Maybe so, but I suspect that's where the idea was first generated. I keep hearing coaches complain about lengthy road trips in the first round of the playoffs. Sorry, guys, that's the penalty for not finishing first or second in your district ... some of us feel those teams shouldn't be in the postseason anyway.

 

Exactly...

 

I like the idea of a blind draw for the quarterfinals myself ... I actually liked it when there was a blind draw for the semifinals in 1991.

 

But the problem here is that year Lawrence County wound up playing at Mayfield. Louisa (where LC is located) is on the Big Sandy river which forms the eastern border with West Virginia. Mayfield is near Paducah which is not far from MISSOURI... How is that helping reduce costs?? Plus, if the KHSAA is planning on dipping into the gate receipts in the third and fourth rounds (saw that in another thread) that makes it an even greater financial burden on the traveling team in extreme cases like this.

 

Poor plan, poorly thought out and DEFINITELY poorly executed...

Here's a thought, how about getting some feedback from your coaches association and member schools before forcing this on them...

No, Dragon Fire is correct with his math.

On the first draw it does't matter what is picked (unless the

order in which the districts are listed matters, which I

presume to be no) because it has yet to be paired. On the

second draw there is a 1 in 7 chance that whatever the

first district was, it will be paired with the same district it

was. (There are seven names in the "hat" and one has to

be that district.) The next draw is similar to the first, it does

not matter. The fourth is similar to the second, except only

5 names remain and so on.

Thus the chance that one district alignment is the same as

it was is 1 in 105. The chance that two are the same is 1 in

11025.

Does this mean that Regional Titles no longer exist, or that

regions extend from the city of Russell to Russell County,

which are 216 miles apart?

No way this was a blind draw and only 4 district have to suffer. Come on KHSAA you can lie better than that.

 

When you say "No way" are you indicating that it is physically impossible for these results to have come from a blind draw? or are you simply saying that you think it is "highly improbable" that these results came from a blind draw? If the latter, "No way" is not the way I would describe it. There's enough controversy here without hyperbole.

While I have been as critical of the KHSAA as the next person on a lot of issues, I must strongly disagree with those impugning the integrity of the blind draw. I know for a fact that the blind draw was done by a long time employee of the KHSAA (not a BOC member) whose integrity is above reproach and it was done without any influence by any BOC member. And lest you question the accuracy of my information, just pm the Ru and he'll tell you that you can take what I am saying to the bank. I'm embarrassed for a lot of you posters who don't have a clue how the blind draw was done, yet you make baseless accusations about people's integrity. I sincerely doubt that any of you would want your integrity to be treated in the manner you have accused others. And if your response is that you didn't have any knowledge of how it was done until you read this post, here's a bit of advise: if you don't know what you are talking about, don't make accusations.

 

As you mention, it's not like the KHSAA was not without detractors before this process. That being the case, doing the "blind draw" in private (even if conducted by a trusted employee) shows that they are either "tone deaf" or don't care what their "customers" and member schools think. Neither is a good result and both are emblematic of an organization that is "too big for its own britches."

 

Given that we've just come from the televised NBA Lottery, I'm sure Riherds, BGP or some BGP sponsor(s) would have paid $ for the backdrop at the press conference wherein the #s were drawn out of a hat. It would be an opportunity for some press coverage in an otherwise "dead" time for the KHSAA and/or football. I suspect the papers would have covered and maybe even a quick video clip on the news in Lexington & Louisville.

 

Missed opportunity in my opinion.

As you mention, it's not like the KHSAA was not without detractors before this process. That being the case, doing the "blind draw" in private (even if conducted by a trusted employee) shows that they are either "tone deaf" or don't care what their "customers" and member schools think. Neither is a good result and both are emblematic of an organization that is "too big for its own britches."

 

Given that we've just come from the televised NBA Lottery, I'm sure Riherds, BGP or some BGP sponsor(s) would have paid $ for the backdrop at the press conference wherein the #s were drawn out of a hat. It would be an opportunity for some press coverage in an otherwise "dead" time for the KHSAA and/or football. I suspect the papers would have covered and maybe even a quick video clip on the news in Lexington & Louisville.

 

Missed opportunity in my opinion.

 

Sure the KHSAA had it detractors before now. But people sure quickly forget that the KHSAA sure got a lot of support on here as to how the handled the Mitchell case. Lots of people applauded the KHSAA for its get tough policy with Highlands ( I was not applauding). The KHSAA BOC got a lot of applause when the voted against Proposal 20, even though the delegate vote had been in favor of it and a lot of the BOC members were placed under some very intense pressure by their superintendents to vote in favor of Proposal 20. My guess is that several BOC members eligible to run again for election to the BOC will not be re elected because they voted against Proposal 20. A majority of people on here complained about the BOC allowing X and T to meet in the finals because they (the BOC) cared more about money than fairness. They do something that results in that not happening in 06, and they are villians. Short and selective memory some people have on here I must say.

