Some Musings… PEI Mens Basketball League

Well, this is a bit of a different week, with no games scheduled for us this weekend. The AUS is certainly one of the top leagues in the country, as parity among the teams continues to bring lots of excitement to every game. That old adage that anyone can beat anyone on any given day certainly rings true in AUS Basketball! The scheduling in our league must be exceptionally hard to do. There are so many variables to consider, is the facility available, travel, two different sports playing the same night that will detract from the crowd, etc. I can not imagine the headaches it must create for the person or persons in charge of putting together a schedule that all schools, for the most part, can generally agree on. For me personally, I have never been a fan of the quirk in our schedule that allows some games to be worth four points and some worth only two. I understand the reasoning to a point, it allows a staggered schedule where every team has a total of eight points on the line against each opponent. I guess that I am a bit "old school". One of the first things that I can remember being told by my coaches when I started playing sports was that every game means the same, that you have to bring your best every game, because every game means the same. I would like to see every game worth two points. I know it would create a new set of difficulties for the people that schedule our league. Maybe we would have to go to a model where regular season play begins in mid October, allowing for only a few weeks of preseason play, so that regular season play could expand to 28 games from the current 20, which would enable each team to play against each other four times… somewhat like what is in place for AUS Hockey. Perhaps it would make better sense to move to a 21 game schedule, where each team plays every opponent three times… one year twice at your home and once at theirs, and vice versa the next year. I would also like to see all games in our league played on the weekends. I understand that due to proximity and travel, it is much easier for some teams to play through the week. However, the teams that are not able to play through the week due to distance/travel constraints, end up with a tougher schedule because of more back-to-back games. The bottom line is that I believe that AUS Basketball is an exceptional league with quality student athletes, coaches, administrators, and schools, competing within a very positive environment! The AUS does an overall great job in all aspects… and I am certainly happy to be coaching in it, and not in charge of the arduous task of scheduling for the entire league!

Our PEI Men's Basketball League is in it's third year and is going strong! We have four teams in the mix for the title, with current standings as follows: 1. Vets (9-2), 2. Green Machine (7-4), 3. Raiders (3-8), and 4. Blue Man Group (3-8). All league games are played here at UPEI, and each team plays a 15 game regular season schedule plus play-offs. We are very pleased to be hosting this league, and would certainly like to thank the following sponsors for their great support; UPEI, Courtside Sneakers, Domino's, and Basketball PEI!

GO PANTHERS GO!