sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
According to a free piece on BN there are changes and maybe clouds hanging over the future of the Big 33 game.
-
New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.
- Thread starter sandgk
- Start date
The rest of the story from BN
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="98%"> <tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#ffffff" valign="top">
Ted Ginn at last year's Big 33 game
</td> <td nowrap="nowrap" width="3">
</td> <td valign="top"> Big 33 Feels Classic Squeeze Play
By Mark Brennan FightOnState.com
Date: May 16, 2005
The NCAA's landmark academic reform package is forcing the Big 33 Classic to change dates. With the scheduling window for when the game can be held tightening, one of the nation's great high school all-star traditions may be in jeopardy.
</td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3">
When the NCAA approved a sweeping academic reform package in April 2004, casualties were inevitable. Those feeling the strongest impact figured to be renegade athletic departments with low graduation rates and student-athletes who viewed college as a steppingstone to professional sports rather than an avenue to an education. At the time, no one envisioned the potential for collateral damage. But innocent bystanders have indeed been hurt. The Big 33 is Exhibit A.
The organization, which holds an annual summer football all-star game while raising millions of dollars for academic scholarships and charities, could be in trouble because of a decision the NCAA made last year.
The Big 33 Classic has been staged in one form or another annually since 1958. Every Super Bowl has featured at least one Big 33 product. The list of participants is stunning, from Herb Adderly and Joe Namath in the early years, to Tony Dorsett, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, Archie Griffin and Dan Marino in the 1970s, to LaVar Arrington, Ty Law and Ted Ginn more recently.
“There are so many great players who have come before us,” said Sean Lee, a Penn State recruit who was chosen for the game this year. “We were at a press conference, and we saw Rocket Ismail speak. He was so passionate about it, so this is a great honor.”
Now Mickey Minnich, the game's director and a legend in high school all-star game circles, finds himself fighting to keep the event viable. “I want to do everything in my power,” Minnich said, “because we have such standards now and good traditions. I'd hate to see us lose anything.”
Summer School
At issue is the part of the NCAA reform package that allows major colleges — starting this year — to pay tuition for incoming freshman athletes to attend summer school. The idea is noble enough — allow the kids complete a semester of schoolwork before the crush of academics and athletics hits in the fall. But a look back at how the rule was slipped in with the package reveals different motives.
Half a decade ago, the Southeastern Conference proposed NCAA legislation to allow major-college football players to have their tuition paid the summer before their freshman seasons. The NCAA struck it down, in part over concerns that smaller programs would not be able to cover such expenses and in part because of suspicions about the rationale behind the measure. Some believed the football factories were as focused on getting the young athletes into their workout programs as they were with getting them into the classrooms.
Around the same time, however, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany convinced the NCAA to allow Division I college basketball teams to conduct a five-year “pilot” program in which schools could pay for freshman summer school. Summer school immediately became an unofficial requirement for all newcomers. The coaches wanted to get them on campus to get started on the academic load and to begin assimilation into the basketball program. No athlete had to arrive in the summer. But if he wanted to keep pace with the rest of the program, a freshman had little choice but to show up.
After much debate over who else should be allowed to receive summer tuition once the pilot program expired — basketball players, football players, academically “at-risk” athletes only — the NCAA included all Division I athletes. So the rule was written into the overall reform package that was passed last year.
Reality Hits
And now it is reality. That's a problem for the Big 33, which typically sets aside the third weekend in July for its big game. Because if athletes are enrolled as full-time students in summer school, how can they step away from those obligations for the full week the Big 33 extravaganza covers?
Worse still, Minnich was blindsided by the news. He didn't find out about the rule until Penn State coach Joe Paterno informed him in April.
“We have a meeting every year to go over football,” Minnich said. “He said. 'Mick, if I were you, next year I'd play the game in June.' I said, 'What do you mean, Coach Paterno?' He said the rule is [athletes] can come to summer school, and you know they are gonna want to come to summer school.”
Since 1993, the Big 33 has matched all-star teams from Pennsylvania and Ohio. The game is played in Hershey, Pa., each July. It will be there this year, too, in its familiar spot on the third weekend (July 23). Given the extreme circumstances, the colleges of the players involved all seem willing to allow the athletes to fulfill their Big 33 obligations this summer.
But Minnich knows he can't count on that type of cooperation every year.
“So in researching this, the summer schools for a lot of colleges start in late June, around the 20th, so we had to move the game in 2006 to June 17,” he said. He can't go back any more than that because high school graduations run from late May until mid-June. Earlier than that, and high school track and basketball seasons are impacted. The game can't be played in December because Pennsylvania does not have a domed stadium to protect fans and players from bad weather.
