Thoughts on WPIAL football alignment

"Man, what we're they thinking."

"I'm surprised, but when it comes to (the WPIAL) you know to expect the unexpected."

"I can't believe what they did to the Tri-County South."

"You just can't keep any rivalries any more."

Those were a small sampling of comments from the eight football coaches I had the chance to speak with since the WPIAL released its football alignment for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Judging from reaction, it's not well-received.

Let's recap the major changes.

1. Class AAAA and Class AAA went from four conferences to three.
2. The vast majority of conferences have nine teams. There are eight-team and 10-team conferences.
3. The larger conferences means teams will not have to schedule their open date. Ten-team conferences will play nothing but conference games during the regular season. The WPIAL will schedule the open dates for nine-team leagues. Those schedules should be released in two weeks.
4. In Class AAAA and AAA, five teams per conference will qualify for the playoffs. The 16th team will be determined via a wild-card system.

For a look at the alignment, please read the post below.

Now for some thoughts on the alignment, by classification.

Class AAAA

1. Section 3 looks weaker on paper than the other two conferences with Gateway and McKeesport being the only consistent programs.
2. Being grouped with Penn Hills and Woodland Hills does not mean the end of football for Canon-McMillan or Peters Township. It's Quad-A. To be good, it means beating Penn Hills and Woodland Hills, whether it's during the regular season or the postseason.
3. One reason I like the alignment is it eliminates the unbalanced non-conference schedules for Class AAAA schools. Some play mostly Class AAA competition, while others face a steady diet of Quad-A powers from other conferences.
4. One reason I don't like the alignment is it likely eliminates the chances for schools like Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Gateway and North Allegheny to schedule intriguing out-of-state matchups.

Class AAA

1. Trinity looks like a big winner. The Hillers return a bulk of talent from 2011, and the mashup of the Big Eight and Keystone Conference looks manageable. FYI, Trinity has defeated West Mifflin six consecutive seasons.
2. Ringgold might have wanted to stay with more Keystone Conference teams, but adding Belle Vernon and Elizabeth Forward to the schedule should bring more fans out.
3. Gotta feel bad for Chartiers Valley.
4. Section 1 and Section 2 look even on paper. Of course, nothing can compare with the powerful Parkway Conferece and it's nice to see that powerhouse league intact.

Class AA

1. Washington can't seem to stay in a conference for very long. The Century Conference was a nice fit for the Prexies and some in the conference don't like them being shipped off to the Interstate Conference.
2. Washington and Waynesburg once had an intense rivalry. Can it be recaptured? Ehhhh.
3. Not sure why McGuffey and Washington are in different conferences. Hopefully the WPIAL recognizes these two should at least be scheduled for non-conference games the next two years. Last time they played, there was an overflow crowd at McGuffey.
4. If I ruled the WPIAL, Washington would stay in the Century Conference and South Allegheny would be in the Interstate. Makes sense geographically, and Washington could maintain rivalries with South Fayette and McGuffey.

Class A

1. Wow. Just wow.
2. Section 4, which I will call the Black Hills Conference until told otherwise, has an unfair glut of high-caliber teams. Clairton won its third straight PIAA title and owns the WPIAL record for consecutive wins. Bishop Canevin reached the semifinals. Brentwood and Fort Cherry won playoff games. All told, seven of the 10 teams reached the postseason.
3. Given the strength of the new-look Black Hills, California and Monessen won't be annual locks for postseason play like the teams were in the Tri-County South.
4. Beth-Center has wanted out of the TCS for a couple years. Not only did B-C not get its wish, the Bulldogs are the top dog in the WPIAL's weakest conference. Winning postseason games after playing lesser competition is a difficult task.

