CincySportsFan

Curious, is the $370,000 for all rounds of football playoffs, in all classes?

Speaking as a father to a senior who attends vocational school, I can tell you 100% definitively, virtual learning has impacted these students more than others. My son is a C student in most of his "normal" classes. He has a hard time concentrating/focusing on bookwork. Some classes are better than others, but for the most part he struggles...doesn't matter if it's in-person or online. However, the vocational school route has been a God-send. I have never seen a kid so excited to go to school. He loves it, and was absolutely crushed when they went all-virtual last spring. There is just no comparison to watching a video, or reading an article about a subject, versus actually doing it. I would love for him to have the opportunity to gain more of that experience. Not sure if it's worth it though, if he has to also repeat the English/math classes he's had this year. But, if he could go just to V-school...heck, he'd go there 8 hours a day if you'd let him.

I agree, great game, regardless of how it turned out. Both teams put forth a great effort. The only point that I was getting at, was IF the coach addressed a player on the opposing team. That would've been so far out of character for Coach Utter, even if it was his kid. That's why it seemed so ludicrous for me to imagine it. But, not being able to see lips move (due to masks) it was hard to tell.

Can anybody from Grant County that was there last night tell me if the comment directed at the Walton player there towards the end of the game came from the Grant County bench (Coach Utter?) or from a fan in the stands? With everyone wearing masks, it was hard to tell for sure.

Exactly. You look at the thousands upon thousands of hours of tape/broadcasts we have for the college basketball regular season, and the hundreds of eyes of "experts" who look at it to do their seeding process, and what do we get? A best guess. Heck, in all the years, I think we've only had one time where all four #1 seeds made it to the end. But, even in that year, you had 2 #13 seeds and 2 #12 seeds with upsets in the first round, and a #10 seed that advanced to the Elite Eight. So, there were still upsets before you got to the finals. My point is, we don't have anywhere near the eyes on high school basketball. Most people look at box scores, and then go with some preconceived bias about which district/region HAS to be better than another, just...because. The Sweet 16 is not about getting the 16 best teams to play each other. Or even having the top 2 teams play in the final. It's about representing your area (region) of the state, and seeing how you stack up against the rest of the state. Take what will always be a flawed human element out of it, and just draw. Because we've already seen that things never go chalk when you seed it.

If, as you have in the districts, both the winner and runner-up advance...then, yes, you need to seed. In most instances, this is easier to do because of actual head to head competition during the regular season. But, if you are looking for one, ultimate winner...then a blind draw is the only way to do the bracket without any bias. (And yes, computers have a bias...because they've got to be programmed by someone.) As has already been said, to be the best, you've got to beat the best. Doesn't matter if that's in the first game or the fourth game. The only reason to advocate for seeding, is from the fan's standpoint. And that's a selfish view to have, in my opinion.

Got my first (and only) dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine yesterday. No soreness or any other potential side affects, either after the shot or this morning.

Yeah, today the MLB is mostly played on grass. But for the 70's, 80's and a good portion of the 90's, there were quite a few teams that played on turf. (Reds, Astros, Pirates, Phillies, Cardinals, Royals, Mariners, Braves, Blue Jays and Expos) The reason why? Field maintenance. I have played on fields where the guy who drug the infield didn't know what he was doing, and over the years built a crown up at the outfield grass. Yeah, from the stands, it may have looked okay. But, when you stood out there, it was probably a good 4-8 inch difference. At the one field, balls would actually ricochet up in the air if they hit it. I took one off the collar bone because of a hop like that. Our shortstop wasn't so lucky. He broke his nose. I'm sorry, but that's not baseball. And I don't care if both teams do have to play on it. Now, granted, my experiences are 35+ years old...so, maybe things have changed. But, I think we overestimate just how much time, knowledge and money is needed to put into field for true, proper maintenance at the high school level. We have become spoiled by what we see at the MLB level. But most schools just don't have that. Ultimately, in my opinion, a game played on turf is better than a game played on a poor grass field, and certainly better than no game at all.

Menards used to have a guy up front at the entrance...now they don't. Employees are still wearing them, but I'd say it's 50-50 for customers on some days. Tractor Supply, on the other hand, was barely 10 percent compliant, and that's with the clerks being 10 feet from the doors. Restaurants seem to be the one place where I still see a fairly good majority wearing them, but even then there's instances where people walk in like they own the place.

It really doesn't matter whether a mandate is in place or not, people are not following it anyway. Businesses may keep the "requirement", but it'll just be lip service. I can't tell you how many places I've been into (even before the vaccinations began) that had a sign as plain as day before you entered the store, saying they required a mask...and a good portion of the customers were mask-less. Enforcement has completely gone away. And I'm sick and tired of hearing people say I (in the general sense, as a mask wearer) need to respect their decision to not wear one...when they don't offer the same respect to the businesses who ask that they wear one. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

Was told today at work we will be given the opportunity to get the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine next week. Been trying to find some information about taking Aleve for my herniated disc, and whether/when I should stop taking it prior to getting the shot.

I hope you are wrong on this. It never even entered my mind for Tiger.

