Taking a Season Off.

V

Vincent and Regina

Well-known member
Will people return to The Pit in 2021? I know a lot of folks got use to watching it online and just seeing it that way. In the early 2000’s it was hard to get a ticket. Every Friday night was packed and the place was jumping. USA Today came in and ranked us one of the ten best places to watch a high school game.
But like anything things change. I have noticed the stands aren’t full unless we are playing a big rival. I would guess this starting happening 5 to 10 years ago. Part of that problem is that we rarely play local teams and the teams that come from hours away don’t bring big crowds. Not playing local teams is a whole other issue. In 2001 I remember packed houses when we were playing Cleveland Glenville and Warren Harding. In 2019 we weren’t packed for a game verses Ryle and they are 20 miles away.

So now that we have had a year where most people have not been able to go, will we all come back? I was able to go to a few games last year. I go for the football first, but I missed the atmosphere. I missed doing a lap around the stadium and seeing who I could see. Maybe I would run into an old friend, neighbor, or old teacher. When the team needed the fans on a big third down we tried, to produce the noise they wanted, but we never really did. I don’t know what the rules will be come August, but I am hoping I get my season tickets back with the normal folks I sat around. I hope when St Mary’s comes in on September 3rd they step into a stadium that is packed. If we are allowed to come back, let’s come back like the year 2000 and fill the place.
 
 
Vincent and Regina said:
Will people return to The Pit in 2021? I know a lot of folks got use to watching it online and just seeing it that way. In the early 2000’s it was hard to get a ticket. Every Friday night was packed and the place was jumping. USA Today came in and ranked us one of the ten best places to watch a high school game.
But like anything things change. I have noticed the stands aren’t full unless we are playing a big rival. I would guess this starting happening 5 to 10 years ago. Part of that problem is that we rarely play local teams and the teams that come from hours away don’t bring big crowds. Not playing local teams is a whole other issue. In 2001 I remember packed houses when we were playing Cleveland Glenville and Warren Harding. In 2019 we weren’t packed for a game verses Ryle and they are 20 miles away.

So now that we have had a year where most people have not been able to go, will we all come back? I was able to go to a few games last year. I go for the football first, but I missed the atmosphere. I missed doing a lap around the stadium and seeing who I could see. Maybe I would run into an old friend, neighbor, or old teacher. When the team needed the fans on a big third down we tried, to produce the noise they wanted, but we never really did. I don’t know what the rules will be come August, but I am hoping I get my season tickets back with the normal folks I sat around. I hope when St Mary’s comes in on September 3rd they step into a stadium that is packed. If we are allowed to come back, let’s come back like the year 2000 and fill the place.
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Live out of town and normally wouldn't make the trip down. But, if it's 100% capacity and no masks, I'll go.
 
It will never be like 2000 again. Society has changed. A lot has to do with smartphones and different interests. You will get a few games with gcl that will be packed and have a great atmosphere, but that will be it. I know a lot of people that watch the games via live stream. You can go over to a buddies house, have a couple of brews, sit by the fire and watch the game. If the weather is nasty sit in someone's basement and watch it.
 
I’m with Pantherland, the Pit won’t return to attendance in 2000 for a long time if ever. I went twice last season. For the X Game there was an impromptu probably 8-10 person tailgate party on Vincent Ave. Shoutout to the CPD Officers walking-patrolling the area. They waved, said hello and went about their business.
 
For this season, none of the games will be close to a sell out. Maybe Louisville St. Xavier if they travel well. Has Lou. St. Xavier ever played at The Pit? They are supposed to be the top team in Kentucky this year so maybe that will be a large attendance game. One of Ohio's best vs. Kentucky's best on a nice weather night in September with Lou. St. X fans intrigued to visit The Pit might be a bigger attendance game.

The other games on the schedule I would not expect the visiting team to bring many fans. The Moeller game is on a Saturday afternoon otherwise I would have expected that game to be close to a Friday night sell out.
 
ElderHSfan02 said:
For this season, none of the games will be close to a sell out. Maybe Louisville St. Xavier if they travel well. Has Lou. St. Xavier ever played at The Pit? They are supposed to be the top team in Kentucky this year so maybe that will be a large attendance game. One of Ohio's best vs. Kentucky's best on a nice weather night in September with Lou. St. X fans intrigued to visit The Pit might be a bigger attendance game.

