Coldwater came one play short of returning to this weekend’s state finals to defend their title. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It’s really not hard to guess about…the excitement over St. Henry winning to advance to the OHSAA finals this weekend, or, Ohio State beating Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday. Both brought a veritable holiday sleigh full of ‘Reader Speaks’ responses from equally-appreciative followers.
One of the blessings of this website are the obvious relationships we have with daily readers.
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And I think it’s because we’re located where we are in west-central Ohio, and that we equally prioritize area high school competition with that of Ohio State and the University of Dayton. And, that people feel comfortable to reach out when they either like, or dislike, content on the site.
Our dear friend Greg Hoard once reckoned it to a neighbor calling to tell you that your house was on fire. “I can see someone saying…just thought I’d let you know,” laughed Hoard, over the amount of daily mail we get directly and through social media.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Such was the case over the weekend from the St. Henry win over Columbus Grove on Friday night. And…those who wrote in support of Coldwater and Tipp despite their falling in their state semi-final games, respectively.
And journalism, as a reflection of life itself, can often become a matter of perception turned reality. For instance, someone wrote, “Surprised to see you dig in like you did with St. Henry and Coldwater, since Marion Local got beat. You’ve lived on that for a long time.”
Let me address ‘that’.
76 consecutive wins is certainly worth covering in the manner we did, as it was a current national record, and available to media platforms much larger than Press Pros Magazine. On one hand, it was low-hanging fruit that more could have witnessed, and should have appreciated for what it was. On another, was there another area high school story out there better to cover, or as convenient?”
Or one that people wanted to read about?
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As to the issue of how evenly we spread coverage across area football this fall, as some ask, here’s a breakdown.
We did Marion Local five times during the regular season, and twice in the playoffs.
Hail to the Redskins…who’ll make their first appearance in the OHSAA football finals this weekend since 2006.
We saw St. Henry five times during the regular season and now twice during the playoffs.
We saw Coldwater four times during the regular season and twice during the playoffs.
We saw Anna, New Bremen, and Versailles four times during the regular season, and Anna three times during the playoffs.
And we covered Minster three times during the regular season.
Outside the MAC, we covered Tipp City six times during the regular season, and three times during the playoffs.
We wrote Troy five times, Piqua four, Butler three, and Sidney twice during the regular season.
We covered Lehman three times during the course of the year…London three times…Miami East…Tri-Village…Preble Shawnee…Mechanicsburg…Jonathan Alder…Bellefontaine…and the central Ohio teams. And of course, all the other teams that the above-mentioned played!
That amounts to about eighty teams, total…probably more!
And for those who might question the general interest in the Midwest Athletic Conference across the state of Ohio, total readership through fifteen weeks of coverage exceeded three million page views (unique and shared) for MAC football (and volleyball)…and 60% of that came from outside Mercer, Shelby, Auglaize, and Darke counties…much of it from northeast, northwest, and southwest Ohio.
And frankly, St. Henry’s return to the state finals this weekend will be one of the two most prioritized stories…the other being Olentangy Orange High School, who knocked out Lakewood St. Edward on Friday night, probably the biggest surprise of the tournament…in any division.
St. Henry is not only a MAC team, but a MAC team that many cite as being one of two that became the impetus for the unprecedented success in OHSAA title football (along with Versailles) by winning four state titles during the decade of the 90s (’90,’92,’94 and ’95), and then two more in nearly back-to-back fashion in 2004 and 2006. Versailles has won seven times between 199o (’90,’93,’94,’95,’98,’03, and ’21) and 2021. Delphos St. John won the first three of their total of six state titles in 1997, ’98, and ’99. And Marion Local and Coldwater followed soon thereafter with 15 and 8 titles, respectively. Minster has won three times, and New Bremen twice…Anna and Fort Recovery once.
So it’s been good business, for both conference and media that chooses to show up for football, volleyball, and basketball coverage of the MAC. And business pays the bills.
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It was anticipated, too, that if Ohio State were to beat Michigan on Saturday, that readership of that story in west-central Ohio would dwarf the high schools, and we weren’t wrong. Overall, readership eclipsed a million page views, unique and shared, and of course some from which we heard were disappointed that the Buckeyes were content to kill the clock instead of running up the score in the second half.
Which, if you’ll indulge me, perfectly supported the Sunday observation (Will It Be Good Enough) that the glass is never ‘half full’ regarding Ohio State football, especially the Michigan game.
One reader wrote: “I couldn’t tell if you even wanted Ohio State to win.”
Well, for one, no one with journalistic duties should be rooting for any team to win. And the best example of that is Kirk Herbstreit, who played quarterback at Ohio State and you’d hardly suspicion that he has any personal relationship with Ohio State football when he’s on the air. He’s that professional and down the middle with what he says and the way he communicates his points.
Another wrote: “If I’m going to act stupid over anything I don’t feel bad if it’s about Ohio State winning the Michigan game.”
Game on, brother. And no one believes that it’s a bad thing to feel good about your team winning, anytime.
But to denigrate the professional career and accomplishments of Ryan Day because he has a losing record against a team that just two years ago won the national championship…that’s an example of unsound priorities and impractical thinking. As is writing: “I rather beat Michigan than win the national championship.”
Whiskey…tango…foxtrot!
Put it this way. You’d feel differently if Ryan Day was your family, or your kid was involved in a losing outcome. Support is always as close as relationship.
The glass always half full.
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