OT: High School Football Schedules Ain't What They Used To Be

[swilsonsp4]

I saw that the NFL runs high school football academies in Europe. The one in London will be playing three games against US schools:

1. Massillon Washington at Nike HQ in Oregon (Massillon's season opener);
2. Concord de la Salle at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London;
3. IMG Academy in Munich.

Back in the Stone Ages when I was in school, taking a trip to watch a game meant driving from Finneytown to Anderson. Almost no teams traveled across county lines, except in thinly-populated rural areas.

[Lobot]

There have always some traveling teams in the parochial system in Cincy. I can remember Moeller playing out of state powerhouses on occasion. Out of that batch, I'd love to know how Massillon is paying for that as a public school unless they aren't and Nike or the NFL is footing the bill.

During my HS days, My high school in Cincinnati was in the same conference as Lima Senior which always made for a weird 1.5 hour road trip every other year.

[GoBearcats31]

Bishop Sycamore?

[Lobot]

Bishop Sycamore?

Oh you had to go there ..Lol

[swilsonsp4]

There have always some traveling teams in the parochial system in Cincy. I can remember Moeller playing out of state powerhouses on occasion. Out of that batch, I'd love to know how Massillon is paying for that as a public school unless they aren't and Nike or the NFL is footing the bill.

During my HS days, My high school in Cincinnati was in the same conference as Lima Senior which always made for a weird 1.5 hour road trip every other year.

That hasn't always been the case.. When I said I was from the Stone Ages, I meant that I graduated from Finneytown in 1968. Throughout the 1960's and at least well into the 1970's, the GCL was not divided into what eventually have become the GCL South and GCL Co-Ed. Back then, McNicholas, Purcell and Roger Bacon were in the same conference with St. X, Elder, Moeller and LaSalle. So, they had fewer schedule slots to fill back then.

I had trouble finding early schedules, but I did find Elder's 1972 slate. All of their games were played in Cincinnati, with two of them being Columbus-area schools that visited The Pit. Now, the Panthers play schools from Cleveland, Indy, and Louisville regularly. St. X and Moe do likewise, but LaSalle to a lesser extent.

The GMC schools (Colerain, Lakota West, etc.) play a nine-game league schedule, so most of them don't travel much at all. If they do, it's to Dayton. So, really it's the GCL South schools going out of the area. They pretty much have to. The only other D1 league in the Cincinnati area is the GMC, and they have clogged schedules.

Back before the NCAA banned the use of college stadiums for multi-game football events a few years back, the Skyline Crosstown Showdown, which began in 1998, drew a slew of quality out of state teams to face off against the locals. That was the extent of contact with out-of-towners for many local schools. The Showdown still exists, but it's all local and are merely on-campus affairs..