10/28/2010 - Tourney Time Brings Questions
I was going to write this blog previewing the upcoming state tournament for boys and girls soccer and field hockey.
But after seeing the seeds change three times for field hockey and the soccer seeds being based on power points earned through the first 12 games of the season instead of a team’s entire body of work prior to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s predetermined cutoff, I thought about something Newton AD Kurt Weaver said to me the other day.
I was talking to Weaver about the changes in the field hockey seeds and the unclear nature of how the NJSIAA determined what teams could qualify in field hockey, and he said maybe it was time for an open tournament.
Hmmm. An open state tournament. Interesting idea considering that in most sports the top 16 teams in each section qualify. And in the general classification each section hosts on the average between 21-25 schools, so another round would be added.
I liked the idea of expanded brackets when they were put into place last year, especially in this era of realignment. Teams would not be penalized for playing a tougher schedule and a .500 record still granted you an automatic berth.
Yes, there were some early-round blowouts but there were enough 1-16 and 2-15 upsets to validate the change. And I am all for the idea of power points in soccer, but I’m not too crazy about the formula and the fact that only 12 games are considered, but those things can be tweaked and I think they will be.
So would an open tournament be too much? Right now, I’m open to the idea, but let’s give the expanded brackets a chance and see how they work out for the next few years.
I know there are many people who feel the old way of qualification of a .500 or better record was the way to go. It was a reward to teams that won more than they lost and I get that.
But with realignment, the playing field has changed with some conferences housing their schools by strength of program, which definitely affects your won-loss record.
You want a perfect example? Anyone who watched North Hunterdon’s girls soccer team play Vernon the other night would agree that the Lions are a top-notch club as they lost to the 18-0 Vikings 2-1 in an overtime classic.
After the loss, North fell to 4-10-2. Yep. The Lions only had four wins. Why? They play a killer schedule that includes state powers Pingry, Bridgewater Raritan and Watchung Hills.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind the Lions are state-tournament worthy and a couple of years ago, their loss to Vernon would have ended their season. So expanded brackets are a good thing, in my mind.
Now let’s get to the field hockey situation. This is where the state dropped the ball after making the right call to begin with.
Last year, field hockey was one of the sports with expanded brackets. But unfortunately, especially in North Jersey, field hockey has a numbers problem and most sections do not even have 16 teams in it.
So when the tourney got under way last year, all 14 teams in North 1, Group 2 gained entry with the 13th and 14th teams, River Dell and Morris Hills getting blown out by Pope John and Newton, respectively.
The state evaluated the field hockey tourney and determined that qualification should be changed. Good idea. Here is where the state went awry.
In its tournament regulations, it is stated that if a section did not have eight teams with .500 or better records the bracket would be filled out to eight. Good so far, but here is the issue. The state regulation goes on to say if eight or more have .500 or better records than the bracket would be filled out to 16.
Now here is my problem. If only eight teams are .500 or better than you have a perfect set up with teams seeded 1 through 8, right? Well, the people who seed the tourney thought so and the first brackets released had eight teams in North 1, Group 2 in order—Newton, West Essex, Ramsey, Jefferson, Lakeland, Wallkill Valley, Parsippany and River Dell—in the tourney, all with .500 or better records.
But the teams on the outside looking in with under .500 records read the regulations and saw that eight teams did have .500 records so the bracket should be expanded. Technically they are correct, so the state had to reseed the section and added Hackettstown, Pequannock, Pope John, Morris Hills and Kittatinny.
Still with me?
Ok, so a new set of brackets were released. The only issue? No one asked Kittatinny if it wanted in and due to a death in coach Heather Grimm’s family the Cougars opted not to play in the tourney, according to AD Chris Carroll.
That is as good as a reason as ever and my best wishes go out to Heather and her family.
So another set of brackets had to be put together. By this time I had spoken with Kim Cole from the NJSIAA and she told me Kittatinny was not participating and she gave me over the phone the new brackets, which was news to all the ADs and coaches I spoke with who were issued brackets that same day with Kittatinny in.
So here are the final seeds for the section, 1. Newton, 2. West Essex, 3. Ramsey, 4. Jefferson, 5. Lakeland, 6. Wallkill Valley, 7. Parsippany, 8. River Dell, 9, Hackettstown, 10. Pequannock, 11. Pope John, 12. Morris Hills.
The top four teams have a bye and the tourney gets under way Friday, Oct. 29 with Lakeland and Morris Hills, Wallkill and Pope John, River Dell and Hackettstown and Parsippany and Pequannock doing battle.
There was also an issue in North 1, Group 3. The original brackets had eight teams, including Mt. Olive at No. 8. But the seeding committee forgot to seed Passaic Valley resulting in a new bracket which gives High Point the No. 1 seed and a bye.
Due to the mix up, technically Mt. Olive should have been bounced, but the state decided to keep the Marauders in and have them play Wayne Valley, which was added for a “play-in” game.
According to the brackets, Mt. Olive and Wayne Valley are not even called the 8 and 9 seeds. There is just a note that the schools will face off with the winner playing High Point.
The lack of communication is troubling. A media person should not be informing ADs and coaches of changes. This has to be addressed.
And here is another beef I have. The brackets have not been posted on the state website. They are on nj.com, the internet arm of the Star-Ledger. The brackets should be released to all media or put on the state website for all to see like in the past.
I know nj.com has become the official result-keeper for the state and state tourney qualification is based on records reported to the site. But the site is not user-friendly with a ton of pop-ups and as of this writing it still has the wrong seeds in North 1, Group 2.
Just frustrating.
This is not the time for the NJSIAA to be dropping the ball when its very future hangs in the balance.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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