Lakeland Continues Its Domination of SFL

[OldSchoolLion]

2019 Lakeland 37   Hialeah 6

2018 Lakeland 55   Cooper City 7

2018 Lakeland 58   South Broward 0

2017 Lakeland 54   Cooper City 7

2017 Lakeland 31   South Broward 6

2016 Lakeland 39    Fort Lauderdale 3

2016 Lakeland 48    Ely 14

2015 Lakeland 48    Fort Lauderdale 0

2015 Lakeland 36    Ely 7

2014 Lakeland 35     N Miami Beach 0

2014 Lakeland 35     Ft Lauderdale 14

2013 Lakeland 48     N Miami Beach 35 

2013 Lakeland 34     Ft Lauderdale 12

2012 Lakeland 21     Hialeah 14

2011 Lakeland 22     Flanagan 14

2011 Lakeland 16     Hialeah 10

2010 Lakeland 49      Plantation 7

2010 Lakeland 58      Flanagan 31

2009 Lakeland 46      Plantation 14

2009 Lakeland 44      Flanagan 22

They are all powerhouses, aren't they?

[gwdrum75]

Not sure anyone claimed them to be......

2018 Lakeland 33     Aquinas 20

I guess they beat a good one when it mattered? 

[OldSchoolLion]

12 minutes ago, gwdrum75 said:

Not sure anyone claimed them to be......

2018 Lakeland 33     Aquinas 20

I guess they beat a good one when it mattered? 

Someone recently stated that Lakeland "consistently beat(s) south Fla powers."  There are some folks on the board who routinely ridicule OOS schools who beat up on FL cupcakes so they can say they beat a FL school.  What is the line of thinking of Lakeland scheduling south FL programs who are clearly outclassed?...other than the possible joy it gives some Polk County fans to say it beat up on the big city boys?  I honestly never understood this.  

[DarterBlue2]

10 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Someone recently stated that Lakeland "consistently beat(s) south Fla powers."  There are some folks on the board who routinely ridicule OOS schools who beat up on FL cupcakes so they can say they beat a FL school.  What is the line of thinking of Lakeland scheduling south FL programs who are clearly outclassed?...other than the possible joy it gives some Polk County fans to say it beat up on the big city boys?  I honestly never understood this.  

Not to defend Lakeland, for the practice is not defensible, but it is a lot easier to schedule the South Florida minnows than it is the better teams from South Florida, is what you are looking for is for the SF team to travel two years in a row. 

They are probably not too many Central Florida schools willing to travel to, say, Traz Powell, for a return date. 

[gwdrum75]

I would love for Lakeland to play a tougher schedule, purely for the entertainment value. But for all the people who fall over themselves trying to justify that playing a harder schedule is the only way to win state........Lakeland had one of the easiest schedules in the state last year.....and still won the tough games when needed......by at least two scores, if not more.

I just find it laughable the consistent attempt to bring Lakeland down....on a message board.

[OldSchoolLion]

21 minutes ago, gwdrum75 said:

I would love for Lakeland to play a tougher schedule, purely for the entertainment value. But for all the people who fall over themselves trying to justify that playing a harder schedule is the only way to win state........Lakeland had one of the easiest schedules in the state last year.....and still won the tough games when needed......by at least two scores, if not more.

I just find it laughable the consistent attempt to bring Lakeland down....on a message board.

Completely agree and have said the same in the past on this board.  One need not play a brutal schedule to win a state title.  In fact, some teams are probably hurting their chances of winning a title by scheduling too aggressively. 

That said, when teams start looking and acting like superteams, reloading themselves with an inordinate number of transfers, expectations naturally arise concerning competition.  What's the justification of fielding a superteam in order to play a Hialeah High? 

 

   

[PolkHoops]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolLion said:

Completely agree and have said the same in the past on this board.  One need not play a brutal schedule to win a state title.  In fact, some teams are probably hurting their chances of winning a title by scheduling too aggressively. 

That said, when teams start looking and acting like superteams, reloading themselves with an inordinate number of transfers, expectations naturally arise concerning competition.  What's the justification of fielding a superteam in order to play a Hialeah High? 

 

   

Nobody said anything when Weiner and Plant were walking around with 60 seniors on the roster. 

[OldSchoolLion]

38 minutes ago, gwdrum75 said:

I just find it laughable the consistent attempt to bring Lakeland down....on a message board.

A while back, I asked a question on this board concerning the number of transfers Lakeland got this year and not a single person replied.  I found that lack of response very odd, knowing there is more than one person on this board who is a Lakeland fan.  That caused me to do my own research, which I presented on here, and nobody controverted it, so I assume what I presented was correct.  I wouldn't have gone to the bother had someone simply been transparent.  

