My thoughts on the National "Championship" Game

Originally Posted, Thursday, January 7, 2010

    When I set out to write this blog, I was pretty set on keeping my thoughts on a local level. I really didn’t want to stray too far from high school sports, heck, there’s enough national pundits out there spilling word after word about college and professional sports, but as I sit here less than eight hours from the start of the BCS “National Championship” game, snowed in, with all the local sporting events postponed by mother nature, I though I’d put a few things in words on my take on the BCS game. I’m not a big fan of the current system, and if you asked me what the letters BCS stand for, my answer would not include the words “bowl” and “series”!

    The current system is a joke, one has to look no further than the Fiesta Bowl to see what I mean. The Fiesta Bowl matchup between Boise State and Texas Christian University, while intriguing, and pretty fun to watch, made absolutely no sense. What did either school have to gain from that matchup? What did either conference have to gain from that matchup? The short answer is NOTHING!

    For the past few years, the “little guys” the “mid-major” conferences have been screaming that their teams, while rolling up gaudy numbers against arguably inferior competition were worthy of playing the “big boys” in the high dollar bowl games AND were worthy of competing for the so called “National Championship”.

    The pollsters have gone along with that notion, pushing the undefeated teams to the top of the list like it was their right. Since they were unbeaten, the deserved to be highly ranked, and for the most part the computers have agreed, thus we see unbeaten teams like Cincinnati, Boise State and TCU ascend the charts and knock on the door of the holy grail of NCAA Division I football the “BCS National Championship” Game.

    Now, none of those teams have gotten that far, and it’s unlikely, given the current system that any of them will, short of an act of congress or a presidential decree, or some other legal wrangling. But, they have pushed their way into the BCS Bowl games, and have, at least, gained the right to face off with the “Big Boys”.

    That brings me to point number one. Why in the hell did the Fiesta bowl take Boise State AND TCU. Wasn’t the whole point of this exercise to see if the mid-majors could compete with the BCS Conferences? Wouldn’t a Boise State vs. Iowa and a TCU vs. Georgia Tech matchup be more fun? We got to see what Cincinnati was made of in the Sugar Bowl, and they proved to be not quite ready for prime time when they faced the Florida Gators.

    Now, Boise State shocked Oklahoma a couple of years ago in one of the most memorable “David and Goliath” battles ever in the Fiesta Bowl, they proved that a mid-major could take on a storied program, go toe to toe and come out a winner. I would have rather seen if Boise State could have handled Georgia Tech, and seen what TCU could have done against Iowa. Then we might know a little more of what might happen if one of these “Cinderella’s” ever make it to the big dance.

    And that brings me to point number two -- the current system SUCKS!

    Every other sport has a playoff, but not the NCAA FBS division. There’s that “BS” part again, and I guarantee you my version doesn’t end in “bowl subdivision”. I still don’t understand why there can’t be a playoff. All the arguments from “it will take too much time away from the classroom” to “it will kill the bowl system” is a bunch of you know what!

    Here’s my idea -- Take the current 120 FBS teams and add eight more, forming eight conferences with 16 teams each (Notre Dame will HAVE to join a conference). Each team will play a 12 game schedule (7 division games and 5 non-conference games) in the 13 weeks between the first Saturday in September and the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Each team will be trying to ultimately win the DIVISION Championship, because that will get them into the CONFERENCE Championship game which is the first layer of the PLAYOFF system. Non-Conference games will not count against the DIVISION record, so the really great regional and national match-ups we all love can still be played. In effect, each team enters the playoffs the day conference play begins.

    Once the 16 Division winners are determined, the eight conferences will play their championship games on the first two Saturday’s in December, leaving eight Conference Champions who will advance to the final rounds of the playoff.

    Here’s where the current bowl system comes back into play. On New Year’s Day (remember that USED to be THE day to watch College Football), the eight conference champions will be seeded 1 through 8 and will be matched up in four current bowl games (we’ll use a rotation of the current BCS games and add the Gator and Cotton Bowls for example). So in this example seeds 1-8 would play in the Gator Bowl, seeds 2-7 in the Cotton Bowl, seeds 3-6 in the Fiesta Bowl, and seeds 4-5 in the Sugar Bowl. 

    One week later the Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl would host the national semi-final games, and one week after that the true “National Championship” Game could be held at one of the current bowl venues, or put out for bids like the Super Bowl.

    As soon as the Conference championship games are played the other 30 or so bowl games could then fill their slots with any team OTHER than the eight Conference Champions. All other bowl games would need to be played BEFORE New Year’s Day.

    This system would add one extra game for four teams and another for the two teams playing for the national championship, but that’s it. There would be no lost classroom time, because most schools don’t start up again till mid January anyway, and with this system, the National Championship game would be played on January 14th each year.

    Now it would be harder on the fans of the teams that advance. There would have to be some decisions made as to what level of the championship run to attend, but that’s life.

    Is this a perfect system, no. But as long as the bowls exist, there will never be a perfect system. But it’s sure better than what we’ve got, and it sets up a system whereby on the first day of September EVERY team enters play with a chance to win the title.

Wildcats seem to have the upper hand

Originally Posted, Tuesday, December 22, 2009

    We’ve reached the holiday break for area high schools, each team now has about ten days off to rest, be with families and recharge their “batteries” in preparation for the grind of the winter sports schedule during January, February and early March.

    I’ve had the chance to see each of the loca teams play in person at least once, and in most cases multiple times so far this season, and it is evident that the teams to beat, at least in Miami County, are the Louisburg Wildcats. 