And that's not the only problem. Ohio typically holds its annual All-Star Classic the third weekend of June. The contest pits teams from the northern and southern halves of the state and is the longest running all-star football game in the nation, having been contested for 60 years. The event is staged by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association, which must decide whether to move its game from its traditional date (but they too are being squeezed by the new summer school rule) or pull out of the Big 33.
Like Minnich, the Ohio coaches did not learn about the NCAA's summer school rule change until April.
“We are going to come back here for our June meeting, and at that time we will look at some of the ideas and make a decision to address this,” said Bob Brigati, coordinator of the Ohio All-Star Classic. “We discussed it briefly in April and we really want to give it some thought. If you act in haste, you repent in leisure.”
But Minnich can't afford to act in leisure, either, or he might find himself repenting in haste. His initial reaction to the news was to appeal to the NCAA for relief.
“They get back to us and say you don't have any right for an appeal, it's only for member schools,” he said. “…We said we'll fly out, we want to present our case. Then allow parents to say, 'I lost my son.' They graduate from high school then a week later they're in college.”
Minnich has heard college coaches are not thrilled with the new summer school rule, either, because it is too expensive and because once freshmen are on campus, coaching staffs have limited access to them before preseason practice starts. He is hoping the coaches appeal the summer school rule.
But he should not hold his breath, not when power conference schools like Penn State are tacitly encouraging players to graduate early from high school so they can enter the college football machine an entire semester early. And not when proponents of the new summer school rule, whatever their actual motive, can portray an attack on their view as an attack on education.
Alternative Planning
Just in case the coaches do rally around his cause, Minnich has reserved the site of the Big 33 Classic, HersheyPark Stadium, for the third week of June and July in each of the next two years. He is also double-scheduling facilities for practice, banquets and everything else that goes on in the months and weeks leading up to the game.
“We have things planned until 2010,” Minnich said. “And these facilities say we'll work with you for maybe a year, but you're holding us up.”
Which is where the Big 33 finds itself now, caught between a rock that is the NCAA and a hard place of the win-at-all-costs attitude in college sports. Somewhere along the way, the Big 33 Classic was lost in the shuffle.
“This is not just a football game,” said Bob Palko, the head coach at West Allegheny High near Pittsburgh who is leading the Keystone State squad this year. “It's not just two teams. It's the tradition of football in Pennsylvania and Ohio. ... There's so much more to it. The thing that's neat it is to see the character come out in these kids, because they represent their own hometowns and families, and now they're coming together to represent the state. It's a special day.”
If you are thinking one of the nation's greatest high school football institutions deserves a better fate, you are not alone.
“The game is so good and it's growing,” Minnich said. “We touch the special-needs community, our scholarships are now big in nursing. The future is so bright for this and it's just a great tradition for a game.
“I'd hate to see it go by the wayside.”
Ohio Viewpoints
In regards to Ohio, no decisions have been made. Brigati said board members from the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association would meet again on June 17, the day before the Ohio all-star game in Columbus.
"It all came as quite a surprise to us, the NCAA rule change about when you can bring in the incoming freshmen,” Brigati said. “That is why the Big 33 is apparently moving their game up to June.
"The Ohio North-South game is the oldest running high school football all-star game in the nation. This will be our 60th year."
The Ohio coaches association is left with two choices -- move its game to a different week or pull out of the Big 33. Ohio and Pennsylvania have played in the Big 33 every year since 1993.
When it was noted that it would be a shame to see these NCAA rules changes force the Ohio All-Star Classic go by the wayside, Brigati said, "Not on my watch, I hope."
Brigati noted that moving the Ohio game into the school year would only interfere with other sports. Plus, there is no suitable indoor facility that could host the game during the winter months.
"If we play in the wintertime, kids could not play other sports like basketball or baseball. The uniqueness of the game is what sets it apart. Ohio is football country," Brigati said.
Bucknuts.com managing editor Steve Helwagen contributed to this story.
</td></tr></tbody> </table>
Upvote
0
It would be a shame to lose either game. The Big-33 has the great history with that 'every Super Bowl has had a player' fact; and Ohio's North/South game has the longest streak of any high school all-star game.
Upvote
0
GoBucks459
Junior
aw I love the Big33 game, hate to see a possibility that it might be gone, does anybody know or have the rosters for this yr's game, they're usually out by this time arent they?
or does ne one have the rosters for the OHIO north/south gm?
or does ne one have the rosters for the OHIO north/south gm?
