Had maybe the best thoughts from one Rita fan on Saturday as the game wore down...."I think we can get them this time....but I know #9 (Jack Elliott) will be the best player on the field and that's not good for us."

DMurph11 said:

Something that is not lost on me is had the kneel down officiating catastrophe not occurred at the end SF vs. Prov this game would be at Francis instead of Naz.

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Not necessarily. It would have changed St. Francis' seed and thus changed their entire path to the semi's.

jwarigaku said:

Alexander,

I too have been on both sides of the public/private education/sports equation for my boys and must say I completely disagree with you because I’m a fan of merit being rewarded. Both sets of programs had success in multiple states with similar debate about separation of public/private schools. To equate this to a business competitive landscape, should the best manufacturer or provider of a service etc… be subject to an additional tax because they provide a better product? I am a fan of everyone being treated equally, but the outcomes measurements should be based on providing the best product or service.

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Truthfully, it sounds like you and I would agree on many things in life. Still, there is something to be said about Aristotle's golden mean; that is, the pursuit of a proper balance with respect to every issue in life. That is why in economic matters (or the business example you gave above) most countries have adopted antitrust laws. There is a general understanding that power, including economic power, tends to concentrate over a period of time if no exterior force restrains it. When monopolies develop, often because originally a company had a better product, the company with the monopoly is frequently able to drive competitors from the market place and competition is actually reduced.

Anyway, sorry for the tedious explanation. When it comes to football, my goal is not to promote equal outcomes but, rather, to promote excellence through the promotion of a more competitive environment. I won't go into an explanation of all the mechanisms the NFL uses to promote a competitive environment, in part because you may be more knowledgeable about them than I am. However, I will say that if any one high school conference dominates the playoffs to an extreme degree, it can drive other football programs from the scene (i.e. Rock Island Alleman) or make it impossible for other programs to compete (i.e. De La Salle, Walther Christian, Maine East) and in a broad sense reduce the pursuit for football excellence in Illinois. The number of programs will get smaller, the number of players (and therefore the size of rosters) gets smaller, and many programs adopt 8-man football in an effort to survive.

Anyway, it is okay that we disagree, and I certainly do not propose to tell you what to think. It seems we are both committed to the pursuit of excellence and we both would be saddened if 30 years down the road football had largely become a thing of the past. It seems, in our own way, we both would like to see a vibrant high school football landscape.

Is Papa Fitz calling the plays for Loyola? I know he was in the press box on a headset for the ISU championship game last year. Charlie Bliss is the man…weird if they are not using him.

doctor_d said:

Yeah, I agree, but that doesn't mean the two year average enrollment rule isn't bad. There are public schools in the far SW, NW and west burbs that are now 8A and were 4A/5A a decade ago.
The whole two year average thing is just weird and arbitrary.

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Honest question what 8A school was 4/5A in 2014?

Something that is not lost on me is had the kneel down officiating catastrophe not occurred at the end SF vs. Prov this game would be at Francis instead of Naz.

SiuCubFan8 said:

DePaul and StL are both outliers with that rule.

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Yeah, I agree, but that doesn't mean the two year average enrollment rule isn't bad. There are public schools in the far SW, NW and west burbs that are now 8A and were 4A/5A a decade ago.
The whole two year average thing is just weird and arbitrary.

Also, having been on both sides of the public vs private as a coach. The biggest difference (and also the biggest indicator of both private and public school consistent success) is the coaching staffs. Many private schools only have 1 or 2 internal staff members as coaches. They get to hire external coaches that stay with the program and might be a little better overall as coaches. Public schools are often saddled with the requirement to give the math teacher and science teacher a coaching job. Sometimes those guys are great, but too often, they are there to collect the extra stipend.

The public schools that have the most consistent success have been lead by a great head coach with consistent and quality assistants. (Batavia, LWE, Maine South, ESL, etc)

SF @ Naz 1PM Saturday

DePaul and StL are both outliers with that rule.

One issue I see is that some of these schools do not schedule tough enough opponents early in the year. A school that routinely wins their conference should be trying to schedule some of the CCL / ESCC schools for their non cons early in the year.

As of right now for next year, I think there are 5 or 6 CCL / ESCC schools looking for games Week 1 and 2. Play them early so your kids know what the level of competition is. Some schools do a really good job of scheduling tougher non cons, but there are opportunities to understand the competition better come playoff time.

IgorStL said:

In the case of both of these schools, the jump in enrollment is recent. The freshman and sophomore classes are where the growth have occurred. These classes have little to no impact on varsity football teams.

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I understand. I've always thought the two year thing was weird and this is just further evidence. That's all. I realize that both of these schools will "max out" and probably soon. Again, it's not a knock on any particular school, just the general rule.

doctor_d said:

This should be exhibit A for the ihsa to scrap the 2 year enrollment cycle thing.
It really doesn’t seem that difficult to take last year’s ISBE enrollment numbers and set the classifications. Just a bad rule voted in and apparently by short sighted publics.
Please don’t misunderstand, this is not a knock on St. Laurence or DePaul Prep. It’s a knock on the rule. This sort of thing could happen to many different schools, in either direct

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doctor_d said:

This should be exhibit A for the ihsa to scrap the 2 year enrollment cycle thing.
It really doesn’t seem that difficult to take last year’s ISBE enrollment numbers and set the classifications. Just a bad rule voted in and apparently by short sighted publics.
Please don’t misunderstand, this is not a knock on St. Laurence or DePaul Prep. It’s a knock on the rule. This sort of thing could happen to many different schools, in either direction.

