Big 33 the High
School All Star Classic Winner
Taking a
look at the rosters of the two big High School All Star games this Saturday
leads you to the conclusion that the Big 33 has won the battle of the High
School All Star Classics.
Ohio State Players
The Big 33
has the Penn State
players and it has the Ohio
State players, at least
the ones not already enrolled at their prospective schools. For Penn State
you’ll get to see 7 players on the field including Pete Massaro, David Soldner,
Matt Stankiewitch, Brandon Ware, Mark Wedderburn, and Mike Yancick who might be
out with an injury. On the Ohio squard, the Nittany Lions stole Michael Zordich
away from Jim Tressel but he’ll stay be playing for his home state.
Ohio State
has Ben Buchanan, Taylor Rice, Nathan Williams, Shawntel Rowell, Nic Dilillo
all on the Ohio
team. This doesn’t mention the numerous other prominent players from schools
like Pittsburgh, Michigan,
Florida State,
West Viriginia, and others.
For the
Ohio North South Classic, the best schools represented are Indiana
and Pittsburgh.
This is a serious decline from previous years that saw a large number of Ohio State
and other prominent teams represented. I guess everyone saw it coming with the
games being played on the same day for the first time. This move was made to
allow students to enroll into summer classes at their college of choice which
has become increasingly popular as of late.
Location, Location,
Location
So the Ohio
North South Classic has been in Crew Stadium that last couple of years which is
a very nice facility and didn’t look too empty with a lot of Ohio State
campers making the trip by bus to see most of the game. But someone came up
with the ideal to play the game in Ohio Stadium (aka The Shoe) this year. It
will be convenient for all the high school campers and the players will get to
play on a famous field, but how empty is the stadium going to look tonight? I
will look like nothing is going on.
In an
attempt to boost player attendance the Ohio High School Association is
considering moving the game to April to be on the same day as the Spring Game.
There are some NCAA rules to be maneuvered around as the stadium needs to be
cleared between the games and tickets must be sold separately, but it’s a good
move to revive a game that this year will be a disappointment.
History
This will be the 51st
Big 33 Classic with three straight Pennsylvania
wins. The history of the Big 33 might have led to its new domination of the
Ohio State North South Classic. I number of famous college or NFL players have
played in the game. In fact, there has never been a Superbowl without a Big 33
alumnus. That’s an amazing statistic.
Viewing
If you want
to see the Big 33 you can travel to Hersheypark Stadium for the 7pm kickoff or
watch the game on Comcast CN8 in Pennsylvania.
The Ohio North South Classic has a kickoff time of 4pm at Ohio Stadium. There
are no published media outlets carrying the game.