XStar

3 hours ago, Whiting89 said:

Donated 30 even though I have an ad blocker and don’t get ads just did it because I’m a good person

Thank you!  If everyone was a good, stand-up person like you, we'd meet that goal in no time.  

1 hour ago, PHJIrish said:

And you should be a lot less militant about telling folks to donate to the site!

And if telling someone this is not the place to vent your political beliefs is militant, heaven help you!

Adults can understand that the condition a school system is a direct reflection of how it is run which runs into the type of stuff you're afraid to discuss.  It's also the underlying problem related to why the football programs, along with everything else in SBCSC, are failing.  That's not political opinion.  That's a matter of fact whether we're looking at results on the football field or in the classroom.  Please make use of the link below.  

https://gridirondigest.net/clients/donations/3-2021-22-budget/

59 minutes ago, Irishman said:

The problem with just saying "look who the people voted for Mayor" has nothing to do with the politics in education. 

Don't disagree.  

5 minutes ago, globemstr3 said:

Maybe its like Linton. They dont want to do it?

If that's the case, they (Luers) probably wouldn't be mad when they see public schools getting it.  

Just now, foxbat said:

Western's 6-3, but two of their loses have come to West Lafayette and one to 5A Kokomo who has only dropped games to 5A Harrison and 6A Jeff.

Yeah.  I also watched them beat Western Boone who is currently 89th.  Like I said, something seems funky with the Hoosier Conference rankings for some reason.  I tend to think they are undervalued currently.  

2 hours ago, jakone said:

It's frustrating for Luers parents and fans when we see one public school after another getting field turf paid for by taxes that they have to pay into. By  the way I'd rather have crap facilities than a crap program.

My understanding is that most schools fund their turf privately but I admittedly don't know the details on many of them.  Penn has had turf for a long time now but I recall them soliciting private donations for it.  Still surprising to me that Luers can't find a way to fund it.  Off the top of my head, I know they have professional football and baseball players that have made pretty good money and I'm sure there are some other wealthy families in the fold.  

59 minutes ago, johnny U said:

A few kids are making a difference at Marian and New Prairie.  You can add LaVille and Glenn also.

This is true whether it is the cause of St. Joe's problems or the result of them.  I tend to think the latter.  I don't think many people outside the area understand the alternatives to the South Bend schools.  Marian and St. Joe are only separated by 4 miles.  Only 5 between St. Joe and Mishawaka.  There are plenty of reasonable, viable options to the east, west, and south also if your kid wants to play on a winning football team other than schools with "South Bend" in their name.  I think when St. Joe shows some promise, they'll start getting more of those players from the area.  Until then, they'll probably flock to Marian if they want the Catholic education and perhaps one the closer public schools outside of South Bend if they don't care about going Catholic.  

I have a friend that coaches girl's basketball and the last time the St. Joe job was open I asked him if he'd be interested in it and, to my surprise given their success in that program historically, he said no and cited uncompetitive pay as the reason.  Maybe that's an issue in other sports as well.  I'm not sure.  I'd really be surprised if Marian can afford better coaches than St. Joe but perhaps that's the case?

Just now, 07_statechamp54 said:

 

To both points, I think you can’t overlook Eastbrook or Tipton in the North and as well as Scecina and Heritage Christian in the South. That game this Friday is a big one. 

I have a hard time with the SOS for both.  Eastbrook hasn't played a team this season with a Sagarin in the top 120.  Sounds like they had an opportunity to pick one up a few weeks ago (Harrison) and passed on it.  I just don't think that sets you up to beat Luers or Andrean.  

Likewise, Tipton hasn't played a game against a top 100 team.  I do think the Hoosier Conference is a bit undervalued in the rankings for whatever reason right now because I think both Western and LCC are top 100 teams (they have them just outside of the top 100 right now) and Tipton has played those 2 teams three times. 

Anyway, the SOS for both is in the mid 200's.  I could be wrong, but I don't like either of those two to knock off Luers this season.  I'd love to be wrong about Tipton though.  

