Indy5 wrote:Heimer, I actually agree with all your points, except for Mr. and Miss Basketball being open to all classes, I think it should be the overall best career player in the state. Is it hard to compare, yes, but it still can be done.
Second, we don't need 3 classes. Privates don't recruit at all and this year was a big exception to what normally happens. Typically, there aren't 3 privates at state.
GRIDIRON GURU wrote:Since we are talking about a fantacy world how about moving Girls basketball back to the Fall!!!
Then we can have a three class basketball tournement
Parents who have a son and a daughter playing basketball can watch them play.
No fight for gym time for youth through varsity
No fight for fan support, fans and community are going to go watch the team that is better.
I took tickets at a few basketball games this year, 300 dollars for a home girls basketball game, 1600 dollars for a home boys basketball game. If the girls game was in the fall with no conflicts = more revenue
Only have to schedule around one game on friday night in the fall.
Hot cheerleaders for boys Basketball.
No storm outs, for girls basketball in the fall, safer travel, less fuel, don't have to let the bus run all night.
You can play jr high through varsity on the same night, your whole family can be there.
Oh and the most important thing hot cheerleaders for boys basketball.
heimer wrote:The TV networks have held the NDHSAA by the you-know-whats, threatening to not air the small school tourney if they go to three classes. If you dig, you will find this to be true. I have it on the record, using those journalist skills that I do have. They are just exercised sparingly in the name of pi$$ing people off.
ndlionsfan wrote:I agree that girls bball should be moved back to the fall. It has been a disaster to that sport (participation and fan base) by moving it to winter. If not, at least switch the seasons back and make some changes to the vball and fball schedule to make it work for the girls. Switching the seasons will be catastrophic for the girls. I'm a big bball fan, but only watched two games after the boys state B was done. It just felt to me that the bball seasons were over and I forgot all about the girls. Only two games I saw were the Carrington semifinal and championships...the state tourney didn't even peak my interest.
heimer wrote:This will upset many, and I'll be labeled a hundred different things, all of which are false, and I really don't care. If the mods don't like it, they can take it down and censor me. If you don't like it, respond. Whatever floats your boat.
Last things first: The Mr. and Miss Basketball awards are a complete joke. I understand the desire to honor a player's achievements, but the current award structure in ND is a complete mess. First, the award lumps all of the Class A and B players together, when no one voting will ever put the effort into seeing them all in action, television won't allow us to see all of them in action, and they never play each other or similar teams for an accurate comparison. To lump them all together is an impossible task, one that sets the award up for failure.
Next on this topic, the selection criteria is ambiguous at best. To me, there is a difference between Mr. or Miss Basketball, and what we would consider to be a traditional "Player of the Year" award. The title of Mr. or Miss Basketball, IMO, means that everything you do throughout your career exemplifies the best that high school basketball has to offer in our state. That means more than stats. What are you like in the classroom? What other activities are you in? What do you do in your community. To me, all of these should come into play. Yes, basketball performance should be first and foremost in the recipe, but if you're going to take the label of a person that represents basketball in the state, you should truly represent everything we celebrate about the high school game, and many of the things I mentioned are included in our expectations of high-performing student-athletes.
Solution: Award a Mr. and Miss Basketball for all classes, and also award a Player of the Year for all classes. Does it water down the award? Possibly, but I think it would be a heck of a lot better than trying to compare a Dickinson player with a Midway-Minto player or a Standing Rock player with a Grand Forks Central player, when there really is no basis for comparison whatsoever.
Make those in the running for Mr. and Miss Basketball list their accomplishments on and off the floor and have a selection process. Player of the Year is the best player this season on the floor, and it does not have to be a senior. Mr. and Miss Basketball must be a senior, as they will "run" on their record of their entire career.
Okay, moving on.
This was, quite frankly, the worst season of Class B basketball in a long time, perhaps ever in the modern era. Districts with six teams sending four to regionals, three privates in the boys state field, and girls state games that had a hard time surpassing regional qualifiers in quality. The changes the state made landed with a thud.
Meanwhile, Class A continued it's stagnant state tournament. No excitement or atmosphere for just another tournament after basically all the teams played each other a week ago. The boys tournament saw three WDA teams advance to the semi-finals, and the girls saw all east semis and all west consolation. Basically, a true disaster.
I've been accused of being a "glass is empty when it's half-full" guy. I'll own that, because I see trend, not just the present. This is the first year that Class A regionals began to rival B states for attendance. The B boys attendance was off, the B girls was hideous, and the flip of the seasons probably didn't help.
Solutions:
First, put the seasons back the way they were. This idea that girls volleyball players need the extra time to get ready is a joke. Football players play a much more physical game, and those that are Class B players get the least amount of recovery time. The switch of seasons did nothing for attendance at state B girls. If we have to, start volleyball earlier in the fall, and flip the weekends of volleyball and football finals. Yes, I know that runs the risk of one more week of bad weather. If we need to, start both seasons at the same time, and give the football players an extra week off between semis and finals.
Second, I'm sorry, but if there was ever a call for a three-class system, now is the time, and I'll take it even if Valley City stays A and sees no difference in competition. There's no denying that, whether it's recruiting or kids wanting to "take their talent to South Beach", the privates have a considerable advantage over the rest of Class B schools, and they should be in a different class. Some of the bigger Bs should be there as well. For every Grafton, Central Cass, Fargo Oak Grove, Dickinson Trinity, Minot Ryan, and Carrington in a state tournament, there are smaller schools that were defeated in the first round of regionals, the semis, and the finals. There's little to stop these teams from advancing back to where they were this year next year. Sure, a team or two will have to reload, but who will replace them? Likely another of the same team in their region.
If the classes are AA, A, and B, then play a state tournament schedule AA and A girls first together first, AA and A boys together second, and B boys and girls last. Require the TV contract to air the semifinals, third place and final games of all three classes. With the shakup of classes, it's doubtful that the B boys and girls could not be held in one place together. Permanently locate the B girls and boys in Bismarck, as those teams would likely have, in any given year, the highest travel burdens. The other two tournaments become revenue tournaments, and could be rotated as currently takes place. If the B boys went off with all the oil activity in Minot sopping up rooms, then Bismarck has enough rooms for a new-look B boys and girls combined. All three tournaments would make money and be well attended.
One class is nice, but there's one huge flaw. With only one tournament, there's not enough revenue to run what the NDHSAA has to run. That's a problem, and there's not enough teams out there to fix it through additional regional tournaments.
The quality was down, the participation was down, the fan turnout was down, and the media attention was down. Let the nay-sayers start picking it apart, but the trend of quality, participation, fan turnout, and media attention cannot be ignored. If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward, and the status quo won't do.
Run4Fun2009 wrote:I don't disagree with many of your points...just the three class system...Maybe I'm afraid of change; but I don't see it changing any time soon.
I do agree though that we need to determine what Mr./Ms. Basketball is nowadays...we need a clearer definition.
heimer wrote:The quality was down, the participation was down, the fan turnout was down, and the media attention was down. Let the nay-sayers start picking it apart, but the trend of quality, participation, fan turnout, and media attention cannot be ignored. If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward, and the status quo won't do.
Indy5 wrote:Heimer, I actually agree with all your points, except for Mr. and Miss Basketball being open to all classes, I think it should be the overall best career player in the state. Is it hard to compare, yes, but it still can be done.
Second, we don't need 3 classes. Privates don't recruit at all and this year was a big exception to what normally happens. Typically, there aren't 3 privates at state.
Run4Fun2009 wrote:Next year there probably won't be any.
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