By Thomas J. McKillen
Managing Editor

Between the WIAA and the Messmer/Shorewood cooperative football program, a lot of high school football coaches and fans in Wisconsin have a lot to be annoyed about.

This year was supposed to be the beginning of a reasonable start to the postseason. Gone is the warped schedule where the second-last regular season game on Friday was followed by the last regular season game the next Wednesday or Thursday, with the start of playoffs on the next Tuesday.

This year, the season started a week early, which meant another week of coaches (and sometime referees) in shorts. The days were longer, the weather warmer, and it seemed a lot more like summer than fall. But still, there was a payoff: A full week between games at the end of the season.

The schedule won't change, but the preparation is up in the air due to a row between Messmer/Shorewood and the WIAA. Messmer/Shorewood — better known as "Messwood" to its fans — left the Woodland Conference in 2007 for independent status. As a result, it began to serve a four-year ban on postseason play which is called for by WIAA rules for schools that bail out of a conference.

This year is the fourth year of the ban, but Messwood is now in a conference, the Midwest Classic Conference. According to various media reports citing press releases,  Messwood officials asked about the program status on Sept. 29  but didn't receive a response until Oct. 13, when the WIAA said they were still ineligible.

Of course, Messwood officials decided to go to court on Oct. 14  to reverse the action, citing WIAA language regarding conference affiliation.  And of course, going to court completely messes up plans by the WIAA to prepare playoff brackets following the games that concluded Oct. 14. As a result, the WIAA issued a press release stating the brackets would not be issued until Oct. 17 (Monday) due to "pending litigation."

Something has to be said for the Messwood football program: After years of struggling to become competitive, this year was a bright spot. The team posted a 4-2 conference record in the Midwest Classic North Division, which is comprised of small private schools. For this level, Messwood is a solid program (If anyone asks: Yes, I did see Messwood play,  as they got within a touchdown of Living Word Lutheran a few weeks ago before the Timberwolves pulled away for the win).

I'm trying to be polite about this, but it has also to be said: They're not the biggest deal in Wisconsin football. It's baffling to think that a dispute between the WIAA and  this program will wipe out two days of preparation by coaches and administrations for the first round of playoffs.

Where will teams play? How will administrators coordinate concessions with booster clubs and line up transportation if they're playing away? How will coaches network with friends to get game film on first around opponents? Under the original Friday timeline for brackets, that could have been sorted out by Monday so it would be a normal week in terms of preparation.  Instead, coaches will have to figure out what Monday practice will be, not knowing who their opponent is.

Couldn't this situation between the WIAA and Messwood have been figured out before the last week of regular season games?

From a distance, it just seems that the way things worked in this dispute leaves much to be desired.