Upvote
0
BuckeyeBill73 said:
True, but if any of the two has to hit the trash heap, it's the Big 33 game. The North/South game is paramount...
Upvote
0
I would expect the North/South game to continue, and the Big 33 game to evolve into something different than Pa. vs. Ohio, since it will probably have to occur on the same weekend as the North/South game. The bad thing is that we'll only get 1 game to see each future Buckeye in, rather than getting to see some Ohio players in both games right now.MililaniBuckeye said:
Upvote
0
BearBuck27
Game Day!!!
MililaniBuckeye said:
That's kind of the way I felt, but according to Alan at BII, some of the h.s. coaches here in Ohio feel it might actually be the North/South game that will not be played anymore and the Big 33 game could become the main Ohio H.S. all-star game.
http://buckeyeinsideinfo.com/component/option,com_simpleboard/Itemid,40/func,view/id,188/catid,2/
Upvote
0
Steve Helwagen article about the Big 33 game.
scout
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Ohio's Big 33 Rivalry In Peril
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Jim Tressel and Mickey Minnich
</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Steve Helwagen
Managing Editor
Date: Feb 28, 2006
We have comments from Big 33 executive director Mickey Minnich on the future of his game and the possibility that the current rivalry between Ohio and Pennsylvania could end after this year's game due to a scheduling conflict. We also look at the Ohio Big 33 roster and also provide an opinion on a solution to this situation.
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
Ohio has sent a team of its best high school football talent to Pennsylvania for the past 13 years to participate in the Big 33 Football Classic.
But that rivalry is in jeopardy, according to Big 33 executive director Mickey Minnich.
Minnich was in Columbus last week for the official announcement of the Ohio all-star team that will play a Pennsylvania squad in the Big 33 game, set for June 17 in Hershey, Pa.
The problem arises because of a conflict between the Big 33 game and the Ohio North-South Classic, which will be played on the same night. Big 33 officials moved their game from its traditional perch in late July to the third weekend in June so that college-bound athletes who intend to enroll for summer school – which usually begins in late June – would be able to still play in the Big 33.
“June 17 is the only date available unless they move a week earlier,” Minnich said. “They graduate early in Ohio, at least most of the schools do. A lot of college kids have to report June 20 or June 22. This year, both games will be June 17. There are more than enough fans to do it.”
Some Ohio schools do have graduation into the second week of June, and the OHSAA state track meet will run through June 10 as well.
Officials from the Big 33 and the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association agreed to a one-year renewal of their contract for this year to study the situation. In the meantime, the OHSFCA kept its North-South Classic on its standard date, the third Saturday in June (June 17), and also conducted a draft in December where the coaches for the North and South teams in that game got to make as many as 44 selections between them before a single player was selected for the Big 33 roster.
<TABLE id=table6 height=600 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width=160 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> <SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--google_ad_client = "pub-8120001096864684";google_ad_width = 160;google_ad_height = 600;google_ad_format = "160x600_as";google_ad_type = "text_image";google_ad_channel ="";google_color_border = ["B90000","000000"];google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";google_color_link = "B90000";google_color_url = ["999999","B90000"];google_color_text = "666666";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Minnich says the rivalry with Ohio can not continue if the Ohio coaches do not agree to send their best players to play in the Big 33.
“I’ve been a big advocate with Ohio,” Minnich said. “This is our 14th year with them coming up. They’ve won seven and we’ve won six. They have a big decision to make with their North-South game. It appears to us that their North-South game is number one with them.
“This could be the last year that we play with Ohio. But, with me, I am hoping that they will say, ‘Let’s pick our top 34 for the Big 33 and then play North-South.’ They have 150 Division I-A athletes in the state.”
This is not the first time the Big 33 has had to change its game date to accommodate colleges.
“It used to be the first weekend in August,” Minnich said. “So then, the freshman started reporting July 31 and we had to move it to July. We loved being in July. Now, we only have one weekend to play the game. So you look at it with a good attitude and weigh all of your options.
“We’re trying to have different clinics and people coming to Hershey because it is important that we pack that stadium.”
Minnich noted that he and his staff are already looking for alternatives if the rivalry with Ohio can not continue.
“We’re looking at Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia,” Minnich said. “That just breaks my heart because we love Ohio. But Ohio loves North-South.”
At face value, the numbers would seem to favor staying with the Big 33 and somehow moving the North-South Classic (see editorial below).
