5fouls Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 9 hours ago, Steubenhoosier said: Class basketball killed high school hoops. Who cares that a school is one of multiple “champions”? May as well give participation trophies I disagree. The big schools are the ones with the attendance issues and class basketball has little impact in their ultimate success. As Scott points out, smaller schools still pack the gyms at those types of events. As with everything else, changes in society as whole have impacted attendance. There is simply more things for people to do on a Friday night than there used to be. People will still come out to watch in the right situation. Romeo packed the local gyms in Southern Indiana the same way Damon did, but leave the South and his draw was not as strong. That had nothing to do with Class ball, and more to do with people across the state already being familiar with Romeo because of social media. Why go to the game to see him when you can catch his highlights on YouTube. When 4A #1 Bloomington South came to Sellersburg to play 3A #1 Silver Creek a few years ago, the gym was standing room only. Dedpite the fact there is an hour and a half drive between the schools. That same season, when Silver Creek played a totally overmatched local team, the gym would normally be less than 50% full. People were just not interested in seeing a 30-40 point beatdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 38 minutes ago, 5fouls said: I disagree. The big schools are the ones with the attendance issues and class basketball has little impact in their ultimate success. As Scott points out, smaller schools still pack the gyms at those types of events. As with everything else, changes in society as whole have impacted attendance. There is simply more things for people to do on a Friday night than there used to be. People will still come out to watch in the right situation. Romeo packed the local gyms in Southern Indiana the same way Damon did, but leave the South and his draw was not as strong. That had nothing to do with Class ball, and more to do with people across the state already being familiar with Romeo because of social media. Why go to the game to see him when you can catch his highlights on YouTube. When 4A #1 Bloomington South came to Sellersburg to play 3A #1 Silver Creek a few years ago, the gym was standing room only. Dedpite the fact there is an hour and a half drive between the schools. That same season, when Silver Creek played a totally overmatched local team, the gym would normally be less than 50% full. People were just not interested in seeing a 30-40 point beatdown. Brownstown has played in sold out gyms all year... and it'll continue to be that way for the next 1.5 years. Class basketball is not the issue. Cell phones and other things to do are the reason for any decline. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 13 hours ago, IU Scott said: Just turned on the HOF tournament championship game and it is disappointing to see the crowd. It would he lucky if there were over 2,000 in the gym. I usually go but couldn't this year. The first time I went it was when Glenn Robinson played in it. The crowd was a sellout for both sessions. It seems like the last 10-15 years the crowd started to dwindle Hold on... were you watching Ben Davis? Ben Davis doesn't travel well at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 I don't understand having an issue with 4 state champions... there are 401 basketball playing schools in our state. 1/100 will be a state champ... 🤷♂️ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted December 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 1 minute ago, btownqb said: I don't understand having an issue with 4 state champions... there are 401 basketball playing schools in our state. 1/100 will be a state champ... 🤷♂️ I just preferred the one class system. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 3 minutes ago, rico said: I just preferred the one class system. It's never going back to one class. There will be five before there are one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted December 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 2 minutes ago, btownqb said: It's never going back to one class. There will be five before there are one. Why not go to 10 or 20? More state champs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 Good article on it all.. For the record, I preferred single class basketball... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rico Posted December 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 9 minutes ago, IUFLA said: Good article on it all.. For the record, I preferred single class basketball... ust ask Troy Neely. “When I ... don’t see a packed gym, it just makes me feel like, ‘Boy, basketball just does not mean what it used to mean," he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking6 Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 I get the class basketball love. I really do. Growing up in a Hoosier household (albeit in Illinois) we were told stories about Oscar, Hinkle Fieldhouse, my mother was raised in Carmel so stories of Shepherds.....the Wigwam and everything else. I don't know if it's just different or what across the board but the athletes from larger schools would just beat up the kids from smaller schools. Sure you'd have the one off exception once a decade where a Damon story could emerge.....but to me class basketball is better competition vs like schools. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 53 minutes ago, rico said: Why not go to 10 or 20? More state champs. Not really logical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 33 minutes ago, rico said: ust ask Troy Neely. “When I ... don’t see a packed gym, it just makes me feel like, ‘Boy, basketball just does not mean what it used to mean," he said. Correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 The reason so many of you don't like class basketball is because it inconvenienced you. Instead of having sectionals 20 mins away, you have sectionals 45mins to an hour away... maybe an 1.5hrs sometimes. That's the bottom line. You can still care about it just as much, just some of you don't. Don't blame the system. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steubenhoosier Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 16 minutes ago, btownqb said: The reason so many of you don't like class basketball is because it inconvenienced you. Instead of having sectionals 20 mins away, you have sectionals 45mins to an hour away... maybe an 1.5hrs sometimes. That's the bottom line. You can still care about it just as much, just some of you don't. Don't blame the system. Class basketball hasn’t inconvenienced me. Having one true champion is the issue. If class basketball is how the “best “ is determined, then there really is no best. Seems to me that the NCAA tournament does just fine with small schools going up against, and sometimes beating the big boys. That’s what makes it so intriguing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 15 minutes ago, btownqb said: The reason so many of you don't like class basketball is because it inconvenienced you. Instead of having sectionals 20 mins away, you have sectionals 45mins to an hour away... maybe an 1.5hrs sometimes. That's the bottom line. You can still care about it just as much, just some of you don't. Don't blame the system. I can only speak for me, and I haven't lived in Indiana since 1980... But, the one class basketball tournament used to be part of Indiana's identity. It wasn't just known within the state, it was the subject of national dialogue. You cite distance, well yeah...it was a regional thing. You played every team within close proximity in the sectional and went from there. The small schools beating big schools for a sectional championship was talked about for years in that community. And there was always 2 or 3 that made it to the regional or semi-state... Loogootee, Jac-Cen-Del, Scottsburg... In the 80s, I use to have my Mom record the final 4 every year and send me the tapes. Did it for 15 years or so I guess... Lost interest when they broke into classes... You're right in saying it'll never return... But there was a romanticism to it... