THE NEW LOOK OF THE NEW OVC 2015

[Grove4Life]

not anytime I can remember. okay wise guys throw your upset special out there.

Fairland over Portsmouth. Both teams with new coaches and Fairland gets the Trojans at home on that what they call grass at Fairland.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I think this will be an exciting change.I wasn't for it at 1st. And still want to see how any OVC teams do point wise. But the addition of Ironton, Portsmouth, and GAHS next year should be a welcome change, And get the entire league playing up.

[Westfan]

I think this will be an exciting change.I wasn't for it at 1st. And still want to see how any OVC teams do point wise. But the addition of Ironton, Portsmouth, and GAHS next year should be a welcome change, And get the entire league playing up.

Keep telling yourself that.
As an Ironton fan you are used to seeing very good competition. You are going to be extremely disappointed. The move to the OVC may have made sense financially. And it will be a top flight league in baseball and boys/girls basketball. But football outside of Ironton is average to terrible. Ironton needs to be careful that they don't suffer from 5 weeks of fools gold every year.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

all you can hope for is improvement league wide.but I know west has played ovc teams.so I kinda know what to expect. I hope I am pleasantly surprised.

[Grove4Life]

all you can hope for is improvement league wide.but I know west has played ovc teams.so I kinda know what to expect. I hope I am pleasantly surprised.

Here is the quagmire that Ironton is in, you look at the Tigers roster and you see a lot of kids that do not live in Ironton, for the OVC to be better those kids need to stay in their home districts. So it comes down to this, does Ironton want all the talent in the county and maybe not make the playoffs or do they want a competitive conference and maybe take a chance of losing a conference game here or there. I know people will say that they go to Ironton to play for a winner, but now at what cost, sure you can go and beat Rock Hill or South Point by 60 points, but what good is that going to do you. Now if those teams had players that transferred to Ironton come back on their rosters sure they may not win but it would make the games a little closer and little more interesting. For the OVC to be better players need to stay at in their home districts and not transfer, period.

[Westfan]

Here is the quagmire that Ironton is in, you look at the Tigers roster and you see a lot of kids that do not live in Ironton, for the OVC to be better those kids need to stay in their home districts. So it comes down to this, does Ironton want all the talent in the county and maybe not make the playoffs or do they want a competitive conference and maybe take a chance of losing a conference game here or there. I know people will say that they go to Ironton to play for a winner, but now at what cost, sure you can go and beat Rock Hill or South Point by 60 points, but what good is that going to do you. Now if those teams had players that transferred to Ironton come back on their rosters sure they may not win but it would make the games a little closer and little more interesting. For the OVC to be better players need to stay at in their home districts and not transfer, period.

Great post. I said this a couple weeks ago and got chewed for it. But it's true. Ironton is gonna dominate the OVC until the kids stay home. But they aren't going to stay home because they will keep getting throttled by Ironton. Its Pandoras box. Ironton is bad for the OVC and the OVC is bad for Ironton.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I understand. it goes on everywhere in the country. it's all above my pay grade.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

the same thing happens in the soc as well.
I don't know what the solution is

[Grove4Life]

the same thing happens in the soc as well.
I don't know what the solution is

The solution involves the players parents and their home school district.

Parents, keep your kids in their home district, don't have them leave just because you are unhappy with the school, or the way the football team goes, transferring your kids makes you part of the problem with why your team is not winning.

School districts, get coaches that will teach and be disciplined with the kids, these players want to learn and be good football players, give them the ability to show their talents for you instead of against you.

Ironton, get your players parents to quit going out to the county schools and talking to players about coming to Ironton, I know it happens I hear from a players parent myself about an episode of them going to one of the county schools and trying to get a few players to come to Ironton. It's called self policing, Ironton fans don't like the accusations, then fix the problem from within. I remember when Ironton was great with Ironton players, not with players that were being shipped in, get back to those days then Ironton will be Ironton again.


YTB, you seem like someone who has watched a lot of Ironton football, think back to the 90's Tiger teams, playoffs, state title game appearances, now think of the rest of the county, there were other teams(Coal Grove, Rock Hill, South Point, Fairland, Chesapeake) going to playoffs as well, and Ironton did all that with Ironton players, not with "free agents" being bussed in from other schools.

[Grove4Life]

On a lighter note, we are 10 weeks away from kicking it off for another season.

I do see big things from the OVC this year, and Ironton may win the conference but I think they will get a fight from a few teams.

[Westfan]

the same thing happens in the soc as well.
I don't know what the solution is

The SOCII is a very competitive league now that Northwest is now gone. All 5 teams have won conference titles in the last 10 to 12 years.

[goUK]

Dont get me wrong i believe 8 teams is THE perfect number. But in a couple years maybe football could break into two divisions. But then again will transfers continue when ironton isnt winning ms ovc championships. Cg and sp have beaten ironton for a couple years now.

Couldnt go by size like soc because ironton wouldnt face portsmouth or gallia.

