I’ll go ahead and say it. There are a number of Warren County fans who think the Pioneers should no-show their first-round playoff game Friday night in Maryville as a form of protest to the TSSAA.
Warren County faithful, myself included, are still a little sour at the TSSAA’s reclassification stunt. The TSSAA decided the Pioneers no longer needed to play teams like White County and Cumberland County. Instead, the Pioneers needed to face Oakland, Riverdale and Blackman.
The outcome, as we’ve painfully watched, has been a season of one-sided blowouts. Warren County has been outscored by an average of 45.2 points to 8.4 points per game by its seven region opponents. The Pioneers have not held a region foe to under 42 this year.
But wait! Under the TSSAA’s reclassification system, every team is granted a magical playoff berth, no matter what unfolded during the regular season. This means Warren County must face undefeated Maryville in the opening round of the playoffs. Remind me to mark the TSSAA off my Christmas card list.
Faced with the grim prognosis of a nearly three-hour road trip to East Tennessee, I’ve heard a number of Warren County fans say we should boycott the game. One School Board member even conveyed such thoughts to me after Friday night’s loss to Blackman to end the regular season.
No 1-9 team deserves to make the playoffs, the logic goes. We shouldn’t be forced to drive to Maryville for a game that’s going to be … umm … let’s just say extremely difficult, folks have said.
Yet the TSSAA seems oblivious to the blunt-force trauma inflicted by reclassification and has no plans to abort its two-year plan after one year.
In an email Monday, TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress told me, “We have not heard any negative feedback from our schools concerning the current playoff format. However, it was passed by the TSSAA Board of Control for this two-year cycle only. The Board of Control will reclassify all schools and decide on the number of classes each sport will have next year. The new classification period starts at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year.”
That means, like it or not, Warren County will get to renew its acquaintance with Siegel, Smyrna and the rest of the gang next year. I can’t wait.
All this said, there’s no way Warren County should boycott its first playoff berth since 2008. It would make a statement, but it would also send a terrible message to our student-athletes and be a poor display of sportsmanship.
The odds are long, and the bus ride will be too, but at least Warren County will get an up-close look at what many believe to be the best football team in Tennessee. Perhaps we’ll learn a few things.