WPIAL football alignment for 2012-13

Class AAAA (26 teams)
Section 1: Butler, Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler
Section 2: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Peters Township, Plum, Upper St. Clair, Woodland Hills
Section 3: Altoona, Connellsville, Gateway, Greater Latrobe, Hempfield, Kiski Area, McKeesport, Norwin, Penn-Trafford

Class AAA (27 teams)
Section 1: Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity, Uniontown, West Mifflin
Section 2: Ambridge, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Chartiers Valley, Hopewell, Montour, Moon, New Castle, West Allegheny
Section 3: Derry, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Highlands, Hollidaysburg, Indiana, Knoch, Mars

Class AA (35 teams)
Section 1: Burgettstown, Keystone Oaks, Quaker Valley, McGuffey, Seton-La Salle, South Allegheny, South Fayette, South Park, Steel Valley
Section 2: Burrell, Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Ford City, Freeport, Kittanning, Shady Side Academy, Summit Academy, Valley
Section 3: Aliquippa, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Freedom, Mohawk, New Brighton, Riverside
Section 4: Brownsville, Charleroi, Greensburg Central Catholic, Jeannette, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland, Washington, Waynesburg, Yough

Class A (37 teams)
Section 1: Apollo-Ridge, Avonworth, Leechburg, North Catholic, Northgate, Riverview, Springdale, West Shamokin, Wilkinsburg
Section 2: Laurel, Neshannock, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Rochester, Shenango, South Side Beaver, Sto-Rox, Union, Western Beaver
Section 3: Avella, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Carmichaels, Frazier, Geibel, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, West Greene
Section 4: Brentwood, Bishop Canevin, California, Carylnton, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Fort Cherry, Imani Christian, Monessen, Serra Catholic

One, two, three, four I declare a Twitter war

Quite an interesting Twitter battle going on today between students at Chartiers-Houston and Fort Cherry high schools, whose rival girls basketball teams play tonight in a key Section 3 contest between a pair of top-five Class A teams.

Some of the tweets are humorous. Some factual. Some mind-blowing incorrect. Some mean-spirited.

Time for TVL to offer some thoughts.

You know you're from Chartiers-Houston when:

1. Your softball team has won seven WPIAL championships, one state title and ranks with any program in terms of sustained success over a 25-year period.
2. You fielded the first 4,000-yard rusher in WPIAL history.
3. Your wrestling team was so good in the early 1980s that it won the PIAA Class AAA team championship against teams up to six times larger.
4. Your athletic facilities are as nice as any school competing primarily at the Class A level.
5. Your baseball team regularly competes for WPIAL championships.

You know you're from Fort Cherry when:

1. Your small community is considered a cradle of NFL coaches, including Marvin Lewis and Marty Schottenheimer.
2. A hard-worker named Perry Kemp took the hard road to the NFL ... from Fort Cherry to Cal U to the USFL to Green Bay, where he became immortalized in Techmo Bowl.
3. That Schottenheimer fella led a group to a PIAA basketball championship.
4. You know where you were when Mike Vernillo broke the WPIAL rushing record in 1999.
5. A school known as a wrestling community has fielded one of the better small public school girls basketball teams in recent memory and two of the most exciting players (Dan Davis, Nate Bellhy) of the last 15 years.

Boys basketball, week in review

Team of the Week
McGuffey
Since Montour made 16 three-pointers in a rout of McGuffey on Dec. 20, the Highlanders have not lost.
Last week, McGuffey - playing its best basketball in a decade – ran its win streak to five games with wins over Waynesburg and Washington. Suddenly, the Highlanders are a playoff contender in Section 5-AAA.
McGuffey (8-4, 3-2) caught a break at Waynesburg last Tuesday as the Raiders played without leading scorer Ty Negley (flu). The Highlanders escaped with a 49-46 win as Waynesburg attempt to force overtime with a last-second three-pointer rimmed out.
McG followed that emotional win with a 14-point victory over Washington. The Highlanders led early and never trailed after that.

Runner-up
Bentworth
With all five starters averaging double figures in points, Bentworth boasts one of the premier offenses in Class A. That balanced led to wins over Mapletown and, most importantly, Section 2-A rival Carmichaels last week.
Bentworth is 3-0 in section play and 10-1 overall. The Bearcats can solidify themselves as the section favorites with a win Tuesday at Avella.

