[charlie22]

Not saying that either.

Truly an unbiased observation. A sobering one for many, but unbiased.

I think there is some evidence supporting your position.

However, I think there is contra evidence too. Look at Boyle County's success of a few years back. It beat privates and Indys during that run. Can one attribute 5 straight championships to a fluke? I don't think so. It beat an Indy for a state championship in 09 also (wasn't Lone Oak an Indy?).

Personally, I think the biggest reason for the more consistent winning by the Indys and the privates is football tradition and longer term commitment to football. Indys like Highlands, Beechwood, Belfry, and BG have long traditions of football success.

People like to discredit the impact of past success on current games, but they are mistaken. It greatly impacts the number of kids getting out of the hall and onto the field. That impacts current games. It greatly impacts effort and commitment during the off season. That impacts current games. It greatly impacts administration and community support (financially and otherwise). That impacts current games.

A lot of privates survive and thrive based on athletic support. Athletic success attracts the tuition paying students needed to keep the doors open and keeps the private school administrators employed. Because football has no roster limits, smart private school administrators realize the importance of football success. It is very important to them and they have put the resources into the football program needed for consistent success. County school administrators have no such concerns. If the football team does well, its great. But if the football team stinks, they'll still have their jobs and the doors will still stay open.

Furthermore, a lot of the Indys and private schools are in areas where football has a much greater importance to the community. Football is THE sport in Cincinnati. That bleeds over to N. Ky. From what I know of Louisville, football is also very important and has been for a long time. That makes a huge difference in the expectations in the community and the school.

I don't feel that that is the case for much of rural Kentucky. It's changing a bit, but basketball was and probably still is THE sport for most of the county schools. That's where the emphasis of the administrators and kids goes. No surprise when rural county schools regularly make it to the Sweet 16 and make it deep into the tournament (or win it), but schools like Highlands, Beechwood, Belfry, etc do not. If demographics was the determining factor to athletic success, why wouldn't Highlands or Beechwood or Belfry have the same success in basketball (or baseball) that they do in football?

Not saying your demographics theory is completely off base (as I do agree that it is tougher to get kids who live way out in the county to every practice and to every off season conditioning/lifting session, which impacts game results), but there are a lot of other factors too. Factors that I think have a greater impact than the number of miles a kid lives from the high school.