's reality.

You should win every game you play, Your consolidated with 2 other schools which have some tradition. Cawood had a few good years, Evarts and Scotty Russell, Cumberland and Massey. You should win every game you play, YOU HAVE 6A NUMBERS by enrollment. HCC from what I hear is going to be 6A not 5A, someone correct me if I'm wrong. Harlan co. my be due and I would be all for them if they were playing in 6A where they belong. IT WILL NOT BE A SPRING BOARD FOR THE FUTURE.
Mercer went 15-0 (5A) in 2A. They won 6 games in 5A the next year.
I wish HCC the best of luck in 6A BUT as you said: FAIR OR NOT, IT'S REALITY
It's obvious others must see it the same way as you and it's a really good situation for HCC this football season. NO WAY THIS IS RIGHT! IMO

[MR.PERFECT]

Excellent quote, maybe the best on here yet. Unfortunately they did not suck it up so they will not be playing for the playoffs. Wow, wonder how we would have felt if our coach would have told us that we were not going to play the 3A district we had to play when we were a 2A school? Unfortunately we got knocked off by the eventual state runner up that year. We ran from no one and played all that would play us. And for that we will always be family!

6A by numbers should not play in a 3A district, If anyone should be non-district it should be the cosolidated school for that season until they re-district. Why should the other smaller true 3A schools be the ones that pay. TOTAL B.S. TO LET A SCHOOL WITH TWICE THE NUMBERS PLAY DOWN. IMO and I have a right to my opinion NIECE.
As for not playing for the playoffs, How would you know? Do you work for the Khsaa?
I'm by no means against HCC and the cosolidation is fine and I wish them the BEST in 6A. But they're 4 other true 3A teams in the district, I guess FAIR OR UNFAIR, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS. I think you should let the 4 other teams in the district vote on it, but the way it looks the 4 other teams in the district just don't matter. FAIR IS FAIR, UNFAIR IS UNFAIR.

[Mama Bear]

Harlan County High School will be 5A next year.

http://www.wkyt.com/kyprepspace/headlines/18940719.html

I sincerely understand where you are coming from Mr. Perfect. I think it's clear that you are bitter. It really isn't right, but it is what it is. If the shoe was on the other foot, I'm sure that we in Harlan CO. would be singing the same song you are. I don't know what to tell ya. In my opinion, I don't think NOT PLAYING is the route to take. I think that sometimes you just gotta suit up and let the chips fall where they may. 3A vs 5A isn't that big of a mismatch IMO.

I hope you are correct that we win every game we play. I'm hopeful, but I think there's a lot of hard work ahead of us. Rest assured, those boys are working hard right now. They know they have alot of expectations placed on them.

I still believe that regardless, this year will be a springboard for our future. I think we will be very competitve in our district next year.
Clay, Letcher County Central, North Laurel, Perry County Central, and Whitley County..... I guess we will have a better clue about all of it in August whenever we make the trip across Whitesburg Mountain and play LCC in our very first football game.

HCHS had at least two 1A schools back out on them this year. Hazard and Harlan Independent. I absolutely can understand that. I did find it rather odd that Harlan Independent IS STILL playing Perry County Central and Clay County, two 5A schools that will be in HCHS' district next year.......hmm.

[EKUAlum05]

6A by numbers should not play in a 3A district, If anyone should be non-district it should be the cosolidated school for that season until they re-district. Why should the other smaller true 3A schools be the ones that pay. TOTAL B.S. TO LET A SCHOOL WITH TWICE THE NUMBERS PLAY DOWN. IMO and I have a right to my opinion NIECE.
As for not playing for the playoffs, How would you know? Do you work for the Khsaa?
I'm by no means against HCC and the cosolidation is fine and I wish them the BEST in 6A. But they're 4 other true 3A teams in the district, I guess FAIR OR UNFAIR, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS. I think you should let the 4 other teams in the district vote on it, but the way it looks the 4 other teams in the district just don't matter. FAIR IS FAIR, UNFAIR IS UNFAIR.