Ovc 1
Ironton
Ports
Gallia
Ches/cg

Ovc 2
Fair
Rh
Sp
Cg/ches

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

the same thing happens in the soc as well.
I don't know what the solution is

The SOCII is a very competitive league now that Northwest is now gone. All 5 teams have won conference titles in the last 10 to 12 years.

yes it has been much more diverse the recent past. with a whole multitude of league winners.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

the same thing happens in the soc as well.
I don't know what the solution is

The solution involves the players parents and their home school district.

Parents, keep your kids in their home district, don't have them leave just because you are unhappy with the school, or the way the football team goes, transferring your kids makes you part of the problem with why your team is not winning.

School districts, get coaches that will teach and be disciplined with the kids, these players want to learn and be good football players, give them the ability to show their talents for you instead of against you.

Ironton, get your players parents to quit going out to the county schools and talking to players about coming to Ironton, I know it happens I hear from a players parent myself about an episode of them going to one of the county schools and trying to get a few players to come to Ironton. It's called self policing, Ironton fans don't like the accusations, then fix the problem from within. I remember when Ironton was great with Ironton players, not with players that were being shipped in, get back to those days then Ironton will be Ironton again.


YTB, you seem like someone who has watched a lot of Ironton football, think back to the 90's Tiger teams, playoffs, state title game appearances, now think of the rest of the county, there were other teams(Coal Grove, Rock Hill, South Point, Fairland, Chesapeake) going to playoffs as well, and Ironton did all that with Ironton players, not with "free agents" being bussed in from other schools.

I hope to kiss a duck I've seen a lot of ironton football. I'm almost 55, and have been a fighting tiger fan all my life.i had a situation and transferred my own youngun's to ironton. but it was for a different reason.after high school and living in ironton. I lived at kitts hill, ohio for 32 years in the rock hill district. and I adopted a bi-racial son. he was basically the only bi-racial or black child in the whole district. it became clear to me I had to give my child the same chance I had in high school at ironton. which was to grow up with kids of all cultures. so in junior high I transferred them to ironton. but the other big reason, I lived 8 miles out 141. virtually on the symmes valley border.so it was 16 miles 1 way from my driveway to the rock hill school complex, and 8 miles from my driveway to ironton high schools lot. since I was driving them anyway it only made sense, because they were involved in sports. I won't lie the district at rock hill was in turmoil.i wanted my child to grow up around other black children. and even though I coached youth football in the district. I still was at ironton games with my dad on Friday night, that caused a riff coaching there.and i'll be honest as I can be , the prospect of them playing for bob lutz was exciting. I never alienated myself. I spent 32 years in that district and love everybody there. but it was the best move for us.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

but when I was in high school we never had outsiders so I know what you're saying. trouble is it goes on everywhere. and the most dominating teams are getting the best transfers.i mean let's be honest for 40 years ironton basically owned everybody they played. just very few teams had all time records over the fighting tigers, and they basically played everybody. and coach lutz had kids going to playoff games every year, and college players were flying out of the program. then you put on top of that, allowing open enrollment, coaching changes, district problems, cultural problems, continuous winning records , playoffs , good schooling and ironton became the sexy choice.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I mean the core of ironton's coaching staff stayed together for decades. why change something so successful. you knew who was gonna be at the helm. and our kids played for him as well.i mean it was a system that you knew was going to be there. and the school district was just as solid.

I know I'm getting baited into this conversation. it happens every year. I ain't dumb. but are you going to try really to convince me the same thing has not happened at wheelersburg. and remember for many years I was a life insurance agent. every day I was in the homes of all the soc schools as well as the ovc. so I already know.

the bottom line is ironton was a gold standard on the field, and people wanted to be a part of it I guess.and they have state championships, and league titles, regional titles, been state runners up like 8 times. and they still have the winningest ohio high school football coach ever , record wise.it all makes sense. now the rubber meets the road, ironton's enrollment is a shell of it's former self, coaching changes, new leagues. we will see if they continue to be the gold standard in these parts, only time will tell.my hope is ironton continues scheduling aggressively out of conference, and things stay on the same plane. but I now welcome the change of a new league, and newfound rivalries. and let's see what happens. I have no intention of bashing other districts-I'm just fond of my own.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

getting back to reality here. I'd love to see the coal grove/burg series get started again.those were always on opposite night of tigers games in the playoffs, and that was an exciting series.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

now basically all the local schools are in the same region other than a couple.

[dragonsfan24]

HOW DOES FAIRLAND LOOK THIS YEAR.

IF the coaching staff can keep the guys playing like a team, and if the team stays healthy then they should do well.
Early season prediction, 6-4 or 5-5 with losses to Johnson Central, Wheelersburg, Ironton, and either West or CG.

[dragonsfan24]

Fairland over Portsmouth. Both teams with new coaches and Fairland gets the Trojans at home on that what they call grass at Fairland.

Heard you was talkin' ish about our mud bog...