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Mike White's high school sports chat: 12.10.24
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T. rex
11:47
Time for people in Western PA to realize that the new top recruited sport in this area is girls soccer and not football. There are numbers of girls going to D1 soccer programs that rival football in its hey day from this area. Football is down, basketball never has been big numbers. I know you will say but they don’t get full scholarships but that’s not the point. This is a very good area for girls soccer
Mike White
11:49
Sure it is. And it's still a pretty good area for football, even if numbers of big-time prospects have gone down.
Norman Dale
11:49
Mike, will the PG ever bring back the option of selecting previous seasons to see records for hoops?  Always liked looking back at previous years and what teams did...
Mike White
11:50
It's still there. Below is link to high school page. Go to it, go to the right hand side and drag down after the standings and schedules. You will see "Previous Seasons." Simply click on a year and you can get standings from previous years back to 2003-04. Got it? https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/highschool
Second-hand Rose
11:51
Mike, yourself having spent so many years as the Post-Gazette high school sports person, I was wondering what is your all-time favorite high school sports team nickname? Mine is the Poca Dots. I was inside Poca High Stadium (outside of Charleston, West Virginia) about 30 years ago and there were little Dots Candy's painted in the stands, locker rooms, scoreboard, all over the place. Pretty cool. A second question: Why are there so many high school teams named after mean animals like Lions, Tigers and Bears and so few (if any) named after nice farm animals like Cows, Horses, Sheep and Roosters? Do you think this is a reflection on our society as a whole?
Mike White
11:56
Oh, I love the nickname stuff. How about the Hoopston (Ill.) Cornjerkers. That might be my favorite. How about the Watersmeet Nimrods. In Pennsylvania, there is the Northeast Grapepickers. I hear they wine a lot. Wooooo hooooo. I'll be here all week. ..... But Hector, I do agree with you there needs to be more nice animal nicknames. Maybe the Rabbits? Or how about schools that are found guilty of recruiting? Shouldn't they have to change their nickname to Snakes? ... I think you're onto something. We need nice animal nicknames, sort of like Ray "Hamster" Fittipaldo.
WPIAL FAN
11:56
South park Coach-Coach of Year
Mike White
11:56
Brian Abbey definitely one of the top candidates.
Guest
11:56
Avonworth; Coach of the year
Mike White
11:56
Yes, Duke Johncour another top candidate.
bbfan42
11:57
Saw that Lincoln Park lost to BC  - guess they didn't focus on recruiting this off season.
Mike White
11:57
Lincoln Park very young. But I do know they have three freshmen from Woodland Hills.
Danny Holzer's Suit
11:57
I think USC could go undefeated in the WPIAL this year. Am I wrong on that. It's like watching a machine.
Mike White
11:58
They could. But they will definitely get challenged in some games.
Floating
11:58
Has the PIAA ever considered hosting the title games anywhere else besides Altoona ? Like maybe a rotation system where different parts of the Commonwealth hosting it
Mike White
11:58
Well, Hershey had the games for a long time. You say rotate the kids. Well, places have to want to host. Penn State bid for the games the last time but the price was astronomical.
Brah
11:59
Is the info about 9th grade correct?  I thought the rule changed to 6 years after 6th grade.
Mike White
12:00
Correct. But you can still play 9th grade three years if you want -- 7th grade, 8th grade and 9th grade. Ninth grade sports is still considered junior high. But you can move up to JV/Varsity in 9th grade also. No matter what you play as a 9th grader, it counts as one year.
Fan
12:00
Drop in d1 talent has a lot to do with sport specialization.
Mike White
12:01
Might have a point there.
Vince Coppola
12:01
On TJ McConnell , he is the best pure basketball player from Western PA in the last 45 years at a min.  He is at times the best player on an NBA court.  It is nothing short of amazing what he has been able to get out of his athletic ability.  He blows by guys and finishes in the mid range and at the rim.  Its nuts.
Mike White
12:03
Agree. But I just wish everyone would say he doesn't have much athletic ability, he's such a hard worker. The guy gets around just about anyone trying to guard him. You don't do that without having quickness. No he doesn't have ridiculous dunks, but this stuff that he's just a hard worker who makes it because he is tough, a leader, etc. Stop it. Can we just say he's a pretty darn good player with athletic ability, too.
Cumberland Valley
12:03
Did you cover the PIAA Football Championships at Cumberland Valley? How were the facilities? Heard they went through an extensive renovation but press box still not up to some facilities in WPIAL. Your thoughts
Mike White
12:03
I did not cover them this year.
Guest
12:04
Thoughts on girls' 6A basketball?  Who are the favorites this year?
Mike White
12:06
Sorry, but 6A is not exactly really good this year. The main reason is because there are only 12 teams. It's hard to find five teams worthy of ranking. I would say Upper St. Clair and Norwin teams to beat. Hempfield not looking too bad now, either.
12:07
And there's the final buzzer. That's it for today. Let's talk next Tuesday at 11. Everyone, be good. And "Let's Go Cornjerkers!!!!"
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