There was stunned silence for several seconds after the TSSAA Board of Control voted Wednesday to award Cookeville a two-year contract to host the BlueCross Bowl.
It was a true upset -- as initially bewildering as seeing Buster Douglas knock out Mike Tyson years ago.
Murfreesboro came in with every conceivable advantage. It is the geographic center of a state that spans 560 miles, and Middle Tennessee State University has flawlessly hosted the state football championships the last nine years. The only way the city wouldn't have retained ownership was to fumble it away. And that's just what happened with a half-hearted bid presentation.
Whether it was arrogance or apathy, the attitude wasn't lost on the board. Two members even asked each other during a break before voting whether Murfreesboro actually wanted to keep it.
"Murfreesboro acted like they expected to have it handed to them," board member Mike Tribue said later. "I think the vote made a statement that we'll do what's in the best interest of the TSSAA and the kids. It sends a tremendous message to Murfreesboro that they just might not be the host of much anymore. That includes the Spring Fling."
Clearly Murfreesboro has nobody to blame but itself for losing an event that brought in more than $1 million annually to its economy, not to mention even more in ticket sales and positive publicity from the thousands of visitors who came to watch their schools play for titles. I'm still confused why Murfreesboro decided to lowball the competition with the minimum required bid, despite the fact that the 12 TSSAA championship events it hosts, including the boys' and girls' basketball tournaments and Spring Fling, bring about $7 million into the city.
With Spring Fling bids due July 13, and the board set to vote on a new contract for that even a month later, Murfreesboro now has its work cut out to erase the leftover sour taste from this week. And if Wednesday's presentation is any indication of what Murfreesboro will submit, Chattanooga certainly has a shot at returning the Fling, which brings in more than $3.5 million annually, to its birthplace.
Cookeville's aggressive bid was a blueprint for snatching an event from the city that once appeared untouchable in hosting high-profile state championships. It overcame a clear facilities disadvantage and blew everyone away by having a powerpoint presentation and impassioned pleas from five representatives ranging from political and civic leaders to a Tennessee Tech University vice president and respected Golden Eagles football coach Watson Brown.
Cookeville's energetic approach wasn't lost on Scott Smith, president of the Greater Chattanooga Sports & Events Committee. Expect Smith and his team to get our own politicians and civic leaders to chip in for the Spring Fling bid.
If nothing else, Wednesday's decision to move the football championships proved there are more important things than facilities and recent experience. Tech's Tucker Stadium is roughly half the size of MTSU's Floyd Stadium and there will be a noticeable downgrade in every other facility aspect, most notably the outdated pressbox with no elevator, one unisex bathroom and barely enough room for half the typcial media contingent.
Cookeville hosted single-game state championship games in 1973 and '74, but that was nothing compared to the scale of the new three-day extravaganza. The TSSAA is taking a huge risk on a small market, which has never hosted a state tournament event of any kind.
That's not to say Cookeville can't finish the updates on the stadium and fulfill all the promises it made to the TSSAA officials. But the list is long.
"We have to start to work right now to make sure everything runs smoothly," said TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress. "We don't want to take even a step backward from what everybody is used to at our championship events.
"We had issues with each site, and although their enthusiasm makes you believe they'll work out any concerns, you have to have concerns simply because we've never been there and they've never hosted one of our events."
