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Post by mountainman on May 25, 2020 18:59:28 GMT -6
Miss a practice=miss a game
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Post by mountainman on Apr 23, 2020 9:13:44 GMT -6
Any staff that spends money on something like this that was allotted by the school district should be fired for not doing their jobs! Sure, you'll say that you spent money because your doing everything possible to give your program a winning edge... I say that if you spend ISD money to get someone else to do your job is lazy and tantamount to stealing. The school district should just how a staff that will analyze their own tackling!!! Never said I was going to use it. I had just received numerous sales pitch emails and was curious if anyone had actually done this.
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Post by mountainman on Apr 15, 2020 10:37:10 GMT -6
I keep getting emails from these guys. Has anyone used this? www.atavus.com/Just curious.
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Post by mountainman on Apr 11, 2020 9:37:07 GMT -6
I quit wearing headsets after my first year as a HC. I wish I'd have never put another one on ever again. My last year I got put in the booth. I hated that. I’ve worked with guys that get put in the booth without a headset. None of them have understood why. I have a couple that need to go on that plan next year.
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Post by mountainman on Feb 15, 2020 7:52:33 GMT -6
Those clips of the OL vs DL 1on1 in shorts is one of the dumbest, most pointless things I see in our sport and needs to go ASAP. It’s almost as dumb as 7 on 7.
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Post by mountainman on Nov 17, 2019 21:47:05 GMT -6
Just looking at the 6A Quarter final score in Arizona
#8 Desert Ridge 35 #1 Red Mountain 49
#5 Highland 24 #4 QueenCreek 27
#6 Desert Vista 70 #3 Perry 63
#15 Mountain View 28 #7 Liberty 45
Just wondering if anyone plays defense anymore. Scores from many of our different divisions are similar. Anyone seeing something similar to this or is this just a Grand Canyon State aberration??
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Post by mountainman on Aug 24, 2019 6:50:27 GMT -6
Every day I lean more and more to agreeing that the idea that it might the club model should be used, and educational institutions should get out of the athletics business. I’m really close to you on this. I have also thought that each state should just make a “cheaters” league. Enrollment doesn’t matter, you can recruit, hell you can even outright give the kids cars, money, apartments, etc. As ridiculous as this sounds, it would be better than the outright deceit that goes on now.
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Post by mountainman on Jul 23, 2019 4:19:33 GMT -6
We have been using an app called Practicetiming for our football camp. First time using the app and so far, it is working great. Much easier than excel or word, no paper to get destroyed at practice as everything is on your phone, timers that go off 1 minute before changing periods. So far it has been awesome for us. The way we have it set up, each coach has his own personal practice plan on his phone. It tells him when to move, what groups he will be working with, the activity, any notes, even practice scripts. I would encourage you to check it out at practicetiming.com
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Post by mountainman on Jun 10, 2019 22:11:10 GMT -6
We have a technology class that teams with a local radio station and the broadcast live video and simultaneously upload to YouTube not only our games but basketball and volleyball games as well. If you PM me an email address I’ll pass it on to the guy who runs that and see if he can help.
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Post by mountainman on May 17, 2019 0:28:17 GMT -6
Biggest thing I’m excited about it our commitment to film each and every part of practice and coach from the film. My wife is moving the the high school PE department with me next year and I have convinced her to give up coaching volleyball and come be an assistant coach and my “film coordinator”. She will have a staff of managers who will be filming out of our Indy, small group and team periods. We are going to cut a little time off of our after school practices and have the players come in 45 minutes early for school to review film. We have 4 large screens/areas to view film. We will utilize this time to coach off the film. This will give coaches overnight to review, grade, make notes, etc. We will basically be spending the same amount of time at practice, but it will be broken into two sessions. First hour is our athletic/football hour so film will move right into our weights period. I’m sure there are a few unseen bugs that will have to be worked out l, but with the way kids learn I feel this is going to be a huge step in the right direction for our program.
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Post by mountainman on Apr 28, 2019 22:48:28 GMT -6
We play 10 games, 5 versus random teams known as freedom games. Quite often it is difficult if not impossible to get teams to play you if you are very good or very bad. So these games are usually the Very good versus very bad, and then the mediocre vs. each other. We travel all over hell and back trying to get these games in the first five weeks. No fans show up as there is no interest in the games and often the games aren’t competitive. Then we go into conference where the games are local, trips are short, rivalries are intense and the stands are packed. Then we play a 16 team four round playoff where the entries are determined by some arbitrary algorithm that no one is allowed to see, most first round matchups require a ton of travel, the state association takes the entire gate and cranks up the prices so no one shows up to the games. All so one team can say “we won state” at the end.
