The TSSAA’s state high school football championships will move from Murfreesboro to Cookeville next year after the Upper Cumberland city outbid us last week for the rights to host the BlueCross Bowl.
Ultimately, it was a business decision on the part of all parties involved.
Murfreesboro’s bid was not as high as Cookeville or Chattanooga’s but our folk knew what it actually costs to host the title games and what the return was and made an offer accordingly.
While we certainly hate to lose the revenue the games bring in, the numbers have to make sense.
Hosting the TSSAA events, or any other, have to pay back in one of two ways:
1) Marketing – Giving community recognition. Murfreesboro has pretty much maxed that out with all three of the major TSSAA events. Hopefully we can keep the basketball tournaments and Spring Fling, more diverse and lucrative events.
Not to be critical but Cookeville’s name recognition pretty much ends with Tennessee Tech.
2) Revenue – As noted earlier Murfreesboro’s bid was based on the return. The football championships are singular events and bring less hotel nights, food and other tourism spending because you can actually drive here from any part of the state, see your team play for a title and drive back.
Cookeville obviously had more need for No. 1 than we did and was therefore willing to sacrifice on No. 2.
Some may see the loss of the games as a blunder by local officials.
That is an incorrect decision. Murfreesboro’s bid was made on broad-based business factors, as it should be.
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Department: Too many people just don’t have enough to do.
Example: Two Indiana men have declared Monday "National Man Day.”
Nineteen-year-old Joel Longanecker of Celestine, Ind., and his 26-year-old brother Aaron, of Indianapolis, have for months been rallying thousands to their masculine cause on Facebook. More than 260,000 people have pledged to "stand up and do manly things" on Man Day, according to an Associated Press report.
The Man Day organizers urge participants to take part in "manly" activities such as football, hunting or watching Rocky movies.
Observation: Isn’t this in the same vein as “Kid’s Day” which is everyday as our parents told us and Post columnist Stephen Lewis reminded us recently.
I know a lot of white males sometimes feel oppressed or something because somebody gets a special break.
Yeah, us poor white guys have it bad as evidenced by our poor representation in positions of power in the business, political, religious, civic, oh, well about everything.
A newspaper letter to the editor last week was complaining that a white man was not being considered for the opening on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Poor white guys only hold seven of the nine positions even thought they make up maybe 40 percent of the population.
The Indiana “men,” a 19 and 26-year-old, now want Man Day. I thought that was Super Bowl day, or New Year’s Day, or Indianapolis 500 Day or any college football Saturday or NFL Sunday.
Not that women don’t like football or racing. Lots do. And, some men don’t care for it.
But, my wife knows I will be ill if she schedules something on a Sunday while the Titans are playing.
Now she might keep an eye or ear on the game, unless our daughter suggests a shopping trip, or lunch out, or a walk.
Me? At the game or watching it on the tube. On some black day that I can’t watch it, I’m recording it.
That the two youngsters in Indiana haven’t figured out the “man” thing yet is evidenced as they picked a Monday to play football, hunt or watch Rocky movies.
Dudes, men go to work on Mondays.
And, not many hunting seasons are open this time of year as we don’t allow people to shoot the critters while they are busy mating. It’s like a professional courtesy. After all, you don’t see deer trying to poke guys with their antlers while they are dropping pickup lines at Happy Hour.
And, Rocky movies? Are you kidding me? OK, the first one was a good movie. Very good. After that it was a sharp, steady decline.
Watching Rocky movies II to XXXIV would be “manly” only if suffering needlessly is considered manly.
You want to do something manly Monday? Fix something with duct tape.
Duct Tape Department: Should you find your wide first aid tape missing while trying to address an ankle sprain, duct tape works quite well indeed, maybe better.
•••
Aren’t you glad they finally pulled off that analog television conversion?
One more commercial or public service announcement about the change and I was going to take my carry-permit gun and shoot a restaurant-bar television.
If you watch television, how could you not catch onto the change after months and months of prompting?
Kinda like the people who carry drugs to Bonnaroo. How can you not know the police are going to be swarming all over to find them?
File those under the Duh! Department. |
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