oldtimeqb

Great question. I'm less concerned about contact transmission through usage of the endzone camera. A bigger problem is going to be the camera guy's groupies and keeping them 6 ft. away. We all know the camera man has to fight the ladies off, especially if he is filming with the 31ft Hi-pod. We will need to keep them away from him during sectional time for sure. I can see an opponent sending a COVID-positive co-ed to entice the camera guy of next week's opponent to "swap spit" after the game. You know, take out the end zone camera and the battle will be won. No way for them to game plan without those sweet endzone views from the x2000

For as idiotic as some of Dan Ellenwood's posts have been, comparing a virus with an estimated ~99% survival rate with rape takes the All Time Hyperbole Trophy. Well done.

Happy July 6th! “Let’s be careful out there.”

I think this would be impact of an 8 man format. I think more 1A schools would convert than add currently non-playing schools to the mix.

Yes. Next question

At the same time, I saw a post online that the Indy 11 soccer team is hosting a game July 11th with fans in stands. The plans were for coaches and players to be masked when feasible at workouts so it shouldn’t change much.

Honest question. How does a coach (or official during season) blow a whistle while wearing a mask?

It’s actually more on-topic than time zones. Lol It sounds like the coaches pick the site the week of (or weekend before) the neutral site game? The issue (problem?) with Indiana is that as soon as football is over, ADs and schools are eager to move on to basketball. Heck, look at Triton Central who forced MD to kick off the regional football game at noon because they had a girls basketball game that night. I think finding a ‘host’ would be the biggest issue. To do it, you would have to allow schools to bid/offer to host like what happens with basketball and volleyball. So while equal distance may not be perfect, at least fans would know if we win, we will play at XX high school.

Presumably they have the school’s permission. Are they allowed to broadcast road games as well? Do they need IHSAA permission? I’m just curious, and I’ve heard way too many ‘unlawful dissemination of today’s game without the express consent of Major League Baseball’ disclaimers. I am just wondering.

I completely respect that sentiment. I would respond, is that player going to see his grandparents at a July 4 barbecue? I will have a son playing this fall. He is lucky enough that all four of his grandparents are alive. But unlucky in that only 1is in the category of low enough risk that will actually come to see him play (and wearing a mask). I would advise the other 3 to stay home. In the words of my now-deceased grandma, defend yourself when necessary but don’t go looking for trouble either. I have a friend who coaches FB in another state. They had a player drown swimming in a lake 2 weeks ago. He was going into his senior year of HS, and in past years would have probably been at summer workouts at that time instead of swimming. Is it less tragic than had he died of COVID-19? I want football games to happen and make them as safe as reasonably possible. Let parents and adults make the decision should they want to attend.

Also the only state in the union who refused to change times for decades to keep the cow milking on the same schedule. Indiana is a central time zone state pretending to be an eastern one.

I'm well aware of that. But fans want to see a new stadium. If the same teams played in 2007 (in RCA/Hoosier Dome) or 2009, attendance would have been lower because people wanted to see Lucas Oil just as much as the game. The Atlanta Braves attendance rose 24%, the Cincinnati Reds about 30%, and the Marlins increased attendance almost 50%! when they moved into new stadiums. And trust me, it wasn't because the teams on the field. (Most NFL games are already sellouts, so a new stadium doesn't show much effect. Baseball, where there is excess capacity is more representative in this case.) And @Bobref - I assumed you meant neutral site games but you didn't say it. I guess that's what I get for assuming. It's possible neutral sites could boost attendance, but it might just be shifting less home fans for more visitor fans. It could be a net positive, but you couldn't know until you tried it.

Or how about YouTube/Facebook live? I was wondering about this the other day. Can schools stream a game for free or do they need to pay $$ to the IHSAA? Just following this topic.

It’s possible. But what you might gain from a visitor with less travel might be offset with smaller home crowd. I have had family members shy away from a road game just for fear that the visitor side would not be large enough and they would have to stand. Making sure regionals and semi states have adequate seating might help. Tough to tell. If we wanted to crunch numbers, are regional and SS attendance figures available anywhere? Does the IHSAA rent Lucas Oil or get it for free? I would hate to see the finals moved away for a cost cutting measure. Soccer can play at a HS field, volleyball can play in Muncie, fine. But the football tournament should end at LOS. And I think 2008 should be excluded from attendance discussions. First year in a brand new stadium (many Colts fans had never been inside prior to thanksgiving 2008) there was a novelty effect.

