This column will appear on Friday's editorial page of The Star.
A week ago in this very spot, The Star published a letter signed “Cletus Winfred, Crest High School class of 1989.” The letter strongly criticized Crest Coach Roy Kirby for a quotation in a previous edition of The Star, among other things.
Shortly thereafter, Crest Principal Roger Harris e-mailed me expressing concerns about the authenticity of the letter. Specifically, he wrote: “I just wanted you to know that nobody with the name Cletus Winfred has ever graduated from Crest High, in 1989 or any other year. In addition, our records show that nobody named Cletus Winfred has ever even been enrolled at Crest High. Neither, do we find anyone even close to that name (Wenfred, Winfreed, or anything similar.)”
At that point, we retraced our steps.
I would like to walk you through that process.
Here is how confirmation works on Letters to the Editor:
1) A letter is faxed, mailed or e-mailed to The Star.
2) If it includes a phone number (as requested in our Letter to the Editor submission policy), we call that number to confirm authorship.
3) If there is no number, sometimes we are able to track down the author by cross-referencing the name or a return address in the phone book.
4) If we can’t do that, we hold the letter until the author calls to ask why it hasn’t been published, then we go through the process again.
5) If we receive anonymous letters, we contact the author and let he or she know that it is our policy not to publish anonymous letters. Sometimes the author will agree to attach his or her name to the letter, sometimes not.
This letter was unusual. It was signed “Disgusted former Charger player (Class of ’89)
It also included a note at the bottom: “Please contact me if more information is needed. Ivory Miller” with a phone number and the address of the Cleveland County Law Enforcement Center.
We contacted Ms. Miller, who gave us an e-mail address for Winfred. We e-mailed him and spoke with him on the telephone to confirm the letter. This followed our normal confirmation procedures and the procedures used by newspapers nationwide.
Then came the e-mail from Principal Harris, which clearly meant we needed to obtain further confirmation.
We spoke with the person we believed to be the letter’s author again on Friday. He agreed to fax us a copy of his diploma.
We have not received that fax.
I e-mailed him again on Monday and received no response.
I called him on Wednesday and left a message, but received no response.
I called him again on Thursday morning and a recording said the number had been disconnected.
At that point, I walked to the courthouse and spoke with Ms. Miller, who works in the information services department.
She said Winfred was an “associate” of hers, but that she didn’t know him very well. She said she graduated in 1989 and “knew of him” as a student at Crest. When I asked her to explain how Winfred was not in any Crest records she said she didn’t know.
“All I did was drop off the letter, after that I really don’t know anything,” she said.
Ms. Miller said she didn’t have a phone number for Winfred and didn’t know anybody who did, but agreed to e-mail him to have him get in touch with The Star.
Ultimately, when the facts are not conclusive, one must rely on one’s intuition and experience.
My intuition tells me that Ms. Miller’s explanation does not hold water and that the failure of “Winfred” to bolster his authenticity or return our calls this week is telling.
Barring evidence that bolsters “Winfred’s” claim to be who he says he is, The Star is withdrawing its authentication of this letter.
For my part, the editing of the letter was poor. I like to let people “have their say,” but the language in this letter was scathing and I should have taken a stronger hand in toning that down.
Given all of this, we apologize to Crest Coach Roy Kirby, Principal Roger Harris and the Crest High School family.
If you have any questions or additional information on this matter, please e-mail me at skipfoster@shelbystar.com or call me at (704) 484-7000.
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102 comments:
Mr. Foster,
I do understand your desire to take the heat off of the Star and place it on me (Mrs. Miller). Crest is on you hot and heavy and you are looking for someone to blame for you not doing your research upfront.
You are correct, I dropped the article off at The Star and left my contact information because I was told that I had to by the receptionist. I informed her at that time that it was NOT my article. Besides, I have never played football a day in my life! (as the article was signed by a former football player).
I did not write nor publish this article, but if you need to blame someone else for your errors, then feel free! But I know that my only fault is dropping the article off at The Star.
I don't know where you got the idea that I think or insinuated that Mrs. Miller the article. There is nothing in my column that suggests such a thing. And I don't know how you construed from my column that we are blaming someone else -- WE APOLOGIZED!
