LoganLocos wrote:I say, with 100% confidence, ABSOLUTELY NOT.
It would cheapen a championship and punish the private schools who "play by the rules," which many of them do. Let me make a few rebuttals to some of you:
loyaldevilfan wrote:To me it doesn't seem fair to public schools who can't recruit to play private schools who can
First off, NO ONE "Can" recruit, and I think few schools do, private or public. This is an easy excuse to make, but rarely is true.
Public schools benefit from "transfers" as much as anyone else. You have to look no further than our own area to see this.
But more importantly, I'll look at two D1 PUBLIC powers:
Dublin Coffman: After Brady Quinn, a local boy, the next two quarterbacks at Coffman magically transfered into the district. Jack Rafferty came from I believe St. Charles to play his senior year for the Shamrocks, and the next quarterback was Josh Febus, who came from Mount Vernon maybe? And last year, their QB Chris Stout was a freshman at Pickerington North in 2004. I know because I watched Logan beat him at the freshman level. All three of those guys are playing at the next level.
Massillon: Notorious for receiving player from all around Stark County and beyond. Justin Zwick and Devoe Torrence are two recent examples who played or were committed to Ohio State. That does include the dozen or so other kids I'm not familiar with because I don't live up there.
hawkeyepierce wrote:I did a study on this just three years ago, and you will be surprised at the numbers. And remember the numbers don't lie.
I went back to 1972 and just looked at the State Champions in football only, in those Championship games the private or selective enrollment schools have 88 state championships, conversely, public schools also have 88 championships. Now here is the rub. Selective Enrollment schools only make up 22% of the total OHSAA sanctioned schools. That is correct boys and girls there are three times as many public schools as private, but yet they have the same number of championships, in one sport where you might think that there would be more parody.
Is it fair? Absolutely not. Will anything be done about it? No, not when the previous and current Commissioner are devout Catholics.
Numbers may not lie, but they also don't always tell the truth.
Did your study take into account other factors? Such as the fact that many private schools are in densely populated areas that have more youth leagues/middle schools/etc therefore much more talent to share with several schools in the area?
Did the study take into account the fact that many private schools have HUGE booster organizations often funded by tax-exempt churches? These schools often have wealthy alumni who give back. This leads to the ability to hire more and better coaches, improve facilities (without concern for how it will look when passing a levy), and buy better equipment?
Did the study take into account the socio-economic factors that go into schools that win championships? Most kids who go to private schools have more money and come from a lower percentage of single family households. It has been proven in education that kids from a higher socio-economic background with two parent households have a higher success rate. Isn't it safe to assume that the same could carry over to sports? After all, coaching is just teaching outside of the classroom.
And back to education, these same private schools perform at a higher standard in the classroom than their public counterparts. There is nothing "sinister" at work to improve their performance in the classroom. Why does it make sense for them to have to be "sinister" in the athletic arena?
From a statistical standpoint, your results are only as good as your variables.
"Garbage in, Garbage out" - and look at title numbers without taking into account the other variables tells us nothing.
Remember, that while many students/families do choose a private school for athletics, they are still a minority. Most of the students who attend private schools do so for religious reasons, for quality of education, for (perceived) security, for college applications, and other extra curricular activities.
