The stupidest thing your state high school association allows to happen

I understand the problem, Mustang, but I've also seen the opposite:

In Iowa, for boys and girls basketball, you have the largest 48 schools in enrollment in Class 4A; the next 64 largest in 3A; the next 128 largest in 2A; and the rest, 140-plus schools, in 1A.

Therefore, the Class 4A schools win two postseason games and they "go to State," making the quarterfinals.

The Class 1A schools have to win 5 or 6 games to reach the state quarterfinals. Never thought that was fair.

 

Oregon has the same thing until the semifinals in football, the quarters for basketball/volleyball, and the finals for baseball. Fewer home games, seed, then coin flip. I see why we do it (even out travel costs), but it's still dumb. Give the teams that earned a higher seed some sort of incentive.

 

We've got a situation this year with the state baseball championships where it could be 12 days between the deciding game at the sub-state level and the first game of the state finals. The MHSAA is insisting that they play the finals at Trustmark Park, outside Jackson, which is the home of the Mississippi Braves, Atlanta's Class AA team. It's a great facility and the kids enjoy playing at a pro stadium, but the MHSAA has to accommodate the Braves in scheduling. The second game of the sub-states are on Friday, May 14, and the first games of the finals are May 25-26, while the Braves are on the road. They have exactly five days to get what could be 18 finals games in (it's best-of-three for six classes), before the Braves return home from their road trip. If there are any significant weather issues, as there were last year, the MHSAA could be in a major scheduling bind.

 

Ohio holding the state football championships in Northeast Ohio, forcing Cincinnati schools to lug all the way across the state, when the jewel that is Ohio Stadium sits empty, centrally located and with field turf.

 

at the state level emphasizing to all officials that uniform violations are the most significant thing you can call

"Hey, we can't tell a ball from a strike or a block from a charge, but BY GOD don't have two manufacturer's logos on your socks."

 

Thsi sound smore like the way Tennessee used to be set up for hoops.

 

We have quirky rules like that, too. Just about every rule Michigan has, we have. It's crazy what can and cannot get a team/relay squad DQ'd.

 

I've never understood why the semifinals for football are held at the Georgia dome and not the finals. I've been told its to give more kids the opportunity to play there. But to me it should be the finals.

And I don't know why the baseball finals aren't held at a neutral site. Between Turner field Georgia Georgia tech among other colleges in the state you should be able to find a good stadium to play host.

 

I can't see how this is a state rule. This has to be a school (or school district) rule, no doubt bargained and part of the union contract.

 

Iowa has a similar rule — no games between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. Schools can practice, though. It's nice for us, it gives us a week without games.
Also in Iowa:
• There are separate associations for girls and boys sports.
• They play baseball and softball in the summer. One year, one of our schools played in the state baseball championship game on a Saturday night, and on the following Monday that school started football practice (they had their first football game scheduled one week earlier than everyone else, so they were allowed to start practice one week earlier).
• The boys association used to play the state baseball tournament at two different sites — two classes at one, the other two at the other site. So, there were times where we had two different writers at the two spots, which is really hell on a full-time staff of four.
Now the state tournament is played at one site over an eight-day period (four classes, eight teams in each class). The first two days have two night games, the rest of the tournament is two day games and two night games per day. The second night game generally starts around 9 p.m.
• The girls association used to have softball and volleyball tournaments that were single-elimination except for the district final, where you moved on to the regional tournament win or lose.
• The spring and summer seasons overlap — baseball and softball teams start games three days before the state track meet. A friend of mine who used to be AD at one of our area schools had to referee an argument every year between the golf and softball coaches — the softball coach would tell his players who were also on the golf team that if they played in the state golf tournament, they would lose their starting spot on the softball team.