Ashland (Don't call us Blazer, more on that later) reached a considerable milestone to put what is arguably the most storied program in Kentucky high school sports, on par with the nation's elite. The Tomcats collected their 1,900 win all-time this past week.
And, in a less grandiose and outsider-looking-in wonder, the Tomcats made their new head coach known during halftime of the Johnson Central game. Long-time assistant, and Nikita Koloff impersonator, Tony Love has been named as the new man in charge of the Maroon. It was said that Love was selected as the choice amid numerous qualified applicants. That was according to AD Mark Swift. Now, we have no inside information to the matter, but from we can gather from a limited amount of talkers, apparently the hire was not one made with such a deep talent pool to select from as they would like for us to believe. Considering who is talking that way, though, I'd take everything with a grain of salt. Maybe even two handfuls. But then again....
Regardless, Love is very qualified to be in charge on the sidelines for any high school program. It didn't quite have the knock-it-out-of-the-park feeling Boyd's hire may have had in area circles earlier in the week, but I don't think Ashland had to swing for the fences like Boyd did.
By the way, 3 star recruit Shane Hall of Johnson Central (being recruited/receiving offers from Cincinnati, Butler, Tennessee, and Purdue) was held to not scoring in the first quarter of the contest, however he did muster a double-double of 15 and 10 to end his evening. Ashland won, however, 62-55, thanks to their 4th quarter play. Ashland has beaten two region's defending champions in consecutive games, first Rowan (16th) and now Central (15th).
In the Central game, Sophomore Dikembe Dixson paced the T-Cats, and everyone, with 22 points. Not only it's 2nd in a row over defending region king-pins from last season, but it was also Ashland's 7th win in a row. Dixson, if you read the Independent, is their current love interest. They are pitching a tent over the kid right now. Some of it is the typical ADI-Ashland hype, but for the most part it is warranted and deserved by a still progressing and improving kid. He's raw right now, but very talented. Something basketball fans in the Commonwealth can relate to all too well.
Now, the 'Blazer' thing. Looks like the school so nice, they named it twice will soon be a thing of the past. Their is a motion set in place by the school board in Ashland, that would see the school revert back to it's original name, and dropped the Paul G. Blazer moniker once and for all. It would also see George M. Verity Middle School become just Ashland Middle School.
However, some are opposed to doing this, so nothing is set in stone. The names to locals are interchangeable, you can say one or the other. Mostly, we'd refer to someone as going to school at Blazer, but they played for Ashland. Nobody ever wore Paul G. Blazer shirts or caps to games. It's kind of like, at times, it was like the team's were branded as Ashland Tomcats, as if it was their complete, proper name.
To outsiders, You have rarely, if at all, ever heard anyone refer to them as Blazer. It's always been Ashland. Now, they are looking to try to simplify things and drop the names that were honoring dignitaries in the local area and once and for all, just be Ashland.
With Ashland Oil no longer existing as a corporation, Armco now being AK Steel, and King's Daughters being more recognizable as a business entity than both of the current incarnations of those industrial behemoths (thanks in part to a massive media blitz, all that property being aquired, and everybody going to the ER thanks to WebMD and trying to score some narcotics). The name Ashland signifies more of who they were and who they are going to be.
I say do it. Everybody else recognizes, and accepts, that is who they are and what they should be called. Blazer was just a pet name, local slang even, but it was always known to be Ashland.
Besides that, it would make it so much more convenient for those folks who can be seen driving around town with those "A" bumper sticker, vanity plates, and window decals like the school was some sort of D1 program.
By the way, we all know you stole that "A" from Arizona. (And you're fight-song and every cheer you do from Kentucky)
And, in a less grandiose and outsider-looking-in wonder, the Tomcats made their new head coach known during halftime of the Johnson Central game. Long-time assistant, and Nikita Koloff impersonator, Tony Love has been named as the new man in charge of the Maroon. It was said that Love was selected as the choice amid numerous qualified applicants. That was according to AD Mark Swift. Now, we have no inside information to the matter, but from we can gather from a limited amount of talkers, apparently the hire was not one made with such a deep talent pool to select from as they would like for us to believe. Considering who is talking that way, though, I'd take everything with a grain of salt. Maybe even two handfuls. But then again....
Regardless, Love is very qualified to be in charge on the sidelines for any high school program. It didn't quite have the knock-it-out-of-the-park feeling Boyd's hire may have had in area circles earlier in the week, but I don't think Ashland had to swing for the fences like Boyd did.
By the way, 3 star recruit Shane Hall of Johnson Central (being recruited/receiving offers from Cincinnati, Butler, Tennessee, and Purdue) was held to not scoring in the first quarter of the contest, however he did muster a double-double of 15 and 10 to end his evening. Ashland won, however, 62-55, thanks to their 4th quarter play. Ashland has beaten two region's defending champions in consecutive games, first Rowan (16th) and now Central (15th).
In the Central game, Sophomore Dikembe Dixson paced the T-Cats, and everyone, with 22 points. Not only it's 2nd in a row over defending region king-pins from last season, but it was also Ashland's 7th win in a row. Dixson, if you read the Independent, is their current love interest. They are pitching a tent over the kid right now. Some of it is the typical ADI-Ashland hype, but for the most part it is warranted and deserved by a still progressing and improving kid. He's raw right now, but very talented. Something basketball fans in the Commonwealth can relate to all too well.
Now, the 'Blazer' thing. Looks like the school so nice, they named it twice will soon be a thing of the past. Their is a motion set in place by the school board in Ashland, that would see the school revert back to it's original name, and dropped the Paul G. Blazer moniker once and for all. It would also see George M. Verity Middle School become just Ashland Middle School.
However, some are opposed to doing this, so nothing is set in stone. The names to locals are interchangeable, you can say one or the other. Mostly, we'd refer to someone as going to school at Blazer, but they played for Ashland. Nobody ever wore Paul G. Blazer shirts or caps to games. It's kind of like, at times, it was like the team's were branded as Ashland Tomcats, as if it was their complete, proper name.
To outsiders, You have rarely, if at all, ever heard anyone refer to them as Blazer. It's always been Ashland. Now, they are looking to try to simplify things and drop the names that were honoring dignitaries in the local area and once and for all, just be Ashland.
With Ashland Oil no longer existing as a corporation, Armco now being AK Steel, and King's Daughters being more recognizable as a business entity than both of the current incarnations of those industrial behemoths (thanks in part to a massive media blitz, all that property being aquired, and everybody going to the ER thanks to WebMD and trying to score some narcotics). The name Ashland signifies more of who they were and who they are going to be.
I say do it. Everybody else recognizes, and accepts, that is who they are and what they should be called. Blazer was just a pet name, local slang even, but it was always known to be Ashland.
Besides that, it would make it so much more convenient for those folks who can be seen driving around town with those "A" bumper sticker, vanity plates, and window decals like the school was some sort of D1 program.
By the way, we all know you stole that "A" from Arizona. (And you're fight-song and every cheer you do from Kentucky)
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