I'll check in after the basketball playoffs to see if I was right on the pcl teams. All the private and chapter schools out east are what killed the public schools in that side of the state. This is a huge reason there hasn't been a relevant public school in the bigger classifications out east. Last public state champs out east was liberty guess who joined the Piaa that year as well.
I’m with the other guy. If we start removing teams the PIAA loses credibility. I think that’s why PIAA allows it. PA always was a staple in high school football. Ranked in the top 5 sometimes as a state. You kick your state’s best team out that recognition goes with it.
It doesn't change the fact st Joe's is from pa and you care that much about national rankings. Most those teams are put together and are the same teams every year. I'd rather see competitive games then blow outs, the same teams winning, and an even playing field.
It’s not about national ranking but more about our state being respected for football. Take Delaware for instance…. The same teams dominate year after year. Yet a college coach wouldn’t step foot in the state for recruits. My sons went to Roman. Roman isn’t SJP in football but guess what, if you’re serious about playing football at the next level. Who would coaches wanna see you play against? You have the possibility of playing prep every year and twice a year up until last yr.
Also we’re really debating unfair advantages of a team that loss by 2tds this time last yr. What are your thoughts on southern Columbia?
Im not very mobil have multiple myeloma [damn cancer} however if you are ever in Philly let me know and I will try to arrange it. BTW I was at the ECP/CB West games which were both tremendous.
Are you kidding? Travelling from your school to practice and then back to school after practice is a pain in the azz. Time consuming, cold, and dark. And as Tulla and a few others have mentioned, it aint the nicest section of town. It has gotten better but it was the wild west when Tulla went there. Having your own facilities is a huuuuuge advantage. It wasn't too long ago they were practicing on Belmont Plateau in Fairmont park. Broken glass, needles, hostile neighbors. And like I said it wasn't so long ago. You try "recruiting' against that. Gil Brooks set it up and Infante took it nuclear. Got a bunch of smart kids to buy into the program and voila....people, players want to go there.
And just to give you another example of coaching and facilities. Not to toot their horn but La Salle's swim team have been PCL champs for over 40 years. State championships galore in the last 10 years. All with a four lane ice box of a pool built in 1960. Maybe the coach had something to do with it!! Upper Dublin just built a gymnasium, pool and sports facility to rival some colleges. Any championships there? I'd say coaching has a lot to do with it.
Both close games, instant classics, and could of went either way. They played in 91 as well which I attended as a kid. Cb west took 2-3 games with ecp ending thier streak in 00. I miss the days of district 1 being a football powerhouse. Those days are long gone.
Staff, alumni, boosters, facilities, coaching, and most importantly the kids and talent. All these things come into play.
It seems most private schools are that way unless you have a few rich alumni give a hefty donation.
And do you know if a few rich SJP alumni give big donations to the football program? Please don't cite Nick Howley (a classmate) whose foundation gave $5M to the school last year--but not for the football program. I know anyone giving to the Prep can designate that it be used for the football program--or the theatre program, the robotics group, the general scholarship fund, etc.--but I'm not aware of very large amounts being donated to the program by a few alumni.
Idk and I wasn't just talking about prep. It seems like most Catholic schools rely on donations from thier alumni. I doubt they always make big donation public. A lot of the time they want to remain anonymous. I know you can get on their website and make a donation to their athletics.
an inconvenience like traveling does not make them shorter, slower, weaker, and less athletic than their competition
An inconvenience?? Tell that to the families that have to go down there and pick the kids up when it's rush hour, dark and in the city around 5:30-6:00. You really don't get the whole picture yet, do you?? You're not talking about a program, one athlete. You're talking about families that have to sacrifice. Just walk on campus and you're a star?? Not really. But you think what you want. By the way Brad, do you have any kids?? Just asking.
You guys are both CORRECT
It hasn't always been easy for the Prep since 2000. Between 2004 and 2012 they won a grand total of one league championship--in 2005. They had some very good teams in some of those years but lost very close league championship games to O'Hara ('04), LaSalle ('06, '09, and '12) and to Roman ('07). The other years ('08, '10, and '11) they didn't make it to the championship games, and in Infante's first year ('10) they were 4-7.
tulia- you seem to have great knowledge of SJP- do they already have their whole schedule set next year? I am wondering, would they consider a game against pine-richland? I am not sure we will be as good next year, but the current teams- I think we could have given prep a good game this year.
Tulla -
They usually don't have the whole schedule arranged by this time. One thing they have arranged is a game against IMG in Ocean City, New Jersey at the end of August or the very beginning of September. For many years they have taken a longish trip (to Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana, and once to California) very early in the year, and I would expect that to happen again. They have also often scheduled a game against another Jesuit School (e.g. St. Peter's in north Jersey, Gonzaga in D.C.) though they've also played other north Jersey schools (Bosco, St. Joe's Regional) and other DC schools (St.John's and Good Counsel.) They also once played St. Frances (Baltimore) at the Univ. of Maryland.
Roxy,
Pr had a nice year and I would leave it at that. The Prep IMO would do the same to Pr as the rest of the teams they played. BTW palmerie was great.
Not all states do this. Ohio and Florida, for instance, don't, and I don't think Texas does either. Jersey does, but I'm not sure the people who want separate public and private classifications in PA would be happy with something like the situation in Jersey.
kick the PCL out of the PIAA bc the prep embarrassed everyone and youd have guys from 50 public schools saying stuff like this within a year. "idk i think they could hang"
Most of the 53 do not play for high-profile high-powered programs, most of which are D2 and D3. One reason the Prep has so many graduates playing at the next level is that virtually all their students go on to four-year colleges. It should also be noted that most of the 53 did not come to the Prep with "future college football player" written on their foreheads. The experience they have at the Prep--certainly including the coaching they get--makes a big difference. And colleges increasingly know this. There was, for instance, a second-string QB who saw very little varsity action and who went on to be the QB and team captain at the Coast Guard Academy.
SJP will never or rarely play a PA public or Philly powerhouse because a loss would look bad on their brand/resume on the national level. They can afford to lose to a STA, IMG, type school etc. because those have been staple programs in the country for decades. And that’s not a knock on SJP because they are a top program in PA but that’s just what they need to do in order to grow their brand on a national level. They would Most likely beat most teams in this area and PA but they could always run into one of those once in a generation teams like a Mt. Lebo and that wouldn’t look good for national rankings.
That couldn’t be any more inaccurate. Name any other “Philly” powerhouse. Then name any PA school. They’ve played a ton of them and frankly, your comment contradicts itself. The PIAA tournament should have provided that opportunity. Prep does not care about national rankings to the chagrin of this board.
This statement contradicts itself as well. Why play a national schedule if you don’t care about national rankings?
In all the years the Prep has made it to the state championship game--9 of the last 10--they've played four PA public schools in the playoffs: usually the PPL, D11, D1 and either the D7 or D3 champion. So I'm not sure why they would schedule a PA public school in the regular season when they usually are keen to play one game in a different region of the country and games against other Jesuit schools or other schools that will provide good tests to the team and the individual players.
Many recognize national rankings don't mean a whole lot, and I don't think too many at SJP have placed a lot of emphasis on them, though I think some of the players and other students at the school, may care about them. But playing really good competition, in the Prep's experience, has been great for helping the team develop.
Coaching plays a plays a huge part. They play in an open boundary conference yet you only hear about them. If it was that easy We would all duplicate it.
