I LOVE my High School Football!!! I have much passion & with the upcoming 2018 season starting I thought I'd post the things I'll miss as we get ready to see what 2018 brings us.I will miss all the schools who no longer have football in Illinois(Joliet East,Kankakee Eastridge & Westview,Luther South,Glenwood School for Boys,Bloom,Bloom Trail,Lincoln Way North among many) & Indiana(Michigan City Rogers,Michigan City Elston,Gary Wirt,Hammond Tech,East Chicago Roosevelt,East Chicago Washington among many) because of numbers, closure,consolidation,etc.I miss schools having enough numbers to field A&B teams let alone,Soph & Varsity.I miss the Sica & Illini 8 conferences.I miss the many schools who no longer have college football in the state(Moraine Valley,Thornton,Illinois Valley,Wright,Northeastern Illinois among many).I miss the grade schools who no longer have football(St.Albert The Great @ Rice Park among many teams),I will miss Joe Predicto in the Southtown(man he hated Argo & Bedford Park!!!),I miss Sunday Catholic Games with my Grandpa(God Rest Your Soul Grandpa Mike) @ Gately with Refs from The Big 10 while listening to the Bears game, then going over to Indiana for hot dogs near Bishop Noll & the Times to read about the games in the Region,Speaking Of Which I miss a great man Mike Farkus on WJOB calling games as well as WLNR(West Lansing Near Radio.Still can hear the South Holland Bank Commercials in my head),WCGO,WLLI,WARG(Argo),Reavis Radio Station that for about 5 years carried games,The Rich East,Crete Monee,HF Radio stations,WCCQ(Do they still broadcast games?) and all the other stations I missed that carried games.I miss the Prep Bowl being a big deal to anyone other than me & it being on TV,I miss the Star that Lit Up on The Rich South Scoreboard & you being able to go to games there without a fence separating home & away.I miss Metrovison carrying Andrew,Stagg,Tinley,Bremen,Hillcrest,Oak Forest,etc games on Monday as well as Cablevison carrying Argo game on Monday & a West Suburban area game the other days of the week.I miss schools having nice game programs with color pics galore of football & other sports in them rather than something that looks like a little kid printed off on a cheap printer.Oak Lawn I recall would have the score of the previous week complete with highlights, stats & players of the game,Reavis would put in a nice scouting report of their opponets along with what they did the previous week(both Reavis & opponet).I miss The Rebel flag at TF South.As 2018 gets ready to start another great season I hope the best for your teams & nothing but safety & success!!! I'm sure I forgot a few things but 2 things I won't miss is Marian Catholic having a 666 address(Catholic School with a 666 address!!) as well as the numerous school strikes that cost some of the Sica Conference Schools(and others) in the 70's & 80's as well as dreaded forfeits.
Things I'll miss with the upcoming season starting next week.
- Thread starter superac777
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For Crossbones I remember when they were going to change or had changed(they put up a sign) the name of Bolingbrook High to Valley View High School Raiders.Early 80's.Raised such a big stink they stopped it quick.I also forgot I miss the great in detail coverage by the Star Newspapers.They had all the scores each week of Frosh A,B,Soph,Varsity & JV games of all Sica.
I miss those Saturday Night games my radio pulled in from your area.WIBC I think.ESL,ESL Lincoln,Althoff,GC North,GC South,ESL Assumption,etc.
I continue to miss, from the former Kankakee Westview home games, the Kayhawk mascot "doll" sliding down the wire from the pressbox down to the lower rows of bleachers following a score.
I remember when Eastridge had a E that lit up when they won(Side note I miss the Victory V @ Joliet East).Westview had a W which did the same thing.Well Westview beat Eastridge during the magical Jimmy Smith playoff 1978 season.Eastridge got on top of the roof & busted up the W.Eastridge beat someone 2 weeks later & the Westview kids took the E & turned it to look like a W!!! I also miss the Indian with flaming spear on horseback that put the spear in the end zone when Eastridge scored like Florida.St
I remember his exciting call that magical night Granite City beat East St.Louis on a long Field Goal I believe.My parents couldn't believe it since our Reavis Rams were the last team to beat the Flyers!!
