Bobref

The IHSAA should be applauded for their efforts to enlarge the pool of crews available to advance. Unfortunately, this amounts to putting lipstick on a pig. As long as the coaches’ vote is the primary factor in advancement, the problem remains. Perception is reality. And the prevailing perception among officials is that there is no direct connection between the coaches’ vote and officiating proficiency. It is very difficult to convince officials that if they pay more attention to things like proper mechanics and consistent application of proper philosophy, they will became better officials, when the perception is that coaches don’t know anything about mechanics or philosophy, nor do they care and, therefore, excellence in those areas is not reflected in the coaches’ vote. This perception is bolstered when, for example, a crew shows up every 4 years for decades in Indianapolis on Thanksgiving weekend, and their mechanics look like a Saturday Night Live skit. Other officials see that and ask themselves why they should care about those things if the coaches who hold the crews’ tournament advancement in their hands don’t. It’s hard to fault that logic. So, some officials quit in frustration. But even those that don’t are not being properly incentivized, and the quality of officiating suffers as a result.

Irish with another really good get on the offensive side of the ball, beating out Ohio State and Georgia. https://www.si.com/college/notredame/recruiting/wide-receiver-rico-flores-commits-to-notre-dame-football Wide Receiver Rico Flores Jr. Commits To Notre Dame Notre Dame picked up an important commitment from California wide receiver Rico Flores Jr. Notre Dame is back on the board at wide receiver as Folsom (Calif.) High School standout Rico Flores Jr. committed to the Fighting Irish. Flores picked Notre Dame over Ohio State and Georgia. For a long time the Buckeyes were considered the leader for Flores, but the Irish staff - led by Chansi Stuckey, Chad Bowden and Tommy Rees - continued to battle and ultimately landed Flores. The 6-1, 190-pound pass catcher visited Notre Dame for the first the weekend of June 10-12, and that is when the staff made their final move. Flores joins a Notre Dame class that is already ranked No. 1 in the nation by 247Sports and ESPN, and Flores joining the class pushed the Irish to No. 1 in the Rivals rankings. He is ranked as the nation's No. 106 overall player according to Rivals. He is the second wideout to pick Notre Dame, joining Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point standout Braylon James. Flores had a brilliant junior campaign, hauling in 81 passes for 1,157 yards (14.3 YPC) and 11 touchdowns. He has already caught 129 passes for 2,141 yards (16.6 YPC) and 24 touchdowns during his career. The Folsom star makes plays in every facet of the game, which includes a 97-yard kick return for a score last season and he also registered 18 tackles, broke up three passes and intercepted another while playing defense. Flores hauled in 8 passes for 117 yards in a playoff victory over national power Concord (Calif.) De La Salle and Irish commit Cooper Flanagan. He caught 9 passes for 108 yards in the championship game loss to San Diego (Calif.) Cathedral Catholic.

Pay close attention to the excellent Referee in that game. 😉

So, having given the idea of Notre Dame to the B1G considerable thought, here’s what I came up with: It depends on what format the B1G adopts. The key question is how many non-conference games ND could play and still join the conference. If they could play 3 non-cons + USC in conference, that would allow them to keep traditional rivals like Navy, show the flag in other parts of the country, and still have the benefit of being able to play in a conference championship game to enhance their playoff chances. If they could do that, I’m all for it.

I will be interested to see if Munster, who showed incremental improvement last season by winning 3 games after going 3-27 the previous 3 seasons, can continue the long climb back to football relevance.

Two questions: Would the B1G TV rights be worth more if ND was a conference member than otherwise? Would the B1G be more likely to have representation in the playoff if ND were a member than otherwise? As for the “fit,” no argument there. And the addition of USC to the conference makes it more likely, since that’s a storied rivalry we could keep without using up one of the few non-conference games we’d be able to play.

I can’t decide if the fact that college football is in a state of flux is good or bad for the Irish. But I sincerely doubt they’ll come crawling to the B1G. More likely the other way around, if only to try to preempt any other conference affiliation.

