Where to play the high school finals?

[hammb]

Watching games on field turf, it seems a LOT more slippery to me than grass. Most athletes seem to still prefer grass, and I'd rather watch a game on grass.

Grass is NOT perfect, and it's not supposed to be. That's one of the great things about it.

[TG1996]

Grass is NOT perfect, and it's not supposed to be. That's one of the great things about it.

It was perfect when it got me through my senior year...


....oh, nevermind.

[Schadenfreude]

Fieldturf is BETTER than grass.

I hear aluminum bats are better than wood bats, too.

[Falcon30]

Fieldturf is BETTER than grass.

I hear aluminum bats are better than wood bats, too.

Golf

[Falcon30]

Watching games on field turf, it seems a LOT more slippery to me than grass. Most athletes seem to still prefer grass, and I'd rather watch a game on grass.

Grass is NOT perfect, and it's not supposed to be. That's one of the great things about it.

I would like to see what the feelings are now about fieldturf v. grass by those who have played on both.

Grass isn't perfect, but the game is meant to be played on a nice grass surface. Football is not meant to be played in a mud pit. How "imperfect" is acceptable? some bare spots? some uneven spots? some ruts?

I am not saying that the Doyt should put in field turf. I am saying that some of you have outdated opinions of artificial turf. True, some of it isn't great. I personally think FieldTurf is very, very good and would put it in my friggin lawn if I could.

[Falcon30]

AND - back on topic, I listened to the sports radio station in columbus on my way down to my inlaws yesterday. They had a debate about how every kid in ohio wants to play at the horseshoe and Columbus should host.

Chris Spielman kept talking about how HS football is bigger outside of Central Ohio, and that Massilon and Canton should keep the finals because of their passion and that it was a bigger deal for them than it would be in Columbus or Cincinnati.

I would just like to point out that the reason HS football doesn't mean SQUAT in central ohio is that there is no sense of community in the suburbs down there, they split up their high schools within a community (3 in dublin, 3 in westerville, soon to be three in hilliard, etc.) and they create new high schools with no tradition and alumni base. When my in-laws lived closer to columbus, they had a worthington phone exchange, delaware county water, a westerville mailing address, were part of the Olentangy school district, but technically, I think, lived in columbus. Ask someone in Columbus where they live and they might not be able to answer!

I grew up in North Olmsted, went to North Olmsted High School. It's simple.

That and the OCC is a monster - a 30-team league with 6 divisions. No one can develop rivalries because they shift divisions all the time and they stupidly don't allow teams from the same city play in the same division. (that rule is going away, finally).

Columbus is messed up.

[Falcon30]

Fieldturf is BETTER than grass.

I hear aluminum bats are better than wood bats, too.

Golf

I feel the need to elaborate -

is baseball better with aluminum bats, or is it worse? (worse) Is golf better with all the technological advancements in equipment? (debatable...)

aluminum bats may be "better" but the game is worse.

I think the game of football is worse on a mud pit than it is on good artificial turf.

[hammb]

I don't like football on terrible natural surfaces either. I agree, that I don't think any 1 field could host all those games and still be decent by the end.

I still think a natural surface, with it's imperfections that evolve throughout a game is the ideal situation. If you're intent on playing the games all at the same stadium, then fieldturf is likely preferable.

The 'shoe sucks for HS football, because they cannot generate large enough of a crowd o make it not look cavernous & empty.

[Schadenfreude]

I think the game of football is worse on a mud pit than it is on good artificial turf.

I don't.

Some of the greatest football games every played included the weather as a factor.

I mentioned the 1967 NFL championship, the "Ice Bowl."

What about the 1950 "Snow Bowl" between Michigan and Ohio State?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/f ... ggames.ap/

How about the 1932 NFL championship? Granted, they took it inside to Chicago Stadium because of the blizzards -- but they weren't even concerned about grass. It was played a dirt field left over from a traveling circus.

And here is what the field looked like for "the greatest game ever played," the 1958 NFL championship:



And this was the scene last night in Oakland:

[TG1996]

And this was the scene last night in Oakland:

But if the Lions are involved, can it really be considered "football"???

[BGorDeath]

Boo Hoo, it snowed on our game and we couldn't run our spread offense and we lost because we couldn't adapt. We are high school players who worked long and hard to get this far in the playoffs. It's not fair. Boo hoo.

