[I Rule The World]

No, he looked his kids in the eye and said, "Sorry guys, but we're being asked to travel 3+ hours, one-way, on a Wednesday night--which means I would have to arrange for each of our players to miss a half-day of school on Wednesday, find mid-day transportation for those students, feed those students, find two bus drivers who would be taken off of their regular routes, find 2 sub drivers for those drivers, find money to provide for 400 hundred miles of traveling (2 buses, over 100 miles each way @ $1.20 per mile) plus money to pay the drivers, return to our field house at approximately 12:00 a.m on a school night, provide transportation home from the field house for students who live as far as 45 minutes to 1 hour from the field house--so they'll be getting home around 1:00 a.m--who will then need to shower and eat again, putting them in bed around 2:00 am (again--on a SCHOOL night.) Then those players would have to be up by 7:00 a.m the next morning to attend school. That's a lot to ask from any young man." If the game would have been played at a neutral site, New Harlan would have been there. The reponse they received from KYMSFA was "All we can do is ask Adams to move the game and they don't want to."

I'll say again, get your facts straight before you post something that you really know nothing about.

3 Hours 1 way??? I think you need a geography lesson.. It takes us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to Prestonsburg... It takes 45 min. to get to Harlan.. Isn't that 2 hours??

[I Rule The World]

They could have went on but again its a poor set up and the KYMSAA needs to look at there tournament before they are under before they even get started. Maybe next year I think we are going to try to have a SoutheasternKYMS tournament or something.

If what you are saying were true then I think that KYMSAA would have been on here backing what your saying and they are not! LC just can't beat New Harlan, Thats way they switched conf and got away from NH!

3 teams is not a conference.. This is my first year in middle school, coming down from high school trying to get our feeder program turned in the right direction.. So we needed an all around change, and the Big Sandy conference offered gate receipts at the pre season and post season grids.. A chance to host these in the future, and , a full schedule of games.. Thats what we needed.. We didn't need to play Evarts, cumberland, and NH 3 or 4 times in the same year.. I feel it was the right decision.. The Big Sandy League is a tough place to play... But Fair.. And we don't have to go over Pine Mountain 8 or 9 times a year..

[goBIGblue82]

No, he looked his kids in the eye and said, "Sorry guys, but we're being asked to travel 3+ hours, one-way, on a Wednesday night--which means I would have to arrange for each of our players to miss a half-day of school on Wednesday, find mid-day transportation for those students, feed those students, find two bus drivers who would be taken off of their regular routes, find 2 sub drivers for those drivers, find money to provide for 400 hundred miles of traveling (2 buses, over 100 miles each way @ $1.20 per mile) plus money to pay the drivers, return to our field house at approximately 12:00 a.m on a school night, provide transportation home from the field house for students who live as far as 45 minutes to 1 hour from the field house--so they'll be getting home around 1:00 a.m--who will then need to shower and eat again, putting them in bed around 2:00 am (again--on a SCHOOL night.) Then those players would have to be up by 7:00 a.m the next morning to attend school. That's a lot to ask from any young man." If the game would have been played at a neutral site, New Harlan would have been there. The reponse they received from KYMSFA was "All we can do is ask Adams to move the game and they don't want to."

I'll say again, get your facts straight before you post something that you really know nothing about.

I'll say it again man up and go ask your coach his real reasoning. If either team must travel more than 2 hours it is automatically scheduled at a neutral site. So either it was less than a 2 hour distance and Adams didn't want to play at a neutral site or it was more than a 2 hour distance and there are other factors of why New Harlan is no longer in the playoffs.

[Boo Boo bear]

3 teams is not a conference.. This is my first year in middle school, coming down from high school trying to get our feeder program turned in the right direction.. So we needed an all around change, and the Big Sandy conference offered gate receipts at the pre season and post season grids.. A chance to host these in the future, and , a full schedule of games.. Thats what we needed.. We didn't need to play Evarts, cumberland, and NH 3 or 4 times in the same year.. I feel it was the right decision.. The Big Sandy League is a tough place to play... But Fair.. And we don't have to go over Pine Mountain 8 or 9 times a year..

cross pine mtn? are you complaining about travel how dare you...yeah why play new harlan 3 times a year maybe because leslie could never beat nh

[Boo Boo bear]

I said nothing about not getting beat.. thats why we didn't play this week.. Don't you think I would have taken the opprotunity to play the game if I was so worried about the outcome.??

