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(01-22-2014 05:28 PM)LightEmUp70 Wrote:  Great. Smiths Station gets stay in one of the toughest regions in the highest level. We're also one of the poorest schools in the region.

And y'all finished second in that region last year, so quit your whining.

I like Homewood's classification and region. 6A region 5.

Rumor had it that Homewood was having to move to 6a this year (prior to the 7A announcement) which meant being outmanned and not able to compete. With the big schools moving up it gives those borderline schools a better chance. Homewood was always teetering between 5A and 6A.

Hopefully, they can stay Class 6A for a while.

(01-22-2014 04:43 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 04:22 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Is the state trying to set up a division in high schools similar to that of the Big 5 in college from those who are less?

This picture is more in touch with reality than your post.

Thank you for illustrating the new high school sport's organization plan.

Did anyone notice that of the 389 schools listed, about 300 of them have below 570 enrollment? Those are the ones in Class I through Class 5. Of course IF football is the main reason for high schools to even exist, this makes no difference. Let us know when Hoover schedules John Essex, it ought to be real competitive, NO?

What would you propose Hoover do to increase John Essex's enrollment?

(01-22-2014 07:39 PM)dfarr Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 05:28 PM)LightEmUp70 Wrote:  Great. Smiths Station gets stay in one of the toughest regions in the highest level. We're also one of the poorest schools in the region.

And y'all finished second in that region last year, so quit your whining.

I think we would have been 1st if we hadn't lost 4 players during the Opelika game. Even still, Coach Rose has done a lot with a smaller roster than a lot of the other schools.

(01-22-2014 03:14 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 03:02 PM)BatesUAB Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 02:43 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Dividing even further the high schools is an acknowledgement that we have too much variation in school enrollment around the state. If the state is serious about adding more of the "job ready" vocational HS programs around the state, we need more uniformity of school size, not less. The stumbling block to consolidation has always been that people want consolidation TO their school, not to someone else's.

The stumbling block is the fact that population is not uniform. You can't just create uniformity in school size. Or, maybe we can. Let's just bus about 800 kids from Prattville all the way across Autauga County every day to Billingsley. Or, here's a better idea- let's just tell 10% of the population of Mountain Brook that they have to move to Rockford so their kids can attend Central Coosa and even out the enrollment.

"Nuclear option" solutions are not being suggested. Alabama does need to find a way to mitigate the large and growing differences in enrollment around the state if it is ever going to be serious about some of its publicized high school "job ready" vocational programs. Good vocational programs are very expensive and you need a minimum enrollment in them to have them work efficiently.

Of course, the state can always just ignore the rural kids and let them "do without" like they have in the past.

Can we ever have a thread without your political BS being thrown throughout it? This was a legitimate thread with good conversation, and you made it about rich vs. poor as you always do.

(01-22-2014 07:11 PM)blazr Wrote:  Absolutely floors me to see 3 St. Clair Co. Schools in 5A: Moody, St. Clair High, and Springville (Pell City has their own system). Was a time when Moody was 5A, St. Clair 3A, and everyone else 2A or lower. That Hwy 411 corridor must be booming.

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Mortimer Jordan hasn't played St Clair in a while, certainly not in the last 3 years or so since I have been following Jordan.

Moody & Jordan normally have been around the same classification over the years. Springville has been up & down compared to Jordan & Moody in classification.

All 3 along with Hayden will be travelling a little more eastward for their other region games.

(01-22-2014 09:00 PM)LightEmUp70 Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 07:39 PM)dfarr Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 05:28 PM)LightEmUp70 Wrote:  Great. Smiths Station gets stay in one of the toughest regions in the highest level. We're also one of the poorest schools in the region.

And y'all finished second in that region last year, so quit your whining.

I think we would have been 1st if we hadn't lost 4 players during the Opelika game. Even still, Coach Rose has done a lot with a smaller roster than a lot of the other schools.

I was at that game. Opelika lost plenty of guys too

(01-22-2014 08:46 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 04:43 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 04:22 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  Is the state trying to set up a division in high schools similar to that of the Big 5 in college from those who are less?

This picture is more in touch with reality than your post.

Thank you for illustrating the new high school sport's organization plan.

Did anyone notice that of the 389 schools listed, about 300 of them have below 570 enrollment? Those are the ones in Class I through Class 5. Of course IF football is the main reason for high schools to even exist, this makes no difference. Let us know when Hoover schedules John Essex, it ought to be real competitive, NO?

Someone's off their medication.

How do propose to makes all schools equal?

Sounds like a familiar political platform.

(01-22-2014 10:15 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 07:11 PM)blazr Wrote:  Absolutely floors me to see 3 St. Clair Co. Schools in 5A: Moody, St. Clair High, and Springville (Pell City has their own system). Was a time when Moody was 5A, St. Clair 3A, and everyone else 2A or lower. That Hwy 411 corridor must be booming.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Mortimer Jordan hasn't played St Clair in a while, certainly not in the last 3 years or so since I have been following Jordan.

