By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette
ACGC and Panorama postseason updates
The most wonderful time of any sports season is upon ACGC and Panorama: the postseason. This week, the ACGC boys basketball team won a playoff game against CAM and face a massive test against Coon Rapids-Bayard. It will certainly be an uphill battle for the Chargers, but they have been facing that all season. After a rough start at 3-8, ACGC began to turn its season around, rattling off six wins in its next eight games. Kudos to the players and coaching staff.
It would be an upset if the ACGC boys manage to defeat CR-B. They should take a lesson from the Panorama girls team after knocking off fellow WCAC member ACGC in the regional playoffs. Panorama had lost the last four games against ACGC, including two this season. One of them was a 30-point blowout just a few short weeks ago when Panorama only scored 11 points. It just goes to show that anything can happen when the postseason begins. Panorama takes on Westwood, a team they defeated in the state semifinals two years ago during the Panthers’ historic run. Let’s see if they can call upon some of that magic from two seasons ago tonight.
ACGC and Panorama wrestlers are also in the midst of the postseason. Wrestling is arguably the state’s most popular sport, and the state wrestling tournament is the most attended high school sporting event. The Casey’s Center (it’s still Wells Fargo Arena in my heart) has been packed once again to see which wrestlers can come out on top.
Plenty of ACGC wrestlers won first round matches, some are still battling in the consolation bracket. Panorama’s Blake Scwartz and a few ACGC wrestlers are still alive in the consolation brackets with a chance to hit the podium. I will be rooting for all of them to keep the wins coming and make their respective schools proud.
The Indiana Bears?
A few weeks ago, when I was ranting about the death of outdoor stadiums, I mentioned the possibility that the Chicago Bears could be moving to Indiana. What was a joke at the time is all of the sudden starting to feel very real.
News broke yesterday morning (Feb. 19) that an Indiana House Committee unanimously advanced legislation creating a stadium finance authority that would help the state build a dome in northwest Indiana. The Bears released a statement saying it was “the most meaningful step forward” in the saga so far. A Bears spokesperson added that Hammond, Indiana, population 76,000, is the site the Bears are focused on.
The most likely site for where the Bears would move is a golf course that is within a stone’s throw of an oil refinery.Indiana would be giving all of the revenue from the proposed stadium to the Bears. That certainly is leverage — that would likely anger every taxpayer in Indiana. If the Bears move out of Chicago, it will anger much of the fanbase as well.
The original plan for the Bears was to move to Arlington Heights, which is still in play for the team. The Bears already own the property they wish to build on. It comes down to these three things: 1) Illinois lawmakers have no interest in giving the Bears nearly a billion dollars in tax funds (the Bears are committing $2 billion themselves to the project); 2) the Bears want tax certainty; and 3) Indiana wants to set itself on fire. I, the Packers fan, am enjoying every aspect.