Why the switching of the officials?? Why not play with the ones they sent in?? I wanted our kids to have the fairest game we could have.. I felt with that certain group, we couldn't get that.. KYMSFA agreed.. So don't trash me as a coach, because I feel like I was trying to level the playing field.. doing what was best for them.. The real tradgedy would have been if I would have let my kids go over there and play while knowing about that group.. I have never disputed that we got beat... But the way things were done, was wrong.. I also am thankful I am not your sons coach..

trust me.. I am not the only coach who thinks this... There are many, who consulted and warned me before our game..

By the way, congratulations to Johnson Co. 7th and 8th grade for winning their second round playoff games.. 8th over Rowan co. and 7th over Verity.. Nice job Coach Blair and Coach Holbrook...

you did in fact state it affected the out come of the game in your very first post consulted who bgr threads lets see maybe knox and bell...i'll bet the big sandy will regret let your team in there conf..i can hear it now they cheated

[Boo Boo bear]

If travel is too far for one group, the KYMSFA can grant that it be played at a neutral location. It wouldn't be up to the other team. If this is the reason Harlan decided to exit the state tournament, then I believe the coach really let his kids down. With the chance they had to win a State Championship, he looked his kids in the eyes and said sorry guys but I cant give you the opportunity to compete in the tournament because I dont want to play away games.

you said it CAN GRANT DID'nt GRANT anything this is harlan county not lex cath...last year jc did agree to meet new harlan halfway played at lcc.. the kymsfa let these kids down not coach ..politics some teams play one game there in the state semis other teams play 3 or 4 games you can quess what teams play 1 game and what teams play 3 or 4 and you dont have to think real hard maybe knighted heard something about this seems to hear alot on everything else.:devilflam

[Boo Boo bear]

one more thing if in fact new harlan did as knighted put it get the death penalty .why has,nt someone from kymsfa said anything on bgr about it. i know surely there must be some members that read and post this sight .because if these are untrue statements someone should apoligize.and if they are true vise versa..

[Joker's Wild]

I'll say it again man up and go ask your coach his real reasoning. If either team must travel more than 2 hours it is automatically scheduled at a neutral site. So either it was less than a 2 hour distance and Adams didn't want to play at a neutral site or it was more than a 2 hour distance and there are other factors of why New Harlan is no longer in the playoffs.

You are misinformed--apparently it is not automatic--unless someone was right about the politics. Jeff Mann from KYMSFA said that it was Adams home game and that if they did not want to move it, they would not have to--which is fine. No complaints from this side about it. But that did prevent NH from making that trip on a Wednesday night.

Here's is the real story.

Our coach received an email from Coach Mann that Leslie County had requested that one official not be used. They did not know this official, had never had any prior experience with this official, and had no reason to request that this official not be used--except apparently they had talked to who knows who that had told them not to use him. Our coach questioned Coach Mann about this procedure and how he felt it was unfair to the official to be "black-balled" for no legitimate reason. Anyway, our coach relayed to the request to his AD and to the officiating crew. On gameday, this official did show up as part of the crew (at that point-what should NH have done--postponed the game until another official could have been found? apparently so) and did umpire the game. Our coach had done all he could do and at this point there weren't many options left. The only calls the Leslie County had against them were basically off-sides penalties and false-starts. There was one unsportmanlike conduct penalty against their sideline called by the head referee. (This was about the time that someone was coming out of their stands to stand on the sideline and threaten a NH player) Basically, what you have from the LC side is a bunch of whining and crying over nothing because they were soundly beat by a better football team. Their team threw 3 int's (1 of which was returned for a touchdown by NH and subsequently called back on a holding penalty) and lost a fumble. The officiating crew had nothing to do with the outcome of this game. There were no "drive-killing penalties" called against LC as "I Rule the World" tried to claim in an earlier post--only "drive killing" turnovers.

