CALL FOR NOMINEES: Best HSAA prep operations

Rick Strunk is outstanding. I don't know about Michelle Hillison, but I'll take your word for it as I do recall northcarolinaihigh.com being a decent site.

Carolyn Shannonhouse was fairly nice. After that, I could live without the rest of NCHSAA to put it kindly. They're worried about nothing but their precious endowment. Having said that, the NCHSAA is a hell of a lot better than the association I've dealt with in recent years. By comparison, it makes North Carolina look organized and well-kept.

 

The good thing about the association is that the state will never have to ask kids to pay to play like in some states. So I'm all for that. It's a great idea and it's worked.

 

I've never had any big problems with the FHSAA, in fact I think they're doing a fine job during each sports postseason. They'll update scores from 9:30 every postseason gamenight, including making sure the next round is updated with host and time so it's easy to knock out a new schedule there and then.

They also run final four teams stats online for all team sports so if you're going you can have an idea of who the important players from the other teams are before you arrive. I know a few of the younger ones pretty well as well, and they've been good to me with giving me access to admins for sports when it comes rulings on infractions and the like.

 

Agree. The AHSAA web site is notoriously slow about updating info. Also the association's director is not the best at returning calls.

 

When it came to state tournaments, the CIF in California is the best I've worked with (five states worth to compare). They do a great job of addressing needs of reporters and are on the ball with just about everything. I saw many a reporter bitch and moan about things that were "awful" at certain state events, but when it came down to it, it was pretty much, to a man, the reporters just being douchenozzles.

 

In a related note, the Kentucky HSAA also encourages its members (more specifically coaches/ADs) to use its listserve, which is a godsend for track/field and cross country meet results.

All seven schools that my paper covers use that listserve, so we rarely have to spend a long time on the phone taking results of a meet. Wait about an hour after the meet is over, check your e-mail and the results are usually there in HTML or txt format. They also archive them all on a separate Web site so you can check kids' PRs and season bests and the like.

 

I'm certain that Virginia would be a solid candidate for the bottom 10.

I've heard lots of less-than-glowing reviews of football title games and basketball final four. The minor sports? Forget it. You're on your own. I can't honestly recall seeing a VHSL official at any state wrestling or baseball event that I've been to.

Mostly we're bound by the wishes of the tournament directors. I've never had a problem with big-school wrestling, but I dread going to small-school wrestling every year. (For the past two years, we've had to rely on a local HS to post results on its website. Without them, I'd have been screwed...who says Christiansburg is all bad?)

 

Because I only know them like a book, I'll nominate Iowa's athletic associations. Iowa has two of them (which is rare): the Iowa High School Athletic Association (for the boys) and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (the girls). The IGHSAU has updated their website and has traditionally put on a great tournament in basketball, softball, and volleyball. When they do the girls' hoops tourney, they put on a first-class fucking show for the teams: jazz band, a parade of state champions in each class in every sport on the final night of the tournament. They are pretty good to work with from listening to journalists and those closely associated with them, but it hasn't been the same since Mike Henderson died a few years ago. Mike knew every stat, every athlete, and every situation that took place when he was the girls' Information Director. I miss him a lot.

The IAHSAA (Boys) are known to follow the letter of the law and are very good. During the boys basketball tournament, they print out the 1st half stats during the game and every one on press row would get one before the teams came back out for the second half. One time, I noticed that a stat wasn't in their official record books, and I emailed Bud Legg, their info. director. Bud responded back in 24 hours and verified that the stat was a record and he put it in there as soon as possible.

 

NO CRAP ... one time I called Alan Mitchell to ask him something about an updated state record I thought had been broken the year before and this is what he said:

"I don't really know. Call Ron Ingram (B'ham News Prep Guy), he'll know."

WTF am I supposed to put at the bottom of my story: Ron Ingram verified this report?

 

Idaho is a very well run association, Texas is not. The UIL rarely updates its information and papers are left to fend for themselves.
I guess I vote for Idaho.

 

Yeah, I totally left that part out. The state wrestling championship at Bakersfield is a treat. Finding a hotel in town that weekend is tricky, especially when you cross off rooms that smell like meth labs, but still.

The CIF basketball finals are great, too. Even the playoffs are pretty good, a photographer and I drove three hours to Modesto to watch our little team get throttled by Modesto Christian (with like three guys going to big-name Division I college programs). When we got there the CIF had a courtside table set up with programs and stats.

 

The sooner Alan retires, the easier things will get