No Basketball Christmas

It feels pretty odd that Round of 16 boys basketball games are being played in both 4A and 5A today, and they’re not all being played at one venue.
It also felt weird yesterday, knowing the 4A and 5A championships were going to be decided on Saturday. It was Monday of the final week of the high school basketball season, and instead of watching games from 9:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. it was just like any other Monday of the year.
In case you aren’t following me, here’s the deal. The 4A and 5A boys basketball tournaments are usually played in one venue from Monday-Saturday. The Monday of Tuesday of the tourneys usually consist of all quarterfinal games being played at one venue. That’s eight 4A games one day, and eight 5A games another day.
It’s a grind of a day for those of us covering it, but also a lot of fun and two of the more exciting days of the high school sports season.
The Utah High School Activities Association’s Executive Committee ruled last spring that the Round of 16 games would be played at home sites, and the next rounds will be played at one venue, which this year is at Weber State University.
It’s a plan that has few fans.
“They’ve taken Basketball Christmas away,” said Bingham coach Mark Dubach. “It’s unfortunate.”
I have to agree.
A lot of people seem to think the reason behind the change had to do with finances. That’s not the case, according to someone I talked to at the girls state tournaments last week. The main issue is the day of school lost for the players in the 9:30 a.m. game for that day, and the players in the 9:15 p.m. game for the following day.
I can understand that reasoning. But I also feel like one lost day of school isn’t going to ruin a person’s academic career. School work can be made up. In this case, making sure athletes from four schools don’t have one wasted day of school is taking away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from them and numerous others. There will be players from the eight 4A teams and eight 5A teams eliminated tonight who will now never get the chance to play on a college floor or be a part of Basketball Christmas, as Dubach puts it.
Talk about bad timing, too. This is the most balanced 5A field that I can remember. I look at all eight 5A matchups and I can see each of them going either way. Sure, Bingham is the favorite to win the tourney, but even the Miners will have their hands full against Lone Peak.
“I wish I could watch them all,” said Alta coach Jim Barker. “It’s taken some of the fun out of it. Now, you just look at the Internet or the paper, and hope you get to make it later in the week to be a part of it.”
Of course, we’ll have you well-covered here at the Deseret News with coverage of tonight’s second-round games. But it would be nice to see all the games, all the teams that have made it this far, all in one day.
How are fans feeling about this? Good, bad, indifferent? Do you want things to go back to the old format or keep it how it is this year?