As for the game at Adams:

When the NH coach was informed that the game would not be moved, he had been up front the entire time to the KYMSFA staff, that his team would not be able to make that trip on a week night. Hope was left open that the game would be moved to a neutral site, but that never materialized. When it became apparent Sunday that the game was not going to me moved, NH withdrew from the playoffs. They were then informed that had been dismissed from the playoffs. Its kind of like the old "you can't fire me, I quit" thing.

LC, for some unknown reason, seems to have some sort of axe to grind with the NH program. New Harlan has been more than generous in the past in trying to help LC out with bowl games and other games to get their program up to speed. For whatever reason, LC has complaints. That is, and will remain, on them. NH runs a class program that has benefited many young men for several years. Ask our parents--current and former--about the way our coaching staff has treated and taught their players, and the will tell you--Coach Wood, Coach Craig, and the rest of the coaching staff are class acts and top notch.

[goBIGblue82]

you said it CAN GRANT DID'nt GRANT anything this is harlan county not lex cath...last year jc did agree to meet new harlan halfway played at lcc.. the kymsfa let these kids down not coach ..politics some teams play one game there in the state semis other teams play 3 or 4 games you can quess what teams play 1 game and what teams play 3 or 4 and you dont have to think real hard maybe knighted heard something about this seems to hear alot on everything else.:devilflam

Excuses, is that the foundation which New Harlan's program is built upon. Sure sounds like it. I didn't get my way so I'm not going to play anymore. Now don't get me wrong, I have no definite affiliation with any KY schools. However, I do enjoy "Mountain Football" and I was really looking forward to watching some mountain schools participate in this tournament. But, if you are going to forfeit the rest of your season that's your coach's decision and teams business. However, when you start posting it all over this site blaming anyone and everyone you can for your departure it makes it everyone's business. From everything you've said it was your coaches decision, so you should respect his decision and quit blaming others.

[CatMomma]

We all know the real reason.....REFS

[ILiveForHim]

I agree CatMomma, we all know the real reason. And its a shame for the kids.

[Black Bear Mama]

KMSFA is a non profit organization, the $500 covered the tshirts that each team and coaching staff would receive plus your team picture in the program. The guys running this work very hard and I commend them greatly. It gives the kids a chance to compete for something bigger than 10-1 season and bragging rights. It gives you a chance to say that you are the best team in the state. It may end up costing a lot but to me it's worth it because its a once in a lifetime experience for these kids.

I fully understand the boys competing against other teams and the chance for bragging rights but it does not cost 500 dollars to buys a few t-shirts and place a picture in a program that you are going to turn around and sale for a a profit. I am a booster and I know how the profit works with programs. It was absolutely ridiculous to expect a team to travel almost three hours away for a game on a Wednesday and have to pay the expenses of that. There are too many teams closer to Harlan Co that we could have played.

[Black Bear Mama]

either way it doesn't make any sense to me. If New Harlan only needed $500 to have "sponsorship" I find it hard to believe that they couldnt find any coal company over there that wouldn't be willing to pony up that kind of money. And if it was an age issue, everyone should have know that up front, and the coaching staff would have to have realized that they would not be able to make it all the way through the playoffs without someone looking at the ages of all of their players.

Hey Corbinfan, Our coach has birth certificates if you would like to see them but there was no problems with the ages of any child on the Patiot team.!!

[Black Bear Mama]

either way it doesn't make any sense to me. If New Harlan only needed $500 to have "sponsorship" I find it hard to believe that they couldnt find any coal company over there that wouldn't be willing to pony up that kind of money. And if it was an age issue, everyone should have know that up front, and the coaching staff would have to have realized that they would not be able to make it all the way through the playoffs without someone looking at the ages of all of their players.

