When in Doubt About Rule Changes, Make Some Noise

Next time, Wayne Mickaelian, make a little noise. Get up on your chair, scream and shout, do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself about. Do whatever it takes--cartwheels, back flips, celebrity impersonations--to force those Southern Section general council members to sit up and listen.

It might be the only way to get your point across.

In case anyone missed it, the council voted last week to trim the section’s basketball playoffs from an open-invitation free-for-all to one that grants automatic berths to only 50% of the teams from each league.

In other words, basketball’s block party has given way to black tie. Hope you’re on the guest list.

It’s a fine change, one that Mickaelian, principal at Laguna Hills High, supported. There was just one problem. The proposal called for the playoff change to occur this season. As in now. As in, too bad the playoffs start in three weeks, let’s go, giddy-up, move ‘em out.

For high school administrators, traditionally as cautious as a beginning waltz class, this was hip-hop decision-making. And Mickaelian, representing the Pacific Coast League, was feeling queasy with the pace.

So when one council member suggested postponing the change until next season, Mickaelian quickly stood to voice his support.

Few listened.

Said Mickaelian: “I was a very small voice in a large crowd.”

A voice that was drowned out by the enthusiasm to go forward.

The excitement is understandable. Two years ago, when the section voted to open the basketball playoffs to its nearly 500 member schools, the decision was hailed (by some) as a landmark achievement, a shining symbol of democracy and the American Way. Mom, apple pie--and participation for all.

But even Mom realized how much a 2-18 team can stink up the gym come playoff time.

Opening the playoffs to everyone doesn’t help determine a champion--which was the point of playoffs, last time we checked--it only produces a glut of laughable line scores. Besides, letting everyone in waters down one of the most competitive, fun-to-watch situations in high school sports--the race within the league standings.

Of course, administrators at last week’s meeting had other priorities to consider, dollars being No. 1. Sending a 17-5 team on a 250-mile trip for a playoff game is one thing; sending a 5-17 team is another. With budgets already stretched, it’s tough to justify spending more on mediocrity.

“Time is of the essence, money is of the essence,” Southern Section Associate Commissioner Dean Crowley said. “The principals wanted to do it, and they wanted to do it now.”

Besides, it’s not as if this new playoff format will be a super-exclusive event. If a team doesn’t finish in the top half of its league, it can petition to gain entry if the division’s brackets are not filled, providing it has a minimum of 10 victories. So not all is lost.

But back to the timing.

Rick Falk, the Tustin girls’ coach, is one of several who is angry over the sudden change in rules.

“It would be like the NBA telling the owners in March, ‘Well, we’ve decided we’re only going to send 12 teams to the playoffs this year,’ ” Falk says. “You don’t wait until midway through the season to decide something like this.”

Just like you don’t wait halfway through someone’s senior year to stiffen his or her graduation requirements. Just like you don’t wait until halfway up the aisle to tell your fiance you’re not sure.

Falk says several coaches in the Sea View League have said they’re considering legal action against the section. The concern, Falk says, is that had the decision been made before the season, coaches might have arranged for a less competitive schedule in the early season, thereby ensuring the minimum 10 victories.

Falk says if he had access to an attorney (read: if there were a Tustin booster who practiced law without charging) he, too, might consider legal action, despite his aversion to such measures.

“We’re talking about a lot of kids whose rights have been violated,” Falk said.

Violated? That seems a bit harsh.

Lawsuits? That’s much too nasty.

Maybe next time, a little noise would do. For now, the timing’s just not right.