Who are the biggest cherry-pickers you know of in the state???

[Floridatech]

I've gotta few teams that come to mind...... 

Vero Beach-they went from playing below average and average Palm Beach County/Treasure Coast teams to playing defending state champs who are in a down year

Dwyer-will avoid Dade and Broward County teams in the regular season 

Lakeland-they haven't beaten anybody like that in a longtime, Carol City shut em down two years in a row but they won states tho

I've got more teams but I wanna see what y'all can come up with...

[DisabledAccount]

5 minutes ago, Floridatech said:

I've gotta few teams that come to mind...... 

Vero Beach-they went from playing below average and average Palm Beach County/Treasure Coast teams to playing defending state champs who are in a down year

Dwyer-will avoid Dade and Broward County teams in the regular season 

Lakeland-they haven't beaten anybody like that in a longtime, Carol City shut em down two years in a row but they won states tho

I've got more teams but I wanna see what y'all can come up with...

You can look at quite a few duval schools who all play each other and inflate their record with games against teams like Wolfson and Jackson 

 

Fletcher and Oakleaf tend to play weaker teams in duval and orange park area but lose against first chance to play playoff quality teams

 

Now Oakleaf did step up schedule last year but it backfired as they finished well below .500

 

But generally they play a weaker schedule 

[Floridatech]

1 minute ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

You can look at quite a few duval schools who all play each other and inflate their record with games against teams like Wolfson and Jackson 

 

Fletcher and Oakleaf tend to play weaker teams in duval and orange park area but lose against first chance to play playoff quality teams

 

Now Oakleaf did step up schedule last year but it backfired as they finished well below .500

 

But generally they play a weaker schedule 

Is Columbia a cherry picker??? 

[DisabledAccount]

2 minutes ago, Floridatech said:

Is Columbia a cherry picker??? 

Let's see 

 

Last year we scheduled the best 2 private schools in duval,  one of whom was a defending 4 time state champs as well as scheduled the eventual 1a state champs

 

Oh and the eventual 4a state champs in koc

 

 

Is that equivalent to playing teams like Wolfson, Terry Parker and Jackson?

[Floridatech]

3 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Let's see 

 

Last year we scheduled the best 2 private schools in duval,  one of whom was a defending 4 time state champs as well as scheduled the eventual 1a state champs

 

Oh and the eventual 4a state champs in koc

 

 

Is that equivalent to playing teams like Wolfson, Terry Parker and Jackson?

Hmmmmmm lol

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, Floridatech said:

I've gotta few teams that come to mind...... 

Vero Beach-they went from playing below average and average Palm Beach County/Treasure Coast teams to playing defending state champs who are in a down year

Dwyer-will avoid Dade and Broward County teams in the regular season 

Lakeland-they haven't beaten anybody like that in a longtime, Carol City shut em down two years in a row but they won states tho

I've got more teams but I wanna see what y'all can come up with...

My understanding is that Lakeland, being in Polk County, has certain constraints concerning who they schedule, similar to Hillsborough County.  

It is hard for me to believe that the most winning active coach in the state and one of the top 10 most winning active coaches in the country today, would shy away from anyone unless there were certain variables affecting scheduling decisions.    

Lakeland went on the road and played 3 nationally ranked opponents last decade. 

2009 De La Salle 31-30 OT

2008 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 35-0

2006 St Xavier (OH) 25-22 OT 

[DisabledAccount]

11 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

My understanding is that Lakeland, being in Polk County, has certain constraints concerning who they schedule, similar to Hillsborough County.  

It is hard for me to believe that the most winning active coach in the state and one of the top 10 most winning active coaches in the country today, would shy away from anyone unless there were certain variables affecting scheduling decisions.    

Lakeland went on the road and played 3 nationally ranked opponents last decade. 

