My Reaction to the First 2024-2028 Sac-Joaquin Section Realignment Proposal.

I wrote this blog for the southern part of the Sac-Joaquin Section only. Proposed changes New Teams in CAPS. TCAL (D1): EDISON, Lincoln-Stockton, Lodi, MANTECA, Modesto Christian (basketball only), St. Mary’s, Tracy CCAL (D2): Downey, Enochs, Gregori, Modesto, Pitman, Turlock (It is the only league in the entire Sac-Joaquin Section that has no proposed changes). CCC (D3): Atwater, Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Golden Valley, LOS BANOS, Merced SJAA (D3): Bear Creek, Chavez, Franklin-Stockton, McNair, Stagg, TOKAY, WEST Weston Ranch VOL (D3): Central Catholic, East Union, Kimball, MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Oakdale, PATTERSON, Sierra WAC (D4): Beyer, Ceres, CENTRAL VALLEY, Davis-Modesto, Johansen, Lathrop, LIVINGSTON, Pacheco TVL (D5): Escalon, Hilmar, Hughson, ORESTIMBA, Ripon, Ripon Christian, SONORA CCAA (D6): Big Valley, HOLT ACADEMY, HUGHES ACADEMY, Millennium, MODESTO CHRISTIAN (no basketball), RIVER ISLANDS, Turlock Christian, Venture Academy MLL (D6): Amador, Bret Harte, Calaveras, LINDEN, RIVERBANK, Summerville, WATERFORD SL (D6): Delhi, Denair, Gustine, Le Grand, Mariposa, STONE RIDGE CHRISTIAN MVL (D7): ABLE Charter, Delta Charter, Don Pedro, ELLIOT CHRISTIAN, Lodi Academy, Stockton Christian, Tioga, VANGUARD 209 Teams outside of 209 leagues: ARGONAUT, Galt, and Liberty Ranch all in the SVC. Dos Palos is not in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Source: Twitter post via the Sac-Joaquin Section One thing to keep in mind is that this is the first proposal. I would estimate that only 60-70 percent of what is in the proposal ends up happening when the leagues become binding. However, the first proposal gives schools and coaches an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of their respective positions and, yes, to politick any changes to the proposal they may want. There will be at least two more meetings where both rational discussions and complaints can be made before the new leagues are finalized. I do not expect the new leagues to be like they were proposed today. For example, I do not believe Sonora and Orestimba will end up in the same league. The two schools are almost two hours from each other when there are no traffic issues. While there were a lot of surprises, there were some moves that made sense. There was a call by some to have a “SFL-type” league in the 209 area. The SFL (Sierra Foothill League) is the top league in the Sac-Joaquin Section in many sports. It is a league that personifies the phrase “iron sharpens iron”. The Sac-Joaquin Section did not accommodate the request of a “Southern SFL league”, but the TCAL comes close. The TCAL has the best football schools in San Joaquin County, but if Central Catholic, Oakdale, and Turlock were added and Lodi moved elsewhere, then there would be the “Southern SFL League”. Looking at the small schools, Modesto Christian going to the CCAA with the exception of basketball made perfect sense. Modesto Christian has been declining in enrollment. I believe the school was at 120 last year and it is at 78 students this year. With the exception of basketball, the quality of the athletic teams has been on the decline. For example, the football program once won a state bowl game (the closest thing there is to a state championship in California). In the past two or three years, the Crusaders have either been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs or out of the playoffs altogether. Other programs struggle to even field a team. It is time for Modesto Christian to be in a league with schools of similar size. As previously mentioned, there were a lot of surprises. I will not go over all of them in detail, but I will expand on two of them and simply list the rest at the bottom of this blog. I will start with the one that might affect me as a coach. I am surprised that the section made the Southern League (SL) a six-team league. Currently, the league is the five teams mentioned above, Orestimba, Ripon Christian, and Waterford. It was already assumed Ripon Christian and Orestimba were going to leave. Orestimba is getting too big for the Southern League and Ripon Christian made it clear that it wants out of the league. Waterford leaving the league, too, was the second biggest surprise to me. Throughout the conversations I have had with Southern League coaches and other people of authority, it seemed to me that there were six candidates to be the three replacement teams: Big Valley, Bret Harte, Modesto Christian, Riverbank, Stone Ridge Christian, and Summerville. It was surprising that only one of those teams was chosen. The biggest surprise to me was the section placing Argonaut and Amador in separate conferences. The two schools are similar in enrollment, they are the only two high schools in Amador County, and they will merge into one school in a few years. It only makes sense that they are in the same league. I thought both schools would be sent to the SVC (Sierra Valley Conference). Since they are in different area codes, it seems that Amador County and Sacramento are far away from each other; but the truth is that several schools in Sacramento County are closer to the two Amador County schools than other schools in the Mother Lode League, the league they are currently in. As mentioned above, Argonaut will be in the SVC and Amador will be in the MLL until the two schools merge. The joint school will play in the SVC. Other Surprises Waterford to the MLL Not making drastic changes to the WAC Making the CCAA a D6 league Splitting Los Banos schools Delta Charter staying in the MVL River Islands to the CCAA VOL staying D3.

