Harrison (OH) Realignment Discussion

cincifbfan said:
Only in Google Maps and after midnight with no traffic would this only be 46 minutes. You are at bare minimum 1 hour with traffic and even longer on a yellow cheese wagon.
Click to expand...
Good points as well. But I mean the ECC isn’t taking them regardless. Only way the ECC takes them is via expansion if the ECC even wants to consider it. Then we could see it broken into two divisions (East/West) and a rebranding of the conference to a new name. Or if someone decides to leave the ECC then the ECC might extend an invite to Harrison so they aren’t at 9 teams. Only way I see them adding harrison, but none of the current members should want to leave the ECC, it’s a great conference. I personally think of the two (ECC and GMC) the GMC is the more likely of the two to eventually take Harrison because there is a bit more uncertainty there.
 
TheStuff142 said:
If I was ECC I would boot WW and Walnut (neither care about sports) and go hard after Harrison and Sycamore. Sycamore is tough get...because they view the GMC as the top shelf league and they also cant let Mason have something nicer and shinier.
Click to expand...
I think if the ECC could work something out to make WW a football only school it would work better for them, and CMAC everything else. And then I agree that Walnut Hills needs to look elsewhere (CMAC) but with the safety issues it’s hard to see them going there as of this time.
 
Of the 27 varsity sports that the ECC sponsored last year, Winton Woods fielded a team that wasn't bottom-2 in the league in just 4 of them (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's track). That feels like a bigger issue to me than Walnut (a school that is fundamentally incompatible with fielding a good football team) not fielding a good football team.
 
mrorcadood said:
Of the 27 varsity sports that the ECC sponsored last year, Winton Woods fielded a team that wasn't bottom-2 in the league in just 4 of them (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's track). That feels like a bigger issue to me than Walnut (a school that is fundamentally incompatible with fielding a good football team) not fielding a good football team.
Click to expand...
Well I was reading some and some people on here like an idea of Walnut Hills potentially moving to the CHL. I thought that was an interesting fit, size wise they do not fit at all, but competitively I can see that working out.
 
footballsalads43 said:
100% agree. I also think La Salle is a no-brainer. And with Elder moving La Salle to week 4, Harrison-Elder Week 10 every year would be great if you ask me. Harrison needs to man up and play them though
Click to expand...

Harrison has never shown an ounce of interest in playing Elder in the past. Not sure why they would want to now.
 
Don Flamenco said:
You said it. Harrison up until now has always refused to play Elder. Elder has tried off and on throughout the years and they have never been interested.
Click to expand...
I've heard it's because Elder will only agree to play them at the Pit. If that's true, then Harrison isn't the only one at fault here.
 
Don Flamenco said:
That’s wrong.
Click to expand...
Well that doesn't seem to be the prevailing opinion. No clue what's right, but you hear different things from different schools.

What is the basis for Harrison's "refusal", especially now that most teams make the playoffs? I could understand it when they had to fight for a playoff spot.
 
Doublehelix said:
Well that doesn't seem to be the prevailing opinion. No clue what's right, but you hear different things from different schools.

What is the basis for Harrison's "refusal", especially now that most teams make the playoffs? I could understand it when they had to fight for a playoff spot.
Click to expand...

No idea. I know in the past they would never entertain playing Elder. I guess it’s possible it could have changed in the last few years but all throughout the 2000s and 2010s they weren’t interested.
 
Don Flamenco said:
I guess it’s possible it could have changed in the last few years but all throughout the 2000s and 2010s they weren’t interested.
Click to expand...
Well that makes sense, there's no upside back then in playing a team like Elder, who they have a very small chance of beating. A loss would make it even harder to get playoff position with only 4-8 teams making it. Of course they wouldn't do that, it had no upside for them. They're not going to play Elder just because Elder says so. It has to be beneficial for both teams.

It's still a longshot they win today, but at least it really doesn't hurt their playoff chances, especially in the years where their teams are stronger.
 
