Proposal Would Expand Football Playoffs For Gsl
The pointed ball that takes funny bounces is about to look a lot like basketball.
Greater Spokane League football coaches and activities directors, along with their counterparts in the Big Nine, have voted to double the entrants in the football playoffs.
Principals would have to approve the proposal next week before all the details are ironed out.
The plan would look like the first round of the regional basketball tournaments between the two leagues. The third- and fourth-place teams in one league would travel to home sites of the first- and second-place teams of the other league for first-round games on a Tuesday.
The games would be between the end of the regular season, which is a Friday, and before the following Saturday, when current first-round games are played. The first playoff Saturday would involve the four survivors of Tuesday’s games.
“It doesn’t have to be a WIAA-approved action because it impacts just the Big Nine and GSL,” Ferris activities coordinator Ray Hare said. “What we’re doing is playing the 10th game, which is WIAA-approved.”
Hare is the GSL football coordinator. The coaches met on Monday and the athletic coordinators voted on Tuesday.
The plan is part of a statewide movement among AAA schools that would increase the football playoffs to 32 teams. Each league would likely double its current entries.
Albi update
Albi Stadium is due for a facelift of some sort before the first football game next September. Exactly what changes are made should be determined shortly.
“We’re a week to 10 days behind where we hoped to be,” Mike Kobluk said. “We’re still in the ballpark for completion in time for football.”
Kobluk is chairman of the Spokane Entertainment, Arts and Convention Advisory Board (SEACAB), which oversees Albi.
At the least, the artificial turf will be replaced. Another option is to raise the field slightly to remove the pronounced crown. The third option is to remove some seats, raise the field significantly and make the field wide enough for soccer.
Kobluk said bids were still being prepared for the three options. Snow delayed soil tests and surveys of the site.
“We expect the specs this week,” Kobluk said Monday. “We should be in the bid process in a week or 10 days.”
News and notes
The 35th Pasco Invitational track meet begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Last year the Mead girls won their first championship in 17 years at the state’s largest meet and the Richland boys knocked off defending champion Mead.
The Class A/B Springfest is in Spokane on Memorial Day weekend. The track meet will be at Eastern Washington University. No golf courses have been nailed down for the event.
AAA schools are going to Tacoma, AA schools to Yakima. StarTrack, the combined AAA/AA meet, is again at Lincoln Bowl in Tacoma.
Mead is having a varsity-alumni soccer match Saturday afternoon as a fund-raiser.
The cost is $3 for the 1 p.m. match at the high school. Among the former Panthers expected to participate are Travis Hanson, a current Mead assistant and former University of Washington kicker; Chris Stiles, who was captain at Santa Clara when the Broncos won the national title; Chris Cullen, a captain and team MVP at the Air Force Academy; and former Whitworth All-American Matt Kinder.
Current Mead keeper, Rich Cullen, Chris’ brother and the son of coach Dick Cullen, has received an appointment to the Air Force Academy.
Speaking of Mead, the new school, Mount Spokane-Mead, scheduled to open in the fall of 1997, has chosen its mascot, the Wildcat. The school colors are navy blue and scarlet and the fight song is Hail to the Victors, the University of Michigan song.
Pullman High School is moving its football games from the lights of Martin Stadium on the Washington State University campus to the lights at the high school field.
There are still no bleachers at the school field. The Greyhound Booster Club has kicked off a drive to raise $60,000 for bleachers. To contribute, contact co-chairmen John Hobbs (509-332-2440) or Mike Boone (509-872-6235).
, DataTimes