LPD Preview Today

The Bristol Herald will have their LPD Preview in today's paper. The CMD Preview will be in tomorrow's edition. Thought some of you would like to know if ya didn't already.

Raiders Predicted No1 by the Bristol Paper!!!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raider75</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Raiders Predicted No1 by the Bristol Paper!!! </div></div>


Well, might as well cancel the season! Burton's been named #1 by an area newspaper! No need to play the game(s) now! [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif[/img]

Is that #1 in the world, the LPD, the region...?

I'm thinking the world since there is no further explanation lol [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: raider75</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Raiders Predicted No1 by the Bristol Paper!!! </div></div>

Surprise of the year! [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/whistle.gif[/img]

Here's a bothersome little quote from the preview:

"I really feel like the kids we've got work hard," Crabtree said. "We've had some quitters and some transfers and really got rid of some of the more selfish players. We ended up with a team that's all about the team. I like that. I'd rather have 19 or 20 that are all about the team, rather than have 25 with five or six individuals that are not."

I agree that part of the problem Pound has faced in the last few years. If ya believe it, ya might as well say it. The community may have had a part in past struggles as well...but the community doesn't play the games. If folks get mad and quit coming to the games..ya still have your players on Friday night...but if your players are selfish on the field or quitting...then you have diddley squat. Chris had all the right to say what he did. If you coach you have to have balls and a tough skin. Folks got all over him a few years back when he predicted that his team would win the CD within a couple of years as well.

Well it will be BB material for some teams BUT I DO think it is something Crabtree needed to say to his team since I am sure most people (myself included) talk so much about the Pound Mass defections that it starts wearing on the Players

There's a little more history to this than you know amigo. This is just his latest backhand at him.

I would be lieing if I told you I had not heard a few stories BUT I have always thought he was a nice pretty nice guy

You have a PM amigo

The way I see it...when you are thrust into a situation like there is at Pound, you had better establish an "us against the world" attitude. And, if you have had defections, you had better address that...especially if it substantially impacted your team. I see nothing wrong with what he said...if it can be used as a catalyst for motivating his team, he needs to wear it out.

When you attack a kid, harrass his family that is another issue though folks. Be a man and get over it. Those kids decided that they didn't want to stay at Pound. Move along, and do what you get paid to do-coaching. Bitching and whining about it solves nothing. He isn't the first coach that has had to deal with this, and he won't be the last.

I'm not gonna defend what he said...but from his and Pound's point of view, how do you think they view the players that left only because they wanted to play on a team they thought would be better than Pound ?... All I am saying is that if he can make his team better by letting them feed off of this, then he is doing his job as a coach.

Unfortunately for Crabtree, this is fueling Chris, and I have a feeling come Friday, August 31 at Carrol Dale Stadium, young Strouth is going to be thinking about Crabtree when he puts on the show that I think he is going to put on for us all. Sometimes what you say comes back to haunt you. It has happened to us all before.

Well, Strouth may be motivated as crap, but I'm sure that there will be some motivation from Pound to show him he made a mistake. As a coach, he has to worry about the team he has, not the player he doesn't have, and if he offends a former player a bit, then so be it.

We all gripe about it when it happens to one we get, and support it when its one we lose.

As a coach, he should be firing the guys he has up. Is there some bitterness, some wishing they had, not just Strouth but others who transferred? I'd guarantee that, but at this point, the one thing they shouldn't do is make him or any other transfer happy.

The difference is Strouth went to Wise...Cantrell went to PV. Pound has no shot at PV..but they always have a shot at Kelly. Folks can come on here and tell me how great Kelly is, but until I see it in W's instead of L's..I'm not buying it.

It's not about motivation Rock. There's nothing wrong with motivation, but when you harrass a family by calling their home, and you slander the kid in public so much to where his parents have to call the school board asking for relief, then you are ovr the line. I apologize to Michelle in advance for saying this. It's about doing the right thing. Doing the right thing is motivating the kids, but the wrong thing is the barrage of personal attacks.

Considering all this is happening in the Lb...and everything that happens up there gets overblown...IMO there is a HUGE chance this is overblown as well.

I remember several years back, a few players transferred from Clintwood. I think they went to Pound. As best I recall, neither was any big loss to Clintwood, they did actually help Pound a bit, but don't think for a moment that Clintwood didn't have a point to prove to them they made a mistake. I'm sure those guys wanted to prove to Clintwood they made a mistake not giving them the chance to play. It works both ways and when its a player who played, its even more motivation.

