Bobref

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?

A duck walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender puts it down in front of him and says “that’ll be $2.” The duck says .... “put it on my bill.”

The “real prize” of course, is a state championship. Poll the Cathedral & CG players and coaches. Not one of them will say their top goal is to “put Indiana football on the map.” If that happens, all well and good. But that’s not where their ultimate focus is ... nor should it be.

And yet, many other states have used neutral sites in the upper levels of their playoffs, and somehow manage to draw big crowds outdoors in November. I guess Hoosiers are just different. What works other places cannot work here. We’re our own little world, I guess.

🤮

Your guarantees notwithstanding, and putting aside the whole issue of the advantage for the home team and whether that is fair or unfair, your entire case is built on the proposition that neutral site games attract fewer, not more, fans. Other than your sincerely held belief, do you have any support for that proposition? Because the prevalence of neutral site games in other states seems to suggest otherwise.

Oh yes. In my memory Nixon’s nominations of Harold Carswell and Clement Haynsworth, and Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork, all received less than “well-qualified” recommendations from the ABA. None were confirmed. The history of the relationship between the ABA committee that does this, the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch, is really interesting. https://fedsoc-cms-public.s3.amazonaws.com/update/pdf/xcAhFnS5JIWziowTf4xXLdBt3dn82UcgJxcrN33x.pdf

The ABA has given ACB their highest recommendation: “Well qualified.”

Let me be clear. I’m not talking about effort. I have no doubt everyone on both teams will give it all they’ve got Friday. I’m talking about things like play calling, formations, defenses, tricks, etc. Most teams play it close to the vest going into the tournament, and I expect both of these teams to have their eye on the real prize.