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I don’t think it’s that simple. I swear to God it’s not. Fans have gotten worse and can be rickys and I’ll say it right to their face

As we prepare for the upcoming season, it is clear the numbers crisis in officiating not only still exists, but it’s not getting any better. We need your help to avoid radical steps like moving games off of the traditional Friday night schedule. What can you do to help? Here are some needed steps: (I first have to point out that this is strictly my opinion, based on my 45 yrs. of officiating experience, in which I’ve occupied many, many different roles: from crew member, to Association leader, to state champion crew chief, IHSAA official of the year, and now IHSAA observer.) In no particular order: Treat the officials better. Disagree with a call or no-call. Voice your opinion or ask a question. But do it in a sportsmanlike manner, and then LET IT GO. The assistants, players, and even fans take their cue from you. Be a good host. Make sure the officials have a secure place to dress and hold their pregame. Decent showers afterward. A towel and some cold drinks are greatly appreciated. Be a recruiter. Talk to your seniors, many of whom will never play another down. Get them interested in officiating. It’s a great way to stay in touch with the game and pick up some spending money, too. If you teach PE, talk to those kids, too. Here’s the tough one: give up the coach’s vote as the primary determinant of crew tournament advancement. In a quiet moment, when no one else is around, admit to yourself that coaches lack the three essential elements of a fair and accurate system of evaluation: training, objectivity, and a standardized method of evaluation. I can tell you for a fact that frustration with the tournament process is a significant factor in the inability to retain officials. Rightly or wrongly, the coaches’ vote is viewed as the principal flaw in the system. Coaches are entitled to have a voice in the selection of tournament officials. But making that voice the primary determining factor is killing careers. My $0.02.

That assumes officiating is economically driven. Maybe for some. Certainly not all.

I don’t think he’s unbiased either, and I’ll say it right to his face!

Don't look Ethel....

I went from legend to loser in the same week. I swear to god I did.

I hope not.

Not the typical post to make here, but the last CMH recipient from WWII has passed.....a memory worth honoring. Rest well Corporal and thank you for your service. https://www.wishtv.com/news/last-remaining-wwii-medal-of-honor-recipient-dies-at-98/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WISH-TV&fbclid=IwAR2RVbu2g-YofAoOFW88cBsHOgX8DwnfffmwEUJyNZR3Ql_Fp1hDOaGmdYI

Good point Bob. I know some refs and I’m kin to a retired ref. I don’t think they were in it for the money but one picked up a side piece, I swear to God he did

I'd guess it's not the driving factor for most.

Seems legit. I realize y'all don't get up here much.

The irony of this statement given your profile picture is amusing.

Fisher didn’t take a snap last night. On the DL for 3 weeks. I can see Ellsperman leading the team in rushing yards and attempts as Lindauer did. I think running opportunities will be a big part of the offensive scheme for Caleb.

... but she'd already been bagpiped.

Exciting times with scrimmages and 7-on-7s kicking into gear. I think I saw that Reitz is hosting Gibson Southern tonight at The Bowl for a scrimmage at 6. Interested to see how well Reitz competes with the defending 3A champs.

The weather was definitely nice and enjoyed the pads poppin again. It was enjoyable going up against people we never see during the year.

I’m talking in general, not just this particular case. If the IHSAA sets a precedent that students can freely jump school districts without physically moving under the grounds of “safer and healthier environment” what’s going to stop all the rest of the township athletes from jumping ship and transferring out to the county schools? And not only that, you’re paving the way for a possibility of kids going to 3, maybe 4 high schools before they graduate. The IHSAA has to draw a line in the sand somewhere. I have no problem with a parent wanting to do what they feel is in the best interest for their child, in fact I encourage it, but any extracurricular activity like football is a privilege not a right, and if a transfer is prompted truly for safety reasons, then losing a year of varsity eligibility really shouldn’t matter. Now if a student and family physically moves into a new district, all bets are off and the school the player is transferring from shouldn’t have a say in the matter.

None of us down here in SW IN know the mascots of the Indy mega-schools. I figured Bears62 was for the Chicago bears too. Now nobody can ever say I didn't defend a GS fan....

Nice pay day

You have a memory like my wife.

Dropping preseason power rankings very soon!

