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Want to give a shoutout to the game tomorrow night at Gordon Straley Field in West Lafayette. It will be a special night not only because the Red Devils will be playing one of their most respected rivals in the Rensselaer Bombers, and not just because it will be homecoming, but more importantly they will be celebrating 100 years of playing football at West Lafayette High School. There will be many alumni players, coaches and others there to celebrate a storied history. Through 2020, West Lafayette HS had the fourth most wins of any school in the State. They have numerous other accomplishments that are listed in the IFCA record book as well. I hope to take some pictures of some of the festivities associated with this special night and post them on this thread.

Mr Speaker, I would like to document and memorialize the time snd date for this significant event

That guest guy is probably getting a stiffie seeing his ode post come back to life. I gotta go

Lysander... go sit in a corner and think about what you've done !

Good stuff @Irishman you know I myself as well as many others used to make intelligent, well thought out, cohesive posts like this, only to get replies such as “just let horses graze on it”. And handful of idiots have ran off more people from this forum that I care to remember. Seems it’s sadly a microcosm of our society.

Not at Dwenger

Just spent some time talking to our director of facilities. here are some numbers Initial installation of the turf was $800,000. That included removal of 12 inches of dirt, installation of the drainage system, the materials that go under the turf for an even surface, and then the turf itself. The life of the turf is about 10 years. To replace just the turf will be $200,000 Maintenance of the turf includes Grooming once a week to remove trash and even out the rubber pellets. That takes 2 hours, and is done 27 times a year from the beginning of Spring Soccer in Mid April through the end of November. Man hours on that come out to about $2500 The contract with the installer includes an inspection once a year for $1200. That inspection includes looking at the seams, and a G Max test, to test the impact the field can absorb. There is a sstandard for determining if the field can still be used for football with that test. So a rough estimate is about $5,000 a year to maintain the field. Now for grass Painting the field for 6 home games average including playoffs 4 hours for the boundary lines and the full lines every 5 yards Depending on the number of people working, the numbers and hash marks can take another 4-6 hours; longer for fewer people. For 6 games a year to pay for man hours alone, that comes to about $10,000 for a season in labor and paint. The paint cost will vary. A 5 gallon bucket is about $60. He was not sure how many buckets were used per game. Grass was cut once a week, so about $2,400 for that in man hours. The field was watered from early Spring through the end of the season. he did not have the numbers for what watering cost. With the amount of water used, that is more than likely the biggest expense. The only comparison I have is that to put 15,000 gallons of water in my pool was $200 here in Fort Wayne. I hav no idea how many gallons were used a day on the field. Fertilizer for the grass was $1,200. Seeding the field, and overseeding done in late Fall, and aerating the field was $500. What is not accounted for in most high schools Maintenance for grass can run between $30,000 to do as little as possible to $60,000 to put time and effort into a nice field. A friend from outside of Indy that used to coach said that $60,000 was the annual cost their AD presented to the board before a decision was made for installing turf. It is also recommended that grass fields be resurfaced every 10 years to add new topsoil, recrown the field for proper drainage. Usage Prior to turf being a big thing, most fields in Indiana were low end as far as care went. Even on good fields, usage was drastically limited. Even a varsity team was limited to how much they could practice on the grass. We had PAL games on Saturdays on ours, JV games on Mondays, Middle School games on Wednesdays, and Freshmen games on Thursdays. We did not share our field with soccer, but several did. The band could not use the grass field for practice because of the wear and tear of marching, and wheeling the props on and off. Physical Education classes could not use the field. Have I mentioned what happens to a field when it rains? Especially what happens to it on a game day? Once the cooler weather sets in, most grass fields deteriorate rapidly. In the long run, over a 10 year period, a grass field easily costs more to maintain than it does to install and maintain a turf field. The usage increased about 300% on our field as a result of turf installation. In my 16 years here, I have seen far more serious injuries on our crappy grass field than I have on our turf. I will ignore any study that does not involve at least 100 grass fields...and I want to know for certain that it includes grass fields that are poorly maintained. College and pro teams certainly have the resources to maintain quality grass fields, and I have no problem with those athletes and experts wanting to switch. But for multi purpose fields, which every high school field in this state is, I will still contend the safer and more cost effective thing is turf.

What are your thoughts on the statewide Homfield Advantage at only 0.25 (one-fourth) point? Historically, the Indiana high school rounds around 1.5 to 2.5 points. College and the NFL is typically 2.5 points as a given. Certainly it is expected to see some variation, but only 0.25 points? Is it because the bands aren't softening the field with their skin sweat during halftime shows .?. if they even take place!!! I need answers and need them now! This is a shameless promotion of my Indiana High School Football Predictor Tool - https://predictor.gridirondigest.net/ Rest assured that new features are forthcoming! Perhaps the new "Vs. the Field" feature will tide ya'll over. One new feature I am working on is the ability for Team Year vs Team Year matchups (kind of like Cal Prep, but my algorithm is better.) Contact me. Out! Chris

I just thought I’d go long on dead and buried threads today…..since that seems to be the thing. Yeah 2019 Hot Dog Girl’s bowling! You go girls!

