Through five years of covering high school basketball I've talked to hundreds of players, coaches, parents and other hoops fans.
In all those interviews or informal chats or even just overhearing people, I've never heard anybody gripe about the location of the state tournament.
Full disclosure: Once, legendary Clovis football coach (and basketball referee) Eric Roanhaus mentioned the advantages Northern teams hold in the tournament. But he wasn't complaining. And he never suggested that the tournament should be moved out of The Pit.
If you've ever spent a couple days at the state tournament, you how Albuquerque-area and a few other Northern teams benefit. Their fans can go scream and cheer at every game -- and often do.
If you play for from Deming, Mayfield or even tradition-loaded Hobbs, you usually only get a large cluster of fans if you make it to the championship game. It must feel like you're playing a college road game, especially if your team plays Gallup or Espanola Valley.
Not easy. But every year well-traveled high school teams win championships and deal with it.
For some reason a few Mountain West Conference coaches, notably New Mexico's Steve Alford, can't.
In recent weeks Alford has been vocal with his displeasure that the MWC Tournament takes place in Las Vegas, on UNLV's home court. Alford's not the first to vent about this, just the most local. You hear essentially the same arguments/suggestions ...
- The MWC should rotate the tournament site or move it to a neutral site
It would be stupid to suggest that this practice is fair. Even if the court and decor at the Thomas and Mack Center changes, it's still the Rebels gym. Those are mostly their fans in the seats.
But there is no other realistic option than to have the MWC Tournament in Vegas.
Rotation?
Air Force, Colorado State and TCU don't have big enough arenas (each under 10,000 capacity). Wyoming is too isolated and too difficult to reach.
That leaves BYU, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV and Utah. All could host the event. But is it any more fair to let only those teams get the event -- and the inherent advantages?
What about a neutral site?
No.
Any regional, neutral city with a large enough arena (Phoenix, Denver, Dallas for example) won't have enough interest in the MWC.
Let's see, would a Phoenix fan pick the MWC Tournament over a Suns game or watching the Pac-10 Tournament from their own recliner? Would a Dallas fan rather check out MWC action or that from the Big 12?
That means the league would have to rely on only the small percentage of each team's fans that travel to support the event. Ouch.
Playing the MWC Tournament makes sense, just like playing the state tournament in Albuquerque makes sense.
High school kids deal with it.
Why can't MWC coaches?
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Speaking of high school kids ...
Here are this year's state champions and some notes.
Class 5AThe Hobbs boys earned their record 16th state title by edging rival Clovis. La Cueva's girls got their first, by beating Eldorado
Class 4ASt. Pius X took both championships by a combined 17 points. For the boys it was their third straight.
Class 3AAnother sweep: Pojoaque's Elks and Elkettes each won. It was the boys first championship since 1984 and the girls first since 1998. The boys were the lowest seed to win it, No. 7.
Class 2ADeuces wild. Texico won two titles (boys and girls). Both teams were No. 2 seeds.
Class 1AThe Cliff boys rolled to another title, winning their state tournament games by an average of 18.6 points. The No. 5 seed Animas girls won two of their three games in OT.
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Loved this ...The heart of Eldorado's Kya De Garmo.
In the final game against La Cueva, the sophomore sprained an ankle in the first quarter and had to be helped off the floor. But she came back and played most of the game effectively.
She also wouldn't let her team hang their heads as the buzzer sounded. As expected there were tears. But De Garmo jumped in front of them, shouting and holding up two fingers. She wanted them to realize that, even though it's unwanted and it hurts, second place is an achievement. I know I couldn't have done that.
... Not thisI get that sports is about more than just winning, especially at the high school level.
But don't treat it like elementary school sports.
One of the state tournament PA announcers, who shall remain nameless, has, for at least a couple years, made me roll my eyes before the championship hardware is awarded.
He always makes a point of saying that there "Are no losers" in a state championship and calls the team that lost the "Winner of the second place" trophy.
It's a nice gesture, but if I was playing, I would hate it.
Don't sugar-coat it. One team lost. One team won. It happens.
