[pirateforlife00]

What makes Belfry so much better isn't that they just have a bunch of D1 guys out there who are just head and shoulders athletically better than everybody else's players. Yes, you will see a couple kids from Belfry go to a small D1 school or go to UPIKE or Cumberlands but very few of them do and even less than that actually stick it out the whole 4 years. I don't know if anyone other than us Belfry fans rememeber Coach Steve Mickey. He coached at Belfry for over 30 years. He was there before Coach Haywood was and just retired at the end of the 2008 football season. Well he is the guy who is over the little league programs for Belfry. They have 4 3rd-4th grade teams and 4 5th-6th grade teams. They only play each other and can only run the offense that the high school runs. That is how the middle school program is ran as well. Almost all of the coaches are former players who played for Coach Haywood so they know what they're talking about because they've ran this offense when they played and they run the same offense they will see when they get in high school. So kids who come in as freshman have been learning and running the same exact offense for the past 6 years of playing football. This is what I think makes Belfry so much better than all of the other mountain schools.

[eagles2011]

I was thinking were Harlan county was 5 a they would have lot more kids to pick from. I just think when u play down state u need numbers plus u have to be able to defend the spread off if not u r in for a long day . Belfry jchs Already noes what Louisville central and ft Thomas runs . But what do u all think Harlan county will have to do so they can beat bowling green . I no my eagles need to get better on pass deff I wish jchs and belfry could play some of the better teams down state to prepare us for the play offs good luck to to Harlan county and belfry I no we play both of u guys I guess we see belfry this thurs win hour 8 th grades play each other than Harlan county next Friday . Should be some good football .

[Black Bear Cuz]

Well if you read the article that was posted, you'll see where Coach Larkey says that he had people in the game who wern't supposed to be when #2 got injured. That was the words that he used so I'm not putting words in his mouth. He said #2 was the only one who got any reps at his position all week in practice. To me, you have to have your backups get reps in practice so they are mentally prepared and arn't clueless and confused when they have a situation occur like what happened when #2 got hurt. Anyone who has a chance from playing on Friday nights for Belfry, whether they will play one play, 10 plays, or 50 plays will all get reps in practice. Coach Haywood always has ALL his players prepared. And he has the freshman on the other end of the field (the freshman who don't play any varsity) having they're own practice so they're not just standing around doing nothing during practice.

Very good points sir, hard to understand how nobody else got any reps in Wison's spot on D

[RunItUpTheGut]

First it was Harlan Co. going to beat Belfry and now its Central. LOL. I thought this site has really matured over the years with the changing of mods but this is good example of how to run people off......again. Put a person who would rather be childish and not only start the nonsense posts but also continue to further them. RIUTG, a true mod. I have NEVER witnessed a mod on a "good" site even attempt the things RIUTG seems to do on a daily basis. We are all here for a good time but when threads get continously hijacked by someone who has no dog in the fight and is in the thread to only stir the pot then I believe we have a problem. Yes, RIUTG I am talking about you. You kept posting crazy predictions on the Belfry/Harlan Co. prediction thread only hoping to agitate someone and get something started. To top that off you have stayed in this thread with no apparent reason. All i can say is WOW!! How much longer do we have to put up with your childish antics?? Maybe hiding behind a computer screen with the big bad "mod" title attached to you has you feeling all high and mighty, kind of reminds me of the guy with the small p***s that has to have the fast car. You can get up with me in a PM if you feel you need address these comments.

nicker:

Why you so mad?
Another runner up trophy going to make you boil over?

[64SUR]

This is awesome wish more people would talk about Williamsburg :betterthanexpected:

[Red Blooded Pirate]

nicker:


Another runner up trophy going to make you boil over?

Although second place is not what they work for all year, as a Pirate its nothing to be ashamed of nor is it worthy of defending.

[redleg]

I don't post on here very much but I read quite a bit on here and I find it funny that every time that you get involved in a topic on Belfry that you bring up the runner-up replies. Yes Belfry is 2-7 all time in state championships and my son was on one of the runner-up teams and I can assure you that neither he nor I are mad about it. I hate it that we lost but he got to experience something that many young men dream about every time that they step on the field, and that is playing for a State Championship. I think every year that we have played there we have represented not only the BELFRY community but the Mountain area with Class and Pride and I for one sir am not mad about it.

