SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Roller Hockey

Editorial comment

Phantom game diminishes South Bay League championship race

By Phillip Brents

Posted Feb. 4, 2004

As the Metro Conference's fourth season winds to a close with teams scrambling for league championship banners, as well as berths in the upcoming Kiwanis Cup playoffs, the burning question remains just how much roller hockey intends to integrate itself into mainstream high school sports.

Many coaches and players were baffled by this season's decidedly unbalanced schedule -- teams were scheduled to play one another back-to-back in some instances with no set pattern to traditional league or non-league play -- and, as the schedule reveals its quirks, there is sure to be some head scratching at the finish.

Vying for a league championship seems to be the core of high school sports. The CIF playoffs are for the elite -- and admittance is selective. Everyone has the equal right to vie for a league championship .... or one might suspect.

Schools are placed in leagues by enrollment. In the Metro Conference, the larger schools comprise the Mesa League while the smaller schools comprise the South Bay League.

The same is true for other leagues in the San Diego Section. League play determines championship banners.

Double-round play appears to be the standard regimen. The Metro Conference got it right two seasons ago when the conference was split into two leagues, with each team playing two league games against their respective league opponents. Scripps Ranch was the regular season champion in the Mesa League while Castle Park captured the South Bay League title. Teams were then seeded into the Kiwanis Cup playoffs based on overall record.

Fine.

This season, the conference's roller hockey coaches -- or, at least, some of them -- do not appear to place a very high value on what constitutes being a league champion.

I may be a traditionalist but I feel I have good reason to feel so after covering high school sports for the past 16 years.

This season, the conference's 12 teams were divided into two leagues -- with six teams in the Mesa League and six teams in the South Bay League. In a perfect world, a balanced league schedule would feature 10 league games -- two against each opponent in the respective leagues -- with the remaining 10 games scheduled against teams from the other league (with some byes to accommodate a 20-game schedule) .

A review of the official 2003-04 schedule, as updated and released Nov. 25, 2003, does not conform to that. There is an inequity that I feel dilutes the product.

Four teams -- two in each league -- will play their league opponents nine times as opposed to 10. This is mystifying to me. How can one select a league champion if not all the teams in the same league play each other the same number of games?

While each Metro team is scheduled to play 20 games this season, the team schedules for Chula Vista and Sweetwater in the Mesa League and Hilltop and La Jolla Country Day in the South Bay League do not allow for a second league game between one another. Why not?

Hilltop and LJCD are scheduled to play nine South Bay League games and 11 non-league games (contests against Mesa League teams) while Chula Vista and Sweetwater are scheduled to play nine Mesa League games and 11 non-league games (contests against South Bay League teams).

Scripps Ranch, Eastlake, Bonita Vista and Montgomery are all scheduled to play 10 Mesa League games and 10 non-league games.

Mar Vista, Castle Park, La Jolla and Southwest are all scheduled to play 10 South Bay League games and 10 non-league games.

Why isn't everyone given a fair share at challenging for the banner?

Instead, I am told the respective league championships will be determined by overall record in the conference. If this is the case, then why even award two league titles or why not jumble schedule even more to reflect competitive balance? The latter was done last season, and the conference got a slap on the wrist from the San Diego Section office for doing so.

I do not agree with how the league champions are selected in roller hockey -- or at least how they are being selected this season. League champions should be based on play strictly within that league, with an equal number of games against common opponents determining the final standings. For the playoffs, go ahead and seed the teams based on overall record.

Apparently, the conference's roller hockey coaches seem more preoccupied with how to qualify for the Kiwanis Cup playoffs than determine a true league championship. And I must say that the Kiwanis Cup does not signify a league championship, nor is it a CIF championship.

Coaches seem to be pointing to something that, for now, carries a vague meaning. (Don't get me wrong, I personally think the playoff concept is great, fits into hockey tradition and is a fantastic way to end the season -- it just needs to properly fit into the big picture.)

Both Sweetwater (1-7 in league, 2-13 overall) and Chula Vista (0-7 in league, 1-13 overall) have already been eliminated from playoff berths -- the top three teams in each league advance to postseason play, as determined this season (the playoff format changes from year to year) -- as well as a chance to win the league championship. The lack of a second game between the two schools thus has no bearing on determining a league championship or playoff berth. The only thing at stake is bragging rights -- and a win to brighten an otherwise dreary season.

However, the apparent lack of a second game between Hilltop and La Jolla Country Day throws more question on the conference's lack of a balanced schedule.

