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I would rather see folks who send their kids to a P/P get some sort of reduction in property tax. Voucher is just a French word the big wigs in Indy use to reduce their bill at (insert private school name here). Careful what you wish for....what "Charter School" will launch a business plan to accept kids from the only place where public schools are an issue (inner cities). School choice is smoke and mirrors. Here is what they will do: Once the inner city public kids have their school shut down but have these nice shiny vouchers in their hands...the Privates within driving distance will jack up the price enough that those vouchers won't cut it. Then golfing buddy of Senator "X" steps in with an inner city Charter School plan (A business) that will gladly accept those dollars and provide an even more crapy experience than they received at the public school. And it's funny how it's never mentioned that around the state of Indiana the rural publics are in the top 25% in the state....if what they are looking for is achievement why would they punish those who get it. The amount of funding publics are eligible for with regard to bonds for projects was cut yet again recently...rural schools use these bonds all the time to make their schools more "competitive and attractive". I am a Republican town councilman and I can tell you right now the Republicans in Indianapolis are going to ruin education in our state. Seems like a one size fits all narrative.

Good news!!!

3 Indiana high school kids who were all hard nosed and hard working kids who were dominant players on their teams, and one one player from IU, along with a couple from ND are on the Chiefs roster. The kid that no D1 program wanted except for Ball State in Carson Steele has proven what perseverance can do. George Karlaftis was dominant in high school and college and has stepped up in a big way this post season. Drue Tranquil has developed into a solid ILB. 2 connections....St. Francis here in FW has a one day camp where up to 8 teams can come. One the day we were there, West Lafayette was as well. Karlaftis was a man among boys back then. That was his junior year, and I remember telling coaches then that he would be in the league. A couple of the St. Francis coaches even said yep, they were not even going to bother recruiting him. The other connection was with Tranquil at Carroll HS. They were still in our conference and from the time I started here in 2008, we had some great battles with Carroll. Drue's Sr. year, we were there. We had Jordan Hogue, a Junior WR that was good friends with Dru. They worked out together in the off season and attended several of the same invite only camps. We always played Carroll week 4. Games at Carroll are crazy. The place is always packed, especially the student section. It really is a cool environment. We were both undefeated going into the game in 2013. Drue's younger brother Justin was another key player for them. Justin went on to play at Western Michigan as a safety. I still remember setting up our headsets in the pressbox and seeing Drue and Jordan standing nose to nose talking shit. Coaches were close by, but there was never a question of it getting out of control. Both offenses were clicking from the start. Hogue did have 2 HUGE picks in the endzone that kept us in the game. Had Carroll just kept handing off to either Tranquil, we had no answer. We had more 2 way players than them. Late in the game, we get a huge stop at mid field on 3rd down. There was something like 1:30 left in the game, so Carroll punts to bury us deep. They were leading 35-34 at that point. Hogue had never returned a punt for us until that moment. He takes our regular return man out....actually said get the f**k out I am housing this mfer. Sure enough he catches it with a running start and heads to our sideline. Our OLB was a sophomore, who had 3 HUGE blocks on the return. He hit the first guy just a couple yards in front of Hogue and did not even break stride in the block. The next one as around the 50. His initial hit knocked one guy into another guy who looked like he was going to make the play. Then the 3rd block was the last Carroll player with any chance. We score to go up late and hold on for the win. Epic game. Both crowds were into it all game. It is easily the most exciting combination of game and environment in my 30 years of coaching. So as much crap I have thrown around about the Chiefs, those are 3 guys that are easy to root for.

Exactly. Most private school dads have said to their kids, "If you're going to be lazy you can do that for free and the bus will pick you up and bring you home."

And still no one has given any info on Bob's Steak & Chop House..

When parents are using household funds to send their young ones to private and parochial schools, they expect excellence in the classroom. At least my mother felt that way.

