POINTS

[Lefteyelouie]

Sounds to me like he should be wrestling HWT for the lions Foggy. I know I am not as old as you are but I kinda thought wrestling was always a step ahead of Basketball in this area. I know it was at Bedford atleast. Of course I don't have much memory banked before the 90's.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Some good points guys and Southpaw does need slapped for saying he would rather watch a Wrestling match than hoops! ha, ha. Troy Harris was not a good shooter so I don't know if he could have scored a lot more points than he did. He was a slasher and penetrator but could not shoot very well. I saw him play 2 times.

[Lefteyelouie]

C'mon Holly!! If you would have wrestled you could have played linebacker or strong safety. You would have gone to linebacker U instead of WVU. lol. just playin

[foghorn]

On second thought you're right about Harris. He wasn't that pure shooter type like you and only a few I can remembe from around here. But he could have made a lot more in transition in a run and gun offense.

Just out of curiousity, Holly. Would you recommend that a football player who has a shot at playing college ball -- at least IAA -- concentrate on just one sport?

Lefteye, you're right.At Bedford it seemed wrestling was always ahead of bb, even when we had a great coach like Waltman. The problem, of course, is that wrestling had who I consider perhaps the greatest coach of any sport who ever came out of the county, Eddie Clark.

This kid probably should have wrestled.

[foghorn]

Holly wrestling. That's a thought! He would have had to have two officials. I can see 14-12 kind of scores!

[Lefteyelouie]

I agree Foggy. I have gotten to know coach Clark very well. He is a great friend of our family and I have grown up with stories of him. Waltman was quite a coach also. What a great thing for Bedford to have both these coaches coaching at the same time.

I also agree that even though Troy wasn't a great shooter he could have scored lots more had the coach taken the reigns off a bit.

I know you asked Holly's opinion on playing two sports or more but here is mine. I wrestled even though it wasn't my favorite sport. I beleive it helped me greatly in my football career. I was an all-state selection as a senior and I believe that without wrestling I would not have had near the success. I can't speak for how basketball would help but as far as wrestling is concerned it helps in many ways. It made me tougher more disciplined helps keep you in shape and most of all keeps you competitive. Which is possably the most important thing. I think just competingin any sport will help in your other sports of choice. Especially if you are competing and being a leader on winning teams.

[Coach]

From what I've been told and in conversation with Holly before, college coaches like to see athletes that can do more than one sport. Concentration on one, often becomes nil. You say you'll do it, but do you go at your new concentration for an two hours every night? 2 sport athletes are probably the ultimate, but that's my opinion. If you are going to be a 3 sport person, track is a nice add on to build athleticism and show off your talents. Here you can work on jumping, running, lifting, etc and do it to make yourself better at other sports.

[Head Roadie]

Put quite simply....basketball has better athletes today but not as skilled basketball players. You could argue when/what caused that decline but It became noticeable to me in the mid-90's....about 6 years after elementary kids began wailing balls from beyond the 3-pt line.

The last true skill players that I remember....guys who knew the game, could handle, pass, and score were guys like Pat Snyder, Trevor Wilt, Shawn Tewell, and Ryan Emerick.

The era from late 80's thru mid-90's may have been the greatest era in local basketball with several teams winning District Titles (Ridge, NB, TM, Everett) and winning state tournament games. Very rare occurrence in Bedford Co. last several years.

[HOLLYWOOD]

College coaches love athletes in football anyways!! You are always using skills for football in other sports. They want you to be competitive in all surroundings, etc. I mean it is a little different in the south with spring ball but most guys play baseball or track and still have 15 practices in football in the spring time in the south. Boy that must be nice to do so!! I just think the talent level is poor these days and the scoring is aweful. Nobody can shoot at all, it is just like you said a street game with no skill.

[foghorn]

I hate to bring up Paterno, Holly, but I once heard him say in an interview probably 20 years ago that he really could get a good idea about a player from watching him play basketball. When I was in college a couple of the football players on my dorm floor (Penn State didn't have football dorms them -- do they now?) that I was good friends with said Paterno and the other PSU scouts saw them play bb a couple times. during their recruiting process.

Things are just so specialized these days I thought the big schools might frown on big time prospects who compete in other sports.

I always thought that basketball offensive improvement was directly tied to time spent in the summer. I know that the most improved offensive players for Ridge so far this year -- Way, Claycomb, and Kohler, spent the most time working in the summer. My own kid, Herncane, didn't improve his shooting any unfortunately, but I grudgingly admit his ballhandling is better, no doubt because of the summer focus. I credit the Ridge coaches for getting these guys in a good league and taking them to camp. Still, I wish kids worked more on their own initiative. I imagine the great ones always have.