Bobref

Great catch by the officiating crew to offer WEBO the option to have the game clock start on the snap following enforcement, since it’s inside of 2:00.

And if you’re Luers, you don’t score. Game over.

Luers answers. 14-13. 4 TDs in the first 16:46 of play.

WEBO with a nice drive following a good kickoff return. 13-7. 8:59 of the 2nd.

Luers answers immediately with a quick drive, including a long pass play. 7-7. 3:58 of the 1st.

“Simple” and “easy” are great ... if you’re talking about puzzles. But that doesn’t mean they are “best.” The “best” solution is one that can be implemented easily, sure, but it also should address the problem, and fix it with the fewest negative consequences, i. e., collateral damage. The SF doesn’t “punish” anyone (I think that’s the word you meant to use.). But I understand how using loaded words like that serves your agenda. The SF is an attempt to go right to the “problem” and fix it at the root, not use a broad, non-specific remedy that accomplishes the purpose, in part, but throws out a lot of babies with the bathwater.. The complaint people have about the PPs is that the playing field is not level. But even the most rabid anti-PPers have to admit that some PPs do not use their inherent advantages to achieve football success. If the objective of the class system is for like opponents to be matched (within reason), then only those who use advantages, and are therefore not “like” their other class members should be targeted. That’s what the SF does, and that’s what a multiplier doesn’t do. And logically, there is no justification for not using the SF on publics as well. No one would seriously argue that publics like Munster & Carmel don’t have a significant socioeconomic advantage over fellow publics that translates to higher extracurricular participation rates, better facilities, and if you want to dig deeper, probably better nutrition and health care. Those that utilize these advantages to excell over the long term in football are no more “like” their fellow publics than are the PPs. If they show that they have had disproportionate success relative to their class competition, then obviously they have tilted the playing field. If the goal is “like” vs. “like,” they also should be affected by whatever tool you are using to level the playing field. If your goal is to “level the playing field” as much as possible, then the SF is a far superior solution. On the other hand, if your goal is simply to slap down the damn Catholics, the multiplier is for you. Just adjust the multiplier till you get to the point where the PPs are winning championships at the same rate as the publics, regardless of the consequences to those PPs like Bishop Noll and Park Tudor. Simple and easy, sure. But fair? I don’t think so.

Because that’s he way the SEC used to do it. They were the last conference to sign on to the national mechanics.

The guy plays a lot bigger than that.

On a positive note, Wisconsin’s game vs. Minnesota has canceled. This leaves Wisconsin with Only 5 B1G games this season, one less than the minimum number of games necessary to be eligible to appear in the championship game. So, unless they change the rules, they’re out.

I saw this kid play 3 times this season. Quite an athlete, he’s slated to play corner in college. Also an early enrollee. https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Article/JoJo-Johnson-Commitment-to-Notre-Dame-Football-Fighting-Irish-Cornerback--155260656/ BREAKING: Cornerback JoJo Johnson Commits to Notre Dame ByTOM LOY Notre Dame continues to add quality athletes to its 2021 recruiting class, as one of the more talented two-way prospects from the midwest committed to playing ball in South Bend with the Fighting Irish today. Notre Dame has added a commitment from Merrillville (Ind.) high school three-star cornerback JoJo Johnson , who wasted no time jumping on the scholarship offer he received from the Irish coaching staff late Sunday night. The 5-11, 180-pounder has been high on Notre Dame for a very long time, so it's no shocker to see him joining the class after receiving the good news from cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and recruiting coordinator / special teams coordinator Brian Polian over the weekend. Johnson chose Notre Dame over scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue and others. Both Irish Illustrated insider Tom Loy and 247Sports National Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong tossed in 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions for Notre Dame as soon as Johnson landed the coveted offer. “Coach Mickens was recruiting me from Cincinnati. When he left, he stayed in touch with me for a while. One day he told me they were going to start recruiting me and that coach Brian Kelly really liked me,” said Johnson after landing the offer from Notre Dame. “[Sunday], coach Polian and coach Mickens and I were on a Zoom meeting. We were talking about the school and stuff about it. Then, at the end, we were talking and they said they wanted to offer me. “It feels amazing,” he added of the Notre Dame offer. “They are a top school in the country. I’ve been working hard for this one.” With his decision finally behind him, Johnson will finish up high school over the next few weeks, sign early in December, and then enroll early at Notre Dame in January. He's beyond fired up to join the Fighting Irish class and is looking forward to his future. “It felt great, putting all the hard working in, going to a lot of camps, and I’ve been to Notre Dame a lot. It feels great,” Johnson said to Wiltfong Sunday night. On the field, Johnson had 44 catches for 810 yards and 9 scores this year. He also had 152 rushing yards and 3 scores on 11 carries. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 48 athlete in America this class and No. 15 recruit in Indiana. For this commitment, Mickens is credited as the lead recruiter for Johnson, as the two have had a connection going way back to when Johnson was initially recruited by and committed to Cincinnati. The secondary recruiter is Polian.