Let me make up a little story.  Some folks on here knew the answer, but were too embarrassed to publicly say.  And, if that's indeed the case, I find that laughable.  As I get older, I've come to believe that I should be able to talk publicly about my own actions if I truly feel comfortable with them.  If what these superteams are doing today is perfectly all right, their fans should feel completely open talking about things.  Defensiveness only reinforces that maybe something isn't quite right.  And just because "everyone else is doing it" doesn't make it right. 

To be specific, I have an issue with what Lakeland is doing today...fielding a team that would not look remotely similar without all of their transfers.  And I would say the exact same for several other teams, for whom I have always had respect... until today.  If that's what Lakeland wants to do, go for it...but I think they look silly playing teams who are light years behind them.  

 

 

 

 

   

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Not to defend Lakeland, for the practice is not defensible, but it is a lot easier to schedule the South Florida minnows than it is the better teams from South Florida, is what you are looking for is for the SF team to travel two years in a row. 

They are probably not too many Central Florida schools willing to travel to, say, Traz Powell, for a return date. 

With all of the good teams in the Orlando area today just down I-4, it's a shame we could not see a matchup of them versus Lakeland instead of Hialeah and Cooper City.  

[DarterBlue2]

1 minute ago, OldSchoolLion said:

With all of the good teams in the Orlando area today just down I-4, it's a shame we could not see a matchup of them versus Lakeland instead of Hialeah and Cooper City.  

We did do a home and home with Lakeland, one game of which was competitive, but with Darlington gone, it probably won't happen again.

[HornetFan]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolLion said:

With all of the good teams in the Orlando area today just down I-4, it's a shame we could not see a matchup of them versus Lakeland instead of Hialeah and Cooper City.  

A Lakeland - Edgewater game, or Lakeland - Jones, or Lakeland - Seminole (Sanford) game would be very interesting and probably competitive. Seminole's players are almost all home grown, but they always put a very good team on the field. Edgewater and Jones have gone the Lakeland route.

[Legion37]

If the rules allow for transfers then everyone could be adding transfers. Everyone could be creating "superteams." But in order to get a transfer to come you need to have something to offer. A winning program, a winning coach, and a chance to compete for a title. Lakeland has all 3 boxes checked.

Ultimately if the student's parents decide to transfer their kid, who am I to decide what is in the best interest of that kid?

Lakeland's success is not recent, a overall winning program since 1979. That said as a Lakeland fan I cannot control who transfers to LHS or why. Nor can I make the schedule for the program.  

Not sure many fan bases wouldn't take Lakeland's 1979-2019 success and be happy to have it. 

[Legion37]

18 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

A while back, I asked a question on this board concerning the number of transfers Lakeland got this year and not a single person replied.  I found that lack of response very odd, knowing there is more than one person on this board who is a Lakeland fan.  That caused me to do my own research, which I presented on here, and nobody controverted it, so I assume what I presented was correct.  I wouldn't have gone to the bother had someone simply been transparent.  

Let me make up a little story.  Some folks on here knew the answer, but were too embarrassed to publicly say.  And, if that's indeed the case, I find that laughable.  As I get older, I've come to believe that I should be able to talk publicly about my own actions if I truly feel comfortable with them.  If what these superteams are doing today is perfectly all right, their fans should feel completely open talking about things.  Defensiveness only reinforces that maybe something isn't quite right.  And just because "everyone else is doing it" doesn't make it right. 

To be specific, I have an issue with what Lakeland is doing today...fielding a team that would not look remotely similar without all of their transfers.  And I would say the exact same for several other teams, for whom I have always had respect... until today.  If that's what Lakeland wants to do, go for it...but I think they look silly playing teams who are light years behind them.  

I recall your post but as for me I didn't find your observation compelling enough to respond too.     Again if you don't like the current rules then there are mechanisms to change them. Contact the legislature and express your self. Lot's of reason why no one responded to you. Right and wrong may have nothing to do with it. 

18 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

 

 

 

 

   

 

[OldSchoolLion]

6 hours ago, Legion37 said:

If the rules allow for transfers then everyone could be adding transfers. Everyone could be creating "superteams." But in order to get a transfer to come you need to have something to offer. A winning program, a winning coach, and a chance to compete for a title. Lakeland has all 3 boxes checked.

Ultimately if the student's parents decide to transfer their kid, who am I to decide what is in the best interest of that kid?

Lakeland's success is not recent, a overall winning program since 1979. That said as a Lakeland fan I cannot control who transfers to LHS or why. Nor can I make the schedule for the program.  

