Is High School sports coverage in the Toronto Star better without Grossman?

Dave Grossman left the Toronto Star almost a year ago after 30+ years at the Toronto Star. To call him a controversial figure wouldn't do justice to the battles that erupted on many a message board or on his own blog. To his supporters he was the only person who truly valued high school sports and the reason many high school athletes received any attention beyond their own school (and sometimes even beyond their own team). To his detractors he was the classic big fish in a small pond who was very difficult to satisfy and even more difficult when challenged.

One thing he implied in some of his blog posts at the Fan590 was that the Star didn't truly value high school athletics and, being caught flat-footed (depending on whose story one chooses to accept - some claim it was not his decision though he is adamant that he retired at a time of his choosing), coverage would suffer. The implication was that he was the heart and soul of the coverage and the Star didn't really care without him. Based on the almost complete disappearance of coverage for a brief time, that certainly seemed to be the case.

Fast forward a few months and things have recovered nicely at the Star.

There are scores almost every day in the paper and, when there is no space, the scores are printed at a later date. Dave Grossman frequently told coaches that scores would not be accepted after the deadline and that the Star had a strict policy of only printing scores from the previous day. Apparently that was either incorrect or the policy has ben changed to a far more reasonable one.

There is a full page of high school articles every week, usually on Tuesdays. Previously, there was usually one article but now it's four or five articles each week.

Coverage is truly from across the GTA; often thanks to the Star's many community papers in the suburbs. Grossman was sometimes criticized on message boards for being too Toronto-centric in a market where over half of the population and the high schools are located outside the 416.

The articles are focused on the athletes, the teams, and their recent accomplishments. All too often, coverage was based around controversy and regular attacks on OFSAA, administrators, and some coaches.

(One could still get their regular dose of outrage from Grossman's early Fan590 blog posts but, after an especially heated series of posts attacking one of the regions and some administrators, the blog disappeared for a while. When it was returned, it was a much milder Dave Grossman posting. Now, with the move away from high school only, there is even less vitriol.)

While the top ten rankings are missed by some readers, most followers of high school sports had turned to various sports-specific massage boards and twitter for those debates. The top ten lists in the Star were all too often based on only a portion of a team's schedule and many questioned whether these coaches voting on the coaches poll actually existed. Regardless, I'm sure some would appreciate the return of a ranking in the major sports but based on a more comprehensive set of records. Perhaps the Star should consider partnering with sites like All Canadian Gridiron and Hooptown GTA for this.

So, is the coverage better? While some miss Grossman's style I think the majority of readers like the improved high school coverage.

Junior football gets confusing

If you were to ask 10 different junior football coaches about the playoff tiebreakers and the seeding procedure before last Friday, you might have received 10 different answers. Confusion abounded as coaches tried to figure out who was in, who was out, and who still had a slim chance. What didn't help was a set of rules with two different tie breakers for the same position.

Check out the football playing regulations. Rule 4 II. e iv (half way down page 4) states the following:

Ties for the last playoff spot(s) between wildcard teams:

1) The result of the game(s) W-L record only, between the tied clubs.

2) Defensive Record to a maximum of 21 points per game.

This will determine all positions.

Seems simple enough; wins then fewest points allowed. Many coaches saw that and went with that. However, further down the same page is section 4 III a. It deals with seeding. Included in this section is the following:

In three divisions the first place team in each division to be seeded 1, 2, or 3,

teams finishing second in each division to be seeded 4, 5, or 6 and teams

finishing third in each division to be seeded 7, 8, or 9 (the ninth seeded team will

not advance). Seeding will be determined by a teams Win-Loss record. If still

tied seeding will be determined by a teams +/- differential, should teams play an

uneven number of games the average +/- will be used.

If you don't see the problem, let me lay it out: One rule says that ties for the last playoff spot between wild card teams (i.e. the 8th spot) are broken by wins, followed by defensive record. The other rule says that 7, 8, 9 (which includes the last playoff spot for wild cards) is broken by wins, then point differential.

Confused? So were a number of coaches and so were the folks on the AllCanadianGridiron message board. Apparently attempts to clarify with the ROPSSAA office were difficult at best, with unanswered e-mails and instructions to consult the regulations. I believe that was the point; the regs were faulty so how could they be consulted? Eventually there were instructions to use point differential, something that the 9th seed might have appealed if it wasn't for the fact that the same team was 8th, regardless of which tie-breaker was used.

