Lloyd C. Bird
- Thread starter EPJr
- Start date
Why doesn’t Bird drop Wythe? It doesn’t make sense to keep a weak team like that on their football schedule. There is NO POSITIVE in playing a perennially losing team,and hurting your points total for playoff seeding. If I was a fan of Bird... I’d be pissed that everyone else is amping up their schedule, and we’re continuing to play games that mean nothing and do nothing for us.
the games have never really been competitive. With so many teams changing their schedules I'm surprised both wanted to play one another. I would think Wythe would want to take the route of TJ and schedule like size opponents rather than continue to face opponents they are inferior to.
With Bird, like you said, Varina and Highland Springs are beefing up their schedules, I'm curious to see what Henrico does and obviously Manchester has made changes to theirs as well. Skyhawks are at a bit of a disadvantage scheduling wise for sure.
the obvious difference is TJ went down to Class 2 and Wythe was elevated to Class 4. If schools continue to not play district opponents because of football eventually the VHSL will have to intervene.
There are no more “ OFFICIAL” Districts anymore! There are no more District champions,so why play those obviously inferior teams. They need to just play in their own grouping. It’s only embarrassing the kids!
Hey Coach Taylor!
I know when you were at MBK, you had some "helluva" games with HSHS! I'd like for you to see if Coach Johnson over in "TitleTown", if he can squeeze you into his already loaded schedule! That would be a blast!
Absolutely no need to beef up their schedule when they play D6 Thomas Dale, Clover Hill, James River and Crosby. Add Manchester who is now D5 but D6 last year, those D6 Schools is why they were the 2 seed. It's all about the points! I would go as far to say he still has the schedule that when won will issue the most points.
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JRiver, Clover Hill and Cosby aren't strong point getters! Clover Hill had a decent year this year, but normally don't win a lot. Cosby and JRiver aren't much better either. Still carrying Wythe and Huguenot... head scratching!
It is all about points and it doesn't matter what class you are in either! As long as you win. With HS, Varina, Manchester (maybe more) beefing up with "winning" teams, Bird will be lucky to get a 4 seed next year!
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I had written about George Wythe in the 4A Forum in October. In the Dominion District, the schools split the gate money regardless of where the game is played. Wythe depends on the money they get from playing schools like Manchester and Cosby in football who traditionally have big crowds.
Facts why Wythe should change schedule:
Wythe is 2-142 overall since 2003. Wythe has not won a Dominion District game since 2003.
Wythe plays two home games this year, but I do not think they have played a Dominion District team (besides Huguenot) at home in at least a decade, if not longer.
TJ is the blueprint for City Schools in my opinion. TJ changed bc Chad Hornik knew he couldn't compete playing schools like Hermitage (At the time) and Douglas Freeman. TJ has played 1A-2A schools like William Campbell, Greensville and Essex the last two years. The travel is obviously an obstacle those 3 weeks, but TJ now can compete in football for Playoffs and winning seasons.
There is not a good reason the 5 city schools do not play each other. Having talked with people affiliated with all 5 schools, they all want to play each other for multiple reasons. The travel to the suburban schools is tough for a lot of RPS kids and parents.
Facts why Wythe should change schedule:
Wythe is 2-142 overall since 2003. Wythe has not won a Dominion District game since 2003.
Wythe plays two home games this year, but I do not think they have played a Dominion District team (besides Huguenot) at home in at least a decade, if not longer.
TJ is the blueprint for City Schools in my opinion. TJ changed bc Chad Hornik knew he couldn't compete playing schools like Hermitage (At the time) and Douglas Freeman. TJ has played 1A-2A schools like William Campbell, Greensville and Essex the last two years. The travel is obviously an obstacle those 3 weeks, but TJ now can compete in football for Playoffs and winning seasons.
There is not a good reason the 5 city schools do not play each other. Having talked with people affiliated with all 5 schools, they all want to play each other for multiple reasons. The travel to the suburban schools is tough for a lot of RPS kids and parents.