You could be right about Scecina though.  They've played a top-100 schedule and appear to have improved as the season progressed.  Have a hard time processing the loss to Speedway but those don't always mean alot.  I mean, Western Boone lost their first game to Sheridan last year and Luers started the tournament with a losing record.  Most of the time, competitive games, even losses, to good teams tell you more about yourself than routing terrible teams 50-0.  

36 minutes ago, Lysander said:

Clearly South Bend has problems and no doubt politics likely plays a big part in it, but even a program that was pretty legit just 8-10 years ago like SB St. Joe has fallen off the edge the Earth in recent years.  
 

Curious, so aside from a political failure in the city, there would appear to be other major factors at play - at least in the case of St. Joe….or are their woes stemming from something altogether different?  To a point, one might think they would directly benefit from the woes of their local public schools in terms of public school kids moving over but there is no evidence of that happening - at least on the gridiron so far.

BTW, thanks for indirectly reminding me that I need to ante up again as well.  Just keep forgetting.

For St. Joe, I think it's just as simple as they haven't been the same since the Downey's left.  

The problems with the public South Bend schools I've been told we can't talk about here.  

38 minutes ago, PHJIrish said:

I'm an old retired man, cancer survivor and CHF survivor.  If I had expendable cash I'd be delighted to support this site.  I'm lucky to be able to get to the games.  Maybe you should remember that all folks aren't financially sound before you go accusing them of free loading.

I never said anything about free loading.  My suggestion was that if you want to run around here and pretend like you run the site and tell people to take their conversation elsewhere, perhaps you should at least contribute $30 a year to support the site.  If you can't afford it, that's fine.  Not everyone can.  I'd just be a little less militant about telling others what to talk about.  

See these possibilities.

North:  Luers, Andrean, Eastside

South:  Linton-Stockton, Mater Dei

Would not be shocked by any of those 5.  Anyone outside of that group would be somewhere between surprising and shocking depending on who it is.  

4 hours ago, PHJIrish said:

Believe me, I'm not afraid of anything political!  This just isn't the place to have that kind of discussion.  If you can't stick to just discussing football, then move on.

First, I haven't gone beyond the football part of this.  Second, maybe you should consider supporting this site financially before you go running around trying to dictate what everyone discusses?

10 hours ago, PHJIrish said:

Take your political feelings to a more appropriate website, PLEASE!

In this case, the two are tied together.  If you lived here, you'd know that.  I'm fine if people here are afraid to discuss such things but it's not possible to appropriately address the question asked without going down that road.  It's like trying to explain why the radio in a car won't work without discussing the fact that the car was totaled in an accident.  Football is the least of the problems of South Bend schools and not any sort of priority whatsoever of those running things.  Nor should it be.  I won't go any further down that road than that because that's where the football stops and the stuff you're afraid to talk about begins.  

I haven't seen enough of GS to know exactly what their offense looks like.  Obviously they have quite the passing game with Allen at QB.  I'll throw the same question here as I do for Luers in 2A.  If weather negates that passing game some weekend, could that create issues trying to beat a good team or is their running game and defense good enough to get it done should it not be able to move the ball through the air in a regional or semi-state game?

3 hours ago, Yuccaguy said:

Sir Hale #2 may have a LOT to say about that.  Luers is a multi-dimensional threat. 

He spoke to me after the Snider game, and I truly believe that he is on a PERSONAL mission .... ground-wise.   

Eh.  I'm sure he's good and he'll get his stats because other teams will go into that matchup trying to stop the passing game.  Lots of running backs would run wild in that offense.  Clark and Glenn drive that bus though.  

Still think Luers could be vulnerable if the weather neutralizes their passing game in the wrong week.  Otherwise, it's theirs to lose.  

6 minutes ago, from_the_sidelines007 said:

Since you brought it up and wish to continue the discussion about how irrelavant the field in 34 really is, let's take a look at all of the 2A North Sectionals.

According to Harrell, 36 would prove to be the most irrelavant . . .  far behind the field in 34.

In 34 three teams are given at least a 21% chance of winning the sectional.

The other three have clear-cut favorites with only a small chance of the remainder of the field to even have a shot at winning at sectional. Tipton and Eastside are the only teams given a chance according to Harrell.  To me it is more relavant to at least have a chance to win, than to have little to any chance at all.

