All-in format has parents up in arms

I once worked in a state where nearly everyone got into the state tourney, and everyone did if you count "regional" tournaments. There were also multiple classifications when there were only 50 or 60 odd schools total. I've been in places that had conferences just as big as those classifications. And to top it off they had a consolation bracket for every sport. It was really awesome to cover those consolation semis after a team lost in the first round. The kids knew they were done. They didn't care any more. But I guess in this day and age someone has to be the winner of the losers. Or something.

 

very well said

these "parents suck" threads pop up every few days on this message board and it blows my mind how much hatred there is toward people who aren't trained as journalists, don't understand space limitations or staff limitations, and maybe aren't that sophisticated but mean well & do care enough to contact us.

the contempt you guys have for your customers is astounding to me. and sad.

we're losing dozens or hundreds of readers every day, but here you have some readers who give a crap and you're just mocking them.

zebramccoy -- if you have a school that went 13-5 & made the playoffs for the first time since 1994 and you don't think that's at least worth mentioning somewhere - if not a story, then somewhere in a wrap or a brief or notebook or something - then you're the one with the problem, not the parents

 

OSAA and intelligent decision-making are mutually exclusive and have been ever since the implementation of the 6-class system.

They wanted to "have more athletes feel like winners" because now they have more conference champions. Of course, they also increased the number of last-place teams by half as well.

 

But they don't give a crap about the paper. The ONLY thing they want is Little Johnny's name above the fold in 72-point type. It's likely the only thing they're looking for. And in some cases, if Johnny's name is in print, they think you should give them a copy for free instead of them having to buy it.

They don't give a crap about sports writers or their jobs; hell, half of them would love to see you fired because they truly believe you are the problem.

And as someone mentioned, it's one thing for someone to call and inquire. It's another thing for them to fire off an e-mail to your publisher or scream obscenities on your department voice mail or berate you on the sidelines.

These people are generally not paying customers. They are bullies.

 

The ones that always get me are the youth sports parents. They NEED to have their team photo for winning regional in on a certain day (instead of they day everyone else has theirs run) so the kids will see it before they go to state, or they need a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT on their fundraising carwash, and can we get pictures of that too?

OK, I always say ... so can we get a call or e-mail from state with scores and highlights? Sure, I'm told!

Six months later, still haven't heard a thing. Not that I'm bitter. But the Podunk Press and Shopping News just went an extra mile for your club, youth sports mama, and you don't seem to think people who got their cars washed or paid twice what they would in the store for beef jerky or candy bars because "it's for the kids" just might be interested in how the team did? They just know it's not in the paper and, somehow, that's all my fault. And when I call, I tell them the truth ... we never got a call.

 

Also an Oregon writer here. Just glad our two 5A schools dropped to 4A so we don't have to deal with all the completely ludicrous stuff of the big schools. Thirty-two of 43 6A schools are actually in the state tournament. The other classes all are 16 (which actually is a smaller number than the past for 5A and 4A), but there are two play-in weeks for 5A to get down to that number. In 5A and 4A, there are no automatic berths to state; you're 9-0 and lose a play-in game, too bad.

We call the play-in games just that, play-in games. We refer to them as postseason games (since for our 4A schools, two teams in the league actually do miss out), but not as state tournament games because, well, they're not.

 

Can a team win a state championship if it doesn't win that first playoff game? I know in Ohio they can't. Everyone makes it in pretty much every Ohio sport except football.

 

Nope. If you lose a play-in game, you're done. Until it's part of the 16-team bracket, though, it's technically not the state tournament. The way it's set up (at least for our part of the state in 4A), the term 'regional playoff' certainly would be valid.

 

Another Ohio writer here.
I like Ohio's version.
Ohio has six divisions for football, with roughly 120 teams per division.
Each division is broken up into four regions, with eight teams per region -- 32 teams per division -- making the playoffs based on a computer points poll. If you want to know how the poll works, go here: www.ohsaa.org/sports/ft/boys/rankcalc.htm
There are times when a team with a 5-5 or 4-6 record makes the playoffs, but the truly weak are eliminated quickly.
Still, there some who yearn for the days when Ohio had only five divisions, or when only the top four per region -- or even two, for some real diehards -- made the playoffs. Letting in only the top four or two in the past kept some 10-0 teams from qualifying.
As for other sports, at least the ones our area schools compete in (cross country, volleyball, golf, tennis, swimming, basketball, wrestling, track, baseball, softball), they are all-in for the postseason.

 

In New York in most sports its a 40% minimum winning percentage, but in some sections everyone can get it. It's up to the teams to decided if they want to play. A lot of coaches will decide that they want to win at least 6-8 games to throw their hat into the ring.

As for the sub-topic, for as much bitching as I do about parents here I can see a lot of writers dropping the ball. You don't cover preps for a whole season just to start whining when playoffs start. This is your busy time, when you kill yourself, drive two hours just to see the local team get beat by five goals or seven touchdowns.
Of course you're going to be miserable -- trust me I know. I have a fulltime job on top of my freelance gig and this time of the year really pushes me towards the edge. Two weeks ago I worked for seven hours on my day off for basically nothing. Sunday I put in seven hours at the paper and five at the fulltime gig.
It wasn't all on my shoulders, but I know we picked up new subscribers with our extended coverage. So I'll keep getting paychecks and now that its over I have a few weeks to relax before the winter season begins.

 

Hewlett-Packard (I know that's not what it stands for) Grad is right: Stop your bitching. Everyone has elements of their work that are annoying. Deal with it; it's part of your job.