Do you believe Harlan County will defeat Breathitt County?

If so, do you see them beating Russell and Belfry?

Do you see them beating Louisville Central?

Harlan County isn't even the favorite to win their district, Breathitt is, so what's the point of dropping out of district play? Harlan County will more than liekly make a second round exit from the playoffs, they will not win the state title, they will not de-thrown Belfry as the elite 3A team in the mountains.....

I dont see what positive that dropping out of district play with based on a protest will do.

[MR.PERFECT]

To clarify, I never said nor know anything about anyone dropping out of district.
That was NIECE on his thread, You will have to ask him and his all knowing KHSAA insight he seems to think he has. I know nothing about anyone dropping out.
Mama Bear, I wish you the best of luck next season and nothing personal but I can't support the fact of a consolidated school being allowed to play down in a district.

[Mama Bear]

[HTML]Mama Bear, I wish you the best of luck next season and nothing personal but I can't support the fact of a consolidated school being allowed to play down in a district.[/HTML]

My son will be playing for HCHS next year, Lord willing, so that will work out fine. As for this season, if we win, then you can say, I told ya so. If we lose, then you can say , na na ni na na. lol I for one am gonna stay positive and am very very hopeful.

I would love to protest and argue our team's case against what EKUalumni05 has said, but I would just be arguing for arguments sake. Breathitt would be a good win and Belfry would be a great win. Time will only tell...

I can't stress enough how excited and anxious I am for football season to start. Our whole community is anxious to just see what happens. Go Black Bears!!

[cougarpride08]

can anyone tell me if the 5a is permanate on hchs or will they eventually be 6a? I am just glad for moutain football. I am getting excited about the season and can't wait until it starts.

[NIECE]

To clarify, I never said nor know anything about anyone dropping out of district.
That was NIECE on his thread, You will have to ask him and his all knowing KHSAA insight he seems to think he has. I know nothing about anyone dropping out.
Mama Bear, I wish you the best of luck next season and nothing personal but I can't support the fact of a consolidated school being allowed to play down in a district.

Go to khsaa.org ! At one time you all had HCHS and 1st year Walton-Verona scheduled for the same day and HCHS had you all. Now, HCHS has no one and only 9 games, you guys have Walton-Verona which equals 10 games, that is forfeiting the district!!!!!!!!! NOT PLAYING District competition, what do you not understand? It is in black and white. What comes around, goes around, those kids deserve the chance to compete for the playoffs!

[NIECE]

6A by numbers should not play in a 3A district, If anyone should be non-district it should be the cosolidated school for that season until they re-district. Why should the other smaller true 3A schools be the ones that pay. TOTAL B.S. TO LET A SCHOOL WITH TWICE THE NUMBERS PLAY DOWN. IMO and I have a right to my opinion NIECE.
As for not playing for the playoffs, How would you know? Do you work for the Khsaa?
I'm by no means against HCC and the cosolidation is fine and I wish them the BEST in 6A. But they're 4 other true 3A teams in the district, I guess FAIR OR UNFAIR, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS. I think you should let the 4 other teams in the district vote on it, but the way it looks the 4 other teams in the district just don't matter. FAIR IS FAIR, UNFAIR IS UNFAIR.

The other 4 teams don't care. I can speak for 3 HCHS, Breathitt which the coaches are friends of mine and I know Estill don't cause I talk with the coaches. Only one with the problem is you guys. Like I mentioned before, it is not right but it is the only system that is in place right now. How can you say you are part of a district and not play all the teams. There are 2 1A schools who are playing HCHS and several 2A. Hazard, Harlan, and not sure about Lynn Camp, Middlesboro. To quote EKUALUMNI "hard to paint a positive picture".

