Wando As Black Hole
Upon further consideration, I think Wando's effect in the 4A poll is that of a soccer black hole. As we all remember from the Discovery Channel and high school and college physics there exist in space collapsed supernovae so massive their matter converges in upon their centers creating a superdense yet relatively small (in cosmic terms) body that sucks in all matter within its effective gravitational field. In reflecting upon a 5 day period of time when #3 Wando takes a 2-1 pk victory from #11 West Ashley then loses to #14 James Island in pk's one would assume some degree of parity (equalness) among the three teams in the polls. JI then defeats WA in regulation on Friday night. Such parity has historical precedent in recent memory.
But instead of the three Region 7 teams converging somewhere between the #6 - 11 spots we see Wando remain implacably at their #3 rank. No movement. JI and WA behave more as expected: JI moves in three spots reflecting their two victories over higher ranked opponents while WA with two losses on the week backs up a bit to #12, just on the other side of JI. Two good west of the peninsula teams play Wando even, but Wando doesn't budge in the rankings.
Is there a flaw in Newton's laws of gravity? No, Einstein's rules take over: It's the Black Hole effect. Wando (and Mount Pleasant in general) has long been known to exert a cultural and economic gravitational force that far exceeds its population demographics. Straighter teeth, better cars, a plethora of Starbucks, more bottled water per capita... these are but a few manifestations of Wando's gravitational force. Now we are seeing its effect in the polls. Play two lowly ranked Region 7 rivals to pk's, win one and lose one, yet hold steady on the 4A rankings like the North Star itself. Impressive feat.
ps: The only thing about the Black Hole analogy that bothers me is the name itself. As best my aging eyes have seen, no African American players have been present on the Wando Varsity team for the last 5 years. Any one for the White Hole effect?
