Ballhawk

Parke Heritage will never go far in the tourney giving up so many points. You can't just outscore everyone. Surprised by the margin in the Covington-Attica game. Thought is might be a little closer. Good win for RP. A win is a win. Who cares about who it was against? Sheridan ain't what it used to be. The old ball coach should have hung it up 10 years ago. It's sad to see what they've become.

Football reaches out to more than just the players on the team. The band and cheerleaders get to participate, as well as any students who help in support positions like managers and concession workers. That would reach out a little further in the student population. Even students in attendance are at a supervised event and not looking for other things to do. I don't agree with this as an investment. If you save one child from turning the wrong direction, what is that worth?

You can go to Grand Park on a Saturday and see thousands of fans all over the place, so hard to understand the difference. Are schools allowed to create their own plan for attendance?

This type of topic gets attention, but I can't disagree more with the notion that a school should just give up and call it quits. I think of a school like Caston. They had a long losing streak and barely enough kids to field a team. They've won two games this year, and are much more competitive. Two years ago they would have been told to fold up the team and let's concentrate on cross country and basketball. While there may not be research to back up the theory that playing keeps kids off the street or out of trouble, I would think giving them something to belong to and hold them accountable would be a good thing. I had kids who didn't play who I saw later hanging with the wrong people and getting in trouble, so from what I saw when they were on a team and following the rules they did stay out of mischief and keep their grades up.

This week's theme is cheesy homecoming sayings. Please read both sides at different speeds. Attica over Covington - "Bust the Trojans" - ok, you probably couldn't get away with this one, but we all thought it anyway. I'm not really sold on this pick, but I gotta go with the "Midnight" Ramblers in a 'tight' one. Riverton Parke over NC Farmersburg - "Shoot down the Thunderbirds" is the battle cry for RP. This is another one of those games that once you see it, you just want to scratch your eyes out. The Panthers score 2 in the bottom of the 7th to win 3-2. Parke Heritage over North Vermillion - "Ground the Falcons". I've never tried ground falcon, but I've heard it tastes like chicken if chicken were ground falcon. I don't think this is the year they "Tame the Wolves". Maybe "Dances with Wolves" would allow Coach Moore to show off his long ago disco moves. I'll bet he could really boogie back in the day. PH wins this one big. Sheridan over Seeger - don't bet against ole 9-time in this one. This is the rubber match with Coach King as Sheridan clipped the Rox at state in 2007 and then Seeger gets the win last year in West Lebanon. The Hawks will "March over the Patriots" on the field named after the head ball coach. I will ask this question - what is the over/under on how many timeouts Coach Wright uses in the first 3 minutes of the game. I've seen him use all 3 on the first series, so you never know. South Vermillion over Fountain Central - "Tame the Mustangs" or "Mustangs run out of gas", either way, this game will be a running clock midway through the second quarter. If there truly was a mercy rule, they'd run the clock through halftime so you can start the dance early. Good luck to all teams. It's great to see teams playing and not shut down. Let's hope it keeps going.

Why would you not want to win every championship available? I would say a conference championship is the start, then you want to win sectional, regional, semistate and state, but you can't say you haven't had a successful year if you ONLY win the conference. Whether the conference is down or not, it is still a championship. I'd have to disagree on the comment about it being pathetic.

My question is this: Are the players at Attica the same ones and is it the same coach? If not, then why do they deserve it now? Does FC deserve to be beaten down because they used to clobber everyone? I fail to see the logic when it is different kids and different coaches as to why the deserve to pay for past actions by people who are no longer associated with the team, town or school. I do hope teams aren't passing on games because they're afraid of injuries or getting beat. I've coached a lot of games where I knew we didn't stand a chance, but we still showed up and tried. Sometimes we surprised ourselves and did better than expected. If teams are canceling just to avoid a loss, that really sends a poor message to your kids.

West Lebanon was the Clippers & Pikers. Colors were gold, purple & white. West Lebanon was originally named Lebanon, but once the Lebanon in Boone County incorporated, the name was changed to West Lebanon. Interesting, since West Lebanon is only 65 miles from Lebanon. Not quite the relation of West Lafayette to Lafayette. No record of an East Lebanon.

The WRC is certainly down this year compared to previous seasons, but there still is a rich history in the conference, and some of them will bounce back as the talent cycles. Here's how I see your games for this week: NV over Attica - NV seems to be getting healthy and better each week. The Falcons probably need to win this game and the FC game to avoid the 1-win season, as PH & Seeger are probably favored over them in the coming weeks. The Ramblers are on life support. How many players do they have on the roster? Anyway, I'll take the Falcons over my mom's alma mater by 24+. Covington over South Newton - Do the Trojans still have that soft grass? That was the softest field I ever set foot on, but of course that was 40 years ago, so it's probably changed a little since then. The Rebels seniors have not won a football game in their HS careers. They looked better when I saw them earlier this season, but they still have a way to go. Rebels have a couple good linemen and a couple good backs, but the Trojans should still prevail. Seeger over FC - This used to be the big game in the WRC, but not so much this year. How many people know the Patriots were the Indians when the school opened? I have seen the basketball warm-up that pops wore. My picture is the helmet he wore for Seeger in the early 60s. I have the helmet in my office now. The Mustangs are nothing like the teams of old, at least not this year. The Patriots should win this one easily. RP over Cloverdale - Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? Take the Panthers and some aspirin over the Clovers. Parke Heritage over South Vermillion - The Wolves (why were Rockville & Turkey Run consolidated and Riverton Parke left out?) may not necessarily be beating the Green Bay Packers every week, but they are winning and winning big. Coach Moore may be seen as an opportunist, but he wins wherever he goes. I like Coach, he may be arrogant sometimes, but I've been known to be that way myself every once in a while. He should be wary of the Wildcats, who apparently are the favorites to run the table in 2A this year. Have they backtracked from all that talk now that Sullivan brought them back to earth. Anyway, if the SV players are aware of all the SEC & Big 12 scouts watching these D1 recruits, it could be a major distraction. I'll take the coaching of the Wolves over the Wildcats this week. Have some fun with these. If these picks bother you, get over it. If you'd like to convince me how wrong I am, get to it. I love the WRC and the area around Attica, Williamsport, West Lebanon, Veedersburg & Judyville. It's where my roots are, so good luck to all the teams this week and I hope they all get to play.

It's nice to come back and still see the LCC/Tipton love affair. Back in the day, the elder Coach Tolle would have run a flea flicker up 50 in the last minute of a game. How quickly people forget the good old days! Thanks for the reading guys. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Seeger had canceled their game with Benton Central and were able to return and play TL. Were the cases at TL related to the football team and their exposure to Seeger in the game Friday?

Both Hamilton SE and Fishers HS are operating virtually and playing sports.

I choose all 5. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday. How can you say games or championships aren't important?

There were some pretty talented teams that won the state title or came pretty close at Attica, Seeger, Fountain Central & North Vermillion. Josh Smith from Attica was one of the best 1A players I have ever seen. I'm not doubting the players at SV, but the proof is in the pudding and we'll see how their season plays out.

Hey Nowlin, I'm back! Looking forward to sharing a Wagonmaster with you when North Newton and Rensselaer meet. Hope all is well and looking forward to seeing you my friend.