Don’t take this as a complaint- the inconveniences of the situation are well worth the chance to play for a state title. Every Hs football player would be willing to trade a lot for a blue ring. Specifics? Mainly travel but here are some examples. Time change. Had Andrean won SS last year, they would have played an 11 AM Central kickoff. Rensselaer/ Mater Dei back in 2014 featured two teams from the central time zone. Do you spend the night before in a hotel or leave really early to drive the 2-2:30 hours? Media day. Monday the coach and team captains travel to get pictures and meet with IHSAA brass. A minor inconvenience for Chatard, Carmel, and Center Grove. But this was most likely a 5+ Hr round trip in a car for Memorial, East Noble, and Heritage Hills. They probably don’t make it back for the start of practice as well. Practice. If they want, those teams can choose to take another 5+ hr round trip - but this time in a bus for a practice at Lucas Oil. New Pal, WeBo can take their hour practice at LOS, head back to school and finish normal practice. An Evansville school has to give up pretty much a whole Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (Thanksgiving) if they want to practice at Lucas. Hotel issues- Black Friday and the tree lighting take place downtown Friday in Indy. If you don’t want an early drive (or like to tailgate!) parents, fans, coaches’ families, plus alumni who have informal reunions all are trying to coordinate where they are staying. I concede this is a self-imposed issue, but it still is a distraction that Indy area teams don’t deal with. I don’t think it changes the outcome - but just take a look at Heritage Hills schedule for regional and semi state, and then throw another two trips to Indianapolis prior to kickoff on Friday.

My only request would be that any team that plays Semi State on a Saturday automatically plays Saturday at Lucas. The state finals are already stacked against teams from the corners of the state. Why add another disadvantage?

I congratulate (and am a little jealous of) the South Gibson school Corp. They have an administration that values the community and extra curricular aspects of the school environment. They are asking the question of HOW? as opposed to the question SHOULD? when it comes to fall schooling and athletics. Any team that has made a run deep in the playoffs have experienced ‘flu week’ when several players come down with illness. It is inevitable. I have a friend whose son (JV player at the time) was sent home at halftime on during a sectional game because he was throwing up and they didn’t want to get the rest of the team sick. I want to focus on the How do we do it as safely as possible. Require a mask for fans to sit in the stands. Spread fans out where possible. (If you want to stand in the endzones, have at it.) Handshake lines after games are probably suspended for the year. Players should be able to get in and out of locker rooms with minimal fan interaction. Those are just a few easy steps

Mater Dei lost their starting QB and both RBs. It was a weird year offensively as MD had 3 times the number of rush attempts and 2x as many rushing yards as passing. I can’t think of another time in the Coach Goebel era where that was the case. From what I have seen at the lower levels, I expect them to have plenty of skill players and get back to slinging it around.

At what point reading this article did you think, “Wow. This will really add value to a football practice discussion thread. I bet they don’t know how to use google and will miss it if I don’t post it there.” Looking forward to July 6th

Regardless of the regular season, Lincoln could still win sectional 30. It wouldn’t be the first time an SIAC team with a losing regular season won a 3A sectional. The expanded SIAC has the potential to win 5 sectionals. I would rank them in order of likelihood: 24- 5/7 teams are SIAC now is most likely 40 - Mater Dei is a perennial favorite 15 - Castle/North vs Bloomington schools 30 - Lincoln could repeat 32- Bosse gets to be 3A, but has to face a tough gauntlet

The title is top Evansville games to watch. I would assume they will be mentioned in the area games later. If anyone has a beef it would be Bosse and Harrison who don’t even get a mention for new coaches.

I will concede I am a poor communicator at times. But my memory is not foggy. Thanks for clarifying SR1. In fall 1996 it was one jamboree, 8 regular season games and playoffs. Fall of 97, the jamboree was scrapped and a ninth regular season game was added. My HS played its first controlled scrimmage Fall 97. It was played on a Saturday in Fall 97 and on Saturday in Fall 1998 as well. I will admit I do not know what other HS teams did for their controlled scrimmages in 97 and 98. I thought there were other schools also doing Saturday mornings since it was a relatively new concept. Which is why I said ‘perhaps it was just my Alma Mater.’

I would take a Saturday morning scrimmage over Saturday night personally. I seem to remember a lot of Saturday morning scrimmages the late 90’s/ early 00’s - right after the jamboree format was changed and 9th game added. But maybe that was just my alma Mater.

“Football players” tested positive and “football players” organized and attended a 3,000 person event last weekend. All that is left is assumption since it was not specifically mentioned. Of which, neither event has to do with scrimmages on 8/14. I think I would prefer the rhythm/routine aspect of Friday night as opposed to Saturday. Unless a vaccine is discovered 8/14 and distributed the morning of 8/15, it shows how arbitrary these dates are anyway. Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Play football.

From the article - 2 players tested positive when the team returned to campus TWO weeks ago. This week, 21 more tested positive. It almost makes you wonder what happened last Saturday that is conspicuously missing from the article. https://amp.greenvilleonline.com/amp/3182532001