    The Wildcat boys basketball team is unbeaten, new Head Coach Chad Harvey has his team playing at a high level, and buying into the new system. Add to that, Harvey has a talented roster of players, and the Wildcats are clearly the cream of the Miami County crop. The Wildcat girls have lost but once, and that was on a disputed, fluke of a call against Burlington on their home floor, which saw the ‘Cats go from two down to nine down with just 18 seconds to play in the game. Finally the Wildcat wrestlers have the Hood brothers, all of which are ranked at the top of their weight classes, as well as several other tough wrestlers. The ‘Cats have taken two tournament titles on the young season, and will be looking for more after the holidays.

    The Frontier League will present challenges for the Wildcats, Gardner-Edgerton is a very talented team, and will very tough to beat. But look for the Wildcats, all three teams to be at or near the top when the playoffs start in March.

    The Osawatomie Trojan boys basketball team is also playing at a high level, they have a very talented and quick lineup and will be a force in the Pioneer League, it will take some time to see if the league will be challenging enough to toughen the Trojans for a deep run toward the state tournament.

    The Trojan girls basketball team will struggle this year, and it will be no surprise, given the fact the Trojans have but one senior and one junior on their squad. Trojans Head Coach Don Blanchat will have to mold a group of Freshmen and Sophomores into a cohesive unit. It will be interesting, as one minute the girls will play like seniors, and the next they won’t be able to get the ball across half court. Look for good things from the Trojans, a couple of years from now.

    The Trojan wrestlers have talent, starting with one of the top ranked wrestlers in the state at 189 pounds in Zach Grimes, but they too are young and inexperienced, and will struggle at times to grow and compete.

    Another bright spot this winter is the Osawatomie-Paola boys swimming team. Two meets into the season, the boys have qualified multiple swimmers for the state competition and should qualify at least two more relay teams in the upcoming weeks.

    That leaves me with my Paola Panthers, I don’t know how many games the Panther boys or girls will win in basketball, but I do know one thing, they will always be competitive and will never quit. The Panther boys are young, with lots of sophomores and juniors, and just one senior, the future can be bright for the Panthers, but they have to find someone to consistently hit shots from outside the paint, and a consistent floor leader that knows the flow of a game and when to speed things up and when to slow them down.

    The Paola girls are struggling to find an identity early in the season, but when you’re coming off a year like the Panthers had last year, that’s top be expected. The Panthers lost three of the most talented players ever to wear the black and gold, and Head Coach Stuart Ross and his squad must find a way to play “Panther Basketball” while molding players to fit the necessary parts.

    If the last three weeks are an indication of what to look forward to in the next two and a half months, one thing will be for certain . . . it will be a fun ride, and I’m looking forward to it!

Sometimes we "Get It"

Originally Posted, Sunday, November 29, 2009

    With the completion of the State Football Championship games, we can now close the books on the 2009 fall sports season. Although the Panthers fell a game short of their ultimate goal of a state championship game appearance, the fall season can be looked on as a success on many levels. All three fall sports, football, volleyball, soccer and cross country made deep runs in the state championship playoff system. The Panther boys cross country team appeared in the state meet again, and the Panther Volleyball team went to state for the third time in the last four years. The Panther Soccer team won its first ever state playoff game and the Panther football squad made another deep run in the playoffs, falling to eventual state champion Bishop Miege in the sub-state game held at Panther Stadium.

    The title of this blog entry is “Sometimes we get it!”. What is “It”? To me, “it” is the idea that we all want to compete at the highest level, all the time. We want to test ourselves against the best that our competition level has to offer. We want to be measured against the best, to ultimately be the best. The Paola Panther fall sports coaches have set the bar high in the past few years, putting the Panthers on the map when it comes to playoff level competition.

    It’s a big deal now when a team faces, and defeats, the Paola Panthers. Other schools measure their level of success by looking back and saying they played and defeated Paola. School look at their schedules and see the Panthers on the horizon, and they mark that game with a little extra, because they know they will have to play their best to compete, and to be victorious. 

    It has been accurately said the road to the state championship in Class 4A football runs through Holton, because the Wildcats have been so good for so long that every team who makes it to the state championship game will have defeated them along the way. Well, the same is beginning to be true about Paola. Year in and year out, the Panther football team is one of the last four or eight standing when the playoffs are drawing to a close. “It” is alive and well in Panther football.

    Volleyball has “It” too. All the Panthers did this year was re-load a team that lost to of its best players of all time, and after a rocky early season, found an identity and rode it all the way to the state championships. Granted, the Panther horses were not as strong as the others at state, but that doesn’t matter, “It” got the Panthers to state, and “It” will serve them well for years to come.

    The Paola Panther boys cross country team has “It” too, developing a strong core group of runners that know what it takes to compete and win at the highest levels. The Panther girls are finding “It” too, but they are a year or so behind their counterparts in making it happen.

    The Panther soccer team won its first ever state playoff game, and is gaining an identity, and learning what it takes to play at the state’s highest levels. The soccer program is learning quickly that “It” is needed to compete, and it’s not good enough to just win a game or two, to be really good, to compete at the highest levels, “It” must be found and lived day in and day out. The soccer team got a glimpse of “It” winning the first round playoff game, they must not continue to build and move deeper in the state tournament in the coming years.

    “It” is defined differently by each and every school, coach, athlete and parent. Some are happy with lesser accomplishments and lower levels of competitiveness, and that is fine. “It” can be a league title, or a tournament title, teams have to compete at a level where they are comfortable, much like the “Peter Principal” teams will rise to the level where they are most comfortable and will stay there, that is until the climate changes and something or someone demands they step outside their comfort zone.

    The Panthers have made that commitment, they are committed at all levels to compete, not just once in a lifetime, but every year, in every game, for the ultimate prize. The Panthers, their fans, players, coaches and administration have “it” and it was fun to watch it in action this fall. I can’t wait to see what the winter sports have in store!