An Easy Way to Determine Class B

Have you ever heard the old saying, "If you think you can or if you think you can't--you are right."  That pretty much sums up my idea of who should be class B.

To start off I would make every team in a town over 10,000 a class B team. That would pop in more than 20 teams right off the bat. I think we should also designate bigger towns (Albert Lea for instance) without a team as B right now.

What about a new team in a big town.  Class B.  The thing is, and I've seen it over and over, is that once a team is  allowed to play as a class C team they never want to go to B.  It is always "We can't compete with the good teams."

It's not that they can't compete, it is that they don't want to.  That is no good anymore.  There are a lot of C teams that can compete with any team in the state.  The teams that have been moved down are showing by not dominating Class C,  that there are plenty of good teams in Class C.  They are not dominating Class C although they made a better showing in the C tournament this year, with two of the final four being teams that changed classes.  This was an improvement over 2010 and 2011. 

To let teams know right from the start that they will be class B is a good thing.  They will be more serious in building their teams and that will help them. 

The only real reason the Board gave for moving the current teams up to B from C is the potential access to a lot of players.  The same is true of a larger town.  If you get a comitted baseball man running the operation, things will go fine.  Every town runs in cycles.  Sometimes the baseball program is very good and other years it is a struggle.  No one team has been dominant for a number of years.  I think it goes more in regions or areas of the state.  Once a team in your area gets good, it puts more pressure on the other teams to get bettter.  Right now the River Valley has been the dominant area for a few years.  That will change and another area will get better.  No one wins every year (except Minnetonka). 

Here are the teams that I think should be Class B (I know that some of these cities don't presently have a team) with their listed population from the 2010 census:  Albert Lea (18,016), Austin (24,718), Alexandria (11,070), Andover (30,598), Anoka (17,142), Appple Valley (49, 084), Bemidji (13,431), Big Lake (10,060), Brainerd (13,590), Buffalo (15,453), Burnsville (60,306), Champlin (23,089), Chanhassen (22,952), Chaska (23,770), Cloquet (12,124), Coon Rapids (61,476), Duluth (86,265), Eagan (64,206), East Bethel (11,626), Elk River (22,974), Faribault (23,352), Farmington (21,086), Fergus Falls (13,138), Forest Lake (18,375), Fridley (27,208), Grand Rapids (10,869), Ham Lake (15,296), Hastings (22,172), Hutchinson (14,178), Lakeville (55,954), Mankato (39, 309), Marshall (13,680), Monticello (12,759), Moorhead (38,065), New Ulm (13,522), North Branch (10,125), Northfield (20,007), North Mankato (13,394), Otsego (13,571), Owatonna (25,599), Prior Lake (22,796), Rochester (106,769), Rosemount (21,874), St. Cloud (65,842), St. Michael (16,39), St. Peter (11,196), Sartell (15,876), Sauk Rapids (12,773), Savage (26,911), Shakopee (37, 076), Waconia (10,697), Willmar (19,610), Winona (27,592), Worthington (12,764).    (54 Total)

Then there are the smaller towns that are already Class B:  Dundas, Elko, Miesville, Isanti, St. Francis, Hibbing, Nashwauk, Cold Spring, Albertville and Victoria.  (10 Total)

Also I feeel that Green Isle, Winsted, Jordan, Maple Lake, Dassel-Cokato and Waseca should all be Class B teams again.  (6 total)

That is 70 teams that could be in Class B.  I realize that all of the towns listed do not have a team but they have had a team in the past and might again in the future.  

If you put all of these teams into Class B it would pep everyone up.  The Sections would all have at least eight teams in them.  No more eight teams in one section and four teams in another.  There would be more spirited Class B competition and the teams that are not in Class B would make a nice Class C field.