High School Sports
Because high school sports in the United States such as football and basketball are state-centered sports involving thousands of schools, it would be almost impossible to have a national championship playoff. A single-game playoff for football, however, was attempted in 1938 and 1939, particularly difficult at that time due to many states' prohibition of postseason games. Nearly all states crown several champions in different classifications, which are not uniform from state to state, based upon school enrollments.
Some publications and internet sites release nationwide rankings for high school sports based on polls or mathematical formulas which take into account various factors like average margin of victory and strength of schedule. Schools that finish atop these rankings, particularly the USA Today poll, often claim to be national champions, and the press calls them "mythical national champions".
Read more about this topic: Mythical National Championship
Famous quotes containing the words high, school and/or sports:
“When you’re right in the market, it’s the best high you can imagine. It’s a high without any alcohol. When you’re wrong, it’s the lowest low you can imagine.”
—Michelle Miller (b. c. 1950)
“For millions of men and women, the church has been the hospital for the soul, the school for the mind and the safe depository for moral ideas.”
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)