I have said for years that it would make far more sense in our little corner of the world to just play our conference teams twice, one home and one away. Gates and interest would be up, travel costs down, and it would be a hell of a lot more fun. I would love the challenge of preparing for a team after a close loss the first time, or trying to keep the edge that allowed you to win the first game. Some of the most memorable games in our school’s history have been where we played a conference opponent a 2nd time during the playoffs.
So, this idea of no playoffs and just conference champions could definitely be sold to me.
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Post by mountainman on Feb 25, 2019 3:04:37 GMT -6
I have no hair, so I have to live vicariously through my players.
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Post by mountainman on Feb 25, 2019 2:58:27 GMT -6
We have kids that buy cleats at Ross and raid our cabinet that has the old leftovers from past seasons. We combat this with a traditional the HC before me started and I have continued, we spray paint the cleats completely black before games. This puts all the kids on the same playing field and makes us look unified as a team. Plus it has become a team ritual. Some kids (my son included) will purchase all black cleats so they don’t have to paint them. We also require everyone to have only wear only black sleeves, gloves, etc. we let them wear them as long as they are black.
Two exceptions:
1. We have one away game per year where we will “white out”. It is usually against one of our local rivals and usually requires that we are playing for a league championship. We wear our white pants (which we don’t normally wear), paint cleats white, and wear all white gloves, sleeves, etc. Some kids are already planning what they are going to wear to this right now. Others just get white spray paint and paint their old cleats. Either way we all look equal and that same on game day.
2. We have one home game per year that we call “Heroes Night”. We have Red, White and Blue uniforms with Stars and Stripes that we only wear on this occasion. This is the one game we allow the kids to go crazy. Cleats can all be different as long as they are patriotic. Sleeves, armbands, Durags, etc. the sky is the limit. Go as crazy as you like. This is usually the night the refs give us a lot of leeway. We also dedicate the game to veterans, police and first responders. Each player invites a hero to our pre-game meal, they come into our locker room, walk out with us, etc. we also have a helicopter fly in the mascots with the game ball, sell T shirts, raise money for a local charity, and have other activities dedicated to our Heroes.
It is amazing how this has become part of our culture and how excited the kids get about something as dumb as painting cleats and their gear. I guarantee that if I walk into spring ball and announce that we are no longer painting cleats that I would have a mutiny on my hands.
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Post by mountainman on Feb 25, 2019 2:22:04 GMT -6
This whole “signing day” thing just baffles me to begin with. I remember signing my letter. My mom told me I had something me mail, I opened it, signed it on my kitchen counter, put it in a return envelope, mailed it and went about my day. Now this was track and field, not football, but I got school paid for and went on to be an All-American.
We have a mom who is working a 3rd and 4th job to pay for her sons D3 “scholarship”. When she called me up to ask when our signing day celebration was I had to stifle a laugh. The kid was a 2.1 GPA who didn’t even start for us until his senior year where we were going through a major rebuilding process on a team that went 7-4 and lost in the first round. I honestly think that he is there just so they can say he is playing college ball. I don’t feel there is any way he graduates, but will definitely rack up $100K in debt. It is actually sad.
Now I have a daughter that is a junior at the same university I attended. She was a 4.0, High ACT type kid. She also played 3 sports as well as playing in the band and singing in the choir. She is receiving more scholarship money for academics than I ever received for athletics and will graduate next year completely debt free. My advice has always been to focus on academics and the number of doors that open will be much greater. Even if you want to do athletics in college.
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Post by mountainman on Oct 9, 2018 12:23:26 GMT -6
Some great thing here. Thank you. Very interested in the sled drill. We have a sled from the WWII era. Been looking in to getting a new one for next year. Really could use some suggestions on sleds. We have been researching, but have not made a decision yet.
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Post by mountainman on Oct 8, 2018 13:13:12 GMT -6
I'm sure that this topic has been covered numerous times on here, but what do you do to create physicality and toughness in your program? We are pretty soft right now. At a school that i have been at for a number of years. Most of the time as DC, the past year and a half as HC. We use to be the toughest and most physical team around. We have been very successful and with state championships, runners ups, semifinals, etc. The past 3-4 years a softness has crept in to the program that we can not seem to eradicate. We have tried hitting more in practice, practicing "live" more than we normally do, tackling drills, sled work, etc. Nothing seems to work. Is it just a matter of a kid being aggressive and ours are not? Just looking for tips to turn this tide and get back to being a more physical team. I still believe that the most physical team usually wins a football game even in the era of the spread, RPO's, and pass happy offenses.
Thank you in advance!
