The issue is worth discussing again just as the sectional tournaments are starting Friday in Groups 4, 3, 2 and 1, as well as those lucky dogs in the Non-Public groups - who get to compete for state titles just as field hockey players and swimmers and baseball players do.
We're all excited about the South Jersey Group 4 tournament, where the top three seeds - Pennsauken, Millville, and Williamstown - are rising powers that haven't played in December in a long time, if ever.
That Atlantic City-at-Pennsauken opener on Saturday has a chance to be a great game, as it features the best two receiving corps in South Jersey. Can Rancocas Valley make an impact in its long-delayed return to South Jersey? Can Triton surprise?
The other tournaments should be great, too. Timber Creek and Hammonton look headed for a classic showdown in Group 3, although Woodrow Wilson has other ideas.
Can Haddonfield put the finishing touches on a dream season with its second consecutive Group 2 title? Or can West Deptford turn the tables on its longtime rival?
And good luck handicapping Group 1, where the absence of a small-school super team - like some of those vintage Glassboro, Paulsboro and Woodbury teams in recent seasons - is likely to create a sensationally scrambled tournament.
But what if all that good stuff was just a prelude to two more weeks of the best public-school football in the state? What if we kept going through state semifinals to state finals - as every other red-blooded American state in this here union does?
Who wouldn't want to see Pennsauken (7-1) face Central Jersey's South Brunswick (8-0)? Or Timber Creek (8-0) get a shot at state power Wayne Hills (8-0)? Or Haddonfield (8-0) meet Manasquan (8-0) and then maybe West Essex (8-0)?
It happens in every other sport. It ought to happen in public football.
