Chillicothe Cavaliers

[93Bulldog]

They can all play in the post Been B & B ...

Athens line-up

G -Ibi Watson 6'3 - Fr.
G -Joe Burrow 6'3 - So.
F - Ryan Leuhrman 6'4 - So.
F - Adam Leuhrman 6'4 - So.
C - Jared Elmore 6'5 - Sr.

[JIMMY THE GREEK]

I doubt he called any individual a SOB. I would think it was used in frustration and in a general manner. Coach Meister is on the Chillicothe hot block right now and anybody that can will fan the flames. Ask any of Coach Kelloughs players if he ever used a profanity or Tom Cuppett, Harold Bates, Jeff Hobbs, or any coach ever! Is it right? No. Does it happen? Alot, especially in male sports. I played football at Chilli and can remember some halftime speeches that would raise your eyebrows along with some physical movement of structures like chalkboards, etc. I never went home crying to momma that the coach cussed us out. Took it like a boy/man and went out and tried harder. We live in different times and i am not advocating cussing kids out, but sometimes used in the moment it makes a difference. I apologized after every time i ever used a cross word and the funny thing was the kids usually said afterwards that coach we needed that. Point being we don't know what was said and the context it was used. Just saying... lifes too short to get to angry

I hear you...but unfortunately for us "old timers" those days are over. Coaches cannot get away with that anymore. Kids and Parents are so different....cussing at or out kids can get you fired in some school districts. This is just Hearsay...leave the man alone and let him coach. I'm sure the Administration will sort it out.

[newlex/sheridan]

The guy knows the game, maybe some of these kids needed some discipline. Doubt any of them are going to play ball for a living, teach them some respect so Lisath isn't dealing with them in Ross county correctional for the rest of their lives. I watched him coach @ Newark Catholic, you don't make a state title game without knowing what you are doing. He took the current NC roster when they are all sophomores, had them state ranked and made a nice tournament run. Before he went to Canton South (which is near his alma mater) they barely won a game. Cleaned up a program, played a bunch of young kids and the guy coming in is getting the glory. Leave him alone and he will be fine. Takes support, can't coddle them forever, once they stop playing ball very few of the people watching them play will give a crap about anything that happens to them after they graduate, make them better people, they will thank you for it later.

[Been B&B]

New lex... I thought Meister only won at NC two years and lost he other three including the last year. How was he state ranked with a losing record??? As far as discipline goes, it's a whole lot easier puffing out your chest with kids at an all-white or mostly white D-4 Catholic HS than at a Chillicothe where kids have had to fight their way up and the biggest concern they have, is will they get to eat after practice tonight. Chilli's always had athletes walking the halls but until Coach K came, nobody understood them enough for them to want to play. It will be like that again with a Coach who doesn't care what those kids deal with, he only cares about W"s and L's and being a strict disciplinarian. Some people
(coaches and adminsitrators ) think they know but they don't have a clue. I still hope the Cavs win and Meister gets it turned around if possible.

[Hitchbone64]

The challenge is fir the staff and the young kids to expect to win and show the Southeast District who the king of the Convo has been for the past 7 years. 10-0 in District games is special and rarely seen. This team can get it to 11-0 and than anything can happen.

GO CAVS!!!

Got to get past by my 'Dogs first hitchbone ...

93Bulldog, I know those dogs can bite. I saw those sophomores up close and personal when the whelre in Middle School. I knew they would be special. Just don't bite us to hard. Lol. I'm hoping the Convo locker rooms turn blue and white like they have for us over the years. We will be underdogs and the home crowd could be a factor. Finally, I love what Coach Skinner has built over there. Hope to see a great game.

GO cAVS!

[jumphigh]

People claim the sports is more about the game. They talk about the life lessons of working hard, doing the right thing, playing by the rules, and how that will carry you on through life after sports. I believe this statement. Additionally, I believe representing a school is an honor. The reward of wearing the school colors should matter of personal pride.