@temptation, you will yet be my bitch! 🤣😅😂 https://www.si.com/college/notredame/recruiting/notre-dame-football-is-dominating-michigan-on-the-recruiting-trail Notre Dame Is Dominating Michigan On The Recruiting Trail Notre Dame is dominating Michigan on the recruiting trail in a way we haven't seen in a long time, if ever. When you have a rivalry there are always times when one side dominates the other, and that's true on the field and off it. This hasn't been true for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan rivalry, at least not until the 2023 and 2024 recruiting cycles began. Notre Dame and Michigan have played 44 times on the field, and since 1990 the longest win streak for the Irish is four games (1987-90) and the longest for Michigan is three games (2009-11). Many of the games on the field were hotly contested matchups over the years. The same has been true on the recruiting trail. Notre Dame wins some, Michigan wins some. Over the last six months this hasn't been true, at all, as Notre Dame has completely dominated Michigan on the trail. The 2022 cycle saw both sides win some battles, with the Irish landing a pair of Michigan standouts (Josh Burnham, Nolan Ziegler) and the Irish beat the Wolverines for Tobias Merriweather, Billy Schrauth, Benjamin Morrison and Ashton Craig among other. Michigan flipped Amorion Walker, who had been a long-time commit to the Irish and also beat Notre Dame for wide receiver Tyler Morris. Since Marcus Freeman completed his first staff at Notre Dame the Irish have completely obliterated Michigan on the trail, which is even more surprising when you consider the Wolverines are coming off a season in which it went to the College Football Playoff and beat Ohio State for the first time since 2011 and for just the second time since 2004. So far Notre Dame's destruction has been complete and total, as the Irish have won every major head-to-head battle in the 2023 and 2024 classes, and landed players that Michigan pushed hard to land, but couldn't get into the final two. Michigan currently has six commits in the 2023 class, and not one of them even had a Notre Dame offer. Notre Dame has 16 commits, and all but three have offers from Michigan. Notre Dame's most recent victory over Michigan was offensive lineman Charles Jagusah. The Wolverines, led by line coach Sherrone Moore, put up a valiant fight but ultimately this one was never in doubt. Notre Dame also beat Michigan in head-to-head battles for running back Jayden Limar, offensive lineman Sam Pendleton, defensive linemen Devan Houstan and Boubacar Traore, and safety Peyton Bowen. The Irish also landed linebacker Preston Zinter, whose older brother Zak started for the Michigan offensive line last season. Notre Dame has dominated Michigan even more in the 2024 class, and it began when the Irish landed a pair of in-state stars. CJ Carr is a five-star recruit and the No. 19 player in the country according to 247Sports and defensive lineman Brandon Davis-Swain is ranked No. 38 overall on the On3 consensus ranking. Both are Michigan natives, both are committed to Notre Dame. Carr is the grandson of legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who led the program to its last national title Illinois wide receiver Cam Williams was considered a Michigan lean by several Wolverine pundits, but when Notre Dame offered him in May and began make a run at the talented pass catcher the Irish not only caught the Wolverines, but were able to land Williams, who committed to Notre Dame on Wednesday night. Michigan was also a finalist for tight end Jack Larsen, who committed to Notre Dame a week ago. Notre Dame has five committed players in the 2024 class, and four of them have Michigan offers. The Wolverines have one commit in the class, and he did not receive an offer from Notre Dame. Despite Michigan coming off its best season in decades, the Irish have stole all their momentum, and it's Notre Dame has is recruiting like a team coming off an elite season. It is Notre Dame that is battling Ohio State for Northern supremacy on the recruiting trail. Perhaps Michigan can turn things around and start to win some battles, but right now I couldn't tell you who that is. Notre Dame's domination has been thorough and complete.

The most troubling thing I heard about the coaches’ vote recently was when someone told me that, in some cases, assigners were asked to do the coaches’ voting by some of the schools they assign. Does anyone know this to be a fact?

Now that it’s started, I expect the pace will accelerate.

In the inevitable rearrangement that will result in 4 mega-conferences, the PAC 12 will be the one unable to find a chair when the music stops. It will cease to exist. USC & UCLA are just trying to get ahead of it … like Texas & Oklahoma did.

Absolutely correct — and the coaches’ vote is the reason this is happening.

I hope not.

