So much confusion

I'm back from my blogging hiatus. Alas, my job isn't just to write, but rather I also have to plan each issue and assign its parts to correspondents.

Let's talk about some currently pressing issues, then we'll move on to what's in the next issue. (By the way, the February issue of the magazine was just released. It's a gimmie, so...)

Bruce Haertl just asked me on the Sports Daily radio show about the Andover Central girls basketball team. Out of Class 4A, the Jags could be ranked No. 1 in the state next week, as Central beat Bishop Carroll last week and Heights lost to South on Tuesday. Can a team from Class 4A possibly be No. 1 in the state?

Look, the girls game is different. There is not as big a gap in size and athleticism between the big and small schools in the girls game as there is in the boys game.

Colby, another 4A team which some are ranking ahead of Central in their own class, trounced Wichita South at their mid-season tournament - South, a team that ended two-time defending state champ Heights' winning streak on Tuesday. Class 4A could have two teams better than anyone else in the state!

Bailey Gee and the rest of the crew at Andover Central are for real - though I still would take Heights head-to-head. I'm just saying.

Pick up the February issue of High School Sports The Magazine at Presto Convenience Stores, Wal-mart, Wendy's, YMCA, Dillon's and Blockbuster. Hutchinson wrestler Romero Cotton, a four-time football state champion and favored to win his fourth individual state wrestling title this month, appears on the cover. Not only is Cotton one of this state's best athletes, he's a solid guy. Jim Misunas allows us to get a step closer to this "great one."

The March issue of the HSSTM is in the works. While we'll continue to concentrate on basketball, spring sports previews are also in the works. So start the talk. Who are the best pitchers, sprinters and ball-strokers around?