Perspective

For whatever reasons, I see a big difference between high school and college.  I'm glad the NCAA decided to give college spring sport participants an extra year of eligibility . . .  although it appears that the burden will be on the schools to find the money needed to pay for the players who will be returning for an extra year of college (perhaps a full year unless they sit out fall semester), the underclassmen who would be returning anyway,  as well as the new players coming in.   But it was the right thing to do.  And while many of the winter sport athletes (like basketball and gymnastics) missed out on what could have been the highlight of their career (like post-season tournaments), I'm OK with not giving these student-athletes another year of eligibility.  More of a gut call than a logical analysis. 
But, while I feel horrible for the high school spring sport athletes, and remain hopeful that they will be allowed to complete their spring sport seasons -- abbreviated as they may be -- I just don't feel right about high school kids postponing graduation to play another season of high school sports.  I just don't think it would be smart/prudent/advisable to put off an entire year of college just so they can come back for another year of high school and play another year of  baseball or football (or whatever).   [As an aside, such a decision by the FHSAA would likely require them to change their bylaws and allow kids to play after they've reached the magic age (19?)].
As a practical matter, seniors who participate in spring sports, and who hope to obtain college scholarships in those sports, already have been offered.  Baseball and softball are both big club sports, and tennis is in a category all its own.  Lacrosse is still relatively new in Florida, but the better players already have been identified as juniors and/or based on their club play.  Same with even newer sports like boy's volleyball and water polo.  I'm not really sure where Track & Field and Weightlifting fit in, but I'm guessing the really fast and really strong athletes already have been identified and, if scholarships are available, offered.  I do feel particularly bad for the flag football players if they are not able to complete their seasons, as the sport doesn't exist yet in college (except as a club sport).   
I saw something posted the other day quoting a high school baseball coach who claimed it would take at least three weeks of practice to have his team ready to play games again.   Sorry, but I call B.S. on this.   If I were a high school senior who played baseball (like I once was), you could have me game-ready in a week - especially if school was over or almost over and restrictions on practice time, if any, were lifted.  My thought:  once the FHSAA gives teams the green light to hit the field again, give them all a week to practice, have them play one or two games and then go straight into district tournaments, with all seeding be done at random.  Double elimination, if possible.  Yeah, some good teams might get shafted and some seasons are going to come to end way too soon for some teams and a lot of players, but something is better than nothing. 
Anyway, I was bored and this topic seemed as good as any to stir things up a little.  I've put my thoughts out there.   What do you guys think?

All kidding aside, I don't see why football couldn't work . . .  two teams of 60 each together with coaches, officials and essential  personnel.  Allow each player to designate two fans each to attend the games.  Spread the fans out in the home and visiting side stands.  No bands, dancers or cheerleaders until things are under control, then start re-introducing these aspects of the game one at a time.  In short, it would look like most high school JV games.  Perhaps they could add in a streaming service that would allow the games to be viewed by small crowds at local restaurants . . . again, once we get to the point that small crowds can congregate at local restaurants.  PPV-style.   What am I missing?

I know of a handful of schools in the greater Tampa Bay area where there would be no risk of having a crowd of more than 250. 

Well streaming service wouldn't happen for Columbia
 
They have a "stubborn" attitude towards 21st century ideas like that LMAO

I know of a handful of schools in the greater Tampa Bay area where there would be no risk of having a crowd of more than 250. 

I know of a handful of schools in the greater Tampa Bay area where there would be no risk of having a crowd of more than 250. 

I know of a handful of schools in the greater Tampa Bay area where there would be no risk of having a crowd of more than 250. 

That 2012 Plant team was VERY good.  I was at Lakewood at the time, my son was on that Robinson team.  That Robinson team beat us twice that year, and is probably the reason we did not win a ring while I was at Lakewood.  Any Plant team other than the first and last year of Coach Weiner's term was a very formidable team.  I have only been on the winning side of the scoreboard against Plant once, and that Tech team was loaded.  Plant may not have had as many pro prospects as some other programs, but they were strong, physical, disciplined, and always believed they could win.   They played hard and beat many teams that were more talented than they were.

