MHSTigerFan

Uh...what? Why would they do that? And where are kids from that area of town supposed to go...Harrison?

Maybe OC Shawn Mooney? I would think, with 3 HCs in 4 years, they might be interested in some continuity. But I have no idea if Shawn would even apply.

Yeah, I think that’s a huge question mark for the Tigers. I know that Ellspermann played a game and a half and did pretty well (including piloting a close win over Castle). But, for me, the jury’s still out on him. With two good RBs in Russell and Tyler back, and a solid O line that is all returning, I’m guessing we’ll see the Tigers run the ball more than they have in recent years.

Heck no it won’t. MD is gonna be tough for the foreseeable future.

Heh...I wish it was that easy. But you’re right — some people certainly think it is! 😊

I agree with that. But you just hate having to develop one while so many of the rest of the pieces seem to be in place. But that’s one big way that HS football differs from college and pro.

That was sorta the point. Never mind - just wondering if you heard the same thing I heard.

CM?

I think that any one of your top 4 could come out on top. I really like Caleb Ellspermann a lot. Great kid, great athlete, quick. And it’s good that he got some real experience under center this past season - particularly in the Castle game. But I have to say that QB is still a bit of a question mark for Memorial, IMO.

Ben is a fantastic football coach.

He played DE early on, but finished at OLB. Lucas Hoffman had rejoined the team by then and he and Farmer had the DE spots. If Carac can stay healthy, I believe he’ll be one of the defensive stars of the SIAC the next couple years. Him and Russell should make for a really tough duo there.

I’m not sure I understand the question. But I’d say he’s probably the best overall athlete on the team. Deceptively fast, physical, great instincts, motor. I bet he’ll put on a solid 15-20 in the next year, too.

I was impressed by a couple sophs on the D line: Caleb Collins and Kelton Farmer. And I thought Farmer’s brother Aiden (a junior this year) deserved more accolades than he got for his play at DE. I’m pretty sure he led the conference in sacks. If not, he was up there. Also keep your eye on DC Ben Johnson’s sophomore son Carac at LB. He missed most of the season with a knee injury. But he played well after returning and that kid is a terrific athlete with a great motor. Just have to hope he can stay healthy.

I've also heard a rumor of a local offensive lineman transferring in. I put no stock in any of these rumors. For one thing, it can be risky to transfer schools -- as Curt Hopf can testify. Coming in from out of state is one thing. But across town? I'm actually kind of curious how Javonte Madison and Xavier Tyler transferred from Bosse to Central & Memorial with no IHSAA pushback.

I’ve heard the same thing. We’ll see. Caleb Ellspermann is quick, elusive, and athletic. And he performed well when called upon this year - especially in the win over Castle. But he may be better suited to be a slot receiver than a QB.

I mean...that’s a pretty thorough whipping. What was the score when they started putting reserves in?

Wow...didn’t see that coming. MD is young though. Should be tough next couple years. Quite an accomplishment for this team to get to SS.

Ah, but when looking at our record against Jasper, Reitz, and MD (Jasper just joined the SIAC, but we have played them every year for quite some time), most of the wins we've gotten recently came by way of the "once in a decade" situation you referenced earlier. We had our flourish with the Lindauer/Combs era. Prior to that, we had lost a slew of consecutive games to these opponents. It was, literally, around 10 or so. Your point about the "once in a decade" thing was intended to be the other way around, wasn't it? In other words, private schools would perform at a higher level than their enrollment might suggest on a relatively consistent basis. But a typical public school would only enjoy that success when they happen to get the rare phenom or group of phenoms. In this case, it worked the other way.

Naturally. But, of course, it doesn't matter what you or I think. There's a reason the IHSAA declined to separate out the PP schools into their own class(es) back in the c.2012 deliberations that produced the Success Factor. And it wouldn't surprise me to learn that they were advised that such a policy would be grounds for an Equal Protection lawsuit.

You realize that the court wasn't asked to address the rightness of the TSSAA's pension system, right? They were asked (at this point) to determine whether or not the TSSAA was a state actor and thus obligated to honor constitutional protections like any other state actor. Courts don't usually answer questions they aren't asked. And, again, it seems entirely possible that not a single tax dollar actually went into their pension accounts -- merely that they used the existing state pension system rather than recreating the wheel. Anyway, flawed or not, the test they established is the one in force. So, like I said, I'm pretty confident that the IHSAA would be considered a state actor in any lawsuit.

