FB: American Southwest Conference

[Bill McCabe]

Ralph,

That's an interesting article.  Another problem with retaining new referees is they often have a hard time getting assigned games, even at the junior high level.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph,

That's an interesting article.  Another problem with retaining new referees is they often have a hard time getting assigned games, even at the junior high level.

Bill, it seems to me that several consecutive presidents of the Texas High School Coaches Association ought to make referee development a decade-long commitment.  The coaches (and, in turn, their athletes) are the primary beneficiaries of better officiating.

When I was "soccering", I volunteered to take a line in the under-8 or under-10 games to provide adult support in those games that had "troublesome" parents, and to support the teenager who was doing the "middle".  (The referee earned more than the linesman, and those teenagers needed the money more than I.)  It seemed that a responsible adult seemed to make a difference, especially if we could impart the fact that that the 14 or 16  year old teenager doing the "middle" was just learning the game as well.  You could also remind the parents that a couple of those kids playing under-8 soccer would be getting jobs as officiating when they were teenagers.

Dealing with adult referees is a different dynamic, but this looks like a "call to action" for someone.

[Bill McCabe]

That's a great idea Ralph.  The state is growing at a very fast rate, with new schools opening every year.  This is only going to get worse, unless action is taken soon.

[Ralph Turner]

The ASC does not have an "All-Sports Trophy".  I looked at the SCAC board and followed their format.  They award points in 5 point increments for outcome in all sports.  In the 2006-07 season, they awarded 55 points for the champion in their 11-member conference.

I have awarded 15 points to the champion of the 15 member conference.   In the sports that have a post-season tourney, I have given 15 points to the tourney winner, 14 points to the runner-up, and then split the point values for semi-finalists and for quarter-finalists.  For those teams that did not make the tourney, I have awarded points in descending rank order.  Since UT-Tyler was ineligible for the post-season, I have slotted them where they are ranked after allowing for the post-season participants.

(Sorry for the long lists...I have not mastered the tables function on this message board.)

Volleyball-
HSU 15
UTD 14
ETBU  12.5
TLU 12.5
UMHB 10.5
SRSU  10.5
SU      9
UT-T  8
HPU  7
LeTU  5.5
MC     5.5
McM  3
CUA  2


Football

UMHB  15
HSU     14
TLU      12.5
SRSU  12.5
HPU  10
MC     10
ETBU  10
LC        9
McM     8

Men's Soccer

HSU  15
MC    14
SU    12.5
UOz  12.5
UTD   10.5
UMHB  10.5
UTT     9
LeTU   8
TLU     7
ETBU    6
HPU    4.5
McM   4.5
CUA    3
LC       2

Women's Soccer

HSU   15
UTD  14
TLU  12.5
MC  12.5
Letu  10.5
ETBU 10.5
UT-T  9
UMHB  8
McM  7
UOz  6
SU   5
LC  4
CUA   2.5
HPU  2.5

Men's Cross Country

UTT  15
McM  14
MC  13
SRSU  12
ETBU  11
UTD  10
SU  9
CUA  8
UOz  7
LC  6

Women's Cross Country

McM  15
TLU  14
UTT   13
MC    12
SRSU   11
ETBU  10
UOz   9
UTD    8
LC    7
CUA   6
SU     5

Men's Basketball

MC   15
HSU  14
McM  12.5
UMHB  12.5
LC  9.5
UTD  9.5
LeTU  9.5
CUA  9.5
SRSU  7
UOz  5.5
ETBU  5.5
HPU  4
SU  3
UTT  2
TLU  1

Women's Basketball

HPU  15
McM  14
ETBU  12.5
HSU  12.5
UMHB  9.5
UTD  9.5
UOz  9.5
MC  9.5
UTT    7
CUA   6
LC   5
SU   4
SRSU   3
LeTU   2
TLU   1

Baseball

TLU  15
McM  14
UTD   13
UOz   12
UMHB  9.5
HSU  9.5
LC  9.5
MC  9.5
UTT  7
CUA  6
HPU  5
SU  4
ETBU  3
LeTU   2
SRSU  1

Softball

HSU    15
LC       14
MC      13
ETBU   12
HPU    11
UMHB  10
TLU   9
UTT   8
CUA   7
UOz   6
UTD   5
SU   4
SRSU   3
LeTU   2

Men's Track and Field

McM  15
MC  14
SRSU   13
HPU    12

Women's Track and Field

McM  15
TLU   14
MC  13
SRSU  12

Men's Tennis

HSU   15
UTD   14
TLU    13
MC    12
LeTU  10.5
UMHB  10.5
UTT    9
McM    8
HPU  6.5
SU     6.5
UOz   5
CUA   4
LC    2.5
SRSU  2.5

Women's Tennis

HSU  15
HPU  14
  MC  12.5
McM  12.5
UOz  1.05
LeTU  10.5
UTT  9
UMHB  8
SRSU  7
TLU  6
SU  5
LC  4
UTD  3
CUA  2

Men's Golf

TLU  15
McM  14
UMHB  13
HSu  12
LeTU  11
UTD  10
LC  9
MC  7
UTT  7
SU  7

Women's Golf

TLU  15
UMHB  14
McM  13
HSU  12
LeTU  11
UTD  10
SU  8
UTT 8
CUA  8

[headlinesman]

Ralph,

That's an interesting article.  Another problem with retaining new referees is they often have a hard time getting assigned games, even at the junior high level.

