Grass is Always Greener

With the annihilation of a very poor Somerset Berkley team at McGrath Stadium, Bishop Feehan clinched another EAC title, another berth in the Division 3 playoffs, and another great chance to get to Gillette Stadium for the Super Bowl. The Shamrocks went a perfect 4-0 in the conference this season and did so by a combined score of 134-7. In fact the only touchdown that Feehan gave up against an EAC opponent this season came in the final minute against Somerset with the starters bundled up on the bench.

In some circles this would be all the proof that is needed that Feehan needs to find a new conference, there just isn’t enough of a challenge from the current set-up. Many people wanted Feehan to make a jump to the Hockomock League before it was announced that Taunton and Milford would be moving in next season. My question is: what would make Feehan want to change anything?

Sure the EAC isn’t the best competition, especially since Attleboro and Dartmouth took away the two biggest schools in the conference, but it is an almost guaranteed spot in the football playoffs, which is the big money maker for any high school. Meanwhile in other sports, under the current rules, Feehan teams will almost always find themselves with a spot in the postseason. But the lack of proper opposition is almost a myth; Martha’s Vineyard won the league in boys’ soccer this season, while Coyle and Cassidy are always strong in softball, baseball, and hockey. Oh by the way, last year Somerset beat Feehan in football. Yet it is always the assumption that no one in the EAC can stand up to Feehan. This is generally true in cross-country and girls’ soccer but not across the board.

An underrated benefit to playing in the EAC is flexibility. With only four conference opponents Feehan can continue to play a very difficult out of conference schedule. When Attleboro High switched from the five team Old Colony League to the 10 team Hockomock it left very little room for Athletic Director Mark Houle to keep longtime rivals such as Dartmouth, New Bedford, Taunton, and even Feehan on the schedule because every game was taken up by conference play. This is a problem that will only be exacerbated by the move to a 12 team conference next season.

Feehan on the other hand can schedule match-ups with LaSalle, Barrington, Fontbonne Academy, Cardinal Spellman and other teams that provide the challenges that may not be consistently there within the EAC. This may seem like a small point in the long run, but there is something to be said for a little variety. It’s nice to see teams that would otherwise never find their way to Attleboro.

Now that the Hockomock League has closed its doors to Feehan, at least for the foreseeable future, there also doesn’t appear to be an obvious landing spot for the Shamrocks. Maybe the EAC invites in the remnants of the OCL or Feehan moves to the South Coast Conference but this isn’t Boise State moving to the Big East to get a BCS berth there are issues with each option.

Unfortunately, there is also the question of whether or not Feehan would be welcomed in with open arms. There is some hesitation for schools to bring in Feehan because of their regional nature, their excellent resources or because of the long-held belief that they recruit potential players from their rivals.*

*(Disclaimer- I’m not making any claims that Feehan recruit, I honestly don’t know anything about the subject and I’m not taking a side. I’m simply saying that people believe they do, it does influence the way some people see the school, and distasteful or not it is part of the equation.)

There are a lot of factors working both for and against Feehan moving out of the EAC, but in the end the most important decision for Feehan has to be how to build on an already successful sports program and, at least to me, the best choice is to stay put and keep on winning. Now if they could just get someone decent on Thanksgiving Day…