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SintonFan
07-24-2006, 12:34 PM
This has been talked about quite a bit in the SA area and the Alamodome is actively pursuing having both 5A titile games hosted there.
Here's an article on the subject:
(source mysa.com)
Football: Class 5A title games will share one site

Web Posted: 06/14/2006 01:51 AM CDT

Clint Hale
Express-News Staff Writer

Nearly 11 years ago, then-Roosevelt football coach Bryan Dausin watched nervously as a coin flip determined the location of the Class 5A Division II state championship game.

The Rough Riders won the flip and, because of a home-and-home agreement with Flower Mound Marcus, chose to play for the state title at Alamo Stadium.

Should Dausin, now the coach at Warren, guide his team to the upcoming season's state championship game, such a coin flip — and nervous anticipation — wouldn't be necessary.

The University Interscholastic League announced Tuesday that, beginning this season, the Class 5A Division I and II state championship games will be played at a predetermined site. The site, according to UIL officials, likely will be determined before the season starts.

The site will host the 5A Division I and II state title games in a back-to-back format this season and next, under a two-year trial approved Monday by the UIL's Legislative Council. This season's state title games are scheduled for Dec. 23.

“I knew it was probably headed this way,” said Dausin, who helped lead Roosevelt to the Division II state title and a 16-0 record in 1995. “My concern is how much involvement the UIL will have. Are they going to be running the game, or will that still be up to the schools and the school districts?”

The UIL says it is not the sole catalyst behind the predetermined sites, which could include the Alamodome, site of four 5A state title games.

The 5A Division I and II games, for the first time, are scheduled for the same day. Since both games are televised, UIL officials did not want to create a scheduling conflict.

The games traditionally had started at noon on consecutive Saturdays in December, with the 32-team Division I playoffs ending one week earlier than Division II's 64-team bracket. That will change this season with the addition of a fourth playoff team from each district (two advancing to each division), adding 32 teams to Division I and extending its playoffs by one week.

With that in mind, TITUS Sports Marketing, which focuses on high school sports, created a proposal that entailed holding both 5A state title games at one site. TITUS arranged a panel discussion Thursday of 25 coaches and athletic directors from the state to discuss the event's potential.

TITUS founder Dave Stephenson previously worked for Host Communications and helped establish the Texas Football Classic, which takes place annually at the Alamodome and has grown to a 10-team field.

“Having two state championships on one day is a lot like having the Texas Football Classic,” Stephenson said. “Once the Classic was off the ground, people saw you could have two or three games on one day and run it effectively.”

San Antonio again might receive such an opportunity. Smithson Valley coach Larry Hill, who attended Thursday's panel discussion, said indoor stadiums would be favored in the site search. That, Hill said, puts the Alamodome and Houston's Reliant Stadium at the top of the list.

Stephenson did not comment directly on stadium choice but said he is partial to San Antonio, considering his background with the Texas Football Classic.

“San Antonio is the ideal city to host this kind of weekend,” Stephenson said. “The Alamodome is a great facility to start this process. It's really the gold standard for what this should be.”

Alamodome director Mike Abington said stadium officials would “have their hat in the ring,” and that he supported the idea of designating the site for the 5A state title games.

The UIL Legislative Council also approved the formation of a committee, appointed by the Legislative Council Chair and including members from the Texas High School Coaches Association, Texas High School Athletic Directors Association, 5A coaches and Legislative Council members. After the UIL staff determines the site, the committee will determine game times, ticket prices and reimbursement for travel expenses.

The financial aspects of such a doubleheader are still to be determined.

“That's one of the many issues the championship committee is going to have to iron out,” UIL spokesman Peter Contreras said. “Instead of one game, you now have two. So are they going to clear the facility and treat them as separate games, or do you share an all-day pass and split revenue equally four ways? Then you've got the TV revenue.”

Contreras said the current model, with the UIL getting 15 percent of the gate and the 85 percent remaining split between the two schools, probably would not change.

Classes A-4A, which send three teams from each district to the playoffs, will continue using a site agreed upon by the championship teams the week before the game. Those classes will be the only ones in UIL sports not to have their championship sites predetermined.

