J's World: Time to eliminate all morning games in first round of ASAA state tournaments

I’ve run across some goofy things during my career in this business. But scheduling first-round high school state tournament games at 8 a.m. could be the most ridiculous.

It makes no sense from just about every standpoint. For the entire regular season, these athletes are asked to play at a particular time. Typically, for varsity athletes, it’s in the evening. For the Valley programs it’s 6 p.m. for the girls, 7:30 p.m. for the boys. There are often matinee games on Saturday, but early to late afternoon. The occasional tournament may call for teams to hit the court before noon.

But when the state tournament rolls around, athletes from two teams in four of ASAA’s classes are told to completely throw out their routine and play at 8 a.m. in what in many cases is the most important game of their season, and possibly their career. Another two teams from the four classes hit the court at 9:30 a.m., which is not much better.

These athletes are conditioned to be prepared to play at a certain time. Like most of us, athletes are most certainly, creatures of habit.

Let’s use the Wasilla High boys basketball program as an example. As the Warriors prepare for each game during the season, the team schedules a team meal about 3 ½ hours prior to tip-off. Wasilla, the second seed in the tournament, is scheduled to open the 4A boys state tournament Thursday at 8 a.m. against East Anchorage. So to maintain that routine, the Warriors will have to hit the breakfast table at 4:30 a.m.

East Anchorage will face the same challenge Thursday morning. And no, it’s not an argument for common ground. Both teams are dealt unnecessary adversity.

There is also the financial side of it. Late afternoon and evening first-round games means more fans. More money. I’ve been to more than a few of these 8 and 9:30 a.m. games where the number of people with tournament passes outnumbers those who actually purchased a ticket.

There is no need to schedule any first-round game in the morning. For the 3A and 4A basketball tournaments, ASAA rents the Alaska Airlines Center Wednesday through Saturday. ASAA could easily schedule all 32 first-round games in the evenings, but the opening round would be spread across two days. Schedule the No. 1 seed against the No. 8 seed and the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchups for each of the four classes, with games starting about 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Schedule the No. 2 vs. No. 7 and No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchups for each of the four classes, with games starting about 3 p.m. on Thursday. Opponents in each semifinal game would have the same amount of rest. Yes, the 2/7 and 3/6 teams could potentially play on three straight days, with the 1/8 and 4/5 teams getting Thursday off. But I guarantee, players and coaches would be perfectly fine with games on three straight days if it meant no first-round games in the morning.

I have always believed, the priority for a coach is putting their athletes in the best chance to succeed. And I’ve said this before. Much like a coach, ASAA’s priority should be putting athletes in the best position to succeed.

Eliminating morning games in all state tournaments would do that.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com/sports. Follow him on Twitter @matsu_sports.