DMan 10 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 Perhaps some Beaver fans would enlighten me on this subject, but has West Virginia ever considered moving the state championship game? I'm sure that Wheeling is quite a long drive for the Beaver players and fans. I was just wondering what makes Wheeling more special to the high school league than other possible venues? Cities like Morgantown, Huntington, or even the state capital Charleston would probably love to host a state championship game. In Virginia, it's hosted at Lynchburg at Liberty University, which has a nice facility and is around the middle of the state. West Virginia having their games in Wheeling would be like Virginia having their games at Winchester, which is about an 8 hour drive from Southwest Virginia, right outside of D.C. It seems to me that it's really unfair to the schools in the southern part of the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluefield_Rules 46 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 [ QUOTE ] I was just wondering what makes Wheeling more special to the high school league than other possible venues? [/ QUOTE ] It's called kickbacks. Wheeling wines and dines the SSAC people like royalty and pretty much gives them the keys to the city of Wheeling during this week. Wheeling gives the SSAC people whatever they want, anytime they want it. Charleston, Parkersburg, and Huntington all applied to host the Super Six when it came up for re-bid at the first of the year, but didn’t stand a chance. My main complaints about Wheeling are/were: the condition of the field is always horrible, but that shouldn’t be a problem now with the new field turf having been installed. I also have a huge problem with having our state championship at a location with a strip club DIRECTLY beside the front gate of the stadium and then a gambling facility adjacent across the parking lot. It’s absolutely horrible to go to a high school football game and have two facilities like that in the immediate area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMan 10 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 [ QUOTE ] I also have a huge problem with having our state championship at a location with a strip club DIRECTLY beside the front gate of the stadium and then a gambling facility adjacent across the parking lot. It’s absolutely horrible to go to a high school football game and have two facilities like that in the immediate area. [/ QUOTE ] It's too bad that no one could use that as leverage to get the game moved, eh? It could be easily claimed that type of environment is settling a bad example for the kids. Personally, I would like to see championship games rotated from city to city with the proper venues. The Super Bowl and NCAA championship game both are never in the same city, so why not do the same within the state? Wheeling used to be the state capital of West Virginia way back long ago, correct me if I'm wrong? They must still have a lot of influence, money, power in the state to control the SSAC like that, even moreso than Charleston it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaverbaseball 10 Report Share Posted December 1, 2004 They should move it to Charleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverHokie 35 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 [ QUOTE ] They should move it to Charleston [/ QUOTE ] I agree. And it was in Charleston for a long time. Not sure when they went to a centralized location (Bluefield won the 1975 AAA championship in Mitchell Stadium against S. Charleston, the 1984 Championship in Charleston against Barboursville)...but from (at least) the early 80s until 1994 (???), it was in Charleston. Other folks mentioned it..Wheeling just GIVES them this game. If I remember correctly, before, Charleston charged the WVSSAC to host the games (they had to pay to rent the stadium, pay for the security and field personnel, etc). Wheeling said they'd do it for free. Then, when Charleston decided to pony up, and do it for free, Wheeling said they'd PAY the WVSSAC to host it in Wheeling. I don't get it. Most people who go to Wheeling and stay, tend to stay and eat in Ohio. Wheeling gets almost no financial benefit from the games, that I can tell. Well, maybe the strip club and gambling place do a lot of business...maybe they're the driving force here. Sort of seedy, if you ask me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VHSLhelper 571 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 If I remember correctly, WVSSAC got around $75 K from Wheeling following last years game. Don't know where it came from, though Yeah, they need to move it around, or maybe rotate AAA between Huntington & Charleston, and make an A/AA DH that rotates around the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefieldRocks 14 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 I think its just to much traveling for southern teams to drive 4 or more hours to watch a football game its ridiclous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
criscosmom 10 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 It seems to me the logical place to have these championship games would be Charleston as it is centrally located. A question that I have is what do the sponsors do for these ballgames. They spend a lot of time during the game thanking these sponsors but how do they benefit the ball team. Everybody still has to pay $7 to get in the gate and I can't see where either team really benefits from the sponsors. I know the band doesn't receive anything. I just don't quite understand and would love to have it explained to me. The Bluefield Beavers had such an awesome season. Big congratulations. And - LOVE THAT BEAVER BAND. They keep the spirit alive as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverHokie 35 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 [ QUOTE ] It seems to me the logical place to have these championship games would be Charleston as it is centrally located. A question that I have is what do the sponsors do for these ballgames. They spend a lot of time during the game thanking these sponsors but how do they benefit the ball team. Everybody still has to pay $7 to get in the gate and I can't see where either team really benefits from the sponsors. I know the band doesn't receive anything. I just don't quite understand and would love to have it explained to me. The Bluefield Beavers had such an awesome season. Big congratulations. And - LOVE THAT BEAVER BAND. They keep the spirit alive as well. [/ QUOTE ] The cynic in me thinks that the WVSSAC committees benefit the most from the sponsorships. If I remember correctly, there are luncheons, dinners, etc., all paid for by the sponsors. Frankly, I think all the sponsorships benefit only Wheeling, letting them pay for hosting the games. The more I think about it, the more disgusting and seedy it is. Does holding the game in Wheeling benefits the players? In most cases, no, not at all. Certainly doesn't help the teams in the southern end of the state, and it's probably no better than a wash for a team like Martinsburg. Does holding the game in Wheeling help the fans? See above...highly dependent on who is playing. I don't think it benefits a majority of the fans, in comparison to a Charleston-hosted game. Well, surely, having the game in Wheeling benefits SOMEBODY. Right? (said as I gaze at the WVSSAC leadership) And by the way, the Bluefield band sounds as good as ever, but the band sure seems awfully small. Not trying to cause any problems, but why is the band so small now? I used to think it was small-ish when there were 70-75 playing members. I counted 28 at the Weir game, I think. As awesome as they sound, it just seems there need to be more of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
criscosmom 10 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 There are 42 members in our band. Quality -- not quantity. I don't know why kids are interested anymore but most of the ones in it now have a real passion for it and that is what counts. I chaperoned this trip to Wheeling and they are just a wonderful group of kids. We had absolutely no problems at all. My son plays the snare drum and just absolutely loves it. Another thing, about the WVSSAC. It seems to me they would want to have this championship game where it would benefit WV and not Ohio and Pennsylvania. I saw all kinds of people from Beaver shopping in the mall which is in Ohio. Most of the hotels people stay in are in Ohio and Pennsylvania. I just don't get it. But, is there anything we can do about it? I don't know. I do think I will write a letter to the WVSSAC about my concerns. I can at least do my part in speaking out about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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