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OHSAA Expands Playoffs


GP1

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The OHSAA rewards mediocrity with this decision. Do 1/3 of all high school teams really deserve to make the playoffs? I hate to say, "When I was growing up", but when I was growing up, a high school team had to actually be good to make the playoffs. In three years of high school football, I only lost in four regular season games and played in the playoffs only once. Now, teams can lose four games in a season and make the playoffs. Something doesn't smell right.

Must be some kind of crisis to cause this decision to be made...Maybe the OHSAA is running out of money, because it can't be because too many teams aren't making the playoffs...Too many teams are ALREADY making the playoffs.

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I like the expanded playoffs. It is not such a rarity that the #8 team in a given region beats the #1 team in round #1. The rankings are often BS.

Like you, I'm an old-timer. Back in the 70's and 80's, McDonald High School had plenty of 10-0 teams that sat home come playoff time. I guarantee several would have won state titles. But if you're stuck in a conference that doesn't produce a lot of "computer points," you used to get screwed. Not anymore.

Likewise, teams like Cardinal Mooney play a D-1 schedule, but are forced to compete in the D-III or D-IV playoffs. So a Cardinal Mooney 6-4 regular season is typically better than the 10-0 record of any other D-III or D-IV playoff team.

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Back in the 70's and 80's, McDonald High School had plenty of 10-0 teams that sat home come playoff time. I guarantee several would have won state titles.

McDonald or Massillon? How did McDonald get so good with everyone wearing those big red shoes?

Revamp the playoffs, don't make them bigger.

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Expanded playoffs suits me fine. My second favorite football team next to the Zips, the Hillsdale Falcons missed the division V playoffs after a nice 9-1 season. Their only blemish was a week 10 heartbreaker to the eventual division IV state champion Norwayne Bobcats. In my biased opinion, we should have made the tournament, especially when you consider the Smithville Smithies, a team vanquished by the Falcons 34-21, did.

Not that it bothers me or anything.

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GP1 doesn't South Carolina have expanded playoffs too? I thought when my friend was down there trying to educate the youth he mentioned almost every team down there made the "playoffs".

Until Ohio realizes that Cardinal Mooney and Manchester (despite similar student body counts) are not exactly at the same level and starts making all the parochial schools play in the same divisions, I won't pay attention to their "changes".

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Expanded playoffs suits me fine. My second favorite football team next to the Zips, the Hillsdale Falcons missed the division V playoffs after a nice 9-1 season. Their only blemish was a week 10 heartbreaker to the eventual division IV state champion Norwayne Bobcats. In my biased opinion, we should have made the tournament, especially when you consider the Smithville Smithies, a team vanquished by the Falcons 34-21, did.

Not that it bothers me or anything.

But my Smithies beat those state champion Norwayne Bobcats :D

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GP1 doesn't South Carolina have expanded playoffs too? I thought when my friend was down there trying to educate the youth he mentioned almost every team down there made the "playoffs".

Until Ohio realizes that Cardinal Mooney and Manchester (despite similar student body counts) are not exactly at the samvel and starts making all the parochial schools play in the same divisions, I won't pay attention to their "changes".

It is an expanded playoff system/joke. Last year, the first round had a game between two giants of football well deserving of being in the playoffs. One team was 2-8 and the other was 3-7. For those two teams, the playoffs are punishment for having a bad season. For one of them, it is even more punishment for winning a meaningless game (sort of like going deep into the CBI Tournament). Think of the pep talk:

Coach: "Men...It's a new season."

National Honor Society student on the team thinks to himself: "Ya, and we still stink."

I know this is hard for people to understand, but if there were no high school playoffs, the world wouldn't come to an end. There was nothing wrong with what the state was doing already. This is a money grab for the OHSAA because people don't go to the championship games like they used to (because Massillon and Canton are horrible places to visit when the weather is cold) and they need to make up the money. Justice is secondary.

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This is a stupid idea. The playoffs are watered down badly enough as it is. I'd rather see a creation of a "Super 32" division in which these powerhouse programs can opt into or be placed into regardless of size, then leave the rest of the 6 divisions alone.

If they're going to keep the harbin system, hopefully they add a rule where you must win 5 games to make the playoffs. As it is now, 5-5 gets a couple teams in each year, it would be ridiculous to have 4-6 starting to get you in (I know it's happened a couple of times already...Walsh made it at 3-6 one year if I remember correctly.)

Keener '92...Hillsdale fell prey to one of the more loaded regions I can remember in a long time. Four 10-0 squads is pretty crazy...on a side note...I went to Ashland High School with a Keener, maybe a relative?

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I like the expansion, not that it will really help my high school anytime soon (1-9 record despite having the no. 1 DIII QB and no. 1 and 3 WRs).

However, if the OHSAA really wanted to help high school sports, they would make a separate division for private schools. This isn't football related, but my high school was one of the better DII teams for basketball this year. We have 2 6'7+ guys, a 6'4 guy (the no. 1 WR), and a 6'+ guy in our starting lineup. I think we only lost 1 or 2 games all year. Norton ended up having to play St. V in the sectional finals or semi-finals. Only bout 7 guys deep, Norton took St. V down to the wire. This shot sent the game into

. We ended up losing in OT. There was a chance Norton could have made further than just sectionals, but we will never get a chance to find out because private schools are mixed in.

For football last year, I believe a local school, Wadsworth, lost to St. Ignatius from Cleveland in the state playoffs, or a private school like them. They were undefeated until that point.

I like the expansion, but a private school division; that's what really needs to be done.

