As I have mentioned before, I am an engineering student. I like numbers, things that are quantifiable, and something that is not so debatable. Then I received a call where I heard that David Douglas was interested in doing a new ranking before AACS and SCQANIT. Now let me say that there is nothing that is less scientific than a poll. Sure, the numbers are easy to quantify, but when someone thinks that a team is the second best team in the country and someone else puts them at #9 (as happened to a team this last month), I am forced to admit that our poll is by no means scientific fact, no matter how many voters we have.
Further, each individual may spend the hours I do internally debating whether one team is better than another. You see, in my last poll, I was fairly confident that Pleasant View was clearly the best team, FBCCF was #2, and Calvary was #3. Then, I heard the update from Blue Ridge where Calvary beat Pleasant View without a loss. Just as I am convinced that Calvary had assumed the #1 spot, I hear that they lose to FBCCF. Do I now have to put FBCCF #1? To compound my internal struggle, Calvary won the inordinately deep “DC” Invitational.
Now, certainly, if there were a poll today, those would still be the top three teams, but I am not quite sure how I would rank them. Fortunately, we have two events with which to judge which team is the best. But wait, FBCCF will not be at SCQANIT. Calvary will not be at AACS. If either one wins the event they are in, they could certainly lay claim on the #1 spot. But does Pleasant View actually have a stronger claim if they win the other one? I still don’t know, but I do know they are a dead heat right now.
The controversy doesn’t end there either. Woodside was my clear cut #4 team a month ago. They got 5th at “DC”. Oops. Open Door was my #5 team a month ago. They got 4th at Blue Rudge. Still in top 5 contention. Old Paths was #8, then they go and get 2nd at “DC”. What ever can I do? I think Old Paths with a 4th at NYC and 2nd at DC is now the #4 team. But can I prove it? No way, unless they do well at SCQANIT and AACS. And Parsippany beat Woodside and Heritage at DC. They need to be ranked now. But how high? I have Open Door, Parsippany, and Woodside all at the 5-6-7 group, but again two events will tell the tale. What? Parsippany and Open Door skipping SCQANIT? Whatever will I do.
And while Heritage got 4th at DC, they are still a solid team and when they finally combine everyone for AACS, they could make some serious noise. Schaumburg, Faith (MI), and Truth are in that next grouping also. But Faith (MI) and Truth won’t be at AACS. Neither will Faith (SC) who could be as high as 4th if they get their whole team together and quiz as well as I know they can.
So, what does all of this mean? Well, the first thing it means to me is that we have so many good teams it is tough to know who to rank. The second thing it tells me is that all of these teams that participate and succeed at any tournament throughout the year are blessed. Since every team has had at least one or two tournament where they were not quite as good as they should be. But through the miracle of great people like Mr. Bamford, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Wood, Mr. Scott, Mr. West, and others, they have that opportunity to redeem themselves.