VC coming back to class A

[balla45]

Not that it matters, but I have publicly stated who I am over and over. I am on the record for everything I do. I actually took a question from the Dickinson Press last year, and I quote, "what do you have to say to all your haters now, moderator?"

[utilityman]

Ryan, I'm from VC, and you shouldn't have to take crap for doing your job, not everybody is going to be happy and you know that. I have a few things that bother me, 1) You are not calling the HI-Liners district games? Hey I loved Dave O'Bannon cuz he bled VC sports and voiced his opinions on air, he was the voice of the HI-Liners, you are too and should be doing these games. 2) LaMoure should remember that you helped organize a fund raiser to help their baseball team last summer, lots of good people in LaMoure so maybe lets look at the positive here.

You are spot on about the reason why VC teams are down and that is the development in the early years or shall I say lack of. Another reason why VC really is behing the 8-ball in class A is we are playing against alot of kids who concentrate on only 1 sport. I had a guy argue with me about that on here one day and he threw a couple names out there that these kids play multiple sports, but look at the overall numbers then get back to me on that. VC cannot have kids that choose just one sport to concentrate on and be ONE bit competitive. And I'm not whining about, it's just the way it is due to numbers.

In short I think we both want the same, to see VC do better in sports. You just are in the spotlight due to you job and catch alot of **** for it.

[Bisonguy06]

Heimer, you made several great points and you made all kinds of sense and built up some good will.

And then you wrote your last two paragraphs.

Let's start with the good... basically, you've nailed it. What has happened is that the powers that be have mismanaged Valley City's situation so many times that they've probably gained enough sympathy votes for a 3 class plan. That doesn't make the 3 class plan the best thing for North Dakota, but that is the way that it has gone down.

I made a fair point about the need to report news as news and opinion as opinion in the media. I will now also point out that you need to learn to keep your cool. I don't wish for anything bad to happen to you professionally or personally and I've almost always tried to stick to the issues at hand on preps. I will try to keep it that way in the future.

[heimer]

Again Bisonguy, you do not know the product we deliver here. It's different. We have a news director, and he reports the news. I don't. I am a commentator. I report and infuse my opinions. Your rules about news and opinion are not applicable to my job here.

Utilityman, thanks for the vote of confidence. You are illustrating that my job is to the VC audience, not to the area audience.

[Bisonguy06]

Yes, we had a misunderstanding about your responsibilities. Most of my "journalism 101" lecture doesn't apply to you and I apologize. It sounds like you're a Jim Rome/Tony Kornheiser/Woody Paige type (pick your favorite), where everything you do is a blend of reporting and opinion.

Your job is unique in North Dakota. I live in a media market of a similar size. Our play-by-play radio guy is an award-winning veteran who calls the game very straight and does not openly root for the home team. He certainly has opinions, but he doesn't see himself as the advocate for the local teams and he wouldn't even be comfortable with voicing his opinion. Our print media guys are younger, but they basically follow the same pattern. Opinion columns are extremely rare in the sports section here.

I think that living in the Valley City/Carrington/Jamestown/Devils Lake/Central Cass beltway of mid-sized schools leads you to some solutions that don't fit other parts of the state nearly as well, but I'm in no position to be the advocate for my region of the state.

You are a strong advocate for VCHS. Sometimes I think that leads you to use some over-the-top language (the 'gun to the head' being a prime example), but you clearly have a passion for the job that you're paid to do, so I applaud you for that. I will continue to use preps to give another perspective from a different part of the state, and we'll let the chips fall where they may.

[digger]

I think I've been consistent with any input on the various Valley City/3-Class discussions: I don't agree with the various arguments for a 3-class system; I do feel that Valley City fits best in Class B. (I'm not just talking about basketball). It is unfortunate that their move to Class B was handled as it was, at the very least it gave the appearance of the NDHSAA skirting procedure for the benefit of one school. This of course resulted in finger pointing, animosity, lack of trust in the system, lack of cooperation in finding a real solution to one school's real life dilemma.