2009 De La Salle 31-30 OT

2008 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 35-0

2006 St Xavier (OH) 25-22 OT 

They aren't restricted as much as Hillsborough but its no cakewalk to get out of area games either 

[gwdrum75]

6 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

They aren't restricted as much as Hillsborough but its no cakewalk to get out of area games either 

Until last year, they were pretty restricted about out-of-county road games. With the new playoff procedure, the county AD realized that playing Polk County teams was not going to get them where they needed to be. Still not as tough as I would like to see. But Apopka is always a good test and Manatee is an old 'rivalry' game that many around here will be happy to see.

[Floridatech]

18 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

My understanding is that Lakeland, being in Polk County, has certain constraints concerning who they schedule, similar to Hillsborough County.  

It is hard for me to believe that the most winning active coach in the state and one of the top 10 most winning active coaches in the country today, would shy away from anyone unless there were certain variables affecting scheduling decisions.    

Lakeland went on the road and played 3 nationally ranked opponents last decade. 

2009 De La Salle 31-30 OT

2008 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 35-0

2006 St Xavier (OH) 25-22 OT 

You commented on here but u ain't list teams who are cherry pickers smh

[OldSchoolLion]

13 minutes ago, Floridatech said:

You commented on here but u ain't list teams who are cherry pickers smh

I do not like second guessing coaches about their scheduling. Coaches are competitive types by nature who don't dodge a good fight.   I believe there are reasons they do what they do concerning scheduling.  

Concerning Dwyer, they have plenty of reasonably good public school competition in Palm Beach County.  And, in recent years, they have kicked off their season playing a Miami-Dade power.  Like I said about Bill Castle, does anyone really think that Jack Daniels, one of the most successful coaches in the state, is going to dodge competition?  I will challenge anyone who wants to say that to call Bill or Jack and tell them that in person, and then report back to us about how that discussion went.  

I will say, I have often wondered why St Thomas Aquinas has not played certain Miami-Dade powers over the years.  Am sure they have their reasons, and am not second-guessing them because I don't have the facts.  

Here's a more positive spin on the topic....how about calling out teams who have done great job of setting challenging schedules over the years.  Some that come to mind...Madison County, Mainland, Bolles, Booker T, Miami Central, to name a few.

 

[Floridatech]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I do not like second guessing coaches about their scheduling. Coaches are competitive types by nature who don't dodge a good fight.   I believe there are reasons they do what they do concerning scheduling.  

Concerning Dwyer, they have plenty of reasonably good public school competition in Palm Beach County.  And, in recent years, they have kicked off their season playing a Miami-Dade power.  Like I said about Bill Castle, does anyone really think that Jack Daniels, one of the most successful coaches in the state, is going to dodge competition?  I will challenge anyone who wants to say that to call Bill or Jack and tell them that in person, and then report back to us about how that discussion went.  

I will say, I have often wondered why St Thomas Aquinas has not played certain Miami-Dade powers over the years.  Am sure they have their reasons, and am not second-guessing them because I don't have the facts.  

Here's a more positive spin on the topic....how about calling out teams who have done great job of setting challenging schedules over the years.  Some that come to mind...Madison County, Mainland, Bolles, Booker T, Miami Central, to name a few.

 

What good public schools does Dwyer have to play with every year smh Atlantic whenever they get a lil squad together challenge sometimes and now maybe PB Central smh and Lakeland ain't no excuses we KNOW flat out is a cherry picker and secondly I would tell them coaches to their face that they play weak teams.....

Are u really from Florida I really think you're from the Nawf loool

[OldSchoolLion]

17 minutes ago, Floridatech said:

What good public schools does Dwyer have to play with every year smh Atlantic whenever they get a lil squad together challenge sometimes and now maybe PB Central smh and Lakeland ain't no excuses we KNOW flat out is a cherry picker and secondly I would tell them coaches to their face that they play weak teams.....