Quit treating high schoolers like they are pansies. Or should I say start treating high schoolers like the pansies they are.

Besides, when I was in high school, I walked twenty miles in five foot of snow just to find out class had been cancelled. Today's kids are pussies.

Code: Select all

OK superstar...we all know how tough you were in high school!  I am sure that French horn you carried in the band at half time was mighty heavy on that messy field.

All I am saying is a championship game shouldn't be determined by field conditions.  It seems the folks at the OHSAA agree since they haven't played a championship game on a  natural turf field in decades.[/quote][/quote]

Ok, first of all, I was not in the band in high school because it was full of fags AND I would not have played to french horn.  I would have played the sax to be like Clarence Clemons.  Besides I never heard of a high school  band member complaining that they had to play in the rain at their state competition.

Second, I spent high school football drinking and smoking at halftime instead of listening to a pep talk.  I was listening to Joan Jett.

Third, I played baseball and never complained about the field for a loss.    And I played on some crappy fields. It was all based on ability which is why field conditions are a lame excuse in high school football.

[Falconfreak90]

I saw a quick blurb in yesterday's Cleveland PD that Tressel and Smith, the new AD at OSU, will lobby the OHSAA to get the games back in Columbus. It won't happen for a few years cuz the games are locked into Stark County (where they should stay IMO). Tressel said "Having the state title games in the Shoe would help us recruit students and athletes". First, notice he didn't say "Student-athletes" and second, why the hell should OSU reap any benefits from these games? What about all the other colleges and universities in Ohio? And does OSU need help recruiting? I'm tired of Tressel. He wins a lot of games but his gushy love fest of OSU and denial of the SEVEN other 1-A programs in this state makes me puke. F him. Nothing like playing title games in front of 20-25K in a 100K stadium. Tressel should stick to coaching COLLEGE football and leave HIGH SCHOOL football alone to do it's thing.

GO FALCONS!

[Falconfreak90]

I would like to hear people's opinions of playing the MACC at Crew Stadium.

DD,

I like the idea of playing our conf title game in that stadium. If people want the High School state title games in Columbus, then Crew Stadium would be a good place...but not at OSU.

[Schadenfreude]

I saw a quick blurb in yesterday's Cleveland PD that Tressel and Smith, the new AD at OSU, will lobby the OHSAA to get the games back in Columbus.

I assume that was an Associated Press rewrite of the story from Friday's Dispatch, linked above.

[cbjhack]

The Doyt better be a nice field to play on. With only four home games, five max, it is the most underutilized facility on the BG campus. With average attendance of 15,000, that amounts to 204 people per day, which is less than the number of people that visit the Rec Center each day. (Ohio Stadium on the other hand averages 105,000 per game or 2014 per day). A prof in grad school mentioned that as a tool to warrant the construction of facilities. Don't look at football stadiums or basketball arenas as limited use facilities. On a daily basis they average more usage than most campus buildings.

As for the OHSAA Championships, Columbus put a bid in for the games to be played at Crew Stadium (cap. 22,000) and at Dublin Coffman HS (cap. 8000-10000). Both have easy access to the freeway. Crew has a grass field that rivals the Doyt and believe it or not, Ohio Stadium. Crew has hosted NCAA Soccer in early December and a game against Mexico in February. They have the ability to adapt. Coffman has the field that PBTS and Fawcett have.

As for games in Ohio Stadium, it would be great, but I agree that it would be a bit cavernous. One option if Ohio State hosted the Championships (and it is mentioned in the Dispatch article) is for games to also be played at the Jesse Owens Stadium (cap. 10,000) as well as Ohio Stadium. More than likely the DI, DII, DIII would be held at Ohio Stadium, and the others at Jesse Owens, unless a smaller school may have a big following.

I do think that an attempt should be made to have the games centrally located for everyone sake. As the coach from Ironton mentioned in the article, he can be in North Carolina in the same time that it takes him to drive to Canton (260 miles).

But the best part of this debate is that we are having this debate. Football has been an integral part of Ohio for over 100 years and it is something that has reached every corner of the state. Football is to Ohio what basketball is to Indiana and hockey is to Minnesota. It is our past time and we support it at every level, regardless of who our favorites are. There is nothing like the sound of the band playing in the distance, the smell of the grill at the tailgates, or the roar of the crowd on an exciting play. It is a celebration in the fall that allows us to gather one last time outside before the long cold, dreary winter weather sets in.