Boilernation

Yikes. Seems like a that was the motto last year. Nothing like trying to break an offense in against Ben Davis, Loyola, and then St. X. Talk about throwing them to the wolves.

This! A lot of good football teams in all corners of the state. Your list doesn't have much from SW Indiana, but I'm sure Gibson Southern, Evansville Memorial, Jasper, Heritage Hills, Evansville North, or Evansville Reitz can produce at least 2 teams good enough to make a Top 25. It's easy for the Central Indy powers to take the spotlight, but it's also possible they elevated the teams below them. I'm sure there are lots of coaches around the state trying to learn from guys like Kyle Ralph and Eric Moore.

Agreed. How is Cathedral looking this year? Seems like they don't have the high end D1 talent lately that they're used to getting.

Luers East Noble Warsaw Leo Northrop Carroll Dwenger Scecina South Side Westfield

Yes. Illinois moved up their schedule by a week.

Hell Yeah! I'm fully bought into that man. Everytime I hear time I here him speak, everytime I hear Caleb speak, everytime I hear players speak, you can just tell they think he's the real deal and they're fully bought into what he's teaching them. Caleb mentioned that before he left for the summer break that Ben asked him if he needed any help from Ben to be better. Caleb told him to don't stop pushing him. IMO, I thought George and Kevin looked weak and defeated. They pretty much had to say something as this is around the same time last year they gave a brief state of the org type of speech. Illinois has them by the balls and they'll settle for Hammond if forced to. Pritzker wants to make a run in '28 for the Democratic nod. Springfield Politicians from Chicago are supposedly pissed that the Bears are leaving for Arlington Heights. The Bears bluffed against politicians who are not going to give up state Tax Money without looking like they played hard ball. I like Warren, I believe those that say Ben Johnson was never coming to Chicago without Warren. Warren talked George into being a professional organization and giving Johnson the resources he wanted. I think George wants to win, but just didn't know how before Warren. George is a down to earth guy. Far from athletic. His dad just happened to marry the heirous to the Chicago Bears. He lives out in rural DeKalb and umpires youth baseball games. I think he even umped some when the Savannah Bananas played at Rate Field. IMO, I think Warren should have never mentioned repeatedly about wanting to put cranes in the sky and build on the lakefront. Between that whacky tree hugging group, Friends of the Park, who successfully blocked Lucas from building a museum on the lakefront, to the Bears not owning property, to their not really being a good spot to build a new lakefront stadium around Soldier Field, Arlington always made sense as option 1. Warren should have just came out from the beginning and said they can't build in the City for these reasons and they want to pay for their own stadium on land that they own. Either way it went they were going to negotiate property tax rates and need infrastructure improvements from tax dollars. Soldier Field is currently a logistical nightmare to get to. They were talking about having to complete reconstruct Lake Shore Drive and bridges in that area for a new stadium. All other sites mentioned in the City would need infrastructure improvements.

How about the top 3 in this poll scheduling some big out of state games with teams we don't see often vs. Indiana? Love seeing 2 of them against the powerful Chicago Catholic League. The CCL won State in the top 5 Classes in Illinois last year. The private/public debate is a hot topic in Chicagoland. Would love to see Indiana wins in these. Wheaton St. Francis @ New Palestine in Week 1: Most statewide polls I see for Indiana and Illinois have both of these teams around 5 in their respective states. St. Francis went 11-3 last year and beat fellow CCL member Providence Catholic in the 5A Title game. Loyola Academy @ Cathedral in Week 2: The Ramblers were 4-5 last year, but are a traditional power in the CCL. They are in the very wealthy Chicago Northshore Suburbs and have no local competition from the CCL at the higher end. They don't get the southside talent that CCL rival Mt. Carmel gets, but they have the market cornered on north suburban talent. They are a likely Top 3-5 team in 8A this year. Loyola beat St. Francis 43-21 in Week 2 last year after beating Merrillville 21-14 in Week 1. The Pirates had a 2-0 lead going into the 4th Bloomington South @ Ironton in Week 7: The Panthers will make the long drive to coal country on the border of Ohio / West Virginia to take on the famed Ironton Fighting Tigers. Irongton was 9-1 last year and disbarred from playing in the Ohio Division 5 playoff due to recruiting violations. IMG @ New Palestine in Week 8: I know we saw IMG recently at Ben Davis. Still seems odd to see them on New Pal's schedule. Man, that's ballsy. 4A roster vs. National All Star Team Akron Hoban @ Cathedral in Week 9: I can't think of anyone recently playing the perennial Division 2 powerhouse in Ohio. The Knights were the Division 2 Runner-Up least season.

Did you read or hear sound bites from Pompei's recent article? He spent an entire day with Johnson. Ben is a football psycho. And wants to score A LOT of points this year. I liked hearing that Ben ripped into Caleb and the rest of the offense in a meeting for having ONE crappy training camp practice.

LOL..I think you'll get your wish in the Fall when the Illinois legislature is back in session. Once again an update with no specific timetable of when and where the ceremanial shovel will be put into the ground. Here's another boondoggle to twis your panties: Hammond already spent $33M on developing an industrial slag waste site into an environmental and recreation site, which is where Lost Marsh Golf Course sits. Lost Marsh is one of Indiana's top public courses. It would be a shame to lose it if Hammond really is the choice.

