Should the high school All-State games continue?

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jul 27, 2001 by Bob Barry Jr.

Bob Jr.: Yes.

As All-State week wraps up in Oklahoma today with the annual football game at Wantland Stadium in Edmond, the question of whether such a game should be played continues to come up. The answer is simple: Absolutely!

Granted, colleges and universities are more and more cautious about letting their recent signees play that one final game as a high schooler, due to the injury factor, but athletics is no different than everyday life. A kid could get hurt driving his car to school, walking the halls with friends, swimming, on vacation, etc. And even since the big-time schools started forcing the issue back in the late `80s and "suggesting" their future stars skip such all-star games, there really haven't been that many careers ruined in that prep "swan song" for the youngsters.

First and foremost, All-State week in Oklahoma provides the Oklahoma Coaches Association with lots of money -- much-needed funds that keep their organzation strong throughout the year. If the All- State games went away, the OCA would be the big loser and that would affect high school athletics in all classes.

I will say this: Since I've been in the OKC media for the past 25 years or so, the emphasis on the All-State games has dwindled dramatically. The media attention given to the games isn't near what it used to be and I think that has to do with the fact that so many of the true All-Staters during the time I mentioned (the `80s) were passing up their chance to appear in the summer classics. So what's the use of getting all excited about an All-State game if the real stars aren't going to play? It's like the NFL Pro Bowl -- which is BY FAR the worst all-star game of all the professional sports because everyone skips the game. Just being named All-Pro is what those guys are looking for, to collect on their bonuses in their incentive- laden contracts. Critics of the high school All-State games may suggest the same thing. Just being named an All-Stater is enough, the kids don't have to go out and prove it again in one final game.

But there's always the case of one Chad Tsotigh from Moore. Here's a kid who led the entire state in its largest class (6A) in rushing last year... for a great team... and yet he didn't get one scholarship offer from the state's "big three" -- OU, OSU or Tulsa. Why ? Who knows? But I betcha here's one youngster who can't wait for the football game to prove to the Sooners, Cowboys and Golden Hurricane how wrong they were in their judgment of his alents.

There are literally hundreds of stories like that each year. Kids who have no shot at playing college sports, wanting to get family and friends together one last time to not only see them play, but see how Johnny or Julie stack up against the best from across the state.

Deciding just who makes the All State rosters is another story for another time. But regardless of who's chosen, since the elite are selected, they might as well play a game to legitimize their honor. So don't expect the All-State activities to go away any time soon. Especially because of three other "competitions" we haven't even discussed yet: queen candidates, cheerleading and band. These "support staffers" are every bit as important to Mom and Dad as the kids who play the games, so for parents to have a chance to watch their children get crowned, or tumble the best or blow the best horn is a very special part of what makes All-State week so great, even in this sometimes "too cool" age of the 2000s.

Bob Sr.: No.

With that bold statement having been made, may I waffle just a bit? One key thing I have learned in all my 70 years is the simple fact that things change!

In many cases, where we feel comfortable, we like to think things will never change. When something does change, that is when we learn about life, because many times those changes are not to our liking.

With that bit of explanation, let me say there are many, many things over the years that I would just love to have remained the same. In sports and in other areas of life. But we are discussing sports here.

One sporting event that I just loved was the University of Oklahoma varsity-alumni football game back in the 1940s and 1950s. Back when Bud Wilkinson would send his great teams that totally dominated college football against the alumni teams that were stocked with NFL players who had received all kinds of honors while at OU. Those were the days when the NFL teams did not prohibit their players from playing in varsity-alumni type games. As you perhaps know, that is not allowed now. All of that has changed. There are no more varsity-alumni games at the Division I level. Bud would tip off his alumni squad as to what the varsity would run, just to have the varsity eat some humble pie in those games. It was a great event and very well attended at Owen Field. But things changed.

What in the world does that have to do with the All-State games, you ask?

The All-State games feature outstanding players who have used up their high school eligibility and are selected to play in the All- State game in their sport. Admittedly there are some pluses to some of the games in some of the sports. But increasingly the downside is so great as to make the games not worth it to many athletes. Why play one game in the middle of summer, when the weather is sweltering, there is not much practice time and the injury factor is very much a danger that could cost a career?