oldunclemark

Merrillville 48, 6A No. 3 (52 points per game) Jefferson 14 ..........maybe you spoke the truth😏

1st three games postponed....quarantine..... 15-20 games postponed every night the first week. CP was 26-1 last year. Now to open at Warsaw on Nov 21 at LaPorte Nov. 25....at Lawrence North on Nov. 28 CP at 2A No. 1 Linton Stockton (at New Castle) on Jan. 9 (hopefully)

Knight man, If you can access the 'WJOB Network' out of Hammond, there is a good broadcast of the Calumet-Hanover Central game.

All six No.1s won sectionals, right?

Elkhart is largely an unknown at this level...... you know..a first year consolidation of Elkhart Central and Elkhart Memorial... ....The 14-10 Elkhart win over a Chesterton team that Merrillville beat 34-10 might be a 'tell'

Its relevant and its mentioned because its unusual (almost unheard of) that five starters from one school end up at another school. Not five players. Five starters. All future college players at some level. Merrillville has a once-in-a generation team. But lets be clear. It is not a knock or a criticism of Merrillville to say they got five transfers. Two of the boys transferred last summer and the other three moved after the Covid-19 virus shut down Morton's program. It just happened. One of the 'Morton transfers' is Jo Jo Johnson, who, its my understanding, was originally at Merrillville as a freshman. When he was at Morton, he was a Merrillville transfer. Who cares of we mention it? Its part of the story. Andrean's QB is a transfer from Illinois. Valparaiso got an all-state transfer at QB from Jefferson and he is always referred to as Jefferson transfer Max Grimes. . Elkhart is a consolidation of two entire varsity teams. In many senses, half their team is 'transfers'. It is what it is. This is a very, very, very unusual year.

Help me, out Stax. There's a mile or two between Northwest Indiana and Fortville. Have you seen Mt. Vernon...? What do they have?. What is their competition...? Are they going to beat Roncalli? Hobart may see East Noble again at the semistate. Rematch of last year.

HOBART (11-6-20) Old school defensive battle. No one scored the last eight times they had the ball. It was 10-7 in the second quarter Lowell had to go without three offensive starters who were in quarantine including their top running back. But Hobart lost a 3-year linebacker Cam Smith to an injury. 22nd sectional for the Brickies.....Lowell has 15 Relatively (to past years) small crowd (maybe 1,500) but they were really into it. The better team won. Just not by much.

Exactly. When we made the decision to go with the season, we made the decision to go with the tournament.... We may lose a dozen teams along the way but we'll have 6 champs... ..and money to keep the IHSAA going does matter. Each week, obviously, half as many teams will still be playing.... We're going all the way.......

I heard that EC didnt have many players, coach. Their season was so much in question in August. I heard they had low numbers, If they lost a couple. they were done. Southwood wow. They beat some good 3As.... You are right...1As and 2As are really vulnerable. Big schools can take a hit. Small ones just cant sit a dozen players and go on.. You probably cant have contact drills in practice, can you?

Sorry, Ball-Man. The above message was meant for you. (maybe you and Bob) For the record, if we're talking about how 'old school' we all are... I have worn out three cars 'wandering Indiana' for high school sports since the mid 1980s. Ever see the opening sequence in 'Hoosiers'. I could swear those old roads Gene Hackman was driving down. I swear I've driven them. I'd bet you have, too,. But gentlemen, have you ever gone to the state finals and cornered some official from the IHSAA and offered them your deeply held convictions about how state prep sports should be run? You'll get an answer.

Bob. It does not matter what I know. I agree 100%. You and I have clearly lived in different places and seen different things. You say you know of a school where no one has ever walked to a football game. I have never been to that school. To me, the beauty of fall football is to see the folks walking through town in places like Highland or North Judson or Griffith or Whiting or LaPorte or Crown Point to go to the games. You should see it. But walkups is not the ONLY reason I was told that the IHSAA likes neutral site playoff games. Do you know of a school where more fans/parents go to road football games than to home games. Of course we dont. That's why neutral site playoff games as a rule, probably isnt going to happen. As I said, when I was a young 'city slicker' I took my 'closed mind' downstate many times for state finals in lots of sports and I would ask questions of IHSAA people about the all-inclusive tournament, Saturday and Thursday football, the overtime format, (the even-worse overtime soccer format), teams being forced to play 2 soccer games in one day in the state tournament, teams being forced to play two basketball playoff games in the same day, etc. I had all the answers. And I wasn't shy about asking. You know how us folks from the big city are, right? The one thing I've changed my mind on in my time following other people's children playing sports is: I used to think that the IHSAA was a lot of 'closed-minded' people who spent most of their entire lives in education and athletics and had acquired the 'arrogance of education', an attitude that they knew what they were doing. They were so smart that they were not inclined to listen to guy who wasn't a coach or an educator whose walked up to them at some state finals with a pen and clipboard and camera and whose job it was to cover my local high schools most of my entire life. As the years have gone by, I've have come to appreciate that the IHSAA is a lot of 'closed minded' but thoughtful people who have spent their entire lives in education and athletics, acquiring the 'arrogance of education, an attitude that they know what they are doing. They cant listen to what 10 people tell them to do. They are probably smart not to listen to a guy who wasnt a coach or an educator who walked up to them at a state finals with a pen and a clipboard and a camera and whose job it was to cover my local high schools most of my entire life. The moral: The IHSAA has almost certainly considered everything you and I have discussed. Just ask 'em.