Skip
I ommitted the word "wrote" after "Mrs Miller" in my response.
It's funny. Alan Ford was running around Wake Forest claiming the guy was real. He was even saying that the Star already had the diploma.
It seems to me that you dropped the ball on this one. You can talk about authentication all you want to. It would have taken all of about 5 minutes to call the school, ask someone to pull an '89 annual and see if this person did, in fact, attend the school.
It seems strange to me that you ran this "editorial" on the same day that you bragged about the academic acomplishments of the Shelby team.
Anyone who has been in Cleveland County for any length of time knows that you and Alan Ford carry the torch of Shelby High School. That is fine. You have that right but you do not have the right to force feed it to your readers. You are to report the news, not create it.
I have known Roy Kirby a number of yeard and have the utmost respect for him and his staff and the job they do at Crest. You obviously do not have that same respect.
An apology is great but the damage has been done. I can only hope that you will apply some vigor in discovering the true identity of the author and reveal that identity in your paper. I doubt that we will ever see that identity because that will be the truth and that seems to be in short supply here.
I'm sorry you feel that way.
I did not grow up in Cleveland County and certainly have no biases to overcome when it comes to Crest High School or any of the other high schools in this county (now Florida State football might be a different story!).
We have been proud to play up Crest High's football successes in the past -- one of our special sections after a Crest football title won a statewide award.
We have also published hundreds upon hundreds of positive stories and items on Crest accomplishments in the classroom and in other extra-ciricular venues.
I have great respect for Crest, Coach Kirby and Principal Harris. To suggest otherwise is simply not true.
Thankfully and graciously, Principal Harris has accepted our apology without qualification.
I hope we live in a society where people can make mistakes, apologize and have those apologies accepted without living under a cloud of all sorts of imagined conspiracy theories.
Regarding finding the true identity, at this point, we're at a dead end. If you have any suggestions or information on how to proceed, we're all ears.
Thanks for your comments.
[i]"I hope we live in a society where people can make mistakes, apologize and have those apologies accepted without living under a cloud of all sorts of imagined conspiracy theories."[/i]
How $oon the CRE$Ties forget the mi$take$ made by $omebody that cau$ed all the $tudent$, player$ and parent$ to mi$$ the $tate Champion$hip Game la$t December.
What i$ it about Cre$t Football and the month of December?
Con$piracie$ and Allegation$!
What'$ going on?
Mr. Foster, As a former teacher/parent in the Crest community, I have heard several teachers and students support what the imaginary "Mr. Withrow" said-even my own child, who is a Crest grad, said it was widely known that footbball was everything there. Also, could you see how many classes the coach is responsible for teaching? I'd like to know.
Football is big at Crest High School. Just as it is at Shelby and Burns. That comes with the territory when you have success. But I contend that there is much more going on at Crest than football. Check the EOC , SAT, ACT and AP scores at the above mentioned schools. I think you will find that Crest High School is heads and shoulders above the other two.
I find it interesting that the AP scores were not printed in the Star from last year. I think it somewhat ironic that the two stories mentioned earlier ran at the same time, about how bad Crest was academically and how great Shelby was doing. Compare the results and see if you come to the same conclusion.
In answer to the question asked. Coach Kirby teaches 2 regular classes out of four in the fall and 3 regular classes out of four in the spring. This in addition to a year long zero period class. All of the other coaches teach a full load of 3 classes all year long. Additionally you will find them at other athletic events during the year. I hope this answers your question. As a former teacher and parent in the Crest community I would think that you would know this. The information is easy to obtain. All it took for me was a phone call.
I agree with the comment above.Crest's scores have been by far the best in cleveland county,but you don't see that in the paper,i do believe that you skip foster and alan ford are strong shelby fans and that is why that bashing of kirby was but in the paper,the public would never. see something such as that directed towards a shelby coach.
Crest fans should stop playing the victim. We are not talking about the overall test scores at Crest High school. Matter of fact test scores arent even the issue here. The issue here as i see it is the players who are underserved by the program and the system at Crest High School.. How bout focusing on the issue.. Not swaying off to a tangent topic like test scores.
