I’ve always acknowledged that words, not numbers, are my friends. So it remains.

I put up this post on Tuesday, linking to a story in the Marion (O.) Star about the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s look at conducting separate state championships for its public and private schools. The idea stemmed from a survey sent out statewide by school superintendents in Wayne County, Ohio.

I ran some numbers in that post that were, well, they were close, but they weren’t 100 percent accurate.

In short, I said that private schools have won 243 PIAA team championships since private schools joined the PIAA in 1972 (more accurately, PIAA was forced to accept private schools that year after the General Assembly changed the school code, barring PIAA from barring private schools). That number was incorrect; the correct number is 256.

I worked off of my PIAA all-time championships database on Tuesday and I did so in a hurry; I had a “date” with my ex-wife on the 8th floor of the Dauphin County Human Services building that turned out to be the most expensive “date” I’ve ever had with any woman. Anyone who has been to the 8th floor knows exactly what I mean.

The bottom line is I went through the database once, rapidly and did not double-check my work. Yep, made a few errors.

I went back through each sport and recalculated the numbers. As noted, private schools have won 256 PIAA team championships since joining PIAA (of all sports, I failed to add in the 13 football titles won by privates). I also said there have been 1,580 PIAA team championships all-time (I still believe that to be correct), but when I calculated the number of total team titles since 1972, I used a completely erroneous total of 951 that came from another calculation, and thus reported that private schools have won nearly 26 percent of the state team championships.

Um, no. Since 1972, the PIAA has crowned 1,399 team champions. Using these correct numbers, private schools have won 18.3 percent of the state titles since 1972. Private school membership has usually been around 15 percent of total PIAA membership, so the private school titles run at just a slightly higher percentage of representation.

I apologize for the error.

If someone wants to check my math – and please do – I have added the following pdf file: Public v Private

Unfortunately, my 100-mph error left readers with the impression that private schools have been over-represented in PIAA team titles by winning about a quarter of them when in fact their numbers are in line with their percentage of membership.

As you can see, the problem is child is basketball, specifically girls’ basketball. Private schools have won 51.9 percent of PIAA girls’ hoop titles, and that’s where the flame burns the hottest on the public-private issue.

But what’s just as important – maybe even more important – is to look at the percentages of the other sports. By and large, the publics completely overwhelm the privates. No private school has won a PIAA boys volleyball or dual meet wrestling title. Private school titles are rare in baseball, softball and field hockey.

While it’s not entirely accurate to say the public v. private dust-up is a basketball-only issue, there really isn’t any other PIAA sport that has percentages as out-of-balance as hoops. That’s the No. 2 reason why I have always argued against the concept of separate championships, although based on their dismal numbers in some sports, the privates just might think it’s a swell idea.

Anyhow, I needed to correct the research. Like I said, numbers and I don’t always get along. Just ask the folks on the 8th floor.

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This story appeared in the Marion Star recently, indicating that the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA, the PIAA’s Ohio counterpart) is looking at separating the public and private school championships. (Hat tip to District 3 treasurer Bob baker and District 3 committee member Doug Bohannon for passing this along.)

Based on the story, this issue has some legs in Ohio. That’s interesting because the reasons for considering such a drastic move are virtually identical to the reasons the issue has been discussed – without success – in Pennsylvania.

As noted, only three states that have private schools as members of their state associations have separate championships. Other states have only public schools as members.

As it happens, Pennsylvania is ripe for a serious look at the matter, even though Catholic schools are shrinking in enrollment and numbers (Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, which each used to have numerous Catholic high schools, are each served by one now; several Philadelphia area Catholic schools have merged in the last three years).

The PIAA is currently in the process of reviewing its entire structure, from the public vs. private issue right down to how it qualifies schools for its championships. Never has the climate been better for actual change.

But the question here is: Should it change? Advocates of separate championships for public and private schools or at least a different system of classification for private schools are passionate about the issue. Proof is that the matter is revisited on an perennial basis.

