3 class proposal

[packers21]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

But all Wahpeton & Valley City have been feeding me says that participation will go up everywhere and we are doing this #FortheKids

#forthefocusgroup

[Bisonguy06]

I think it's possible that the current media agreement does not allow the immediate move to Super AA, Super A, Super B (boys and girls combined).

That is only an educated guess.

IF the current plan passes, I strongly favor a move to Super AA, Super A, Super B

[WalkingStick]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

But all Wahpeton & Valley City have been feeding me says that participation will go up everywhere and we are doing this #FortheKids

#forthefocusgroup

I agree the numbers may go up for VC, Wahp, Watford but they are going to dwindle a bit for those schools that already struggle with numbers while being in Class B. If this passes, I sure hope they don't demand that you play your district twice so that teams can get more competitive games with the lower level schools and keeping rivalry games in play.

[Thundersnow]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

But all Wahpeton & Valley City have been feeding me says that participation will go up everywhere and we are doing this #FortheKids

#forthefocusgroup

I agree the numbers may go up for VC, Wahp, Watford but they are going to dwindle a bit for those schools that already struggle with numbers while being in Class B. If this passes, I sure hope they don't demand that you play your district twice so that teams can get more competitive games with the lower level schools and keeping rivalry games in play.

I agree, WalkingStick, I think keeping district opponents to only one mandatory game will make or break this new plan. For your biggest rivals, play them twice, but if you know ahead of time that it won't be competitive, keep it to once per regular season. In boys basketball, look at New Town and Nedrose, or in girls at Hillsboro-Central Valley and Oak Grove. Those programs are down right now and may not be competitive in the new middle class right away. But let them play against Ray, Glenburn, Alexander, Trenton, Max, Larimore, Tri-State, Enderlin, etc. They get competitive games throughout the regular season and if they play hard, grow together as a team, they could be more competitive by tournament time. Meanwhile, Central Cass, Beulah and Four Winds-Minnewaukan can make a schedule where they play all middle class teams all season long and have a really interesting and competitive schedule. I could see Grand Forks Central and Williston even adding games against those middle class schools since they will have fewer mandated games.

I get excited when I think of the scheduling flexibility. We get rid of the 70-point blowouts between Minot vs. Watford City and Fargo Davies vs. Valley City. Century and West Fargo can go to Wyoming or Minneapolis and play 3 competitive non-conference games. Williston and Dickinson can play against Watford City and Dickinson Trinity. Devils Lake can play against the Grand Forks schools. We could have St. Mary's vs. Shiloh Christian. Bowman County, Linton-HMB, Sargent County (the new big bad B's) can play against Standing Rock, Lisbon, and Heart River. We'll have an exponential increase in games decided by 8 points or fewer. And the 50+ point margins that have become a nightly occurrence will become much rarer once again.

[packers21]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

But all Wahpeton & Valley City have been feeding me says that participation will go up everywhere and we are doing this #FortheKids

#forthefocusgroup

I agree the numbers may go up for VC, Wahp, Watford but they are going to dwindle a bit for those schools that already struggle with numbers while being in Class B. If this passes, I sure hope they don't demand that you play your district twice so that teams can get more competitive games with the lower level schools and keeping rivalry games in play.

I agree, WalkingStick, I think keeping district opponents to only one mandatory game will make or break this new plan. For your biggest rivals, play them twice, but if you know ahead of time that it won't be competitive, keep it to once per regular season. In boys basketball, look at New Town and Nedrose, or in girls at Hillsboro-Central Valley and Oak Grove. Those programs are down right now and may not be competitive in the new middle class right away. But let them play against Ray, Glenburn, Alexander, Trenton, Max, Larimore, Tri-State, Enderlin, etc. They get competitive games throughout the regular season and if they play hard, grow together as a team, they could be more competitive by tournament time. Meanwhile, Central Cass, Beulah and Four Winds-Minnewaukan can make a schedule where they play all middle class teams all season long and have a really interesting and competitive schedule. I could see Grand Forks Central and Williston even adding games against those middle class schools since they will have fewer mandated games.

