[EKUAlum05]

How should we approach it? Realistically, are we gonna have to apologize for every W we get this year? I know sometimes when you are typing something that it can "sound" different then how you mean it. I am not being sarcastic when I ask, if it were you, and you were a Harlan County fan, how would you approach it? How can we change all the negativity? I can tell you what's happening. Mountain people are clanish and when they feel threatened, they group together and attack back.

So if we win a game this year and are so proud of our kids, then there's gonna be the group that say "you cheated" and then the other group that says, "Well you should've won, your school is so much bigger, ect". One good thing about living in the mountains is that we are protected on all sides and the kids will not know that the rest of the state wishes us to fail because of the KHSAA's decision to place us in 3A instead of 5A unless one of them gets on the internet and reads it. I am not gonna partake in their negativity, I'm all about dabears!!:Clap:

For starters, I wouldn't criticize people who have a valid reason to be upset as "Complainers, bellyachers, threatened, scared" as some Black bear cohorts have. This has came off to me as feeling absolved of the whole situation and as if they are relishing in the circumstance. For example, when Patriot made the comments above it really struck a nerve with me as arrogant. You have been excellent yourself, MamaBear, in tryignt o eb humble..but even in your post I highlighted a point that could easily be misconstrued as arrogance

Secondly, the detractors will come, and some will be straight up ignorant in their arguements. For example: I expect alot of hostility from Powell County fans when the bottom line is Cawood, Cumberland, or Evarts probably could have all three beat them individually. For these instances it is probably simply better to "Act Like You Have Been There Before". Just be grateful in victory.

The bottom line is Harlan is in a bad situation in terms of criticism that they never asked to be in. Mercer County left a badddddddd taste in people's mouths because of the circumstances involving the consolidation, the way their fans showed up in droves trash talking and making huge promises, and the way that they ran the score up on all the teams in their path. I was closer to the Mercer situation than most and I can tell you first hand that the consolidation fo harlan County and Mercer are very different, and Harlan does not deserve the blame on this (the KHSAA does).