Modern Life in Northern Minnesota
Tonight the Hibbing/Chisholm Bluejackets battle the Virginia/MIB Blue Devils for the Section 7A boys hockey championship in Duluth. Hibbing vs. Virginia is a classic Range rivalry. The only shame here is that the game isn’t taking place at an Iron Range arena. The winner goes to the state tourney next week.
As the Iron Range’s only daily blogger, I just have to say “Go Blue…”
LOOK, A BEAR! (runs away)
By Aaron Brown A 21st century memoir of a place and a people: (Buy now on Amazon) -- The Iron Range is a string of blue collar towns along an iron formation in northern Minnesota, many of which ... Read More →
The Great Northern Radio Show features music, comedy & stories about modern life off the beaten path: Written, produced & hosted by Aaron J. Brown with a talented supporting cast and Minnesota musicians and guests. Each episode broadcasts from a different location. The next Great Northern Radio Show is Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019 at 5 ... Read More →
A bigger shame than the game being played in Duluth is that both of these schools opt to play in Class A. I wish they’d go back to the one class state tournament. Roseau, with an enrollment of about 400, won the AA tournament two years ago and came close last year. The myth that small schools can’t compete with the big schools is just that, a myth. Last year’s “small school” championship game was between Saint Thomas Academy and Duluth Marshall, two affluent private schools. A complete joke to say the least.
The only sport where having more than one class is justified is football, where numbers play such a big part. Nobody pays attention to the small school tournaments anyway. The state tournament is there for the best teams in the state, not so every kid gets a chance to play in a state tournament.
But numbers don’t matter in Hockey?
That doesn’t hold up when one of the teams is Hibbing/Chisholm, and the other is Virginia/Mountain Iron/Buhl/Orr. In other words, in one game you have kids from six different towns just to get the numbers for their programs.
There will occasionally be surprises like Roseau, but the same hods true in football (Chisholm went to the first round in the state tourney this fall, they started the season with 22, yes 22, players).
Anyway, I agree with Aaron: Go Blue(mumbles)
Yeah, of course numbers matter in hockey and every other sport. My point is that football is the only sport where it would literally be impossible for a school from the Iron Range with an enrollment of 400 be able to compete with a school like Eden Prairie with an enrollment of 2500. It’s very possible in hockey and even more so in basketball. Sure, the school with a bigger enrollment is going to win most of the time. But the smaller school is still going to have a chance.
With Hibbing and Chisholm combined, would they have any less of chance to make it to the state tournament now than they did back in the 80’s when Hibbing qualified a few times under the one class system? Although Grand Rapids is slightly bigger, didn’t they just make it to the state championship game two years in a row even though they’re significantly smaller than most of the schools they compete against? I could be wrong, but I believe both Grand Rapids and Cloquet/Esko/Carlton both would be in Class A but elect to play with the bigger schools in AA.