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Mike White's high school sports chat: 08.31.21
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Mike White
11:01
Good dreary Tuesday morning to y'all. Lucky most fields in WPIAL are turf because all this rain we're supposed to get might do some damage to some fields if teams practice on them during the rain. Oh well, let it rain with any questions for today's chat. Anybody got a kicking tee to kick this thing off? Let's go.
Coach O
11:01
I know it’s tough to draw any conclusions after one game and maybe Mars will be down this year but North Hills looked good to me. Could they be a sleeper in 5A? Robert Dickerson was impressive; separated himself from the other kids on the field with his speed and athleticism.
Mike White
11:04
Mars doesn't have that good running back that they usually have. Planets might have some trouble in early going. I don't know about North Hills. I think they could be decent. But schedule pretty tough first half of year. Plum this week, who was blown out by FRegional. But then Seneca Valley, at Moon and at Woodland Hills. Yikes! But they have some players. Dickerson is one to watch. He moves in three speeds - fast, faster and uncatchable.
Guest
11:04
how does the dynamos look this year? playoffs?
Mike White
11:08
I take it you're asking about Springdale Dynamos? With their mascot Reddy Kilowatt. This team's electric. Maybe the light has come on with this team. They do have some holes to plug, though. Woooo hoooo!!!!! I'll be here all week. Tip your waitresses. Try the veal. But seriously, you want to know about playoffs? Well, considering Springdale has some pretty good players returning, considering they are the No. 5 team now in WPIAL Class 1A, considering five teams - and possibly six - go to the playoffs and there are eight teams in the conference ... I'm going to go out on a limb and say Springdale makes the playoffs.
Chadwick
11:08
Mars and Plum didn't look like playoff teams.  Is Armstrong the new favorite in 4A Greater Allegheny?
Mike White
11:10
I don't know if that Greater Allegheny really has a strong team this year. Both Mars and Plum got blown out. Will be interesting to see how Plum does against North Hills this week. Remember, Plum was a WPIAL semifinalist last year.
Rebrand
11:10
Mike, that was a potentially dangerous situation at the Wolvarena with Sto-Rox playing the fraudulent "school", bishop Sycamore. It's been reported that many of their players aren't even high school age, but as old as 19 or 20.  Kids could have been seriously injured playing against a team of older and apparently not well trained players.  Who vetted the teams that participated in the Wolvarena games? Someone should be held accountable.
Mike White
11:13
Please just stop it!! Ron Coursey, former Woodland Hills AD, put on the event the past couple years. Bishop Sycamore called in the spring and wanted to be a part of it. Bishop Sycamore had played a number of regular Ohio high school teams last year. Apparently, Sycamore said it had a high school and a post-grad team. That's the way some of these schools do it. They signed a PIAA contract, which says they would abide by PIAA rules, meaning no post-grad players would play. What do you want Woodland Hills to do? Ask for birth certificates of all the players. C'mon, man. Besides, Sycamore scored 7 points against a Class 2A team (Sto-Rox). Those over age players must have been tremendous.
Tw
11:13
What about the Bishop Scam in Ohio?  Columbus papers all over it……
Mike White
11:16
Yes, I had a story on line about it yesterday. It's on our web site and in our eedition today. Bizarre. But really, no one should be surprised at these so-called "schools" that all of a sudden pop up -- and they don't even have a building. It's an on line school. They're much more popular in basketball. I've had some personal experiences with a few. This is not to paint all prep or other schools with same brush. But some are as shaky as an old card table in an earthquake. The ones that come up with some kind of name like "Look At Me Prep" and suddenly have a team with players from everywhere.
Ryan
11:17
What did you think about the Kiski team after first game KA ALL DAY
Mike White
11:19
KA All Day? Is that their chant or yours? I think Kiski Area should be OK. They beat a Butler team 21-7. OK win, but Butler is a team that has trouble winning more than two games a year. Interesting to see Kiski against FRegional this week.
WPIAL Pigskin
11:19
Stunning to see the amount of teams teams who were absolutely blown out in Week 1, sorry Week 0.  It seems like Uniontown not playing a WPIAL schedule may help them in the long term.  Do you see any more teams just playing an independent schedule in the future?
Mike White
11:20
Blowouts have been prevalent in WPIAL for past 15-20 years now. Gap between haves and have nots has gotten bigger. No surprise. I had been told that a couple other Fayette County schools were discussing an independent schedule, but I don't know what truth there is to that. I doubt it will be prevalent.
Tw
11:20
Sycamore…Fighting Trees!
Mike White
11:20
Hilarious.
Girty's Ron
11:20
The Bishop Sycamore story is crazy on so many levels.  I often wonder about these "schools" that come out of nowhere and field teams.  I remember when I first heard of First Love in Wash Co.  Was that a school first or a sports program first?  Honestly, I could not find the answer to that.
Mike White
11:21
I really don't know answer to that. I think it was a tiny school at first. Their coach is no longer at First Love. He's now coach at Imani Christian.