Are u really from Florida I really think you're from the Nawf loool

I am not a Lakeland homer, but have tremendous respect for the program.  Who from the Lakeland coaching staff and/or athletic department have you spoken to about their scheduling?  Just curious what FACTS you are using to judge them.  If you do not know the FACTS behind why they play who they, Flo, you are simply being an armchair qb.

Am glad to hear you are so confident in your opinions.  I am very anxious to hear how your discussion with Bill Castle goes and how he receives your feedback.  When can we expect a report on your call with him?         

[DisabledAccount]

1 hour ago, Floridatech said:

What good public schools does Dwyer have to play with every year smh Atlantic whenever they get a lil squad together challenge sometimes and now maybe PB Central smh and Lakeland ain't no excuses we KNOW flat out is a cherry picker and secondly I would tell them coaches to their face that they play weak teams.....

Are u really from Florida I really think you're from the Nawf loool

Lakeland has played some good teams over the years and even played apopka last year 

 

It's easy to find good teams in SFL because they so condensed but North Florida is more spread out 

 

Good teams might be 2 hours + each 

 

Not every team is willing to drive to south Florida every week and spend 6 hours on the road to play a good team

[OldSchoolLion]

2 hours ago, Floridatech said:

What good public schools does Dwyer have to play with every year smh Atlantic whenever they get a lil squad together challenge sometimes and now maybe PB Central smh and Lakeland ain't no excuses we KNOW flat out is a cherry picker and secondly I would tell them coaches to their face that they play weak teams.....

Are u really from Florida I really think you're from the Nawf loool

Atlantic, AH Delray, Oxbridge, Pahokee, Glades Central, Pahokee, and Park Vista have produced some very good teams this past decade.  Have some of those teams had some up-and-down seasons?  Absolutely.  But the same can be said for many Broward and Miami-Dade public schools.  Only 7 out 65 public schools in Broward and Miami-Dade have had winning seasons each of the past 3 seasons.  4 in Palm Beach have. 

Here are some teams Dwyer has played the past 5 seasons:

2017 Miami Central (10-3), Park Vista (10-3), Atlantic (8A state finalist); Playoffs-Mater Academy, Doral Academy

2016 Northwestern (11-2), Atlantic(9-4); Playoffs-Fort Lauderdale and STA

2015 Northwestern(5-5), Atlantic (12-1); Playoffs-Ely and STA 

2014 American Heritage Plantation(12-3), Glades Central (10-3), Royal Palm Beach (12-2), Atlantic (9-3), W Boca Raton (7-3)

2013 Glades Central, Palm Beach Gardens(8A state semifinalist), Royal Palm Beach (8-3), W Boca Raton (7-4) ; Playoffs-Boyd Anderson, Ely, STA

Dwyer's playoff schedule can involve a gauntlet of Dade/Broward County teams.  For that reason, it makes total sense they would not go out of their their way to schedule an excessive(more than 1 IMO) number of games versus them, knowing they will likely meet up with some in the playoffs, ie STA.

In 2015, Dwyer scheduled Miami Northwestern, who ended up having a 5-5 year.  They probably could have gotten a comparable game playing an in-county team like Glades Central that year.  

Dwyer is in a district with 6 teams, compared to Vero being in a district with 4.  So, Dwyer has less non-district opportunities as some teams.  Does Dwyer play the toughest non-district schedule around?  No.  But Dwyer is probably realistic in their scheduling.  They have a great program, but they are not consistently in the class of teams like STA or Miami Central.  Biting off more they can chew to satisfy the armchair critics is probably not prudent.  

If one wants to question why Dwyer does not play more regular season games versus teams to the south, it begs the same question for teams like STA and Cardinal Gibbons.  How many powerhouse teams from Miami-Dade and Broward have they played of late? 

