The high school playoff season provides a tremendous opportunity for young people. The new football playoff format in Missouri has been a great success.
To have two teams from each district instead of just one has allowed twice as many to enjoy the process.
One change I would still like to see would be for the Missouri State High School Activities Association to consider seeding the teams after the first round of state play. A seeding system would open the possibility for the two best teams to face off in the championship game.
For the past 15 years, the state championship games have been blow-out games at all of the class levels. MSHSAA falls back on a travel excuse for not using a seeding format. I know of very few schools who would be unwilling to travel to have a better opportunity to play in a state championship game.
Another excuse offered is that other sports do not seed for their championships. I disagree. Baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball and basketball all seed for district play which is very much part of state play. Track, swimming and wrestling are also seeded throughout the playoff process.
I have tried to convince the MSHSAA people that attendance could be much greater if the true top two teams in the state at each class level played for a championship. The gates would be much better and therefore more revenue could conceivably be raised.
As an example, if Blue Springs and Blue Springs South were to compete for a state championship, I’m sure that out of the 50,000-plus residents, a huge number would attend that game. If you multiply that across the other classes, the number could be quite significant.
Seeding would increase fan interest as well provide a business opportunity. I know I appear to be critical of the present system – I’m not. The two-team system is a definite improvement, but why not make it even better?
• Bill Snyder never stops amazing people with his greatness. Can you imagine if he had a team with the talent of Oklahoma or Texas?
• What are the Royals doing? It looks like once again it’s a bottom line decision. I’m not sure we have a prayer to improve upon the debacle of last year.
• The 36-0 record of Northwest Missouri State University since 2005 in one of the toughest NCAA Division II conferences in the country is unreal!
• How good is the KU basketball team? They are redshirting players who would be three-year starters in the rest of the Big 12.
• My quote of the week is from soccer great Pele: “The more difficult a victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”
Blue Springs, MO —