[NIECE]

You should win every game you play, Your consolidated with 2 other schools which have some tradition. Cawood had a few good years, Evarts and Scotty Russell, Cumberland and Massey. You should win every game you play, YOU HAVE 6A NUMBERS by enrollment. HCC from what I hear is going to be 6A not 5A, someone correct me if I'm wrong. Harlan co. my be due and I would be all for them if they were playing in 6A where they belong. IT WILL NOT BE A SPRING BOARD FOR THE FUTURE.
Mercer went 15-0 (5A) in 2A. They won 6 games in 5A the next year.
I wish HCC the best of luck in 6A BUT as you said: FAIR OR NOT, IT'S REALITY
It's obvious others must see it the same way as you and it's a really good situation for HCC this football season. NO WAY THIS IS RIGHT! IMO

You are talking about the past 20 +years. Don't forget Freddie Maggard he was pretty good at Cumberland. The 3 schools won a combined total of 17 games last year Cumberland being the best with 8. I guess Letcher Central should have won every game too. Whitesburg had some great teams in the past and so did Fleming Neon, took them 4 years w/ Hillard Howard at the reigns to get going, he has coached several state championship teams. HCHS will not beat Breathitt and I don't look for them to beat Estill. Fleming is a toss up because they have a lot returning and really destroyed Cawood last year for the first half leading 29-6 or 12 before getting beat 34-29. Fleming didn't get first down the second half, actually they did and even scored but it was called back. Let it go, you all have made your decision, live with it.

[FOX SPORTS]

Reminder to all...let's show a little respect to everyone's opinion or this thread will be closed.

[DEVILOLOGIST]

First I would like to say that I hope the best for this school and for the kids that play.. believe me when you hear others say things about past experiences in football, our voiced opinions do not reflect the hatred or disgust with HCC or the kids that play.. This is more focused on the loop-hole that lets this happen. I do not know the best way to fix it, I just wanted to post some numbers and stats to prove a point. @ schools can be bettter than one.....
I have to say that my 6th grade will be playing the new HArlan Co Black Bears this year at Russell. I hope the best in travel and that the game will be a great experience for all the boys. I wish that after the game the kids can say that Russell is one of the most respectful teams that they have played.

[Mama Bear]

We'll be making that trip to watch one of our boys play for the New Harlan County Patriots. We are so excited to get to compete against a caliber of a team like Russell County. Our middle school gets to play Belfy this year also in the Operation Unite Bowl which our oldest will be playing in. I can't wait to see how we "hang" with these two fantastic feeder programs. We've had alot of success at the 5/6 & 7/8 grade level.

I don't think that anything has been said here that has been anti-HCHS. I think that the general consensus is that it's kinda a bum deal for a 5A school to get to play their first season in 3A. (Not for us, but the other 3A teams :p ) I personally get it, but I can't express enough how excited I am for the Black Bears to take the field and play ball!!!

[EKUAlum05]

If HCHS is making the effort to play Belfry and Russell on the middle school level it definately speaks volumes for the direction that Larkey wants to take this school and the emphasis he is putting on the grassroots level.

Belfry's middle school team has been very successful since its consolidation, I think they have won every County Championship since the school's inception. This game will definately benefit both programs.

[VHSL-helper]

can anyone tell me if the 5a is permanate on hchs or will they eventually be 6a? I am just glad for moutain football. I am getting excited about the season and can't wait until it starts.

5a or 6a or 4a - depends on their enrollment, could change every few years.

[Real Badman]

Just because a team has great numbers at the school dosent mean they will be good. Take East Ridge for instace. They are the 3rd largest 3A school in the state andtruth be told they should probally be a 4A team. But they have only won about 8 district games snice the schools creation. So that goes to show you numbers dont really mean anything.

[VHSL-helper]

let me see if i got this straight,ky football rules confuse the heck out of me.

two saller schools combine then they go up to a 5A or 6a school. do they get to play down every year or just one?

do they make a schedule then combine for that one year in order to go for a state title? Do stay combined or dispurse after the season?
sorry for my ignorence just trying to figure it out.

