Oakes: Well, we’re both parents and we’re both in the newspaper business, so right off the bat everyone should know we’re not bound by the clock or the calendar. I have lost track of how many semi-lucid, electronic conversations you and I have participated in at 1 a.m. And as for nights and weekends, what are those? We signed a contract to surrender them years ago.
Not looking for sympathy from anyone. Just trying to provide some background and (frightening as it may be) insight into my brain before I dive into a related topic that cropped up in Maine high school football this week. It’s November. When lights are available at the host site, should playoff games be played on Friday night or Saturday afternoon?
The specific game in question is the Class C West championship, Wells at Leavitt. Each team advanced by winning a frosty Friday semifinal one week ago. The Warriors rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to top Spruce Mountain, some two hours north of home, on what had been a school day, while the Hornets stayed home and handled Yarmouth with relative ease.
Campbell Conference by-laws (yes, there are such a thing) state that the championship game will be played on Saturday afternoon unless the teams mutually agree to play Friday night. Spruce Mountain and Leavitt did so in 2013. Leavitt was gung-ho to kick at 7 p.m. this Friday but said Wells was not.
From the selfish perspective of a football fan, I’m bummed. I wanted to see the Oak Hill-Lisbon Class D West final in-person, and now I can’t. Both games will have their coin flip shortly before 12:30 p.m. Saturday. In the case of the ‘D’ schools, short of having every fan surround the field with running vehicles, neither school has artificial moonlight. In the case of the ‘C’ game, well, I’m sure there are old-timers who would compare this to the choice of not playing in the rain. Others might point out that the state game is scheduled for next Friday night in Orono, so why not get used to those conditions?
But look … It’s going to be 20 degrees by 9 p.m. Friday night. And you can drive from New York City to Maryland almost as quickly as Wells to Turner at the right time of day. When there’s a second option, I say it’s better to play such a meaningful game when weather and school are not factors.
Agree? Disagree? Give up? Want to think about it until Saturday?
Pelletier: If I tried to think about this until Saturday, what else would get done around here? And I’d rather see a meaningful high school football game played on a Saturday afternoon than give up … Oh, wait …
I’d understand Wells’ trepidation over making the “long” ride to Turnah on a school day to play in a meaningful postseason football game in the frigid temperatures better … if they hadn’t just successfully completed a longer trip under similar circumstances.
The Warriors schlepped their way “uptah” Livermore Falls last Friday night, played a game in frigid temperatures, in a hostile fan environment, under conditions they’re likely to face in the Class C state final in Orono, should they get past those pesky Hornets. And they toppled those mighty Phoenix.
What I don’t understand is how all of a sudden this week is any different from last week for them?
You’re right, some of this frustration is borne of selfishly wanting to follow both the West C and West D finals independently of one another this weekend. But the teams have a golden opportunity, given their proclivity to play in the evenings, to better prepare themselves for next week, an advantage the Eastern C teams won’t have when Waterville visits Winslow on Saturday.
And don’t give me weather conditions being ideal and blah blah blah, ye Patriots’ fan whose base of brethren thrives on hoping teams face your beloved Brady Bunch in the worst of New England conditions. At the high school level, we’ve seen plenty of clean, hard-fought battles play out under the lights in the cold.
Don’t tell me you’re getting softer in your old age?
Oakes: Not at all, but you’re missing the big point with football coaches at every level: For all the talk of superstition guiding their actions, they will do anything it takes to gain a perceived advantage. I don’t think the conditions are going to be drastically different at 12:30 p.m. than 7 p.m. It comes down to the choice of not making a long road trip after six hours of daydreaming, i.e., school, if you don’t have to.
It took nearly a complete half for Wells to get their bus legs under them at Spruce Mountain. Maybe getting up on Saturday morning and being able to devote everyone’s full attention to the game from the moment breakfast is served is a better situation. Or at least it feels like one to Tim Roche and the Warriors, and that’s what matters.
As a compromise, I like what Bucksport and MCI arranged in Class D East. They’re playing the Little Ten championship at 7 p.m. Saturday night. You get the best of all possible worlds. Night football. The largest possible crowd. No outside distractions, unless you count hunting, or family members asking kids “are you gonna win tonight?” all day.
I asked Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway about that option. He told me he’d rather play at 12:30, because his stomach couldn’t tolerate waiting until 7. Could yours?
Pelletier: I nearly raised that exact possibility earlier in this, ahem, argument, but I figured I’d leave that softball for you to crank out of the park. As for my stomach? We have kids, as you so eloquently opined. Waiting for a football game for a few extra hours is the least of my issues in that department.
And for the players and coaches, what is the difference between waiting all day to play on a Friday night, and waiting all day to play on a Saturday night? The answer appears simple to me: Twenty four hours. Oh, and happier administrators, who don’t have to explain away the players’ daydreaming of touchdown celebrations during class to a handful of frustrated teachers.
Good luck trying to follow two games at once on Saturday, Mr. Oakes. I will be doing so from the captain’s chair at the Starship S & J, my computer screen all a-Twitter. Hope the fan bases are ready for some rapid-fire updates and discussion!
Oakes: Indeed. One parting shot: I’m doggone happy the Maine Principals’ Association plays the state title flex game on Friday night, so I won’t have this problem next week.
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