The Hammond Central Wolves? Say it aint so Joe

[Guest DT]

I just read on the RSN message board that venerable and historic Hammond High School has rebranded to "Hammond Central"

And the HHS Wildcats are now the Hammond Central Wolves.

You've got to be kidding

 

With the closures of Gavit and Clark, there is no "Central" high school anymore in Hammond.  There is Morton on the east side and Hammond High on the west.

Talk about loss of identity.  How long did it take Rogers and Elston to assimilate to the "Wolves" nickname?  

This is just a brutally poor job of consulting and brand management.  Morton and Hammond High were all set to start a new and vastly improved era of high school football in the city.  Now the Hammond High people need their egos massaged while they wallow in their new brands and likely color schemes.  Is the famed HHS Purple and White out the door too?

What a joke.  Somebody should step in and get this fixed while the door is still open.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by DT

[region]

It’s a sad situation. They used a branding firm out of Denver. The school board and SCH administration are inept. Erasing over 120 years of Hammond High history is a joke. They’re likely going to do the same to Morton.

They’re going to have a beautiful new school, but no home football field. The construction has been fouled up and original plans that called for a field on the west side of the new school have been scrapped. Hammond High football is in shambles right now having gone 0-18 the last two years. The new school is going to be built and they won’t have anywhere to practice or play. That’s the last way you want to start a new program. The city has said land will be donated from the adjacent Civic Center, but driving up there this week and looking on Google maps, there is certainly not enough room for a field. I don’t know what they’re going to do. I assume they’ll be playing their games to start on Saturdays and available Fridays at Morton. 

I want to be positive, but the consolidation in the city is going to be a disaster. Next to no planning from the top on issues like personnel, organization and most importantly, communication. Teachers and coaches have no clue what’s going to happen. It’s assumed right now that everyone at the high and middle schools, closing or not, is going to have to reapply in 2021.

I know this much, like I’ll never call fake Comisky “Guaranteed Rate Field,” you’ll never hear me call Hammond High “Hammond Central.” Same will go for when they inevitably rename Morton. 

[Bobref]

You would think if you were trying to restart a program, you’d want to encourage linkage to great tradition. Those Hammond High teams of the early 60s were as good as it gets in Indiana at the time.

[Gipper]

Although this can be perceived as sad or an injustice, perhaps a new color scheme and nickname can inject some new life into the program.  I wish the new Hammond Central High School nothing but the best!!!

[WWFan]

12 hours and not a single "wolfs" comment. Board is slipping

[Gipper]

Lol

[Guest DT]

We played against Hammond High in the Class 3A 1978 Playoffs, hosting the visiting Wildcats on a beautiful late October Friday night in Highland, Indiana

Both teams finished the season 10-0, with Highland winning the Lake Suburban Conference championship and Hammond sweeping to a Lake Shore Conference title.

Hammond was a tough, rugged town back then.  Blue collar, filled with steel and iron workers, plumbers, carpenters, refinery workers , teachers, etc.  The team reflected the city.  Big and nasty.  They also had a little QB by the name of Tommie Franks  who controlled the game and basically did what he wanted to all night.

We hung with them through early in the third quarter, when they stretched a 7-0 halftime lead into a 25-0 final score and a trip to Fort Wayne to play Snider 

Hammond High has great tradition.  Its a shame that people seem bent on erasing the past and feeling the need to start all over.  I can imagine that HHS Wildcat alumni all over this country are up in arms over this news.  Truly feel bad for you guys.  This sucks.

For everyone of us here who participate on this site, our old high school team has become a part of our identity, our DNA.  They've stripped the name, colors, logos and nickname of the Hammond High School Wildcats forever.  What  a shame.  

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by DT

[coach_schreibjr]

6 minutes ago, DT said:

We played against Hammond High in the Class 3A 1978 Playoffs, hosting the visiting Wildcats on a beautiful late October Friday night in Highland, Indiana

Both teams finished the season 10-0, with Highland winning the Lake Suburban Conference championship and Hammond sweeping to a Lake Shore Conference title.

Hammond was a tough, rugged town back then.  Blue collar, filled with steel and iron workers, plumbers, carpenters, refinery workers , teachers, etc.  The team reflected the city.  Big and nasty.  They also had a little QB by the name of Tommie Franks  who controlled the game and basically did wha he wanted to all night.

We hung with them through early in the third quarter, when they stretched a 7-0 halftime lead into a 25-0 final score and a trip to Fort Wayne to play Snider 

Hammond High has great tradition.  Its a shame that people seem bent on erasing the past and feeling the need to start all over.  I can imagine that HHS Wildcat alumni all over this country are up in arms over this news.  Truly feel bad for you guys.  This sucks.

