Had a nice chat with the Region 6A secretary and learned numbers from past Section 5A championship games (boys). The peak number was in 2011, Upsala's first year they went to state, with paid attendance of 878 at Crosby-Ironton.
We're determining what level of crowds were in Little Falls on March 1 and March 4 of this year. I need a firm number on the seating capacity at Flyer Gymnasium. Stay tuned.
09:00 - Just heard the official capacity (with the bleachers arranged as they were last night) is 1,500 at Flyer Gymnasium. Based on numbers from ticket sales last night, Flyer Gymnasium was at about 2/3 of capacity.
I'm still mad about it. And when I'm mad I'm not a nice guy as those who know me would attest to. If all the fans get in on Friday night, I'll cool off. That's my biggest beef.
The driving distance is not cool but it's not as bad as if folks drive all the way there and can't get in. That's a worst-case scenario, and hopefully that won't happen.
09:45 - more ranting. Last fall B-B-E had over 700 fans at a football game in Sauk Centre. It's a drop of a hat from Browerville and B-B-E (favoring B-B-E obviously). Either way, wouldn't Browerville fans rather drive to SC than to Crosby-Ironton?? Suggesting that this game could draw 2,000 fans isn't a laughable idea IF it was held further south. Sticking this game way up north is absolutely going to hurt attendance and hurt your gate!! If this game is not moved you have no reason to complain about money, Section 6A/5A officials. Make no mistake, teams like this year's B-B-E team don't come along very often. To not take advantage of it is treasonous.
I looked back to 2012, when Browerville won Section 5A. That year, Browerville met Barnum in Crosby in the title game. Barnum is awfully close to Duluth. That year, Crosby was a logical choice. Section officials looked like geniuses that year. This year, not quite.
In 2011, Upsala met McGregor when the Cardinals first went to state. McGregor is 36 miles from Crosby, so again, Crosby looked like a good choice (although Brainerd would've certainly been more fair to Upsala).
I'm not so big on "fair"...life's not fair and that's a good lesson to teach our young. But when it comes to matters of student safety, strain and burdens on families with young children and even matters of money, the fiasco that's coming Friday night is unacceptable. When we preach fiscal responsibility on one hand and then set up something like this, I am sorry, it will tick me off. It will make me an ugly person. It doesn't make sense, especially when there are better gyms out there to at least consider!!!!
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