CIF’s event director really pleased with what he sees

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I had a chance to catch up with CIF Football Event Director Ken Gunn and he was so jolly about today’s state championship bowl games, I almost thought he should be wearing a red and white suit. After all, ‘tis the season....

Gunn was obviously happy with another great year of divisional bowl games here at the Home Depot Center and was thrilled there wasn’t a repeat of last year’s rainy conditions. As we all know, rain is the most feared enemy of any event planner or director.

‘I’m expecting more fans this year, definitely,’ Gunn said. ‘I’d be very disappointed if that weren’t the case.’

However, Gunn wasn’t all about sales and sunny days. He discussed a number of bowl-related topics, including:

• He said he was very happy with the current bowl selection process and said the CIF, in general, has been pleased with how teams are selected. He said there is no need to change to a point system or other selection format.
• Gunn is overwhelmingly happy with the CIF’s so-called ‘two-year experimental run’ at state divisional bowl games. The CIF will almost certainly vote in favor of keeping the current bowl game system when it meets at the next Federated Council Meeting [Jan. 25-26]. In addition, the council will also vote on expanding the bowl format from three to five divisions.
• Gunn talked about the need to keep sectional division titles meaningful. He understands many people want the CIF to develop a playoff system to determine a ‘true’ state champion, but the CIF also does not want to make the season too long. He said a state playoff is still years away, at best.
• Finally, Gunn talked about rotating state divisional bowl game sites between Northern and Southern California locations. There is a chance this rotation could start next year.

-- Austin Knoblauch