Elgin's Rohlman finally gets to see 'his' school in a super
It took 28 years, but Art Rohlman was finally able to watch "his" school play in a supersectional.
Rohlman, the longtime DeKalb High School athletic director who has been at Elgin High in that same job the past three years, has been the tournament director for supersectionals at Northern Illinois University, basically, forever. He works closely with NIU's Mike Korcek, now retired but still the school's SID Emetrius. When Rohlman came to Elgin, the IHSA asked him to continue to manage the supers at NIU, with Elgin High as the host school.
But Tuesday night's game between Elgin and Zion-Benton was the first time Rohlman's school of employment has made it to a supersectional, leaving the personable Rohlman smiling from ear-to-ear before the game.
"I hope I get to present the plaque to myself," he quipped.
And even though that didn't happen as Zion-Benton beat Elgin 64-50, Rohlman couldn't have been happier with the event itself, a doubleheader that was well attended and came off without a hitch.
"It's just great," Rohlman said of the Maroons playing in the Elite Eight game. "It's nice to have a school to be concerned about. It's great for our school. Just look at that student section."
Yes, while the Maroons may have lost the game they won the attendance battle, especially in terms of students. And considering Zion-Benton's 600-student advantage in enrollment, that says a lot for the restoration of East Side Pride this season.
Rohlman should also be commended for the staff he put together, a staff that included personnel from other Elgin Area District U-46 schools, like Jim Harrington (South Elgin) and Dave Bierman (Larkin) as well as Elgin. Rohlman and his people could give some solid advice to some of the Gestapo-types at other venues on how to run an event the right way.
Speaking of Harrington: The last time Elgin played at NIU, in the 1998 Class AA supersectional, Jim Harrington was the Maroons' coach. Tuesday night he was part of Rohlman's tournament staff, but that didn't stop him from having some memories of that great win over Naperville North 10 years ago.
"Oh yeah, there's memories," Harrington said. "But it's quite a bit different. This is trophy night. That's not how it was then. But this is great for the district and for Elgin High. We need these positive things."
Nice crowds: The doubleheader at NIU Tuesday nigt drew well and should help Elgin High offset the loss of the Class 34A girls supers that were held on the night of a snowstorm and only drew a couple hundred fans.
The Class 3A game Tuesday between downstate Washington and Sterling drew 2,342 while the Elgin-Zion game had a paid crowd of 2,656, giving the DH a nice fan base of 4,998, especially considering the drive people from Washington and Zion had to make.
Another connect: The Fox Valley area continues to have officials working high-level games all over northern Illinois. Larkin grad and Elgin resident Jim Dinkheller and Carpentersville resident Steve Massie were two of the floor officials for the Washington-Sterling game.
Trophies for everyone, for sure: We've tried to be open-minded about the new four-class system but this takes it a bit far.
As Harrington said, Tuesday's supersectionals were trophy night. Regardless of what the four teams in each class do in the Final Four in Peoria this weekend, they come home with a trophy.
So why then does the IHSA need to award a plaque to the supersectional winner? They're already assured of a trophy this weekend, unlike past years when you could win a supersectional, lose in the state quarterfinals and not get hardware.
Just seems like a waste of money for a non-profit organization whose finances are always being scrutinized by someone.