Man, this Dayton high school football schedule planning thing kinda blew up on my desk this week. Started simple enough – wanted see who’s playing who, especially those big rivalries. Figured folks in the community might dig that info early, you know?
Finding the Fireworks
Cracked open the Dayton Public Schools athletics page, hunting for this fall’s varsity football schedules. Goal wasn’t just random games – I needed the juicy ones, the matchups where history gets loud and folks care extra. You know, the Belmont-Dunbar kind, or Ponitz facing Thurgood.
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Here’s what I actually had to wrestle with:
- First hit: schedules scattered across different school pages. Like, no central spot. Click, click, click… felt like wandering lost neighborhoods.
- Dunbar’s schedule was up easy. Clean dates, opponents listed. Cool.
- Thurgood? Took some digging. Found a PDF buried under “Documents.” Why they gotta do that?
- Belmont’s info? Not listed at all on their athletics calendar page. Had to email the athletic director directly. Still waiting, sigh.
- Ponitz had their stuff up but listing “TBA” opponents for key weeks? Come on guys, season’s approaching!
So, picture me: coffee going cold, scrolling school sites like a detective on a bad stakeout. Took way longer than expected just to pin down who’s supposed to play who on specific Fridays.
The Reality Check
Okay, got the theoretical matchups mostly mapped. Dunbar vs Belmont Week 6, Ponitz vs Thurgood Week 8, those highlights. But then I’m thinking, these ain’t just dates on paper. What’s really going on?
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What dawned on me next kinda sucked the fun out:
- Checked last year’s scores for these rivalries. Some were ugly, real blowouts. Like, not even close.
- Heard from a buddy who follows local sports that Belmont’s got a young squad this year, barely any starters back. Going against Dunbar’s deep defense? Man…
- Ponitz lost their star QB to graduation. Thurgood didn’t. Just that one player shift screams trouble for that matchup.
- Coaches? Haven’t seen much talk about specific game plans for these rivals yet. Feels like just hoping for the best instead of scheming.
It hit me: knowing the dates is one thing, but seeing the mismatch potential? That’s where the story gets real, and honestly, kinda depressing. You hype up these classic games, but if one team’s getting steamrolled… why bother? Folks want competitive fire, not a funeral.
Wrapping It Up (Grumpily)
Put the post together listing those key dates, yeah. Highlighted Dunbar/Belmont, Ponitz/Thurgood, couple others. But the heart of what I wrote? It was all about the grim reality. Spent paragraphs basically saying “Hey, these games look epic on the calendar, but looking at rosters and last year? Don’t get your hopes too high for close battles.”
Ended feeling a bit deflated. Sure, shared the planning, the grind finding schedules, the initial hope. But the follow-through? It’s like they’re not ready. Ain’t nobody fixing those roster gaps or coaching deficits overnight for these big moments. Just gonna be another year where hype crashes into lopsided scores. Posted it anyway. Called it like I saw it. What else can you do?