[Hoot Gibson]

I agree with everything you said but let’s take a trip back to last year when LCA beat Boyle earlier in the year now would they have beat them in the end of the year that’s the question so personally I don’t think so but that’s what I was talking about with Pikeville this year and from the first of the year until now has been a big improvement and all teams should improve but with most that don’t make that much personal changes as Pikeville did now that don’t mean they would beat them teams they lost to but with Covington and that horrible call that game may have been a 2 or 3 point game and it was horrible. I just hope Pikeville keeps improving but with their schedule now I don’t know if it’s going to help them much except for that last game of the year with Hazard and now people at Pikeville say they don’t know if the Russellville game is going to happen so that hurts them in the rpi system to much going on plus I don’t understand that system anyway so I guess you play when and who you can and win hopefully

What is gained by claiming that Pikeville is now better than two teams that beat them earlier in the year? I could give you a list of reasons why Johnson Central is a better team than North Laurel at this point in the season, but what do I know about how healthy NL was when they beat JC earlier in the season or how much NL has improved since that game? I know that JC is much better than when they played NL but that doesn't mean that NL is not also much better since that game. The same applies to Pikeville, Covington Catholic, and Corbin. All three teams are talented and well coached and I am sure that all three teams are much improved. There is absolutely no basis for anybody to claim that Pikeville is better than two teams that beat them because the Panthers have made huge improvements.

Inexperienced players tend to improve at a much quicker rate than experienced players because there is more room for improvement. Disregarding how much North Laurel has improved, because it really does not affect Johnson Central, Johnson Central's offensive line began the season very inexperienced compared to last year's team at the same time but aside from their freshman, Logan Music, they returned very experienced and talented running backs. Their quarterback is also in his first year starting at the position. So, people like jet (he has plenty of company) have concluded that JC is "down" this season because the running game was not as dominant as recent teams have been, based on a single early season game against North Laurel.

I ask you, how would Pikeville be doing if Birchfield had been injured in the Corbin game and was unable to return to the lineup for most of the season? How would the Covington Catholic game have gone if Boykins had left the game with an injury on his first carry? My guess is that Pikeville's offense would have looked pretty anemic for awhile but would have bounced back after a few weeks working with their replacements.

I am sorry to hear about the Russellville game. It would have been good to have been given more time to find a replacement. I checked Rock Creek Christian Academy's schedule but they have games scheduled every weekend through Nov. 5. (They appeared to be short a few games at the end of last season. It would have been a great opportunity for Pikeville to prove that it ccompete with any team, regardless of class. RC beat JC in Paintsville last season.) Hopefully, Pikeville will be able to find a replacement game for Russellville.

I think I have worn out this tangential discussion. I will try to refrain from making any more posts that may be interpreted as disrespecting Pikeville.