Where to play the high school finals?

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:23 am

After 16 years of playing the games in some combination of Akron's Rubber Bowl, Canton's Fawcett Stadium and Massillion's Paul Brown Stadium, The Dispatch makes the case for moving the finals back to Ohio Stadium.

They cite a survey of some top programs in which 52 percent express a preference for Ohio Stadium. The combination of Canton and Massillion attract 26 percent. NFL stadiums receive about 11 percent each.

(The Glass Bowl and Doyt Perry Stadium were each favored by 1 percent, incidentally. No other MAC stadiums were mentioned. That actually impressed me).

Links here:

http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php? ... A1-02.html

http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php? ... A1-05.html

http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php? ... A6-01.html

http://www.dispatch.com/issue/issue.php?story=207555

Some random thoughts:

-- This has some bearing on the MAC title game. I personally think Canton would be a wonderful place to play it, but that isn't going to happen unless the high school finals are moved somewhere else.

-- I prefer Massillion/Canton to anywhere else, personally.

-- The worst possible option is Ohio Stadium. I'd rather they play the finals on North Bass Island. Anything that's good for the Buckeyes is bad for us.

-- The story mentions the fact that a group in Toledo may put together a bid. Hopefully, if this happens, common sense will prevail and the proposal will consist of a joint Perry Stadum-Glass Bowl plan.

-- When did high school coaches start turning into a bunch of girly men? One of the stories features Massillion Washington's coach whining about how awful it would be to play the final on grass. My gosh, what does he think football teams did before the Astrodome was built?

-- I don't care if the high school athletic association were to hand us the finals in perpetuity on a silver platter. We don't need plastic grass at Perry Stadium.

Lord_Byron · Post by **Lord_Byron** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:32 am

When I was in HS, there were only Semis and Finals.

During the 1974 season we played to packed houses every week including 20K at Fawcett Stadium. We then went to Columbus to play Moeller in the second game of a double header in the semis. There were about 35,000 people there and the place seemed empty. It was really pretty unsettling playing in a quiet atmosphere.

The following week we played the championship game at the Rubber Bowl, and it was much better with a fuller stadium.

The playoffs need to be in smaller stadiums.

Rollo83 · Post by **Rollo83** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:46 am

Games need to be on an artificial turf if at all possible. Grass fields get beat up all season by the home teams. Natural turf fields are usally green painted dirt by the end of the season anyway, with that nice bald spot down the middle of the field between the hash marks. Plus, inclement weather in late-November and early-December can turn a natural turf field into mush real quick. That isn't a fair place to play a high school championship in my opinion.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:09 am

Both teams are playing under the same conditions, so it seems fair to me to play a football game on grass/dirt/mud/green paint/whatever.

We have only 4 games at the Doyt this season. I think the grass would be just fine for a late November/early December high school playoff game or two.

MACMAN · Post by **MACMAN** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:14 am

Rollo83 wrote:Games need to be on an artificial turf if at all possible. Grass fields get beat up all season by the home teams. Natural turf fields are usally green painted dirt by the end of the season anyway, with that nice bald spot down the middle of the field between the hash marks. Plus, inclement weather in late-November and early-December can turn a natural turf field into mush real quick. That isn't a fair place to play a high school championship in my opinion.

that is part of the game, the candy ass manipulation by people to artifical surfaces has removed a whole very important aspect of the game.
Football needs to be played in open air, on natural turf fields in all weather, anything els is less than quality football.

transfer2BGSU · Post by **transfer2BGSU** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:16 am

Rollo83 wrote:Plus, inclement weather in late-November and early-December can turn a natural turf field into mush real quick. That isn't a fair place to play a high school championship in my opinion.

It's called Football. Not sure what pansy-@$$ game you want them to play but it sounds as if its to be played by a bunch of girls

Real men play football and it doesn't matter the weather

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:23 am

MACMAN wrote:
Rollo83 wrote:Games need to be on an artificial turf if at all possible. Grass fields get beat up all season by the home teams. Natural turf fields are usally green painted dirt by the end of the season anyway, with that nice bald spot down the middle of the field between the hash marks. Plus, inclement weather in late-November and early-December can turn a natural turf field into mush real quick. That isn't a fair place to play a high school championship in my opinion.

that is part of the game, the candy ass manipulation by people to artifical surfaces has removed a whole very important aspect of the game.
Football needs to be played in open air, on natural turf fields in all weather, anything els is less than quality football.

I have never agreed with anything MACMAN has said as much as I agree with this.

Football should NEVER be played on artificial turf, or in a pansy-ass dome. Gimme green painted dirt, if that's what it takes.

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 12:54 pm

Warthog wrote:Both teams are playing under the same conditions, so it seems fair to me to play a football game on grass/dirt/mud/green paint/whatever.

