John Todd

What a ride it’s been!!

Danny Ventura, the face of high school sports in New England for over the last 30 years, is retiring from the Boston Herald in August. Ventura started at the Herald in 1991 and has since served as the go-to source for information for coaches, student-athletes, and ADs.

Reminder: MSHCA Hall of Fame Dinner is this Sunday, May 4th!

Even though our teams are doing well, I still have significant concerns about the current power ranking system, which I believe fundamentally undermines the core principles of educational athletics and student-athlete development. While our teams have performed well within the existing framework, the current methodology creates problematic incentives that compromise the integrity of competitive sports. Specifically, the system's reliance on margin of victory (MOV) has compelled coaches to prioritize scoring differentials over what Inwould consider to be the spirit and purpose of education athletics. Key issues with the current power ranking approach include: 1. Reduced Playing Opportunities: Coaches are strategically discouraged from providing meaningful game time to less-experienced players, as they must maintain a high scoring margin to achieve favorable rankings. For some teams, just a few points over the course of the season could result in failing to making the tournament or being forced to play on the road more than a 100 miles away. Wins and losses do not show up in the current formula, only the point differential. 2. Changing the very essence of how games are played: In sports like hockey, we've observed coaches being forced to deliberately avoiding standard strategic decisions—such as pulling goalies—to protect their scoring differential, which directly contradicts the educational objectives of interscholastic athletics and fails to teach the kids the proper way to play the game. In basketball where most experienced coaches teach their players the concept of time and score, that has given way to making sure they understand that 10 points is the magic number. A 1-0 win in soccer or baseball is a thing of beauty unless you are being judged by this power ranking system. The MIAA Sportsmanship Committee advocated for reforming this system at their meeting this week voting unanimously to ask the TMC to find a ranking system that does not include MOV. During last spring's athletic director conference, where I presented on this topic alongside colleagues, there was overwhelming consensus that the current MOV-based ranking methodology requires substantial revision. Despite widespread acknowledgment of these concerns, meaningful progress remains elusive. As administrators committed to student-athlete welfare, we must continue advocating for a power ranking system that genuinely reflects educational values over championships and rankings.