PrFan
11:21
PR coach Campos looked frustrated after just a few questions from you. What are your thoughts on how he is handling the high expectations at PR? Also any thoughts on how the team looked overall against Harrisburg?
Mike White
11:25
Well, I don't talk to coach Campos on a regular basis or go to Pine-Richland practices. So I don't know how he's handling things. No shame losing to Harrisburg. That's an always good team and Pine has a lot of new players. His comments after the game about tired of hearing about the "coaching crap?" Oh well, I'm sure he is tired of it and I think he was just frustrated after a loss. The thing is, it's a subject that isn't going to go away. Because there always seems to be another chapter to the story. But Pine's schedule is really tough. Seneca, Central, Upper St. Clair, Gateway, Penn Hills in next few weeks. They could win some of them. They also could lose many - if not all. If they go, say, 1-4, look out. But there is talent on that team. They could be fine.
Guest
11:25
Southmoreland with a pretty impressive win over McGuffey. They play an improved LH this week. Does a win Friday have The Scotties in the conversation for a shot at the Interstate?
Mike White
11:27
Beating McGuffey was biggest surprised of first weekend. McGuffey was No. 2 in 2A. Ed Dalton thinks this might be his best team. Beam those Scotties up! Can they win the Interstate? Well, the Interstate isn't exactly really strong. I think EF is still favorite. Then again, I don't think 3A really has much depth of quality teams. This week against Laurel Highlands? What will Rodney Gallagher do?
Mike
11:27
Can’t believe the Gateway-TJ game won’t be televised…Alliquippa
Mike White
11:28
I don't make TV schedules. Sorry.
Mike
11:28
Can’t believr they are televising Alliquippa Beaver Falls game instead of Gateway and TJ..
Mike White
11:28
I'll check with Roone Arledge to see the reasoning - or Al Michaels.
Girty's Ron
11:28
I have heard of a number of kids who used covid as an opportunity to reclassify and repeated a grade.  Especially 6th graders as not to lose a year of piaa eligibility.  What are your thoughts about this?  There is no guarantee a extra year will improve a kids chances of excelling in a sport.  Is it worth delaying a kids education by a whole year and taking them away from friends they grew up with?
Mike White
11:30
To answer this question I think I will try to explain the rules of length of eligibility. Maybe that will help explain that repeating a year can do nothing for more eligibility. I will explain in next installment on this chat. Please read.
According to PIAA rules, which WPIAL follows, you get six years to play after the start of 7th grade, and four years of eligibility after 9th grade. There's a different. Let me try to explain.
11:34
If a kid plays 7th and 8th grade, say, football and repeats 8th grade and plays 8th grade football again, he will then have only three years of eligibility left when he reaches ninth grade. In other words, he can't play as a senior because he played six years after the start of 7th grade. But if he repeats 8th grade and doesn't play football, he still has four years of eligibility starting in ninth grade. In other words, if you repeat 7th or 8th grade, you can't play that year or it counts against the six years. The other clock starts in 9th grade. You get four years of eligibility in 9th grade no matter what. In other words, say a kid doesn't play as a ninth grader. He still has only three years eligibility left. As far as repeating sixth grade, PIAA rules don't pertain to that. PIAA rules start in seventh grade. Also, you can't be 19 before July 1 of your senior year or you're ineligible. You got all that??
Ryan
11:34
It’s theirs go KA on Friday
Mike White
11:35
Oh, I'm so pumped for them.
Rebrand
11:35
Coach O is very optimistic, North Hills is like Pitt of the WPIAL.  6-5 every year with a first round playoff loss in the Pat Carey era.  Why do you think it would be any different this year?
Mike White
11:35
I didn't say anything about playoffs. And who really knows yet after one game?
Johnny
11:35
Mount Pleasant looked really good on Friday. I think they might be a sleeper in 3A. Nowhere near Central Valley. But MP looks solid.
Mike White
11:36
That wouldn't surprise me if Mount Pleasant challenges for Interstate title. They tied for second last year.
Girty's Ron
11:36
There are a few kids (ie Dickerson and Kreinbacher) that are getting D1 offers at skill positions but have not produced the way other D1 skill players have in the past during the regular season.  Is this a product of the 7v7 world or are they getting offers due to potential?
Mike White
11:39
Players have long gotten offers based on potential, or size. Offensive linemen are hardest to predict for college. But Robert Dickerson did do some good things last year at times and it's obvious he is very fast. Kreinbucher is big and it's obvious that he does have athletic ability for a big kid. Just watch him in basketball. But I will say this: I have seen players already this year and last year that I scratch my head over. They have all the measurables. But can they play? Are they really a player? I question that. They might look good in a gym working out and might look good playing fake football in 7 on 7 in shorts. But whether they are really a top-rated player once you put pads on is another thing. Just sayin'
Iron-man
11:39
Any thoughts about the Central vs. Penn Hills game. How good is Penn Hills? Will they give Central a contest this week?
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