Is it wrong for a coach, school or administrators to want the students representing the school to behave in a manner that they believe is acceptable? Ohio high school believes that athletes need to have a certain GPA to be allowed to play.

If we allow a student to not follow the rules just because of a skill set have we really helped that young man or woman grow and become a true adult?

[wrestlefan1]

I am always defending coaches on here. If a coach is setting a high standard and benching players for their behaviors, kudos to them!!!!! I feel this should be much broader and across all sports.
The coach needs to follow the same standard and if sob's were thrown around, the whole thing is for nothing. Practice what you preach or dont preach it.

[ztpioneers1]

Chillicothe administrators made a mistake and they know it. Chillicothe is a wonderful diverse school that provides excellent academic and athletic opportunities. I know Coach K's group focused and discussed to their kids about the importance of education. Heck, I remember one year they put a book and a ball on a camp shirt. If that doesn't tell you something nothing will. Each class is always different. I know the 09 Basketball Class had a GPA of 3.8 or something, and 11 Class had about the same. Then you run into another class that struggled to stay above elgibility level. I can only remember a couple of occasions where some of the bball players were ineligible due to grades.

Someone on here placed a statement that Coach K took kids on the east side or something and placed them on the court to be successful. I can remember a couple of occassions where a kid acted up or out of place. This happens at every school. I just don't understand how the former Superintendents Trego and/or Crago didn't have any issues, and there is an issue the first year Saxton takes over. This administration doesn't understand the different ethnic groups that comes through the hallways at CHS.

Kellough not only won games, but he gave each kid a chance to prove themselves. If they messed up, he worked with them instead of just giving up on a kid. Meister might be able to adjust after he understands the environment but I don't know.

Bottom line is this: We can only move forward with the decisions that have been made, and maybe the community needs to make a few more decisions to get other people out of the school system, and that could start from the top!

Go Cavs~!

[Been B&B]

Blue Cavs.. good post.. you know that there is a levy coming up.... I don't think Meister is the problem though, I think Meister came in after the problem began and he is taking the heat for decisions that were already made...I have watched his team play and they do some good things X and O wise. It will be interseting to see what will happen without Zach Johnson next year.. the Cavs may not have beaten anyone but Jackson without him this year... Question? Do you think the administration thought Kellough was too powerful and they wanted someone they could control.. I am wondering why he was "forced out" as someone said. He couldn't have been too bad. Someone said he had 400+ wins. A lot of schools would like to deal with those problems.LOL

[JIMMY THE GREEK]

Blue Cavs.. good post.. you know that there is a levy coming up.... I don't think Meister is the problem though, I think Meister came in after the problem began and he is taking the heat for decisions that were already made...I have watched his team play and they do some good things X and O wise. It will be interseting to see what will happen without Zach Johnson next year.. the Cavs may not have beaten anyone but Jackson without him this year... Question? Do you think the administration thought Kellough was too powerful and they wanted someone they could control.. I am wondering why he was "forced out" as someone said. He couldn't have been too bad. Someone said he had 400+ wins. A lot of schools would like to deal with those problems.LOL

Although I respect and appreciate what Coach Kellough did at CHS, in my opinion, it was time for him to go. Some of the kids demonstrated poor attitudes, sportsmanship and the program was lacking some discipline. Although I love to win...it can't be at all cost....and it was.. Again...JMO. I've watched this program for 30 years and played at CHS many "Moons" ago....I still believe this program will recover...I don't believe we went after the right guy....but "it is what it is". We should be talking about the District Finals today...not this...How did we lose that game?

[Spartan]

I don't want to rain on your parades, but Athens has not played a worse first half the entire season. Chilli played well, I give them credit, but Athens beats them 9 out of 10 times.

