Going own way isn't the answer
I think about Wheaton Warrenville South beating Joliet Catholic in double overtime to claim the 1992 Class 5A state football championship.
I think about Downers Grove South's girls volleyball team playing Mother McAuley in three epic three-game state title matches in the 1990s.
I think about last season's classic quarterfinal wrestling dual between Montini and Glenbard North, a showdown so close it was decided on a tiebreaker of bonus points.
I think about all the memorable matchups between public and private school teams through the years and how they brilliantly added to the IHSA's legendary history.
Then I think about something vastly different. A potential athletic landscape where private and public schools no longer compete in the same state tournament. Instead they'd play in parallel, separate postseasons.
Something's definitely missing in that thought process.
Proposals have been presented in the past to the IHSA suggesting the best way to level the playing field between the publics and privates was to form separate state tournaments. While the proposals never advanced to the point of inception, there still exists a mood that it's time to part ways in the playoffs.
I'd hate to see that, although the separation argument does hold some merit.
Private school athletic programs enjoy the obvious advantage of being able to draw upon a 30-mile radius to fill their rosters. Public schools, meanwhile, compete with whatever their district boundaries allow.
It's been a testy coexistence, to say the least.
The IHSA took steps in recent years to address recruiting concerns, instituting the "multiplier" in 2005. Non-boundaried schools had their enrollments multiplied by 1.65 to determine their athletic enrollment in an effort to boost the private schools into classes with bigger schools.
Is that enough to balance the competitive scales?
Perhaps. Regardless, it showed the IHSA is aware of the issue and is willing to work to find a fair compromise.
Splitting into separate tournaments, though, isn't the answer. No competitive benefit could result from such a move.
If anything, you'd have endless debates about who's better. And if you ask athletes, they'd overwhelmingly prefer to settle that issue on a field or in a gym rather than on a blog or Web site message board.
History can't be denied, and history no doubt stands on the side of becoming the best by beating the best.
From the Prep Bowls of the 1930s - when six-figure crowds came to Soldier Field to see the Chicago Public League and Chicago Catholic League football champions play each other - to the upcoming title games in Champaign, teams forever thrive on proving their mettle on the field.
Not on two fields.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=248624">Fairness is the main issue here <span class="date">[11/7/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=248523">Competition brings out best in public, private schools <span class="date">[11/7/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>