Love him or hate him, Piers Morgan is entertaining in this shudder producing op-ed......A scary thing to think about for me since I have been predicting since before his swearing in the elected Former Vice President Biden now the "elected by the most votes in Presidential history 🤣" current POTUS won't be in office much after 1/20/23..... https://nypost.com/2022/06/28/if-you-think-joe-biden-is-bad-just-imagine-president-kamala/ Picture the scene: It’s July 4, 2023, and President Kamala Harris is about to address the American people about Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Poland. She’s been leader of the free world for six months since Joe Biden, implementing the 25th Amendment, abruptly resigned on the grounds of physical and mental incapacity after the Democrats suffered the worst mid-term election mauling in history, losing 120 House seats and eight Senate seats. This beat Grover Cleveland’s ignominious long-held record since 1892 of ‘biggest midterm wipe-out ever’ and meant the Republicans seized back full control of Congress with paralyzing agenda-wrecking majorities. (It was reported that Biden fell into a spontaneous catatonic state after seeing the sheer size of his failure to persuade Americans he was doing a good job, though it took White House aides several days to realize he wasn’t acting normally.) President Harris’ tenure in office has bordered on the miraculous, in that she has managed to be even worse than her predecessor — something political experts didn’t think possible. In fact, her presidency has been a catalogue of calamities, dominated by woke-ravaged lunacy. Her first decision was to make fresh-person congress-person Megan Rapinoe her vice-president, saying how delighted she was to appoint the first gay woman to such high office – only for Rapinoe to wreck the historic moment by issuing a furious statement saying she now identified as a non-binary bi-sexual womb-carrier, so had never been so offended and was quitting before she even started. If Kamala Harris were president, Megan Rapinoe would be vice president. Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Rapinoe was persuaded to stay on when Harris agreed to ditch the moniker ‘Madam President’ and be addressed in future as ‘President of Indeterminate Gender’, and campaign for all US sport to now be gender neutral to guarantee “fairness, equality and inclusion.” (Thus, Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics was entirely made up of biological males and smashed every women’s Olympic record to smithereens. “This is what progressive progress looks like!” said a delighted Harris.) Schools are in meltdown after she made Meghan Markle the new Education Secretary and her first action was to make it a firing offense for teachers to even mention the names of “toxically masculine” American icons like Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, Neil Armstrong and Mickey Mantle because they all “looked like the cruel white supremacists in the royal family” from whom she was forced to escape. Illegal immigration has exploded after Harris declared an immediate path to full US citizenship for anyone who now turns up to attempt illegal entry on the southern border and identifies as a legal immigrant, saying: “Self-identity is the bedrock of this administration. Under my presidency-of-indeterminate-gender, people have the right to be who they want to be! Hahahaha!” To which critics responded by suggesting she was now self-identifying as a blithering idiot. A President Kamala would be even worse than her predecessor. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Crime has also dramatically increased after President Harris’s new Secretary for Homeland Security, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, introduced a substantial defunding of the police which led to instant widespread lawlessness. Meghan Markle, President Kamala Harris’ Secretary of Education. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Without a scintilla of self-awareness, the two women had proudly unveiled their “No cops, no fear” policy from inside the impregnable bomb-proof White House Situation Room, behind a wall of heavily armed secret service agents. Gas prices are now $12 a gallon after Harris signed an emergency executive order banning all US government dealings with Saudi Arabia, something she announced with a lengthy uncontrollable cackle and the words, “Joe was so weak with these misogynist monsters, hahahaha, I’ll show ‘em what feminist empowerment really looks like, hahaha!” The Saudis responded by saying “This is why we don’t let women drive cars” and giving all their oil to China and Russia, massively worsening America’s energy supply crisis. Inflation has continued surging to 15%, a full-blown recession is now raging, another great depression is looming, and her only response has been to give an interview to Jen Psaki on MSNBC in which she smirked, nodded smugly, and said: “You know me, Jen, I’m a detail kinda gal, and I can assure you I know EXACTLY what the problem is, I’m focusing very HARD on the problem, I’m sure I’ll SOLVE the problem, although I can’t say how I’ll do that yet, and anyway, things are way WORSE in Venezeula so we really do need some perspective here, people – AM I RIGHT, JEN?! Hahahaha.” If President Harris’ domestic agenda is a disaster, then her performance on the international stage has been a catastrophe of Biblical proportions. She withdrew all US weapons supplies to President Zelensky in Ukraine after discovering he had cracked “totally, like, inappropriate” trans jokes when he was a comedian. This woeful inaction of woke-induced military hardware cancel culture promptly emboldened Russia to attack and successfully seize Kyiv, thus completing their illegal takeover of the entire country. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would become President Kamala Harris’ Secretary for Homeland Security. Andrew Harnik/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images And she summarily ended the “Special Relationship” with Britain after it was revealed that Prime Minister, Boris Johnson had been taking the title too literally and been caught having an illicit affair with the new US Ambassador to London, Jane Hartley. “I can’t abide immorality,” said the woman who once had a lengthy fling with a married man twice her age and held a webcast debate about “empowering women and girls” …with Bill Clinton. Jussie Smollett, President Kamala Harris’ Chief of Staff. Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic But her most shocking move was to unilaterally disarm the United States of all its nuclear weapons because Putin said he would too if America went first. “It’s funny, hahaha,” she laughed, loudly, on her return from Moscow, “but I trust Vladimir, hahahaha. We have peace in our time!” Of course, like Hitler in 1939, Putin went back on his word, and has now attacked Poland, telling NATO if they respond then he will nuke them to rubble. So, it’s Independence Day 2023, and President Harris, flanked by her Chief of Staff Jussie Smollett for support if she needs to play the faux victim card, is about to address the American people, and the watching world, and she doesn’t know what to say. As the camera goes live, she nervously giggles and gurns, frantically strokes her hair, then stares ahead like the most terrified rabbit ever trapped in headlights, and finally stammers: “Well…hahaha…. at least y’all know now what I meant by the significance of the passage of time! RIGHT?! My presidency’s been the most significantly dreadful in the whole passage of time! HAHAHAHA!” Seventeen months later, Ron DeSantis is elected President of the United States after the biggest election victory in US history.

South Bend isn't a destination site. I don't see a football savior on the horizion.

North Knox, Evansville North, Heritage Hills, and Terre Haute South scrimmaged last Wednesday...I thought it turned out well...weather was perfect!

One of them petrified pterodactyl eggs, huh?

I will wear a Castle hat for 1 week and an MD hat for another if Rode gets cleared.

Keep in mind there are a lot of kids they just can’t recruit due to admission standards.

His transfer to Central after 1 year at Westfield was on the up and up. His transfer to Memorial after 1 semester at Central is not. Paul Neidig is the former AD at Central.