Very good point... the issue isnt how many classes the coaches teach or anything else.. The issue is how many of these kids who help fill the stands every Friday night (football and basketball) will have the opportunity to continue their education after the Friday night lights go off? What Im gathering from the whole thing is that parents should get more involved and make sure that their kids arent in this tech prep program that the editorial talked about.. Thats the bottom line.. parents have to get involved and demand change...
Crest fans should stop playing the victim. We are not talking about the overall test scores at Crest High school. Matter of fact test scores arent even the issue here. The issue here as i see it is the players who are underserved by the program and the system at Crest High School.. How bout focusing on the issue.. Not swaying off to a tangent topic like test scores.
where in the world are you getting that that is the problem..that problem IS that the SCHOOL OVERALL was bashed..and the comments made by kirby was taken as him callin his players dumb & that he didnt care about them...the point with the test scores are is that crest never gets regonized like they should..they always report the bad on crest..how abt start reporting the bad on shelby??
What Im gathering from the whole thing is that parents should get more involved and make sure that their kids arent in this tech prep program that the editorial talked about.. Thats the bottom line.. parents have to get involved and demand change...
And where r u getting that parents need to get more invloved..do you even know anything about how involved the parents are???
ok obviously you're missing the point of what im saying. Im not talking about the parents who are involved.. but what about the parents of the kids who are "placed" in this tech prep track.. The school was NOT bashed.. the program was bashed and most certainly you cant clean up or justify what Kirby said about his players being dumb. Those were HIS words..Not something that the Star cooked up to make Kirby look bad.. and the fact that people were quick to rush to Kirbys rescue but nobody is willing to make him accountable for saying his players are/were dumb.. read the quote for yourself.. And as for the statement about the parents needing to get involved i am speaking about the parents of the football players.. not the general student population... Those parents who arent involved (both black and white) should take more of an interest beyond the friday night lights.. Just look at it this way.. there are alot of people who agree with the article.. We know that there are ALOT of kids who rush for alot of yards and make alot of tackles who will n ever be afforded an opportunity to continue their education because of the class track that they are on at CHS.. Plain and simple.. How bout findin out how many football players are in the tech prep track.. thats all i think the original letter to the editor was saying...and find out if that track will allow them to go to college?
Enough with the conspiracy theories that Alan Ford doesnt like Crest. So what if he doesnt.. He doesnt have to like Crest. Nothing says that he cant be a Shelby High fan. All he or anybody else at the Star has to do is fairly report the facts.. So what if Ford is a Shelby fan... get a life.. thats nothing new people have been claiming that hes partial to shelby for as long as anybody can remember... again i say.. who cares.. hes entitled to have an affinity to whatever program he chooses... Itll be interesting to see how many players from Crests football team signs to go to college this year.. That day is coming quick.. Im going to say 3.. (that might be too many)..
well obviously YOR NOT GETTING MY POINT..yeah who cares if they r shleby fans..but they DO NOT and WILL NOT report FAIRLY on crests behalf..and there will NEVER EVER be something saidabout a shelby coach in the paperlike there was toward the crest coach..end of story!
The players are not Placed into tech prep..you can choose to be in college prep if you would like..
yeah but the adults can guide them out of that too. Thats the whole point. KIDS should not be picking their classes.. Thank you you just proved my point. There should be more adult involvement. And as for the last person who wrote that we would never see something in the paper about Shelby's coach.. well im going to go out on a limb and say that Shelby's coach would be stupid enough to call his players dumb and think that it was no big deal... Hmmmm ya think...???
Bottom line is this.. those players are allowed to stay where they are because it will allow them a better opportunity to stay eligible during their high school career. And if you think anything differently youre obviously in the most serious stage of denial.. There should be more of a concern on academic rigor(hopefully you know what that is) among the football players who have the potential to continue their careers beyond high school just like their is an emphasis on the rest of the student body..
Kids should be picking there classes because kids know what they want to do..not what their parents want them to do
Kirby never called his players dumb THANK YOU!
