A new 3 day, 12 game format with the switch to 6 classifications. They tip off tonight:
Thursday
5:00 - Girls 2A: Chartiers-Houston vs Vincentian
7:00 - Boys 1A: Monessen vs Imani Christian
9:00 - Boys 3A: Lincoln Park vs Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic
Friday
3:00 - Girls 1A: Winchester-Thurston vs Cornell
5:00 - Boys 2A: Our Lady of Sacred Heart vs Sewickley Academy
7:00 - Girls 4A: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic vs Blackhawk
9:00 - Boys 5A: Moon vs Hampton
Saturday
11:00 - Girls 3A: Bishop Canevin vs Neshannock
1:00 - Boys 4A: New Castle vs Quaker Valley
3:00 - Girls 5A: Oakland Catholic vs Chartiers Valley
7:00 - Girls 6A: North Allegheny vs Bethel Park
9:00 - Boys 6A: Pine-Richland vs Butler
- I said for many years that the WPIAL Championships should ALWAYS be played at the Pete and not Palumbo. Not only can Pitt make a little money off of it, "making it to the Pete" should be the goal of every young basketball player just like making it to Heinz is. Its good for everybody. Last year, the 8 games drew over 15K. With the extra 4 games, they could get 20K. If we figure $7/ticket that's $140K. If Pitt gets 20% of that (and I have no idea what Pitt's cut it), that's $28K just for doing the right thing.
- However, this is now 4 years in a row where Pitt has finished on the road and that is probably not a coincidence. Pitt is probably asking for this so they can host the WPIALs and I don't think they should be doing that. Ideally, you'd like to finish at home in case you are in need of a win. If we were playing at home this weekend, I do not think it would be that big of a deal to play the WPIALs on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Or if Pitt was at home at noon. Have a Saturday night WPIAL doubleheader then the rest on Sunday. I don't think Pitt should be telling the ACC not to give them a home game to close the season.
- I hope the WPIAL doesn't make the insanely stupid decision to not use the best seats in the house, the Zoo seats. They have said they didn't use them because they didn't think it would be fair for one school's fans to get those seats while the other school was on the other side above the courtside suites. It would just make sense and is very simple to divide the fan sections the other way so the fans are divided by the half court line on both sides. For example, for the Friday games, when you walk in, signs should read:
Fans of WT, OLSH, CWNC, and Moon: Sections 109-120 and 6F, 6G, and 6H
Students of WT, OLSH, CWNC, and Moon: Sections 6I and 6J
Fans of Cornell, Sewickley, Blackhawk, Hampton: Sections 107-122, 6C and 6D
Students of Cornell, Sewickley, Blackhawk, Hampton: Sections 6A and 6B
The midcourt sections of 108, 121, and 6E can be used by anybody. Fans will naturally gravitate towards the center and sit on the side of those sections closest to their teams' sections. I just think it is incredibally stupid to play the biggest games of these kids' careers in an environment similar to an open gym or AAU game where you are playing in this big space with no fans anywhere near you.
- Speaking of dumb things the WPIAL does, they reverted back to determining their state playoff qualifying teams by the "follow the winner" format meaning if you draw an 8 or 9 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, you have better odds of making the state playoffs than a 5 seed. This is because the 5th and 6th qualifiers in each class are determined by which teams lost to the semifinal winners. So if your class had a dominant 1 seed like New Castle in 4A which may be the best team in the entire WPIAL, you are better off drawing the 8/9 and losing to New Castle in the quarters so you can qualify for the PIAA playoffs. The last 2 years they had PIAA play-in games, where the quarterfinal losers would play to determine the last spots and everybody seemed to like it but for some reason they got rid of it. I mean, if you really don't want to have play-in games, wouldn't determining the state qualifiers by WPIAL seed be more fair than going by which team you lost to? If a 5 seed is say 20-5 and an 8 seed is 14-10, wouldn't it be more fair for the 5 seed to get the bid based off their better WPIAL seed than the 8 seed who got the bid just because they lost to the 1 seed, who won their semifinal game? Its just so stupid.
- Some interesting things on the boys's side: In 1A, 2A, and 3A, 9 of the 12 semifinalists and 5 of the 6 finalists were schools not bound by geography (private or charter schools).
- Only 4 of the 12 finalists are Allegheny County public schools.
- Only 1 of the 12 finalists are located south of Pittsburgh
- Ryan Luther and Cam Johnson's alma maters made it. Jeter's lost in the semis.
