Fred’s Commentary Archives


MondayNovember 6, 2023

Mayors are on the front lines

Last week, I attended the Southern Municipal Conference at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling. The meeting, which was put on by the West Virginia Municipal League, brought together mayors and city officials from a half dozen southern states. I spent Wednesday evening and part of the next day with them, listening and learning about the challenges

MondayDecember 5, 2022

Three #2 Seeds = Three State Championships!

Sometimes in life, the timing is just not right!  Take for example, the 2021 Super Six Championships.  In Class AAA, #2 Martinsburg defeated #1 Huntington…..in Class AA, #16 Fairmont Senior defeated #2 Independence…..and, in Class A, #4 Ritchie County defeated #6 Williamstown!  At that time, Huntington, Independence and Williamstown left Wheeling Island very disappointed!  Fast

MondayNovember 28, 2022

The Super Six Will Feature Six Deserving Teams!

That very special weekend in high school football is just about here…..the weekend when six high school footballs teams from around the state, who have survived a grueling regular season and three playoff games, will now have a chance at that elusive state championship.  The job at hand is now simple…..win and you’re a state

MondayNovember 21, 2022

All Is Well With Ones and Twos in the Playoffs!

We have reached the semi-final round of the 2022 High School Football Playoffs and in each class, the three teams that started down the playoff road as #1 seeds and the three teams that began that same journey as the #2 seeds are still alive and just one step away from the big show in

MondayNovember 14, 2022

And Then, There Were 24!

What a tremendous weekend of high school football we had the pleasure of experiencing this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday!  There were some “surprises” as always and the weather, sad to say, felt like autumn was gone and winter had arrived. Forty eight teams experienced the excitement and fun of the first week of the

MondayNovember 7, 2022

From 111 to 48 – And 3 State Titles Await!

When the final horn sounded this past Saturday afternoon on the Martinsburg game, the 2022 regular season officially came to a close.  And now, for 48 teams, the “second season” will get underway this weekend and heading into the playoffs all teams are (0-0)! With the start of the 2022 playoff schedule, we have a

MondayOctober 31, 2022

Some Very Important Games Among The 53 in Week #11!

And, away we go with week eleven and the final week of the 2022 WV High School Football regular season!  A total of just ten teams wrapped up the regular season last week and that means we have 52 games being played across the state this weekend in what will be the final regular season

MondayOctober 24, 2022

Regular Season Closes for Nine Teams this Weekend!

Week #10…..where has the time gone?  This Friday night, of the 111 teams that play high school football in WV, 9 of them will bring their 2022 regular season to a close.  And, of those nine teams, four will also turn in their gear because making the playoffs is out of the question. In all

MondayOctober 17, 2022

Week #9…..’21 vs. ’22!

For those of you keeping track, the 2022 high school football season is flying by as we enter week #9 of regular season play this weekend!  Sometimes, it is just fun to look back to last year and see where we would be standing if the championship games were being played this weekend!  Last year’s

MondayOctober 10, 2022

Undefeated vs. Winless…2021 vs. 2022 In or Out

For high school football fans around the state, week #7 of the 2022 high school football season is officially in the books.  That means, there are only four more weeks left in the regular season! Looking at some numbers as we exit week #7, we still have 12 teams that are undefeated and, we have

MondayOctober 3, 2022

Week #7 Is Here and Comparisons Can Be Fun!

As we get set to head into week number seven of the 2022 High School Football season, we are headed into that time of the year when winning is very important!  If you take a look back at the teams that were in the football playoffs last year, Class AAA is almost a mirror image

MondaySeptember 26, 2022

A Respectful Number of Undefeated Teams!

With week #5 of the high school football season now officially in the books, we have only six more weeks of the regular season left to be played!  And, with that said, we have a respectful number of undefeated teams remaining, especially in Class A. Looking at the specific numbers, in Class AAA there are

TuesdaySeptember 20, 2022

Halfway Mark Coming Up – Still 25 Teams Undefeated!

I know, we say it every year, but the high school football season is really flying by!  It almost seems impossible, but after play this weekend, more than half of the teams that play high school football in WV will have played five of their allotted ten games! And, as we near the half way

MondaySeptember 12, 2022

3-0 Is A Magical Start!

With the 3rd week of the 2022 high school football season in the books, we find a number of teams off to a perfect 3-0 start and for some, it’s something they have not experienced in quite a while.  Even more exciting, one team has never started a football season at 3-0 until this year!

TuesdaySeptember 6, 2022

Heading Into Week Three, 36% Of Teams Still Undefeated!

High School football in WV is off and running with two weeks of the regular season already in the books!  And, in those first two weeks, we have seen tons of scoring with a lot of teams putting 40 points on the scoreboard…..many teams lighting the scoreboard with 50 points…..several teams lighting the scoreboard up

MondayAugust 29, 2022

As Expected, Friday Night Lights Were Bright in Week One!

Week number one of the 2022 H. S. Football season had just about everything as the season opened with a record number of games played on Thursday (9), 48 games contested on Friday night and for the first time in memory, we had no games played on Saturday night!  Week #1 also saw 14 new

MondayAugust 22, 2022

Let The Games Begin!!!!!

Is there really any better time of the year?  Let me answer that for you….NO!!  August is winding down and that means this is the first week of High School Football games across the state!  And, what a privilege it is to be back for another season of High School Sportsline on Wednesday nights and

MondayDecember 6, 2021

2021 Super Six – Great Games, Even Better Weather!

The 2021 Super Six in Wheeling did not disappoint!  However, after everything we all went through in 2020, just finding out the games were going to be played was certainly the best news of all! Once again, the Super Six Committee did not disappoint!  The wonderful men and women that are a part of this Super

MondayNovember 29, 2021

2021 Super Six – #1 vs. #2 – #2 vs. #16 – #4 vs. #6

It is finally here….that very special week that generally falls around the first few days of December….and considering what 2020 was like for high school football fans in WV, this very special week in 2021 has been a long time coming! We certainly don’t have the time to go over every disappointment that was generated

MondayNovember 22, 2021

2021 Proves Numbers Mean Very Little!

#1, #2, #3, #5, #2, #5, #14, #16, #2, #4, #6, #8……those are the seeding numbers of the 12 teams remaining in the hunt for three State Championship football trophies! The classification that came the closest to the top seeds advancing is Class AAA where #1 Huntington (12-0), #2 Martinsburg (11-1), #3 Bridgeport (12-0) and