Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, Nov. 7
Football playoffs: Home away from the dome?
South Dakota high school football spent many decades (and countless prep football careers) determining its state champions by polling rather than on the field. It wasn’t until the debut of the DakotaDome at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion did the state finally adopt a playoff system in the early 1980s.
There was a reason for that wait (or, perhaps there were two if you count the lawsuit that eventually forced the issue), and we may well be remembering it next week.
This year’s title games have been moved to Brookings due to construction work at the DakotaDome. (This hasn’t stopped the USD football team from playing there … but whatever.) The games will be squeezed into two days at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on the campus of South Dakota State University up in Brookings. The games will return next year to the DakotaDome, which has a contract with the South Dakota High School Activities Association to host the title games until 2026.
However, there remains “That Reason” why South Dakota didn’t offer playoffs until 1981.
“That Reason,” of course, is the weather.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), a major cold front is expected to sweep across the state early next week that will deliver some of the coldest weather of what’s already been a chilly autumn to the area. A forecast map that the NWS posted on Twitter the other day looked like someone had spilled a bottle of deep-blue ink across the center of the nation. The highs in Brookings on the two days of the football championships (Nov. 14-15) are only expected to be about 30 degrees, and any breeze at all will make it feel even colder.
That will be a far cry from the 72-degree indoor climate of the DakotaDome.
We’re so accustomed to having the dome’s indoor luxuries available that we often forget what a tremendous shelter it can be when the weather outside turns frightful.
I do recall a few times back in my days as a sports journalist when the weather the day of a championship game in Vermillion was seasonably pleasant and probably would have been great for an outdoor autumn game.
But I also remember many more years that were otherwise; it was sometimes downright cold, and I recall a few snow events. In those years, covering a championship game at the dome meant getting inside and - here’s the important part - throwing off our jackets and taking in a pleasantly climate-controlled event.
It wasn’t always so ideal, though. One year, back in the days of the inflatable roof and concerns about collapses due to weather, it was snowing quite heavily outside, so dome officials decided the best approach was to crank up the heat indoors to the low 80s in order to prevent any snow from accumulating on the rooftop. It was miserably warm, especially up by the press boxes. But it sure beat being outdoors trying to cover a game in all that.
The ultimate test of the dome’s all-weather value probably occurred in 1991 when the region was smothered by a Halloween blizzard that was then followed by several days of bitterly cold temperatures. At least 17 games - both high school and college; and from South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa - that were not originally scheduled in the DakotaDome were moved to Vermillion. The schedule was stacked; on a couple days, the contests ran until well after midnight. One day saw five games played. Then-USD Athletic Director Jack Doyle told me the phone was always ringing and they had never been so busy fielding reservation inquiries. Vermillion had not missed out on the storm - it received 15 inches of snow - but local officials made it possible to play.
The ability to offer indoor football finally ushered in the playoff era in South Dakota. It may not have been the only reason for the delay, but the arrival of the dome certainly rendered any remaining resistance moot.
I understand that there is a big cost savings by moving the games this year out of the DakotaDome, where the rental fee for the playoffs is $50,000. But a lot is done in Vermillion to accommodate the games. The dome also happens to be THE most comfortable place in South Dakota to watch a football game on a typical mid-November night, and that comfort is a bankable thing that’s guaranteed year after year.
I’m sure Dykhouse Stadium or, for that matter, Howard Wood Stadium in Sioux Falls are great football venues, but that’s not the point. It’s never been the point.
Weather trumps all, and with wintry uncertainty always in the air in November, there really is no place like the dome.
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Madison Daily Leader, Nov. 4
Pipelines should focus more on prevention
We’ve heard this story before.
During the endless battle over oil pipelines, a spill occurs on an existing line. Opponents say it’s an example that pipelines inevitably leak and that no more of them should be built. Supporters of pipelines say the leak was a good example that they can be found quickly, the flow stopped and spilled oil cleaned up quickly.