[Been B&B]

I think unfortunately the Cavs are not in the limelight and Cavs fans are not used to that... Also unfortunately, Better get used to it.. I went to see a home game at the Hat and I could have sat anywhere I wanted..it used to be packed.. Meister could not have seen this one coming... Years ago Adolph Rupp retired and Joe B. Hall took his place at Kentucky..Hall won a National Championship and they still got rid of him.. Chilli won 5 districts in 6 years (hasn't happenned since Portsmouth 50 years ago) Tough act to follow!
Meister can't walk on water but he has to feel like he's under it right now.. I don't blame him, I think Chilli fans think it is easy to win Districts or states..Welcome back to the pack... I hope I'm wrong...By the way, maybe Meister's not that bad.. maybe Chilli's expectations are too high..

[JIMMY THE GREEK]

I think unfortunately the Cavs are not in the limelight and Cavs fans are not used to that... Also unfortunately, Better get used to it.. I went to see a home game at the Hat and I could have sat anywhere I wanted..it used to be packed.. Meister could not have seen this one coming... Years ago Adolph Rupp retired and Joe B. Hall took his place at Kentucky..Hall won a National Championship and they still got rid of him.. Chilli won 5 districts in 6 years (hasn't happenned since Portsmouth 50 years ago) Tough act to follow!
Meister can't walk on water but he has to feel like he's under it right now.. I don't blame him, I think Chilli fans think it is easy to win Districts or states..Welcome back to the pack... I hope I'm wrong...By the way, maybe Meister's not that bad.. maybe Chilli's expectations are too high..

You are wrong....we did have enough talent this year to be successful. Yes, we've become spoiled and the expectations are high. So, our opinions will continue to be "as is". We believe that we can win consistently in this District with the amount of athletes we produce year in and year out, Like Portsmouth in the late 70's through the early 90's.

[gilchs]

Get real people! CHS and every other school is the same and so are the kids. Now the parents are a different story. Yes, let's whine when grown boys hear a cuss word in the locker room when you having a terrible season. We know that Coach K never cussed. I get so tired of whining parents whose kids don't play or have issues.

The bottom line is Coach K didn't build the program from the ground up. I suggest that Coach Miester start recruiting. He won't have to though because the younger grades are being cared for by lots of parents and there is talent. Talent the Coach K will love to have if he starts his career again in the county.

These are aggressive, emotional sports that are being played. If all they have is one cuss word after this season...give the guy a medal. If you kids can't handle the fire get them out of the kitchen. I'm sure they hear worse at the lunchtable.

The program should have been flush at this point with kids. Grades, attitudes and lack of parents. These are the biggest problem at CHS.

[Rabeanos0512]

Cuss words? lmao! Now that is funny! I know for a fact that when I was at CHS I heard numerous F bombs from coaches. I will say Hobbs never really said them but he did cuss. but WHO CARESSSSSS!?!?!?! cussing? really? These kids are 17 and 18 years old. They dont need to be babied. I cant believe some people. I mean cussing? (in my Allen Iverson practice voice)

I have heard from a couple sources that the year after Kellough won state he went to the administrators or boosters and asked for Greyhound buses to every away game and half the saled on concession to go to the boys team. He had no dicispline. Many previous players told me he let the elites do their own thing. Stoppin hypin this man like he is Wooden. We dropped from D1 to D2. We from the OCC to the SEOAL. They had to beat teams like Unioto,Washington CH, Jackson, etc to get to DISTRICTS. We played elite talent from D1 schools with 2000+ kids. We could have been winning districts for years had we been in these leagues and divisions. Its not all coaching people. CHS has atheletes plain and simple.

[Been B&B]

Rabeonos... Correct me if I am wrong but I thought Chilli was in D-2 when they were in the COL.. Don't get me wrong, I know Chilli has talent but then again Chilli has always had talent but I don't remember them from Tom Cuppett to Gary Kellough... That middle section between those two is a blur.. Do you mean that for twenty years Chilli didn't have any talent because coaching had nothing to do with the lack of success for twenty years...How many years was it between State titles? 70?.. Granted a coach has to have the players but players have to have a coach too... Also (sources told me) Kellough received thousands of dollars from businesses in donations that were used to pay for buses and camps.. Don't know if that is true because I am on the outside looking in....