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In the case of both of these schools, the jump in enrollment is recent. The freshman and sophomore classes are where the growth have occurred. These classes have little to no impact on varsity football teams.

jwarigaku said:

Yes but business A gets the resources for Free! While business B has to find someone willing to pay the tax for business A and business B!

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Like I said, pros and cons. One thing is for sure, transfers don't matter anymore as long as you dot your i's

McCaravan said:

Only wear them for Homecoming and they get 1 home playoff game with them. One of those things nobody thought they would miss until they were gone! They are fan favorites when they are worn

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Not this fan -- and many others that I know.. Our colors have been brown and white for 125 years. While I wish they'd get rid of the yellow pants, if the boys think they bring them some sort of luck, I can be flexible.

MMA_Det said:

I just watched it
- finally caved and signed up for NFHS

Hold onto it for next week - then get rid of it pronto

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Green Knights 17 said:

Private schools might pull from multiple towns, but you are still talking small enrollments for most of them. Private school coaches are probably making half the money a public school coach is getting. Nothing is fair in life, end of the day, compete and find a way.

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I think you would be very surprised about paydays. Also, in a lot of districts half the amount of money a public school coach is making is well below the poverty line

Imhotep seemed like a one trick pony

It’s an incredible trick, but it seemed to be all on one player

I just watched it
- finally caved and signed up for NFHS

How did Kankakee hold them to so few points?

The Normal offense was a machine

As stated before, both ICE teams are underdogs this week. Maybe CC was an underdog against Dixon, but I picked them to win and it wasn't total homerism.

Coalers took one on the chin week 1 and have done nothing besides get better ever since. They got through some mid season injury issues and are peaking at the right time. Their only other loss was @ Wilmo and if those two played each other 10 times it would probably be 5-5. The CC RB #45 is an absolute stud and does everything for the team, but the pass game has stepped up and QB #5 and WR #32 are both playmakers. CC is big and physical, but will absolutely be put to the test by DePaul. All these CCL/ESCC teams have already been there and done that. Based off the limited amount I saw vs Dixon, the Coalers will have to cut out the turnovers while still being aggressive on offense. Coalers are 2-5 all time in the semifinal round. DePaul is by all accounts an up and coming program that was a popular darkhorse pick to win 4A at the start of the playoffs. Coal City was basically on nobody's radar as a 4A contender.


Anyone who is paying attention will know that Wilmo is a fairly substantial underdog this week @ Montini. If the game was at Wilmo, I'd like it much better, but Wilmo would still be underdogs in the hypothetical situation. Wilmington is 4-1 all time in semifinal games, but they have never gone on the road for one. Wilmington is actually 1-0 all time vs Montini, having beaten them way back in coach Reents' first playoff run in 1996. This is Wilmo's first season in 3A since 2019 as they have skirted the 2A/3A border and landed on the 2A side the past 5 years.
Montini is by far Wilmington's most formidable opponent in quite a while. It is not often that the 'Cats are clear underdogs, but Montini is absolutely loaded. I'm pretty sure Montini's main RB #6 is bigger than any of Wilmo's lineman. Wilmo will have to play a very clean game to be in it. The offense will absolutely have to avoid turnovers and pre-snap penalties and stay ahead of the chains. Montini is huge up front and very stout against the run. I will be interested to see what wrinkles Barry and staff come up with. On defense it appears to be a pick your poison. Montini can pound the rock with the bowling ball RB and huge line, but they've also got a D1 dual threat QB and WR's that are lightning quick. Just a very formidable opponent. I feel like Wilmo needs to be +2 in the turnover situation. The 'Cats will need to play their best game of the year just to stay in the game, but I guess that's what it's all about.

At Rita has plenty of film to show them ways to score

Should be a different game than the first meeting

doctor_d said:

This should be exhibit A for the ihsa to scrap the 2 year enrollment cycle thing.
It really doesn’t seem that difficult to take last year’s ISBE enrollment numbers and set the classifications. Just a bad rule voted in and apparently by short sighted publics.
Please don’t misunderstand, this is not a knock on St. Laurence or DePaul Prep. It’s a knock on the rule. This sort of thing could happen to many different schools, in either direction.

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I totally understand your point and I agree that the rule needs to be modified.

jwarigaku said:

Yes but business A gets the resources for Free! While business B has to find someone willing to pay the tax for business A and business B!

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Trust me nothing is free. 🤷🏻‍♂️

PowerI66 said:

Before I say what I'm going to say, I'm at peace with public/private thing. It is what it is. However, this analogy doesn't work unless you acknowledge the advantages and disadvantages of each side. For example, business A only gets to use local resources, but business B gets to use resources from surrounding areas. Business A gets taxed at a lower rate than business B. You get the idea.

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Yes but business A gets the resources for Free! While business B has to find someone willing to pay the tax for business A and business B!

PowerI66 said:

Before I say what I'm going to say, I'm at peace with public/private thing. It is what it is. However, this analogy doesn't work unless you acknowledge the advantages and disadvantages of each side. For example, business A only gets to use local resources, but business B gets to use resources from surrounding areas. Business A gets taxed at a lower rate than business B. You get the idea.

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Private schools might pull from multiple towns, but you are still talking small enrollments for most of them. Private school coaches are probably making half the money a public school coach is getting. Nothing is fair in life, end of the day, compete and find a way.