The Ohio North-South Classic has never drawn 10,000 people in the five years since it moved from Stark County to Columbus Crew Stadium.
Last year’s game drew 5,250.
The Big 33 Football Classic typically draws between 15,000 and 20,000 fans and is regionally televised between the two states. Last year’s game drew a crowd of 15,667 to Hersheypark Stadium.
Moreover, the Big 33 and its sponsors have raised over $400,000 for scholarships for Ohio students.
“It really is a win-win for Ohio to be a part of our game,” Minnich said.
But the OHSFCA closely guards its own North-South Classic, which in its 61st year is the nation’s longest running high school football all-star game.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel addressed the Ohio team and discussed participating in the Big 33 game.
“It’s an unbelievable win-win-win situation,” Tressel told the players. “Number one, you will find out the week you spend in Hershey will be something you will remember for the rest of your life. It is an all-star game unlike any other. You get to meet so many great young people like yourselves and they really roll out the red carpet. You will get to meet the family you are staying with.
“The other thing that is great is, through your efforts and the fact that everyone wants to come and see you play, the amount of money you help raise for scholarships. The number of people that have been helped over the years through your talent and notoriety and the funds that are raised and the lives that are touched – these are people you don’t even know.
“The last thing is you spend a week in June competing. You’re competing with the guys on your own team all week. Then, on game day, you are competing against the Pennsylvania team. It is tremendous competition and it will raise your level of competition. It is the closest thing you’ll see to what you will find when you’re competing in practice at the college level and in the Big Ten. That makes you better to go against the best,” he said.
The 2006 Ohio Big 33 Team
Three Ohio State signees headline the Ohio Big 33 team, which will be coached by Louisville coach Paul Farrah. (Farrah is also the current president of the OHSFCA.)
The OSU signees are Euclid linebacker Thaddeus Gibson and Cleveland Glenville offensive lineman Bryant Browning and wide receiver Ray Small.
More notable Ohio team members include Copley running back (and Ohio Mr. Football award winner) Delone Carter (headed to Syracuse), Shaker Heights offensive lineman Dominic Alford (Minnesota), Warren JFK running back Anthony Elzy (North Carolina), Hilliard Davidson running back Christen Haywood (Kent State), Cincinnati Withrow linebacker Jamar Howard (Minnesota), Cincinnati Withrow defensive end Kallen Wade (Notre Dame), Cincinnati Withrow defensive back Robert Williams (West Virginia), Alliance wide receiver Troy Pascley (Louisville), Youngstown Mooney quarterback/wide receiver Derrell Johnson (undecided) and Canton GlenOak offensive lineman Ryan Palmer (Illinois).
The Big 33 will be televised in Ohio by the Ohio News Network and in Pennsylvania by CN-8, among other outlets.
Here is a look at the roster for the 2006 Ohio Big 33 team:
Mike Scherpenberg QB Indian Hill
Delone Carter RB Copley
Jamar Howard WR Cin. Withrow
Drew Kuhn WR Louisville
Richard Sandilands WR New Philadelphia
Troy Pascley WR Alliance
Bryant Browning OL Cleve. Glenville
Chris Condemi OL Findlay
Dominic Alford OL Shaker Heights
Ryan Palmer OL Canton GlenOak
Zach Pridemore OL Carrollton
Thaddeus Gibson DL Euclid
Brad Stetler DL Dublin Scioto
Torrance Nicholson DL Cols. Marion-Franklin
D.J. Burris DL Kenton
Kallen Wade DL Cin. Withrow
Austin Power LB Louisville
Kyle Banna LB Canfield
Ray Small DB Cleve. Glenville
Kyle Endicott DB Olentangy Liberty
Robert Williams DB Cin. Withrow
Troy Ellis DB Massillon Washington
Levi George OL Warren Harding
David Brewer K Dublin Scioto
Ted Schaible DL Cin. Roger Bacon
Derrell Johnson LB Youngs. Mooney
Anthony Elzy RB Warren JFK
Anthony Oliver DL Toledo Central Catholic
Corey Leggett WR Carrollton
Christen Haywood RB Hilliard Davidson
Zach Slagle OL Canton McKinley
Brad Brookbank DB Cin. St. Xavier
Paul Rice LB University School
Jason Donnal DL Olentangy
A Possible Solution
The following is reprinted from the Jan. 25, 2006, edition of The Buckeye Grove. It contains what this writer believes could be a workable solution to the all-star game scheduling conflict – that is, if the leadership of the OHSFCA wants to try and work something out to stay in both games.
