It's the most boring time of the year... (sports-wise)

[Kodos]

Now that the NBA Finals are over, there is absolutely nothing of interest left sports-wise until the NFL Preseason. At least I still have the World Bowl on tape to watch... :(

[Radii]

Go Cubs :)

[Kodos]

Were they in the World Bowl?

[vtbub]

Shows you how little Aliens know.

Go Red Sox

[McSweeny]

foolish aliens

go Red Sox

[Samdari]

I agree Kodos. It is now time to start counting days till training camp.

[stkelly52]

There is always canandian football which kicks off this weekend if I am not mistaken

[stkelly52]

Of course I will keep following the Mariners

[Karim]

The CFL starts tomorrow...

The NHL draft is on Saturday...

[ISiddiqui]

Silly Alien... watch some baseball! :p

[stkelly52]

Also, isn't the Arena Bowl next week?

[Franklinnoble]

Did you think it WASN'T boring when the NBA finals were on? ;)

I follow horse racing when football season is over. Seriously. You stat-freaks should give it a try if you haven't already.

[Kodos]

Stats only matter if you give a rats ass about the sport.

[MylesKnight]

Is it just me or wouldn't the CFL be more exciting if it was played in the Dead of Winter?

"We got ourselves a -45 Degree Wind Chill up 'eer in Edmonton for this 'eer matchup between the Eskimos and the B.C. Lions. Yaaah. You Betcha."

By the way, T-Minus Two and a Half Months until the College Football Season Begins!! YES!!!!

..and speaking of College Football, can someone please explain to me how ESPN decided to start their season with a matchup between Grambling and San Jose State? This isn't a joke by the way.. YIKES!

[Craptacular]

Golf.

[Bishop]

Well in 5 days you have Lewis vs Klitschko. Although if it wasn't free on HBO I wouldn't be watching it as heavyweight boxing is like professional wrestling right now, a joke.


It is summer though, time to play your own sports.

[korme]

Go Red Legs

[Samdari]

Originally posted by ISiddiqui
Silly Alien... watch some baseball! :p
We were looking for some sports-themed entertainment, not how to be bored to death.

[ISiddiqui]

That's why I said watch baseball, heathen :p.

[Kodos]

Baseball: America's sleep aid!

[tucker342]

We have the ZFL going down in the dynasty forums, what more could you need:D

This is by far the most boring time of the year sports wise:(
(waiting for football to start...)

[scooper]

Don't worry. I believe the NHL reports for training camp in 3 weeks. The NBA in 5 weeks.

[Easy Mac]

MLS

[Ben E Lou]

Ummmm even if you don't like baseball, there is GREAT excitement going on with high school football!

Summer Camps--Recruits-to-be are at camps all over the land during these weeks, showcasing their wares

Rumors--This is THE BEST time for rumors and conjecture regarding which kids are going to be ranked where when the full-fledged recruting starts in the fall.

Offers--This is the time of year when they start to begin pouring in. My boy Thomas Brown (of "that boy run so good, it make your DICK hard" fame) has 18 offers. It is exciting to begin to see where kids stack up. It was also a thrill to get word a few weeks ago that another Tucker Tiger, DE Brandon Lang, got an offer from FSU.

Rankings--Rivals has lengthened their eventual "Top 100" list to 35 names now.

Videos--Yet another Darius Walker video went up just this morning on Rivals.com. That kid looks VERY impressive as well.

Commentary--"Some are saying that he's better than the J-Train..." was by Thomas' name yesterday. (For the record, I agree wholeheartedly.)

I enjoy this time even more than the signing period.

[cuervo72]

Ahh, time to focus on baseball full-time. Oh wait, I did that in April.

[Abe Sargent]

Offical Fun Sports Stuff Remaining:


NBA Draft

Neuhisel and his Entourage of Afficianados

Big East becomes Big Least

Continued NFL signings (Most recent of note - JJ Stokes to the Jags for a one year contract. In the past few years, the Jags have signed the following receiver to one year deals - Sean Dawkins, Patrick Johnson, Darnay Scott, Bobby Shaw, Derrick Mayes - what makes them think JJ Stokes is different?)