If I Was King of Sports: CA 8-man football playoffs

California has a state bowl system for 11-man high school football, but it does not have a state playoff or bowl game system for 8-man football. These players deserve to have a state championship as well. I have two ideas of how to make this happen. I will admit that it is hard to have a fair system, because there are far more teams in Southern California than in Northern California; and for the most part, most of the Southern California teams are far better than the Northern California teams, at least according to calpreps.com. For me, it was more important to have representation from all parts of the state as opposed to strictly having the best teams in, especially in high school. Anyway, my first idea is to have a 32-team state playoff tournament. All league winners in the state would be in the playoff, along with the 14 top-rated at-large teams. I used calpreps.com ratings to select and bracket the teams. I broke the bracket into two 16-team parts to better allow for less travel in the first round, but that would not prevent all travel difficulties. Idea #1 (Note: I would have true #16's play true #1 regardless of travel. The numbers were calpreps.com ratings. Bracket I 1) California School for the Deaf-Riverside (TCP-SS) (52.7) 16) Tomales (NC-III NCS) (-22.3) 8) Lancaster Baptist (LIB-SS) 23.4 9) Desert Chapel-Palm Springs (TCP-SS) 22.9 5) Valley Christian Academy-Santa Maria (CVL-SS) (32.6) 12) Villanova Prep-Ojai (FL-SS) (17.5) 4) Woodside Priory-Portola Valley (PCL-CCS) (34.9) 13) Rock Academy-San Diego (SURF-SD) (10.4) 6) Victory Christian-Chula Vista (OCE- SD) (31.3) 11) AGAPE (SS): Hesperia Christian (19.6) 3) Mammoth-Mammoth Lakes (IND-CS) 47.1 14) San Pasqual Academy-Escondido (MAN-SD) (5.4) 7) Stuart Hall-San Francisco (NCII-NCS) (29.5) 10) Thatcher-Ojai (IND-SS) 19.6 2) Fresno Christian (CSL-CS) (48.4) 15) Cornerstone Christian-Wildomar (MAJ-SS) (-4.9) II 1) Faith Baptist-LA Canoga Park (IND-SS) 49.5 16) Amino Robinson-Los Angeles (CITY-LA) (-10.8) 8) Leadership Military Academy- Moreno Valley (LIB-SS) (26) 9) Cate-Carpinteria (IND-SS) 21.5 5) Grace Brethren-Simi Valley (IND-SS) 32 12) Chester (CA-I NS) (13.5) 4) Flintridge Prep-La Canada (PREP-SS) 35.7 13) Cuyama Valley-New Cuyama (CVL-SS) (11.7) 6) Sierra-Tollhouse (CSL-CS) 31.4 11) St. Joseph’s Academy-San Marcos (OCE-SD) 19.5 3) Branson-Ross (NCII-NCS) 35.8 14) Big Valley-Bieber (CA-II NS) (1.5) 7) Chadwick-Palos Verdes Peninsula (PREP-SS) 29.1 10) Coast Union-Cambria (CVL-SS) 20.1 2) Sage Hill-Newport Beach (PREP-SS) (48.4) 15) Fulton- LA Van Nuys (VALLEY-LA) (4) Idea #2 My second idea is a four-team tournament. I would break the state up into 3 regions: North (Northern, North Coast, Central Coast, and Central Sections), South (Los Angeles and San Diego Sections), and Southern Section. The Southern Section would get its own region, because it has about as many leagues as the rest of the sections combined. The top-rated team in each region, plus an at-large would be in the playoffs. 1) California School for the Deaf-Riverside (TCP-SS) (52.7) (Southern) 4) Victory Christian-Chula Vista (OCE- SD) (31.3) (South) 3) Fresno Christian (CSL-CS) (48.4) (North) 2) Faith Baptist-LA Canoga Park (IND-SS) 49.5 (At-Large)

