CR Lion Football

[southpaw]

Left-eye I think that Bedford might be running out of great atheletes. They have two on the team now but have no blocking.

[Lefteyelouie]

You may be right south-paw. But typically Bedford finds a way to stay competitive even when they don't have tons of talent. At least under Dean Mcgee and Max they did. I guess we will see what Swaim can do over the next few years.

[Lefteyelouie]

You are right with your point on blocking. Bedford always seems to have someone that can run the ball. In the past have always had some o-lineman that may not have been great ballers but were tough and would keep after you and hit you for 4 full quarters. They have one in Kensinger but some others need to step it up.

[Opinionguy]

I am not sure if Hempfield and McKeesport are the same size. But if they are, yes, I would guess that roughly they have about the same amount of athletes.

The program decides how good of football players you have and what athletes come out for football.

[TRAY]

Hempfield is actually a good bit larger than McKeesport. I have coached against both of them and I can tell you beyond any shadow of a doubt that McKeesport has WAY more athletes than Hempfield.

I guess that is where our fundamental difference is at, I believe that the athletes make the program, and you believe the program makes the athletes. I can live with that differece of opinion. Great coaching and a strong program will absoultely get you some wins, but a great players make coaces look great.

One of the best truisms I ever heard a coach say was Wake Forrests basketball coach Skip Prosser, he said: "As a coach there are a lot of things you can do to help your team, but 90 percent of the time the team with the better players will win." I believe that is more true in basketball, but it holds true to football as well. It is still your eleven vs my eleven, and most of the time the guys in the jerseys decide the outcome not the coaches.

[TheAnalyst]

I will agree with you Tray about one thing. Kids don't want to go out for a 1-9 team that is getting it's butt kicked every week. By Ridge joining the ICC I think it is getting more of the kids out for the team, which is a good thing.

If Bedford has better athletes, it is because of tradition. They know what it takes to win. You see it every step of the way in their program. It's not because there is something magical about being born in the Bedford school district. Many of the current athletes are children of former athletes from Bedford. The parents, coaches, and administration understand the commitment that is necessary.

When you put on that jersey, you know you are representing tradition and those who have come before you. You want to be a part of that. I would bet kids from FH, Tyrone, or Bellwood would tell you the same thing. I would also bet that the Ridge kids don't feel that way.

[CRLionDawg]

How do you instill that desire to win into a community that has been entrenched for years?

[Lonewolf]

CrLionDawg- You move to an easier division build up the winning tradition.

TheAnalyst- Good point athletes don't want to be a part of a 1-9 team of losers. They will go do another sport where they can be winning.

Forget who said about buying into the system. But that i also agree with.
If a team is consistently winning the players coming in see how things work and don't question it. If you are constantly losing every parent is an armchair quarterback at home telling their kid what the coach is doing wrong and they start to believe it. Which undermines the coach. If you want to see that in action look at the CR soccer page especially from last year. Every player on there was smarter than the coaches and would not buy into the system. Granted they could be right for all i know.

[ham55]

it's not all about the X's and the O's, it's about the Larry's and the Mo's...

[CRLionDawg]

By going to a weaker conference you win. But do you really build a tradition? Do you really earn respect from yourself and others?