Leaderboard

Check out the first installment in our new series, the Legends of Indiana High School Football. We look back at Paul "Spike" Kelly, the hall of fame coach who guided Clinton, Sullivan and South Bend Riley to multiple championships over 30+ years, including three state crowns. http://www.almanacsports.com/article.php?news_id=2022051301 Please let me know what you think and who should be featured in the next installment? Thanks, Dan "Rudy" Engler

To add to this, I think there is a connection between what we are seeing as far as the toxic stuff and the stuff we are dealing with in our schools with the same types of behaviors.

I was quick to bitch about the current state of affairs, I thought I might share a little glimpse of the reason you do it. Last night I had the pleasure to work a game where the HC was a kid I’ve had a relationship since she was about 8. I coached her in HS, saw her play a lot of games in college, as she was in the same conference as my daughter. She’s currently serving as interim HC as the HC has had some health issues. She is expected to be named HC. One of the highlights of my career was being able to shake her hand at the plate meeting and refer to her as coach. I think the best way for me to sum up the current state of affairs is, sports to me has always been about relationships. The main problem as I see it is the toxicity involved doesn’t foster the creation of relationships. Coaches, officials, and parents need to figure out, everyone is here for the same reason, and ultimately it will be the kids who suffer if we continue down this path.

Maybe on the right track...depending which rating one believes, IU was ranked between 20-30th nationally with their 2022 class. Taking 247, they were ranked 30th. That is higher than Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern, Maryland, Rutgers and Cincy. Challenge, as usual, OSU, Michigan, Penn State, and MSU is ranked higher. Its life in the Big 10 East. https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Football/OverallTeamRankings/ The Big 10 East will typically result in 4 losses for IU. They is a tough hole to crawl out of.....leaving little more room for error.

Don't Trust Biden's Dystopian 'Disinformation Board' https://reason.com/2022/05/13/dont-trust-bidens-dystopian-disinformation-board/ This is very frightening news.

Take with these with a grain of salt as it is pretty difficult to find information on teams in the off season. Any insight is appreciated 6A favorites: Cathedral Can win it all: Ben Davis, Carmel, CG, Westfield, Warren Central Longshots: HSE 5A favorites: Decatur Central, Merrillville Can win it all: Michigan City, Valpo, FW Dwenger, FW Snider Longshots: Harrison WL 4A favorites: Roncalli Can win it all: Mount Vernon, East Central, Evansville Memorial, Leo Longshots: Kokomo, Brebeuf, Northridge, New Pal, New Prairie, Lowell 3A favorites: Chatard Can win it all: West Lafayette, Mishawaka Marian, Lawrenceburg Longshots: Western Boone, Danville, Tri-West 2A favorites: Andrean Can win it all: Evansville Mater Dei, Eastside, Fort Wayne Luers, Eastbrook Longshots: LCC, Indy Scecina, Linton-Stockton 1A favorites: Adams Central, Indy Lutheran Can win it all: Pioneer, Park Tudor, Covenant Christian Longshots: North Judson, Churubusco, Parke Heritage

Interesting take on IU’s experience with the transfer portal. https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/graphic-gives-context-to-iu-footballs-heavy-transfer-portal-turnover/

Nah, it’d actually be an improvement over last years conditions.

https://www.pharostribune.com/news/article_997527ee-d2d8-11ec-835d-db8731caf774.html

Won’t argue that regarding schedule changes. But, he is giving a HH team a lot of credit who still plays all those small PAC schools.

No one said they will go to Lucas and crush Chatard...but they have a really good shot in the South to make a decent run. Reloading is the norm in the Hart era. 2012 11-3 2013 13-1 2014 10-2 2015 13-1 2016 9-1 2017 11-1 2018 9-3 2019 8-3 2020 7-4 2021 14-1

Agree. I think Gibson is at a point where they just reload. Program is solid top to bottom.

He’s screwed the pooch for the last time.

So, what is a school like IU to do? First, they have to decide what they want to be. You can’t draw a road map without a destination. Then, they have to decide how to get there. 10, or even 5 years ago, it would have seemed an insurmountable task to get them to a spot where they can play in a bowl game every year. That takes players, and IU’s recruiting limitations have been well documented on these pages. But this is today, and there is a weapon that can allow a school like IU to compete on equal footing for recruits: NIL. it is increasingly all about the money at the player level when it comes to recruiting. Get out there and recruit donors before you recruit players. Start with Mark Cuban. Build a great big war chest of $$ and entice recruits with NIL deals. Start getting some 4 stars who could go to OSU or Penn State or Michigan, but are lured to IU by big $$. Have a couple of good years in a row, and recruiting momentum builds. It’s a difficult process, but it starts with making the decision to be competitive.

