[rochester_veteran]

I played high school football and baseball about the same time. My town didn't have Pop Warner football, but we did have American Legion baseball in the summer. A big difference between then and now: less travel, not as many games, and more time devoted to practice and learning fundamentals.

Back when we played, New York State didn't have the state playoffs for football. We played an 8 game season and the state champion was determined by votes of coaches and sportswriters.

[rhema]

Back when we played, New York State didn't have the state playoffs for football. We played an 8 game season and the state champion was determined by votes of coaches and sportswriters.

Ditto for Minnesota back then. Mostly because I was from a small town, I was fortunate to be a two-way starter on a conference-champion team that enjoyed a 7-1 season. The newspaper polls determined the state champion. My little school cracked the top 25 only toward the end of the season. Most of the top rankings went to teams from 2,000-kid high schools.