Starting five
Jaisen Irwin, Monessen
Kyle Rose, McGuffey
Naz Victoria, California
Josh Wise, Washington
Joe Yamber, Avella
First sub
Jalen Madison, Monessen

Game of the Week
Avella 45, Carmichaels 44
Avella raced to a 13-2 lead at Carmichaels, a gym where most visitors leave reflecting on a loss during a long bus ride home.
Things looked good early for the Eagles, but the Mikes went on a second-quarter run and trailed just 19-18 at halftime.
The second half went back-and-forth before Avella scored the winning point on a Ray Bertovich free throw with 12 seconds remaining to stay unbeaten in section play.

Girls basketball, week in review

Team of the Week
Bentworth
The Bearcats didn't play a winning team last week, but they did roll through the competition by beating Waynesburg, Yough and Brownsville by a combined 84 points.
Bentworth entered Monday night with a 12-0 record and a 5-0 mark in Section 4-AA. It's the best start in program history and Bentworth is in position to win its first section championship since 1991.Senior Jessica Dorazio lead a potent offensive mix with a 22.3 scoring average, and she made four of a school-record 14 three-pointers during a 61-36 win against Yough.
That came one night after Bentworth made 11 three-pointers against Waynesburg.

Runner-up
Beth-Center
The Bulldogs (3-2, 8-4) picked up wins over Jefferson-Morgan and Waynesburg, the latter moving B-C into a third-place tie with Charleroi in Section 4-AA.
Beth-Center opened its section season with a win over the Cougars in mid-December.
Anna Shashura averaged 21.0 ppg last week.

Starting five
Morgan Berardi, Carmichaels
Jessica Dorazio, Bentworth
Anna Shashura, Beth-Center
Chianti Sivek, Ringgold
Mariah Ward, Monessen
First sub
Beka Bellhy, Fort Cherry

Game of the Week
Chartiers-Houston 41, Sewickley Academy 38
Chartiers-Houston slowly worked its way into the Observer-Reporter Class A rankings this week, claiming the No. 5 spot one day before a Section 3 game against undefeated, top-ranked Fort Cherry.
The Bucs needed a last-minute win over Sewickley Academy to earn the ranking.
Tori Foster made a basket for two of her 12 points with 28 seconds remaining to put C-H (10-3) ahead by two points. Foster missed a free throw after being fouled on the basket but Ashley Balzer grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made one free throw for a three-point lead.

Observer-Reporter WPIAL girls basketball rankings

Class AAAA
1. Oakland Catholic 13-0
2. Gateway 9-1
3. Mt. Lebanon 11-2
4. Pine-Richand 8-4
5. North Allegheny 10-3

Class AAA
1. South Park 10-1
2. New Castle 8-3
3. Blackhawk 10-1
4. Hopewell 10-2
5. Chartiers Valley 9-2

Class AA
1. Seton-La Salle 11-0
2. Bishop Canevin 10-2
3. Riverside 11-1
4. Ford City 11-2
5. Greensburg Central Catholic 9-1

Class A
1. Fort Cherry 13-0
2. Vincentian Academy 12-0
3. North Catholic 9-3
4. Monessen 10-3
5. Chartiers-Houston 10-3

Observer-Reporter WPIAL boys basketball rankings

Class AAAA
1. Chartiers Valley 12-0
2. Gateway 9-3
3. Shaler 11-2
4. North Allegheny 9-2
5. Hempfield 9-1

Class AAA
1. New Castle 12-0
2. Montour 7-0
3. Uniontown 10-2
4. South Fayette 10-2
5. Hampton 10-3

Class AA
1. Monessen 14-0
2. Beaver Falls 10-1
3. Sto-Rox 9-1
4. Quaker Valley 11-1
5. Greensburg Central Catholic 7-4

Class A
1. Lincoln Park 9-2
2. North Catholic 8-4
3. OLSH 11-1
4. Vincentian Academy 9-2
5. Bentworth 10-1

Twitter Thursday

Earlier in the week, I asked my Twitters followers (@TheMikeKovak) for some music tips. As a dad and full-time worked, I've totally lost touch with recent music and was looking for some new hip-hop to sample. I got plenty of responses, and checked out Childish Gambino, Kid Cudi and Drake. Much appreciated.

