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| Gillette Stadium should remain the home of the MIAA championships. |
And perhaps most of all, the ridiculous provincialism of a lot of people that think they should have a say in how high school sports are conducted?
Yeah, I tolerate it all — probably because (at least in the latter case) there are still a lot of intelligent people working toward the shared goal of keeping the high school athletic experience something that puts the athletes’ happiness first and foremost.
One example of that is the commitment to keep the MIAA football Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium, the home of the six-time NFL champion New England Patriots, instead of farming them out to small colleges or high school sites as was past practice many years ago.
This year, the eight state championship games — and how ridiculous is it that a small state like this one has eight divisions for its 250 or so football teams? — will be played at Gillette over three days. There will be three games on Dec. 1, three more on Dec. 2, and two on Dec. 6, although those two contests could be changed depending on the fate of the New England Revolution soccer team in the MLS playoffs.
You see, the Kraft family owns the stadium. They also own the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution, and those two teams understandably have first dibs on the use of the 66,000-seat stadium that has been Foxboro’s most famous fixture since it opened in 2002.
For several years, however, Robert Kraft and his eldest son, Jonathan, have opened the doors of the stadium to Massachusetts high school football’s championship games. Several states that play host to NFL teams stage their title games at those stadiums, while other states are allowed the use of major college venues, so it was only fitting that the Krafts would follow suit — even though their stadium is privately owned and financed and under no obligation to do so.
And they do it essentially for free.
Over my 41 years as a beat writer covering the Patriots, I’ve had my occasion to criticize the Krafts for a few things, some football-related and others stadium-related. But for the most part, I’ve given an unqualified thumbs-up to their generosity for allowing the MIAA to play its title games at Gillette.
Sure, there were a few quibbles over squeezing six games into one day and having to change the rules of the game to get the teams in and out of the facility within a few hours of the scheduled game times. There was also the silly decision a few years back to bump some of the most important games from eastern Massachusetts out of the stadium in order to allow a few teams from the Central and West sections to experience playing on the same turf that Tom Brady and other Patriot greats called home.
I admit, I thought the entire deal was sunk when the MIAA upped the number of divisions to eight. I was astounded as well as pleased when the Krafts agreed to allow two games to be played on the Friday prior to the day-long Superfest — although there were issues about that, too. Those two games lost the free TV exposure that came with playing on Super Saturday, when Kraft Sports Productions would put all of the games live on regional television. I had my concerns about that as well; putting the games on free TV was an invitation to people to sit at home and watch rather than go to Gillette to watch the games in person. And they wondered why attendance figures were low?
These days, the eight Super Bowls are actual state championship games. They deserve an appropriate venue. And the Krafts are still willing to offer use of the stadium for free, even though their gesture is now taken for granted — and some even seem greedy about that offer, as if somehow it isn't enough.
This year, a problem arose. The Krafts were faced with the likelihood that the schedule of the MLS playoffs would force them to preempt Super Saturday and accommodate one of the most successful Revolution teams in that franchise’s existence. But negotiations were undertaken and a solution was found, spreading the eight high school games over three days. Although not the ideal situation for some teams’ fan bases because of mid-afternoon starting times, at least it was better than forcing the MIAA to scramble and relegate some or all of the games to willing small colleges or high schools.
But is everyone happy? Of course not. This is Massachusetts, where one of the most popular pastimes is complaining just for the sake of complaining.
In recent weeks, the social media warriors whose individual courage exists only in the distance between hands and keyboard have been crying foul — blasting the MIAA, the Krafts even the writers (including me) that have followed this story since Schaefer Stadium opened in 1971. They say the MIAA should have had alternatives. Boston College! Harvard! BU’s Nickerson Field! Fenway Park! Or maybe the games would be better at Brockton High, or the Manning Bowl, or Polar Park. Or maybe just at the small colleges, or a high school field out in the sticks!
I try to keep these missives clean, holding to the standards of good taste that I maintained over a half-century of sportswriting. But I can’t word this any other way. These people are fucking nuts.
From the top, the major college venues are not available. Not at all. Boston College, Harvard and BU have expressed NO interest, NONE AT ALL, in hosting high school tournament games. They have their reasons and they aren’t budging off them regardless of how many times they are asked. And because those schools have been so resolute in their objections, the topic should no longer be raised.
There have been some small colleges, such as Colby or Bentley, that have played host to Super Bowls in the past. The accommodations have been at least borderline adequate for the teams, while not so for fans or the media covering games. And the parking situations at those schools have been abysmal for all.
The next level down is the high schools that are willing to open their gates to a large influx of people from points unknown. Most aren’t willing to assume the responsibility. And while I must laud those that are willing, often times their facilities just aren’t equipped at the level expected for a championship circumstance.
The Twitter nitwits seem to think that you could play these games in the woods somewhere and the participants would be just as proud and excited to be there. I think the answer is found in an old song — “How’re you gonna keep 'em down on the farm, once they have seen Paree?”
Yes, those horses have left the barn. Gillette Stadium has been home to the title games for a generation of young athletes, and their successors expect to have a chance to play there. Maybe 10,000 fans get lost inside a venue designed for six times that total, but whose fault is that? Not the kids.
It’s a thrill to play on that field. And the players aren’t alone in feeling that thrill. I’m a little jaded about being in the Gillette press box, having been there for weeks upon weeks on end from when it opened in 2002 to when I retired in 2018. But I could see a gee-whiz quality in the glances of some small-town reporters who’d be making their first visits there. And I will gleefully admit to a special thrill when I worked for the first time as a cable TV announcer out of the broadcast booth where Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti toiled (and more recently, Bob Socci and Scott Zolak) for so many years.
I didn’t cover the annual Super Bowl breakfast banquet at Gillette for anyone this year, but I’ve been there in the past, and the coverage I read of today’s event mirrored the past experience. The selected players and coaches of all the participating team get the chance to stroll around the field after the breakfast has ended, and all of them admit to being filled with a sense of awe to be standing on that hallowed turf and looking up at the towering grandstands on all four sides around them. This is their Mecca.
Nobody should be even remotely thinking about taking this away from them. Not in the slightest.