The other games on the schedule I would not expect the visiting team to bring many fans. The Moeller game is on a Saturday afternoon otherwise I would have expected that game to be close to a Friday night sell out.
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They play at Ville X this yr.
 
I wouldn't bet on the Pit being completely open come August. I hope it is, but you never know with the way this CV stuff has gone.

It does seem like the schools that Elder will be hosting won't bring many fans.
St Mary's MO - Friday night game, tough to travel if not family
St Edward - has brought more than Elder has taken up North the past few years
Moeller - hasn't brought as many fans the past few seasons as they've been down in football, maybe that changes if they're better this year
Roncalli - Friday night from Indy, haven't played them in a few seasons, could surprise and bring a solid crowd
LCA - will bring likely bring less than 100 people
 
adselder09 said:
Moeller - hasn't brought as many fans the past few seasons as they've been down in football, maybe that changes if they're better this year
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The Moeller game being Saturday afternoon at 4 probably doesn't help the visitor attendance. There is the UC-Notre Dame game, a lot of youth sporting events going on Saturday afternoon, and just people having other Saturday plans.
 
adselder09 said:
I wouldn't bet on the Pit being completely open come August. I hope it is, but you never know with the way this CV stuff has gone.

It does seem like the schools that Elder will be hosting won't bring many fans.
St Mary's MO - Friday night game, tough to travel if not family
St Edward - has brought more than Elder has taken up North the past few years
Moeller - hasn't brought as many fans the past few seasons as they've been down in football, maybe that changes if they're better this year
Roncalli - Friday night from Indy, haven't played them in a few seasons, could surprise and bring a solid crowd
LCA - will bring likely bring less than 100 people
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Hopefully, with the expanded playoffs, local teams will take more risks and schedule the GCL. The teams coming in from Indy, Cbus, Cleveland can bring decent crowds, but playing the St Mary’s, LCA, Clearwater, Browards of the world is a bit of an atmosphere killer.
 
Omar said:
Hopefully, with the expanded playoffs, local teams will take more risks and schedule the GCL. The teams coming in from Indy, Cbus, Cleveland can bring decent crowds, but playing the St Mary’s, LCA, Clearwater, Browards of the world is a bit of an atmosphere killer.
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The only problem is some leagues like the GMC play league only games from weeks 3 through 10. That leaves only week 1 and 2 for them to play a non-league game. It will help Elder for weeks 1 and 2 down the road, but there are still 5 games to schedule outside of week 1, 2, and the GCL league games.
 
ElderHSfan02 said:
The only problem is some leagues like the GMC play league only games from weeks 3 through 10. That leaves only week 1 and 2 for them to play a non-league game. It will help Elder for weeks 1 and 2 down the road, but there are still 5 games to schedule outside of week 1, 2, and the GCL league games.
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I would not waste my time with the GMC. Over the last 20 years the GMC has been the same old circle jerk. You have Colerain then one random team that steps up for a year or two. There has been no consistent number 2. They have made it perfectly clear they only want to play with themselves. Colerain schedules X and LaSalle with their two open weeks, Lakota West has stepped up with X the next couple of years, but other than that, most GMC teams will only play a GCL if they have no other option. Look at Lakoat East playing Moeller this year.

I would move on to the GWOC (Dayton big schools) or OCC (Columbus big Schools).

In the GWOC you have four teams Elder is familiar with, Centerville, Wayne, Northmont, and Sprinfield. Then you have Springboro, Fairmont Beavercreek, and Miamisburg. All not bad drives

Then you have the OCC Elder has a lot of familiar faces there too. Gahanna Lincoln, Dublin Scioto, Hilliard Davidson, Hilliard Darby, Upper Arlington, and Pickerington Central. Elder has played all those schools in the last 20 years in the regular season or playoffs. Then entire league has 32 teams in it and has 5 different divisions. The Ohio, Central, Cardinal and Buckeye divisons each only have 6 teams in it so that means only 5 league games. The Capital Divison has 8 teams in it so that is 7 league games. I know a bunch of those non-league games will then be part of crossovers with other division, but that leaves a lot of room for playing non-conference teams and Elder hopefully taps into that.

The teams I listed would bring decent crowds to the games and they all have good bands. I remember a few years ago Centerville and Wayne both got the home fans to notice the half time show. Big bands equal more family.
 
