VivaLoudoun has moved!

You will be automatically redirected to the new address. If that does not occur, visit
http://www.vivaloudoun.com
and update your bookmarks.


Monday, November 2, 2009

Football: VHSL Ratings - Northern Region

Northern Region Division 6
Woodson
31.3
Robinson
31.2
Lake Braddock
30.0
South County
27.2
Westfield
26.8
Chantilly
26.1
Fairfax
25.9
T.C. Williams
25.0
West Springfield
24.7
Oakton
24.0
Herndon
23.2
Langley
22.9
Annandale
22.7
Centreville
21.3
West Potomac
20.4


Northern Region Division 5
Stone Bridge
29.0
R.E. Lee
27.7
Edison
26.7
Hayfield
26.6
Madison
26.0
McLean
23.6
Yorktown
23.6
South Lakes
23.4
Washington-Lee
23.0
Falls Church
21.7
Stuart
19.1
Marshall
18.3
Wakefield
16.7
Thomas Jefferson
16.6
Mount Vernon
16.6

Football: VHSL Ratings - Region II

Region II Division 4
Broad Run
28.8
Sherando
26.7
Loudoun County
26.0
James Wood
21.9
Liberty
21.8
Louisa County
21.6
Fauquier
21.0
Briar Woods
19.9
Orange
19.1
Potomac Falls
18.3
Freedom
14.7
Brentsville
12.8


Region II Division 3
Handley
28.4
Western Albemarle
26.7
Park View
26.0
Goochland
23.1
Millbrook
21.1
Dominion
20.9
Skyline
20.2
Monticello
18.3
Charlottesville
17.7
Fluvanna
16.3
Warren County
16.1
Kettle Run
15.1

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Photo: Slideshow from Loudoun County vs. Broad Run Volleyball Playoff Game

Click on any photo to go to the photo gallery!

Volleyball: Dulles District Tournament Bracket

Quarterfinals







Semifinals






Loudoun County 18-2)

Championship

#1



Date: Nov. 3, 2009
Loudoun County 18-2


Time: 7:00pm
(Winner)


Site:  High Seed



BYE



#8
Date: Nov. 5, 2009



Time: 6:00pm
     


Site:  Loudoun County
(Winner)

Freedom (10-10)



#4



Date: Nov. 3, 2009



Time: 7:00pm
     


Site:  Freedom
(Winner)


Potomac Falls (4-14)

Date: Nov. 7, 2009

#5

Time: 7:00pm



Site:  Loudoun County




   
Briar Woods


CHAMPION
#3



Date: Nov. 3, 2009



Time: 7:00pm
     


Site:  Briar Woods
(Winner)


Dominion (4-15)



#6




Date: Nov. 5, 2009



Time: 8:00pm
   

Broad Run 15-3
Site:  Loudoun County
(Winner)

#2



Date: Nov. 3, 2009



Time: 7:00pm



Site:  High Seed
(Winner)

Park View (7-13)


#7

Video: Final Points and Interviews from Saturday's Volleyball Playoff Between Loudoun Couny and Broad Run

Broad Run senior Elisa Scudder and junior Emily Sears postmatch interview


Loudoun County senior Molly Baldwin postmatch interview


Broad Run coach Ellen Roberts postmatch interview


Loudoun County senior Robin Marsala postmatch interview


Loudoun County senior Juliane Hanna with a kill to make it 22-20 Raiders in game four


Hanna with a second straight kill to make it 23-20 LC


Broad Run junior Emily Sears gets a point back to make it 23-21 LC


Hanna with yet another kill and then she goes back to serve out the match as the Raiders clinch the top seed in the Dulles District and the automatic bid to the Region II tournament as LC attempts a third straight AA state title

Miraculous Turn: Injured Former SB Football Player Ryan Moody Stands on His Own

Well ... since I just wrote a column on how much  I like the positive news, is there anything more positive than this report from Ryan Moody's family posted on Facebook this morning. If you have been following our coverage (click here for past articles) on the injured William and Mary football player and former Stone Bridge High School standout Ryan Moody, seriously hurt in an auto accident a week ago, then this will make you smile:

UPDATE FROM THE MOODYS LAST NIGHT: Ryan started today very lethargic and in lots of pain. He did not want to sit up or move from bed. This afternoon he made a miraculous turn and was able to sit up and stand on his own. We even got a few smiles out of him and, much to Gil's surprise, he even talked trash about beating him on XBox NCAA game.


