WSJ: "Do Skyboxes belong in high-school sports"

How about the part where the AD estimated the luxury box cost at $500k. He went out and rounded up people willing to pay most of that $500k over five years. Then found out that the real cost was going to be over $1 million. Oops.

And at $150/game for six home games a year, Denton is going to bring a whopping $900 per year??? Boy that will really help pay off the cost of that suite.

Taxpayers should be up in arms.

I don't understand how a school could do that. Here, things have to be fairly evenly divided between sports and schools. What about title IX?

From the article:

School Superintendent: "my advice is to stay away from skybox seating as it will cause us to have nothing but controversy"

"backlash was immediate and intense"

One of the reasons for the fall of Rome.

Decline in Morals and Values

Those morals and values that kept together the Roman legions and thus the empire could not be maintained towards the end of the empire. Crimes of violence made the streets of the larger cities unsafe. Even during PaxRomana there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guests ate and drank until they became ill. The most popular amusement was watching the gladiatorial combats in the Colosseum. These were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on. "History Alive Series"

Have our stadiums become colliseum's. As the infrastructure begins to collapse and the education of the youth gets abandoned, the enemies of the state are at the doorstep. I believe this article just proves that the compass is broken.

Inspite of being a part of the largest league in Kansas, (6A), we'd be happy to get a new coat of paint for our falling apart, weather beaten, single set of WOOD bleachers.

Skyboxes??? Elevators?? Cant even imagine. Maybe some would say I need to keep an open mind and not sound so bitter whiney cranky.
Perhaps someday in the near, oh lets say next 8 bazillion years ahead, we can discuss skyboxes, but only after we finally get the funding for airconditioning to be installed into all of our classrooms so that, as the weather warms up, we dont have students and teachers trying
to endure 100 degree classrooms.

Geesh,...skyboxes????? Leather couches?? Elevators???? Are they serious????

I'm all for doing and being the best you can be,...but knowing the state of disrepair so many highschools throughout our country are in, this seems excessively ridiculous.
A sharing of the wealth, dispursed evenly among all, might make this more of an ideal, humble world,..wouldnt it, or would it????

P.S. I'm kind of curious as to what their team record is? I'm a believer that money alone, does not make winners, but I'm also experienced enough to know that it, can indeed, help.
( funding for camps, training facilities, good equipment, etc. )
I think the problem here is determining when enough is enough and when not to go overboard!
Again,..were back to opinions.
Somebody from somewhere had to put their stamp of approval on the building of this structure, and they certainly didn't consult me, so technically I dont think I should complain.
( even though my fingers just cant seem to stop typing! )

Wonder if it was a majority board vote that decided this,..or just an idea that formed from a few wealthy $$$ contributors who had the means to make it happen????

Ho hum,...its a free world and I guess the bottom line is that it all boils down to opinions.
For this sports mom,..sitting in a rickety sports field,..with my school logo booster chair,..and eating my team mascot hotdog, watching my children play, is just fine. They are happy and enjoying their experiences here.
Its I, like so many other parents, who want better for them.
Perhaps these skyboxes were built on good intentions, that went wild! (?????) ha!


I'll guess I could give in on parts of my cranky opinion from above, but BOOSTERCLUB PEOPLE,...we REALLY do need our hineys moving about those classroom
airconditioners!!!!!!!!

Our Booster Club KBF, the Kazach Baseball Federation, is taking offers for either a full season or single game corporate outings for The Center Field Sky Box....very nice..high five

shortstopmom.....We are on the other side of the coin. In Texas, the wealthy districts do have to give their tax$$$ to the state to be given out to the poorer districts. Our district has to go without somethings while those that we are giving our money to are doing all those extra things that you wish you could do. We have to opperate our school on 35% of our tax base. I agree that things need to be better and more even, but not sure taking money away from one kid to give to another school is the right answer.

I think it's totally appropriate for the community to support hs athletics as they see fit ...
and if they have $$ to throw around on enhancements more power to 'em.

title IX has no influence on lux enhancements, which btw are for the fans & community.

regarding those that need paint for their wood bleachers ... so sorry, all comunities are not created equal

quote:

... so sorry, all comunities are not created equal

Dont we know it!
Call it luck of the draw.

" Home " is where the Army sends ya!

Family motto:
" Bloom where you are planted ".

About that huge HS stadium...and NO, I've never heard of Massillon football.

