|
|
Speaking |
|
November 7, 2010 There are many unfair things in life. It’s not fair that LeBron James gets to make a commercial mocking those upset with him for announcing his move to Miami in the most egotistical way possible. Further, it’s not fair that some people are forced to live in Ohio, and can’t just leave. But there’s a reason the saying “life’s not fair” exists; it’s because life isn’t fair. When there is an unfair situation, and there is a clear, obvious and easy way to make it fair, I think most would agree, steps should be taken to make the situation fairer. That seems pretty uncontroversial to me. But don’t tell that to the MHSAA. If you’ve read this space religiously over the past few years, you’re aware of my immense respect for Novi men’s cross country coach Bob Smith. He was my coach for four years, and I have tremendous respect for him both as a coach and as a human being. It’s nearly impossible to goad him into any emotional, poorly-thought-out statement. So when I read Coach Smith’s comments just a week ago in these pages, I was shocked. Smith rightly called out the MHSAA for its ridiculous system of regional assignments, based just on geography. In cross country, the top three teams from each of the state’s nine regions qualify for the state meet. Additional teams can qualify if they place four runners amongst the top 20. Individually, the top 15 individuals qualify. The question becomes, how do you split up teams into regions? If you place the top four teams in the state in one region, chances are one will miss out on its trip to Michigan International Speedway (annual site of the state finals). The unsatisfactory answer for the MHSAA is that regions are drawn mostly, but not always, by geography. When talent is not evenly spread across the state, chaos ensues. Witness this year’s results. The team’s that qualified from Novi’s region (Brighton) were: Detroit Catholic Central, Pinckney and Brighton. Those teams did fairly well at the state meet this past Saturday, finishing first, third and ninth respectively. There is no good explanation for why three top ten teams find themselves in the same region. I know that my freshman year, Novi was placed in an extremely tough region and placed third, barely qualifying for the state meet. That team finished 7th overall, and the first and second teams in the state finished higher. But that’s not all- the next season, when regions were redrawn, 9 teams from the old region qualified for the state meet! I would be doing a disservice to everyone if I didn’t have a solution, and the easiest answer would never work. Simply taking the fastest teams by time would never work. Courses and weather conditions vary immensely in cross country; a 16:00 at one course can easily be a 17:00 depending on course terrain, the previous week’s precipitation and a myriad of other factors. The next best system would be to split the teams based on the previous year’s state meet results, placing teams 1-9 in 9 separate regions, and then 10-18, 19-27 in a similar fashion. This would ensure that at least the top teams were apart. Then the other teams can fall into nice geographic areas. Surely this would cause some schools to travel farther than others. But that is already the case! Novi’s region included Brighton (5 minute commute to the course) AND Detroit Mumford (hour plus trip)! I don’t think it is unwise to take an extra step to ensure worthy teams, and worthy runners aren’t locked out of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s true that life isn’t fair, and that is definitely an important lesson to learn. But we don’t want our kids learning that lesson the hard way, due to forces outside of their control, at such an early age. Do we? PS- Congratulations to Joe Schubring, Novi’s lone qualifier this year to the state meet. Joe ran a fantastic time of 16:01 to place him 43rd overall in the state’s most competitive division, D1. It’s been a pleasure to watch Joe grow both as a runner and a person over the last four years. I’m sure more success is in his future. (c) 2010 Novi
Information Network |
|
Alex Prasad is a life-long Michigan resident, a student at the University of Michigan and a 2007 graduate of Novi High School. He was the Novi.org school and sports reporter while he was at NHS. Alex was also a captain of the NHS Cross Country Team and Track Team under legendary coach Bob Smith. His passion for running continues to this day, as he trains for a marathon. Alex is currently General Manager of WOLV-TV, the student run television station at UM, and produces shows on both the Michigan Football and Michigan Hockey teams. You can also see his work on Big Ten Network coverage of Michigan baseball and softball this spring. This column is shared by Alex Prasad, Lance J. Lilla and Bernie Fratto on alternating weeks.
|
|
