To the reader who questioned which area teams have the best uniforms…it’s hard to beat the color and simplicity of St. Henry (above). (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Early returns on fall sports – football, football uniforms, volleyball, why seven divisions is a bad idea, and Buckeye fans who write to say it’s hard to get excited when you beat Akron.
We’ve had seven divisions of high school football now for several years, but the expansion of seven divisions to other sports seems have brought more focus on an original tenant of competitive balance – competitive tradition.
“The [football] dominance of Marion Local is amazing, even against schools in Division III. Is this a good thing for high school football?” … Bill Montgomery
(Ed. Note: I don’t know. Was it a bad thing when the New York Yankees were called a dynasty in the 50s and the 60s? Did it not bring more attention and create additional interest in baseball? And it created a more competitive effort for the rest of the American League to get better? Frank Lane, the general manager of the Cleveland Indians had this to say: “Complaining about the Yankees won’t win us more games. We have to get better.”)
The New York Yankees won seven World Series in twelve seasons under Casey Stengel (above). Was that a bad thing?
On area high school volleyball, compared to the rest of the state…
“I wanted to let you know that probably many of us enjoy the attention you guys give to quality high school volleyball. As a fan of the sport, I wonder why the area you cover seems to have more really good teams than the rest of Ohio? Hoping you’ll respond to my question.” … Tim Rechichar
(Ed. Note: Tim, I don’t know the rest of the state volleyball like I do in football, basketball, and baseball. But my sense is it’s about the number of committed, quality coaches that you find in west-central and northwest Ohio, particularly in the Division V, VI, and VII schools. There are really good programs in other parts, particularly in Division I and II, just not with the concentration that we enjoy here. New Bremen, Coldwater, Marion Local, Fort Loramie, Versailles, Lehman, Tipp City, St. Henry, and Tiffin Calvert (and others I’ve left out) have all worked really hard to advance the opportunity it represents in girls sports.)
Their opening day win over Akron did little to satisfy some of these Ohio State fans who hungered for more.
“I read Jeff Gilbert’s article that was almost entirely about how Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith shined. I might remind that they were playing Akron.” … Jeff Courtney
Much-heralded Quinshon Judkins carried the ball 13 times for 55 yards against Akron.
“It seems the NIL pushers should understand that people might want to see something better than Ohio State versus Akron. That was a very expensive a—kicking.” … Scott Hesson
“OK, I give. Are they mandated to play teams like Akron and Youngstown State?” … Jerry Criswell
(Ed. Note: Mandated? No, but it’s frowned upon if OSU doesn’t spread the wealth among the other state supported schools. Akron got 1.8 million, and former AD Gene Smith insisted that it was Ohio State’s duty to augment the budgets of the other state schools through football.)
“Here’s an idea of how lopsided it is when Ohio State plays a team like Akron. The average ticket price for Ohio State is $170. The average ticket price at Akron is $15.” … David Post
“Michigan plays Texas, and Ohio State plays Western Michigan this week. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot?” … Ken Miller
“If Southern Cal can play LSU, and Michigan can play Texas, and Georgia can play Clemson, why are we playing Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall? Is there a refund like the IRS gives when you overpay your taxes?” … Harry Manshein
An email received from a reader in northwest Ohio was nearly a page long, sharing a lot of reasons why he believed seven divisions in all OHSAA sports is a bad idea. Here’s one them…
“We’re sending competitive kids the wrong message by telling them if they play against lesser competition they have a better chance to become a champion. While that may be true, it’s wrong to believe that you should only play against schools your size, when the best part of competition is to beat someone bigger and more challenging. You may never beat one of those teams, but it’s still a horrible message for kids.” … Doug King
And finally, on the topic of high school football, a question over fashion:
“Who has the best high school football uniforms in the area?” … Josh Smith
(Ed. Note: I think there used to be more good ones, before the helmets got so busy and everyone started wearing black pants. My personal favorite is the St. Henry Redskins’ simple, yet striking, red and white (see photo above). A close second would have to be Marion Local, especially their road uniforms, because there’s an old Los Angeles Rams quality with the gold pants. I used to think Covington High School had the best when they wore those silver bullet pants with players’ names on the back of the jerseys. There’s a lot of good ones, but those stand out to me.)
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