Good effort here B-62!

I grew up in Illinois and we loved watching big games Saturday in the sun. It felt like the NFL. (When I was young, al NFL playoff games were played in the afternoon) They have a lot of neutral site regular season and playoff games inn Illinois because many Chicago schools dont have exclusive home fields. Mine did not. No double-headers for Indiana, though. To bring 4 schools to a neutral site in November weather might be a mess. And few teams would want to play or host Saturday night.

For the record, I've never been to Tri County except to drive by on the highway. Been to North Newton for multiple sports. In every school in Northwest Indiana, kids walk to the football game. Kids walk from places that you and I wouldnt walk. For the record, South Central and LaCrosse have no basketball bleachers on the far side. Has nothing to do with who goes to the games. Neutral sites regional and semistate football games would lose the IHSAA money and, would lose the 'feel' of having a home team. That's not debatable. More people attend home games than road games. Always have. Always will. I've been to at least 10 semistate games (I assume you have been to some, too) at several different schools and you have to admit it is the ultimate in drama. Senior boys who have played on this field all their lives play one final game there to reach the state finals,. I was told the IHSAA likes that atmosphere. You can call me or them liars but that's what I was told. I dont like the all-inclusive state playoff. They do. the larger point you are missing is: It is the ultimate of hubris for you to assume that your opinion (or me to assume that mine) has never been considered. The subject of neutral site playoff games has has come up. I've asked. I was answered. A message board argument is unlikely to break new ground.

Maybe I should get down to Rensselaer. God's Country!.

Sure didn't 😉.

One team should have home field so the IHSAA can draw the most fans, Bob. That's the answer. You're not hearing me. They dont care how you and I feel. Its the IHSAA's tournament and they have no reason to change. They apparently feel that alternating arbitrary home sites is fair. They want home sites. I guess you missed the moral of my little E-true Hollywood story story. I have asked that question that you ask and I'm telling you the answer I got. . They dont agree with you and they dont care how you and I feel.

Folks walk to the football game at North Newton, Ball. Havent been there for many years but I've been there and they do./ . I've never been to a school where, kids didnt walk to the game. Neutral site games take that away. When I was in high school in Illinois, we didnt have a home field and I walked to all our 'home' games. But the field was only 14-15 blocks away. I dont understand the reason to try neutral site games in Indiana but you do so you may be missing my larger point. When I was young, I thought I knew everything so I'd go downstate (for my newspaper) with teams and I'd give them a piece of my mind. I'd ask someone from the IHSAA about seeding. Or Saturday football. Or a 10-game regular season. Or the all-inclusive state tourney. Or the horrible overtime format. Or neutral site games. I would tell them what I think. Then the very pleasant HSAA fellow would look at me, ask me where I was from and smile politely. And then he would sound like 'The Rock' on the old wrestling shows when he would say very kindly, "It doesn't matter what you think!!!!" The answer was: We want games played on home sites. We want that home sellout. That atmosphere. Then the nice IHSAA fellow would remind me that I got in for free and that if I ever wanted to ever get in for free again, that I should sit down and shut up.

Not my experience OT QB. Most coaches dont want to play Saturday because it changes the routine of the team. Players are creatures of habit and coaches do not want to change their season-long habit. Again, that is NOT my opinion. That is what I've been told over and over by multiple coaches. I agree with everyone here who says that Saturday afternoon regional and semistate games in November would be a beautiful thing. I dont want a thousand of my fans traveling at night. Days games get warmer as they go along. Night games get colder. But there is a not a lot for support for Saturday games in my part of the state....When I suggest it, I get a dirty look and am told to go watch the movie 'Friday Night Lights'

I agree with Saturday play..but, as you may find out Ball, very few coaches want to play on Saturday.. I love Saturday afternoon playoff football. I think half the state tourney should be on Friday and the other half should be on Saturday (as the finals are) But we are in the vast minority. ..and we're not talking 10 miles to a nuetral site. We're talking rfegional and semistaes so we're talking 40-50 miles. Kids walk to school at every high school on earth. Nobody walks 50 miles to a football game at night in November.... I cant swear to you that it wont work since its never been done. I'm just saying that in 100 years of following other people's children, I've asked a lot of these questions (including this one) and the answer is: The IHSAA will not consider neutral site football playoff games because they like sellouts on home sites. . .

You mean like Lowell. Cedar Lake. I''ll try to getdown there once in awhile.

No sir. Every school I have ever been to has kids who walk to the game because they are too young to drive.. Its high school

Take the week off.. 4As dont get a bye week..and KV needs it