Disagree. It's taken the same amount of balls to get a walk for the past 100 years. The game hasn't slowed down because of some rule change that's suddenly allowed for pitchers to waste more pitches. The pace has slowed down because we've stroked the egos of the pitcher and hitter by allowing them to "gather themselves" after each and every single pitch. Growing up in NE Ohio and watching Indians games, one of the guys that I watched a lot was Mike Hargrove. After each pitch, he'd dig a little more dirt out where his back foot would be, tap his cleats clean, bring his right foot out of the box, then lean the bat against his leg, mess with his helmet and hair, adjust one batting glove, then other batting glove, grab his bat, wipe his nose on his sleeve as he's bringing his other foot back into the box. After every. single. pitch. Back then, it's no wonder his nickname was the Human Rain Delay. But now, there are HUNDREDS of guys who do that...he wouldn't even stand out. And the pitchers today are no different. Last year, I watched a repeat of Tom Browning's perfect game from 1988. I actually timed some of his pitches. Actually, I timed the "in-between" pitches...from when he got the ball back from Reed, to when he started his windup. Often times it was 10 seconds...or less! Guys nowadays feel like they have to have this elaborate routine they go through before they can throw the ball. Horse hockey! So, if there's a pitch clock to speed the pace up, it needs to go both ways. If a pitch is thrown without the batter being ready...it's fine to call it a strike. If the batter's waiting and the pitcher delays...it's a ball. If they both delay...add a ball and a strike. It's a shame that we have to "legislate" something like this, but we see where this me-me-me focus has gotten us. And honestly 20 seconds is too much, in my opinion. I'd take it down to 15 or maybe even 12 seconds. And yes, this would put a lot of pressure on the home plate umpire...but, guess what, that'd be his sole focus. Calling balls and strikes is going to be automated in my world. Ump can rule on checked swings, foul tips, HBP, etc. But, that's it. If a batter doesn't like the ball/strike call...there's nobody to argue it with, because it's out of their hands.

Yes, as one person put it, we're going to have to find the number of deaths we're willing to live with (pardon the pun). He said the "if it can save one life" mantra is just not feasible. Because if you were truly willing to do whatever it took just to save one life, then alcohol and tobacco would be illegal, there'd be no fast food restaurants, and the speed limit would be something like 10 mph. All of these things would more than save at least one life. But, none are implemented because we value something else just a little more (whether it be convenience, pleasure, etc.) and are willing to trade that for a few more deaths. Tobacco kills about 480,000 per year. (Obesity around 300,000...alcohol 95,000) Which works out to a little over 9,000 per week. Last week the covid deaths were 22,000. The question is...will the numbers have to get below tobacco to be considered acceptable? Or will we set a new bar that's suddenly okay, as long as we can return to "normal"? Honestly, to me, if they get it down to 10,000 or so (with the vaccine), there'll be a huge push to open everything back up. If it gets under 9,000...you won't see a mask in sight.

Plus the disposal fee...don't forget that.

Unfortunately, I believe there is a bit of truth in that statement. Probably 3/4 of the kids I've seen "dunk" (before the refs come out) can barely get the ball over the rim and end up just trying to pull the rim down for effect. We've all heard it, where the rim snaps back and sends the vibrations throughout the gym. And if a rim or backboard is damaged in warm-ups prior to a high school game, there's probably very few schools that are going to be able to replace it in a timely manner. Plus, you add in the cost of a potentially new backboard...and I can see where there might be a push to reduce this possibility. You can't eliminate it completely, but you can try to reduce the chances of it happening at the worst possible time...all because some 5'-11" kid wanted to try and impress.

Well, you could go down I-71 and head thru New Castle and Eminence instead. Might only take you an extra hour or so. But you'd never leave the region. ? In all seriousness, I understand what you're saying. But, it's not like the region itself is completely unattached. It's just that they are located more in a curved line that the most convenient roads don't follow.

Walton-Verona is with Williamstown in the 32nd district. You think there's a possibility they'll move Henry (and likely Eminence) into the 29th eventually? That'd give the 29th 5 teams, and the 31st would go down to 4 teams (Carroll, Gallatin, Owen and Trimble).

It may make sense...but to see it achieved...another story. I wonder how easy it is to correct if/when something does go wrong.

The way that thing was able to freefall without tumbling was impressive. Needs just a little more thrust to help stick the landing. Looking forward to more!

It stinks, doesn't it? Last Thursday I slept for over 11 hours, which even for me when I'm sick, is a long time. I was up for 3 hours. Walked to the bathroom, then to the kitchen for some breakfast, and back to the bedroom where I watched some TV. Within 3 hours...I had fallen asleep AGAIN! Saturday I fell asleep sitting upright in the computer chair. And Sunday, I dozed off for 3 hours after the Bengals went off. There has not been a single day that I haven't had at least one nap during the middle of the day.

Back at work for the first time in darn near a month. My wife started showing symptoms about a week after I did, and tested positive as well. Neither one of us really had a fever at any point in time, and thankfully, it never got into our lungs/chest. Mainly seemed like a sinus infection...with one exception...the fatigue. I have had zero energy through this whole thing. Same with the wife. She had been able to work from home, and did so last week. Yesterday she went into the office for the first time, but said she "crashed" around noon, and ended up coming back home at 2. Wife saw an article from the NKY health department that showed a study saying that the fatigue could last up to 10 weeks, regardless of how mild/severe your initial symptoms were. Ugh. Don't know if I'm looking forward to another month or two of feeling like this. On the flip side, it's certainly better than being in a hospital bed right now. I can easily see if you got it in the lungs/chest area, how this could turn to pneumonia in a snap.

Have been battling a head cold for the past 4 or 5 days. Missed work on Friday and Monday because of it. Went in yesterday, but was told to leave because 2 other people in my building had tested positive since I was gone. Boss told me to get a test too. So, got a rapid test...and it came back positive. Ugh. Good news is, so far, the Mrs. and our son seem to be symptom free.

Would be interesting to see a breakdown in those two states with regards case numbers on/off the Indian reservations. I remember seeing something fairly early on in the spring talking about how they (the reservations) seemed to be taking a much bigger hit compared to the rest of the public. I wonder if that's still the case.

Never in my entire life have I ever bought ticket insurance. For anything.