Bellevue/Skyline Game (Nearly?) Official for 2010 -- 02/03/2010, 11:43 am

Mason Kelley, out & about today covering LOI festivities, Tweeted that Bellevue/Skyline game is “official” for this season.

Signing Day Coverage -- 02/03/2010, 6:18 am

We are cooperating with Dirk Knudsen at Washington Preps this morning to cover Signing Day festivities in Washington & Oregon.  Use the CoverItLive app below to follow the action today.

60 Minutes on Samoa’s Football Dominance -- 01/18/2010, 12:00 pm

Last night, 6o Minutes ran this excellent story on football in Samoa.  Among other great tidbits in the story, the report notes that a boy born to Samoan parents is 5o times more likely to play in the NFL than the general population.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

As good as the story is, it does lack a commentary from Andy Rooney. “Why is that Samoans are so big but I’m so small?  I like a warm beach as much as the next guy, but instead it appears my entire lower body as been devoured by this desk.  It hardly seems fair.”

One Take on a Washington All-Decade Team -- 12/31/2009, 5:21 pm

On the Seattle Times preps blog, Mason Kelley posted a Washington All-Decade Team compiled by Ron Seigel.

OFFENSE

QB JAKE HEAPS SKYLINE 2010
QB KELLEN MOORE PROSSER 2007
RB JONATHAN STEWART TIMBERLINE 2005
RB J.R. HASTY BELLEVUE 2005
WR REGGIE WILLIAMS LAKES 2001
WR KASEN WILLIAMS SKYLINE 2011
TE KAVARIO MIDDLETON LAKES 2008
OL STEPHEN SCHILLING BELLEVUE 2005
OL KENNY ALFRED GIG HARBOR 2005
OL ALEX LINNENKOHL CAPITAL 2006
OL C.E. KAISER CENTRAL VALLEY 2006
OL DAVID DeCASTRO BELLEVUE 2008
PK KELYN ROWE FED WAY 2010
MP JAKE LOCKER FERNDALE 2006
MP ISAIAH STANBACK GARFIELD 2002
MP JOHNIE KIRTON JACKSON 2003

DEFENSE
DL ALAMEDA TA’AMU RAINIER BEACH 2007
DL TRAVIS LONG GONZAGA PREP 2009
DL EVERRETTE THOMPSON KENNEDY 2008
DL SIONE POTOA’E LAKES 2010
LB E.J. SAVANNAH BELLEVUE 2005
LB ANTHONY FELDER O’DEA 2005
LB SCOTT DAVIS KAMIAKIN 2002
DBTAYLOR MAYS O’DEA 2005
DB KEAUNTEA BANKHEAD BALLARD 2004
DB NATE WILLIAMS KENNEDY 2007
DB SPENCER HADLEY CONNELL 2008
P RYAN BURKS DECATUR 2004
MP ADAM CARRIKER KENNEWICK 2002
MP STEVE DILDINE BETHEL 2002
MP JOE HALAHUNI ORTING 2005

Naturally, this team is primarily made up of big-school athletes, with the exceptions of Hadley (Connell, 1A), Halahuni (Orting, 1A) and Kellen Moore (Prosser, 2A although they were 3A at points during his career).  And it’s Mr. Seigels opinion.

Anyone open to helping put together a by-classifications All Decade teams?  Let me know.

Reclassification Lines Will Wait Until Monday -- 12/16/2009, 9:22 am

This update on reclassification from Mason Kelley on the Seattle Times preps blog:

Since today is one of the deadlines for schools to notify the WIAA whether they intend to opt-up for this next reclassification cycle, I was hoping we might have at least a preliminary picture of what things could look like by late this afternoon or in the morning.

No such luck.

Mike Colbrese, WIAA executive director, tells me that the information probably won’t be released until Monday.

“We still have schools that could opt-up at the end of the day that could end up tripping the whole thing around,” Colbrese said.

On Monday, you should be able to go to the WIAA Web site and see where all of the schools will be lining up, class by class. In the meantime, we’ll continue to follow any local updates we can track down.

Remember, schools who declare by today that they intend to opt-up will be held to that decision. They cannot come back later and ask to compete in a lower classification, even if that’s where their enrollment numbers put them.

More Changes Afoot in 2010-2012 Reclassification -- 12/11/2009, 2:54 pm

Doug Pacey breaks down the recent tweaks made to the 2A & 3A classifications due to the large numbers of opt-ups.

“We’re having a heck of a time determining if we’ll have anyone left in 2A,” said Mike Colbrese, WIAA executive director.

Colbrese, of course, was joking. But there’s some truth to those words. I’ve counted more than a dozen schools that are expected to opt up from 1A or 2A to 3A or 4A. And there could be more.

What does this mean? Every “small” schools that opts up, sends a school with a larger enrollment down the classification ladder. That can create a canyon-esque enrollment gap between the smallest and largest schools of a single classification, especially in 2A where the schools at the top of the classification could have twice the enrollment of the smallest schools. Colbrese said he is hopeful that there is “close to 17 percent of schools in each classification,” but no dividing line has been set yet.