=================
"If you know or have ever heard of Massillon, it's probably because of football. High school football is king here. Massillon has a population of just a touch over 30,000 yet our stadium holds almost 20,000. So strong is the tradition and history, that baby boys at Massillon's hospital are given a miniature football at birth. A downtown mural by artist Eric Grohe depicts the city's football history.
So obvious is the football tradition in Massillon, that Ron Maly of the Des Moines Sunday Register was moved to once write this passage decribing the City of Massillon:

In the beginning, when the Great Creator was drawing plans for this world of ours, He decided there should be something for everyone. He gave us mountains that reach to the sky, deep blue seas, green forests, dry deserts, gorgeous flowers and gigantic trees.
Then He decided there should be football, and He gave us Massillon.

He created only one Massillon; He knew that would be enough.

The city's pride is matched with results. Massillon has 22 state football titles to its name and is second in the nation in victories.

The greatest names in football have roots in Massillon. Paul Brown who later coached championship teams for Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns, Harry Stuhldreher of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, and Chris Spielman from Ohio State and NFL fame are among the best known products of Massillon Tigers program.

Paul Brown

Sky boxes, tiered seating, luxury seats. Incredible!

And to think ...all I ever got going through school was a chair in the corner...facing the wall.

Dad04:

"How's the plumbing up there?"

That is hilarious...high five sir!


BTW...I can't seem to get the Jeffersons theme song out of my head.

call it luck of the draw

I found another typical Ohio hs football field - note this one has recently been cleaned up a bit with some paint & elbowgrease :
no lux skyboxes so this might be substandard in Texas
note - they tore up the astroturf & put in new fieldturf

College football started going nuts some years ago, charging as much as the pros for tickets.

Guess HS football is going down the same road.

Wish some crumbs would fall off the table for the baseball program...

Here in Il as in many states there are huge disparities amongst school districts and funding/facilities.
There are many schools crumbling with equally dangerous athletic facilities. There are also 70 million dollar schools being built with every imaginable luxury and pristine athletic facilities - some with nicer playing surfaces than many colleges.
Skyboxes? Hey, anythings possible when you have p.e. teachers making $100,000 per year (or more accurately a bit shy of 9 months). Not a knock on teachers as I have tremendous respect for them but lots of kids being denied a decent education in some parts because of the wide disparities in funding and out of control salaries/pensions for staff and administrators.

quote:

by micdsguy: The city's pride is matched with results. Massillon has 22 state football titles to its name

ok-ok-yawn, you've forced me post "the rest of the story" as repeated by EVERY non-Massillon Dad in Ohio to their son(s) as soon as they're able to understand (about 6 days old, tho some have been known to start while still in the womb) as the boys get older it's shortened to "Massillon s*cks" (pardon me a moment while I send it via my daily text message to my son)

I'm back & will get right to the good part - as the entire story, the parts about evil empire .. axis of evil ... recruiting ... investigations ... booster slushfunds ... etc, are a bit lengthy


"those that live in that MAGIC TOWN have been deceived by the magic of their elders .. ya see son, those 22 state football title are mythical poll titles from the dark past - a murky combination of coach's & writer's balloting in smoke filled back rooms - hampered by hanging chads, no touchscreen voting machines & NO paper-trail" ... "Local bigfoot sightings have more credibility than Massillon's state titles"

"then came the age of enlightenment in 1972 .. when the Ohio highschool football playoff system began and state titles were won ON THE FIELD actually playing another team ... in this enlightened age, Massillon's titles add up to -0-, nada, zip-zero, nothing, plus the square root of -1"

whew


added -

quote:

by micdsguy: The greatest names in football have roots in Massillon

close ... football & PRO football BEGAN in the area

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
College football started going nuts some years ago, charging as much as the pros for tickets.

Guess HS football is going down the same road.

Wish some crumbs would fall off the table for the baseball program...

I guess you weren't around to watch us drag the new three-row bleachers over from the softball field on game days. I did say they were new right?

BTW the same school is in the process of adding 1,500 seats to the football stadium.

A private HS in Santa Ana, CA just opened a new gym. They are charging and getting $75.00 each for courtside seats.

the 2nd pic I posted is Fawcett Stadium owned by Canton City Schools - gee, I guess it still needs fixin' ...
"$5.8 million renovation proposed for Fawcett" (as reported in Canton Rep Dec 13)

A mere 5.8 mill???
Bah,..pocket change,

It was just reported that the Canton City School athletic board held a study ( Cost: 2 mil. ) that there is indeed a psychological benefit for football players to be escorted to the field via a brand new Mercedes Benz, as opposed to the traditional yellow school bus.

The thinking behind this is of course: Act rich, be rich. Feel like a winner, be a winner.

