When it comes to being a member of a particular league, you are either in or you are out.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep refused to follow the Detroit Catholic League’s directive to play one Central Division opponent in a crossover football game, so it is out of the Catholic League … in every sport, for at least the next school year.
U-D Jesuit thinks it is unfair to have to play all four of its Central Division opponents in football, so it is out … but not really.
In a decision that makes little sense, the executive board of the Catholic League yielded to complaints by U-D officials and will allow the Cubs to play only two Central opponents this fall.
“The arguments they presented were probably compelling to the board, that they hadn’t won a league game in however many years it was,” said Catholic League director Vic Michaels. “They just didn’t feel that they could compete at that level four weeks in a row or four out of five weeks.”
However, the timing for that argument couldn’t be worse.
Before 2015, U-D had struggled mightily in the Central, last winning a division game in 2006 and not beating a traditional division team since 2005.
But this past season the Cubs were competitive in the Central, trouncing Birmingham Brother Rice, 34-0, finishing the regular season 6-3 and making the state playoffs.
While U-D was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, it gave champion Detroit King its most competitive game until the state finals.
And now it cries for scheduling relief?
“The biggest reason is our program numbers,” said U-D athletic director Nick Kocsis. “We have a healthy football culture right now, but if you look at our program numbers, we don’t have a JV team, we didn’t have a JV team this past year. We won’t have one next year. We’re the only Central Division program that doesn’t have a JV team, doesn’t have three levels of football right now.”
U-D claims the absence of a JV team has created a competitive imbalance, but whose fault is that?
It isn’t like U-D is far and away the smallest school in the Central, which is made up of all-boys schools. Novi Detroit Catholic Central is the biggest school with 1,069 students (that number is doubled for Michigan High School Athletic Association classification purposes) and Warren De La Salle is next with 786. Right behind the Pilots is U-D, which has 743 boys, ahead of Rice (639) and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (516).
“I understand we’re a Class A school, but our program numbers for football don’t reflect it even though we have a good program and we have good kids right now,” Kocsis said. “We’re doing everything we can to try to give our football players the best possible experience they can have here playing football and have a realistic chance to make the MHSAA playoffs, which is tough with the schedules that we play in our league.”
In other words, this is all about making the state playoffs, so forget about the league.
Even crazier is the chance that, despite playing only two Central teams, U-D could still qualify for the Prep Bowl.
You are either in a league or you are out. U-D is both?
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1