Skip I love the self-righteous attitude in your response to Ivory Miller. The Star screwed up royally. You get chewed a new rear end by Roger Harris. You kowtow and write some twisted and convoluted "apology" seemingly blaming Miller. THEN you have the gall to be indignant toward he/she when they call you out. That is 100% class I tell you!! I hope that the young people of this county do NOT use you nor your staff as examples of adult behavior or thought. I have no love for Kirby but at least get your facts straight when dealing with an issue such as this. In fact this is just the latest in a long line of disparaging stories about Crest Football by this paper and pre-date your role at the organization. Perhaps you need to look in-house for the source of these continuing problems and search within yourself and determine why you perpetuate them.
My post in the message board about the subject...
Just the name, Cletus Winfried or whatever it was should have set off a few alarms. Why didn't somebody go to Alan Ford and say, Alan, you ever remember a person by this name that played at Crest. It's not like the name is Joe Smith. And the letter laid out some pretty serious things against Kirby, again, make sure that all is correct before it sees the light of day.
Some of things accused in the letter. Since Kirby took over in 1997, I believe that he has had only one player not graduate.
This year's Crest team has like a 3.1 GPA when you include the honor classes that some of them take, I think it's in the mid to high 2's with out.
The comment about speed and dumb was a sports deal. It seems like Crest had won a game, but Kirby wasn't happy with the performance. Kid's were making "dumb" mistakes. They were missing assingments, not tackling well, things that they had worked on all week. Yet with that Crest still won, and Kirby said that speed sometimes makes up for dumb. It wasn't about how smart the kids were, it was about the things that they were doing on the field and they were still able to play through it.
I've known Roy Kirby for a long time and I consider him a friend. People have no idea what he does behind the scenes to help these kids out. Stuff that won't make the paper, things that he doesn't seek glory for, just things that help people out. It may be a kid that needs help getting into a school. A family that may be having a hard time. A kid that is around all kinds of unrest at home. Roy Kirby does all that he can to help these young people and their famlies.
It's a shame that this person is sitting back, having a big laugh while the Star looks foolish.
A couple of you on here just do not know what you are talking about (2:05 and 2:20). I will try to explain in terms that you will understand.
There are two tracts that a student at any of our high schools may participate in, University Tract and College/Tech Prep Tract. The requirements for graduation in the University Tract are the same as the entrance requirements for the University of North Carolina System. The only real difference in the two tracts are the foreign language requirements as prescribed by the UNC System.
Graduating in the College/Tech Prep tract does not prevent you from going to college. That would be up to that college or university and it's own requirements. This tract could very well be acceptable at GWU, USC, UVA and even Duke and Wake.
The schools are here to serve the student. What sense would it make to place a student in a program in which he or she has no chance of success? Fail Spanish 2 your senior year and not graduate? Get serious.
And in response to your statement that this is not really the issue here, this is the issue that was brought up in the paper. Before condemning Crest compare the number of student athletes in the College/Tech prep programs at the other 3 high schools, the academic success of Crest as compared, and the graduation rates of each. I doubt that you would want to do that as it would probably put Shelby High School in a bad light.
And lastly. Alan Ford and Skip Foster can support any school they wish. They have that right. But when that bias shines through in reporting it is unacceptable.
To posters 2:05 and 2:20. Do your homework before you get on a public board and embarrass yourselves.
Some of things accused in the letter. Since Kirby took over in 1997, I believe that he has had only one player not graduate.
Uhhhh you might want to check that.. Cause if you can think of only one.. I can give you THREE from one class.. how bout checking your facts on that one...NOT TRUE..
As for the team GPA.. you might want to get some facts to substantiate your statement on that too. Cause thats an absolutely UNTRUTH.. I mean people should have known that folks were going to rush to Kirby's defense on this.. and rightfully so.. but it doesnt take away the fact of whats happening inside the program.. and it doesnt change the fact of him needing to be accountable for his comments. This banter is really pointless though because at the end of the day.. Kirbs is gonna have a free pass to do and say what he wants to because he wins games... And if the Crest people can deal with it cool.. Were just glad he aint at Shelby...