I get excited when I think of the scheduling flexibility. We get rid of the 70-point blowouts between Minot vs. Watford City and Fargo Davies vs. Valley City. Century and West Fargo can go to Wyoming or Minneapolis and play 3 competitive non-conference games. Williston and Dickinson can play against Watford City and Dickinson Trinity. Devils Lake can play against the Grand Forks schools. We could have St. Mary's vs. Shiloh Christian. Bowman County, Linton-HMB, Sargent County (the new big bad B's) can play against Standing Rock, Lisbon, and Heart River. We'll have an exponential increase in games decided by 8 points or fewer. And the 50+ point margins that have become a nightly occurrence will become much rarer once again.

I totally agree with you version of open scheduling to bad there's a chance it doesn't happen, I know of schools in the new A already pushing to play regional opponents twice. I love your ideas, there.

The 50 point blow-outs will not change, maybe for you squad, but not throughout the state. It will just be a new set of teams it happens to.

Teams in B can already schedule anyone they want, for close to half of their games.

[Thundersnow]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

BasketballMind, if this plan destroys basketball in North Dakota, it never had a chance to survive. Our current 2-class system is what's destroying basketball in North Dakota, and this proposal is our last chance to slow or stop its destruction.

State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself? As compared to what, 1976? 1990s? 2019?
Obviously the State B hasn't been what it was in its heyday. Was "The B" at its best when it was Hillsboro vs. Epping? That is NEVER happening again. Was it at its best when it was Thompson vs. Shiloh Christian? If that was its best, then we have to do everything we can to make sure that we keep the private schools in Class B so that we can have a private vs. public in the state championship every year.

Last season, we could've theoretically had the following teams in 4 state tournaments, which would've had great atmosphere and competitiveness:

Boys A - Beulah, Dickinson Trinity, Rugby, Four Winds-Minnewaken, Kindred, Wahpeton, Minot Ryan, and Turtle Mountain

Girls A - Grafton, Kindred, Devils Lake, Central Cass, New Town, Watford City, Shiloh Christian and Beulah

Boys B - Enderlin, LaMoure-L-M, Bowman County, Powers Lake, North Border, Harvey-Wells County, Wilton-Wing and Velva

Girls B - Kenmare, Mohall-L-S, Linton-HMB, Garrison, Richland, Benson County, Hettinger-Scranton, and May-Port-C-G

All of those fanbases would've traveled well wherever their state tournament was held. The whole state could've gotten a look at the Hurlburt boys from Enderlin and Tyson Enget from Powers Lake. In girls basketball, we could've seen Quinn Neppl from Benson County and Megan Roob from Richland. While some will argue this "waters down" the state tournament, I think it does the opposite. It gives the state and sport a better chance to showcase more of its best athletes to a statewide audience. Along with the showcasing of the athletes, it gives more fans more reason to pay attention to more games throughout the season and into the postseason. By stubbornly sticking to 2 classes, we've been cheating ourselves out of more and better basketball.

[WalkingStick]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

But all Wahpeton & Valley City have been feeding me says that participation will go up everywhere and we are doing this #FortheKids

#forthefocusgroup

I agree the numbers may go up for VC, Wahp, Watford but they are going to dwindle a bit for those schools that already struggle with numbers while being in Class B. If this passes, I sure hope they don't demand that you play your district twice so that teams can get more competitive games with the lower level schools and keeping rivalry games in play.

I agree, WalkingStick, I think keeping district opponents to only one mandatory game will make or break this new plan. For your biggest rivals, play them twice, but if you know ahead of time that it won't be competitive, keep it to once per regular season. In boys basketball, look at New Town and Nedrose, or in girls at Hillsboro-Central Valley and Oak Grove. Those programs are down right now and may not be competitive in the new middle class right away. But let them play against Ray, Glenburn, Alexander, Trenton, Max, Larimore, Tri-State, Enderlin, etc. They get competitive games throughout the regular season and if they play hard, grow together as a team, they could be more competitive by tournament time. Meanwhile, Central Cass, Beulah and Four Winds-Minnewaukan can make a schedule where they play all middle class teams all season long and have a really interesting and competitive schedule. I could see Grand Forks Central and Williston even adding games against those middle class schools since they will have fewer mandated games.

