19 thoughts on “September 8, 2012: Dread”

  1. The h.s. football team won big last night, after getting down 12-0 early. Not that it was a surprise that they won big. The other school only had 19 players suited up (we had maaaaybe 40).

    I don't know whether this is a sign of things to come in Cali, but there is a serious haves/have nots issue in h.s. sports here. Last night's opponent has already indicated it intends to drop all sports next year for budgetary reasons. There will be a cascade of schools doing likewise if there isn't a huge revenue adjustment -- and with the slow recovery of the housing market here, there won't be one without legislation.

    sorry to tread on the Forbidden Zone line -- not my intention. I just wanted to raise the high school extracurricular disparities/budget issue, particularly in light of this contrastingly ridiculous story.

      1. No, it requires a 2/3 vote of each chamber -- a veto-proof majority. Certain "fees" are exempted from the supermajority requirement.

        (the link is to a table detailing the supermajority tax requirements, state-by-state, presented for informational purposes only)

    2. As a South Dakotan, I can tell you that the answer to the haves/have-nots disparity is clearly to create several more classes of high school sports. Since South Dakota has six classes of high school football, I figure California should probably have about a hundred fifty or so.

      1. We have five six, I think, in Norcal, although there are only four (plus an "open" division) in the state football championships. 2-3 schools per conference make the playoffs. This year, they've added yet another round of playoffs (a Norcal championship layer) in between the section championships and the state championships.

        the problem is two-fold. One: the private schools are very well-heeled and recruit, creating a ginormous disparity between a handful of elite programs and the bulk of the schools. Two: even within the publics, there are relatively well-heeled schools, with robust booster and feeder junior programs, and poor schools, without significant booster programs or feeder programs.

        1. The Southern Section (which doesn't include L.A.), has 12 divisions, but it is done geographically as well as by how competitive the schools are, which isn't necessarily by the sizes of the schools.

          1. In the SacJoaquin, the divisions are strictly, or almost strictly, by size. I can't speak for the other sections up here. The full assignment of sections to divisions within the North and the South (super-sections? I don't know what they call those confabs of sections) is available here for those interested.

            1. League? Conference? Class? Order? Family?
              There needs to be a Linneaus for sports, really nail this down once and for all.

  3. inventory for me used to mean weighing our raw organic sprouted almonds, etc. to the ounce. now it involves flying around the country making sure all 50 million lbs of our steel on paper actually exists where it's suppose to. interesting switch.

  6. Tornado warning in Litchfield County (west of here).

    Found memories of 'CCO weather watchers - "Ooohh yaaah golly, the rain is moving sideways!"

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