North Dakota Preps

I am a notable class B fan, don't watch too much class A, but was in bismarck this past weekend and went to the final day of the WDA. I have one question, maybe someone can help me out with this. Every home team sat on the, I believe would be the south bench, except BHS boys, I overheard some talk that Miller has never sat on the other bench or something? Seems kinda fishy. Can anyone help me out with this, thanks.

Mandan was the number 1 seed and top bracket, so they probably were the home team. I think WDA bench seating is based more on the locker room that the team gets.

Now that you mention it, I am trying to think of a time when he did sit on the north side.. help us out..

to take it a step further, what does miller do that isn't fishy????

You are right......at some point during the tourney, BHS should have been on the other bench. They were the home team the 1st two games and visitor (Mandan #1 seed) the final game. BHS sat on the south bench all three games.

I am talking about in the past because I know they didn't this last weekend. Can anybody ever remember them being on the north bench? I know they weren't for the state championship game in 2004.. between the two events I am a little fuzzy / didn't pay attention.. help us out!

are you guys wondering about just WDA/State? because they sat on the north bench earlier this year during a regular game against CHS

yeah just in the post season

InsideMan wrote:Now that you mention it, I am trying to think of a time when he did sit on the north side.. help us out..

to take it a step further, what does miller do that isn't fishy????

HA HA so true

So is this kind of a thing that whatever Miller wants he gets?

Who cares which bench a team gets. It has no effect on the game. Get over it.

I believe in the first CHS BHS game BHS sat on the north bench

Can't believe this is going on this long. As has been said, it has no bearing on the game and is probably nothing more than a superstition or something, or perhaps a tradition. Fans like to sit behind their team and that section has been BHS fans for a long, long time. Seems like Mandan was almost always on the other end, in girls title games, etc., through the years. Odd idiosyncrasy, but not a conspiracy. Pretty sure Miller wasn't the 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll.

This could actually matter, as much as people might disagree. It is a comfort thing. Imagine being Esley Thorton, same locker room, same bench, same warm up, etc., for four years. That ends up being a huge advantage. Almost like a home court advantage.

To those who don't think it matters, if it didn't, not this many people would have noticed it.

If people are actually correct that Miller keeps the same bench at the Civic Center, then Balla's on the right track. If not, I'm wasting my time. But here goes:

The Civic Center is supposedly a neutral site for the tournament. In postseason tournaments, home and away uniforms and benches are determined by the seed earned during the regular season and the bracketing of the tournament.

Those of you who are saying "get over it," doesn't it bother you at least a little bit that one WDA coach gets to pick his bench and the rest have to bow to his wishes?

I'm neutral here (actually more of a class B fan). I'm not using this bench thing as an excuse for any other WDA team. But I know this: my former school is in the rotation to host class B regional basketball tournaments, and they take the visiting bench when the bracket says they should, because they'd rightly get ripped to shreds if they didn't.

It's the same at virtually every postseason tournament around the state. The venue is supposed to act as a neutral site, and that includes all the intangibles like uniforms, benches, and locker rooms.

Are there more important issues to talk about? Of course. I actually respect Miller quite a bit, too. This is about the principle, not about the coach. But if the Civic Center allows him to keep the same bench, it's not right.

Someone's going to log on and tell me to lighten up. "Come on Bisonguy, it's just a bench, it has no effect on the outcome of the game, who cares where they sit!

OK...

Then you better say the same thing to Steve Miller. He shouldn't have a problem with sitting on either side of the gym.

demon201 wrote:Can't believe this is going on this long. As has been said, it has no bearing on the game and is probably nothing more than a superstition or something, or perhaps a tradition. Fans like to sit behind their team and that section has been BHS fans for a long, long time. Seems like Mandan was almost always on the other end, in girls title games, etc., through the years. Odd idiosyncrasy, but not a conspiracy. Pretty sure Miller wasn't the 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll.

so....you're saying that they assign benches depending on where that team's fans sit?

as for the guy who said benches dont matter, why do teams always take the same bench for home games? why not just say the first team to take the court can just go set there stuff at a bench and thats their bench. ask any one and i doubt they could give you a real answer as to why they always sit on that bench. the anser 95% of the time will probably be thats just always been our bench.

I do know one team that has a specific reason they pick one bench. one rim is EXTREMELY giving and the other is like shooting on a steal rim on a playground. They sit on that bench so they can have the forgiving rim the 2nd half.

its like football in a way, why do teams get to pick which direction they want to play first if it has no effect on the game? its a comfort thing. it likely wouldnt cost teams games, but if you feel more comfortable on one bench, why not take that bench?

When i was in high school, when we went to a certain field we always took the same bench. was there a reason? not really. but we never lost in that bench and the one game we were in the other dugout, we lost. what happens off the field/court doesnt always, but can, effect what happens on the field/court.

It actually doesn't matter whether you believe the bench gives a team an edge or not.

If it does... Well then Bismarck is gaining an unfair advantage during tournament play.
If it doesn't... then Bismarck should let the bracket dictate where their bench is, like every other school.

Either way, you can't defend this.

2001 State Championship. Demons sat on the North bench & won. Relatively big game.

Good. Maybe the people above were wrong and Bismarck occupies either bench just like everyone else. That's how it should be.

[quote]its like football in a way, why do teams get to pick which direction they want to play first if it has no effect on the game? its a comfort thing. it likely wouldnt cost teams games, but if you feel more comfortable on one bench, why not take that bench?[quote]
Football actually all depends on the wind.
As for BHS at the civic center I really have no clue why they always seem to be on the south bench. I know that they do sit on the north bench when they are away for the BHS vs. CHS games. I know from being a player that has played in the situation of being the away team on the south bench there is really no say we had it in... it was just whichever lockeroom they said we were in we assumed that that's where our bench was. Does this ever happen in any other games? I guess i havent really paid attention that much.

squeak63 wrote:

its like football in a way, why do teams get to pick which direction they want to play first if it has no effect on the game? its a comfort thing. it likely wouldnt cost teams games, but if you feel more comfortable on one bench, why not take that bench?

Football actually all depends on the wind.

They still do it in a dome...

It had to do with where the fans were standing.

/thread.

Looks like Bismarck is on the North bench for the 1st game

haha i bet steve went on here and made sure he got the north bench just to upset everyone

I'm not into conspiracies or whatever but when somebody mentioned something about how they always seem to have the south bench it made me think about it and I couldn't remember a time when they had the north bench. It could be a small at best advantage if anything but the whole point of having a neutral site is so that nobody has an advantage.

The issue that I have a bigger problem with is BHS and Century playing games in the Civic when nobody else gets to. That is an advantage and nobody can argue that it isn't. That is what this discussion should be about. Again, it goes back to what I said earlier, What does Steve Miller do that isn't sketchy? I understand that winning does breed jealously but as a 3rd party on looker and person with inside information, it is almost to the point where somebody should do something about it.