If I Was King of Sports: Football Challege

In my previous posts, I have mentioned my idea of a 209 tournament for basketball and baseball. In my vision, I would have tournaments for all sports that the 209 offers. There are just two sports in which I could see no possibility for it. The first is lacrosse, and that is because there are only two schools in the 209 that offer it, Saint Mary's and Lincoln (both in Stockton). The second is football. A 64-team tournament could not be done due to time and safety of the players. We could not have Riverbank play a large school, like Manteca. That is not safe for the Riverbank players. Also, a six-week tournament is too much, and we could not have more than one game a week for high-school level, especially among the small schools. There are a couple ways we could make it happen. The first is to play a 7-on-7, flag football tournament. Multiple games could be played in a day, and the whole tournament could be played in a week. The second possibility is to have mini-tournaments based on skill level. But my idea is to have a 209 vs. 559 challenge. Why have the 209 play the 559? I had that idea, because before the area code split in 1998, the 559 was a part of the 209, so it is like the former 209 vs. the current 209. For high school sports, I am about having as much participation as possible, so here is how I would propose. The closest comparison would be a major pre-season college basketball tournament, such as the Maui Invitational. They have a main tournament in Hawai'i, and a mainland version, that very few know about and really does not matter in the scheme of things, but more teams get to participate, nonetheless. I would have nine games (5 in a major 559 stadium, I am thinking Bulldog Stadium in Fresno and 4 in a major 209 stadium, I am thinking about Warrior Stadium in Turlock or Delta College in Stockton). It would feature eight of the best teams each area has to offer, and the ninth game would feature a small, public school (under 1,000 enrollment) from each area code. The calpreps.com rankings would be used to determine the teams, and the area code that wins the most of those games wins. The rest of the schools would be invited to participate at a home site of one of the schools. The 209 has seven more teams than the 559, so I would either have them play each other, or have them take the year off. Another thing to add is that the 559 has five 8-man teams, while the 209 has none. The home team would determine if the game would be an 11-man game or an 8-man game. Here is what the field would look like Main Field at 559 Game 1 (Small School): Escalon (209) vs. Caruthers (559) Calpreps projection: Caruthers 31-27 Game 2: Gregori-Modesto (209) vs. Clovis West-Fresno (559) Calpreps projection: Clovis West 31-21 Game 3: Oakdale (209) vs. Tulare Western (559) Calpreps projection: Tulare Western 28-26 Game 4: Manteca (209) vs. San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno (559) Calpreps projection: San Joaquin Memorial 40-27 Main Event: St. Mary's-Stockton (209) vs. Central-Fresno (559) Calpreps projection: Central 34-17 at 209 Game 1: Central Valley Christian-Visalia (559) vs. Downey-Modesto (209) Calpreps projection: Central Valley Christian 35-28 Game 2: Edison-Fresno (559) vs. Tracy (209) Calpreps projection: Edison 22-17 Game 3: Tulare Union-Tulare (559) vs. Turlock (209) Calpreps projection: Tulare Union 44-20 Main Event: Buchanan-Clovis (559) vs. Central Catholic-Modesto (209) Calpreps projection: Buchanan 28-22 Projected winner: 559 9-0 Some of the other games I would have at 209 Bullard (Fresno) @ Buhach Colony (Atwater) El Diamante (Visalia) @ Patterson Golden West (Visalia) @ Sonora Madera @ Modesto Christian Monache (Porterville) @ McNair (Stockton) Clovis North (Clovis) @ Hilmar Mt. Whtiney (Visalia) @ Orestimba (Newman) Strathmore @ Lincoln (Stockton) Hanford @ Lodi Redwood (Visalia) @ Calaveras (San Andreas) Chowchilla @ Mountain House Roosevelt (Fresno) @ Beyer (Modesto) Firebaugh @ Chavez (Stockton) Madera South (Madera) @ Weston Ranch (Stockton) at 559 Pitman (Turlock) @ Dinuba Merced @ Sunnyside (Fresno) Stagg (Stockton) @ Clovis Modesto @ Sanger East Union (Manteca) @ Lemoore Edison (Stockton) @ Selma Ripon @ Fresno Los Banos @ Kerman Summerville (Tuolumne City) @ Kerman El Capitan (Merced) @ Exeter Kimball (Tracy) @ Kingsburg Pacheco (Los Banos) @ Yosemite (Oakhurst) West (Tracy) @ Hanford West (Hanford) Argonaut (Jackson) @ Porterville Finally While I was writing this, I had another idea, the California area code tournament. I will explain in my next blog, but right now my pick to win it would be the 916 (Sacramento-area). Most of the best teams are in the south, but there are so many area codes that I cannot imagine any one of those area codes being more than three talented teams deep.