Dear High School League

[TIM]

C.A. Johnson brought 8 people total...2 was with the team. It definitely should be back to 4 if possible and a Bye. Wasn't any money made in abbeville as it has been for the last 5yrs. Terrible region games now 1st rd in the books.

And in the playoffs, both teams split the gate. eau claire brought 4 people to strom thurmond years ago for the 1st round. we gave them thousands of dollars.
extend the reg season by 1 week and shorten the playoffs by 1 week. 1st round of the playoffs have become a complete joke.

[salutethehill]

You guys need to lighten up. A South Carolina high school football game is still the best entertainment and chance to socialize and be part of a community- for $10 or less. A couple of hotdogs and a coke. Hot chocolate when it gets cooler. Come on! It’s a good time… enjoy it.

Fear The Fox…

^^This. Nobody’s getting a trophy for getting smoked in the first round. And it gives the seniors another game. Don’t like it? Don’t go.

[bigdog2003]

You guys need to lighten up. A South Carolina high school football game is still the best entertainment and chance to socialize and be part of a community- for $10 or less. A couple of hotdogs and a coke. Hot chocolate when it gets cooler. Come on! It’s a good time… enjoy it.

Fear The Fox…

^^This. Nobody’s getting a trophy for getting smoked in the first round. And it gives the seniors another game. Don’t like it? Don’t go.

If they want another game, they should earn it. If not, why have a regular season or regions if everybody gets in anyway.

[racincowboy02]

Ok so I see all this talk about Abbeville and the fans saying they should be in 2A and shouldn't have dropped to 1A but lets look at some of the travel that affected not only football but the other sports teams that yall field

Im goin off of Max Preps for the region from last year

Region 1 AA
Chesnee 1hr 44min
Liberty 1hr 9min
Landrum 1hr 43min
Blacksburg 3hrs

Region 1 A
Dixie 15min
Ware Shoals 29min
Whitmire 1hr 11min
McCormick 37min
Calhoun Falls 22min

I know football is the cash cow and travel doesn't really matter because its played on Friday nights but look at that overall travel from the old region and tell me which makes more sense for the administration now

[*Topcat*]

Ok so I see all this talk about Abbeville and the fans saying they should be in 2A and shouldn't have dropped to 1A but lets look at some of the travel that affected not only football but the other sports teams that yall field

Im goin off of Max Preps for the region from last year

Region 1 AA
Chesnee 1hr 44min
Liberty 1hr 9min
Landrum 1hr 43min
Blacksburg 3hrs

Region 1 A
Dixie 15min
Ware Shoals 29min
Whitmire 1hr 11min
McCormick 37min
Calhoun Falls 22min

I know football is the cash cow and travel doesn't really matter because its played on Friday nights but look at that overall travel from the old region and tell me which makes more sense for the administration now

Football is the Cash Cow and it is going to take a hit. Playing in the playoffs against the likes of Lewisville, Lamar, is a far cry from the past Rivalry games vs B-L, Saluda, and even Cllinton this year. The question is......Is it worth it? You will need to get the SCHSL to explain why Abb was placed in that Region in the first place. We're in The Lakelands, we have a history of Region play against 96, B-L, Saluda, Mid Carolina, Crescent, etc. How we landed in a Region with Blacksburg and Landrum I don't know. You are correct that the travel doesn't affect football as much as other sports. The Football season was sacrificed for all the other sports. Period. It is going to affect the pocket book. 1A Football in this state is just a big drop from 2A, only had 9 game regular season, with now 6 straight, and counting, absolutely unwatchable games with JVs playing most of game with clock running. The most boring season I can ever remember. As a long time football fan, it is a sad drop IMO.

[racincowboy02]

Ok so I see all this talk about Abbeville and the fans saying they should be in 2A and shouldn't have dropped to 1A but lets look at some of the travel that affected not only football but the other sports teams that yall field

Im goin off of Max Preps for the region from last year

Region 1 AA
Chesnee 1hr 44min
Liberty 1hr 9min
Landrum 1hr 43min
Blacksburg 3hrs

Region 1 A
Dixie 15min
Ware Shoals 29min
Whitmire 1hr 11min
McCormick 37min
Calhoun Falls 22min

I know football is the cash cow and travel doesn't really matter because its played on Friday nights but look at that overall travel from the old region and tell me which makes more sense for the administration now

Football is the Cash Cow and it is going to take a hit. Playing in the playoffs against the likes of Lewisville, Lamar, is a far cry from the past Rivalry games vs B-L, Saluda, and even Cllinton this year. The question is......Is it worth it? You will need to get the SCHSL to explain why Abb was placed in that Region in the first place. We're in The Lakelands, we have a history of Region play against 96, B-L, Saluda, Mid Carolina, Crescent, etc. How we landed in a Region with Blacksburg and Landrum I don't know. You are correct that the travel doesn't affect football as much as other sports. The Football season was sacrificed for all the other sports. Period. It is going to affect the pocket book. 1A Football in this state is just a big drop from 2A, only had 9 game regular season, with now 6 straight, and counting, absolutely unwatchable games with JVs playing most of game with clock running. The most boring season I can ever remember. As a long time football fan, it is a sad drop IMO.

I get what you are saying and to ask why the hsl does anything is kind of like talking to a brick wall. The SCHSL thinks they are smarter and know more about these things than anybody in the whole state which in reality is bogus and just plain stupid. I get that Abbeville should be 2A all day long and I get that 1A football is not very good and it sucks to not be able to watch and play good competition every week.