But imagine the fallout if that had not been the case. Looks like the coaches have a loophole to clean up at the post season meeting.

Senior Girls Basketball as the playoffs approach

Senior Girls basketball once again went with a single tier and divided tiers for the playoffs. With the season coming to an end on Friday, let's take a look.

In the Nothwest Division, Campion is once again undefeated and through to the tier one playoffs. Their only question mark is the size of the roster. Rumours abound over injuries and players quitting. With a full roster, they are one of the two or three best teams in the GTA; without, they might be rip for an early upset. Ste. Famille controls their destiny for the 2nd spot though their are scenarios where Fletchers or St. Marcellinus make it through.

The two tier 1 bound teams in the Northeast Division are already set and it came down to today's game between D'Youville and Aquinas to decide first and second.

Notre Dame has already clinched first in the Northcentral Division, while Ascension will finish second.

Perennial contender Father Goetz has the inside track on first in the Southwest Division. However, if Lorne Park upsets them in their game on Friday, there will be a three way tie with the two of them and Iona. Otherwise, Iona is second.

The Southest Division was very competitive between the top four. In the end, St. Paul takes the first place tie-breaker over Applewood.

The general consensus was that the Southcentral was the weakest division. However, division winner Mount Carmel is a solid team. None of their games were close and an underwhelming Rick Hansen team takes the second spot.

The 12 tier one qualifiers will be seeded by Monday and the top four teams will get a first round bye. My guess is those four teams will be Campion, the D'Youville-Aquinas winner, Notre Dame and Goetz. A lot depends on the final seedings since teams are not reseeded between rounds but my guess is a final repeat final between Campion and Notre Dame, with D'Youville missing out on OFSAA for the first time in ages. once again missing out on OFSAA.

Meanwhile, in the other playdowns, it will likely be one of Iona and Applewood that earns the right to be cannon fodder for the GHAC champion. However, I do like the chances of AA favourite Ascension making it to OFSAA. Brampton Christian continues to enjoy the benefits of being the only A school in Peel in most sports but will not get any further in yet another winless season.

Second Edit: St. Marcellinus defeated Ste. Famille which, thanks to the tie-breaker, allowed Fletcher's to come up the middle and take the second tier 1 playoff spot in the Northwest...and still no score for D'Youville-Aquinas.

Edit: Thank you to "Anonymous" for correcting my error about last year's ROPSSAA reps at OFSAA.

24 hours later and still no D'Youville-Campion score. Coaches, please try to use the online update for scores. Calling the score in only delays things. Besides, the deadline to report is later when you enter on-line.

Tier 1 Football: The big three and a scrappy underdog

After five weeks of tier 1 football in ROPSSAA, the top teams have clearly staked their claim to the league title and now they're trying to find the balance between getting ready for the playoffs while ensuring they don't take the remaining games for granted.

In the south division, Mount Carmel and Lorne Park have separated themselves from the crowd and will not be touched by any of their divisonal opponents. Both teams are deep and explosive though most coaches believe that Carmel has the more dangerous offense while Lorne Park has a slight advantage on D. Mount Carmel came away with a close, 3 point victory over Lorne Park earlier this season but no one thinks the result will be easy to predict, should they meet in the finals.

In the north, St. Marcellinus has proven themselves to be the class of the division. They are chock full of Mississauga Warriors and some coaches believe they have the best quarterback in the GTA. The school has slowly moved into the football spotlight both figuratively and literally. They have built one of the region's powerhouse football programs from scratch in a short time and they play most of their home games under the lights of their beautiful facility on Friday nights. There has been a bit of controversy during the Friday night games, with some acts of violence committed in and around the facility, often by people with no connection to any of the schools playing. As a result, they have increased police protection and banned anyone under 21 who does not have school ID from one of the two schools playing each game.

The dark horse is Xavier, a relative newcomer to tier 1 football in Peel. Their first season in tier 1 was a struggle, as a young team won only one game late in the season. However, now that the full benefits of their junior program are paying off, they have become the clear #2 team in the north, following a big win over favoured Campion. Their two losses against Marcellinus (by 17) and Lorne Park (by 5) were notable for strong play on the line and key interceptions. Given the right circumstances, they might pull an upset in the semi-finals though they are still clearly behind the big 3.