I get excited when I think of the scheduling flexibility. We get rid of the 70-point blowouts between Minot vs. Watford City and Fargo Davies vs. Valley City. Century and West Fargo can go to Wyoming or Minneapolis and play 3 competitive non-conference games. Williston and Dickinson can play against Watford City and Dickinson Trinity. Devils Lake can play against the Grand Forks schools. We could have St. Mary's vs. Shiloh Christian. Bowman County, Linton-HMB, Sargent County (the new big bad B's) can play against Standing Rock, Lisbon, and Heart River. We'll have an exponential increase in games decided by 8 points or fewer. And the 50+ point margins that have become a nightly occurrence will become much rarer once again.

I totally agree with you version of open scheduling to bad there's a chance it doesn't happen, I know of schools in the new A already pushing to play regional opponents twice. I love your ideas, there.

The 50 point blow-outs will not change, maybe for you squad, but not throughout the state. It will just be a new set of teams it happens to.

Teams in B can already schedule anyone they want, for close to half of their games.

If they want to play "twice" then do the 2pt system for one game so those who want to schedule others are able to...if it's about more opportunities for the athletes then this should be an option by the state/region/district reps.

Yes there will still be the 50-70 point drubbings in all classes. I don't see much change with what some of the R3 teams have done to BCN or what the EDC has done to Fargo South in girls basketball.

[Attack the Process]

Without looking at the current media contracts, I would think adding a third division to basketball would terminate the contract and new contracts would have to be created. One idea I have from looking at the media coverage of the state tournaments is that we need more than one media outlet broadcasting all tournament games.

Since COVID, we have had companies like YourLiveEvent and PSP Network come along. We have BEK as well. There are lots of options for streaming so the general public doesn't need to pay for a subscription to the Fargo Forum.

If ABC wants to keep the streaming rights, they should make WDAY XTRA free for the month of March. Just my two cents on that part of the plan.

I think it's possible that the current media agreement does not allow the immediate move to Super AA, Super A, Super B (boys and girls combined).

That is only an educated guess.

IF the current plan passes, I strongly favor a move to Super AA, Super A, Super B

[WalkingStick]

Without looking at the current media contracts, I would think adding a third division to basketball would terminate the contract and new contracts would have to be created. One idea I have from looking at the media coverage of the state tournaments is that we need more than one media outlet broadcasting all tournament games.

Since COVID, we have had companies like YourLiveEvent and PSP Network come along. We have BEK as well. There are lots of options for streaming so the general public doesn't need to pay for a subscription to the Fargo Forum.

If ABC wants to keep the streaming rights, they should make WDAY XTRA free for the month of March. Just my two cents on that part of the plan.

I think it's possible that the current media agreement does not allow the immediate move to Super AA, Super A, Super B (boys and girls combined).

That is only an educated guess.

IF the current plan passes, I strongly favor a move to Super AA, Super A, Super B

I thought it was ridiculous that they made people pay for a subscription to watch the girls hockey & Class A Basketball events while the boys events were free to watch on normal tv. BEK should be given a chance to be a contracted tournament provider for one of them (they do a great job with Volleyball since WDAY refuses to cover that one).

[Thundersnow]

Attack the Process and WalkingStick, you are both right when it comes to media coverage of the state tournaments. The "exclusive rights" deal may have made sense back in the 1990s, but things have changed drastically since then. It's totally bizarre that a huge number of regular season games are available to watch for free and then the State A Girls Basketball Tournament was put behind a paywall.

[Bisonguy06]

Things will change again in the direction you are wanting. They move very slowly. Case in point, three class basketball.

[BasketballMind]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

BasketballMind, if this plan destroys basketball in North Dakota, it never had a chance to survive. Our current 2-class system is what's destroying basketball in North Dakota, and this proposal is our last chance to slow or stop its destruction.

State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself? As compared to what, 1976? 1990s? 2019?
Obviously the State B hasn't been what it was in its heyday. Was "The B" at its best when it was Hillsboro vs. Epping? That is NEVER happening again. Was it at its best when it was Thompson vs. Shiloh Christian? If that was its best, then we have to do everything we can to make sure that we keep the private schools in Class B so that we can have a private vs. public in the state championship every year.

