WHO BELIEVES STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS SHOULD BE IN COLUMBUS.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

i think the attendance was much better. plenty to do there. hotels, motels everywhere. centrally located for everyone. don't matter if your from lima, or columbus. many people have never known the thrill that is the horseshoe. so many restaurants, christmas shopping everywhere. i think it's a no brainer. the ohio state coach could be seen walking the sidelines watching the playoff games. the jumbotron. the thrill of playing , cheerleading, bands marching on the field of the buckeyes stadium. what do you all say.

[Paladin]

Nothing like a crowd of 10K in a 100,000+ seat stadium.

[Philos_Finest]

There is a discussion on the MVL Forum about this subject. Zanes Vegas has put forth a great idea for the OHSAA to demolish Cooper Stadium & build a 25-30K seat stadium. Crew Stadium would be a great fit if it had turf but their is no way they will get turf as long as the Crew are there.

[BigDintigertown775]

I played there 3 times back in the day for Ironton and loved every minute of it! We were in the Buckeyes locker room twice and the visiting locker room once. It was awesome.

[Malcontent]

I sat in a crowd of 32000 in the Shoe in Columbus at a State Championship game. Stark County needs to get the folks who live there out to the games. They do a great job hosting the games. Now they need to get the local folks out to the games. I say if they do that, the games will always be in Stark County. Maybe black out the games on TV for that part of the State. Personally, I would like to see them in Columbus.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

i was in the crowd at the ironton /asvsm game. that was followed by massilon /moeller. still the largest crowd to date on ohio hs playoff history.who cares how many, or few are there paladin, its about the experience of being there.

[mister b]

I agree, bring it back to Columbus.

I do like the idea of playing it at the Columbus Crew stadium.

Ohio Stadium is really too big for the crowds that the state title games attract.

Shott Arena is too big and too NBAish for most of the boys Final Four basketball games. St John's was a better place in terms of game atmosphere.

[NYF]

Why be worried about how big a place is and how empty it will look. It looks just as bad when you have small crowds now in a smaller stadium. I have been watching state playoffs on ESPN over the last few weeks must of them are in pro stadiums. I don't think the kids playing on the field are to worried about the crowds in ths stands.
Its about the kids not the adults. Ask the kids where they would like to play. I'm guessing most of them would say OSU or the Crew.

[55buckeyes98]

I think you would be able to fill the lower bowl and that is all you really need to fill... no one cares about the upper level and the endzones for a game like this. The North/South game was fun and crowds would be much larger for state championship games.

[1987chieftains]

There is a discussion on the MVL Forum about this subject. Zanes Vegas has put forth a great idea for the OHSAA to demolish Cooper Stadium & build a 25-30K seat stadium. Crew Stadium would be a great fit if it had turf but their is no way they will get turf as long as the Crew are there.

not a bad idea! they'll probably just turn it into a parking lot anyhow.

[caglewis]

The current contract with the 2 Stark County stadiums expires in 2012. Dr Dan Ross stated that bidding on a new contract to host the 6 State HS Football Championship games beginning with 2013 will be opened next month [01/2010].
I think they [OHSAA] want "turf" fields x 2. So let the Columbus folks in charge get with it, put together a package deal, and submit a bid!!!
Yes, I'd like to see the Championship Tournament games held back in Columbus.
But the Stark County folks have proved themselves capable and have done a good job of hosting for the past several years. They're a hard act to beat!
So some other group/place/location is going to have to put some serious effort into gaining "host rights" away from them!! Bids open next month! GO FOR IT

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

i agree cag, but there is no need for two stadiums. it was always good enough back then. start games at 11/3/7. 4 hours between games.

[GoChiefs]

Stark County needs to get the folks who live there out to the games. They do a great job hosting the games. Now they need to get the local folks out to the games. I say if they do that, the games will always be in Stark County. Maybe black out the games on TV for that part of the State.

That's it right there...TV...I live 2 miles from Paul Brown Tigers Stadium in Massillon. But unless the Chiefs are there..I'm not going to go and freeze my butt off to watch a team when I can sit in the comfort of my own recliner. Just like I did for all 6 games this year.

[whompascat]

the games are great in stark co. It's not that far of a drive and you can take the kids to the hall of fame. The shoe is to big. Plus all the history of football in stark co.

[JohnKnight]

I talked to Dan Ross last weekend before the first playoff game. They won't be moving any time soon, folks.

[BigDintigertown775]

Its all about the kids. When I played for Ironton in 2 state championship games we played them at the shoe. Just about everybody on the team dreamed of playing at the Shoe. The Stark county stadiums would also be exciting but playing in Ohio Stadium does not compare its like apples and oranges. They should poll every high school football coach and all the players and ask them where they should be held at. Massilon tiger stadium and Canton Fawcett stadium does not compare when it comes too playing in Ohio Stadium.

[smurray]

Why do they need two locations (2 stadiums)? They do not play any of the games at the same time. There are 3 on Friday and 3 on Saturday. Ohio Stadium would be awesome and attrack more fans.

OHSAA will not flip the bill for a new 25,000-30,000 seat stadium at the former Cooper stadium site.

[trojandave]

I think the attendance figures would be better if the championships were more centrally located.......but why did they leave Columbus in the first place? There had to be some legitimate reason I would think.......did Ohio State not want the games anymore........was Ohio Stadium too expensive to rent.........or did Stark County do a great job of lobbying for them? The games bring in almost 5 million dollars for Stark County, so for the OHSAA to take them away and back to Columbus will bring on a big political fight from the Massillon/Canton folks. Economically, the people up there could use the games more than Columbus could.

[smurray]

You would think with the facilities, accomodations, and being centrally located they could make Columbus work.

[4 HORSEMEN]

Moving the games to Columbus would be the perfect situation. This would dramatically cut down on travel for many of the fans in the state (It is the capital of our state because of its central location). I was at the State Championships this year and the crowds were definately way down.

Ohio Stadium would be a perfect location. You could play 4 of the 6 games there (the early and late games both Friday and Saturday).

The two middle games could be played at Crew (I know it doesn't have turf, but it is an excellent field and would only have 1 game each day.... The field would stay nice).

For those would still worry that Crew stadium might get "nasty" if the weather is bad, you could schedule the D5 and D6 games as the middle games and use Dublin as an alternative site (They would have PLENTY of capacity for those games)...... but my first choice would be the Shoe and Crew!!!!!

What high school football player doesn't dream of playing in the shoe???????? and if you can't play there, Crew Stadium is a pretty sweet consolation prize.