big 33
- Thread starter lilromeo
- Start date
I'll take a stab at this from a distance.
My guess is that if the game had been played in Philadelphia it would have had a hard time drawing 1,000 people-- a reflection of the fact that there isn't much of a pool of people who are fans of high school football--as opposed to people who are fans of a particular school/team. Look at the small crowd that came out for the city all-star game a month or so ago. So the lack of coverage seems to mirror the general lack of interest. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe this isn't at all true of people in District 1, but that's where it seems to stand in District 12.
Big 33 result/stats are on PennLive:
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.co...econd-half-wins-60th-big-33-football-classic/
http://highschoolsports.pennlive.co...econd-half-wins-60th-big-33-football-classic/
Agree,
Unfortunately it does not draw in Hershey anymore either. I have been up there 5-6 times over the last 15 years and each year is attended less than the previous time I visited. More of an overall reflection of the state of HS FB in PA.
I do agree mostly about the coverage part. IMO, If the media would get behind the HS football scene more , the interest would be enhanced substantially. I'm as much an Eagles fan as anyone, and I follow Temple,Villanova ,NotreDame and Penn State and still am an avid High School football follower. I am disappointed that we do have talented teams and players in the area without the following they deserve.
It’s just not the same except for pockets across the state and some neighborhood rivalries that are still viable. Same in 3 where local powers like Central Dauphin-Cumberland Valley still have a wow factor and McDevitt-Harrisburg….diminished since McD’s move from Market St to CD’s side of town, Cumberland Valley-State College still a big one.
If they’d schedule more intra and inter district games like Central Dauphin-Wilson and Cumberland Valley-Coatesville, particularly the intra wars where they’ll bring the buses, you’d have something. Nothing wrong with McDevitt’s homer against NY power Canisius (loaded) but how many will travel from Buffalo to Harrisburg?
If they’d schedule more intra and inter district games like Central Dauphin-Wilson and Cumberland Valley-Coatesville, particularly the intra wars where they’ll bring the buses, you’d have something. Nothing wrong with McDevitt’s homer against NY power Canisius (loaded) but how many will travel from Buffalo to Harrisburg?
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Stalk,any suggestions as to hoe to get more interest particularly from the media in general? I'm sure District 3 with the Patriot News and District 7 with the Pittsburg Post Gazzette have much more coverage and fan interest than we here in Philly. The same goes for the Allentown/Bethlehem area which still has good Media coverage and good fan support. I'm not suggesting HS football can be front page material ,but damn,if coverage was improved they will come !!! IMO.
My impression when I'm in the Philadelphia area is that local TV stations are giving as much coverage to high school football as they've ever given--which is spotty but which has always been spotty. The print copies of the Inquirer and Daily News seem to be giving less, but it's also true that far fewer people are reading print copies. Website coverage is about the same, though of course Ted Silary has narrowed his coverage. In a way, the new computer-based technology (with live-streamed games, forums like this, all the twitter traffic, etc.) has made it easier to give and get material about HS football-and everything else.
When you think about technology, you probably have a big part of the answer about falling attendance. My bet is that many of the people who once would have gone to a game are doing something in front of a screen or they spent so much time in front of a screen earlier in the day or the night before that they're squeezed for time when it comes time to decide whether to go to a particular game. Of course, there are other reasons. I agree with Stalker about rivalry games. Also, my impression is that there are more lopsided games than before. Like most people, I'd much rather go to a game where the teams are at least roughly even.
Pittsburgh and Harrisburg are similar with each having a small town vibe, particularly Hbg compared to sprawling Philadelphia surrounded by high pop centers of Delco, Montco and Bucks counties, counties with nearly twice the population of Pittsburgh’s 300,000. Harrisburg is at 50,000. Point being I think the small town feel lends itself to football making the product more desirable to ‘those’ people, with ‘those’ being a whole other discussion including demographics.
But the realities are pretty harsh with big drop offs in HS sports participation in the same way younger people aren’t buying automobiles the way we used to. So if the demand just isn’t there, it’s a tough sell, like selling Hummers. You can get creative selling parts, catering to your base effectively but good luck getting new Hummer customers. And in time your base dies off.
Given the environment locally, getting people to a game on a Friday night (Traffic!) is a tough sell especially when the product isn’t marketed well. Even if it was, think Hummer. And, do school districts-boards even want that? If they do, they should schedule more games like North Penn-St. Joseph’s Prep, Coatesville-Ridley, Downingtown-Neshaminy, Perkiomen Valley-Garnet Valley and other SE PA matchups of interest prioritizing intra district games except in a tight geographical area like SE PA….over inter district games.
With the Gazette, Tribune, MSA Sports and Penn Live, you’ll find blogs, good preseason analysis and weekly shows instead of a line or two on teams with shallow quips like “they’re coming off a 9-2 season”. That’s not acceptable sports journalism anywhere.
In simple terms, no one cares if the opponent is Maryland. At least Ohio has a reputation and led to some discussion on the game. I'd rather see a game between PA and NJ, than PA and MD. The fact the game was played in a local HS stadium is all we need to know.
And the people from central PA would much rather see a game with MD than NJ in the same way western PA enjoys an OH game. So as you say, in simple terms no one cares if the opponent is NJ. Guess we got use to OH but the bottom line is probably, no one cares.
The big 33 like most HS football all star games are a thing of the past. The division one talent is already enrolled in college with many participating in spring practice and others taking summer course to lighten the fall class load. Coaches with scholarship players do not want to see their future employees injured in an all star game. The days of having Joe Namath, Jim Nance, Harry Shue, Cosmo Iccavzi representing Pennsylvania is a thing of the past. Looking at the score of the Bucks co./Montco all star game maybe the players are not that interested either.
Nailed it Shoe. The glory days of these games were when we had no way to see these kids we read about from far ways away from us. Now we can see videos of games, of workouts, and endless articles about home many stars they have. The mystery is gone, and with it the enthusiasm to see these all star games. If I had a son going D1 there is no way in heck I would even let him play in one of these games. Way too much to lose.
I guess I still had expectations of some sort of interest by the Inquire,but what you state is true. They should discontinue the game.I attended many many games going back to Pa./Texas who were coached by Bobby Lane and blitzed the whole game which was against the rules lol. Oh well,heres hoping that Media coverage increases for the season and playoffs .
Rome, in SE Pa, the media coverage is great for the season I think. With twitter, periscope, facebook live, the reporters are doing a great job of showing us the games. And the big ticket has hugely expanded their coverage to include some district one highlights....I thank them for that. The crime is that I guess because of the PIAA fees we don't see any playoff games on tv, or streamed. I would love to see the districts playoff games I don't live near. And compared to other parts of the country, the PCN coverage is brutal. Fox sports covers in a ton of other states and we get public access cable. We get the farm report, wayne's world, and then the state championships.