Imagine Losing A High School Football Playoff Berth To A Gas Station Coin Toss
It's like something straight out of "Friday Night Lights"
If you are a high school football player in West Texas, Friday's in the fall are a matter of life and death (sometimes quite literally).
I lived in the Lone Star State for six years, and I can attest from firsthand experience that high school football is practically a religion to these people.
The preparation that goes into the season for the coaches and players is staggering, so imagine going through the rigors of summer two-a-days, fall camp, and a full season, all for it to come down to a coin flip at your local Valero.
Well, that's exactly what happened in district 2 of the 5A classification of Texas High School Football, as a three-way tie between Amarillo Caprock, Amarillo High, and Lubbock High was decided by flipping a coin at a gas station in nearby Plainview, Texas.
And the whole thing was caught on video.
Why does this feel like something straight out of an episode of Friday Night Lights?
Even for someone who spent plenty of time in Texas in the past, this is insane.
I feel for the kids who put all the work in and left their blood, sweat, and tears out on the field for their postseason fate to be decided by a coin flip, but rules are rules, I suppose.
This feels antiquated as a rule, but college football implements a similar tiebreaker after certain criteria are met.
Famously, the controversial 2008 Big 12 tiebreaker between Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech came down to the fifth tiebreaker involving BCS rankings, but a few more bullet points down that list involved flipping a coin.
This didn't stop the comments section from having fun at the expense of District 2-5A of Texas high school football.
I like the idea of a coin flip to decide the fate of the playoffs being sponsored, and I know companies like Whataburger would line up around the block to get in on this action.
Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and I'm sure you'd get laughed out of a writer's room in Hollywood for pitching something like this.
Nevertheless, the crucible of high school football in Texas isn't for everyone, and it's videos like this that remind us all of that.