I don’t think your understanding of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech is accurate. At least, it does not appear so from your post.

Nice attempt at dodging the question. Not everyone choose to live in a walled compound like you apparently do.

Coaching at the HS level is a HUGE commitment. Not just for the coach but for his family as well. I loved coaching, I loved practices, being around kids, teaching, watching them develop, watching them become successful you adults. What I miss most are the relationships with the kids, I think being around kids keeps you young. I miss the alone time with just the coaching staff, after a game or practice, game planning, practice planning, sharing fellowship, etc. You just reach a point where it’s like why am I doing this? The last year I coached we started the season on a hot streak, we were like 10-0 and ranked like 8th in the state. I had to meet with a parent who’s kid had started and played in every game, because the parent was unhappy about where the kid was playing. Long story short, I’m missing my own kid’s pretty successful college career to coach, and the resounding question in my mind is why am I dealing with this crap? I made up my mind during another such parent meeting and turned my resignation that night. I have had multiple chances to coach since, and as much as I would love do it, particularly with some of the people who’ve asked, I know what comes with it, and just decline. Coaching is the toughest job you’ll ever love. Unrealistic expectations, why isn’t my kid playing, why is my kid playing OF instead of IF, the social media posts (though I never had much issues with that) the massive amount of time away from family and friends, it just stacks up and people get tired of it. It is concerning to me, we are losing good young coaches across the board in all sports. A little caveat, last Thursday I had the plate for a big conference game that had championship implications. It was the best game I’ve seen all season, pitchers duel, 0-0 thru 7 innings. I personally had a great game, yes as an official you know when you walk off the field. In short it was FUN, which ultimately is why I’m there. However, thanks to one of the coaches, who starts bitching about “presenting the ball” in the bottom of the first inning, which is not a term that has been in the rule book in the 20 or so years I’ve been involved. And since he can’t get any satisfaction out of me on his made up term, it sets the tone for the whole night and by the third inning, we’ve degenerated to arguing balls and strikes. He just sucked all the fun out of it for everyone. The opposing catcher even asked at one point, what is that guys problem? I’m not going to lie, and I have shared with some AD’s I don’t know what my future in officiating is at this point. I haven’t even made up my mind whether I’m doing Football this fall or not yet, but I can assure you this, dealing with assholes is making the decision for me. FYI, I had to stop the game in the bottom of the 8th with the visitors up 1-0 because of rain. I won’t get a chance to see how it turns out.

Oh, in that the "mob" outside of Kavanaugh's house was on a street, where protests are permitted, and the rioters on 6 January breached a secure facility?

One of the drivers behind the officiating shortage is the unreasonable behavior of fans toward sports officials. Many of those “fans” are actually parents or other relatives of players. If they act that way, in public, toward officials, I can only imagine how they act toward coaches when Little Johnny is riding the pines, or Little Suzy is batting 8th instead of cleanup. I’m sure @Impartial_Observercan share on that subject, as can many others.

Bingo. This is precisely why I am leaving my current position at Whiting HS. I teach 3 middle school computer science classes (6th, 7th, and 8th). Then in the high school I teach an AP Computer Science class, a dual credit PLTW engineering class, and 2 robotics classes. I do not have a prep. With this work load I cannot be visible in the building. I tried to get my schedule to be more "coach friendly" but it wasn't feasible. So I finally had to make a change. Whiting is my alma mater and I've been coaching here for 20 years but something had to give. Tough decision but it's the correct one.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2008/01/reagans-darkest-hour-paul-kengor-patricia-clark-doerner/ From the article, the only bit that matters- Looks like St Ronnie is a n*gger-hater and a baby-killer, although you could just call him a Republican and save the keystrokes. I really miss @absenceofempathy at times like this. Maybe @McGoo45 could "teach" us some "history" about St Ronnie.

While he was great in The Right Stuff as Gus Grissom, he was really great in Tremors. RIP https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/13/entertainment/fred-ward-obit/index.html

https://mises.org/library/taxation-robbery A somewhat long read. But very much worth it. Taxation is theft.

Literally all this abortion debate is worth today......