I couldn't tell you what Pound has back, but if they have a single guy who blocked for Strouth, I'd be on them talking about how they worked for him and he bailed on them when things got rough. I'm sure the old military view, would you want that guy in your foxhole with you, comes up.

And to be honest, there isn't a team, a coach or a fan who would have reacted any other way. If one of the few talents that Kelly had 2 years ago had transferred out, good kid or not, when Kelly played them, they would have been wanting to smack the stuffing out of him.

If we are talking about purely football, I say hells yeah I am pumped for the battle. I have zero doubt that those prideful Wildcats are going to come scratching and clawing into The Reservation. I have zero doubt that they have circled us as the "red-letter" game this year. I have zero doubt that even though I have no clue how many (if any) the Cats will win this year, Crabtree's boys will play hard and fight every snap to the end. I have much respect for the kids who stayed at Pound, and are committed to the program. I wish them all the best, but this isn't just about football. At the end of the day, this is about a young teenager who loves/wants to play the sport he loves, as well as his parents who out of love for their son, will watch him don the scarlet and white, all along dealing with the emotions that come with knowing that they are both Wildcats. I respect Chelle and Chris sr very much for that. I have said it before: if I had to do he exact same thing, I would. What parent doesn't want their kid to succeed? Crabtree is a minister, a devout religious man. This obviously has me scratching my noggin'. I have known him since we were 5 years old, have been a big fan of his until this bit. There are bigger and better things than winning football games in life folks (GO DAWGS!!!-heck-had to throw that in there)

Just curious...but what was there to gain by strouth tranferring from pound to kelly anyways?...that is what puzzled me...that is about like transferring from vanderbilt to ole miss..

At the end of the season, look at the win totals and do the math.

He has a slew of friends at Wise, family lived near Wise, and (drumroll please) HE PLAYS BASEBALL. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]

Whoa, I forgot that the world in SWVA only thinks about football [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img]

What's Baseball??...Oh that spring sport that barely gets covered. I just think excuses for transfer are a cop out...if all your friends go to a school..and you want to play ball for a school, you'll start your HS years at that school. Seriously, I could care less about this matter..but I think Chris had as much right to say what he did as any other coach put in the same situation. Remember..he is Kelly alum as well.

Baseball gets no coverage in this area gets no coverage because of where we are. Football is king in this area. As for excuses, there is no excuses when what you are doing is legal. Chris will play on a winning football team, a loaded baseball team, and a vastly improved basketball team this year. There is nothing wrong with that.

when are they closing pound?

I never said it wasn't legal...doesn't mean it doesn't smell fishy when it happens (if it's not out of necessity) or it doesn't appear somewhat underhanded. As for Kelly having a winning football team, that is still up in the air...has been since 1981. They could win 6, they could win 3...who knows. But, it's not like they are going to be in the post season. And they may make some noise in basketball and baseball...but really that has nothing to do with my point. My whole point is, unless it is absolutely necessary, I don't see the point in transfers. I coached at a local school where we had an influx of good athletes from a TN school...and really I thought they should all have been ruled ineligible cuz they had no good reason for transferring. It wasn't necessary for them to play. Furthermore, in the preseason, some looked like all americans. But, in the long run they hurt about as much as they helped...cuz there were kids that had been in the program that had to sit so they could play..even though the local kids had stuck with rebuilding that program for 3-4 years. And I still see nothing wrong with Chris Crabtree's comments...he has a right to say and do whatever it takes to make his team better. I've known him fr years, and I respect his judgement.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: R0cketer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well, Strouth may be motivated as crap, but I'm sure that there will be some motivation from Pound to show him he made a mistake. As a coach, he has to worry about the team he has, not the player he doesn't have, and if he offends a former player a bit, then so be it.

We all gripe about it when it happens to one we get, and support it when its one we lose.

