Longtime Observer

Have to see how the transfer class comes together. Probably underdogs at Traz vs. the Rockets and favorites at home vs. BTW. Of course, both games could go either way.

Is playing Central at Traz Powell and hosting Booker T an example of dodging Dade's best? Are those Dade pushovers?

What is the feeling on the upcoming season? (I figure I better ask this question NOW, as the answer figures to change in a few days )

What this means is we will soon see one of two scenarios play out in the coming years: 1) A subset of students will eventually not be able to attend a "good" school because there is simply no space for them due to there being a scarcity of "good" schools 2) Assuming compulsory attendance remains a thing, we will see longtime elite private high schools nosedive in performance. The schools can not perform magic: unmotivated, unprepared often defiant students will NOT be good students no matter what the school does/doesn't do. And oftentimes these sorts of students do have parents who will do the absolute bare minimum needed to get the kid into a private school through the new rules. Anyone who genuinely believes that the schools with higher test scores automatically do a better job of teaching the kids than schools with lower scores is an imbecile.

As great as an Open division COULD be, it is likely to be very poor given the grotesque incompetence of the ranking systems they've used previously.

That claim requires evidence. It may or may not happen in some places. You can be certain that a school like St. Frances in Baltimore pays good money. Why else would kids pack up and leave somewhere like Central Florida to live and play in the 'hood of Baltimore for a "school" that doesn't have a home stadium?

Yeah, I agree. Where there may or may not be overlap between "legally permissible NIL benefits" and "boarding school housing" is of interest. I'm sure someone will be able to pull a rationale out of their a*s.

ALL programs wish to attract as many good players as possible. Yes, even including your team(s). Some are more appealing, and thus more able to attract players than others.

A couple have ended up at St. Thomas More in (I think) Connecticut. I think several may be holding off to get word on NIL in Florida.

I've been "badrouter" only on the national page. I've never been that here. I also left this site for many months after the other account was suspended. What username are you on the national board?

Often unspoken in this debate is the matter of fan support. The states paying much better than Florida also have much better/more substantial fan support. This makes paying coaches much higher salaries or stipends possible. The fan support in Florida is underwhelming to say the least. The state doesn't have a single program- anywhere- whose fan support would be considered impressive or even comparable to the top programs in Georgia, etc. Lakeland has long been considered one of the best in this area, but the program has undeniably been weakened by the emergence of private schools Victory and Lakeland Christian. It's not just that some good players pass on playing for Lakeland to instead play at a Christian school, but also families and thus fan support that previously went to Lakeland have ended up at one of the privates. The big dawgs in Miami sometimes get huge crowds out to Traz Powell, but financial contributions to programs are inconsistent at best. The Panhandle is more similar to Georgia and Alabama in culture, but they haven't produced a true state power in decades. The relatively new Sumner program might be one of the best bets to become a true power in this area. But, I'm not sure of the scale of success that is possible for them.

Actually, you don't have to accept it at all. You can call out the b.s. and then stop attending/watching. It seems clear right now that Covid-related reactions were merely an excuse to usher in a "new normal". We've been in this unlimited transfer/NIL mess long enough that it's clear the current leadership can't/won't do anything to reverse course. This means a sharp reduction in fan interest/attendance/viewership is the only thing that might possibly change things. The current school of thought among legislators (as well as many athletes and their families!) is that attendance/viewership is based primarily around seeing individual star athletes entertain the audience. When Ohio State plays Michigan, people primarily attend/watch to see Marvin Harrison Jr., Blake Corum etc do their thing. When Lakeland and Osceola played in 2022, fans came to see Cormani McClain, Taveon Swint etc. Of course, true fans know this is total bullshit. Dedicated fans go to see the team that represents their institution, and they'd go no matter what name is on the back of the jersey. But, legislators do not know this. And, good luck trying to convince fans of a certain orientation of this. I've tried arguing with folks over this, and it's obvious they aren't changing their minds short of attendance and viewership dropping off considerably.

But when discussing a team you think should play OOS, you refuse to acknowledge that, no matter how strong the team is or isn't, the financial costs and extreme travel conditions may explain the lack of OOS game. Instead, it's always that the coach doesn't have "the chest" to challenge his players, that you wouldn't want your son to play for such a man, etc.

Yet you and your buddy Shyster Joe demand teams consistently play these very expensive, and very time-consuming games. If they don't, you call them p*ssies and talk about their coaches not having "the chest" to "challenge" his boys.

I'm not excited about it. But, I'm also not excited by playing "make believe". I have no interest in pretending things aren't as they are. And, when something is broken, often the biggest impediment to fixing it is in denying the problem exists, or pretending it doesn't exist.