I will agree that is the case sometimes but more often than not it is more of the things alluded to in my previous post. For most parents it is nearly impossible for them to realistically evaluate their own childs athletic ability and actual athletic ceiling.
Allegany should’ve opted out
- Thread starter hbpass2
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I will agree that is the case sometimes but more often than not it is more of the things alluded to in my previous post. For most parents it is nearly impossible for them to realistically evaluate their own childs athletic ability and actual athletic ceiling.
Just my two cents, but I see Alco as having two major problems. One is scheduling, the other is numbers. As far as scheduling is concerned, I don't think that they need to make it any tougher. The problem is that they started the season against two very good teams and then had nothing to gauge their progress as they played several weaker teams. Sure, they racked up yardage, but those teams weren't going to stop Alco anyway. (Saint James got lucky) They headed into the Fort Hill game not really knowing if they had improved or not. Now I'm not saying to load up on more tough teams, but maybe there is a way to space those games out throughout the season. That way you not only stay focused, but you also have a gauge to tweak anything that may not be right. The goal is to grow as a team. Next is the numbers problem. Someone needs to start the LaVale Lions again. Teach these kids good basic fundamentals and to love the game. The coaches at the high school level will take care of the rest. (I still think that it was a mistake getting rid of the Raiders. That was an average of 15 to 20 more kids going to the youth league every year). As far as the coaching goes, you have to let them take care of business. They are with these kids, and they certainly have a better feel for what their kids can and cannot do. I feel that I should also say that there has never been a coach that I have always agreed with........NONE! I'm sure that each and every one reading this is in the same boat. There was a time when I would park myself in Barry's office on a weekly basis. Today, the schools are locked up so tight, and I'm just too old and fat, that I don't bother stopping in because it would just be too intrusive. That's enough of my rambling for now.
I agree 100% and also the ones who stayed loyal to their school and community by not transferring or leaving to go to another school.
I think the whole admiring for showing up is BS. They signed up to play until the season is over.
They have 7 players off last years team playing college football and couldn’t do much with those players
When did we stop admiring young men for fulfilling a commitment? There is plenty of admiration around here for kids who merely cross state lines to play.... stickers on helmets and all (as I understand).
Oh, and let's not forget the community celebration for the poke the bear meme. What a cause!! Makes you wanna empty your wallet for a poster.
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You being sarcastic about the poke the bear poster? Myself along with a lot of other fans would love to buy one. Where can I get one?
A program coughing up an illegal player becomes poking the bear only in some narcissistic ritual.... so, find out where the coven meets.
Or.... ask any of the adults who knew and could have stopped it before the first snap of the season.
The return of the Sentinel Justice Warriors. Rallying behind an empty cause to deflect that they got caught breaking the rules.
It takes a special kind of dissonance to play the victim when you were caught red-handed, but those are the times we live in.
It’s obvious who was caught red-handed. The parents.. thank God, Fort Hill didn’t have number 88. If they had him, I’m pretty sure Alco wouldn’t have scored a point. 😂
The team with the illegal player who got caught and punished 🤦
"Your honor, it's okay because I didn't know it was cocaine. I thought I was snorting flour. Also, since I'm just as good whether I'm on coke or not, it's okay that I'm on it." 😅🤡
You should have been a lawyer.
Hyperbole? Here's a bath of reality for you:
A simple apology to the community would have sufficed.... well, along with expressing gratitude that homecoming and the playoffs were saved. Thus, ending it all with grace.
What we got was “more.... more” and running up the score in a perverse celebration.
The only hyperbole today would be claiming that Cumberland still holds one of the greatest traditions in high school sports... it might, however, now hold one of the worst examples of righteous indignation in high school sports.
The FH program nor the school did anything wrong.
Incidentally, nobody representing a program or school need apologize. A simple apology from the individuals responsible would be fine (and such was my previous feeling)..... one from those who worked to get the young man in the program and one from those who permitted the team's public celebration (which has negative comments from other forum members). And thus ends my opinions on the subject. Go Big Red.
I think it would be wise to look at how it impacts the most important part of this issue the student athletes. What lesson can they carry with them forward in life from this.
It's pretty simple. An adult broke a rule and falsified documents. The adult got caught but the penalty impacted his son and also his son's teammates.
Choosing to deflect the responsibility of this on the person who turned them in and not accepting responsibility teaches the kids that you are a victim and it is always the other person fault. In reality nobody poked a bear or snitched. Somebody choose not to follow the rules and got caught. If you don't break rules people don't snitch on you.
If the adult would choose to accept what they did as wrong they would first apologize to the son for the wrong lesson he modeled and ask for forgivenes. He could them arrange a time to talk with the team and coaching staff, apologize for his actions and the consequences and tell them he will support them the rest of the way.
The biggest lesson these young men could learn is that personal accountability for wrongdoings is the best way to learn from mistakes and become a better man. Don't blame others for what you did wrong.
