talked to a mshsaa rep. a few weeks ago about the move. Selfishly I prefer Columbia. Spent championship Saturday in Mizzou Arena. He said the the hotels and restaurants did not seem to want it as bad as Springfield. My opinion is that those restaurants probably would not give him and his mshsaa buddies free meals. Only in Missouri would a state tourney be moved.
Moved Tourney
- Thread starter BiggDog
- Start date
So you think it's fair for Southeast, Mo. and other teams, to travel 4 or 5 hours EVERY year but it's ok for any team in the Jeff City or Columbia area to be in their backyard EVERY year? Other sports have jumped all over the place through the years.
Sort of like Stratford and Logan Rogers this year? Only team I can think of in COMO is Rock Bridge. No one from Jeff City there.
This isn't difficult, they go to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Community, the town that gives them the best financial package gets the bid, geography and all those things really don't matter much, in this country is always about the $$$$
Here are the facts. Springfield is a "Basketball Town." They fill up JQH for The Bass Pro Shop Tournament of Champions each year. I have been to Columbia for the Final 4 and noticed empty seats and less interest. In Springfield, you will notice larger crowds and fans interested in the greatest game ever invented.
If it is a basketball town, the JQH would be filled at each game! Averaging 3,500 fans at a D-1 school is not that impressive
JQH capacity is 11,000, Mizzou Arena capacity is 15,000. This isn't a question of who comes to see Missouri State play, this is a question of who will support the High School State Tournament better. On a side note, haven't seen too many sell out crowds at Mizzou games either (unless they are playing powerhouse teams).
The answer to a better Final 4 lies in Springfield, not Columbia. JQH is a much nicer venue, a better city in Springfield to host the State Tournament. Thank you MSHSAA for moving the Final 4 to Springfield.
Again, you declared Springfield to be a basketball town, not me! If it was, win or or lose they support their teams at JQH
I think the attendance at the Blue and Gold and Tournament of Champions is more showing of the support of high school basketball in SWMO than Bears games. Anyway we will find out... I think its a good move. Eitherway there will be no change for at least FIVE years.
Springfield is more of a high school basketball town than a college basketball town. I think the Final 4 will be well supported here, but we won't know until it happens, especially with next week's action. Class 1-3 is always pretty well represented with SWMO teams. Next week could be the test, though, since it is possible (likely, actually) that there will be zero representatives from SWMO in Class 4 or Class 5 boys or girls title games. With no entire towns turning out in force to watch their team play, I'm wondering how many people will actually be there and how it will compare to past years in CoMo.
That said, the venue itself is far superior to what Mizzou offers, except I think parking in Springfield will be an issue that makes a lot of people very unhappy.
That said, the venue itself is far superior to what Mizzou offers, except I think parking in Springfield will be an issue that makes a lot of people very unhappy.
Facts....anytime there is change someone will complain. I agree that Springfield packs both gyms well for the B&G tourney and it's hard to get good seats for the TofC. I look forward to watching at JQH this year, nice arena and good facilities.
I thought I heard somewhere according to SEC rules that non-sanction events couldn't be held on SEC campuses. They allowed new members time to find locations for events already on the schedule and let existing contracts run out before they had to move them. Not sure if that is true or not but that seems to be a pretty good reason for it not being at MU.
Really don't think this is the case at all. Springfield just put in a better bid, most likely. Folks tried to say the same thing about football championships on SEC campuses but that has proved to be false
What would have happened if the contract is at Springfield or at Mizzou, and that respective women's team earns the right to host a pod of 4 on campus with a top 4 in the tournament or top 16 in the country seed? That would be a huge last second curveball for the the class 4/5 title games.
Winner, winner...chicken dinner! I would imagine that's also why the schedule is so jacked up too. They took a relatively great day of HS hoops (getting to see all six C1-3 boys semis, or girls if that's your thing) and completely fouled it up.
I guess the 4 hour trip proved detrimental to hayti as they lost to Van Far. Van Far had only a 3.5 hour trip compared to 4.25 hour trip for hayti. Maybe they could have played in Birch tree.
......
Overall the Springfield final-four class 1-2-3
Show-Me showdown was a big success...
Good crowds, good atmosphere, good faciity, good motels, good restaurants, easy
driving etc etc.. One huge drawback is the ultra - s---y parking... They gotta empty those student lots out before the final-four..!
AND Championship games MUST be played
on Saturdays NOT Fridays...
Write MSHSAA and express yer views and input...
Cya there again 16-17th... C (dogpa..=)~
I enjoyed the venues more than I thought I would. Still prefer Columbia arenas, but it wasn't horrible. I could do without the PA announcer injecting himself into the game. Felt sometimes like I was at a Globetrotters game. The teams are good, no need to detract from that. Otherwise, had a great time as usual. Good games. Congrats to all players and coaches involved.
Pa...I parked in the garage on Grand...When I pulled in at 4:20 Friday afternoon, they had 819 spaces available according to the sign. It was a 5 min walk to JQH. Easily comparable walk from the back parts of the Hearnes/Mizzou arena lots.
Overall I enjoyed the weekend of basketball. Most of the games were good. I will agree with you, I prefer it at the Mizzou Arena. The parking wasn’t the best at JQH unless the students were out of school.
Felt like the venue was far better in Springfield. Watching a game at JQH was a much better experience. If you know where to park, like the parking garage mentioned above, the parking was no better or no worse than CoMo. Plus the choices to eat are far superior in Springfield. I hope it stays. I did talk to a director and he said CoMo made no effort to keep the games, they just assumed it would be theirs for the taking.
