LADY EAGLES SEASON IS ALMOST HERE, WHO'S BACK??

NOT TRYING TO JINX ANYTHING BUT TIPOFF IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND I'M ALREADY THINKING ABOUT IT. STATE TITLE IN MARCH 2025, FIRST ONE IN 30 YEARS, THEN BACK IN THE FINAL THIS PAST MARCH AND LOST TO EARLE. THAT ONE STILL STINGS BUT TWO TRIPS IN A ROW AT A SCHOOL THIS SIZE IS NUTS.

ANYBODY KNOW WHO'S COMING BACK? I'LL TAKE ANY REAL NEWS, NOT JUST PARKING LOT RUMORS. AND HOW EARLY ARE YOU ALL GETTING TO THE GYM THESE DAYS... LAST SEASON IF YOU SHOWED UP AT TIPOFF YOU WERE STANDING ALONG THE WALL OR ON THE STAIRS.

ALSO CURIOUS IF THE CHILI CHALLENGE CROWD GOES STRAIGHT OVER TO THE GAMES AFTERWARD OR IF THAT'S JUST WISHFUL THINKING ON MY PART. SEEMS LIKE A GOOD WAY TO FILL THE PLACE UP WITH FULL BELLIES AND LOUD VOICES.

WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE BLEACHERS PACKED AGAIN. GO EAGLES

Don't have any real roster news, only what I hear in the parking lot same as you. Seems like most of the core is back but I'd wait for somebody with a kid on the team to confirm.

On the gym, I quit trying to show up at tipoff. Got there 45 min early for a playoff game last year and was still on the stairs. Bring a cushion if you want a bleacher seat, those things get hard by the third quarter.

Chili Challenge crowd will probably go over, at least the ones who aren't in a chili coma by then. Honestly somebody should park a food truck outside the gym on game nights. Packed house, nowhere much to eat close by... that's money sitting there.

Second the cushion. I bring one of those stadium seats with a back on it, my hips can't take bare bleachers past the second quarter. And yeah, get there early, learned that one the hard way last March.

The food truck idea isn't bad. I'd bet a couple of the farmers market vendors would jump on it, hot cocoa and something baked you can eat standing on the stairs.. would have to be okayed by the school I'd think. Somebody ought to ask.

Hot cocoa and something baked is smarter than what I had in mind. You wouldn't even need a truck, just a canopy and a couple of tables by the door. I'd guess the booster club runs the concession stand inside and counts on it, so they'd probably want a cut or at least a heads up first. Maybe a vendor could split it with them and everybody wins.

Somebody could test it at one early-season game before anyone buys a truck. If the stairs are full 45 minutes before tipoff, people will buy a cocoa.

CANOPY AND A COUPLE TABLES BY THE DOOR IS THE WAY TO GO.. NO TRUCK, NO PERMIT HEADACHE. AND YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT THE BOOSTER CLUB, THAT CONCESSION MONEY HELPS THEM ALL YEAR, SO WHOEVER TRIES THIS NEEDS TO TALK TO THEM FIRST OR IT GOES SIDEWAYS FAST. SPLIT IT WITH THEM OR LET THEM RUN THE CANOPY THEMSELVES.

I'D BUY A COCOA ANYWAY. DRIVING IN FROM HIGDEN I'M LEAVING EARLY AS IT IS, MIGHT AS WELL SHOW UP TO SOMETHING HOT.

STILL WAITING ON SOMEBODY WITH A KID ON THE TEAM TO TELL US WHO'S ACTUALLY BACK THOUGH...

Stadium seat with a back is the move, I'm stealing that. My cushion is about flat by the third quarter, and I'm not getting any younger either.

The farmers market vendors are a good call. They already have the canopies and tables and know how to deal with the permit side, so it's half done. Whoever asks the booster club first should probably bring a plate of whatever they're selling. Nobody says no to a free sample.

Come January that cocoa would sell itself, standing in that parking lot waiting for the doors.