As electoral politics in recent years have shown, one of the greatest cultural challenges we face as a society is intolerance ... and I’m talking primarily about intolerance for the opinions of others. This is manifested by the growing trend of demonizing those with contrary opinions. “They have bad opinions, or do things that I don’t like, therefore they must be bad people.” If people were just a little more live-and-let-live, the world (and the GID) would be a better place. @DT, @Muda69, and all our other notorious contrarians and out-of-the-box thinkers: 👍

The thing about Chatard — and this has been true for many years — is that their attitude and philosophy are tailor-made for the big stage. They are the New England Patriots of Indiana High School Football. They will rarely beat you by out-athleting you. But they almost always beat you by maintaining their composure under pressure, not making mistakes, and being sound in all 3 phases. I understand that there have been a few times this year when the Trojans have been uncharacteristically generous with the penalty yardage. You can’t give away real estate against a team like Danville. But if they just play Trojan-ball, Chatard 28-14.

This article appeared in the latest issue of Referee Magazine. I thought non-officials might find it interesting, since we hear about so-called “late” flags all the time. https://www.referee.com/its-ok-to-pick-up-a-flag-or-put-one-down-late/ Back in the day there were two commonly accepted officiating axioms: Don’t pick up a flag once it’s put down and don’t put one down late. The idea was that either will make us look uncertain, which can be a kiss of death. There was, frankly, also a macho aspect to the first one: I own my position and my calls, and I don’t need help in making them. If I’m wrong, too bad. How times have changed. Today, at the pro and collegiate levels, flags are picked up relatively often and put down late. That should be the practice at all levels. The question is when to do it. All coaches will tell you they’d rather we miss a foul that should have been called than call one that isn’t there — the “phantom” call. Pro and collegiate grading practices reflect that, as more points are deducted for a phantom call than for a missed call. On the field we need to factor that into our thinking along with today’s (appropriate) mantra: Get the call right. Angles mean everything. For instance, I may be convinced X blocked Y in the back, but another angle may show he didn’t. I may be sure a defender who was not playing the ball deserves a flag because he got into the body of the receiver before the pass arrived, but another angle may show there was three feet between them. “All coaches will tell you they’d rather we miss a foul that should have been called than call one that isn’t there — the “phantom” call.” The sea change in thinking in recent years is that if I throw a flag but you, with a different angle, come to me and say you had a better look and I was wrong, I should pick up my flag unless I’m 100 percent sure I’m right. That is as it should be. Two caveats, however: Don’t speak up unless you are 100 percent sure I’m wrong, and then it’s my decision whether to pick up my flag. Once, an official was about to bring back an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown because of a block in the back. TV showed it was a legal side block. Fortunately, another official saw it, went to the calling official and told him that, and he picked up the flag. Can you imagine the uproar that would have ensued if the official hadn’t intervened or the one who made the call refused to admit his error? As it happened, some people were upset for about 20 seconds and that was it. Another area that has been changed in the college game involves uncatchable passes with flags for interference. It used to be if I threw a flag and another official thought the pass was uncatchable, he’d come ask if I thought it was catchable. How do I know? I’m so involved in my call that I’ve probably lost sight of where the pass ended up. So, don’t ask, just tell me it was uncatchable. That you came to me should, except in the rare case, be enough for me to pick up my flag. To shift gears, there are times when it’s appropriate to put a flag down late. Say one official responsible for counting the defense pre-snap has 12 but the others (which will vary depending on the crew size) don’t signal their agreement. The first official should wait until the play is over, herd the defense up before it leaves the field and count the players; if there are 12, put the flag down. For sure don’t blow the whistle to kill the play when you’re the Lone Ranger. That happened recently. One official had 12 and, although the other two hadn’t signaled agreement, blew his whistle; due to the crowd noise, the play got off and a safety was improperly negated because there were, in fact, only 11 defenders on the field. Say the quarterback is under duress and slings the ball away without getting outside the tackle box. The referee must stay with him to prevent him from getting mauled, so he can’t track the flight of the ball. That must be a crew call. If another official runs to him and tells him there was no eligible receiver in the area — or the ball didn’t get to the neutral zone if the quarterback did get out of the tackle box — that’s when the flag should go down for intentional grounding. You’re a back judge: The receiver you’re keying is held downfield, but you glance at the quarterback and he’s not looking that way, so you hold your flag. So far, no harm, no foul. Now he does look that way, so the hold does become relevant, and you toss your flag. That is how it should work. TV announcers go nuts and talk about “late flags,” but what we’re doing is processing the action and calling what matters. In sum, the old thinking was that we should stay in our lane on the field. Each of us had areas of responsibility and, as a rule, we didn’t get out of them. Now it’s 180 degrees opposite. If I’ve got information you need, I’ll give it to you. If you come to me, I’m not going to let my ego get in the way. I’ll listen and process what you say. Best case, the result will be that a flag for a phantom foul gets picked up or we put one down that needs to be there, albeit late. We may get some flak and have to do some explaining to a coach, but that’s far better than letting a mistake occur that could have been corrected.

