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How absolutely terrible would it be to live in Southern ILL and be controlled by Chicago politics? Yuck

Two matchups I would love to see: Vincennes Lincoln vs Centralia in girls basketball would put the Alices vs the Orphan Annies. Pekin (IL) vs Eastern (Pekin) - a small school tilt that could be billed WWE style as a ‘loser gives up their town name’ flair.

You (Harrison) in some circumstances need to take what is in front of you in order to "advance". Harrison is a different situation tan that which is has been espoused by others in this discussion. In ways of conference change, as well as classification disruption(s). Were you to press me; I'd say this is fine for the Raiders at this point. Should they feel a sense of advancement in the ensuing seasons, then look for more competition. But IMO, THIS schedule will more than allow them to be a force in the Sagamore and perhaps 6A (ping pong balls).

Not necessarily "upgrades" per se, but some steps in the right direction until things get more on track. Harrison was finally starting to get some traction in 5A, then slipped into the lower part of 6A. Then toss in that the coach that was getting them to progress, departed. Of course, being booted from their conference added to all of the instability, but to be honest there wasn't much in the NCC for them to really get them ready for post-season outside of Jeff and occasionally Kokomo. With that said, their schedule has some challenges to it this year. While argument can be that they are playing outside of their class, which is likely to be the case for most 6A schools without a conference, it's not a bad start to working toward getting some stabilization. They kickoff with West Lafayette and Plainfield as they have in the last couple of seasons. Plainfield and Harrison were fairly evenly matched over the last three seasons. West Lafayette is West Lafayette and is typically a strong contender in their class. Harrison will also be playing Brebeuf, Roncalli, and Chatard which will be a much better mix that playing Richmond, Anderson, and Marion. Incidentally, Harrison has been playing Chatard and Brebeuf over the years in freshman and JV games, so this isn't necessarily a new twist to the relationships. They still will play sister school McCutcheon and cross-river rival, now 5A, Jeff. They will add Lebanon, who will be a new conference partner, and a 6A team, North Central. Again, not a phenomenal schedule, but one that at least goes in the right direction, especially accounting for all of recent changes to their situation.

Well, now I feel like Todd when Clark Griswold was talking to Margo in Christmas Vacation.

Yeah, I guess adding "nearly" in front of all would've made his point a little more clear for ya, huh? Lol those whopping 5 out of 400+ schools really make the difference. I am counting the days until I can venture West, at least as far as work is concerned. Teach/ Coach in Illinois (Chicagoland area) where the money AND the football are better OR continue to teach/ coach in the Region where 5/32 schools in Region 1 care about football, teachers, etc.... I'll take Illinois, the cash, and the better football.

No they are not.

- I have Reitz winning the SIAC with Memorial and Mater Dei also being in the running. - Deepest playoff run could be any of Reitz, Memorial, Mater Dei, or even Castle. It all depends on the draw. I could see a scenario where three teams win their sectional and also a scenario where none of the teams make it out of their sectional. Memorial and Mater Dei will have to go through two tough teams who return a lot in Gibson Southern and Southridge. Reitz will have to go through state contender Heritage Hills and a mysterious, maybe rejuvenated, Jasper team. Castle (a question mark themselves) will have to go through a Floyd Central team who returns a lot. - Jasper is in good hands with their new coach. It may take a few years to develop the kids in a totally different system, but they will have the size and athletes to be competitive. Whoever the new North coach is will have a lot on his plate and it may take a few years to clear it. Mater Dei is also in good hands (assuming we know who it will be) and I would imagine the DC and rest of staff will remain mostly the same and be good guidance for the newbie. They will be solid but probably won't make it out of that sectional. - I assume the curse you speak of is the winner of the SIAC not winning their sectional. Crazy as it is, I think the curse may continue. I have Reitz winning the SIAC. They should be good enough to make a semi-state run. Unfortunately, they will run into a team that may be even better. Heritage Hills will be state contenders again with who they have returning. Lot of time between now and then and obviously we will know more throughout the season. Just early thoughts!

I think the vast majority of those schools would fall in the lower three classes in Indiana. Mt. Carmel - the town not the Chicago version - was very competitive in the Big 8 and would play in the 3A/4A (out of 8 ) class. Depending on which counties would be annexed, I’m sure Breese Mater Dei and Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin would be schools to deal with, because they’re cheating Catholics too.

First on the agenda would be does the IHSAA finally adapt a co-op system for athletic teams? It it my understanding co-op programs are somewhat popular in Illinois, so there may be numerous co-op teams among these southern Illinois counties.

