tango

LOL, not sure but love the passion I guess. Pence will be the QB and has a lot of the same skills as Lindauer had - can move the pocket & extend plays, run, and has a strong arm. Central has to be the pre-season SIAC favorite, but they have to replace as many if not more starters from last year as anyone in the upper part of the conference. Should be an interesting year in the SIAC.

Yes it was an absolutely brutal way to lose for Southridge - 3 critical mistakes - E on throw to 1st after dropped 3rd strike on what would have been the final out, CF missing cut-off on hit that tied the game, then the miscommunication on the pop up to shallow LF. Per IHSAA website, 2 day attendance was down by a little over 400 from 2018, which isn't that big of an issue I suppose...

I don't want to beat up on Boonville because I think Coach Ward is building something good there, but I agree the AD's comment about being undefeated and barely beating Bosse didn't show much faith.

The Wk 1 crowds when they've played us at Enlow have always been pretty good.

A lot of schools already play Jasper and Lincoln in multiple sports, so adding them as a conference opponent isn't all that big of a change. I think the biggest benefit is what some have already said, it makes scheduling football easier and brings in 2 schools that have good athletic programs overall. As I've said previously, I would have preferred Jasper and Boonville or Jasper and Gibson Southern, but I'm fine with Lincoln too. I do know several SIAC schools have had problems scheduling non-conference opponents in football at times. I know we have, in part because other conferences don't always use Weeks 1 & 2 for non-conference opponents. Jasper is definitely a good gate addition for football and basketball, which are the only consistent gate revenue sports for most schools. As an example, Jasper will be a better football gate draw for Reitz than Henderson County. Mater Dei currently plays Indian Creek and Whiting in non-conference football, so this move will save them travel costs and I suspect both Jasper and Lincoln will travel better than either of those 2. At this point, I'm not a fan of adding 2 more schools and going to 2 divisions.

Unless of course you live in any part of the state that requires driving more than an hour or so to Indy and you have to work the next day... I would have preferred the IHSAA to use another facility on the weekend and skip Victory Field this time around. I think it will really impact attendance unless the participants are all from the Indy donut..

I don't see that doing much for you guys, do you? I think I'd rather leave the PAC as is and have the ability to schedule some quality non-conf opponents like you guys have been trying to do the last few years. I sure as heck wouldn't want a guaranteed football game every other year at Washington and risk injuries...

They are both pretty dang good pizza IMO. I agree 100% with your comment about having the stones to compete at a higher level.

No idea, but it could be a very cool set-up if they would put some money toward it.

Washington brings zero to the table for the SIAC and the football field is flat-out dangerous.

I don't see MV as a big benefit to SIAC at all, but just wonder if GS is trying to find a date to the party.. LOL

Must be. It doesn't make sense for them to not want in. Has GS approached any other schools? MV?

According to my source, Jasper was always looking SIAC and had Lincoln ready to commit early on if the SIAC was open to the idea. Same person told me Boonville is not the school that got cold feet, it was the 2 schools they were trying to pair up with. In any event, I like where the SIAC is as a 10 school conference and hope they stay there.

I'm not sure what happened to editing, but anyway... Adding Lincoln gives more opportunities for Bobe's Pizza. Plus, Lincoln's basketball pep band jams.

I agree, especially when you consider overall athletic programs. Jasper and Lincoln were a package deal. But it solves a lot of problems for SIAC schools in football and shouldn't be a huge undertaking for the ADs from a scheduling standpoint since a lot of SIAC schools already play Jasper and Lincoln in other sports.

Yeah, I agree. While I'm a little surprised, it's surprised is a good way overall. With the exception of the IN-KY border bowl series, I know we've always had trouble finding a Wk 2 opponent sicne the series with Lincoln ended. Only drawback is it eliminates any chance of any Indy-Evansville challenge weekend, which is something I've always thought Memorial, Mater Dei, Reitz and Castle should try to get together and do. Welcome to the SIAC Jasper and Lincoln!!

Seems to me its an even better question for the stronger PAC programs like GS, HH & SR. Adding MV, Washington & Princeton doesn't do them any good good and eliminates any chance of scheduling better competition in non-conference. I would imagine GS will object to adding anyone but Boonville.

The decision on divisions will be very interesting. It makes a huge difference in the main revenue sports (football & boys basketball). Currently, all SIAC schools keep the gate when they are home team, including the parochial schools who "rent" EVSC's Enlow and Reitz Bowl for the janitor fees. From what I understand, the EVSC then pools all the gate from its 5 schools and splits it among those 5 schools (to the chagrin of Reitz fans). Based on my observations of football over the last 30+ years (the largest gate revenue sport), the schools that consistently bring the most fans to away games would be Jasper, Gibson Southern, Memorial, Mater Dei, Castle, & Reitz. That would be a great division in terms of competition (in most every sport). But, with the exception of Central in recent years, the other schools don't typically bring a lot of fans. So, depending on the split, one division could be a large revenue pool and the other not so much. Deciding this issue could be where the loss of the EVSC majority control might be an issue.

I like it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I'd be fine with Jasper (and more so of Boonville) in the SIAC. Not a fan of VL joining. I realize its about the same distance, but I hate the drive up 41. If I had to rank the schools I'd like to see in the SIAC, it would be Gibson Southern & Boonville (equally), then Jasper, Mt. Vernon.

I think there is a much greater chance of the SIAC adding 1 school than adding 2. Adding 2 would mean the 5 EVSC schools would no longer have majority control of the conference.

Yep, Mr. Condry does a helluva good thing for IN HS football.

You don't like the SEC? It kills me to say it, but from a purely football perspective the one place I would not want to see Allen go is ND. And that's only because Brian Kelly always favors mobile QBs over pro-style QBs (and is still annoying IMO).

LOL. Never thought of it that way before, but yep, you're right, there's only a handful of football-playing schools south of Evansville Central... Reitz, Reitz Memorial, Mater Dei, Harrison, Bosse, Castle, Mt. Vernon, Tell City & South Spencer.

Not arguing GID policy, but he's already resigned and made it known to the local media that he expects to be approved at another school on 4/15. If for some reason the new position isn't approved, it won't be because of anything that has been posted on the GID. Personally, I'm sad to see him go. There is no question he made positive and much-needed changes in the historically undisciplined Bears football program, and of course the result in his one year speaks for itself. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out and whether the new coach, whoever it turns out to be, can maintain the same positive trajectory. If history tells us anything, there will be new (old) challenges next season.