Does anyone know why Elder and St. Ignatius don't have a yearly series? One of my best friends up here in NEO is a reasonable Ignatius alum and I know they're always scrambling to fill their schedule as well. Just seems to make sense. Play Ed's and Iggy, alternate home years so you're always playing one home and one road each season. Yes, I'm being partially selfish for an easy way to see the Panthers but I'm sure there's a better reason why this doesn't happen because it just makes too much sense.
 
If I remember right for awhile we couldn't get the correct weeks to line up. For example we were open weeks 3 and 8 and they were open week 5 and 7. I think that was one of the reasons. Also they were trying to do the one trip to Cincy a year with one to X and one to Moeller. So when you add in Elder one year you are going to have to make two trips.

The other down side is that you don't want to have too many common oppoenents. The reason the GMC for years only would get 4 teams into the playoff is because they played each other too much. When two teams you beat play, you only get half the potential harbins. For example looking at this year's schedule Pickerington Central, St Mary's, Roncalli, and Life Christian don't play anyone else on the schedule. So if Elder beats them, and they win we will get level 2 points. Now if Elder beats both X and Moeller and then X and Moeller play we will only get half the potential points because one will lose. So you want a schedule where you don't have a lot of common opponents. But with 16 out of 18 making it. Not that big of a deal except for seeding.
 
adselder09 said:
I wouldn't bet on the Pit being completely open come August. I hope it is, but you never know with the way this CV stuff has gone.

It does seem like the schools that Elder will be hosting won't bring many fans.
St Mary's MO - Friday night game, tough to travel if not family
St Edward - has brought more than Elder has taken up North the past few years
Moeller - hasn't brought as many fans the past few seasons as they've been down in football, maybe that changes if they're better this year
Roncalli - Friday night from Indy, haven't played them in a few seasons, could surprise and bring a solid crowd
LCA - will bring likely bring less than 100 people
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Well there is the Darius Rucker concert in September at the Pit, so I assume they will have to be full capacity to be able to host that event.
 
Chuges said:
Does anyone know why Elder and St. Ignatius don't have a yearly series? One of my best friends up here in NEO is a reasonable Ignatius alum and I know they're always scrambling to fill their schedule as well. Just seems to make sense. Play Ed's and Iggy, alternate home years so you're always playing one home and one road each season. Yes, I'm being partially selfish for an easy way to see the Panthers but I'm sure there's a better reason why this doesn't happen because it just makes too much sense.
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I don’t know if this is the reason, but it’s a pain making the trip up to Cleveland. Elder & Eds seem to have an indefinite series, so traveling up to Cleveland every yr is a real pain in the a*s.
 
Vincent and Regina said:
I would not waste my time with the GMC. Over the last 20 years the GMC has been the same old circle jerk. You have Colerain then one random team that steps up for a year or two. There has been no consistent number 2. They have made it perfectly clear they only want to play with themselves. Colerain schedules X and LaSalle with their two open weeks, Lakota West has stepped up with X the next couple of years, but other than that, most GMC teams will only play a GCL if they have no other option. Look at Lakoat East playing Moeller this year.

I would move on to the GWOC (Dayton big schools) or OCC (Columbus big Schools).

In the GWOC you have four teams Elder is familiar with, Centerville, Wayne, Northmont, and Sprinfield. Then you have Springboro, Fairmont Beavercreek, and Miamisburg. All not bad drives

Then you have the OCC Elder has a lot of familiar faces there too. Gahanna Lincoln, Dublin Scioto, Hilliard Davidson, Hilliard Darby, Upper Arlington, and Pickerington Central. Elder has played all those schools in the last 20 years in the regular season or playoffs. Then entire league has 32 teams in it and has 5 different divisions. The Ohio, Central, Cardinal and Buckeye divisons each only have 6 teams in it so that means only 5 league games. The Capital Divison has 8 teams in it so that is 7 league games. I know a bunch of those non-league games will then be part of crossovers with other division, but that leaves a lot of room for playing non-conference teams and Elder hopefully taps into that.

The teams I listed would bring decent crowds to the games and they all have good bands. I remember a few years ago Centerville and Wayne both got the home fans to notice the half time show. Big bands equal more family.
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Elder used to play St Charles from Cbus all the time in the lower levels. It would be nice to get that series going on Varsity.
 
