Observation of the Day!
I read the Marion Chronicle-Tribune online everyday. For those who may not know, I was born and raised in Marion, Indiana. Marion High School-Class of 1955. My parents are buried there and many of my closest friends still live there. I read the paper for one primary reason, the obituaries. If you don’t read the obituaries, you are too young. My father used to get the paper every morning and before he would reach his reading chair he would go to the obituaries. My brothers and I always had a chuckle over that routine. We no longer find this amusing. We are old enough to understand.
However, I am not writing this observation about obits. I am writing about the Indiana and Minnesota high school sports tournaments. If you know anything about basketball, you know high school basketball is king in Indiana. Of course the state high school basketball tournament was ruined by the class system. It was about the last state to adopt the class system for high school basketball. Never again will there be another little school like Milan win a state championship, This small town team's story was the basis of one of the best sports movies ever made, Hoosiers.
Minnesota also went to the class system in hockey, ruining the one of the best high school hockey tournaments in the country. High school hockey was as big as high school basketball was in Indiana. What is odd is that small schools from hockey rich northern Minnesota can chose to be Four A. That’s another thing, everyone has an A classification. Lord help us is we had a B level. Feelings would be hurt. Grief counsellors would be called. In Indiana all things came to a halt when it was tournament time. It was the same in Minnesota with the hockey tournament.
The sport was ruined by the concept that if you lose, your feelings will be damaged forever. No child left behind. It is an era where scores are often not kept. BS! As with us all, we discover someday that we weren't good enough at some level. Winners move on and seek out what they are good and do it well.
Pat Ruesse, my favorite sports writer, once said that they should just send everybody a trophy and then they can decide if the should keep it. At all high school tournament games it has now become a tradition to introduce everybody, the cheerleaders, the pom pom girls, the mascot, the trainer, the water boy, the assistant coaches, the head coach and finally the team. It takes forever. Sid Hartman, the venerable ancient Minnesota sportswriter, once said, “If the crowds at the tournament get any smaller, they will probably introduce the crowd.
Before I got to the obituaries this morning, I learned that my Marion Giants were returning to the finals of Indiana State High School Basketball Championship. Over the years, the Giants have been one of the most successful teams in Indiana high school basketball history, winning the state championship eight times. This was mostly under the old system.
My dad played for the Giants, mostly as a bench warmer. I did not, but I was in the cheer section. Too short, too slow. My high school era was the darkest period in Marion Giant basketball history. We never got out of the sectionals and were beaten by a little school from Gas City. Good luck to the lads.
TWO BITS, FOUR BITS, SIX BITS, A DOLLAR! ALL FOR MARION STAND UP AND HOLLAR! YEA! RAH! MARION!
Have a nice day!
Sammy Carl
2 comments:
Sammy Carl,
You are so right about them going to classes - it ruined the Indiana basketball tournament. I do remember my senior year in high school (1964)an 8 team sectional tournament was our first round. The team was pretty good but not great. Marion drew the Swayzee Speedkings for the first game - 6:30 Thurs. night. We seniors were full of hope. We lost.
Jimmy Lynn (your youngest brother)
I would say your classification of the MN hockey tournament being ruined is not accurate. The tournament drew record crowds, 18,000+ watched Hill-Murray and Edina play in the AA final what was as an entertaining sports event as can find. I don't buy into the "sky is falling" argument and I don't think anyone who watched this years tournament would either.
Also, there is no 4A, its A and AA. But you are right about schools being able to move up, Roseau has, Warroad hasn't, nor did St. Thomas Academy, who won the A title.
I don't think it's the end of the world. In a one class system, you would have still had the same teams fighting for the title, the Hill Murrays, Roseaus, and Edinas of the world and in the two class system, a school like Litchfield actually has a chance.
A better distinction might be between Catholic and non-Catholic schools. With STA, Hill-Murray, and Benilde, the Catholic schools were 9-1 against public schools.
Tim
Post a Comment