Last season, Gibbons played non-district games against Southridge(6-4) Douglas(6-4), Hollywood Hills(2-7), Dillard(6-5), AH Delray (5-5).  In 2016, they played non-district games against Plantation(2-8), Everglades (2-8), Chaminade-Madonna (10-5), Deerfield Beach (10-3)  Those teams had a combined record of 49-49.  Could a nationally-recognized power have created a more formidable schedule?

If we are going to pick on Dwyer, we could probably find a number of other schools that deserve equal amounts of scrutiny.   

 

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Lakeland has played some good teams over the years and even played apopka last year 

 

It's easy to find good teams in SFL because they so condensed but North Florida is more spread out 

 

Good teams might be 2 hours + each 

 

Not every team is willing to drive to south Florida every week and spend 6 hours on the road to play a good team

..we have hs educators being laid off all over the country ...and taxpayers supporting hs athletics struggling to make ends meet.   In the meantime, "outsiders" see us as selfish fools trying to figure out how to burn more gas money to satisfy our curiosity with playing teams from outside the area.  In the stone ages, you might play one such game as a treat each year, that's it.  We are losing perspective.  ...sermon over. 

[OldSchoolLion]

...for informational purposes.  St Thomas Aquinas has played some brutal OOS competition over the years.  Over the past 14 seasons, they have played Miami-Dade schools 4 times during the regular season.  The Dade school's record that season is in parentheses.  Arguably, STA has not played one of the Miami-Dade powers when they were in their prime.    

2016 Booker T Washington(9-4) lost 27-23

2015 Booker T Washington(9-5) won 35-3

2013  Northwestern(4-5) won 38-3 

2012 Columbus(9-5) won 38-28 

Should STA be "forgiven" for scheduling non-district games against 1-9 Piper and 1-10 Flanagan(who they played in 2017) because they schedule tough OOS games?  If we are going to second-guess a team like Dwyer, I think it only fair to ask the question.    

 

[DisabledAccount]

11 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

...for informational purposes.  St Thomas Aquinas has played some brutal OOS competition over the years.  Over the past 14 seasons, they have played Miami-Dade schools 4 times during the regular season.  The Dade school's record that season is in parentheses.  Arguably, STA has not played one of the Miami-Dade powers when they were in their prime.    

2016 Booker T Washington(9-4) lost 27-23

2015 Booker T Washington(9-5) won 35-3

2013  Northwestern(4-5) won 38-3 

2012 Columbus(9-5) won 38-28 

Should STA be "forgiven" for scheduling non-district games against 1-9 Piper and 1-10 Flanagan(who they played in 2017) because they schedule tough OOS games?  If we are going to second-guess a team like Dwyer, I think it only fair to ask the question.    

 

Flanagan was a state champion in 2015 and a playoff team in 2016

 

 

[OldSchoolLion]

7 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Flanagan was a state champion in 2015 and a playoff team in 2016

 

 

...sure, one could say they expected Flanagan to be better, so maybe not a good example

...maybe a better example.  

2014 Northeast 63-0

2013 Northeast 60-6

By the way, STA often plays Miramar and Deerfield Beach...two of Broward's best.  Between those games and their OOS games, I think they typically play a tough overall schedule.  It's not their fault they are in a district of teams they far surpass.  I simply would like to see them play good in-state teams in lieu of the OOS teams. 

 

 

[DisabledAccount]

23 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

...sure, one could say they expected Flanagan to be better, so maybe not a good example

...maybe a better example.  

2014 Northeast 63-0

2013 Northeast 60-6

By the way, STA often plays Miramar and Deerfield Beach...two of Broward's best.  Between those games and their OOS games, I think they typically play a tough overall schedule.  It's not their fault they are in a district of teams they far surpass.  I simply would like to see them play good in-state teams in lieu of the OOS teams. 

 

 

Another thing to remember is sta was playing Flanagan in 2015 and i think they played in 2016 as well 

[Hwy17]

Concerning Lakeland, I know their booster club raises money so they can pay teams to come to Lakeland.  They usually have 7 or 8 home games a year and typically the only road games they play are district games.   

