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Post by scobserver on May 31, 2009 19:18:11 GMT -5
I've started my first thread, and want to rant on one of my lesser favorite organizations--the NCS and CIF.
first off--here are the salaries of the NCS' three top people: 132k, 115k, and 91k. (the budget is on their website). All that money just to organize playoffs, which most high school athletic directors and half the people on this board could do just as well and for far less....
second off--virtually no money from the playoffs benefit the schools, and never has. It just goes to pay the organization's ridiculous overhead. To keep its undeserved non profit status they started the pathetic basketball "foundation games" for scholarships in a cynical ploy to do SOMETHING charitable.
third off--in 1976 or so, the CIF had a sudden burst of self-importance and started post-season playoffs. It has since mushroomed far beyond the needs of student athletes. The longer seaons accelerated the trend of specialized athletes (though very few are that good at one sport) and skews resources and media coverage toward the playoffs. The point of high school athletics is to provide the positive participation of sports for students, not to "produce" prospects for D 1 colleges.
I, of course, have some suggestions.
1) Halve the salaries of NCS staff. Immediately. Seriously. Move the NCS office from San Ramon (one of the most expensive places to live in the state) to a central location in NCS where you can still live like a king on 55k. I recommend Willits. If current staff does not want to move, they can resign.
2) Halve the playoff entries of most every sport. Screw up courage to stand down coaches and ADs who want to say "we went to the playoffs in 12 different sports this season!" It also reduces the lengthy playoff season.
I feel these two things alone would put a brake on the playoff mania and "cool" things down.
Looking forward to your comments!
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Post by neverdoneit on May 31, 2009 19:24:14 GMT -5
Amen to that brother. The NCS office NEEDS to be more central for the entire section. When they have the seeding meetings the representatives from the north have to drive forever to get to the meetings. Ukiah would be a good place or Healdsburg if they dont want to go as far north as Ukiah. Common NCS!!! However I would not wish Willits upon anyone.
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Post by Ben Herrington on May 31, 2009 20:15:23 GMT -5
I love playoffs and wouldnt shorten them at all (football only). Softball, baseball, basketball, etc is a whole situation i dont want to look into. Football is great the way it is, I like the NCS playoffs in the division format and very much enjoy the bowl games.
As for the money, I dont even want to get into it, cause I would give my opinion on something I dont know a lot about.
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Post by scobserver on May 31, 2009 21:26:59 GMT -5
No question San Ramon...the very farthest south one can go and still be in NCS... is a miserable place for the office. Okay, Willits is a little far north, but housing in Healdsburg is too expensive (remember, I plan to cut salaries a lot!) so maybe Ukiah. But hey, cut Willits some slack, it's a fine town, consider that their mainstay industry in the toilet all these years!
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Post by scobserver on May 31, 2009 21:37:47 GMT -5
Ben-- exactly my point, the playoffs are the focus, rendering the regular season meaningless. Just like the NBA (not a compliment). I'm glad you enjoy the "bowl" games, as apparently most people don't-- isn't CIF moving them out or trying to do something to generate interest? They've been pretty much a flop, especially the in-stadium attendance. After the long weeks of play, and getting closer to the holidays, they are rather anti-climatic (except for the chosen few--literally). Cutting out at least one round for football (not to mention the other sports...yes, this is a football board) would help alleviate that problem.
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Post by football415 on May 31, 2009 23:26:02 GMT -5
My 2 cents: Although you make a few good points and I agree things should change with the money dept, the playoffs mean alot to the young men who work hard to get the recognition they deserve. What the NCS did RIGHT was expanding the Divisions to combine RE and EB. The finals now crown a true champion for NCS. Most, 99%, of these kids know they will not be playing D1 ball or DII or even DIII. What they do know is that their participation definitely looks good on college/scholarship apps and if they do get noticed for their athletic ability, the playoffs can help their chances. Alot needs to change but alot works too. The bowl games are a whole other matter. Still not sure if its really works without a regional playoff.
Just My 2 cents.
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Post by Ben Herrington on Jun 1, 2009 0:45:03 GMT -5
In reality, a true state championship tournament in not possible in California. The reason is not the size of the state, its the budget of each school. After a whole season of play, todays schools cannot afford to travel all over their half of Cali for a first or second round game... Imagine if you make it further, third round? fourth? By then the schools budget is so screwed that other sports are hurt too.
The playoffs are a large focus, but I think only after the 7th or 8th week. Until then, its all about league and the regular season.
Thing about Football vs basketball or baseball, is Football can only have one game per week, basketball and baseball can have 3 or 4. Thats why Football should be given longer to finish out.
Football: Sept - 1/2 Dec = 3.5 months
Basketball: Dec - Mar = 4 months
Baseball: Mar - May = 3 months
Now going further into the playoffs, or even making the playoffs is only for a fraction of the teams. More so, only a hand full of teams make it to their respective section championship. out of 1000 some high schools in Cali, only 10 make it to the state bowl.
I like the bowls because this is the closest Cali can get to a state championship, the reason why its failing is lack of people that know anything... When is it? What channel? Teams? Just because the CIF has them doesnt mean people know about it. If the CIF wants people to care, first, CHANGE THE LOCATION!!! Second, advertise so people know about it. Finally, let me know WHAT CHANNEL ITS ON!
I have Dish Network and dont get to watch it. Direct TV it was on like channel 463 or something, another channel that I couldnt find on Direct TV. How about Comcast??? Channel 632 or something like that. Put it on a normal channel in Cali and let people watch it.
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Post by scobserver on Jun 1, 2009 19:54:50 GMT -5
I agree with combining the RE and EB in a true section finals...if the RE teams get beat, well, that's how it goes....my suggestion is to reduce the size of the brackets because there are too many qualifiers in the first place, making it that much longer. I suppose the students do look forward to the playoffs, once mid season rolls around and they realize there is no chance for a league championship. Of course, that's why in olden days you had the rivalry game at end of season--sort of a built in "bowl game" for everyone. But there are precious few really good traditional rivalries in the RE, so it's a bit moot.
No question CIF needs to move the game -- out of LA I think, it's bound to get swallowed in that city. And you'd think they could wrangle a good TV channel for at least the "main" championship, don't know what the problem is there.
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Post by ddddyyyy on Jul 8, 2009 20:12:17 GMT -5
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Post by pops on Jul 9, 2009 0:59:28 GMT -5
I thought basketball went on for too long.
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