MSHSL at its finest

UPDATE on MONDAY, March 9: The matter discussed below was taken care of. In this instance, it's a non-issue, as the game in question is now being played at NL-S high school.

Sending Kimball and BBE schools to PIERZ!!! To play a postseason game on a school night. That's what is on the docket in the girls' basketball playoffs: sub-section finals at 7 p.m. in Pierz on Tuesday, March 10.

COME ON! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!! They are the #1 and #2 seeds. Who didn't imagine that this was a possibility??? They need to come up with a Plan B right now. How hard would it be to host this game at Eden Valley? The decisions aren't made in St. Paul in these cases. They're made by Section 5A, or more specifically "Region 6A" officials who are located throughout the central and north central part of Minnesota.

No, I haven't consulted with any coaches or anyone on the local level about this ranting. One could argue to just leave it alone and leave the game at Pierz. Both teams have played a playoff game there already. Don't upset the apple cart. I'm thinking along the lines of STUDENT SAFETY first of all. Fan safety. Small school budgets. LOGIC. This is not me talking. This is everyone who talks to me in my newspaper office about these decisions. Everyone who pays property taxes and complains about how government officials can't think ahead and think about how precious taxpayer money really is.

I don't raise hell like this to make friends or to look like a jerk even though I come across as one. But I have to share the facts. And I have every right to share what others are saying to me in Jaguar Country.

Here's the facts in case anyone cares or is paying attention: the number one seed, B-B-E, has a 77 or 78-mile drive from the B-B-E high school to Pierz. Kimball has a 52-mile drive which includes driving through the St. Cloud Metro area up to Highway 10. In fact, on one of B-B-E's routes to Pierz that goes through Cold Spring and St. Joseph, the path intersects with Kimball's preferred route to get to Pierz.

It takes Kimball fans roughly one hour, maybe an hour and five minutes, to get to Pierz. It takes B-B-E fans a solid 90 minutes to 100 minutes to get to Pierz if they start out at our high school.

Our girls' basketball team has to drive to wherever the sub-section officials say the game will be held. It's nothing our players, coaches or even school administrators can protest. In fact, they really can't say a word about it in public. It's not their call. They have to go along with the decisions. If the team doesn't show up, it's a forfeit. They lose the right to move on in the playoffs.

More facts. The sub-section seeding took place on Wednesday, February 26. We've known for over a week that this possibility could happen. The top two seeds were indeed B-B-E and Kimball. What if this game was being held between Kimball and East Central? What if, for some odd reason, the Eagles beat our Jaguars last night? Of course the game should be held in Pierz in that case.

How about Upsala and B-B-E? Upsala, the number three seed, certainly had a shot at getting through the first two rounds and getting into the title game. In that case, Pierz also makes no sense. There Melrose would be an obvious choice. I could go on and on with other scenarios.

Other factors on the "devil's advocate" side of the argument. Playoff games require a lot of staff. Mostly volunteer staff but the MSHSL (section) does reimburse schools for costs such maintenance staff, concession workers and ticket takers. Playoff games require a host school that we can trust. We need to trust that they will have staff and that their gymnasiums can accommodate big crowds. Everyone in central Minnesota understands that we can trust Pierz. They have a fantastic facility. They have fantastic staff. But we also know Melrose can handle a huge game (remember two years ago? Packed gym between our boys' basketball teams?)....and I know staff at Eden Valley-Watkins and can personally attest to their high credibility and trust their ability to be able to pull off something as grand as hosting a girls' basketball sub-section championship game between nearby conference rivals B-B-E and Kimball Area.



I don't know the capacity of the EV-W high school's new gym, but just looking at the stands I can say that they appear equal in capacity to Pierz. Shown is the EVW gym with a huge showing of B-B-E fans during the Section 5A wrestling Final Four on February 13.

Don't get me wrong...I love that Pierz gym. It has to be one of the best gyms I've ever worked in during my 12 years of being a sports reporter.

But this isn't about what I like or what I want. It's about logic. Small school budgets!!! Grandma and Grandpa getting whipped because property taxes are unfair but are necessary to help fund public schools. Teenagers driving long distances when they don't have to...it's not right!!!!!!!! And a parent's comment this morning has me refocused on what is truly important: what is best for the kids? The student-athletes???? Do we really care about academics? Or are we, the adults, simply giving lip service to whether or not we care about what happens in the classroom????

I confess...in my gut I believe the likelihood of this sub-section final game being moved in this extremely short window of time we have is extremely low. I can still speak my mind. I happen to personally know one of the officials in charge of what happens in Section 5A for the basketball playoffs. I don't want to drag this person through the mud. The position is basically a volunteer position. It's not a high-buck, glamorous job.

I'm not going to push as hard and as furiously as I did a year ago when B-B-E and Browerville were set to play one another in boys' basketball at Crosby-Ironton. However, you're reading this, right? The public is chewing through what I'm saying and raising awareness of this issue. We have a right to complain. We have a right to have a say in what goes on with our schools, our students, our teams. They are OUR students. OUR children. Their safety is REALLY important.

I don't have time to go on and on about this. Once I got home from Pierz last night and this whole thing settled into my brain, I got really, really mad. I was so worked up I couldn't even properly blog or find area scores or write about the game. It took about five hours of sleep to settle down and a trip to church to calm my nerves. I have a small business to run. I need 50 to 60 hours each week to properly do that. I'll be fine if this game is held in Pierz. I already have transportation lined up. But again it's not about me!! It's about the hundreds of students (teenagers) who will be driving to the game from Kimball & B-B-E....plus the 30 or 35 student-athletes / student-managers not to mention two pep bands who will be mired in this long, unnecessary road trip on a school night. ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!!!!!!!! Tell me how that is right????

What happens if a student or students is/are killed on the way to Pierz for this game? What then? Who will apologize to those families in that situation? Of course that is a horrible thought. But GUESS WHAT! As a parent I think about those things all the time. If that offends someone, SUE ME! I do not do this to make friends. I do not do this to buddy up to certain people or certain officials. This is real life. Decisions and actions have consequences. The drive to Pierz is ugly. It is a long, long drive from Jaguar Country. Generally speaking, the best route is through Long Prairie and Little Falls. You can also take what I call "backroads" through Holdingford or even the Cold Spring / St. Joseph route. That all dances around the point that STUDENT SAFETY SHOULD TRUMP ANYTHING when it comes to high school athletics. Student safety should especially trump what is most convenient or most comfortable for the adults in charge.

Mark my word, this will never happen again. This type of mistake or oversight will never, never happen again as long as I'm around. When the top two seeds have a chance of playing one another in a championship game, a site that is conducive to each school / community needs to be scouted out ahead of time!!!!!!!!

That's all. I have to pack up family and get out the door. Time for a wonderful turkey dinner at South Lake Johanna Church in rural Brooten!! Enjoy the day, folks, the sun is shining. Make the most of it.

Update: a fellow B-B-E fan pointed out that the parking situation at EV-W isn't the greatest. In that respect it would lead me to think Paynesville is the next best option. Beyond that, what about Rocori high school? I would expect that Rocori and the Cold Spring area community could handle this! All I know is that sending us to the OTHER SIDE OF I-94 is a scandal.