Moderator: Greetings to all. Lots of questions this week. I'll try to get to as many as possible. So much going on, I may need to let a few go, but I will do my best. Here we go!

David, Danville, IL: Of the teams left in the playoffs which two have the best chances of advancing this weekend?

Moderator: Hi David. Not sure if you’re referring to the entire state, or just our circulation area, so I’ll address this from the standpoint of the teams I am most familiar with. I think Unity has an excellent chance to advance into the semifinals. The Rockets play at Nashville, which reached the five-win mark in Week 9 with a seven-point win. Since the playoffs opened, the Hornets have upset higher seeded teams by two and six points. I think it is exceedingly difficult as the underdog to continue putting together the performances needed to be successful in the playoffs. Unity has a nice balance to its offense and with Matt Franks back in the backfield, that’s another weapon to contend with. Nashville will have the momentum on its side from its triumphs in the first two playoff games, but I predict a victory by Unity. I feel good about the chances of the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley team as well. It’s not always good to go by comparative scores, especially when one was early in the season and another was more recent, but this result is too significant to overlook. The lone loss by this week’s GCMS opponent, Kewanee Wethersfield, was 33-0 (in Week 2) to Aledo Mercer County. That’s the same Aledo Mercer County team that the Falcons took care of last week 60-19. That's a swing of 74 points! It looks promising for those two area schools, in particular, to advance to the semifinals.

James, Tuscola, Il: Do you have any info on the lineman that plays for South Fulton that has signed with the Illini? Just curious as to what he brings to the table, especially since Tuscola plays against him this Saturday. Will be interesting to see how he does against us!

Moderator: Hi James. I don’t know a lot about the highly touted South Fulton lineman, but our state football guru, Bob Assmussen, offers this update. Michael Heitz is the player from South Fulton who made a commitment to Illinois during the summer. He is a 6-foot-6, 257-pound offensive lineman who is rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. I’m sure he’ll be a load. I hope the Warriors are up for the challenge.

Shaun, Gibson City, IL: What is your prediction for the GCMS game this week. Think hard since you were wrong last week.

Moderator: Hi Shaun. Well, I have a 50-50 chance of being right this week, don’t I?? What surprised me most last week was not that GCMS won, but the margin. I never would have imagined that in my wildest dreams. In my mind, that was going to be a close competitive game, but obviously I was wrong. If you read the second part of my answer to an earlier question (the one from David), you’ll see I’m going with the Falcons as the winning team this week. Maybe the best thing that happened to GCMS this year was that early-season loss to Lexington. It eliminated the pressure of being undefeated, dropped the team a little in the state rankings and, I would think, made them hungrier and willing to work harder to reach their ultimate goals. Depending when losses happen, they can be very beneficial. And, Lexington is a quality team. You might see that team in the Class 1A semifinals, too.

cmore, illinoisloyaltyville, illini country: hey fred, always enjoy your chats!! Can you give us a little preview of the casey/marshall game? Who wins? and now i will put you on the spot.......who are our 8 state champions at years end???

Moderator: Hey there! You think I have a crystal ball or something??? Wow! First for Casey-Westfield vs. Marshall. They met once, back in the season-opener and Casey-Westfield won 28-7. There will be no doubt in their minds they can win, having done so once. Marshall rebounded to beat a very good Mahomet-Seymour team in Week 2 and then, in my mind, played a tougher schedule down the stretch and hasn't lost again. The final five weeks of the regular season, C-W played teams which had seven wins at season’s end. In that same time period, Marshall played teams with 16 wins. I haven’t had a chance to see either team play, but I know Marshall’s Taylor Duncan is one of the state’s top small-school quarterbacks (and an Eastern Illinois University recruit). The Lions have a good placekicker, too. C-W will have the home-field advantage and may well win, but I think Marshall could pull off what would be considered a mild upset. As for state champions, don't quote me on this (because I may change my mind tomorrow!!), but right now I’d go with: 1A--Lexington; 2A--Morrison; 3A--Stillman Valley; 4A--Quincy Notre Dame; 5A--Sacred Heart-Griffin; 6A--New Lenox Providence; 7A--East St. Louis; 8A--Maine South. Thanks for putting me on the spot!