[Belfry0304]

If Harlan has the 2nd best facilities you've seen, I can't imagine who would be #1. Only thing was the lack of locker rooms for the teams at the stadium.

What do you think, bro?! Bias in full effect. CAM is #1 for me.

[Buc-a-roo]

When they get the locker rooms built then Coal Miner's Memorial Stadium will be simply fantastic. I loved it and it was beautiful and well designed. The bathrooms were huge and there was plenty of concessions. The river running behind the field and the bridge you cross was picturesque. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it.

I kept watching that river wishing I could wade it and catch some fish. How's the fishing there?

The only two complaints for me (if you want to call it a complaint) would be 1. the parking situation and 2. the track around the field.

The parking is something you just can't do anything about with the lay of the land so no use in harping on it.

So that leaves me with the track. I just don't like fields with tracks because the fans are pushed so far back away from the field. It just takes away a bit from the atmosphere in my opinion. For example, the big video board on the scoreboard is basically useless except for advertising because it is set so far away from the field/fans. When they show game action you just can't see it well enough.

Pretty minor issue though in the big picture. Harlan County fans have something they can be very proud of and it is a place I hope I get to visit on a regular basis.

[inyourface]

Is the Belfry youth league open to the tri state area as well?

[Pirate1991#8]

nicker:

Why you so mad?
Another runner up trophy going to make you boil over?

When whatever team you pull for can play at the level Belfry does then you can talk SH*T...cause your team ain't even a top ten, so second place is still well above what your use to....

[KnoxCentralMVP]

I thought Harlan could win this one

[Crossbones]

Is the Belfry youth league open to the tri state area as well?

I'm not really sure how to take what you replied! Comes off to me as a creep up and slap you in the back of the head kinda remark. So I'll just give ya a :eyeroll: just in case. If your remark was an honest ? then accept my apologies.

[EKUAlum05]

I'm not really sure how to take what you replied! Comes off to me as a creep up and slap you in the back of the head kinda remark. So I'll just give ya a :eyeroll: just in case. If your remark was an honest ? then accept my apologies.

He is a Breathitt fan... the fact he is having to focus on Belfry's Grade School program 3 weeks into the season tells you how dismal the outlook for his team is and how long it will take for them to be competitive again.

[bear claw]

It don't matter what Belfry is doing, the fact of the matter is, is that they are doing something right. Belfry football has been and will be good for a long time.

[Do-double-gg]

What makes Belfry so much better isn't that they just have a bunch of D1 guys out there who are just head and shoulders athletically better than everybody else's players. Yes, you will see a couple kids from Belfry go to a small D1 school or go to UPIKE or Cumberlands but very few of them do and even less than that actually stick it out the whole 4 years. I don't know if anyone other than us Belfry fans rememeber Coach Steve Mickey. He coached at Belfry for over 30 years. He was there before Coach Haywood was and just retired at the end of the 2008 football season. Well he is the guy who is over the little league programs for Belfry. They have 4 3rd-4th grade teams and 4 5th-6th grade teams. They only play each other and can only run the offense that the high school runs. That is how the middle school program is ran as well. Almost all of the coaches are former players who played for Coach Haywood so they know what they're talking about because they've ran this offense when they played and they run the same offense they will see when they get in high school. So kids who come in as freshman have been learning and running the same exact offense for the past 6 years of playing football. This is what I think makes Belfry so much better than all of the other mountain schools.