Here it is:
We are six months away from the two big high school football all-star games as both the Ohio North-South Classic and the Big 33 Football Classic will be held on Sat., June 17.
<TABLE id=table5 height=600 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width=160 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> <SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--google_ad_client = "pub-8120001096864684";google_ad_width = 160;google_ad_height = 600;google_ad_format = "160x600_as";google_ad_type = "text_image";google_ad_channel ="";google_color_border = ["B90000","000000"];google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";google_color_link = "B90000";google_color_url = ["999999","B90000"];google_color_text = "666666";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Big 33 was moved from its traditional July date to June so it could include players in both Ohio and Pennsylvania who plan to enroll for summer school at their college of choice.
But this creates a natural conflict between these two games. For at least this year, the North-South Classic and Big 33 games will be staged on the same date. That has caused the Ohio coaches association to pick three different teams – the North and South for the Ohio game and the Big 33 team to represent Ohio.
Several OSU verbals who plan on enrolling for spring football – Chris Wells, Ross Homan and Kurt Coleman – will not play in either game.
The South squad for the North-South game will be coached by Bellaire’s John Magistro. OSU verbals on that team include Jake Ballard, Tyler Moeller and Connor Smith.
The North squad will be coached by Canal Fulton Northwest’s Vic Whiting. The only OSU verbal on that team is Cleveland Glenville’s Robert Rose.
The Ohio Big 33 roster includes Glenville’s Bryant Browning and Ray Small, Euclid’s Thaddeus Gibson and Mooney’s Derrell Johnson.
The politics of this whole situation are unusual to say the least. There has been no indication whether one of these games will be played in the late afternoon to avoid a direct conflict. (Both, it was later learned, will be played at 7 p.m.)
I suggested months ago that the Ohio association might want to consider moving its game to another date. They do claim to have the nation’s longest running all-star game and they do not want to ruin that tradition.
But it isn’t like the game has thrived since its move to Columbus Crew Stadium a few years ago. It has only drawn crowds in the 5,000 range. My suggestion would be to move the Ohio game to late March or April – on a weekend after basketball is over and before baseball and track fire up – and play it then.
Maybe they could play it on the Friday night before the OSU spring game, when they would be guaranteed statewide media coverage.
Student-athletes miss class time in basketball to participate in AAU events and the midweek McDonald’s All-American game each year. I don’t see how a few days off to practice to play in this game would be such a bad thing, particularly if the coaches association sells it the right way.
The Ohio coaches association had two pretty good events before. Now, going head to head for viewers and players, you wonder if Ohio’s future in the Big 33 is in serious doubt. After all, how long will they put up with having only one-third of Ohio’s best players?
The Ohio North-South game may also go well on the Sunday after the OSU spring game – when you know most of the state’s media will already be in attendance anyway.
Here’s how they prepare the teams: If the game is set for, say, Sun., April 22, this year, you have a Saturday/Sunday introduction April 7-8. Then, the weekend before the game, you bring everybody in on Friday (April 13) and have practice that night after school as well as Saturday and Sunday (April 14-15).
Everybody returns home for three days of school, then reports back for an evening practice session on Wed., April 18 as well as three more day practices on April 19-21, leading up to the game on April 22. That’s still seven practices and a couple of introductory days.
I know this is a matter of pride for the Ohio coaches to have the tradition with their game. But I'd suggest that they may want to swallow their pride and begin a new tradition with a springtime Ohio all-star game.
I know my solution is not optimum given what's happened in recent years. But you keep the Ohio game alive and stay in the Big 33. The kids miss two days of school.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
scout
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Ohio's Big 33 Rivalry In Peril
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top bgColor=#ffffff>
Jim Tressel and Mickey Minnich
</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Steve Helwagen
Managing Editor
Date: Feb 28, 2006
We have comments from Big 33 executive director Mickey Minnich on the future of his game and the possibility that the current rivalry between Ohio and Pennsylvania could end after this year's game due to a scheduling conflict. We also look at the Ohio Big 33 roster and also provide an opinion on a solution to this situation.
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
Ohio has sent a team of its best high school football talent to Pennsylvania for the past 13 years to participate in the Big 33 Football Classic.
But that rivalry is in jeopardy, according to Big 33 executive director Mickey Minnich.
Minnich was in Columbus last week for the official announcement of the Ohio all-star team that will play a Pennsylvania squad in the Big 33 game, set for June 17 in Hershey, Pa.
