A Really Radical Suggestion...

[supersteve17]

There seems to be no end to this debate. "Privates" have their ideas and "publics" have theirs. Neither seems to be willing to bow to the other. Emotions have taken over and rational thought and common sense have been abandoned. Other sports have some issues with this, but football seems to create the most heated debate.

 

How about this for a solution?

 

DO AWAY WITH THE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS. Completely. Altogether. No four-team playoff. No separate divisions. Have a regular season and a bowl game and that's it.

 

Here are some reasons:

1. The playoffs last too long. What other sport has a playoff season that lasts "half again" as long as the regular season. If basketball did that the playoffs would last until almost May! Do we really care about the students and their education? Are championships really what this is all about for most? I realize that the five-game extra season does not affect any but those who make it that far, but the point is that, theoretically, at least, that is where everyone wants to get under the current system.

2. Play whomever you want to play. There would be no "forcing" publics to play privates (i.e. Moore County versus Columbia Academy) or non-competitive teams to play competitive teams (choose your own examples). In years gone by, Chattanooga Central (for instance) was a powerhouse and chose to play some of the top teams in the state and in the South. Their schedule was not "pre-set" and matchups were made based on their relative strength. It is interesting that their demise in the late 1960's coincided with the advent of the playoff system. (I know there were many other factors as well!)

3. Think of some of the regular season matchups that could result! Who wouldn't like to see Cloudland versus South Pittsburg every season? Would Trousdale County facing Gallatin interest you? What about Union City versus Germantown? What about Baylor versus Hendersonville? "Publics" have said they don't mind competing in the regular season (in some cases) they just don't want to play "privates" in the playoffs. Would you like to see USJ take on Milan every year? I would! I'd pay to watch that contest. You can use your imagination to think of some of the matchups -- "big" vs "little," "public" vs "private," East vs West or whatever you can conceive.

4. A bowl "dream game" could be arranged. Most observers would pay good money to have watched Riverdale take on McCallie last year -- maybe even this year! You could set up regional games of interest that would draw great crowds.

 

I realize that there are some problems with this suggestion. As if we don't have problems now...? I am sure that many of you will pooh-pooh this idea because you don't want to go back. That's okay. I ask, "Why not?" Are we so consumed with winning championships that we have lost sight of the purposes of scholastic sports programs? Without playoffs we may get closer to fulfilling those purposes.

 

Before you jump up and say I'm soft or weak or liberal for not officially crowning a champion, please note that I did not say to turn off the scoreboard! I'm all for healthy competition. It teaches great life lessons about excellence, effort, teamwork, sacrifice, etc. Are we teaching the right lessons if we rationalize losses (or failure to win championships) by saying, "If only XYZ School hadn't had this advantage or that advantage..."? Is it "fair" (an oft-used word on this message board) if one team faces another without its best player because of an injury? Is it "fair" for a passing team to play a running team in nasty weather? There will never be a completely "fair" system or a perfectly "level playing field." (another oft-used term) That is a life lesson!

 

I fear that we as adults do not have the intestinal fortitude (guts) to make such a move. What do you think?

[Bighurt]

That is exactly the way it was prior to 1969.

 

Clinic Bowl, Butter Bowl, Tobacco Bowl, etc.

[Edited by Bighurt on 10-15-02 1:47P]

 

[imasoftballer]

Good post, but here is the answer to why we will not see that...$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

tssaa will not give up the $$$$ that playoff games generate. Neither will the perinial playoff schools.

[OnlineLC]

I do have one big problem with your proposal, you are shortening the Football season.

 

I personally like cold November Friday Nights outdoors.

[JaxMan]

Gets my vote. I think the real benefit football provides to young men can be learned in a regular season.

[supersteve17]

Posted by OnlineLC:

I do have one big problem with your proposal, you are shortening the Football season.

 

I personally like cold November Friday Nights outdoors.

 

So do I! Start the season later! August 1 or July 28 or whatever is too early and too hot for football! In the past the regular season did not end until early November and many of the big bowl games were played on or near Thanksgiving.

[southernpride]

Posted by supersteve17:

Posted by OnlineLC:

I do have one big problem with your proposal, you are shortening the Football season.