Thursday
5:00 - Girls 2A: Chartiers-Houston vs Vincentian
7:00 - Boys 1A: Monessen vs Imani Christian
9:00 - Boys 3A: Lincoln Park vs Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic
Friday
3:00 - Girls 1A: Winchester-Thurston vs Cornell
5:00 - Boys 2A: Our Lady of Sacred Heart vs Sewickley Academy
7:00 - Girls 4A: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic vs Blackhawk
9:00 - Boys 5A: Moon vs Hampton
Saturday
11:00 - Girls 3A: Bishop Canevin vs Neshannock
1:00 - Boys 4A: New Castle vs Quaker Valley
3:00 - Girls 5A: Oakland Catholic vs Chartiers Valley
7:00 - Girls 6A: North Allegheny vs Bethel Park
9:00 - Boys 6A: Pine-Richland vs Butler
- I said for many years that the WPIAL Championships should ALWAYS be played at the Pete and not Palumbo. Not only can Pitt make a little money off of it, "making it to the Pete" should be the goal of every young basketball player just like making it to Heinz is. Its good for everybody. Last year, the 8 games drew over 15K. With the extra 4 games, they could get 20K. If we figure $7/ticket that's $140K. If Pitt gets 20% of that (and I have no idea what Pitt's cut it), that's $28K just for doing the right thing.
- However, this is now 4 years in a row where Pitt has finished on the road and that is probably not a coincidence. Pitt is probably asking for this so they can host the WPIALs and I don't think they should be doing that. Ideally, you'd like to finish at home in case you are in need of a win. If we were playing at home this weekend, I do not think it would be that big of a deal to play the WPIALs on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Or if Pitt was at home at noon. Have a Saturday night WPIAL doubleheader then the rest on Sunday. I don't think Pitt should be telling the ACC not to give them a home game to close the season.
- I hope the WPIAL doesn't make the insanely stupid decision to not use the best seats in the house, the Zoo seats. They have said they didn't use them because they didn't think it would be fair for one school's fans to get those seats while the other school was on the other side above the courtside suites. It would just make sense and is very simple to divide the fan sections the other way so the fans are divided by the half court line on both sides. For example, for the Friday games, when you walk in, signs should read:
Fans of WT, OLSH, CWNC, and Moon: Sections 109-120 and 6F, 6G, and 6H
Students of WT, OLSH, CWNC, and Moon: Sections 6I and 6J
Fans of Cornell, Sewickley, Blackhawk, Hampton: Sections 107-122, 6C and 6D
Students of Cornell, Sewickley, Blackhawk, Hampton: Sections 6A and 6B
The midcourt sections of 108, 121, and 6E can be used by anybody. Fans will naturally gravitate towards the center and sit on the side of those sections closest to their teams' sections. I just think it is incredibally stupid to play the biggest games of these kids' careers in an environment similar to an open gym or AAU game where you are playing in this big space with no fans anywhere near you.
- Speaking of dumb things the WPIAL does, they reverted back to determining their state playoff qualifying teams by the "follow the winner" format meaning if you draw an 8 or 9 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, you have better odds of making the state playoffs than a 5 seed. This is because the 5th and 6th qualifiers in each class are determined by which teams lost to the semifinal winners. So if your class had a dominant 1 seed like New Castle in 4A which may be the best team in the entire WPIAL, you are better off drawing the 8/9 and losing to New Castle in the quarters so you can qualify for the PIAA playoffs. The last 2 years they had PIAA play-in games, where the quarterfinal losers would play to determine the last spots and everybody seemed to like it but for some reason they got rid of it. I mean, if you really don't want to have play-in games, wouldn't determining the state qualifiers by WPIAL seed be more fair than going by which team you lost to? If a 5 seed is say 20-5 and an 8 seed is 14-10, wouldn't it be more fair for the 5 seed to get the bid based off their better WPIAL seed than the 8 seed who got the bid just because they lost to the 1 seed, who won their semifinal game? Its just so stupid.
- Some interesting things on the boys's side: In 1A, 2A, and 3A, 9 of the 12 semifinalists and 5 of the 6 finalists were schools not bound by geography (private or charter schools).
- Only 4 of the 12 finalists are Allegheny County public schools.
- Only 1 of the 12 finalists are located south of Pittsburgh
- Ryan Luther and Cam Johnson's alma maters made it. Jeter's lost in the semis.
