Grip on Sports: Washington’s high school football championships will no longer be in the Tacoma Dome
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The high school football season seems a long way off, what with summer vacation not even underway for our local schools. The WIAA, however, has already made a big decision about how the football season will end.
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• There will be many changes in the look of local high school athletics come September. The enrollment rules instituted by the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association in the past year will scramble the traditional leagues and classifications in the Spokane area, leading to new rivalries – and old friends possibly going separate ways.
But none of those changes have been etched in stone yet. Discussions are still going on. Certainty remains elusive.
There is, however, one decision we know for sure. The football seasons will no longer finish in the Tacoma Dome.
You read that right. The WIAA has parted ways with the facility that has held the title games since 1995. For context, that’s before any of this year’s players were born. A tradition is over.
Replaced by … well, no one knows just yet. The WIAA Executive Board voted yesterday to end the football relationship with the Dome (the basketball and wrestling contracts run a bit longer, so those sports’ championships will still be contested in Tacoma next season), citing expense and a poor fan experience.
Maybe it’s only me, but the latter reason has been in place since the relationship began, for football at least. As a veteran of more than a few state football title games in Tacoma, it never seemed the perfect venue for enjoying a game. Though it held one advantage. It had a roof.
Indoor football the first week of December is, fan-wise, much superior to outdoor football, especially on the East Side of the state.
Not that football in the snow isn’t fun for the players. It is. It’s true football weather. And it’s also memorable. But for the fans who must attend or be accused of being 1950s-style parents, sitting in 20-degree weather with a cold wind blowing down your back, well, that’s not fun. It’s real, sure. And it happens a lot in the semifinals. But it’s not enjoyable for the most part – not to mention it’s downright miserable for half the spectators, those of the losing team.
Since 1995, if your school made the state finals, you knew you could drive across the state, get a hotel room, fight the Friday or Saturday Tacoma traffic and sit comfortably watching the game.
The sightlines may have not been the best – I have been told they have gotten worse since a remodel – and the price may have been high, but there was no blanket or thermos of hot coffee needed. It was always comfortable.
That wasn’t enough. Honestly, it never has been.
The WIAA has made the right decision. Now the Executive Board must make another one. It has to hold the championships in convenient spots, maybe even rotating the title games around the state. At least every four years, each classification’s championship should be on this side of the mountains.
If they are going to be outdoors, they might as well be in the snow.
It is football weather, after all.
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WSU: Whatever your reason for watching the NBA Finals – “Hey, look at what Drake is doing now” – you must have been impressed with Klay Thompson’s effort. His Warriors won a road game, though the WSU alum seems to have tweaked a hamstring. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Arizona made a move with its basketball coaching staff that also affects the Big Sky as well. NAU coach Jack Murphy resigned and will become the Wildcats’ associate head coach. … I wonder if that news would have impacted these rankings. … UCLA’s softball team is headed to the NCAA Finals again after defeating Washington, though this time the Bruins will face the home team. … UCLA’s baseball team is still alive in its regional, facing a winner-moves-on game with Loyola Marymount today. Arizona State’s season is over. Stanford also faces an elimination game today.
Gonzaga: The rowing team’s run at the NCAA championships is over.
Mariners: Another game, another loss. Marco Gonzales is struggling. … The Jay Bruce trade is official but there are conflicting reports about who will be paying Bruce’s salary. If the M’s are paying a bunch of it, it was a poor trade. … Gene Warnick has his Out of Right Field recap of another loss.
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• My to-do list today includes such things as auto repair, fixing a sliding-glass door and weed abatement. Semi-retirement would be helped considerably if our local educational district would open a trade school for those of us who are beginning our golden years. Just saying. Until later …