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Favorite area places to play/see a game, past and present.


cityofRaven
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Gonna be interesting when Mercer county doesn’t want it and Bluefield Virginia takes it on.  Awful new turf to rip up and change to cardinal red and gold. I would be surprised if the Mercer county decision makers go this route. To their credit, they seem to be more academically, than athletically inclined. 

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On 7/13/2017 at 5:04 PM, Chappy said:

Never been to Mitchell, played at Hicks once when it was grass and the end zone out to the 5 yard line was flooded (scrimmage).  For myself I need to separate the list between played and watched.   "Home" will almost always be your favorite.  With that said;

Northwood (home) good field, great home side stands, a lot of history in that venue.  Football has been played on that field since 1920 and the Saltville Alkalies semi-pro baseball team played there. (picture taken in March of 1967)

Played                                (in no real order)                                                                                                                      Watched

George Wythe                                                                                                                                                           John S. Battle  (hated playing on the field)

Marion (before they moved the field the baseball infield came out to around the 8 yard line it was pretty cool)       Abingdon

St. Paul (just different, felt like the crowd was right on top of you)                                                                             Gate City  (it kinda wowed me with the home side filling half the visitors bleachers and their GC chant)

                                                                                                                                                                                   Chilhowie - Because most of the home side thinks their $h!t don't stink and the visitors don't like them, it makes for a great aptmosphere                        

 

 

Baseball-Football.jpg

Hey! I can see my house from up here!

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blob.png.4c65a603e9aeb372cb2786df9679bc38.png

Thanks, @BHS03, for sharing. This is an exterior picture I found of Mt. Hope Municipal Stadium. I immediately thought about Tennessee High's Stone Castle.  It turns out that both were WPA projects from 1930s.

http://www.register-herald.com/archives/mount-hope-stadium/article_023b0116-e1e4-5e16-b62b-2cca30eb8086.html

20 hours ago, BHS03 said:

I've never been and I don't think many would consider it nice but I've always thought Mount Hope's field looked really cool on tv.

 

image.png.7e04c7c38adc351cf35809537e3c59da.png

 

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1 hour ago, Liam McPoyle said:

blob.png.4c65a603e9aeb372cb2786df9679bc38.png

Thanks, @BHS03, for sharing. This is an exterior picture I found of Mt. Hope Municipal Stadium. I immediately thought about Tennessee High's Stone Castle.  It turns out that both were WPA projects from 1930s.

http://www.register-herald.com/archives/mount-hope-stadium/article_023b0116-e1e4-5e16-b62b-2cca30eb8086.html

 

Very cool!

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John Handly  ... Imagine Gate City's high school building, Science Hill's football stadium, 5 star park \ tennis courts, & the Supreme Court building all mashed together on a plush private campus secreted away in Winchester's colonial down town... Most impressive small school campus I've ever seen. 

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On 1/27/2018 at 1:38 PM, Grapeape said:

John Handly  ... Imagine Gate City's high school building, Science Hill's football stadium, 5 star park \ tennis courts, & the Supreme Court building all mashed together on a plush private campus secreted away in Winchester's colonial down town... Most impressive small school campus I've ever seen. 

Wow, you're not kidding. That setting is spectacular.  The historic colonial revival school and park-like campus have the look of an ODAC school.

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Dorman HS in Roebuck, SC can be seen off to the left of I-26 as you head East outside of Spartanburg. It's a monster campus and the stadium has seating for 11,500 with "bank" overflow that will hold an additional 3K. Been to a few games there. Marvelous facility that a lot of FCS schools would be proud to have. 

58013a4e91061.image.jpg

 

 

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Since we have gotten outside the area a bit.  I attended a few games while stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas way back in he early 90's.  Jones Stadium was built in 1916 and is easily, the most interesting stadium of any kind I have ever visited. 

http://www.texasbob.com/stadium_h/hof_jonesrr.html

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11 hours ago, JDHoss said:

Dorman HS in Roebuck, SC can be seen off to the left of I-26 as you head East outside of Spartanburg. It's a monster campus and the stadium has seating for 11,500 with "bank" overflow that will hold an additional 3K. Been to a few games there. Marvelous facility that a lot of FCS schools would be proud to have. 

58013a4e91061.image.jpg

 

 

Dorman's stadium is amazing.  When I first drove by it on I-26, I was so excited that I woke my wife telling her to look at the stadium.  I was surprised I hadn't heard of "Dorman College" before,however, they had an awesome stadium.  Later, of course, I discovered it wasn't a college after all.

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10 hours ago, sixcat said:

Since we have gotten outside the area a bit.  I attended a few games while stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas way back in he early 90's.  Jones Stadium was built in 1916 and is easily, the most interesting stadium of any kind I have ever visited. 

http://www.texasbob.com/stadium_h/hof_jonesrr.html

 

Jones.jpg

I'm glad you got to experience RR Jones first hand, sixcat. I just sorry you had to be stationed at Bliss to have the opportunity :)

I stumbled across this gem just the other day.  I think it was "10 high school football stadiums to visit before you die."

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7 hours ago, Liam McPoyle said:

I'm glad you got to experience RR Jones first hand, sixcat. I just sorry you had to be stationed at Bliss to have the opportunity :)

I stumbled across this gem just the other day.  I think it was "10 high school football stadiums to visit before you die."

Bliss is certainly an antonym for what's there in reality.  Fortunately, I wasn't there long.  Those 115 degree days followed by 45 degree nights were more than I cared to endure long enough to get accustomed to.  Not to mention, the astroturf lawns!

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How did we go from stadiums like that to the bull$#!+ were building now?????

