Will we start seeing playoff celebrations like this after real state championships?
Next month, the NJSIAA will convene a full membership vote to extend the public
school football playoffs and play down to single Group champions. The
vote is expected to be close. How do you think the vote will go and what
should New Jersey do?
McConville
I touched on this briefly last week, and the more people I talk to the more I get the feeling that it isn’t going to pass. The issue of extending the season is a big one, and part of the issue is the Thanksgiving Day game. The schools in the southern part of the state are very much against moving off of Thanksgiving, which would open up one week for an extra round of playoffs. The other would be the early start, in most years the Labor Day weekend before school actually opens. This year, because Thanksgiving is so late, the so-called ‘week zero’ was after Labor Day, but in five of seven years it would be on Labor Day weekend. Byes would also have to become a thing of the past. To many, his is like putting a square peg in a round hole. It just doesn’t fit. Selfishly I would like to see the expansion, if for no other reason than I like the idea of ‘true’ state champions, not sectional champs. Every other state finds a way, why can’t New Jersey? Coaches will hate me for this, because it means earlier starts and less time off for them and kids in the summer, but I would bet that if they were sitting there in the end of November in a state final four they would relish the chance to be a state Group champion.
Darren Cooper
Hold on now here Jim, now remember, the NJSIAA already has a “concept†of what playing down to a state champion would look like, and it preserves Thanksgiving Day games, which I agree is a big issue – especially down in South Jersey. Here….not so much.
Essentially, what the new concept does is start the season a week earlier and end a week later. State finals would be like Dec. 13/14.
I wrote this back in September…
But in 2014 and 2015, the football season will start the first Friday in September, regardless of where Labor Day is. This is important because in 2014, games will be after Labor Day. In 2015, games will be (sorry to shout) BEFORE Labor Day. This is a big deal, because a lot of coaches and ADs dont want to do that. The way Denis Nelson explained to to me though (Denis is the River Dell AD/Big North Boss) just about every team is scrimmaging then any way, might as well play games. Practice will start approximately 3 weeks before the start of the season. Then, since Thanksgiving is saved, and you are starting a week earlier but adding 2 rounds of playoffs, you have to extend the season a week. This means the state Group finals would be the 2nd weekend of December, the 12th/13th in 2014. The 11th/12th in 2015.
So to me, that’s a big plus in its favor, because I think South Jersey schools may be inclined to vote for it, because they don’t want to lose Thanksgiving.
There are other factors in play here too. One, there are like 400 schools in the NJSIAA. I bet only 150-200 show up to vote for this thing. So the people who feel strongly about it will be the ones voting. I have always thought it would pass…but close. I think the big schools are for it, because they have the numbers/depth to keep playing and I think there are enough small school coaches out there who really want to know….they want to know if their team is really the best Group 1 team in New Jersey.
I think that’s the margin it passes by. And yes, I know Chuck Johnson at Ridgewood doesn’t like it at all.
McConville
No, he doesn’t, but he’s not the only one. The problem is still the extension of the season on either side. There is going to be enough sentiment against starting before Labor Day AND finishing a week late that turns the vote into a no. Now, if you pulled one of those weeks back by eliminating Thanksgiving, you gain one of those factions back and maybe then it passes. The most detested is the early start. Get those schools into the yes column and you have a chance of getting it passed.
Ed Mills
Unfortunately, there are enough small schools, and schools that really
put a lot into a possibly extended football season that the vote will go
against the going to a final Group state champion. It would be great if
it passed, but I don’t think it will. NJSIAA has enough, I think, under
its chartered authority to make a sweeping decision to endorse and put
in final Group champions — over member schools’ objections. But they
don’t want to go that way. New Jersey still somewhat of a joke in this
regard compared to most of 49 other states. When people say they are
state champions — and they win a section — 24 different schools can
say this again after 2013 — a real sad commentary. Just pare down
playoffs to four teams like before 1998, take away one of the public
school sections, two of the non-Public sections and you can have six
state champions at end of year — still not one, but better than 24 plus
possible prep schools like Lawrenceville or Blair Academy that might
chime, in, too……Best example, Pennsylvania, Easton (Pa.) plays
Phillipsburg before 20,000 or so on Thanksgiving Day at Lafayette; then
sometimes if involved in Pennsylvania playoffs, have to play two days
later on a Saturday after Thanksgiving against one of Pennsylvania’s
best. See if a Jersey school like Bosco or St. Joseph or Paramus
Catholic could do that — I doubt it, but that’s all it would take if
you truly believed in playing down to one Group state champions, do
whatever you need to do to get the job done.

Keith Idec
The NJSIAA executive committee should vote to crown one true state champion in each group, but I don’t think that’ll happen. We have a ridiculous amount of teams that can call themselves “state champions†come early December each year and that needs to change. I just think, as others have pointed out, the scheduling changes that’ll require, particularly how it could impact Thanksgiving games, will prevent it from happening. I grew up with the Linden-Union game
being a big deal on Thanksgiving and cover Eastside-Kennedy, a 90-year-old tradition, every year, so I understand and appreciate the importance of Thanksgiving games. But I’d rather have real state champions, like we have in baseball, basketball and other sports. Since it won’t happen, maybe for next year the NJSIAA can create North 1, Group 3-5. No team with a record above 3-5 can qualify to be crowned the best below-average “state championship team†in New Jersey. But then that’s not fair to the 0-8 teams. Let’s add North 1, Group 0-8, too.
McConville
Hey, Keith. I got an idea. Let’s not have a regular season. Let’s let EVERYBODY go right into the state playoffs. We can start with everybody in; maybe a quintuple elimination tournament, round-robin style. This way, we appease the modern-day, everyone gets a trophy just for showing up, generation “Y†mentality. Yes, I’m kidding, but you’re on the mark. What ever happened to the idea that there needs to be some sort of benchmark achieved in order to ‘qualify’ for a tournament? To be honest, we at The Record aren’t much better. I mean, a 2-7 team #20 in our top 25? Again, we applaud what we believe would happen instead of what is actually accomplished. It’s a societal epidemic that gives every one an excuse instead of forcing a solution through actions and results. Failure isn’t falling down; it’s staying down and refusing to get back up. We keep placating and rewarding the fallen to the point they lose the desire to strive to achieve. OK, I’m getting off my soap box now.
Ed Mills
The coaches that like the Thanksgiving Day games are fine. They can play then — and then play two days later their playoff game like they do it in Pennsylvania for Easton (Pa.). That would be a big week to get in one of the extra games needed to play to a Group state champion – AND you can find out just what coaches TRULY BELIEVE — if they really like their Thanksgiving Day games they can have them — and play two days later against possibly a fresh team that did not have one. Easton and Pennsulvania does it that way, why not New Jersey — if the game is that important fine, just know the price you have to pay for it if you’re a team that could or usually does go deep in the playoffs. Also will see which programs really like Turkey Day — like Easton-Pburg — and which ones will quickly not have a Thanksgiving Game — or, if they choose, they don’t have to enter the playoffs and play their Thanksgiving Game instead. I guess St. John Vianney valued its game against Matawan more on Thanksgiving than it did traveling up North to face a tough parochial foe. to face a tough North Jersey parochial foe. Now that St. Joseph gets it is good for them that they have the Don Bosco game on Thanksgiving so won’t get too stale after Green Knights’ semifinal playoff game.