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

[KitchenSink]

I'd kind of like to see a rotation where a site over to the west a ways gets used once in a while.  Not way west - southern Ohio (Cincy-ish) or Evansville, Indiana.  There's a Div II school in Frankfort KY or Butler in Indy - something like that.  Would be a bone to those of us in the Central time zone - Ill, Wisc, Ind, Minn, Texas.  Still keeping it far enough south that the weather gets some help.

Sounds like Salem does a nice job - would have to keep up that standard.

[Pat Coleman]

I know that format works wonders in lacrosse but I don't think the football fraternity is the same as the lacrosse fraternity. As in, I do not see D-II fans sitting through the D-III title game and vice versa. Lacrosse, on the other hand, has a real "we're all in this together" feel about it and it seems to be one of the few sports where those who follow D-I are knowledgeable about what happens at the higher levels of D-II and D-III.

Covering the D-III men's lax final in Philadelphia last season was an incredible experience. I just don't see it working for football, however.

[K-Mack]

Chattanooga has the DI-AA game locked up in 2007 with an option for 2008.  Avg attendance of 15,500 in chattavegas.

Neither Chatt or Salem has a geographic advantage over one another. Teams like Georgia Southern, Delaware, James Madison, and Montana have played in the championship the last few years.

As always gro votes for the AA, II, and III football weekend extravaganza in a 20,000+ seat stadium... in Bradenton florida. One game friday night, double header on saturday, Buccaneers on Sunday... perfect.

Stagg Bowl's been done in Bradenton.

My beef with Florida is that travel-wise, that's good for no one. There are no D3 teams in Florida.

I agree with Pat about the D3/D2/DI-AA (I still call it that) fans not really caring about each other's games. I would check it out if I were there already, but I just found out about 10 minutes before I posted who was alive in the other tournaments.

Anyway, I showed up to post this ... I'm told the city of Salem is going to get some major shine in USA Today next week, Thursday perhaps ... so keep your peepers peeled for that.

(has no idea why word "peepers" was used)

[seventiesraider]

I would definitely recommend that the site not be moved around because of the amount of volunteer help that needs to be enlisted. Salem/Roanoke has done a great job of getting the cvic organizations invovled and keeping the prices down. It still has the D3 flavor to it. Leave it alone.

[tmerton]

I started the last long thread on this topic and didn't expect to see the topic come up again given the heat it generated (it appears to have been removed).  Anyway, I ended up supporting the notion of a D3/D2/D1AA weekend as the lax schools do.  I understand Pat's view (I follow lacrosse as well) but I think there is much more potential than he recognizes.  I think this kind of arrangement and the resulting increased draw would allow for a better venue in a better location and bring more excitement to the championships.  I for one would be interested in attending, especially if the location was more attractive, and I would be interested in attending the other games.  So long as the game is in Salem I don't believe you'll have anyone attending besides hardy supporters of the participants and some locals. 

I'm always reminded of the time I was at a Notre Dame - USC game at the LA Coliseum back in the mid 70s and saw two guys and their wives in the stands wearing OU and Nebraska gear respectively.  They stayed after the game, serving drinks to others and generally having a grand time.  When I asked them how they happened to be there, they said they had been unable to get tickets to the OU-Nebraska game and so just picked another game that they wanted to attend together.  They just loved football, the crowd and the experience of it all.  I think if you put the Stagg in a better location you'd get people wanting to attend because they like the experience of it, regardless of whether their teams were in it.  As noted, I don't think you'll ever get that in Salem.

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. 

[retagent]

I really have no strong feelings about this, but I do think there is some merit in following the Lacrosse model. They could have it maybe at the Metrodome, which is somewhat centrally located, and has a major airport. Another idea for a venue might be Dallas, for the same reason, plus the weather would probably be better than Salem at that time of year.

They could have a ticket prices linked to a one, two or three game package.

[Ralph Turner]

Dallas weather in December can be very unpredictable and you would not likely get any local media coverage.  If you aren't the Dallas Cowboys, or maybe the Longhorns, you don't get coverage.  You can hide 8-10,000 fans very comfortably in Texas Stadium.

Or you can play the Stagg in one of the Texas High School football palaces, like you find at Southlake Carroll High School, or the functional Plano Independent School District's Clark Field or another similar facility.

Keep it someplace where it is a big deal and fans can drive there, like Salem VA.  It is on its way to becoming a special place for D3 fans.

[tmerton]

Dallas weather in December can be very unpredictable and you would not likely get any local media coverage.  If you aren't the Dallas Cowboys, or maybe the Longhorns, you don't get coverage.  You can hide 8-10,000 fans very comfortably in Texas Stadium.

Or you can play the Stagg in one of the Texas High School football palaces, like you find at Southlake Carroll High School, or the functional Plano Independent School District's Clark Field or another similar facility.

Keep it someplace where it is a big deal and fans can drive there, like Salem VA.  It is on its way to becoming a special place for D3 fans.

I don't disagree about Dallas weather but if you want to bury the Stagg Bowl with a maximum of 5,000 attendance, keep it in Salem.