Last season, we could've theoretically had the following teams in 4 state tournaments, which would've had great atmosphere and competitiveness:

Boys A - Beulah, Dickinson Trinity, Rugby, Four Winds-Minnewaken, Kindred, Wahpeton, Minot Ryan, and Turtle Mountain

Girls A - Grafton, Kindred, Devils Lake, Central Cass, New Town, Watford City, Shiloh Christian and Beulah

Boys B - Enderlin, LaMoure-L-M, Bowman County, Powers Lake, North Border, Harvey-Wells County, Wilton-Wing and Velva

Girls B - Kenmare, Mohall-L-S, Linton-HMB, Garrison, Richland, Benson County, Hettinger-Scranton, and May-Port-C-G

All of those fanbases would've traveled well wherever their state tournament was held. The whole state could've gotten a look at the Hurlburt boys from Enderlin and Tyson Enget from Powers Lake. In girls basketball, we could've seen Quinn Neppl from Benson County and Megan Roob from Richland. While some will argue this "waters down" the state tournament, I think it does the opposite. It gives the state and sport a better chance to showcase more of its best athletes to a statewide audience. Along with the showcasing of the athletes, it gives more fans more reason to pay attention to more games throughout the season and into the postseason. By stubbornly sticking to 2 classes, we've been cheating ourselves out of more and better basketball.

I have been pretty steadfast in that I agree we need three classes. But Josh Johnson and his cronies on the board making the middle class smaller to get votes by teams that benefit from the plan is the problem. I have said from the start that the problem isn't the idea of three classes, it's the back alley deals that appear to have taken place. There are 8 members of the board who have teams that are moving down a class. The middle class shouldn't be 29 teams, shouldn't have devils lake or turtle mountain in it, and shouldn't force girls teams like HCV and Oak Grove to play teams like Devils Lake just because their boys programs have been good. That's been the issue from the start. Total lack of transparency by the board and these barking seals repeating phrases like "Do it for the kids" and "competitive balance" when the plan put in place will do neither of those things.

Take the exact plan that TommiesFan posted the other day, I don't see many people having an issue with that. Small classes still get what they want, Middle classes get a reasonable transition out of B and sorry Class A, but you don't get to get every single thing you want all the time. Devils Lake will have to live with their boys going to state 40% of the time and their girls going 80% of the time. What a tragedy.

Edit: As far as the State Tournament stuff goes. The middle class state tournament atmosphere will be a joke. If it's actually going to be the FargoDome, you won't get the casual attendee there. There will be enough people mad about the way this went down that the attendance at the "Class B" tournament will be less, and I can't imagine what the girls state tournament will look like in either class, especially the middle. I also don't know if "getting to state" is going to be as big of a deal for these teams now because, yes those are 8 pretty good teams, but they're not going to get challenged at all the entire regular season. The Regional tournaments is where you're gonna see some of the worst blowouts of the year. So I guess I see your point about getting "new teams" to the dance, but they're going to walk into it pretty unscathed. And depending on the "TBD" section of the latest plan, they may not be able to schedule up and play the middle class teams they used to in a 2-class system.

Idea is correct, plan has obvious problems, and the board members are showing zero transparency. There should be no rush to pass it for 23-24 and those things need to be ironed out and at least explained to us, rather than, this is the plan so deal with it.

[maddog1971]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

I don't see the number getting any better. One of the schools that has been a reason people have been promoting this is to get the recently successful Kindred school out of Class B. Which by the way Kindred is all for 3 classes. BUT.. After the success in their girls program you would think they would be loaded but... Kindred is playing 2 Freshman alot ( one starts) a 7th Grader as a main bench player, while they are playing 7th Graders as well to fill out the JV program because number are so bad.
So I think numbers problems are a societal or culture problems not a class problem.

[Flip]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary.

If the current plan is this bad moving DL, TM, and WC to AA isn't going to save it.

[BasketballMind]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary.

If the current plan is this bad moving DL, TM, and WC to AA isn't going to save it.

The current plan is bad. What you said is not what’s been recommended to fix it, so not sure what you’re trying to accomplish with that response. The middle class and lower class should not have a 3:1 ratio of teams. 75 and 29 is ridiculous.

[maddog1971]

And it will destroy basketball in North Dakota so that a small group of Class A administrators can get their way by any means necessary. State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself and middle class participation (especially in girls) will plummet worse than it is now.

Congratulations guys, you did it!!!

BasketballMind, if this plan destroys basketball in North Dakota, it never had a chance to survive. Our current 2-class system is what's destroying basketball in North Dakota, and this proposal is our last chance to slow or stop its destruction.

