Perspective

Lakeland's always pretty good.

Impressive start to the season and perhaps an even more impressive ending. Good luck.

Interesting approach. On the one hand, it probably makes some sense with the limited supply of referees available and knowing that Friday Night Lights are going to be shining on Thursday and Saturday nights for varsity football games, as well. On the other hand, is a kid going to be able to do both? The FHSAA recently dealt with the issue of kids bouncing back and forth between V and JV and voted to essentially allow kids to play in one varsity game and one JV game in the same week so long as they didn't play more than 6 total quarters. Now, it would seem that a coach should keep as many kids as possible on the varsity roster this fall for purposes of practice, red O and red D and getting reps (knowing that he can only dress out 60 for games), and then drop several of them down to JV in the spring to get game reps. Hornet, what's going to keep a coach from dropping all returning players down to JV in the spring? Historically, and with several exceptions, 9th and 10th graders played JV and 11th and 12th graders played varsity. But I don't think there are any rules concerning this. So, why wouldn't a coach drop all his 11th graders down in the spring to get more game experience? Will there be a gentleman's agreement among the coaches not to do this? Last thought: this is starting to look a little like college where athletes are being separated/isolated from the general student population. While I understand the rationale from a 'football standpoint,' I'm not sure that's the best thing for the majority of these kids. Looks like "On-line learning" is being converted into "O-line learning."

Al Bennett ⁦‪@AlBennett22⁩ Pinellas County will allow 25% of the capacity for all HS football games this year. In addition, only electronic tickets will be accepted. No tickets will be sold at the gate. Good news- all games will be streamed live via the NFHS network!! 8/27/20, 2:11 PM

Proset, I feel pretty comfortable telling you how it works in Hillsborough County, but I'm just not sure if all counties are the same. My general understanding is that the transfer-in rules apply equally to kids moving into a school district from another district in the county, another county or from out of state. In Hillsborough County, you have the absolute right to attend the public school that you're zoned for (based on where you reside) or you can attend any other school in the district, so long as they have capacity. Some of the better-rated schools don't have capacity; therefore, you have to live is that school's district to attend. Other schools have plenty of capacity, so it can take as many kids as want to transfer in. (*Note: there are some rules that apply to unique situations, but the above covers most situations). I think this is the way it works throughout the state, but I'm just not sure. And, of course, as I suspect you know, kids can live in Timbuktu and attend any private school that they want to. So the kid that moves to Lake City probably wouldn't be able to play at GHS, but he could play at Oak Hall. Not sure if this helps, but I tried.

I never understood the fans (especially walking out of the stadium after a victory) who are shouting "[name of other school] sucks!" OK, so if that school sucks, then your team just beating them really wasn't all that big of a deal, now was it?

"Buy in" will be important, too.

Darter, perhaps Florida HS Football needs someone to cover the game for them . . . write up a short article, snap a few pictures, etc. You know, a good, old-fashioned freelance writer. Win-win. FHSF gets much-needed content and you get a front-row seat to watch the game from down on the field. I'm guessing that the credentials to get down on the field to watch the game for free would be payment enough. Just a thought.

So, are you number 42 or number 53? All joking aside, I give the coach credit for making a tough decision. I'm sure he has preached to his team how important family is. With this decision, he showed his players that he is willing to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

Just curious, does Madison have a lightning detection system? Or is that what that big pole in the background is for?

Sumner is Hillsborough County's brand new school (first new school in a decade). In the Riverview area. Just found out the other day that it will start out with grades 9 - 11 this year. Their first class of seniors won't be seen until next year. I would think it would be tough for almost any school in the state to be competitive without a senior class. By the same token, I'm guessing this means that they'll only have a varsity team and no JV team. If you take any JV team in the area and add a full squad of juniors, that team should be pretty successful.

Personally, I'd look towards opting in (or, I guess the better way to say it, is "staying in"), but wait until the last minute before I made my final decision. Some areas may not be able to start in time to get enough games in; for those areas (South Florida?), opting out may be the best choice.

Plant was supposed to open with Robinson (@ Plant) and then play Hillsborough (@ HHS). Those two teams/games got dropped. I agree that either of those two games (or Jefferson) would make more sense for Plant this year, especially when Plant had to play at Armwood last year. At the very least, that could have been a home game for the Panthers. Even Jesuit would be a better game for Plant this year. But, unless there's a Covid issue, I don't see the County dropping the Plant/Armwood game at this point, especially since it appears that Plant still has one slot left to fill.

In other words, STA doesn't have a new QB yet. JK.

Remember, though, that "district games" don't have the same meaning as in a normal year. There will not be any 'recognized' district champions and all schools that have not opted out will make the playoffs (blind-draw format; coin flip determines home team). I was actually a little surprised that Hillsborough County kept the non-County district schools on the schedule for Hillsborough County schools this year; I was expecting the County to drop those games and replace them with other H.C. opponents to keep the revenue that will otherwise be lost when a county team has to go out-of-county to play a "district" game.

