Frozen Tundra

On 3/7/2024 at 5:32 PM, Fkfootball said:

Hey,  know the JC guys were getting on me a while back because they thought I was looking down on them. I've been working up in Seymour and North Vernon. Believe me, that is such a nice area. I like NV a lot. Really cool town to drive around. My only issue is that I don't know it very well and I didn't know where all the good eating spots are. Lol.

Lakeside Pizza, a couple minutes north of town on State Road 3, has wood fired pizza and a lot of out-of-towners go there for the good pizza, sandwiches, and Brown County wine. Can’t go wrong there.

Crimson Oak is another great spot. I actually just ate there tonight. The food is fancy so it’s a little pricier but it’s so good. Heck, it’s so good that Chris Evans (a.k.a. Captain America) stopped in to eat there last fall. And, no, I’m not kidding.

On 2/23/2024 at 8:54 AM, Muda69 said:

And as I have said that was the wrong decision.  Now we have this frankly stupid conference name, named after a defunct railroad line.  Really?

 

What would you have named it? Can’t call it the Sagamore.

6 hours ago, RetiredCoach91 said:

Any insight as to if Madison or Jennings County has made their hires yet? Or if they have even started interviewing? Talking to some friends in the southeastern area of the state, its been pretty quiet on their hiring fronts. 

With these new enrollments that came out, will we see the Hoosier Hills start to look differently in make up? 

Haven’t heard a thing about Jennings County. As for Madison, I don’t really keep up with them anymore since they’re no longer in the HHC.

6 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Seymour will be 6A within the next two cycles. And it has nothing to do with actual growth. 

That’s a crazy thought 

3 hours ago, Indiana Fan said:

Southport was offered a spot in the MIC within the last school year and turned it down.

Do you happen to know why?

2 hours ago, HoopsCoach said:

I think Southport wants to be in the MIC, and maybe Columbus North goes with them to get in together.  Columbus could join the Hoosier Hills instead if they can be in the same conference as Columbus East.  Not sure what the Bloomington schools do. Maybe try to get into the Mid-State or Hoosier Hills. 

Columbus North wouldn’t want to be in the MIC. Based on what I know, Columbus North and Bloomington South would be a package deal. They’ve been in the same conference going way back to the days when they were just Columbus High School and Bloomington High School. They have a lot in common and my understanding is they see the Hoosier Hills Conference as beneath them. The Mid-State Conference would be their preference.

Columbus East and Bloomington North had both tried to get in the Mid-State a few years ago but Perry Meridian was ultimately chosen. Because of this, I’ve heard rumors that Bloomington North would be willing to return to the Hoosier Hills Conference if they feel they need to. They were an HHC member from the fall of 1976 to the spring of 1983.

@foxbat @HoopsCoach @superjay

Hypothetical scenario for you. If Conference Indiana ever falls apart as it has been rumored for the past few years, could you see a scenario where the Sagamore grabs the two Terre Haute schools? I know that’s a two hour drive from Lafayette but the overall travel for them would still be shorter per season in a Sagamore with the Terre Haute schools than in the NCC.

9 minutes ago, foxbat said:

True, but we aren't overly worried about championship games on Fridays/Saturdays for our SDA and Jewish players/families?

I think Christianity is just ingrained in our nation in how we do things. It’s never been considered before. Not saying that’s right or wrong, but even I take for granted sometimes that other religions have Saturday as their holy day. 

7 hours ago, foxbat said:

Officially, probably not, but a large number of p/p students are Catholic and we Catholics have vigil/Saturday Masses for weekend obligations.  Here in Lafayette/West Lafayette you can catch Mass at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm on Sundays, during the school year, at St. Tom's.  I don't think it would be as much an issue for a single weekend; especially if there's a rotation of classes on Sunday.

Maybe not as big a deal for the Catholics but Mormons and hardcores like my family wouldn’t give up a Sunday for anything.

Per Harrison’s AD on Twitter/X:

3 hours ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

You would almost have to move games to Thursday or to Sunday.

This means each weekend the State Finals occur the Colts will not be able to host a Thanksgiving Day game (if the games start Thursday) or would need to have a bye or play away on the Sunday after (if the games move to Sunday).

Thursday games:  1pm - 4pm - 7pm

Friday: 1pm - 4pm - 7pm

Saturday: 10am - 1pm - 4pm - 7pm

or 

Friday games: 10am - 1pm -4pm - 7pm 

Saturday: 10am - 1pm - 4pm - 7pm

Sunday games: Noon - 3:30pm. (this could even move forward to 10am so that players can get home in time for school on Monday).