Without a doubt, John Curtis had the better team that year.  It didn't help, however, that Plant players were cramping up by the second quarter and played most of the game without their starting QB and starting RB.  But, again, I will concede that JC had the better team that year.  That said, I would bet my bottom dollar it would have been a closer game had it been played at Plant, regardless of whether JC players got no sleep or a full night's sleep.  Of course, we'll never know whether that would have happened or not. 
For what it's worth, the "[not] good Plant team" finished that season with two losses -- the regular season road loss to John Curtis and a playoff road loss to Dr. Phillips.  Somehow, that 'not good team' managed to beat Wharton.  As well as Armwood, TBT, Jefferson and six others.  And, also for what it's worth, I can only wish that this past year's team had been a 'not so good' 10-2. 

Technically, the Super Dome was a neutral site game, too.  

Edgewater lost a very good running back to graduation (ICON). Other than that, the rest of the very good skill talent will be back. They also lost some good to very good linemen on both sides of the ball who had experience. They have some holes to fill, but on paper no more so than any other team in the Orlando area. I expect them to be very good again and a return trip to state is not out of the question.  

Has passed. He was 76. Prayers to his family, he was a great coach and builder of men. 

Ha.   More like "Counselor, please do your own research before you walk in here and ask the Court to answer all of your legal questions -- especially when the answer to all your questions can be found in the transcript."

I'm currently interviewing for that new show on TV called Yo MTV RAPS!

I've been attempting to mathematically show which areas of the country are best at football. As Floridians, we fundamentally believe the best college ball is played in the South. And obviously with the likes of Clemson, Alabama and LSU, it's very hard for others to dispute. But while attempting to validate this, I ran into a bit of a snag. As you can see above, the distribution of football playing colleges throughout the US is completely unbalanced. There are over 200 more colleges playing football east of the Mississippi River than there are to the west of it. If we dig into it further, there are "holes" found all over the map showing major imbalances depending on the level of football being discussed. For example, in New England, there are 58 colleges playing football but only one (Boston College) plays at the P5 level. In NY, NJ, Pennsylvania, Delaware there are another 96 football schools, 4 of which play P5 football. So out of the 154 colleges in the Northeastern US, only 5 play big time P5 football. This leaves 60 P5 schools for the rest of the country, 22 of which can be found in the traditional south. So I found the map to be geographically biased towards selected areas of the country. To compound matters, the more regions I used, the worse the situation became. So I decided to categorize each region and distribute the teams as fairly as possible trying to keep the number of teams and areas "balanced." The comparisons will be divided as follows:
P5 (North/South), G5 (North/South), FCS (North/South), D2 (East/West), D3 (East/West), NAIA (East/West).
To do this, I was required to completely disregard Conferences. So please keep that in mind because it will mess you up. 
The data will be shown on my next post.
 
 

Cyril Brockmeier has indeed been announced as the new head coach at Plant.  Coach Brock was not the current JV coach.  He held the job for for a nice stretch a few years ago, leading the team to several undefeated seasons.  Coach Weiner often referred to him as "the most overqualified JV coach in the country."  Hyperbole aside, it may have been true.  At that time, the former college player (O-line) already had two college coaching positions on his resume.  Coach Brock had to step down from coaching a few years ago when his brother died suddenly (as I recall, a cut from a boat motor led to an infection that killed him within a week), leaving behind a wife and a couple of young boys.  Brock stepped up and helped raise the kids (his nephews).  As I understand, the kids are a little older and their mom has a new man in her life.  As a result, over the last couple of years, Coach Brock has been able to return to his passion of coaching. 
I believe Coach Brock is on good terms with most all of the coaches, so Plant won't have to completely rebuild their coaching staff (although a couple of the assistants already had made the decision to retire even before Coach Weiner announced his move to Toledo).   The administration was fortunate to have several good options available, including at least one other off the current staff and at least one from a nearby school.  
The principal at Plant made the announcement Friday night at the football banquet, much to the delight and approval of players and parents.   Coach Brock spoke briefly and talked about building on Coach Weiner's legacy, while giving it his own signature.
It's never easy to follow a coaching legend.  Only time will tell whether this turns out to be the right man for the job. But it's hard to argue with the choice they made. 