NBA Coaching Carusel Continues - Where will Rick Land?

Tiger scrubbed out of a Masters! Golf is doomed.

Summer doldrums assault Football Players who then cause mischief. Annual "Football Players are Thugs" articles create laughter.

Fantasy Football Season analysis in full swing any day now.

Soccer (er...Football, or Futbol) offseason results in very interesting changes to roster in clubs around Europe.

Qualifying games for national teams in Futbol for Euro 2004.

Qualifying round draws for several Euro competitions on June 20th.

Wimbledon. US Open.


-Anxiety

[Karim]

Is it just me or wouldn't the CFL be more exciting if it was played in the Dead of Winter?

Well, the Grey Cup is held in November and when it was held in Winterpeg, they had to de-ice the field. It proved to be a daunting task and they ended up playing on a 90 yard field (as opposed to the regular CFL 110 yard field).

[Marmel]

Did somebody actually say high school football?

That is about as interesting as turtle races at the annual backwoods fair.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Marmel
Did somebody actually say high school football?

That is about as interesting as turtle races at the annual backwoods fair. Maybe in Connecticut it is, but when you're watching a team week-in and week-out that will send at least 5-10 kids on to the next level every single year, it is serious business. Besides, where do you think all those recruits come from, anyway? Those of us who are serious about college football will very naturally be serious about high school football.

[Marmel]

It is surely a southern thing then.

I think our high school once got 250 people to show up for a game. We were even state champions that season too, and had a player signed to go to Clemson to start as QB, although he later opted to go into the MLB draft.

[ice4277]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Maybe in Connecticut it is, but when you're watching a team week-in and week-out that will send at least 5-10 kids on to the next level every single year, it is serious business. Besides, where do you think all those recruits come from, anyway? Those of us who are serious about college football will very naturally be serious about high school football.

I think one thing that may be is that high school football is, in general, WAAAAAAAY more popular in the south than it is in the north. Not saying this is a bad thing, as I really enjoy watching it, but the hardcore support is much stronger in the south for it.

EDIT: What Marmel said, basically.

[scooper]

Originally posted by ice4277
I think one thing that may be is that high school football is, in general, WAAAAAAAY more popular in the south than it is in the north. Not saying this is a bad thing, as I really enjoy watching it, but the hardcore support is much stronger in the south for it.

EDIT: What Marmel said, basically.

There are exceptions. Ohio and Pennsylvania to be specific.

[ice4277]

Originally posted by scooper
There are exceptions. Ohio and Pennsylvania to be specific.

Very true, as I know of a couple areas in Michigan that can at times be like this; by and large, though, its a lot bigger in the South.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Marmel
It is surely a southern thing then.

I think our high school once got 250 people to show up for a game. We were even state champions that season too, and had a player signed to go to Clemson to start as QB, although he later opted to go into the MLB draft. Wow. I knew support was less in the north, but I didn't realize it was that low. If we doubled that number, it would be an awful crowd.

We usually dress 50-60 kids for the game, and then there are 25ish cheerleaders and 120ish band members, so we're talking about 200 kids involved in the program itself to start with. Just about every player, cheerleader and band member has at LEAST one parent at every single game, and most have 2 parents there, so that's 250-400 people as your baseline right there.

A few other snippets... The state high school semi-finals are played in the Georgia Dome, and are also televised live. The dome is nearly half full some years.

The primary reason that the semis are played in the Dome but not the finals is that the smaller towns around the state want to have a chance to enjoy the economic boom that comes from hosting the State Championship game if their boys make it that far.

Come July, when practice starts, at any given moment you'll find anywhere from 10-40 spectators at PRACTICE.

I volunteered to hold the chains for Middle School games to estabilsh a presence at a mioddle school we were wanting to start up YL in. I noticed several fathers who I knew of high school seniors were at several games. I asked what they were doing there. They said that since their kids were graduating, they wanted to get familiar with the "new blood" that would be coming up next year.

When we have a Saturday game or an open date, it is rather common for folks to go to another school's game on that Friday night, particularly if there is a big-time matchup.

