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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
One on One w/ IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress
Central Indiana, IN
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In a recurring feature, VYPE managing editor Brian Moore sits down with IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress to discuss the issues facing the state’s athletic sanctioning body as fall sports wrap up and winter sports begin.
Moore: The last time we sat down, we briefly discussed the proposal that would shrink the number of classes in baseball, basketball, softball and volleyball from four to three. Now, the athletic directors will be presenting a formal proposal to the IHSAA on the issue. What are your thoughts on this now?
Ress: I think that the IIAAA will make a presentation to our executive committee in November. They can accept it, reject it, amend it or research it. I think they’ll probably research it a little bit. You had 58 percent of those responding in support, but there were 45 schools that didn’t respond, 26 of those were small schools – which makes me think that they won’t be in favor of it. In reality, somewhere between 50 to 55 percent are in favor, which is still not a mandate from my perspective. I think our board is equally split between large and small schools, so I doubt they are overwhelmingly in favor of it either. But the reaction will probably be that we need to do our own survey and lay out both sides of the issues and try to get people to respond to our survey.
Moore: Speaking of classes, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) has said they would like to have their member schools reclassified before the 2009-10 school year. I know this is something new – the IHSAA has never reclassified two years into a cycle. What are your thoughts, and do you think that if you rule in favor of reclassifying the IPS schools, it will set a precedent for other schools to apply for reclassification?
Ress: What IPS is doing makes sense for the IPS in the long term. Gradually, things will get better for them. It was initially requested that we look at it this year, but they didn’t even have their enrollment numbers yet. Before we do anything, we have to know what the numbers are and how dramatic the change is. I didn’t make any promises, but I told them we would look at it and see what kind of an impact it would have. We certainly couldn’t do it in football, but we’re reclassifying next year anyway due to the two-year cycle. In the other sports, we’ve never even entertained that kind of thing. But I think we’ll just see how dramatic it is, how fair or unfair it appears to be and if it really is as significant as they think it will be, maybe we will move one or two schools. And I think it would set a precedent. I think everything you do does that. That’s why you uphold your rules more than you set new ones. In this situation, the school board has changed these schools dramatically, so while I think there’s a precedent there, the circumstances are so unique that it wouldn’t come up all that often.
Moore: We ran into each other at the PeyBack Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium on Aug. 22. You seemed to be quite impressed, as I was, with the facility and the attendance. Are you excited about holding the state championships in football at Lucas Oil Stadium? What do you think the reception and turnout will be this year?
Ress: I’m excited about having it there, but I’m not excited about the extra cost. Despite the fact that we’ll have to raise the ticket prices slightly, it’ll still be the cheapest ticket in town to catch a championship game or games. I think the excitement level will be enhanced, and it will draw more fans with the possibility of watching a game so close to the field (should they get there earlier enough). We’ll use arena seating as well. I’m glad we use those facilities; we’re fortunate here in Indiana that we have those facilities in the center of the state where these events are competed. People migrate to the center, so it should be exciting. I just wish the rent were lower.
Moore: I wanted to get your thoughts on an unscientific, but interesting, poll we did on our Web site last month. We asked what was the most popular sport in Indiana high school sports. By an overwhelming majority, two-thirds picked football. Even more surprising, baseball/softball finished ahead of basketball. With the hoops season approaching, why do you think the interest has waned in the state? What can be done to bring back that passion to Indiana high school basketball?
Ress: I don’t know if it’s that basketball interest has waned, so much as football interest has grown. I think the state football tournament has helped increase the interest – there’s something to follow the regular season. I think the Colts coming here and becoming a good team has helped because kids watch it and the interest grows. I think if that poll was taken in January, basketball would jump because people are thinking more about basketball. Interest in basketball has leveled off, really. If there is a team or player of interest, it spikes. But in our state championship games, the second session for Class 3A and 4A have sold out the past three years. There’s one more thing that’s helped football, and that’s the amount of opportunities to play – teams are bigger in size. But I think football has just come so far, it makes it appear as though interest has dwindled in basketball. •
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