ESPN and FOX PARTNER TO CREATE STREAMING SERVICE FOR ALL EVENTS

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/06/espn-fox-warner-new-sports-streaming-service/

In a very short time the Super Bowl, and all the world's biggest events, will only be available on a streaming subscription platform. If the Dolphins vs. Chiefs NFL playoff game this year on Peacock TV STREAMING ONLY did not alert longtime cable/satellite users as to what's coming down the pike quickly, don't fret. You will be forced to find what most of us already know, like it or not. If you are one of those threatening to never watch the NFL again because it's streaming only, plan on never watching any sport again.

The MLB, NBA, NHL and College Football Playoffs are all committed to putting their post-season on these streaming services after ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. have just announced they will launch a sports streaming service. Yea, when adversaries like ESPN and FOX partner for a new adventure it's big. The way you watched TV your entire life will be over soon.

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPNews, ABC, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS and truTV will all be bundled. But many of the biggest events will be streaming service only like Peacock did with the NFL. Or like ESPN Plus is currently doing and pushing forward aggressively.

Personally, it's better to pay $100 picking the channels I want to watch as opposed to paying more than twice that for 300 channels I never watch. Customers can now get access to events that were never available before On Demand -- which means what I want to watch when I want to watch it. The adverse part is witnessing the older generation try to figure out the technical aspects. It's not rocket science but can be challenging at first for a novice. It's the resistance to learn/change that usually throws new users off.

There are many streaming IPTV providers out there already that cost under $20 a month to get every channel, streaming network, movie and series under the sun. It's still a mystery why some people are fearful of making the switch from having a coaxial cable go from their wall to the TV set to having wireless internet TV. All while continuing to pay $250 a month for that channel limited old cable/satellite service. Again, it won't be long until everyone is forced to switch. High speed internet will be a necessity just like paying for a telephone 40 years ago. The internet speed is where the money will also flow. But most folks already have and pay for internet speed.

A ton of people still exist that swore they would never own a cell phone. Here comes internet television (IPTV) in the same fashion.

Fort Hill's Carter Hess is 23-0 wrestling this year. Most of his matches are over in less than a minute or two. Here is a Facebook video of him slamming a wrestler for Boonsboro with a pin in 6 seconds. Opponent could barely walk. Worth seeing. Did not know how to share just the video so u need to use Facebook. WOW.

Wrestling Match over in 6 seconds

Should be a good game. Alcos gym holds 800 ppl, will it be a sell out

What is it looking like for area teams?

Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Wrestling

We don't need no stinking quarterback, DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!
Tomorrow's College Football Playoff Show is going to be ridiculously insane.

The 15th annual Queen City Quad Football Classic at Greenway Avenue Stadium will be played Saturday - August 24, 2024 at noon.

The same four teams as last year will be returning: Fort Hill (host), St. Frances (Baltimore), Clarkson North (Canada) and Bridgeport (WV).

Every team from last season wanted to return without hesitation. I sent the invite out and within an hour all the schools replied YES! Based on feedback, coaches like the organization that comes with 15 years of running this Quad. I have no idea how the time flew so fast.

This is a great compliment to Fort Hill, the coaches, players, program, administrators and to Cumberland and their love for local football. Thanks to our Allegany County Board of Education for keeping the stadium one of the best in Maryland and granting access to all parts of the stadium and locker rooms the past 15 years. This stadium is a superb atmosphere to host such a Quad. Also, many thanks to our stadium custodians past and present. Every Quad event runs so smoothly because of their dedication and hard work. The past few years Brian has been our rock, he makes this so easy and is always the last one to leave the stadium after the Quad. He literally has the keys to the Quad for everything we need to accommodate 250 players and coaches from four schools.

See you in the warm heat of August!

Any word on who'll be there? Besides FH of course.

Does Todd, or anyone, know what this big news could be?

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Toby Peer is the head football coach at Cambridge-South Dorchester who will visit Fort Hill Friday night. Coach Peer used to be the South Hagerstown head coach, then became their Athletic Director before heading to Cambridge. He has ties to Cumberland - his parents live on the WV side of the Potomac.

I have had the pleasure to hang out with Coach Peer both in pleasure and business situations. There is a local connection story that had great implications with MPSSAA policy not many would know.

In 2018 myself, Todd Appel (who was the FH head coach at the time), Toby Peer and then FH Athletic Director Amber Waltz all got in a car and drove to BWI Airport that winter for the annual MPSSAA football meeting. We appeared at the winter meeting in an effort to convince the MPSSAA to change the playoff system.

At that 2018 meeting, after many discussions and debates with Coach Appel, I drafted a formal new playoff system that kept regional play but extended the amount of teams that made the playoffs from 16 teams to 32 teams. This would reduce the number of regular season games from 10 down to 9. The reason for it was because no one in respective regions were playing each other and only the top 4 teams in each region were making the playoffs. Although Coach Appel was adamant about breaking up the regions totally and just going to a 1-16 seed format like WV has always used. The problem was the MPSSAA was never going to break up regional alignment post-season. People involved had fought and argued about breaking up regions since its inception in 1974. You just wound up beating your head against a brick wall. The only way we were going to implement playoff changes was by keeping regional play.

Toby Peer got on board because he was upset about his South Hagerstown teams having to play the likes of Linganore and Damascus while other teams in his region were not. Yet they were all trying to outpoint him by not having to actually play him on the field. The system was horrible. So he went to that meeting as we presented our official request and documentation for playoff change. Luck had it that most other schools all through Maryland, including Baltimore and Montgomery County, did not like the current structure either. The timing was just right.

The draft I put together got pushed through the proper MPSSAA channels with the backing of FH principal Steve Lewis and Regional Football Director Kurt Stein (currently still the head coach at Oakdale). It passed. And in 2019 was fully implemented and was beautiful.

