The Blacksburg boys are out posting you, you all gonna let them own this board already?
Salem dudes better get with it
- Thread starter hamspear
- Start date
Only thing we want to own is the Wells Fargo Cups
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/high_...cle_5a82976e-78ce-5059-b866-c22c3056b0ff.html Blacksburg’s Cup championship was its 12 overall and its seventh in the last nine years.
I would almost bet that in 4A Blacksburg will not win the Wells Fargo Cup
I would unhesitatingly bet that Blacksburg will finish higher (better) in the Wells Fargo Cup Class 4 competition than Salem will. I have much respect for Blacksburg's overall athletics program. Since the big reorganization into AAA/AA/A in 1970, Blacksburg has won 79 state championships to Salem's 20. There have been many comments from Salem posters during the offseason concerning Blacksburg that I would say border on sour grapes, and I don't share that sentiment at all.
It will be interesting to see how the Bruins fare in the running sports, in which they have been so dominant, at the Class 4 state level, particularly against the Loudoun County schools. I suspect Blacksburg will at least be able to hold their own.
It will be interesting to see how the Bruins fare in the running sports, in which they have been so dominant, at the Class 4 state level, particularly against the Loudoun County schools. I suspect Blacksburg will at least be able to hold their own.
Since 1982 Salem is 30-5 against Blacksburg. Salem has won the last 13 years by a combined score of 487 to 107. Blacksburg is a fine high school and does well in many sports. However, this is a football message board. Beat Salem in football and you can brag all you want, you will have earned the right. But until you do, can it
Agree. Bburg will compete well at the 4A level in XC/Track and Field but winning team championships gets much tougher. Western Albermarle and Loudon Valley come to mind especially. Bburg had what, 4 championships and 2 runner ups last season in 3A I think.
What Blacksburg person was bragging, exactly? I haven't seen it. As far as this being a football message board - a regular visitor such as yourself knows that everything under the sun is mentioned here during the offseason.
Unless I'm mistaken, WA is 3A, and will remain so next year. LV will be a challenge.
You're correct Spartan. EC Glass is the strong team on the girls side in 4A.
And just a reminder for all - this is a "Fall Sports" message board. Not just football.
The ironic thing is, going to a "Fall Sports" board has pretty much nuked any discussion (during the season) of any sport other than football. The old golf and cross country/track boards were always ghost towns, but volleyball used to generate some conversation.
The ironic thing is, going to a "Fall Sports" board has pretty much nuked any discussion (during the season) of any sport other than football. The old golf and cross country/track boards were always ghost towns, but volleyball used to generate some conversation.
I believe it says fall sports. I'll wait to can it when my maters and green beans come in...............
I never said anything about Salem being higher than Blacksburg. As everyone has been stating about them in football 4A is a lot tougher than 3a. That goes for all sports. Blacksburg wins most titles thru some type of track (cross country/indoor/outdoor). Do you not think the 4A teams have more talent than is seen in 3a. I know Blacksburg has a damn good soccer program both boys and girls, shoot they killed Salem this year but I have seen the state contenders in 4A and there is no comparison.
No, that's true, you didn't. But it did seem as if you felt compelled to make one of those sour-grapish comments about Blacksburg's cup win. Which is somewhat funny, considering Salem - to the best of my knowledge - has never come seriously close to winning the WF Cup for athletics. [The school did win one for academics in 2010.] At least, it came off as sour grapes to me. If you didn't mean it that way, then.....my bad, and my apologies. I would prefer to just congratulate the Bruin fans for an outstanding achievement - one that Salem has yet to duplicate. And those guys and gals have won the darn thing twelve times!
I think the sports are a case-by-case thing. Lord knows I'm not the biggest soccer expert, but just by following this year's results and watching the state semis and championship games, I'd say the Blacksburg girls are just about on par with the best that 4A had to offer. Knowing the Blacksburg boys' history, I'd say they'll probably do well at the next level too. I disagree about the running sports as well. Yes, the going will get tougher, but the Bruins have the talent to compete with the state's best. In fact, I wondered about last fall's cross country results; specifically, I wondered about how Blacksburg's times for their boys and girls teams - both of whom won state 3A - stacked up against the 4A champions.
For verification, I turned to Milestat. Both the 3A and 4A state races were run on the same day on the same course, so conditions were probably nearly identical for all races. I first compared the times for Blacksburg's girls to those of 4A girls champs E. C. Glass. Based on times, in a dual (head-to-head) meet, the Bruins would have beaten the Hilltoppers 25-31. Which almost certainly means that the Blacksburg girls would have won 4A state last year. I also compared their times to those of George Marshall, whose girls romped to easy victory in the 5A race. Blacksburg would have beaten Marshall in a dual meet, 22-36 - indicating that Blacksburg would have won the 5A meet by a wider margin than they would have won 4A! Reinforcing the point that a higher classification doesn't guarantee greater talent or performance, in and of itself. Five of the Bruins' top seven ladies will be returning, by the way.
I next did the same comparison with the times from the boys race. The Bruin lads didn't fare as well this time, falling head-to-head to 4A winners Loudoun Valley by a 19-37 count. However, after comparing times with the third- and fourth-place teams, I found that Blacksburg probably would have finished just behind third-place Freedom (South Riding). Meaning, the Bruins would have been very much in the hunt for a team trophy. Although Blacksburg loses their top two boys, everyone else should be back.
All of which is to underscore my point that Blacksburg will still be a likely contender in all the sports in which they have been top contenders. I think the sports where they will probably feel the upward move the most are the ones that are most depth-dependent, such as football, for one example. Because while a higher classification doesn't guarantee greater talent or performance on the part of one's opponents, it will guarantee going up against greater numbers. Still, as I've said before, if they can stay healthy, I don't see why the Bruins can't be one of the top two or three contenders for the Region D football title, and maybe more after that.
Here's a link to last year's cross country results on Milestat, if anyone doesn't trust me or wants to check my work:
http://va.milesplit.com/meets/248326/results#.WWWyeWdqzTr
[Edit: Well, I just had to finish it off, and see how the Blacksburg girls would have done against 6A state champion Lake Braddock. Head-to-head, based on times posted on the same day over the same course, Blacksburg - approximately 1,200 students strong - would have prevailed 27-29 over Lake Braddock - enrollment, around 2,700.]
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While having a larger pool of students to pull from is always an advantage, the difference between 4A and 3A and 2A is less of a challenge in sports where less players make up a roster. Football is the biggest difference. Soccer would also be big. But when you get to XC, volleyball, tennis, golf, etc. It is not as big a hill to climb to compete up a level.