Remember back in June when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association turned down ESPNU’s bid to televise the Butler-Independence football game to a national audience?

This was the official NCHSAA rationale:

…the North Carolina High School Athletic Association prohibits member football and basketball teams from playing live on television. “A game of this significance could impact (the attendance) of other games, especially on a Friday” says NCHSAA spokesman Rick Strunk.

Now square that with this news:

The state 4AA title game will be seen live at 8 p.m. on News 14 Carolina. Time Warner Cable is now the Official Television Partner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA).

Catch the difference? Time Warner is doubtless cutting a big, fat check to the NCHSAA. Once again money talks. As we said back in June, the NCHSAA had nothing to gain from letting the entire country see what later proved to be a Bulldog-Patriot game for the ages, so the NCHSAA stopped it from happening. Now we see the bigger picture.

The NCHSAA is fast moving to set itself up as some sort of NCAA Lite, complete with broadcast contracts and veto power over how member schools interact with third-parties. The group’s 2005 tax info shows that total assets grew by over $2 million that year to $13.5 million. It does not need to get bigger or more powerful.

But it seems bent on doing both.