[BlackcatAlum]

I love how the intelligent people of this website continually bash Pikeville. Yes, Pikeville will more than likely lose this game by a large margin. I'm guessing Boyle wins by 21 points or more, BUT at least Pikeville is trying to get better by playing tough competition. I don't think I can say that about many other teams in Pike County besides Belfry. Congratulations on beating teams that everyone can beat while Pikeville gets beaten by GOOD teams.

I'll take the learning experience and improvement from playing tough teams over the false sense of accomplishment any day.

When you enter a game where your opponent is favored by a large margin of points, how does it help your team? It possibly could, but going out there and getting man-handled throughout the game is not good for any team. No matter how talented they are. Players get frustrated and make mental mistakes that could really cause problems within' the locker room. Players could get roughed up more so in a game against the state's best than against the state's average.

Pikeville has always played tough schedules, but they honestly don't have what they had about 5 or 6 years ago. I do believe that they have the right coaching staff in place to be successful and get Pikeville back to where they used to be, but this season is a rebuilding season for Pikeville and hopefully their players, fans and community will be patient enough to let Howard work his magic and get Pikeville back to their glory days.

Best of luck to the Panthers!