A Better MOUSETRAP : Devising an Equitable Playoff System Isn’t Easy

Forgive El Toro water polo Coach Don Stoll if he sounds a little bitter. Stoll thought he had helped build a better playoff system for his sport.

But after only two years, Stoll has watched the Southern Section change it, much to his chagrin.

Temple City Principal Ray Plutko has heard his colleagues’ pleas for a better, more equitable playoff system for all sports, and he, too, wants to change things.

Plutko is looking into ways of creating a system that can be a universal model, incorporating all facets of competitive balance, economics, travel expenses and enrollment equity.

Plutko is heading a committee that is composed of a cross-section of superintendents, athletic directors, principals and coaches, whose purpose is to present a proposal to the Southern Section council in September, he said.

The proposal, if approved, could be implemented as soon as the spring of 1996 and could resolve some of the questions coaches ponder:

* Are seedings too subjective and can a bracket be drawn fairly?

* Is geography too large a concern in determining playoff opponents?

* Are enrollment-based playoffs the cure-all?

*

Huntington Beach boys’ volleyball Coach Rocky Ciarelli says he has received the short end of the stick too many times. Ciarelli, who has won two Southern Section Division I championships in 11 seasons, said county coaches have done more than their share of cringing on the day playoff pairings are announced.

Ciarelli said he would like to see a system implemented in which up to 16 teams could be seeded with leagues assigned strength ratings.

“I’d like to see it where the teams have to travel around,” Ciarelli said. “I don’t know why geography became such a big issue. In 1983, when I coached at Edison, we played at Redondo in the first round.

“I think [the section] wants to get good local matchups because that’s where they can make the money. Still, I’d rather drive that extra 10 miles or so if it will get us out of the county in the early rounds.”

Ciarelli is one of many county volleyball coaches who say a better balanced draw, competition-wise, has been dropped in favor of pairings that are more geographically friendly.

“We are spending more time looking at geography,” admitted Bill Clark, Southern Section assistant commissioner of athletics. “But sometimes you get in a squeeze trying to balance competitive equity and geography.”

Orange County has traditionally been the strongest region in the section for volleyball. Newport Harbor was the county’s fifth consecutive major division girls’ title winner this season, and a county school has reached the final in 17 of 19 seasons.

A county team has played for the major division boys’ title in 20 consecutive seasons, although San Clemente is the county’s lone semifinalist this season and must upset second-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa on Wednesday night to reach Saturday’s final.

“We’re always trying to be as fair and equitable as possible,” Clark said. “And when you get down to it, you will more than likely have to play one of the four seeded teams to get to the finals, so . . . “

*

Stoll attempted to reform the water polo playoff system, but he’s left with something he doesn’t like.

Stoll helped persuade the section to move from a three-division format to four in 1992. But last fall, the section offered six division championships.

“There are the four regular divisions and there is a Santa Barbara division and a Riverside division,” Stoll said. “It was a move to save money, but I think travel expenses are overblown.”

Stoll said the money saved in travel expenses isn’t worth the sacrifice of competitive balance.

“Having six divisions is ludicrous,” he said. “It has diluted it to the point that there are too many championships.”

According to Stoll, there weren’t enough championships in 1991. He wanted to expand to four divisions, so he took his study to section officials in 1992 and provided some enlightening numbers.

There were 10 divisions for 375 football teams--or 37.5 teams per championship. There were 10 divisions for 425 boys’ basketball teams--or 42.5 teams per championship.

There were 186 water polo teams in three divisions--only one championship among 62 teams.

But with the recent expansion of divisions, Stoll says the kids are the eventual losers.

“I coached a junior all-star team that went to Greece,” he said. “We had players on the team from all over the section. Some of the parents from Riverside were saying their kids won’t get the same kind of exposure now.

“All the college scouts will be at Belmont Plaza [in Long Beach] for the finals, not the championship matches in Santa Barbara and Riverside.”

So are the players cognizant of the changes and their effects?

“Adding all the divisions does water it down,” El Toro junior Greg Stoll said. “Winning the title now, it might mean that you’re not the best of the best anymore.”

*

For the Los Alamitos football team, the question of who was the best went unanswered in 1992. That season, Los Alamitos tied Esperanza for the Division II championship.

“But there were a lot of coaches who were saying that either Los Al or Esperanza would have won the Division I championship that season,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said.

Football, unlike basketball which uses an enrollment-based formula for the playoffs, always has tried a competitive-equity formula to split up the divisions.

Some believe enrollment-based playoffs are the most equitable, but what if those rules had been applied to football? Los Alamitos would have been forced to play at the Division I level from Day 1, with little opportunity for its program to develop.

In 1991, Los Alamitos won the Division III title. When the Griffins moved up to Division II in 1992, they tied Esperanza for the title. They claimed their third consecutive championship by defeating Huntington Beach the next year.

Last season, Los Alamitos moved up to Division I but watched its 47-game unbeaten streak ended in a 28-24 semifinal loss to Mater Dei. The Monarchs finished the season as mythical national champions after defeating La Puente Bishop Amat in the title game the next week.

Los Alamitos was ranked higher than Mater Dei in the final Orange County poll, which comes at the end of the regular season, but Barnes didn’t complain about his playoff draw.

“Sure we would’ve rather played Mater Dei in the finals,” Barnes said. “I’m somewhat amazed that [the Southern Section] does as equitable a job as they do.

“We understood the position we were in. We’ve gone from Division III to Division I in only four years and we’re proud of that. “

Griffin wide receiver Brad Melsby, The Times Orange County’s back of the year, never entertained thoughts of what might have been.

What if the Sunset League was never realigned to bring in Los Alamitos and Esperanza? Then the Griffins might have remained in another division, might have won another title, and might now have a 49-game unbeaten streak . . .

“But I think we’re a Division I football team,” Melsby said. “We’ve worked hard to get here and we want to prove that we belong.”

*

Clark has heard the criticism and chuckles at the thought the section has any malice toward particular schools when playoff pairings are announced.

“We only implement policy,” Clark said. “The schools, through council representatives, are the ones who decide what path we choose. We have to do what’s in the best interest of the schools.”

Clark, in his 14th year with the section, admitted geography sometimes overrides a more balanced playoff draw, but he also makes a good point.

“If you could try to seed teams from 1 to 32, the difficulty comes in to who is 30? Or 27? Who is 14?” he said. “We struggle to get the four seeds sometimes, and even then it’s hard to get a consensus on that.

“But again, the travel expenses and saving money was something brought forth by the principals of the schools. It’s not surprising to see where we’re going now. The regionalization committee could take the next step.”

Said Plutko: “We want to create something that can apply to specific sports, something that will create regional lines, which would be a financial saver, but it will also create more local fan interest.

“We’ve examined seeding teams 1 through 16. Some could have regional boundaries where you have four regional winners meeting in a section final four. But some models will work for some sports but not others.

“You will never get a consensus on what the right thing is even if you argued about it for 50 years. Still, we’re trying to incorporate all these different things to get it done.”

Said Clark: “Sure you’re baring your soul when you attempt to put a fair and equitable playoff bracket together, but you’re never going to keep everyone happy.”

Fountain Valley boys’ volleyball Coach Lori Biller wasn’t pleased with her draw for the Division I playoffs because her Sunset League championship team had to play Sea View League champion Irvine in the second round.

The teams finished the regular season ranked second and fifth in Orange County, but Biller summed up what the playoffs are all about.

“I thought a matchup like this would be at least a quarterfinal-caliber match,” she said. “But you know, if you’re going to win a section championship, you have to play the best at one time or another. So . . . “