cuseincincy
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- Aug 26, 2011
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Tonight I may be attending one of my last high school football games for a while. My kids HS is playing my wife's alma mater in a backyard brawl public vs. parochial showdown. First off I love HS football. My older son is a college freshman and despite numerous D2 offers and 2 D1 offers he decided not to play in college. My younger son doesn't play football so I don't have a vested interest in the team anymore but its a good thing I look like my avatar or I would probably tear my hair out. Our HS hired a new coach this year (a needed move) and the new coach is an offensive genius whose teams have averaged 40+ points the past 7 years at other schools. BUT, he has a fatal flaw that almost got him lynched in his first game last week, a 42-41 win. You see, he refuses to punt. I had heard that previously and thought, OK he's aggressive, go for it, the kids love it, its exciting lets put it to the other team. BUT...I assumed he had some strategic limitations to that. Umm, not so much. Last week our team is up 2 TD's with about 6 minutes left in 4Q, they'd looked great and converted on several 4th downs and didn't on a couple, no big deal. BUT...4th and 12 from OUR OWN 25 yard line, no punter. QB sails a pass a little high out of bounds. Short field, quick TD we're now up 7. Next series, 4th and 8 from OUR OWN 30 yard line, 3 minutes left in game, YEP, no punt, WR has pass bounce off his fingers. 2 minutes later its a tie game. OT. On second OT possession the other team's kicker bounces the PAT off the left up right WE WIN! The kids were ecstatic. The parents were relieved.
I think the coach may be over his head a little. He came from a small school that plays in a terrible conference and took an also ran rural HS to a string of 9 and 10 win seasons racking up all kinds of points. He obviously gets the whole offense thing. But he never coached against any decent competition. Every year his team would get killed in their first playoff game when they met an actual decent team. Things are different at our school and conference. Schools in our conference regularly make the state final four including a couple state championships and a handful more runner ups (one of each for our school). A few years ago 3 schools from our conference were ranked in the top 10 of the state poll. Its not unusual for 4 schools from our conference to make the playoffs. He has had teams go undefeated and not make the playoffs due to their weak schedule. Our school and fans are fairly forgiving. If our last coach had gone .500 the last couple years he'd still be here but he'd lost the program. Roster size dwindled and kids just didn't want to play anymore. He was a very good man with strong character but the white paint on my office walls is more motivating than he was.
To say its my last HS game is probably a stretch. If it gets too crazy I'll probably start going to other HS games. Luckily Cincy has some of the best HS football around. Just last week instead of our game I could have gone to a double header with 3 USATODAY top 25 teams playing. I just thank goodness football is finally here even if ESPN etc are messing with my traditions. There is nothing like a Friday night HS game, followed by watching SU on Saturday and then the Bengals on Sunday. Back in the Big East days I actually got to attend all 3 a couple times.
Sorry for rant! Let's go Orange! Can't wait for Happy Hour and a Friday night tailgate!
I think the coach may be over his head a little. He came from a small school that plays in a terrible conference and took an also ran rural HS to a string of 9 and 10 win seasons racking up all kinds of points. He obviously gets the whole offense thing. But he never coached against any decent competition. Every year his team would get killed in their first playoff game when they met an actual decent team. Things are different at our school and conference. Schools in our conference regularly make the state final four including a couple state championships and a handful more runner ups (one of each for our school). A few years ago 3 schools from our conference were ranked in the top 10 of the state poll. Its not unusual for 4 schools from our conference to make the playoffs. He has had teams go undefeated and not make the playoffs due to their weak schedule. Our school and fans are fairly forgiving. If our last coach had gone .500 the last couple years he'd still be here but he'd lost the program. Roster size dwindled and kids just didn't want to play anymore. He was a very good man with strong character but the white paint on my office walls is more motivating than he was.
To say its my last HS game is probably a stretch. If it gets too crazy I'll probably start going to other HS games. Luckily Cincy has some of the best HS football around. Just last week instead of our game I could have gone to a double header with 3 USATODAY top 25 teams playing. I just thank goodness football is finally here even if ESPN etc are messing with my traditions. There is nothing like a Friday night HS game, followed by watching SU on Saturday and then the Bengals on Sunday. Back in the Big East days I actually got to attend all 3 a couple times.
Sorry for rant! Let's go Orange! Can't wait for Happy Hour and a Friday night tailgate!
I'm going to print this out and bring it with me to the game tonight. I'm willing to be open minded. Heck, I've even voted for Democrats and Republicans for President in the past!