If I Was King Of Sports 2022 NCAA Baseball NIT

I always thought NCAA baseball should have its own NIT. There are too many teams who have great seasons that are not invited to the NCAA tournament. Even though softball now has its own NIT, it is unlikely that baseball will have one. The main reason is that baseball has a summer league that can possibly give players an opening to Major League Baseabll. Because the baseball NIT will likely not happen, I can create my own hypothetical one with my own rules; and I can use this blog as an outlet to get my thoughts down. For this model, all teams who have a better record than the team with the worst record to get an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament would get an invite. If there are any open spots, I would extend the invitation to division II teams who are not in its version of the College World Series. If this was a real tournament, there would have to be a pre-determinant amount of teams. Since it is not, I can make it fluctuate from year to year. This year, there would have been 36 teams, divided into six six-team regions. Each region winner would have advanced to the championship series. Everything would have been double-elimination, just like the real postseason. Seeds would be determined by records, except for the division II teams that would have received an invite. They are automatic 6th seeds. At-large team with the lowest winning percentage to make NCAA tournament: Florida State 33-23 (.589) Region I @ Davidson, NC (*=Division II team) (6) Wingate* (48-10) vs. (1) Davidson (43-13) (5) Lipscomb (35-23) vs. (2) Belmont (39-20) (4) UNLV (36-22) vs. (3) Charlotte (37-21) Region VI @ Philadelphia, PA (6) West Virginia (33-22) vs. (1) Penn (33-15) (5) Fairfield (31-20) vs. (2) Ball St. (40-19) (4) Central Connecticut St. (29-18) vs. (3) Lamar (37-21) Region IV @ Norfolk, VA (6) East Tennessee St. (31-21) vs. (1) Old Dominion (41-17) (5) South Carolina-Upstate (35-22-1) vs. (2) Iowa (36-19) (4) BYU (32-21) vs. (3) California Baptist (36-20) Region III @ Spartanburg, SC (6) Northridge St. (32-22) vs. (1) Wofford (42-16-1) (5) Florida Gulf Coast (35-23) vs. (2) College of Charleston (37-20) (4) Marist (29-17) vs. (3) North Carolina St. (36-21) Region V @ Macon, GA (6) McNeese St. (34-23) vs. (1) Mercer (40-18) (5) Clemson (35-23) vs. (2) UTSA (38-20) (4) North Dakota St. (31-19) vs. (3) Creighton (31-18) Region II @ Carbondale, IL (*=Division II team) (6) Trevecca Nazarene* (37-15) vs. (1) Southern Illinois (44-16) (5) Houston (37-24) vs. (2) Eastern Kentucky (38-20) (4) Eastern Illinois (33-20) vs. (3) Cal Poly (37-21)

