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you jsut summed up a major problem in chestnut ridge. the public should have no say in what conference the team plays in. A few people are involved in little lions football and all the sudden they have all the answers. there is much more to building any athletic program than throwing around a couple of fancy cliches'.

I'll find out how many playoff games Bedford has won over the last 10 years, just let me get ahold of a program from tonights game and that'll provide that information to me.

I love that Ridge has finally swung thier football program around and are starting to experience some real success(even though it doesn't seem like it at times, I really don't hate Ridge as much as I come off). When it comes down too it, I wish that ALL the county teams win when facing out of county opponents, and that's the way it should be.

The LHAC requires excellent coaching and great athletes to compete on a yearly basis. Bedford has always been blessed with great coaches and some of the best athletes from around the area, speed and talent wise, the MAJOR difference that I see between Bedford and most of the other county teams is the attitude that the community holds and the student body and student athlete holds toward thier football program.

How many schools had lifting 4 days a week this summer from 8-11 then passing league workouts after that and had over 80% of the team participate on thier own free-will? I'd bet that none had a workout program that had them in there 4 days a week as it was. The community will be behind the team in Bedford no matter how bad the team is(we haven't had a losing season since the early 90's).

CR Lion Dawg. You are only telling half of the truth. The whole truth is that the LHAC was going to an all sports conference. At the time Ridge only played football in LHAC. None of the other sports and coaches wanted to make the move to the LHAC. So don't makes seem like the administration and the AD ignored everyone and did what they wanted.

while he does seem to support Ridge sports, dawg seems to want to have all the answers. I think he might mean well but doesn't quite understand everything that goes on.

setting up little lions does not make one ready to run a varsity program.

My interest now as when I was personally involved is to see CR develop a successful athletic program.

I dont have all the answers.

While this is a completely opinionated and personal statement I will make it anyway. For the Lions football program to have only reached the 1st round of the playoffs with the roster of athletes they fielded the past 2 seasons is evidence that moving to the ICC wasnt a good idea.

Having moved twice now and experienced 1st hand 2 teams that have been successful at the state level I think I know what kind of a "system" it takes to compete at the top level. You have plenty of "models" around you. Forest Hills, Tyrone, and yes Bedford. Compare yourself against these programs that are consistently winning and note the characteristics.

Have to run now but will gladly chime in on this subject.

Southpaw. I felt the other sports should have joined the LHAC as well.

heres my take on all this...

nobody is bashing the ridge atheletes for playing in a weak conference but rather becuase they feel that their accomplishments in this weaker league are something great. yes its great that they are able to notch a few in the win column, but do we honestly need you to tell us how great the team is? no. good on ya for finally having "successful" seasons, but dont go shouting to the world about winning the special olympics, know what i mean?

"with the roster of atheltes they fielded." Granted the Lions had some talent the last two years, but I would hardly say they underachieved. The loss two years ago to Phillipsburg was a great game that could have gone either way. In last years loss, the Lions wereclearly not the better team. I guess I just don't see the same talent that you see. I think the Lions have had some good football players the last few years,(Bearfoot, Novak, Foltin, Shaffer etc.)but they haven't had anyone that really makes you say "WOW" that kid is unbelievable. If they had stayed in the LHAC we wouldn't be able to have this discussion about the playoffs would we??? Even with the teams they have had the last two years, is ridge a playoff team in the LHAC? Whose to say that all the kids that were on those teams would have even play football if they stayed in the LHAC. I have been around enough football teams to know that part of the reason a bad team continues to be bad is because when times are bad kids who might help a team win a few games won't be on the team because it is easier not to be than to go out and get your head kicked in week after week. Walk the halls of a high school with a bad football team and I bet you find some kids that don't play football that should. That is an unfortunate reality. That is part of the reason it is hard to turn a losing program into a winning one.

"As for the kind of system it takes to win" That is a really generic answer. YOU tell me what kind of system does it take. I think it takes parents willing to let a coach do his job, without whinning about their sons playing time, an atheletic director commited to winning, not making people happy, a school board commited to winning, not concerned that their son is the starting quarterback, a coaching staff(from Junior high to varsity) that has the knowledge necessary to teach the game, motivate players, and make good decisions. A youth program in which coaches have an understanding of the game and are more concerned with teaching fundamentals then how many points little Johnny can score this week. And MOST IMPORTANTLY you have to be lucky enough to have some really good athelets to put out on the field on friday night, who will commit to the program and bust the tails to get bigger, faster, stronger and become the best football player they can be.

As you said this is just my personal and very biased opinion. I don't know how many of these factors are true for Ridge, I'm not from there. Maybe someone can let me know.

I think the reasons Ridge are not respected throughout the football community have been brought out in this thread.

It seems to me that a lot of knowledgable people within the community know what is going on, and know how to fix it. Whether things are holding that issue back are another ordeal.

Basically Gunner18 stated it best. Great, Ridge took a quick fix way to notch in a few wins. But it does get irritating when you have to scroll down 11 threads of "Ryan Hess" and "What is next for the Lions" when it is nothing but a bunch of hoopla of nonsense.

I personally like Ridge and hope they do someday land that high quality program they dream of. Don't go around talking the talk until you walk the walk.

These high quality programs that you speak of, have near or over 500 win football histories.

Bedford all time overall record is 441-279 (.613 winning percentage) 8 more years and they will eclipse the 500 win plateau and be placed among few schools state wide that have reached that level.

I'm looking at the program for this years team, and it does not have the playoff records as I thought it would in here, but it does have thier overall championships that Bedford has accumulated over its rich and storied past.

BIG NINE CHAMPIONS
1979 1983 1985

MOUNTAIN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
1985 1988

DISTRICT V CHAMPIONS(which doesn't count for the county cup, but that's another story)
1986 1987 1988 1989 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004

REGIONAL III SEMI-FINAL CHAMPIONS
1992

LAUREL HIGHLANDS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS(another thing the county cup doesn't recognize, messed up isn't it)
1994 1997 1999 2004

WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
1994 1997 1999 2000


Now I know alot of you will make this out to be as me tooting Bedford horn, but has any other team in the county enjoyed this much success on the grid-iron? I know that Bedford won at least 2 playoff games in the last 5 years. One in 2000(lost to Bellwood @ home in overtime) and one in 2002(I was playing for that team that year, lost to McCort @ McCort). Pre-2000, I don't have much memory as I was younger and really didn't care much about football then. 2 in 5 years is still better than Ridges 1 since 1990.

Bedford's 1989 team was ranked 2nd in the State in AA by the Harrisburg Patriot News, they only took one team from each classification that year and played a 4 way, battle royal, for the overall state champion, yes, AA faced AAAA and so on and so forth for the state title. Bedford, being ranked 2nd, didn't get the invite.

Just a little bit of info for those wanting to know.

So what. who cares about the past? Live in the past and the future will pass bye you. Ridge fans should keep looking at what is in front of them not what is behind. Ham the past doesn't mean anything to what is going on now. Look at wrestling for instance very few teams have the history that Bedford has and up until 3 years ago CR had only beaten them once. Now CR has won 3 in a row 2 of which was in Bedfords own gym. Things change and kids change over time and you should never dwell in the past.