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Post by mountainman on Jun 26, 2018 14:27:24 GMT -6
It’s become ridiculous. I even heard one of our parents complaining that it wasn’t fair because they had 7 defenders and we were only sending out 5 receivers. The insinuation was that I was an idiot and should get a couple more guys out there. Well, that might be kind of our fault as coaches. We call it 7 on 7, but it really isn't. I could easily see how someone would assume what that parent assumed LOL. I think the solution has been mentioned many times. Do pass skell practice with like minded coaches in a controlled environment. I have alway called it skeleton or pass skelly until the last couple of years. With the 7 on 7 clubs, tournaments, etc. people look at you with two heads when you use the term skelly. At some point I guess 7 on 7 entered my vocabulary.
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Post by mountainman on Jun 26, 2018 14:24:50 GMT -6
I’m not sure if that story is rrue or not (I wasn’t there) but I have heard Numerous complaints by good coaches that the behavior of Arcadia has been deplorable this summer.
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Post by mountainman on Jun 26, 2018 11:24:01 GMT -6
www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/06/15/arizona-high-school-football-passing-tournaments-out-control/692400002/Kudos to some coaches in Arizona for calling like it is with 7-7. "When they win, they lose their freaking minds," Mesa Desert Ridge coach Jeremy Hathcock said. "They trash talk like they're in the NFL. It's hilarious. It's unruly." "It is a great opportunity for coaches to coach. That is the concept of 7-on-7. It's called practice. It has now turned into parents believing that their athlete will be recruited, because of 7-on-7s. This is evident with all the club teams. Any high school coach that has coached at the FBS or FCS level will tell you that they cannot attend any of the 7s competitions, unless on their own campus, as well as they do not find kids to recruit based off of 7-on-7s. "Yet parents are being told the opposite because certain 'gurus' sell it that way for their own reasons." "In the past week I saw the final eight teams in a certain 7-on-7 tournament. Of those eight, six of them either run a wing T offense or an offense that consists primarily of two running backs and one tight end 80 percent of the time. These teams are out there running spread offenses in 7-on-7s, but during the season they will be 75 percent run at minimum and play with more than two receivers probably 20 percent of the time." -Corbin Smith, McClintock Hathcock believes that "club culture" creeping into football is causing more transfers. "You're seeing the middle-of-the-road kids, who are really good high school kids (leaving)," Hathcock said. "You never lost them before. I'm losing them left and right now, because they're teaming up with other teams' kids and being talked up. They're not even Division I kids. That's what I find the most confounding." The competition at some 7-on-7 events is causing Hathcock to re-evaluate their purpose. "I went to one 7-on-7 tournament and I'm never going to go back again," he said. "I got cussed out more by parents. You're not seeing real defenses. It had nothing to do with reality. The officials can't control everything. A couple of fights broke out with us and other teams. I said, 'I'm not doing this again.' '' I know Coach Hathcock pretty well and agree with his assessment of 7 on 7 and where it has gone. I have always run the drop back and roll out portion of our offense and played our base coverages. We played Desert Ridge this season in 7 on 7 and he definitely ran his system (wing T boots, waggles & play action). We played another team that was two man with the safety walked down helping to press cover our #1 receiver and throwing passes in areas that would normally be covered by our NT. I talked to the coach at halftime and he assured me that was their normal defense and normal passing game. I got a little pissed and went doubles, put our fastest kid at RB and just ran him down the middle of the field one on one with their MLB for a few easy scores to win the game. Afterwards I was disgusted with myself for losing my cool and falling into the 7 on 7 Trap. Swore I’d quit 7 on 7 entirely before I did it again. It’s become ridiculous. I even heard one of our parents complaining that it wasn’t fair because they had 7 defenders and we were only sending out 5 receivers. The insinuation was that I was an idiot and should get a couple more guys out there.
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Post by mountainman on Mar 27, 2017 14:31:02 GMT -6
I'm sure this has been covered many times before, but which states have their own division/playoffs for private schools and separate ones for public. We are redistricting in our state and we do not do this at this time. We have about 798 students (last count). Currently we are a 3A school. Last go round they took all of the schools under 1000 and said they were 1A, 2A or 3A. They took the bottom third of public, the bottom third of private, and the bottom third of charter and put them into 1A. Then middle third of private, middle third of public, and middle third of charter into 2A, etc.
This year the proposal is to create 3 divisions again. All of the private/charter into 2A regardless of size, 1/2 of the public into 1A, 1/2 of the public into 3A. I was asked by our AD how many states separated their private/charter and public, and am trying to find out.
Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks!
