FAIR: Quads do little to ease travel
Monday, October 22, 2012 5:12 pm By MURPHY FAIR By the time you read this column, we’ll be just a few days short of the announcement of bracket pairings for the playoffs. Many fans feel as though it’s the most important time of the year. These fans have two burning questions on their minds. First – “Who has qualified for the playoffs?” Second – “Who’s paired against each other in opening round play?” With the need for wild card selections, there’s actually a third important question. “What quadrant are we playing in?” Here in middle Tennessee, teams have the potential to travel east or west in the post season, depending on the makeup of the brackets. The creation of quadrants by T.S.S.A.A. came about to help reduce travel in the playoffs, especially in early round action. It was hoped that schools would not have the big expense of transporting teams, cheerleaders and sometimes bands in the first couple of weeks of the post-season event. When you look at playoff possibilities, it’s obvious that administrators are already having to consider a three or four hour bus ride in early November. Keep in mind that such considerations are based on playoff possibilities that were posted last week, prior to the completion of Week 9 games. Class 1A – Cloudland High School, located in Roan Mountain, may very well wind up in the same quad with either Copper Basin and/or Lookout Valley. Either way, it’s more than a four-hour bus ride from Roan Mountain to both Copper Basin and Lookout Valley.
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