[Pat Coleman]

I'm always reminded of the time I was at a Notre Dame - USC game at the LA Coliseum back in the mid 70s and saw two guys and their wives in the stands wearing OU and Nebraska gear respectively.  They stayed after the game, serving drinks to others and generally having a grand time.  When I asked them how they happened to be there, they said they had been unable to get tickets to the OU-Nebraska game and so just picked another game that they wanted to attend together. 

That's great and all, but that's two I-A games. Would that group have given a rat's ass about UC-Davis/Cal Poly or Occidental/Redlands?

[Pat Coleman]

Dallas weather in December can be very unpredictable and you would not likely get any local media coverage.  If you aren't the Dallas Cowboys, or maybe the Longhorns, you don't get coverage.  You can hide 8-10,000 fans very comfortably in Texas Stadium.

Or you can play the Stagg in one of the Texas High School football palaces, like you find at Southlake Carroll High School, or the functional Plano Independent School District's Clark Field or another similar facility.

Keep it someplace where it is a big deal and fans can drive there, like Salem VA.  It is on its way to becoming a special place for D3 fans.

I don't disagree about Dallas weather but if you want to bury the Stagg Bowl with a maximum of 5,000 attendance, keep it in Salem.

You should come to one first before you trash it.

[tmerton]

I'm always reminded of the time I was at a Notre Dame - USC game at the LA Coliseum back in the mid 70s and saw two guys and their wives in the stands wearing OU and Nebraska gear respectively.  They stayed after the game, serving drinks to others and generally having a grand time.  When I asked them how they happened to be there, they said they had been unable to get tickets to the OU-Nebraska game and so just picked another game that they wanted to attend together. 

That's great and all, but that's two I-A games. Would that group have given a rat's ass about UC-Davis/Cal Poly or Occidental/Redlands?

There are people who feel the same way about D3 football as those guys feel about 1-A.  A lot of them post on this board.

[tmerton]

Dallas weather in December can be very unpredictable and you would not likely get any local media coverage.  If you aren't the Dallas Cowboys, or maybe the Longhorns, you don't get coverage.  You can hide 8-10,000 fans very comfortably in Texas Stadium.

Or you can play the Stagg in one of the Texas High School football palaces, like you find at Southlake Carroll High School, or the functional Plano Independent School District's Clark Field or another similar facility.

Keep it someplace where it is a big deal and fans can drive there, like Salem VA.  It is on its way to becoming a special place for D3 fans.

I don't disagree about Dallas weather but if you want to bury the Stagg Bowl with a maximum of 5,000 attendance, keep it in Salem.

You should come to one first before you trash it.

I apologize for the use of the term bury; I'm not meaning to trash Salem or diminish the work and effort that others have put into the Stagg Bowl there.  On the issue of attendance, however, am I wrong?  Is there any chance the Stagg Bowl, played on a stand alone basis in Salem, VA, will draw more than 5 or maybe 6 thousand for a game? 

I'm not likely to go to a Stagg Bowl in Salem unless my team is playing in it.  I think the same holds true for everyone else except you, some ESPN people and a few locals - which is precisely the point I am making. 

[Ralph Turner]

I watched the Montana-Massachusetts D1 Playoff Division semi-final last night.  Great game.  Glad I wasn't in the cold!

I had no interest in attending that game.  I would much rather channel-surf the game.

I have no interest in attending the Championships in Chattanooga next week.

I think that I speak for a bunch of net-savvy 21st Century sports fans.

Let me select from the 14 choices that I have on the cable and internet systems that I know of, as I select the one that hits my fancy, this minute.

I think that the recurrent theme on these boards has been the enthusiasm that the Stagg has found from the locals in Salem, Va.  We cannot buy that.  It is a 10-hour drive one way for 80% of D3-dom.  When that magic moment arrives for the fortunate finalists, most can stop what they are doing and drive to Salem.

I watched the MUC-SJF game/video feed, a great game in Alliance.  I decided to pass on the UWW-Wesley game.  Next week, the magic of 21st Century communications will let me see the Stagg Bowl, even tho' I am on call.

If the key irreproducible factor is the local support from Salem, why move it!

[Pat Coleman]

I think the question here really is this: If you move the Stagg Bowl from Salem, will the other Division III fans make up for the potential for diminished local support?

That's what you need to overcome, I think.

BTW, I don't believe for one second the rounded attendance numbers from Alabama and Florida in the early Stagg Bowls, other than the game West Georgia played in.

[Ralph Turner]

I think the question here really is this: If you move the Stagg Bowl from Salem, will the other Division III fans make up for the potential for diminished local support?

That's what you need to overcome, I think.

BTW, I don't believe for one second the rounded attendance numbers from Alabama and Florida in the early Stagg Bowls, other than the game West Georgia played in.

There are no significant numbers of general D3 fans in warm weather venues.  Official attendance at the HSU-UMHB 1802; the UMHB W&J game 1950.  Those were during the first 2 weekends of the Texas high school football playoffs. Okay, but not stellar.

Salem, Va is as far south and east (for the sake of weather) as you can go away from the D3 football heartlands in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Jersey and upstate New York.

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