You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Mike White's high school sports chat: 05.26.20
powered byJotCast
Mike White
11:04
Well, tonight would be the start of the WPIAL baseball championships. But we all know they won't be happening. That makes this is another odd day during this pandemic. I figured out, it is the first time in 41 years that I won't see at least one WPIAL baseball championship. Weird feeling. But we can still talk high school sports. So let's get started.
Wike Mhite
11:04
Did you see the picture making its rounds on twitter of the 6’8” South Fayette Lineman with Devin Bush?  This kid made a Steelers LB look small.  Crazy picture!  Hopefully some local schools will give that kid some offers soon.
Mike White
11:06
Yes, I saw it. That is a funny picture. Devin Bush looks like a youth league player next to South Fayette's Ryan O'Hair, who is 6-8, 293. But O'Hair can do that to a lot of players. What level will O'Hair be recruited? Hard to say. Yes, he's big. Was not all-conference last year. So he has some things to prove. Here's to him having a good season. Heck, here's to him - and all players - to simply having a season.
Zman
11:07
Mike, just curious as to your approach as a coach to try and head off meddling parents and any knowledge you have about WPIAL coaches in general. Do you(they) have a parents only meeting before the season to explain that decisions on playing time are merit based, period? No other agenda than that behind it? When they complain, is it more “my Johnny is better than so and so” or they feel Johnny should play regardless of talent out of equal treatment for all?
Mike White
11:11
First, let me say there are a lot of good parents in high school sports. It's just the bad can ruin it - and they can ruin a coach. I only coach at 9th grade level, so it is a little different than high school. Yes, I have a parent meeting at the start of every year and one of the points is I will not talk about playing time to any parent. I will talk to the player, but not the parent. It's a nice rule to have, but it doesn't matter. If a parent wants to go after a coach, they will. They will go to other parents, AD and sometimes even superintendent. And if the parent gets the ear of a certain few people (like school board), then it doesn't matter what rules you have as a coach. What matters is if five people on school board think a coach should go.
11:16
Getting back to the parent thing above, many coaches will tell you the best thing is to have as little contact as possible with parents. But that's sometimes hard to do if a coach isn't established, or he hasn't won much yet, or he doesn't have the backing of school administrators. In this day and age, parents complain and many administrators listen. It's OK to listen. But I wish there would be more that said, "OK, I've listened. You've had your say. Now go away and be quiet."
D9 Dave
11:17
What kind of a plan do you think would make sense for high schools to limit fan attendance at fall sporting events to let's say one third of their facility's capacity so that social distancing could be maintained?
Mike White
11:19
Again, it is very hard to predict this stuff three months away.  But I think there is a good chance there will be football at some point in the fall, and I think there is a good chance some kind of social distancing will be enacted. But I really think the fate of high school sports will be determined in the next month - and whether or not there is a big spike in COVID-19 cases or deaths.
11:23
There are so many questions with the start-up of sports. If you do this, then what about this, this and this? I also think if there is high school football, there is a good chance of social distancing at games.   A person maybe every other seat in a bleacher. Skip a row of bleachers. Maybe only players get a certain amount of tickets. ADs have told me there are apps and computer programs where you put in your stadium parameters, and the app will social distance your stadium for you. Fascinating stuff.
Baseball Fan
11:23
Thoughts on large amount of underclass WPIAL D1 baseball commits. Seems to be a great class-- Will Ray/ PCC to Wake Forest, Tommy Beam, JJ Weatherholt and Jimmy Sadler to WVU, Noah Burke from Canon Mac to Penn State, Andrew Muraco from FR to Coastal, Cole Young from NA to Duke, Gavin Miller from WA and Tyler Smith MtL to Auburn, and Jake Kendro Norwin to Tennessee.
Mike White
11:26
Yes, there are some very good non-senior players in the WPIAL. But baseball recruiting is much different than football or basketball. Baseball players going Division I make decisions much earlier than a lot of sports. A number of kids commit during their sophomore and even freshman years. I did a story a few years ago on Div. 1 baseball talent coming out of Western Pa. It's very good. But you can't compare it to football or basketball. It's apples and oranges, just from the fact that baseball rarely, rarely gives full scholarships. A top player might get 1/3 of a scholarship, or maybe 1/2. So it's really not fair to compare number of D-1 players in baseball to say, football, or another sport.