The Valley City student athletes are being used as pawns by adults that can't figure out a way to come together and find a workable solution. If heimer is correct in his description of the recent EDC ploy regarding Valley City girls basketball well, what can I say, other than you give midlevel administrators a little power and a lot of time and this is the kind of nonsense that results. I'm tired of a Valley City "solution" being tied to the never ending discussion about a 3-Class system. This encompasses more than basketball.

[Bisonguy06]

I don't think any 3 class plan can stand on its own and win support from a majority of North Dakota schools. The demographics of our state don't support it. We don't have enough mid-sized schools and we don't have enough of a competitive imbalance to justify it.

It has taken a laundry list of blunders to get a bunch of people to throw up their hands and say, "alright, fine, for the sake of Valley City, let's work on a new plan." Valley City will get a bunch of sympathy votes from schools in District 5, Region 3, and the EDC. I bet roughly 1/3rd of the rest of the state supports a three class plan, but when you throw them in with all these other schools who have hopped on board with VCHS, you'll get over 1/2 of the state to support it. That's what I fear will happen anyway.

[avidsportster]

Bisonguy, you are spot on with all of your viewpoints. I appreciate a professional who writes and acts like one on this site, as most do. Thanks for stating such statements that many of us support in this state. And, no matter what ryan thinks, few are entertained by his radical foolish comments. It is unfortunate that he feels he needs to release on this site, where it is not intended. If indeed he has so many faithful listeners, I would think that he wouldn't need to blow smoke on this site as he does. Funny how he hid his identity and tried to be someone else, and now feels that all others need to call themselves out. It seems as if he feels he should be commended for this. I just wanted to comment to you for stating the obvious that so many of us feel.

[heimer]

Yep, avid, I'm terrible at what I do. No listeners. No success. I just struggle.

Hope the weather is nice in LaMoure. Keep the falsehoods coming. I sleep well at night.

[Indy5]

I don't know about you heimer. Half of me likes your posts because they're usually well thought out and sometimes entertaining. The other half dreads them because each post takes half the page. You can definately tell your a journalist.

All kidding aside, I have to say that there is a good amount of your thoughts I agree with. But there are also a lot of radical ideas that I don't agree with at all. Also, lots of times I don't agree with how you present your info and how you deal with others.

For the record, I don't think Steve34 and heimer are the same guy. That is judging by what I looked at. I don't know what Balla45 looked at that made him change his mind so much but I haven't seen it. He was right that there was a lengthy dispute in the moderator forum about this. I think we were about split half and half on who believed they were the same and who thought they weren't.

[EHS1998]

The discussion today between Ryan and others was extremely enlightening to me and for that I am very thankful. I too was growing annoyed with the obvious bias being displayed on newsdakota.com because I was also under the impression it was an independent news outlet, not a media vehicle controlled by VCHS and VCSU. Now that Ryan has explained this, I obviously cant find harm in him reporting the way he has. I do think newsdakota should clearly state this so other readers are clearly aware of the perspective they are coming from so no one else is confused when they read the articles. During this discussion, there were solid points made on both sides and for the most part the conversation remained civil, which proves that we can differ in opinions and not digress into the negative. While not always a fan of Ryan's approach, I do feel he is deserving of our respect and I do feel that he truly does have the kids best interests in mind, like the majority of us, I suspect. We simply have diffrent views in the best way of serving these interests.

The last comment I feel compelled to make is that I do not feel it is right for anyone to take shots at the job someone else does because it is so easy to do and is so potentially damaging, we all need to walk a mile in each other shoes before we stand in judgement. How would we feel if someone came on a public forum and bashed us for our perormance at work? Additionally, let us never forget that what we are dealing with here is high school athletics, certainly a wonderul endeavor that I personally owe a lot too but nothing close to life or death. As a father of athletes, I have lost this perspective before and it has often been my children who bring me back to the light. When we get into these debates lets all try to keep this in mind before we begin personal attacks.

