Boilernation

Agreed, but does Decatur Central deserve the level respect? I have the upmost respect for the Mid State and enjoy the top to bottom competitiveness of the conference; however, it's not the Hoosier Crossroads or MIC. IMO, those are the leagues along with Chatard and Cathedral that have earned the central Indy bias.

Sure, if the landing was soft, and there was value at the bottom.

For me it's not even about driving distance because I don't mind a good road trip to new or familiar areas. My longstanding gripe is that Regional and Semi-State matchups (sometimes even Sectional Titles) are often played in front of empty bleachers in horrendous Friday night weather. My hope would be mid to late Saturday afternoon game times at neutral fields could increase the crowd size.

Does Ohio go neutral in the later rounds or does it start in round 1?

In fairness, I think homers shouldn't be plural. It has been and currently is one homer who drinks the purple kool-aid. Speaking of DC, is Stevens playing QB? I see he committed to Virginia Tech as a LB.

Haha...Honestly, I'm a little concerned the Bears front office will botch this entire plan and someone find themselves still playing in Soldier Field. They are beyond clueless when it comes to running a Pro Team. But, I'm assuming Jerry and Co. are coaching them along. You have to believe the NFL wants the Bears in Arlington Heights with a "Jerry World" atmosphere. Lorie Lightfoot also said the Bears couldn't keep the Chicago name if they moved to Arlington Heights. So freaking clueless. She apparently doesn't understand trademarks among MANY things.

I think this was a complete joke and publicity stunt for the Mayor's office to say they made a pitch to keep the Bears in Chicago. Yes, the same Mayor who said less than a year ago the Bears needed to focus on winning and not be asking for a better stadium. The Bears are currently in contract negotiations to purchase the old Arlington Race Track in Arlington Heights. They're not leaving that negotiation table to discuss a new stadium with the city. ESPECIALLY, a stadium that the Chicago Parks Department will own and operate and still not be in the Top 10 attendance wise. The Bears can just build their own larger stadium in Arlington Heights and control all revenue. The other major elephant in the room is that a facelift to Soldier Field doesn't take away the fact it is in a very bad location. The parking is limited. It's basically sandwiched between Lake Shore Drive, a Museum, and McCormick's Place. It's not fan friendly at all to walk to. In Arlington Heights the Bears can build a full entertainment district like the one in Foxboro.

That would be an interesting scenario to me. Would Harrison, Jeff, McCutcheon, Logan, and Kokomo just stay at 5 and increase their OOC schedule in all sports or try to expand? I can't think of any reasonable option outside of trying to bring in West Lafayette.

Haha. Was he even a contributor for Andrean last year? I wouldn't be surprised to hear the "powerback" from Ben Davis was a 3rd stringer on the Giants 9th grade team.

Not likely. Still waiting to hear who the other 2 current D1 commits are other than Marshal. It's all hyperbole with this guy. New year, same story line...

Just seeing this and responded just a few months late. I'm assuming Chris Bootcheck is Dan's grandson. Chris was an All State Pitcher at LaPorte, pitched for Auburn, and did have a decent run in the Angels bullpen. He was also a standout basketball player on '97 LaPorte team that advanced to the last Single Class Final Four.

Lol...I knew I had to be missing something, but I was wrapped up in work to figure it out the obvious. My bad.

Larry Bigbie of Hobart was drafted in the 1st Round of the 1999 Amateur Draft by Baltimore. I played on a travel team with him when I was 15. At that point he was already jacking line drive homers out of ballparks with major league dimension. The Bullington kid from Madison is also missing from this database. Like Bigbie, he was a 1st rounder out of Ball State.

As a Cubs, Bulls, and Bears fan I listen to Chicago sports radio all day while working. The show I was listening to last week was talking about Montgomery easily being their #1 prospect and whether the Sox would trade him for immediate assets. I hope they don't. The season appears to be wash this year with too much disfunction within the Org (Ex. Owner bypassing GM to hire LaRussa).

Why do you feel the Gary/Hammond/possibly East Chicago kids will eventually transfer to Lake Central over Merrillville? Demographically, Merrillville makes more sense vs. St. John, Dyer, and Schererville. I think one advantage Merrillville has now is it's clear they have the attention of college recruiters. Granted, I think a D1 recruit at say Hammond Central or Morton is going to get attention as long as they promote themselves, but I could see how players or parents would find Merrillville appealing. Are the Chicago Catholic schools still recruiting NWI? I know Merrillville's RB from last year who went to Illinois State was at Joliet Catholic prior to coming back to Merrillville. I've also read Chicago Mt. Carmel had recruiting billboards up at some point on Route 30 in Lake Central's district. Agreed with your last comment. It's not easy to replace the guys they lost last year. And this current regime's marquee non Region Win is either Warsaw or Elkhart. By no means am I dismissing Merrillville as a 5A Title contender, but I'm in wait and see mode as to whether they can even win the North Semi-State.

Why are you so high on Elkhart? They went 5-5 last year, lost their HC, and they're new coach's only experience is at Peru. Penn, Carroll, and Warsaw will all be formidable foes for Elkhart in Sectional 2. Curious to know what you're hearing or seeing to be so bullish on Elkhart.

Who are the 3 that are currently committed to D1? I see: Justin Marshal: Colorado State. Odd committment based on the quality of offers he has. I wouldn't be surprised if he flipped to a power conference school at some point. Phillip Roche: Lots of D1 Offers. No official commitment. ???

Transfers from Gary/Hammond? To your last point, agreed. 5A playoffs are very wide open. Would not be surprised if the winner didn’t come from Indy and came out of The Region, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Or West Lafayette. Bloomington South and Columbus East have the history. I know nothing about what they return this year. I can’t imagine the Olympians being down for too long.

That's scary. Who of significance are they actually returning other than Marshall? IMO, they lost way too much talent from last year to be thinking a step down to 5A will open the gates for them. Granted, they basically get a bye through Sectionals, but isn't it too premature to be thinking State Finals or bust? 5A North looks wide open to me and should be highly entertaining.

Temp, I think I may have misinterpreted your question. Regardless of guys playing multiple sports, there should definitely be enough room for both sports to succeed. Ideally, they should feed off of each other and challenge each other. And most certainly it would be a boast to either sport if elite athletes (such as David Bell) are allowed to play both sports.

100%. Look at Warren. David Bell is the low hanging fruit, but I think they've had some good football talent also play basketball.

No idea of true. But the smoke had always been that Mitchell wasn't a fan of his basketball players entertaining the idea of playing multiple sports.

Agreed. There are certain old money neighborhoods and upper middle class neighborhoods in Washington Township that are not going to NC. The kids have either been going to Chatard feeder schools since grade school and/or are going to Chatard, Cathedral, or Brebeuf for social/academic reasons.

Westfield at 5 is interesting to me. Do they have a lot of starters returning? I have the upmost respect for Coach Gilbert, but the Rock had 3 straight average at best seasons after the 2016 Title. Do they legitimately have enough talent/starters returning? They are losing some serious offensive production from Webster and Hauser. It looks like their offensive all purpose yardage last year was dominated by Seniors.

Ha! Purdue will flip a MAC recruit on signing day as retribution.