ON THE LINE
Date: September 9, 2010
Categories: Sports
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Matt
in September 9th, 2010 @ 11:23I would theorize that some of it has to do with specialization in sports. Most of the big time OL in the NFL are 6-4 or taller. Many of the possible lineman are just playing basketball. Look at a guy like Dejuan Blair. He could have been a very good lineman.
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Joe Butler
in September 9th, 2010 @ 16:33I once talked to DeJuan as per request of then Schenley HS Coach Jim Trent about Blair playing football. He has a perfect OT body. He has huge shoulders, long arms, bends well, and is 6’6″/close to 300. I really enjoyed you comment Matt.
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Ochotexto
in September 9th, 2010 @ 14:51Joe I think a lot of it has to do with the population decline here. I went to the Rally at the Wolvarena last week and those high school teams from Florida are scary good., especially with regards to their speed. There seems to still be a lot of great players from this area., just not as many as in the past., people just moved.
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Matt
in September 9th, 2010 @ 15:55The Florida as well as several other states, Texas I believe, have the benefits of spring practices. Some even take the players to various camps throughout the “offseason.” They are also larger districts with bigger budgets to hire additional coaches that work on specifics such as speed.
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Joe Butler
in September 10th, 2010 @ 05:56Florida has Spring practice and the PA coaches were pushing that in this state. The PIAA has not ruled on Spring practice yet. But it may come in the near future.
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Joe Butler
in September 9th, 2010 @ 16:37You hit the nail right on the head. McKeesport, PA population has dropped 50% since 1970. Just think if McKeesport had 42,000 people how many more athletes they would have in the school. Midland, PA HS had some spectacular athletes back in the 60′s and 70′s and the school has been closed for numerous years now. Perfect example, Texans QB Matt Schaub is from Pittsburgh, left in Junior High, was supposed to attend Central Catholic, and moved to West Chester where he played at West Chester East
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Matt
in September 10th, 2010 @ 11:36McKeesport still produces its fair share of D1 prospects despite the population drop. They have even had a few non D-1 pros. I guess poverty is a helluva motivator. Connellsville use to have a lot of big lineman that were right off the farm.
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Joe Butler
in September 10th, 2010 @ 16:47Right on Matt. McKeesport has 2 real good prospect this year in Delvon Simmons OT/DT and Brandon Jackson DE/OLB. It is a shame but Connellsville has suffered in recent years. The Pittsburgh City School back in 1960 had 90,000+ students and now they are lucky if there are 30,000 students.. What a shame?
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Ochotexto
in September 10th, 2010 @ 13:06Correct me if I’m wrong Joe but I think schools like Alliquippa, Beaver Falls, Jeanette, North Catholic., etc…. , used to play in the Quad AAAA or highest classification. Now those schools are tiny. We still produce a Revis here and a Pryor there., its just a thinner crop.
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Joe Butler
in September 10th, 2010 @ 16:51You are correct Ochotexto. As of today, there are no Quad A schools in Beaver County. But Darrelle Revis and Jonathan Baldwin are products of Aliquippa and Paul Pozluszny is a Hopewell HS product.
Terrelle Pryor has a shot at winning the Heisman if he has a great season. The coahing is good here even though numbers are down. It is a thinner crop is a great way to put it.