November 2009 Archives

Thoughts after watching eight high school football games--and assorted other college and professional events--in two days while feasting on hot turkey sandwiches and other Thanksgiving Day leftovers:

* Anyone who argues that Maine South's Matt Perez wasn't the Player of the Year wasn't paying attention.

* Critics of the Illinois High School Association's television production of the state finals are reminded that the folks who provided the play-by-play and color commentary--Jim Spencer, Steve Moews, Lee Hall, Greg Bradshaw, Tom Stocker, Jim Covert, Dave Bernhard, Jack McInerney--do a very competent job and are so much better than the alternative. You want professonals? Remember Norm Van Lier? Better production? It looked very good from where I was sitting and, remember Heidi, ESPN, the commercial networks and the cable stations fumble the ball, too, with much larger budgets.

I'm often asked: How do you pick the All-Chicago Area football team?

It isn't easy. After more than 40 years of being involved in the Sun-Times selections, I hope we're getting close to getting it right.

It wasn't easy in 1968 and it isn't any easier today, when only a few writers who cover the games make the selections in concert with recommendations from coaches. In the 1970s and 1980s, a panel of coaches representing every conference in the city and suburbs met to choose the team.

In fact, it is even more difficult today because only 25 players are selected--11 on offense, 11 on defense, a punter, kicker and kick returner. Previously, 44 players were chosen--8 receivers, 4 quarterbacks, 20 interior linemen or linebackers and 12 backs.

Player of the Year is all about performance and production, not college scholarship offers and recruiting service ratings. But even Matt Perez is special. I've seen him play in four games this season and never ceased to be amazed by his professional approach to the game, even when he is battered and limping and hurting.

No end zone dances, no trash talking, no finger pointing, no high fives, not even a wink and a nod. He goes to work with a lunch pail and helmet in hand and his ever-present elbow pads, his good-luck charm. And he never calls in sick or takes a play off.

Perez was a unanimous choice of staff writers who cover the games and coaches who have watched him or played against him as the Sun-Times Player of the Year for 2009. No one else was in the mix. When was the last time a player dominated a season as much as the Maine South running back/defensive end?

I've just seen what I believe is one of the best, if not the best, defense I've seen in high school football in Illinois in the last 50 years. In fact, I've seen Loyola's defense in action on three occasions and I've never ceased to be impressed by its intensity, aggressiveness, depth, flexibility and versatility.

Oh, as fans and media, we tend to gravitate to the offense, the teams that average 40 or more points per game, the prolific passing teams, players such as St. Rita's Billy Marek, Maine South's Matt Perez, Wheaton Warrenville South's sensational passing attack of 1998 headed by Jon Beutjer and Jon Schweighardt and Joliet Catholic's 1999 powerhouse led by J.R. Zwierzynski.

But let's talk defense. Defense wins championships, remember? That's what we are constantly reminded of. That's what coaches preach. Defense, defense, defense.

What does it take to have an elite college football program in today's world?

Great assistant coaches, split evenly between coaching and recruiting. You can afford to have great offensive and defensive coordinators who don't like to recruit but you must have seven great recruiters and pay them well.

"To consistently have a winning program, you have to have great facilities, everything you need within walking distance, an indoor practice facility, meeting rooms, tele-media room, weight rooms, conference rooms, players lounge rooms and tutoring rooms," said recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, who for 31 years has observed how colleges engage in the business of recruiting high school prospects.

But there is more to it than that.

The Catholic League Blue has qualified four of its six members for this week's state quarterfinals while the DuPage Valley has advanced three. So it's only natural to resume the debate: Which conference is better?

From the first time I covered a Catholic League football game--a Mount Carmel/Loyola matchup in Wilmette on the first day I started to work for the old Chicago Daily News on Sunday, Sept. 8, 1968--I recognized that these Chicago kids played with a split lip and a swagger than nobody else had.

I had witnessed high school football in the old South Suburban League--Bloom's 1957 powerhouse, led by Leroy Jackson, left a lasting impression on me; so did Thornton's 1965 team with LaMarr Thomas--and I covered the East St. Louis/Belleville and Kirkwood/Webster Groves Thanksgiving Day rivalries while working for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Football fans are pretty savvy. They have taken advantage of the modern advances in technology to keep connected with what is happening at colleges from coast to coast. They watch videos of the top prospects. It doesn't take a course in nuclear physics to determine if a player is a big-time prospect or not.

But recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, who has been evaluating high school players for 31 years, insists most fans don't understand there is a pecking order that has been built up over 100 years. Even if your school does well, it has trouble overcoming Michigan or Ohio State or Notre Dame in the Midwest when it comes to recruiting 5-star players.

Lemming points out there are 16 schools--the Super Sixteen--that have a distinct advantage in recruiting. They are Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, Miami and Florida State.