MHSTigerFan

I figure this is as good a thread as any to put this. For those interested, Branson Combs will be making his P5 debut tonight when Wake Forest takes on North Carolina A&T. Game starts at 7 EDT (6 CDT) on ESPN+. He is expected to start at Will linebacker for the Demon Deacons.

Knowing the Memorial faithful as I do, trying to prevent them from tailgating would backfire. They’d respond by showing up in bigger numbers with more grills, more beer, and bigger speakers. Besides, what’s the motivation to stop it? It isn’t hurting anybody. Is it a liability thing? Because I can’t imagine the schools would have any. Is it the belief that it sends a bad message to kids? Because lots of kids go to college games, too. Tailgating and football were made for each other. Stop trying to prevent other people from having a good time…as long as it stays civil and people don’t get out of hand and clean up after themselves.

I vaguely remember that. Googling it, Kyle Neddenriep ran a piece in 2017 referring to Class 5A Sectional 13 by that term. They had 3 teams in the Top 5 of 5A -- at least at the time he wrote the article. But they were ranked 3, 4, and 5. As an epilogue, Cathedral won Sectional 13 that year -- beating Roncalli 28-23 and Decatur Central 42-21 in the Sectional Finals. They would go on to beat Bloomington South in the Regional, but lose the Semi-State to eventual 5A state champ Columbus East by a score of 42-13.

So the top 3 teams in 3A (and 4 of the top 10) are in a single sectional. Yikes. I know it’s early and surely to change as the season goes on. But I wonder if there’s any precedent for that.

😁

MD is more of a rival than Jasper. No doubt about it.

What about vice versa? It’s interesting to consider how it would’ve gone had Goebel or Hurley coached last year’s Reitz roster - which was absolutely loaded with athleticism and talent. Football knowledge, strategy, game coaching aside…those two guys are creatures (and protectors) of their programs’ cultures. And I gather that’s the biggest difference - just as I’m sure they’re both culturally different than rural schools like GS, HH, and Southridge. But as Hart and Buening have demonstrated, you can certainly build a vibrant winning culture at the rural schools. I’m sure the vibe at those programs is “Whoever we have playing at whatever position, we can play with anybody and we have high expectations of anybody who steps on the field wearing this uniform.”

Jasper got a new visitor’s locker room?!? Well, praise the Lord and hallelujah! Hopefully this one is slightly bigger and more temperate than your average resort hotel sauna bath.

With all due respect, that’s absurd. So…somebody who buys (private) Medigap supplemental insurance loses their entitlement to regular Medicare benefits? Somebody with a large 401k loses their entitlement to Social Security benefits? A couple Canadian provinces actually tried to do something similar to this - prohibit privately contracted healthcare services…which effectively allow people with the means to not only skip the queue, but lengthen it for those without the means. Their courts threw the laws out. If somebody loses the access to a right because of sacrifices they’ve made to enhance their own lives, then it would be a misnomer to call that thing a right.

In this analogy, your dad isn’t paying for it. You are, your siblings are, everybody else at the table, etc. Your dad just collects your money, uses it to buy groceries and pay a cook. Governments (dad) literally have no money except that which they take from their people (those of you needing dinner).

The money in question doesn’t come from public schools. It comes from taxpayers who are taxed to fund K12 educations for the state’s kids. Does it really matter where somebody chooses to get that education and have those dollars applied? To me, it’s kind of like comparing Medicare to the VA. With Medicare, you can use the public subsidy at the provider of your choice…whereas with the VA, you have to go to a VA provider. They’re both tax-funded. But it seems to me that the former model is preferable to the latter.

Last decade…probably a tie between Brady Allen and Michael Lindauer. They were both very good. Allen had the better arm, but Lindauer was fast as hell. All-Time…I’ll go with Rick Mirer. I watched him play in the North/South game. He was on a different level. I watched Cutler play too. But I thought Mirer was better at that age.

“We just work harder”, I agree with you. That’s nonsense. But culture is a real thing in any organization - and it is a huge, huge deal. Peter Drucker popularized the saying “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” (with regards to businesses) and he did so for a reason. It may sound like TED Talk BS. But it really isn’t. The problem with it is that it’s a helluva lot easier said than done. You can’t just have a coaches retreat and collectively decide “We’re going to establish a winning culture this year.”

This might fall victim to an equal protection lawsuit. Orgs like the IHSAA, although formally private, are considered under law to be state actors. As I recall, putting p/p’s in a separate class was put forward when the success factor was implemented. And the IHSAA received legal advice that it could be susceptible to litigation.

I must say...when I woke up this morning, I surely didn't expect to find Lewis Carrol quotes on GID. Well done!

Words have specific definitions. They’re not up for debate, opinion, interpretation. A transfer is when a kid moves from one IHSAA member HS to another one - not when they go from a particular grade school or Jr High to a HS. This isn’t my opinion.

What you’re describing is not a transfer. Both Bryant cousins, yes, did transfer to Memorial.

One thing I’ve appreciated about Bosse throughout the struggles they’ve had in recent years — with very few kids coming out, etc. — is that those kids show up every game and compete hard until the whistle blows. I’ve even remarked to people I was with more than once that, as an opposing fan, I was proud of them. It would be so easy to just hang your heads and phone it in. Coaching has to be a part of that.

If I were the benevolent dictator of the IHSAA, I'd just categorize schools by enrollment. But I'd also get rid of classes entirely in some sports (but not football). But, if you're going to have a success factor, then the scenario you're describing is what it's made for. I'm not saying I have the perfect answer for how to accomplish this. I think IFCA recommended it be on a 4-year cycle rather than a 2-year. That seems to make more sense to me -- because it requires the school to punch above its weight for an ongoing period before moving up.

I should add that there is a financial component to this between the parishes attached to each of those feeder schools and MD/Memorial. I think they all work slightly differently on how much HS tuition subsidy they pay on behalf of each parish student. But most of them kick in some.

The Evansville Diocese has something like 7 or 8 grade schools in the Evansville area (plus a couple others outside EVV). The metro area schools feed either into MD or Memorial. It’s not very complicated. Not all of the students who graduate from one of these grade schools go to MD or MHS. But most of them do. Our roster lists each player’s grade school - and 90+% went to one of these. We also get some kids from Holy Name in Henderson, which is actually part of the Owensboro Diocese.

I don’t think they should do it at all, really. Just let teams compete and let the chips fall where they may. But, if they’re going to do it, they need to figure out a way around the problem of a team having an uncharacteristic run of success based on an abnormally good class or two. That kind of shafts the normal classes that come up behind them.

I’m in favor of the IHSAA relaxing (but not removing) its rules on transfers. As for recruiting, I guess that depends what you mean by that. But, whatever they do, they have to become more consistent. I think the IHSAA has become corrupted. Not in the sense of taking bribes, etc. - but in the sense of being selective about their enforcement….and their selectivity usually seems to find its way back to their stated objective of leveling out success.

The player in question is one of my son’s best friends. I encouraged him to report it. He didn’t want to - which I understood. And I certainly don’t think it’s my place to do so. I was just surprised at how blatant it was - and the fact the coach felt comfortable doing it in writing, no less.

I won’t names names here, even if I probably should.