The whole hiring process was a joke. The AD hired the puppet she wanted. After 47 years of affiliation with the program at Sheridan, I will never set foot on that property again as long as they have the current administration in place. This was never a school board issue, it was an admin issue. To hire a coach with zero head coaching experience and two years as an assistant, who will not work in the building, just shows you how underhanded this process was. A sad day indeed.

I'm guessing most athletics departments are still operating closer to or at the margin––with some notable exceptions in the Big Ten and SEC. IU stepped on a landmine with the Allen contract, and then had to cover Cignetti's buyout, too. Ohio State reports nearly $10 million in severance payments for that year, plus they lost two home football games from '22 to '23. For years, Notre Dame's bean counters could reliably predict future deficits based on the opponents on the home football schedule alone. But no athletic department is in the red from paying players either, yet.

It's because them cheatin Catholics are recruiting good students from the public schools They should be in a class of their own Its not fair

Imagine being so off on a prediction...and then still coming on here and talking down to everyone...

They may have great steaks and chops, but no way are they #1 on the list for shrimp cocktails.

This schedule is so daunting, even the “chosen one” could lead the Irish to the playoffs.

correct. but my comment was to say Purdue was only in the Black because they weren't paying players last 2 years, they were and they were in the black prior. my point is they have operated fiscally responsbile as a self funded department

I mean I would take it in a heartbeat much more to come before I can get a pulse of what the Boilers would look like under Coach Odom and roster flipping

Unfortunately now, that is reflected on the field. Gonna take a boatload of cash to compete.

It’s a steakhouse chain mainly in Texas, but has locations in other states.

Yes, they have openings and would have been able to hire a teacher/coach. They chose to hire someone with no head coaching experience who will not work in the building or in education at all.

Have not yet found a corresponding set of data for 2024-2025, but here's the info for 2023-2024 in terms of candidates and winners. From the data points below, a couple things pop out: In some areas/classes, it may be possible that only one or two teams appeared to represent the entire state of 300+ teams and, at least 32 teams in class. It seems less likely that the advantages of p/p won the award vs. the mere fact that p/p schools possibly applied or were nominated at a higher rate. For example, in 1A, out of 64 plus teams, less than 10% of the schools applied or were nominated and half of those were p/p. In 2A, out of some 63 teams, a little more than 3% applied or were nominated ... i.e., 2 teams ... and one was p/p. In 5A, only a single team applied. Note that 3A had no p/p schools that applied or were nominated. As you dig into the details further, it appears that nominations did not all necessarily adhere to / fit the guidelines in the way that one might expect at quick review of the guidelines and only focusing on the winners. Not to disparage, but two of the six teams in the 1A candidates, both public schools, had records of 6-4 and 4-6. One of the p/p schools had a record of 5-4 and all of their wins came over teams with losing seasons. Frankly, it came down to three teams: one with a 13-0 record, one with a 12-1 record, and one with an 8-3 record. The 12-1 record team won the award. Yes, successful season is in the eye of the beholder and there can be many measures, but unless you are talking about extreme adversity, it's hard to say that a 4-6 or even a 6-4 team had a more successful season than a 13-0, 12-1, or even an 8-3 team. In 2A, you have an 8-2 team that didn't make it out of the first sectional game vs. a 7-4 team that made it to the second round of sectionals. Roughly a coin-flip, out of two teams, for "successful season." Odd man out, in 4A was Brebeuf. 6-5 hardly seems successful, until you realize they were playing up a class and made it to third round of sectionals. The other teams? 6-5, made it to second round of sectionals. 12-3, made it to state. 9-4, made it to regionals. 7-4, made it to regionals. In 4A, at first blush, you'd probably say 12-3 and made it to state was successful; and I would certainly not disagree. If you are digging further and, without seeing their packet, I would expect it would definitely mention that they are playing up a class. Given that, it's probably a dead-heat with the other three teams. 6a ... did I mention that the team that won it is playing up two classes and hasn't played in its enrollment class in over a decade? 8-4 and made it to a regional ... two classes up. The other teams? 13-1 and made it to state. 11-2 and made it to semi-state. Playing two classes up, and again, I didn't see the application packet, and being out of enrollment class for a decade should be in that packet. That makes an impression on detatched judges most likely ... right, wrong, or otherwise. In essence, the idea of conspiracy theory diminishes somewhat when you get the data points, at east from last year's contest. If anyone finds this year's finalists, I'd be happy to take a look. Here's the link for the info below: https://rrsn.com/indiana-team-national-finalists-for-the-2023-24-nff-national-hs-academic-excellence/ The Indiana Football Coaches Association congratulates our Indiana Team National Finalists for the 2023-24 NFF National HS Academic Excellence Award presented by @RoseBowlLegacy 1A Greenwood Christian Indianapolis Lutheran Park Tudor Covington West Central Fountain Central 2A Heritage Christian Alexandria 3A Hamilton Heights West Lafayette Danville Fairfield 4A Columbia City Northwood Evansville Reitz Memorial Indianapolis Brebeuf Martinsville 5A Lafayette Harrison 6A Indianapolis Cathedral Westfield Crown Point ——————————————– The following are State Champions and are eligible to be a National Champion: 1A – Indianapolis Park Tudor 2A – Heritage Christian 3A – West Lafayette 4A – Indianapolis Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory 5A – Lafayette William Henry Harrison 6A – Indianapolis Cathedral

