Should the Stagg Bowl find a better site or stay in Salem, Va.

[Lance Harbor]

I'm a D3 alum (Wartburg College '03) who recently moved to the Central Virginia area, and I'm dropping EVERYTHING to be in Salem on Saturday...even though I've never seen either of the teams play in person.

This is something I've been looking forward to since I found out I'd be moving here back in March.  I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Look for me on ESPN.

No way should the game be moved.  That would be just my luck, they move away just as I get here. 

[patcummings]

Lance, be sure to stop by the Stone Station tailgate in the parking lot.  They'll be there around 10am and have a sign-in for posters.  It is, easily, the biggest tailgate and will have the most D3football.com posters there.  Look for the Bridgewater flags.

[Ryan Tipps]

I'm a D3 alum (Wartburg College '03) who recently moved to the Central Virginia area, and I'm dropping EVERYTHING to be in Salem on Saturday...even though I've never seen either of the teams play in person.

This is something I've been looking forward to since I found out I'd be moving here back in March.  I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Look for me on ESPN.

No way should the game be moved.  That would be just my luck, they move away just as I get here. 

I'm with you Lance. I'm from Indiana, but I moved to Virginia in 2004 and have been to the past two years of Stagg Bowls. And, of course, I'll be there this year. The game was definitely a perk of living in Virginia.

Also, my soon-to-be wife has been wanting to move to Roanoke for years. Who am I to stop her!?   I'd be heartbroken to be living right next door to Salem only to see the game moved. I hope it stays there for many many years to come.

This has been a very interesting thread. I'm glad it was started, and I'm glad to see so much support for keeping the game in Salem. The game really does get a lot of support from the community, mostly, as people have mentioned, from the media and the local civic groups. Plus, there's always a couple dozen people there wearing Va. Tech sweatshirts, so it does have some following from local football fans.

[seventiesraider]

The attendance at the MUC/SJF game is not available on the MUC web site (yet).

Article on Mount Union site says 3532

[seventiesraider]

The only possible acceptable move for me is to Fawcett Field in Canton. Save the NCAA a ton of travel money and save my marriage

[finsleft]

I think it's just great that there are a handful of D3 fans for whom Salem is a convenient venue. If I lived near there, I'd attend the game, too. But next year, when my team returns to the Stagg  , I would like to get off the plane with golf clubs instead of my Sorel Boots, parka and mittens.

The plain truth is that 80% (at least) of the fans at the Stagg are there following their team and would follow their team wherever the game is played. Local Virginia area fans would be made up by local ____________ area fans (fill in the blank) from the new venue.
And, a decent venue would make it likely that more people would travel and spend more time doing it. Last time I was in Salem, we spent Friday night there and left after the game. Basically a 24 hour turnaround.
Folks in Salem are great folks though. But there's great folks everywhere, I've found.

['gro]

I agree with fins.  I'm not knocking salem but I personnaly think if they put the game back in Bradenton, FL it would easily pull just as many fans as recent Salem bowls and probably more.  Bradenton has a lot to do in and around that area. Fans can fly (10 hour drive to salem, or 6 hours of airport time) to Tampa, Orlando, or Sarasota. It's the week before christmas so air fare deals can be found.  The last time the Stagg was in Florida the internet wasn't as prevalent as it is now, so no d3.com and extended post patterns fan base, and most importantly no orbitz or travelocity (how did people go anywhere back then?? I'm serious).

Here's to future stagg bowl mancations in the sunshine state.

[allsky7]

      Salem does a fantastic job of putting this championship on. I don't think you are going to find the perfect place. (weather, distance, etc) You will be hard pressed to find a location that brings as much to the mix as Salem. Salem is becoming a d3 Mecca of sorts thanks at least in part to d3football.com.

Salem is:
- Driveable for the majority of d3.
- Salem has many years of putting these events on and knows how to do it.
- The Stagg Bowl is center stage in the Roanoke area for the weekend it is held. This would not be the
case in a larger city or if you combined the divisions.
- Daytime temperatures in VA in Dec. are tolerable. (If ESPN says 4:00, then it is 4:00 though.) I think if
you move it to warmer weather, you will lose many of the fans of d3 football in general. Once it moves out of practical drivable range and into "must fly" range you will lose a significant number of the fans of the teams that are in the Stagg Bowl as well as other d3 football fans. Especially, since the game is broadcast on ESPN.
     Until some other location can step up with evidence that they can do it any better, I say leave well enough alone.
 

   

[Mr. Ypsi]

In what other location are you likely to get 'Stone Station'??!!

[patcummings]

The nearest D3 school to Bradenton, Florida...I believe...is LaGrange - a meer 486 miles from Bradenton.  Sell that one if you are the NCAA. 

Those who suggest non-D3 locales for games like this seem to have no idea the work that goes into hosting a national championship.  Spend some time with the gang from the ODAC and Salem and witness all the work they put into making these games feel special, and you'd be shocked what it takes. 

I'm not saying another locale couldn't do it - but D3 roots and location that is centric to a wide swath of D3 makes sense. 

[Olinemom]

The nearest D3 school to Bradenton, Florida...I believe...is LaGrange - a meer 486 miles from Bradenton.  Sell that one if you are the NCAA. 

Those who suggest non-D3 locales for games like this seem to have no idea the work that goes into hosting a national championship.  Spend some time with the gang from the ODAC and Salem and witness all the work they put into making these games feel special, and you'd be shocked what it takes. 

I'm not saying another locale couldn't do it - but D3 roots and location that is centric to a wide swath of D3 makes sense. 

and this is Lagrange's first year playing football so if it's the closest school, my I wonder where the next closest d3football school would be?  Can't wait til this weekend to see all my d3football friends!!  Let's party hearty!!  3 years in a row, purple rules!!!

