The 5A All-Sports Award was handed out Sunday. The award is given from the Clarion-Ledger based on a points system on all sports participated that is further based on how successful the school is in the postseason. Points are awarded based on how far schools get in the playoffs if they are good enough to reach the playoffs or placement of the last postseason meet for that sport. Starkville was the winner of the 5A All-Sports Award for the 2011-12 sports season earning 397 points and scoring in 19 sports out of a possible 22 MHSAA sports out there. However, they only won one State Championship (Boys Soccer). Oxford finished 2nd with 373.5 Points scoring in 16 sports. (Click here for the Top 20 in 5A) However, Oxford won 5 State Championships (Boys Cross Country, Girls Basketball, Tennis, Boys Golf, Girls Track). The points system used is that you get 30 points for winning the State Championship and 24 points for a runner-up finish. Also in normal playoff bracket play you get 22.5 points for reaching North/South Half game, 19.5 for the 2nd round, and 13.5 for reaching the 1st round. In Boys Soccer, Oxford got 19.5 points while Starkville got 30 for winning it all. Oxford was defeated by Starkville in the playoffs. (All of the following is the "what if" factor) If those points were switched, Oxford would still be short 2.5 points (386.5-384 in favor of Starkville) DESPITE the fact Oxford would have won 6 Titles and Starkville without a single championship ring for the year. How is it that a school with 6 titles and scoring in 16 events does not win the All-Sports award against a school with no titles and 19 events scored? The problem is the State Championship is not worth much more than it would be than if the team made the North Half Finals game or series. It is just a 7.5 point difference. It is barley twice as many points than a team making the playoffs - just making the playoffs is 13.5 points. How is the 1st Round worth 13.5 points? It should not be worth that much to just making the playoffs and have the State Championship worth 30 points be that little. In Basketball, you could have a 1-27 record and make the playoffs because the one game you won was the one that was in the District Tournament because that is how you make the playoffs in that sport and that school would receive 13.5 points despite finishing at a 1-28 record at the end of it. It takes value away from someone who worked hard all season and went 33-0 but only get 30 points. State Championships should be worth more when it comes to the All-Sports Award. Making it there deserves its fair share of points because you made it out of the North/South Half game, but the rest of the points you can score in other rounds is pathetic for the round reached. The point system I would use would be 60 for winning it all, 45 for making the title game, 30 for reaching the North/South Half Game and then staggered down from there. (It would be different for 2A-4A schools because they have more teams in their divisions and thus more playoff games) but for 5A, 15 for making the 2nd Round and 5 for reaching the playoffs. This would make the award for what it was designed to do: success in all sports and marking the further you go in the postseason earning the school more points for this award and appropriate in value. Obviously other sports you would have to do different. Every school for example that is able to score in Track, Cross Country, or Powerlifting at the State Meets scores in the All-Sports award. Right here, I would keep the 45 for the runner-up finish, but do it in stages of 5 points (40 for 3rd place, 35 for 4th, etc. until I got to 10 points, then do it by 1 point per place) For sports that combine Classifications, like Swimming that combine 5A and 6A for a single State Title, you use the same system in place like for Track and Cross Country, but not to the point where you get 60 points for being the best in 5A. (For example: Tupelo won the Girls Swimming State Championship and Oxford finished 2nd, Tupelo would get 60 points toward the 6A award and Oxford gets 45 for the 5A award). Cheerleading competitions are not scored for this award as it is not considered a sport even though you can win State Championships. In the system stated above in those three paragraphs, Oxford would win the award 600-549 based on this years results, 300 of those points coming from those State Championships. Starkville did score in 3 more sports and were runner-ups in 3 other sports. However in sports where Oxford and Starkville both scored points, Oxford scored more in 10 out of 15 sports and tied in one (Baseball - both were eliminated in the same round). Starkville only scored better than Oxford in 4 sports. This statistic would be further lopsided if Oxford had beaten Starkville in the Boys Soccer playoffs (Oxford had beaten Starkville in the regular season) It is very surprising that the most successful sporting year possibly in school history finds themselves without the All-Sports Award for the year. Add to the fact Starkville could have still won this award without ever winning a Single State Championship. Kinda devalues the "All-Sports" award when it bases its award on how successful you do in the postseasons in all sports. Oxford could have won 6 titles, Starkville 0 and Starkville could still have won it....that's robbing of an award if you ask OHS. |
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October 2016
AuthorBen Mikell |