Look who's coming to the party......late

[The Butler]

It looks like Ohio State has decided that they really do want the High School Football Finals to be held at OSU. They'll have to wait until at least 2009.

http://cd.columbus.oh.us/prep/preps.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/25/20060825-A1-02.html

[CarlE]

Too bad. These games aren't going ANYWHERE. Well, at least through 2009.

[Marie]

Good enviroment?? Its way too big for high school. I was there for the championship games twice in the 80's and our stadium or Faucett is much better. The fans are too spread out at OSU staudium.
They need to stay here.

[Al.]

Playing on grass in December in Ohio :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[longtimefirsttime]

I agree with the aformentioned reasons.

[TigerCoach]

One of the main reasons they are played here are that we have 2 stadiums, not just the 1 that OSU has. Both of our stadiums have a GREAT high school environment and pack megawatts of energy. Playing in OSU stadium in front of 30,000 is depressing compared to the 20,000 at PBTS or Fawcett.

[TigerVic]

When the games were down here, no one really cared. It was barely mentioned in the media, even when we played Moeller in '82. I highly doubt that would change- high school football is just something you might do on a fall Friday night here and it's forgotten the next day.

You might recall that they initially only had one gate opened at the stadium for that Moeller game!

Except for that Moeller game, other title games were swallowed up by the concrete.

Columbus, as Cincinnati, is only in it for the money.

Note that they are talking about using the Jesse Owens track stadium, which is near the Schottenstein Center and baseball stadium. I doubt they have done the work on that turf compared to what was done in the football stadium. It would be a mess.

What a fine time to bring this up! By the way, this was not in the sports section in the print edition of the Dispatch. It was the featured story- taking up the entire middle of the front page. The picture they had of PBTS was small and taken at an angle to make the stadium look as small as possible. There was no picture of Fawcett.

[The Butler]

What a fine time to bring this up!

Exactly, why now? When C'bus put their bid in for the 2007-'09 games wheres was OSU? Isn't high school football starting in Central Ohio tonight?

[GrowlingTiger87]

I never thought about the grass field aspect. Didn't the OHSAA want to keep these games on turf?

[Al.]

I never thought about the grass field aspect. Didn't the OHSAA want to keep these games on turf?

But then again, the OHSAA does like $$. Remember it is what is "best for the kids." :scratchchin:

[GrowlingTiger87]

Reasons why it doesn't belong anywhere else BUT Stark County:

1) The cost of the facility would likely be much more than PBTS and HOF Field.

2) As a result, the ticket prices would likely be a little higher.

3) C-bus is a COLLEGE town. High School football was PERFECTED here.

4) I don't think the attendance would be much higher, if at all. The stadium is simply too big for this event.

[pyromaniac]

The article mentions the field would still be safe if the weather got bad, as it usually does in November/December. Safe and good to play on are two entirely different things. The field in Canton was safe to play on when Iggy and X played the last championship game on grass at Fawcett, but it was also ankle deep in mud. Any move to a grass field would be foolhardy and has the potential to affect the outcome of a game. We have seen that firsthand with that mess of a field at Arlin against Pickerington in '02.

[DAWGH8R]

In our last TITLE GAME in Columbus, there was WAY too much room. Heck, 30,000 looks like a ghost town, in that monster!!:alien:

[RAPTOR]

I think we should just build a dome over our stadium before 2009. That should keep the games here for a very long time.

[DB135]

http://ee.dispatch.com/Repository2/TCD/2006/08/25/6/Img/Ar0060100.gif


FIGHTING FOR THE FINALS
http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/25/20060825-A1-02.html


Players want to shine at ’Shoe
http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/25/20060825-A1-05.html


A title, and its pursuit, burnish lasting memories
http://www.dispatch.com/prep/preps.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/25/20060825-A7-00.html


http://ee.dispatch.com/Repository2/TCD/2006/08/25/7/Img/Ar0070100.gif

[TigerVic]

I hope they don't purport to mean that survey to be the thoughts of all current players in Ohio (and why should current players be the main deciding factor anyway? Current players (and students in general) have little sense of history and tradition- anything that happpened before 2003 doesn't matter. There are many other people/issues to deal with).

Very unscientific poll- usually they do a random selection of a larger population, which would give much more accurate results.

I guess that's the math educator in me talking.

[DB135]

Failing to address the OHSAA's bid requirements was the main reason bids from Cincinnati and Columbus were rejected in the past. Now we see they haven't got the point again since they're pushing a revised proposal that still isn't what the OHSAA requires.

The point is no where in the state is there a better situation in all aspects of game hosting to beat Stark County. So now the Dispatch is going to resort to pressure tactics to force a less than ideal situation on the states' football fans. For a test balloon lets look at the North - South game to see if moving games to a central location was an automatic formula for success?

[TigerVic]

Yeah- they really packed Crew Stadium for the North-South game. On TV, it looked very scattered between the 30s - even around the 50 yard line.

It was quite the media circus- a middle of the section pregame story in the Dispatch and a column beside the agate type page for the game story.

[Kamd50]

This sums it all up for me ....""In Columbus, the Buckeyes are the main attraction; in Cleveland and Cincinnati, the professional football teams take center stage; but in Massillon and Canton, Friday nights in the fall are what people live for," said Chris Spielman, who played at Massillon Washington High School and Ohio State. "I say leave the games there.""
from http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/15363428.htm

[longtimefirsttime]

Failing to address the OHSAA's bid requirements was the main reason bids from Cincinnati and Columbus were rejected in the past. Now we see they haven't got the point again since they're pushing a revised proposal that still isn't what the OHSAA requires.

The point is no where in the state is there a better situation in all aspects of game hosting to beat Stark County. So now the Dispatch is going to resort to pressure tactics to force a less than ideal situation on the states' football fans. For a test balloon lets look at the North - South game to see if moving games to a central location was an automatic formula for success?

:iagree:

[GrowlingTiger87]

Basically, for Tressel, it's about getting an extra look at potential recruits. He could care less about what the best possible atmosphere for high school championships are. And to think he has ties to Massillon.

Even if I WAS an Ohio State fan, I'd still be PO'd with Tressel for making this statement that's all about benefiting HIM. He's obviously done a pretty good job of recruiting. I don't think he needs the finals there to assist him.

In this case, he is being a selfish old punk. :obiefanfire: