So that's it. The Merrimack Valley Conference, as we know it, is on the verge of imploding and nobody is going to do anything about it?
No meetings are planned with all of its members, including and especially the superintendents and principals? No last ditch effort to form a summit to see if this marriage, albeit a rocky one at times, can be salvaged?
I'm not saying there is an easy solution to preserving one of the most puritanical, yet passionate high school sports conferences I have ever followed. I understand the various dilemmas.
I understand the allure to the Route 495 South League — the Dual County League — for Andover, Chelmsford, Billerica, Tewksbury and Dracut.
I understand the problems a lot of people have with Central Catholic's dominance.
I understand the struggles of the MVC's city schools, primarily in football, most girls sports and the lack of under-varsity programs.
Yup, I understand.
I liken this move to the breakup of Big East Conference, at least from the Boston College perspective. BC jumped to the Atlantic Coast Conference for one reason: Money ... lots and lots of money.
Gone are the rivalries with Syracuse, UConn, Providence and Pittsburgh, schools which represent the hard-working regions likes our, for sun tan lotion and botox.
They can talk about exposure to new, growing markets in the south, but BC belongs in the ACC with Duke, North Carolina and Virginia like I belong in the NBA. Sure I can hit a 3-pointer, but only when the older, balder, chubby guy is 10 feet away from me.
The white elephant in the room has always been Central. Even when it was only "very good" in most sports, about a decade ago, there were rumblings that it belongs with the St. John's Preps, Xaverians and Malden Catholics.
And now, as it seems as every Central program advances deeper and deeper into state tournament play, there are no more whispers about the white elephant. It's pretty much unanimous that Central is to blame for all that ails the MVC.
If Central went away a few years ago, we would not have written a story like the one that draped across the Sunday Eagle-Tribune sports section.
One thing I honestly dislike hearing is this: "No matter what league we end up in we want to always play Central."
Please don't patronize us with that jibberish. If you think Central belongs elsewhere, have the guts to say it and let's argue the point.
Does Central have an advantage? Yes. Oftentimes it gets the best of the best.
But guess what? So does Michigan in the Big 10. So does USC in the Pac-10. Heck, so does Bentley in the Northeast-10.
Here are a few ways to combat those programs:
Get coaches to play a bigger role with the town's youth programs. Offer your student-athletes a better (and much cheaper) option. Play the best competition so your athletes improve. Play an exciting brand of ball so that your home arenas are full. Do more leg work so your student-athletes get into better colleges. Put less emphasis on winning and more emphasis on trying to win.
In other words ... deal with it.
Is there any solution that could salvage the MVC?
Maybe North Andover High could be coaxed into joining, followed by (or with) its biggest Cape Ann League rival, Masconomet, to help form a rock-solid second division in the MVC. That would probably satisfy the likes of Dracut, Tewksbury and Methuen.
North Andover, in case you haven't followed the youth programs in the area, ranks with every MVC town at the younger ages in most if not all sports.
But this isn't North Andover's problem. It's not Andover's fault. But it should be everybody's concern.
The Merrimack Valley is an area of the Massachusetts unlike any in the state. Boston might as well be Connecticut. Wakefield, which is only 13 miles away from our offices on Route 114, might as well be Walpole.
And we take our sports, particularly at the high school level, way too seriously around here, which I sort of like.
I have a quick story from the Andover-Central boys "regular season" basketball game after the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tournament. It was at Central and that school was ready for bear after Andover ousted it in the Christmas tourney semis.
I saw a player — who will go nameless — from outside of the Merrimack Valley who was at that game with four of his teammates. He and his buddies were doing some long-term scouting of both teams.
When I asked the "player" what he thought of the atmosphere, he said, "I'd kill to play in this."
Reporters from the Boston newspapers feel the same way. They think we're crazy up here in the north. But they love it.
Remember this: You have something a lot of other places around the state could only dream to emulate. It's worth trying to keep.
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
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