I mean Central and Ridgeview have excellent football facilities and both along with Union have excellent schools but they pale in comparison to the layout, architecture and overall design to those above. I do understand that money is an issue but schools like Castlewood look great and would be incredible with a stadium out front.

 

I love the stadiums where the football field is right in front of the school and its all a little crowded together.

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A few years ago friend of mine from Richlands, Dr. Dave Stanton shared this story with me. Coach Ernie Hicks worked as a part time salesman for his company, Virginian Metals, who built dump truck bodies. Ernie sold stadium seats to the area high schools. Wood/metal bleachers were fabricated at his Richlands shop and assembled on school site, by his employees. Big Creek was one of many schools he mentioned. Coach Hicks sold many, since he was so well know by other coaches and his impeccable reputation. He earned the name

 The Master of The Clinch. 

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3 hours ago, redtiger said:

How did we go from stadiums like that to the bull$#!+ were building now?????

Cost, zoning, regulation, funding, etc. etc. etc..........  The cost per square foot for commercial construction in 1950 was less the one-half-of-one-percent of the average household income.  Today, it's closer to 6%!

3 hours ago, redtiger said:

I love the stadiums where the football field is right in front of the school and its all a little crowded together.

Current Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Codes for new school construction stipulates two distinctive ingresses and egresses.  Basically, bus loading zones must be kept completely detached from any other forms of parking and travel through the school property, including travel and parking for athletic fields.  School access roads aren't allowed to encircle the school.  All roadways and parking areas must have "unobstructed views" from the main school building.  The property is also required to meet minimum usable acreage guidelines.  This requires a minimum of 10 acres with and additional acre required per 100 students in average daily attendance.  So, if a school has an average daily attendance of 1,000 students, the property would be required to be no fewer than 20 acres.  However, the key phrase in this requirement is "usable acreage".  Stormwater collection areas, athletic fields and any other "waste" areas aren't considered "usable areas".  

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On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 11:17 PM, Liam McPoyle said:

Related image

Wow, you're not kidding. That setting is spectacular.  The historic colonial revival school and park-like campus have the look of an ODAC school.

No lights?

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2 hours ago, RCITYHOO said:

No lights?

Winchester City ordinance doesn't allow for lighting in most zoning categories.  Shopping centers and large parking lots are allowed to have lighting but they can't be over 35 feet tall and must point directly downward with minimal "ray".  The city also has a strict 45 foot limit on the height of buildings from grade.

The pretentiousness of NOVA never fails to disappoint.

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Handley High was set up and developed back in 1922 with a beginning endowment of $1.2 million from the estate of its namesake.  Pretty good piece of scratch if you can get it.  (Although there is some debate that this provided justification for lower relative funding from public sources and subsequent disparities among localities in Virginia.)

Family friends of ours had a son who attended and graduated from Handley  -- very impressive programs all around.  The nature of the campus (e.g. the lack of overhead lighting and the apparent tight design standards) is probably directly related to the culture of the institution, which is certainly unique.

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On 2/5/2018 at 5:08 PM, RichlandsAlum said:

Handley High was set up and developed back in 1922 with a beginning endowment of $1.2 million from the estate of its namesake.  Pretty good piece of scratch if you can get it.  (Although there is some debate that this provided justification for lower relative funding from public sources and subsequent disparities among localities in Virginia.)

Family friends of ours had a son who attended and graduated from Handley  -- very impressive programs all around.  The nature of the campus (e.g. the lack of overhead lighting and the apparent tight design standards) is probably directly related to the culture of the institution, which is certainly unique.

A few interesting tidbits that I just read about John Handley and John Handley High School.

-Handley was a judge and coal magnate from PA who never lived in Winchester. He visited friends and admired the town for its Scotch-Irish heritage (born in Ireland),

-He had an unsuccessful real estate development project near the town.  The school and surrounding homes were ultimately built on the farmland from the failed project.

-City leaders fought for years about how to use the original $250 K endowment.   It called for a free-use library and schools for the poor.  The city built an elaborate Beaux-Arts style library.  The "schools for the poor" proved controversial. Harry Byrd and others wanted to build a college.  Some citizens wanted completely absolved from the cost of education. The city finally built the high school in 1922, 27 years after Handley's death. The delays allowed the endowment to grow to $1.2 million.

-It remains one of a very few endowed public high schools in the nation. Alumni have donated millions back to organizations supporting the school.  

-All sporting events and extra-curricular activities are free to school-age children.

-Patsy Cline enrolled at JH but never attended. The school's theater is named for the singer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

New football stadium in McKinney, TX...

(The mayor of McKinney is the Dad of a  former SWVA high school football player, a grad of SMU)

 

J-99 Sports Retweeted

Football Is Life @FootbaIl_Tweets

New High School Football Stadium in Texas. This is McKinney High School.
 
$70 million
Seats 12,000 people
HD Video screen is 55-feet wide
 
Only Texans understand this is normal
DWHT6ghU8AAx54Q.jpg
DWHT6gkVoAEVDY5.jpg
 
 
great state
 

 

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5 hours ago, trublue said:

New football stadium in McKinney, TX...

(The mayor of McKinney is the Dad of a  former SWVA high school football player, a grad of SMU)

 

J-99 Sports Retweeted

Football Is Life @FootbaIl_Tweets

New High School Football Stadium in Texas. This is McKinney High School.
 
$70 million
Seats 12,000 people
HD Video screen is 55-feet wide
 
Only Texans understand this is normal
DWHT6ghU8AAx54Q.jpg
DWHT6gkVoAEVDY5.jpg
 
 
great state
 

 

It's no Cliff but I guess it's ok.

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