The problem arises because of a conflict between the Big 33 game and the Ohio North-South Classic, which will be played on the same night. Big 33 officials moved their game from its traditional perch in late July to the third weekend in June so that college-bound athletes who intend to enroll for summer school – which usually begins in late June – would be able to still play in the Big 33.
“June 17 is the only date available unless they move a week earlier,” Minnich said. “They graduate early in Ohio, at least most of the schools do. A lot of college kids have to report June 20 or June 22. This year, both games will be June 17. There are more than enough fans to do it.”
Some Ohio schools do have graduation into the second week of June, and the OHSAA state track meet will run through June 10 as well.
Officials from the Big 33 and the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association agreed to a one-year renewal of their contract for this year to study the situation. In the meantime, the OHSFCA kept its North-South Classic on its standard date, the third Saturday in June (June 17), and also conducted a draft in December where the coaches for the North and South teams in that game got to make as many as 44 selections between them before a single player was selected for the Big 33 roster.
<TABLE id=table6 height=600 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width=160 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> <SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--google_ad_client = "pub-8120001096864684";google_ad_width = 160;google_ad_height = 600;google_ad_format = "160x600_as";google_ad_type = "text_image";google_ad_channel ="";google_color_border = ["B90000","000000"];google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";google_color_link = "B90000";google_color_url = ["999999","B90000"];google_color_text = "666666";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Minnich says the rivalry with Ohio can not continue if the Ohio coaches do not agree to send their best players to play in the Big 33.
“I’ve been a big advocate with Ohio,” Minnich said. “This is our 14th year with them coming up. They’ve won seven and we’ve won six. They have a big decision to make with their North-South game. It appears to us that their North-South game is number one with them.
“This could be the last year that we play with Ohio. But, with me, I am hoping that they will say, ‘Let’s pick our top 34 for the Big 33 and then play North-South.’ They have 150 Division I-A athletes in the state.”
This is not the first time the Big 33 has had to change its game date to accommodate colleges.
“It used to be the first weekend in August,” Minnich said. “So then, the freshman started reporting July 31 and we had to move it to July. We loved being in July. Now, we only have one weekend to play the game. So you look at it with a good attitude and weigh all of your options.
“We’re trying to have different clinics and people coming to Hershey because it is important that we pack that stadium.”
Minnich noted that he and his staff are already looking for alternatives if the rivalry with Ohio can not continue.
“We’re looking at Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia,” Minnich said. “That just breaks my heart because we love Ohio. But Ohio loves North-South.”
At face value, the numbers would seem to favor staying with the Big 33 and somehow moving the North-South Classic (see editorial below).
The Ohio North-South Classic has never drawn 10,000 people in the five years since it moved from Stark County to Columbus Crew Stadium.
Last year’s game drew 5,250.
The Big 33 Football Classic typically draws between 15,000 and 20,000 fans and is regionally televised between the two states. Last year’s game drew a crowd of 15,667 to Hersheypark Stadium.
Moreover, the Big 33 and its sponsors have raised over $400,000 for scholarships for Ohio students.
“It really is a win-win for Ohio to be a part of our game,” Minnich said.
But the OHSFCA closely guards its own North-South Classic, which in its 61st year is the nation’s longest running high school football all-star game.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel addressed the Ohio team and discussed participating in the Big 33 game.
“It’s an unbelievable win-win-win situation,” Tressel told the players. “Number one, you will find out the week you spend in Hershey will be something you will remember for the rest of your life. It is an all-star game unlike any other. You get to meet so many great young people like yourselves and they really roll out the red carpet. You will get to meet the family you are staying with.
“The other thing that is great is, through your efforts and the fact that everyone wants to come and see you play, the amount of money you help raise for scholarships. The number of people that have been helped over the years through your talent and notoriety and the funds that are raised and the lives that are touched – these are people you don’t even know.
“The last thing is you spend a week in June competing. You’re competing with the guys on your own team all week. Then, on game day, you are competing against the Pennsylvania team. It is tremendous competition and it will raise your level of competition. It is the closest thing you’ll see to what you will find when you’re competing in practice at the college level and in the Big Ten. That makes you better to go against the best,” he said.
The 2006 Ohio Big 33 Team
Three Ohio State signees headline the Ohio Big 33 team, which will be coached by Louisville coach Paul Farrah. (Farrah is also the current president of the OHSFCA.)
The OSU signees are Euclid linebacker Thaddeus Gibson and Cleveland Glenville offensive lineman Bryant Browning and wide receiver Ray Small.
