DarterBlue2

He ain't no Shady!

He's probably just stirring the pot ...

In Orange County you can repeat a grade for academic failure. I know kids that have. But none of them played a fifth year of football. Most kids would age out after one repeat. For those, there are some other OCPS institutions that may be used to obtain a diploma.

Not sure what the rules say; however, if he's overage, than it's not allowed. That I know for sure. If he repeated, there's a very good chance he would be over the age limit. Plus, I suspect that you only have 4 years of eligibility unless you played varsity while in middle school. That would make sense, as otherwise, many schools and kids would be incentivized to repeat a grade to get in an additional year of varsity.

I hope this is not true. If it is, it will likely be the final chapter in a season where several high caliber programs have been busted. Things should not have to be this way. If the Bulls are disqualified, then that likely leaves Raines with a clear path to the title. It would also open the door for a few dark horses.

Based solely on what you described, and having no other information on how this game ended, if that's how FPC lost, it's a very unfortunate situation. Officials are human. Humans make mistakes. Until procedures are put in place to mitigate some of the current shortcomings in the high school game is officiated, a plethora of mistakes that would not happen at higher levels will continue to occur. It is what it is. Usually, they work themselves out over time. And usually, they are just that: mistakes. But in a close playoff game, I totally understand the frustration.

Seminole Plant City Palm Beach Central Western Buchholz Monarch West Boca Wiregrass Ranch Piper Niceville Edgewater Fort Myers Port Charlotte Vanguard Bishop Kenny Bishop Moore Key West - I have no confidence in this pick Booker T LaSalle Providence Edison Pahokee - Going to be a tall order traveling to Union County. But I'll give the Muck some love

@ohs vargas, I think you are missing the Seminole vs Orange City game. Don't want to get into the final 8 because you didn't pick all your games.

So far. Round 2 will separate the men from the boys or the contenders from the pretenders ...

Now that's an upset!

Having said what I did above, I think it would be a fascinating study to see what the gross proceeds (after adjusting for inflation of course) from all the playoff games from say, 1995 when they were substantially fewer classes, would compare with the gross proceeds from all the 2023 playoff games. I would not at all be surprised if 1995 won.

Understood. But 25% of $20,000 is a lot more than 25% of $5,000. Now of course these are arbitrary amounts pulled out of a hat and may not even be reflective of the current situation. But it would take four $5,000 dollar games to cover the one $20,000 dollar game. And I think it's safe to say that 25% of the pot from a typical Apopka playoff game (especially when they are having a good season), is going to be substantially better than 25% of the pot from a Lyman game (not beating up on Lyman, just picking a school out of the hat). The point is that bringing a lot more schools into the playoffs does not guarantee that the pot that the FHSAA gets its 25% from will necessarily increase. A lot depends on the fan bases of the schools in the playoffs and of the attractiveness of each game played.

Actually, they don't make more money. They probably make less as attendance continues to shrink with the passage of time. So, the trend to more classes may have more to do with giving a larger number of teams a title to compete for. Now this has been largely been made irrelevant as the stacking of teams in the large metro areas will continue to ensure that only a small number of schools have a realistic shot at a title each year, especially with the scrapping of Urban/Suburban classes.

That would never be agreed to as too much dollars are involved. Folk who own NFL teams are not chumps!

Back in the old days, when there was a three way district tie, the situation was addressed on the field on a Monday. To me, that was far better as you held your destiny in your own hands. With this current, non-transparent system, all the teams left outside looking in get is a nasty taste in their mouth.

No doubt. The number 2 seed in the region has a much better draw.

Thanks! Yes, I am going to make this game. Our regular season loss to them was our worst of the season, as I don't think they are as talented as Apopka even though we are down. If Apopka pulls the upset, they could actually win round 2 where they would face either Plant City on the road, or Sarasota Riverview at home. We would again be the underdogs, but I think on our best night we could beat those teams. But if we do get to the Regional Finals, the season ends at Venice as we would get smoked there.

In Central Florida, Apopka avenges its loss to West Orange and wins the rematch. Possible, but WO is still the favorite. Rick Darlington pulls a few rabbits out of his big hat, and shocks Lake Mary in the first round. Again, possible, but this would be seismic upset that would turn 7A upside down. For the record, I have Lake Mary going to the state title game, but I respect RD's ability to pull off shockers.

That's correct.

It only looks that way. As someone else explained in another thread, the final 4 will be determined based on each team's ranking at the end of the regular season. Lake Mary, I believe, is the number 2 ranked team in 7A. Therefore, they will likely get Palmetto or Columbus or Dp./Vero/PBC in their semifinal while Venice will get one of those teams, too, in it's semifinal. This will likely set up a Venice vs Lake Mary final which should be a great game.

5A is fairly wide open, as is 6A. Anyone of a number of teams could win either division. I am slightly surprised no one but me had Lake Mary in the 7A final. They gave Lakeland all it could handle and could easily have won that game which ended when Lakeland stopped their 2 point conversion attempt in overtime.

Here's my take: 1R Madison beats Hawthorne 1A Chaminade beats whichever team they face. Had TFA not been disqualified, I would have given them a puncher's chance. 2A Cocoa beats Cardinal Mooney 3A Northwestern beats Raines 4A Jones beats American Heritage and wins its first state title 5A Edgewater beats STA to win it's first state title 6A Buchholz beats Monarch 7A Venice beats Lake Mary in a very entertaining, very high scoring game

The system that immediately preceded this one was transparent, though it required a bit of math. This system is not at all transparent. The only thing a team knows for certain is that if they win district, they will have at least one playoff game. Beyond that, everything is shrouded in darkness. If an election or shareholders meeting were conducted in like circumstances, everyone affected would be up in arms.

Now, underdogs only occasionally appear when a pedestrian team has one or two outstanding players that manage to lift the performance of the team for a couple years. This comment refers to schools that are rural or small town that don't have the benefit of recruiting stud players in every year.

Peezy's clan all attended Dunedin. And as he said several were on that team. There's football talent in that blood line.