Classes Still Create Hoosier Hysteria
July 27, 2017
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
This is the fourth part in a series on MHSAA tournament classification, past and present, that will be published over the next two weeks. This series originally ran in this spring's edition of MHSAA benchmarks.
Twenty years ago, Bloomington North High School won the Indiana High School Athletic Association boys basketball championship, defeating Delta 75-54 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
The date, March 22, 1997, is at the same time revered and disdained by traditionalists in the state who saw it as the last schoolboy championship game the state would ever host.
That’s how devout the game of basketball, particularly interscholastic basketball, had become in the Hoosier state during the 87 years a state champion – one state champion, to be precise – was crowned.
Following that 1997 season, the IHSAA moved to a four-class system for its roundball tournaments, like so many of its state association counterparts had done years earlier.
It would be shocking to find more than a small percentage of current high school basketball players around the country unfamiliar with the iconic movie Hoosiers, even though the film is now more than 30 years old.
And, the storyline for that blockbuster unfolded more than 30 years prior to its release, when small-town, undermanned Milan High School defeated Muncie Central High School 32-30 in the 1954 IHSAA title game.
Perhaps it’s because of the David vs Goliath notion, or the fame of the movie that replaced Milan with the fictional Hickory and real-life star Bobby Plump with Hollywood hero Jimmy Chitwood, or the simple fact that Indiana had something other states didn’t.
Whatever the reason, plenty of opposition remains to this day to basketball classification in the state.
The fact is, the small rural schools were regularly being beaten handily by the much larger suburban and city schools as the tournament progressed each season.
Small schools also were closing at a rapid rate following the state’s School Reorganization Act in 1959, as students converged on larger, centralized county schools. From 1960 to 2000, the number of schools entering the tournament dropped from 694 to 381, and in 1997 a total of 382 schools and 4,584 athletes began competition at the Sectional level (the first level of the IHSAA Basketball Tournament).
It was at the entry level of the tournament where school administrators felt the pain of the new class system, but not necessarily for the same nostalgic reasons as the fans who either attended or boycotted the tournament.
At the Sectional round of the tournament, the IHSAA was culling just 2 percent of the revenue, with the participating schools splitting the balance. So, when Sectional attendance dropped by 14 percent in that first year of class basketball, many schools realized a financial loss. It was money they had grown to count on in prior years to help fund various aspects of the department.
Schools cumulatively received more than $900,000 from Sectional competition in 1998, but that total was down from more than $1 million in the last year of the single-class tournament.
Yet, the current format provides a great deal more opportunity and realistic chances at championship runs for schools of all enrollments.
To date, 60 additional teams have championship or runner-up trophies on display in school trophy cases around Indiana.
That was the mission in front of then-IHSAA commissioner Bob Gardner (now National Federation executive director) once the board made its decision: to give thousands more student-athletes the opportunity for once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
As any statistician knows, figures can be manipulated to tell any side of a story. Declining attendance in year one of class basketball is such a number.
The truth is tournament attendance had been on a steady downward spiral since its peak of just over 1.5 million in 1962. By the last single-class event in 1997, the total attendance was half that.
The challenge then and today, as it is for all state associations, is to find that delicate balance for those holding onto tradition, those holding onto trophies, and the number of trophies to hand out.
Editor’s Note: Stories from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in 1998 and from a 2007 issue of Indianapolis Monthly provided facts in this article.
100 Stations Carry MHSAA's 'This Week'
September 17, 2019
By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
More than 100 over-the-air radio stations and internet audio website are carrying the MHSAA Network’s flagship program, This Week In High School Sports, as part of their weekly high school sports programming for the third straight year.
The five-minute program, powered by Michigan Student Aid, is in its fifth year. It leads off each week with feature stories from around the state from the MHSAA’s Second Half, or from network affiliated stories and interviews. This Week Game Balls are then presented for team or individual achievements in the past week. Be The Referee, a 60-second look at the fine art of officiating, comes in the middle of the show, and is followed by a closing MHSAA Perspective.
This week’s show will feature the inspirational story of Larry Prout Jr. at Pinckney High School, present game balls in 8-player football to Powers North Central and in boys soccer to Gaylord; address a swimming rules change during Be The Referee and conclude with an MHSAA Perspective on how most decisions in high school sports take place at the local level.
Here is a list of radio stations and web audio outlets carrying This Week In High School Sports:
Alma - WQBX-FM (104.9) - Halftime of game broadcasts, Between 1-2 p.m. Saturdays if no game that week
Alma – WFYC-AM (1280) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Between 1-2 p.m. Saturdays if no game that week
Alpena – WHSB-FM (107.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Alpena - WKJZ-FM (94.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Alpena - WZTK-FM (105.7) - Football Fridays, 6:30 p.m.; Halftime of basketball game broadcasts
Ashley - WJSZ-FM (92.5) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Battle Creek – WBCK-FM (95.3) – Following game broadcasts
Beaverton – WMRX-FM (97.7) - Halftime of game broadcasts; Sundays, 8 a.m.