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Post by mountainman on Feb 3, 2017 7:57:29 GMT -6
We are attempting to move to a 2 platoon system next year. A few quick questions for those of you who are old pros at this.
1. Do you have a short session once per week where you do an 1's vs. 1's, your offensive system vs. your defensive system, competitive game situation type drill? If so, what rules, etc. do you use? What day to you do it? (We play on Friday)
2. When running team, do you run your 1's vs. 1's (example offensive day=your offense running your stuff, your 1st D running the scout defense) or do you run a full scout team vs. 1's? Or is it sometimes one, sometimes the other?
3. Would anyone be willing to share a few practice plans? I love the way we practice and have an idea of how I want to adapt it, but would love to see what other programs do who have more experience running a 2 platoon system.
Thank you for your time.
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Post by mountainman on Nov 11, 2015 8:12:51 GMT -6
Through our 10 regular season games we have scored 477 points and have allowed 127. We are 10-0 heading into he playoffs. We have been known as a team that is dominant on offense but rather weak on defense. The truth is, we have scored so quickly that our D has played significantly more snaps that our offense. We have 23 picks (tops in the state) and 9 forced fumbles on the season. Even with those extra possessions we have still played significantly more defense than offense.
One game this year (a 56-14 victory) in the first half we had one more possession and still ran 10 fewer plays than the opposition. We were leading 49-0 at half and pulled the starters. Our backups/JV team play 7-14 to their starters in the second half and the next day I am answering questions about how we would have a great team if our defense played better (did they watch the game?).
Another team right down the street has a reputation for having a stellar defense and weak offense. They are a veer/wing t team that controls the ball and runs significantly more plays than their opponents. They allowed 7.3 points per game and had been scoring 15.7. All everyone can talk about is how incredible their D is.
when we played they were 6-1 and we were 7-0. It was billed as our O vs. their D. We promptly beat them 39-3. Instantly I am fielding questions about what happened to our offense and why I thought our defense played so well this week, WTF?
My point is that good teams have offenses and defenses that compliment each other and ultimately win games. If you are lighting up the scoreboard it is harder to put up big defensive stats as you are playing more d. If you hold the ball, control the clock and keep your D off the field, and don't score many points, that doesn't mean your offense is inept, it is just your style of play. Both styles can work, as can many styles in between.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 21, 2014 12:27:29 GMT -6
We carried about 55 through the playoffs last year. We were able to get a scout D going against 1st O and a scout D going against 2nd o on a different field. We used our game head sets. HC/OC would call a play, a different coach on each field would signal. We would run the play.
On defensive day, we would have 3 scout teams running against the 1st D. Had scout cards and a script. Play would be dead, next scout team would line up, D would sprint from the end of the play, line up, and go again. It worked great for us and allowed us to cut down on conditioning.
55 should give you 2 offenses, 2 defenses, and 11 subs. Should work out great.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 20, 2014 13:17:55 GMT -6
In Arizona, we have one scrimmage. Usually 10 plays O, 10 plays D, for a total of 60 plays. No score, no uniforms, no admission, etc. It is okay, but I would love one of the other options.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 20, 2014 11:41:36 GMT -6
We are the basically the same from camp to playoffs.
Monday-offensive emphasis-20-30 min defense at the end to line up fronts to sets we will see that week. Special teams are offensive emphasis Kick Return and Punt.
Tuesday-defense emphasis-20-30 min team O only at the end. Special teams kick off/punt return.
Wednesday-Defense first/offense second team only. We also work on 2 min drill both sides. PAT/Field goal. We will kick field goals after every team score.
Thursday-walk through.
Our HC is the OC and sets up Monday's schedule, I am the DC and set up Tuesday's schedule. Wednesday and Thursday never vary. Indy time on Mon and Tues vary a little as I will often drop notes (as will the HC) on what I want emphasized that week.