To be more blunt, how can one select a league champion if not all the teams in the same league (i.e. South Bay League or Mesa League) play each other the same number of games?

Hilltop (4-3 in league, 6-8-0 overall) and LJCD (2-3 in league, 5-8-1 overall) each have six games left on their schedules. In a perfect world, Hilltop should have three league games left but its remaining schedule only reflects two league games. LJCD should have five league games remaining on its schedule but the schedule only reflects four. The teams have yet to play each other this season, in fact, and have only one such scheduled game -- on Feb.10.

Of the six South Bay League teams, five -- Mar Vista (6-2 in league, 10-5-0 overall), Castle Park (4-1 in league, 11-4-0 overall), Hilltop, La Jolla (3-3 in league, 7-6-1 overall) and LJCD -- are still mathematically alive to contend for the league championship if such were based on standings points within that league.

La Jolla and Hilltop have each traded wins this season and do not have any more games scheduled head-to-head. Hilltop has also played its two allotted league games against both Mar Vista (two losses) and Southwest (two wins). Hilltop plays its second league game against Castle Park on Feb. 9. The Lancers are scheduled to play two non-league games against Chula Vista (Feb. 2 and Feb. 17), one non-league game against Sweetwater (Feb. 12) and one non-league game against Eastlake (Feb. 19).

Should Hilltop lose to Castle Park and defeat LJCD, the Lancers would finish the season with a "league" record of 5-4-0 and 10 standing points. Should Hilltop win both scheduled games, the Lancers would have a "league" record of 6-4-0 and 12 standing points.

La Jolla has two league games scheduled against Mar Vista (Feb. 17 and TBA), one league game scheduled against LJCD (Feb. 12) and one league game scheduled against Southwest (Feb. 5). The Vikings are expected to pick up a forfeit win against Southwest to give them the same league record as Hilltop. Should La Jolla win its three remaining games, the Vikings would finish with 14 standing points.

A second Hilltop win against LJCD would give the Lancers either 12 or 14 standing points -- thus the importance of the phantom game. More importantly, Hilltop owns a better head-to-head goal-differential against La Jolla, should that come into play as a tie-breaker.

LJCD has two league games scheduled against Castle Park and one each remaining against Hilltop and La Jolla. Theoretically, the Torreys can finish with as many as 12 standings points.

If the missing game between Hilltop and LJCD had been included, each team could earn 14 points -- and make the fight for the South Bay League title a fast and furious one down to the final game of the season.

Oh well, the schedule-maker did not foresee that.

Instead, we have "non-league" games determining who raises -- or does not get a chance to raise -- the South Bay League banner this season.

This changes everything. In most other sports, a team can have a poor non-league showing and still come back and have a good league showing to win a league title. Football operates this way, as does wrestling (league games are scheduled last). In the other sports, league champions receive automatic entry into the CIF playoffs -- that's 's why games that carry meaning at the end of the season draw so well. That's what the excitement of being a league champion is all about. The Metro Conference has set up its basketball and soccer schedules to feature double-round league play at the tail end of the season to enhance just that -- intra-league rivalries. The way this season's roller hockey schedule is set up, if teams have a poor showing against teams in the other league ... well, they're basically screwed.

That should not happen.

I am particularly dismayed that this marks the third consecutive season in which a league champion or champions have been determined by different criteria. What gives? Stability enhances the product, gives it meaning. Changing the rules on how (and who) can win a league championship every year only lowers the product to that of a house league (which coaches need to remember that CIF sports are not).

Maybe it's time to back off a bit.

Let's show some integrity and adopt a system that will stand the test of time. It's not that difficult to set up league standings. That is what has made the other high school sports so great.

In my opinion, the fun has been totally taken out of who wins this year's South Bay League title. What could have been a neat five-team sprint to the end has become a two-horse race between Castle Park and Mar Vista. La Jolla does have an outside chance but Hilltop and LJCD -- under this year's format -- were eliminated from vying for a league title weeks ago.

I also have problems with the Mesa League championship.

With a 16-0-0 record, Scripps Ranch has essentially won the Mesa League title. The Falcons' remaining game against Eastlake on Feb. 12 therefore appears to carry no significance even though with a victory, the Titans could tie Scripps Ranch with the same record against Mesa League opponents. Each team would finish with a 9-1-0 record against Mesa League teams. Wouldn't that constitute a co-championship?

Apparently not.

That's a shame.

What have teams been playing for all season? Simply who gets into the Kiwanis Cup playoffs?

Apparently so.

That's only half the fun -- and that's a shame.

It's time that roller hockey joins the other high school sports on the same playing field.