Another regular season is in the books. A few observations.......
1. No fresh faces. A quick look at this year's finals finds not a single team who has not made an appearance in the big game. Every one of them have been there before. Interesting, and yet, not surprising.
2. Late playoff blowouts. I'm always surprised by the number of one-sided contests that show up late in the playoffs at the Regional Finals or the Semi's. And it's not just poor MHSAA seeding IMO. With few exceptions, looking down the list of Regional Final teams, in the respective divisions, I found myself saying, "yep, that looks about right, those look like the best 8 teams in that division". And yet, blowouts. Not all, of course. But, more than I expected.
3. Division strength. Going into the season, it was near unanimous that D1 would be the strongest it has been in a few years. I think that played out. D2 came up a bit weaker than expected and D3 a bit stronger than expected.
4. Best team. The consensus will be that the winner of the D1 game should be crowned #1, and there are good arguments for that. The only possible fly in the ointment IMO is EGR if they handle OLSM soundly. Everyone else comes up short for one reason or another. I've watched a lot of football in my life (yea, I'm kinda old) and if EGR takes care of business next week I am prepared to say that they are the best EGR team I've ever watched - and that goes back quite a ways. Does that mean they are better than DCC or SHS, I honestly don't know. It'll have to be up to each individual to form their own opinion based on how the teams look at Ford Field, which is about the only venue we will all have to see all three teams.
5. Geography. Much has been made of the East-West thing in recent years. That kinda faded this year as both Detroit and GR area schools gave a little ground to other areas. We got 5 from the "east" and 3 from the "west" but they were kinda muted by the fact that there were 4 from the somewhat "south" and the somewhat "north". Not that any of these teams have done much chest beating that I've heard and that was kind of refreshing, actually.
6. SOC, Recruiting, Private school advantage. Every year, about this time, these arguments reach a fever pitch as one by one, various teams are eliminated. Personally, I think all of that talk is hogwash and sour grapes. There are only two things that I've witnessed over the years that wins championships: physical talent and sheer hard work. If you have one or the other, it won't be enough. You gotta have both, and a coach who knows what to do with it. Yes, the usual big names may acquire a kid here or there, from year to year, but I've never seen that be enough to bring home a championship on it's own. I believe the majority of D1 college players in this state will not be playing at Ford Field this weekend and even the ones that are may go home empty handed.
1. No fresh faces. A quick look at this year's finals finds not a single team who has not made an appearance in the big game. Every one of them have been there before. Interesting, and yet, not surprising.
2. Late playoff blowouts. I'm always surprised by the number of one-sided contests that show up late in the playoffs at the Regional Finals or the Semi's. And it's not just poor MHSAA seeding IMO. With few exceptions, looking down the list of Regional Final teams, in the respective divisions, I found myself saying, "yep, that looks about right, those look like the best 8 teams in that division". And yet, blowouts. Not all, of course. But, more than I expected.
3. Division strength. Going into the season, it was near unanimous that D1 would be the strongest it has been in a few years. I think that played out. D2 came up a bit weaker than expected and D3 a bit stronger than expected.
4. Best team. The consensus will be that the winner of the D1 game should be crowned #1, and there are good arguments for that. The only possible fly in the ointment IMO is EGR if they handle OLSM soundly. Everyone else comes up short for one reason or another. I've watched a lot of football in my life (yea, I'm kinda old) and if EGR takes care of business next week I am prepared to say that they are the best EGR team I've ever watched - and that goes back quite a ways. Does that mean they are better than DCC or SHS, I honestly don't know. It'll have to be up to each individual to form their own opinion based on how the teams look at Ford Field, which is about the only venue we will all have to see all three teams.
5. Geography. Much has been made of the East-West thing in recent years. That kinda faded this year as both Detroit and GR area schools gave a little ground to other areas. We got 5 from the "east" and 3 from the "west" but they were kinda muted by the fact that there were 4 from the somewhat "south" and the somewhat "north". Not that any of these teams have done much chest beating that I've heard and that was kind of refreshing, actually.
6. SOC, Recruiting, Private school advantage. Every year, about this time, these arguments reach a fever pitch as one by one, various teams are eliminated. Personally, I think all of that talk is hogwash and sour grapes. There are only two things that I've witnessed over the years that wins championships: physical talent and sheer hard work. If you have one or the other, it won't be enough. You gotta have both, and a coach who knows what to do with it. Yes, the usual big names may acquire a kid here or there, from year to year, but I've never seen that be enough to bring home a championship on it's own. I believe the majority of D1 college players in this state will not be playing at Ford Field this weekend and even the ones that are may go home empty handed.
