With all the energy and resources being poured into political polls this year — and some polls having a direct impact on who gets to partake in certain campaign events — it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate the importance of polling.
This might be tough to do on the political side, and even in big-time college sports, but we shouldn’t overemphasize media polls about high school sports. Such a subjective poll, when not used as criteria to determine playoff qualifying and seeding, should be seen as more of a discussion point and a way to highlight the progress of certain teams rather than a way to pit cities and schools against each other.
Recently, my colleague, Troy Hyde, took issue with voters in the Associated Press Iowa high school football polls who decided to vote for other schools besides Iowa City Regina as No. 1 in Class 1A. The Regals’ six consecutive state titles and long streak of not losing to a Class 1A opponent convince my colleague the No. 1 ranking is theirs until a 1A team defeats them.
Our discussions of this subject got me thinking about several things, including criteria in coach and media polls, the difference between fact and opinion and the importance we place on such polls in general.
When I took over a sports desk in New Mexico in late 2007, I helped grow the state’s largest, most comprehensive high school wrestling coaches team poll for my five-year stint there. I enjoy these types of polls and how the discussions and publicity help a sport grow in popularity.
Lack of knowledge doesn’t really seem to be an issue in Iowa football, where everyone voting at least knows the records and recent scores of all teams in a classification. However, there is more than one way to evaluate each piece of data.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to interpret a win, loss or final score. It’s all subjective — which is what makes polls fun.
Maybe there are ways to scientifically determine No. 1 through No. 10 (or No. 20 or No. 25) teams, using somewhat objective statistics, but this takes more fun out of the game. It should be closer to the banter back and forth between Iowa Hawkeye football people and ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit through the years, and less like a mathematical chemical formula.
We’re not making life-saving medicine in a laboratory. We’re simply guessing at which group of 14- to 18-year-old football players look the strongest on the field on a given set of Friday nights.
Their is no truth or fiction in polling. Perception is reality and opinions matter. Opinions can’t be wrong.
Once I realized how riled up my colleague was, and how much he wanted to turn it into an argument about facts, I realized we were talking about different things. I joked with him I wish I could vote in the poll just so I could get his goat by voting for a team other than Regina.
Rather than focus on why a team like Regina should be a unanimous No. 1 and the possible motives of media who decide not to vote for the Regals, I’d rather focus on other teams that received at least one No. 1 vote. Sometimes, these teams have little else to celebrate and have had negative events in their communities, and getting some No. 1 votes and a little respect from a reporter or broadcaster might bring focus to positive things happening at that school.
The focus in these non-binding polls should be on who’s doing well and improving — not on whether the team on top has been knocked down.
Contact Jason W. Brooks
at jbrooks@newtondailynews.com