It was a shame what happen to Russell a couple of years ago,now i kinda see what happen.

It's not completely KY fb rules.

Most sports contracts are 2-year deals (home-and-home), and realignment occurs every 2 (or 4) years. If something happens in the middle of that cycle, you've got problems. Here, 3 schools are consolidating. The 2 single-A teams left enough holes in their opponents schedules that it wasn't too big of a deal to find replacements. Then you have 3A becoming a 5A. If you move them now, you've got anywhere from 7-10 "mid" teams from last year looking for a game, and 7-10 "big" teams that have to drop a game to make room for the newbie. It's no easy task, but it IS do-able.

Looks like the KHSAA doesn't want to be responsible for trying to balance all this out, so they just let a school be a monster for a year and say "oh, well".

[Patriot]

Whatever happened to playing against the best talent available to make your kids better. To Be the Best You Have to Beat The Best!

Sounds like we are letting the ways of the world onto the football field and are getting pollitically correct. We don't want the kids feelings hurt because they lost. To me losing is just as important as winning. You have to know what it feels like to lose to compete at a higher level.
With HCHS it is very very unlikely they will have a state championship team.

These boys will have to learn to play with one another.

A lot of schools have full rosters but they only play there best talent and let others just sit on the sidelines never getting a chance.
But Who can blame them!

[DEVILOLOGIST]

We'll be making that trip to watch one of our boys play for the New Harlan County Patriots. We are so excited to get to compete against a caliber of a team like Russell County. Our middle school gets to play Belfy this year also in the Operation Unite Bowl which our oldest will be playing in. I can't wait to see how we "hang" with these two fantastic feeder programs. We've had alot of success at the 5/6 & 7/8 grade level.

I don't think that anything has been said here that has been anti-HCHS. I think that the general consensus is that it's kinda a bum deal for a 5A school to get to play their first season in 3A. (Not for us, but the other 3A teams :p ) I personally get it, but I can't express enough how excited I am for the Black Bears to take the field and play ball!!!

First Mama Bear.. dont go to Russell County or you will be going the wrong way. We are straight up rt 23 into and then past Ashland. We are 5 minutes past Ashland on 23 north.
And i think that our game will be a great start for next year and then down the road. I am thankful to get games that have meaning and with other schools not just local schools that we see all the time.

[EKUAlum05]

First Mama Bear.. dont go to Russell County or you will be going the wrong way. We are straight up rt 23 into and then past Ashland. We are 5 minutes past Ashland on 23 north.
And i think that our game will be a great start for next year and then down the road. I am thankful to get games that have meaning and with other schools not just local schools that we see all the time.

Reminds me of this past years playoffs when Belfry fans are eating in Somerset and run into people sporting "Breathitt County" gear, they thought they were right on time to make the game until that useful piece of advise was forwarded.

[NIECE]

Just because a team has great numbers at the school dosent mean they will be good. Take East Ridge for instace. They are the 3rd largest 3A school in the state andtruth be told they should probally be a 4A team. But they have only won about 8 district games snice the schools creation. So that goes to show you numbers dont really mean anything.

Another person who seems to understand, Well Said!

[MR.PERFECT]

It's not completely KY fb rules.

Most sports contracts are 2-year deals (home-and-home), and realignment occurs every 2 (or 4) years. If something happens in the middle of that cycle, you've got problems. Here, 3 schools are consolidating. The 2 single-A teams left enough holes in their opponents schedules that it wasn't too big of a deal to find replacements. Then you have 3A becoming a 5A. If you move them now, you've got anywhere from 7-10 "mid" teams from last year looking for a game, and 7-10 "big" teams that have to drop a game to make room for the newbie. It's no easy task, but it IS do-able.

Looks like the KHSAA doesn't want to be responsible for trying to balance all this out, so they just let a school be a monster for a year and say "oh, well".

WELL SAID! This is just exactly how it is.:moon: Not right but how it is.