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This is my one and only post. Just finished watching the 'A' final. I have never played hockey and by no means consider myself anything but a novice regarding the sport. However, I love the sport and love to watch the high school hockey tournament. Just love it! Have been watching since way back during the Burnsville/Hill-Murray finals in the 80s.

I don't have any expertise but it seems obvious to me that the private schools have no business playing in class 'A'. They are at a different level than the other schools talent wise. It doesn't even look close to a novice such as myself.

I have no knowledge regarding the politics or reasoning for such teams to continue to play in class 'A'. I do feel that one can start to deduce the mentality of such a school and its administration if that school continues to play at a level where they are clearly dominant and at an advantage.

The mentality of such a group of people reminds me of a book I read several years ago entitled Dominion: The Power of Man, the suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy by Mathew Scully.

Before I get written off, here is why this obscure book is relevant: In one part of the book a group of very powerful politicians/leaders in the U.S. go to Africa on a safari hunt. They pay $20,000 to go on the hunt with the obvious goal being to get that trophy that they can bring back and brag about to their peers. Sure enough, they succeed in this hunt. They have bragging rights and can stick out their collective chests on what they have accomplished. HERE'S THE CATCH. The animals they are hunting (elephants, rhinos, etc) are fenced in pens on "safari ranches". They have no chance. The "hunters" sit with their guns drawn near where the animals are fed. Feed is placed in their troughs, then as the animals walk up to eat, BOOM, they are shot dead. Not exactly a legitimate hunt.

The longer these schools stay playing in class 'A' the more it leads me to believe that the above mentality is at play. Most people would not feel right about the situation described above. It is inherently unfair and not a true hunt. The sad reality is, some people don't see anything wrong with the above scenario. I fear that may be the mentality of some of these private schools that continue to play in a class that they have no business being a part of.

That's it for my only post. Have a good life everyone. Best of luck.[/u]

You are obviously right, whether you played the sport or not.

My youngest son played youth hockey with 2 kids on the STA team--in a huge association and they were 2 of our best players. They didn't bat an eye at ten thousand dollar summer hockey programs for their kids, whatever it takes. I know for a fact the only reason their parents sent them there was for hockey reasons, they won't be going in the military after--zero chance of that.

It's all about getting to that State Tourney. I think it's a crime myself the way they are stealing the A game from the small towns.

This was supposed to be for them but it didn't take long for these private schools to see their opportunity.

Can't wait for HSHW's reply to this one!!!

This is an incredibly insightful and true post by 'neverplaybutHUGEFAN'.

For the record, I'm typically on board with private schools and think they should play where they belong.

Does Rochester Lourdes, SCC, DM, even Blake belong in AA? Not in my opinion.

But, this STA garbage has got to stop. There can't be any pride in this. They are a team that could legitimately win the AA title year in-year out. They play AA teams all year, only losses this year were to AA tourney entrants and S-SM.

At the end of the game they showed Tom Vannelli talking in the locker room. He said something along the lines of...Forget about the media. We play the teams they put front of us...

While that is true...it doesn't make it any less gutless. They choose to play those teams...every year. They could play AA teams come playoff time...they know that they can excel at that level. But, for some reason, they feel the need to be cowards and trophy chase.

For the record, I graduated from St. Cloud Cathedral. I coached baseball there. If you aren't aware of Cathedral's baseball history, it's somewhat on the level of an STA hockey team. In the legion season, they play against the big schools...but in the school season, they trophy chase.

It's just boring. It's gutless. It's cheating everyone else and yourself. It's not cheating just public schools...it's cheating the private schools that have at least some semblance of legitimacy.