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I was surprised and pleased to see the fine biography of Coach Spike Kelly. I suppose I am the only GID poster to have attended games when Kelly was one of the coaches. Being a lifetime Linton Miner fan, I experienced the difficulty of my team playing against the Sullivan Golden Arrows when Spike Kelly was there. Our series with the Arrows began in 1904 and Linton dominated the early years winning 15 of the first 19 games. As the article states, Coach Kelly came to Sullivan from Clinton in 1931, which BTW is my birth year. Clinton was also a Linton opponent in those early years. Linton defeated Sullivan and Coach Kelly in his first three years, the last being 27 - 0 in 1933 when, in the undefeated Wabash Valley Champion Miners only allowed 6 points all season. However, the tide turned in 1934 and Linton never defeated Sullivan again until 1945 when in the annual Armistice Day game, The undefeated Miners won 22-0 at Sullivan. That was after Spike had gone to South Bend Riley. I fondly remember that game as a HS freshman. The following year, the Miners opened the season against Kelly's No 1 ranked South Bend Riley team at South Bend. That was quite a trip from Southwestern Indiana to South Bend in those days. I went to the game as a member of the LHS band and along with the team, stayed overnight at South Bend. The game was a big deal for Linton and a great number of Miner fans made the trip. I recall there was a light rain throughout the game. Kelly's Riley team defeated the Miners 13 - 6. Along with the loss, Linton's all- state running back (he was called a halfback in those days) suffered a broken leg, ending his senior season. So, Spike Kelly's record was 10 - 3 against the Linton Miners.

Ditto. Janis Qualizza and Amy Beckham at Merrillville, and Patty McCormick at Lowell come immediately to mind. There are plenty of others.

There has been complaints about the offense because its not "flashy" or mainstream (i.e. spread), but you know what it did? It WON. 21-3 the last two seasons and 2 outright NE8 conference championships as well as appearances in back to back sectional finals (last 3 years actually according to Harrells). Averaged over 40 pts/game last season and set school record for rushing yards and scoring in a season. The full-house backfield offense has worked for them. The games I've seen them play the offense has been fast, deceptive and physically dominant. The defense was also very good which, to me, go hand in hand with that style of offense. When you can control the pace of the game with your offense, you keep the opponents offense off the field and your defense fresh. Those with short term memory also forget that when Leo last won back to back sectional and regional titles, they ran the same full house backfield offense. Yes they also ran some spread too but they had a stud QB and a stable of receivers then. Yeah they made an incredible drive during the East Noble sectional game this year (game of the year in my opinion) but some of that drives success had to come from catching the Knights off guard. How much does anyone think Coach Amstutz prepared for any form of passing attack?? Great job by the kids AND the coaching staff for keeping that in their back pocket but some of that successful drive had to come from the element of suprise. People wanting "change" be weary, the same success in the win/loss columns can change with offensive philosophy. I, personally, think they made the BEST choice with Coach Doerffler! Things will obviously be/look different next year, but to hear so much bashing of Coach Sauder's staff and offensive philosophy is absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for! 139-42 career record, only losing season was his 1st on the job. Looks to me he made pretty darn good decisions for the Leo program IMHO. Last 10 seasons the ONLY program with a better winning percentage in the Ft Wayne area is Snider (.810 Snider, .793 Leo) per Harrell's site. That's pretty good company.

Name the D1 guys and their offers…

Another interesting school for the near future is Whiteland. Growing incredibly quickly and could possibly get to the size of a Center Grove within 5-6 years (only about a 10 minute drive between Whiteland and CG). You have to think that it would outgrow the Mid-State conference. Not sure how that plays out, but do keep in mind CG will either try to get back in the HCC or create a new conference. From very good sources, I believe a new conference will be formed within 5 years and CG will be at the helm of it. Maybe Whiteland will try and continue that growth and look for something larger.

I'd hate to see it too.

I have a "crush" on Heather McGowan.

We can't catch a break. We've had Danville, Tri-West recently, which isn't easy. Now we're getting Gibson Southern this year and next. We aren't historically great at football and likely never will be but yikes. But I am looking forward to hopefully see Gibson Southern in person. I have respect for them as a great program. I think this sectional is a little more competitive for us and I still don't expect us to win it. Hope we can avoid GS as long as possible lol.

Three of the best AD's I've ever worked with have been women. Alice Underwood at Franklin Central, Priscilla Dillow and Heather McGowan at Ben Davis

My take on the situation: https://outsidethehuddle.net/2022/05/18/blitz-the-hypocrisy-is-real-when-it-comes-to-prep-coaches-heading-elsewhere/ Thrilled for Jason and his family. Great opportunity. Key for Leo is starting to think like East Noble. Coach Amstutz does not think about league titles, he dreams bigger. The conference crowns come with the deep postseason runs. Coach Sauder did a tremendous job in constructing a program, from the youth up, that is almost automatic for 8-10 wins a year. How does Leo take that next step and win a sectional for the first time since 2011? How does it become a consistent 4A threat in the north? That is the new regime's job.

Buzz Doerfler- Another uncle. https://www.indiana-football.org/?q=node/114

Says one of several women here on the GID. Me of course

His uncle, Dale Doerffler, was one of the better coaches to come out of Fort Wayne. His North Side teams were Snider's nemesis in the 80's and sometimes state ranked. Father Dean probably goes down and Northrop's second most successful coach. He had some good teams in the late 80's and early 90's. He also had a very successful stint at Concordia. The Cadets were a doormat before he took over. Conclusion: Coaching is in the blood in that family. I kept waiting for Northrop to have a breakout season, especially after he added his father to the staff. A breakout season never materialized. I think for a program to be successful, the entire school has to be "bought in." Maybe that just wasn't the case at Northrop. Good luck Jason at Leo.

Normally I would, but I was thinking that my wife would have posted it before me if she had seen it first, so I didn't feel as guilty. Matter of fact, I know a few guys on this site and their wives and their wives would have beaten them to the punch as well.

No way this guy has a wife AND a girlfriend.

6 times in MLB history has a team had a pitcher or a pitching staff combine to throw a no hitter........and lose. Well, it HAD been just 5 times.........until Sunday May 15th, 2022 when the Reds became the 6th team. Interesting to note, the first time was 1964. Seems the Reds just want to find new ways to lose. The crazy part was just a few years ago, they had been active in the free agent market and appeared to be set to make a run deep into the post season. I do feel bad for a guy like Joe Votto though. He is one of those guys you would love to see win a championship. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/pitchers-throw-no-hitter-lose-hunter-greene-reds-mlb/oksmri1ryygq5fimomeyopal

With all the ins, outs, and what have yous. Tough to keep straight in old Duder’s head. My interpretation is that there has never been a specific law providing for legal abortion. RvW prescribed a right to privacy between you and your doctor. If all that is true, what’s wrong with asking congress to pass a law and get the president to sign it. Or better yet, just allow the states to regulate it? I have an opinion, don’t care to debate it, don’t care to justify it, in general don’t even really care to discuss it. This is just another socially divisive issue and the R’s are too stupid to stay out of the fray. Murdock would have been the Senator from Indiana if he could just keep his mouth shut about abortion, and he couldn’t do it. I have paid pretty much zero attention to this leak, which was clearly politically motivated. Can we all just take a deep breath and wait to see what the court actually rules before we burn it down?

Just a reminder for those playing along with DT's thought exercise - football is only one of 20 IHSAA-sanctioned sports and a school that may be struggling in football may still be a good fit in a conference in terms of geography, school population and competitiveness in other sports.