LITTLE LEAGUE TEAM TOOK ON ‘CELEBRITY’
series would bring about many questions and concerns, and one of them is cost. More games means more costs. And if the WPIAL wanted to have all the baseball championship games at, say, Wild Things Park, the league would probably have to rent out the place for maybe five days. And would softball then want threegame series for the semifinals and finals?
• Really?
Not one high school baseball game was played in Pennsylvania this spring because of COVID-19. But get this: Gatorade still named a Pa. Player of the Year and the honor went to Central Bucks East’s Nick Bitsko, a possible first-round pick in the MLB draft. But how do you name a player of the year when there was no “year” in Pa. high school baseball?
So, under this thinking, let’s just name Sidney Crosby MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
• Early line on No. 1 teams for WPIAL football: Central Catholic (Class 6A), PineRichland (5A), Thomas Jefferson (4A), Central Valley (3A), Washington (2A), Clairton (1A).
• The WPIAL still has no format for the football playoffs this season. The league is waiting for the PIAA to approve new PIAA playoff brackets. That will determine when the WPIAL must end its playoffs in each classification. The PIAA brackets would’ve been approved by now, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of a board of directors meeting in March. The new PIAA brackets will finally be approved in mid-June. Look for the WPIAL to release its playoff format a short time after that.
• The PIAA made a good decision last week in establishing a new rule that if a girl golfer wants to play in a boys individual championship, she must play from the same tees as the boys. In the past, a girl golfer in a boys individual championship played from tees 15% closer to the hole.
Considering the new rule, I’m still trying to figure out the PIAA’s decision for girls who are on boys teams. In boys team matches, a girl will still play 15% closer to the hole. Why is there a rule for girls in boys individual championships, but not boys team matches, including team championships?
• After a PIAA board of directors meeting on Zoom last week, a few PIAA administrators stuck around for a quick little news conference with a group of reporters. Judging from their comments, don’t expect a shot clock in Pennsylvania basketball any time soon.