Massillon Jackson Polar Bears 2011

• NWIndianNation01

  

  What are the 2011 expectations for the Jackson Polar Bears? I know they have had some rough seasons in recent years, but I have heard that things are looking up. What is your take?
• Thinthickbigred

  What kind of stadium do they have?
  I know Jackson is a big school and they have had some good teams ,I never here anything about them
• Viking

  Thinthickbigred;856533 wrote:What kind of stadium do they have?
  I know Jackson is a big school and they have had some good teams ,I never here anything about them

  
  It is a very generic stadium. Their schools are palaces .
  
  Expectations for the band are very high.
• Thinthickbigred

  rich neighborhoods huh
• Gardens35

  Check with Skank, I'm pretty sure that's his team.
• Viking

  Thinthickbigred;856948 wrote:rich neighborhoods huh

  
  Most houses in Jackson sell for at least $200,000. The average home around Strauser elementry school has to be closer to $300,000.
• RedRider1

  

  New turf for their field this year.....saw it a few weeks ago. Had the drainage base installed, but no sign of turf yet.
• skank

  

  I never thought I would say this, but, man this is tough, ok, ready? Here it goes. So far, in this thread and this thread alone....Viking is 100% correct.
  
  
  
  OUCH.
• Summa

  Viking;857010 wrote:Most houses in Jackson sell for at least $200,000. The average home around Strauser elementry school has to be closer to $300,000.

  
  That is a very small part of Jackson. Jackson Twp. is about 50,000 people and trust me they are not all well off. I live in the Canton area and Jackson is basically just a middle class school and believe it or not it has a decent number of poorer kids. Yes there are some wealthy kids also (though some of the wealthy kids in Jackson go to Canton Central Catholic). Drive down Frank Road, Wales, and Portage and you will see some not so nice properties. What in the world does this have to do with Jackson football anyway.
• Viking

  Summa;857286 wrote:That is a very small part of Jackson. Jackson Twp. is about 50,000 people and trust me they are not all well off. I live in the Canton area and Jackson is basically just a middle class school and believe it or not it has a decent number of poorer kids. Yes there are some wealthy kids also (though some of the wealthy kids in Jackson go to Canton Central Catholic). Drive down Frank Road, Wales, and Portage and you will see some not so nice properties. What in the world does this have to do with Jackson football anyway.

  
  I'm aware of the older areas of the J.T. Those areas are shrinking as more new housing developements go up or others are expanded. Upper middle class describes most of the folks in the J.T. What does it have to do with football? Well, Coach McDanials had some problems there. The soccer mommy mentality is harmful. Many of the parents are hyper-sensative. It is a good environment for the band, but not so much for soccer.
• Summa

  There is very little housing development going on in Jackson Twp. right now and really hasn't been in the last 8-10 years. Middle class describes most of Jackson Twp. definatley not upper middle class. Are you seriously trying to say that most of the 50,000 people in Jackson Twp. are upper middle class. Come on, this is the greater Canton area we are talking about. There are not 40,000 upper middle class people in the entire county let alone Jackson Twp. The average home value right at middle class. Jackson's big growth was in the 1980s and 1990s. Those days are gone and there is very little room or desire by Jackson residents for more development. Lake Twp. is the place in Stark County where the most new development is. I agree with the soccer mom mentality of Jackson though.
• Viking

  Summa;857592 wrote:There is very little housing development going on in Jackson Twp. right now and really hasn't been in the last 8-10 years. Middle class describes most of Jackson Twp. definatley not upper middle class. Are you seriously trying to say that most of the 50,000 people in Jackson Twp. are upper middle class. Come on, this is the greater Canton area we are talking about. There are not 40,000 upper middle class people in the entire county let alone Jackson Twp. The average home value right at middle class. Jackson's big growth was in the 1980s and 1990s. Those days are gone and there is very little room or desire by Jackson residents for more development. Lake Twp. is the place in Stark County where the most new development is. I agree with the soccer mom mentality of Jackson though.

  
  Drive by the golf course near Strauser elementry school. That development stalled a bit, but has picked up again over the last year. Many people are moving to Jackson because of the lower taxes there compared to Summit County.
• Summa

  Viking;857608 wrote:Drive by the golf course near Strauser elementry school. That development stalled a bit, but has picked up again over the last year. Many people are moving to Jackson because of the lower taxes there compared to Summit County.

  We are so off topic. But yes that is one development we are talking about. I grew up in Jackson Twp. and work in Jackson Twp. and believe me there are a decent number of lower middle to lower class people living in Jackson Twp. Most people are average middle class and there is some wealth. New cookie cutter houses are not my bag so I now live in Avondale which is in Plain Twp. and is an old wealthier Canton suburban area with amazing older homes that put any newer McMansions or mass built model homes to shame. Trust me, the Canton area wealth is more spread around than you think. Hills & Dales (Old Canton Industrialist Millionaire Suburban village); Ridgewood (Same as Hills & Dales just in the Canton City Limits); Avondale (A bloc from McKinley high school within Plain Twp. and already described above as an Canton suburban neighborhood); Pill Hill (North Canton very impressive area of older beautiful homes which got its nickname from all the doctors residing in the area); The large mansions on North Market aka Market Hills in Canton, still a top notch spot with many lawyers and doctors residing there); The older very nice homes of Wales Road in Massillon (Similar to Avondale in Canton); That is not even mentioning the newer upscale developments in Plain, North Canton and Lake which to be honest do not impress me as much as the older upscale areas. I live down here, trust me wealth in the Canton/Stark County area is very spread out and in my opinion there are a bunch of more impressive areas than the average cookie cutters which is the vast majority of Jackson Twp.
• NWIndianNation01

  

