region

Give me Chatard. Hoping the Pirates can compete. With all their talent, they should. Should be interesting. Seldom we get Region-Indy matchups.

1. Highland will go sub .500 again this year like they have the last several and likely 1-4 in the NCC. Your Trojans are probably not going to ever beat Hobart and are just as unlikely to beat Lowell and Andrean this year. Ceiling is 2-3 in the NCC this season and Sectional runner-up with the right draw. 2. Slim. Too much mismanagement in Hammond. Kids wanted to play - school board says no. One of the only districts in the state to suspend athletics. Give the consolidation era a couple years to see if things improve across the board (cumulative improvement/competativeness in athletic prog

Yes it does

Make it 7. They just cancelled week 3 against Munster. The Mustangs will now play South Bend Clay as a replacement game at Munster. Good game for a couple struggling programs.

That’d be impossible since Illinois doesn’t start playing until week 2 in Indiana. And no. The series went 5-5 over the last decade. Classic rivalry that won’t end any time soon.

Merrillville has 4 : Dick Demaree, Ken Haupt, Frank O’Shea and Jeff Yelton Hammond High 3: Karl Huffine, Bernie Krueger, George Hall Hobart 3 : Russ Deal, The Don, Charlie Boston I’m sure there are others. Also, the Highland board ran off a ton of great admins, coaches and teachers in the early 2000s. Crazy Rick Volbrecht led the way on the board. Not BS. Why do you think Brad Smith left as the AD? Declining enrollment is a large factor, but after the 2003/2004 school board shenanigans, Trojan athletics really hit the dumps and has yet to fully recover.

Sectional - The schools split profits evenly after the IHSAA gets 2%. Regional - Each school gets $600. That’s it. The rest of the gate money goes to the IHSAA. The host school also receives $100 for use of their facility. Tickets cost 8 bucks. After 150 people walk through the gate, the state gets the money from the hundreds if not thousands more fans. Semi-State - Each school gets $700 of the gate. Again, the rest goes to IHSAA. The host school also receives $100 for the use of their faculty. This time only 140 fans are going to the gate fund for the schools. Having some expe

Exactly. You’re not going to find 24 neutral site schools to offer hosting the regional. Coordinating a Friday night home game is already a pain in the neck for most athletic directors. Doubtful that schools would line up to host a regional or semi-state for less money. You probably need at least 20 support staff to host such game. Even less incentive for your normal regular season workers to come back for a game where your school is not playing and they would likely be paid less money from the state. Hosting a basketball sectional/regional/semi-state is much more doable — and there is a

You nominate yourself for the Hall. He is obviously a shoe-in, just hasn’t filled out the form to do it. I believe they discuss that in the interview. He mentioned that he felt there were assistant coaches that deserved to go in before him. Russ is just chasing Bud at this point. He’ll have a loaded gun to start his reign with the Redskins.

It could happen, but never will. They’re respected charter members of the NCC and have a great athletics department staff in John Gray and Bill Mueller. They are a good fit in the conference - even if it is a pain in the neck to bus down there for stuff sometimes. If the NCC is to expand north, I just see them and Lowell probably taking issue with it. I hope I’m wrong, because I think it would be best for the Hammonds to join.

Exactly. Wheatfield is no man’s land and only in the NCC since they don’t fit anywhere else. They wouldn’t ever be booted though. East Chicago doesn’t have a prayer to get in the NCC or the Duneland for that matter (which is even more of a pipe dream). Way too disfunctional of a school Corp.

I don’t think Griffith returning to the NCC is that farfetched. The move to the GSSC was orchestrated by the old superintendent. The only problem is they keep getting smaller. If the current Griffith brass applied to the NCC and brought Hanover with them, they’d get in before Hammond High and Morton. Griffith plays half the NCC already (Highland, Hobart and Lowell). With Coach Robinson at the helm, I suspect they’ll return to being competitive. Being 4A and playing GSSC competition weeks 5-9 doesn’t get them reading for the sectional. At least it hasn’t 3 years in.

Correct. That gets alleviated a little with football divisions though. Only have to travel super far in the week 9 crossover game.

I suspect that a big part of Hammond High and Morton getting in is who they hire for ADs. Doug Friend of Gavit would be the right fit at Morton since they’re getting a majority of Gavit’s kids. I am also guessing they’d have to apply before they are invited since the southern schools would be hesitant. I don’t think Hanover is quite there yet. Let them grow to the 900-1000 mark first. 0% chance RC wants to leave the Hoosier. They wouldn’t be a fit anyway. Munster, Highland, Andrean and Hobart hate driving to Wheatfield as it is.

I agree with you. I just don’t think that Lowell and more likely KV will allow it to happen. I think it would be a 4-2 vote and I believe expansion needs to be unanimous per NCC bylaws. We shall see.