I think as and admin, if you decide to schedule teams more than 2-3 hours away, you've decided the game/ competition is more important that butts in the seats. And I realize it can be difficult to schedule if you're a power house. As someone noted earlier, the notion of nearly everyone getting a playoff spot may open up more scheduling options so schools don't have to feel like they need to duck competition.
 
EHS 2001 said:
I don't think the GMC will ever give up their 8 game conference schedule. There's no reason for them to do it.
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Initially when they announced they would be moving to 8-game league schedules I thought it would hurt them, but as the dominant conference in terms of size within R4 and no longer having to worry about most GWOC schools, they've actually done better at getting their teams into the playoffs than they did under the 7-game schedule. Turned out to be a win-win, as they did it for more local competition, butts in the seats, etc and it ended up netting them at least 1 if not 2 or 3 additional playoff teams.

Now that the playoffs have been expanded to 12 - and now 16 this year - they should get 6-8 teams in the playoffs every year. And should get 9 or 10 teams in the playoffs this year out of 16.
 
If Elder and I’s really wanted to play every year they could make it happen. Didn’t X play some Games against Cleveland Schools in or around Columbus?

I wouldn’t expect any League/Conference to “give up” any Conference Games.
 
SMARTY22 said:
If Elder and I’s really wanted to play every year they could make it happen. Didn’t X play some Games against Cleveland Schools in or around Columbus?

I wouldn’t expect any League/Conference to “give up” any Conference Games.
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Moeller played Ignatius in Columbus for a few years.

The problem with playing a Cleveland team in Columbus is you lose money on the back end.

For example the Elder/Eds series. Every other year one of the teams has a home game. In the years Elder host, Elder's Glee Club sells hot dogs. The Band raffles off a game ball. Booster's do split the pot. Some group is making money off of selling pizza. Another group is making money off of the concession stand in the Field House. The hockey parents are working the parking lot and probably other groups I am leaving out. Elder still brings a decent crowd.

Now you rent a facility in Columbus all the stuff I just mentioned, the Cincy of Cleveland team isn't making that money the Columbus school is. Elder has played a few games in Columbus recently and we didn't bring the big crowd.
 
adselder09 said:
Initially when they announced they would be moving to 8-game league schedules I thought it would hurt them, but as the dominant conference in terms of size within R4 and no longer having to worry about most GWOC schools, they've actually done better at getting their teams into the playoffs than they did under the 7-game schedule. Turned out to be a win-win, as they did it for more local competition, butts in the seats, etc and it ended up netting them at least 1 if not 2 or 3 additional playoff teams.

Now that the playoffs have been expanded to 12 - and now 16 this year - they should get 6-8 teams in the playoffs every year. And should get 9 or 10 teams in the playoffs this year out of 16.
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Region 4 looks like this.

GMC
Colerain
Oak Hills
Sycamore
Princeton
Mason
Lakota East
Lakota West
Fairfield
Middletown
Hamilton

GCL
Elder
X
Moeller

ECC
MIlford
West Clermont
Lebanon
Walnut Hills

Cincy Metro
West Hi

Only two of those teams don't make it. The GMC is a lock to have 8 teams make it.

The GMC can do what they want, but I think it is boring to play the same teams year after year. I am an Ohio State fan. Sure I watch the Michigan game. Most years I really don't care when they are playing Illinois, or Minnesota. I care more about the game they have in non-conference vs someone big like Texas, Oregon, Oklahoma, or Notre Dame.
 
Vincent and Regina said:
Region 4 looks like this.

GMC
Colerain
Oak Hills
Sycamore
Princeton
Mason
Lakota East
Lakota West
Fairfield
Middletown
Hamilton

GCL
Elder
X
Moeller

ECC
MIlford
West Clermont
Lebanon
Walnut Hills

Cincy Metro
West Hi

Only two of those teams don't make it. The GMC is a lock to have 8 teams make it.

The GMC can do what they want, but I think it is boring to play the same teams year after year. I am an Ohio State fan. Sure I watch the Michigan game. Most years I really don't care when they are playing Illinois, or Minnesota. I care more about the game they have in non-conference vs someone big like Texas, Oregon, Oklahoma, or Notre Dame.
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I won’t be surprised if Princeton decides to schedule on GCL team in the near future. They have a lot of talent and a great HC.
 
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