Remember what I said. Vero having the longest regular season streak is like having the record for going on the most dates without laying the lumber. Lol!

Cyril Brockmeier has indeed been announced as the new head coach at Plant.  Coach Brock was not the current JV coach.  He held the job for for a nice stretch a few years ago, leading the team to several undefeated seasons.  Coach Weiner often referred to him as "the most overqualified JV coach in the country."  Hyperbole aside, it may have been true.  At that time, the former college player (O-line) already had two college coaching positions on his resume.  Coach Brock had to step down from coaching a few years ago when his brother died suddenly (as I recall, a cut from a boat motor led to an infection that killed him within a week), leaving behind a wife and a couple of young boys.  Brock stepped up and helped raise the kids (his nephews).  As I understand, the kids are a little older and their mom has a new man in her life.  As a result, over the last couple of years, Coach Brock has been able to return to his passion of coaching. 
I believe Coach Brock is on good terms with most all of the coaches, so Plant won't have to completely rebuild their coaching staff (although a couple of the assistants already had made the decision to retire even before Coach Weiner announced his move to Toledo).   The administration was fortunate to have several good options available, including at least one other off the current staff and at least one from a nearby school.  
The principal at Plant made the announcement Friday night at the football banquet, much to the delight and approval of players and parents.   Coach Brock spoke briefly and talked about building on Coach Weiner's legacy, while giving it his own signature.
It's never easy to follow a coaching legend.  Only time will tell whether this turns out to be the right man for the job. But it's hard to argue with the choice they made. 

Cyril Brockmeier has indeed been announced as the new head coach at Plant.  Coach Brock was not the current JV coach.  He held the job for for a nice stretch a few years ago, leading the team to several undefeated seasons.  Coach Weiner often referred to him as "the most overqualified JV coach in the country."  Hyperbole aside, it may have been true.  At that time, the former college player (O-line) already had two college coaching positions on his resume.  Coach Brock had to step down from coaching a few years ago when his brother died suddenly (as I recall, a cut from a boat motor led to an infection that killed him within a week), leaving behind a wife and a couple of young boys.  Brock stepped up and helped raise the kids (his nephews).  As I understand, the kids are a little older and their mom has a new man in her life.  As a result, over the last couple of years, Coach Brock has been able to return to his passion of coaching. 
I believe Coach Brock is on good terms with most all of the coaches, so Plant won't have to completely rebuild their coaching staff (although a couple of the assistants already had made the decision to retire even before Coach Weiner announced his move to Toledo).   The administration was fortunate to have several good options available, including at least one other off the current staff and at least one from a nearby school.  
The principal at Plant made the announcement Friday night at the football banquet, much to the delight and approval of players and parents.   Coach Brock spoke briefly and talked about building on Coach Weiner's legacy, while giving it his own signature.
It's never easy to follow a coaching legend.  Only time will tell whether this turns out to be the right man for the job. But it's hard to argue with the choice they made. 

Cyril Brockmeier has indeed been announced as the new head coach at Plant.  Coach Brock was not the current JV coach.  He held the job for for a nice stretch a few years ago, leading the team to several undefeated seasons.  Coach Weiner often referred to him as "the most overqualified JV coach in the country."  Hyperbole aside, it may have been true.  At that time, the former college player (O-line) already had two college coaching positions on his resume.  Coach Brock had to step down from coaching a few years ago when his brother died suddenly (as I recall, a cut from a boat motor led to an infection that killed him within a week), leaving behind a wife and a couple of young boys.  Brock stepped up and helped raise the kids (his nephews).  As I understand, the kids are a little older and their mom has a new man in her life.  As a result, over the last couple of years, Coach Brock has been able to return to his passion of coaching. 
I believe Coach Brock is on good terms with most all of the coaches, so Plant won't have to completely rebuild their coaching staff (although a couple of the assistants already had made the decision to retire even before Coach Weiner announced his move to Toledo).   The administration was fortunate to have several good options available, including at least one other off the current staff and at least one from a nearby school.  
The principal at Plant made the announcement Friday night at the football banquet, much to the delight and approval of players and parents.   Coach Brock spoke briefly and talked about building on Coach Weiner's legacy, while giving it his own signature.
It's never easy to follow a coaching legend.  Only time will tell whether this turns out to be the right man for the job. But it's hard to argue with the choice they made. 

