OK, so I did check. Here are the facts (and none of these are
alternative facts).
We've had 4 years of the Open. Here are the NCS teams, with their league and division at that time:
2016
1 seed = De La Salle (EBAL, Division 1)
3 seed = Moreau Catholic (MVAL, Division 3)
8 seed = Salesian (Tri-County Rock, Division 4)
2015
1 seed = Bishop O'Dowd (WACC-Foothill, Division 3)
2 seed = Monte Vista (EBAL, Division 1)
3 seed = Moreau Catholic (MVAL, Division 3)
5 seed = El Cerrito (Tri-County Rock, Division 2)
2014
1 seed = Bishop O'Dowd (WACC-Foothill, Division 3)
4 seed = Newark Memorial (MVAL, Division 2)
5 seed = El Cerrito (Tri-County Rock, Division 2)
2013
1 seed = Salesian (Tri-County Rock, Division 4)
3 seed = Bishop O'Dowd (WACC-Foothill, Division 3)
7 seed = Newark Memorial (MVAL, Division 2)
OK, so here's where we stand when we look at 4 years worth of data:
Total NCS teams = 13
Division 1 = 2 teams
Division 2 = 4 teams
Division 3 = 5 teams
Division 4 = 2 teams
MVAL = 4 teams (for the next time Larry says that league is "absolute awful."
https://norcalpreps.forums.rivals.com/threads/ncs-d2-matchups.15800/#post-157397)
Tri-County Rock = 4 teams
WACC-Foothill = 3 teams
EBAL = 2 teams
Now here's where it gets interesting. The only team that has ever gone out of Division 4 is Salesian, and they moved up to Division 3. The only teams to ever go out of Division 3 (O'Dowd and Moreau) moved up to Division 2. And the only teams to ever go out of Division 2 (El Cerrito and Newark) both moved up to Division 1. So if you consider the history of teams to go to the open based on their
current division, it looks like this:
Division 1 = 6 teams
Division 2 = 5 teams
Division 3 = 2 teams
Division 4 has no teams that have ever gone to the open, and the only team in Division 3 that has ever done so is Salesian, who you had to figure was an excellent candidate to go to the open again this year. Meanwhile, Division 2 has 2 teams that have a history of doing so, and one (Moreau) lost two of their best players, so you had to figure they were a longshot to get the call up. Which is why
it makes no freaking sense that Cardinal Newman would petition up at all, and if they DID petition up, that they would petition up to Division 2 instead of Division 3!!! If you really thought you had a special team that warranted petitioning up 2 divisions (which is hard to grasp considering you were coming off being an 8 seed in NCS Division 4 least year), wouldn't you have then prepared your team for the test of the season? And if you really DIDN'T think your team was going to make a run at a Division 2 title, wouldn't you have been better served staying in Division 4 (where no team has ever gone to the open) or Division 3 (where only Salesian was likely to be seeded higher)? Furthermore, if St. Joe's and SPSV get an open bid, you would have likely been the highest NCS Division 4 seed in Norcals, and if you'd gone Division 3, you ALSO might have been the highest seeded NCS team in Norcals. This is clearly NOT a move aimed at chasing a title.
Now, couple this completely inexplicable and irrational logic with CN's football team moving DOWN to Division 4 2 years ago despite having won in the postseason virtually every year, and it's an even bigger head scratcher. The only reason to do this in football is to chase a title, but it shows a COMPLETE lack of connection between the two programs. Then throw in the story that Cronin decided to leave CN to go to Windsor, only to change his mind, and it begs a really serious question -
WTF IS GOING ON AT CARDINAL NEWMAN?!?!?!?