That right there is what I would love to see more people doing in this area. I'm not calling any coaches out or anything, but I think we have a few in this area who just for one reason or another don't want to go all in. Some people don't take the football in the lower grades serious. At a lot of schools the grade school and middle school programs are just a cluster. You have every coach on every team doing their own thing so you have kids who by the time they become freshman they have ran 5 or 6 different offenses and defenses and they are so confused and now they got to learn the High school stuff. They don't always teach the kids good sound fundamentals either. So then you got high school coaches who are taking valuabel time away from the starters to get the freshman up to speed and teach em the system. IMO if you got to teach kids at the high school level the fundamental of this game then you have problems and need to make some changes to your lower leagues. You will also have some little league coaches (and you know I'm right) who start thinking they are some big time coach and think so much about winning that they forget that their main job is to teach the kids how to play the game and get em ready for the next level and if some wins come along with that then good for the kids. I hear a lot of people talk about Belfry and Bell and Johnson Central and when they get beat by those teams they have all the usual lame excuses. That team is just so good because they recruit is probably the #1 lame excuse. People never want to take the time to see how a good program like this does things. If you are doing good things and having success then you don't need to recruit because the talent will come and find you and you will also get the hidden talent that is right in your back yard, kids that would never usually even go out for football. This is all just my own personal opinion and you have the right to disagree, but programs like Belfry are doing something right that the rest of us arent doing and I don't think it is just in the water.

[Buc-a-roo]

Is there any way I can like your post about 10 times, Do-double-gg?

Successful programs are built from the ground up. There is no magic pill. There is a lot of hard work and support from a TON of people behind the scenes.

[RunItUpTheGut]

When whatever team you pull for can play at the level Belfry does then you can talk SH*T...cause your team ain't even a top ten, so second place is still well above what your use to....

Im a Ravens fan
Defending Super Bowl Champs.
Thats worth a million state titles.

[pirateforlife00]

Hey RIUTG, I'm a Broncos fan, how'd ya like what my boy Peyton Manning did to those Ravens throwing 7 td's on them? Let me guess, your an Alabama fan in football, Louisville fan in basketball, and a Heat fan in the NBA?

[hop24]

When was the last time Harlan County got beat at home?

Cooper, playoffs last year:Thumbs:

[pirateforlife00]

I agree Do-double-gg about people want to say all those successful teams recruit? Just think if you had a young child. We all want the best for our kids. Wouldn't you want your son to play in a good organized league where your son can get to play and learn the game of football instead of just playing in some unorganized league where it's so screwed up and never know when their games are til the last second and never really learn anything about the game of football. It's appealing to these parents of these young kids because it offers a better opportunity for their kids to learn the game of football. I think when Bevins, Turkey Creek, Runyon, and Blackberry all combined to create Belfry Middle School was the best possible thing that could of happened. These kids all get 2 years to play together on the same team before they ever play a snap of high school football. They get to build chemistry with each other. Before, these kids would play high school with kids they didn't know and it took a couple years just to learn one another and get used to playing one another. If you look at it, usually teams with good high school teams also have very good middle school programs and teams who arn't very good at the high school level usually arn't very good at the middle school level either.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Hey RIUTG, I'm a Broncos fan, how'd ya like what my boy Peyton Manning did to those Ravens throwing 7 td's on them? Let me guess, your an Alabama fan in football, Louisville fan in basketball, and a Heat fan in the NBA?

It doesnt matter how bad you get beat a loss is still worth one loss.
The entire AFC North lost in week 1, so the Ravens are still tied for first place in a trip to the playoffs (assuming you know how that works)

As for the rest of your brilliant comment, I enjoy all of college football. Its the best sport in the world and the only sport that brings everything to the table. I have no particular interest a far as teams go. UK lost my vote with Joker Phillips and even more so when they didnt hire petrino to clean up the mess.

As far as Lville goes, I hate the school, the fanbase, and the players. Youll never see me rooting for Lville in anything. True UK fan in basektball.

And i hate the NBA, that and the MLB are the two most boring major sports and are complete jokes. Games are too long, seasons are too long, and most of the time the players could care less. I dont watch either.

Hope that helps. I guess your comment went out of wack with that response.

[Pirate1991#8]

Im a Ravens fan
Defending Super Bowl Champs.
Thats worth a million state titles.

This is a high school football thread, come on big bad MOD you should know better...lol:rockon:

[RunItUpTheGut]

This is a high school football thread, come on big bad MOD you should know better...lol:rockon:

Not big, not bad, ill accept smart.

[Pirate1991#8]

Not big, not bad, ill accept smart.

Well your definitely not smart..

