PRP's Miller says prep baseball players put stats first
Mike Fields notebook: April 30
Mike Fields - Herald-Leader Staff Writer
There is no more authoritative voice on Kentucky high school baseball than Pleasure Ridge Park Coach Bill Miller. He recently earned his 900th career victory, the third most in state history. In 30 years with the Panthers, he's won four state titles and been runner-up four times. He's a guru of the game.
So it was interesting to hear Miller expound on high school baseball when I called him to ask about his 900th win. He shrugged that off by saying he's been around a long time and has had a lot of good players. This year's PRP is 18-3 "but I don't know if that means anything. It may just mean we haven't played very good competition."
Thus began Miller's blunt appraisal of Kentucky high school baseball: "Everybody talks about how much better is these days, but I don't concur. Every year I think it gets weaker." Miller offered the opinion that past powerhouses, such as Madison Central's undefeated 1982 state champs and Harrison County's best clubs in the 1990s "would eat these teams alive today."
He thinks today's kids lack baseball instincts that come from playing a lot, even if it's stickball in the backyard.
"I think what happens is that parents are looking for shortcuts for their kids, so they pour money into private instruction, private hitting lessons." Miller thinks summer travel teams are also a curse. Players (and their parents) are more interested in individual highlights and catching a scout's eye than learning the basics of the game. "What's happening in baseball is what happened with AAU basketball several years ago, and it's pathetic what it did to basketball."
Just as some kids (and their parents) consider AAU hoops more important than the high school game, Miller thinks the same thing is taking hold in baseball. Parents are wary of their kids' high school coaches counteracting what their kids learned in private instruction. "Used to be, parents brought their kids to us and asked us to make them better," Miller said. "Now they say, 'My son's been working with so-and-so. I don't want you messing with him.
"I guess I sound like a doomsayer," Miller added. "I hope I'm wrong. Maybe it's a cycle. Maybe we'll see better teams and players come along. But it doesn't seem to be going that direction."
Link: PRP's Miller says prep baseball players puts stats first
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Winchester, VA
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Friday, May 7, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Still NO response to these questions on the Wellness Center from any VHS official
For the record, the editorial was in print in the Winchester Star back on 10-16-2009.
Valley Health opened the doors of their new Wellness Center last September of 2008. Since it’s nearing a year old, it’s fair to the local community to be aware of its annual checkup. The $17million dollar Wellness Center project was funded from VHS [Valley Health System] cash reserves. FY 2004 year-end balance sheets showed cash, cash equivalents and investments in excess of $170 million, easily sufficient to finance the capital costs of the project. Still have not been able to obtain the figures on Valley Health’s cash reserves for FY2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Since Valley Health is a not-for-profit, one can be under the assumption that this information should be made available to the public when it’s requested. Unfortunately, the former CEO did not provide that answer as it was a question featured in the open forum of the Winchester Star on February 23, 2009 “Vexing Paradox”, Questions posed to better understand VH ‘community benefit’.
Below are a few reasonable questions that should be a good barometer to inform the local community on how the Wellness Center is operating during these difficult economic times. Quotes and statements were obtained from the Quad State Business Journal in May of 2006.
- Are the current members at the Wellness Center representing all of the economic classes from our local community?
One issue raised by the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association in Boston, in a January [2005] letter to Valley Health's board of directors, is that "to justify a hospital-affiliated fitness facility' tax exempt status, it must restrict membership to hospital patients; or if non-patients will be members it must be available to the entire community and be able to document that its membership is representative of all economic classes in the community. The tax exemption of several hospitals has been challenged, often successfully, because hospitals have failed to meet theses guidelines."- What are the outreach programs available where anyone can come at any time and there are no fees?
- What is the current membership and what is the age breakdown of present members? It has been said current membership is somewhere between 5,000 – 6,000 members.
Dena Kent said financial aid would be available to some people. "We will do health assessments on every member and develop individual plans for them. If they have a medical condition that needs attention, then they can get a scholarship [if they are needy]. "There will be a number of health outreach programs, where anyone can come at any time and there are no fees."
In projections used for COPN (Certificate of Pubic Need) approval, Valley Health said it is looking at a membership of 4,000 persons, targeting the 35-to 80-age group, especially people who don't exercise, said Kent.
- Have local tax paying health club memberships increased since the Wellness Center opened it’s door to the local public, or worse yet, did any of them shutdown within the last year?
"I have met with owners of the local clubs, and some say we will take members away from them," said Kent. "But we are hoping to attract people who don't exercise. In most markets, commercial clubs did not go out of business; their memberships actually went up because of the increased awareness of fitness."
Valley Health is projecting the wellness center business will break even in its second year, and after the third year will throw off cash flow of almost $1.3 million. Funding the cost of the center from Valley Health internal resources means there is no requirement for debt service.
For the record, the information above was in print in the Winchester Star back on 10-16-2009.
