The Evolution of a Backfiring Column

Cutter's Log - Stardate 8002.42.11
Current Song - After the Love is Gone (Earth, Wind and Fire)

The Evolution of a Backfiring Column
Cody’s Note: This was a draft I wrote about the absence of an area team from the football state finals. I wrote the piece, and then I had differences. The piece I was going to write was scrapped, but still kind of presents an argument.

I’m usually good at research. If I wasn’t, I would have been named one of the site authors of Illinois High School Glory Days.

After Milledgeville, Oregon and Richmond-Burton fell in the football semifinals I decided to do some research. I was trying to figure out when was the last time one of my coverage teams did NOT make it to the state tournament.

The problem lies with my definition of “area.”

When I started Northern Illinois Sports Beat in 2004, I carried over coverage schools from NCIpreps and expanded on that by touching the “borders” of EdgyTim.com and the Peoria Journal Star message board. A couple of years later, there was a certain chunk of schools that I never bothered to cover.

In the summer of 2006 I decided to cut the following schools from my coverage area: Aledo, Alexis United, Henry-Senachwine, Joy Westmer, Knoxville, Monmouth-Roseville, Rockridge, ROWVA, Sherrard and Stark County. Huntley and Johnsburg were also cut from the eastern border.

Because the NCIC is NISB’s base conference (having been inherited from NCIpreps), any new NCIC school is automatically added into the “area”. IVC was added and Morris will be added.

Are you confused already?

Maybe my dud of a column will straighten things up.

------

Another Northern Illinois Goose Egg
Last year, none of our area boys basketball teams competed at Carver Arena in Peoria. This year, none of our area football teams will compete at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. There’s not a plague going around here, but this came as a total shock.


It saddened me last year seeing Eastland, West Carroll and Sterling all crumble before my very eyes at NIU’s Convocation Center during last year’s boys basketball Super Sectionals in mind-March. All three teams lost the same way: horribly slow starts.

Fast forward eight months later: Milledgeville, Oregon and Richmond-Burton are one step away from going to the state football tournament. There are usually at least two teams from the area that head to Memorial every year. There was a good chance that all three of these teams could make it. Milledgeville was ranked No. 1 for half of the season, Oregon was playing down a class than normal, and Richmond-Burton succeeded as underdogs three times during the playoffs.

All three teams were sent packing within a one-hour span.

Stark County comes back from being down 18-0 to win a tight one at Floyd Daub Field by the score of 27-24 over Milledgeville.

Oregon, who led 23-6 during the third quarter, succumbs to a huge Illini West comeback and falls 27-23.

Richmond-Burton’s magic didn’t work against Aurora Christian, who beat the Rockets 29-20.

Two of the three games had the same dramatics. Damn déjà vu! The three teams have nothing to hang their heads about, nor do all of the other great football teams and stories of this season. My continued success goes out to all of the seniors who plan on playing in college, and to the kids who have one, two or three more years to improve on this year.

As a sportswriter who covers northern Illinois high school athletics (no other writer can claim to have East Dubuque, Harvard, Galesburg, and soon-to-be Morris in their coverage area), I feel horribly bummed. I feel bad for the kids in the area that have worked their butts off.

Some say the expanded class system was to blame for the area basketball goose egg, but there has been no expansion in football since 2001. Our teams got beat by better teams. Stark County comes from one of the toughest divisions in small school football: the West Prairie Trail Northwest. Elmhurst Immaculate Conception comes from one of the toughest conferences in the state: the Suburban Catholic. Illini West has been crushing opponents all year. Aurora Christian beat Driscoll. From Class 5A on up, our area is out resourced a ton. That’s just the way the pairings worked out, which is something to not argue about.

Last year’s boys basketball void was the first time since 1980-81 that an area team was not represented. Sterling Newman and DePue tried, but came up short in super-sectional action.

----------

Everything was going okay, until I expanded upon the above pargraph:

“Never in the history of the IHSA Football Championship Series has a team from the immediate and fringe area NOT made it to state. This year is the first year an “immediate area” team has not made it to state.

It is important for me to note that the NISB coverage area has changed since the site’s inception in 2004. Schools had been dropped (Alexis United, Rockridge, Stark County, Aledo, Monmouth) and added (Morris, IVC and possibly a future NCIC school from outside the area). Those “dropped” are considered “fringe area” which is close to the “immediate area.” In researching this fact, I have decided to honor fringe schools until their 2006 “drop” and new schools starting with join date (IVC 2006, Morris 2009).”

The above paragraph was italicized, asterisked, de-italicized, de-asterisked, and rewritten in ten different forms before I settled on this.

The point I was getting to was that of the teams I cover now, none went to state. If I had kept those cut schools, this wouldn’t be the case. If I kept Stark County, I wouldn’t have even written this piece.

I guess I’ll settle for this short sentence:

“For the first time since I started NISB in 2004, none of my area teams made it to state.”