BY JOE HOFMANN
At the end of every high school football season, I encounter this question and I can never come up with a direct answer one way or the other: What is better, to play a football sectional final at a neutral site, or have the higher seed host a sectional final?
There are two answers, and neither one is wrong.
1. Play the games at a neutral site like the Meadowlands, Kean or Rutgers. That way, fans can buy a ticket, sit back, and watch a bunch of state playoff games. That’s quite a fun day!
But on the other hand, some of these neutral places are too sterile. So …
2. Play the games at the higher seed. The atmosphere is electric. But the players get deprived of playing in a grander venue.
I have covered both, and for a one-game situation, the local, high school field is a terrific venue. Several thousand fans packed around a high school field is quite an atmosphere. Having been at state football finals in both neutral and home fields, each have their benefits, which leads me back to the original question, which I have no answer for!
With wrestling, there is absolutely no question when it comes to the Group championships. In a way, wrestling gets the best of both worlds.
Hanover Park’s gym was jumping in its sectional finals win over Caldwell the other night. The Hornets gym is unique in that the bleachers are all on one side of the gym. The place was jammed and the atmosphere was great.
Wrestling, unlike football, can have Group championships (extending football past what we have now is a terrible idea). Toms River North is a terrific venue to house four mats for the Group semifinals and three for the Group finals.
I remember back in the day when schools would host the Groups. Back in the late 1990s, the Group II championships were held at Hanover Park and fans from Hanover, Hopatcong, Kingsway, and South Plainfield were squeezed into Hanover’s tiny gym. I remember hearing that South Plainfield fans were turned away simply because they could not fit in the Hornets’ nest.
That situation cannot take place at Toms River North, which seats upwards of 5,000.
The NJSIAA has almost perfected the Groups (the organization needs work, which I’ll get to in a moment). The only thing left is for the state to hold a Tournament of Champions.
Take the five Group champions (abolish Parochial Group B, and combine all the Parochials together), seed them 1-5, and have at it. Begin the sectional tournament one week earlier and the T of C could be concluded one week or so before districts. It makes too much sense not to have a wrestling T of C.
The NJSIAA must get its house in order first. The organization has had a rough two weeks. First, the organization blew it by not updating its rules and regulations on its website. Schools believed they’d wrestle in the state playoffs and didn’t. That was a major disappointment to several schools. Adults who run something for high school athletes should never be caught with their pants down like that.
Then during the sectional finals Friday night, Hanover Park allegedly didn’t receive a 2013 sectional championship trophy because it hadn’t arrived. A friend of mine told me Bergen Catholic hadn’t received their trophy either, but I cannot verify that.
And then on Sunday morning, on the NJSIAA website, it stated that the Groups 1 and 4 state semifinals would be held at 10 a.m. and Groups 2 and 3 to follow.
When I arrived at around 9:30, High Point, Long Branch, etc. were warming up. The Group 2 and 3 semifinals would be contested at 10 – and Hanover and the rest of Groups 1 and 4 would be held as originally scheduled, at 12:30. Just like the original schedule on the NJSIAA website, posted months earlier.
So, why did the NJSIAA website state on Sunday morning that Groups 1 and 4 were scheduled for 10 a.m. and the others at 12:30 p.m.? Who goofed?
I know that mistakes can be made, but three big ones in the span of two weeks? I think the NJSIAA does plenty of things right, but right now the state should be embarrassed.
The NJSIAA must now earn back the trust of a lot of people.