Defending tier 1 champs Notre Dame are in rebuilding mode, as reflected in their 1-3 record, St. Joe's and Aquinas are both having disappointing seasons when compared to previous seasons. However, in the cyclical nature of high football, a team is only ever one or two years away from competing again.

One issue of concern is how the cross-over games might affect the standings. Teams play two games against opponents in the opposite division which means that scheduling can create an imbalanced schedule. The most blatant examples are Xavier's two games against Lorne Park and Mount Carmel, the top two teams in the south and Notre Dames games against the two weakest teams in the south: Loyola and St. Joe's. A situation like this could set up a situation where a team beats all of the rivals below them in the standings but still finishes behind a weaker team because of their cross-over opponents. 

Is there a better solution? What about home-and-home against teams in your own division or setting the cross-over schedule only after teams have played 3 or 4 games against their own division; give each team games against 1 & 6, 2 & 5, or  3 & 4 in the other division? A more radical idea might be one similar to the US: Play the cross over games at the start of the season as "non conference" match ups but only count games against division opponents in the standings.

The other big issue in Peel football is, as always, transfers and recruiting. There are a lot of coaches asking questions about the number of players at certain schools who live outside their borders. How is this happening when both the Catholic and Public school boards do not have a policy of open borders. In fact, many of these schools are "capped" and cannot go even one student over their listed cap. Are students living in the area being turned away because athletes are shopping for the best program? What about the number of transfers being approved, some even involving students who have played at more than one school in the same season? Football, along with basketball, often draw most of the attention in the media over controversial transfers. If this continues to be an issue, OFSAA might use it as an excuse to further enhance already-strict transfer regulations.

As the playoffs approach in Peel, the most significant battles will be for the third and fourth playoff spot in each division. 

In the south, Carmel and Lorne Park have already clinched the top two spots while Carmel only needs one more victory in their last two games to clinch first. Third will probably come down to the match-up between Pocock and Meadowvale, with the loser likely squeaking into the fourth and final spot.

In the north, Marcellinus has already clinched first. Xavier didn't get any help from the person who set their cross-over games but, even if they lose both, they should still easily defeat Aquinas in their final game and do no worse than taking second via tie-breaker. d'Youville and Campion will be close behind with their head to head match-up also settling third and fourth.

After all is said and done, the most likely semi-final scenario seems to be Carmel hosting Xavier and Marcellinus hosting Lorne Park. Anyone who remembers the junior final four from two years ago will find this list of teams very familiar. Yet another example of the cyclical nature of high school football.

Good luck to all teams in the homestretch. Hopefully one of the Peel teams has it in them to knock of the Golden Horshoe  powerhouses from St. Thoma More and Lakeshore Catholic in this year's Golden Horshoe playoffs. 

For more info about ROPSSAA Football, check out the current league standings or the discussion forum at All Canadian Gridiron.

ROPSSAA Senior Girls Basketball: The deepest it's ever been?

After years of domination by Father Goetz, senior girls basketball in Peel is suddenly very interesting. In fact, there are more competitive teams in Peel than in any other league in Ontario this season. (If only the league didn't insist on this 8 division, one tier monstrosity that prevents most of them from meeting until the second round of the playoffs!)

Here are ten teams that stand out amongst the crowd:

1. D'Youville is currently ranked number one in the GTA by HooptownGTA and number two by the Toronto Star, which traditionally does a far less thorough job of including all games played and not just league games and those tournament games selectively reported by self-serving coaches. Besides being undefeated, they also recently won the Sheridan Cup tournament. Not only are they considered the class of Peel but they are also considered to be one of the favourites for a medal at AAAA OFSAA in Sarnia this season.

2. Ascension is #6 in both rankings and is currently undefeated in league play. Their only loss was to d'Youville in the final at Sheridan. They recently won a close, 3-point match over Aquinas, the next best team in the league. The only question is whether they battle it out for a spot at AAAA, improve their chances of an OFSAA medal at AAA OFSAA in St. Catharine's or be the #1 seed at AA OFSAA in Thunder Bay.

3. Aquinas isn't currently listed in either top 10 but after walking through most of the competition while winning the Applewood tournament and a close lose to Ascension, that will change next week. They weren't even on the radar screen in the pre-season but that has quickly changed.

4. Campion is #7 in the Star ranking and is ranked #10 by HooptownGTA. They are also undefeated in league play and made it to the final of the Sacred Heart tournament before losing to a team from Hamilton.