As a coach, he should be firing the guys he has up. Is there some bitterness, some wishing they had, not just Strouth but others who transferred? I'd guarantee that, but at this point, the one thing they shouldn't do is make him or any other transfer happy. </div></div>


I am not going to get on this board and bash Mr.Crabtree. I have never called his house or said the first bad thing about him. I have shown him respect, but I will say to everyone on this board that we have not recieved it back. Now I am not going to get on here and tell the whole story about everything. I don't feel like I have to resort to that to make anyone believe anything on here. To the comment about this whole thing being blown up, that is a lie. You don't know me or anything to do with anything, who are you to say anything. He may be your friend, I respect that, but don't judge me in a bad way because of your relationship with Mr.Crabtree.
To Rock, as far as your comment about if you was the boys at Pound you would show Chris that he made a mistake. Who are you to say my son made a mistake about anything???????????????
Also the comment about who ever from Pound blocking for him, you are crazy and don't even know what you are talking about. Why don't you just go ask them boys at Pound who blocked for who. While your at it, ask them what has been said to them at practice just because they have remained friends with my son.
No, the boys at Pound are not mad at Chris, in fact if they could they would have transferred also. I dare you to go ask the boys at Pound anything about Chris, because you will be shocked to find out what they say is not what you are thinking or writing on this board. It is quite the opposite. I know cause they have been here to my house, helped me move and they are not out for revenge like your wishful thinking says.
Judge Chris and us if you want to for transferring, you have fell into the same category as Mr.Crabtree makeing his little smart comments about selfishness. Chris Strouth is not selfish in any way in this decision. My God if he wanted all the glory then everyone at Pound knows he could have stayed at Pound and been the top dog. But he went somewhere else where he isn't the top dog. He is just another player on the team. He went for quite the opposite reasons you all have spoken about on here.

None of you know Chris Strouth personally. How can you sit on here and justify anything Mr.Crabtree said in the paper. Mr.Crabtree tryed like hell to get Chris back, even tells me himself that Pound probably wouldn't win a game without him. Then in the paper he calls out Chris and Dakota being selfish.
He is no different IMO, he was a coach at Ervington. He left his boys went to Texas, called by the Lord to go he said, but now he is back and in the LPD. He made those decisions because he wanted to. Same with my son, he made this decision. Who am I to question what Mr.Crabtree decides for his family and where they should go? That is how I feel about my sons decision too, who is anyone to question that?
For the comment about Chris being "motivated as crap", yeah you better believe he is motivated. Seems like everyone outside of Pound is the ones who has a problem about it. For the most part the community of Pound has called me and came to me to tell me that they support Chris in whatever decision he makes. Even had several say they would be there at his games too.

Just so everyone knows, I've had several players on Pound's team come to my house here and say they was thinking about quitting. I myself have encouraged them to not quit because they love the sport. I have told them to respect their coaches and do whatever was asked of them. But I am human and there is a line when an Adult Coach feels like he has to say smart comments about a highschool teenager to his players. Mr.Crabtree is at Pound to coach and teach, he is not there to verbally say anything negative about my son. Now if any of you want to let any adult talk trash about your child then by all means go ahead. But I will not. It is a sad day when any coach has to "offend" a kid that isn't even his player. How many of you would stand and let someone offend you, your wife, your child?
To those who have no kids, don't even post to me about this. You are one speaking about what my son should do or not do, what is right for him or not. Please wait until you have a child and there is someone that speaks out against him/her in a decision they make. Especially on a board where some of his own players and friends read it. There should be some kind of respect shown by you Rock, you are a mod. Actually you was one who said you would have liked to seen Chris come to Clintwood.
People move, things change sometimes, that don't mean Chris or we are against Pound. I love Pound with all my heart, just because I move out of Pound don't mean I've changed my feelings about them. For goodness sakes, this is highschool football, not some big deal it has become. Pound shouldn't hate, be mad or feel ill feelings toward a kid.

One last thing, should Pound run all over my son, then so be it. I will still love them and wish them the best.

excellent post

I work with a relative of your husband and he was telling me some of the stuff that was going on. I find it ridiculous and I think that the guy needs to be punished. He's acting like a spoiled brat because a kid that has never played a down for him decided to go to another school. I thought he was a piss poor coach at Ervinton and said so on here many a time. He's showing now that he's also a piss poor human being. It's time he grow up, mind his own business, and act like a professional. Best of luck to your son this year in his athletic endeavors. I hope he rushes for 300 yds against Pound and has 15 sacks. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img]

he's a perfect fit for pound...just like 90% of them

I don't know if I'd go that far. My best friend is from over there and he's one of the best people I know. Unfortunately, a majority of the folks over there who are "sports fans" are out of their mind and not in touch with reality when it comes to the successes that they think they should be having.

