It's just bad timing

By JOEY KNIGHT, Times Staff Writer
Published August 30, 2007

When the Florida Legislature was in the universally applauded process of pushing back the starting date for public schools, we wish it had included one tiny stipulation: no colossal prep football matchups before Labor Day.

While we're giddy over the Week 1 slate, including Plant-Armwood, Jefferson-Hillsborough, Largo-East Lake and Land O'Lakes-Pasco - a part of us would prefer to see these showdowns in, say, mid-October, when the weather and offenses are crisper.

As it stands, Friday's forecast calls for rain (60 percent chance) accompanied by scattered early-season flubs.

Oh well, any of these matchups still beats Elon-USF, and they're hardly the only sporting events staged too early in their respective seasons.

Here are some others:

Daytona 500

If this really is the Super Bowl of NASCAR - and we're not suggesting for a second it isn't - shouldn't it be the last race of the year instead of the first? If the NFL followed the same scheduling pattern, we would be watching the conference title games this weekend.

Australian Open

Many factors (i.e. geography, unfavorable time zone) explain why this is arguably the most ignored major tournament in sports, but the overriding reason: It's smack in the middle of NFL playoffs. The tennis season is typically only three or four tournaments old when players converge Down Under.

Florida-FSU basketball

We know there's a legion of detractors who insist that holding this game on the eve of the teams' annual football showdown adds to its aura. We respectfully disagree. Schedule this contest on a Saturday night in mid-January, when both teams have a break in their conference slates, and allow it to stand on its own merit.

Heisman Trophy voting/presentation

Ask yourself this: Would FSU quarterback Chris Weinke (2000 winner) or Miami's Gino Torretta ('92) have won the award if the voting had been conducted after their respective bowl games, when both played terribly in losing efforts? In Weinke's case, maybe not. In Torretta's case, definitely not. We're sure you can think of more examples. The voters should hold off until the season - bowls included - is finished.

What some coaches are saying about their early-season showdowns:

Bob Hudson, East Lake vs. Largo

"First of all, I like to play quality teams, so (Largo) coach (Rick) Rodriguez and I like to play each other as much as possible. He said, 'Let's do it early.' We play real physical and they have a lot of team speed and are physical. Another thing is, there's a chance, if we were fortunate to make the playoffs, that we could play each other in playoffs, so we didn't want to play late in the season."

Sean Callahan, Armwood vs. Plant

"I think we should be able to be ready to go our first game. We're certainly not going to be the best Armwood football team when we play Plant in Week 1 as opposed to another week, like Week 5, 6 or 7. I really want to play Plant, but I sure don't want to be playing somebody that big right out of the gate."

Earl Garcia, Hillsborough vs. Jefferson

"I think that the key factor is that you have a chance to start the season with a nondistrict contest. That's the key here. I think good competition doesn't do anything but make your football team better. I don't know if it does you a whole lot of good to play a lesser opponent and win by a big margin."

Bob Weiner, Plant at Armwood

I'm not saying this to be arrogant or cocky, but I want to play anyone, anytime, anywhere. I want to learn about my team. ... There's one thing for certain, we're going to be focused. ... That shouldn't be a problem at all, not with (Armwood)."

Tom McHugh, Pasco vs. Land O'Lakes

"Opening up at home, against the dean of all the county's coaches (John Benedetto) against Land O'Lakes ... it doesn't get any better than that."

[Last modified August 30, 2007, 03:26:53]