Doublehelix said:
Correct - but that was also under the assumption they'd never get a home game. Why would Harrison ever accept that, this isn't big time NCAA football scheduling.
Click to expand...
I just know 3rd parties tried to get them to play several times in the past at Nippert and Harrison wasn’t interested. I don’t even think a home and home was ever entertained because they couldn’t even get them to agree to a neutral site game.
If Elder is playing home and homes with Springboro then I’m sure they would with Harrison. It’s closer, a decent amount of their students now live out there, etc…
 
Why is there an expectation that Elder should play Harrison all the time? They are literally light years apart in terms of talent and program maturity. Harrison would never win.

So they should just be doing favors so Elder can fill out a local schedule every year? What is the benefit to Harrison in this arrangement?
 
I agree that the talent is worlds apart in the two programs. With that said, if Harrison would beat Elder, that would be really tough for Elder to recover from in getting kids in the door. I'd argue Elder has a ton to lose by playing Harrison.
 
cincifbfan said:
I agree that the talent is worlds apart in the two programs. With that said, if Harrison would beat Elder, that would be really tough for Elder to recover from in getting kids in the door. I'd argue Elder has a ton to lose by playing Harrison.
Click to expand...
And if Harrison beats Elder that does a lot for them! Helps the culture out
 
I'm guessing Elder doesn't get more than a handful of kids from Harrison. It's not like all of these kids will stop going to Elder if they were to happen to beat them. None of them are currently going to Elder now, outside of 1-2 per class, and those are likely legacy.

Outside of Elder cutting a check to play at Elder every year, there's no upside at all for Harrison. They're never going to beat Elder. It's even worse than the Oak Hills pipedream of one day beating Elder. Likely won't happen in our lifetimes.

Elder homers think everyone should be entitled to play them, but it has to benefit both schools. This isn't charity work.
 
Last edited:
Doublehelix said:
I'm guessing Elder doesn't get more than a handful of kids from Harrison. It's not like all of these kids will stop going to Elder if they were to happen to beat them. None of them are currently going to Elder now, outside of 1-2 per class, and those are likely legacy.

Outside of Elder cutting a check to play at Elder every year, there's no upside at all for Harrison. They're never going to beat Elder. It's even worse than the Oak Hills pipedream of one day beating Elder. Likely won't happen in our lifetimes.

Elder homers think everyone should be entitled to play them, but it has to benefit both schools. This isn't charity work.
Click to expand...
While I understand where you are coming from, an Elder/Harrison series also has positives, but the negatives you have stated I understand as well.

Elder Positives:
-A yearly opponent close to home.
-A new west side rival.
-Harrison is usually good, and can give Elder some Harbin points.

Harrison Positives:
-This can be a game weeks 6-10 which are weeks that are already extremely hard to fill out, and with Talawanda leaving that's one more open week on the schedule for Harrison.
-Better competition and a chance at getting better overall. Elder would be by far their toughest opponent if they had played this year. Harrison needs to play tougher competition to be more ready for the postseason. Beating up on Northwest and Talawanda is not a way to get better. I think playing both Elder and La Salle is though.

Yes Elder would dominate Harrison almost every year, but imagine what an eventual Harrison win over Elder could do for them! When Harrison becomes D1 in the next decade, they are going to have to face Elder eventually I am sure. This series has both positives and negatives to them if it ever happens, but I am in the camp that I hope it does!
 
Don Flamenco said:
I just know 3rd parties tried to get them to play several times in the past at Nippert and Harrison wasn’t interested. I don’t even think a home and home was ever entertained because they couldn’t even get them to agree to a neutral site game.
If Elder is playing home and homes with Springboro then I’m sure they would with Harrison. It’s closer, a decent amount of their students now live out there, etc…
Click to expand...
Maybe exactly the reason why Harrison is not interested in playing LaSalle and Elder. Why let the foxes anywhere near the henhouse
 
Harrison D2 in Football? Been pretty solid program last few yrs or so. Elder would whoop them most times even in "down" yrs!! Who wants to get Beat all the time while never getting a shot at Home?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top