The New Area Code

In December 2022, the 209 area code will get a second area code. As of this writing (February 2022), we do not know what the new area code will be. However, we do know that there will be an overlay instead of a split. What that means is that the entire 209 area code region will have two area codes. Therefore, with everyone using cell phones now, two people in the same household could have two different area codes. There are advantages and disadvantages of both a split and an overlay, but that could be for a different blog. For this blog, what can be the first high school with the new area code. While that is impossible to predict, because it will have to be a new high school. What I am going to guess is which town will have the first high school with the new area code. I will give you my top 5 most likely cities based on population growth, what I have heard from reliable sources, rumors that I have heard, and just plain guesses based on a variety of factors. I am just guessing towns and not school districts. (For example, let’s say the Sylvan School District in Modesto decided to build a high school in Riverbank for its Riverbank students, then for this blog, I would list Riverbank as the town. By the way, that would not actually happen, though I can see a middle school in its future.) In addition, for high schools, I am only referring to traditional high schools, not private or charter. There are several sports pages and websites devoted to high school sports in “the 209”. I am curious as to what will happen when the new area code comes in and schools start getting the new area code. I am also curious as to what would have happened to their pages and websites if area codes still split, but we will never know the answer to that question. Well, regardless of what happens, here is my list of towns who may have a school with the new area code. Tracy (population 90,675) (3 high schools) Tracy currently has three high schools. Most of the city of Tracy is served by the Tracy Unified School District, but it also has two smaller school districts. I heard one of them wants to build a high school. The question is if it can find the available land. I believe it will soon be possible. So while Tracy Unified School District will still have three high schools, I believe the city will soon have four. Manteca (population 83,498) (3 high schools) First, I want to clear up some confusion. Manteca Unified School District has five high schools. In addition to the three that lie within the city limits, the district has Lathrop High School and Weston Ranch High School is in Stockton. At one time there were plans for a fourth high school to be built in the city of Manteca. In fact, it was supposed to be named South Manteca High School. I do not know why those plans fell through. As of this writing, there are currently no high schools south of the Highway 120 bypass. I predict there will be a school in that area soon. Salida (population 13,722) (0 high schools) This selection is a complete guess on my part; however, this guess is not entirely random. Last time I walked by Salida Middle School, there was a “for sale” sign on the empty land next to it. I have been wondering if the Salida Union School District planned on buying it. I believe Salida is the largest town in the 209 without a high school. In 2009, Gregori High School opened to serve citizens of both Northwest Modesto and Salida. Modesto is currently building homes on the north part of town and those students will likely attend Gregori. Therefore, Gregori will likely be large enough without the Salida students. The Salida Union School District could decide to build a high school and get attendance money from its high school students. Turlock (population 73,631) (2 high schools) A month ago I heard that Turlock is looking for land for a third high school. If what I heard was correct, the unfortunate news was that the original site the Turlock Unified School District had chosen had fallen through. I do believe that it will be a while before Turlock will get another high school. The city has almost 75,000 people and only two junior high schools. Turlock High School had an enrollment of nearly 4,000 before Pitman was built. Turlock can possibly finally build a third high school when businesses are given the new area code. Modesto (population 218,464) (7 high schools) It was hard to pick a fifth city. The reason I chose Modesto, because there is a section of town without a public high school. The southwestern part of the city does not have a public high school, though there is a private school. The students who live in Southwest Modesto are split into Gregori, Davis, Modesto, and Downey High Schools, depending on where one lives. The question is where the land will come from. As Modesto grows, perhaps there will be a school for each neighborhood. Honorable mention (in alphabetical order) Lodi (population 65,846) (2 high schools) Merced (population 82,662) (3 high schools) Patterson (population 22,066) (1 high school) Riverbank (population 24,842) (1 high school) Stockton (population 309,228) (8 high schools) Note: When the first new high school in this area is built, the new school may not necessarily get the new area code. Not many people know, but the 916 area code now has a second area code, 279. Two high schools have opened since the formation of the 279 area code, yet they both still have the 916 area code. Population figures are from wikipedia.org

