Time to close out the 2012 thread and get moving on into 2013 with about 7 months until the season starts. I saw Trevor Summers was on the bench for the Ashland basketball game last night. The team sure misses him on the floor. Here's hoping he has a speedy recovery and is ready for football in the fall.

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It is going to take a strong effort by all players, coaches...to be better in 2013. I want to see a motivated, hungry, angry team.

I saw in the repository today that Orrville and northwest have applied for PAC membership. Has that been in the works for awhile? Seems like a decent fit if it goes through

1486wd-it is a dead point. The AD's in the league would not even vote on it. That is from a very good source.

Wow. The article says they are meeting in mid feb to discuss it. Do they have any other options than the occ?

Not to my knowledge. Many people don't want to leave the OCC. It is a tough conference for Orrville and many people like that. If you talk to 10 different people you will get 10 different answers on this topic.

1486wd;1378520 wrote:Wow. The article says they are meeting in mid feb to discuss it. Do they have any other options than the occ?

It's already been discussed..not gonna happen... Per Orrville's AD.

As long as Jim France at Manchester is alive, we won't be in the PAC.

I think we took their lunch money one too many times (Manchester and Fairless) back in the AOL days...

Old Rider;1379133 wrote:I think we took their lunch money one too many times (Manchester and Fairless) back in the AOL days...

Don't forget that we knocked Manchester out of the playoffs with some butt whippings when they would come in with a great record.

RedRider1;1378905 wrote:It's already been discussed..not gonna happen... Per Orrville's AD.

As long as Jim France at Manchester is alive, we won't be in the PAC.

Long live France

Orrville has very few options other than going independent, if the OCC ask them to leave due to travel distances. Maybe the best bet is to hook up with Northwest and Triway, start something new, and see who else might be interested and want to come on board.Being independent in this area nowadays would be a scheduling nightmare! You would end up with an 8 game schedule with 3 Cleveland city teams, a home schooled team, and a couple teams from Canada, and Ursuline!

Checking in and digesting the posts so far.

Hey RedR ider1, I enjoyed the twitter conversation between you and some of the players and about changing leagues, your position on the travel expenses is very valid, but as you will soon find out as your kids grow older, they are sure every parent has a money tree out back that you just pluck the bills off of, to pay for things along the way. LOL

PS. You got to like that those boys feel they have something to prove to the community.

I think we took their lunch money one too many times (Manchester and Fairless) back in the AOL days...

Thats the truth, but we have some support in the PAC. I don't think it will happen because we've gone down this route before, but due to a declining athletic budget this would make sense.

Is there talk about the OCC asking us to leave? I have not heard that yet.

1486wd;1378301 wrote:I saw in the repository today that Orrville and northwest have applied for PAC membership. Has that been in the works for awhile? Seems like a decent fit if it goes through

rrfan;1378461 wrote:1486wd-it is a dead point. The AD's in the league would not even vote on it. That is from a very good source.

1486wd;1378520 wrote:Wow. The article says they are meeting in mid feb to discuss it. Do they have any other options than the occ?

RedRider1;1378905 wrote:It's already been discussed..not gonna happen... Per Orrville's AD.

As long as Jim France at Manchester is alive, we won't be in the PAC.

In my opinion, and the opinion of many PAC fans, adding Orrville and Northwest to the PAC would make a LOT of sense athletically and geographically. Unfortunately, as some have pointed out, those whose "opinions" carry the most weight are against it. Even if they were for it, the PAC would have to decide upon 2 schools to get rid of. From what I've heard, if that were to happen, it'd be Indian Valley and 1 of either CVCA, Timken, or Tusky Valley, in that order, because of geography, first and foremost, and then size. The 2 longest drives for us are Indian Valley and CVCA. CVCA is on a rapid growth pattern and could quickly become too big for the conference (something which Timken already is). But for some reason we keep Timken in - they're terrible in every sport except basketball. But this year they have 2 league losses, 2 more than the last 68 league games before this season. I think once they fall back to earth like the rest of their sports, it might be easier to get them out.

We really haven't applied, only signed a letter of inquiry and possibly a meeting to see if it will fly. Still doubtful.

Love the idea of the PAC, don’t you think it feels better to win a game or match against your neighbor, and on the flip side it hurts a lot more to lose to a neighbor. I would think the gates would be much better for all involved. For the most part unless I have a kid playing, West Holmes is the furthest I will travel, and I am probably in the majority of this, judging from the girls and boys basketball games. The Student sections seem to get after each other more, when it’s a closer school.

RIDER DAD;1381966 wrote:Love the idea of the PAC, don’t you think it feels better to win a game or match against your neighbor, and on the flip side it hurts a lot more to lose to a neighbor. I would think the gates would be much better for all involved. For the most part unless I have a kid playing, West Holmes is the furthest I will travel, and I am probably in the majority of this, judging from the girls and boys basketball games. The Student sections seem to get after each other more, when it’s a closer school.

With the way the football playoffs are set up now, if you get into the PAC you better go 9-1 or 10-0. I don't like that. I like to play tough regular season even if you go 6-4 you are prepared for the playoff. I am also from the generation who was never in a conference in High School so conference titles don't mean much to me.

rrfan;1382237 wrote:With the way the football playoffs are set up now, if you get into the PAC you better go 9-1 or 10-0. I don't like that. I like to play tough regular season even if you go 6-4 you are prepared for the playoff. I am also from the generation who was never in a conference in High School so conference titles don't mean much to me.

Same way I feel about conference accolades...who cares! Get to the tournement and make a run. Its all about the playoffs! Man did I love the independent days.

rrfan;1382237 wrote:With the way the football playoffs are set up now, if you get into the PAC you better go 9-1 or 10-0. I don't like that. I like to play tough regular season even if you go 6-4 you are prepared for the playoff. I am also from the generation who was never in a conference in High School so conference titles don't mean much to me.

You make a Good point on playoffs, I do agree with you on that. I was looking at it from a; gate, driving and more natural rivalry stand point.

Old Rider;1382468 wrote:Same way I feel about conference accolades...who cares! Get to the tournement and make a run. Its all about the playoffs! Man did I love the independent days.

You guys are kidding yourself if you think it's a good idea to go the independent route now. The landscape of Ohio football is way different now than it was even 10, 15 years ago. Filling a 10 game schedule will be almost impossible, just ask Steubenville or Ursuline. And the gates will be horrible, filled with long travel times and Saturday games. You will have a schedule that is half way too easy, and half way too hard. You are a D4 school that had 37 kids go out last fall. You don't need to be playing that Cleveland Knights team Rittman played last year, and you don't need to be playing St. Ed's either.

Hillsdale is in extreme fiscal emergency, and is in danger of a merger or being absolved in the next couple years. If a spot comes open in the WCAL, Orrville and Triway will both try to jump on it.

iced earth;1382707 wrote:You guys are kidding yourself if you think it's a good idea to go the independent route now. The landscape of Ohio football is way different now than it was even 10, 15 years ago. Filling a 10 game schedule will be almost impossible, just ask Steubenville or Ursuline. And the gates will be horrible, filled with long travel times and Saturday games. You will have a schedule that is half way too easy, and half way too hard. You are a D4 school that had 37 kids go out last fall. You don't need to be playing that Cleveland Knights team Rittman played last year, and you don't need to be playing St. Ed's either.

Never said I wanted to be independent again...just enjoyed it when we were. Your right....The most logical seems to be the WCAL for the Riders.