I feel the same way. In HS, being bused to the Assembly Hall (yeah, that's what it was named then) as a junior with coaches trying to get adolescent dopes such as myself to understand what we were competing for ... it made a difference.Good…anything else, just isn’t right IMO.
We, LaSalle Peru had Dekalb down 16 at half in 1968 quarterfinals. 4 starters fouled out. Got beat.One of my best sports memories is attending the state tournament in the Assembly Hall in 1968. Still a single class tournament and the place was packed. Evanston won the championship. We played Evanston next season as our opening game. Lost a close one on their floor. I think their championship starting lineup all graduated, though.
Couldn't agree more, two of the best weekends in March then the NCAA. Really a special time, watch parties with friends, snacks, chili, beer, ball boards and basketball non-stop.Maybe I’m old school but I wish they would get rid of the current system and go back to the A and AA tournament. Seemed like true State champions then and meant something.
Go Cavs!We, LaSalle Peru had Dekalb down 16 at half in 1968 quarterfinals. 4 starters fouled out. Got beat.
I dare anyone who has followed IHSA athletics for the past 50 years, to argue in favor of the current 4 class setup for the boys/girls state basketball tournaments. It's honestly become so watered down that it's rather ridiculous.Maybe I’m old school but I wish they would get rid of the current system and go back to the A and AA tournament. Seemed like true State champions then and meant something.
One of my best sports memories is attending the state tournament in the Assembly Hall in 1968. Still a single class tournament and the place was packed. Evanston won the championship. We played Evanston next season as our opening game. Lost a close one on their floor. I think their championship starting lineup all graduated, though.
You won’t get any kind of rebuttal from me.I dare anyone who has followed IHSA athletics for the past 50 years, to argue in favor of the current 4 class setup for the boys/girls state basketball tournaments. It's honestly become so watered down that it's rather ridiculous.
I remember growing up in the 80s and 90s (and even paying close attention into the 2000s) and watching both Class A & AA tournaments with such wide-eyed excitement and interest. I bet if I tried hard I could rattle off the winners of almost every state tournament going back to the last 70s all the way up to the year the IHSA expanded to 4 classes.
After that, I couldn't name you but a couple of the 3A or 4A winners. Name you a small class 2A or 1A state winner? No way on earth I could think of any, simply because its just become too watered down.
Such a shame. I bet I enjoyed watching the Class A state tourney as much (if not MORE) as the Class AA back in the days. Now, it's just not that entertaining anymore. Glad the tourney has moved back to CU. That's a good start I suppose in revitalizing interest. Even shrinking it down to 3 classes would help some.
Fellow Dukie here, but 25 years later. We were never really good at basketball when I was there, but XC was still the best. Won state all 4 years I was there, and my now brother-in-law was Top 15 at state his senior year (one year behind me). Those bus trips down to Peoria were amazing. Great memories.I was a freshman at York when my Dukes beat Harlem on a last second shot (where I almost fell off the top row at the end of the bleachers as we celebrated) to go Downstate in 1967. Chris Schweer (sp?) our 6’7” center (who died suddenly while at Vanderbilt) was our center. My first time in the Assembly Hall, I sat in the last row as I watched the Pekin Chinks (who went on to win the State Championship) blow us out. I had already made the trek on a school bus earlier that year in the fall for my first of four trips, with two 3rds, one 2nd, and a First place in 1968-to watch my Dukes race in the State Cross Country Championships. In 1966, we had eight student buses go, including a band bus. “Newton is the greatest” and “Follow the long green line.” Ahhhhh, some of the best memories of my life…
Been a few years since I've been to the state high school finals....did Champaign come up with something similar to "The Experience" which was next door to the arena while the games were in Peoria?
We, LaSalle Peru had Dekalb down 16 at half in 1968 quarterfinals. 4 starters fouled out. Got beat.