Perspective

No playoffs for 1A. They just decided Madison County was the champ. All jokes aside, 1A through 4A will be done the same way. Per this website: "every team listed on this list will qualify for the playoffs with Class 1A-4A having Regional Quarterfinal playoff games starting on November 13, with any play-in games on November 6." Madison County is in Region 3, which has 9 teams in it. So, there's a chance that MadCo could have to play in the play-in game on Nov. 6th, as two of the nine teams will play to decide the 8th team in the bracket.

So, did anyone else see the FHSAA announcement regarding the playoffs? We already knew that any and all teams that 'stayed in' (i.e., did not opt out) would "make the playoffs" this season. That's still the case. The FHSAA previously announced that it might need to reclassify teams. Apparently, they ended up keeping every team in the classification that they already were in, but adjusted some of the regions to better even out the number of teams in each of the four regions within each classification. Regional quarterfinals will start on Nov. 20th for the large-classification schools (5A-8A). Typically, this would involve the top 8 teams in each of the four regions (in each classification) playing in a regional tournament to produce 4 regional champs. Those 4 regional champions would then compete in the state semifinals and finals. However, with the new system (that, in all likelihood, will only be used this year) in every case for these schools, there are more than 8 schools in each of the 4 regions. So, on Nov. 13th, there will be a bunch of "play-in games" a la March Madness. For example, in 8A Region 1, there are 11 teams. Five of those teams essentially will get a bye, while the other six will play against each other to fill out the 8-team regional tournament bracket. And, they reiterated today that seeding will be determined by blind draw (which could be done as early as next week). If I've done my math right, if a region has 16 teams, that means that all 16 teams will be playing a "play-in game" on Nov. 13th. Might as well call it the first round of the playoffs. Class 7A, Region 3 is an example of a region that has exactly 16 teams in it, including: Armwood, Bloomingdale (who already has beaten Armwood and Tampa Bay Tech this season), Lakeland, Plant City and Tampa Bay Tech. In theory, and if it truly is a blind draw, Armwood could be matched up against Lakeland in the opening round play-in game. Wow. That would be crazy. Now, here's where I get confused. In Class 6A, each of the four regions has either 18 or 19 teams in it. Assuming no Covid issues prevent any of the teams from playing, how do you fit 18 or 19 teams into a 16-team bracket? What am I missing? Josh, any thoughts?

Where's the game being played? Neutral site? Any injuries?

Two questions: 1. Where is the Lake Gibson/Lakeland game being played? 2. Who's in charge of selecting the refs?

Guys, I think the way this all went down is as follows: After much discussion and deliberation, and threats from various parts of the state that schools/counties would withdraw from the FHSAA and start their own organization, the FHSAA met in August and established a date for when football could start and games could be played. Independent of this process, various counties around the state made a determination as to when schools in their respective counties would be able to open to students and when students would be able to begin extracurricular activities like football. It just so happens that the date that was selected by the FHSAA was a date several weeks before the date that the south Florida schools announced as their start-up date. Because of all the other sports (i.e., Winter and Spring sports), the FHSAA was reluctant to move football to the Spring and reluctant to push the end of the Fall sports season back beyond the end of the calendar year. The south Florida schools looked at the new start-up date announced by their respective counties (say, mid-October) and the revised start dates for state playoff series. Then they did the math and realized that they would only be able to get in a handful of regular season games (i.e., 5 or less) before the playoffs started. For a team that makes a long playoff run, this probably would not have been a big deal; but for all the rest, their kids would be lucky to get half the games they would normally get. Knowing all of this, the FHSAA came up with a compromise of sorts (one that I believe was brokered by the Board member from south Florida who made the motion that ultimately resulted in what got passed at the FHSAA board meeting). The compromise was this: recognizing that most schools in the state would be able to start playing football games in early September, but also recognizing that many south Florida schools would not be able to start playing until mid October, the FHSAA decided to give the south Florida schools a choice. They could elect to remain in the state playoff series, roll the dice and take their chances on how far they might make it in the playoffs (knowing that they may end up playing considerably fewer games prior to the playoffs and over the course of their season). Alternatively, if getting a full seasons' worth of games was more important (financially for the schools, for the kids looking for scholarships, etc.), they could opt out of the state playoff series and extend their regular season another month or so to play all the games they missed by starting late. Each school could decide what was best for them (except, apparently, schools in Broward County, where the BCAA made that decision on behalf of all of its member schools). In the end, everyone did what they thought was best for them at the time: the south Florida counties pushed back the start of school and the start of fall sports in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that, for whatever reasons having nothing to do with high school football, hit south Florida harder than other parts of the state. The FHSAA pushed back both the start and the finish of fall sports a little, but (as an elected body representing the entire state) chose not to move football to the Spring and chose not to move the start of football to coincide with the October dates that the south Florida counties had established as their new start dates for school and sports. Then, when given the choice, schools across the state chose to either remain in the state series or opt out to be able to play a full seasons' worth of games. Not surprisingly, some south Florida schools that think they have a legitimate shot at winning a state title stayed in, while other schools only miles away opted out. At the end of the day, to quote the President, "it is what it is."

