Bobref

Culver Academy 21 Kankakee Valley 14 Final

Kankakee Valley and Culver Academy 7-7 at halftime.

I spoke with the referee on the crew assigned the Gavit - Hobart game 3 hours ago and he hadn’t been notified of any cancellation.

I agree with everything you say, except the implicit conclusion that requiring kids to line up, walk through a line mumbling “good game” over and over, and fist bumping the other team is an effective way to go about it. Because it’s mandatory, it’s meaningless. If you’ve done those things you say are important, when the kids see you walking out to shake the opposing coaches hands after a hard fought game, they’ll know it’s the right thing to do, and they’ll do it freely, of their own accord. And that is so much more meaningful. Also, that is what team captains are for. Leadership comes from being out front, not pushing from the rear. But, of course, if you were the one to try and break the tradition, you’d be branded as “unsportsmanlike,” and probably worse.

We're in complete agreement on everything except whether a compulsory handshake has anything to do with sportsmanship. I'm not against the handshake tradition because it causes trouble ... although it sometimes does. Kids are going to fight sometimes when emotions get high, that's just the reality of it. I'm against forcing people to shake hands with the opponent, because forcing someone to do it cheapens the value of that handshake. As @Muda69 says in his posts: “No action can be virtuous unless it is freely chosen.”

Hammond Clark has canceled what would, in all likelihood, have been the Pioneers’ last game ... ever, as the school is consolidating next year. River Forest advances to the sectional semifinal.

I am reliably informed that Hammond Clark has canceled its sectional game with River Forest. No other information available to me at this point. Ironically, this would (likely) have been Clark’s last game ... ever, as the school is consolidating next year.

I love the game ,too. But if you haven’t shown your opponent respect and good sportsmanship through 48 min. of battle, a compulsory ritualized handshake isn’t going to do it. No one is more pro-sportsmanship than I. But this is fake sportsmanship. If somebody wants to go across the field and congratulate an opponent, good for him. If he doesn’t, no reason he should be forced to.

I believe the IHSAA did not want to issue that kind of mandate because they are in the high school athletics business, not the public health business. High school sports is just one of the activities affected by the pandemic. Public health authorities have to take many things into account. High school sports do not exist in a vacuum.

I was speaking of the possibility of the IHSAA canceling the tournament, not civil authorities. Without tournament money, they can’t keep the doors open and the lights on at 9150 N. Meridian ... unless there’s an infusion of cash from the members. How do you think that would go over?

Cancellation of the tournament is not an option. I suspect the financial consequences to the IHSAA from the cancellation of the tournament, coupled with no boys’ b-ball tourney last Spring, would be devastating. The economic reality is as much a factor in the decision-making process as any health concern, if not more so.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about common sense, it’s that it’s not all that common. 😉

🏆

The handshake line serves no useful purpose. It has needed to go for quite awhile. I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often. https://youtu.be/Xh6Jw7PosX4 https://youtu.be/Xh6Jw7PosX4

Yes, it is. Doesn’t matter how many times you say it.

Have I counted incorrectly? Or do we have a grand total of 1 member of the GID on record as opposing neutral sites because they will reduce attendance at these late round tournament games?

Each of the instances of kicking the grounded football is a foul for illegal kicking. But both of those penalties will be declined, since R scored a TD. Neither penalty can be enforced on the try or subsequent kickoff, even though they were fouls by the opponent of the scoring team, because there was a change of possession during the down, and the fouls took place before the change of possession. So, they must be declined for the TD to stand. I suppose there could be a game situation where Team R needs to score more than a TD and try, so they could decide to accept the penalty for the illegal kick that occurred in the end zone, get 2 pts for the safety, and then get the ball back in good field position on the ensuing free kick, in hopes of scoring a TD and try.

Let’s leave the commentary to the OOB Forum and stick to the topic of this thread.

No. Until the ball is possessed, it’s still a kick. And the kickers can never advance a recovered free kick.

Have not heard that.

This year there’s a new wrinkle in the Finals scheduling. In previous years, the 1A, 3A and 5A games would be one day, and the 2A, 4A and 6A games would be the other. This year, however, the IHSAA has changed the scheduling format. The schedule won’t be set until the semistates are completed. The IHSAA will then arrange the schedule to minimize travel inconvenience (read: maximize attendance). For example, if Valpo and Andrean both make the finals in 5A and 2A, respectively, the IHSAA may arrange the schedule so that they both play on the same day. I applaud this sort of outside the box thinking, in an attempt to make a good product better, and boost attendance in the era of streaming. But if you give it a little thought, you can see the potential for some challenging situations ... and possible hurt feelings. Give your predictions for flexible scheduling, and any attendant controversies, in the Finals.

My point was that if you’re looking for the “why,” an evaluation by an observer might help you understand that.

The frustrations many officials have with the tournament selection process have been well documented here. My advice to you is to take pride in your officiating. Be the best official you can be. Make your crew the best crew it can be. Control the things you can control, like meetings attendance, test scores, clinics, video review, etc. Let the other things take care of themselves.

In your zeal to make sure the IHSAA captures the all-important walkup market for its upper level tournament games, you’ve failed to address a central issue. At that level of the tournament, since we don’t have seeding, why should one team have home field advantage?

The tournament selection process is outlined here: https://myihsaa-prod-ams.azurewebsites.net/api/resource-library/categories/ae986c23-f281-4845-0927-08d5f70ac583/documents/8301415b-a9e9-4fd9-73bc-08d5f70b225e/file But that won’t tell you much about “why.” Has your crew been observed recently?