Also had some fun on Twitter with this "Kovak Curse", plus enjoyed some NBA conversation this week.

In compiling this week's Twitter Thursday, I thought it would be different to only take tweets from Thursday as opposed to the entire week.

Troy Elich, @Troy3775
Dec. 12
"Langeloth legend Barry Alvarez at our show tonight in Naples FL."

Ben Maxin, @ActionMaxin
Dec. 12
"Lady Rangers hoops dump Mapletown 81-11. I guess this is what it feels like to be on the other side of a Clairton football game. #ouch"

Luke Brumbaugh, @L_Brums7
Dec. 12
"Robert fosters highlight film is disgusting wish I could throw to that kid he's a freak"

Mark Dugan, @duganonthenews
Dec. 12
"Beka Bellhy 7th girl in the last 25 years making 1000 point club @TheMikeKovak @sportsOR http://pic.twitter.com/Vip2G3o8"

Corey Garry, @coreygarry
Dec. 12
"#BekaBellhy entering a new realm of swag today. Let's go Rangers! #1000Points"

Josh Wise, @jlwise_whs11
Dec. 12
"Big section game tomorrow #McGuffey coming off big section win over trinity gota do my thing and ball hard ain't lettin NO ONE STOP ME"

Michael Beveridge, @MikeBeveridge44
Dec. 12
"Senior year needs to be over #ready4collegeball"

Dakota Norton, @kooooooooaaaaa
Dec. 12
"Kobe is better than lebron #nuffsaid"

The Kovak curse?

Since joining the Observer-Reporter in 1999, I've been called a lot of things anonymously and via email. Many of those things are unsuitable for print.

Coaches, fortunately, don't hide behind a computer when expressing opinions.

And, lately, coaches have called me one thing – a curse.

Earlier this week, I spoke with a coach for an upcoming story. The coach – a person whose work I greatly respect – asked toward the end of the interview if it would be possible to hold the story for a day or two. Considering it was a feature, didn't seem like a big deal.

When I asked why, I was told, "At Bentworth, we have something we call 'The Mike Kovak Observer-Reporter curse.' All the coaches laugh about it. Anytime you write a story, that teams goes out and loses its next game. Happens every time."

Only a few days earlier, I was interviewing a coach in a hallway following a game. As the coach walked back toward the locker room, he turned back to me and said, "Thanks for coming. We like you and all, but maybe you can start sending other guys to our games." When I asked why, I was told, "We always lose when you show up."

That's a line I've heard from numerous coaches, including Trinity football coach Ed Dalton. I can recall one occasion when I walked on to the football field at Trinity before a game and Dalton spotted me. He asked me to leave, jokingly I think.

It's all good-natured fun, but is there truth to the Kovak Curse?

Consider this evidence:

• Peters Township basketball player Gabe Pritz was a recent Athlete of the Week selection. In Pritz's first game after the story ran, he suffered a finger injury and missed the Indians' next game.
• Wash High's Josh Wise was also a pick for Athlete of the Week this basketball season. The day that story ran, Wise scored 10 points below his average and the Prexies lost to Cornell.
• Chartiers-Houston volleyball was in the midst of a promising season. Shortly after a story ran, the Bucs lost junior Lacey Levers – a Division I – prospect to a knee injury and did not qualify for the postseason.
• Ringgold quarterback Quad Law was injured against Derry Area, but doctors cleared him just before the Rams played a big game at Franklin Regional. A pregame feature ran on Law, who lasted one play before aggravating the injury and leaving.
• Waynesburg's baseball team had its best season in a decade and took an 18-game win streak into the WPIAL Class AA championship. The Raiders lost by one run to eventual state champ Riverside on a fly ball that got lost in the sun. Covered Waynesburg's PIAA first round game days later, another one-run loss.
• Washington's Dustin Fuller put together a memorable performance during the WPIAL Class AA championship meet, winning two golds and qualifying for states in three events. For his accomplishments, Fuller was the Athlete of the Week. A day after the story ran, he tumbled near the end of the 300 hurdle finals. He was in second place at the time.