[Hoot Gibson]

It seems like some people believe that high school football exists primarily to provide entertainment for fans, just like big time college football and the NFL. It makes business sense for the entertainment to place a higher value on its revenue-generating "stars" than to mere mortal players, whose injuries would have no impact on the quality of entertainment provided.

Kentucky high school football is already way to top-heavy with too many poorly coached teams who are relieved to see an early end to their seasons. Why are so many people so eager to cut the season even shorter for the worst teams in the state. Does anybody believe that excluding a team that played 9 or 10 games this season from playing another game is going to benefit those players who return next season? Look at any list of top college recruits in the country, categorize them by state and then adjust for each state's population. Does anybody believe that Kentucky ranks high in that list for producing outstanding football players? Does anybody believe that playing less football statewide is going to improve the quality of players in the state?

Kentucky should be studying states that produce top football players and teams every year. I know that some states restrict playoffs based on regular season records and some states have even more classes than Kentucky. States with huge populations don't have much choice but to restrict the number of playoff teams but that is not a problem for Kentucky. It is a fairly big state with a relatively small population. Improving the entertainment value of first round playoff games is not a good reason to shorten the season by excluding teams from the playoffs. 

Avoiding injuries to "star players" is also not a good excuse. The health and well being of every high school kid who participates in a football program, from a team's best player to the team managers should be given the same priority. If a team has not developed any depth during the season because somebody insists that their boy set individual records in blowout games, then if one injured player costs the team a state title, then the coach may want to consider utilizing more players the following season to better prepare them to deal with adversity.