{"id":128827,"date":"2020-03-02T04:51:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T09:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=128827"},"modified":"2020-03-02T04:51:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T09:51:27","slug":"monday-mailbag-march-2-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/03\/02\/monday-mailbag-march-2-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Mailbag: March 2, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s Monday Mailbag includes questions about changing conferences, Paulding and the Green Meadows Conference, Northwest Conference expansion and a high school basketball shot clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Could you explain what all goes into a school\u2019s decision to change conferences \u2014 and a conference\u2019s decision to invite a particular school? Or, if you care to, why Paulding would want to switch from the Northwest Conference to the Green Meadows Conference \u2014 or what the Northwest Conference is likely to do, if anything, with the \u201cvacancy\u201d? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: It depends on the situation, but in Paulding\u2019s case, I think the Green Meadows Conference is very attractive for several reasons, including much shorter travel times. Instead of hour long trips to Ada, Allen East, Bluffton and Spencerville, Panther sports teams will go a half hour or less to play conference opponents. The longest GMC drive for Paulding will be Edgerton, about 40 minutes away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related to that, it\u2019s also a chance to establish new rivalries or re-establish old ones, which in turn could lead to increased crowds and more revenue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also a chance to be competitive in more sports on a more consistent basis, i.e. a chance to enjoy more success in terms of wins and losses. It won\u2019t be easy because the GMC has some fine athletic programs, but the opportunity is there. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the GMC extending the invitation to Paulding, I think geography and the fact that it seems Paulding is a \u201cgood fit\u201d are the two main reasons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In statement issued on Friday, Northwest Conference Commissioner Jim Raabe indicated the NWC will discuss a possible replacement. Time will tell what happens.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What\u2019s going to happen when Paulding starts dominating the GMC in all sports. They\u2019ll be the biggest school in the conference, so it\u2019s bound to happen. Will they be kicked out? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

A: It is worth noting that the GMC is replacing the smallest school (Holgate) with Paulding, which currently has the highest enrollment among other conference schools, but I think it\u2019s premature to say Paulding will dominate all GMC sports. Biggest doesn\u2019t necessarily mean best, and the GMC has some teams with great traditions. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something tells me this will be a good fit all around. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What are the chances the NWC expands to 12 teams, with two divisions of six? Name withheld upon reques<\/strong>t<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Could it happen? Sure, if the NWC can find four schools to fit in. Who would those schools be?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: I\u2019m not convinced Parkway is leaving the MAC for the NWC. What about Perry coming aboard instead? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: It\u2019s very early in the process. The NWC didn\u2019t receive official word from Paulding until Friday that the school is leaving the conference, so it\u2019s now up to NWC officials to meet and discuss the future.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commissioner Jim Raabe indicated in a press release that conference principals will do just that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is anticipated that these discussions could involve the possibility of league expansion with the idea of finding a school or schools that would be a good fit with the conference,\u201d Raabe wrote.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parkway leaving the MAC for the NWC is speculation and water cooler talk, at least for now. Like you, I\u2019m not completely convinced it will happen. Who knows, the NWC may not offer an invitation or if they do, it may not be accepted.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perry may be an option, but again, it\u2019s so early in this process. I know Perry left the NWC in 2004 and is now part of the Northwest Central Conference, a conference that isn\u2019t exactly stable right now. I would think that there could be some mutual interest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who knows, the NWC could become a seven team league for football and eight teams for remaining sports. It\u2019s not ideal for football, but it\u2019s a possibility.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: My question is why don\u2019t high school basketball programs across the board have a shot clock? Guys playing at the next level will see one. Last night (Friday) a game had a final score of 24-12. Jason Ruder, Defiance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Let\u2019s start by looking at the 24-12 game. It was No. 9 seed Russia against No. 1 seed Jackson Center. Russia had nothing to lose, so why not give it a try? It\u2019s was strategy, plain and simple. No, it didn\u2019t work, but again, what did they have to lose? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why should a big underdog, a team that had struggled all season, be forced to put the ball up to beat a shot clock? How does that benefit anyone?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw some of the game video. It goes both ways here \u2013 why didn\u2019t Jackson Center come out of their zone and defend \u2013 force Russia to move the ball?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s my opinion that this is a classic overreaction. More than 17,000 boys high school basketball games have been played in Ohio this season and one 24-12 score has shot clock supporters clamoring to change the rules. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, only about three percent of high school basketball players go on to play at the collegiate level in any division. That means 97 percent won\u2019t play at the next level. A small percentage might play in college intramural programs, city leagues, etc., where shot clocks aren\u2019t in use. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a question or comment for the next Monday Mailbag, simply email it to sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor This week\u2019s Monday Mailbag includes questions about changing conferences, Paulding and the Green Meadows Conference, Northwest Conference expansion and a high school basketball shot clock. Q: Could you explain what all goes into a school\u2019s decision to change conferences \u2014 and a conference\u2019s decision to invite a particular school? Or, if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 22:32:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}