Columbiana coach to lead North team

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The Big 33 and the North-South game will be played on the same day, June 16.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Columbiana's Bob Spaite has coached in enough all-star games to know that success has little to do with strategy.

"If I can get [Ohio State wide receiver] Ted Ginn lined up one-on-one against man-to-man coverage, suddenly I get very smart," Spaite said. "It's all about the players."

Spaite, who was an assistant for the Ohio team in last year's Big 33 game, was chosen as the head coach for this year's North-South game, which will be played June 16.

"It's a great honor," said Spaite, who has led Columbiana to the Division VI regional championship game the past two seasons. "I'm very humbled by it. I don't know if I'm deserving, but I'll do my best."

For the second straight year, the North-South game and the Big 33 game will be played on the same day, something that irritated the Big 33 brass last summer. The North-South game got first pick of players, which meant that many of Ohio's best-known athletes did not compete in the Big 33 game.

"There were some legitimate complaints last year that we were sending the 'C' team [to the Big 33]," Spaite, who has also been an assistant in the Penn-Ohio game and the now-defunct Stark-Summit game, said. "We certainly don't want to lose the Big 33 game because of that. Pennsylvania doesn't screw around — they send their very best players."

A compromise

As a compromise, each team will alternate picks this season, meaning that the North team will select one player, followed by the South team, followed by the Ohio team.

"The Ohio High School Football Coaches Association worked unbelievably hard to best serve both the North-South game and the Big 33," said Spaite. "It's a little more equitable this way.

"They tried to get different dates for the games, but weren't able to get it done. We'll resolve it eventually."

Not every player that's selected will play in the game. Some of the better-known players may opt to enroll early in their colleges of choice, something that has become more common over the past decade. Others may get hurt or opt out for a personal reason.

"We probably lose 10 to 15 percent," said Spaite. "But there's plenty of talent. My goodness gracious, the list of nominees makes my head spin.

"I could pick an all-star team just from Region Eight [which contains the Mahoning Valley]. When you throw in the entire state, there's far more [deserving] players than we could possibly put in the game."

scalzo@vindy.com

Wednesday, December 13, 2006