Are we in it together or divided is the question that needs to be addressed moving on. As many try to make things better do NOT just complain or post something on social media but make some proposals to help change the future. When you voice your opinions in a formal complaint or proposal change and hope starts to happen. A sense of what can happen is up to many of you as YOU . Each tiny step is a step in the direction of fairness and equality.
The Sunday selection football committee for 5 classifications met on October 28th and for the most part the 6Man, 8Man, 1A and 2A were well constructed but the 5A was a complete mess for many high school football Connoisseurs. The much heated off-season debate of a two year realignment of 5 conferences of 6 teams, 30 teams and 1 conference of 10 teams for a total of 40 5A teams became the realities of inequity. Some have said;
"This is turning into an ugly scenario that smells of socioeconomic segregation and discrimination. Six of the L10 (Metro 10) teams are predominantly minority represented."
The Metro 10 consists of Smoky Hill 10-0, Denver East 8-2, Westminster 7-3, Prairie View 5-5, Far Northeast 4-5, Northglenn 5-5, Boulder 4-6, Mountain Range 3-7, Rangeview 1-8, Adams City.
So when the infamous RPI that determines post season playoff football it was a deal with the devil as it provided sub winning teams an opportunity to leap frog teams given conferences and their opponents.
Colorado 5A football RPI standings
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A look at CHSAA’s official 5A RPI standings.
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Team | Record | RPI | Seeding |
1. Valor Christian | 10-0 | 0.718263 | #1 |
2. Columbine | 10-0 | 0.700169 | #2 |
3. Cherry Creek | 9-1 | 0.654745 | #3 |
4. Eaglecrest | 9-1 | 0.650275 | #4 |
5. Grandview | 9-1 | 0.633715 | #5 |
6. Smoky Hill | 10-0 | 0.622784 | #17 |
7. Pomona | 6-4 | 0.619473 | #7 |
8. Ralston Valley | 8-2 | 0.609006 | #6 |
9. Denver East | 8-2 | 0.598648 | #24 |
10. ThunderRidge | 8-2 | 0.58431 | #8 |
11. Fairview | 9-1 | 0.569861 | #9 |
12. Arvada West | 6-4 | 0.561734 | #10 |
13. Cherokee Trail | 7-3 | 0.558799 | #11 |
14. Westminster | 7-3 | 0.558281 | |
15. Mullen | 4-6 | 0.549942 | #12 |
16. Castle View | 7-3 | 0.546307 | #14 |
17. Doherty | 5-5 | 0.523657 | #18 |
18. Highlands Ranch | 3-7 | 0.518784 | #15 |
19. Arapahoe | 5-5 | 0.513048 | #13 |
20. Fountain-Fort Carson | 5-5 | 0.493102 | #19 |
21. Far Northeast Warriors | 5-5 | 0.487076 | |
22. Prairie View | 5-5 | 0.485986 | |
23. Lakewood | 3-7 | 0.479131 | #20 |
24. Regis Jesuit | 6-4 | 0.475682 | #16 |
25. Northglenn | 5-5 | 0.474656 | |
26. Boulder | 4-6 | 0.468727 | |
27. Legend | 5-5 | 0.461445 | #23 |
28. Legacy | 4-6 | 0.45907 | #21 |
29. Poudre | 4-6 | 0.454321 | #22 |
As one can see the 29th team moved into the playoffs and there was considerable discussions and debate about making the at-large selection a strength of schedule #7 team with a (1-9) record the selection or the (2-8) #16 RPI team. However, the correct team in Denver East was selected as the #24th seed and the playoffs are underway on November 2nd.
Rank | Team | RPI | Record | WP | OWP | OOWP | SOS |
1 | Valor Christian | 0.718263 | 10-0-0 | 0.987 | 0.645 | 0.547 | 4 |
2 | Columbine | 0.700169 | 10-0-0 | 1 | 0.575 | 0.568 | 5 |
3 | Cherry Creek | 0.654745 | 9-1-0 | 0.9 | 0.544 | 0.557 | 8 |
4 | Eaglecrest | 0.650275 | 9-1-0 | 0.9 | 0.556 | 0.527 | 10 |
5 | Grandview | 0.633715 | 9-1-0 | 0.9 | 0.489 | 0.561 | 14 |
6 | Smoky Hill | 0.622784 | 10-0-0 | 1 | 0.433 | 0.498 | 34 |
7 | Pomona | 0.619473 | 6-4-0 | 0.6 | 0.668 | 0.574 | 1 |
8 | Ralston Valley | 0.609006 | 8-2-0 | 0.8 | 0.513 | 0.547 | 13 |
9 | Denver East | 0.598648 | 8-2-0 | 0.8 | 0.533 | 0.484 | 17 |
10 | ThunderRidge | 0.58431 | 8-2-0 | 0.8 | 0.454 | 0.542 | 22 |
11 | Fairview | 0.569861 | 9-1-0 | 0.9 | 0.381 | 0.492 | 38 |
12 | Arvada West | 0.561734 | 6-4-0 | 0.6 | 0.55 | 0.539 | 9 |
13 | Cherokee Trail | 0.558799 | 7-3-0 | 0.7 | 0.467 | 0.54 | 18 |
14 | Westminster | 0.558281 | 7-3-0 | 0.7 | 0.508 | 0.483 | 20 |
15 | Mullen | 0.549942 | 4-6-0 | 0.4 | 0.678 | 0.529 | 2 |
16 | Castle View | 0.546307 | 7-3-0 | 0.7 | 0.453 | 0.517 | 28 |
17 | Doherty | 0.523657 | 5-5-0 | 0.5 | 0.577 | 0.476 | 12 |
18 | Highlands Ranch | 0.518784 | 3-7-0 | 0.3 | 0.676 | 0.528 | 3 |
19 | Arapahoe | 0.513048 | 5-5-0 | 0.5 | 0.543 | 0.486 | 15 |
20 | Fountain-Fort Carson | 0.493102 | 5-5-0 | 0.5 | 0.487 | 0.494 | 23 |
21 | Far Northeast Warriors | 0.487076 | 5-5-0 | 0.5 | 0.467 | 0.501 | 27 |
22 | Prairie View | 0.485986 | 5-5-0 | 0.5 | 0.471 | 0.492 | 29 |
23 | Lakewood | 0.479131 | 3-7-0 | 0.3 | 0.572 | 0.534 | 6 |
24 | Regis Jesuit | 0.475682 | 6-4-0 | 0.6 | 0.34 | 0.532 | 39 |