[AUPepBand]

While AUPepBand would never suggest the D3 football championship game be hosted in Alfred, NY; on an entirely different note, AUPepBand has put Alfred's hat into the ring for hosting the Ninth Great Obituary Writers' International Conference for 2007, or 2008 and/or 2009. A grave undertaking, indeed, but the group truly is above ground.

[K-Mack]

Having said this, I recognize that many are intensely loyal to Salem and I don't suspect this will change any minds.  But hey, K-Mack started it this time, not me. 

Well, it comes up a lot ... if your old thread was lost in the changeover or whatever, it shouldn't have been. I like that now we can just say "we're actually having that discussion here" instead of starting from scratch.

My personal feeling is not so much loyalty to Salem as it is a respect for how much behind-the-scenes work it takes to make it run smoothly. So I would only support a move if you can find another locale that's better for some other reason (like weather) and is also willing to match Salem's effort. They're not going to have the expertise the first few times around though, so they really need to bring something else to the table.

I'm in the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' camp.

I like and respect that story about the OU/Nebraska guys, but I really think the interest the general public has in D3 football is overestimated. It is a niche sport with a small but devoted following ... I bet if you gave away free tickets you couldn't fill a I-A stadium in 99% of cities.

The people who would be randomly interested in the game are fewer than the local fans from Salem who have developed an attachment to the game (and Mount Union).

I do believe that if there were some marketing muscle behind the D3 story (students who happen to be pretty good at football too), it could gain some mass appeal, but as things currently stand, I don't think there's the general interest, sad to say.

Minneapolis or Dallas are not really Central locations to most of D3. Pittsburgh or Columbus, Ohio would be more like it.

There are very few warm-weather D3 climates (L.A. and Texas), and those are not centrally located at all. D3 is basically a cold-weather game, so Salem is actually a fitting locale, in my opinion.

A dome with 60,000 would just embarass us. A 10-15 capacity would be the most we'd need.

With the move to turf at Salem next year, it will better reflect the game played by the elite teams of D3.

Maybe the cross-division interest could be developed by a D-IAA, II and III game-fest, but right now I don't know if one division gives a crap about the other ... those of us who just love football do, but that's a small minority, I think.

Just my opinions though, feel free to discuss.

FTR, though, both coaches on today's conf. call were very much in support of keeping it in Salem. I get the feeling the Roanoke Times is writing about it this week. I'll link that and the USAT story if I see them.

[allsky7]

Having said this, I recognize that many are intensely loyal to Salem and I don't suspect this will change any minds.  But hey, K-Mack started it this time, not me. 

Well, it comes up a lot ... if your old thread was lost in the changeover or whatever, it shouldn't have been. I like that now we can just say "we're actually having that discussion here" instead of starting from scratch.

My personal feeling is not so much loyalty to Salem as it is a respect for how much behind-the-scenes work it takes to make it run smoothly. So I would only support a move if you can find another locale that's better for some other reason (like weather) and is also willing to match Salem's effort. They're not going to have the expertise the first few times around though, so they really need to bring something else to the table.

I'm in the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' camp.

I like and respect that story about the OU/Nebraska guys, but I really think the interest the general public has in D3 football is overestimated. It is a niche sport with a small but devoted following ... I bet if you gave away free tickets you couldn't fill a I-A stadium in 99% of cities.

The people who would be randomly interested in the game are fewer than the local fans from Salem who have developed an attachment to the game (and Mount Union).

I do believe that if there were some marketing muscle behind the D3 story (students who happen to be pretty good at football too), it could gain some mass appeal, but as things currently stand, I don't think there's the general interest, sad to say.

Minneapolis or Dallas are not really Central locations to most of D3. Pittsburgh or Columbus, Ohio would be more like it.

There are very few warm-weather D3 climates (L.A. and Texas), and those are not centrally located at all. D3 is basically a cold-weather game, so Salem is actually a fitting locale, in my opinion.

A dome with 60,000 would just embarass us. A 10-15 capacity would be the most we'd need.

With the move to turf at Salem next year, it will better reflect the game played by the elite teams of D3.

Maybe the cross-division interest could be developed by a D-IAA, II and III game-fest, but right now I don't know if one division gives a crap about the other ... those of us who just love football do, but that's a small minority, I think.

Just my opinions though, feel free to discuss.

FTR, though, both coaches on today's conf. call were very much in support of keeping it in Salem. I get the feeling the Roanoke Times is writing about it this week. I'll link that and the USAT story if I see them.

     Good stuff Keith. I don't think d3 will need a 20k seat stadium any time soon. I agree that you would be hard pressed to give away d3 tickets in many places.
     We d3 fans are few (relatively speaking) but loyal. I think we have a good thing going and others are missing out. Perhaps 10 years from now d3 will fill 20k plus stadiums. Until such time, leave well enough alone and leave the game in Salem.
     I would also like to give credit where credit is due. If those numbers ever do rise to that level, d3football.com has played a huge roll in making the d3 game more than just a regional thing. In the last few years, I have become a fan of all of d3, not just the ODAC and USA South. With the exception of 2001 when BC was in the finals, a few very short years ago, I would never have considered going to Salem for the Stagg Bowl. (even though I only live 60 miles away) I am sure I am not a lone.

GO PURPLE...GO STONE STATION...GO D3...ENJOY YOUR FEW HOURS IN THE NATIONAL LIMELIGHT!!  8)
     

[Sakman 1111]

We had a great time in Salem last year and intend to have one this year......See no reason to move the venue....