2019 NEW MPSSAA PLAYOFF FORMAT
- Kept the 4 classifications
- kept the same 4 regions per class (North, South, East, West)
- but now 8 teams from each region made the playoffs instead of only 4
- there were roughly 12-14 teams in each region. So the lesser teams that could not make at least an 8th seed were left out.
- the regular season was pushed back to 9 games instead of 10 to accommodate the extra playoff game
* HOWEVER, the original playoff proposal asked to move the season up one week and let everyone play 10 regular season games, the MPSSAA dumped that option.

I felt the new system was perfect (assuming you had to keep regions). It kept teams like Southern and Hancock out - who didn't even want in the playoffs after bad seasons - and it allowed two teams from each region to move into a Top 8 seeded round robin after the first two weeks of regional play. It would allow teams like FH and Mtn Ridge to play in Annapolis if they both were truly the best teams.

Unfortunately COVID hit in 2020. In 2021 the MPSSAA kept the format but moved to 6 classifications instead of 4, which in my mind watered down the system way too much. It also forced everyone to make the playoffs, even the teams who wanted to opt out after a bad season.

But I wanted it noted that Toby Peer was instrumental in helping Coach Appel and myself to get a new playoff format implemented. The time I got to spend with Coach Peer made me realize what a really good guy he is and what a solid football mind he maintains. This guy produces teams that are very sound and very well prepared. Very logical, fundamental approach.

I look forward again to shaking the hand of Coach Peer Friday night.

"In a move coach Mike Warfield called déjà vu, the PIAA has notified Aliquippa that its football team will be forced up another classification before next season.

The Quips won the Class 4A state title this fall and were runners-up in 2022, and the PIAA now plans to move them up to 5A under its competitive-balance rule, Warfield said Thursday. The school already has appealed the decision, he said.

What makes the situation frustrating for Aliquippa is that the school had an enrollment the past two years that qualified for Class A football and was forced to face opponents three classifications larger. Now, they’re going up again."

Let's say FH wins 5, 6, 7 consecutive state championships in the new 1A (6 classes in football only), could Maryland implement something like this?

Was good enough to be the DPOY but not good enough to make either of the all state teams?? LMAO

Anyone remember QB Reese Poffenbarger? He has played at FCS level Albany the past two years and must have lit it up. He won a state title at Middletown going undefeated in 2019. In his senior season at Middletown, Poffenbarger passed for 2,943 yards along with 32 touchdowns, which were both Frederick County Public High School records.

But I thought he committed to Old Dominion at the time. Good for him.
From Sports Illustrated

​

Transfer Portal: Miami Lands Reese Poffenbarger​

Hurricanes finally land their Transfer Portal quarterback

After a long wait, Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes are bringing in a Transfer Portal quarterback. It's not Cam Ward, it's Reese Poffenbarger.

Whom, you may ask? This is why college football is so great.

Poffenbarger comes to The U from Albany University. He's an FCS player gaining an opportunity to play for the Orange and Green and have millions of eyeballs on him. Here's what Poffenbarger did during two seasons with the Great Danes.

2022: 227 of 369, 61.5%, 2,999 yards, 8.1 per attempt, 24 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.
2023: 276 of 471, 58.6%, 3,614 yards, 7.7 per attempt, 36 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.

Click to expand...

The 6-foot and 210-pound signal-caller is originally from Middletown (Md.) High School. Obviously, this young man did not receive a bunch of Power 5 offers out of high school, but now Poffenbarger is being recognized as a top quarterback and chance to play on a huge stage.

Insane

Alcos Zac Michaels and Brett Patterson are going to Frostburg to play football. There are already a few other players from Allegany/FH at Frostburg State

Daniels and Zach Michael both make second team at RB and TE

1A player of the year Carter Hess
1A coach of the year Coach Alkire

Allegany will or should get better as the season progresses. Teddy needs to keep getting more rotation minutes for #15, and #25. They both seem to have a high basketball IQ. The more minutes they play, the fresher Alcos senior starters will be later in the season. Hopefully Teddy can steal a couple of quality minutes a game from the big kid #34. Still need to play through Fields, and Michael regardless.
As for FH, they seem to have an on floor team chemistry problem. They have some good players, and good athletes on the floor. What they seem to lack is continuity amongst each other. Maybe a little to much hero ball going on. Thad needs to fix that immediately. If not, that can spiral out of control in a hurry. Burner needs everyone to buy in totally. FH will be a much better team as a unified group, then they ever will playing as a group of glory hunting individuals. Fix it coaching staff. It's still early.
Just one man's opinion.

WV has 4 classes looks like Bridgeport is the largest school in 3A and Frankfort is the smallest school in 3A now. The formula they use looks crazy, Frankfort has a small enrollment, but they got bumped up because there location score was high being close to Cumberland. What the heck?? can someone make sense out of this formula seems odd or I’m not understanding what I’m hearing

Saw on X that Tavin is going Ivy League. Committed to Penn. I knew he was a good student athlete...but dayum, that's an understatement.

Does anyone out there have the tape of this game?

Southern new Football coach

"The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Nichols is attending the University of Michigan, where he will be a defensive end for the Wolverines’ highly ranked football team. On Dec. 26, he will depart for Southern California, where he will join the team as it prepares to face Alabama in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Nichols won’t be eligible to play yet for the top-seeded Wolverines, but he will essentially be a member of the team, taking part in team activities and then taking in the game, and potentially the national championship game after that, from the sidelines."

Fort Hill looking for weeks 2, 7 & 8 for next year.

Allegany was looking for weeks 1 & 4. But I see now Tedd is just looking for week 1. Any idea who they picked up for week 4?

1a final. Losing 14 to 7