Matthew Brown: COLUMN: Deadlines met in the dark
Mar. 24—Somebody made news by going into a four-day darkness retreat.
Well, some of us go through that all the time, only we call it 'four days without power.'
Thankfully, when colleague Gil Pound and myself were covering Georgia High School Association state basketball finals at the Macon Centreplex, we did not experience even four minutes in the dark. Gil found out that during the other days of the championships there were power issues in the arena.
Funny, because the biggest power issues I remember hearing about from those covering high school finals there in the past were the lights being turned off while so many were still trying to make deadline.
Gil's question is: are there better options than the Centreplex for the high schools to decide 16 winners (plus the adapted sports finals and skills contests)? To stay in middle Georgia, the first place to look is Mercer University in Macon. The home of the Bears, though, hosts the GIAA finals.
The GISA finals once upon a time had a home in Milledgeville at Georgia College's Centennial Center. Remember many a good eating spreads provided by John Milledge Academy folks. It just kept coming hour by hour. Had me almost forgetting why I was there.
This is where I usually review everything else the GHSA does in terms of the subject at hand. In this case, it's centralized championship venues.
Football has all gone to Atlanta since 2009, save for that one season bad weather made for bad traveling conditions in 2017.
Softball all goes to Columbus, save for that one time rainy weather made most schools host championship rounds on their home fields. The GHSA obviously didn't have access to South Commons beyond that Saturday.
Cross country (Carrollton), volleyball (Cartersville), comp cheerleading (Macon), traditional wrestling (Macon), gymnastics (Buford) and tennis (Rome) are others that all go to the same place at about the same time. Then you have the multiple neutral sites for dual wrestling, baseball, soccer, golf, track and field, etc.
Baseball is the one high school sport where I have covered state finals more than once. Last year, when John Milledge played for the last GISA (before it converted to GIAA) title in Savannah, was my first at a neutral site. When it's been hosted by one of the participating schools, standing-room-only doesn't do justice to the spectator situation. Stake your territory (especially in the parking lot) early.
The point is neutral sites are great for spectators. The Wilkinson County High crowd in Macon supporting their Warriors was quite a sight. Gil also pointed out how crowds slim down when the schools are from metropolitan Atlanta are playing.
No joke. Getting ready to leave that night when Pace Academy faced Fayette County in the boys AAAA finals, the noise level, the attendance number, all dipped significantly from what I saw when Wilkinson and Baldwin were playing.
But the day was also special in seeing long-time acquaintances again like Stan Awtry, writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Dr. Ralph Swearngin, the former GHSA executive director for whom the championships are named; and the current director Dr. Robin Hines, who goes back to my Houston County days when he was a principal and school superintendent.
I am happy to see that Hines signed a renewal of his contract on March 20 that runs through May 31, 2026. I felt the GHSA made a great decision to appoint Hines to this position because, when you get to know him, you have a hard time finding hidden agendas. Good character oozes out instead.
That's important leading an association with about 450 members and therefore 450 agendas.
