No you didn't.

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I have been to Mineral many times over the past 15 years or so - I had no idea the place even had a school at one tiime. I guess basketball really was a thing there:

http://www.illinoishsglorydays.com/mine ... /id13.html

C Howitt Fealz has been everywhere..What were you doing in Mineral, there are no international terminals there to catch a connecting flight.

There is a great sand prairie just North of mineral. I also go out to Sheffield a lot and to Bishop Hill.

Hitting all of western Bureau county and the artist community of Bishop Hill. Kind of an interesting place, Bishop Hill that is. Did their festival with the kids a few years ago. It was fun. Knew a guy who did cabinetry and carpentry work out of there. Interesting guy, not the fastest worker but did good work.

The McCune Sandprairie. Been there many times. Also call Mauntino's sand prairie. I guess it depends on what part you are in as the land was donated in stages. Was talking to the SCD people down in Princeton about it. All about the tortise and some bird. Can't remember. Its a unique environment in the area thats for sure. Prickly pear cacti and runner lizards are not something I expect to see this far north.

that sand prairie is a great place....I was shocked to see the kinds of critters they have there.

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That's a great site. They have a good article on the Tiskilwa Indians.

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I enjoyed the site. Waiting for a few more schools in area to go close. Mainly Annawan but I still think Wethersfield probably too. Always talking consolidation, hard to have graduating classes in the high teens, low twenties.

Working as an IHSA football official (I do basketball as well) it was odd to see a small 3A school like Byron fielding 100 players in their whole program last year while some Fox Valley schools and Northern Lake County schools struggle to field a freshman squad. MANY conferences in the Chicagoland area are now playing the freshmen as the prelim game before the Varsity on Fridays and having a JV/Soph game the next morning. The previously mentioned Alden-Hebron is playing in an 8 on 8 league with other area 1A schools. The points of emphasis this year includes a broader definition of defenseless players and eliminating all blind side or peel back blocks. Unfortunately things still happen. I can penalize and eject a player for targeting but those actions will not stop the possible brain injury the original hit caused.

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

There is a lot of potential damage from playing high school football. I know concussions get a lot of news media attention, but there are a lot of other things you can hurt playing football that can damage you for life. The high school coaches talk a good game about how they care about their players, but if a kid gets paralyzed it's not like the coach is going to be there in 20 years pushing the kid around in the wheelchair.

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God is the uncaused cause of the universe. He had no beginning and has no end. He is not bound by the laws of the universe he created.

Nope

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

that's sad (well, when the school are good). some schools consolidate just for sports. annawan is on one of my favorite roads--78--which, when i have time, i take all the way down to fulton county.

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Yeah.. Annawan and Wethersfield (South Kewanee) consolidated (co-oped) a few years back for football and maybe a few other sports. I think some might have deco-oped since the beginning but for awhile it was most everything. Annawan had a nice run at state last year in girls basketball I think but beyond that. The problem is one of these year's Kewanee and Wethersfield well get over the 100 years of animosity towards each other and be forced to consolidate. Doesn't make a lot of sense for a town the size of Kewanee to have two districts. For a while Galva, Annawan and Wethersefield talked of combining but that really made no sense. Annawan should probably be chopped in 1/4's and spread around the surronding districts because it makes no sense for people at the east end to go to Geneseo or the west end to go to Bureau valley. North and south parts have the same problem.

78 has some nice spots on it. I've taken it pretty far south and north over the years. You've covered a lot of ground out here. I'll keep my eye out for a guy in sox garb talking about What's happening!

Like what?

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cacti, lizards--I wasn't ready for those. any bird that spends time in illinois, foxes, deer, etc. cool if you're into that sort of thing. no bison, but there are a couple places to see them in this great state.

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There are probably bobcats in it but not in much numbers. Flying squirrel in the woods surrounding it. Turkeys and deer out the wazoo and tons of prairie birds. I think there are 3-4 endangered species in it. The bird I'm thinking about might only be threatened but very rare in Illinois.

That's one thing I like about those towns--the old rivalries. You hate to see them go.

That's about half my wardrobe in the summer--Sox and What's Happening?? t-shirts. At nearly 47, I have to stop that kind of stuff, though, because I look like a wanna-be hispter.

That's great country out there, though.

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I can't believe all the wild turkeys in Western Illinois (or at least Northwestern Illinois).

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10 years ago you rarely saw them. Friend claims to have seen 2 dozen at the parking lot area of sand prairie this spring. There is a wooded area that I've been in hundreds of times in past 17 years. No turkeys until 2 years ago. A week ago there was a Tom, two hens and over a dozen poults walking around the edge of it. Still love seeing them.

I saw them for the first time in Milledgeville (Home of the Missiles) a few years ago...I wonder if that's a good sign that they're increasing in number. Hopefully it's not the harbinger of the Collapse.

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Tons of wild turkeys out near Pembroke/Hopkins Park (just east of Kankakee along the state line). That's also an area of sand dunes.

Those teams were all in my conference in HS.

Does the Lincoln Trail Conference still exist?

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For a long time when numbers hit a spot the Dnr would come in and net them and relocate to another area. Supposedly. You certainly get around northwest Illinois. Milledgeville. Had to go to a seminar up there a couple years ago.

Yes.

It's nice up there. Went to a county fair that had a local wrestling outfit. These guys were hysterical . . . and pretty decent athletes.

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I dont know about the world but currently in America, here's how it ranks

#1 NFL
#2 NBA
#3 MLB


NBA is closer to #1 than MLB is to #2. It's baeball's fault but they're on the way back up. I can see in 20 years it being #2 and NFL dropping to #3.

http://www.nydailynews.com/amp/new-york ... -1.3400220

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You are in a pretty unique situation for football consumption. Games start at 7 am and the majority of the slate ends around noon. MNF starts at 2:30. I might not watch under those conditions.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Who would guess that doing Navy SEAL exercises would be a stupid idea for HS kids.