CIF BB Committee Leaves itself Open to Criticism

90045 - The 90045 zip code is not only home to the 7428 Studio where Sports Stories with Denny Lennon (SSDL) is recorded, it is home to the Westchester High School Comets.  The Comets won the Los Angeles City Section championship last Saturday, then were left out of the CIF Southern California Regional Open Division playoffs, thus denied an opportunity to win the State Open Division Championship.  This is the first time the LA City Open champion was left out of the Southern California Regional Open Division.

Since 2010, Westchester has gone by Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets. However, we at SSDL are not, as of now, doing stories on science or magnets, so we will call the school by its given name.  With respect to the title of this blog, and the new name the school was given, we will make note that a comet would be intercepted, not shot down, scientifically speaking, of course. 

The school, founded in 1948 and given the appropriate nickname “Comets” (representing the booming aerospace business in the area) has been a power in basketball, especially under the school’s legendary coach, Ed Azzam.   The CIF, which governs the state’s 10 sections, uses a “competitive equity” formula (think of the BCS ranking system) to pick the teams for each division of the state playoffs.  The Open Division is reserved for the strongest teams, and, considering the Comets have won 15 city section and six state championships, you’d think they would get proper consideration.  

“Some common sense in the meeting might have gone a long way,” Westchester coach Ed Azzam told the Los Angeles Times Eric Sondheimer, the guru of prep sports in Southern California. “We’ll play the hand we’re dealt. We’re much better now than we were in December. I would argue that point if I was in that meeting.  It’s completely disrespecting L.A. City.”  

SSDL has been covering the Westchester team this season for an upcoming story, and yes, it is disrespectful to the LA City Section, and to the hallowed boys’ basketball program at Westchester.  Let’s hope the committee, and the formula, that shot down the Comets is intercepted before another mistake happens.

• Denny Lennon is the Host of the Video Podcast, “Sports Stories with Denny Lennon”