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It is quite amazing that afte having the chance to see six wpial championships where the talent and quality of play is above and beyond district V, I don't remember one official. That is how it should be..Officials should be unnoticed. That is when you have had six great officiated games. Similar to an offensive lineman after a great game..when the lineman go unnoticed that lineman was stellar. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for D5 officiating where they are always the story. Good luck to shade this weekend...hopefully it not d5 officials..hopefully they willallow the kids to play...shade has the potential to be very, very dangerous...

The WPIAL, as a whole, has had good officiating. They usually allow the athletes to determine the outcome of the games, do not "overofficiate", and allow for some physical play.

I will say this, though: I have noticed a decline in the quality of WPIAL officiating over the past year or two.

steelers1935 wrote:It is quite amazing that afte having the chance to see six wpial championships where the talent and quality of play is above and beyond district V,

Sorry our talent level isn't up to yours.You know maybe the fact that the population is 10 times or more greater is the reason you guys have better years than district 5 most of the time! This looking down your nose at district 5 and 6 really gets old!

10 times the population has nothing to do with the WPIAL being "better" than district 5 or 6...class A is class A no matter where you reside...It's about ENROLLMENT, not population...

WPIAL~Titan wrote:10 times the population has nothing to do with the WPIAL being "better" than district 5 or 6...class A is class A no matter where you reside...It's about ENROLLMENT, not population...

WPIAL's right. Here are the enrollments for TM, Clairton, Neshannock and Shade (keep in mind these are 2007, most up-to-date on the website.)

Tusssey Mountain
http://www.piaa.org/schools/directory/d ... x?ID=11236

Clairton
http://www.piaa.org/schools/directory/d ... x?ID=11317

Neshannock

http://www.piaa.org/schools/directory/d ... x?ID=11358

Shade
http://www.piaa.org/schools/directory/d ... x?ID=11878

Here are the enrollment classifications:
Basketball - Boys Total Male Enrollment* Classification Number of Sr. High Schools
1 - 148 A 187
149 - 262 AA 180
263 - 471 AAA 185
472 - 99999 AAAA 180

It most certainly does have to with population.Why don't you take a look and see who is at the top of the rankings year in and year out in the PIAA.Private schools thats who and in a metro area that gives you a much greater choice.Not to mention kids can easily move from school to school in a metro area even if they aren't private!In a rural area such as district 5 it would be a major uprooting to move between most districts.Besides titan comparing the wpial to little district 5 or even 6 for that matter is not an apples to apples comparison and you know it.If you want to compare districts why not with the harrisburg or philly areas?

Hey Titan, who is the best WPIAL team for single A in your opinion. Serra won the title last year but they're not the 1 seed this year it seems, I'd like to hear your insight.

I truly don't follow class A, I am a AAAA guy...so I am basing this on what I have seen in off-season league and team camps...Serra and Sewickley Academy are clearly #1 and #2...Sewickley has Tom Droney, a 6'7" junior guard who nobody in class A will be able o match up with...He already has offers from Pitt, ND, and Davidson...Plus, they have an excellent coach in WIn Palmer. Serra has more overall talent with the Heatherington brothers, one didn't play in the championship the other night...Tough call between those two teams. Clairton is the best public school team, IMO...

Of course it has to do with population...the WPIAL consists of 26 Single A schools in boys basketball compared to 16 in District 5. In Double A, District 7 has 43 schools compared to 4 in District 5. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that with such a broader field of teams, you will have a more deeper, talented pool overall. Basic math.

And as usatf mentioned, the WPIAL consists of mainly urban schools where kids easily move from school to school. I guarantee that some of the athletes from Clairton didn't always attend that district. I taught in the Pittsburgh City School System, kids move from school to school at the drop of a hat.

~PA

i'M SO SICK OF THE BICKERING ABOUT WHY DISTRICT 5 AND 6 DONT GET RESPECT.

1ST IT'S NOT POPULATION, YOU HAVE THAT MANY PEOPLE IN YOUR SCHOOL, SO YOU PLAY AGAINST EQUAL ENROLLMENT. ITS NOT LIKE THE SCHOOL CHOOSES TO PLAY SINGLE A, BUT THEY HAVE 10,000 KIDS GO TO THE SCHOOL.

2ND THIS IS AN AREA THAT HALF THE KIDS WRESTLE, THE BETTER SMALLER BASKETBALL SCHOOLS DONT EVEN HAVE WRESTLING TEAMS, BASKETBALL IS THE FOCUS FROM AN EARLY AGE IS BASKETBALL, NOT MEN IN TIGHTS HUGGING EACH OTHER.

THERE IS NO EXCUSE WHY YOU CANT COMPETE IF YOU HAVE DEVELOPED TALENT NO MATTER WHERE OR WHEN YOU WILL WIN.

SHADE HAS THE SAME CHANCE AS ANY OTHER SCHOOL THAT'S IN THIER STATE CLASSIFICATION, LETS STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR DISTRICT 5, AND 6