Perspective

I always hate it when the high school playoffs end. I can still get my football fix with the college and pro games, but I know the end of the high school football season tends to result in less traffic to this site, fewer posts, fewer good conversations, etc. With that in mind, and constantly reminding myself that with one or two exceptions I've never personally met any of the folks who post on this site, I feel a sense of community here. So, I just wanted to take a minute or two out of my hectic, last-minute shopping/wrapping day and wish everyone here a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! Just remember, when things get a little crazy over the holidays, just try to keep everything in Perspective.

Depends on how good the kids are.

I did not watch the BoD meeting where this issue was discussed. Thank you for enlightening me. If I can reframe what you have said, it goes like this: We are the FHSAA. We are the governing body for high school sports, including football. Therefore, we make all the rules and are responsible for making sure the member schools follow those rules. A number of the member schools are not following the rules and, as a result, now dominate the high school football scene. We can't figure out how to do our job to prevent these schools from breaking the rules and continuing to dominate the high school football scene. So, instead of figuring out how to do our job, we'll just come up with a way to make all those teams play each other at the end of the year . . . and if a few rule-following teams that have a once-in-a-generation season get caught up in the net when we cast it out, well, sorry. Such is life and you know we're all about teaching life lessons.

Pride. The right to claim yourself the indisputable best team in the State, which could lead down a path to a national championship. The "recruiting advantage"/ability to attract transfers if you can hold yourself out as one of the dozen or so elite teams in the state. The advantage it might give you to get kids scholarship opportunities. I understand your question. If there were a way to reach out to every coach (or athletic director or school administrator) of every team that I mentioned to ask them whether they'd be willing to play in such a group, I'd do it, but I don't think that's realistic. I've suggested in the past that you might have to dangle a carrot out there to attract 12 teams. Perhaps let those schools actively recruit as long as they stay in the division (heck, most of those teams do it anyway in one form or another). Finally, yes, money could be a factor. I've got to think that the championship game would be a pretty good draw and might even warrant a TV contract. The FHSAA could do a little revenue sharing with the top team, the top two teams or even all the teams in that division (not that I particularly like that idea, but in this NIL day and age, I could easily see it happening). As for a game this year, I suspect there might be some folks at STA or West Boca (or even AHP or NW) that would not be in favor of simply letting Chaminade and Venice play in the championship game.

I remain firm in my opinion that if there is going to be an "open group" or "premier league," it should be completely voluntary. The group should consist of about 12 teams. The teams ought to be determined in advance of a given season (not at the end of the regular season) and teams should be committed to staying in the Open Group/Premier League for some predetermined period of time (say, 2-3 years). After that, the team can drop out if they choose and a new team can join. These teams should be required to play a minimum number of regular season games against other OG/PL teams; the remainder of their games can be played against other teams (old rivalries, out-of-state opponents, etc). All teams (or, depending on the number of teams in the division, most of the teams) participate in the playoffs, with seeding based upon whatever formula the FHSAA is using for all other classifications. Winner becomes the preeminent state champion. All other teams in the state get placed into six divisions based on student body size, as has been the case for many years. All that said, I'd be curious what teams in the state would choose to participate. Consider these teams: STA, Chaminade, Cocoa, Central, Northwestern, Lakeland, Venice, Columbus, one or two teams from the greater Orlando area (for example, Osceola, Apopka, Jones, Dr. Philips and Lake Mary), one or two teams from the Tampa Bay area (Armwood, TBT) and maybe a team from the Jacksonville area if they don’t mind a good bit of traveling. I am opposed to the idea of skimming the top 8-10 teams off the top at the end of the regular season and forcing those teams to play in the Open League playoffs. Teams from the smaller classifications deserve the opportunity to play for a state title (best example I can think of would be Berkeley last year). As always, just my two cents.

There is certainly a side of me that would not have wanted to see either Lakeland or STA win a blowout game like the one last night. Then, again, there's also a side of me that may have secretly enjoyed seeing either Lakeland or STA lose a blowout game like the one last night.

Congrats, Darter!

10-7 WB at the half.