We see flashes of our boy!! He is healing in front of our eyes.... thank you all for all the prayers, they are working! [a note from your messenger: I LOVE posting these kinds of updates!!! And we all do firmly believe it the energy and prayers that are behind such miraculous improvement for Ryan. Thank you all!]


Now that Note from the Messenger was from the Moody family friend Trisha Donnelly Staugler but I second that emotion!

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa - Covering All the Stories

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun.com Editor


(Nov. 1, 2009) - When the Washington Post made their lead prep story this Sunday morning -- devoting 12 column inches no less! -- to the possibility that Broad Run High School senior running back T.J. Peeler might not play in the Spartans AA Region II semifinal game in three weeks after he received two excessive celebration penalties in Friday's 47-7 win over Potomac Falls, it made me do something that a good journalist and publisher does from time-to-time: evaluate my coverage priorities.

One of the goals I had when I started LoudounPrepSports.com five years ago and when I started this new site, VivaLoudoun.com, less than three months ago, was to provide balanced and comprehensive coverage of all the high school sports in Loudoun County ... not just the most popular such as football.

Let's face it, there are online pay and free sites that cover Loudoun and big papers such as the Washington Post, that make football their top priority, and have a lot more resources to throw at that coverage than I could ever dream of.

I am a small operation (I may say my world headquarters is in Ashburn but really that just means my home office overran by cats, one is sleeping in my inbox, and children, such as my 9-year-old that just has to use my computer to set his fantasy football lineup!) and so I am always making choices each day on what to cover.

One of the competitive advantages I have is that I live in Loudoun and am part of the community ... My kids go to Loudoun County Public School and play athletics and I am likely to run into Park View High School AD Joe Breinig Jr. at Bonefish with his wife on a Saturday night like last weekend or flag down Stone Bridge High School cheer coach Nick Marchio, like I did last night during Trick-or-Treating with my son, to learn that the Bulldogs are seeded second after the semifinals of the Northern Region competitive cheer meet.

While I learned of the Peeler ejection from Friday's game before the game had even ended, I chose not to run a story on VivaLoudoun for several reasons.

For one, the individual player getting disciplined has always been a touchy issue for me. I simply do not like negative news, probably a shortcoming in my journalistic resume but so be it, and I am always mindful that we are covering kids and not college or professional players. Maybe that is the dad part of me as I have a son the same age as T.J. Peeler and whenever I approach a topic, I think about how I would want my son to be covered.

Over the years I've had phone calls from people at one high school with an ax to grind with another school and they will suggest an investigative topic and my reply is always: "While I would love to spend time on that topic, I have about a dozen other stories, all of them positive and with meaning, that I simply don't have time to cover ... why would I focus on the negative?"

Now don't get me wrong ... T.J. Peeler, one of the area's top rushers and a Pitt recruit, possibly not playing in the regional semifinal for the undefeated defending VHSL Division 4 state champions is news no doubt ... but given the fact that this is a "may" situation and still three weeks away from actually affecting anything ... my thought this weekend was why devote energy to the story.

If Broad Run wins an appeal and Peeler plays in three weeks, then it was a non-story. When it comes times for regional semifinal previews and key players are out -- for injury and other reasons -- then that is big news.

Besides, I had a great volleyball match to cover on Saturday (got me out of Halloween decorating!) between Loudoun County and Broad Run at Briar Woods High School. Fantastic high school volleyball, to decide the Dulles District's top seed and automatic regional bid, between the two district co-champs. Stone Bridge coach Jill Raschiatore was at the match simply, as she put it, "to watch great high school volleyball."

The only media outlets that chose to cover the match were the Loudoun Times-Mirror -- sports editor Carl Lukat was on hand -- and VivaLoudoun.

That is the type of story that VivaLoudoun wants to devote its energy towards or to this latest update on injured William and Mary, and former Stone Bridge High School, football player Ryan Moody: his father Gil posted this update on Ryan's recovery from a serious car accident last weekend on Facebook yeterday:

From: Ryan Moody-THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR WISHES!!! FEELING A LITTLE BIT BETTER

Now that is something worth devoting a headline to ... anytime.