On any given night, an upset can and will happen.  But I guess that is why we play the games!

I guess that is why everyone is included in the state tournament draw and not just a selected number from the schools in the state that offer football.

 

as always, the game is better

from_the_sidelines007

 

CLASS 2A
SECTIONAL 33
	SECT	REGN	SEMI	STATE
Andrean	73.58%	62.71%	33.05%	20.17%
Rensselaer Central	12.04%	5.89%	.98%	.21%
Wheeler	8.26%	4.35%	.82%	.20%
Whiting	3.77%	.58%	.02%	.00%
North Newton	1.40%	.35%	.02%	.00%
Boone Grove	.76%	.06%	.00%	.00%
Hammond Noll	.16%	.01%	.00%	.00%
Bowman Academy	.03%	.00%	.00%	.00%
SECTIONAL 34
	SECT	REGN	SEMI	STATE
Pioneer	41.07%	11.85%	2.38%	.62%
Bremen	22.32%	6.21%	1.19%	.29%
LaVille	21.48%	5.77%	1.05%	.25%
Delphi	5.49%	.78%	.06%	.01%
Manchester	4.43%	.75%	.07%	.01%
Rochester	3.65%	.57%	.05%	.01%
Lewis Cass	1.21%	.11%	.00%	.00%
Wabash	.34%	.02%	.00%	.00%
SECTIONAL 35
	SECT	REGN	SEMI	STATE
Fort Wayne Luers	63.70%	43.93%	30.20%	20.29%
Eastside	27.22%	14.50%	7.82%	3.99%
Central Noble	6.06%	1.76%	.55%	.15%
Fairfield	1.74%	.39%	.10%	.02%
Woodlan	.69%	.09%	.01%	.00%
Bluffton	.33%	.04%	.01%	.00%
Prairie Heights	.26%	.02%	.00%	.00%
Whitko	.00%	.00%	.00%	.00%
SECTIONAL 36
	SECT	REGN	SEMI	STATE
Eastbrook	55.25%	27.79%	17.22%	10.29%
Tipton	30.21%	8.17%	3.20%	1.11%
Lapel	12.48%	3.12%	1.15%	.37%
Eastern (Greentown)	1.20%	.15%	.03%	.01%
Alexandria	.45%	.02%	.00%	.00%
Frankton	.29%	.02%	.00%	.00%
Blackford	.06%	.00%	.00%	.00%
Elwood	.06%	.00%	.00%	.00%

 

Who cares?  If you put 8 of the worst teams in the class in one sectional and they all have exactly 12.5% chance to win it, that doesn't make the sectional relevant.  Competitive, perhaps, but not relevant.  The other sectionals have at least one top-ten ranked team, if not two.  As I stated earlier, it would be a tremendous upset for whoever wins 34 to advance further which is what makes it irrelevant.  

No Lebanon-Western Boone discussion this week?  Has the Norman run surfaced on social media yet?

On 10/10/2021 at 2:28 AM, Badger718 said:

Tipton wants to stay in the Hoosier. Great conference with a good mix of schemes! Helps get you ready for the tournament.

I think there are plenty of reasons for Tipton to stay in the Hoosier Conference, but they've only won 1 sectional in the last 7 seasons so I'm not sure that is the strongest argument.  It has more to do with the two terrible non-conference games they usually schedule though.  Elwood and Madison-Grant (or Frankton) don't do anything for them at all.  

21 minutes ago, from_the_sidelines007 said:

You don't have to participate in this thread. Especailly since it is the least relevant sectional in 2A North!

 

If you want to interact about other sectionals, please do so.

 

This thread was started for Class 2A Sectional 34, not public and private schools.

 

moving on . . . .

 

as always, the game is better

from_the_sidelines007

 

 

 

I've discussed this sectional and how poor the field is this season.  Not much more to be said about that.  If someone else wants to discuss public/privates, I'll engage that as well.  

5 minutes ago, from_the_sidelines007 said:

Thank You For Helping Us Get Back On Topic . . . . I was just about to put the same thing!

 

Those of you that want to talk about public and private schools can start another topic.

 

Back To Class 2A Sectional 34 Talk . . . .  