Yeah, I agree. The GOP in Indiana is stretching it too far IMO. Should only be for people with limited means.

nah, Temp is gonna sit this one out. no chance

Excellent post

I couldn't like/ heart/ love this post enough so I had to reply to also say how much I appreciate this post. Really good stuff here. A damn shame what is going on with the Republicans in Indianapolis and their education agenda. In my personal opinion, there is nothing more American than being willing to look at a political situation like an intelligent human being instead of being part of a party. Ya made me proud to be an American today @Titan32, thanks for that!

I have my popcorn ready. Going to sit down and watch @temptation and @Muda69 go at it.

I see your point, but folks looked at Notre Dame's 2024 schedule at this time last year and saw "ranked teams" in USC and Florida State and said many of the same things you are saying now. Its a manageable schedule as we sit right now. Now, the ORDER of games (Miami/A&M out of the gate) is interesting, especially since they are breaking in a new QB (unless they go with Angeli of course). He'd be ready out of the gate.

Once a gold standard, Michigan football's response to NCAA violations shows it's just a common cheat https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/ncaaf/bigten/2025/01/30/michigan-ncaa-allegations-response-sherrone-moore-jim-harbaugh-connor-stalions/78053836007/?tbref=hp How sad for the Champions of the West.

Just saying a number of ranked teams. Arkansas may be mid tier, but that place will be ready. Didn't they beat #7 Tennessee last year? Not saying ND won't beat them, but they will be breaking in some new players as well....including QB

That's what I've been told, and I haven't heard anything different. Of course, one year the Irish were sent back up to 6A just a few weeks before the season started. Anything can happen.

There has always been a correlation between private/parochiol schools and excellent academics. In these awards mention, why would this be a 'thing' to bring a negative tone to this conversation? Then goes into, A, how many Head Coaches take the time to follow NFF, if they do, take the time to fill out the application to meet the requirements to go for the award. Kudos to the schools who got submitted and for those selected. Just don't know why it cannot be a postiive celebratory thread giving a Hats off to these communities. Instead, we get a breakdown of the winners followed by the "LOL"

I don’t know. After all, we ducked Northern Illinois. 😉

Yes...they sit on the end closest to locker room...seen it!

Tom Osborne passed away last Thursday. Here is a link to his obituary. https://www.pdclarion.com/obituaries/local_obituaries/thomas-paul-osborne/article_7cc40f11-9b61-5989-8c09-2cec3ba1d831.html

If only it were that simple. And if they got a $5 million judgment against the school district, guess who ends up paying it?

@temptation Didn't know you were WRASSLIN fan BTW. Love that sign made it to LA of all places