Jerry, Tuscola, IL: According to the seeds, Tuscola is favored to win against South Fulton. However I just heard about South Fulton's huge line. It's as big as most college division 1 lines! What does Tuscola have to do to control the line of scrimmage? I also heard one of the South Fulton lineman is an Illini signee, any comments on him?

Moderator: Hi Jerry. Tuscola has to take advantage of its strengths and continue to mix things up. Throw in some passing plays. Run to the outside. Keep the linemen moving and working and hope to tire them out by the game’s latter stages. Astoria has given up a lot of points this year (61 in one loss, 42 in another, 32 in another), so I am confident that Tuscola can move the ball and put points on the board. From there, one of the Warriors’ strengths is the ability to contain teams on defense. Of all the qualifiers in Class 1A, I believe Tuscola entered the postseason with the fourth-best defensive average (6.8 ppg in the regular season). Obviously, they’ll have to deal with some things (size) they haven’t had to in other games, but I have a good feeling about the Warriors chances this week, especially playing at home where I’m sure the support will be outstanding.

Brian, Urbana, IL: Fred,

what do you think the chances are that the remainging area football teams win there games this week?

Moderator: Hi Brian. Excellent. In our contest between News-Gazette sportswriters (published in the Friday editions), I am picking Danville, Unity, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley and Tuscola to win this week. Wouldn’t that be fabulous to have four area schools in the state semifinals on Nov. 21?

TOM EGELSTON, champaign, il: why isn't maroa or central a&m mentioned as area teams in playoffs they are in okaw conference with tolono&tuscola which gives them 4 playoff teams left.maroa plays a&m in quarterfinals which means one will be in semifinals and could play gibson city in 2-a finals anything possible.seems like okaw blue and black aren't getting enough recognition.i believe for their clasifications 1-2-3a they have the best conference year end and out in state.

Moderator: Hi Tom. Excellent question and I bet a lot of people don’t understand that. An area school refers to our circulation area, the communities where our newspaper is distributed on a daily basis. Those, in turn, are the schools we cover on a regular basis and the ones we consider when selecting our various All-Area teams. We don’t have circulation in Moweaqua (Central A&M) or Maroa and thus they are not considered in our area even though they do compete in conferences where we have area schools (Unity, Tuscola, Monticello, Sullivan, Argenta-Oreana). That’s not to say someone from those towns might not subscribe to the paper and get it through the mail, but they won’t have home delivery. Our basic area extends as far south as Arcola, as far north as Gilman, as far west as LeRoy and as far east as Danville.

TOM EGELSTON, champaign, il: with your article on danville in todays paper ought to keep person in danville who wrote in and wondered why danville wasn't getting enough coverage quiet.i believe you have covered danville as much or more than other teams.seeing possibility of danville meeting providence catholic in semi- finals would be 1 game i will go see rain or shine.

Moderator: Hi Tom. The funny thing is people will probably think we saw the letter to the editor and immediately went out and decided to do the story. Nothing could be further from the truth. The story was planned on Monday, I spent most of the day Tuesday in Danville and wrote the story that night. By the time I saw the Wednesday letter to the editor for the first time when I got my paper at home that morning, all my work was already done. It didn’t affect what I did at all. By the way, if Danville and Providence meet in the semifinals, the game will be played in Danville. Better get there early if that happens. It’ll be packed for sure.

mick, danviille, il: what is your thoughts are the arcola football team is year. They went 1-8 and was expected to be in the top three of the conference this year?

Moderator: Hi Mick. I think it was just a case of circumstances. For one, there were injuries to key players, such as quarterback Tony Van Gundy. For another, there was a brutal schedule to start the season. It doesn’t get much tougher than opening up with Salt Fork (8-2) and Orion (10-1). What that does, besides give you a couple of losses, is to diminish the confidence. All of a sudden, you’re in a downward spiral which is tough to come out of, especially when you factor in some injuries. In retrospect, Arcola was probably rated a bit high in the preseason, but as far as the talent level, it was better than 1-8. It was just one of those (frustrating) seasons.

TOM EGELSTON, champaign, il: i would like to commend you on your article today on danville.it was without a doubt the best high school article i have read all year.not something you do in 30 minutes.tony blieil and marcus jackson someday may be as good.

