[mr.charlie hustle]

Why would Paintsville want its middle school team playing JCMS? How many 50-0 halftime scores is enough? Does Paintsville's middle school team play the county's 7th grade team? Those games used to be pretty competitive. Paintsville does not have enough athletes in a single class to compete with JC at the middle school or high school level. I think that the county grade schools should play Paintsville if they want but the middle school games have generally been as big of a mismatch as the last few Apple Bowls were.

You are probably right about JC's football program eventually returning to a low level. The administration played musical chairs with coaching positions for years, which is why Paintsville was once able to compete with them in football. Politicians can always be counted upon to screw things up in the long run. However, Matney's job is as safe as anybody's in the state. Steve Trimble hired him and his success reflects favorably on Steve. As long as Steve has the board's support, Matney will have all of the support he needs.

Excellent post Mr. Gibson.I certainly could not agree with you more. As I have looked at the posts on this thread throughout the day I have wondered how the expressions presented in them will be recieved by the young people who read them. A few short years ago young players from Paintsville and Johnson Co.were united for three years in little league baseball playoffs. It did not matter to them if one was from Flat Gap or 6th street. They were there to play baseball and try to retrieve a State championship. What is really sad was that the 4th year a group of adults decided to start a new league. Roughly half of those boys left. The State Tournement was held in Paintsville.Half of those boys played and lost. The other half watched through the fence. One could not help but think what would have happened if that group had stayed unified. Adults seem to have a way. Some of those boys now play at Central ,some at Paintsville and others to the four winds.