MSHSAA's New Idea

Every year the Missouri State High School State Activities Association (MSHSAA) has committees and rules meetings and an annual ballot to determine new rule changes. Every year coaches complain and ask "why are they changing that rule?" Some of these changes can be a real head scratcher.

Through the years I've seen some really silly rule changes and others that were common sense, smart ideas. This newest idea... I'll just let you be the judge.

MSHSAA is calling it "The Championship Factor." Here is what it says, verbatim:

"Championship Factor - This would apply to all member schools - public, non-public, and charter. This is about competitive equity. If a school is making a deep run in the championship series every year, then they are dominating that classification. This would be sport specific and would impact the one year cycle. The committee is looking at what would determine having to move up and when a school would move back down in classification. Also, the committee discussed non-public and charter schools that have not made district finals for multiple years, but still have a multiplier in place. Those ideas were discussed and more time will be spent on this idea of not being able to compete because of the multiplier."

When I read that, I didn't know whether I should laugh out loud or get mad. So, I read it again, and my head started to hurt.

Are you serious? Competitive equity? What is that? Making teams that "dominate" move up a class, and letting teams that "can't compete" basically move down a class? This idea is so stupid that I came up with some alternative ideas to create more competitive equity.

---

1. Lamar High School, your football team is just too good. So from now on, you guys only get two downs to make a first down instead of four. And you need 20 yards instead of 10 to make that first down. #LamarFootball #FirstAndTwenty #CompetitiveEquity

2. Bell City High School, you just won the last three Class 1 State Championships in a row. Now I know, I know, all of those kids have graduated. I know your entire team is basically freshman who were in junior high when that happened. That doesn't matter. In the name of competitive equity, when your team bats you only get 1 out, and when your team is in the field the other team gets 7 outs. And the other team scores a run just for making it to first base. And their strike zone is the size of a coffee cup. And your strike zone is the entire backstop. **Note, if this plan doesn't work, and your freshman are somehow still able to win, next season your team will have to play against AA teams in the Pacific Coast League.

3. Eminence, Sante Fe, Leopold, and St. Vincent... I've got good news and bad news. Good news first, your girls are all really good at volleyball. Bad news, from now on you no longer get to "set-pass-spike." The normal "3 touch rule" that applies to volleyball, in the name of competitive equity, can no longer apply to your team. From now on, you get "1 touch." That's right. When they spike it at you, your only hope is to hit it right back at them. If you take more than 1 touch, it will be a point for the other team. Also, the other team will be allowed to touch the net (and actually push, elbow, and trip your players on the other side of the net, if they want to) with no penalty at all. Oh yeah, and whereas the game is usually "first to 25 wins," you actually have to score 57 points. The other team? They only need to get to 9 to win. I know this is rough, but remember: competitive equity.

4. Delta High School, we know that it's been almost 20 years since you won your district. We know that your junior high kids coming up are really good, and that the whole community is excited for what that group "could be" in high school. But wait. Bad news. Your junior high kids were so, so good in junior high, and the dominated other Class 1 schools so badly, that in the name of competitive equity, we are moving you up to Class 2 when those kids get into high school. We know, it doesn't seem fair, but it really wouldn't be fair to let those kids play against other Class 1 schools. Seriously. Y'all are good. We think you'll find more competitive equity in Class 2.

---

Of course, I'm being a little bit silly, but actually some of those ideas might make just as much sense as this ridiculous "Championship Factor."

What would the criteria be to achieve this desired competitive equity? If your team wins a state championship in 2 out of 4 years? If your team wins a state championship in 3 out of 4 years? If your teams makes it to the Final Four in 3 out of 4 years? We don't know any specifics yet, so let's use their terminology (a "deep run in the championship series" every year) and say "if your team makes the Final Four in 3 out of 4 years."

So let me throw out some "what if" scenarios and some real life, "time machine" scenarios based on the history of some dominant programs throughout history.

Scenario 1, a giant "What If" to prove this is a stupid idea. Oran High School.

What if Oran's girls and boys BOTH make it to Final 4? (PS - This actually just happened last year). Oran has a girl named Leah Cauble. She's a junior that has already scored over 2,000 points. Oran's girls made it to the Final 4 last year. It's entirely possible that they could make the Final 4 the next two seasons when Cauble is a junior and senior. That would put them in the "3 out of 4" trips to the Final 4, meaning they have to move up to Class 3 the following year.

On the other hand, Oran's boys won the Class 2 state championship last year, so they're also really good. But what if they don't make it back to the Final 4 over the next couple years? Well, obviously, they would stay down in Class 2 while their girls moved up to Class 3.

One school. Boys and girls teams. Different Classes. Yes. This could happen.