 

Applying what happened with the draw to the Ft. Thomas School district which my children attend: if a long time, trusted employee of the school district was asked by the Board of Education to do a similar type draw, I'd have no problem with it and would not question the integrity of the person, even if the results were mathematically improbable. Whether its the BOC, or a school board or a board of directors, if you can't trust your employees to do something like a simple draw, you should either fire the employee (since you can't trust them) or resign because you have allowed a dishonest person to continue as an employee.

 

As to making the draw a public event and make money off of it, I understand your suggestion. Maybe thats the way it will be done in the future. But because they didn't turn it into a media event or a fundraising opportunity is no reason for the unfounded attacks that have been made on here.

 

And this is certainly not a dead time for the KHSAA. Football yes, but there are a lot of other sports that demand attention from the KHSAA than just football. There is no such thing as a dead time. Right now they are handling the logistical mess caused by the state track meet being move from UK to Dunbar high school. And they have baseball and softball state tournaments starting up.

Nevermind.

When you say "No way" are you indicating that it is physically impossible for these results to have come from a blind draw? or are you simply saying that you think it is "highly improbable" that these results came from a blind draw? If the latter, "No way" is not the way I would describe it. There's enough controversy here without hyperbole.

 

The odds of it happening the way it did was 1 in 40,322

 

So no way it happened that way the very 1st try. Bet my life on iT!

For Round 3 -- halfway through the journey to the state championship game -- Tackett had conducted a limited draw.

 

There are eight football districts in Kentucky: Nos. 1 and 2 lie in the west, 7 and 8 in the east. Lest teams in those areas have to travel great distances -- and defeat the economic imperatives -- Tackett excluded those districts from the draw, he explained in an e-mail to The Courier-Journal.

 

Tackett drew for only Districts 3 through 6, which cover the center of the state.

 

"When you put 3, 4, 5 and 6 numbered pieces of paper in a pile and draw them out, there are limited results," Tackett said. In two of the four classes, the draw produced the same setup already in place.

 

 

 

KHSAA attempting to spread wealth

 

Tackett forgot to mention this has the added benefit of keeping the long travel times downs and allowing X and Trinity to play before the finals.

The only thing "blind" about this draw was the vision of the KHSAA administrators who rigged the system and then didn't have the guts to tell anyone before or after (until now - after an outcry) how the thing worked. What's next - a shell game? It looks like CentreRocks' concerns have indeed

been validated.

In response to the paranoia running rampant, I had mentioned several times on here that I guessed KHSAA had eliminated the 1/2 regions from being pulled opposite the #7/8 regions which would make for a higher probability of what was posted true.

 

Todays newspaper article demonstrates that KHSAA DID narrow down the possibilities in advance and actually did so more than I thought. They only allowed for a #3 to pull a 4, 5, or 6 region as a way of limiting travel, etc.

So there you have it conspiracy theorists.

 

Yes KHSAA would have done themselves a monumental publicty favor with more transparency(as the politio's say) in conducting this process.

 

Yes it's not a completely random draw without all districts included but it still aloowed for 3 different possibilities and makes sense. I feel it's a poor idea to prearrange a bracket according to the strengths of particular teams - period. Otherwise we need to go to a statewide ratings system and seed ALL games like Ohio. You either go all the way or not at all IMO.

 

Woody Jr

The only thing "blind" about this draw was the vision of the KHSAA administrators who rigged the system and then didn't have the guts to tell anyone before or after (until now - after an outcry) how the thing worked. What's next - a shell game? It looks like CentreRocks' concerns have indeed

been validated.

 

Disagree - do you not understand that they had 3 different combinations possible in the draw?

 

Woody Jr

Since the "blind draw" occurred BEFORE the playoff set up was voted on one has to wonder if the vote would have turned out the same way had the Louisville schools not drawn each other.

 

I don't believe that there was anything underhanded done here BUT I do believe that the KHSAA has created a well earned PR black eye.

I understand that there were different combinations attainable. What bothers me (and I don't really care who plays whom and when along the way) is that KHSAA arbitrarily carved out a different system for half the districts (1 2,7 and 8) than for the other half, and then did not explain the seemingly odds-defying results until they were pushed. This is a big enough deal to warrant a full page in today's C-J sports section. Why the secrecy? It looks as if they were trying to pull something on the schools. A little more thought would have been nice for an agency that is quickly losing whatever credibility it once had.