That assumes officiating is economically driven. Maybe for some. Certainly not all.

As we prepare for the upcoming season, it is clear the numbers crisis in officiating not only still exists, but it’s not getting any better. We need your help to avoid radical steps like moving games off of the traditional Friday night schedule. What can you do to help? Here are some needed steps: (I first have to point out that this is strictly my opinion, based on my 45 yrs. of officiating experience, in which I’ve occupied many, many different roles: from crew member, to Association leader, to state champion crew chief, IHSAA official of the year, and now IHSAA observer.) In no particular order: Treat the officials better. Disagree with a call or no-call. Voice your opinion or ask a question. But do it in a sportsmanlike manner, and then LET IT GO. The assistants, players, and even fans take their cue from you. Be a good host. Make sure the officials have a secure place to dress and hold their pregame. Decent showers afterward. A towel and some cold drinks are greatly appreciated. Be a recruiter. Talk to your seniors, many of whom will never play another down. Get them interested in officiating. It’s a great way to stay in touch with the game and pick up some spending money, too. If you teach PE, talk to those kids, too. Here’s the tough one: give up the coach’s vote as the primary determinant of crew tournament advancement. In a quiet moment, when no one else is around, admit to yourself that coaches lack the three essential elements of a fair and accurate system of evaluation: training, objectivity, and a standardized method of evaluation. I can tell you for a fact that frustration with the tournament process is a significant factor in the inability to retain officials. Rightly or wrongly, the coaches’ vote is viewed as the principal flaw in the system. Coaches are entitled to have a voice in the selection of tournament officials. But making that voice the primary determining factor is killing careers. My $0.02.

In fact, Indiana has several such laws already on the books. They just weren’t enforced because of federal court injunctions. Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita (sad to say, a Munster guy) has already asked the 7th Circuit to dissolve those injunctions, based on Dobbs.

I am a white male “senior citizen, raised a Catholic, and almost retired from a long white collar career. I do not consider myself a liberal. I didn’t vote for Clinton, Obama, or Biden. The Dobbs decision is unlikely to ever affect me in a direct way. But if I were a person of color, or a woman, or a Muslim, or a member of the LGBTQ community, I’d be scared sh*tless right now. Dobbs and the coach’s prayer case tell me that the Christian Right is in control. If the GOP gets control of the House in the midterm elections, we are going to see many, many freedoms that were previously thought firmly entrenched get rolled back. We may well be entering a period when intolerance will reach new heights in this country. We are supposed to be an enlightened society. But I fear the 21st century equivalent of the Dark Ages is looming.

Governor Pritzker has announced that, Dobbs notwithstanding, Illinois will continue to offer women “the full range of reproductive healthcare.”

Roe was based on an expansive reading of the 5th and 14th Amendment. But its “right of privacy” is certainly not the only “right” considered constitutionally guaranteed that is not explicitly set out in the constitution. And it was not the first case that recognized, and was based on, a constitutional right of privacy. Following the reasoning of the Dobbs decision, all of those other decisions recognizing such a right in a variety of contexts are now at risk.

I don’t know if the Court has become more political or not. But I know the perception is that it has. Like any institution, the legitimacy of the Court’s rulings depends on the public’s belief that it is doing what’s right, not what’s politically expedient. I worry that the Court’s stature is diminishing. A great many Americans already believe that the Executive and Legislative branches no longer do the job the Constitution assigns to them. The Court has always been a bastion of independence and stability. Our system of checks and balances depends on it.

It takes 4 justices to grant certiorari and those votes are not made public, although very occasionally a Justice will write a dissent after a vote. But even in the rare cases where that happens, it’s usually a dissent from the denial of cert, not a grant.

Jackals get a bad rap.

That’s always the way it is … until the “outside” starts winning games.

At least the Catholic church’s stance is consistent and based on doctrine, regardless whether you believe it right or wrong. I firmly believe that many of those cheering this decision do so out of their desire to misogynistically legislate morality. It’s a powerful blow in favor of the double standard. All I’ll say at this point is “Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences.” They took away something that was viewed as a constitutional right for almost 50 years. They can take away others just as easily.

Do you think the demographic changes were a factor in the selection of the new HFC?