Championship Games

[Falconstatman]

I was looking at the Tn. Tech web site and unless I looked at it wrong, I thought that it said that the stadium at tech only seats 16,500 people. Is that correct?? If so then what in the $%^# was the T$$AA thinking, having the games there??? I would guess that the 3A games up to 6a will need much more seating than that. There have been as much as 25-30K at those games before, what are the people going to do, Stand up? If this is true then this is a load of you know what!! These kids deserve to play in a much better venue than that. There are high school stadiums in Texas and Georgia that seat more people than that! I have missed 2 Blue Cross/Clinic bowls since 1982, and if this is true about the seating, then i will not be going this year period. Like i said if this is the correct seating capacity, what was the TSSAA thinking. People will be packed in like sardines for the 5 and 6A games and probably the 4A too, and standing up everywhere. This is supposed to be a first class state championship format, not bush league! What was wrong with MTSU???? Perfect size stadium,seating wise. Please, someone tell me that this is an incorrect number!!

[rollredroll]

I was looking at the Tn. Tech web site and unless I looked at it wrong, I thought that it said that the stadium at tech only seats 16,500 people. Is that correct?? If so then what in the $%^# was the T$$AA thinking, having the games there??? I would guess that the 3A games up to 6a will need much more seating than that. There have been as much as 25-30K at those games before, what are the people going to do, Stand up? If this is true then this is a load of you know what!! These kids deserve to play in a much better venue than that. There are high school stadiums in Texas and Georgia that seat more people than that! I have missed 2 Blue Cross/Clinic bowls since 1982, and if this is true about the seating, then i will not be going this year period. Like i said if this is the correct seating capacity, what was the TSSAA thinking. People will be packed in like sardines for the 5 and 6A games and probably the 4A too, and standing up everywhere. This is supposed to be a first class state championship format, not bush league! What was wrong with MTSU???? Perfect size stadium,seating wise. Please, someone tell me that this is an incorrect number!!

 

Click here for the TSSAA website. Look at Past Champions and Records and then look at year-by-year results for Football: Team Champions.

 

Long story short, if the past decade is any indication, 16,500 would be more than ample for any game. The 25-30K crowds are a lifetime and multiple classification setups ago.

[Falconstatman]

That may be correct about the average attendance for most games, but that is too small a stadium for a state championship game in the bigger classifications. I always liked Vandy, but MTSU was really about perfect. You never had to worry about being able to get a seat, and in most cases a good seat, for any game, that will not be the case anymore. If i was guessing , I would say Tech, or Cookeville, just greased the TSSAA's palms a little more than MTSU did and that's how they got it. I would have to drive about 2 hours to get there, and I'm not going to do that, not knowing if I will be able to get a seat or not.

In my opinion, for what ever it's worth, this was a big mistake, but I guess it's all about the $ anyway. but they will lose several $ because of the small seating capacity. I have talked to several people, who like myself, have gone almost every year, that are not going because of that very fact.

[jabbo]

That may be correct about the average attendance for most games, but that is too small a stadium for a state championship game in the bigger classifications. I always liked Vandy, but MTSU was really about perfect. You never had to worry about being able to get a seat, and in most cases a good seat, for any game, that will not be the case anymore. If i was guessing , I would say Tech, or Cookeville, just greased the TSSAA's palms a little more than MTSU did and that's how they got it. I would have to drive about 2 hours to get there, and I'm not going to do that, not knowing if I will be able to get a seat or not.

In my opinion, for what ever it's worth, this was a big mistake, but I guess it's all about the $ anyway. but they will lose several $ because of the small seating capacity. I have talked to several people, who like myself, have gone almost every year, that are not going because of that very fact.

 

You're right. I suspect attendence will be down from what it would have been at MTSU...imagine folks from Memphis making the drive and then sitting in the endzone - they'll only do that once. I'm sure money was the consideration - I'll bet it changes back next year or the year after (unless some dummy signed a long term contract).

[TigersFan2009]

While I don't know the motivations behind a couple of the above posters, I've attended the state championships for the last 4 years - driving up from SW Tennessee every year. Some observations:

 

-- The drive to Cookeville from Memphis is about 25 minutes longer than to Murfreesboro - and significantly easier to make. (In fact, unless you live in the Murfreesboro area, the difference in the drive is not that much, particularly considering heavier traffic between Nashville and Murfreesboro, and the drive for anyone east of Nashville or north/east of Chattanooga is far easier.) Once you exit I-40 at exit 286, turn left off of the ramp, drive 3 miles, and turn directly into the parking lot. Much easier than winding your way through the congestion and bad signage of Murfreesboro. Big plus for Cookeville.

 

-- The venue is smaller - but that is a definite plus. Rather than playing to thousands of open seats, the teams can now actually tell there's a crowd in the stands. Of all of the games played so far, still nowhere near capacity. 2nd big plus for Cookeville.

 

-- Tennessee Tech, while smaller than MTSU, is by far the nicer of the two but parking at MTSU was better.

 

-- Ditto for the two cities. Cookeville is clean and safe, and everyone we have encountered in three days have been friendly beyond description. Murfreesboro - not so clean, much less safe, and definitely less welcoming. The only thing Murfreesboro has in its favor it is the new shopping developments near I-24, as retail outlets in Cookeville are very limited. Overall, a 3rd big plus for Cookeville.

 

In my opinion, moving the championships to Cookeville was the first smart thing TSSAA has done in years.

[FBGIRL]

 

You're right. I suspect attendence will be down from what it would have been at MTSU...imagine folks from Memphis making the drive and then sitting in the endzone - they'll only do that once. I'm sure money was the consideration - I'll bet it changes back next year or the year after (unless some dummy signed a long term contract).

 

For one, there is no end zone seating at Tech and the drive is not that much greater and I suppose stadium can be accessed from so many different roads, better than MTSU. This is the first year I have missed the championships and I must say the TV viewing is 100% better, closer to the action and good angles.

[BullDawgGirl03]

I personally felt that being AT the game, I felt closer to the players. I enjoyed TTU 100 times more than MTSU. MTSU left WAY too many open seats, and crowd noise seemed so far away. TTU was just like a larger high school stadium, which for the HIGH SCHOOL championships was great! Not to mention, the people were super, SUPER nice! And there were shuttles at TTU for people who took up the free parking offer.....just had to know where to find them...and we did! Er well....he found us! Either way I loved TTU for these games!