After reading the latest quotes from the outspoken Hermantown coach and having my doubts as to their veracity, I decided to use the latest in lie detection technology to see if Plante is indeed telling the truth when it comes to his team not opting up. I took his quotes and ran them through the Truth-O-Tron 6000 supercomputer to see if they hold up to factual scrutiny. When reading the Truth-O-Tronâs answers, use a robot voice in your head, itâs more accurate that way.
Plante: (In response to those who call for them to opt-up.)
âI donât listen to that,â he says
Truth-O-Tron 6000: Boop. Beep This is true, Plante obviously doesnât listen to calls to opt up, for if he did he would be deaf by now.
Plante: âI just donât believe we can compete at that level every year,â
Truth-O-Tron 6000: False. Hermantown has a 40-14-3 record vs AA teams and a 15-4-1 record vs 7AA teams since 2009. They have beaten Wayzata, and have two one goal losses to Eden Prairie, and are 20-4-1 vs the other teams that opt up to AA over this time period. The analysis is clear, Hermantown can compete at AA every year. Beep-boop!
Plante: âHereâs your choice: Do you want to be an average double-A team and have a better team once in a while or do you want to be one of the better single-A teams every year? And thatâs what I choose.â
Truth-O-Tron 6000: Beep! While it is true that this is what he chooses, his claims that his teams two options are to be an average AA team or one of the better A teams is a false choice.
Analysis shows that Hermantownâs PageStat and USHHSO rankings for the last decade-which take into account all teams A and AA-have been 21, 8, 14, 20, 17, 14, 47, 9, 18, 4. After tossing out the statistical anomaly of their one bad season, they have an average ranking of 12.7. Factoring in that almost every year at least one A team is ranked above them, their ranking in AA would be much closer to 11, and logical analysis says that if you are the #11 team in AA on average, then you are far better than an
âaverage double A teamâ whose ranking would be closer to #40. Buzz! Beep!
Boop!. Analysis of the claim that Hermantown is
âone of the better single A teams every yearâ shows this to be false. Hermantownâs has been to 7 Class A title games over the past decade, therefore the only accurate way to describe them is as one of the
best teams in A every year. Analysis indicates Plante is purposely underestimating his team in order to deflect attention from his team dominating at the Class A level.
Plante: âAs soon as you get good and you have a good team, everyone wants you to go to double-A,â the coach said. âItâs not just us; itâs every other team thatâs good. East Grand Forks is getting the same thing. Well, what do we want all the good teams in double-A and all the (bad) teams in single-A? I donât know if I agree with that, either.â
Truth-O-Tron 6000: Buzz! Whirrr! Extreme falsehood alarm! Extreme falsehood alarm! No opt-up calls for top ten A team such as St. Cloud Apollo, TRF, Mahtomedi, Luverne, Delano, and SPA have been detected. Only a couple calls for EGF to opt-up have been detected, but analysis of those calls indicate they were made by dim individuals unable to distinguish between a program that has had two great classes come through and a program that has been dominant for well over a decade.
Beep! I compute the ratio of calls for Hermantown to opt-up vs calls for other teams to opt-up to be 100:1 at a minimum.
And if Plante is concerned that Class A will wind up with just the bad teams, then he should be actively campaigning for teams with Class A enrollments such as STA and BSM to get back into Class A as soon as possible to bolster the quality of teams. He should not be concerned that these teams get players from large metro areas, because his own Hawks allow open enrollment in a metro area of over 150,000 people, and furthermore..Buzz! Beep! Boop-boop-boop!
End of data analysis.
At this point I had to shut the machine down as it was smoking and about to crash from being overloaded with false statements. For Planteâs next interview, I will make sure to upgrade to the Truth-O-Tron 7000 so that it can handle both the extreme volume and stark egregiousness of the false claims that are sure to be made as Hermantown continues dominance over AA teams this season.