[REPORT A VIOLATION]

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

Highly subjective, but I really didn’t see two linemen from 2A Smith Center as being the best 11 football players in Kansas last year. But everyone has guidelines to go by. We have ours, and the media has theres.

And it is all a matter of ones opinion. If everyone had the same opinion, Ruger wouldn’t have nicknamed me ladle.

On a side note. A big thank you to the publishers of Pregame magazine (Tim McGonagle and John Baetz) this year for including information on over 250 football teams in the State, and having that information available this early. Well worth picking up for the football fan. Full of information.

Point taken, no matter who is selected, there will be those who feel others should have been included.

Another case in point would be Barfield, who played on a Haven team which could barely score two years ago, received hardly any post season mention, and is being mentioned quite a bit by KU writers this fall as being one of the top defensive backs on the team after red shirting his freshman year.

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

It has to be incredibly hard to come up with a top 11 list. I just tried to make a list that I would have come up with, and I would be second guessing myself for days before compromising on a list.

and on the stats, I completely agree with Hovpen. Tate Hancock, Parker Wallace, and a bunch of other guys that put up incredible rushing numbers for Diener’s great Salina Central teams come to mind when looking at stat padding. Guys like Diener leave their starter’s in for a long time even in blowouts…teams like Hutch pull guys early in the 3rd quarter in a blowout. Last year’s Hutch squad would have absolutely put up incredible rushing yardage numbers had they left their starting offense in the game for 4 quarters, as they basically put up 4500 rushing yards and 68 rushing TD’s with the starters averaging only 3 quarters worth of play, and when the backups came in, they ran the play clock down before snapping the ball, thus eliminating a bunch of plays.

I think that what the Eagle is doing now is about the right mix of looking at both production stat-wise and by the “eye-ball” test getting input from coaches/media that have actually seen the players in person. Obviously, there is has been a precedent set that championship teams are going to get atleast 1 guy on the top 11 team, and I don’t have a problem with that…that is until Hutch isn’t winning state championships, then I’ll complain :)

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

Your point is certainly valid. Although I wasn’t involved in the picking of the team, due to the fact that I was on maternity leave, so it would be unfair of me to critique or back it. I do think it was a good list, though. There will always be excellent players left off lists, no doubt.
And while I do say numbers are important, they aren’t the end-all, be-all. We obviously take into account who a team plays, as well as where they end up.
As for the state championship team picks, I can understand your point.
My main point about this, though, is that we’re not picking these teams on potential. Chris Harper is the perfect example, as TFL pointed out. I think it would have been unfair to put him on the team when there were other quarterbacks with better numbers, better seasons. Is that a knock on Chris? No. I thought he was an outstanding athlete.
It’s the same situation with Kamerion Wimbley. Here’s a kid who was Parade All-American, but his numbers weren’t anywhere near what other quarterbacks had.
Let’s take Huldon Tharp. He’s a great athlete, who I would guess, probably would have been Top 11 this season. But he’s hurt. Now, he will go onto a college career and be a stud. I believe that. But he won’t be Top 11. That’s probably a little extreme, but do you get my point?
We do hear from people who think that only 6A and 5A have the best talent, but we don’t see that, either. We also could load the teams with quarterbacks and running backs, but we mix it up by putting linemen and d-backs, etc.
It’s not a perfect system — it’s subjective. But we do research, we do talk to a lot of people.
What I love about these teams, though, is that they are great discussion points. (Have I said the word point enough for everyone?) We have discussions here in the office about it. Rather lively, too.

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

TFL- well said, and I agree with you on Stucky, and what you said about the coaching :)

However, based on putting up the numbers, can U see someone running it up……..for the numbers…..

But based on the numbers, where were the top two receivers in the history of Kansas on this team, Brett Soft and Aaron Wedel???

Sorry Joanna. stiring the pot. :)

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

I think that the top 11 list from the eagle has a special niche. It’s not like rivals and scout who rank guys as college prospects…the eagle is looking at who was the best high school players,

Chris Harper would be exibit A in this argument. I can easily think of 11 players in Kansas last year that I would rather have on my high school team than Chris Harper, even though he is clearly one of the top 2-3 college prospects in the state.

If I had a choice on offensive lineman for a high school team, I would choose Hutch’s Thacker and Hartman over Braydin Burris in a heart-beat even though Burris is a D-1 prospect and Thacker and Harman are juco guys.

From purely a “high school” perspective, I’d take Forrest Stucky over Darius Parish (unless Parish had some Hutch coaching for 4 years), but Parish is going to play for KU as a true frosh and have a chance at the NFL.

Basically, what I’m trying to say, is that if all the Eagle did was choose the best 11 college prospects for their all state team, they’re basically just duplicating something that’s already done by rivals, scout, espn and a bunch of other sites. Heck, they could publish the top 11 prospects even before the season started if they wanted to, as everyone knows who those guys are. The top 11 has a special niche in my opinion in that it selects players that made the most meaningful impact on the landscape of Kansas high school football for that given year.

[REPORT A VIOLATION]

[REPORT A VIOLATION]