The Keystone pipeline in North Dakota leaked an approximate 383,000 gallons in the northeastern part of the state last week, affecting a wetland. The cause of the leak is under investigation. Coincidentally, the leak occurred during hearings of the South Dakota Water Management board. Pipeline opponents emphasized the risk of leaks, especially near any water, such as rivers, lakes or aquifers.
The Keystone pipeline leaked in 2017 in Marshall County, South Dakota. That spill was reported as 210,000 gallons of oil spilled but revised in April 2018 as 407,000 gallons.
Both opponents and supporters make good points, but at the moment, we’re wondering about the leak detection technology. In both cases, about 400,000 gallons of oil leaked before it was stopped. It’s possible the initial estimate of 383,000 gallons last week will be revised.
We believe the focus should be on more preventive measures or detection. Shouldn’t financial resources be directed more to preventing leaks, or even detecting weaknesses that could cause a break? At the worst, technology should be implemented that would shut the flow much faster than after 400,000 gallons.
We believe the technology is available, and frankly, we think the money is available for it, also. Oil pipelines are big money, and there should be no reason to spend money on building and maintaining them to state-of-the-art standards. A better track record of prevention and earlier detection would go a long ways.
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Black Hills Pioneer, Spearfish, Nov. 9
Is it time for the Mercy Rule in Class AA High School sports?
On Oct. 31 the Spearfish High School football team headed to Pierre for the opening round of Class 11AA state playoffs. Pierre boasted a 9-0 record in the regular season and attained a national ranking in high school football, while Spearfish struggled this season with a 0-9 record.
In the opening kickoff, Pierre returned the ball for a touchdown, which foreshadowed the rest of the game that unceremoniously ended in a blowout.
Spearfish fumbled thrice in the first quarter, and each time Pierre recovered the ball and ultimately scored. By the end of the first half Pierre led 72-0.
The final score was a 103-0 shellacking.
This wasn’t the only blowout game of the year in South Dakota High School football. There were 74 games that were won by 50 points or more. However, the vast majority of games that were won by such a wide margin were in classes lower than 11AA. Only two classes in the state do not have a mercy rule - Class 11AA and Class AAA. In all other classes, once the score reaches a 35-point margin, there is a running clock. This spurs the issue, should there be a mercy rule for all classes of football.
We asked two of our reporters to take a pro and con stance regarding the implementation of a Mercy Rule across the board in football. Then you the reader can decide for yourself, what you think is the best solution going forward.
HAVE MERCY
There needs to be a mercy rule in 11AA and 11AAA football
No one wins a football game when the score ends 103-0.
The team that scored the most points knows they will face public scrutiny for such a lopsided victory, and the team that scored no points will feel the sting of such a loss for some time to come.
The solution to preventing such an outcome in 11AA football in South Dakota in the future could be a mercy rule or even a running clock.
A mercy rule is when the game is stopped because one team is ahead by a certain number of points at a certain time in the game - say 50 points in the second half.
A running clock is implemented when a team takes a 35-point lead in the second half. The clock is only stopped during an official’s timeout, a charged timeout, the end of a period or after a score.
The South Dakota High School Activities Association does have a mercy rule and running clock rule in 11A, 11B and 9-man, but not in the larger 11AA and 11AAA classifications.
Black Hills State University football coach John Reiners, whose son played at Spearfish High School, has been on both sides of the dilemma.
“It puts both teams in a tough situation,” he said.
Reiners said he would rather see a running clock than halting the game early.
“We talk about wanting to give opportunities for kids, but we don’t want these kids to get discouraged to the point that there is no way for them to improve,” he said.
His advice: “If you don’t like the situation you are in, you need to find a way to change it.”
SDSU football coach John Stiegelmeier knows about being on the winning end of a lopsided victory. His Jackrabbits beat Arkansas Pine Bluff 90-6 last year.
“One of the foundational principles of sport is to build individuals up and create memories. A rout surely doesn’t do any of those things,” he said.