 

Two problems with that:

1. Most people aren’t going to want to give up their Thanksgiving to attend, work, coach, or play a high school football game.

2. Sundays don’t work because of religious reasons. I don’t think the parochial schools would appreciate Sunday games. There are also some kids and families that wouldn’t like it even if they weren’t affiliated with a parochial school.

2 minutes ago, First_Backer_Inside said:

Because the kids care more about where they are playing rather than having the opportunity to win a state championship for their school? Because playing in front of touchdown Jesus wouldn't be cool enough? Playing at Ross-ade stadium where kids probably grew up watching games their whole life wouldn't be cool enough? Never did I say forget the small schools. I said the classes would be on a rotation. Some classes would play at Lucas Oil Stadium, some would not. The next year they would flip. You pitch a better idea Caption Insano, I would love to hear it.

Yeah the media would love having to figure out how to juggle and do assignments for the state championship.

“Ok Jerry. You go to South Bend for the 4A championship game between Scecina and Fort Wayne Luers. We’ll send Bob to Lucas Oil Stadium to cover the 9A title game between Cathedral and Fort Wayne Snider.”

Also, the IHSAA would essentially have to broadcast overlapping championship games. Not feasible.

5 minutes ago, Punttheball said:

That would definitely be an obstacle.  But you could always start at 8 am with games.

Even if we entertain that idea, there’s a three and a half hour gap between the starts of games. Still not sure how you fit five in per day.

8:00 AM

11:30 AM

3:00 PM

6:30 PM

10:00 PM?!?!

How do you fit 10 state championship games in on Thanksgiving weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium?

The IHSAA released the new enrollments yesterday. Figured I’d share the data as to how it pertains to Hoosier Hills Conference schools.

Jeffersonville went from 2,099 students (#29) in the last cycle to 2,141 students (#30) in the new cycle. 

Result: +42 students, -1 spot in school size rankings

Floyd Central went from 1,854 students (#43) in the last cycle to 1,823 students (#43) in the new cycle.

Result: -31 students, no change in school size rankings

New Albany went from 1,787 students (#49) in the last cycle to 1,814 students (#44) in the new cycle.

Result: +27 students, +5 spots in school size rankings 

Seymour went from 1,605 students (#55) in the last cycle to 1,719 students (#51) in the new cycle. 

Result: +114 students, +4 spots in school size rankings 

Columbus East went from 1,534 students (#61) in the last cycle to 1,518 students (#58) in the new cycle.

Result: -16 students, +3 spots in school size rankings 

BNL went from 1,397 students (#69) in the last cycle to 1,242 students (#79) in the new cycle.

Result: -155 students, -10 spots in school size rankings 

Jennings County went from 1,181 students (#84) in the last cycle to 1,169 students (#86) in the new cycle.

Result: -12 students, -2 spots in school size rankings 

21 hours ago, Fkfootball said:

You can't win at Madison or Jennings County. Not against the level of teams they have to play. Unfortunately HS athletics isn't like Collegiate athletics where you can recruit your roster. I know a few kids are recruited here and there but for the most part, you are what you are. Madison and JC have had good coaches. But they just don't have the athletes or the talent. It has to develop in the youth system and genetics plays a big part of that. We had a pretty good run in basketball down here at Floyd from 2012-2021 with coach Sturgeon. They probably had 20 kids that were 6"6 or taller in that timeframe. Some 6"9, 6"10, 7 foot tall. You can't teach that stuff. Area genetics plays a big part in HS Athletics success.

I think genetics can play a part in generational teams but I don’t think it matters in teams being consistently good. There are other factors that determine that: work, effort, commitment, belief, motivation, camaraderie, coaching, money, strong youth programs feeding into high school, tenured coaches, retaining of talent, etc.

Jennings County has a bigger student population than New Palestine and, until recently, was bigger than East Central. Those schools are not the only schools in their county or area like Jennings County is. It’s easy for kids in their district to transfer elsewhere due to the proximities of other schools. However, those schools are much better than Jennings County due to some of the factors I mentioned.

I can’t speak for Madison but Jennings County absolutely has the talent to be consistently good in sports. One of the big problems is getting coaches to be committed to stick around. There’s been so much turnover that it’s hard to get things going. Kendall Wildey (boys basketball/softball), Jim Harr (wrestling), and Howard Jones (wrestling) are some of the guys that have built great success because they were great coaches and stuck around for awhile. Hopefully other coaches like Kristi Sigler (girls basketball) can follow suit.

Because of politics, coaching turnover, or a lack of faith in the system, some of Jennings County’s great athletes have transferred out over the years to play sports at schools like Columbus East, Columbus North, Greensburg, South Decatur, Seymour, Brownstown Central, and even as far away as New Castle. If they could’ve retained these kids then maybe things wouldn’t have turned out as bleak as they did.

