Carmel poll
- Thread starter 831ccschamp
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If healthy and 10-0 why not? If they had never captured a ccs title then maybe not- but they have so why not venture into the "big sea". At this stage I think they will be able to compete.
Not only that they most likely will be forced into the equity league so might as well get experience against great competition.
To me, the question is not whether or not they "should" opt up (yes, they probably should), but whether they actually will. I say they won't for the following reasons:
1. Golden Anderson tends to shy away from too much good competition. Yes, they've scheduled Salinas. Yes, they've played Palma. But aside from that, King City? North Monterey County? Ok, Pacific Grove with the Shoe game, but that's not an especially challenging schedule.
2. I don't really think the old MTAL teams are really interested in state games, or at least I don't think Carmel is. When they were having a similar season years ago, Anderson didn't even fill out the form for the bowls until there was public pressure to do so.
3. If they opt up, they will have eliminated their last argument for not being pushed up into the Gabilan division. If they stay in the Mission, they could at least continue to claim that they feel they are at their correct level. If they move into the D-III playoffs, everyone could then say "Well, you sought to compete at this level at the end of last year."
1. Golden Anderson tends to shy away from too much good competition. Yes, they've scheduled Salinas. Yes, they've played Palma. But aside from that, King City? North Monterey County? Ok, Pacific Grove with the Shoe game, but that's not an especially challenging schedule.
2. I don't really think the old MTAL teams are really interested in state games, or at least I don't think Carmel is. When they were having a similar season years ago, Anderson didn't even fill out the form for the bowls until there was public pressure to do so.
3. If they opt up, they will have eliminated their last argument for not being pushed up into the Gabilan division. If they stay in the Mission, they could at least continue to claim that they feel they are at their correct level. If they move into the D-III playoffs, everyone could then say "Well, you sought to compete at this level at the end of last year."
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Good breakdown @Cal 14
I think there is a misconception that everyone has eyes on the state game. There are programs who definitely shoot for it. And there are some that see it as a nice reward after winning a section title. However, there is a decent sized group that just wants to win section and be done.
I think there is a misconception that everyone has eyes on the state game. There are programs who definitely shoot for it. And there are some that see it as a nice reward after winning a section title. However, there is a decent sized group that just wants to win section and be done.
As fans, we always want to see our kids and schools achieve all they can. At a small public school, with many players playing 3 sports, the definition of achievement may differ from ours. Carmel for example has had some outstanding teams in the past decade, some very good teams and a few average years. Given the dynamics of the MTAL, even in their "down" years they have been able to compete for league titles and make sectional playoffs, but they just don't have the horses year in and year out to compete for a State Bowl bid and their kids have Winter sports and coaches to prepare for too.
I think this year may be an exception and maybe the best team they have fielded in quite awhile. So while I'd personally like to see how far that might take them in the Open, realistically, if CHS ins't interested in going there I can respect that too. They have a great football program for a small public school with closed geographic boundaries. They are far from a "football factory" that should schedule up and play schools with 2 or 3 x's their enrollment week in and week out. That is inconsistent with their numbers, depth and culture.
Do you know who else they may have tried to schedule? Are there a lot of A league schools interested in taking on a school like Carmel in the preseason when they might risk a "W"?
There are budget considerations that come into play here too, as I don't see many small publics, no matter how good they are, making 3 hour road trips to boost their schedule in the preseason. You may be right, but an A/D at a small public may not have the ability to put together the type of preseason schedule you and I might like to see them play, or it just may not be that easy.
I don’t think budget is a issue with Carmel they receive the most per student at about $20 a day while majority od Monterey county schools are at around $12 per student a day.
Just looking back the last few years I see a couple games against Palma, several against Salinas, one year they played both schools and Christopher out of league, a game against Sacred Heart Prep when they were very good. When you take in to account that up until just last year they only had 3 non league games I think it’s pretty silly to try and make it out like Golden is ducking any competition. He just doesn’t like being forced in to an A league or the open playoffs.
I agree with you that he hasn’t dodged competition in preseason but at the same time MTAL before the Santa Cruz merger didn’t have much competition at all besides 2-3 at most. So having a strong non-league schedule you really don’t have much to lose plus it helps for play off points. I don’t believe Carmel should be in the Gabilan but should opt up this year. I think they can play with Palma terra nova and others. I don’t see them beating Aptos though.
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