Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

Indiana is ripping off Princeton's helmet design? The nerve.

[iam416]

Johns Hopkins is a nice add, IMO.

Lacrosse another "third" sport for the BTN. The hockey league should be nice in the winter. And Lacrosse and shitass baseball in the spring.

Ohio State has a solid program and Penn State even showed a little life this year. With Maryland and Hopkins, that's not a bad start. Won't top the ACC with Syracuse coming aboard, but it's still a respectable conference.

[Wild Hoss]

Its growing here in Michigan too. It is growing so quickly that we don't have enough officials to cover the games. The MHSAA is practically begging officials to become certified in lacrosse so they can get the games covered.

Just my personal musings, but I think that looking long-term, football has peaked. The head trauma issue, along with the already injury-riddled nature of the game and the high cost, is going to lead to its slow decline. It will be adapted in an attempt to evolve with these concerns, but in order to do so it will have to surrender much of what makes it special to begin with.

Lacrosse, to me, has the appearance of a potential successor...at least in part. Its still got some physicality to it, but its not too brutal for today?s parents or insurance companies. Less equipment and smaller rosters make it more affordable. Having the BIG get on board now is a good long-term move IMO.

[entropy]

Soccer will also become bigger because so many kids are playing now. I know numerous parents who are guided their kids in that direction because of their concerns about football.

I'm not suggesting they'll replace football, but the gap will narrow substantially.

[Hannibal]

IMHO a big driving force behind the adoption of soccer is that kids are being forced to pick and get good at a sport at earlier and earlier ages. You are also seeing more year-round sports, and less seasonality. Unless you are a freakish athlete, you can't pick up a sport at the age of 10 anymore. This force drives parents and kids towards sports that are simpler to pick up and learn at an early age.

[lineygoblue]

We're almost at the point of over-saturation with youth sports.

As early as 10 years ago, schools in our area used to have 30-40 girls show up for softball tryouts, in grades 9-12. Just this year, many schools in my area discontinued freshman softball due to lack of interest, and other schools are in danger of not having enough girls to play JV ball. One reason for this is we have seasons overlapping and not enough kids to cover all the teams. Girls in our area have the choice of running track and field, playing soccer, or playing softball. That's 3 varsity/JV/Freshman sports going on at one time. I've spoken to some coaches this past year who fear they will have to completely drop at least one spring sport next season due to lack of athletes.

[Wild Hoss]

The absurd amount of commitment required for youth sports these days is another reason they lack athletes. The mandatory conditioning (For kids!) multiple practices, ridiculously late and early game times, the endless parade of weekend-devouring tournaments...simply runs people off. It shows: the number of teams available, for any sport, around here for boys at age 12 is a fraction of the number of teams for kids of age 8. Parents of kids who aren?t exceptional athletes just don?t want to deal with it.

My boss...his son (12) and daughter (10) each play two sports. He was telling me the other day that Memorial Day was the last free weekend they had without any tournament or games until the end of August. That?s ridiculous.

[lineygoblue]

My boss...his son (12) and daughter (10) each play two sports. He was telling me the other day that Memorial Day was the last free weekend they had without any tournament or games until the end of August. That’s ridiculous.

It IS ridiculous. But the truth is, at least here in Michigan, .. if those kids don't start "standing out" beginning at about 12 years old, they may as well forget about PLAYING when they reach HS. Oh, if they didn't do all the travel team bullcrap, they might find a soft-hearted coach that would let them stay on the team and ride the bench, but if a kid hasn't shown "potential" by time he/she is 12 years old or so, they may as well forget about PLAYING when they get to HS. Late bloomers need not apply.

[The Oracle]

After seeing the way many "adults" act at youth games, I wish they'd get rid of them altogether.

[entropy]

Depends... In some sports like soccer... The kids who can't make club teams play hs soccer.

[Mike]

Federal judge basically laughs at PA's governor.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9348652/judge-tosses-lawsuit-pa-governor-ncaa

[Dr. Strangelove]

Heh...political stunt by a Governor with sagging popularity

[entropy]

Mike.. I'm not surprised. But people continue to waste money..

[Dr. Strangelove]

TV Schedules for OOC Games

Illinois
8/31 vs. Southern Illinois (Noon, BTN)
9/7 vs. Cincinnati (Noon, ESPN2 or ESPNU)
9/14 vs. Washington @ Chicago (6 PM, BTN)
9/28 vs. Miami-OH (TBA, TBA)

Indiana
8/29 vs. Indiana State (7 PM BTN)
9/7 vs. Navy (6 PM, BTN)
9/14 vs. Bowling Green (Noon, ESPNU)
9/21 vs. Missouri (8 PM, BTN)

Iowa
8/31 vs. Northern Illinois (3:30 PM, BTN)
9/7 vs. Missouri State (Noon, BTN)
9/14 @ Iowa State (6 PM, Fox Sports)
9/21 vs. Western Michigan (TBA, TBA)

Michigan
8/31 vs. Central Michigan (3:30 PM, BTN)
9/7 vs. Notre Dame (8 PM, ESPN)
9/14 vs. Akron (Noon, BTN)
9/21 @ Connecticut (TBA, TBA)

Michigan State
8/30 vs. Western Michigan (8 PM, BTN)
9/7 vs. South Florida (Noon, ESPN2 or ESPNU)
9/14 vs. Youngstown State (2 PM, BTN)
9/21 @ Notre Dame (3:30 PM, NBC)

Minnesota
8/29 vs. UNLV (7 PM, BTN)
9/7 @ New Mexico State (8 PM, TBA)
9/14 vs. Western Illinois (Noon, BTN)
9/21 vs. San Jose State (TBA, TBA)

[Dr. Strangelove]

Nebraska
8/31 vs. Wyoming (8 PM, BTN)
9/7 vs. Southern Miss (6 PM, BTN)
9/14 vs. UCLA (Noon, ABC)
9/21 vs. South Dakota State (TBA, TBA)

Northwestern
8/31 @ California (10:30 PM, ESPN2)
9/7 vs. Syracuse (6 PM, BTN)
9/14 vs. Western Michigan (9 PM, BTN)
9/21 vs. Maine (TBA, TBA)

Ohio State
8/31 vs. Buffalo (Noon, ESPN2)
9/7 vs. San Diego State (3:30 PM, ABC)
9/14 @ California (7 PM, Fox)
9/21 vs. Florida A&M (TBA, TBA)

Penn State
8/31 vs. Syracuse @ NYC (3:30 PM, ABC)
9/7 vs. Eastern Michigan (Noon, BTN)
9/14 vs. Central Florida (6 PM, BTN)
9/21 vs. Kent State (TBA, TBA)

Purdue
8/31 @ Cincinnati (TBA, TBA)
9/7 vs. Indiana State (Noon, BTN)
9/14 vs. Notre Dame (8 PM, ESPN networks)
9/28 vs. Northern Illinois (Noon, ESPN networks)

Wisconsin
8/31 vs. UMass (Noon, BTN)
9/7 vs. Tennessee Tech (Noon, BTN)
9/14 @ Arizona State (10:30 PM, ESPN)
11/9 vs. BYU (TBA, TBA)