 

I personally like cold November Friday Nights outdoors.

 

So do I! Start the season later! August 1 or July 28 or whatever is too early and too hot for football! In the past the regular season did not end until early November and many of the big bowl games were played on or near Thanksgiving.

 

Steve... let's go one step further. Use the state rankings to help pick some of the bowl games and allow each team to play in two bowl games if they win their first bowl game in week 11. More revenue and more excitement?

[supersteve17]

Posted by caesar:

Posted by supersteve17:

Posted by OnlineLC:

I do have one big problem with your proposal, you are shortening the Football season.

 

I personally like cold November Friday Nights outdoors.

 

So do I! Start the season later! August 1 or July 28 or whatever is too early and too hot for football! In the past the regular season did not end until early November and many of the big bowl games were played on or near Thanksgiving.

 

Steve... let's go one step further. Use the state rankings to help pick some of the bowl games and allow each team to play in two bowl games if they win their first bowl game in week 11. More revenue and more excitement?

 

Not a bad suggestion, but that seems to be getting back to a type of playoff system. It seems to me that the playoffs are what causes much of the public/private/magnet schools controversy. Besides, the state rankings are too subjective to be the primary basis of any matchups.

 

I'm not being hyper-critical of your suggestion, just stating my opinion. I'm trying to be consistent with my above-stated premises. (See original post.)

[swamp]

This sounds suspciously like the BCS. I'll take my champion crowned on the field, thanks. Ex: There are currently 4 undefeated 3A teams, none of which play each other, so how do we determine the champion? I like the idea of a Covington/Crockett and a Fulton/Trousdale game.

[supersteve17]

Posted by swamp:

This sounds suspciously like the BCS. I'll take my champion crowned on the field, thanks. Ex: There are currently 4 undefeated 3A teams, none of which play each other, so how do we determine the champion? I like the idea of a Covington/Crockett and a Fulton/Trousdale game.

 

I thought someone might think this. I can see where you would. The reason is that we have been blinded by the need to crown a champion. The premise of my suggestion is that we NOT CROWN a champion. In your above example, what happens if one of these teams gets upset before the semis? What if they are bracketed together before then? What if a team with four or more losses gets hot at the right time and wins the championship? (This happened a few years ago with Pearl-Cohn in AAAA.) Have we really crowned a champion or just a tournament winner? My point is that no system is going to solve or answer all the

"what if's." The one we have now certainly hasn't solved much -- hence the furor and rancor on this message board.

 

I believe the original intent of the playoff system begun in 1969 was honorable and good -- crown a champion on the field rather than on paper. Unfortunately it devolved somewhere along the way into a futile attempt to "level the playing field." This will never be achieved to everyone's satisfaction.

 

Without trying to be sanctimonious, are we really taking the welfare of the kids into consideration? Is greed, machismo, oneupsmanship, or whatever, ruling the day? I'm afraid so.

[swamp]

Unless you work for the government, life is competitive. There will be winners and losers. Therefore, I think the kids who do the extra little things to win those 5 extra games deserve to be rewarded. Pearl-Cohn may have had 4 losses going into the playoffs, but they still did what it took to win the final five games. The teams against whom they played during that run did not.

[supersteve17]

Posted by swamp:

Unless you work for the government, life is competitive. There will be winners and losers. Therefore, I think the kids who do the extra little things to win those 5 extra games deserve to be rewarded. Pearl-Cohn may have had 4 losses going into the playoffs, but they still did what it took to win the final five games. The teams against whom they played during that run did not.

 

Agreed. (I love your dig at the government!) They (Pearl-Cohn) took advantage of the system we have in place and made the most of it. Congratulations to them for that! I am not advocating to turn off the scoreboard, not keep records or even eliminate rankings. (See above.) All I am saying is that NO playoff suystem is without flaws. Rather than "throw out" teams that have perceived advantages as some suggest, let them all play together, schedule who you want/can and eliminate the playoff system we currently have. Much of the heated debate and divisive bickering would stop because the playoff system is the source of it. There is no reason that educators and the education process (of which interscholastic sports is a part) should not be more cooperative and understanding of each other -- public, private, magnet or whatever.