That may be a problem in the big cities, but it is far from a problem in the mid sized chapters like Abilene, Temple, Permian Basis, etc.  Those chapters barely have enough people to cover their bases on Friday nights - Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are absolute nightmares for them.  When I was a member of the Abilene chapter, it was a regular happening for a person to join up at one of our Monday night meetings, and Mr. Morran say, "go buy your uniform, you have a game Wednesday."

The reasons for the shortage are many.  Some sociological, some psychological, some just the times being as they are.  When I started, I was a student at H-S U and I made more weekly doing football than I did at my part time job at a local bank. (Of course, that was when a blood donation at the local hospital would still buy you and a date a burger and a movie!!)  I loved the game, and the money was great for a poor college kid, so I put up with the crap from the sidelines, and just finally learned not to listen to it.  I never thought the poor sportsmanship from the stands was that big of a deal, and still don't.  They bought a ticket, so if they want to act like a jerk, that's pretty much their business.

Today, however, the guys who start today want to start with the Abilene High - Cooper game, and move up from there!  It is a very interesting and intriguing conundrum.

I was pretty lucky - all I had at home were girls, so my officiating was my male bonding - plus I really enjoyed hanging around the student-athletes, so for me, officiating continues to be a great avocation.  My only problems come when I ask my 54 year old body to act like a 24 year old!!

[Ralph Turner]

The winner of the "unofficial ASC All-Sports Trophy" is:

Mississippi College -- 173 points.

The Runners-up

2)  McMurry -- 169.5 points
3)  HSU      --  150 points
4)  TLU       --  147 points
5)  UMHB   --   131 points.

As always, corrections are appreciated.  I didn't put this into Excel, which may have been easier.  I will appreciate someone doing that if they wish.

[golden_dome]

Ralph,
   Since you spent so much time working out the numbers, does that mean you get to name the trophy after yourself?

I am partial to any formula you can use in which we finish on top. Thanks for posting.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph,
   Since you spent so much time working out the numbers, does that mean you get to name the trophy after yourself?

I am partial to any formula you can use in which we finish on top. Thanks for posting.

Chris, if we cannot get a corporate sponsor, then I think that Fred Jacoby's name should go on the trophy. 

[Ralph Turner]

hsusid, I agree with your concept of awarding points for the number of teams that you defeat.  Over on another board, I suggested that the Directors Cup re-apportion their point awards by computing a "participant co-efficient".

Here is an example.  Depauw women won basketball and defeated about 410 opponents of the 430 D3 members to do it.  They got 100 points in the Directors' Cup.  Williams women defeated 42 other teams to win the Rowing championship, and got 100 points.

I just don't see how our ranting would change the Directors' Cup, as much as I would like to see the point totals re-allocated to give a scale of the accomplishment.

The idea awarding 15 points for the championship is to encourage teams to offer as many sports as they can.  I haven't found a conference with an all-sport trophy that does it your way.  If you have found one, please post it.   

As for giving preferential treatment for one sport over another, that certainly doesn't win friends across the Athletic Department. 

Congratulations to HSU on their successful season, and congratulations to TLU for being the highest ranked team in the Directors' Cup. 

...Isn't the off-season fun!!! 

[golden_dome]

hsusid,
   You guys need to get your track/cross country programs started ASAP, you are losing valuable points. I do think having some sort of All Sports Trophy is a pretty good idea. You would have to weigh the sports evenly though, in my opinion.

Hardin-Simmons ...
won six ASC titles
had all 12 teams advanced to the postseason for the first time in league history 
had nine ASC/ASC West offensive MVPs or players of the year
had seven teams to the NCAA Tournament
had no team finished worse than fifth in the league

You probably could stop after "won six ASC titles", that is impressive by itself. I would be interested to know if any other school in the country won more conference titles than you guys did.

[hpudad]

By the time most of use wake up for our day tomorrow the US team will have played their first game at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Cup against Korea.  Here is to those American players from all levels of college football (D1A to DIII and NAIA).  Good Luck and take it to the world.

By the way the US is in group 2 with Korea and Germany.

Results of games already played:
Japan beat France 48-0
Germany beat Korea 32-2

[Pat Coleman]

You probably could stop after "won six ASC titles", that is impressive by itself. I would be interested to know if any other school in the country won more conference titles than you guys did.

Salisbury won four CAC titles. In the fall alone. They won NINE Capital Athletic Conference titles overall.

[Pat Coleman]

You can't have a formula where you get the same amount of points for beating 15 teams as you do for beating three for a championship.

I doubt any conference would devalue one of its sports so much by counting it that much less than others for an all-sports title.

[Ralph Turner]

You can't have a formula where you get the same amount of points for beating 15 teams as you do for beating three for a championship.

I doubt any conference would devalue one of its sports so much by counting it that much less than others for an all-sports title.

hsusid found the all-sports web page for the OAC.

They do it the way that he suggests.

(We only have 15 members in the conference this year.)

[Ralph Turner]

Of course there is an opinion in some circles that

"If yew ain't won football, yew ain't won *******"  (correctly pronounced as a two-syllable word!)