Football realignment
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's football committee will meet Monday to plot a new course for the next two years for the 325 schools that play football in the Bay State. For Eastern Massachusetts, that could mean a new division, which would bring the total to eight for the 2009 and '10 seasons. The extra division is a result of the splitting of the Dual County and the Patriot leagues.
The Globe's Bob Holmes details some of the potential changes, while also touching on a more drastic proposal that would feature the following:
A seven-game regular season with options for additional games.Fifty percent of the teams would make the playoffs based on a rating system that includes records and strength of schedules. That means 96 teams in the Eastern Mass. playoffs compared with 28 last fall.
The playoffs would be structured along the lines of other sports, with North and South sectionals and six divisions in each sectional.
Sectional championships in Week 10 with Eastern Mass. championships the Friday before Thanksgiving.
No change to traditional Thanksgiving games.
Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium would be statewide, giving Central and Western Mass. teams the opportunity to play there for the first time.
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Look for updates from:
- Bob Holmes: A Reading resident (Go Rockets!) and Boston College graduate, Holmes is the Boston Globe High School Sports Editor. We remind you now that his weekly picks are often made in jest so everyone just calm down when he picks against Everett for 11 straight weeks.
- Mike Carraggi: An Everett native (Go Tide!), Mike attends Eastern Nazarene college and is entering his second year with the Globe. He'll focus on Division 1 this fall, which means he'll spend a lot of time in his hometown, which Forsberg thinks is cool because the Tide have that Fried Dough cart.
- Emily Wright: A Hyannis native (Go Barnstable Red Raiders!), Emily is a senior at Emerson College and has been with the Globe since the end of July. She'll cover Division 1A and will be the first intern we've trusted to navigate her way to Dennis-Yarmouth or any other school on the Cape.
- Mike Grossi: A Lexington native (Go Minutemen!), Mike attends Northeastern and has been with the Globe for two months. He'll cover Division 2 and 2A and unsuccessfully lobbied to include Lexington in the preseason Top 20.
- Jonathan Raymond: A native of Benicia, Calif. (a suburb of San Francisco), Jonathan attends Northeastern and has been working at the Globe since the end of June. He will be focusing on Division 3 and is likely woefully underprepared for covering a game in a foot of snow.
- David Carty: A native of West Bridgewater (Go Wildcats!), David is a senior at Emerson College and has been working at the Globe for a year. He'll cover Divisions 3A and 4 because, "small school ball is in my blood."
- The bench: You'll also catch updates from our regional contributors, including Globe North's Julian Benbow and South's Monique Walker. Correspondent Brendan Hall will have updates from the Globe West coverage area and will often try to sneak in Central Mass. news.
I do not like this idea I think it is just another way for the MIAA to make money and they should keep the format they have now.