THSCA executive director D.W. Rutledge, a former coach at Judson, said the other four classes could follow 5A's lead.

“When you look at the history of the UIL, that's what it does,” Rutledge said of a potential trickle-down effect. “This makes me think it's certainly a big possibility that something like that could happen.”

chale@express-news.net

CHAMPIONSHIP NEUTRALITY HARD TO COME BY

Only 17 of the 32 Class 5A state-championship football games played since 1990 — the first time two titles were awarded in 5A — have been played at sites more than 35 miles from both participating schools. Here are the 15 games in which at least one team (in bold) had a decided home advantage:

1990 Small School: Aldine 27, Arlington Lamar 10 @Astrodome, Houston

1991 Division I: Killeen 14, Sugar Land Dulles 10 @Astrodome, Houston

1993 Division II: Lewisville 43, Aldine MacArthur 37 @Astrodome, Houston

1995 Division II: Roosevelt 17, Flower Mound Marcus 10 @Alamo Stadium

1997 Division I: Katy 24, Longview 3 @Astrodome, Houston

1997 Division II: Flower Mound Marcus 59, Alief Hastings 20 @Astrodome, Houston

1999 Division II: Garland 37, Katy 25 @Astrodome, Houston

2000 Division I: Midland Lee 33, Austin Westlake 21 @Memorial Stadium, Austin

2000 Division II: Katy 35, Tyler John Tyler 20 @Astrodome, Houston

2001 Division I: Mesquite 14, Taft 13 @Alamo Stadium

2002 Division I: Judson 33, Midland 32 @Alamodome

2002 Division II: Southlake Carroll 45, Smithson Valley 14 @Alamodome

2003 Division I: Galena Park North Shore 23, The Woodlands 7 @Rice Stadium, Houston

2004 Division II: Southlake Carroll 27, Smithson Valley 24 @Texas Stadium, Irving

2005 Division II: Southlake Carroll 34, Katy 20 @Texas Stadium, Irving

FAVORITE SITES

Since 1990, nine facilities have hosted the 32 5A state-title games:

Astrodome, Houston: 11

Texas Stadium, Irving: 6

Alamodome: 4

Royal-Memorial Stadium, Austin: 4

Alamo Stadium: 2

Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco: 2

Kyle Field, College Station: 1

Rice Stadium, Houston: 1

Round Rock ISD Stadium: 1

Emerson1
07-24-2006, 12:37 PM
It's not a state championship weekend unless you are spending 8 hours at Texas Stadium.

SintonFan
07-24-2006, 12:39 PM
Originally posted by Emerson1
It's not a state championship weekend unless you are spending 8 hours at Texas Stadium.
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------------>It's not a state championship weekend unless you are spending 8 hours at Texas Stadium.<-----------------
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My vote for homer post of the year.:thumbsup:

Snydertigersrul
07-24-2006, 12:43 PM
Originally posted by SintonFan
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------------>It's not a state championship weekend unless you are spending 8 hours at Texas Stadium.<-----------------
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My vote for homer post of the year.:thumbsup:


Since the Cowboys are scheduled to start playing in the new stadium in 2008, the 5A title games will to San Antonio for the next two years, and then back to Arlington.

SintonFan
07-24-2006, 12:50 PM
Originally posted by Snydertigersrul
Since the Cowboys are scheduled to start playing in the new stadium in 2008, the 5A title games will to San Antonio for the next two years, and then back to Arlington.
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That might be the case here.:doh:
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Football: Officials hope to lure 5A games to Alamodome

Web Posted: 07/18/2006 10:59 PM CDT


San Antonio Express-News

Alamodome officials are expected to submit a proposal to the UIL on Thursday, with the hopes that they can secure the Class 5A Division I and II state championship football games for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The UIL announced last month that beginning this season, the 5A Division I and II state championship games will be played at the same site on the same day. UIL officials have said they likely would give preference to closed-cover stadiums to deal with the unpredictable weather in December.

- Clint Hale