Dear Editor,
The selection process for State Bowl bids in California is unfair and definitely shows no credibility base on the Division-3 selection this year.
Washington Union of Fresno California was selected over Lompoc California because the Central Division never made a bowl berth, regardless that Lompoc is significantly ranked higher Nationally and State as commented by Jim Crichlow to the Fresno Bee…
National and State ranking for both are as followed:
Washington Union – National 394 / State 44
Lompoc – National 149 / State 20
This is truly unfair to the teams(kids) that truly deserve a chance for a State Championship.
Here is the statement made to the Fresno Bee by Jim Crichlow, as printed on LATimes.com:
Varsity Times Insider
Football: A little lobbying doomed Lompoc [updated] – December 12, 2011 |
If Lompoc fans want to know why Fresno Washington Union was picked for the CIF state championship Division III bowl game ahead of their team, the Central Section Commissioner, Jim Crichlow, provided a clue in comments to the Fresno Bee.
Crichlow said after Bakersfield was rejected in a close vote for the Division I bowl, that helped the chances of Washington Union, since the Central Section had never received a bowl berth in the five years of bowl games.
“I knew it was going to be a stretch to get both Bakersfield and Washington in,” he told the newspaper. “And when Bakersfield didn’t make it, I put a little pressure on my fellow commissioners for Washington. And I started the discussion by saying, ‘This is the team I thought all along would break the drought.’ ”
On Monday, Marie Ishida, the executive director of the CIF, denied that Crichlow influenced the decision with a plea to get the Central Section to land its first bowl berth.
“It’s not a criteria and was not used,” Ishida said. “There was no pressure.”
CLICK HERE to read Eric Sondheimer’s full blog entry.
There are reasons for why the Central Section never got a bowl berth…NOT GOOD ENOUGH would be my answer.
–Anthony Pooler