IHSAA voting on it

From the approach of what Snider "should do" this makes sense. But from the aspect of East Noble...This is a GREAT matchup to prep them for 4A football. Sometimes the other side of the coin needs to be taken into consideration also.

The hypothetical I gave a few years ago was to expand the Hoosier Crossroads to 12 members and split into north/south divisions. Maybe the move by Bloomington North to the Mid-State pushes a few schools (Southport, Columbus North) to at least consider suggesting an expansion like that. Just a thought of what it could look like with the addition of some available 6A schools: HCC North: Carmel 5239 Fishers 3590 Hamilton Southeastern 3504 Noblesville 3264 Westfield 2937 Zionsville 2329 HCC South: Avon 3518 Franklin Central 3423 Brownsburg 3331 Center Grove 2956 Southport 2419 Columbus North 2360

Oh I agree, Indian Creek and Franklin, too, seemingly.

Great point......I don't mean for my comment to come off disrespectful as this conference has excellent competition. Also, great point about the Bulldogs. I just think its tougher in the post season if you haven't faced a certain level of 6A competition. I also think Whiteland is going to continue to grow and grow over the next decade. So much business coming to that area.

GID Tech Tip with X posts Copy link, post on thread, give it a moment, then hit ENTER on your device, then it expands to what this looks like

Love this.

or.... "Humility means accepting reality with no attempt to outsmart it" - David Richo "An open mind leaves a chance for someone to drop a worthwhile thought in it" - Mark Twain "We must accept human failure as inevitable -and design around that fact" - Donald Berwick

Certainly illustrates the priorities, doesn't it? Sad...

As many like to say, follow the money. Some things to keep in mind as well: Multiple elected officials are looking to ease current laws regarding teenagers having jobs. Multiple States are looking at that as well. Arkansas passed a similar bill 2 years ago. The new graduation requirements dramatically increase the requirements regarding internships (free labor) for high school students. We have 1 intern coordinator in our building and she struggles to find places that will take interns here in Fort Wayne. Now the responsibility will fall to her to find placements for so many more. There are currently about 200 students in the program now. The high school has 1,100 students. So at some point, she will have to find something for most of them. One thing I forgot to add in my last post. The new State test is the SAT. Funny how a former person on the college board payroll to the tune of $100K per year is the speaker of the house in Indiana. The law requires that 95% of all juniors take the test. So, in our building the sped population is significant enough that our teachers of record and admins have to decide which students to throw under the bus and take the test, knowing they should not be. And people think it's the schools failing our students.

Here's the issue with your take on accountability. The Statehouse refuses to hold voucher and charter schools accountable in any way. A charter school turns in false enrollment numbers, they get excused. State Board of Accounts calls into question the spending of a charter school, but the President of the company running it refuses to comply. The State recently tried to submit a bill that would set a max on administration salaries at 15% of the money the district gets from the State. What they found is less than a handful of districts would not be in compliance, so it was dropped. They also left out charter and private schools getting vouchers from that bill as they often do. Turned out that the charters in Allen county were all over 20% going to admins. One charter had 54% of the money they got going to admins. Keep in mind this is money that goes to the classroom and teacher salaries. No accountability there though. Voucher and charter schools can and do discriminate when admitting students. They get to choose who gets in and who stays. They get to set standards for students to remain in the school that they do not allow public schools to set. I saw a post with the recent outbreaks that a person posted please keep your kids home if they are sick, but 2 different replies said their own children who all get vouchers can only miss so many days in a year or they are asked to leave the school. Where's the accountability for that? When it comes to State testing, you know everyone loves to talk about how far behind kids are, BUT legislators allow charter and voucher schools to choose either growth or proficiency to be the key factor in school scores. Public schools are forced to use proficiency.....some accountability, huh? Just a few years ago, after courts had ordered that multiple charter school operators owed over $100 Million back to the State, the leaders in the Statehouse voted to excuse that debt. Accountability? Want public school accountability? Run for school board. What is taught in schools, even with the State Board of Education develops the standards for each subject, is still controlled locally. The budget for every district is completely open to the State and there is a multi step process to get anything approved in the budget. Also, ask your sped teachers what will happen when the DOE is eliminated. To think all that money comes back to the States is a pipe dream at best. But what about States like W. VA, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana who relay far more heavily on federal funding?

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The bullcrap most Teacher's Unions tried to pull during Covid is enough for me to have zero faith in that institution ever again. Not that I ever supported it in the least. Public sector labor unions should be illegal in the first place.