Just for the record.. im more well versed on the pitfalls of the Tech Prep program and i know what it is used for. IT is used to keep kids eligible.. Bottom line.. And i also know for a FACT that there are not enough core classes in that track for a kid to be eligible to compete in intercollegiate athletics.. that was the whole point of the article.. not ANYTHING else.. now.. call over to Gardner Webb and ask him about ANY of those football players in the tech prep program and they will tell you that they are what they refer to as non recruitable athletes because the done meet the core requirements to compete at an NCAA school. Thats why they try to send so many of the Crest kids to these Junior colleges so they can get their core classes straight then transfer to other schools.. still doing them a great disservice.. SO it looks like you might want to check your facts because these are solid facts here...
If anyone's wondering, here's the quote in question:
http://www.shelbystar.com/story.php?ID=3904&keyword=Randy%20Capps
Looks like 12:21 may have some facts.
I was at the banquet last night and it was announced that the football team had a GPA of 3.01.
yeah..i go to school with them all actually..they're not dumb
I was at the banquet last night and it was announced that the football team had a GPA of 3.01.
yeah, and what is the scale used and what does a 3.01 really mean?
Listen guys.. Tech Prep is what we older folks remembers Vocational Exploration. Those classes have no weight when it comes to academic rigor. NONE WHATSOEVER...so the previous poster is right.. What does a 3.0 mean... ??? Absolutely nothing when the classes are in that track..because at the end of the day those athletes are still not recruitable to participate in college athletics... I think somebody else pointed that out earlier... Its great not to have to worry about our coach calling his players dumb in the paper or anywhere else.. Let the Crest folks deal with that nonesense...
Lets see how many of them go to college this year ( not Hargrave or any other junior college) .. Signing day is February 7th... Time will tell..
I think somebody else pointed that out earlier... Its great not to have to worry about our coach calling his players dumb in the paper or anywhere else.. Let the Crest folks deal with that nonesense...
why don't you grow up, no one called anybody dumb..so why dont you just go get that paper and tell me what is said..because im pretty sure he said dumb plays..everyone playing sports mabey a dumb move or play at once..and that does not mean that your all together dumb..and just so you all know we have at least 5 right now who are going to big university's
ok.. I dont need to read the quote.. I saw it in the paper when it first came out. He said that the were not as smart as last years group but their speed would overcome dumb... cant really misconstrue that statement.. as much as you folks who are taking up for kirby would like to. sorry.. why don't you read the quote and stop trying to make excuses for an idiotic comment by Roy. And as for these guys going to BIG Universities.. I guess we will see.. And i must ask.. are you in the tech prep program?
everyone playing sports mabey a dumb move or play at once. and that does not mean that your all together dumb..
hmmm that sentence doesnt make a whole lotta sense..? Oh yeah.. did i ask you if you were in the tech prep program? Oh ok.. just checking...
do you know how to spell maybe? hmmm, i don't think so!
that was my whole point.. whoever sent that must also be in the tech prep program.. also i think they meant you're..not your.. A mind is a terrible thing to waste...
Actually,im in the 4 year university program..thanks, so you even know how many of our player are actually in the tech prep program????????? yeah, so shut your mouth.
So Kirby is a horrible person for saying that they were making dumb mistakes on the feild? And if you have ever played football that's what he is referring to. And you are sitting here critizing somebody for mis-spelling maybe? I feel sorry for you because you must not have a life...Seriously I mean you get on here and bash somebody for mis-spelling one word. I am sure you have never mis-spelled anything in your life. And just to let you know since Kirby has took over the Head Coach Position at Crest High School that they have sent more players to Division 1A than any other Cleveland County High School.
AMEN to that!
i dont think anybody was talking about how many they have sent.. i think they were talking about the ones who were capable of playing but stuck in a cirrucla that would not allow them the opportunity. Cause anybody who knows about the tech prep program knows that once you get it.. you cant get out...
ok..the kirby fans continue to take up for this idiotic comment he made.. if he meant dumb on the field.. he would have said dumb on the field.. how many of you have EVER known kirby to not say what he meant so that you guys would have to decipher the real meaning? NEVER.. hes a cut and dry.. no gray area kind of person... so stop taking up for his comment.
