The Virginia High School League has tweaked and twisted the formula for its football power ratings a number of times through the years.

But the tweaking needs to stop. It's time to throw them out altogether.

The main reason is this: They're way too complicated for most human beings to figure out.

Truth be told, in South Hampton Roads, there are only a handful of people who have the wherewithal to begin to figure them out. And that is flat-out ridiculous. That being the case, these things obviously are way too complicated.

An example of why they need to be thrown out: There are football coaches in South Hampton Roads who check with The Pilot to find out what their playoff situation is. In other words, they're asking the newspaper for information about how they should approach the stretch run. What do they need to do to make the playoffs? Who needs to win, who needs to lose? The VHSL formula is so complex that coaches don't have the time or inclination to try to do all the calculations. So they call The Pilot.

Another example of why they need to be thrown out: Oscar Smith clearly is the most dominant Divison 6 team in the Eastern Region. There's not a high school football fan in Hampton Roads with half a brain who would dispute that. Yet Oscar Smith is likely to be the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Region Division 6 playoffs because Ocean Lakes' power rating likely is going to wind up a smidge higher than Oscar Smith's. That's just ludicrous, not that it will mean anything once the playoff games begin.

Yet another example, and this one is really hypothetical: Let's say you're the athletic director at a Group A school that's classified as Division 1. Somehow, you manage to schedule all Group AAA schools. Ten games vs. Group AAA schools. You lose every game. And all of those Group AAA schools go undefeated. Still, because you lost 10 games to 10 teams that went 10-0, your power rating would be 22.00. You would get 12 power points per game for losing to each Group AAA school and you'd pick up 10 bonus points for each game those teams won. So you'd have 220 power points divided by 10 games for a 22.0 power points. And, get this, among all Division 1 teams in the state, you'd currently be fifth in all of Virginia. With an 0-10 record. If you could pull such a thing off, you could snare a No. 1 seed in your region with an 0-10 record.

And right there is the key problem. Awarding points in any system for games a team loses throws the whole thing way out of whack. For instance, a team that loses to Oscar Smith by a 3-0 score gets the same number of points as a team that loses to Oscar Smith 66-0.

The VHSL would make a big step in the right direction simply by throwing out that part of the equation. Do not award anything for games lost. Zero. Nothing. Make the only games that count the ones a team wins. That would simplify things enormously.

A couple of other tidbits on Tuesday:

* This week's Churchland at Wilson game has been moved from Saturday to Friday due to SAT testing. Kickoff on Friday at Wilson is set for 3:30 p.m.

* Oscar Smith quarterback Phillip Sims has now entered a postion where he's really making a major assault on South Hampton Roads and VHSL records. In South Hampton Roads career passing yards, which includes only regular-season games, Sims is now inside of 2,600 yards from the top of the list. And he has one regular-season game this season and all of next season left. On the VHSL list, which includes postseason games, Sims is now inside of 2,400 yards from the top of the list. And he has as many as six more games left this season and all of next season.  

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