Playoff crowds

[Southtowner]

Bringing everyone back : That ship has sailed.

[cbg]

25 minutes ago, Southtowner said:

Bringing everyone back : That ship has sailed.

Yes you are correct in that the ship has sailed but let's be honest and say that it sailed because we had a group of VERY SOFT adults making decisions.  The only way for this to take place is for the TSSAA to be on the verge of bankruptcy or bleeding large sums of money.  Oh, that may be taking place with the 2018 attendance being down 19% over the 2017 attendance.

Edited January 11, 2019 by cbg

[Southtowner]

16 minutes ago, cbg said:

Yes you are correct in that the ship has sailed but let's be honest and say that it sailed because we had a group of VERY SOFT adults making decisions.  The only way for this to take place is for the TSSAA to be on the verge of bankruptcy or bleeding large sums of money.  Oh, that may be taking place with the 2018 attendance being down 19% over the 2017 attendance.

I look for something different on the horizon after these next 2 years.  Maybe a 1 class reduction in the public classes when it's time for reclassification. 

I don't look for anything drastic like a 4 class proposal some are saying.

[Southtowner]

Does anyone know what the winning bid was for Cookeville to host the championships?

And if so, how is that money divided among the member schools if any? 

[Jobres76]

This is tough to see. From a Cornersville fan, radio crew perspective, we didn't see it. McEwen didn't bring many for round one, home side packed. Wayne County brought a crowd, home side packed. Huntingdon and Lake County games were packed on both sides. Huntingdon game in the freezing cold and Lake County in a downpour. Whitwell and Cornersville packed the stands in Cookeville. We may have been an exception to the rule. I hate to see a decline in attendance for HS football or any football for that matter. I actually think football will fall as the top sport over the next 10-20 years with the decline in participation in the youth leagues due to a growing fear over concussions and injuries. I'm not sold on cost being a part of the decline. Inflation hits everything, including sports. I think a bigger part is the decline in competition. Coaching, kids waiting longer to get started, kids playing that really have no need in playing and coaches having to play them because they have no option, the list could go on, but bottom line, the sport of football, and really all sports are suffering. Kids today would rather get a job and make money as opposed to playing a sport and many good athletes just don't play because of that.

Just my humble opnion.

[BIGPURPLEMACHINE]

18 hours ago, Southtowner said:

The matchups would be the most significant.  The travel involved for an early round knockout always affects the number in attendance.  

I can almost envision the format where you will stay within your own regional bracket for the first round.  

Missouri does something very similar to this. 9 regular season games. Then playoffs begin with a district tournament. Thru the first 3 rds you play familiar district foes. After that you are in the final 8 in the state. I like the way they do it. 

[Southtowner]

33 minutes ago, BIGPURPLEMACHINE said:

Missouri does something very similar to this. 9 regular season games. Then playoffs begin with a district tournament. Thru the first 3 rds you play familiar district foes. After that you are in the final 8 in the state. I like the way they do it. 

I didn't know that.  Good information. 

I can see it for the 1st round but after that it would then seem to be monotonous to me to play another regional foe.

Not in every case but most likely the 1 and 2 seed in each region will move on to the 2nd round.  1 vs 2 in opposite region brackets then could face off.

This will eliminate the 3 and 4 seed from  having to travel outside the region area for the 1st round only. 

This wouldn't cure much of the woes that are plaguing attendance but I can see this happening.  

I love the idea of playing different teams in the playoff format but I'd be willing to give that up in the first round. 

[TN225]

3 hours ago, BIGPURPLEMACHINE said:

Missouri does something very similar to this. 9 regular season games. Then playoffs begin with a district tournament. Thru the first 3 rds you play familiar district foes. After that you are in the final 8 in the state. I like the way they do it. 

Whitwell played a region tournament this year, Valley in the 2nd and Pitt in the Quarters. Valley didn’t bring anyone, more than Clay did but they brought maybe 15 people. The quarters and semis were pack. 

[Southtowner]

19 minutes ago, TN225 said:

Whitwell played a region tournament this year, Valley in the 2nd and Pitt in the Quarters. Valley didn’t bring anyone, more than Clay did but they brought maybe 15 people. The quarters and semis were pack. 

That's not a region tournament.

Whitwell played Clay County in the 1st round.

A true region tournament would have played out like this for Whitwell:

Whitwell vs Sale Creek 1st round.

Whitwell vs South Pittsburg 2nd round.

Then most likely Whitwell vs Gordonsville in the quarters and Greenback in the semifinals. 

A true region tournament would have regional opponents playing in the first two rounds only. 

Whitwell got Lookout Valley in the 2nd round only because the Jackets went all the way to Jo Byrns and pulled the upset.  

 

 

 

[Southtowner]

What I'm proposing is eliminating the 4 seed most every time in the 1st round within your own region.

Then this will most likely set up a 1 vs 2 from opposite region bracket. 

[Southtowner]

The only problem or issue I see being brought up are the regions that will scream and say, 'But our 3 seed is better than your 2 seed.'

i.e.  3 seed Lookout Valley beat 2 seed Jo Byrns and was rewarded a 2nd round game rather than going to the 2 seed SP in the first round and being eliminated. 

Edited January 12, 2019 by Southtowner

[TheAmbassador]

22 hours ago, cbg said:

The TSSAA has had issues with the playoffs for a number of years but the real problems are just beginning to surface.  My advice would be to combine everyone again and reduce the number of classifications for football to four.  Play two of the state championship games in the East and the other two games in the West.  Games should be played at the home filed of one of the schools.  Yes you would have people everywhere and a school would have the option of moving the game to a larger venue but the school would take on the financial liability of moving the games to another venue.  Also only take the top 2 teams from each district.  You must make going to the playoffs a major accomplishment and a very special event.  

LMBO.. 4 classes? So that means schools with 200 students competing against schools 4 times their size? 1A teams typically have 30-40 kids. Schools with 800-1000 students have 80-100 kids. That would suck!