I feel that when all of the coaches and players know what the schedule is, we are more efficient and have much better practices.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 17, 2014 22:16:37 GMT -6
I think the way the game is coached has changed in the past 15-20 years. When I was in HS ('98-'02) we had true Double Sessions (8-11 am then 5-8 pm) and now many states have outlawed "Double Sessions" and adopted "Acclimatization" practices which are limited to 2 hours a day for several days. Of course players will say coaches are "soft" but a lot of it is out of their control. The same goes for "Hitting" days and drills. Coaches today choose to limit the amount of hitting and to the ground tackling due to the risk of concussions and changes in law going full pads. Football has now become a year round commitment with weights being stressed more than when I played and more practices/camp in June and July, along with more of an emphasis on 7 on 7's. There may be a perception of coaches 'getting soft' but I think that perception is misconstrued as coaches do more in June and July now than they did in the past. When August rolls around kids are stronger, in better shape, and are familiar with the x's and o's. The need for extreme conditioning (at least where I am at) are over, most kids are already in shape due to what we do in the summer. Also, as coaches gain more experience I think they learn that conditioning is more of a waste of practice time than anything. I believe that conditioning should be done during individual segment time, team time, and weightroom time.. We very rarely take time out of practice to condition. That gets done during the school day in PE/Weightroom and Summer weights. I think this is very true. We have these kids in the weight room 5 days a week throughout the school year from 7th to 12th grade. We also do spring ball, weights 3 days per week in the summer, 7 on 7 3-4 nights per week with a tournament almost every weekend, California camp, pre-season camp, etc. These kids stay in shape, and know the x's and o's much better than they used to. Because of this, the need to do crazy conditioning like we all did as players has become less. Also the need to cram the entire playbook in during 2 a days has diminished. We haven't changed much in 7 years. My son is in 7th grade and can give me our entire playbook and what everyone does and he plays guard. The year round aspect and the fact that many coaches in good programs have vertically aligned their systems, allow the kids to know the systems much better. Another issue is the divergence of offensive systems that we see. The need to develop a players ability to play in space is at a premium rather than the ability to bang their head into the meat grinder was when we played. Back when I played if someone would have lined up in trips, we would have had to call a timeout. Now these kids adjust to a multiple of sets, different personnel groups, screen game, power run, option, zone/red, etc. I really appreciate the thoughts on this post. It has caused me to really think how our program has evolved and why we do what we do. Also, how can we continue to evolve to make it better.
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Post by mountainman on Aug 17, 2014 12:08:05 GMT -6
Sometimes finding a better way of doing something can be perceived as soft by a former player/coach. For instance, we rarely condition after practice. We haven't for three years now. We used to run Texas hundreds, 55's, big 3's, etc. to death after practice. The difference, three years ago we went completely no huddle on everything (offense, defense, drills, 7 on 7). We go a hundred miles an hour for our entire practice. We have had former players from 5 or so years ago (and even had one on staff last year) complain about how much they had to run and how we are "soft" now. I will tell you this, we have been in better shape than every team we have played the past three years, have gotten more reps in practice, and have kept practices shorter. So sometimes a different way can be perceived as "soft" when it is just "better" for the program.
Now discipline, off the field behavior, expectations, etc. have remained the same. You cannot go soft in this area or the inmates take over the asylum.
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Post by mountainman on Jul 21, 2014 11:57:10 GMT -6
I think it looks good, Coach. Let us know how it works for you. At our school, as I am sure it is for a lot of you, we have to continuously have to work including off campus coaches into our program. We currently have four coaches who work at the school and five who do not. Luckily we have been fortunate that our off campus coaches use vacation days, go in early to work to be off by 4:00, schedule days off for Friday games, and have jobs that allow them to do so.
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Post by mountainman on Jul 20, 2014 18:12:06 GMT -6
Due to a scheduling issue at our camp this year (field availability) we have been given a practice time of 10-3. We usually practice 7-9 am and 6-8 pm everyday at camp. After talking about a lot of different formats, we have decided to practice just once,10-12:30. Gives us an hour O, an hour D, and 1/2 hour for warm ups, specials, etc. We felt that a fast hard 2 hour practice (which is our norm) was better than splitting into two 2 hour sessions with an hour break in between.
We are no-huddle everything offense and defense and normally practice super-fast anyway. We run 2-3 huddles of scout offense against our D so one is ready to go immediately after the other is done. Normally camp consists of an early morning session (5:00 am or so) of conditioning only (running on the beach, hill runs, relays, buddy carries, stairs, and have even taken the players to an MMA gym in the past) and this is going to remain. We also have activities in the evening which are competitive in nature, but don't involve actual football. I will post later on how this goes.
The main idea is that if you are unable to schedule two a days for some reason, a good hard practice once a day with a conditioning/competitive session (which can be supervised by the coaches who don't have a conflict) a 2nd time of the day may be the way to go.
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Post by mountainman on Jul 16, 2014 8:16:33 GMT -6
We are located at 6500 ft. above sea level. During the season we play a lot of teams from our area that are at similar altitude and I don't think it factors in. During the playoffs we play a number of teams who have to come up from sea level or around 1000 feet elevation. It plays a HUGE part then! It is always amusing to see these teams gasping for air 1/2 way through the 1st quarter. Also, many of these teams are still practicing in 90+ degree weather. It is often in the mid 20's-30's during the playoffs up here. Also a huge advantage.
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