Moody & Jordan normally have been around the same classification over the years. Springville has been up & down compared to Jordan & Moody in classification.

All 3 along with Hayden will be travelling a little more eastward for their other region games.

MJ has never played St. Clair in football. I know we played basketball against them several times. Its a very interesting region for MJ, a lot of new teams. Should be interesting to watch, and MJ should be more competitive.

blazerman you might find this link interesting.

(01-22-2014 08:49 PM)Smaug Wrote:  What would you propose Hoover do to increase John Essex's enrollment?

It is NOT Hoover HS responsibility to set up class brackets with similar ranges of enrollment numbers. THAT is the job of the AHSAA and they erected a 7A class with a range over twice that of class 5A and greater than all others combined. WHY?
Noting the numbers furnished by BlazerJay, the largest enrollment school in class 6A is closer to the numbers of the smallest enrollment school in class 3A than found within the new class 7A alone. It strikes me that there may be something at foot here than just "competitive fairness". Is there an agenda that will become more apparent at a later date?

Is there an enrollment number past which you see diminishing returns? I wouldn't say Hoover has a huge competitive edge over Vestavia, despite being much, much bigger. At smaller enrollment numbers, having a few hundred extra kids probably matters much more than it does with the new 7a schools.

(01-23-2014 01:01 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 08:49 PM)Smaug Wrote:  What would you propose Hoover do to increase John Essex's enrollment?

It is NOT Hoover HS responsibility to set up class brackets with similar ranges of enrollment numbers. THAT is the job of the AHSAA and they erected a 7A class with a range over twice that of class 5A and greater than all others combined. WHY?
Noting the numbers furnished by BlazerJay, the largest enrollment school in class 6A is closer to the numbers of the smallest enrollment school in class 3A than found within the new class 7A alone. It strikes me that there may be something at foot here than just "competitive fairness". Is there an agenda that will become more apparent at a later date?

They erected this class because 6A schools with enrollments closer to 5A numbers were complaining about having to face schools with twice their enrollment. Everything does not have to be about rich/poor, black/white, rural/urban/suburban, etc. Madison has needed a second high school for years now. I graduated in 2003, and Bob Jones was 10-12. James Clemens was finally built, but it takes time. You think cities like Madison are rich as hell and can build whatever they want whenever they want. That isn't the case. It took a long time for that second high school to be built. Both those schools will have enormous enrollment in the near future. Is it really fair for schools with 1000 students to be competing with schools with 2500?

(01-22-2014 11:45 PM)Dracarys Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 10:15 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 07:11 PM)blazr Wrote:  Absolutely floors me to see 3 St. Clair Co. Schools in 5A: Moody, St. Clair High, and Springville (Pell City has their own system). Was a time when Moody was 5A, St. Clair 3A, and everyone else 2A or lower. That Hwy 411 corridor must be booming.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Mortimer Jordan hasn't played St Clair in a while, certainly not in the last 3 years or so since I have been following Jordan.

Moody & Jordan normally have been around the same classification over the years. Springville has been up & down compared to Jordan & Moody in classification.

All 3 along with Hayden will be travelling a little more eastward for their other region games.

MJ has never played St. Clair in football. I know we played basketball against them several times. Its a very interesting region for MJ, a lot of new teams. Should be interesting to watch, and MJ should be more competitive.

blazerman you might find this link interesting.

MJ was pretty much a constant presence on Moody schedules when I was in school. Had to face Greg "Pork Chop" McGraw home and away in HS baseball then in the summer league state tournaments with those ridiculous Hwy 31 N All-Star teams (borderline illegal since they took the best from Gardendale, Morris, Fultondale, and a few other communities). We tried to counter one year with a Leeds-Springville team (I played summer ball for Leeds) and took them to the last elimination game but fell short.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

I've seen that link before & use it quite frequently.

I haven't really followed HS football that much in the last 28 years except for the last 3 or 4 due to my daughter being involved in the band.

Moody & Jordan are pretty much comparable in size.

(01-23-2014 10:35 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(01-23-2014 01:01 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 08:49 PM)Smaug Wrote:  What would you propose Hoover do to increase John Essex's enrollment?

It is NOT Hoover HS responsibility to set up class brackets with similar ranges of enrollment numbers. THAT is the job of the AHSAA and they erected a 7A class with a range over twice that of class 5A and greater than all others combined. WHY?
Noting the numbers furnished by BlazerJay, the largest enrollment school in class 6A is closer to the numbers of the smallest enrollment school in class 3A than found within the new class 7A alone. It strikes me that there may be something at foot here than just "competitive fairness". Is there an agenda that will become more apparent at a later date?

They erected this class because 6A schools with enrollments closer to 5A numbers were complaining about having to face schools with twice their enrollment. Everything does not have to be about rich/poor, black/white, rural/urban/suburban, etc. Madison has needed a second high school for years now. I graduated in 2003, and Bob Jones was 10-12. James Clemens was finally built, but it takes time. You think cities like Madison are rich as hell and can build whatever they want whenever they want. That isn't the case. It took a long time for that second high school to be built. Both those schools will have enormous enrollment in the near future. Is it really fair for schools with 1000 students to be competing with schools with 2500?