Because only two football players can fit into such a luxurious vehicle at a time, the school district has decided to purchase an entire fleet, in matching school colors, of course! Leather interior, surround sound, and diamond dashboards come standard.

Perhaps I have too many splinters in my butt hiney and just cant see the reasoning behind such extravagance at the highschool level. I, at least, hope that the rest of their academic, musical, and dramatical etc. departments arent suffering and are up to the same standard.

quote:

just cant see the reasoning behind such extravagance at the highschool level.

they do let the NFL use it occasionally

Bee - Those are some awesome football facilities! Lexington is actually in the process of having every HS's football field and facilities replaced by the city. My kid's HS is last on the list... not sure how that happened! They really nice too, but not nearly as big as the one's you've shared.... football's not really THE sport around here though!

We had two HS's (baseball teams) who could not use their concession stands and press boxes because their softball teams didn't have their new stuff built yet. The baseball teams were penalized and their new additions had to sit empty for a year (was built by their boosters).

I will say that all the baseball programs here have really nice fields, hitting facilities, press boxes, locker rooms, etc. From what I understand that's not the norm everywhere. I'll take that any day over skyboxes for the football fans!!

quote:

We had two HS's (baseball teams) who could not use their concession stands and press boxes because their softball teams didn't have their new stuff built yet. The baseball teams were penalized and their new additions had to sit empty for a year (was built by their boosters).

that's sad - esp because they prolly blamed title IX -

quote:

that's sad - esp because they prolly blamed title IX -

Yep, Bee, they were considered Title IX violations.

quote:

they were considered Title IX violations

guess they didn't understand that the title ix three part test for gender equity progress is not affected by concession stands

What are the three parts to that test-

1. Is it inane and ridiculous?
2. Does it protect football above all else?
3 Does it penalize hard-working young men?

.
Fortunately we don't have any of those "Sky Box" problems here in Ca...

Proposition 13?

Observer44,..can I borrow your picture? Our booster club is flat broke
er uhhh,...a little short on funds, so if I may,... I'll just borrow your picture to pretend its a picture of our athletic field and use it to show the posters.

The similarities are amazing!

Having moved to Texas from Northern Cal, I was completely in awe of the sports facilities here. It is undoubtedly over kill, but I can definetly see were my tax money goes...schools, sports, highways, and parks. In ca are roads were awful, mold infested my high school, and a baseball field so bad that kids from the Dominican would laugh at it.

Welcome aboard the HSBBW deemax.


Those Dominicans...what a sense of humor they have!

Welcome Deemax

.

Glad you all enjoyed the picture! Here is "The rest of the story"...

With the price of Real Estate here in CA we sometimes have the converse to the "skybox problem"...

The posted picture is of a deplorable field... (built in 1915, never rennovated, gopher pocked, floods regularly...The football team can't even play there...too dangerous)

....in one of the most expensive areas in the country...the older little house in the background could go for nearly $1M.

The PTA actually raised $800K and is proposing some rennovations (no, no sky boxes, simple turf, bleachers, drainage...) so that the team can play there again...

...but 30 of the the high priced neighbors are insensed....

"This is like going from a mom-and-pop store to an AM-PM!"

"If I'm outside and working in the garden, I can hear all the announcements..."

There goes the neighborhood!

44
.

quote:

"If I'm outside and working in the garden, I can hear all the announcements..."

Those darn kids and their sports. Maybe the solution is to give all the neighbors season tickets to all the activites so they can get out of their garden and mix with those who will support them in the future.

On the other hand stadiums that are surrounded by neighborhoods are somethimes like a magnet for trouble. The Home team - Visiting team issues.

quote:

Originally posted by observer44:
...the older little house in the background could go for nearly $1M.

44

Alright...I'll accept that 44...a million bucks is a lot of dough.

If you could go for nearly $1 million there...how about that little shanty in the foreground? How much would it cost to go there?

You're right..."there goes the neighborhood!"

quote:

Originally posted by deemax:
Having moved to Texas from Northern Cal, I was completely in awe of the sports facilities here. It is undoubtedly over kill, but I can definetly see were my tax money goes...schools, sports, highways, and parks. In ca are roads were awful, mold infested my high school, and a baseball field so bad that kids from the Dominican would laugh at it.

deemax used to get a red card in school every once in a while. he spells like his Dad, but is good looking like his Mom. The two cute little ones in my avatar are his children.

Hey deemax

you should see the high school LAKE now....And don't you remember our luxury boxes that we had...just above 3rd base dugout.

By the way...FB coach got the boot.

By the way bbscout.......if you're in the neighbor hood....let me know, could use some knowledge, considering the one son is a Texan...