What I was told was that their was a specific officiating crew that was supposed to of been used in that game. This crew was selected by the board of the KMSFA but was dismissed my New Harlan and then New Harlan inserted their own crew to officiate the game? Why would they do that? There has to be an better explaination than " we like our crew better". So now your blackballed from the association? Is this for this year or life? I just want to believe that there is a reason that New Harlan did this. Please tell.

I am sorry but you have "heard" wrong. New Harlan chose to withdrawl theirselve from the tournament because of the schedule and travel issues on a Wednesday night. Ridiculous!!!

[Black Bear Mama]

We all know the real reason.....REFS

No, you are wrong, the real reason has been stated and it has nothing to do with the refs. You should make statements on facts and not what "you heard" Anyway, should somebody from Bell Co. really be talking about bad refs?

[corbinfan1988]

black bear mama, I wasn't accusing you of having older players. I was just asking a question as to how that didn't seem a legitimate reason for being out of the playoffs. I'm just now that I'm hearing about the schedule problem. Maybe your coach should have looked at moving the Leslie Co game up, and then moving the Adams game to when you played Leslie??? Adams didnt have to play anybody, and more than likely Leslie didn't either. This could have been prevented in my opinion. We were looking forward at opportunity to playing you guys again in the finals.

[goBIGblue82]

You are misinformed--apparently it is not automatic--unless someone was right about the politics. Jeff Mann from KYMSFA said that it was Adams home game and that if they did not want to move it, they would not have to--which is fine. No complaints from this side about it. But that did prevent NH from making that trip on a Wednesday night.

Here's is the real story.

Our coach received an email from Coach Mann that Leslie County had requested that one official not be used. They did not know this official, had never had any prior experience with this official, and had no reason to request that this official not be used--except apparently they had talked to who knows who that had told them not to use him. Our coach questioned Coach Mann about this procedure and how he felt it was unfair to the official to be "black-balled" for no legitimate reason. Anyway, our coach relayed to the request to his AD and to the officiating crew. On gameday, this official did show up as part of the crew (at that point-what should NH have done--postponed the game until another official could have been found? apparently so) and did umpire the game. Our coach had done all he could do and at this point there weren't many options left. The only calls the Leslie County had against them were basically off-sides penalties and false-starts. There was one unsportmanlike conduct penalty against their sideline called by the head referee. (This was about the time that someone was coming out of their stands to stand on the sideline and threaten a NH player) Basically, what you have from the LC side is a bunch of whining and crying over nothing because they were soundly beat by a better football team. Their team threw 3 int's (1 of which was returned for a touchdown by NH and subsequently called back on a holding penalty) and lost a fumble. The officiating crew had nothing to do with the outcome of this game. There were no "drive-killing penalties" called against LC as "I Rule the World" tried to claim in an earlier post--only "drive killing" turnovers.

As for the game at Adams:

When the NH coach was informed that the game would not be moved, he had been up front the entire time to the KYMSFA staff, that his team would not be able to make that trip on a week night. Hope was left open that the game would be moved to a neutral site, but that never materialized. When it became apparent Sunday that the game was not going to me moved, NH withdrew from the playoffs. They were then informed that had been dismissed from the playoffs. Its kind of like the old "you can't fire me, I quit" thing.

LC, for some unknown reason, seems to have some sort of axe to grind with the NH program. New Harlan has been more than generous in the past in trying to help LC out with bowl games and other games to get their program up to speed. For whatever reason, LC has complaints. That is, and will remain, on them. NH runs a class program that has benefited many young men for several years. Ask our parents--current and former--about the way our coaching staff has treated and taught their players, and the will tell you--Coach Wood, Coach Craig, and the rest of the coaching staff are class acts and top notch.

I don't doubt that NH had LC beat without the help of the officials. NH has the better team in every aspect of the game. However, IMO if it is requested that you not use an official by a team, and then reaffirmed by the KYMSFA, then I would take that serious. As far as not wanting to travel on a week night, I respect the coach on his decision. I guess I'm just a little disappointed, because I felt like NH had a very good chance to make it to the finals. I just feel for the kids, were they asked for their opinion on the subject.