5. Mount Carmel is another big surprise. They are undefeated in league play after many thought they would be no better than third in their division by this point. They looked solid against a very deep field at the Notre Dame Ajax tournament, where they made it to the consolation final after beating a GTA-ranked team from Pine Ridge. 

6. Applewood has experienced a miraculous renaissance under a new coach who has taken all four basketball teams (boys and girls) under his wing. The team is blowing away competition in their division and they have done well in tournament play; winning the consolation final of the Thompson Invitational and losing a close game against Aquinas in the championship final of their own tournament.

7. Father Goetz is an honourable mention in both rankings but much of that is based on their previous repetition. This is a rebuilding year under a new coach but, this being Father Goetz, there is still a solid core of players. They will win their division and should still make it at least as far as the quarter-finals.

8. Lorne Park has ben a solid program in Peel, making the final four two years ago and a solid junior program has moved up to play senior. They are currently just behind Goetz, after a 7-point loss earlier this season.

9. Notre Dame is #10 on the Star list but, after a blowout loss to Campion, their stock will drop. However, it is a young team and they will be dangerous against at least half of the division winners in the first round of the playoffs.

10. Cardinal Leger is undefeated but untested at this point. Their division is weak and until there are some tournament results, they will remain a mystery. However, Leger has had a strong junior program in recent years and they might be for real.

Other teams just outside of this top ten list but also of note include St. Joseph, St. Francis Xavier, Gonzaga, and Loyola.

A lot of these rankings could change next week when the Xavier Rimrocker is held. Six of the top ten, along with two of the honourable mentions will be playing at Xavier and Carmel. This might go a long way in deciding playoff seedings at the end of the regular season, since so many of these teams won't be at the same event again this season.

Good luck to all teams; this could be the year that ROPSSAA finally brings home a basketball gold.

(Thanks to a few coaching and message board sources who assisted me with the research for this post.)

More Transfer Nonsense

According to an article written for the Hamilton Spectator, superintendants in the Hamilton Catholic board routinely ignore OFSAA regulations. The article, titled Board's policies called into question over player status mentions that the board allows players to avoid sitting out a year without transferring, even if they have not met the conditions required by the OFSAA transfer policy.

Some key quotes from the article:

He says the practise that allows an athlete transferring from one school to another being allowed to play without the one-year cooling off period is entirely up to the discretion of the superintendent, and it is not uncommon for a student to be allowed to play, with a superintendent's waiver.

The board chairman also denies allegations the superintendent overseeing athletics merely rubber-stamps transfers.

"We have a policy whereby parents, students and schools are allowed to make transfer requests to the superintendent," Daly said. "Ultimately, the superintendent makes the decision in the best interest of the student. We're not going to apologize for that."

Daly also says the board is aware that letting transfer students play in the same year is at odds with the rules set out by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA).

But he adds schools are aware that the transfer student will not be eligible to play once the school qualifies for GHAC and OFSAA.

"They know that going in," he said. "A player knows he will not be eligible to play in the playoffs."

One of the dirty secrets of high school athletics is the number of students who play right away after transferring even though they should sit out a year. It's interesting to see an article where a school board admits that they condone this. Why? What is the point of the transfer rules if a school board can simply ignore them? Saying that they cannot play in OFSAA isn't good enough. What if the team in question makes the playoffs; how should the team that just missed the playoffs feel? What about the effect on playoff seeding? What about the integrity of the regular season?

If a school board believes that the right to play takes precedence over OFSAA's attempts to prevent powerhouse programs built through recruiting then they should either pull out of their OFSAA region entirely and play among themselves only or they should lobby for a change in the OFSAA policy. Instead the board cheats.

While the Hamilton Catholic Board is the only one that is named in the article, one can be sure it isn't the only one. A lot of it is innuendo but many people believe it to be true. Look at this thread on Hooptown GTA for an example of the belief. Even some coaches claim it happens.

Some have suggested that OFSAA scrap the exceptions altogether and require every student in the province to sit out for a year if they transfer schools, regardless of the reason. Others have suggested a slightly more lenient version where a player must move a minimum distance (I.E. from one part of the province to the other; not from one part of the GTA to another as conveniently happens in some sports on a regular basis).

When one hears stories like the ones below, a stricter rule starts to make sense:

- A football team in Peel had all of its wins stripped after it was revealed that their star player was supposedly living with his coach, according to the documents used to win his transfer appeal.

