I get the math. I understand why a 4-3 Classical team is out of the playoffs while teams that have fewer victories are in.
What I do not understand, despite the very detailed explanation I got, is how you can run a credible playoff in any sport that includes a team that did not win a single game.
That is absurd. And there should be some overseeing body — similar to the way businesses hopelessly mired in an abyss of financial or administrative woes are put into receivership — that can take this over and run it properly.
Even the Sullivan rule in other sports — which in and of itself moves us closer to the “everybody-gets-a-trophy” mentality — mandates that you win enough games to qualify for it.
But in what universe do zero-win teams qualify for tournaments?
In Classical’s case, every opportunity the Rams had over the last seven weeks to help themselves ended up not working out. And their absolute last chance was to see Peabody defeat Beverly Saturday, which would have allowed Classical to sneak into the Division 3 playoffs. Alas for the Rams, Beverly won.
There are legitimate reasons for this, even though you might not like them. The biggest is Classical’s particular grouping, and the bracket is stacked. Even the teams with losing records (Billerica at 2-4 and Belmont at 3-4) are in strong leagues whose teams have high point values.
Classical, on the other hand, won four games against teams with a cumulative total of four victories — and Salem had three of them. That isn’t going to get you anywhere near the number of rating points the Rams needed in a division with Middlesex League and Merrimack Valley Conference teams. Had the Rams been in Division 2, they’d be making playoff plans, just like 3-4 Peabody is.
The top eight teams in each division (there are eight) go, and the numbers that govern the participants are as cold and unrelenting as U.S. Steel.
But however coldly objective as those numbers are, they should be thrown out the window if they allow a zero-win team in the tournament.
We’re talking, of course, about Division 5, where Triton lost all seven of its games. However the math works out, there need to be exceptions made for teams that don’t win any games.
Over eight divisions, there are nine teams that’ll compete in these playoffs with less than three wins (which, if you’re not up on the formula for determining participants, makes it even more ridiculous that Classical, at 4-3, is on the outside looking in). But there’s only one that’s winless.
Before we go on, let’s not pile on the Vikings. They had a tough year and don’t deserve to be kicked around. They also had the foresight to schedule Marblehead and Swampscott right out of the gate (either that, or its lunacy; take your pick). They lost lopsided games to both, but unlike the NCAA, the MIAA isn’t impressed with margins of victory. It rates teams solely in terms of record.
So, Triton’s season-opening losses to the Magicians and Big Blue — who have one loss between them — made for almost the maximum value of points you can get for losing. First, Marblehead sits atop Division 4 at 7-0; and the Big Blue (6-1) are in the same division as Triton. Also, Swampscott’s one loss was to English, and the Bulldogs are two divisions up (3) with only one loss themselves.
As a result, Triton leapfrogged past Lynnfield, Watertown and Somerville into the eighth spot.
I don’t care. Lynnfield at least won a game. Regardless of what the numbers say, you lose all your credibility when you bypass teams that have won for teams that have not.
What is the solution? That’s pretty easy. First, reshuffle the divisions and maybe go statewide (as opposed to sectional divisions) to get stronger talent pools in each. The system is clearly not working if one of them (D5) allows a winless team in, and if it’s because there aren’t enough competitive teams in them.
Second, and for the sake of compromise, make it six teams instead of eight per division (I’d rather it be four) and give byes to the top two in each. The MIAA does this in other sports. Why not football too?
At least this way, we stand a better chance of avoiding the embarrassment we’re looking at now. This whole thing has the look of designing a camel (for those who don’t know, camels are horses that were designed by committees).