Chicago Public League Sports Blog

IHSA Releases Fall 2010 High School Football Schedules

Official Fall 2010 IHSA Football Schedules by conference

The Dunbar Mighty Men (my favorite mascot) opens with the other Dunbar - Dunbar of Washington DC - opening night at Gately Stadium.

 

The Curie Condors open at Proviso West. A solid win at Proviso West could propel Curie as a top 3 city team.

Ahmad Bradshaw (so- QB) (shown here with the ball) and Brooks, play a rare game in the north suburbs against Lake Forest. North Shore vs the South Side!

Star running back Justin Smith (jr) and Payton open with two rough games against Shepard of Palos Heights and Evergreen Park. The Grizzlies will do their best to keep it close. What were schedule makers thinking?

Much much more schedules analysis coming soon...

Lane Tech Football Schedule

In Fall 2010, Lane will benefit from a fairly manageable schedule that includes only one suburban or private school in Glenbrook North

Fall 2010 - Lane Tech Football Schedule

Day Date Opponent Location Time Soph/Varsity
Friday August 27 Amundsen at Lane 7:00 pm
Friday September 3 Lane at GBN 5:00/7:30 pm
Friday September 10 Bogan at Lane 600/7:30 pm
Friday September 17 Curie at Lane 7:00 pm
Friday September 24 Lincoln Park (hc) at Lane 7:30 pm
Friday October 1 Whitney Young (hc) at Rockne 3:30 pm
Thursday October 7 Dunbar at Gately 7:00 pm
Thursday October 14 Simeon (hc) at Gately 7:00 pm

Lane has had some tough non-conference games in year past playing opponents like Lockport, Fenwick, DeLaSalle, and Evanston.

This year, Lane will enjoy a manageable non-conference schedule that avoids any big names except for Glenbrook North in Week 2.

Here is my take on the Lane's non-conference schedule.

Week 1 Amundsen at Lane

The last time Lane played Amundsen was the first round of the state playoffs in 20088 in which Lane smashed Amundsen 35-0. Amundsen has improved since then. Amundsen is coming off a success Fall 2009 season in which they placed third in the Illini-Prairie State Conference (the Hubbard and Morgan Park conference) including wins over Steinmetz, CVS, and Lincoln Park. Meanwhile Lane is coming off an uncharacteristic 4-5 record and missing the state playoffs. Those two factors give Amundsen fans hope for an upset. But believe me, that won't happen. The game will be at Lane and expect to see an excited Lane crowd. Lane fans will see them Schlacking Amundsen on opening night.

Neilski's Early Prediction - Lane 38 Amundsen 7

Week 2 Lane at Glenbrook North

This game will be an excellent gauge to see how much Lane has improved with their new coach Proesel. Lane with an enrollment of about twice the size of Glenbrook North got manhandled by the Spartans from Glenbrook North 28-7 last year. And that was from a GBN that was solid last year, but not spectacular. This year the game will be at Glenbrook North in Northbrook. Lane seldom goes out ot play away games in the suburbs and when they do they generally do not fare well. Although in Fall 2007 Lane did manage to come up with a 7-0 victory over Evanston, also from the Central Suburban League.

Neilski's Early Prediction - Glenbrook North 31 Lane 10

Week 3 Bogan at Lane

These team last met in Fall 2008 in a game where Lane easily won 43-12. This game will be closer than that. Bogan is seeking respect despite coming off a very good 9-1 record with quality wins over Julian and suburban Tinley Park. But the Bengals played in the lower tier Chicago Windy City Conference. This year, Bogan has been promoted to the big boys of higher Illini conference. To prove they belong, they have to have a good, but not necessarily a winning result against Lane.

Neilski's Early Prediction - Lane 32 Bogan 15

New - Orr School Store

I added an  Orr School Store to the CPSfan.com School Store Page.

Reed of Simeon Picks up 4 More Football Offers

Simeon defensive back prospect Demarius Reed (sr) picked up 4 more offers. Last month, he got his first offer (from Wyoming). Since then he has picked up offers from Western Illinois, Buffalo, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan. Furthermore, Illinois, Indiana, and Northwestern have expressed interest in the speedy defensive back.

Here are some of his stats.

Ht: 5-10
Wt: 155lbs
40: 4.45 seconds
shuttle:  4.42 seconds
vertical: 37.5 inches

Put on Your Shoes and Start Running–Part 1

 

Lane Tech has a well developed summer training plan. Maybe there is a reason why they contend for city every year?

by: Victor Gonzalez (Lane Tech class of 1989)

Why do you run in June?  To prepare for the state meet in November of course.  One of my favorite quotes of all times was delivered by the controversial Indiana basketball coach, Bobby Knight.  The quote says,

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.”