As for the Alco boys. I will stand by my initial post of admiration and respect. From day one of this season these 14-18 year old young men have been bombarded through social media (via their phones) that their program sucks, the coaches are losers and that come Homecoming they will once again get destroyed.
Then they have to turn around and do it all over again in the playoffs knowing that this time it will be worse becausee they snitched on Fort Hill (which atually was not the case). They could have opted out and taken the easy road but they showed up and of coursegot their butts kicked.
What lesson that they did learn is that you fight the battle even when there is zero chance of winning. That you disregard those that are not in your band of brothers and throw hate and evil at you and you move forward fighting it as best you can. This lesson will serve them well in the game of life.
It's pretty simple. An adult broke a rule and falsified documents. The adult got caught but the penalty impacted his son and also his son's teammates.
Choosing to deflect the responsibility of this on the person who turned them in and not accepting responsibility teaches the kids that you are a victim and it is always the other person fault. In reality nobody poked a bear or snitched. Somebody choose not to follow the rules and got caught. If you don't break rules people don't snitch on you.
If the adult would choose to accept what they did as wrong they would first apologize to the son for the wrong lesson he modeled and ask for forgivenes. He could them arrange a time to talk with the team and coaching staff, apologize for his actions and the consequences and tell them he will support them the rest of the way.
The biggest lesson these young men could learn is that personal accountability for wrongdoings is the best way to learn from mistakes and become a better man. Don't blame others for what you did wrong.
As for the Alco boys. I will stand by my initial post of admiration and respect. From day one of this season these 14-18 year old young men have been bombarded through social media (via their phones) that their program sucks, the coaches are losers and that come Homecoming they will once again get destroyed.
Then they have to turn around and do it all over again in the playoffs knowing that this time it will be worse becausee they snitched on Fort Hill (which atually was not the case). They could have opted out and taken the easy road but they showed up and of coursegot their butts kicked.
What lesson that they did learn is that you fight the battle even when there is zero chance of winning. That you disregard those that are not in your band of brothers and throw hate and evil at you and you move forward fighting it as best you can. This lesson will serve them well in the game of life.
The only one who got punished is clear spring Friday night. Cambridge the week after that and then whoever’s next
I’ll bet you voted for Kamalla🤣. Next, you’ll be saying that Alco, Keyser,Frankfort and Mountain Ridge should be getting reparations.
Really? Seriously? Don't let your emotions do the talking. They'll cause you to say stupid things like this
Placing no blame on any particular school because it happens everywhere but what would our area high school football scene be like if everybody did play at the school they are supposed to attend? Would we have closer games overall? Would any school be able to finally play a competitive game against Fort Hill?
I say this because I met a very nice young man last spring over here in WV who is a physical specimen. He had a Fort Hill shirt on and asked him if he played at Fort Hill. He said he was from Hampshire but wanted to play at Fort Hill so he transferred.
It made me think just how many players in our area actually do this? I know three of my former students (I taught in WV) ended up over at FH and they were all great athletes and very fine young men. I know this also happens in other schools for other sports but it does impact the level of competition?
I say this because I met a very nice young man last spring over here in WV who is a physical specimen. He had a Fort Hill shirt on and asked him if he played at Fort Hill. He said he was from Hampshire but wanted to play at Fort Hill so he transferred.
It made me think just how many players in our area actually do this? I know three of my former students (I taught in WV) ended up over at FH and they were all great athletes and very fine young men. I know this also happens in other schools for other sports but it does impact the level of competition?
Willing to give back the state title you won with a Westmar kid on your team? Hop down off the cross, somebody needs the wood.
Allegany County, Cumberland in particular doesn’t really care where kids go to school. They only care where the kids play football or basketball. If an out of district kid was in the band or on the tennis team nobody really gives a damn. Also Allegany County may be the last county to try to keep kids relegated to a particular school based on what side of a street that their great grandparents laid down roots over a century ago. Face it, kids and parents want their kids to attend the school that best fits their needs regardless of address. A century ago school districts were set up based on location with regards to transportation, walking, county school busses. Those things aren't real issues anymore. Times have changed.
Coaching is by far the biggest determining factor as to how well a school does. I was around great Bridge WRESTLING in Virginia when they were the number one public school in the country..
The coaching staff was top-notch and the feeder program was amazing. I was looking at the wrestlers and I asked Steve Martin, the head coach how he was going to replace this senior laden class and he looked at me dumbfounded and said it’s not the kids. It’s the program..
Now it just so happens that they were so successful that kids did come from all over to be in that program also but many of them did that at the middle school level.
There are many many coaches that would not win many games with the talent that Fort Hill has. I would argue that the kids at Fort Hill get exponentially better toward the end of the season then they are at the beginning. It has to be a great coaching staff.
Rewatch the Alco game and you will see that Fort Hills defense is always in the right position. How many times is the offensive running back tackled by two and three sentinels
I watched individual matchups, and I can tell you that at least two of Alcos lineman are far better than the defense guys at Fort Hill that they lined up against. I hate to admit that, but it’s true..
