[Hoot Gibson]

I agree with you that classifying basketball would be the worst thing the BOC could do. However, if we are talking fairness to the kids in their quest to win a state championship, which seems to be the underlying theme of this thread, then you can't take classifying basketball out of the discussion.

The simple fact is that at a lot of the rural county schools, football has been neglected for decades upon decades. Due to growth in the popularity of the game, football is now receiving a lot more attention in those rural county schools. Which on one hand is great. On the other hand, it's not so great. In our "I have a right to have it and have it now" society, people are ignoring that the successful football schools are, for the most part, those that have placed a huge emphasis on football for a long time. A lot of the folks upset with the private and independents winning too many football championships think that because their school is now placing an emphasis, maybe a huge emphasis on football for the last 5 or even 10 years, they should be winning state championships in football. And if they aren't, the folks think that something is wrong or unfair.

Nothing is wrong or unfair. I could blow up the server for this site discussing in detail the advantages and disadvantages of public vs private; rural vs urban; county vs independent schools. Folks, it will never be perfect for every one, every school, in every circumstance. Such an effort would be analogous to Quixote chasing windmills.

Yeah, we could separate those successful programs from those that neglected football for decades but I don't think that is the right thing to do. I"m not of the "give everyone a trophy" mentality. To win a state championship, rural county schools will have to work harder to catch up. And I'm not just talking the kids working harder (not just some of the players; all the players). The coaches, administration, community, boosters and football fans of those schools will have to work harder to catch up. Personally I think the current playoffs helps create the environment to make that happen. But it will take patience; a quality that is sadly lacking in today's society.

I agree with pretty much everything you said above, Charlie. I am not advocating any kind of sliding scale class where there is any subjective fiddling with the classes based on any school's advantages or disadvantage. All I am saying is that fans of schools like Highlands should realize that not all of their formula for success is replicable at rural county schools that face an entirely different set of circumstances. There are also schools with similar circumstances that could have similar success with similar commitment.

A class system based on male enrollment is as fair a system as anything could be but a fair system does not and should not guarantee everybody a trophy. Economic and geographic differences among schools in the same class will always exist but some sort of affirmative action program for poor, rural school systems would be the worst thing that the KHSAA could implement. Champions are supposed to overcome obstacles and if that means winning one championship every 50 years, then so be it. The team that wins that championship will never be forgotten.