WOW.. youre(not your) in the 4 year university program and writing with those grammatical errors? WOW !!! Just go back and re read your post.. its actually funny now that you so proudly said that youre (not your) in the university program...
get a life..for real..i am in the university program and i am in honors..so get over it.i'm probably alot smater than you anyways,i don't see why you have to criticize me for a few words.. my god do you not have anythign better to do.
why the hell wouldnt a kirby fan stick up for him when dumb people like YOU can't see the truth, or are mad at the fact that hes a better coach than anyone in cleveland county.
ok.. being the best coach in Cleveland County means absolutely NOTHING... and why would the previous posters seem to be upset with this person who is expressing their opinion.. I agree with him.. Coaches should be accountable for the actions and their words... but obviously this is something that everybody will never agree on so why not just agree to disagree.. Those who agree that Kirby is a USER and does what he has to do to win.. we will continue to believe that.. Those who believe hes the best thing to come to Boiling Springs since the second stoplight.. then they can and will continue to think that.. And thats their right.. just like its ours to wish that the Crest community and administration would demand MORE from their coach..
ok..the kirby fans continue to take up for this idiotic comment he made.. if he meant dumb on the field.. he would have said dumb on the field.. how many of you have EVER known kirby to not say what he meant so that you guys would have to decipher the real meaning? NEVER.. hes a cut and dry.. no gray area kind of person... so stop taking up for his comment.
1st of all it wasnt idiotic,2nd wouldnt you take up for one of your favorite coaches..??
I agree.. it wasnt idiotic to call his players dumb... it was assanine..!!!!
asinine-its the same thing; silly or dumb
somebody please please stop the bleeding.. i think weve squeezed all the blood out of this topic.. folks aint gonna agree and thats fine.. But i will agree with one thing a previous poster said... Im soooooo glad hes not our coach. That type of comment would NEVER be acceptable at Shelby High.. Did i mention that we are soooo glad hes not our coach.. ohhh also the Shelby fans have truly enjoyed reading this... Thanks for the holiday entertainment...
yeah did i mention..shelby has 3 of crests players..yeah..
wed much rather have the players than the coach.. thats for daggum sure..not if he uses players up then.. I was just wondering if any of the Cresties can tell me where Evan Bostic, Chris Tate and Omar Washington are playing college ball? I know they were great athletes at Crest over the past two years..And i hadnt heard anything about them.
This whole situation is based on the fact that someone is trying to discredit Coach Kirby, the Crest High football program and Crest High School to the degree that they hope will make their attempts to recruit current and future athletes an easier task. Bottom line.
seems like Kirbs and the crew helped that cause tremendously..we will be happy to have them in the black and gold...
ROY KIRBY FOR MAYOR.. !!!
None of them are playing ball..
Did any of them graduate?
well duh
Have any of you trash talkers ever though about taking a walk in kirbys shoes, or having to deal with about 50 teenage boys for almost all year? i don't think you have or you would not be talking trash about someone most of you don't even know..or havent even tried to get to know.
why would you ASSUME we DONT know kirby.. Some of us might have even played for him. Have YOU ever thought about that? So maybe we know him best.. Maybe those three guys mentioned in the earlier post were our teammates and we saw them spiral in the Tech Prep program and not have an opportunity to get out.. Even though there was an effort put forth to get out.. they were told that they were better off staying in there.. hmmm now.. chew on that one for a minute before anybody else decides they are going to continue stroking kirby as this great rescuer of the less fortunate..
they were left in there because the plan by the coaches was to keep them eligible with tech prep.. let them get the little certificate.. send them to a JUCO (junior college) and let them get eligible for college by spending time there then transfer to a four year school.. That was the plan.. that plan obviously didnt work because it hardly ever does... i guess thats what the original poster in the editorial meant about all the state championship rings walking around the Crest community as opposed to being in college where they can continue their education and their playing careers, instead of standing around on friday nights at Crest talking about how good they used to be..
