The vote has been counted and the members of the IHSA have spoken. There will more than likely continue to be a two-class. The members voted by a majority of 56% to upgrade to four classes. Three quarters of all the IHSA membersparticipated in this vote. While this is a majority, it is by no means overwhelming. 57% of those that voted did not believe that four classes would make the rivalry between public and private schools any more competitive.

73% of the voters said that the 30 mile private school recruiting radius was too broad. Another 70% said those schools should have an enrollment multiplier. 67% said the enrollment supplier should be based on the size of the school. 58% said there should not be a seperation between public and private school playoffs.

This has become a very sensitive issue largely because of the recent football playoffs where private schools dominated in an aww schocking performance that left many wondering is the system really giving all the schools an equal chance to win. While that might have been the largest cause, the concern does carry over to other sports. The battle of Chicagoland against the rest of the state is something all sports can relate to in some form or another.

There have been those who say it is not fair that Chicago can take players from such a large radius. Despite this fact over the last ten years, the class aa state championships have been split between the Chicagoland and Peoria. Or more specifically, Peoria Central and Peoria Manual. There are those on the Chicago side who argue that the heavy transfers of the key players that powered the Central championship run was no different from how Chicago builds their powers.

So then what is the fairest solution? Make the Chicagoland as a whole seperate from the rest of the state? Expand to three or perhaps four classes so that the largest public schools would be matched up with teams their size as well as those of private schools that have a broad radius? How would the multiplier work anyway? You can't take a small private school that's got a large radius but not a great team and throw them into a larger class can you?

What the sport really is about is a team. A group of individuals who come together for the common goal of winning the championship. It is viewed that as long as a team can draw from a larger base of players, then that team has an advantage. However could it not be said that because a great player or great group of players can live anywhere, that the larger populated areas only advantage is that their odds are increased of finding that talent? Take a place like Bloomington which has just come into a large talent base in the last 6 years. Here is a public school, who can only have the players that live in the district. But in that district, are as many as 7 division one prospects if you look from 2005-2009. Now could it be lightining in a bottle? They could drought after 2009 like the Great Plains during the Great Depression. This outcome could be very possible. It is also this way in many other cases as well.

But as of right now you won't here anybody in Bloomington complaining that it's unfair they have to compete with Chicagoland teams. Why? Because up and down the roster, the names say its an even matchup. But what happens when the talent is gone? When is fair really fair? While the Chicagoland as a whole may be viewed as dominant, it should be noted that the concept of lightning in a bottle also applies.

A Chicagoland team may win one championship. But how many dynasties do you see being built? I don't see many. The fact is there is no dominant sole power. There is merely a dominant area. Should one area be viewed as having a Monopoly on the market? Since 1995, there have been 5 Chicagoland class aa champions. However never the same team twice. Meanwhile Peoria captured five as well, one team three times, one team twice. Lightning in a bottle? Probably.

While there might be an unfair chance of winning a championship according to some. The view should come into picture to all that whether they are from upstate, midstate, or downstate, there are only a few rare dominant schools. And even their reign comes to an end. All in all, each individual school has the same chance of winning that championship regardless of where they are located. Pick your equalizer. Chicagoland having to go through Chicagoland, population size, recruiting radiuses, class a and aa, the system has a balance. The question is how good is your view of the system when your portion of the scale doesn't seems to be equal to the other side?