View these documents of interests below:
January 2005 - Letter from IHRSA to VHS BOD's that went unanswered according to Tim Sullivan who is a Legislative Analyst for IHRSA, International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association.
IHRSA_Letter_BOD_VHS_2005_Page1
IHRSA_Letter_BOD_VHS_2005_Page2
May 2006 - Article that was featured in the Quad State Business Journal.
VHS Plans to Build Wellness Center
Between the Winchester Star on April 9th's and NVDaily's April 17th front page articles, was able to obtain the following information:
(NVDaily) - The center, which opened in September 2008, brought in $1.1 million in revenue in its first three months of operation, according to tax records.
(WincStar) - Just before the wellness and fitness center opened in September 2008, it had collected 3,200 applications for membership.
Kent said the goal was to reach 5,000 members in three years, but it has moved beyond that. “We hit that number in a year,” she said, noting that the center now has 5,800 members.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
SU Baseball Mourns Loss
WINCHESTER, Va. – The Shenandoah University baseball team mourns the loss of one of its own Saturday as Preston Tarleton ’08 passed away Friday following a car accident last Sunday evening.
Tarleton, who played in 78 games for from 2005-08 as an outfielder, was involved in a one-car accident Sunday evening in his native Maryland. He was transported to Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Hospital following the accident and passed away Friday afternoon after being taken off of life support.
“We are devastated,” SU head coach Kevin Anderson said. “Preston was the kind of young man that makes programs great – he never said a word, but came to the ballpark everyday ready to play.
“We have a number of players still in the program that played with Preston as well as a couple of members of my coaching staff who played with or coached him, and we all extend our deepest sympathies to Preston’s family.”
Tarleton’s best season in a Hornets uniform came in 2007, when he hit .308 with two doubles in 13 starts. For his career, he had 39 hits and 23 RBI.
Tarleton, 23, is survived by his parents Mask and Haypatia Tarleton. He graduated from Shenandoah’s Harry F. Byrd School of Business in 2008 and was a USA South Conference All-Academic team honoree in his senior year.
Funeral arrangements are pending at this time.
Tarleton, who played in 78 games for from 2005-08 as an outfielder, was involved in a one-car accident Sunday evening in his native Maryland. He was transported to Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Hospital following the accident and passed away Friday afternoon after being taken off of life support.
“We are devastated,” SU head coach Kevin Anderson said. “Preston was the kind of young man that makes programs great – he never said a word, but came to the ballpark everyday ready to play.
“We have a number of players still in the program that played with Preston as well as a couple of members of my coaching staff who played with or coached him, and we all extend our deepest sympathies to Preston’s family.”
Tarleton’s best season in a Hornets uniform came in 2007, when he hit .308 with two doubles in 13 starts. For his career, he had 39 hits and 23 RBI.
Tarleton, 23, is survived by his parents Mask and Haypatia Tarleton. He graduated from Shenandoah’s Harry F. Byrd School of Business in 2008 and was a USA South Conference All-Academic team honoree in his senior year.
Funeral arrangements are pending at this time.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Private College/University's financial comparison for years 2006 - 2008
Click on the following link to view the private school's financial comparison among the USA-South and ODAC conferences:
SU's breakdown on contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received:
2006:
10,124,069 - Direct Public Support
367,293 - Indirect Public Support
2,088,700 - Gov't Contributions (Grants)
==========
12,580,062 = Cash 8,620,821 + NonCash 3,959,241
2007:
4,087,383 - Direct Public Support
412,538 - Indirect Public Support
2,888,565 - Gov't Contributions (Grants)
==========
7,388,486 = Cash 6,486,875 + NonCash 901,611
2008:
6,638,299 - Direct Public Support
403,200 - Indirect Public Support
1,482,743 - Gov't Contributions (Grants)
==========
8,524,242 = Cash 7,615,757 + NonCash 908,485
2008, 2007, 2006 financial comparison (USA-South and ODAC schools)
SU's breakdown on contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received:
2006:
10,124,069 - Direct Public Support
367,293 - Indirect Public Support
2,088,700 - Gov't Contributions (Grants)
==========
12,580,062 = Cash 8,620,821 + NonCash 3,959,241
2007:
4,087,383 - Direct Public Support
412,538 - Indirect Public Support
2,888,565 - Gov't Contributions (Grants)
==========
7,388,486 = Cash 6,486,875 + NonCash 901,611
2008:
6,638,299 - Direct Public Support
403,200 - Indirect Public Support
1,482,743 - Gov't Contributions (Grants)
==========
8,524,242 = Cash 7,615,757 + NonCash 908,485
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Downtown Arena Concept shared with the Planning Commission
The concept of an Arena downtown on the walking mall was shared with the Planning Commission this afternoon.
Below is a link where the power-point can be viewed:
http://www.slideshare.net/ coachmilburn/downtown-arena- ideaconcept
Below is a link where the power-point can be viewed:
http://www.slideshare.net/