Yes.

Just so I’m sure I understand your point, does your concept of “competitive advantage” imply that the advantage is somehow unearned. The illustration I come up with is the well-demonstrated correlation between socioeconomics and athletic participation rates. That’s “unearned,” outside the school or program’s control. But something like a great weight room is not.

I have no idea how they go about making these rankings. But remember, it’s not just about what you do. It’s also about what other teams do.

It will take a constitutional amendment to abolish the college, of course. We couldn’t get the Equal Rights Amendment confirmed. Why on earth would anyone think we could pass an amendment abolishing the electoral college?

“Tank a couple of seasons?” I think you’ve fallen out of your canoe one too many times.

I had Roncalli in the semistate that year against somebody from Evansville. Terrific player.

It might be amusing if some schools had the nicknames more reflective of their town’s heritage or reputation, although some would probably be politically incorrect.

The Garrett Railroaders & Jimtown Jimmies hark back to each town’s rail tradition.

The Mercy Rule is not in effect for the championship games.

That is a very interesting theory, and it may turn out you are correct. My problems with your analysis are 2: First, a “potential” long-term impact is not a reason for changing something that’s working now, unless you can show with a greater degree of certainly that this impact is going to occur, and it is going to cause a real “sea change” in the competitive picture of Indiana football. That is only theoretical at this point. Secondly, the Success Factor, with a tweak to take it to a 4 yr. cycle, will accomplish all of your goals with less considerably more precision than a 2.0 multiplier.

We want the same thing, and for the same reason. We just differ on the tool to use. The “2.0 Multiplier” is a blunt instrument. Inflexible. It paints with too broad a brush. The Success Factor, especially if it were modified to a 4 yr. cycle, is a surgical blade.

But how much of this amounts to a self inflicted wound? It is one thing to have unequal resources. It is quite another to have the resources, but make the choice to employ them elsewhere, and not go “all in.” There are a number of PPs that don’t excel in football, simply because they apply resources elsewhere. If you really want to level the playing field in a multi-class format by, to the greatest extent possible, matching “like” against “like,” then you should find a way to adjust the classes of those schools that choose to apply their resources to go all in. You know, like a “success factor,” or something like that. And to make it fair and complete, you should do the same for those public schools that have shown their willingness to go “all in” as well. Hey, wait a minute ...