Tradition will change when the state football finals leave Stark County for Columbus.
The thrills of a game-winning touchdown in an Ohio high school state title football game has had a distinct feel-good hometown feeling while at the intimate surroundings of Paul Brown Stadium in Massillon or Fawcett Stadium in Canton. There seems little chance, says Tim Warsinskey, of that atmosphere being maintained when the games shift to Ohio Stadium in Columbus in 2014 and 2015 -- and perhaps for good.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I love history, I love Ohio's place in history, and I love the way Ohio celebrates its football history in events such as Hall of Fame weekend in Canton and places like Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
That's why the high school state football finals in Canton and Massillon are a near-perfect match. I say near-perfect because the only argument against state finals weekend being in Stark County is that it is not centrally located.
Truth be told, that always struck me as a disingenuous complaint when Cincinnati teams lost. Stark County being a two-hour drive north of Columbus is not that big a deal, which was exemplified by Division II state champion Cincinnati Winton Woods' day at the finals last December. Winton Woods drove to Canton for a 7 p.m. game, got off the buses 90 minutes before kickoff and whipped Maple Heights. Then they drove home.
But last month the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced the state finals will move from Canton and Massillon to Ohio State for two years, in 2014 and 2015, which could be the beginning of a rotation with Stark County, or more likely, the beginning of the end. That won't be decided until 2015.
Columbus and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel sold Ohio Stadium as the host site partly on the image of players having the thrill of playing on the same field and tracing the footsteps of Archie Griffin, Eddie George and Troy Smith. That's some pretty good history, too.
In some ways, it's worth giving Ohio State a shot at the games. Maybe it can prove to be a stellar host, which means:
• Don't charge OSU gameday prices for concessions and parking.
• Don't let attendance be devastated by OSU playing in the Big Ten championship game on national TV the same day (good luck with that).
• Don't hustle teams and fans out of the stadium after winning a state title because you decided to play six games in two days and the tournament has fallen behind schedule.
• Don't treat the finals like a minor event. In Stark County, the finals are given red-carpet treatment.
The reality is state football finals will be played in front of 95,000 empty seats in 102,000-seat Ohio Stadium. I've seen that act in the state hockey finals where a couple thousand show up in 18,000-seat Nationwide Arena, and I'll hate to see it in Ohio Stadium. After players run out on that field, the thrill won't be the same. The high school finals are diminished when played in oversized college and pro facilities.
While some in Stark County are furious with sharing the next four-year contract with Ohio State, I actually commend some of the OHSAA's leadership for resisting growing pressure from within the organization and throughout Columbus to award Ohio State the games outright. In fact, the vote on Columbus never even took place, perhaps out of concern that it would pass.
Once the finals are in Ohio Stadium, I doubt the Columbus-based OHSAA will be able to resist the influence of Ohio State beyond 2015. Unless Ohio State completely drops the ball, the games will stay there.
That will be a loss for Ohio football, of historic proportions.