 

 

 

It's par for the course for School City of Hammond. At this point, they've been so disappointing that this was only a matter of time. Not sure if Morton will go through the same name change. Changing the color scheme of both schools would cost a lot of money. Not to mention all of the equipment they have to purchase for both schools and the new turf that'd have to go in at Morton. Sad day to be an alum for sure.

[Gipper]

24 minutes ago, coach_schreibjr said:

It's par for the course for School City of Hammond. At this point, they've been so disappointing that this was only a matter of time. Not sure if Morton will go through the same name change. Changing the color scheme of both schools would cost a lot of money. Not to mention all of the equipment they have to purchase for both schools and the new turf that'd have to go in at Morton. Sad day to be an alum for sure.

I'm sorry you have to through this.  My sincere hope is you guys return to your former glory.

[Rodney]

I find it interesting that after 2 years of demanding team after team contract for being non competitive, you are all up in arms over what logo goes on the jersey of a team that will undoubtedly be non competitive for the next 10 years.

[Muda69]

On 5/27/2020 at 7:38 AM, Gipper said:

Although this can be perceived as sad or an injustice, perhaps a new color scheme and nickname can inject some new life into the program.  I wish the new Hammond Central High School nothing but the best!!!

It's also better to look good than to be good:

 

[Indian72]

I do not get the rational of why when schools are closing and you have a recognizable name why you have to change things. Name, school colors, mascot.

Anderson, Kokomo have closed high schools and they kept the tradition rich name.  When SB Central closed they never did any change at LaSalle when the students all went there.

I just do not see why all of the changes and maybe I am missing something

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Rodney said:

I find it interesting that after 2 years of demanding team after team contract for being non competitive, you are all up in arms over what logo goes on the jersey of a team that will undoubtedly be non competitive for the next 10 years.

Man I missed this guy

[Gipper]

3 hours ago, Rodney said:

I find it interesting that after 2 years of demanding team after team contract for being non competitive, you are all up in arms over what logo goes on the jersey of a team that will undoubtedly be non competitive for the next 10 years.

Perplexing...

[Guest DT]

4 hours ago, Rodney said:

I find it interesting that after 2 years of demanding team after team contract for being non competitive, you are all up in arms over what logo goes on the jersey of a team that will undoubtedly be non competitive for the next 10 years.

Hammond High has an opportunity to be a huge beneficiary of contraction.

Basically, 3 programs on their perimeter have shut down in the past 2 years

Hammond Gavit

Hammond Clark

Hammond Bishop Noll

Only Hammond Morton is now a competitor for talent in the city.  I believe Hammond "Central" will make the necessary investments and get this program back on track, fairly soon.  It will be an attractive Head Coaching job opportunity.  This is contraction at its finest.  Addition by contraction.  The strong get stronger.  The weak go away.  Within 5 years, you will see Central and Morton playing in some big conference championship and sectional championship games, with city bragging rights on the line.  

The two schools are now in a much stronger position to approach the Northwest Crossroads Conference about membership opportunities.  

 

Edited May 28, 2020 by DT

[gahoosierfan]

2 hours ago, Indian72 said:

I do not get the rational of why when schools are closing and you have a recognizable name why you have to change things. Name, school colors, mascot.

Anderson, Kokomo have closed high schools and they kept the tradition rich name.  When SB Central closed they never did any change at LaSalle when the students all went there.

I just do not see why all of the changes and maybe I am missing something

 

What you are saying is that all the students coming from Gavit and Clark should just forget their history and go with the Hammond name. It is typical in a consolidation for the new school to have a new name and mascot. 

[Gipper]

3 minutes ago, gahoosierfan said:

What you are saying is that all the students coming from Gavit and Clark should just forget their history and go with the Hammond name. It is typical in a consolidation for the new school to have a new name and mascot. 

Case in point: the Brook Purple Aces, Goodland Wildcats, and the formidable Kentland Blue Devils consolidated into the South Newton Rebels in the late 1960s.  As a result, SN has seen its fair share of quality athletes.  One of whom, Tracy Smith, has been the manager of the Arizona State baseball team for the past few years after taking the IU Hoosiers to the College World Series (as a manager, he starred at Miami of Ohio and was drafted by the Cubs).  Shelly Wood was an all-State golfer who played collegiately at the University of Illinois.  On the gridiron, Adam Mullen was an all-state kicker for the Rebels, Sam Logan played at Indiana State and his father, Greg, is a KHS alum who played at Butler.  Lest we never forget Eric Watt.  Although he didn’t go to a FBS school, he was quite a quarterback as he was named MVP at the all-star game.  There are many more, I just wanted to illustrate what a long tradition SN has.

[Guest DT]

1 hour ago, gahoosierfan said:

What you are saying is that all the students coming from Gavit and Clark should just forget their history and go with the Hammond name. It is typical in a consolidation for the new school to have a new name and mascot. 

Great point  I thought the Hammond High history and mystique might overrule any other sentiments.  I was wrong.

Edited May 28, 2020 by DT