|
The Oregon School Activities Association needs to review its policies for determining the site of championship games.
The Class 1A state football title game will feature two Northeast Oregon teams, Imbler and Joseph. But rather than put the game in the region that would draw the biggest crowd and just about everyone from both towns, the game will be played Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium. It will be the first game of a tripleheader featuring the 1A, 2A and 3A title games.
The Observer contacted the OSAA Monday to suggest the game be played in La Grande, or even Baker City in order to bring the game closer to the people who would like to go to it.
The response from the OSAA? “The game will be played at Hillsboro Stadium.’’ The OSAA representative went on to explain that contracts were signed a long time ago, and that FSN will be taping the game to show at a later time.
Contracts can be difficult to change, but in this case circumstances have changed dramatically.
Forcing two Northeast Oregon teams to travel across the state, and asking their fans to do the same, is ridiculous. What about the fans who can’t make the trip across the state in this down economy? Well, they can see the tape-delayed broadcast Monday on FSN, the OSAA reasons.
The OSAA has dug in its heels on this one, despite receiving phone calls and being the subject of numerous comments posted on sports web blogs, all suggesting that it reconsider the site for the 1A championship game. The OSAA isn’t listening, though. For most of the schools the organization deals with, a one- or two-hour drive up or down the I-5 corridor for a game isn’t a big deal. Fans will follow. Imbler and Joseph’s fans are just as dedicated, but a five- or six-hour drive, an overnight stay and a return trip might not be in the budget, especially this year.
The OSAA probably doesn’t expect much in the way of gate receipts from a 1A championship game. With its steadfast decision to not consider alternatives, it can just about count on that. Holding the game in the region from where both teams are from would easily triple, perhaps quadruple, the receipts — not to mention the fact that such flexibility would also mean a lot to the two schools’ fans. And it would just make sense.
Eastern Oregon University is ready and willing to host the game. Fans — whole towns, in fact — are anxious to see it, to be a part of it. They want to see it live, not on tape delay.
The OSAA needs to build some flexibility, or escape clauses, into the contracts it signs for championship games. Football isn’t like basketball, where a multi-day tournament determines the champion and the site has to be pre-determined.
In the long term, the OSAA needs to revisit its policy for determining football game sites. In the short term, it should quickly rethink its position on the site of the Imbler-Joseph game and put it within reach of both teams’ fans — even if it would mean delaying the game for a week.
|
Opinion 