First off, I wouldn't know Crabtree if he walked in and said hi I'm Chris Crabtree. Secondly, I said if I was the boys at Pound, and was to show Chris he made a mistake, I'm not saying he did, I'm saying thats what their purpose should be. Are you thinking they should say hey guys, lets let Chris run all over us? No their purpose HAS to be to try and prove to him that he made a mistake. And I have no doubt that they will tell you that, and maybe they believe that, or maybe they are typical teenagers who tell you one thing and tell the coaches another. I'm sure that they all wish Chris was still there, but when it comes game time, their goals HAVE to be to make him regret leaving them.

As for the comments, there is nothing wrong with what he said. Now the extra stuff, yeah, he shouldn't be doing that, I'll not argue that.

And the funny thing is, I don't condemn Chris for transferring, I've defended it before, but as for Crabtree or Pound, who can blame them. Think of it this way. You are looking to change jobs. You are coming into an office, you're going to be a supervisor. You don't really know much about how the office runs, but you know that there are some people working there. You have people who will help you. You go there, and all the good people decide they are quitting, and you're stuck in this job without the people who know what they are doing. You want to tell me that you wouldn't feel a bit 'cross' with them? You may be able to learn it, you may survive, but your entire job just got a LOT harder.

Pound has good people.......but they have a terrible highschool sports program, and by Crabtrees actions it looks like they intend to keep it that way. Motivation is fine, but trying to embarrass a teenage kid(s) is flawed and immoral. If he thinks he can act this way in Pound and get by with it, he is badly mistaken. The transfer probably had nothing to do with Crabtree, and yet he's taken it personally. That is all.

Go Wildcats!

Honestly going strictly by the comment in the paper I do not see a problem in that when you as a coach do not have a player you were counting on you let your other players know that you are better off without them (Now this MAY not be true 100% of the time but it is better than sticking your head in the sand and let the team hear from everyone outside the program how that they are doomed) As for the rest of the story it SOUNDS like Crabtree may not have been the best of roll models and that will catchup to you when you are dealing with kids.


Now if any of the Pound players want to transfer to Clintwood next season [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

Can someone provide some stats for this player please? I will be honest I dont remember him at all when our team played Pound. In another post I did ask about his position and I believe it was his father who responded that he is a running back or line backer (I think). I do remember one Pound kid in that game becoming extremely upset with some of the Pound blockers because he was not making it out of the backfield. Could or could not of been him-doesnt matter. I felt bad for the line;kinda embarrassing.

Kelly still sucks at football, transfers or not, yes they may go 6-4, but all wins will be against the St. Paul's of the region.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Chubzfan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Kelly still sucks at football, transfers or not, yes they may go 6-4, but all wins will be against the St. Paul's of the region. </div></div>

That's a pretty ridiculous comment to make, especially before any games have actually been played. For all we know, Kelly could come out and surprise us.

Does anyone remember a couple of years ago (I believe it was the 2005 season) in which Pound actually gave Powell Valley one heck of a game? At half-time I think it was tied.. After half-time Pound crumbled, but that first half was some of the most intense football I'd seen in a LONG time. The fans over on Pound's side were going nuts.

How many people would have guessed something like that would have ever happened that year before the season had begun?

That, my friend, is why you should never judge a team before the season begins.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Chubzfan</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Kelly still sucks at football, transfers or not, yes they may go 6-4, but all wins will be against the St. Paul's of the region. </div></div>

Thats an immature comment to make. Kelly could win 1 or 2 or 8 but you shoudlnt bash the kids that go out there and try everyday to get better. Heres to hoping they prove you wrong.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: namaste1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Can someone provide some stats for this player please? I will be honest I dont remember him at all when our team played Pound. In another post I did ask about his position and I believe it was his father who responded that he is a running back or line backer (I think). I do remember one Pound kid in that game becoming extremely upset with some of the Pound blockers because he was not making it out of the backfield. Could or could not of been him-doesnt matter. I felt bad for the line;kinda embarrassing. </div></div>

Who is your team? And if you are trying to say Chris throws a tantrum on the field you are mistaken. (Just an Example) He had 5 touchdowns last year against Twin Springs and 3 of them got called back because of penalties. Several other games he had big carries or touchdowns called back but he never cried about any of it. They were several games that Chris didn't do much against the other team. Clintwood sure had his number last year because he probably had negative yards against them. Kelly was another (Mud Bowl). I'm sure they are alot of people in our area who don't know Chris.

Whoa chubzfan. Are you backpeddling on your 2-3 wins pick a couple of weeks ago? Get used to it. It's gonna get worse the next few years.