Personally, I think this is Crybaby Central and always has been. The privates have an advantage available to them, but I can’t abide separate championships.

It is a fact that private schools have won a high proportion of basketball championships relative to their numbers, especially in Class AA and and Class A. The problem is especially acute in small-school girls basketball.

The privates show up pretty large in other sports as well, soccer chief among them. But by and large, private school dominance is a non-issue in a number of sports. There’s an enormous amount of data available on this issue, but we’re just going to focus on totals.

All-time, there have been 1,580 PIAA team championships in all sports (excluding gymnastics, which is absent complete results).

Of those 1,580 team titles, 243 – or 15 percent – have been won by private schools. That’s roughly the percentage of private schools that are PIAA members.

But private schools have only been PIAA members since 1972; PIAA has been conducting championships since 1920, starting with boys basketball and adding other sports over the years.

When the pre-1972 years are excluded, the percentage of private school championships jumps to about 26 percent, an over-representation, but one inflated by the basketball results.

Since this is a general, and not a scientific, exercise, I’m skipping past all of the necessary statistics and disclaimers and possibilities to get to a central point: Yes, privates do have an advantage because of their ability to draw from multiple public school districts and even nationwide (Milton Hershey comes to mind).

But so what? I get the advantage, but I can’t stand the whining. I wouldn’t argue against a reasonable remedy regarding classifications, but there is no way I would support separate championships. The great thing about the PIAA Championships is they are virtually all-inclusive since the addition of the Philadelphia Public League and Philadelphia Catholic League schools. In that sense, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, yes, there are some private school issues that merit serious discussion. But separate championships should not be a part of that discussion.

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Follow RodFrisco.com on Facebook and Twitter. Click the icons on the lower right side of the page. Want to find information on a specific sport? Use the tabs at the top of the page or click on the category to the right.

Follow RodFrisco.com on Facebook and Twitter. Click the icons on the lower right side of the page. Want to find information on a specific sport? Use the tabs at the top of the page or click on the category to the right.

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UPDATE NO. 1: Added Lebanon High’s 1940 PIAA boys basketball title and York Catholic’s boys’ hoops title. What omissions! Thanks to my pal Steve Navaroli of the York Daily Record for pointing out the YC absence.

UPDATE NO. 2: Ben Weirick fills in a blank, noting that Selinsgrove is the missing PIAA 1976 Class AA boys track team champion. We’ll confirm this with some research, but there’s no reason to doubt it based on the ’76 results.

The list isn’t complete, and it’s not perfect. Keep the additions/corrections coming. Thanks.

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Normally, re-posts are a really cheap way of looking like you’re doing something. But I’m going to re-post this file periodically because, well, I’m kind of proud of it. That, and I think you’ll find it interesting.

When you “retire” and you’re a certified high school sports geek like I am, you think things like: Who has the most all-time state champions in Pennsylvania? (Yep, that’s the kind of stuff that streaks through my mind.)

Worse, I actually took the time to figure it out and compile a database.

I finally got the thing completed and posted it in early July when everyone was at the beach. So, now that football is beginning to take hold and more folks are coming to the site, I’m re-posting it for those who might have missed it while they were tanning and shooing away gulls.

According to my research, North Allegheny has produced more combined state champions – team and individual – than any school in Pennsylvania with 130 PIAA championships. The Tigers have won 87 individual championships and a rather astounding 43 team championships.

That team number is just amazing. Consider that NA, which formed in 1959, has won team championships in 10 different sports: baseball, cross-country, football, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball and track. The only sports in which NA has not won a team title are basketball, field hockey, golf and lacrosse. Just give them another 50 years and the Tigers will be fine.

The original story, posted on July 10, is here. The 38-page database detailing every state championship won by every school (except for gymnastics) is here.

Find your school and see if you agree with the numbers. That way, you’ll be as big of a geek as I am.

Rod