The WIAA Always Wins
Have to hand it to the crew up in Stevens Point. This may be the one win — win scenario they could have come up with to appease all college recruits involved.
STEVENS POINT — The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association made a split decision today regarding the future sites of the boys and girls state basketball tournaments.
The girls tournament will be moved to the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon in 2013 and 2014, while the boys tournament will remain in Madison through 2020.
Those recommendations were made by WIAA executive director Dave Anderson and approved unanimously by the WIAA board of control.
The girls tournaments at the Resch Center are scheduled for March 14–16, 2013, and March 20–22, 2014. Anderson said the future site of the girls tournament after 2014 has not been determined.
The girls state tournament has been held in Madison every year since 1976, when that event started.
The boys tournament has been held in Madison 92 of the past 93 years.
Let me take an outright prediction, Green Bay isn’t losing the girls tournament. We’ll just see another drama like this in two years.
Let’s also be honest here, the big prize was the boys’ tournament, and Madison walked away with the win here. But the real winners are the UW-Madison Men’s program and the UW-Green Bay Women’s program. Madison can use the tournament to try to lure as many boring, defensive-minded, tall white kids who shoot three-pointers to play for Bo Ryan. Meanwhile, Green Bay can use its tournament to highlight itself as the only true place to play D-1 college ball in the state for high school girls — if they don’t already.
As for the WIAA, and tourist dollars in Madison and Green Bay…Mo’ Money. Mo’ Money. Mo’ Money.