For the AAAAA State Championship game this year, played at an on-campus stadium, they had to set up a shuttle-bus system to handle the crowds.


Would weather have something to do with the lower support also? I know for our first 4-5 games of the year, it is usually still warm enough at night to wear shorts and a short-sleeved shirt to games, and I only had to break out the long johns and heavy jacket once all season long (playoff game in December). I have video footage from high school of the day we won our first Region Championship. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and I was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved shirt.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally posted by scooper
There are exceptions. Ohio and Pennsylvania to be specific.


All of Applachia. West Virginia, for example. In rural WV, I can remember my dad getting us in for free because he said the opening prayer for the home games of Sherman High. Collecting those plastic Sherman cups, never catching those plastic footballs that the cheerleaders would throw into the stands during halftime - except for the last time I went - then I finally caught one of the golden plastic Sherman High Footballs.

We discovered my eyesight was poor during a game by looking at the scoreboard. Ah, good times. And no, none of our players would play college ball. But the community loved it.

-Anxiety

[Anrhydeddu]

I had talked about Southern prep football before and also experienced that phenomenon first hand in travels through Alabama and Texas particularly. In some of those regions, prep football is much bigger than even college football in other regions, esp. in the West. Now I fully understand the psychotic obsessiveness of collegiate alumnis and administrators - it starts early and there is no better training ground than Southern prep football. That is a good thing, right? :)

[MylesKnight]

You aren't kidding SkyDog.. Shoot, you can go to pretty much any Jax Area HS Game on any given Friday Evening and find yourself watching about 10 or so future D-I Football Players. And that's not including guys that end up heading onto the Lower Divisions of College Football. It's unbeliveable.

Where I grew up in Minnesota, we'd be lucky to have 2 or 3 guys in a given year who would go on to play College Football anywhere at all.

And the Crowds and Atmosphere? No comparison whatsoever. The South is truly the HOME of High School and College Football.

[Marmel]

I doubt weather has much to do with it.

Actually, I did forget about the Thanksgiving game. That usually draws a pretty large crowd. Mostly college students coming home and getting together to see their friends. The football game is just a reason to get together though. It is secondary.

I just don't think the game is as popular up north as it is down south, for the most part. Even northern colleges have a much harder time recruiting and competing at the national level. (Northern as in Northeast).


The pro-game is wildly popular up here though.

[Ben E Lou]

Dola--

But back to the original point, it isn't so much high school football this time of year, but "pre-recruiting" season that gets me pumped.

(Now, come late August though, my Friday nights will all be spent watching them Tucker Tigers roar. The only exception will be the off-week, which is when I planned a whitewater rafting trip. And yes, of COURSE youth ministers consult the football schedule before planning trips. I wouldn't DREAM of trying to plan a trip on the weekend of the Tucker-Marist game.)

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Marmel
The pro-game is wildly popular up here though. That has always been my impression. So then it isn't the sport itself. So Marm, give us your best shot as to why college and high school football receive lukewarm receptions in an area where pro football is wildly pouplar.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by Anxiety
We discovered my eyesight was poor during a game by looking at the scoreboard.Wow, exact same story here Anxiety!

[McSweeny]

Originally posted by Marmel
I doubt weather has much to do with it.

Actually, I did forget about the Thanksgiving game. That usually draws a pretty large crowd. Mostly college students coming home and getting together to see their friends. The football game is just a reason to get together though. It is secondary.

I just don't think the game is as popular up north as it is down south, for the most part. Even northern colleges have a much harder time recruiting and competing at the national level. (Northern as in Northeast).


The pro-game is wildly popular up here though.

up here we have one of the longest running rivalries in the country. Stonington High and Westerly (R.I.) High play each Thanksgiving and usually draws something like 5000-8000ish people. I'd have to dig up the records to find out how much we're winning the series by, but the two teams have played 142 times since 1911

interestingly enough, just down the road New London and Norwich have also played 142 times, but that one dates back to 1875! :eek:

and the next closest is 130-somthing games

[Anrhydeddu]

Originally posted by SkyDog
That has always been my impression. So then it isn't the sport itself. So Marm, give us your best shot as to why college and high school football receive lukewarm receptions in an area where pro football is wildly pouplar.

