State Finals Recap

[Bobref]

Post your observations here about the Finals experience. What was good, and bad? Suggestions for the future. What went right and what went wrong. What could be added to the weekend next year?

I saw all 6 games. My takeaway was that the officiating was very good. Some games better than others. No one worked a perfect game. But unless I missed something, there were no significant controversies, and officiating had no bearing on the outcome of any game. Now I can uncross my fingers … until next year.

[BTF]

Carroll may have had the biggest crowd among all 12 contenders. Their student section still showed lots of spirit late in the 4th quarter. Ninety nine percent of the fans stuck it out till the end and cheered their team on. With that kind of community support, this could be just the beginning for the Carroll program...............a sleeping giant if you will. 

[oldtimeqb]

@Bobref Question about 5A. That was the only game I noticed where the referee would announce ‘False start - Whiteland (or Valparaiso)’ as opposed to offense. 

Is that a referee preference, comfort level with a mic, etc? 

[Bobref]

14 minutes ago, oldtimeqb said:

@Bobref Question about 5A. That was the only game I noticed where the referee would announce ‘False start - Whiteland (or Valparaiso)’ as opposed to offense. 

Is that a referee preference, comfort level with a mic, etc? 

It was noticeable, and it is not the preferred way of doing it. Generally speaking, high school officials have to use a field microphone maybe once a season. Most don’t run into it at all. So, they are not entirely comfortable with the process. The preferred announcement would be: “Prior to the snap, false start on the offense. 5 yd. penalty. Still first down.”

[Boilernation]

Valpo/Whiteland was the only game I wanted in entirety. I thougth the officiating was phenomenal. There were a lot of important calls in that game and instant replay showed the officials were correct every single time. One of the biggest was the placement of the Whiteland punt that could have pinned Valpo inside the 1 yard line as opposed to where they started on the 20. 

[Coach Nowlin]

we have had the crew that worked the 5a game both in regular season and playoffs, they are one of if not the best in northern Indiana for sure.   Tough game to officiate, but they were spot on with their calls and there was A LOT of them.   

Loved Whiteland's crowd, didn't see Carrolls,  

East Central very IMPRESSIVE, which I knew they were after watching battle and win over Roncalli week before, which was a slight bummer personally for me as was rooting for the Hanson kid to show out on the big stage for Roncalli 

Mater Dei was very much playing with revenge in their minds, physically dominated the line of scrimmage.   

Did NOT like the earlier starts 

 

[foxbat]

Need to add instant replay just so they can bring @Bobrefout of retirement to be Mike Pereira at the Indy State Championship games.  That'd be worth the ticket price alone.

[Bash Riprock]

My comments about the 6A game attending in person.....

• Was much easier getting into the stadium this year...last year, it was horrible trying to get in through the gates.  (LOS does not open the north and south gates for the event...I guess its a labor issue)
• Hats off to the Carroll attendance and spirit.  Even late in the game with the contest decided, they never lost their spirit.
• Loved that the Carroll and CG players and staffs got together at center of the field following the game for Owen.
• Loved the OwenStrong decals worn on the CG helmets
• Loved that Coach Moore in his post game interview on the field gave a shout out to OwenStrong and the Carroll fans and program
• Loved Coach Moore and Coach Dinan embracing after the game and talking to one another...so obvious the mutual respect.
• Loved seeing the Colts Stephon Gilmore and his young son on the sidelines out in front of us watching the game and supporting Indiana high school football

I learned that CG and Carroll now have a multi-year agreement in place to play each other during the regular season.  This is a quality game that will greatly benefit both programs. After watching Carroll play in person, very impressed with the program.  Look for this program to only get better and better!

Did not love....the Ticketmaster charges that we have all talked about on GID.  I purchased 3 tickets for a face value of $45.  Total charge was $67.  $22 dollar handling fee?  Really??

Edited November 27, 2022 by Bash Riprock

[Yuccaguy]

A couple of observations about the tournament itself also (since I am a FW area guy):

#1. Carroll's move to Sectional #2 from #3 was to their benefit I believe.  Now that only applies to THIS year.  Who knows what #2 will be like next season? 

#2. I wonder what Snider is thinking .. "What could have been?".  All support to Valpo!  To decide to go for the win in OT, propelled them to a level no one thought they could achieve.  They DID though!  Congratulations to the Vikings... 

All in all, a nice 50th Tournament.  Didn't seem to be much discussion about the officiating, that's a good thing.  

The situation regarding ticketing needs to be addressed.  There is no reason that 'outside" fans shouldn't have the ability to purchase tickets at a State Finals school, free from 'convenience" charges.  Heck, at least have a charge go directly to the IHSAA at a MUCH lower price...  $2 per ticket?  $7 to Ticketmaster is a bit excessive, even with some of that going to Meridian Street.  

Just my @.02

[Coach Nowlin]

I had no problem waiting in line for about 7 mins to get both days tickets, go back in check thru the line and make it for intros, that was about 20 mins to kick off on Friday morning 

[foxbat]

33 minutes ago, Coach Nowlin said:

I had no problem waiting in line for about 7 mins to get both days tickets, go back in check thru the line and make it for intros, that was about 20 mins to kick off on Friday morning 

Apparently someone got video of @Coach Nowlin entering LOS Friday:

[Wildcat1992]

The bad.  The crowd for the 4A game coming in made leaving the 2A game take longer than it should have.  I realize that covid played a part, but last year they didn't allow the 4A crowd in until the 2A crowd left.  

Lines a the concessions were bad.  At the start of the 2A game, only one concession was open on our side.  My wife went to the other concession and was told "sorry, we aren't open yet".  How can that be possible?  You would think that all the concessions would be open when they let  people into the building.  This made the lines extremely long at the one open concession.

That's it.  That is the bad.  Everything else was top notch.

[coachkj]

22 hours ago, Yuccaguy said:

The situation regarding ticketing needs to be addressed.  There is no reason that 'outside" fans shouldn't have the ability to purchase tickets at a State Finals school, free from 'convenience" charges.  Heck, at least have a charge go directly to the IHSAA at a MUCH lower price...  $2 per ticket?  $7 to Ticketmaster is a bit excessive, even with some of that going to Meridian Street.  

I had the benefit of being able to buy at the gate during games on Friday for Saturday's games, saving the extra $7.  If the IHSAA wanted to charge $20 a ticket and they get all the money I'm all in. As much as they may frustrate many of us the IHSAA does a great job.  Not a fan of paying a 3rd party that much.  I hope they are looking for a different option.