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Lamar 17 straight District Championships

Great stories and posts on this thread! Love the memories from the small town schools since I went to one at Jasper. I remember a Baldwin at Golden City in the early 80s. Great athlete. Nothing like hauling hay to get you in shape and build strength. Today's kids are missing out on some great experiences. Hauling hay, picking up rocks, and many other farm tasks helped build the work ethic I still have today. And I thought I was getting rich at a nickle per bale!
I am proud to say I was part of the five cents a bale generation!

Cards1968..................MS playoffs

From the most popular forum I can find down here, the Calpreps prediction:

6A CHAMPIONSHIP
Grenada (MS) vs. #181 Hattiesburg (MS) [projection and percent chances to win: Grenada (MS) 26 (62%) #181 Hattiesburg (MS) 20 (38%)

That board also feels like Grenada is the favorite. Not me. Hattiesburg beat the mighty Picayune for South State. With the hometown crowd I like 'em too.
We've seen that common denominator in MO, too. Escape the big Quarter-Semi then roll to the title. Two examples today Lutheran North and Nixa who I have as solid favorites.

Lamar 17 straight District Championships

I remember someone telling me that Seneca's either Football or Baseball field, cant remember which or maybe both? , was actually in Oklahoma. Either one seems crazy to me that a Missouri school would play home games in Oklahoma.
Crazy to think illinois residents play high school football in missouri?......lol

Lamar 17 straight District Championships

I was at the dome in whatever year it was that was Lamar's first. I was there to watch Webb City but remember seeing a bunch of Lamar fans and thinking it was unexpected but cool that they were there, another local team representing. I say unexpected because up to that point I had never heard anything about Lamar football, good or bad. They have really made a name for themselves since then!

It's past thanksgiving and they are the only Joplin area team still in football mode. People are talking about move-ins. There are posts about how many district trophies they have.

Just a couple days ago I was in a waiting room listening to two older ladies flex about their grandkids. "None of my grandkids have ever NOT played for a state championship" the one lady said. "We weren't sure about this year but I tell you what, those boys just don't know how to do anything but win". The lady she was chatting with said "Oh are you in Webb City?". The woman responded in a "bless your heart" kind of way, "Oh no, we're from Lamar."

They still don't really have the same fame and name recognition as Webb City but dang when you look at what they've done, it's equally impressive, albeit on a smaller scale.
Good story... and yes, Lamar has been impressive. But don't forget Seneca down here in the Joplin area. Hoping for good things for both these programs this weekend.

Lamar 17 straight District Championships

Great stories and posts on this thread! Love the memories from the small town schools since I went to one at Jasper. I remember a Baldwin at Golden City in the early 80s. Great athlete. Nothing like hauling hay to get you in shape and build strength. Today's kids are missing out on some great experiences. Hauling hay, picking up rocks, and many other farm tasks helped build the work ethic I still have today. And I thought I was getting rich at a nickle per bale!

What's your dream scenario for this weekend in Columbia?

My dream scenario plays out a lot differently for me ...

1, Win some insanely high lottery (which will never happen).

2, Build an indoor stadium capable of hosting state football championships centrally located in the state (but not in the city where it is currently being held, I have a bias against that city). I'm not sure exactly where I would build it but it has to be a location with ample hotels, restaurants and some other "attractions and distractions" to allow the non-football family members entertainment options while the football fans can attend as many games as they want. (Likewise, this won't happen either.)

3, Sign an exclusive contract with MSHSAA to host the state football championships. My initial thought would be similar agreement that Omaha has with the NCAA and the College World Series, 50 years. In the agreement I would allow MSHSAA to use the venue rent free for the two days of the state football championships and then I'm sure the agreement would have a percentage split on the gate and concessions, or perhaps they keep 100 percent of the gate and host venue gets 75 percent of the concessions and MSHSAA gets 25 percent. Doesn't matter to me, I won't allow it to be a deal-breaker, I'm confident that whatever is best for the membership, its football programs and fans we can find common ground. (Still, a pipedream).

4, I would also need to decide on a seating capacity ... it doesn't need to be Dome at Amerca's Center big with 60,000+ seats, I'm thinking closer to under 30,000, probably closer to 25,000 or 20,000. It's been a while since I looked at state football championship attendance figures but assume for a minute that every person who attended all six games is at ONE game, what would be the ideal seat capacity? Sure would look a like better on TV with a venue with 25,000 seats 7/8ths full vs. a venue that is 3/4 empty.
I said this a few years ago when JCPS dumped probably 40-50+ million on the stadium at Cap City, new soccer stadium and baseball at JC. Could’ve built an indoor stadium similar to the Kibbie Dome in Idaho. Both JC and CC could’ve played there, could’ve moved soccer to Adkins and Vivian was a perfectly fine baseball field that I would guess they rented for little to nothing from the city.
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State championship predictions

I'm not in disagreement with the participation and pride thing, but it may still be better to have like Texas, the option of either 11 or 6. Then basketball-only schools should be able to also play football. The fact that state has 200+ 6-man teams is what makes the Lone Star a football state, more than the Dallas Carters and Odessa Permians.

Also for baseball parents, not all of them are pushing just ball. Some of my son's friends did football and baseball in the fall. We would have enjoyed seeing our son play football, as we did love watching his youth games. However in junior high, he decided he wanted to focus on baseball. He must have known what he was doing, as he is doing it in college at this time. As for the one-sport parents, it is more than just baseball that does this. Soccer, hoops, and even football parents are doing it. The travel football is what blows me away. Off-seasons are important.
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Helias 11:15

Just what a joke. The officials. The Helias fans that believe the team earned the trip to the show me bowl after that. Just a joke.
Every player on that defense knew they were offsides and I bet Hentges knew it too.
Please tell me you have amnesia...Helias had a safety earlier in the game that cost Helias 2 pts.

State championship predictions

Not every school is a Midway, and at some that size, you would really have to loosely define athlete. And Midway isn't winning like they used to. Hopefully they can keep the 11-man going however.
You are correct not every school is a midway who instead of making excuses and cutting programs finds a way to bring the culture of participation and school pride. You cannot ever get me to believe that a school can field a baseball team in fall but not a football team. He'll I'd coop before I cut football for baseball.
Baseball parents are also ruining kids having them play one sport the whole year.
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