[Mama Bear]

NH runs a class program that has benefited many young men for several years. Ask our parents--current and former--about the way our coaching staff has treated and taught their players, and the will tell you--Coach Wood, Coach Craig, and the rest of the coaching staff are class acts and top notch.

:Thumbs:

Regardless of anyone's opinion about this middle school playoff junk, this statement above is true. New Harlan runs a clean program and has established itself year in and year out as one of the better mountain middle school teams over the years. When they leave and go to high school they have been properly prepared to go on to that next level. The boys and the parents respect and love the men who coach these kids and appreciate all the time and dedication that they put into the job set before them. I'm sure like most coaches, the pay they get doesn't cover the gas money they put into it. I've had two go thru that program now and have nothing but RESPECT and APPRECIATION for all the football and life lessons that the coaches at New Harlan have dealt mine. It's time to get off of their backs and move on. Good luck to the rest of the teams who are still playing football.

[Eagle84]

If NH had not planned to travel to Prestonsburg as the tournament schedule had listed before NH played there first game. NH should have not played in the state tournament. It was weak and wrong not to play and that falls on the coach and school no one else.

[Coach Howard]

Guys listen, I really don't have a dog in this fight and I am from the Big Sandy Conference and would have loved to have watched two of my buddies duke it out. I'm referring to Jamie Howell at Adams and Chad Wood at New Harlan and I consider both of them to be great friends along with Coach Asher from Leslie County. I'm going to be the first to say that I don't know what happened during the Leslie County vs New Harlan game and will not speak like I do know what happened, frankly that's between Coach Asher and Coach Wood and I am sure they will sort it out and if not they will both move on. First and foremost Chad Wood is one of the classiest and most trust worthy coaches that I have had the pleasure to coach with. Chad and his coaching staff are some of the most competitive coaches out there and I know for a fact that they did not like having to forfeit/cancel/disqualified or whatever happened. Chad put his team in the playoff's last year and has done nothing but sing it's praises to me for over a year now. I was able to host the neutral site game between them and Johnson Central last year and even though they lost he tried to get me to put my Letcher Central team in it this year. He had nothing but respectful comments to the people that organized and ran the entire show and was really looking forward to playing in it this year. I've not talked to him since all of this started last weekend but I have talked to several of his parents and they told me that it has killed him to the soul to pullout and all of them have stated to me that they support him completely. I think Chad's record in the past with everyone he has played will speak for itself, It doesn't matter if you like him or not I bet he has earned your respect through the way he coaches and the way his players play for him. A true indicator of how good a job a coach is doing is to listen to the parents of the kids he coaches. These parents would go to battle for Chad and his staff in any situation as they are doing now. Please let this topic die and move on with the playoffs and let New Harlan sort out what really happened internally.

[Boo Boo bear]

Excuses, is that the foundation which New Harlan's program is built upon. Sure sounds like it. I didn't get my way so I'm not going to play anymore. Now don't get me wrong, I have no definite affiliation with any KY schools. However, I do enjoy "Mountain Football" and I was really looking forward to watching some mountain schools participate in this tournament. But, if you are going to forfeit the rest of your season that's your coach's decision and teams business. However, when you start posting it all over this site blaming anyone and everyone you can for your departure it makes it everyone's business. From everything you've said it was your coaches decision, so you should respect his decision and quit blaming others.

did you even read this thead?who started blaming who .if i am not mistaken lc started blaming everyone and by the way this is a public site duh!!!:please: ps.read the entire thread :HitWall:

[Black Bear Mama]

Coach Wood, Coach Craig and all their staff have coached everyone of my boys and they have always held the Patriots to a high standard, teaching them respect, discipline and love for the game. They have built one of the best programs in the region and I have nothing but respect for them. I don't know everything that has went on behind the scenes but I know that they love to play football and would not have been this decision if there was not a completely valid reason and I know they tried to reach a compromise without any success. Our fans completely stand behind our coaches.