We have only 4 games at the Doyt this season. I think the grass would be just fine for a late November/early December high school playoff game or two.

But not three. The games have been split three and three between PBTS and Fawcett. In late November, it's unlikely that a grass field anywhere in Ohio could host three games in about 36 hours.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:11 pm

Bullsh!t. I give our grounds crew more credit then you. Besides, it's football. What hell does it matter what the condition of the field is? They gonna cancel the games if it rains?

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:12 pm

Warthog wrote:They gonna cancel the games if it rains?

Toledo would have us do so. And if we don't they just start spouting off about sprinklers and candy or something...

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:23 pm

Lord_Byron wrote:When I was in HS, there were only Semis and Finals.

During the 1974 season we played to packed houses every week including 20K at Fawcett Stadium. We then went to Columbus to play Moeller in the second game of a double header in the semis. There were about 35,000 people there and the place seemed empty. It was really pretty unsettling playing in a quiet atmosphere.

The following week we played the championship game at the Rubber Bowl, and it was much better with a fuller stadium.

The playoffs need to be in smaller stadiums.

I couldn't agree more. Call me something of a homer since I grew up in North Canton and am very familiar with what the Stark County folks do for the championship games. There is no other place in the state of Ohio that offers two top notch stadia that seat 17-23 thousand and can accomodate all six games over a two day stretch. The seating capacity is ideal because it doesn't seem cavernous when only 6 thousand turn out for some of the games, and can also handle the largest crowds for, say, a McKinley vs. Moeller, or Ingatius vs. Massillon (you get the point...two monster schools in the final). Like it or not, the games should be played on an artificial surface in the interest of all of the student athletes having a positive experience (both Fawcett and Paul Brown have relatively new surfaces...not the old Fstroturf of that terrible Sand Turf that Massillon used to have; it felt like walking on plywood decking that wasn't well supported).
The sites were up for grabs this past year, and no one submitted a plan to host the games that was better than that of Stark County. Keep the games where they are, where I and countless other believe they should be. It's not broken (it's operating pretty flawlessly, frankly), so don't fix it.

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:31 pm

Taking this thread on a little different course, Schad mentioned the ramifications of Canton losing HS Championships affecting the MACC.

With the perceived glitz of an NFL stadium and the Q for hoops, it is clear to me the MAC wants to showcase it's finals in a pro-level stadium- even if it is 60% empty. Now, I understand Fawcett has undergone some renovations and is much better than it was just a few years ago, but I don't think it would be a showcase facility.

I'm not a big fan of the MACC and Motor City bowl being in the same place, making a return trip innevitable for one of the teams. The location of the MACC is negotiable, and like the hoops tourney that was in Detroit for some years, I would hope the MACC would have an opportunity to relocate as well; not because Ford Field is a bad venue or location, but because of fairness of rotating the location, making it accessable to fan bases conference wide.

All that said, I am not sure where a good place to put the game would be. The campus site idea is decent, but only works finnancially and aesthetically when one of the teams playing is the host, and I don't like that advantage.

Ideas tossed around when the MACC contract was up included Browns Stadium, Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium, Fawcett and others.

At the risk of being called a pansy; I wonder if a game so far away from campus would draw, outdoors, on a week night? Of course Cleveland would be near to KSU, AK-Rowdy, and not too far for BG and Toledo. Cincy would be ideal for MU and not bad for OU, but certainly would isolate the Michigan schools.

What about Columbus? They did a decent job at Battelle with the hoops. And no I am not talking about the Horseshoe. What about Columbus Crew stadium? It is a moderate capacity stadium that wouldn't look barren on ESPN, somewhat centrally located, GRASS, and easily accessable from the interstate. Would it be a mistake to play in the shadows of Ohio State?

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

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:33 pm

Warthog wrote:Bullsh!t. I give our grounds crew more credit then you. Besides, it's football. What hell does it matter what the condition of the field is? They gonna cancel the games if it rains?

Our grounds crew consists of what, three full-time people that probably also have facilities in their titles and job description and the baseball team if they are in town to pull the tarp?

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:34 pm

"Everyone loves the Buckeyes...."
I hope that Tom Stacy, a BGSU alumnus, rolled his eyes when he said that.

always a falcon · Post by **always a falcon** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:41 pm

Dayons_Den wrote:
Warthog wrote:Bullsh!t. I give our grounds crew more credit then you. Besides, it's football. What hell does it matter what the condition of the field is? They gonna cancel the games if it rains?

Our grounds crew consists of what, three full-time people that probably also have facilities in their titles and job description and the baseball team if they are in town to pull the tarp?

Our grounds crew is absolutely awesome. Do you see brown patches in our turf? They are the reason that there is not the hue and cry for plastic grass in DLP. They work their aZZes off and have great pride in that stadium and the rest of our athletic grounds. *steps off soapbox*