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 How many of you that prefer single class basketball have actually attended a game this year? I've attended. I assume @btownqbhas attended. the love of the high school game is what draws people to the gym, not whether there are 4 classes or 1. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 1 minute ago, 5fouls said: How many of you that prefer single class basketball have actually attended a game this year? Me and about 7 other people went to an Atascosita (Texas) high school game one night 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 16 minutes ago, Steubenhoosier said: Class basketball hasn’t inconvenienced me. Having one true champion is the issue. If class basketball is how the “best “ is determined, then there really is no best. Seems to me that the NCAA tournament does just fine with small schools going up against, and sometimes beating the big boys. That’s what makes it so intriguing. There are actually 5 champions every year in college basketball. D1 D2, D3, Juco, and NAIA. No different. Are you comparing Medora to Butler in the bold? Cmon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 (edited) 15 minutes ago, IUFLA said: I can only speak for me, and I haven't lived in Indiana since 1980... But, the one class basketball tournament used to be part of Indiana's identity. It wasn't just known within the state, it was the subject of national dialogue. You cite distance, well yeah...it was a regional thing. You played every team within close proximity in the sectional and went from there. The small schools beating big schools for a sectional championship was talked about for years in that community. And there was always 2 or 3 that made it to the regional or semi-state... Loogootee, Jac-Cen-Del, Scottsburg... In the 80s, I use to have my Mom record the final 4 every year and send me the tapes. Did it for 15 years or so I guess... Lost interest when they broke into classes... You're right in saying it'll never return... But there was a romanticism to it... So.. why can't those ppl just attend the class system? I don't disagree with anything you're saying. There are sooo many good HS basketball teams in Indiana. Carmel would be closer to Rose Hulmans talent level or Earlhams talent than it would be to Sheridans, for example. Makes no sense for those teams to play. Its not the IHSAAs job to make fans happy. Edited December 31, 2022 by btownqb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steubenhoosier Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 9 minutes ago, btownqb said: There are actually 5 champions every year in college basketball. D1 D2, D3, Juco, and NAIA. No different. Are you comparing Medora to Butler in the bold? Cmon. Yes there are. There is also Loyola-Chicago, George Washington, and other schools that don't have near the resources of the Power 6 schools that have advanced quite far in the tournament. The comparison is that small schools with less resources can catch the magic and make their way to the Final Four. So could any high school that has one or two good players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 (edited) 12 minutes ago, btownqb said: So.. why can't those ppl just attend the class system? I don't disagree with anything you're saying. There are sooo many good HS basketball teams in Indiana. I think there's a lot validity to saying kids (and adults) have a lot more options on a Friday night... And I'm not sure how hard schools sell their sports any more... When my family moved from Terre Haute to Martinsville in 1963, I was in 2nd grade. At the beginning of the school year the teacher would ask who wanted season basketball tickets and how many. If you didn't have the money, they'd get them to you some way... I talked my Dad into going and it was awesome... Old Glenn M Curtis Memorial Gym was a shrine to me... Many enjoyable memories there... Edited December 31, 2022 by IUFLA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 The class system can be made better by not requiring each class to have the same number of schools. The difference in enrollment between the top of 4A (Carmel with 5327) and the bottom of 4A (S.B. Riley at 1030) is almost 4,300. meanwhile, the top of 3A and the bottom of 1A are separated by less than 1,000. Limit 4A to the top 64 schools by enrollment. That would be 16 sectionals of 4 teams. Have 3A be the next 96 schools. 16 sectionals of 6 teams. And split 2A and 1A equally from there. I am not in favor of creating a 5th or 6th class. The meaningful enrollment gap is at the top. That can be mitigated by the proposal I listed above. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btownqb Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 1 minute ago, Steubenhoosier said: Yes there are. There is also Loyola-Chicago, George Washington, and other schools that don't have near the resources of the Power 6 schools that have advanced quite far in the tournament. The comparison is that small schools with less resources can catch the magic and make their way to the Final Four. So could any high school that has one or two good players. Ok. But there are 5 champions in college, and just 4 in Indiana. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steubenhoosier Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 17 minutes ago, 5fouls said: How many of you that prefer single class basketball have actually attended a game this year? I've attended. I assume @btownqbhas attended. the love of the high school game is what draws people to the gym, not whether there are 4 classes or 1. If attending a game were a prerequisite to being a fan, this board would probably have a lot fewer members. Someone can love what the tournament represents, without having to see a game live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking6 Posted December 31, 2022 Report Share Posted December 31, 2022 18 minutes ago, 5fouls said: How many of you that prefer single class basketball have actually attended a game this year? I've attended. I assume @btownqbhas attended. the love of the high school game is what draws people to the gym, not whether there are 4 classes or 1. We try to attend a game a week. Just depends on where Carmel is playing. To me walking into any gym big or small is just a good feeling, the smell, the vibe, the game......all good feelings. More good less bad is our motto. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.