Stiegelmeier reminds us that there is no mercy rule in college and there never will be, but after their win over Pine Bluff he implemented what he calls the Pine Bluff Postulate.
“If we find ourselves ahead by a wide margin, we run the same plays over and over. If you do that, they are going to figure it out,” he said.
For that reason, Stiegelmeier believes in some sort of mercy rule at the high school level.
Dan Swartos, executive director of the South Dakota High School Activities Association, said it is his hope that the association gets something in place concerning wide margin wins in football.
“If that looks like a running clock, it’s better than nothing,” he said.
Swartos believes that sometimes the perfect storms happen and a bad situation comes about such as the Pierre vs. Spearfish game.
“Not Pierre, or Spearfish, or us wanted something like this to happen. This is not something anyone is happy about, and I hope that we can put something in place to prevent it from happening again,” he said.
So put a mercy rule in place. Have a running clock once the score goes beyond a recoverable place.
NO MERCY
There should not be a running clock or mercy rule in Class 11AA and Class 11AAA
In this everyone-gets-a-trophy era, we should not be implementing mercy rules in the largest classes of South Dakota High School football.
What message does that send to players?
The players on the winning side may wonder if they are being punished because their effort is better than that of the opposing teams’ players.
Smaller schools voted for the mercy rule and running clock several years ago, but large schools did not want it due mostly to travel concerns.
“It’s tough for, say Spearfish, to go all the way to Yankton and play one half of football and then the game is over,” said Dan Swartos, executive director of the South Dakota High School Activities Association. “If they played the whole game, it would give them an opportunity to get the younger players time on the field and get them experience under the lights.”
Sturgis Brown High School Activities Director Todd Palmer agrees about the travel issue, and how that plays into a mercy rule.
“I don’t know if that is a fiscally responsible choice to end a game at half time when you’re traveling that distance,” he said. “It’s a little different when we are here in the Black Hills Conference.”
Sturgis has traveled to Yankton and next year will play at Brookings, both approximately 400 miles away.
For the most part, coaches do a great job of slowing the pace and rotating players if their team is significantly ahead in the contest.
Black Hills State University football coach John Reiners said only playing one half of a game ends up hurting both teams in the long run.
“Players need reps and game time. If they end the game at half, it is not preparing them for a game of four quarters,” Reiners said.
And that has been evident in smaller classes in western South Dakota. A football team runs through the season and dominates the competition, but may have only played two or three full games because of the mercy rule.
“When they go East River they get beat because the kids aren’t ready for a four-quarter game,” Reiners said.
Chris Koletzky, the head coach for the Sturgis Brown Scoopers, which play in Class AA, said he did not favor a mercy rule.
“Regardless of your current position in a game, (we have been on both sides), you still want reps in game for your younger kids. Picture this. We drive to Yankton (six hours) and the mercy rule goes into effect by half time. We drove six hours to play for an hour? Not a good look,” Koletzky said.
Perhaps no other football team in South Dakota knows this better than the Scoopers.
In 2006, they broke a 79-game losing streaking, recording their first win since 1997.
Mercy rules foster a “give-up” mentality.
You are basically bailing them out of a bad situation, and that’s not a life lesson we want our kids to learn. In life when you are in a bad situation there is no mercy rule.
Lopsided games are a fact of life in high school and college sports, and young athletes should be prepared for them. Whether you are on the losing side or the winning side of lopsided games, both experiences are valuable.
Things happen in life that you can’t control. No matter how hard we prepare, things don’t always go our way, and sometimes things end badly. How are kids going to learn how to deal with real life situations if we keep trying to protect them from it.
Character isn’t built when you are ahead by 50 points, it is built when you are behind and you keep fighting to try and dig yourself out of a hole.
While a running clock/mercy rule may prevent another 103-0 score, teams will still get blown out by margins of 50-75 points.
For these reasons, and more, there should be no mercy rule or running clock in 11AA or 11AAA football.
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