The Lafayette Journal & Courier has an editorial poking some gentle fun at the National months, days, and weeks of this or that; then proposes that March be devoted to basketball.
The editorial board notes the obvious. March isn’t what it once was in Indiana before the IHSAA committed the greatest crime against humanity since . . . well, did a bad thing – I’m afraid I was about to overstate things somewhat.
Call us old-fashioned, but we miss the old Indiana high school tournament, when high-enrollment Goliath schools tipped off against the small-town Davids — often with the same outcome as the biblical story. The madness of March seemed that much more manic when everyone played everyone else.
For my part, seared in my mind are Richmond’s epic struggles against Connersville in the Regionals, battling for an opportunity to go to the semi-state at Hinkle. The semi-state games at Hinkle were as electric as anything I’ve ever experienced. The sun streaming in through those enormous windows, the bleachers flexing as the student section jumped up and down in unison. And, of course, the state finals where Richmond teams went to lose to Marion two out of three years. (But, there was that one year when Richmond finally pulled it off.)
So, anyway, I could sign on for an effort to designate March as basketball month; but I’d suggest an amendment to compel the IHSAA to go back to one class basketball. Because that’s the right way. That’s the Indiana way.
I’m old enough to recall 1967 when Cloverdale finished the season undefeated.
A compromise would be allowing a tournament for the four class champions.
Another option would be an interstate championship invovling KY, IL, OH and MI.
I’m a reasonable guy under other circumstances, but not here. I want my old tournament back.
Old tournament is choice number 1
(What were these people thinking???)
The others are concessions.
Tell ya what, if we can’t return to the greatness of Indiana high school basketball (What were they thinking? They were listening to a shouting majority and Money, not necessarily in that order. It is, rather, a substitute for thought), then could we at least have an ISHAA which makes an effort to be fair, when that’s the supposed purpose? Indianapolis Broad Ripple, for example, is still playing in 4A despite being a magnet school with a 2A enrollment for at least the last two years; it will be downgraded next year. What was the ISHAA doing in the meantime? Not counting ticket sales, we know.
They still play basketball? I’m going to have to check out some games.
I watched some of the girls’ state finals; there were more people on the bench than in the stands. I think next year they should book the Wigwam.
(And by the way, kudos, as always, to Indianapolis media, which essentially ignored the thing because there weren’t any Marion county schools–and, more importantly, no big suburban donut-county factories–in any of the finals.)
Speaking of which, did you see this ? Turns out that, somehow, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the IHSAA really doesn’t have anything to say about that sort of unfairness.
I think class basketball was a serious mistake (and one which should never have been allowed to get off the ground), not an absolute Evil, but as usual it’s a mistake which just coincidentally happens to mirror the desires of the wealthy (here suburban and exoburban districts with relatively few money problems), and solve a problem they defined in a way they wanted it solved. I realize that golf is an expensive pastime. I’m married to a former competitive swimmer, so I know the sort of dedication that goes into it. But when the average participant spends annually the sort of money which brings howls of frigging protest when we spent it educating students in urban schools, then maybe those things can afford to be club sports, and the state athletic association could focus on bringing fair and affordable athletic competition to every student, rather than filling the trophy cases of a few more rich districts. Again, I think our real problem–and it’s particularly visible in athletics at all levels–is that we are severely, severely, deficient in shame these days.