Soccer plan deserved a tryout

It seems Mike Smith’s revised soccer tournament schedule proposal died a cold death this winter and that’s a sad thing for the teams that inevitably will be shut out of the playoffs by thousandths of a point.

His idea would have allowed teams in the top half of a class to go to the tournament, as would teams that were within 10 Tournament Index points of the next highest qualifier, and which had a TI at least 45 percent of the top four teams’ average TI.

A second proposal would have inflated the TIs of winless, tieless teams from one point to 10, to protect teams that play weaker schedules.

Smith, the Winslow High boys soccer coach, shopped his ideas around to the Maine Principals’ Association Soccer Committee and to the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Directors’ Association, and no one bought it.

This happened even though Smith sent ballots out to the state’s 225 soccer coaches, and received 50 ballots back with favorable responses. That’s unfortunate because the plan would have allowed one or two teams to go to the playoffs’ preliminary round, teams that would have been arbitrarily left out of the postseason even with winning records.

You could argue about the Heal Points system, and how well and fairly it has served high school sports, and no plan is perfect, and if the team was really good enough for the playoffs, it would have won the games necessary.

But the fact is, Winslow’s 1994 boys soccer team had a 9-4-1 record, and finished seven points behind the ninth-place team.

Tenth-place Winslow stayed home. The 7-4-3 team went to the playoffs.

It kind of makes it hard to argue that a tryout of Smith’s system wouldn’t be worth the attempt. But we’ll never know now.

– Katrina Veeder, BDN

Having read the article about Trisha Ripton not returning to the University of Maine women’s basketball team, I was not surprised at the disappointment voiced by many people, of all ages, in my local town, and surrounding areas.

Trisha Ripton, a talented young player, whose court awareness and knowledge of the game is outstanding, has entertained and awed fans for the past three years at Maine. She has become a wonderful role model for so many young basketball fans who dream of playing like her someday.

I am amazed, but not at all surprised, at the following this talented young lady has.

Trisha, many people wish you well in your recovery from ankle surgery. We all would like to see you back on the court this season. We know your starting position cannot easily be replaced. The team will not be the same without your presence, nor will the fans.

If you do not return, we thank you for three years of basketball, that many of us will not soon forget. You will certainly be missed. Good luck.

– Betty MacKenzie, Newport

The calls started coming around 4 p.m. Friday and continued the next couple of hours. High school football fans wanted to know if games were going to be played in the rain.

A few callers were just hoping they could avoid getting wet while most others were concerned for the players’ safety.

Fans concerned about the safety issue were being overly worrisome. Football is a game which can be played in wet conditions.

Some may have worried about players slipping and sliding down or getting hit harder because they were off balance. In high school games, however, fans should remember that once a ballcarrier hits the turf, he is down. There is no contact.

The case of harder hits on a wet field seem unlikely. If anything, the opposite would seem true because players have more difficulty with their footing and don’t propel as powerfully off the turf.

Football, unlike other sports, is only played once a week. Postponing a game until the rain has stopped, such as Monday’s Skowhegan at Cheverus contest, can limit players’ recovery time from nagging injuries and preparation time for their next opponent. Unfortunately, this is now the case for the Skowhegan Indians, whose next game is Friday night in Farmington against Mt. Blue.

If fans can brave the conditions, as the players do, then they are usually treated to a good game. Often, a wet field serves as an equalizer as the speed and quickness of the more highly skilled players is lessened.

Barring monsoon or blizzard conditions, high school football games are seldom postponed. If they are, it is because some athletic fields are not constructed as well as others and don’t absorb and drain water as efficiently.

For the record, 14 games were played Friday night. Four were postponed until Saturday when they were played in the rain.

– Joe McLaughlin, BDN