Notebook Overflow Strikes As Well

The worldwide Swine flu outbreak has impacted high school sports in Oregon, at least in some communities. Willamina and Chemawa were the first to cancel classes, and therefore contests, late last week. Now, on the heels of the case that prompted Western Oregon university to shut down for at least a long, four day weekend, Central high school of Independence has shut down for a week, in what Central schools superintendent Joseph Hunter termed "a precautionary measure."

On Sunday afternoon, the Forest Grove school district decided to shut down for a couple of days at the beginning of the week.

Whether additional cases lead to additional schools taking measures will be a day to day, even an hour to hour proposition. For now, however, Oregon does not appear to be on the verge of a statewide shutdown, such as Texas and Alabama are facing.

The OSAA has proactively initiated discussions about what could eventuate, however. Executive director Tom Welter said "We're keeping our finger on it; we want to be responsive to the health and safety of not only the kids, but the spectators and everybody else. At the same time, we also don't want to overreact."

Welter explained that the OSAA will rely on state epidemiologist Dr. Mel Kohn. "If he calls and says, 'We're at a critical mass point,' and he's advising us to curtail travel and curtail large crowds, we may yet need to shut the whole thing down."

This raises the question about what happens to contests disrupted. "I'm getting calls from schools wanting to know if games are postponed because school's not in session, would they make them up," Welter said. "And I said, 'Why wouldn't you?' We're not going to count them as a forfeit."

As a practical matter, however, it will be a mixed bag of responses, not unlike the impact of snow on winter sports. Notably, there were many more cases of flu during winter sports season as well, sometimes impacting players. That was during the time of year, however, that is the 'normal' flu season in Oregon. Such an outbreak is much more uncommon in the spring time.

Many, but not all, games lost by last December's extreme weather were eventually made up. A key difference now is that spring sports such as baseball and softball are deep into league races, whereas much of what was wiped out in December was non-conference action. Baseball and softball are already routinely in the business of rescheduling for weather anyway, so look for varsity games to find their way back onto the schedule. JV and freshman games are another matter, and unless it is convenient to combine the makeup with the varsity contest, look for many of these contests, if lost, to disappear.

Many other spring sports, including track and field, tennis, and golf, determine state qualifiers at district meets at the end of the season, so the loss of individual contests, while impacting preparation, does not have the same ramifications.

If contests are suspended for an extended period of time, however, the time available for makeup dates grows short. In a couple of weeks, it could seriously disrupt the OSAA spring championship schedule.

"We have one weekend where we can use Hayward Field for track," Welter said. "If we can't go there, what do we do? Those are things we don't have answers for yet, but I think we're having the discussions now."

Use of Volcanoes' stadium and other venues are also scheduling challenges. And the willingness of schools to show flexibility around the end of the school year is varied, and generally limited.

This year, just when the need to be creative may reach new heights, look for many schools to be even less willing to work with any plan that extends the schedule. The reason, of course, is the worsening economic situation.

Tight Finances May Dictate Sport Schedules

Many schools have cut days from the schedule, and also cut paid days from staff schedules. Coaches aren't the problem; they are generally under secondary contracts. But coaches aren't all it takes. Administrators for student oversight, facilities staff, and even the bus driver may not be available.

And come May 15, when the next state revenue estimates are released, the funding matter may well grow even worse.

The last thing most school administrators wanted at this point was another serious problem to deal with.

Plans for various scenarios are already underway, including the possible curtailment or elimination of some activities. La Grande, for example, will make reductions in their athletic department. The only question is how deep the cuts will go, and it is possible that activities, sports and others, may be totally eliminated. Other schools are wrestling with a variety of cuts, reflective of the larger problem.

Word came late last week that the University of Washington has dropped their mens' and womens' swimming programs, and Oregon State University has announced that, with the university facing the need to possibly cut several hundred position, a number of sport programs will come under scrutiny. These developments ripple down to the high school level. The Tigard-Tualatin schools are considering whether to close one or both of the swim facilities they have, and that will impact their school's swim programs.

Expect opportunities to advance to the next level to be reduced, especially in some of the less well followed sports. And in turn, the very opportunity for participation may well end for some.

This makes this week's announcement that Grants Pass High wrestler Justin Eldred signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Southern Oregon University both newsworthy, and possibly something not to be repeated too often.

Eldred went 138-31 during his four years of high school, was named Grants Pass' Wrestler of the Year each year, and won the Oregon State Championship at 130 pounds this year, after going 31-3, and claiming the Southwest Conference championship.

How many such success stories will the economy allow in the future?

