memphis. . .

[Guest class]

All the people who thought Memphis was great.. it was obviously your first time to state. The facilities at the fendley stadium were 2 times as good and all the games were there in a great atmosphere. In Memphis the locker rooms sucked, the way they had it set up sucked(u had to hurry in the locker room before the game and didnt even get to go in at half time) with all of the other complains.. no ball boys, no time or score boards were on.. and the fields were not in the best shape.. i hope they decide to do something better for the future

[R_Green_CHS]

i didn;t like the big dirt spots in the middle of the fields i played on. not knowing the time sucked too... it would have been a big help.

[CoachT]

Realistically, the Mike Rose Complex is as good as there is in Tennessee and as good as we can ever expect to have as a site for the Spring Fling. I don't think anyone can expect there to be absolutely perfect fields for every game that is necessary to have the Fling in a reasonable time period.

 

Granted, all I saw up close Saturday was the Stadium field and it was superb. I did not inspect any of the other 16 fields but I did notice they were all or almost all lighted and there were youth games going on at almost all of them, as there should be. We obviously can not ask the people in Memphis not to use any of those fields before the Fling each year in order for us to have absolutely perfect conditions on all of the fields. This would be true if the complex was in East or Middle Tenn, also.

[pinkrocker]

mr. eggo, you are a real sweetheart and i admire you for recognizing that there are more important things in life. i'm being serious. i agree with you comletely. but it is a soccer message board, so i guess i felt inclined to write about my soccer concerns instead of my concern for the lack of love in the world. i hope you don't think i'm merely whining. i did come accross like that in my first post, but i don't mean to. i simply wish to express my opinion that the memphis attempt at spring fling could have been greatly improved. if anyone happend to notice, in my first post i didn't just say that the grass was the only problem. keep rockin. letgo my eggo

Edited May 25, 2003 by pinkrocker

[Opperman]

the dirt patches i saw were too big to be a result of the rain. yeah, it may have had some affect on the fields but what i saw was a result of improper care of the fields. as an agronomist i understand what goes into healthy grass and the rain will not do that to a field. i must admit, the stadium was a great crop of grass, beautifully maintained. other than the grass, does anyone know anything about the lack of volunteers showing up? from what i heard, there was a very substancial loss of helpers.

I'm not saying it just rained the night before. I'm saying it's been raining for a couple of weeks leading up to it...I'm pretty sure the complex is used for pretty much all levels of soccer, from youth on up. Soccer players and fans are proud of the fact that they play through the rain...well, when it keeps raining most of the time for a couple of weeks and people keep playing on it and keep playing on it, what do you expect to happen?

[titansfan05]

Hey Ego, this isn't "the terrorist's are coming to get us" thread. This is about the condition of Mike Rose fields in Memphis. I'm sure CNN has message boards where you can talk about terrorism, but for the rest of us, this is our place to talk about soccer.

 

 

I was not at the Spring Fling, but Ive been to the fields in the past, and they were the best in the state by far. I'd want it there for the very reason of the best fields available. If it wasnt there, I'd probably like it to be in middle tennessee, since it would be an easier drive overall.

[pinkrocker]

will someone please read my entire first post. then realize that its not just about grass. thanks. schnitzelboppers

Edited May 26, 2003 by pinkrocker

[JumpAround]

As far as convenience goes, Mike Rose was great. There are tons of hotels very close, and the fields weren't bad. The stadium field was the nicest field I have ever seen and played on. However, the rest of the fields, especially #15, were not very good. Granted, they have soccer all the time at this place, but the 18's were pathetic and the middle of every field was chewed up. No scoreboard is awful, and no ball people was very frustrating. The worst thing about the entire tournament, however, is that the round of 8 games were all played at two times, and the semis were ALL at the same time. We only were able to see other teams play in OT.

 

If Spring Fling were back in Chattanooga, 8 teams would still be possible. First round games could be played at Baylor, Mccallie, CCS, and GPS, and all the semi's and finals would be at Finley. All these schools are within 15 minutes of each other with Finley almsot being in the middle. Each of these fields are as good as the fields at Mike Rose, and could supply working scoreboards, ballboys, and everything else Mike Rose didn't. I wish every team could have played in that stadium. It was unreal.

[pinkrocker]

perhaps if we just played on the softball fields in chattanooga that would work. it would be wierd at first but i think it would kinda be fun. i'd surely put up a large bid on that. tssaa deserves it anyways.

[Yankee0697]

Granted the fields werent in the best of shape, maybe the weather had something to do with it, maybe not. But why no ball persons on the sidelines and we still have not figured out why the scoreboards werent working. If anyone knows why the scoreboards werent working maybe we can put to rest this confusing situation. You would think that for state championship games the scoreboards would be working. I cant remember a single game this season where we didnt have a scoreboard. Consider this, a team just travelled 9 hours and witnesses shabby fields, no ball persons and no scoreboard. What do you think their impression is going to be? I know Memphis thought that alot of people would see the sights once they were there, and having the opening ceremonies downtown maybe alot of people did, but I personally thought the facilities could have been a little better. But Im still grateful I had the oppurtunity to be there. We got to spend three days there cause we won our first game, but some teams travelled 9 hours and lost just to turn around and go home. I wish the midstate could have presented a better bid to TSSAA to secure these games. Not because I live in the midstate, but because it would have been the most logical. Mike Rose is a beautiful complex but a little more work could have been put forth. And yes there are alot more important issues going on in the world. But lighting scoreboards and maintaining fields are alot easier than world peace.

[TheEgoHasLanded]

I'm not mad at anyone for posting anything, but it was Memphis' first time putting it on, and I'm sure they will try and do better. They have said NUMEROUS times that the reason they were able to have 8 teams in the field was because Memphis had many fields. The person who said that we could play these games at Chattanooga might be right, I don't know...I'm just saying that they said Memphis had it best. I guess if you really think about it, you could put the spring fling on in any city even Jackson because most schools have soccer fields even if they aren't nice. There are soccer fields at BGA, BA, Brentwood High School, and many other schools in Nashville, but maybe they don't meet the TSSAA requirements...I really don't know.

 

I guess I'm just not a person who cares too much what a field looks like, or any thing like that. I was always taught to study yourself and the team your playing...and not worry about the fans, the conditions, the weather, etc. Both teams have to put up with it so if one goal is a foot lower than the other one...that's sad, but if both teams have to do deal with it...then it really doesn't matter.

 

 

I guess if the field is very important to you, you can go a few weeks early, sneak into the Mike Rose facility and give it the proper treatment that the workers are not able to provide...that way two weeks later, everything would be great, and we could use this message board/thread to talk about how great it was to have the priveledge to be at the state tournament once again.

 

As far as the lighting goes and the scoreboard...at no point in my previous post that was filled with incessant ramblings did I ever say that it was bad to not have lighting. I completely agree with you, I have played soccer and I know that time is "of the essence." I've also played AAU national championship basketball games with 2 refs instead of 3...and it is not always fair...Hopefully next year they will have it fixed.

I encourage you all to write to the higher powers that be, and get them to fix this outrage before more people are treated unfairly. Constructive criticism will definitely help Memphis put on a better spring fling.

[lcsoccer]

I think the refs in Spring Fling didn't do the best job. The Bearden Farragut game had many questionable calls. Players would kill each other and play on, but yet all "touch" fouls were called. I also thought the Lenoir City vs. Ridgeway game was poorly officiated. LC was given very few calls, while Ridgeway was allowed to tackle LC players. Not to mention the center ref intercepted many passes for both teams. It seemed as if he was a 12th man. I'm not whining, but it seems to me that the reffing needs to be at its best during the state tournament.