Alive
11:26
Best Story line of the HS Sports Season that was...
Mike White
11:26
Ahhhh, the seasons that weren't.
11:29
As for the question above, I'd have to have some time to think. But a few that come to mind are: Thomas Jefferson's rule to football state championship, Butler and Ethan Morton finally winning a WPIAL, swimmer Olivia Livingston of Gateway becoming only second to win four WPIAL individual golds, Char Valley girls breaking WPIAL win streak record ... those are just a few.
Zman
11:29
Great answer to my question above about parents, appreciate it. Just like to add my job required interacting with school board members and administrators for 30 years and to the day I retired I was still amazed at the outsized influence 1 or 2 board members would have on the rest. Or to your point Mike, enough to at least get 5 votes.
Mike White
11:31
Exactly. A coach is fine even if parents complain. But as soon as the 1 or 2 school board members who are influential, or even the superintendent, might not like a coach, look out.
11:35
One other thing that might have happened this week - Hempfield softball setting a record with a sixth consecutive WPIAL title. Hempfield tied record last year with fifth consecutive. Hempfield coach Bob Kalp is 74. Here's to hoping he decides to come back and has a few more years left. That guy is tremendous. WPIAL needs him. A few years ago, he had one of my favorite all-time quotes. Someone asked him about his team's winning streak. His reply: "There's only one streak I'm concerned with. How many days in a row I wake up." Classic.
Sports Harder
11:36
So I saw an article the other day about the best teams or programs in each state in the country. The team they listed for PA was some minor league Baseball team. Taking that to the HS level, what HS in PA would you say has the best overall athletic program, not just 1 or 2 sports they dominate, the best overall ?
Mike White
11:39
That's easy - North Allegheny. Ten years ago, Rod Frisco, former Harrisburg Patriot News writer, did a great project on what school had the most individual and state championships. North Allegheny was first with 130 (remember, this includes individual state champions like wrestling, swimming, etc.). North Penn near Philly was second with 123 and Mt. Lebanon third with 118. I would venture to guess that, 10 years later, NA would still be No. 1.
11:42
One of the more interesting things to come out of Pa. high school sports in the past week was the WPIAL's new rule for baseball next year. Starting next season, section games between two teams will be scheduled on back to back days. This is something totally new. This was done to make it more of a "team" game. In other words, a team can't use its No. 1 pitcher against the same team - once in the first half of the season and once in the second half. Mighty interesting.
Worm
11:42
There is a basketball AAU program in the area that is planning on holding tournaments starting the second week in June at private facilities.  Do you think that will happen?
Mike White
11:51
Yes, I've seen that. It's BSA (Basketball Stars of America). That's Daryn Freedman's organization (he's now an assistant at Point Park). Dan DeRose also involved with it. I've seen all the clinics and tournaments they are advertising for, starting this week. Tournaments start in early June. Surprising? Without a doubt. There are guidelines BSA is following on their web site, but I see nothing about size of group gatherings, etc. These are all at private facilities and not public schools. Obviously, they apparently have gotten clearance to do these. But it does make you scratch your head a little when gyms are not even open yet and group practices/workouts are not allowed yet for high school athletes yet.
Golden Jet
11:51
Are school districts trying to hold summer (basketball or baseball) camps this summer since Wolf's announcement last week?  I know many that have cancelled theirs already but are they reconsidering?
Mike White
11:54
All I know is that many schools that I know had canceled summer camps, etc., on school grounds - and rightly so. Will they change if the Governor allows some workouts/practices to start again? I don't know. It's just hard for me to imagine schools allowing camps on school grounds this summer when they still are deciding whether they will allow students at their schools in the fall. I know many schools are going through major disinfecting of their schools. Do you think they're going to suddenly allow kids in their doors for, say, a camp? I have a hard time believing that.
John
11:57
Any rumor on a penn hills basketball coach
Mike White
11:57
Still pretty early.
11:58
Well, that's about it for now. Thanks, everyone. Be good.
Connecting…