The time is now upon us for Class B Boys District basketball to commence. I want to wish all the teams God speed and the best of luck on their journeys into the playoffs. Hoping every team stays healthy and competes to the best of their God given abilities.

[Bisonguy06]

I've been critical of Ryan, but I actually have genuine concern for him. Some of his words and actions are self-destructive in nature. He needs to tone down the rhetoric and the combative nature of a lot of what he says and writes. The cool, calm, collected side of Ryan is very knowledgible on past and present issues involving Valley City, the EDC, and the NDHSAA, and he keeps in touch with a lot of people who are in the loop of North Dakota high school athletics. His perspective is valuable and it has a place in the conversation. I don't want to see anything bad happen to him personally or professionally. I think he lacks perspective in anything that goes on west of Jamestown, but I have always enjoyed a good clean debate with him.

Steve34 is the only person who can out himself, and I don't see that happening, so we need to let that go and get back to some of the topics in play.

Ryan, I agree 100% with your opinion that Valley City should NOT drop wrestling to try to beef up basketball. Education is about trying to provide as many opportunities as possible for your student-athletes. Not everyone is a basketball player. If you drop wrestling, you're probably taking away a sport from 25+ athletes when only maybe 5 of them could help the basketball program. Not a fair trade.

And a Valley City wrestler's opportunity to make it to the state A tournament should not be affected in any way by the schedule that the VCHS GBB team plays.

[luvmyb]

Your monologue kinda sheds some light on why there wasn't any write up of the Carrington (55) rout of Valley City (28) on (my version of the) newsdakota.com. Go Metko Go! Long Live Mark McKenzie!

[avidsportster]

they may be able to compete some years in boys basketball but girls basketball -NO WAY, did they even think about all the other sports? volleyball, golf, track, wrestling... there is no way they have enough athletes to compete with Class A schools... so a couple of class b schools are mad that they are in B so they bring it back to the NDHSAA board and get it changed, what a bunch of crap!!

A couple? Try 70 that voted against the 34. That is not a couple in any book that I have come across. If you have read any of the threads, this is about NDHSAA not following the procedure, and be told by 70 schools to do it the correct way as governed by the by-laws. No one has a problem with them once they have waited just as other schools dwindling in enrollement have had to do.

It is too bad that some of you are trying to make it something that it never was. GET educated.

[avidsportster]

There's no question that the product they're putting on the court fits fine in 'B'

No, their attitude is not class b. They pressed a team off and on last night for a win of something like 92-39. They were never in danger of losing and continued to do this to a young team. Class B schools do not do this.

[avidsportster]

Your monologue kinda sheds some light on why there wasn't any write up of the Carrington (55) rout of Valley City (28) on (my version of the) newsdakota.com. Go Metko Go! Long Live Mark McKenzie!

Agreed! Very typical and not shocking, considering the source.

[Baller_2010]

There's no question that the product they're putting on the court fits fine in 'B'

No, their attitude is not class b. They pressed a team off and on last night for a win of something like 92-39. They were never in danger of losing and continued to do this to a young team. Class B schools do not do this.

A lack of respect on the court shouldn't make them more Class A though.

[avidsportster]

There's no question that the product they're putting on the court fits fine in 'B'

No, their attitude is not class b. They pressed a team off and on last night for a win of something like 92-39. They were never in danger of losing and continued to do this to a young team. Class B schools do not do this.

A lack of respect on the court shouldn't make them more Class A though.

No, but the numbers do! They do not fit the mold of 325, that is why they are going back to A. The product delivered has nothing to do with which class you will be in.

[heimer]

Don't worry about avidsportster. It's all lies. VC didn't deliberately press to run it up. They were done with the full-court game two minutes into the second half. It's the district tournament, not a regular season game.

Avidsportster is obviously a LaMoure resident distorting the facts to fit their scenario. Good luck to both teams today. I know that the LaMoure team does not represent people like Avidsportster.

[Indy5]

There's no question that the product they're putting on the court fits fine in 'B'

No, their attitude is not class b. They pressed a team off and on last night for a win of something like 92-39. They were never in danger of losing and continued to do this to a young team. Class B schools do not do this.

