Moving state games not bad idea

It’s funny how life’s circumstances make for some major-league ironies.

The first few days of this week were spent making three round trips totaling 560 miles to watch state championship basketball games in Classes D, A and C – trips that wouldn’t have been necessary but for last Saturday’s snowstorm that forced postponement of the contests and the subsequent rescheduling them over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The highway driving at times bordered on treacherous, but patience proved prudent and the trips were happily uneventful.

The unhappily eventful driving took place the next morning – in the driveway – when said safe driver collided with the trusty snowplow guy who was clearing the remains of Wednesday’s sleet-fest. The result was a healthy gouge in the front of my truck from an overly hasty effort to minimize the post-plow shoveling.

Maybe I should have been back on the highway, looking for another final to cover.

Save for the shaky weather that certainly kept crowds down and the inconvenience of weeknight games, this state championship week and a half had its good side – perhaps to the point of being considered in some form as a future alternative to jamming six state finals into one day, including some games being played simultaneously.

Giving each class its own spotlight had to be a good thing in terms of showcasing this state’s student-athletes in the arena of competition.

I reflect on Tourney 2008’s defining moment, when 5-foot-7 Manny Martinez of Central Aroostook of Mars Hill lofted his game-winning shot over the oncoming 6-foot-10 Marc Zaharchuk of Richmond with 0.8 seconds left in the Class D state final Monday night.

Would that shot have generated nearly the attention it ultimately received had it been taken at its originally scheduled time – about 5:30 on Saturday afternoon?

There are many obstacles to overcome, such as ensuring the availability of the few facilities statewide able to host such games.

But my thought is that instead of holding up to six state finals on one day – when one snowstorm can foil the best developed plans of tournament officials and teams alike – spread them out and give each its share of the

spotlight.

Schedule two games each on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights. If weather comes into play, just two games would be affected on a given evening, and perhaps teams wouldn’t have to deal with the Bowl Championship Series aspect of this year’s event, when the Class C teams waited 10 days between their regional finals and the state championships.

Class D has a history of playing state finals in Bangor on Thursdays, so there is a precedent for holding games that night.

I might be convinced the impact on attendance of playing games on Thursday or Monday evening might thwart the cost-effectiveness of such a schedule, but here’s one vote to research the possibilities.

For sometimes the best scheduling moves are borne out of circumstance – like Championship Saturday in high school football.

Several years ago bad weather and poor field conditions prompted the playing of all three finals on the artificial turf at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland on the same day. That concept has proved popular enough to be a staple on the football calendar for the last six years.

The basketball finals, played when the weather is much more fickle, might be better served by a more spread-out schedule.

Or perhaps I’m just looking for another excuse to avoid the pitfalls of my driveway.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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