wabashalwaysfights

I am not, but my point is that, in the hypothetical of Rossville, or any other community, pursuing the idea of a football program should have the opportunity to decide for themselves, under the "marketplace of ideas" theory, to make that decision for themselves without the input of you, me, the man on the moon or anyone else for that matter. I guess ultimately my thought is this: it seems like the battle lines are pretty clearly drawn, so what exactly os there left to discuss? I'm sure the coop proposal will come up again, likely next summer, but in the meantime there's actual football, 11 and 8 man, to discuss.

Genuine question, which clearly you have the right to decline to answer, are you a member of the Rossville community? Either as a taxpayer, parent, or other community member?

I mean, it seems like the reasonable response from your end would simply be not to watch... It seems that @hhpatriot04 has the best idea here: sanction both 8-man and co-ops and let the "marketplace of ideas" sort it out...

Seeing some of the questions and potential answers on co-ops, I get why one may be hesitant toward the idea. Still, and I'm going to have to prepare myself physically for what I'm about to say, does anyone know what Illinois' rules and regulations are on this? (Excuse me, I need to go throw up now that I've put that out there...)

I've made similar observations about our enrollment for years, but there's no doubt that it is directly tied to population dynamics and specifically jobs. I haven't kept up on the job implications of Data Centers, but if it's anything like the wind farms in Benton and Warren counties, they aren't good. I would think Data Centers, regardless of whether one thinks they are a "boogeyman" or not, would offer better job prospects.

No disrespect to INPREPS, whatever that is, but the ludicrous nature of these spelling errors perhaps suggests the use of AI?🤔

I agree, but the later is great cover for the former. I figured based on what I had seen throughout the day. Its too bad, but I am really glad they aren't folding.

I can understand and agree on 8 man football. I am not an admin (nor do I ever care to be) but if I had a guess as to why the resistance to 8 man it would be two things: 1) travel, as @Muda69 points out. Honestly, that is no illegitimate concern given the price of fuel. 2) I think maybe the best word would be maybe "stigma" or maybe "lack of understanding," and not even on the part of admin themselves but also the community. There's no easy solution to be sure.

I absolutely agree, however, does this mean the option should not exist? Also, if memory serves correct, the needle on this moved a bit from the first time this was proposed correct? I feel like 2 years ago, the spread on the vote was rather large, like double digits large, but this year wasn't the spread only 3 or 4 votes?

All in favor of co-ops personally, I hate to have the appearance of following Illinois in anything, but honestly at least having the option is good. @Coach Nowlin is 1,000% correct as well though, having the option for 8-man football at the sub varsity level is a great option as well. @1st_and_10 also makes a great point on the calendar; I get that most of us coaches do what we do because we are so incredibly passionate about the game of football, but sometimes less is more. As an aside, I've coached at small schools my entire career. I will grant that the number of programs that are struggling with numbers seems to be on the rise, however, for smaller schools, this issues has been around for quite a while. The issues that @1st_and_10 points out in his post only amplifies it.

Seems like 8-10 is a narrower defeat than when it was proposed before...

Can't say I love the PBA stuff, but at this point it seems like a losing fight, so meh... My wife is the basketballer in our family and she was definitely NOT in favor of the shot clock, so bully there! Any word on the co-op proposal?

So I haven't paid attention attention to college basketball for some time: was this kid a baller?

...of course they do...