Changes: Postseason tournaments

Continuing with updates from this spring's MHSAA Representative Council meeting, here are some changes coming to state tournament formats during the 2010-11 school year.

Sports to be affected are basketball, volleyball, bowling, soccer and wrestling.

• Basketball/volleyball: Non-traditional district draws, which means playing first-round games at sites other than the tournament "host," will be required for seven or eight-game districts and other games "where history or security is an issue and single games at multiple sites are preferred over multi-game sessions at one site." It's similar to what is done in soccer, where districts begin with three openers at sites determined by the district draw, before moving to the tournament host's home field for semifinals and the championship game. A drive behind this is saving money by reducing travel. My take: Keeping things organized might be a little bit tougher, and some tradition is sacrificed as is the gate for schools that regularly hold districts. It also keeps athletes from playing at some great venues like Don Johnson Fieldhouse, and makes district games no longer neutral. I'm in favor of eliminating trips like Holt and Grand Ledge opening up at Battle Creek Central. But right now, I'm a little wary.
• Bowling: The team bowling finals were basically cut in half, from four Baker games and one regular game at the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds to two Baker games and one regular game. My take: I don't know enough about this to have an opinion, but four Baker games per round does sound like a lot -- especially for the teams that do move on. 
• Soccer: Overtime will now include two full 10-minute periods played to completion, and if the score remains tied, then go to a shootout. My take: It seems like this makes games longer. I'm a fan of the intensity of sudden death. 
• Wrestling: The seeding process, recently adopted to seed the top four teams at the state finals, will now allow for seeding of more than four if it appears there are teams worthy of that consideration. My take: I think the rule needs to be more specific -- either increase it to six or all eight, or keep it at four. But that said, I'm in favor of more seeding as it turned out well last season.

Side note on wrestling: This isn't related to the postseason, but beginning in 2011-12, the start of the season will be delayed a week, and the number of competition days reduced from 16 to 14, with days when teams or individuals may participate in more than two matches reduced from eight to seven. I'm curious to see how the wrestling community feels about this. The season currently might be the longest of any MHSAA sport. But I can't see too many in favor of losing opportunities to compete.