Here are the schedules for the Hillsborough County public schools. While there have been many changes, most of the opponents for each team have remained about the same.

Here's the full slate of Hillsborough County games. I'm pretty sure the Gonzaga/Plant game has been canceled, so it appears that Plant may have one more game to fill. Otherwise, they have 7 games on their schedule and every other team in the county has 8 games on their schedule.

Pipe Dreams, I respectfully disagree. I enjoy the questions and usually end up learning something about Florida high school football. To the extent you don't like the trivia questions, I have two suggestions: first, when you see a topic heading that starts out "Who is this . . . ," just skip it; and second, if you want to discuss something else, start a new"non-trivial" topic.

A QB from Miami area moved up to St. Pete and has enrolled/transferred to Lakewood. Big kid, but no offers yet. Said he needed to play in the fall in order to give him a chance at picking up a scholarship.

My garbage collection switched from Mondays and Thursdays to Tuesday and Fridays. Other than that, my schedule is pretty much the same.

Mainly because classifications and districts change every two years and you never know which teams you're going have to play. I think.

I hear what you're saying, but you also have to understanding that when you hold a position of authority or power or leadership or prestige (or even a message board moderator), you're always going to be held to a higher standard. From my viewpoint, you don't need to check your opinions at the door just because you're a moderator. However, whereas others can step on or slightly over the line when it comes to rules and policies, you have to stand beyond reproach -- clearly on the 'right side' of the issue. If a moderator falls below the standard, everyone will think that it's OK for them to do the same thing. Sorry if this sounds like a lecture. Just trying to give you a little 'perspective.'

ColumbiaFan, you're young (or so I've been told). Opinions are like . . . belly buttons (generally, another anatomical feature is used in this analogy, but I'm trying to keep things clean). I'll say it again, opinions are like belly buttons. Everybody has one. And it's OK that they're different. You can share your opinion and I can share mine. Just because I don't agree with your opinion doesn't mean I don't respect your opinion. It just means you're wrong. JK. It just means we're looking at this from different perspectives. No need to get bent out of shape just because another poster disagrees with your analysis or your perspective. That said, if you're the only one on a particular side of an argument (say, for example, you believe Madison County would beat every other high school in the country), it might be time to re-examine your arguments and beliefs. Regarding the playoffs, I understand the point you are making. I've said/posted before that if the South Florida schools are unable (through no fault of their own) to participate in the state series, whoever wins it will have an asterisk next to their name. And if the teams in South Florida are able to play for their own championships, those teams will have asterisks next to their names. And 50 years from now, the players from the one championship team can get on an Interest message board and argue with the players from the other championship team over which team would have won had they been given the chance to play. And in the end, we'll never know because all those posters will ever have is their opinions. By the way, just because someone stops posting a particular opinion doesn't mean they've abandoned their beliefs. It could just mean that they've come to realize they aren't going to change other people's minds, so why waste the time saying it again. Peace.

Pinellas County has been maintaining 'social distance' from a state title for many years now. (Sorry, Peezy, I just couldn't resist).

When you get to the final week of the season and one 8A team not from South Florida is hosting another 8A team not from South Florida for the state championship, I can tell you a few things: first, the kids (and coaches) from those two teams won't give a rat's azz that the game is not being televised statewide. (As an aside, I'm trying to remember whether the championship games last year were televised statewide? I thought you had to do some sort of pay-for-view or subscription in order to watch the championship games? Either way, I digress. The kids won't care). Second, in the weeks leading up to a traditional championship game, multiple games are played in multiple locations. Personally, I don't see why the playoff games -- especially the championship games -- can't be spaced out a little (Thursday, Friday, Saturday), but there likely will have to be some overlap this year. So what? FHSAA staff and media will have to divide and conquer. Third, we don't know whether fans will be allowed in any games this year. I suspect this will be a county-by-county decision and the maximum number may change (increase or decrease) over the course of the season. But, if we get to championship games, it's likely a sign that the Covid situation has improved and larger home crowds may help offset the loss of anticipated gate revenues from a neutral site game. Fourth, when all is said and done, if we get to an 8A state championship game (or 7A or 6A, etc.) and regardless of whether there is a team from South Florida, a TV crew, or fans present at the game, if you were to walk along both of the sidelines just before kickoff and ask every player if they think it's "silly" for them to be there playing that game, I suspect you'd get exactly zero "yes" answers. Columbia, 2020 is not going to be like any year in the past and hopefully won't be like any year in the future. To quote our current President, "it is what it is." (Note: not a political statement). For 2020, the first priority should be player/coach/officials safety. Second priority: give as many kids possible the chance to have as close to a normal high school football year as possible under the circumstances. Third priority: if possible, allow the schools to participate in some form of playoff competition, regardless of how different it looks from prior years (in terms of where they play, when they play, who gets to watch them play, etc.). And if the playoff experience in one part of the state is different from the playoff experience in another part of the state, so be it. It's not ideal, but it's better than punting.