You are named head of District One...

[Joe_Kane]

The District One/PIAA committee takes a lot of flack on this board (and most times, rightfully so); but a lot of times it's just people bitching, without offering any solutions of their own.

So I pose this scenario, you are made head of the District One and/or PIAA Football Committee; what changes do you make? Playoff seeding, schedule? District final date, location? The power is now yours...

 

[Relayer]

I'll take a shot Joe since I have been vocal about some of these issues.

Playoffs: The system is fine. District 1 has the smallest percentage of teams making the playoffs in the state. It puts a premium on the importance of winning every game. Look no further than four 7-3 teams not qualifying, including Spring-Ford who made the district championship game two years ago. Makes for an exciting last couple of weeks in the regular season. I will say that CR-North is the only team who didn't belong in the playoffs. They were awful down the stretch.

Maybe District 1 should go back to the higher seed hosting the championship game. If they can't come up with quality venues, scrap the neutral field, especially if they won't spend any money. This has been a constant problem. I have said they need to approve possible sites well in advance, not the week before.

When D1 hosts the east final, the same issues apply. I'll never complain if they use Downingtown or Coatesville, even though there are at the western end of the district. Two quality facilities. Does anyone remember the east final at Bensalem 10 years ago? What a quagmire, people were stuck in that parking lot forever. I never heard so many complaints.

No excuse for not having Souderton ready for Friday night, especially when Quakertown had their field ready for Thursday morning. Really missed going to BASD on Saturday and it turned out to be a very good game.

 

[Burgundynewz]

I absolutely love the idea of the highest seed hosting the final.

That's the way it should.

There was no reason at all for the game to be held at Souderton.

 

[Patton2Moscow]

Relayer, I really like your proposal. It makes to much sense, why would anyone want to have a certain schedule ready ahead of time. Practical go figure!

 

[Demodick]

Higher seed should have home field for entire
District 1 playoffs including Championship.

When it's District 1 chance to host Eastern Final
Game should be played as close to
District 1's Rep school as possible

I can Remeber CBW vs Beca at Heartbreak ridge
Great atmosphere

Finally. When Pennsbury. Makes playoffs
Galen is not allowed to make ANY desicions
During Pennsbury games

 

[PABasketball]

The only issue with top seed hosting is the lack of turf fields.

The District Final is considered a state game and the state prefers turf fields.

Many have turf, but some of the stronger D1 programs do not, namely North Penn, Neshaminy and Pennsbury.

Relayer, I recall that game at Bensalem. What a mess!

 

[KBerg]

Awesome topic.

If I ruled district one, here are my changes:

1. Playoff teams remain at 16, but.... The computer rankings are used to determine which 16 teams get in. To add a human element (which is needed, in my opinion, to avoid matchups with league opponents/rivals in round one), there should be a seeding committee to determine where the 16 teams get seeded. Let's say it includes one rep from each league/conference plus three at-large members made up of people who actually know d-1 football (media members, former coaches/ADs, etc).

2. Maybe a bit of a scheduling nightmare, but, we should circle the wagons in D-1 and require teams to schedule other D-1 teams for their non-conference schedule. Imagine some of the great early season matchups if the top programs played each other in week one or two. With teams getting points from opponents regardless of if they win or not, the risk/reward is not as punitive. Imagine the possibilities of a Ches-Mont/SOL Challenge or a PAC-10/Central League showcase. Play a few games double/triple header-style at one of the premier venues in D-1 as a early season treat to fans.

3. The District One AAAA final (and East final if it's "our year" to host) shall be played at PPL Park in Chester (money being no object), or at Coatesville, Downingtown, CB West or Pennridge (love their new field - it'll be much nicer next year with added facilities). These sites are selfishly chosen because of their large press boxes.

4. Immediately implode P-W's field and build a Chipotle in its place.

5. District One's broadcasting fees for postseason games will be reduced, if not eliminated. It costs more money to broadcast a D-1 championship game than a state final. They make enough from the gate.

That's all I got. Thanks to everyone who tuned in at some point this season...as always, it's a blast.

 

[Stalker]

You have to wonder why the higher seed wouldn't automatically be the home team. That's how it's done in District 3, the higher seed is the host team throughout the playoffs until the district final. Keeps things simple and structured. Talk about putting a premium on winning games; this gives ALL teams with any kind of a shot added incentive.

I think the system is plain and simple ,broke. Some egs........
About seeding, North Penn beats Pennsbury, tying them at 6-1, ie....winning the tie breaker (!) and gets the 9th seed while Falcons get the 2nd seed, meaning NPenn is strongly penalized for playing real teams going 1-2 vs LS, WC and Wood while Pennsbury plays CR North/South and Frankford, winning by a combined score of 131-28 and is rewarded.