Long before the alignment of 2013 it was discussed to no end about how the city schools should form a new district with the likes of some of the smaller schools in the region such as say a Colonial Heights, Hopewell, etc... There were always reasons not to do it. I can't recall the reasons, I mean we are talking 7 years ago now if you can believe that.
I do think TJ should be viewed as a model for some schools like a Wythe who struggle for wins, particularly when they are in a pattern like TJ. Don't forget, it wasn't but a decade ago TJ was where Wythe is... a program short on wins. In fact, at one time they lost 54 straight! Wythe broke that record when they lost 68 straight from 2004-2011 and now they hold the current active losing streak in the region with 31.
The top 5 longest losing streaks in the region since 1970 all belong to TJ and Wythe... The difference now however is TJ bucked the trend, saw the advantage to playing like sized schools as opposed to their Colonial District foes and now they are a playoff contender and as we saw in 2017, posted their first winning season since the 1970's!
Take away the D6 school wins and only take in consideration them being D6. A program gets 26 points for beating a D6 school. It is why LC Bird had 3 losses and was a 2 seed. 26 points compared to beating, Hanover, LD, and PH who only give your 22 points for a win add up. Much less Varina who beat an Armstrong only gave them 20 points. It all adds up. Them winning is a bonus.
the city school do play each other.
the travel to the suburban schools are nothing compared to traveling to other schools you folks want them to play. Why would Wythe travel to King William or Orange for a fraction of the money they would get at Bird?
I have not seen the JM schedule yet but they have traditional games they have been playing for years in Tidewater as well as RPS schools and will probably continue to do so. BTW - Wythe is not a small school like TJ they just need a new FB coaching staff (to be frank).
Why would anyone, including parents, waste hard earned money to watch wythe get beat by 80 points every year by Bird?! I can promise you though, King William will show up to play a RVA city school. At least it will be a little more competitive.
Bird is only guaranteeing it self a four or five seed in the playoffs!
When a team plays down a division the get 2 bonus points per division to make up the difference in base points. A D4 win is worth 22 points for D4 schools. HS (class 5) beat Hanover and got the 22 point + 2 for playing down 1 division. It's no different than playing a D5 school. Playing up a division is different.
It was set up this say so bjgger schools don't get penalized for playing down.
I do not think you have researched this topic very well. But I respect your Opinion.
First, Wythe only plays 2 out of the other 4 city schools at most. Wythe has 9 district games and usually starts the season with either Armstrong of JM.
John Marshall has also gone with the TJ model (Good coaching) with scheduling. The following is JM's schedule for 2019:
Wythe
Bluestone
Armstrong
IC Norcom
Tucker
Bye
TJ
Tunstall
Glen Allen
Douglas Freeman
Mills Godwin
My first question is have you ever been to a Wythe at LC Bird football game? The secret is out, nobody goes to the game.
Manchester and Cosby are the only schools that currently have big crowds regardless of opponents. I go to at least 1 game at every Dominion district school every year except Wythe.
I understand the money Wythe gets from playing Manchester is very important, but the other games gate money is not as significant as it once was.
If Wythe were to replace Bird and Manchester with Armstrong/John Marshall/TJ and play home and home, I do believe that people in the city would be excited and attend these games. A good portion of parents and kids in the RPS communities cannot get to Cosby, Manchester, LC Bird for Friday night games for multiple reasons. The chances of the parents, kids and fans to attend a game in city is a much higher probability.
I do know a few parents and coaches in the Wythe community. They were all happy with this year's coach and were shocked and upset that he decided to resign. The coaching is not the issue as much as it has been in previous years. The main issue is that Wythe is playing schools that it just cannot compete with.
have you gone to any city games
even less folks are there
so coaching is NOT the issue?
so which came first the chicken or the egg?
once again Wythe has almost twice the kids JM and TJ has so using them as a model is not valid.