Nevertheless, Jennings County brought in a great AD a few years ago and he has made great efforts to try and change the culture at the school. He’s committed to winning and he’s been bringing in coaches that he feels are committed to winning as well. The problem is trying to keep them from leaving and that is easier said than done, especially considering Jennings County doesn’t have the money to compete with some other schools.

22 minutes ago, RetiredCoach91 said:

That is too bad for JC, seemed like the coach was doing good things. Where do they go from here? Another outside hire or did Newton have a coordinator in place that could be the guy? Hope to see them continue improving.

 

What does Madison's enrollment look like now? Werent they a shrinking enrollment school of late? Likely to be 3a? 

No clue about Jennings County. I just know the next hire will be their seventh different head coach since the start of the 2012 season.

As for Madison, they are definitely shrinking and have actually been in 3A since last season.

2 hours ago, boilerfan87 said:

On another note, it appears as though JC coach TJ Newton left to take the job at Eastern Pekin. It is over on the PLAC/MSC thread. 

Stole this from @WWFan but it does appear Jennings County is going to need a new head coach yet again. One step forward. Two steps back.

1 hour ago, Panther25 said:

I know they aren't with us anymore, but nowhere else would make sense to share for our former comrades. 

43 minutes ago, Impartial_Observer said:

Sorry to hear. Coach Wilson was busting his ass. 

Somewhat related but I wonder how independence has affected Madison. Has it been a benefit or detriment? My gut feeling is that they didn’t expect to stay independent for more than a year or two. I know they tried to join the Mid-Southern Conference but the feeling wasn’t mutual.

Jeffersonville has announced a new football coach. Per the JeffHigh AD Facebook page…

Article on jeffathletics.com

https://jeffathletics.com/Article/18106?fbclid=IwAR2Q0ddESbzjihCIkWTdFtTe1Vwosli8MwnmhDkfAvjsaw1_Omtfn6ATWPM_aem_ATVKzgAh6oVcqshk2ZzBaO0SvT8VgyxKnhOwefPhZlqSVTRuVFn5d8FI1IetLQaW0-4

45 minutes ago, 00NWP said:

NW lost to Northridge the first time around as they didn't run the ball...at all.  That was an issue in the first half of the season.  Since that loss, they have realized that they actually can have some success in the running game...which has opened up the passing game.  Warsaw...that game was interesting.  They were in that game...until turnovers in the second half.  That was a pretty bad game...Warsaw hands down played a great game that week.  I know people say...you haven't seen EC play...and I haven't...I will say DB is by far the hardest position to play at any level of football.  I think NW's passing game will be effective as rarely does a high school have more than 2 maybe 3 good DB's.  I'm not saying NW will win this game..I am saying, that they have the ability to keep up with EC scoring. If NW can at least slow down EC running game and make them pass the ball a bit more...that could cause turnovers...and that is what NW will need to keep it close.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Best of luck to your Panthers on Saturday!

I see some folks saying NorthWood could surprise East Central and keep it close. Anything is possible but I guess I’m just curious as to what the basis of that belief is. I know NorthWood has a couple D1 studs but I also know the team has two losses and is unranked in both the media and coaches polls. Could someone who knows NorthWood well explain to me why they lost to Northridge and Warsaw? Was there an injury that caused them to lose?

Unless there’s a good reason for the losses, I’m having a hard time believing NorthWood could keep it close based on the results of their schedule. Not trying to be insulting but I really want someone to sell me on why NorthWood is the toughest challenge East Central will face this season.

19 hours ago, Lysander said:

I think the justification for only needing 1 point to stay up is, generally, that if you are good enough to win a Sectional 50% of the time (once per 2 year cycle) thereby earning 1 point over a 2 year period then that would seem to demonstrate your ability to compete effectively in that class.  Again, just my opinion.

I’m with you on this. Just to get one point, you need to get 2-3 wins. It only requires one win for each additional point. So if you get through half the tournament and end up in the “Elite 8” then that one point should be enough to keep you up a class.

Bloomington South @ Decatur Central 

Nothing against Bloomington South. I’ve just been burnt picking them in the past.

3 hours ago, Fkfootball said:

Jeffersonville and New Albany are both a clown show. New Albany ran out a Hall of Fame coach like Jim Shannon. Hired a guy from Jay County. Their AD ran him out this summer. Then they hired a guy from Kansas who won 2 games last year. In basketball.  And I like Steve Cooley, he's a pretty good guy. But he's not really getting it done either.

Jim Shannon got ran off? I just thought he retired because he was getting older.