Over the years since the end of class basketball I have waivered back and forth on which side of the fence to be on. Their many pluses and minuses. Those have been debated by school administrators, coaches and even state legislators. I have come to the realization that what was special about Indiana High School basketball is no longer special.
It can be seen specifically in one area. Attendance. For those who can remember, (and that generation is getting older) packed gyms at the sectional, regional, semi state and state was a common site. Those great days are gone.
I realize as well that we will never be able to capture that lightning in a bottle again but I have a proposal that I would like to see people begin talking about all over the state. It would not be as hard as some people think. Here is what I suggest
We are use to the Olympics. Every four years we get excited to see a special event take place. I believe if we had the Olympics every year it would not be special.
Here is what we need to try................................................... Let's go back to the original state tournament for basketball. Try it and if we like it do it every four years, both boys and girls.
As part of Indiana History and the legacy as Hoosiers we have our students across our state experience something that their parents and grandparents remember as students.
Sell it as an academic opportunity just not an athletic experience. It is a great Indiana history moment as a history education major I can see this taking off.
We would put everyone back where they were before class basketball. Each school would return to their last original Sectional site. You would have to add schools that have joined the IHSAA but it would be fairly simple to do.
Start in 2014 that would give everyone plenty of time to prepare.
If the attendance is bad then bag it. I would love to hear what people think and pass the idea on and see what others think.
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Coach, I can't believe you ever wavered! Class basketball was a horrible idea from the beginning. I remember appearing on a Mishawaka radio station with you and you let me speak my mind about it. Good thing you have finaly seen the truth - 23 years later! Class basketball was an invention of administators who wanted to dumb down acheivement and rob us small school kids of the opportunity to slay the giants. Its a darn shame.
ReplyDeleteWhile I like that you have finally come around on this issue, once every four years is not enough. What if my kid is a freshman when the real tournament occurs? Then he couldn't ever participate in the "big dance".
Plus, what are we teaching our kids when we say, well, once in a while you'll have high standards, but 3 out of 4 years you'll have to settle for mediocrity? This would have to occur every 2 years at minimum. But I love the fact that people are beginning to admit that the emporer has no clothes.
Here is another idea - not as good as a full return to one common tourney, but maybe a compromise - how about class sectionals with regionals, semi-state and state being all together? That way, the people who want to dumb down the tournament would be satisfied and those of us who want to compete could still compete.
To satisfy the class basketball fans, we could even award participation trophies to ALL the teams and give them orange slices at halftime. They'd love it. - Bobby Kloska