[Floridatech]

4 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

I am not a Lakeland homer, but have tremendous respect for the program.  Who from the Lakeland coaching staff and/or athletic department have you spoken to about their scheduling?  Just curious what FACTS you are using to judge them.  If you do not know the FACTS behind why they play who they, Flo, you are simply being an armchair qb.

Am glad to hear you are so confident in your opinions.  I am very anxious to hear how your discussion with Bill Castle goes and how he receives your feedback.  When can we expect a report on your call with him?         

I don't have talk to their team about a dam schedule I can see who they have played especially during their three peat reign now I'm not knocking the teams but who did they beat in the regular season from Florida at the time now that's just facts

[Floridatech]

2 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

...for informational purposes.  St Thomas Aquinas has played some brutal OOS competition over the years.  Over the past 14 seasons, they have played Miami-Dade schools 4 times during the regular season.  The Dade school's record that season is in parentheses.  Arguably, STA has not played one of the Miami-Dade powers when they were in their prime.    

2016 Booker T Washington(9-4) lost 27-23

2015 Booker T Washington(9-5) won 35-3

2013  Northwestern(4-5) won 38-3 

2012 Columbus(9-5) won 38-28 

Should STA be "forgiven" for scheduling non-district games against 1-9 Piper and 1-10 Flanagan(who they played in 2017) because they schedule tough OOS games?  If we are going to second-guess a team like Dwyer, I think it only fair to ask the question.    

 

It don't make any sense because STA plays tough OOS teams but Dwyer only played one and all they do is wait for a 7a or 8a team in PBC to give em a game

[OldSchoolLion]

7 minutes ago, Floridatech said:

I don't have talk to their team about a dam schedule I can see who they have played especially during their three peat reign now I'm not knocking the teams but who did they beat in the regular season from Florida at the time now that's just facts

I've done two stints in Polk County and was there in 2004-2006, so saw plenty of those Lakeland teams.  Back in the day, local rivalries in those parts were important community events and took precedence in scheduling, regardless of team records.   Lakeland vs Kathleen or Winter Haven were big games.  Turns out both of those teams were pretty good back then. 

Below are Lakeland's non-district games during that time frame(2004-2006).  I think it was a creative schedule...much more creative than many teams at the time.  Not saying it's a "9" or "10" in terms of difficulty...far from it.  But they clearly reached out beyond Polk County.   

Those Lakeland teams beat a number of outstanding teams in the playoffs 2004-2006.  If one wants to debate that they played weak regular season schedules then...well, it sure didn't hurt them come playoff time.  Believe it or not, there was a time when one played the local teams regardless of their records and that was it for the regular season.   

2004 

Winter Haven, George Jenkins, Kathleen, at Miami High

2005

Winter Haven, Venice, Miami Norland, Dr Krop, at Cape Coral, Centennial

2006

Winter, Kathleen, at Venice, Norland, Dr Krop, Centennial, at St Xavier(OH)

[DisabledAccount]

1 hour ago, Floridatech said:

I don't have talk to their team about a dam schedule I can see who they have played especially during their three peat reign now I'm not knocking the teams but who did they beat in the regular season from Florida at the time now that's just facts

During their 3 peat reign they dominated STA at state 

 

As i already stated it's easy for SFL teams to travel 20 minutes and play elite teams, North Florida can't just drive 6 hours every week to South Florida and teams are too spread out up here 

[DisabledAccount]

1 hour ago, Floridatech said:

It don't make any sense because STA plays tough OOS teams but Dwyer only played one and all they do is wait for a 7a or 8a team in PBC to give em a game

Sta has played some great oos opponents over the years

 

Bishop Gorman, Don Bosco Prep, St John Bosco, Bingham

 

That's why i can't understand why they don't play more teams in Miami Dade, they probably pay a hell a lot more for these other oos games then they would get for similar competition less than a hour away