Turn down that music!! And get off my lawn!!

I'm guessing Broward public schools (like Dillard) didn't have that option (to opt out of BCAA for a year).

As I understand it, the person/group in charge of Broward County public school athletics made the opt out decision on behalf of all the public schools in the county (private schools too? I don't know.). To the contrary, the person/group in charge of Miami-Dade County schools allowed the individual schools to each make their own decision. Two different ways to go about it. Sounds like your beef is with the person or group who decided that all Broward schools would opt out.

Hornet, I agree that any team that participates in the state series and wins their final (championship) game will be worthy of being called a state champion. I also know that the vast majority of people living in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties will never be willing to recognize those teams as state champions because those teams will not have beaten a south Florida team. Given the fact that south Florida teams won 7 of 8 state titles last year, they may have a point. I don't think the asterisk will actually appear in the record books; but there will be a mental asterisk. To borrow your baseball analogy, I think it would be more like the asterisks that old school baseball fans attached to Roger Maris' record 61 homeruns because he played in a few more games than did the Bambino.

Skyway, you make some good points. But in many respects, it's no different now than it's always been. There's just a new (perhaps more public) factor in play with Covid. School administrators, AD's, and County athletic department officials have always varied. Some are rule sticklers, some choose to follow what they believe to be the spirit of the rules, some look the other way when negative issues arise. That's been the case with eligibility, whether a kid lives in the right district, whether a family made a full and complete move, whether and when a team can practice, etc. etc. etc. Covid is going to be no different. Some schools will be very diligent and shut down operations with the first hint of a positive test. At the other end of the spectrum, there no doubt will be schools that turn a blind eye to to a list of players who have tested positive (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil). And some kids will be unfairly punished by the decisions that adults make and others will be the improper recipients of wrongful actions taken, or not taken, by the adults in their life. Welcome to life.

Regardless of what happens, any team that wins a "state championship" in 2020 is going to have a big COVID-19 asterisk next to their name. More importantly, from now until the end of time, any time someone comes onto this message board and mentions that a particular team won the 2020 state championship , ColumbiaFan and his heirs will be around to remind the readers that the team's not worthy of being called a state champion because many of the south Florida teams did not participate in the playoffs.

The "opt out" option was designed for teams/counties that couldn't start the season when everyone else could (because of COVIID) to still get in a full seasons' worth of games. Also, there was some thought that a team who had only played 4 or 5 games by the time the playoffs started might be at a competitive disadvantage compared to teams that had played 9 or 10 games. So, the FHSAA allowed teams to opt out of the playoffs/state series. In exchange, teams that opted out could continue to play games through the end of the year (more or less). For example, south Florida teams that weren't able to start their regular season until October could still get in a "full season" by opting out of the playoffs and continuing to play other opt-out teams while the "opt in" teams were playing playoff games,, with the possibility of some sort of county playoffs or "bowl game" at the very end of their expanded season. The decision to opt out or stay in really came down to a decision of whether a coach or county AD wanted to give the kids 10 +/- games or, alternatively, about half the number of regular season games, but a chance to play for a state championship. I think that's it in a nutshell.

I hear what you're saying, but let me just make sure I've got this right: the umpire or back judge will yell "Play's Over!" even though a couple of quick whistles would be faster, clearer and louder. And they do this because they don't want to risk the chance of blowing an inadvertent whistle. That seems to suggest that an inadvertent whistle would immediately kill the play (which is what I understand the rule to be), but a ref yelling "Play's Over" would not end the play, even though the ref just yelled that the play was over. So, let's say you've got a play where it appears the running back has been stopped at the line of scrimmage, but he eventually bounces off the linemen and runs around them for a long scoring run. If a whistle had been blown, the play would be considered dead and the ball would be brought back. If no whistle was blown, but the back judge yells "Play's Over" loud enough for the safety to hear him and the safety stops pursuit of the running back allowing him to score, the scoring play would stand. And the safety would come tell his coach that he heard the ref yell that the play was over. And then the coach would call time out and conference with the white hat, at which time the white hat would say what? "Yeah, well he was wrong. The play wasn't over." Or "Well, we never blew the whistle." Or "Yeah, I guess we blew that one Coach. Sorry that just cost you a playoff game; good luck next season." Seriously, what would/could the white hat say that would make any sense here? In my view, if the umpire or back judge has time to say "Play's Over," they have time to raise the whistle to their mouth first and send out a couple of quick tweets so that there is no confusion whatsoever whether the play was or was not over. Jambun, I've beaten this dead horse to a pulp. Again, I appreciate your responses. I just don't understand the rule or the way the officials are calling the game.