So after Leah Cauble graduates, in the year 2021, Oran's boys would be Class 2, and their girls would be Class 3. This means Oran's fans would have to pick which district they would go watch. "Do we go watch the girls play at New Madrid? Or do we go watch the boys play at Meadow Heights?" (PS - those schools are like 17 hours apart. Not really. But they are really, really far apart. And this could happen.)

Scenario 2, a giant "What If" to prove this is a stupid idea. Oran High School, Part 2.

Somewhere in Oran, there is a group of little girls in Jr. High. They're watching the high school team practice. They see how good they are. When they get to high school, they want to be just like those older girls.

So in a few years, it's their turn. One problem. They are now bumped up to Class 3. And they have a hard time beating the bigger schools. Heck, they have a hard time beating schools their own size! They're not quite as good as the teams that preceded them, the teams led by Leah Cauble that went to the Final 4 three years in a row.

Nevertheless, they have to move up and play bigger schools because those older girls, a completely different group of kids entirely, "dominated their classification." In what universe does this even sound fair?

Scenario 3, a time machine argument, "What if" we applied this rule to history during the Scott County Central run? (1979-1993, 11 state titles in 15 years in Class 1 boys basketball)

Obviously SCC would have moved up to like Class 18. They might have had to play JUCO teams or something crazy. So let's take the year 1988, for example. By that point SCC had been to state 4 out of the last 5 years. In '88, what if they moved up, from Class 1 to Class 2, and won the Class 2 state title that year? That's totally possible. They went 34-0 and beat the Class 3 state champs (New Madrid) in 1988.

So in 1989, does SCC now have to move up to Class 3? And play Charleston (Lamont Frazier & company)? Let's say yes, and let's say Charleston beat them in 1989 (real life: Charleston won the Class 3 state title, SCC finished 31-2 and won the Class 1 state title). So since SCC didn't win a state title in Class 3, do they drop back down to Class 2? Or do they get to go back to Class 1, where they would be without competitive equity rules?

Scenario 4, a time machine argument, "What if" we applied this rule to that same period and looked at some of the other teams that SCC beat during that run?

Growing up at SCC, I got familiar with several schools that we played multiple times on the way to state... Wellsville, Northeast Nodaway, Clopton, Lockwood... they all made multiple runs at a state title.

Those schools never won a state title, but what if they had to move up a class without ever winning a state title? Can you imagine? It's finally "your year," and MSHSAA tells you, "nope, you guys have to move up because you just finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 3rd."

THIS COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN!!!!!!

Final argument, "The Family Argument."

The Walnut Grove girls basketball program is one of the the best athletic programs in the state, any sport, boys or girls, regardless of class. They've been to the Final 4 for the last six consecutive years. They have finished 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd, and 2nd. It's a "dominant" program. What the competitive equity is going on here? I mean, obviously they need to be playing NCAA D1 teams at this point (wink, wink).

They've had several good players during this run, but the best player that I've personally seen play there was a girl whose last name was Harman. There is a family of these girls, and the youngest one is a senior right now. She's really good, too.

So imagine being the last Harman girl, the "baby sister" in this family. You watched your oldest sister win a couple of state championships. You watched the next sister and your cousins get to go to state. You've worked hard. Now it's your turn.

Oh, wait just a minute. You girls have to move up to Class 2. You can't play in Class 1 because your older sister was too "dominant." This is crazy! It could happen!

Bottom line, talent runs in cycles, regardless of school size. Go look at any "dominant" run a school has had, and you're going to see a (1) a talented group of kids coming along, and (2) a good coach there to maximize that talent. More often that not, you're also going to find some family names running through those years. Look at New Haven. Look at Jefferson. Look at Advance. Look at Van Buren. Look at Glasgow. Look at Portageville. Look at Scott County Central. Look at Charleston. Look at Portageville. Look at Walnut Grove.

All of those programs had great runs where a couple of families were a big reason why.

If MSHSAA is trying to make a rule to hold back the Harmans and Timmons and Fraziers and Porters and Sikes and Bookers and Johnsons... good luck. You're going to need to rewrite the whole rule book to level that playing field.

"Championship Factor?" Competitive equity? Give me a break. Equity is defined as "being fair and impartial." Some kids end up being taller than others, some faster than others, and some stronger than others.

That's life. It isn't always fair. What makes us all equal is the 24 hours we get in a day. What I do with mine and what you do with yours is what makes us different. Instead of making it easier to win, let's tell kids to get in the gym and get to work. That's a lesson that will serve them well for the rest of their life.

If this passes, it will be the single worst rule in the history of Missouri high school sports, and it will be embarrassing for our entire state. I think this rule is so bad that it's "beginning of the end of MSHSAA" bad, but that is a story for another time.

Thanks for reading.

#JWT