 

as always, the game is better

from_the_sidelines007

 

Yes.  Certainly we want to stay focused on the least relevant sectional in 2A North!!

32 minutes ago, BendNotBreak said:

To put 3A north in contex.... all time.... WL is 3-2 in Title games... the 2 Ls being dealt by Chatard..... MM hasnt been ther since they petitiond up from 1A to win 2A in 1975 n 1976... in a 3 class system... n havnt been seen since.... The Preppies resume has been... bridesmaids twice recently... 3 n 4 yrs apart .. if they return again this yr... a 3rd time to State could very well b the charm for them...... n they've knocked out WL before.... if the River Rats do manage to get past the Jesuits.... i think the odds for ensuing kaos become slightly higher in the north....  Danville being the most likly culprit..... 

Your statement regarding Marian may be true but also ignores the fact they were almost inarguably the second best team in 3A just last season and was the only team to come within 10 points of Chatard in the tournament.  They aren't the same team as last season, but they have been one of the better programs in the class over the last six seasons.  6 straight sectionals and 4 regionals in that stretch.  Their 4 semi-state losses were to West Lafayette, Brebeuf, and Chatard twice.  Two of those losses were by less than a touchdown.  They haven't reached the summit but they're knocking on the door.  I'm not sure they are better than Brebeuf this season but I've certainly seen bigger upsets happen.  It's not like we're talking about Crawfordsville or something.  

I certainly wouldn't rule out a run by Marian.  They've played a tough schedule and a bunch of larger schools and appear to have improved from when I saw them play earlier in the year.  They also have one of the top playmakers in 3A in Greg Atkinson.  I wouldn't be that surprised if they beat Brebeuf or West Lafayette.  I'm certainly expecting them to play one of those two and I don't think they'll be in over their heads in that matchup.  

In the south, I'm going with Danville.  I hope Gibson Southern plays up to their lofty ranking but want to see them go to state sometime before I predict it to happen.  

At the end of the day, most are probably expecting a matchup of 2 future Boilermakers with Strickland chasing Allen around on Thanksgiving weekend.

1 hour ago, FarmerFran said:

I personally could care less if private schools are in 1 or 2A. It goes by enrollment, get better and beat them or complain and keep losing. If your team goes in with the mindset that its unfair that they are playing a private school odds are they're going to lose. The thing that does perplex me if you are a team like Andrean or Luers and you only play 4,5 and 6A schools all regular season, why do you even want to be in the 2A tournament?

Love this point.  Exactly the way I would be thinking if I played or coaches for one of those small-school power programs.  Why do I want to end my season with a walk-through of the playoffs that represent worse competition than I've been facing all season long.  I would want winning to mean something, even if that means you risk losing at a competitive level rather than winning at a lower level you'd dominate. 

Schools have an opportunity to opt up to play in a higher class, and props to the couple of schools that have voluntarily chosen to do that in the past.  I'm pretty sure Mishawaka opted to play in 5A for a cycle when they would've been 4A otherwise.  I think I remember a 2nd program did so as well but the school escapes me at the moment.

On 10/12/2021 at 1:10 AM, Miner_Pride said:

The two schools met for 4 years from 1974 thru 1977 with Linton winning the 1st three meeting.

Hear there is still alot of bad blood from those meetings.  

10 hours ago, LionKing said:

Really going out on the limb there with those 2A North private schools with 5A talent.  No private schools should be playing in 1A or 2A. 

Not meant to shock anyone but it does represent a change from the past number of seasons where there were teams from this sectional who could and did compete with those teams.  Pioneer did all but knock out Luers last season and very well might have if not for a key injury in that game.  Luers were quite fortunate to come out on top there.  Lewis Cass was top ranked going into the 2019 playoffs if I'm not mistaken.

As for whether those private schools should be in 2A, I guess I don't see a huge problem with it.  A private school hasn't actually won the class the past 4 years and only got to the title game last year in that stretch.  Yeah, Luers could rip off a 5-year stretch of titles at any given point in time but SF will elevate them above 2A if that is the case now.  I don't know if they are subject to SF rules after this year or next year but if it's this season then they might be in 3A next year if they go deep again as expected at this point.