I'll give it a shot. The pro football game was a Great Lakes region creation and pro leagues were started from Northeastern/Midwestern cities. The South lost out on that initially (too poor and ahem, backwords) but instead, had the colleges and the preps take up the slack. The NFL/pro teams did not enter the Southern market (I believe) until 1960 with the Texans. Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans all came later.

[vtbub]

Why is HS football so ignored here in New England? It's poorly played and poorly coached.

You have pockets where it's life and death, ask ScottVib. Where we went to college, that's what there was to do. The big game between Lyndon Institute and Saint Johnsbury Academy was front page news all week, even dumping the Unification of Germany to page 2.

A lot of high schools up here just don't play it, focusing more on soccer which is cheaper and less field maintainence, along with boys and girls field teams.

[Anrhydeddu]

Plus academics are more important in New England too. :)

[Marmel]

I have no idea. Some of the above suggestions seem like good ones.

Also, just taking a wild stab in the dark. With more urban cities up north, it is not easy to get a pickup game of football going as it is basketball. As New York goes, much of the northeast goes.

[ISiddiqui]

I'll give it a shot. The pro football game was a Great Lakes region creation and pro leagues were started from Northeastern/Midwestern cities. The South lost out on that initially (too poor and ahem, backwords) but instead, had the colleges and the preps take up the slack. The NFL/pro teams did not enter the Southern market (I believe) until 1960 with the Texans. Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans all came later.

Good analysis! I always wondered why Southern football fans weren't that high on the pros. I mean until Mike Vick came to Atlanta, the attendance at Falcons games was nothing special at all.

[Marmel]

Originally posted by vtbub
It's poorly played and poorly coached.



This is a good answer, but why is it so poor up north?

[Sharpieman]

When football isnt around everything seems boring.

[Craptacular]

I haven't cared about anything related to H.S. since the day I graduated.

[Blackadar]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

*yawn* *smack*

Is it the NFL season yet? No?

Back to hibernation...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[scooper]

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
I'll give it a shot. The pro football game was a Great Lakes region creation and pro leagues were started from Northeastern/Midwestern cities. The South lost out on that initially (too poor and ahem, backwords) but instead, had the colleges and the preps take up the slack. The NFL/pro teams did not enter the Southern market (I believe) until 1960 with the Texans. Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans all came later.

True. However, the seat of pro football, Canton OH, in the northeast corner of OH, near Cleveland sits among one of the biggest high school football regions in the country. It boasts possibly the most tradition rich HS football program ever, Massilon, Canton McKinley, who has won a few state championships and I believe even a national title or two is their big rival. It is one of the largest in the nation and was featured in Sports Illustrated when they played their 100th game. Well over 20,000 show up for that game every year. Then again, close to 20,000 show up for every Massilon game. It was fun in high school to travel the four hours to Massilon and beat them in their own stadium. 20,000 can get real quiet, real quick.

[cuervo72]

Originally posted by Craptacular
I haven't cared about anything related to H.S. since the day I graduated.

I'd say it's about the same for me, though I do keep tabs on HS football now and then. I played in the Suburban One League outside Philly, which has some pretty good teams and will produce the occasional NFL player. My alma mater (Neshaminy HS) won the PIAA 4-A state championship in 2001. We had made the state playoffs in my sophmore year (1988), but got steamrolled by Cedar Cliff, compliments of Kyle Brady. Nobody could tackle the MF'er. Just plowed down the field with 3-4 guys hanging off of him...anyway, some of the teams we played (most won't know any of these, but I'll throw them out here anyway) were Central Bucks West (known for their various unbeaten streaks), North Penn (featured in the original 'The Season', they weren't nearly as good when I played), Pennsbury (Troy Vincent), Council Rock (bunch of rich, spoiled SOB's, with a butt-head for a coach). Anyhow, football was big, our stadium would almost always be filled on the home side, and was often on the visitors side.

[ColtCrazy]

I'm just holding out for NCAA 2004. That'll keep me busy till the NFL preseason starts.