Some updates and an inside look in the announcement show

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First up we have our audio broadcast.  Because our engineer wasn't around last week, due to a wedding, we have been delayed a bit on getting our game broadcast uploaded.  We should have that done tonight.

Click Read More to find out what else is going on and the inside scoop from Chris on exactly what happened during the morning of the TSSAA announcement show.

 

Last Friday the broadcast dropped off for about 12 minutes on AM 1360.  This was due to an automated problem at the station.  The event was supposed to flip over at 10 PM but with the time change it flipped over at 9 PM. It has been corrected.

Don't forget we have our coaches show on Thursday starting at 5:30 PM.  You can listen to it in your car on the way home on AM 1360 WNAH.  

The Announcement Show and what really went on

I have been asked a ton over the last couple of weeks of what it was like announcing the brackets on the radio while having to deal with the errors.  Well here is your answer.

It was the fastest three hours of my life.  It absolutely flew by.  That was either from excitement or exhaustion.

We arrived around 6:15 on Saturday morning.   We were under the impression that we would have the brackets from the TSSAA earlier in the morning and they would be there when we arrived.  Didn't happen.  Chad arrived first and called me and asked if I knew where they were.  The one word response I gave was "Nope."  Within a few minutes we did receive most of the brackets and they were being printed off when I arrived.

I had a real feeling when I received that phone call that this day would be unlike any other.  I knew the TSSAA didn't get them finished otherwise why would they be 3 hours late.

To say it snowballed from there would be an understatement.  The errors are well documented and I am not going to rehash them here.  I will discuss how to fix them in just a minute.

On to the show.  To my right Chad was trying not to lose his voice while Murphy was trying to follow along with the brackets.  To my left was Chip Cirillo from the Tennessean who I was talking with a good bit about statewide matchups.  Across from me was Mathew Gillespie and Bernard Childress the Executive Director of the TSSAA.

The place looked like a front office war room on draft day.  I bet I had 25 texts I had to answer within minutes.  Some I answered as Chad was rattling off the brackets.  Murphy's phone was like our 104.5 scoreboard phones on Friday nights.  I'm surprised either of our batteries lasted.  Both Bernard and Mathew's were going off at the same time.  They would leave the studio, fix a correction and then come back in.  Murphy and I also picked up on a few of the issues and pointed them out.  It was absolutely nuts and so face paced and high strung you just wouldn't believe it.  As someone that thrives in that environment I really enjoyed it.

At the end of the show Chad and I walked to the parking lot.  About that time George (Plaster) called Chad to tell him how well the broadcast team did on the show.  Everybody enjoys a pat on the back from time to time you know.  After about 10 minutes Chad and I discussed what was about to come in the way of a storm for the TSSAA.   It was about that time 9:30 that I realized I had already been up for 4 hours and I still had to attend Henry's (my 4 year old) soccer game and I could barely keep my eyes open.  I was so exhausted I just couldn't get back to everyone.  So I thought by writing this article this would be my way to get back to everyone.

Now on to my thoughts.  Bernard and Mathew are both good people.  I certainly like them and hope they have a ton of success at the TSSAA.  After the show was over they fessed up and took responsibility for what happened.  It took guts and at least a semblance of humbleness to issue that statement.  The fact is they weren't ready for the time it was going to take to implement this new system.  Their procedures for creating the brackets from the teams that made it list was flawed.  No other way around it.

So what would I do to fix it?  Well fixing the seeding so district teams don't play each other is easy.  When you create your list of teams that made the playoffs you put the team name, record, and then add their district.  See the following:

1. Goodpasture 8-2  10-AA

Now you just transfer that to your brackets and you very easily see how to avoid district rematches in the first round.

As for the other fix.  They have to find a way to include a teams strength of schedule.  Perhaps you average out the computer polls that rank every team.  Perhaps you create a formula for strength of schedule.  But that needs to be the first tie breaker.  Not overall record.  Otherwise why would you ever schedule a tough team.  Oh and one other thing in that same line of thinking.  The semi finals should be flip flopped every year.  That also benefits those with easier schedules.

Alright that's it.  I hope answered everyone's questions.  If not feel free to shoot me an email and I'll do my best to get back with you.  My email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Thanks and we'll see you on the radio on Thursday for our Cougar Weekly radio show brought to you by Frank Batson Homes.

 

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