More notable Ohio team members include Copley running back (and Ohio Mr. Football award winner) Delone Carter (headed to Syracuse), Shaker Heights offensive lineman Dominic Alford (Minnesota), Warren JFK running back Anthony Elzy (North Carolina), Hilliard Davidson running back Christen Haywood (Kent State), Cincinnati Withrow linebacker Jamar Howard (Minnesota), Cincinnati Withrow defensive end Kallen Wade (Notre Dame), Cincinnati Withrow defensive back Robert Williams (West Virginia), Alliance wide receiver Troy Pascley (Louisville), Youngstown Mooney quarterback/wide receiver Derrell Johnson (undecided) and Canton GlenOak offensive lineman Ryan Palmer (Illinois).
The Big 33 will be televised in Ohio by the Ohio News Network and in Pennsylvania by CN-8, among other outlets.
Here is a look at the roster for the 2006 Ohio Big 33 team:
Mike Scherpenberg QB Indian Hill
Delone Carter RB Copley
Jamar Howard WR Cin. Withrow
Drew Kuhn WR Louisville
Richard Sandilands WR New Philadelphia
Troy Pascley WR Alliance
Bryant Browning OL Cleve. Glenville
Chris Condemi OL Findlay
Dominic Alford OL Shaker Heights
Ryan Palmer OL Canton GlenOak
Zach Pridemore OL Carrollton
Thaddeus Gibson DL Euclid
Brad Stetler DL Dublin Scioto
Torrance Nicholson DL Cols. Marion-Franklin
D.J. Burris DL Kenton
Kallen Wade DL Cin. Withrow
Austin Power LB Louisville
Kyle Banna LB Canfield
Ray Small DB Cleve. Glenville
Kyle Endicott DB Olentangy Liberty
Robert Williams DB Cin. Withrow
Troy Ellis DB Massillon Washington
Levi George OL Warren Harding
David Brewer K Dublin Scioto
Ted Schaible DL Cin. Roger Bacon
Derrell Johnson LB Youngs. Mooney
Anthony Elzy RB Warren JFK
Anthony Oliver DL Toledo Central Catholic
Corey Leggett WR Carrollton
Christen Haywood RB Hilliard Davidson
Zach Slagle OL Canton McKinley
Brad Brookbank DB Cin. St. Xavier
Paul Rice LB University School
Jason Donnal DL Olentangy
A Possible Solution
The following is reprinted from the Jan. 25, 2006, edition of The Buckeye Grove. It contains what this writer believes could be a workable solution to the all-star game scheduling conflict – that is, if the leadership of the OHSFCA wants to try and work something out to stay in both games.
Here it is:
We are six months away from the two big high school football all-star games as both the Ohio North-South Classic and the Big 33 Football Classic will be held on Sat., June 17.
<TABLE id=table5 height=600 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width=160 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD> <SCRIPT type=text/javascript><!--google_ad_client = "pub-8120001096864684";google_ad_width = 160;google_ad_height = 600;google_ad_format = "160x600_as";google_ad_type = "text_image";google_ad_channel ="";google_color_border = ["B90000","000000"];google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";google_color_link = "B90000";google_color_url = ["999999","B90000"];google_color_text = "666666";//--></SCRIPT><SCRIPT src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Big 33 was moved from its traditional July date to June so it could include players in both Ohio and Pennsylvania who plan to enroll for summer school at their college of choice.
But this creates a natural conflict between these two games. For at least this year, the North-South Classic and Big 33 games will be staged on the same date. That has caused the Ohio coaches association to pick three different teams – the North and South for the Ohio game and the Big 33 team to represent Ohio.
Several OSU verbals who plan on enrolling for spring football – Chris Wells, Ross Homan and Kurt Coleman – will not play in either game.
The South squad for the North-South game will be coached by Bellaire’s John Magistro. OSU verbals on that team include Jake Ballard, Tyler Moeller and Connor Smith.
The North squad will be coached by Canal Fulton Northwest’s Vic Whiting. The only OSU verbal on that team is Cleveland Glenville’s Robert Rose.
The Ohio Big 33 roster includes Glenville’s Bryant Browning and Ray Small, Euclid’s Thaddeus Gibson and Mooney’s Derrell Johnson.
The politics of this whole situation are unusual to say the least. There has been no indication whether one of these games will be played in the late afternoon to avoid a direct conflict. (Both, it was later learned, will be played at 7 p.m.)
I suggested months ago that the Ohio association might want to consider moving its game to another date. They do claim to have the nation’s longest running all-star game and they do not want to ruin that tradition.