Bridgman – WYTZ-FM (97.5) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Cadillac - WKAD-FM (93.7) – Immediately following Friday game broadcasts
Canton - WSDP-FM (88.1) - Halftime of football game broadcasts
Caro – WIDL-FM (92.1) – Prior to pregame show
Cheboygan - WCBY-FM (100.7) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Clawson – Detroit Sports & Entertainment – Halftime of game broadcasts
Coldwater - WTVB-AM (1590) - Halftime of Friday game broadcasts
Coldwater - WTVB-FM (95.5) – Halftime of Friday game broadcasts
Deckerville - ThumbTailgater.com - Halftime of game broadcasts
Detroit - WDTK-FM (101.5) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Detroit - WDTK-AM (1400) - Pregame of game broadcasts
East Lansing - WVFN-AM (730) – Fridays at 6 p.m. during football season
Escanaba - WCHT (600) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Escanaba – WUPF-FM (107.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Escanaba - WDBC (680) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Escanaba – WYKX-FM (104.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Ferrysburg - WMPA-FM (93.1) - Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Frankenmuth - Frankenmuth Sports Network – Pregame and halftime of game broadcasts
Frankfort – WBNZ-FM (92.3) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Grand Haven - WAWL-FM (103.5) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Grand Haven - WGHN-AM (1370) – Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Grand Haven – WGHN-FM (92.1) – Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Grand Haven – WGHN-FM (94.9) – Fridays at 6:35 p.m. during pregame broadcast
Grand Haven – MichiganGameNight.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Grand Rapids - WMAX-FM (96.1) – Following post-game scoreboard show
Grand Rapids – MichiganSportsRadio.com – Pregame or halftime of game broadcasts
Grayling – WGRY-FM (101.1) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Grayling - WQON-FM (100.3) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Greenville – WGLM-FM (106.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Hancock – WMPL-AM (920) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Hancock – WMPL-FM (107.3) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Hancock – WKMJ-FM (93.5) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Holland - WHTC-AM (1450) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Holland - WHTC-FM (99.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Howell – LivingstonPost.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Houghton - WHKB-FM (102.3) - Postgame of game broadcasts
Houghton Lake – WTWS-FM (92.1) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Iron Mountain – WZNL-FM (94.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Ironwood – WJMS-AM (590) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Jackson – WKHM-AM (970) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Jackson – WKHM-FM (101.5) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Jackson - WKHM-FM (105.3) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Kalamazoo – WQLR (1600) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Kalamazoo – WKZO-AM (590) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Lansing – LansingHerald.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Lowell – WRWW-FM (92.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Ludington – WKLA-AM (1450) – TBA
Ludington – WKLA-FM (92.7) - TBA
Ludington – WKLA-FM (96.3) – TBA
Ludington - WLDN-FM (97.7) – TBA
Ludington - WLDN-FM (98.7) – TBA
Manistique - WTIQ-AM (1490) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Marquette – WRUP-FM (98.3) – Postgame of game broadcasts
Marquette - WKQS-FM (101.9) – Postgame of game broadcasts
Marquette - WFXD-FM (103.3) – Postgame of game broadcasts.
Marquette – WFXD-HD2 (105.1 – 99.9) - Postgame of game broadcasts
Marquette – WUPZ-FM (94.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Marquette - WZAM-AM (970) - Tuesdays between 4-5 p.m.
Marquette - WZAM-FM (93.3) - Tuesdays between 4-5 p.m.
Midland – WMPX-AM (1490) – Halftime of game broadcasts; Sundays, 8 a.m.
Midland – WMPX-FM (107.7) - Halftime of game broadcasts; Sundays, 8 a.m.
Monroe - MonroeCountyRadio.com - Halftime of game broadcasts
Mt. Pleasant – WCZY-FM (104.3) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Mt. Pleasant - WMMI-FM (92.3) - Halftime of game broadcasts
Muskegon - WLCS-FM (98.3) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Muskegon – WVIB-FM (100.1) - Pregame of game broadcasts
Muskegon – WMUS-FM (107.9) – Following post-game scoreboard show
Newberry – WNBY-AM (1450) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Newberry – WNBY-FM (93.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Niles – RCSportscasting.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Novi – WOVI-FM (89.5) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Ontonagon – WUPY-FM (101.1) – Pregame of game broadcasts
Oscoda – WWTH-FM (100.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Petoskey - WMBN-AM (1340) – Immediately following Friday game broadcasts
Petoskey – WMBN-FM (104.7) – Immediately following Friday game broadcasts
Rogers City – WHAK-FM (99.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Saugatuck - WVYN-FM (92.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sault Ste. Marie - WSOO-AM (1230) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Sault Ste. Marie – WUPN-FM (95.1) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Monday at 8:50 a.m.
Scottville – WKZC-FM (94.9) – TBA
South Haven – WCSY-FM (103.7) – Halftime of game broadcasts
St. Ignace/Cheboygan – WWMK-FM (106.3) – Halftime of Friday game broadcasts
St. Joseph – WSJM-AM (1400) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Daily at 1:40 p.m.
St. Joseph – WSJM-FM (106.1) – Halftime of game broadcasts, Daily at 1:40 p.m.
St. Joseph – WSJM-FM (94.9) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sturgis – WBET-AM (1230) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sturgis – WBET-FM (99.3) – Halftime of game broadcasts
Sturgis – JoeInsider.com – Halftime of game broadcasts
Tawas City - WKJC-FM (104.7)