Why are we attaching playing football in college to success in the classroom? More kids than not will play their final football game at the high school level and go on to great success. Just because on signing day you don't see someone sign a letter of intent doesn't mean they are not going to college. The time and effort that it takes to play at the college level is unreal regardless if it's GWU or Ohio State. That takes a lot of dedication and some just want to be a student. Some kids will get out of high school, head to CCC, and enter the workforce after 2 years and become productive members of society. Are they any less successful because they didn't sign a letter of intent to play football? Some kids will get out of high school, go straight into the workforce and work hard for the next 40 years to make ends meet like so many of us. He is any less successful because he didn't sign a letter of intent?
But for a lot if these same kids they had a great time playing football in high school. They wouldn't trade it for anything.
There have been names talked about on this blog. I can also tell you some stories about them, but I have no gain from dragging that stuff out.
Congrats to Coach Kirby, his staff, the kids, and Crest High School on all of their hard work that they are putting in.
I will say that it is time for the school board to take a look at a student having to sit out a year in athletics when they transfer. You are not to transfer for athletic reasons acording to the transfer policy, so it shouldn't be a big deal.
yall are all idiots..yall know nothing about what going on.
Great Post 9:30
I know.. lets just let this thing die down.. Kids are gonna stay in tech prep.. stay eligible to play.. transfer if they want to..and whatever else they want to do.. And so will Kirby..so lets not burn anymore time on here with this empty banter..ohhh but just to respond to the other poster (9:30).. those kids wanted to play college ball and also continue their education and there were coaches who wanted them and couldnt touch em because of the good ole tech prep curriculum..two of the three kids mentioned attempted to do the JUCO thing and one of them couldnt even get into a JUCO.. so until somebody takes responsibility for this disservice then it will continue.. But as for this conversation.. lets let it go.. cause this wont change a thing... we could go on for months..
the whole tech prep program is not even a part of this Blog..so why are yall making a big deal out of it..the discussion should be about the article being published with a false name.
no because who wrote the article isnt as important as the issues raised in the article..The article could have had Little Red Ridding Hoods name on it.. if the facts are the facts .. then the facts are still the facts..and yes tech prep is the issue and the problem that was addressed because its the culprit behind the claims in the editorial..
im pretty sure the article said nothing about the tech prep program or any program at crest high school
read it again then.. cause that was from what i could see the entire problem.. players getting into this program to stay eligible and then when the college recruiters come a callin then they cant answer because a coach or a guidance counselor has stuck them in that program that they cant get out of.. thus creating all of these players walking the streets of shelby with these state championships and no high school diploma.. yeah i think you might want to read the editorial again.. you may have just missed it.. but its certainly there..
Looks like Cletus has found a blog.
nooo it doesnt
looks like somebody else other than Cluetus is knowledgeable of the situation..
i think yall all have no clue about what is REALlY going on
Yeah usually people who are in denial about something that they don't want to admit is wrong will assume that nobody else knows what they are talking about.. Oh well..
AMEN !!!
yeah youre right.. nobody has a clue whats going on other than the people closest to the situation. Yep.. ever body is ignorant to the fact of how they do business up there in Bubbly Water ( thats Boiling Springs for you folks who are that sharp).... I echo the sentiment of a couple of other posters.. IM SOOOO GLAD THIS GUY ISNT AT SHELBY HIGH... We are fortunate to have a coach who thinks before he speaks (in the paper).. i was amazed that he called his players dumb.. that was simply uncalled for.. and theres nothing any of the Cresties can say to defend that statement. it reads very clearly..
yeah all yall "shelbyies" or whatever you wanna call yourself can just keep the **** outta this because yall have no clue what was really said or anythigin yall just think yall r the shit cause yall won state 2 years in a row..so what crest won it 2 years in a row..yall r all some damn stuck up ******* who think you know everthing..when you DONT! The only reason they put that in the paper was to make crest look bad..yall aint got othing to worry abt cause if the shleby coach did say something bad..they wouldnt but it in the apper because they love shelby..yall talk allyou want but what kirby said wasnt BAD..
obviously youre a child based on the immature language youre using. Just so you understand.. the star didnt do anything to make kirby look bad.. kirby opened his mouth and made himself and the program look back..