I have a question for you avidsportster. If they were pressing into the second half, was it their starters doing this or was it the people on the end of the bench? Are they a team that usually presses? If so, they still need to work on that with the younger kids on the end of the bench even in a blowout. They can do that in the 3rd. By the 4th I think they should back off. But really, PBK should be able to handle a press from Valley City's end-of-the-benchers.

[Bisonguy06]

I fully expected a blowout and the final score of 92-38 sounds about right. If Heimer's account is accurate, I only have an issue with the first two minutes of the 2nd half. VCHS led 50-11 at the half and their JV pounded PBK earlier in the year. If I'm up 50-11 at the half, I'd coach good hard half court man-to-man D in the second half, but I wouldn't come out in a press.

I'm not going to pile on VCHS any more than that. Some coaches would say, "we're a pressing team, that's our identity, and if we don't at least come out in a press for two minutes, we're sending the wrong message to our kids about effort and focus, ect." I still wouldn't have pressed, but I can understand if that was their philosophy. You don't want to start the 2nd half on the wrong foot in a district tournament game.

I have issues with the way that Valley City was moved down to class B, but I'm sure that the VCHS, for the most part, is made up of good and decent folks, just like any other school in the state. The game was a blowout, as expected. Let's move on.

[heimer]

Bisonguy, I spoke with their coach this morning. He said the only reason they went to press is because they opened the second half stagnant, and he was worried about losing momentum in the tournament.

This explanation seems reasonable, as most everyone is expecting a rather intense game with LaMoure tonight. That, coupled with the fact that this is the first time for many of VC's players at the JCC, and I appreciate that response.

He didn't start the half in a press, he switched to it. Should have been clearer in my response. Apologies. And he came out of it in a couple of minutes.

[Bisonguy06]

Yeah, I can buy that. Coaching with a big lead isn't easy. You don't want to run it up, but you don't want it to get sloppy, either.

The coach did open himself up to criticism from people who are already looking for reasons to criticize VCHS, though.

[EHS1998]

Bisonguy, I spoke with their coach this morning. He said the only reason they went to press is because they opened the second half stagnant, and he was worried about losing momentum in the tournament.

This explanation seems reasonable, as most everyone is expecting a rather intense game with LaMoure tonight. That, coupled with the fact that this is the first time for many of VC's players at the JCC, and I appreciate that response.

He didn't start the half in a press, he switched to it. Should have been clearer in my response. Apologies. And he came out of it in a couple of minutes.

Heimer - I caught your conversation with the VC coach on air this morning. You made a pretty strong statement about the people from Lamoure spreading lieas and rumors on this board in reference to this dialogue. The only question I have is why are you so sure the comments came from someone from Lamoure, I just havent seen anything attributed to someone from Lamoure. Maybe I am simply unaware of a connection.

In regards to the VC game, it isnt the VC coaches job to stop his team, its the other team.

[Bisonguy06]

No, their attitude is not class b. They pressed a team off and on last night for a win of something like 92-39. They were never in danger of losing and continued to do this to a young team. Class B schools do not do this.

Heimer/Ryan Cunningham is reverring to avidsportster. I have no way of knowing whether Avid is from LaMoure or not.

However, to call anything that Avid said here a "lie" is pretty strong indeed, and it's wrong. Avid describe VC as "pressing a team off and on", which is almost exactly the way that Heimer described what Valley City did into the third quarter. Avid also said that Valley City was "never in danger of losing," and that is accurate, too. They led 50-11 at the half.

Now, Avid formulated an OPINION, based on facts, that VCHS was unsportsmanlike.

Heimer's OPINION, based on a different set of facts (VCHS was coaching to stay sharp for the tournament), is that VCHS was not unsportsmanlike.

We're all entitled to an opinion. A different opinion doesn't make a person a liar. Again Heimer, I think you're amping up the rhetoric and stirring the pot. And you do it very well.