ALBIN’S ANGLE

Sectional crisis Playoff matchup stirs tournament debate

Nate Albin albinnat000@hsestudents.org

All sports feed off of what is random and ]nfair. There will always be something for someone to get ]pset abo]t. 1n the ! 6+)) To]rnament, *ig Ten cochampion 8]rd]e played reigning national champions >illano^a in only the second ro]nd of the to]rnament. ;omebody co]ld reasonably say that these teams probably co]ld ha^e played in the national title and it wo]ld ha^e been a good match]p. 7f co]rse, instances liSe this will happen again. 1t happened most recently right here in an 10;)) football sectional. 1n both teams¼ fi rst playoff game, 5a`8reps¼ n]mber two and n]mber three teams in the ) class played each other. ThirdranSed *rownsb]rg edged secondranSed )^on . ;ome high school football rage ens]ed. /ro]ps liSe 1ndy;tar and -;86 abo]t the topic in pro sports, now debate whether the system needs to be changed. )s it stands now, teams play games against teams in their conference that are geographically the closest. .or .0; football, this means they gro]p ]p with 0amilton +rossroads +onference ri^als +armel, ?estfi eld and 0;-. )^on and *rownsb]rg, both also in the 0++, pair ]p along with two other teams in their sectional. *oth )^on and *rownsb]rg ha^e a good history in football. 7ne does not ha^e to looS far bacS to see s]ccess. )ccording to ;ports, both schools ha^e prod]ced fo]rstar recr]its in the past fi ^e years. *eca]se of these two being in the same conference and both ha^ing pre^io]s s]ccess, no one sho]ld be shocSed to see these two meeting ]p this early on. ;ports are f]ll of moments when elite teams play earlier than some say they are s]pposed to. There is another way to looS at this. To]rnaments worS to whittle down a fi eld to the best participant of them all. This )^on*rownsb]rg game accomplished this tasS. The game determined the better team to ad^ance, regardless of when it happens. 1n theory, *rownsb]rg wo]ld ha^e won the game  at any point in the to]rnament, sectional or championship. The two best teams do not need to play in the title game. ?hile epic title bo]ts sparS e`citement and memories that will li^e fore^er in sports lore, sometimes sports does not follow the “best for lastº r]le. ThinS ,]Se3ent]cSy in the !! 6+)) :egional .inal or +hargers,olphins in the !  ).+ ,i^isional 8layoff . -`perts consider both to be in the small handf]l of greatest games in their respecti^e sports. ;ports wo]ld not be as f]n if e^ery step of the way a committee or panel planned it o]t. 1f e^ery to]rnament was perfect, we wo]ld not ha^e ]psets, ]nderdog r]ns and players carrying their teams to new heights. ;ports are random. -mbrace it.

FHS kicked off their season with a 26-0 victory over North Central on Aug. 23 in Lucas Oil Stadium, the site that also hosts the state championship for all class levels. FHS did not end their season at the stadium. Photo by Leen Mahmoud.