Not sure many fan bases wouldn't take Lakeland's 1979-2019 success and be happy to have it. 

All valid statements.  As a fan, am curious how you would feel (from a Lakeland pride perspective) if Lakeland won a title this year, knowing the circumstances under which they did so, ie an inordinate number of transfers, including 7 kids from Kathleen.  

And do you think the coaches(not just Lakeland, but everywhere) have any responsibility in all of this?   Some things may be out of a coach's control, ie kids beating down the door wanting to play for me, but don't I ultimately control who does/does not get playing time?  Where do we draw the line as coaches and say, "that's just going too far, I need to do something about it."  ...rather than waiting on legislation to draw the line.  

These aren't trick questions.  I am honestly curious how others think. 

[OldSchoolLion]

On 9/21/2019 at 10:01 AM, PolkHoops said:

Nobody said anything when Weiner and Plant were walking around with 60 seniors on the roster. 

Maybe people were too focused (and obsessed) with what the private schools were doing to notice.

[Proseteye]

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum. IMG does recruiting and of course admits it. They have to as they are a private school that needs paying customers in order to survive unlike Lakeland or any other of the recruiting public high schools. However, IMG is in the Freelance Classification of the FHSAA grouping and. as such, does not qualify for any type of playoffs or other extracurricular activity . Even unlike other private schools they are, for all intents and purposes, not really under the FHSAA organization. IMG has been consistently ridiculed for even being in the FHSAA system for basically doing the same thing that Lakeland and a few other schools do with impunity. Tell me, why doesn't Lakeland play IMG if they are such a super team? Has Lakeland ever scheduled IMG? I know they have never played them. For that matter has STA ever scheduled IMG?  They also have never played them.

[Perspective]

On 9/21/2019 at 10:01 AM, PolkHoops said:

Nobody said anything when Weiner and Plant were walking around with 60 seniors on the roster. 

I'm not sure how this is related to the thread, but I'll play along just for kicks:  what year(s) are you referring to?  And while you're at it, explain how the number of seniors on a roster have anything to do with the price of tea in China?  Only 60 kids can dress out for a game; if a team has a roster of 90-100 kids, but the roster includes a lot of kids (some seniors, some juniors) who never dress out for a game, what does this mean?

[Perspective]

6 hours ago, Legion37 said:

If the rules allow for transfers then everyone could be adding transfers. Everyone could be creating "superteams." But in order to get a transfer to come you need to have something to offer. A winning program, a winning coach, and a chance to compete for a title. Lakeland has all 3 boxes checked.

Ultimately if the student's parents decide to transfer their kid, who am I to decide what is in the best interest of that kid?

 

1.  Your first statement is simply not true.  Schools that already are at capacity cannot accept the transfer of a student/athlete that does not live in that school's district. 

2.  If parents and/or their kids are making the decision to transfer into a school completely on their own, then I agree with you (assuming the rules allow for it, which they currently do).  But when 'outside influencers' (assistant coaches, boosters, etc.) from other schools are reaching out to the kid or his parent, that's not cool.  Oh, and it's not legal.  And if you want to deny that this is happening in Polk County, then please explain the text sent out by the Lake Gibson kid over the summer that read:  "Dear Lakeland high school can y'all stop calling my people   I am not going to Lakeland   i am loyal to my school  lake Gibson."    And, please, spare me the response that suggests that the kid made the whole thing up just trying to get Lakeland in trouble. 

[HornetFan]

7 hours ago, Legion37 said:

If the rules allow for transfers then everyone could be adding transfers. Everyone could be creating "superteams." But in order to get a transfer to come you need to have something to offer. A winning program, a winning coach, and a chance to compete for a title. Lakeland has all 3 boxes checked.

Ultimately if the student's parents decide to transfer their kid, who am I to decide what is in the best interest of that kid?

Lakeland's success is not recent, a overall winning program since 1979. That said as a Lakeland fan I cannot control who transfers to LHS or why. Nor can I make the schedule for the program.  

Not sure many fan bases wouldn't take Lakeland's 1979-2019 success and be happy to have it. 

Lakeland has always put great teams on the field; they didn't need to push the transfer system, but they did. It hurt neighboring schools by "stealing" their homegrown talent. And no, not every school can use the transfer system. You can only transfer to a school that has available capacity. If a school is at capacity, they can only accept students that "actually" live within their school zone. In Orange County, that opened up prospecting for Edgewater and Jones, schools that had capacity. Also, students are not supposed to transfer for athletic purposes. I wish someone would explain why a student would transfer from Winter Park, the only "A" rated public school in Orange County to Jones, the lowest rated HS in Orange unless it was for athletic purposes, especially if the student's family still resides in Winter Park. There are similar instances with Edgewater.