- Many basketball players living in middle class suburbs around Toronto have moved to economically depressed areas where there just happen to be powerhouse basketball programs.

- A basketball player in Mississauga was called by someone who runs a scouting service and who has connections with a top ten high school program and was told that he could use the scout's home address and transfer without sitting out a year.

- An OFSAA medalist wrestler decides that she doesn't want to take the school bus when her school moves locations and is able to change to another school in her area without sitting out.

- A star basketball player on a weak team "moves" from one parent's home to another so that they can play for the best team in the region. Interestingly, the parents weren't actually separated.

- A football player at a mid-level private school changes to his local public school and wins a transfer appeal, claiming financial hardship as the reason for leaving the school (and not-coincidentally, one of the ways to avoid sitting out a year) . Strangely enough, his Dad is well-known in the financial community and had just been given a significant promotion at a major financial institution.

What do readers think about transfers in general and what other stories are out there? Please feel free to post comments or to e-mail ropssaa@gmail.com.

Also, here is a good summary of the conditions required to avoid sitting out a year, courtesy of a poster on HooptownGTA.

General ROPSSAA Updates

Now that I am back in Peel after year out of country, near my contacts, and have more time to be on-line, I am going to return to updating this blog as often as time permits. Please feel free to post comments or to send any inside info to ropssaa@gmail.com

Here a few general updates about ROPSSAA-related issues to get the blog up and running again.

OFSAA Events Hosted by ROPSSAA

The updated OFSAA 3 year calendar was released earlier this month and ROPSSAA will be hosting the following events over that time period. Bear in mind that not all events have hosts and ROPSSAA might still step in late and host some of these, much as they did with AAAA Volleyball last year.

2008-09 school year

• Wrestling @ the PowerAde Centre in Brampton
• Swimming @ Etobicoke Olympium
• Girls AAAA Volleyball @ venues TBA in Mississauga
• Girls AAA/AAAA Rugby in Brampton (one assumes it will be the Brampton RFC)
• Track and Field South Regional @ location TBA (the assumption is Centennial Park in Etobicoke)

2009-10 school year

• Swimming @ Etobicoke Olympium

2010-11 school year

• Boys AAAA, AAA, AA, and A Volleyball @ locations TBA. (One assumes that such a massive undertaking will involve close to a dozen schools in Peel.)

ROPSSAA Scores Website

Last spring, ROPSSAA introduced a new website for posting and tracking scores and standings. The goal was to automatically update standings as scores were posted by coaches and to allow everyone to see scores scores around the league without waiting a day or two for an overworked convener to transcribe them into pdf format. While many coaches (and some entire schools) still cling to the old school option of calling scopres in, one hopes that eventually, the site will be the only way of posting scores. 

With this web site, ROPSSAA continues to set the standard for making information about the region available on-line. While a few other regions also do a decent job of making info available (Ottawa's Fat Dog immediately comes to mind), most are still woefully inadequate. Come on folks, we're not asking for something award-winning but certainly it would serve everyone better if the various regions made some kind of effort!

2015 Pan-Am Games bids and the potential legacy for ROPSSAA

The media has been full of stories in recent weeks about the Golden Horseshoe's bid for the 2015 Pan-Am Games. Now that all levels of government are on board, the question is whether or not organizers can pull the bid together in time for next summer's bidding. From all reports, a well-organized bid is Canada's to lose. 

If everyone is serious about decentralizing the bid acorss the GTA, Hamilton, and Niagara then it begs the question as to what might happen in Peel. The Hershey Centre and the PowerAde centre are already being talked about as possible venues for Volleyball, Archery, Field Hockey, Handball, according to this post on the Urban Toronto message board. Also mentioned is the possibility of an aquatic facility for swimming. 

There is the potential for more much-needed, quality athletic facilities in the Peel Region, should the Games bid succeed. While some of these needs have been addressed in recent years (Hershey Centre, PowerAde centre, Hershey Sports Zone, St. Marcellinus track and field), more facilities will only help develop more quality athletes and more athletic programs accross the region. ROPSSAA has benefitted greatly from many of these facilities and could certainly use more of them. Cross your fingers for a successful bid.

That's all for this post. If anyone is interested in providing infromation for future posts, please e-mail ropssaa@gmail.com. All sources are confidential. If you enjoy this site, please make sure you pass the link on to others who might be interested.