Around the Big Ten

[WM Wolverine]

Baseball was huge in my community, our community supported 6-teams while we were competing with towns about the same size or smaller who would only field 1 or 2 teams. And our 4th, 5th best teams would finish with winning records...

My 'class' also finished 3rd/4th in the US as 11-12 year olds and was ranked #1 in the state our senior year when we went (31-2) but we lost a game in regionals where we couldn't put hits together while the opposition was lucky to score their two runs; lost 2-1.

[Wild Hoss]

There is more talent in the south for the reasons listed by Talent and kids in the south, their choice of sports is football, football, basketball/baseball or football...

Talent in the north are as likely to choose basketball, baseball as football outside of the states of Ohio & Pennsylvania . Coaching has a big impact, some of the best athletes in my high school didn't play football because the coach was of the breed of Bobby Knight in personality except with none of the knowledge of the sport.

Agree with this.

This isn't to say the best basketball players from the south choose football, but IMO a lot of the 2nd-tier and lower basketball recruits probably do. That potentially good PG in the Big Ten or ACC signs on to play CB in the SEC- that sort of thing. That may be true in baseball as well, but to a lesser degree. Baseball is huge in the south too...and its got its own cult mentality which begins at an early age.

Speaking in generalities, I think SEC football probably gobbles up a decent amount of basketball and track talent that flows to those sports in other conferences. JMO

[CGVT]

It its football, football, football, football, baseball, in the south. Basketball is an afterthought.

For the high school in my town it is a year-round sport. On the other hand the high school gym is smaller than the middle school gym in my school in Michigan.

The state shuts down for college football on Saturdays. When my kid was a cub scout, I could look at the football schedule and see when the camping trip would be scheduled by finding Alabama's off week.

I have lived all over the country and nothing (sports wise) I have seen compares to the importance placed on football in SEC country.

[SeattleLionsFan]

I think that's a much more likely explanation than Iam the greek's speculation about the black's high thighs...

Want to know why Texas puts out some of the best talent year after year? Its because high school football is so "important" they build million dollar SCOREBOARDS!

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_5430938c-b51c-11e2-91a2-001a4bcf6878.html

When I was in high school we sucked, but I still doubt there were more than 600 people at any game I ever played at

[SeattleLionsFan]

Actually, I think one other factor that gets overlooked is a socioeconomic one. For a lot of kids they truly see football (or other athletics) as the ticket out of poverty and so focus on that instead of other avenues, like academics or art.

[iam416]

In Ohio, at least two well-known communities easily rival anyone anywhere in terms of emphasis on football. Massilon and Canton. There are also communities in western Ohio which are insane for football -- tiny German-Catholic enclaves. These communities routinely win the state title in small school divisions and have produced a few notable players -- Bobby Hoying, Ross Homan, Jim Lachey.

Cleveland Glenville sends more kids to D-1 colleges on scholarship than those schools combined....easily.

The notion that perceived opportunity motivates was not overlooked. I said as much:

Perceived opportunity and other factors play in to it, as well.

And perhaps one can entirely dismiss the demographics of the NFL, major CFB rosters, and every top 100 recruiting list solely on the basis of perceived opportunity. I don't think you can.

[Rob F]

I went and bought a hot dog and soda from a nearby concession stand that was being operated by the girls water polo team. They were real nice, even though I was in my Michigan garb.

"May I serve you, Liney?"

[Rob F]

Other than Happy Valley, those are the only three places (East Lansing, Columbus & Madison) I've heard of trouble from home fans.

A lot of hostile fans in Champaign-Urbana would like to get your attention, WM. Illini football and basketball fans have hated Michigan since the 80's, when first, Bo blew the whistle on Mike White ,

a) for cheating, as Michigan fans firmly believe; or b) for daring to compete, as Illini fans are convinced.


We followed that up by knocking their beloved Illinois basketball team (that Illini fans were convinced would be crowned 1989 National Champs) out of the Big Dance.

I've never seen so much one-sided hatred by a fan base.

[Rob F]

They left out "cheating".

cogent

Despite Talent's comment,

Anyway, I think it sells things short to simply say "they cheat".

in which he tries to paint it as something else.

[lineygoblue]

She would HURT me Rob ... I wouldn't even try ... :-)

[Wild Hoss]

She would HURT me Rob ... I wouldn't even try ... :-)

Do, or do not. There is no try.

[whodean]

it sells things short to simply say "they cheat".

Easier for others to bitch about though.

[hack]

I myself didn't read that as a whitewash of the SEC's approach to the rules. One of those factors doesn't rule out the other.

[Mike]

Yeah, I took a verbal beating when I attended a Michigan game at MSU a few years back. I got separated from the group I came with, and had to walk all the way across campus to get back to the tailgate. This, of course, was a game that Michigan lost, which made Sparty even more obnoxious. I felt like asking some of those kids if they kissed their mother's with that mouth, but I held my peace.

Hmmm... That's funny, the same exact thing happened to me that day! What the hell happened to you?! Still trying to figure out what a "Walmart Wolverine" is...

Stupid RichRod... We couldn't even get out of stadiums correctly during his tenure.

[iam416]

I myself didn't read that as a whitewash of the SEC's approach to the rules. One of those factors doesn't rule out the other.

Obviously. It was explicitly stated. Hard to read it any other way. :-)