I appreciate the response. Let me focus on this one for just a second. If an offensive player (a lineman or a receiver) is out ahead of the play (such that the QB or RB is behind them), how are they supposed to know when the play ends if there is no audible signal? I just don't understand how you can ask a downfield blocker to know when he's supposed to stop blocking. Is he supposed to turn his head and look behind him every other second to see if the play has ended? Kind of hard to keep his eye on the man he is blocking if his head is turned around. Maybe Linda Blair could do it, but I don't know of anyone else. While I understand the easy "play is over" situations like a ball carrier hitting the ground or running out of bounds, what's wrong with a short, loud whistle to let all players know the play is dead? Plant got burned by an inadvertent whistle in the playoffs a few years ago, so I understand the need to avoid that kind of situation. But to not blow the whistle when a play is obviously over (to anyone looking at the play), and then turn around and penalize or send players off to cool down when they're still hitting after the play is over, despite no whistle having been blown, simply does not make sense to me. But I appreciate the explanation.

I've got a few questions for Jambun or anyone else who thinks they might know the answer: 1. Why do refs take so long to blow their whistles, if they blow them at all? Are high school officials being taught to act like pro officials, who rarely blow a whistle to signify a play is dead? Here's why I ask. In a recent game, when a rugby scrum developed, even when it was clear that the runner's forward progress had long stopped, it would take the officials a good 2 or 3 seconds before they would blow their whistles. That lead to a specific play where players from both sides were still pushing hard on a run play, the defense ripped the ball out of the ball carrier's hands, and the defense recovered the apparent fumble . . . all before any whistle had been blown. The refs then determined that the player's forward progress had stopped, so no fumble and no turnover. Well, if the runner's forward progress had indeed stopped, why not blow the darn whistle?? Players, coaches, and fans understand that if the ball comes out after the whistle blows, it's not a fumble. To do it the other way seems very discretionary. 2. If a whistle is not blown, how are players supposed to know when to stop playing? Remember, these are high school players who undoubtedly have been taught to 'play until you hear the whistle,' or 'play through the whistle.' Same game, offensive lineman downfield was hitting defensive players after the ball carrier had been on the ground for a second or two because, you guessed it, no whistle was blown and they had their backs to the play. 3. Which brings me to my next question: do refs have the 'flexibility' and 'authority' to send a player off for a play? Under what circumstances? Say, for example, an offensive lineman is downfield still trying to block defenders after the ball carrier is down, but the whistle never blows, so he doesn't stop trying to block his man. Can the ref elect to send the player off for being too aggressive, rather than penalize him? There's a side of me that understands the logic behind giving an overly-excited player a personal "time out" and giving him a chance to collect himself. But is that the ref's call or the coaches call? And, to return to the theme of this question, why penalize a player (with a flag or by making him sit out a play) when there's no way he could know that the play was dead? 4. Last one for now: recent game, offense in punt formation. Defensive end clearly jumps offsides. No flag thrown; punt is returned for a TD. When asked, line judge on the 'far side' acknowledges that he saw the defender jump, but that it "wasn't his call to make." White hat said he didn't see it. Ref on the near side later says: "yeah, defender jumped, but offensive player moved first, so I couldn't call it." Say what?!?! If the offensive player moved before the snap, it's a dead ball false start. Reffing 101, right? If the offensive player moved, throw the flag and blow the play dead. No punt; no TD. If the offensive player didn't move, offsides on the defense negates the return and perhaps gives the offense a first down. Worst case scenario, forces offense to punt again. Either way, no TD (at least not on that punt). From an officiating mechanics standpoint, why shouldn't far side official throw his flag if he sees a penalty and then huddle with other officials after the play is dead to decide whether a call should be waived off or not? Thanks in advance.

Exactly, OldSchool! Jesse's been driving up and down I-95 from Miami to Ft. Pierce and can't seem to find a single Brevard County store that's open for business. Tragic indeed.

That stinks, but given the fact that they will be starting their season well after the FHSAA opt out date (which is tomorrow, Sept. 18th, by the way), the decision makes a little sense.

Let me try to explain what I think Jesse is thinking: The name of the city of Cocoa comes from the word "coconut." Coconuts, in turn, come from palm trees. Palm trees are typically found in places like Palm Beach County and the city of West Palm Beach, which are both down next to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, which we all know are in south Florida. Therefore, we must ignore the fact that Cocoa is on about the same latitude line as Orlando (which means it's north of Tampa), and come to the indisputable conclusion that Cocoa is in south Florida. Got it?

The possibility of a false-positive test result, and the inability to do anything about it, is a problem. That said, I'm going to cut all school administrators and school districts a little slack when it comes to restricting who can and who cannot attend a game this season.

All I know is that my stream has gotten weaker and weaker as I've gotten older.

Jambun, I tend to think I was actually pretty patient this time! Perhaps I just got jealous that I didn't have the cryptic key to decipher the code you and Badbird were using. That said, I always look forward to informative posts.

Like I've said before, no reason to make the decision until you have to make the decision.

I feel like I'm watching an episode of Penn & Teller's Fool Us, where Penn tries to talk in code to show the magician that he knows how the trick was done without revealing the details to the audience.

Dang, I had not heard that IRMS had opted out.

No need to worry until the President tells us we have something to worry about. And we can absolutely trust him to let us know when that day comes (came?), right?