I am not that old. But all of a sudden I feel like a grumpy old man.
Why? Because dozens of publications rank high school teams, from football to basketball to baseball to girls volleyball to softball to cross country. What? Yes, that’s right cross country, a sport that all you have to do is run fast in the woods and not get lost.
I am not belittling cross country. But I am belaboring my point that rankings are as useful as a Southerner with a sausage.
So Maine South’s football team is ranked 13th in the country by USA Today. The Hawks are awesome, probably the best team in Illinois. But No. 13 in the WHOLE country? How do you prove that?
Unlike college football, where rankings are more useful but still silly, most of these high school teams will not play each other.
Jim Halley, the man who composes the USA Today list, probably rests his head at night and dreams about how awesome all his ranked teams area. Good for him.
Of course, these polls are good-natured and intended for recreational purposes only. But can the next person who decides to rank the best boys soccer teams in the country please step away from the computer.
