MHSTigerFan

I agree with a lot of this. So I'm not unsympathetic. However, each situation is unique enough to not be treated as just being from this or that bucket. For instance, I can understand a kid who wants to transfer because he sees an opportunity for more playing time elsewhere. Sometimes you look at the roster of the team you're on and just figure that you're likely to spend a lot of time on the bench...whereas another school has needs and minutes you could fill. According to the current rule, this doesn't cut it. So, instead, kids and parents have to go through a charade to explain it some other way. Why? Why is it not good enough to just say "I want to play soccer...but the guys who play my position here are better than I am, so I see more opportunity to play somewhere else"? If this kid's parents agree, are they guilty of looking for the path of least resistance? Are they guilty of living vicariously through their kids' sports? I don't think so. I think it's just as simple as wanting to see the field -- and I see nothing wrong with that.

There is a huge difference between those two scenarios. There are also kids who couldn't be described by either one. What about a kid whose family moves to a different location within the same city/county/area? What about a kid who doesn't move, but only transfers once or twice rather than 3 or 4 times? What about a kid who transfers multiples times -- but within the same school district? In fact, I'd guess that a majority of transfers don't meet either of your scenarios. What then? Or are we supposed to keep the IHSAA policing all of it just because of kids who transfer 3 or 4 times? Would you have them change the rule to accommodate 1 or 2 transfers question free?

I don’t necessarily disagree with that. I’m just saying that it’s probably best for the IHSAA to stay out of it. If a kid is hurting himself (or at least not helping himself) by jumping around that much, that’s on him and/or his parents. If that hurts the culture in teams he goes to, that’s on their coach.

Maybe. But that would probably depend on my opinion of the other coach. I’m an employer and we do this with key people who are wanting to jump ship from one of our competitors. Sometimes, people do things just to play competing employers off each other, threaten it for leverage, etc. If it’s a competitor I know and respect (which is most of them), I’ll place the call to them first. I’ve done it the other way before, and it’s usually better to talk with the other employer first…even if that pisses the employee off.

Personally, I think the parties best-suited to putting an end to that are the potential receiving-school's coaches, not the IHSAA. If I'm a coach and I learn that a kid is wanting to transfer into my program, my first phone call is going to be to their current coach to find out what is going on. If I learn that it's a kid like the one you describe, my second phone call would be to the kid's parent/guardian to them him that he's welcome to transfer but that he shouldn't expect the Red Sea to be parted on his behalf....and that I'm not going to let anybody be a cancer or a distraction because of their ambition or sense of entitlement. The IHSAA, IMO, has shown time and time again that they're terrible at policing this. That's really not a knock at them, necessarily. That's just the nature of being a governing body, distant from the realities on the ground.

I'm all about fighting through adversity. But I think you're creating a false choice here: Option 1: Fight through the first sign of adversity Option 2: Transfer to a different program The way you're saying this, there is no Option 3. In other words, the *only* explanation for a transfer is an unwillingness to fight through adversity in their current program. I certainly agree that this is a possible one. Another possible one is that a school has a lot of players at your position, and you'd like to see the field. Another possible one is that the academic environment isn't well-suited to a student. Or maybe the social culture at the current school is unhealthy. The list of reasons a student might want to transfer schools is large. And I think it should be OK, even if it's primarily motivated by sports.

I know for a fact that is Coach Hurley’s attitude about it. And I agree, it should be.

True. But I’m not really sure what he means by Fisher being not fully committed to the team. A lot of kids play other sports that run into the summer - especially these days. Connor Agler always missed OTAs for basketball.

The talk at practice today is that Caleb Ellspermann will be moved to WR and Fisher is QB1.

I wasn’t there either and I heard the same thing. But… - Backup QB - 5 fumbles You’re not going to win too many games putting the ball on the ground 5 times.

Ok. In fairness to me, my source was a teenager. 😀

I know Young didn’t play. I didn’t see the game. But it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that played a role in some of their TOs.

Hartig and Rode definitely back next week. Leo Collins is getting there. He’s a maybe. There’s no telling when Weinzapfel will return. It could be a while. Memorial’s D hadn’t been too bad tonight. Not great, but not terrible. But, whew, that offense has been ugly.

8 quarters. Zero touchdowns.

Wow. Shocking. I think they should stick with Fisher. But neither of them are getting any time.

Whipped up front.

I’ll never understand why kids try to field punts like that. Its rule #1: get the hell away from it!

No answer for St. Louis. Ellspermann still can’t throw.

I've now confirmed that. He's still sitting out tonight. Will be eligible starting with next week's game against Central.

I've heard that he'll be playing next week. But I haven't confirmed that yet.

Well, I agree. But somebody linked an Indy Star piece here a while ago about the IHSAA and their former attorney who got in hot water and eventually resigned. In that piece, I believe it was Neidig quoted about using that rule to prevent certain schools from getting the good athletes and certain other ones from getting depleted. I guess where the kid wants to go to school was, at best, a secondary concern to them.

When we (Ev Memorial) were suspended from post-season play in the early 90s for recruiting, the IHSAA allowed incoming seniors to transfer to another school without any loss of eligibility. None did. However, several of them said they were approached by one or more opposing coaches about transferring to their schools. I thought that kinda summed it up pretty well. It’s not a question of who’s crooked, it’s a question of who gets targeted and caught. And I’ve never considered the IHSAA an honest referee for any of that.

I’ve heard some positive reviews on Pedtke - his arm, at least.

Has he even practiced yet? I’m not sure where his health situation currently stands.

I guess I should give some context for those who don’t know. Gunner Wyman was VL’s longtime basketball coach. And they had a massive rivalry with Jasper - one that usually would not have been described as “friendly.” There are some legendary stories about things that happened in and around VL/Jasper matchups. Gunner clearly insisted on getting the last word.