It seems that Volleyball is not the only mess created by the reclassification of several schools and forced the postponement of the Single A State Volleyball Championships due to on-going litigation, mainly centered on Tyler Consolidated. On Tuesday morning November 12 in Romney, WV a Hardy County Judge heard an appeal from East Hardy High School regarding how Tyler got in without playing a regional game. The judge said he would make a ruling by Friday, November 15. Following that ruling it was decided that the matter should go to the WV Supreme Court for further action. That ruling could take as long as two weeks throwing the Single A Championships into December. Seems to me that every team scheduled to play Tyler filed some sort of appeal to get out of playing the Lady Knights. Says a lot about how good the Knights are but really throws all teams in Class A into a state of confusion. Not fair for the kids.

Turning to the football playoffs, the Class AAA football brackets are going through similar circumstances. All four classes were set to begin on Friday, November 15. However, Mason County Circuit Judge Anita Ashley issued a ruling late Monday, November 11th ordering “play-in” games for Friday, November 15 in the Class AAA football playoffs between Point Pleasant and St Albans and Hampshire and Capital. Point Pleasant and Hampshire County were already in the original field of 16 released Friday November 8 but were bumped out when the SSAC reworked the rankings following an injunction from a Wood County judge. St Albans and Capital made the AAA field in the new rankings. This order will postpone the first round by one week. In the meantime, a lawsuit seeking injunctive relief for Westside High School was filed Monday in Wyoming County. Westside was one of the four teams bumped from the playoffs following the changes. If you’re anything like me you’re probably having a hard time following the twists and turns of this story. It is unprecedented in WV high school sports.

And now due to ongoing litigation the West Virginia high school football playoffs for all four classes have been postponed as announced by officials Tuesday afternoon. David Price, executive director for the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activity Commissions (SSAC), made the announcement. He said the playoffs will begin after the litigation has been resolved. So, hold on to your hats.

When the dust finally settles in both volleyball and football, WV will crown state champions in all four classes of both sports. While the WV Volleyball Championship has always been in the capital city, for the first time in a long time football is moving back to Charleston and Laidley Field.

How about those Steelers!!! Winners of four straight after switching from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson at quarterback. Only Mike Tomlin, head coach of the Steelers, can make this move even though Fields was playing well and winning.

Speaking of Mike Tomlin, while watching the Steelers against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, which they came from behind to win 28-27, the broadcast showed a picture of Bill Stewart’s coaching staff during his tenure as head coach at VMI. The staff included Coach Tomlin and the Commanders head coach Dan Quinn. When you hear all the time about coaching trees and how former assistants go on to be successful head coaches, it needs to be said the Bill Stewart coaching tree has some impressive branches.

West Liberty basketball, under the direction of head coach Ben Howlett, is off to their normal start with a 2-0 record winning the final game of the Atlantic Region crossover against Bluefield State. Their second victory did not come easy as former Hilltopper and Bluefield head coach Devin Hoehn brought his squad to the West Liberty campus and battled the Toppers down to the wire before falling short 112-110. West Liberty pulled out the victory blocking a last second 3-point attempt. The Hilltoppers will now have a week off to heal several key players with injuries that they will need as they move into conference play. I personally am looking forward to seeing the Hilltoppers play this season and again make a run for the conference championship.