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Keener '92...Hillsdale fell prey to one of the more loaded regions I can remember in a long time. Four 10-0 squads is pretty crazy...on a side note...I went to Ashland High School with a Keener, maybe a relative?

Yeah, you're right about my Falcons, but it was still a bummer. :(

There are so many Keeners in Ashland/Wayne/Holmes counties and I know a small fraction that are for sure relatives. There are a lot of distant cousins around now since back in de olden days ven de Keeners ver jus de poor dirt farmers, dey needed lots of de childrens to help viz de chores.

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Maybe I am naive, or maybe Im biased since I went to a private high school... but exactly what is the point of separating them? Just because they are a private school, that somehow makes them worse or some how less deserving of playing with the big boys? If anything, private schools have an inherent disadvantage because they cost tuition money to attend and don't always get the biggest, strongest, most athletic players. At my high school, a D3 school, we got some pretty good players for all the sports, but the bigger-name public schools often had the physical advantage...

So... I guess if someone could show me why these schools aren't deserving of being mixed in, that would help. I just feel its a bit unfair to segregate them from everyone else just because they're private. Lets not forget some very good athletic departments are at such schools. Iggy, St Ed's, St V, Xavier, Walsh... hell even my high school has a bunch of state titles in quite a few different sports...

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Maybe I am naive, or maybe Im biased since I went to a private high school... but exactly what is the point of separating them? Just because they are a private school, that somehow makes them worse or some how less deserving of playing with the big boys? If anything, private schools have an inherent disadvantage because they cost tuition money to attend and don't always get the biggest, strongest, most athletic players. At my high school, a D3 school, we got some pretty good players for all the sports, but the bigger-name public schools often had the physical advantage...

So... I guess if someone could show me why these schools aren't deserving of being mixed in, that would help. I just feel its a bit unfair to segregate them from everyone else just because they're private. Lets not forget some very good athletic departments are at such schools. Iggy, St Ed's, St V, Xavier, Walsh... hell even my high school has a bunch of state titles in quite a few different sports...

Private schools can recruit.

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Private schools can recruit.

and thats their fault? their enrollment isn't automatic like the public schools are. they have to convince players (and their parents) to come to their school by offering full or even partial scholarships to play for them. Sometimes theres no scholarship and its all financial aid and convincing them based on the education they'd get. If anything, they have the biggest disadvantage if you ask me and its only fair those schools get to compete against the public schools that their student body are probably friends with. I know as a kid going to a private school, it was always fun to get a chance to play my friends at the public schools.

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I hate to say, "When I was growing up", but when I was growing up, a high school team had to actually be good to make the playoffs.

I can't help getting a laugh out of GP1's reminiscence. That's because when I was growing up, they didn't HAVE playoffs. As I recall, the first year the OHSAA had FB playoffs was 1975 (when I was a junior at Green and they did make the playoffs, but I considered myself grown up by then). Guess that makes me a real ol' fut. ;)

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Maybe I am naive, or maybe Im biased since I went to a private high school... but exactly what is the point of separating them?

In order to make failures feel better about themselves by giving them a venue where they don't have to compete against the best, which will ultimately provide them with a false sense of success. It's about feelings and not accomplishment...a horrible lesson for high school kids.

To quote the great, 16 time World Champion, Nature Boy Rick Flair, "To be the man, you've go to beat the man."

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GP1 doesn't South Carolina have expanded playoffs too? I thought when my friend was down there trying to educate the youth he mentioned almost every team down there made the "playoffs".

Until Ohio realizes that Cardinal Mooney and Manchester (despite similar student body counts) are not exactly at the same level and starts making all the parochial schools play in the same divisions, I won't pay attention to their "changes".

Amen.

My D4 school made the playoffs once in their history, and wound up playing Cardinal Moody in the first round. The following year Mooney was kicked up two divisions. Now how are we suppose to feel about that BS?

I know how we DO feel.

But then again, my son's team got booted from the playoffs last year by a public school who had Michigan residents on the roster. Just goes to show you how much the OHSAA cars about fairness and schools that don't recruit...

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My D4 school made the playoffs once in their history, and wound up playing Cardinal Moody in the first round. The following year Mooney was kicked up two divisions. Now how are we suppose to feel about that BS?

It's high school football. The fate of the free world does not hang in the balance with high school playoffs. My advice is to not feel anything about it.

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Maybe I am naive, or maybe Im biased since I went to a private high school... but exactly what is the point of separating them? Just because they are a private school, that somehow makes them worse or some how less deserving of playing with the big boys? If anything, private schools have an inherent disadvantage because they cost tuition money to attend and don't always get the biggest, strongest, most athletic players. At my high school, a D3 school, we got some pretty good players for all the sports, but the bigger-name public schools often had the physical advantage...

So... I guess if someone could show me why these schools aren't deserving of being mixed in, that would help. I just feel its a bit unfair to segregate them from everyone else just because they're private. Lets not forget some very good athletic departments are at such schools. Iggy, St Ed's, St V, Xavier, Walsh... hell even my high school has a bunch of state titles in quite a few different sports...

The private schools are the big boys. My point is these private schools sandbag by staying in a 5th or6th dinision.

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In order to make failures feel better about themselves by giving them a venue where they don't have to compete against the best, which will ultimately provide them with a false sense of success. It's about feelings and not accomplishment...a horrible lesson for high school kids.

To quote the great, 16 time World Champion, Nature Boy Rick Flair, "To be the man, you've go to beat the man."

So you guys don't see the disadvantage public schools having of forming a team of what they have within a geographical area, after it has been picked apart by the private school recruiters?

If me and my sons were on that side of the coin, we wouldn't see what was wrong with that picture either.

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