This is possibly the most uninformed post I have ever read on GID in the past 10 years. It makes some pretty silly assumptions: 1. Folks complaining about the system don't come from programs with all the "Factors". Admin, quality coaching staffs, facilities, school pride, youth and feeder programs. These aren't things that are unique to publics or private schools. 2. Folks complaining about the system haven't put in the sweat equity over decades that the privates have because they are just lazy complainers. 3. Folks complaining about the systems are former Al Bundy's or keyboard warriors. 4. Just accept the crappy system and work harder....cuz that's what the Catholics do. It's simple and I have highlighted it in detail multiple times, anyone who doesn't breath with their mouth open understands the issue. Those who line their trophy cases as a result of an inequitable system will continue to choose to burry their heads in the sand. Now really focus on this paragraph and use that private school reading comprehension on this part: All things being equal with regard to "Factors", the student population homogeneity with regards to dead weight students is significantly different between even the least poor of publics and the average successful private. Dead weight students being defined as those who are just there because the law says they have to be or only take a minimalist approach in meeting graduation requirements or participating in extracurriculars. Congratulations on moving to Indianapolis and buying your child some rings.

I apologize if I took this in the wrong direction. I have long extolled the addition of turf for high school stadiums due to the amount of use that can be added to the field surface without causing damage or expensive upkeep. I was only curious as to whether the stated 'cost savings' were accurate. I knew someone here would be able to answer that, so thank you. I would like nothing more than to see Bud Wright Stadium with field turf. I hope I see that come to fruition one day.

L O L.... yes my ankles were 100% our grass field's fault. Wild for you to try and tell ME what the issue was with MY ankles. It sucks. We could have a lot of fun talking about sports. Who still uses textbooks? lol

Gibson Southern has had a football team for 49 years. They have won 4 sectionals. Outside of Southern Gibson county I think most people don't think high school football history started in 2012.

Typically, when you see Ursuline for high schools, the top sport at the school is field hockey.

And for the record it looks like old Al wasn’t too bad in real life.

Except they are separate funds so that cannot be done

Tradition? A tradition of what? Grass stains on uniforms do absolutely nothing for me. Overrated. Mud sucks. I won a regional in the muddiest field you've ever seen, ask the Southridge people about it. Again, overrated. Build character? How on earth could it build character? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My takeaways from playing 99% of my football games on grass were.... 1. I had to wear ankle braces in every athletic "event, practice, pickup game" after playing on grass... because our practice field and game field were so poor my ankles were absolutely ruined from planting, cutting, and dropping back to pass on it for 4 years... 2. I hated it when it was wet, the ball was slick as hell because there would be a muddy film on the ball, along with the rain. Sucked, and essentially impossible to throw the ball. 3. Morning practices sucked.

Good to hear from you Coach from one athletic supporter to another. Go Bombers! 2.0! 2.0!

my favorite version of ya pal!! Cheers @Lysander

You sir, forgot Baseball and softball fields as well. Don't just stop with Football in my community, where I gladly pay a nice tax rate, the entire 7 Girl softball fields were flipped to turf. Pretty sure many of the boys fields as well. I know a lot of HS up here in the 219 area code have turf infields. Saves a lot of rain outs from what I've heard

@Lysander can we assume your wife is out this evening and you’re off the wagon? Again!

Well, Gonzo, not to make light of the subject...and intellectually, some consider me to be one of the great unwashed as regards my opinions and observations, which they often think stinks. Well, let me say "this about that*", as an unwashed athletic supporter that stinks, and I know we often chafe on some of you, I just want to be given my proper place at the crux of HS athletics. The rest of you can take a powder. *see Richard Milhous Nixon

Those Hot Dog girls teams are evasive.

I daresay that I am an extremely sincere athletic supporter of HS sports, including football, but now find myself troubled by girl's Hot Dog wrestling (and bowling) or Hot Dog girls' wrestling (I get confused about this grammar stuff...you know me) and bowling. With that, based on what I'm seeing, I think we immediately need a 2.0 multiplier for girl's Hot Dog wrestling (or Hot Dog girl's wrestling...whichever Strunk and White call for....I defer). The IHSAA needs to get on this now! End the unfair girl's Hot Dog wrestling domination now! Who's with me? 2.0! 2.0!

Pass me some popcorn, this is getting zesty!

Awesome! Pop was a Sr on the 42 team. Still have his letter sweater... Great Depression kids thew nothing away!

I'll circle 2029... 🤗😉🤭😁

Girls wrestling has a long road ahead before being considered a recognized sport or having an IHSAA sanctioned State Tournament. Congrats to her on the Conference win though, there aren't a lot of boy wrestlers small enough to wrestle at 113. Mostly freshmen.