Putting in those miles during the summer prepares runners for more intense training in the pivotal months of September and October. When good high school runners put in summer miles on their own, they are ready for tougher workouts once the season starts.  Without those summer miles the coach cannot expect to train the athletes for top performances.  Instead the coach is forced to lighten the workouts to remedial levels.  In the 70’s it was common for the top cross country athletes to put in 1000 miles over the summer.  Although this can be quite extreme, the point is that cross country runners should be preparing throughout the summer for the season.

Taking days off to heal some injuries during the season are almost inevitable.  When you build a good foundation over the summer those days will have less negative impact on your training.  It is comparable to putting money into a savings account.  When you need to take a little out of the bank, you know you have saved enough to overcome a small emergency.

So hit pause on your Playstation, get off your sofa, put on your running shoes and go for your run.

More to come about summer running soon.

New - Robeson School Store

I added a Robeson School Store to the CPSFan.com School Store Page

Lincoln Park Football Team Preview

Lincoln Park will be hard pressed in the realigned and now tougher Illini-Red Bird Conference.

Last Year's Stats

conference: Illini- Prairie State
record: 5-4 overall (1-4 conference)
playoffs: none
Fall 2009-10 roster


Fall 2009-10 season results

   W 38 6 4-5 Chicago (Douglass)  
 W 50 12 3-6 Chicago (Hirsch)  
 W 43 8 0-9 Chicago (Hyde Park)  
 W 28 12 1-8 *Chicago (Steinmetz)  
 L 0 55 10-4 *Chicago (Hubbard)  
 L 12 42 2-7 *Chicago (C. Vocational)  
 L 0 63 9-3 *Chicago (Morgan Park)  
 L 8 16 4-5 *Chicago (Amundsen)  
 W 21 8 1-8 Chicago (Manley) 

Last Year
Hopes were high at the beginning of last year when Lincoln Park spurted out to a 4-0 record including a 28-12 conference win over Steinmetz. The Lions were expecting big things when it met with conference power Hubbard in week 5. Big things it got, as Hubbard crushed Lincoln Park 55-0. Things unraveled for Lincoln Park from there as it lost all of it's remaining conference games.

As it turned out the victory over Steinmetz was their biggest victory of the year as Lincoln Park held off Steinmetz for the battle of preventing a last place finish. Since Lincoln Park did not finish last they got to stay in a competitive Illini-Conference.

Fri Aug 27    Lincoln Park  v.s Senn         Winnemac     3:30

Sat Sep 4     Douglass Acd.v.s Lincoln Park     Hanson  7:00

Sat Sep 11   Lincoln Park   v.s Orr           Orr               2:00

Fri  Sep 17  Dunbar v.s   Lincoln Park        Lane            3:30

Fri  Sep 24  Lincoln Park v.s   Lane(hc)     Lane            3:30

Thu Sep 30  Lincoln Park v.s Curie            Rockne        3:30

Sat  Oct  9   Simeon   v.s Lincoln Park       Lane            3:00

Fri   Oct 15  Whitney Young  v.s Lincoln Park(hc)  Lane 7:00

Non-Conference Schedule
Lincoln Park plays winnable games against Senn, Douglass, and Orr. They should take care of Douglass but the Senn and Orr games should be close. A good test for Lincoln Park will be against an improving Orr program.

Conference Schedule
I will be brutally honest, Lincoln Park will be hard pressed to stay out of last place in conference. They will be heavy underdogs against Dunbar, Curie, Simeon, and Lane Tech. Their key conference game will be against Whitney Young, on the last day of the regular season. The loser of that game will likely be sent down to a dreaded less competitive Chicago Conference. Lincoln Park has been down there before, believe me, nobody wants to stay down there.

Outlook
Lincoln Park graduated a bevy of talent last year including it's top 3 rushers, it's starting quarterback top tacker, top 4 receivers, and even it's top kicker. That's hard for any team to make up.

We don't know yet who the starting quarterback will be. Candidates for the running back position include junior Darius Crockwell or senior Xavier Ricott- both unproven.

Defensively, Lincoln Park returns a good one in Colvin Miles a 6-1 230lb linebacker. He was 2nd in tackles for Lincoln Park last year.

Neilski's predictions
3-5 overall record, 1-4 conference record, 4th in conference

Related
Top CPS Running Backs
Top CPS Quarter Backs
CPS Football Fan Page
CVS - Team Preview
Curie- Team Preview
Urban Prep Team Preview, Part 1 Part 2
Phillips Team Preview

Brooks Transfer Makes Orr an Instant Title Contender

Macari Brooks (sr), one of the top players from the south suburbs last year playing for Rich South, has decided to transfer to Orr.