  So...anyone know anything about the football program?
• Viking

  Summa;857769 wrote:We are so off topic. But yes that is one development we are talking about. I grew up in Jackson Twp. and work in Jackson Twp. and believe me there are a decent number of lower middle to lower class people living in Jackson Twp. Most people are average middle class and there is some wealth. New cookie cutter houses are not my bag so I now live in Avondale which is in Plain Twp. and is an old wealthier Canton suburban area with amazing older homes that put any newer McMansions or mass built model homes to shame. Trust me, the Canton area wealth is more spread around than you think. Hills & Dales (Old Canton Industrialist Millionaire Suburban village); Ridgewood (Same as Hills & Dales just in the Canton City Limits); Avondale (A bloc from McKinley high school within Plain Twp. and already described above as an Canton suburban neighborhood); Pill Hill (North Canton very impressive area of older beautiful homes which got its nickname from all the doctors residing in the area); The large mansions on North Market aka Market Hills in Canton, still a top notch spot with many lawyers and doctors residing there); The older very nice homes of Wales Road in Massillon (Similar to Avondale in Canton); That is not even mentioning the newer upscale developments in Plain, North Canton and Lake which to be honest do not impress me as much as the older upscale areas. I live down here, trust me wealth in the Canton/Stark County area is very spread out and in my opinion there are a bunch of more impressive areas than the average cookie cutters which is the vast majority of Jackson Twp.

  
  This is my last off topic post. i love the older up scale homes and neighborhoods. I also detest McMansions, but those are the people sending their kids to Jackson's schools.
  
  IMHO, Jackson will finish last or next to last in the FED.
• Thinthickbigred

  Show picture of stadium PLease.
  i tried finding it on google and gave up . I did see however that Massillon Perry stadium is only like a mile away from PBTS .
  Stark county football is totally impressive
• Summa

  Viking;857871 wrote:This is my last off topic post. i love the older up scale holmes and neighborhoods. I also detest McMansions, but those are the people sending their kids to Jackson's schools.
  
  IMHO, Jackson will finish last or next to last in the FED.

  We are in total agreement. I will take the older homes on Merriman Road in Akron anyday over the new homes that pass as nice these days. I am also done with this very off topic side discussion.
  
  As to Jackson football. I disagree somewhat I think Jackson could if they catch a few breaks be a middle of the pack Fed League team this year. The Fed, other than the one DII team in the league, was down last year. McK lost a first round game to Medina and Fitch was blown out in the second round by Solon. Fitch is gone.
  
  Mckinley and GlenOak should be at the top of the league, but either of these teams could be upset.
  
  Hoover has a very good QB but not much else. Hoover is extremely small for a DI team.
  
  Perry could have a pretty good team this year.
  
  Lake lost some key players so they are a mystery to me right now.
  
  Boardman should be pretty tough.
  
  Talent wise, probably only GlenOak and McKinley would have the talent to maybe play with the big boys in DI Region 1, Iggy, Solon, Glenville, Eds and Mentor, but I doubt it.
  
  I could see Jackson maybe getting a couple upsets this year.
• RedRider1

  

  thick,
  http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Jackson+Township,+OH&hl=en&ll=40.867911,-81.486374&spn=0.002373,0.004115&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.59616,67.412109&t=h&z=18
• Viking

  Jackson is adding turf to its stadium.
• 4cards

  

  NWIndianNation01;857817 wrote:So...anyone know anything about the football program?

  ...WE have a football team?
  
  xsigned
  
• Viking

  4cards;858945 wrote:...WE have a football team?
  
  xsigned
  

  
  That pic sums up the whole situation in J.T.
  
  Very good halfdeck!
• NWIndianNation01

  

  Amazing how much the band has shrunk over the past few years...used to easily be triple that....back to football please.
• Thinthickbigred

  thats a pretty big band . what is it normally 1000 kids?
• Belly35

  

  Jackson has been on a down hill slide over the past few years in some of the major sport programs once dominated.
  What was once a powerhouse sport program system in many of the girls sport is only secondary now and the boys program have also suffered in the Federal League.
  
  I don't have any reason for such decline other than the change of administration and athletic director few years back.
  
  I also think that the Federal League does go throw a transition cycle (watched this over the past 15 years) ... seem what once was proven and establish programs slowly decline in talent and ability.
  
  I'm not looking at the Jackson Football Team to be much of a contender .... but they have been known to pull of the upset at times
• grodt

  

  This thread pretty much seems to sum up how people from outside of Jackson treat Jackson. Most of the posts are about the band or that we're all a bunch of rich folk and that all the parents are a bunch of whiners. I know from living there that not everyone is wealthy and the wealth seems focused in a few areas. There are definitely some modest income families that live there. As for the "soccer mom" mentality, I think we get a stereotype placed on us for something that happens at every school. Just as an example, didn't McKinley just have a player's parent say they would never play for McKinley if their son wasn't going to be the QB? I don't think many people would consider McKinley full of "soccer moms" and I'm not saying that they are. I'm merely saying that this stuff goes on at every school.
  
  As for the football team, this is the third year under Balderson's system and if they don't get it by now, then it's not going to work and we may be searching for a new coach soon. Talent wise this is the best crop that's come through in quite a few years. I'm not predicting playoffs but a middle of the pack finish in the Fed is definitely possible. That being said if things come together on offense and a few games go their way that you wouldn't normally expect we might be going into week 10 against Hoover with a chance to make the playoffs. You just never know.
  
  As for the turf, the Mama Bears Shutterfly site has been posting updates all summer but you have to sign up for Shutterfly to see them. I grabbed the most recent shot which I'll post below. The field should be ready for opening day week 2 vs. Green.
  
  Go Bears!