State tournament atmosphere will be a shell of itself? As compared to what, 1976? 1990s? 2019?
Obviously the State B hasn't been what it was in its heyday. Was "The B" at its best when it was Hillsboro vs. Epping? That is NEVER happening again. Was it at its best when it was Thompson vs. Shiloh Christian? If that was its best, then we have to do everything we can to make sure that we keep the private schools in Class B so that we can have a private vs. public in the state championship every year.

Last season, we could've theoretically had the following teams in 4 state tournaments, which would've had great atmosphere and competitiveness:

Boys A - Beulah, Dickinson Trinity, Rugby, Four Winds-Minnewaken, Kindred, Wahpeton, Minot Ryan, and Turtle Mountain

Girls A - Grafton, Kindred, Devils Lake, Central Cass, New Town, Watford City, Shiloh Christian and Beulah

Boys B - Enderlin, LaMoure-L-M, Bowman County, Powers Lake, North Border, Harvey-Wells County, Wilton-Wing and Velva

Girls B - Kenmare, Mohall-L-S, Linton-HMB, Garrison, Richland, Benson County, Hettinger-Scranton, and May-Port-C-G

All of those fanbases would've traveled well wherever their state tournament was held. The whole state could've gotten a look at the Hurlburt boys from Enderlin and Tyson Enget from Powers Lake. In girls basketball, we could've seen Quinn Neppl from Benson County and Megan Roob from Richland. While some will argue this "waters down" the state tournament, I think it does the opposite. It gives the state and sport a better chance to showcase more of its best athletes to a statewide audience. Along with the showcasing of the athletes, it gives more fans more reason to pay attention to more games throughout the season and into the postseason. By stubbornly sticking to 2 classes, we've been cheating ourselves out of more and better basketball.

Well Since Ryan is now in Class B.... they will not be in the middle class state tournament. They will be play for the state Championship every year in the Class B because of politics to get votes. I really hope every real class B school rises up against this plan.

[Thundersnow]

Maddog, I understand your frustration, I too believe Minot Ryan belongs in a middle class. But rebelling against this entire proposal because one school isn't where you personally want it to be is irresponsible. Nobody's perfect plan is going to be presented. What you're suggesting with "every real class B school rising up against this plan" is that we keep the 2-class system. Let me play out two scenarios:

1. This plan passes as it currently is being proposed. Ryan is in B for 2 years. If they win 2 state championships they get moved up to Class A.
2. "Every real class B school rises up against this plan." We stay in a 2-class system. Ryan is a Class B school forever, and so is Shiloh Christian, Oak Grove, and Dickinson Trinity.

[Your daddy]

I can live with one private school in the last class as long as kindred, cc, hcv, thompson, and the other bigger B schools are in the middle class. Now if only they could get those school out of class b football.

[Flying Wallenda]

Maddog, I understand your frustration, I too believe Minot Ryan belongs in a middle class. But rebelling against this entire proposal because one school isn't where you personally want it to be is irresponsible. Nobody's perfect plan is going to be presented. What you're suggesting with "every real class B school rising up against this plan" is that we keep the 2-class system. Let me play out two scenarios:

1. This plan passes as it currently is being proposed. Ryan is in B for 2 years. If they win 2 state championships they get moved up to Class A.
2. "Every real class B school rises up against this plan." We stay in a 2-class system. Ryan is a Class B school forever, and so is Shiloh Christian, Oak Grove, and Dickinson Trinity.

I wonder if the boys at Sargent County, who are on a run they haven't had in a long time, would mind next year losing to Minot Ryan? But who cares right?

[Flying Wallenda]

I can live with one private school in the last class as long as kindred, cc, hcv, thompson, and the other bigger B schools are in the middle class. Now if only they could get those school out of class b football.

HCV girls have won about 3 times the last 5 years, they ABSOLUTELY don't belong in the middle class. But their boys have been decent so I guess that means their girls deserved to be punished also......

[Thundersnow]

Flying Wallenda, I bet Sargent County would enjoy getting a chance to play in a state tournament against Minot Ryan more than losing to Central Cass in a regional tournament.

If losing is the only metric you're using, let's do a quick comparison. Hillsboro-Central Valley girls have won 2 games this year alone. Watford City boys have won 1 game this year (non-conference against Sidney, MT) after two consecutive 0-win seasons. The Watford City boys "ABSOLUTELY don't belong" in Class A. But hey, a 2-class system is better than a 3-class system, so let's just watch Watford City lose to Minot and Century by 70 points twice per season again.