Redistricting and Related Ramifications

This latest meeting of the OSAA Redistricting Committee on April 20 saw further options advanced on the ongoing saga of what to do with remotely located schools, relative to other schools of their size, and further discussion of hybrid leagues. One of the hot topics is whether it makes more sense to have Pendleton and Hermiston become an extension of an east-metro, I-84 district, instead of their historic affiliation with the now mostly central Oregon members of the Intermountain League. Pendleton and Hermiston like the idea, and the savings to their transportation budget. Existing members of the Mt. Hood Conference have less enthusiasm for the idea. Sound like the Salem-Keizer schools when the subject of Redmond comes up?

And speaking of which, it continues to look like a central Oregon Hybrid is a possibility. One that appeals to Redmond much more than to Crook County and Madras. And one that, ironically, one Willamette valley administrator observed could well save some smaller sports programs at the Salem-Keizer schools, a product of the reduced pressure on the budget brought about by travel.

Another interesting idea also emerged, and will be on the agenda tomorrow, May 4, when the OSAA Executive Board meets. The redistricting committee is recommending a new concept, a "play down" request. Schools have long been able to petition to "play up" to a higher level, and some have routinely done so, for a variety of reasons.

Now, a possible solution to the competitive imbalance issue that arises from using only enrollment to establish classifications and leagues has progressed beyond the committee discussion stage, where highly controversial ideas like a private school multiplier have stalled at, to the Executive Board, where the policy change to allow such methods must occur.

At the same time, the OSAA is actively seeking input on the hybrid issue, a sign they are serious about possibly implementing this approach. Classification and Districting Committee chairman Mike Wallmark explained "It is critical that school affected by the alternative proposals contact the committee to express their preferences, AND WHY."  (His emphasis.)

Responses in writing before the next meeting, or presented at the next meeting of the committee, on May 11, are sought.

Playoffs Defined, Sort Of

How the playoffs would work is the question that causes the most concern with the hybrid leagues. The position of the Classification and Districting Committee is that "A hybrid approach identifies geographic regions where placing schools into leagues is more difficult because there may not be enough schools in a specific classification in that region. The hybrid approach assigns schools across classifications to the same league. Schools within the league would be charged with

creating their own regular-season schedules, including which schools would compete against each other on an activity-by-activity basis. Schools in a hybrid from different classifications would not be required to compete against each other. Determination of which teams advance to postseason play would be made at the league level. During the postseason, advancing schools would compete against schools from their respective classifications. Playoff spots will be determined by the state championship committee. No school would receive an automatic playoff spot. Schools from hybrid leagues may be assigned to a neighboring league at their classification for playoff allocations. Playoff spots would be determined proportionally to the total number of schools in the combined league."

The uncertainty and politically charged issues that arise make the previously too controversial topic of seeding pale by comparison, and will make for some interesting meetings, to be sure.

But as Peter Weber, OSAA Assistant Executive Director, explained "These are not only challenging times, they are times none of us have ever seen before. Everyone will have to think outside the box, and move way out of their comfort zone. Because the way we have always done things is just not an option anymore."

And that is clearly true whether we are talking about the 6A Metro Conference or the 1A High Desert League, or any other point in between.

Here's the link to the complete OSAA update

Oregon Schooled Receivers Appear in the plans for the Ducks and Beavers

All the above weighty matters made a brief diversion to the Spring Games that concluded spring football practice at the states' largest programs not just a welcome break, but necessary mental health therapy.

And a pair of receivers that are in state products appear to be headed for prominent roles. How unusual is that?! Various in-state players have rose to roles of prominence in recent years at both schools, especially at Oregon State. But not usually at the receiver spot.

Jordan Bishop from West Salem, who will be a redshirt freshman for Oregon State this fall, has shown that the long strides that stretched high school secondaries, and made him a serious threat in the high jump as well, translate nicely to the Pac-10.

Bishop had five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown in the Beavers' spring game, which led all OSU receivers, and included a scintillating 45 yard touchdown pass from Peter Lalich that was the play of the day.

Down the road in Eugene, during the "Storm bowl", Sheldon graduate Aaron Pflugrad, now a junior, caught six balls for 107 yards and two touchdowns from Jeremiah Masoli, which represented all the scoring the first team could muster Saturday.

Both appear to be headed for seasons as key components in their respective offenses.

Which is why this reporter is already starting to look forward to training camps, and football season, which starts the weekend after Labor Day. Much more fun than covering meetings, budgets, and coaching controversies.

Are you ready for some football?

CC

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it