The Star didnt have to post it...now did they..exaclty..and what they did was libel..
like i said.. obviously you must be a child or you clearly dont understand the definition of libel. And theres a little thing that the paper puts up top to say that the view and opinions expressed are not those of the staff and management of the paper. That my friend keeps them in the clear. You did however make one sensible comment. They couldve held it.. but then we wouldnt have had a chance to have all this meaningful commentary..
yeah but libel is something in writing which is not true and that has done to harm ones reputation..which was the cletus guy who was supposedly from class of 89, who was a made up person, who supposedly made the rude comments about kirby, and that my friend was not true either.i May be a young adult, but i know alot.
and one more thing, your right if that would not have happend no one would be having these disputes..but their rules about checking the background of the people who send them articles would not have changed.
How many Highschool Coaches around here can say they have a former player going into the national chamionship as a freshman..???? COACH ROY KIRBY CAN!!
Whats there to be proud about though? Kirby had nothing to do with Florida winning the SEC... Brandon had nothing to do with Florida winning the SEC..So what should he stick his chest out about??? I think i missed it.. Can he stick his chest out about the graduation rate of his starters the past three or four years? So i guess you got it on that one.. Roy can say that he has a former player goin to the National Championship game.. but why would he? What would it prove?
i think the previous poster needs to realize that measuring yourself against local coaches or talent doesnt make you good at all. I mean you could compare him to other coaches in Cleveland County but what does that get you?
roy kirby is the best coach ever thats why he has star players..so glad crest doesnt have a sucky coach like shelby kings mountian or burns..oh yeah..what other coach can say his former player is in the nation championship..?? yeah, none of them can..
Some of ya'll got your black and gold panties on to tight.
Whats the pride in saying you have a player on the florida team? Bet he cant have the same pride about graduating starters and helping more than just the franchise players go to college??? hmmmmmmm
whos said he doesnt have pride about all his players??? that dumba$$ FAKE PERSON DID..and who is he, nobody
he may just be a nobody but hes a somebody that spit some facts that got the Cresties all in an uproar..!! Theres some truth to what he said.. id be willing to bet that..
i dont think so
then we can all agree to disagree on this one..
A FAKE person with FAKE facts. If the claims were real the person would be real. They know they are fake and didn't want to see themselves in court for slander. Throwing crap on the wall to see if it sticks is not a case of real facts.
Again, good job Star.
Could not have been said better
ok.. guess you told them... game over.....!!!
thas right.. those things just appeared.. its not from a real person.. FREAKIN IDIOTS !!!!
yeah you tell em.. I agree.. Those comments cant be true.. because the person obviously used an alias...So that means that the person is not credible.. duhhhh yall aint that stupid to believe that.. Some of you know deep down.. that there is some truth to it and you just dont want to admit it.. i however agree with one of the previous posters.. lets let this thing die down.. weve beaten this dead horse (no pun intended) enough...
CONGRATS to Roy Kirby for winning the state coach of the year... You guys were absolutely right..he is the BEST coach in Cleveland County... !!!!OHHHHHHH dang.. i think that was Chris Norman who won that award.. Dang... Hes at Shelby... Sorry for the mix up...
yeah rite..lets see how many he has go onto play football in college..NOT!! cause he wont have as many an roy kirby
Yeah i guess we will see.. February 7thh is coming quickly....
I think SHELBY had 6 players to go to college and have an opportunity to further their educations.. I think CREST had 2.. even up there in Boiling Springs.. i think 6 is more than two.. and i guess that Cleutus guy was on to something.... And a couple of the posters who were saying wait and see how many Shelby has and how many Crest has.. well i guess we see huh.. !!!!! WIll the kids in the tech prep program graduate this year? or will they ride off into the sunset like so many before them?
Was there EVER any follow up into the tech prep situation at Crest? Was there ever a story done on how many players are stuck in this program and cant get out? Was there any attention paid to the fact that there were only 2 players signed by college teams?
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