The Southside Stadium Blues

[CMF Newsman]

Well, it was just announced that we have yet another chief leading the efforts to make Finley Stadium (and Davenport Field) profitable. And once again, this poor sap will likely face the same obstacles everyone before him has in putting butts in the behemoth’s 20,000-plus seats on a regular basis.

I’ve lived two blocks from the stadium for the past three-and-a-half years, and when the lights, PA and crowd noise are humming, I can clearly experience the stadium’s majesty while sitting on my couch trying to watch TV. Thankfully, but sadly for his sake, unless the Mocs are at home, I can count on one hand the number of times this occurrence happens in any given year.

That’s because, frankly, we need a stadium about as much as we need another Wal-Mart. Chattanooga’s football Mocs had trouble filling the old, on-campus Chamberlain Field that seated maybe 2,000 (if everyone scrunched together real close). That’s because they suck. Hey, don’t take my word for it; look at their record over the years. Last year, they only won one game (at least it was at home).

But having the shiny new stadium off campus isn’t just for the Mocs, mind you. It is/was supposed to help draw other uses that would bring millions of tourist dollars to the city as well as make the stadium profitable beyond our wildest dreams. At least that’s what the rich folk who really wanted it in the first place said when they were petitioning local government for taxpayer dollars to subsidize regular maintenance.

www.chattanoogapulse.com/columns/life-in-the-noog/14-life-in-the-noog/774-life-in-the-noog-the-southside-stadium-blues

[Bryan Stone]

I read Crowder most every week and if I tryed real hard I could convince him that we have met,... but he's kind of like Jeff Styles when it comes to talking about sports

both are really smart guys that don't know much about sports but try and wing it,... and it's painfully obvious when they venture to an area they are not very familar with in the sports world

we understand the stadium is a money pit and it's "news" they have new management but the rest of this article is recycling old news without fact checking

the "turfgate" game was in 2004,.. NOT,.. "the year before last"

it's five year old news that he's writing about as if someone who would be reading his article might not have heard of,... there might be somebody out there that doesn't know about that game but it's likely they wouldn't be reading this article

as is known by most local sports fans the 3 year run of App. State along w/ last year's Richmond/Montana game the FCS (formerly 1-AA) game has a 4 year run of huge success

probably it's most successful 4 year stretch in the 12 years the FCS Championship game has been played @ Finley Stadium

and the stadium opened in 1997,... not 1996

[mrevents]

Agreed Mr. Stone.

And get this,

I have actually made money off of that Stadium annually for about 12 years; otherwise known as "Economic Impact." Hard to believe but it's true.