By James Benedict
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While tonight’s semi-state football matchup doesn’t include Carmel, or other familiar teams from the past years, fans of the game still have something to look forward to. Parity is at an all-time high this year at both the high school level and in the NFL. In the NFL, 18 teams have above a .500 record, and in high school, the playoffs are missing three familiar faces after Carmel, Warren Central and Center Grove all lost in the first two rounds of their respective Sectional tournaments. Football this year demonstrated its greatest factor the parity of each individual game. Teams that look great on paper, have all the right players and normally dominate games don’t always win, and this makes every single football game a unique experience to watch.

The Colts, Patriots and Steelers have dominated the AFC, and one of these three teams has represented the AFC in the Super Bowl for the past seven years. This year, however, none of these teams show the same domination that they have in the past. Unlike last year no team is undefeated heading into week 10. The same was true for the Indiana 5A playoffs. Since 2003 either Carmel, Center Grove or Warren have played in and won the 5A title, but this year all three are out of the playoffs before even making it to the third round.

Teams like Valparaiso, Fishers, Bloomington North and Lawrence Central are what remain in the playoffs. They are all new faces this far into the playoffs, with none of these teams having won a championship in the last 20 years.

I have always and will always love football. It is the most interesting sport, not necessarily because of the big hits, deep passes or amazing feats of athleticism (although those do help) but because in football, anything can happen and change the entire season in a second. Football mirrors life in that working hard and making smart decisions can pay off in the end, but as in life a lot of it comes down to luck. Last year’s Broncos-Bengals game always sticks in my mind as the best example. The Broncos were in their own end zone with 28 seconds left in the game. Then, Bronco’s quarterback, Kyle Orton threw a ball which was tipped a Bengals defensive back’s hand, and Broncos receiver Brandon Stokely ended up with the ball running 87 yards to win the game.

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Parity is what keeps football fresh and exciting, and this year parity is everywhere, giving true fans of football something unique and interesting to watch.