High school basketball finals
Shouldn't the N.C. High School Athletics Association change its basketball finals so that it wouldn't conflict with the ACC Tournament? Coverage of the college men overshadowed state championship games for Grimsley, Bishop McGuinness, Cummings, Thomasville and Graham.
State football championships routinely make the front page of the sports section, not just here but at papers across the state. We would have given equal play to the state basketball finals were it not for the effective counter-programming of the ACC Tournament. As a result, we devoted the first five pages of the sports section today to the ACC. Page 6 was what we called a "false front" where we used an open page to publish non-ACC sports news, including the results of the Grimsley game (the Whirlies lost) and the Bishop McGuinness game (the Villains won).
It would have been nice -- at least for newspapers that like to give the local amateur talent a few more moments in the sun -- to have staggered the schedules a bit.
Comments (2)
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You are absolutely correct about the high school state basketball finals; they should be scheduled without ACC conflict. I live in Graham and would liked to have seen the Cummings and Graham girls games, but, as you know, they came in the midst of the ACC semi-finals.
On the subject of basketball, I am a dyed in the wool Tar Heel, born and bred, but my hat is off to the members and staff of the NC State Wolfpack. What a fanstastic tournament they played! For many of us watching it took us back to the run for the gold of the US Hockey team in 1980. Just to watch the committment, the courage and the comraderie of these athletes was something to be remembered.
My boos are saved for the ACC Commissioners who turned their backs on the tremendous efforts of the Colisium officials, the sponsors, the City and the News-Record to build up the ACC Tournaments to the height they have now reached. They did not deserve to be slighted and ignored in the manner of those people who moved this tournament to a place which has no more appreciation for what they had been given than to let these great teams play to an unenthusiatic, very small audience.
The efforts of Greensboro to strengthen the Women's Tournament in particular have been fanstasic and I am sure have not come without cost both in money and time. The Colisium has literally built it's own future appreciative audience for these games through their cooperation with neighboring public schools to bring in young people and introduce them to the thrill of watching this sport. Tampa, had it really been interested in the sport and not just the name and money, could have done the same. But, rather than show that kind of support they preferred to have both of the great opening daytime games (and most of the rest) played to a disgustingly few uninterested people. The silence during most games was deafening, and disgusting!
There is plenty of time between the Womens ACC Tournement and the Mens to hold high school tournements, without any scheduling conflicts. It just takes someone to spend a little time doing it. Let us hope someone will step up and see to this.
Posted on March 11, 2007 5:59 PM
I agree with you John. High School players work just as hard as the ACC players do. They trully deserve to be in the spotlight and not have to worry about being overshadowed by the ACC Tournament. Hopefully something will be done in the near future so that the N.C. High School Athletics Association basketball finals would not conflict with the ACC Tournament.
Posted on March 20, 2007 2:30 AM