Something real wrong with that system when you
1. win the conference
2. win the head to head
3. have the tougher schedule

Similar with Haverford who
1. beats Stoga 24-7 but gets the 16th seed while Stoga gets 14th
2. Haverford ends year 7-2 in conf, Stoga 6-3
3. Haverford's non conf is DtWest, Stoga's is Roberts

They need to start over. I realize that's easier said than done but, they could consider righting these wrongs instead of simple math that takes out elements of reason.
This post was edited on 12/2 8:30 PM by Stalker

 

[not_a_fan]

Great topic here, I'll take a shot....

I think the playoff system is good with 16 teams but how they get there needs help. My suggestion is to reseed the teams once the power points are added up. Use an objective committee or computer program to consider the obvious-like beating a AAAA Pub team is not the same as beating a SOL National team even if the records are the same. Look at teams strength of schedule especially in their wins.

My most important change is spending $20 million on a plot of land that is setup for football, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, and track. Have multiple facilities and fields for use as Championship sites. The football stadium would seat 15,000, great press box area, plenty of parking, luxury suites for sponsors, and be a FOOTBALL ONLY field. This would eliminate any doubt where the Final is played every year. Hopefully, there is land available near Ft. Washington or Western Montco so its centrally located.

I think KBerg suggested playing an inter conference non-league weekend, I say go the other way. Schedule a District 11 or District 3 vs. District 1 Challenge. Give fans from other areas a chance to see teams they only read about. Play 4 games on Friday and 4 games on Saturday the weekend before Labor Day. Imagine a Wk 1 lineup of Pennsbury vs. Central Dauphin, or North Penn vs. Parkland, or Coatesville vs. Easton all played at a venue in each District. Maybe Lehigh for D11, Hershey for D3, PPL for District 1.

 

[SPEED&JUMP DR.]

If im just looking out for district one, I start the season a week earlier, play the same 10 game schedule, then 16 team playoff, using point system to decide the 16, human element to seed the 16. I then reseed after each round, assuring the top seed always postponing the low seed. After distrct championship, I give the champ a week off to get rested and ready for a 2 game season - the eastern final and hopefully a state final. The PCL has our number at the AAAA and AAA levels and this might be the edge needed to get us over the hump.

 

[Burgundynewz]

I completely disagree with the committee idea

Higher seeds host all playoff games

Seeding determined only by what happens on the field and the established point system.

Having a committee is pointless all it will do is add a subjective element to the playoffs.

For what? To make a newspaper reporters feel more important and a bigger part of the game than they should be?

In terms of the concerns of playoff a week 1 matchup a between inter- conference opponents, here is a news flash, the games are not intended to entertain you they are intended to create a system of merit based on only that season's results.

The notion that we need a committee that knows best and can create juicy match ups is the exact reason why I will always be against committees.

There is always someone out there who thinks that they know best.

 

[AP1999]

Re: I completely disagree with the committee idea

Reseed every round of the D1 playoffs.

Wouldn't have done anything this year but there were years past where the 14-15-16 seed won then got to play the bottom part of the bracket.

Reseeding would leave the lower seed always playing the higher seeds.

Hudl makes it easy for film exchange.

District Championships at the highest seeds field like it was in the early 2000's.

Eastern Conference championship at PPL or a college on Rt.22. Any of these venues can handle the traffic, parking and seating that would attend.

Plus having the Eastern Conference games at a "special" venue makes the game even more special.

 

[newman107]

Give credit to the Quakertown coaching staff and all the volunteers who were out shoveling the field Wednesday night. I would like to believe if Souderton was playing in that game the field would have been cleaned in time for Friday night.

 

[newman107]

There's no way in hell we are all going to agree on what changes need to be made, and that's what makes this great conversation.
1. The only reason I would want any type of committee is to avoid any rematches in the playoffs. Coatesville should not have to play Henderson or D-Town East until the District semi-finals, at least. If the Ches-Mont is good, and that well-represented, they deserve not to have to knock each other out of the playoffs.
2. I completely disagree with the idea of the location being announced in advance, unless there was some type of complex built. There needs to be some sense of logic involved in the choosing of the site. If you want to say that BECA and CBW had great atmosphere at Neshaminy, that's fine, but what makes sense about playing that game there? Nothing. That just makes it more obvious that the problem seems to be a lack of suitable facilities. Pennridge's new field could be put to use in the future. Ideally, putting turf in at North Penn could be the best solution. It's kind of in the middle of everything and accessible.
3. I love the idea of two- or three-game days at a neutral field on the opening weekend. They can be inter conference, or inter district. Who wouldn't love to see Wilson -WL, CD, etc. or Parkland, Easton, etc. playing top District One teams on Labor Day weekend. The Central League just needs to play somebody else, anybody else, in their regular season.