First Classic Was Great, But What's Next?
January 3, 2018 at 4:44 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
I feel very confident that everyone who I mention today will understand what I am trying to say and do, and not hate me for years when they have finished reading. The last thing I need is to be called into any meetings.
The Champions of Character Classic Saturday was great. It brought four teams whose head coaches were connected to former Warsaw coach Al Rhodes together in the same place on the same day, and then they invited Rhodes to come and be part of the festivities (which he did).
It was a “classic” format, which means each team plays two games but they know in advance who they are playing and what time their games will be. In other words, it’s not a four-way tournament.
Warsaw, Zionsville, Fishers and Valparaiso were the four teams.
Attendance wasn’t that great – partly because of the weather, partly because the teams were from more than an hour away, and partly because it’s during the holidays and people have other stuff going on.
Oh, and it must be said honestly, that for that kind of format with those schools to work and have a big day at the box office, having Warsaw start the day with a record of 3-6 doesn’t help. No one can help that, but if Grace invites those same four schools to the same event last season, attendance would have been much better, and two years ago there would have been people standing on the decks at the MOCC.
Again, no one can help that.
But, I have a couple of suggestions to help Chad Briscoe and Grace College make this event better for everyone.
Now, this is where I am probably out-of-line, because Briscoe’s nickname should be “Midas” – everything he touches turns to gold. One needs only to look at the fact that he convinced the NCCAA to bring their national women’s basketball championship to Grace a few years back, and the organizers were so impressed with the MOCC and how Briscoe and his staff operated that tournament that they put the men’s tournament their also.
And Saturday was great in many ways … but, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I think I know how to make it better.
What if the four teams involved were Warsaw, Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee?
It would still be a classic format, with the NLC schools playing the TRC schools. Start the games at 10, 11:45, 6 and 7:45.
Warsaw and Wawasee both play Whitko and Valley anyway, so why not play it in this venue?
It would simulate the old county tournament that my older friends still gush over, except the fire marshall would not have to turn anyone away from the Armory because it was overflowing with basketball fans. More fans would come because the games are close by, and better attendance makes for a bigger atmosphere in an arena-style venue – it’s a win-win for everyone.
I can envision the only downsides to this being that the athletic directors of those four schools would probably not want to give up the every-other-year gate from those matchups, and the coaches may want to save the holidays for games or tournaments for teams a greater distance away. For Warsaw, I know they love to have Valley on that night before Thanksgiving. But I would imagine Manchester might be interested in jumping into that spot, or maybe Columbia City moves up from Saturday to Wednesday and you find an Indy or Region team to move there – like Crown Point or Carmel.
But those are the only reasons not to do it. It makes sense in every way. And if you wanted to, you could make it a traditional four way tournament because by New Year’s Weekend, Warsaw has already played their conference game against Wawasee and Whitko has already played Tippecanoe Valley. I prefer the “classic format” myself in this scenario, but a tournament could be done quite easily – maybe NLC vs TRC in the semifinals?
I have already sent an email to Briscoe to apologize for telling him what to do and letting him see my ideas before they are in print and on the web. He clearly doesn’t need this kind of advice from me.
But what he started Saturday could grow into something pretty cool.
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I feel very confident that everyone who I mention today will understand what I am trying to say and do, and not hate me for years when they have finished reading. The last thing I need is to be called into any meetings.
The Champions of Character Classic Saturday was great. It brought four teams whose head coaches were connected to former Warsaw coach Al Rhodes together in the same place on the same day, and then they invited Rhodes to come and be part of the festivities (which he did).
It was a “classic” format, which means each team plays two games but they know in advance who they are playing and what time their games will be. In other words, it’s not a four-way tournament.
Warsaw, Zionsville, Fishers and Valparaiso were the four teams.
Attendance wasn’t that great – partly because of the weather, partly because the teams were from more than an hour away, and partly because it’s during the holidays and people have other stuff going on.
Oh, and it must be said honestly, that for that kind of format with those schools to work and have a big day at the box office, having Warsaw start the day with a record of 3-6 doesn’t help. No one can help that, but if Grace invites those same four schools to the same event last season, attendance would have been much better, and two years ago there would have been people standing on the decks at the MOCC.
Again, no one can help that.
But, I have a couple of suggestions to help Chad Briscoe and Grace College make this event better for everyone.
Now, this is where I am probably out-of-line, because Briscoe’s nickname should be “Midas” – everything he touches turns to gold. One needs only to look at the fact that he convinced the NCCAA to bring their national women’s basketball championship to Grace a few years back, and the organizers were so impressed with the MOCC and how Briscoe and his staff operated that tournament that they put the men’s tournament their also.
And Saturday was great in many ways … but, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I think I know how to make it better.
What if the four teams involved were Warsaw, Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee?
It would still be a classic format, with the NLC schools playing the TRC schools. Start the games at 10, 11:45, 6 and 7:45.
Warsaw and Wawasee both play Whitko and Valley anyway, so why not play it in this venue?
It would simulate the old county tournament that my older friends still gush over, except the fire marshall would not have to turn anyone away from the Armory because it was overflowing with basketball fans. More fans would come because the games are close by, and better attendance makes for a bigger atmosphere in an arena-style venue – it’s a win-win for everyone.
I can envision the only downsides to this being that the athletic directors of those four schools would probably not want to give up the every-other-year gate from those matchups, and the coaches may want to save the holidays for games or tournaments for teams a greater distance away. For Warsaw, I know they love to have Valley on that night before Thanksgiving. But I would imagine Manchester might be interested in jumping into that spot, or maybe Columbia City moves up from Saturday to Wednesday and you find an Indy or Region team to move there – like Crown Point or Carmel.
But those are the only reasons not to do it. It makes sense in every way. And if you wanted to, you could make it a traditional four way tournament because by New Year’s Weekend, Warsaw has already played their conference game against Wawasee and Whitko has already played Tippecanoe Valley. I prefer the “classic format” myself in this scenario, but a tournament could be done quite easily – maybe NLC vs TRC in the semifinals?
I have already sent an email to Briscoe to apologize for telling him what to do and letting him see my ideas before they are in print and on the web. He clearly doesn’t need this kind of advice from me.
But what he started Saturday could grow into something pretty cool.
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