The CCC-Berkeley game was 21-14 at the end of the 3rd quarter and CCC added a TD in the 4th quarter to make it a 28-14 final. I'm not sure I would consider that getting 'boat raced.' That said, it is pretty surprising how many kids from the Lakewood area turn out the be Catholic and end up at CCC.

I couldn't agree with you more. In my experience, however, it takes one of the big boys getting screwed over or a team that is in area that still has a large high school sports media presence to make an issue out it before you get any response from the FHSAA. That's what I was hoping would happen.

OK. Gotcha. But, if you could, explain to me how a kid goes from 7th grade to the 9th "in error."

Topnotch, my post was a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek response to the fact that someone actually had reported Northwestern. That said, the impression that many people have (and that I have formed on my own after conversations with South Florida coaches) is that Miami-Dade coaches have always been reluctant to turn in another Miami-Dade school for fear that their own misdoings would be brought to light if they did so. Thus the 'honor among thieves' comment.

So, for those who don't have the time or inclination to find the Palm Beach Post article, here's the gist of it: According to records confirmed by the Miami-Dade School District, the student enrolled in a Miami-Dade public high school (presumably, but not necessarily, Northwestern) in the fall of 2020 for the 2020-21 school year. After three days, the student withdrew and later took virtual classes. According to records/transcripts that were provided to the FHSAA (presumably by Northwestern), the student was in the 8th grade in the 2020-21 school year and school attendance records indicate the student did not enter the 9th grade in the 2020-21 school year. The rule issue is that a kid is limited to 8 consecutive semesters of eligibility and the clock starts running when he starts 9th grade. So, if he started in 2020, he would not have been eligible to play in 2024. So, school district records seem to indicate that the kid "started" 9th grade when he enrolled in 2020, but Northwestern school records seem to indicate that he didn't start 9th grade until the 2021-22 school year. Clearly, there is a contradiction in the records. Did the kid try to skip from 7th grade to 9th? Or did he finish 8th grade in the spring of 2020, enroll in high school in the fall of 2020 and then immediately withdraw (for whatever reasons) and decide to take a gap year and/or spend the rest of that school year taking virtual classes? All that said, and understanding what the rule says, if the kid went to high school for 3 days and then, for whatever reasons, withdrew (and, as a result, did not participate in any high school sports that entire year), and was never too old to play, I'd be inclined to give the kid a waiver to allow him to get in his four years of high school sports. But, typically, the waiver would have had to be requested before the season began and not after . . . but if the Northwestern school records are accurate, there would have been no reason to ask for the waiver until this became an issue. Bottom line for me, if the school's records truly did not show any record of him attending for 3 days in the fall of 2020 (somewhat hard to believe if the kid did actually show up, as the school district records indicate), I'm okay with the FHSAA findings.

So, is there a team that's really getting screwed as a result of the FHSAA using 'current' rankings instead of 'end of regular season' rankings? From what I read above, all the teams that would have been playing at home are still playing at home and all the teams that would have been traveling are still traveling (unless, of course, the rankings themselves are still skewed). But, assuming the only changes are the order of the 1 & 2 seeds and the order of 3 & 4 seeds, is there a team that is now having to travel a few hundred miles further or play a team that is clearly better than the other host team? Here's why I ask this question: as we all know, high school sports don't get nearly the amount of coverage they deserve or used to get in the local media. But newspaper writers might find this topic interesting and worth digging into. It's going to take someone associated with one of those adversely affected teams that has an axe to grind to bring it to the attention of the media so that the media can start digging.

Nolebull, I PM'd you, but don't worry about it. Just know that I tried.

I hear you, but whether the coach knows or not is largely irrelevant. The player, the player's parent(s)/guardian(s), the coaches and the school administration all play a part in making sure the players are eligible. If any one of them screws up, it can cost the whole team. This one may be on the administration. But, the whole team may end up paying for it.