Hate hearing Luther will be out for about a month with a groin injury. He could be back in time for the opener in Charlotte. On a positive side, I heard Cowherd raving yesterday about what he saw from watching a closed Bears process a few days ago. His impressions are in line with everything I'm hearing on ESPN Chicago. The offense is looking is VERY good. Caleb lost 15 pounds and is even more mobile. More importantly, his accuracy has been great and and plays are getting ran much quicker into the playclock. Granted, it's just practice, but all reports indicated the offense looked awful throughout training camp last year.

Interesting. The site listed in Hammond is where I believe everyone presumed it would be. I'm not sure where else in Hammond would work unless they buyout existing neighborhoods. Nonetheless, I would still bet on Illinois politicians eventually giving in and hte Bears building in Arlington Heights.

LSU would probably spin off a new entity to house the athletic department. As is, athletic departments are supposed to be self suifficient and not rely on taxpayer funds that filter into the school.

Haha! Agree. Brutal. Just brutal.

Agreed. Luther and Colston are the future. I heard Booker has looked very good so far in camp. Same for Jaylon Johnson.

I have no problem admitting Indiana is going to give them a sweetheart deal if they build in Hammond. But, I still believe it will be Arlington Heights. I get that the infrastructure costs are steep, but what is the tradeoff? Just leave a massive piece of real estate in a prime area sitting empty and not pumping out any sales taxes and very minimal real estate taxes? If the Bears do build elsewhewre and sell the property, whoever buys it is going to also ask for some sort of infrastructure put in, whether it be turned into residential or commercial property.

I doubt that's the case in Indiana, but it's always been about Illinois covering infrastructure costs for roads/sewers as well as property tax certainty. The Bears have always maintained they would pay 100% of the stadium construction in Arlington Heights. Here's a link where it was mentioned in the Arlington Heights section of the article. https://www.fox32chicago.com/sports/chicago-bears-stadium-whats-next-hammond-arlington-heights-chicago

Meh, I stopped reading when the author claimed the Bears are trying to get Illinois to build them a stadium. If you can't get that little piece of information correct, how can I trust the rest of your claims?

Jordan Lynch would be a good coach for Purdue to build a relationship with. He is stockpiling D1 talent on Chicago's South Side.

Ok. Fair enough. Hypothetically, lets say the Bears end up building a stadium in Arlington Heights and pay to upgrade all of the roadways around the stadium. Would you be OK with them charging a toll to all drivers who use those roads?

Huh? They are going to privately fund 100% of the cost of the new stadium if they build in Arlington Heights. They just don't want to get raped on property tax and want the state to pay for the infrastructure around the Arlington Heights property. Someone is going to have to pay for it if the Bears sell the property and it's developed into something else. Typically, businesses do not pay for infrastructure upgrades. Would you be pissed if Indiana agreed to pay for major infrastructure upgrades around Frankfort if that meant a major manufacturer was going bring jobs to your town? One thing that article pointed out that has been rumored on Chicago sports radio is that politicians who respresent neighborhoods within the city aren't playing ball down in Springfield, which is complete BS. The Bears shouldn't be strongarmed into paying rent on a stadium they don't own that is also one of, if not the the worst stadium in the NFL. The city/state made a colossal mistake when they decided to renovate Soldier Field as opposed to just building a new stadium. They essentially put lipstick on a pig that has lead to this fiasco. And are those bitter politicians from Chicago going to fight the Friends of The Park who have vowed to prevent a new stadium getting built on the lakefront? They successfully kept George Lucas from building his museum on the lakefront and he had to shift to LA.

Of course not. And I'm not a big fan of difinitive statements as well. Just looking at it objectively, they have a prime piece of property in Arlington Height they own and would like to devlop. I doubt they filed a trademark on the term "Bearadise" just to build a football stadium. They want to own a football stadium and a surrounding entertainment district. And every statement they put out about the idea of moving to Indiana never lists a specific location or timeline for construction. IMO, They'll continue to flirt with Indiana to get Springfield to change some property tax laws that would currently massively over tax the Bears and commit to building up infrastructure around the stadium. The Bears have already said they'll pay for the construction of the stadium in Arlington Heights.

Neuqua Valley is in Naperville as well. They played Chatard at LN in 2016.

Moot point. They'll be building in Arlington Heights. Nonetheless, personally, if I still lived in Porter County, I would be willing to pay a "luxury" tax at restaraunts or hotels to have the Bears play in Hammond. The Toll Road tax will come from more than Indiana residents. The admissions tax will come from those who actually attend the games.

Agreed. Pate is a very intelligent guy. I enjoy his podcasts. That's how I understood it as well. Betting on the game should be the one area EVERYONE agrees has consequences.

Muda, are you a pro union guy? I'm sure the local ironworkers union out of Hammond or Portage is loving this deal if it happens, which is interesting because that union is proud Democrats. I think the toxic waste is just rumors and the main issue will just be how much of Wolf Lake and the surrounding areas will need to be filled in. Sadly, I have a feeling Lost Marsh Golf Course would be used.