1. Your predictions are just plain stupid and way off

2. You only comeback in a high school football thread is your NFL Ravens...lol

irateShoirateShoirateShoirateShoirateShoirateShoirateSho

[Cardinals ride]

Do-double -gig, you make a lot of good points!! One thing I will point out , however, is that winning even in youth football is very important. A poll was taken a few years ago and most kids who did not come back out for football said it was because there team didn't win. Next highest was because the kid wasn't getting enough playing time. So, if you want your best athletes out and you want to keep them out you do need to win some games. With that said, I know I am old school, if you teach/have good fundamentals winning will eventually take care of itself. I still believe the teams who tackle and block better win!! One thing you will also notice about these schools with elite programs, not only do they have good head coaches but also a very good stable of coaches supporting them. That is also consistent on most levels.

[Do-double-gg]

I agree Do-double-gg about people want to say all those successful teams recruit? Just think if you had a young child. We all want the best for our kids. Wouldn't you want your son to play in a good organized league where your son can get to play and learn the game of football instead of just playing in some unorganized league where it's so screwed up and never know when their games are til the last second and never really learn anything about the game of football. It's appealing to these parents of these young kids because it offers a better opportunity for their kids to learn the game of football. I think when Bevins, Turkey Creek, Runyon, and Blackberry all combined to create Belfry Middle School was the best possible thing that could of happened. These kids all get 2 years to play together on the same team before they ever play a snap of high school football. They get to build chemistry with each other. Before, these kids would play high school with kids they didn't know and it took a couple years just to learn one another and get used to playing one another. If you look at it, usually teams with good high school teams also have very good middle school programs and teams who arn't very good at the high school level usually arn't very good at the middle school level either.

I agree with this to a point, but you will have some cases where a team will do good in middle school and everyone gets pumped up to see what they can do in high school and then you never hear much from that team again. I think you have a few different reasons for this but I believe that one of the main reasons is because of some of the stuff I said in my prior post, the high school and lower leagues not being on the same page. I think there is a good reason why you see so many freshman for teams like Belfry being able to contribute right from the start, it's because they know the system and what is expected from em before they even get there. This is a big reason why a team from one school will beat a Belfry, Johnson or Bell team in grade school or middle school and then when they go at it on the varsity level it is like night and day and then people scratch their heads wandering what happened.

[Do-double-gg]

Do-double -gig, you make a lot of good points!! One thing I will point out , however, is that winning even in youth football is very important. A poll was taken a few years ago and most kids who did not come back out for football said it was because there team didn't win. Next highest was because the kid wasn't getting enough playing time. So, if you want your best athletes out and you want to keep them out you do need to win some games. With that said, I know I am old school, if you teach/have good fundamentals winning will eventually take care of itself. I still believe the teams who tackle and block better win!! One thing you will also notice about these schools with elite programs, not only do they have good head coaches but also a very good stable of coaches supporting them. That is also consistent on most levels.

I 100% completely agree with this point. I also think that if you are doing things right and the kids are learning how to play this game correctly then the wins should come.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Well your definitely not smart..

1. Your predictions are just plain stupid and way off

2. You only comeback in a high school football thread is your NFL Ravens...lol

irateShoirateShoirateShoirateShoirateShoirateShoirateSho

I would take the Ravens against any team in this state :biggrin:

The one thing about not having a team you publicly root for is that the first thing someone does is attack your team. You take that away, and most posters have nothing....

[long_time_pirate]

I don't post on here very much but I read quite a bit on here and I find it funny that every time that you get involved in a topic on Belfry that you bring up the runner-up replies. Yes Belfry is 2-7 all time in state championships and my son was on one of the runner-up teams and I can assure you that neither he nor I are mad about it. I hate it that we lost but he got to experience something that many young men dream about every time that they step on the field, and that is playing for a State Championship. I think every year that we have played there we have represented not only the BELFRY community but the Mountain area with Class and Pride and I for one sir am not mad about it.

I agree 110%! My son played on the 2010 and the 2011 teams. IMHO those young men have NOTHING to hang their heads about. They were playing for something that others only dream about! My child was thrilled to have the opportunity to play for a state championship and losing by 1 point didn't make him mad... it made him sad. He felt as if he let the community down. There is so much pride and dedication to the program and the kids of the Pirate team it is amazing! One big family!