I guess the real question is how much money did Abbeville make last year in 2A and how much do they stand to lose this year with the move down to 1A. Another question to ask also is why did the administration of Abbeville appeal to move to 1A instead of appealing to move to the lake lands region.

I don't want you to think I'm trying to be a smart tail with my original post that wasn't my intentions at all. I guess the real question is how do we find more competent people to take over the high school league and run it with common sense

[*Topcat*]

Ok so I see all this talk about Abbeville and the fans saying they should be in 2A and shouldn't have dropped to 1A but lets look at some of the travel that affected not only football but the other sports teams that yall field

Im goin off of Max Preps for the region from last year

Region 1 AA
Chesnee 1hr 44min
Liberty 1hr 9min
Landrum 1hr 43min
Blacksburg 3hrs

Region 1 A
Dixie 15min
Ware Shoals 29min
Whitmire 1hr 11min
McCormick 37min
Calhoun Falls 22min

I know football is the cash cow and travel doesn't really matter because its played on Friday nights but look at that overall travel from the old region and tell me which makes more sense for the administration now

Football is the Cash Cow and it is going to take a hit. Playing in the playoffs against the likes of Lewisville, Lamar, is a far cry from the past Rivalry games vs B-L, Saluda, and even Cllinton this year. The question is......Is it worth it? You will need to get the SCHSL to explain why Abb was placed in that Region in the first place. We're in The Lakelands, we have a history of Region play against 96, B-L, Saluda, Mid Carolina, Crescent, etc. How we landed in a Region with Blacksburg and Landrum I don't know. You are correct that the travel doesn't affect football as much as other sports. The Football season was sacrificed for all the other sports. Period. It is going to affect the pocket book. 1A Football in this state is just a big drop from 2A, only had 9 game regular season, with now 6 straight, and counting, absolutely unwatchable games with JVs playing most of game with clock running. The most boring season I can ever remember. As a long time football fan, it is a sad drop IMO.

I get what you are saying and to ask why the hsl does anything is kind of like talking to a brick wall. The SCHSL thinks they are smarter and know more about these things than anybody in the whole state which in reality is bogus and just plain stupid. I get that Abbeville should be 2A all day long and I get that 1A football is not very good and it sucks to not be able to watch and play good competition every week.

I guess the real question is how much money did Abbeville make last year in 2A and how much do they stand to lose this year with the move down to 1A. Another question to ask also is why did the administration of Abbeville appeal to move to 1A instead of appealing to move to the lake lands region.

I don't want you to think I'm trying to be a smart tail with my original post that wasn't my intentions at all. I guess the real question is how do we find more competent people to take over the high school league and run it with common sense

Those are two good questions. Abbeville was apparently headed to 1A anyway in two tears, nothing to be done about that. I just wish they would have left well enough alone until then. My only hope is some sort of adjustment to the classifications. If one wants to say that Abb shouldn't be playing in same class as a Clinton or Chester, I can understand, they are considerably bigger schools, but, we should not be playing Calhoun Falls, Whitmire, Ware Shoals either. Wish there was some middle ground in there.

[Belvedere]

Those are two good questions. Abbeville was apparently headed to 1A anyway in two tears, nothing to be done about that. I just wish they would have left well enough alone until then. My only hope is some sort of adjustment to the classifications. If one wants to say that Abb shouldn't be playing in same class as a Clinton or Chester, I can understand, they are considerably bigger schools, but, we should not be playing Calhoun Falls, Whitmire, Ware Shoals either. Wish there was some middle ground in there.

Since Abbeville High comes in around 45th-fewest in multiplier-adjusted enrollment, I think the only middle ground that would work for Abbeville would be if the HSL returned to just 4 classes, split with something like 54-58 schools equally per class. In a re-class like that, working off those last ADM numbers, Abbeville would still be in Class A, but so too would all these:

Batesburg-Leesville
Barnwell
Ninety Six
Chesterfield
Whale Branch
East Clarendon
possibly Marion and Mullins
...and Fairfield Central.

PRO: That would add some real heft to Class A, and Abbeville would get Ninety Six back in-region.

CON: As there are no more Class A schools anywhere NW of Laurens Co, AHS will surely be chained to the rest of its current A region, including CF and Thornwell, for many years as long as they're in Class A.

[ShivaBlast]

Is it completely unheard of to make a special exception for Abbeville so that they might play football in 2A but the rest of their sports in 1A? I actually like that Abbeville kept its other sports in mind when they lobbied to get back into 1A, but they're a 2A football POWER and it's unfair (both to Abbeville and to the rest of 1A) that they have to play down. Abbeville is an exceptional football program, and these are the programs where exceptions should be made. It isn't like they're begging to sleepwalk through 1A; they're begging for good football and a challenge. Let them have it.

[racincowboy02]

Is it completely unheard of to make a special exception for Abbeville so that they might play football in 2A but the rest of their sports in 1A? I actually like that Abbeville kept its other sports in mind when they lobbied to get back into 1A, but they're a 2A football POWER and it's unfair (both to Abbeville and to the rest of 1A) that they have to play down. Abbeville is an exceptional football program, and these are the programs where exceptions should be made. It isn't like they're begging to sleepwalk through 1A; they're begging for good football and a challenge. Let them have it.

I actually would like to see that idea come to fruition. I think that would be a great idea but you know how the high school league is about common sense and good ideas