OVC: Better or worse with the addition of Ironton and Portsmouth?

[IBTT]

Myself, I felt the way most Ironton fans felt at the beginning about the OVC, until I got to thinking about all of the sports together. The SEOAL was a complete joke for Ironton. To have to send kids all the way up to Zanesville to play volleyball or tennis and kids getting home after midnight was honestly out of the realm of intelligent, not to mention the costs associated with these travels and the lack of attendance at all of the events.

The OVC is offering every sport that Ironton is wanting to play, along with, outside of Gallipolis, a good following to every game which means plenty of $$$ in the coffers for kids to have the best uniforms etc, without robbing the bank. I look for Gallipolis to once again get behind their kids as soon as the program comes together.

Football wise, I have to admit, the last year that Ironton was independent, we played up against mostly all schools which had 70-90 kids on their sidelines. Teams like Johnson Central who had four times as many kids on their team as we did and even Jackson who was nearly the same. Though Ironton was able to compete with these teams, all it did was show that when you have a team that has to play their top kids on offense and defense and in most special teams rolls, it normally ended up in a slew of injuries by the end of the night.

Ironton has had some growing pains in the last few years or so. This season showed that although the team was extremely young, they are learning how to win once again. With this years Sophomore and Freshman Teams being loaded along with the 8th grade bunch that is one of the best groups in years to come through the middle school, Ironton is looking at a good crop.

As long as Ironton schedules good competition in the non conference games, the OVC shouldn't ever hurt them. Sometimes it's best to be fresh when entering the playoffs. This years team has had the problem with the injury bug again and are still getting it done. This should show that the Fighting Tiger Attitude is coming back. I believe this league will continue to get more competitive as the years progress. This year it does make me think a little bit about when you win out in your conference and you are bordering making the playoffs especially when your conference makes up 7 of your games.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I THINK THAT'S AN AWESOME, HONEST POST IBTT.