25 | Northglenn | 0.474656 | 5-5-0 | 0.5 | 0.446 | 0.488 | 32 |
26 | Boulder | 0.468727 | 4-6-0 | 0.4 | 0.522 | 0.466 | 19 |
27 | Legend | 0.461445 | 5-5-0 | 0.487 | 0.434 | 0.473 | 37 |
28 | Legacy | 0.45907 | 4-6-0 | 0.4 | 0.472 | 0.501 | 25 |
29 | Poudre | 0.454321 | 4-6-0 | 0.4 | 0.481 | 0.473 | 30 |
30 | Rock Canyon | 0.421752 | 2-8-0 | 0.2 | 0.53 | 0.499 | 16 |
31 | Overland | 0.417484 | 1-9-0 | 0.1 | 0.613 | 0.475 | 7 |
32 | Fossil Ridge | 0.414569 | 3-7-0 | 0.3 | 0.441 | 0.494 | 33 |
33 | Mountain Vista | 0.40987 | 1-9-0 | 0.1 | 0.565 | 0.513 | 11 |
34 | Mountain Range | 0.405449 | 3-7-0 | 0.3 | 0.433 | 0.474 | 36 |
35 | Horizon | 0.399466 | 2-8-0 | 0.2 | 0.511 | 0.45 | 24 |
36 | Rocky Mountain | 0.378334 | 2-8-0 | 0.2 | 0.427 | 0.492 | 35 |
37 | Rangeview | 0.37681 | 1-9-0 | 0.1 | 0.511 | 0.475 | 21 |
38 | Chaparral | 0.362684 | 1-9-0 | 0.1 | 0.476 | 0.474 | 31 |
39 | Adams City | 0.337146 | 0-10-0 | 0 | 0.478 | 0.487 | 26 |
40 | Douglas County | 0.321687 | 1-9-0 | 0.1 | 0.368 | 0.482 | 40 |
The drama of selection will not be over as all but one team plays on Friday and the 3A and 4A chatter will commence again on Sunday as the RPI will unravel in its final posting and the algorithm calculators will go dormant until next Fall. If all this was not enough the talk of the town has been the chatter of drones. The biggest debate is similar to 2010 and schools that could afford these electronic devices. Now not only is the drone an advantage to home teams as only one is allowable in air space but the risk involved. Yes the risk is tremendous as like a helicopter flying over Mile High Stadium that was banned years ago because of the liabilities that this machine would endanger thousands of persons in attendance. The benefit to a helicopter is that it uses auto rotation that hovers at 40MPH as opposed to a drone that can drop at 100MPH like a rock off a cliff or a foul ball at a baseball game. Baseball has implemented netting and football uses modified cameras with a safe fail netting apparatus. So the debate is that anyone can purchase a drone from an online or big box retailer but can they fly it properly.
In a populated area such as a stadium the protocol is permission is needed from every single person in attendance. In addition to spectators players are at risk because at any given time the device can drop like a rock and the blades could cause a bloody mess that most likely would be fatal if the pilot is not well versed in operating the device. So technically speaking permission from all parties is needed for these devices and section 107 of the FAA has to be followed. https://www.faa.gov/uas/report_accident/
"CHSAA actually came out this year saying it's permissible to use during games,"
For details on regulations and policies about drones, visit the FAA’s website.
As for the use of the drone it violates air space and neighbors can complain by calling the local sheriffs or police departments as the aircraft needs to be properly permitted and permissions not only from the school districts but also everyone in attendance needs to agree. A call to 911 also can alert authorities especially If one person entering a contest does NOT want to have the drone being used than all operations has to cease. This is a serious safety issue in addition to an unfair advantage to the home team that often uses the drone exclusively.
Again the question is about fairness and safety while others will scoff that its about having the funds for a competitive advantage and tell others to fundraise to have one for consumption. So in 2010 it was iPads, a few years ago digital end zone clocks and now drones. If we want to even the playing field and make it equitable for all teams not just a few.
As for a better vision for Colorado Football it is time for a third party company to make sense of all the classifications and audit the algorithm details in RPI. In addition a conference representative should not be used nor a parent or anyone involved in a participating CHSAA school. If you want unbiased brackets, conferences and overall health it is time to think outside the box and get rid of the good old boy network that continues to dramatize parents annually for games that are to be fun. Instead it becomes heartbreak because the decisions are not based on the best interests of the kids but most likely revenues to fund the association and its salaried individuals. Too many decisions are impacting the game that is to be FUN. The participation is dwindling and the increase of club sports is on the rise. Wake up CHSAA, at one point many drove model T automobiles and dinosaurs ruled the region. Create a better vision for Colorado Football, a sport that officially concludes late afternoon on December 1st.