For Mule Driver. It looks like there won't be any streaming/radio coverage of the South @ TH South game. Indiana Sports Network - Terre Haute has their game of week being Owen Valley at Northview. Locally, WGCL is covering the TH North @ North game and the South Putnam @ Edgewood game is getting double coverage by WHCC and WCLS with both stations staying in town like WGCL. Maybe, just maybe, WVNI will make the trip back to Terre Haute to cover the Panthers' game, which they did for the South @ TH North game. WVNI still has their schedule for last season up and there is no help from the FB and X sites, but it wouldn't surprise me if they stay in town to cover the North game which promises not to be very close in what is probably an understatement. With WVNI, we probably won't know where they are going to be at until near kickoff of their game. The South football site still lists the streaming/radio coverage as TBA, and it's Thursday.

“bump”

Dunno but I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who could inform us……….whoever that might be.

And almost all of them after more than 4 plays..............

How many of those girls now in the pros?

At one point @Donnie Baker referred to me as a hot mom. As a WRC girl from the southern part of the conference, I think @Ballhawk is just sad that girls in the Attica area don't look like me and @Lucy Draper ... ANYWAYYYYY-- Princess Picks for Week 5 (on a Thursday because I was too busy having those Zimas by Lucy's pool that Donnie got us)... Attica at FC-- FC by as many as they want, although I think Herbie won't run the score up as much as he could. Speaking of Herbie... I've heard he's a loveable guy who did play line back in the day... who's to say his number wasn't 53? Someone do some research... RP @ NV -- North Vermillion will win easily, although that's not to say the Panthers won't put up a fight. Seeger @ Parke Heritage-- Do I have to take back my previous comment about picking every other WRC team to upset Seeger? Because I'm picking them again this week and I really hate myself for it... I guess it's back to the pool and Zimas to drown my sorrows. South Vermillion at Covington-- I've always said visors are classy. I'm sticking with that.

Seymour floyd JC East

I washed the mud out of my eyelids every other play. lol ...it was wild

Sounds like EC will grind those dogs to kibble.

Thanks. I'm just glad it is working. Do you look at the vs Field predictions too? Let me know of any issues. I'm trying to speed it up and optimize many functions. For example, the tool no longer grabs data from Sagarins site with every prediction. I'm archiving as many years and weeks of ratings as possible. Pretty soon you'll be able to project 2003 Warren Central vs 2020 Center Grove (or whatever seasons). But the NFL has mostly the same surfaces (less Green Bay) and most years their HFA is around 2.5. What gives?

Sparty at Stewytown This won't be much of a game for anyone other than the parents and grandparents of the players, because no one else really cares. Flatbill gets his boys right this week in the "Battle Of 44" and pulls out the win 35-28. Horses and buggies run amuck through Rushtucky as they get their first win of the season. Trojans at Batezville Speaking of 44, I'll give them credit, their 44 is a dawg. Along with a few others, but they won't be enough. K9, I don't know what the old man is feeding you over there but you need to step away from the table. You can put the Z in Batezville, but you can't take the EC out of the Z! This whole situation is still puzzling to me. After seeing a few games, it's hard to tell who's running the show. It really doesn't matter this week, as the Trojans will dominate in typical fashion. All the hype over this 4-0 face off will turn out to be a huge disappointment. Trojans roll the pups 52-13 (with all of the Bulldogz points coming off of our JV). Jo Jo's at Stinktown I think this could be a much tighter game than some think. Aside from Jo Jo's QB1, I'm not sure who either team has on the injured list so that could be a factor, but I think FC matches up relatively well with Stinktown and could give them a game. In the end, I think the Tigers pull off the win in the pit. I agree, STC will likely be so consumed by lap dances and jello shots that he doesn't even make it to the game. KFI at Blue Dragons Wow...what a dumpster fire (pun intended 🔥) they have going in Hondaburg. I have the feeling that this could be a very bad week for them. Coach Boom has no mercy, and I'm sure little boom needs some big stats, so this game could get out of hand quickly. KFI may beat Hondaburg 120-0 in true river rat fashion! I hear there's already big time turmoil over there so how will the players, parents, and fans react to this potential blowout? It will be interesting to see. Personally, I would love to see Little Ralphie prove them all wrong and turn it around. But I'm not sure he can hang on long enough to make that happen. Realistically KFI wins 64-7 (figuring in 2 point conversions for the rats).

Stinky, Stink, Stink 1.2..3...Was in the Hondaburg Wal-Mart and what did I see? It was a Claw Machine with chances to win a "Little Ralphie"

They get a lot in one small area of Fort Wayne also.

That way you can let your horse graze after you ride it to the game.

Well this thread has been Mudasized!

To be fair the Bermuda grass the NFL players get to play is very different than the hard ground and Kentucky bluegrass on high school fields. Those surfaces look and feel like an artificial surface but nicer.

In regards to to the Aaron Rodgers injury last night:

Pony up a donation to the GID and that may change?

Wild isn't it? Heck.. they aren't even made to stay on topic. I can still only react to one post a day. Then.. no one posts on the topic for 3 days and then the MOD tries to reignite the original issue. Again, wild.

I just can't believe you guys allow trolling behavior. Eeesh

I love some good message board drama. We get to have it on here now that no one guards the henhouse any more. Once a month a moderator might show up, sometimes it's longer than that. No one wins or loses, but everyone plays the game. We all know @Muda69 gets to write his own rules, doesn't mean we have to like it. See you next month!