I’ll miss good hard hits that will now be flagged....in 4 years I’m going to miss full pads football
If they’re flagged it’s because they are illegal(hopefully) and have never had a place in the game, and without a change in the mentality of hits we will be missing full pads. The goal of football has always been to put a ball across a goal line, not inflict punishment with your helmet
I'll also miss the old Argo Light Standards.Why? Well they were unique old school like the old CFL stadiums.Well I know they did in 88 when we played them and 1990 when I came back up to see a game there.They had 4 on each side.Now here is the thing.They had flags of their conference opponents on each light standard.About 3 on each one.They still had the old Sica West as well as updated with the Sica North teams some of which weren't in the old West.Now the thing is Argo STILL had neat flags up(and they were flags from the schools themselves and some seen their better days) schools that played with them in the Illini 8!!! They had some weathered Kankakee Eastridge flag,Kankakee Westview Flag and a Joliet East Flag still was flying in the corn starch infested breeze with a hint of 3M
With most of the local newspapers cutting back their coverage of high school sports, every once in a while I miss freelancing games. I was fortunate enough to cover some great players, teams and coaches. Some fantastic quotes for publication and some awesome things said that in no way could be published in a family newspaper 
Lots of great memories.
Lots of great memories.3 or 4 pages of coverage it used to be!!! I'll miss Mendel,Weber,St.Francis De Sales,St.Martin De Porres,Hales,Seton among many others lining up against DLSWith most of the local newspapers cutting back their coverage of high school sports, every once in a while I miss freelancing games. I was fortunate enough to cover some great players, teams and coaches. Some fantastic quotes for publication and some awesome things said that in no way could be published in a family newspaper
With most of the local newspapers cutting back their coverage of high school sports, every once in a while I miss freelancing games. I was fortunate enough to cover some great players, teams and coaches. Some fantastic quotes for publication and some awesome things said that in no way could be published in a family newspaper
I agree. I feel fortunate to be able to be a freelancer for the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park. I do it because it's all about the kids. It truly is a labor of love for me, and I can't wait to start Friday night!
But I am also saddened with all the cutbacks in local high school sports coverage. Like you said, both the Sun-Times and Tribune used to have 3-4 pages every day devoted to high school athletics. Taylor Bell always had insightful columns. Today, you're lucky to get one page in each paper
I get it, Chicago is a pro sports town more than anything. But families want to see their children recognized for their efforts too.
And what coverage is left is much of the "same old, same old" about the small elite class of athletes and their recruiting/rankings or the mostly common match-ups between certain marquee programs. Little apparent effort to bring us anything more interesting or unusual with any depth. I am finding the prep sports reading to be largely bland and shallow in the Chicago dailies.
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Daily Herald is a fantastic paper for local sports coverage. That’s why I have a digital subscription. They cover the northern burbs Lake County, DuPage County, Fox Valley, etc etc. just fantastic. I realize they don’t cover every suburb area,..,,,but they cover a lot. David O and Kevin S are fantastic in the DuPage County portion of the Daily Herald coverage. I only subscribe because of them and their sports coverage throughout the year.
I remember Star Newspapers which no longer are going had great coverage & great H.S. Football Preview.The Southtown the same.They had long in depth previews of many teams.Do they do that any more? The Trib & Sun Times Had Conference previews & predictions.I don’t think they do that any more.The Independent has poor coverage but a great preview issue which comes out in week 3 or 4.The Reporter the same with great coverage so does the Des Plaines Valley News
The after work crowd on Fridays at The Regal Beagle.
I love their new digs well not new anymore but I miss St.Laurence playing at Reavis for home games
During my soph and senior seasons, due to the large crowds, St Laurence played their "home" game vs Joliet Catholic at Joliet Memorial Stadium. The St Laurence team and fans even sat on the home side of the stadium.
That was a great great rivalry.I miss those days.I remember during the Reavis heyday you had to know a student to get your playoff tickets early then get to the game in the freezing cold 2 hours early just to get a seat!! Great memories.People around the school would be sitting on the roofs on their houses just to watch & people who didn't get in(they filled up the fence) would stand behind the fence & order coffee,hot cocoa & buy programs lol
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