This didn't become part of the entwinement test established by the court. And, besides, it's entirely possible that all employer contributions to these pensions were made by the TSSAA -- it just so happened that they were invested into the state pension system. I don't really know. But it's neither here nor there. As I said, the court established an entwinement test -- and employees having state pensions wasn't part of it. It was primarily the composition of the entity and the enmeshment with the state public school infrastructure. As I just said, 18 of the 19 members of the Board and the Executive Committee of the IHSAA are employees of public school systems. So, after looking into the Brentwood holding and the IHSAA's structure, I'm very confident that the IHSAA would be treated as a state actor.

Glancing at the 2020-21 Board of Directors, there are 19 members. Eighteen of them are from public school systems. One seat is explicitly held for a representative from a private school member. Same composition of the Executive Committee -- 19 members, 18 from public schools. Paul Neidig, the Executive Director, spent 31 years in the Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation. I don't think there's any question that the IHSAA meets the above listed criteria to be considered a state actor. They can't institute a policy that would be a violation of the members' constitutional or statutory rights. Due process, equal protection, the relevant sections of Title IX, all that applies to the IHSAA just as it would the IDOE.

It was, and still is. Here's a synopsis of this holding Again, I do not know if this was discussed during the deliberations which saw the creation of the Success Factor. I do know that the ruling was issued prior to those deliberations. And I do know that some people were advocating for a separate class for P/P schools (which you're doing here). And I also know this was not implemented. It seems pretty plausible that the IHSAA legal counsel advised them that they'd be considered a state actor in any litigation, which would bind them to the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws. Discriminating against Private/Parochial schools would be a pretty clear violation of the EP Clause. As such, the success factor rule they implemented applies to all member institutions.

Heh...it was, like, one paragraph. Simply put, the court found that the TSSAA was closely “entwined” with Tennessee’s version of the DOE, counted all of the public schools and corps in Tennessee as members, frequently traded staff with the public education infrastructure of the state, and offered taxpayer-backed pensions to employees. Hope that’s concise enough. Again, I don’t know if the courts would find the IHSAA similarly situated. But, again, I think it’s interesting to recall that there were discussions when the SF was adopted about separating out the PP schools in their own class. It didn’t happen. I’m not sure why - but it seems plausible that this holding played a part. That would’ve made them subject to an equal protection claim.

I did address your hypothetical. Scroll up. As for my question to you -- which wasn't a hypothetical...it actually happened -- you really can't square it with your stance. Saying "Well, I didn't have Memorial in mind" doesn't get you off the hook. And that's part of the problem of dealing in generalities as you are. It would make no more sense for me to address "public schools" as a monolith, lumping in the athletically slumping Harrison with normally strong programs like Castle and Jasper. If private schools really have advantages that result in a predictable elevation in athletics, then there's absolutely no excuse for one of them having decade-plus long losing streaks to several public schools in their conference, isn't there? Moreover, why are we (or Mater Dei, etal), perennially crap at so many other sports? I mean, wouldn't you expect that we'd have a bunch of basketball trophies? We've never been to the state finals in boys basketball. And we rarely win the SIAC. Our T&F has never been anything special. Our volleyball has normally been pretty weak - with last year being a notable exception. Our wrestling is typically a comedy show -- yet Mater Dei's is phenomenal. Moreover, our soccer is a powerhouse...but Mater Dei's, not so much (boys, anyway...their girls have been great of late). Our biggest SIAC challenger in recent years has been Castle. An SIAC school has produced the last 4 state champion teams in girls golf. It's not Memorial or Mater Dei, though. It's North. Are we just not utilizing our advantages well enough in these other sports? But I still come back mostly to our long period of losing records in football. That's what we're here to discuss. We went years getting our teeth kicked in, despite these advantages you say we have. There's another conversation about Roncalli elsewhere. Apparently, they had an extended down period too. This year, they're great -- and that has some people talking about doing something about it.