[Proseteye]

1 hour ago, HornetFan said:

Lakeland has always put great teams on the field; they didn't need to push the transfer system, but they did. It hurt neighboring schools by "stealing" their homegrown talent. And no, not every school can use the transfer system. You can only transfer to a school that has available capacity. If a school is at capacity, they can only accept students that "actually" live within their school zone. In Orange County, that opened up prospecting for Edgewater and Jones, schools that had capacity. Also, students are not supposed to transfer for athletic purposes. I wish someone would explain why a student would transfer from Winter Park, the only "A" rated public school in Orange County to Jones, the lowest rated HS in Orange unless it was for athletic purposes, especially if the student's family still resides in Winter Park. There are similar instances with Edgewater.

Bingo.

[skyway]

3 hours ago, Perspective said:

1.  Your first statement is simply not true.  Schools that already are at capacity cannot accept the transfer of a student/athlete that does not live in that school's district. 

2.  If parents and/or their kids are making the decision to transfer into a school completely on their own, then I agree with you (assuming the rules allow for it, which they currently do).  But when 'outside influencers' (assistant coaches, boosters, etc.) from other schools are reaching out to the kid or his parent, that's not cool.  Oh, and it's not legal.  And if you want to deny that this is happening in Polk County, then please explain the text sent out by the Lake Gibson kid over the summer that read:  "Dear Lakeland high school can y'all stop calling my people   I am not going to Lakeland   i am loyal to my school  lake Gibson."    And, please, spare me the response that suggests that the kid made the whole thing up just trying to get Lakeland in trouble. 

I know this disappoints you, but, a tweet from a teenager hardly qualifies as fact, or evidence of anything. "Dear Lakeland high school" may refer to another teenager messaging him to come over. Not some official or coach from Lakeland.

[badbird]

3 hours ago, skyway said:

I know this disappoints you, but, a tweet from a teenager hardly qualifies as fact, or evidence of anything. "Dear Lakeland high school" may refer to another teenager messaging him to come over. Not some official or coach from Lakeland.

another teenager on the team messaging him is also illegal.  Just saying.  

[badbird]

On 9/21/2019 at 10:01 AM, PolkHoops said:

Nobody said anything when Weiner and Plant were walking around with 60 seniors on the roster. 

blame others lol and yes they did.  Plant caught tons of crap for it when they were winning state titles with loaded up rosters from transfers

[Legion37]

11 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

All valid statements.  As a fan, am curious how you would feel (from a Lakeland pride perspective) if Lakeland won a title this year, knowing the circumstances under which they did so, ie an inordinate number of transfers, including 7 kids from Kathleen.  

And do you think the coaches(not just Lakeland, but everywhere) have any responsibility in all of this?   Some things may be out of a coach's control, ie kids beating down the door wanting to play for me, but don't I ultimately control who does/does not get playing time?  Where do we draw the line as coaches and say, "that's just going too far, I need to do something about it."  ...rather than waiting on legislation to draw the line.  

These aren't trick questions.  I am honestly curious how others think. 

As a fan I would cheer my team's success. There would be no asterisk next to the title in the record book. I don't hold it against my College teams for taking transfers nor my Pro team picking up free agents as that is how the system works. Right now transfers in HS football can play and are allowed. Lakeland won its title in 1986, in no small measure, by the transfer of the Kathleen QB his senior year (Shane Willis IIRC), a kid I booed the year before, I cheered his success a year later at Dunedin for the 86 state title.

Unless evidence (and not one text from a teenager) could be shown that coaches were directly cheating, false addresses etc... or buying players, then yes that would be a problem. But coaches are paid to win football games within the rules. And that means playing the best starting 22 that gives you the best chance to win.

Ultimately it is still up to the parents to decide what is in the best interest of their child. And if they are willing to make the effort to make a legit transfer, it seems unlikely that there is much that can be done. And unless the kid transfers back after the season, it would be real difficult to prove it was for athletic purposes only. I had friends from Junior High who lived in the Kathleen zone but attended Lakeland because of some legit transfer reasons that had to do with music, so it is allowed for other than athletic purposes too.

As far as legislation, sometimes it is the only thing that will change things. Perhaps a team like Lakeland will go too far and it will force the hands of some governing body. 

I wish the game was like it was in 1984, but it's not, not at any level. 

[Legion37]

I stand corrected on the requirement to have space available. So I will amend my earlier post,

 

If the rules allow for transfers then everyone could be adding transfers. Everyone could be creating "superteams." But in order to get a transfer to come you need to have something to offer. A winning program, a winning coach, a chance to compete for a title and the capacity available to take on the student/athlete.