The high school football season is over. Champions have been crowned and trophies handed out.

Yet once again we are left with more questions than answers.

Mainly, we have no idea which team was the best in the state of Louisiana.

Just like last year, when this mess was first put on the fans, the state crowned nine champions.

That remains three times as many as California and more than most in the country.

This, of course, is a product of the split between select and nonselect schools. That is a politically correct way of saying private and public.

While some have called it an attack on religion, for me it is more of an attack on common sense and fair play.

Public school officials for the split say they are now playing on a level field. Some have gone as far as saying it gives more kids a chance to play in the playoffs.

Those are folks who still believe everybody deserves a trophy and that one size fits all when they shop for clothes.

Sports is about teaching kids how to handle both winning and losing, not creating new ways to come up with winners. That, however, is exactly what the last two football seasons have taught us all.

We learned that winning one game can be just as important when it comes to making the playoffs and winning all ten.

We have also found out that if you can’t beat teams, it is easier to just throw them out of your league than work harder and become better.

And finally, we have learned that getting more votes in a boardroom can be worth more than putting points on a scoreboard.

Whether you want to believe it or not, state championships the last two years in Louisiana have meant a little less than in years before.

It might be just as exciting for the kids and parents who earned those victories, but to sports fans without personal rooting interests it doesn’t mean the same thing. It can’t.

Watered down remains watered down.

Playoff berths are also not as meaningful. It seems just about everybody makes the postseason now.

In SWLA, more teams earned first-round byes than were left home when the playoffs began.

Yet we didn’t produce one state champion and had only Kinder earn a trip to the finals in New Orleans.

Seems that is more than a little out of whack.

Then there is the fact that the split is ripping apart the state instead of bringing it together. Football, and in fact all sports, is a perfect way for kids to understand how other schools play.

That learning process has ended.

What is supposed to be a coming together instead continues to pull the state apart.

As for the future, it is hard to think this will go on. Private schools will continue to look for new playing partners and could one day leave the current governing body, taking their larger fan base with them.

Many of those who are in favor of the split have said in other conversations they want to keep politics out of athletics, but they are the ones who brought it to the forefront.

They continue to show us that the most important games are the ones they play off the field.

With a new leader, it is time for the LHSAA to stand up and take back control of football. It is time to do the right thing and bring the state together.

Quite frankly, Louisiana doesn’t have nine great football teams every year deserving of state titles. The playoff scores show that too many teams are in the postseason.

It is time to get this right.