I'll tell you what.   If there's anyone out there that doesn't believe that traveling 6 hours or more for a playoff game adversely affects the traveling team's chances of winning, I'll make a blanket bet with you right here and now.   Over the next five years, in each high school football playoff game played in the state of Florida where one team has to travel 6 or more hours to play another team, I'll take the home team and you take the visiting team.  $100 per game.  No, you don't get to pick and choose which one or two games you bet on.  All or nothing.  Who's in? 

Dude, this wasn't directed solely to you.   It was directed to anyone who thinks that a six-hour plus bus ride will not adversely affect a team's chances of success.   Columbia may be the world's best road warrior team in the history of high school football.   I don't know and I don't care.   But, in my view, more visiting teams are going to lose games in which they've traveled that far than they will win them.   And, in my mind, the RPI simply isn't accurate enough to reward one team with a home game and punish another team with a long road game.  And it certainly shouldn't be used to make a south Florida team travel to the panhandle (or vice versa) just in hopes of creating a 1 vs. 2 match-up in the finals based on the regular season power rankings. 
Just an opinion.   Everyone has one  . . . . just like a---, well, just like noses. 

So, by definition, they recruited worse.   The ones who know how to do it better don't get caught. 

With all due respect to ColumbiaHighFan2, I think the main reason people don't do state polls (at least the main reason for me) is that it's darn near impossible to rank and compare teams that you've never seen before -- especially at the beginning of the season.  It's hard enough for the college sportswriters and coaches to rank college teams that are on TV a couple of times a month.   But unless you've got a HUDL account and about 60 hours a week of free time, there's simply no way in the world that you can watch enough games to be able to analyze all the relevant teams and rank them. 
Yeah, I know you can base some of your rankings off of how a team has done historically.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to start out the 2020 season tabbing STA as the number one team in 7A, if not the entire state, based on what they've done the last decade (and depending on how their off-season recruiting goes . . . but I digress).   Rankings, especially during the first half of the season, are what they always have been and what they always will be --- conversation starters and a means to drum up interest in the sport. 
Last, I recognize that some of the brave people who put themselves out there and create the polls rely (heavily) on information that they get from other people . . . eyes in other stadiums because, well, because there just aren't enough hours in the day to watch all the games themselves.  While this makes sense, I'd love to have a dollar for every time the telephone conversation went like this:
Pollmaker:  "So, did you get a chance to watch the Wildcats Friday night?"
Fan from city 300 miles away:  "Yeah, I watched them beat EastWestern."
Pollmaker:  "So, how'd they look?"
Fan:  "They looked good.  QB could throw the ball; they've got a couple of fast receivers and a young running back that can move."
Pollmaker:  "Great.  What about their defense?"
Fan:  "Yeah, they shut down EastWestern.  Only points they EW scored were in the 4th quarter when the Wildcats had their 3rd string in the game."
Pollmaker:  "So, you think the Wildcats deserve to be ranked in the Top 10."
Fan:  "Oh, hell yeah!"
Pollmaker:  "OK.  Great.   By the way, how'd your boy do Friday night?"
Fan:  "Eight solo tackles, a sack and a forced fumble."
Pollmaker:  "Nice.  OK, thanks, I'll talk to you again soon."
 
Just a dollar for each time . . . that's all I'm asking for. 

He was a good kid.  Lived right down the street from where I work.  I coached him in an all star game coming out of middle school.  You hate to hear this.