But it isn’t like the game has thrived since its move to Columbus Crew Stadium a few years ago. It has only drawn crowds in the 5,000 range. My suggestion would be to move the Ohio game to late March or April – on a weekend after basketball is over and before baseball and track fire up – and play it then.
Maybe they could play it on the Friday night before the OSU spring game, when they would be guaranteed statewide media coverage.
Student-athletes miss class time in basketball to participate in AAU events and the midweek McDonald’s All-American game each year. I don’t see how a few days off to practice to play in this game would be such a bad thing, particularly if the coaches association sells it the right way.
The Ohio coaches association had two pretty good events before. Now, going head to head for viewers and players, you wonder if Ohio’s future in the Big 33 is in serious doubt. After all, how long will they put up with having only one-third of Ohio’s best players?
The Ohio North-South game may also go well on the Sunday after the OSU spring game – when you know most of the state’s media will already be in attendance anyway.
Here’s how they prepare the teams: If the game is set for, say, Sun., April 22, this year, you have a Saturday/Sunday introduction April 7-8. Then, the weekend before the game, you bring everybody in on Friday (April 13) and have practice that night after school as well as Saturday and Sunday (April 14-15).
Everybody returns home for three days of school, then reports back for an evening practice session on Wed., April 18 as well as three more day practices on April 19-21, leading up to the game on April 22. That’s still seven practices and a couple of introductory days.
I know this is a matter of pride for the Ohio coaches to have the tradition with their game. But I'd suggest that they may want to swallow their pride and begin a new tradition with a springtime Ohio all-star game.
I know my solution is not optimum given what's happened in recent years. But you keep the Ohio game alive and stay in the Big 33. The kids miss two days of school.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Upvote
0
CleveBucks
Serenity now
I could be wrong, but doesn't the OHSAA bar any type of spring football activity? Or would this not apply because these kids have exhausted their football eligibility? Sounds like there would need to be some relaxed rules to make their idea work.
It would be pretty sad for PA to lose to a team of less than 1/3 of Ohio's all-stars.
It would be pretty sad for PA to lose to a team of less than 1/3 of Ohio's all-stars.
Upvote
0
http://www.pennlive.com/columns/pat...?/base/columnists/1146129847197610.xml&coll=1
Ohio may lose its Big 33 ticket
ROD FRISCO
Thursday, April 27, 2006
A few weeks ago, Big 33 executive director Mickey Minnich had a front-row seat on the gripe train, grumbling about the football classic's future with Ohio while skewering that state's player selection process.
Today, Minnich is riding the gravy train.
The good news has suddenly come in bunches for Minnich and the Big 33. Just last week, possibly because of Minnich's public carping, the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association affirmed its commitment to the Big 33, which now must be played in mid-June instead of late July.
That decision created serious friction between Big 33 and the Ohio coaches. Both groups chose June 17 as the date for their respective 2006 all-star games -- Ohio will play its 63rd annual North-South Game that day -- and the Ohio coaches decided to draft its top players for North-South, leaving what Minnich perceived as crumbs for Big 33.
As a result, Minnich began exploring an association with other states. On Monday, he met with the Maryland Football Coaches Association and reported that Maryland is very interested in re-establishing the series that ran from 1985-92, beginning with next year's game.
New Jersey also expressed an interest, but the June date conflicts with many high school graduations in the Garden State.
Virginia and Michigan are fringe possibilities.
So, who will Pennsylvania play in 2007?
"Right now, I don't know," Minnich said. "After the [2006] Big 33 game on June 17, we're going to make a decision at the Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association meeting in Altoona on June 24."
Minnich said he believes that "Ohio is coming around to our point of view" and pointed to last weekend's unanimous vote by the coaches' board of directors to not only continue the Big 33 association, but its decision to re-evaluate its selection process for both games.
"That was good news," Minnich said.
Upvote
0
BuckBojangles
Jooooooonyer
Big 33
I really like the tradition of the Big 33. Since I'm out here in CA, it's great to talk to people from Pennsylvania about it. They have a rich tradition of football, just like Ohio. We should keep it going.
It's kind of a shame all of these players are graduating early, like MoC and CWells. It's a different world now.
I really like the tradition of the Big 33. Since I'm out here in CA, it's great to talk to people from Pennsylvania about it. They have a rich tradition of football, just like Ohio. We should keep it going.
It's kind of a shame all of these players are graduating early, like MoC and CWells. It's a different world now.
Upvote
0