Moderator: Hi Tom. Thanks for the compliment, but I’ll tell you, Tony and Marcus are already just as good, if not better. We all have our days. It’s just like athletic events. Some days, Illinois beats Michigan. Other days, the Wolverines hammer the Illini. That story was just one where everything fell in place. If you had the information and interviews I had, you’d probably have written it as well.

john, urbana, il: have you heard when the urbana football banquet is being held and where?

Moderator: Hi John. I spoke with Greg Hall, the Urbana athletic director, this morning. He said the tentative football banquet date is Nov. 21. The time and location have not yet been announced. When I hear, I will pass it along.

Julie King, Arcola, IL: What team do you see as the number one threat in girls basketball for Little Okaw Valley this year? Shiloh seemed strong the past few years, but didn't they lose most of their starters?

Moderator: Hi Julie. I know the girls' season opens next Monday (Nov. 16), but I’ve been in over my head with football, volleyball and cross-country and haven’t yet even spoken to an area basketball coach, boys or girls. You’re definitely right about Shiloh losing a big part of its attack. However, as I recall, they still had some good younger players and individuals who’d had success in junior high. They may not be the level they have been, but I believe they’ll still be very competitive. In fact, I did a quick check in my files and Shiloh returns 48.1 percent of its scoring from last year. Unfortunately, I don’t have information here with me on all of the other LOVC schools and I don’t want to venture a blind and wild guess yet as to who will be the team to beat. I’ll try to get to this soon. Thanks for being patient.

Rita , Monticello, IL: What criteria do you use to pick an athlete of the year for a particular sport? (Volleyball for example)

Moderator: Hi Rita. One reason these selections are so challenging is that there is so much to consider. Some folks think we should (or do) look solely at statistics, but that is a very tiny factor. Schools play different levels of competition and schools have different levels of talent within their own team. Some have to rely on one hitter so much they set her in the back row, too, so she’ll get more kills than someone on a team with three equal hitters, but does that make her a better player? No! Plus, it’s my opinion not all coaches are on the same page as far as keeping stats. For example, a block is to be given only when a point is scored, but from some block totals I have seen this year, I think some coaches are counting “touches” as blocks. Stats are nice to look at, and I love ‘em, but they are a small part of determing our picks. We consider all-conference teams as well, when they are available, but we’ve learned those can be very political (vote for my player and I’ll vote for yours). We don’t need that. It’s another piece of the puzzle. We always wrestle with whether the defensive player, the setter or the hitter had the most impact. You can check with my boss. I have lobbied time and again to have co-players of the year so we can recognize two individuals, in particular a hitter and a setter, but the last time that happened was 1991. We watch as many of the schools as we can, but time (and other sports) prevent us from seeing everybody. For volleyball, I send a nomination form to every head coach. If a coach doesn’t think he or she has a legitimate All-Area candidate, then we go on to other schools. We ask coaches to provide us with names of opposing players, too, that they were most impressed with. If some players receive those “votes” from eight or nine coaches, that certainly weighs in their favor. We look at what the player did for their team. Did she lead her school to a winning record for the first time in 25 years, for example? There is so much to consider and it is truly a tedious process. How far did the team advance in the postseason is important, but not the only consideration. A sub-.500 team, for instance, can truly have one outstanding player. I hope that gives you a rough idea of how the process works. This is the time of the year I make sure I'm well-stocked with aspirin.

Kristi, Champaign, IL: What criteria do you use when you look for a volleyball player of the year?

Moderator: Hi Kristi. Hopefully you can get most of your answer from my response to the previous question from Rita. The Player of the Year gets picked along the same lines as the members of the first and/or second teams. If a player clearly distinguishes themselves above all others, that is the pick. Sometimes, several players are virtually equal and then we look at the success of the teams, how far the particular player led her team in the postseason and the other factors which I detailed. I’ll tell you one thing, it gets harder every year because the quality of our area players is so vastly improved from where it was when I first started doing this. I firmly believe we will have players on our All-Area second team this year that years ago would have been on the first team and considered for Player of the Year. Thankfully, we recognized this trend coming a few years ago and increased our first team and second team from six players to 10. That's something of a help, but there are -- and probably always will be -- more deserving athletes than what we can recognize.

Larry Kanfer, Champaign, IL: When are you going to change the picture that runs with your columns? It looks like it was taken 25 years ago.

Moderator: Hi Larry. You must not have seen me 25 years ago.

Moderator: Thanks to all for the questions. It was fun. We'll check back again next Thursday.