steve34 wrote:Playin, I went ahead and called some people in Jamestown. They told me about 1/3 of their hockey team comes from Valley City, and three of their state qualifying swimmers were from there. It sounds like, in at least two cases, their programs would be in jeopardy without the co-ops.
steve34 wrote:Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.--Proverbs 16:18
steve34 wrote:Numbers don't make you competitive, but no matter how you divide them, 10 teams, 12 teams, 14 teams, 16 teams, whatever, there's no other way to create a system. It would be very difficult to create a system based on "competitive history". I hear the argument a lot. Teams that are "traditionally competitive" should be classed together.
My question would then be, "Should teams that are not traditionally competitive be classed together?" If that were the case, there would be a ton of movement that would bring about waling and gnashing of teeth from many schools.
Sorry, but the numbers are the only way to do it.
steve34 wrote:...We can quote all the numbers at each other we want. Common sense has to weigh in, and so does the evidence. Shanley had real trouble competing with EDC teams. Central Cass, Valley City, even Lisbon had no problems competing with Shanley. Wahpeton was competitive at the AAA level, and did not advance to a state title game at the AA level. Central Cass was competitive with them as well.
The numbers, the breaks in the numbers, the evidence PLAYED OUT ON THE FIELD suggests that the current AA teams would compete with small AAA teams. We can argue all the theory we want. The evidence is there to see.
steve34 wrote:A correction: (and this is no fault of yours, just fyi). Valley City no longer offers gymnasics. I read on a website somewhere (I cant remember where) that they are co-oping with Jamestown, due to lack of interest.
As far as communities that look the same, I agree that it's not a fair comparison. After all, Shanley and Oak Grove are from Fargo, which doesn't really look like any other city in AA. But, you can't use the decisions of city councils or corporations as a basis for comparing cities. The cities that contribute teams at the AA level, under this plan, with the exception of one, meet all of the following:
1. Stable permanent population bases
2. They are centers of the economic activity in their region
3. They have major fast food chains of some kind
4. They have discount store outlets of some kinds
The only community, that I know of, that misses one or more of these criteria is Casselton, since Fargo is 20 miles down the road. Still, their exploding population overcomes their lack of a discount chain.
Now, before someone starts jumping on this and saying, "Cavalier has an Alco," or "MayPort has a Pizza Hut," again, these are just the criteria for ONE element of grouping the schools together. Enrollment, school likeness, and so on, make up the others.
As far as the "Big 3" having similar offerings to the AAA schools: A quick comparison shows that Bismarck Century lists one co-op for their offerings, that being in softball. Jamestown, the largest of the "Big 3" lists seven, including football. I would rather error on the side of Jamestown being smaller than listed, than error on the side of Jamestown dropping programs they can't field on their own so they can actually be smaller.
steve34 wrote:Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.--Proverbs 16:18
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