All "A" State Tournament - FORMAT CHANGE

[mcpapa]

15 minutes ago, Mustang said:

In defense of the All "A" communications shortcomings, Mike Reeves is a one-man Media Department.  He also serves as the Operations Manager among other things, and runs the website..

At 9am a statement was issued that the schedule would be played as revised with the first game getting underway at 1:30pm.  All appeared to be in order.

Things must have changed dramatically between 9am and 12:10pm when the cancellation statement was released.  The things that I know are that Owensboro Catholic chose not to come, and there were transportation issues with West Carter.. Rumors are that the State Police became involved in transportation matters.

At least one game was played despite the tournament being cancelled.  I assume it will count as a regular season game played at EKU.  The Bethlehem Girls defeated Walton-Verona 57-37.

I will give the "A" Committee kudos for at least trying to provide this tournament despite the Covid and the fact that the 2A pulled the plug, at the onset of the season.  These folks are good people with the best interest of the Class A schools and their student athletes who participate in the "A" Tournament and the related "A" activities.  Unfortunately, with the second shoe being the weather experienced and that predicted for the remainder of the week, proved too much for "A" Committee to overcome.  

My best guess is that it would have been a go but for the weather. 

The snowplow came through our subdivision this morning. Scraped the snow but left an inch of ice on the road.  Luckily, I’m an old retired guy with a well-stocked freezer, pantry and liquor cabinet.  

[gchs_uk9]

54 minutes ago, Mustang said:

In defense of the All "A" communications shortcomings, Mike Reeves is a one-man Media Department.  He also serves as the Operations Manager among other things, and runs the website..

At 9am a statement was issued that the schedule would be played as revised with the first game getting underway at 1:30pm.  All appeared to be in order.

Things must have changed dramatically between 9am and 12:10pm when the cancellation statement was released.  The things that I know are that Owensboro Catholic chose not to come, and there were transportation issues with West Carter.. Rumors are that the State Police became involved in transportation matters.

At least one game was played despite the tournament being cancelled.  I assume it will count as a regular season game played at EKU.  The Bethlehem Girls defeated Walton-Verona 57-37.

I will give the "A" Committee kudos for at least trying to provide this tournament despite the Covid and the fact that the 2A pulled the plug, at the onset of the season.  These folks are good people with the best interest of the Class A schools and their student athletes who participate in the "A" Tournament and the related "A" activities.  Unfortunately, with the second shoe being the weather experienced and that predicted for the remainder of the week, proved too much for "A" Committee to overcome.  

Like I said in the initial post, I know they have a skeleton crew. And they do put on a fantastic event. It just seemed like everyone was breaking the news and there was nothing from them.

All that said, was there any thought of making it a section event where the first two rounds could be redrawn and played at the schools? Maybe advance the final four to Lexington, Richmond, or Northern Kentucky later in the season? I know time is limited but I hate to see the event just not get played.

[Believe It]

It sure seems this could be fixed.  Couldn't they play on school sites by closest regions to get down to a final four to be played...even in one day..in a college arena?  The final four could be played even the week after the state tourney...or boys opposite girls and vice versa.  There has to be many ways they could get this done.

[All State Baseball]

KHSAA Scoreboard is showing two games being played today. Knott County Central defeating Pikeville 59-55 on the boys side and the girls side getting a game in.

[gchs_uk9]

4 minutes ago, All State Baseball said:

KHSAA Scoreboard is showing two games being played today. Knott County Central defeating Pikeville 59-55 on the boys side and the girls side getting a game in.

A handful of teams who were already in Richmond played games at EKU. They aren't part of the All "A", although they are saying so on the KHSAA scoreboard.

[Believe It]

Crazy!  Let those games stand and fill in the rest.  The kids in this tourney practiced this game for their entire lives..dealt with covid..and deserve better.  Missing Stan Steidel right about now.  Can we please figure out a way?

[ColonelMike]

14 minutes ago, Believe It said:

Crazy!  Let those games stand and fill in the rest.  The kids in this tourney practiced this game for their entire lives..dealt with covid..and deserve better.  Missing Stan Steidel right about now.  Can we please figure out a way?

Dog sleds   

Invented in 1,980 B.C.

[Tigerpride94]

 

[Believe It]

5 minutes ago, Tigerpride94 said:

 

How about a little thought and effort to get this done?  "Dog sleds" might be a little disrespectful to these kids don't you think?  Honestly can not be that hard to finish this in next 2 months.  If anyone wants my help please let me know...be glad to.

[The Professor]

I feel bad for our girls team. Owsley County’s girls would have been making the school’s second trip to the tournament as girls 14th region champions. The boys have been 4 times. We are a small school of 230 enrollment and the only school in the county. The All A has always meant a lot to our students and fans. 

[Believe It]

Word.  Would Lesley county's girls team want to reschedule tournament games to try to finish the tournament?

Edited February 17, 2021 by Believe It
Owsley county not Leslie

[B-Ball-fan]

Just as everyone else is, I’m disappointed that the All ‘A’ Classic has been cancelled, and while that truly bites, I can easily see this for the safety of 32 teams around the state considering the weather, and the last thing anyone would want is a tragic situation while any of these teams are traveling to and fro. 

I also get how those in charge had their backs against the wall on this, and I’m sure that it wasn’t easy for them to have to come to this decision. 

With that said I also like the idea that @gchs_uk9 had about redrawing up the brackets to have sectionals, and then ultimately a final four at a later date. 

Perhaps that wasn’t deeply considered, or even thought of when they had to make a quick call on the matter, and I wonder if it’s too late for them to give this consideration. 

They really weren’t going to make any $$$ at the gates like normal, and I personally wasn’t going to spend $10 a game online to watch, and I had planned to just listen to the audio broadcast for free, and maybe pay for the final four. 

So by going forward with the sectional idea it’s not like $$$ has to very much be an issue. 

So since it’s only been one day since they made the call to cancel it, I just wonder if the powers that be could reconsider their decision of a full blown cancellation, and try to pull this thing off in an alternative way? 

The logistics of it might be more complicated than I know, but still I’d love for them to give it consideration if maybe there's a hair of a chance that they can still have it all play out. 

[brooksville]

Wow!

[Voice of Reason]

I don't know the logistics issues being face so I hate to speculate. I have to believe everything was done to try and keep the tournament going. However, I can't help but think that there could have been a way to go forward with the tournament. For example, play the entire 1st round as scheduled. Any team that was unable to make their game time gets their first round game pushed back to Friday.  If a school says they are not going to send their team, they forfeit and that is on them. From there it's just re working the schedule to make sure you get all the games in. I can't imagine there being any school in the state who could not make it to the tournament site by some time Thursday.

[4 Quarters]

40 minutes ago, brooksville said:

Wow!

Can this really be true?