Orr, already going into next year, with one of the top players in the state in Illinois recruit Mychael Henry, has been boosted by a super transfer. Macari Brooks, a senior to be guard/forward decided to transfer to Orr. His 17.5 points per game scoring average and 6.1 rebounds per game will give Orr another weapon besides Henry.

Henry is right up there with players like Wayne Blackshear of Morgan Park as one of the top players in the state.

"Our goal is to win city and state and win all the tournaments we're in," Henry said.

Those goals may be realistic, now that they have Brooks. I've seen Brooks play, he is a tough nosed aggressive scorer. He plays with a moxie and confidently drives to the hoop against any defender. He's a pure shooter. Outside, inside, driving, it doesn't matter. He can flat out and score. He can also rebound as his 6.1 scoring average attests.

Roosevelt to Start Cross Country Team

Everyone knows about Jeffrey Rector's 6th place state finish in the 3200 meter run at the state track meet for Roosevelt. What many people don't realize is that Roosevelt has a surprisingly decent set of distance runners behind Rector like Jose Guerrero (sr)(above) who quietly ran a respectable 11:02.75 in the 3200 meter run at the city track meet.

What is going on at Roosevelt? First they had Jeffrey Rector(jr) finish 6th at the state in the 3200 meter run. Thus becoming Roosevelt's first all-state track runner since 1932.

Now, the word is out there that Roosevelt is starting a cross country team starting this fall 2010. The new coach will be Michael Kroski, a Physics teacher at Roosevelt. I hear that he is really good at robotics and Physics. Though, I do not know about his cross country background.

I do know that the Roosevelt track coach, Nick Diedrich, will not be coaching the new cross country team. Diedrich, who does have a good athletic background, will be coaching the Rough Rider football team this fall. But Diedrich may indirectly contribute in other ways. Diedrich, in addition to having the credit for coaching Rector, quietly built up a group of distance runners supporting Rector.

Diedrich developed the following track distance runners and some of their 2010 season track times (class as of 2010-11 season):

• Jose Guerrero (sr) - 11:02, 3200 meter run; 5:16, 1600 meter run
• Ivan Hernandez (so) - 5:42.47, 1600 meter run
• Leonardo Bucio (so) - 6:11.53, 1600 meter run
• Alan Rangel - 5:50.59, 1600 meter run
  

I know the times are not eye opening, but for Roosevelt it is a great start. Roosevelt has 5 runners running below 6:12, nothing special compared to the Mather and Kenwood's of the world, but it is great compared to past Roosevelt standards.

Rector will not be running cross country because he plays football. Whether Guerrero and the other distance runners run cross country, we do not know yet.  I do know that every program has to start somewhere. For Roosevelt, just having a team is a great start.

Roosevelt 2010-2011 Cross Country Schedule

Day	Date	Event	Location	Time
Tuesday	9/14	Mather Invite	Legion Park (Bryn Mawr & Kedzie)	4:00 p.m.
Tuesday	9/21	Mather Invite	Legion Park (Bryn Mawr & Kedzie)	4:00 p.m.
Tuesday	9/28	Mather Invite	Legion Park (Bryn Mawr & Kedzie)	4:00 p.m.
Saturday	10/23	IHSA Regionals	TBA	TBA
Saturday	10/30	IHSA Sectionals	TBA	TBA
Saturday	11/6	IHSA State Final	TBA	TBA

Related
Von Steuben - cross country team preview
Lincoln Park - cross country team preview

CPS wants to fire underperforming teachers first, of course Unions against it

If layoffs are necessary the CPS wants to layoff the worse teachers in the CPS first. That is teachers that have been given unsatisfactory ratings in their last performance review are the first ones on the chopping block. That only makes sense. Get rid of the bad teachers and keep the good ones.

Any sane business owner, when faced with a tough decision to lay off employees, would let go of workers that are not doing their job.

In this case, the CPS decision making makes absolute sense. The good teachers keep their job - rewarding them for good behavior - and the bad teachers lose their job - punishing them for bad behavior. Firing more experienced but poor performing teachers would also save the CPS more money. Money that could be used for sports and other vital programs.

However, the Chicago Teachers Union is completely against this. They want the CPS to adhere to the current union contract (written in 2007) - which states that layoffs are based on tenure. So they want less experienced teachers fired first before firing more experienced teachers.

This is another example of unions protecting the incompetent.
This is another example of unions looking out for their interests instead of the interests of children who would benefit from better educators.