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All-conference football

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by spikechiquet, Nov 5, 2007.

  1. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    Man, I must be crabby...three posts bitching about the area I work in in less than a week!

    So I am typing up the All-Conference names (cause the old guy that is the "comish" of the league doesn't understand that he can e-mail me this shit) and I am shocked at the amount of people on it!

    One conference lists 13 kids on First Team and 21 (!) on the Second Team! There is seven teams in the league and six QBs made the list (one 1st, three 2nd and 2 HM)!!!
    10 running backs were named!!!
    God, I wish I could have played in this league...I would have been a stud second teamer...AND I SUCKED!!!!

    One kid was named second team punter and honorable mention QB...why name him twice?!?!?

    I've always held the belief that an All-Conf. team should have 11 positions on offense, defense and then add a kicker and punter...maybe one "At-Large" player with a few honorable mentions...

    That's why I switched our All-Area team to 11 players..ONLY (4 line (OL/DL/LB), 4 backs (RB/DB/QB), 2 ends (TE, SE, WR, S) and an at-large player). Most of the kids in the area play both ways...no need to honor them twice. If they are good on both sides of the ball, they can be on this list.

    Has anyone else seen an expansion in All-Conf. teams and how do you pick All-area teams?
     
  2. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    Shit, dude. Six quarterbacks are selected from seven teams? There are about 175 schools in my paper's coverage area, and we take six quarterbacks (two for the first and second teams and two honorable mentions).

    It looks like a product of "Everybody's-A-Winner" syndrome in a small community.
     
  3. FishHack76

    FishHack76 Active Member

    I wonder what's going through the head of the quarterback who didn't make all-conference.

    "I don't want your life!"
     
  4. Each time we try to pick a team -- in other words, from football to basketball to baseball -- my SE keeps having me pick more and more and more because of the "Everybody's a winner" mentality.

    This year, I said 'fuck it' and refused to pick teams. We're having one Player of the Year, and that's fucking it. The only way I'm listing 200 kids is if the ADs from the conferences send their picks. I'm done with this shit. We might as well reprint every team's fucking roster while we're at it.

    FUCK!

    (Frustrating topic)
     
  5. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    I loved wrestling.

    Basically, for each weight class, we picked the kid who finished highest in the New England meet (or state meet if no one went that far).

    The only cheat we might do it pick one kid as wrestler of the year, then slip another kid into his weight class (if the kid was good).
     
  6. Elliotte Friedman

    Elliotte Friedman Moderator Staff Member

    Spike,

    Do you have to publish it, for some reason? Unless mandated to do so, why would any paper include such a ridiculous all-star team?
     
  7. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Agreed. When you have that many, just run a brief or quick 8- or 10-incher on the first teamers.

    We do an all-county team with only four schools, which can get a little ridiculous for football sometimes. We still get the kids who deserve to be on there, on there, and leave off the ones that don't, but we are occasionally scraping the barrel.
    Tougher for us this year will be our all-area team. Even with a dozen or so schools, I think only three are anywhere close to winning records. Finding 25 guys out of that mess is going to be a chore.
     
  8. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    The coaches from each conference pick the All-Conference teams...that's why I was complaining about that! I can't believe that coaches have become such pussies that they can't come up with a cutoff number (like 11 or 12) for First and Second Team (and a few honorable mentions.
    A few of the leagues here are good about it, but the one I was harping on had 41 players make it on offense and 32 on defense...some where named twice on the same team (as a kicker and DB or punter and QB). It's rediculous!
    Here at the paper, we just run a two-column graph like this:
    FIRST TEAM
    QB Johnny Happenstance Podunk
    RB Jimmy Appleshit West

    So it's not that big of a deal, we usually run them inside also...but I still think a team should be limited to 22-25 kids, not 40+!

    As for our paper's All-area team, we only pick the best 11 and an At-Large pick. No offense, no defense, just one team. We also name coach, player and team of the year.

    Then six area papers get together for an All-Region team...we do this for volleyball also.

    Not my rules, they've been this way for years before me...and people (like my publisher, who was the former SE) likes it. Is it overkill? probably...but again, you "can't" change tradition!
     
  9. KoM

    KoM Member

    Here's one that used to drive me nuts. Most sports around here, they way they do it is give so many picks for how a team finishes in the standings - first place gets 4, second place gets 3, etc. Then the coach names his own players.

    We had one guy who would, let's say, win the conference and get four picks and do well in the region and two selections for that team. He'd name six different people to spread it out.

    How is it possible to be one of the best players in the entire region but not your own conference?
     
  10. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    The all-conference soccer team in our area includes every kid.
     
  11. Matt1735

    Matt1735 Well-Known Member

    The paper where I formerly worked limited it to one legit size roster for first and second teams, then listed others receiving votes as honorable mentions. And the selections for the paper of the teams were done strictly by coaches vote. Takes the *you're biased* right out of it. At first, I didn't like the process, but I'm a converted believer.
     
  12. I have to be old school on this. An all-star team should not have more players than there are positions. In football, that would mean 11 a side, plus the punter and kicker. I'll even allow a return specialist, IF there's one who stands out and isn't otherwise on the team.

    I remember one year one of the local districts sent us a 10-player boys basketball first team, 10 more on the second team, plus honorable mentions. There were only 6 or 7 teams in the district!! "Honors" like that cheapen it for everyone.
     
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