[Rabeanos0512]

I am saying that we were inferior due to the size of our school. In 2005(my senior year) we made D1 basketball by 12 boys or something like that. 12 boys! my graduating class has 308? We were playing schools every night that had classes of 500+. When we went to the tournament we didnt have the luxory of going to Southeastern and playing schools like Miami Trace, Greenfeild(minus dante lol), Jackson, Unioto etc etc etc. We had to go to the Ohio Fairgrounds and play the same huge schools we played all year. I will say we somewhat held our own though. 10-10 pretty much every year I was in HS. This isnt really an argument because we qualified for D1 based off our enrollement. Kellough, had the luxory of inherting great talent and a declinging enrollement which placed them D2 and playin in the SEOAl. (SEOAL had some great games when they first joined and that 2008 team would have won D1, jsut wanted to get that out there). I think JoeB Stewart was a great coach. won a district title in 95 or 96. Hobbs was great Xs and Os but had no dicepline. But Kellough had no dicsipline but his talent pool was so so so much better than teams he was playing every year. What my senior class would have done to have Gallia, Jackon, Logan, Athens 2 times a year. Clearing anything up?

Go Cavs!

[Been B&B]

Rabeonos... Thanks for the correction..you keep saying that Kellough didn't have discipline.. how did he have the success he did without discipline.. was his players mugging people in the halls at school.. what? I saw his teams play several times and only saw one incident but I wouldn't say that happenned because of lack of discipline... Also someone already said that former Supt. Crago or Trego(I don't know the man) and his HS principal never had a problem with Kellough but as soon as a new Super comes, PROBLEMS.. Someone also told me the new super picked the football coach and the girl's BBall coach .. is that true or have they been there a while..Did he make wholesale changes? I just love HS basketball and hate to see the Cavs go downhill since they have been on top for so long... It is good for the SE district to have a team that the BIG Boys around the state respect... I don't live in Chilli, I just root for SE district teams... Lived in the SE my whole life...

[Rabeanos0512]

Rabeonos... Thanks for the correction..you keep saying that Kellough didn't have discipline.. how did he have the success he did without discipline.. was his players mugging people in the halls at school.. what? I saw his teams play several times and only saw one incident but I wouldn't say that happenned because of lack of discipline... Also someone already said that former Supt. Crago or Trego(I don't know the man) and his HS principal never had a problem with Kellough but as soon as a new Super comes, PROBLEMS.. Someone also told me the new super picked the football coach and the girl's BBall coach .. is that true or have they been there a while..Did he make wholesale changes? I just love HS basketball and hate to see the Cavs go downhill since they have been on top for so long... It is good for the SE district to have a team that the BIG Boys around the state respect... I don't live in Chilli, I just root for SE district teams... Lived in the SE my whole life...

When i say discipline I mean players doing things during practice and it being overlooked. And not overlooked for every player. Things like late to practice etc etc. When I was in school players showed up to practice later a couple times eating BK and got dressed well into the first 15 minutues of practice. These types of things were probably going on under Kellough too. I have heard from a couple friends who played for him that said the top talent basically got away with that they wanted. I.e "If late to practice will sit next game" <<< That rule if applicable wouldnt apply to all.
As far as the superintendent stuff i am ignorant on this topic. Not sure what went on there.

[Been B&B]

Rabeonos..thanks again for the clarification...I know we both want Chilli to succeed but it will take someone who understands Chillicothe kids... A Bobby Knight type wouldn't have success because nobody would be left to play.. Since you played at Chilli you know the diversity of players and their backgrounds, I heard Jalen Ragland came from a good Christian home, he probably didn't need a whole lot of correction, he got it from home..Others not so much... It is nice to share with someone who's been on the inside as a player