Having said that. It seems like Fort Hill could have won that second game by 70 points..
The coaching staff was top-notch and the feeder program was amazing. I was looking at the wrestlers and I asked Steve Martin, the head coach how he was going to replace this senior laden class and he looked at me dumbfounded and said it’s not the kids. It’s the program..
Now it just so happens that they were so successful that kids did come from all over to be in that program also but many of them did that at the middle school level.
There are many many coaches that would not win many games with the talent that Fort Hill has. I would argue that the kids at Fort Hill get exponentially better toward the end of the season then they are at the beginning. It has to be a great coaching staff.
Rewatch the Alco game and you will see that Fort Hills defense is always in the right position. How many times is the offensive running back tackled by two and three sentinels
I watched individual matchups, and I can tell you that at least two of Alcos lineman are far better than the defense guys at Fort Hill that they lined up against. I hate to admit that, but it’s true..
Having said that. It seems like Fort Hill could have won that second game by 70 points..
Why don't you enlighten us as to how many kids on FH are out of district? Come on, tell us!
Fort Hill does indeed have great coaches and for the most part they always have, with a few exceptions. I think that there are a few other coaching staffs in our area that also do very well with the talent they have. Northern, Frankfort and Mountain Ridge in the last 5-6 years.
It is also interesting to see how quickly a program can fall apart when a good coach retires or moves on and a new coach takes over. For years Southern had a great program and they have really struggled to even field a team recently.
I went to school at Fort Hill. I graduated in 1982 and I can tell you that we had a ton of talent. We didn’t win. We had many many guys on that team that benched over 300 pounds. Hell even our running back Joey Apple benched over 300 pounds, the coach was so bad that kids refused to play for him.
Culture can change on a dime just as you stated.
It’s just a testament about how good Paterson was and alkire currently is. Paterson was able to take over ridge and make a few tweaks and turned turned them into a literal state title teams and alkire took over and was able to add his own wrinkles and FH has maintained their tradition of winning. Great coaching is always noticeable and they were and are great ones
I don't see us having any major differences in scheduling challenges than anyone else in the area. I'm in favor of a mostly local schedule, but also getting a couple outside looks throughout the season from PA, WV, DC & VA schools. It's a whole focus on it's own, but if I'm any area coach, I've got a constant line of communication with Todd to help keep the schedule full and competitive. I do understand that's not gotten any easier over the years.
I actually didn't even know the La Vale Lions folded, so I guess that leaves the Hunters, Eagles and maybe some of the Saints players that feed the Warriors that feed Alco? Anyway, yes the numbers are down, but unless I'm wrong, it's a participation issue and not a school enrollment issue.
The problem is simple - it's the coaching staff. Not too hard to figure that out. We can blame Hansel, and it's his fault the way the program is run. But it's ultimately his boss who's responsible. So since we know that, if we fired Hansel, who would we get to replace him? In an area with a general population of around 67k, how many people out of that pool check all or most of the boxes you need to even run a legitimate program? Plus, you generally want it to be someone who's a teacher in the county, and preferably in the building. I don't know all the male teachers currently at Alco, but unfortunately, Bryan might be the only qualified one.
It's a tear down and rebuild. And probably with a new head coach who's not already local.
One school, one team, one coaching staff. Problem solved. Nobody here wants to hear that, but it would create lots of opportunities for the 2 remaining county schools, including competitive tryouts for all athletic teams.
Schools should consolidate because 1 school has an irrelevant football team and their homecoming "rivalry" no longer exists? Reality: FH doesn't need anyone from Allegany (player or coach) to be competitive with anyone in football. Limit opportunities for kids in all sports and other activities so Allegany kids can win more football games? Tell me you're an unhappy Allegany football fan without telling me.
Fort Hill couldn't take everyone, but FH and MR could. It would be an easy split with Lavale going to Ridge and the rest to FH. That could also take care of Ridge's Homecoming games. As far as Homecomings are concerned, Ridge has been the redheaded stepchild for far too long. FH and Alco have the spotlight and Ridge has had to make do with whoever.
Not an unhappy Alco fan (actually no connection to Alco at all, just a fan of Allegany County athletics in general). The county no longer has the need for 3 county high schools with less than 2000 total students. Hasn't had the need for many years now. Football in particular there is no real competition, forget the number of players listed, how many are really quality players. Alco varsity is full of freshman, and sophs, FH feilding 10 sophs that contribute, MR very young as well. All sports in the county schools can field some quality teams with good starters, but no quality reserves. No one is fighting for playing time. How many quality Jr. and Sr at FH maybe 15, Alco and MR i'm guessing 10 apiece.
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Agreed, LaVale, and or Belair, Rawlings, whichever works best. In general it wasn't just about football, and or other athletics, or extra curricular activities. It's been spoken about for years, the population no longer justifies 3 county schools.
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