[BasketballMind]

Hypothetically speaking, a team like North Star or MPCG gets a good group of players going when Bishop Ryan moves to A. They win back to back state titles with a group they built up from elementary to high school. They've both had good teams in the past and could easily build it up again. If either one dominates for a few years, are they going to have to move up? I don't like success factor in football and sure don't in basketball. Feels like this plan is being made under the assumption that everyone will just deal with Bishop Ryan for two years and then get them out. That's where the TBD of their success factor portion comes into the equation.

"The Committee will also consider moving a team up a division if a to be determined success threshold is met."

Should consider if Ryan were to get upset at the state tournament and don't win it. Now what? Injuries and upsets happen. Can't move them up if they finish 5th at the state tournament, can you?

Is it going to be based on point differential during the season? Would that be more reasonable? What are we doing about small schools that have a good run and then have a few down years after their strongest class graduates? Can't force Bishop Ryan up at 94 kids, but let MPCG stay down at 161, can you? These are things that any plan should have answers for, and not just "TBD". When is the cutoff for moving a team down? Most ADs have their schedules made for the following year well before any tournaments are played. It's hard enough when they have to do that with a football schedule and there's 1/2 the games to schedule.

My prediction: The powers that be will delay this until the last possible second, pass something that they claim to have "revised with input from everyone", and not a sentence of it will be different.

[BasketballMind]

Flying Wallenda, I bet Sargent County would enjoy getting a chance to play in a state tournament against Minot Ryan more than losing to Central Cass in a regional tournament.

If losing is the only metric you're using, let's do a quick comparison. Hillsboro-Central Valley girls have won 2 games this year alone. Watford City boys have won 1 game this year (non-conference against Sidney, MT) after two consecutive 0-win seasons. The Watford City boys "ABSOLUTELY don't belong" in Class A. But hey, a 2-class system is better than a 3-class system, so let's just watch Watford City lose to Minot and Century by 70 points twice per season again.

Maybe if Class A would make their scheduling flexible to not HAVE to play everyone twice this could be avoided. That's the argument I'm hearing for this "flexible scheduling" so that HCV and Oak Groves girls can continue to "schedule down" so they can get good games. Let Watford City do that then. If we're going to make that the option for the Class B schools, then the Class A schools can do it too. My goodness Class A, that could fix a lot of your problems. Two point conference games. What a concept.

[Flying Wallenda]

Flying Wallenda, I bet Sargent County would enjoy getting a chance to play in a state tournament against Minot Ryan more than losing to Central Cass in a regional tournament.

If losing is the only metric you're using, let's do a quick comparison. Hillsboro-Central Valley girls have won 2 games this year alone. Watford City boys have won 1 game this year (non-conference against Sidney, MT) after two consecutive 0-win seasons. The Watford City boys "ABSOLUTELY don't belong" in Class A. But hey, a 2-class system is better than a 3-class system, so let's just watch Watford City lose to Minot and Century by 70 points twice per season again.

Show me where I said "Watford City Absolutley doesn't belong in class b"?? I'll wait.....

BUT their girls went to state in 2021 (similar to HCV's boys) - so should the Watford boys be punished because of that - like the HCV girls should be for their boys success?

I'm not against 3 classes. However I AM against a condensed middle class done behind closed doors.

As for Sargent County - I won't be at all surprised if they come out of region 1 this year. In fact I hope they do.

[Class B]

[/quote}
I have been pretty steadfast in that I agree we need three classes. But Josh Johnson and his cronies on the board making the middle class smaller to get votes by teams that benefit from the plan is the problem. I have said from the start that the problem isn't the idea of three classes, it's the back alley deals that appear to have taken place. There are 8 members of the board who have teams that are moving down a class. The middle class shouldn't be 29 teams, shouldn't have devils lake or turtle mountain in it, and shouldn't force girls teams like HCV and Oak Grove to play teams like Devils Lake just because their boys programs have been good. That's been the issue from the start. Total lack of transparency by the board and these barking seals repeating phrases like "Do it for the kids" and "competitive balance" when the plan put in place will do neither of those things.
[/quote]

Schoch's school (Velva) voted against it and they are "moving down".