The ratio you suggest as unfair (2.5 to 1) is about the ratio in the new Class 6A (1002 to 579) and in Class 7A (1978 to 1008) - about 2 to 1. Does that 0.5 make all the difference?

Maybe when Hoover plays John Essex, the Bucs can only play 8 guys.

(01-24-2014 01:16 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-23-2014 10:35 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(01-23-2014 01:01 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 08:49 PM)Smaug Wrote:  What would you propose Hoover do to increase John Essex's enrollment?

It is NOT Hoover HS responsibility to set up class brackets with similar ranges of enrollment numbers. THAT is the job of the AHSAA and they erected a 7A class with a range over twice that of class 5A and greater than all others combined. WHY?
Noting the numbers furnished by BlazerJay, the largest enrollment school in class 6A is closer to the numbers of the smallest enrollment school in class 3A than found within the new class 7A alone. It strikes me that there may be something at foot here than just "competitive fairness". Is there an agenda that will become more apparent at a later date?

They erected this class because 6A schools with enrollments closer to 5A numbers were complaining about having to face schools with twice their enrollment. Everything does not have to be about rich/poor, black/white, rural/urban/suburban, etc. Madison has needed a second high school for years now. I graduated in 2003, and Bob Jones was 10-12. James Clemens was finally built, but it takes time. You think cities like Madison are rich as hell and can build whatever they want whenever they want. That isn't the case. It took a long time for that second high school to be built. Both those schools will have enormous enrollment in the near future. Is it really fair for schools with 1000 students to be competing with schools with 2500?

The ratio you suggest as unfair (2.5 to 1) is about the ratio in the new Class 6A (1002 to 579) and in Class 7A (1978 to 1008) - about 2 to 1. Does that 0.5 make all the difference?

It's a big freaking difference, yes. And these 7A schools are growing at a pretty fast rate. You do realize the population of Bob Jones was through the roof before James Clemens was completed, right?(both are 7A schools now, and both went to Bob Jones before JC was done.) There is never a perfect way to separate schools because size and location vary so much, but to me this was something that was needed.

(01-24-2014 01:35 PM)Smaug Wrote:  Maybe when Hoover plays John Essex, the Bucs can only play 8 guys.

Better yet, they can split the squads. John Essex can pick any 22 players they want off of Hoover, and then Hoover can have their pick of 22 players from John Essex.

(01-24-2014 02:59 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(01-24-2014 01:16 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-23-2014 10:35 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(01-23-2014 01:01 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(01-22-2014 08:49 PM)Smaug Wrote:  What would you propose Hoover do to increase John Essex's enrollment?

It is NOT Hoover HS responsibility to set up class brackets with similar ranges of enrollment numbers. THAT is the job of the AHSAA and they erected a 7A class with a range over twice that of class 5A and greater than all others combined. WHY?
Noting the numbers furnished by BlazerJay, the largest enrollment school in class 6A is closer to the numbers of the smallest enrollment school in class 3A than found within the new class 7A alone. It strikes me that there may be something at foot here than just "competitive fairness". Is there an agenda that will become more apparent at a later date?

They erected this class because 6A schools with enrollments closer to 5A numbers were complaining about having to face schools with twice their enrollment. Everything does not have to be about rich/poor, black/white, rural/urban/suburban, etc. Madison has needed a second high school for years now. I graduated in 2003, and Bob Jones was 10-12. James Clemens was finally built, but it takes time. You think cities like Madison are rich as hell and can build whatever they want whenever they want. That isn't the case. It took a long time for that second high school to be built. Both those schools will have enormous enrollment in the near future. Is it really fair for schools with 1000 students to be competing with schools with 2500?

The ratio you suggest as unfair (2.5 to 1) is about the ratio in the new Class 6A (1002 to 579) and in Class 7A (1978 to 1008) - about 2 to 1. Does that 0.5 make all the difference?

It's a big freaking difference, yes. And these 7A schools are growing at a pretty fast rate. You do realize the population of Bob Jones was through the roof before James Clemens was completed, right?(both are 7A schools now, and both went to Bob Jones before JC was done.) There is never a perfect way to separate schools because size and location vary so much, but to me this was something that was needed.

Accepting your premise of 1,000 difference being acceptable and then, for good measure cutting that in half - 500 - then the AHSAA could have done the job with
Class 1A 116 schools 209 to 34
Class 2A 120 schools 377 to 210
Class 3A 121 schools 1,008 to 378
Class 4A 32 schools 1,978 to 1,008

Now the state might have to fine tune the dividing lines somewhat between the new 3A and 4A groups, but that would not be much of an obstacle. They would mainly have to increase the number of regions within each Class. Following a "Pick on someone your own size" rule, they could prohibit games between schools that exceed the "500 enrollment difference rule" between classes.