The Wednesday Game

[falconfish]

The Wednesday Game- For us “more experienced” posters, who misses the first playoff game played on Wednesday afternoon?
Pros:
-In high school, there was such a buzz around the school on game day. Always appreciated the 1/2 day off of school and going to the game(s).
-Post college: it was always great taking the day off and hitting 2 or 3 games that day, with some fun stops in between.

Cons:
-The tight turn around from Saturday to Wednesday… and if you won the Wednesday game… it was brutal to go from Wednesday to Saturday. Incredibly hard on the staff, administration, parent clubs etc. Some of the stories of trying to get film on a team are legendary.
-Physically on the players, it was insane.

Having said all that, from a football junkie perspective, I miss it like crazy.

 

[USD24]

As both a player and a fan, I loved the Wednesday game. Not only the half day on Wednesday, but I remember getting pulled out of class on Monday and Tuesday afternoons so we could practice in the gym. The schedule of that week, (3 games in 7 days) made for a great week of football!

 

[CCHS-Fan]

Attended some great Wednesday playoff games throughout HS (cause we never made the playoffs during my time - LOL).

I had parents who loved sports and were gracious enough to call me 'out' of school so I could grab my Letterman's jacket and off I went.

 

[wm4]

Remember that era so well. As a fan, one cool aspect I loved, was the games starting at like 4:30, while still light out. They'd finish under the lights and just that transition alone made it feel like a big game, like how college games often transitioned from light to dark.

 

[RockSoup]

Great memories of getting pulled out of grade school for a Dr.s appointment to watch the 1pm Wednesday games

 

[johnndoe]

Especially if you won the Wednesday game, it was a tough week for staff members attending to the responsibilities within their families and classroom teaching.

 

[FballDaddy]

That was epic. Until I lost that game senior year and had to go to school the next day....no weekend of mourning

 

[McEvergreen]

It was a different time for sure. Exciting week but tough on everyone involved and very exhausting!

 

[LakeCtyNewt]

Loved it. Remember my first Wednesday playoff game in 1974 at Evanston. GBN won 7-6 to oust the top-ranked kits.

 

[King MJ]

I loved playing in the Wednesday game, but the Saturday second round games were always sloppy as hell.

 

[King MJ]

The Wednesday Game- For us “more experienced” posters, who misses the first playoff game played on Wednesday afternoon?
Pros:
-In high school, there was such a buzz around the school on game day. Always appreciated the 1/2 day off of school and going to the game(s).
-Post college: it was always great taking the day off and hitting 2 or 3 games that day, with some fun stops in between.

Cons:
-The tight turn around from Saturday to Wednesday… and if you won the Wednesday game… it was brutal to go from Wednesday to Saturday. Incredibly hard on the staff, administration, parent clubs etc. Some of the stories of trying to get film on a team are legendary.
-Physically on the players, it was insane.

Having said all that, from a football junkie perspective, I miss it like crazy.

Re: film, remember this was back when quarterfinals were still in quadrants. The other thing that made them special was it was often against a team you played frequently. It was rare to get an opponent from far away or who you hadn't seen before (at least for large schools)

 

[tjjrr]

Remember the Wednesday playoff game very well. Brings back memories of good times. The big drawbacks of that tight turn around (if you were fortunate enough to win the Wednesday game) was for those who had to travel for round 2 on Saturday, that was when many of the big upsets happened. While I don't have it here in front of me, I believe statistics back it up. The other big thing was injuries, which I thing is why they ultimately did away with it. But the one thing I still to this day disagree with is adding the extra round of playoffs. I know, I know, one year a 5-4 team made it to the championship game and won. I still liked it better with one less round. It's just another chance to get a starter injured and 9 times out of 10 the higher seed teams destroy the 5=4 teams. I would bet the stats back this up.

 

[EdgyTim]

Very special for sure.....and I still say this was the BEST day of the year for IHSA Football...because it was the only day that everyone (media included) focused on IHSA Football with zero interference from any other sports....it drew by far the most eyeballs and interest.....something I think we desperately need these days...

 

[McCaravan]

I loved it. As a player it made for a great Saturday night if you won the week! As a MC player and fan, it was nearly impossible for a team to prepare for the veer on two days practice. During the Wednesday game era the only time MC lost before the quarterfinals was in 1993 when De La Salle upset them and a senior Donovan McNabb 9-6, a week after MC beat them like 33-0. I truly believe that was because they had seen the offense just a week before and it was fresh in their minds and they made the proper adjustments. But for teams that had never seen it before, it was a huge advantage to MC.

 

[all4theillini]

We beat I.C. at their place on Wednesday and then had Harvard at home which ended up being a surreal experience. For as long as I can remember Burgess Field had lights and all games were played on Friday nights. To play a 1pm game on a Saturday afternoon at home had one of the strangest feelings ever….felt like an odd scrimmage.

 

[crusader_of_90]

We played Waterloo in 1998 …. Wednesday Nov. 1, All Saints Day so we had school off. The night before was a ridiculous scavenger hunt … some insane illegal stuff that could have sat many of us down had it turned sideways.

But we were only playing Waterloo … so hungover like hell, we gave up a TD in the first quarter. So now we’re salty and start HITTING, maybe on the wrong edge of legal. We took some kid deep out of bounds (hit began in the field, ended up five yards outside of regulation … into the group of fans ringing the field.

Some locals stomped out guy … ALL OUT BRAWL! And our enforcer coaches were a little less inclined to hold our leashes after fans stomped one of our guys. They paid a price.

Theae days, it’s likely there would have been big issues … but we went cleanly through the rest of the playoffs. We got beaten the next day at practice… but our focus rightly redirected to our goals.

We did not give up a meaningful score the rest of the playoffs.

 

[eagles2k3]

We beat I.C. at their place on Wednesday and then had Harvard at home which ended up being a surreal experience. For as long as I can remember Burgess Field had lights and all games were played on Friday nights. To play a 1pm game on a Saturday afternoon at home had one of the strangest feelings ever….felt like an odd scrimmage.

Where did you go and what year was it?

 

[all4theillini]

Where did you go and what year was it?

Geneva

 

[eagles2k3]

Geneva

IC played Geneva? Interesting. Must have been long time ago!