Success factor is good 1st step

All of the questions that readers sent in make sense for a late-June column.
We have one about baseball, which is the only major sport in season. There’s one about football as fans begin to chomp at the bit for training camp to start. And there is a timely question about the public vs. private issue in high school athletics.
Let’s get to some answers.
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Who will throw more touchdown passes this year, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III combined or Tom Brady?
—Jason McGraw,
via Facebook

There’s nothing like getting Indianapolis Colts fans all riled up about their most hated rival. I’ll take Tom Brady.
First, let’s discuss the rookies.
Luck is considered the most pro-ready quarterback to come out of the draft since Peyton Manning, who owns the rookie record for touchdown passes in a season at 26. However, Luck doesn’t have much to work with. The Colts had one of the worst offenses in the league last season, with Curtis Painter and Co. combining for just 14 TD passes.
Washington tossed for just 19 TDs as a team last season, coach Mike Shanahan likes to run the ball (even if his running backs are sub-par) and RGIII may score more on the ground than he does through the air.
I’d guess the top two picks in the draft combine for 35 TDs or fewer, and I believe Tom Brady will top that number.
Over the course of the last four full seasons he’s played, Brady has averaged 38 touchdowns. He tossed for 39 TDs a year ago, and his supporting cast will be even better this season.
Not only does he have speedy Wes Welker and the tight-end duo of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez back, but the Patriots also added Brandon Lloyd in free agency. Josh McDaniels, who was the offensive coordinator when Brady set the NFL record for single-season TD passes (50), has returned to New England as well.
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Do you think Pete Rose should be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame?
—Michael Wright

I’ve never had a strong opinion either way on Rose’s Hall of Fame eligibility, but I would lean toward no.
Certainly based on his playing career he deserves to be called one of the best baseball hitters in the history of the game.
But let’s be clear. The man responsible for baseball’s all-time hits leader being excluded from Cooperstown is not current commissioner Bud Selig. And it’s not A. Bartlett Giamatti, who was commissioner when the ban occurred.
It’s Rose.
There was a time when Selig, who has had his ups (interleague play, wild card) and downs (the all-star game that “counts”) as commissioner, was seriously considering Rose’s bid for reinstatement. Selig knew that being the man who showed compassion for Rose and allowed him to be eligible for the Hall of Fame could be his legacy.
But instead of apologizing for his transgressions, Rose, as noted by ESPN’s Jayson Stark in a 2009 column “couldn’t resist the sound of that cash register ringing. When he ‘told all’ in a book, released it on Hall of Fame election week and launched into a book tour instead of a news conference, he was cooked. Forever.”
Rose, and Rose alone, is responsible for where he is now — out of the Hall and not likely to ever find his way in.
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Why are private schools allowed to “recruit” players and still compete in IHSAA divisions? Shouldn’t they have their own class to make the competition more balanced?
—Aaron Dodd, Daleville

First, for the sake of full disclosure, I attended a private institution — St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio.
The short answers to your questions are: They’re not allowed to recruit, and they should not have their own class.
As to the first part of your question, no school is “allowed” to recruit. Recruiting is against the rules for everyone, public or private, and the IHSAA punishes those who are caught.
That being said, private schools have a variety of advantages, not the least of which is that they draw students from a wider base than public schools.
Private schools should not have their own class. That’s a short-sighted solution that lumps them all in the same group. It doesn’t make any more sense to have a school like Anderson Prep competing in the same class as Indianapolis Cathedral than it would to have Daleville competing in the same class as Muncie Central.
Your questions are timely because the IHSAA last week approved the addition of a “success factor” to address this very issue. Under the new rules there will be a point system based on advancement in the tournament. A school that reaches a certain threshold of success over a two-year period will be moved up to the next highest class.
It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a step in the right direction.


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