High School Hockey State Co-Champs?!?!?!?

Earlier in the thread, somebody mentioned that the reason one association didn't do shootouts was because they didn't want a kid going onto the bus knowing he lost his team the championship.

Different sport, but I covered a state high school basketball championship game in which a player was fouled while attempting a desperation three-point shot at the final buzzer. His team is down by three, he gets three free throws. He makes the first two, misses the third, game over. Sure, it was tough on the kid, and yes, that's a key part of the story, but no, people did not go around sending the kid on a guilt trip.

Seriously, sometimes you just need to tell yourself that "this may not be the way we want to decide a game, but the game needs to be decided because the alternative doesn't make anybody happy."

I do think the "everyone gets a trophy" crowd sometimes takes the argument to ridiculous extremes, but this isn't one of those cases. When one team wins the championship, the other team may be disappointed but they eventually move on. When you crown "co-champions," neither team is happy.

 

So I take it no fouls will be permitted to be called in the fourth quarter of any close basketball game? No walks allowed in the bottom of the seventh? No interceptions deep in your own territory?

 

My senior year in high school, I cost my team a conference title because I thought the running back was leaning to his right. I was playing nose tackle and I went that way, he went the other way and ran right past me.

The lead in the paper the next day said, "Player X (RB) went left, Player Y (me) went right."

I've seen guys who went on to play Division I ball go to the foul line needing to make 1 of 3 shots and they missed all three. I covered a state title game early in my career when a kid (best player on the team by far and a 75 percent FT shooter) had two of the worst bricks I've ever seen at any level.

The support that kid got after the game, brought a tear to my eye.

So I think the notion that a shootout puts too much pressure on kids is garbage.

A state championship game that denies the teams a chance to win or lose is an epic failure.