Won-lost records in CIF: Who cares?

By Ed Piper, Jr.

I was just looking at the sports page this morning and I noticed Grossmont High's 15-18 won-lost record in baseball, as the Foothillers were eliminated in the CIF Division I playoffs by Parker, a team that has a winning record.

Seeing as how I don't have a first period to sub in, and the block is an hour and a half long, I'd rather tap away at the keys than sit staring into space (or at my cellphone, which is about the same).

Here's my thought. I've blogged about it before. It is not uncommon for a team in the post-season playoffs to have a losing record. A team that has lost more games than it has won, and whose winning percentage is under .500, by definition is not a winning team.

In the olden days, we would have said that that team doesn't deserve to move on with the winning teams into the post-season.

But these are no longer the olden days. We are getting used to, more and more, the presence of such teams among those fighting for a CIF title. Unfathomable a handful of years ago, we have seen last year's La Jolla High boys soccer team garner a championship despite ending the season on the southern side of a .500 win percentage.

And, you know, I'm ready at this point to say more power to them.

As I wrote in a post yesterday, there aren't any glum faces after their team has won the CIF title. Everybody is too busy whooping and hollering in delight.

The respective school is thrilled to present the championship team--which, after all, had to win its last match to win the title--at an assembly, or for a photo opportunity with the banner loudly proclaiming "CIF Champions". Or just on the school media--website, or whatever.

It's a thrill. It's rewarding for the kids. More than a participation trophy, the student athletes did win something in competition to gain the laurels.

As I think about it at this early hour of pre-subbing reverie at CCA, I am ready to say, mix 'em all in. Fill the brackets with enough teams, even though in the old view that meant "diluting" the quality of competition.

It's a different era, we're not going back to the old, stodgy way of doing things, and, really, the discussion of dilution or deserving teams really belongs to the CIF officials and league and school representatives to ponder.

A reality of the San Diego Section is that there are far fewer teams to be as selective as larger CIF sections (Southern Section and L.A. City Section, both population giants) in placing teams in playoff brackets in multiple divisions.

The reality of SDS is that by the time you work your way down to Division 3, Division 4, and the Small Schools, those teams have played a number of schools from higher divisions. That means that they will have absorbed a number of losses, which, true, doesn't make their won-lost record look so impressive.

But that's the way SDS rolls.

The kids love it. There is nothing like playing in an important game that sends one team on, and eliminates another.

More power to them. Fill up the brackets. Keep the kids playing.