The Big South Issue

One piece of advice from a teacher training exercise that I received was that if I am going to teach writing, I should practice it. I am going to take that advice. I will periodically write blogs about random subjects, mostly about sports. Most of these subjects will be those that very few people write about. My first subject will be about the state of the Big South Conference football. The Big South Conference is part of NCAA’s Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Last season there were nine teams. However, the conference was going to lose two of them when the ASUN announced that it was going to have football. Therefore, the Big South associate members, Kennesaw State and North Alabama would join, as they are full members of the ASUN. This week, full member Hampton and associate member Monmouth announced that they were going to join the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in July. Suddenly, the Big South found itself with five football-playing schools for the 2022 season. NCAA rules say that a conference must have at least six members. According to HBCU Gameday, the Big South can apply for a one-year extension to get a sixth member. It would be a wise idea, especially when the conference dropped to five members at practically the last-minute. I have a few ideas for a solution to the problem (I am sure the conference officials have many more). Idea number one, put pressure on Presbyterian to leave the non-scholarship, Pioneer Football League, and join the rest of its sports in the Big South. The second idea is to have the remaining Big South football teams merge with the Southern Conference teams to form one league for football only. If this move were to happen, it would not be unprecedented. In division II, the remaining three football-playing schools in the Great Northwest Conference (Central Washington, Simon Fraser, and Western Oregon) will merge with the mostly Texas-based Lone Star Conference beginning in the 2022-2023 season. My final idea is that the teams can align with the remaining MEAC teams. This possible solution has some problems, though. The primary issue is that the MEAC champion plays the SWAC champion in the Celebration Bowl. If this merger were to happen, would the top MEAC team still play the SWAC team? Would the top Big South/MEAC team from the merger play? That could defeat the purpose of the Celebration Bowl. Regardless of the decision the Big South makes, the conference officials need to make a move soon before it loses other programs.

If I Was King of Sports: 2021 8-man football state championship

I have always believed that California should have a state championship for 8-man football. I will continue to create a hypothetical bracket until a real state championship exists. In this model, I have a 32-team bracket. The top 16 teams are seeded. In the first round, I have the 17th rated team play the 16th and the top team play the bottom team. After that, I made the hypothetical matches based on geography the best I could, as long as teams in the same league would not play each other in the first round. I have league winners and the top rated teams by calpreps.com as at-large teams, as long as they have a one game under .500 record or better. Here is the bracket I have... Calvary Baptist (La Verne) @ (1) Fresno Christian Upper Lake @ (16) Coast Union (Cambria) Sierra (Tollhouse) @ (8) Avalon Riverdale Christian @ (9) Mammoth (Mammoth Lakes) Sage Hill (Newport Beach) @ (5) Grace Brethren (Simi Valley) Valley Christian Academy (Santa Maria) @ (12) Chadwick (Palos Verdes Peninsula) Hesperia Christian @ (4) California School for the Deaf (Riverside) Laton @ (13) Pinewood (Los Altos Hills) Calvary Chapel (Downey) @ (6) Thatcher (Ojai) Victory Christian (Chula Vista) @ (11) San Diego Jewish Academy Sotomayor (Los Angeles) @ (3) Faith Baptist (Los Angeles-Canoga Park) Big Valley (Bieber) @ (14) Redding Christian (Palo Cedro) Cornerstone Christian (Antioch) @ (7) Branson (Ross) Calistoga @ (10) Priory (Portola Valley) Windward (Los Angeles) @ (2) Cate (Carpeteria) North Valley Military Institute (Los Angeles) @ (15) Stuart Hall (San Francisco)

If I Was King of Sports. NCAA Division II NIT

Like last year, if I controlled sports, I would have the top 2 teams in each region that did not make the NCAA Division II tournament play in a 16-team tournament in Reno. The top-4 seeds would be protected, I would have the (1) play the (16). Since it would be in Reno, everything else would be the luck of the draw. Here are the teams Atlantic Fayetteville State (8), East Stroudsburg (9) Central Minnesota-Duluth (7), Sioux Falls (10) East Franklin Pierce (9), Pace (10) Midwest Grand Valley State (4), Drury (9) South West Alabama (6), Barry (9) South Central Black Hills State (4), Lubbock Christian (9) Southeast King (TN) (6), Emmanuel (9) West Western Oregon (8), Chaminade (10) The tournament (16) Fayetteville State vs. (1) Grand Valley State East Stroudsburg vs. West Alabama Lubbock Christian vs. Black Hills State Franklin Pierce vs. (4) Chaminade Minnesota-Duluth vs. Emmanuel Barry vs. (3) Drury Western Oregon vs. Sioux Falls Pace vs. (2) King (TN)