CIF sites left open to chance

RICK DEVEREUX

The fact that the Newport Harbor High football team did not lose a

game all year and was never ranked lower than No. 3 in the polls this

fall does not equate to much of an advantage in the CIF Southern

Section Division VI playoffs.

The Sailors (9-0-1) won the Sea View League championship and

received the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Newport Harbor is in elite

company. Only 11 of the 374 CIF Southern Section football teams

finished the regular season without a loss.

That’s fewer than 3%.

One might think such an honor would mean guaranteed home games in

the playoffs.

The Sailors have one game secured at Davidson Field, the

first-round contest against El Dorado Friday at 7 p.m. If Newport

wins, the quarterfinal game would be at Western High against Kennedy

if the Fighting Irish defeat Charter Oak in the opening round.

Why would an undefeated team have to travel to play a team that

has four loses?

Does Newport’s 10-10 tie with Foothill damage the Sailors’

credentials that much?

Did someone have to crunch numbers to deduce Kennedy had a better

scoring average on Saturday night games following a school holiday?

Did the BCS power rankings apply?

It was much easier than that.

The team that has played the fewest home games, plays at home in

the next round. That’s the Southern Section way.

If the two teams have a similar number of home games, a coin flip

decides the following week’s host.

The Sailors would play Charter Oak at home if the Chargers beat

Kennedy Friday.

Why?

Because Newport won a coin flip (flips for each round are

conducted in advance in football).

If two home teams advance, whichever school correctly answers the

scientific question, “Heads or tails?” will be the home team for the

next round.

“I would like to see it more like the NFL, where you get to keep

your home-field advantage throughout the playoffs,” Newport Harbor

Coach Jeff Brinkley said.

There comes a point where being fair for one team becomes unfair

for the other team.

Instead of studying a team’s tendencies on first-and-10 from the

right hash mark, maybe the Sailors will start to study an opponent’s

record of calling heads or tails.

The Corona del Mar girls tennis team is the No. 3 seed in the CIF

Southern Section Division I playoffs and had to play its second round

match at Mission Viejo, an unseeded opponent because it lost a coin

flip.

While CdM (17-3) can handle ground strokes and volleys, it

apparently can’t handle the coin flip because the team will play at

Harvard-Westlake in today’s quarterfinal match because of another

unfortuitous coin toss.

The Sage Hill girls tennis team is the No. 4 seed in division V,

and yet the Lightning had to play their second-round match at Granite

Hills, courtesy of a coin.

The CdM girls volleyball team advanced to today’s Division III-A

semifinal match against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks by winning at

Santa Ynez Saturday.

The Sea Kings are the Pacific Coast League champions, the top seed

in the playoffs and finished the season ranked No. 1 in their

division.

Santa Ynez finished third in the Los Padres League.

And yet the Pirates were the host team in the quarterfinal match.

Kids, coaches and parents have worked too hard and sacrificed too

much to let the decision be made by a 50-50 chance.

It should be pretty easy to decide which team should have

home-field advantage. Just look at the records.

The team with more wins plays at home.

Otherwise the regular season does not mean much.