Is the LHAC Strength on the Line

[Gunner18]

what about richlands 194 enrollement? or cambria heights 203? thats only 20-30 more students than windber so whats the big deal? its alot better than the 100 count difference over blacklick and shade.

ever hear of a challenge? you know...striving for more rather than settling for what you have? would it be tough for the ramblers and mustangs? you betcha it would! would it help them in the long run? most likely yes. will they do it? no why? why would they want to give up there 9-0/8-1 seasons for better competition?

[halfy24]

You forgot to add "back when I played" and "let's win one for the Gipper" to your heartfiled statement of "ever hear of a challenge." Okay, let me understand this then, you are an administrator at Portage with 117 males in grades 9-12 and you would consider playing in the LHAC against schools that have 2.5 to 3 times the number of males to chose from. Do you think IUP would like to schedule Texas next season as well?
On you your next point about Richland and Cambria Heights. Those are some bad examples because they want out of the LHAC just as bad as Central. Cambria Heights would like to join a conference with Mo Valley and nobody wants Richland because they compete well in every sport but football.
Remember, numbers don't lie!

[sidelinecoach]

Texas has only 2.5 times more students than IUP? Wow..did not know that. Well, the numbers don't lie..50,000+ to 14,000 (all 3 campuses). BTW...this is flawed mathematical thinking when you consider that 2 times Portages enrollment equals 200 some students and 2 times IUP's enrollment equals 28,000. Lets not use FUZZY MATH here. Come on, if you guys talk the talk..which you do well, then walk the walk. Thats all Im saying.

[Ramble06On]

Why take away so much from portage and windber? Sure they play easy schedules and sure they havent made it deep into the playoffs. But c'mon when you have 50+ more students to choose from, your boudn to have a better team. Better kids to practice against and you dont get better every friday night, it helps, but it all starts in practice and if there's no challenge that hurts just as bad as a poor schedule. Also, teams like blacklick.. think if get to keep some of the athletes BC stole, goodrich has help and blacklick doesnt have a losing record

[sidelinecoach]

Im not taking away from the fact that they have great seasons. What I am saying is that if you want to pound your chest all the time about it, then maybe you should play the best there is in the area. Reminds me of JHS basketball back in the early 80s. Area teams that thought they could compete put them on the schedule. FH with the Richardson brothers and the rest thought they could play with the Trojans. Coach Litwalk broke with tradition and scheduled them..maybe to prove a point. The Trojans thumped them. Now, before the Rambler fans start in. The Charney year, the Ramblers beat JHS. They only played them in that year though, and not consistently..only when they had a good team.

[halfy24]

My IUP to Texas comparision had to deal with the number of scholarships DI teams have compared to DII and tying that into enrollment of schools. You see if a school has more scholoarships and money to give then they have better opportunity to get top notch players (in most cases). Therefore, like a AA school compared to an A school, there are more choices for athletes. Try to follow along and stop posting stupid things Sidelinecoach.

[sidelinecoach]

Stupid? Scholarships? I didnt know (other than McCort and BC)..(Sarcasm again) that we had scholarships in the LHAC. More choices for athletes? Not following you again. Last I heard schools in Pa (see above for exceptions) had to use students in thier district..Im not following you. Do you mean they have more to pick from, or that the athletes at these schools have more choices in.... Maybe my short bus hit too many bumps on the way to school, but your post makes absolutely no sense, just seems like a very quick comeback attempt that did not work.
Compare your teams to the smaller schools in the LHAC..then come back on here and talk to us.
Stupid is in the eye of the beholder, and your last post proves the pot calling the kettle black.

[halfy24]

Do you understand enrollment numbers? If I coach at a school with 150 males in grades 9-12 and you coach in a school with 300 males grades
9-12 then who has more athletes to pull from to have a quality team. That is all I'm attempting to state and if you go back and read several on my post I think you will see that. Also, the comparision between Texas and IUP has to do with number of scholarships that these programs have thus providing more opportunity to pull better athletes. We all know that Texas has more scholoarships than IUP just like Forest Hills has more males in grades 9-12 than Windber. Do you now understand my concept?

[Gunner18]

Do you understand enrollment numbers?

apparently you dont eiter, enrollment numbers are for grades 10-12, not 9. not that it really helps either argument but i just thought id prove you wrong.


anywho, whats so horrible about a challenge? the best system ive ever seen is in the English Premier League (Soccer) they have 4 divisions...Premier League, Championship, 2nd divison, 3rd division. the top three teams from each division get "promoted" to the next higher division, the bottom 3 get "relegated" to the next lower division. this ensures that noone "whoops" up on the league and that they play the best teams that they can.

[Pale Rider]

My current thoughts: IUP is a WAY BETTER party school than UTEX. Check FH's #'s in 2 years, it will go way down from what it will be next year. If a school w/ 150 kids and a really great Coach consistently beats the school w/ 300 kids and a poor program, who is at a disadvantage here?