Is the LHAC Strength on the Line

TBone · Post by **TBone** » November 20th, 2005, 6:51 pm

After all of the bashing of the WestPac and other local conferences by many on this board is the LHAC's strength on the line against South Park? I don't post a lot but sometimes I can't understand why all of the bashing. The West Pac, ICC, Heritage are definitely weaker than the LHAC. They should be based on the size of the schools. Some of you guys are constantly telling Windber, Portage, etc to get into the LH to get playoff ready. I wonder what would happen if FH, BM, Bedford, and the other AA teams in the LH would get into a good AAA WPIAL conference. It is the same idea as what some of you are suggesting for Windber and Portage. I think that a lot of your favorite teams would be sub 500 teams if that was the case. Since I am a District 6 fan, I am rooting for FH next weekend but some of you guys ought to get you heads out of the clouds. Their are many conferences in the state that the cream of the crop from the LHAC would just be average teams.
GO CARROL AND FH.

Post by **Gunner18** » November 20th, 2005, 7:45 pm

well lets look at it like this....you say bedford, fh, and bm should go AAA WPIAL because we think windber and portage should go AA LHAC, heres the thing. bedford fh and mccort play strong teams almost every week. (theres the exception every once in a while but for the majority, all their games are against good, equal opponents) can you tell me that a majority of the windber and portage's opponents are good and equal? NO you cant, the reason people want them to switch is because they whomp up on teams all year long then (mostly portage becuase theyre D6) they dont fair too well. with windber being d5, their strength of schedule doesnt matter a whole lot, after all d5 had a 3-6 team in the final, but we wont go there. look at the two teams in this years d6 final...bellwood and carroll, now look at their schedules, carroll played AA lhac teams and bellwood competed against tyrone and teams like that. portage got eliminated by bellwood why? becuase bellwood was better prepared by playing tougher games, portage almost cake walked to the playoffs and got eliminated when they faced a team with a strong schedule.

it would make no sense for bedford, fh, or mccort to go AAA WPIAL (even if it were possible) simply because they already face enough challenge in the league they are in, windber and portage have very little challenge in their seasons. how often does the winner of the portage/windber game win the WeakPAC?

TBone · Post by **TBone** » November 20th, 2005, 8:38 pm

I am not suggesting that a move be made to the WPIAL. I was only using that as a comparison. I knew that my post would raise some hairs but, in my opinion, there is no way that the best of the LH could compete with Franklin Regional, or TJ or any other team of that caliber. Its the same with Portage and Windber competing with FH and BM.

Pale Rider · Post by **Pale Rider** » November 20th, 2005, 8:42 pm

Why try to compare with TJ or Franklin Reg.? They're 3A and we (at least this year) are only 2A. Compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges!

Post by **Gunner18** » November 20th, 2005, 8:45 pm

maybe not now but in a few years they will. look at bellwood, they consistently play a tough AA schedule and they always do well. the last time they played an LHAC team they won (district semis at bedford in 2000) sure they might have a few losing seasons, but id bet good money to say that within 5 years they could easily end up 6-3 maybe even 7-2. thats the problem though teams are afraid of challenges, theyd rather breeze through, then come crunch time make an early exit. why not challenge yourselves? to be the best you gotta beat the best. why do you think the WPIAL champion is always so good? CUZ THEY PLAY GOOD TEAMS, how often do you see a WPIAL champ play a cupcake schedule?

TBone · Post by **TBone** » November 21st, 2005, 5:40 am

Pale,
I was only using that comparison to equate what some are doing with some of the A teams that they feel don't play a good enough schedule and should move up to play AA and in some cases AAA teams.

Opinionguy · Post by **Opinionguy** » November 21st, 2005, 9:10 am

I disagree with both points here.

First point being that Windber and Portage should join the LHAC. Why? Most likely they would end up 5-4 or 6-3, then possibly miss the playoffs (given the current system).

I personally like the idea of the Westpac and Heritage making a small a large A conference. I think that would be a better fit. Lets be realistic here, no matter what these teams do, they aren't going to compete with Bishop Carroll on a yearly basis. If BC continues on it's current path, they will win D6 at least 3 or 4 times out of every five years, from now til something changes in the PIAA.

Secondly, I disagree with what you are saying about the top teams not being successful in the WPIAL. Are they going to win the thing every year? No way. But look at the amount of teams that are in the WPIAL. Do you have any idea how many AA teams make up the WPIAL? 41. They have 5 different AA conferences, 4 with 8 teams, one with 9 teams. Now, compare that to the number of AA teams in the LHAC. You can see why teams from this region win the Western final about 1 out of every 5 years. Mathmatically, it makes sense.

Again, go look at these conferences. They have their 10-0 teams, they have their 0-10 teams. I gaurantee if you put these top teams in the one of the WPIAL conferences, they will win one of them once in four years. Now to win the whole WPIAL, that is a much harder feat. Remember, you are talking about being the best out of 41 teams, not just 8 or 9.

It's just a numbers thing. I personally think that if you play heads up with the AA teams in the LHAC against any WPIAL AA conference, being WPIAL AA 1,2,3,4, or 5, we will win the overall battle. I would place money on it.

sidelinecoach · Post by **sidelinecoach** » November 21st, 2005, 10:00 am

I think the thing that gets most LHAC fans is the fact that Windber goes undefeated as often as McCort has a winning season (note the sarcasm before you fire back at me). Yes, its great that Windber goes undefeated or has one loss more often than not, and Portage also amasses a great amount of wins each year. The question remains, who do they do it against. Let Windber brag about their regular season wins...don't be jealous. Its like in the movie BAD SANTA:

Willie: I beat the *&^* out of some kids today, but it was for a purpose.
Willie: You know, I think I've turned a corner.
Marcus: Yeah? You $%^&$%*&^ petites now?
Willie: No, I'm not talking about that. I beat the *&^* out of some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself. It was like I did something constructive with my life or something, I dunno, like I accomplished something.
Marcus: You need many years of therapy. Many, many, many $#@$%^' years of therapy

Bad Santa felt good about beating up that kid. It made him feel good. If this is what it takes..so be it.

Let the replies begin..but this is SARCASTIC and FUNNY. Remember humor?

ham55 · Post by **ham55** » November 21st, 2005, 10:34 am

I got a chuckle out of it.

halfy24 · Post by **halfy24** » November 21st, 2005, 11:25 am

PIAA Enrollment numbers for males grades 9-12 in WestPAC and LHAC

WestPAC
Windber .......................175
North Star ....................174
Meyersdale ..................166
Conemaugh Township ...139
Conemaugh Valley .......125
Portage .......................117
Berlin ..........................112
Ferndale ......................101
Shade ...........................77
Blacklick Valley .............75

LHAC
Forest Hills....................313
Central Cambria............270
Bedford........................260
Penn Cambria..............255
McCort.........................211

These numbers of male enrollment should say everything.

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