Big picture here: The idea of "self reporting" is a little bit of a misnomer. Here's my understanding of the way the process works. Typically, someone not associated with the school in question provides information to the FHSAA suggesting the school committed impropriety of some sort. The FHSAA then takes a look at it to see if the information passes the sniff test ("Hmmm, if this is true, this looks like it could be an issue"). If so, the FHSAA sends the information to the school. Importantly, at this point, the FHSAA has not conducted any sort of investigation; they just pass the information along to the school. Upon receipt, the school is expected to essentially do their own, internal investigation to "explain" the information that was passed along. If the school determines that they may have done something wrong, they then "self report" the violation. The FHSAA then determines if, in fact, a violation has occurred (which they almost always do if a school self-reports a violation) and, if so, what the appropriate sanction should be. The FHSAA then notifies the school. Generally speaking, the FHSAA rarely ever conducts its own investigation. However, when they do, if they find the school did something wrong and should have 'self-reported' the misconduct, the FHSAA will come down a little harder on the school than if the school had acknowledged the misconduct from the start. Again, this is just my understanding. Feel free to chime in, especially if you've somehow been involved in the process in the last few years.

I can tell you, without hesitation, that I have an equal amount of disdain for any and all schools that bend and break the rules in order to give themselves a competitive advantage on the field or court. I don't care whether those schools are in south Florida, southwest Florida or central Florida.

Could simply be a due process issue . . . i.e., if the matter just now came to the attention of the FHSAA, they would have to give the school notice, the school would have to be given time to investigate (I'll write more about that process later) and respond, appropriate board might have to meet, possible appeals, etc. While I'm generally not in favor of allowing "guilty" teams to participate in the playoffs, I also understand the general presumption of "innocent until proven guilty" and realize it would be tremendously unfair to punish a team for their presumptive transgressions and make them miss the playoffs only to have the school go through the process and not be deserving of punishment.

The coach was quoted as sayiing: "Playing with ineligible players . . . recruiting . . . providing benefits to potential transfer students . . . that's all pretty commonplace down here in South Florida. I needed to come up with something that stood out! Something that set me apart from all the others. Something neither Miami-Dade nor the FHSAA could ignore. I gotta say, I think I hit this one out of the park."

THAT S--T, I'm holding you personally responsible for this!

I’m shocked, surprised, stunned, dazed, upset, flabbergasted, astonished, amazed, flummoxed, baffled, confounded, bemused and bewildered by such revelations. It’s absolutely unimaginable. It’s almost as if someone down in South Florida has said “Forget our long-standing traditions of ‘honor among thieves’ and 'snitches get stiches,' If I’m going down, everyone is going down!” (Cue the maniacal laughter).

So, I'll take Plant and the 26 points you're giving. $100 in Monopoly money.

Julian, I'm not necessarily making the argument that Plant's going to win this game, but I'll throw a few things out there for consideration. The first game was scheduled during the Helene/Milton visits and ended up getting pushed back almost a week and was played on a Thursday night. Prep time was curtailed (for both schools) as Hillsborough County generally won't let schools practice when school is canceled. Dad's Stadium -- especially the student section -- was eerily empty that game, much to my surprise. It was just a weird time in South Tampa, with many families temporarily displaced (or at least more concerned about things other than a football game). Bottom line: the "big advantage" that Dad's normally provides was not an advantage at all for the first game. As for the game itself, the final score was 26-0. But it was a scoreless game until late in the second quarter. Armwood struck on a long TD pass. On the first play after the kickoff, Plant fumbled a read/option exchange, Armwood recovered, setting up a short field and another Armwood TD just before the half. The second half was a virtual repeat of the first. It was 13-0 until late in the fourth quarter, when an Armwood RB broke off a 50-yard TD run. Plant got the ball back, coughed it up and Armwood returned it for the final score of the game. So, the final score was 26-0, but if you were to ask the Armwood coaches, I'm guessing they never really felt "comfortable" until they scored that third TD. Perhaps the biggest factor(s) to consider are this: Plant ran the ball effectively in the first half, but played without their UF-commit RB/WR in the second half. He's healthy now. More importantly, the Panthers had their back-up QB under center all game. Their starting QB returned a few weeks ago. Since his return, Plant has scored 31, 81, 56, 67 and 45 points and he has thrown more than 15 TD passes. Granted, the competition is nothing like Armwood will be, but still. Again, I'm not predicting a Plant win, but unless the game gets away from them early, I do think it will stay close. I

I know at least one person on this board that might pick Dillard to win.