By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
With the Super 6 AHSAA state football championships being played this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, I began to think how moving the games from Legion Field holds promise.
As of press time, Sweet Water had already won the 1A state championship with Central of Tuscaloosa defeating Deshler for the 4A state crown.
The Super 6 state championships began in 1996 at Legion Field.
Some say the idea started after the 1995 Alexandria versus T.R. Miller game.
The 1995 clash was deemed the “Mud Bowl” when both teams played in muddy conditions at Alexandria in freezing cold weather and no warm showers or ideal changing rooms were provided as the Tigers had to stay in their muddy uniforms and ride all the way back to Brewton.
Alexandria won the game 18-13.
At the time, moving all games to a neutral location and having all classifications be played at Legion Field was a great idea.
Legion Field was known as the football capital of the south as the University of Alabama still played some home games there and most of all the Iron Bowls were played there.
Since then, Legion field rarely sees any action.
But is it a neutral location?
Maybe for the teams in that area or in the surrounding areas like Hoover, Homewood, Spain Park and such it is a neutral location. Even Prattville is only about 100 miles or so away, but what about the teams in our area or even more south?
These teams either have to leave early on the day to play or go up the night before and stay in a hotel room where the teams in Birmingham almost have a home game.
If not for the traveling distances, the location and condition of the stadium is not in the best of conditions.
Why not move it and try somewhere else?
We have Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium in Troy, which hosts the AISA state championships, Montgomery's Cramton Bowl and other places.
We have Bryant-Denny in Tuscaloosa and even Jordan- Hare at Auburn.
If not making it a permanent location between these locations, we could at least rotate it possibly.
Even in basketball, the state championship games are played in Birmingham.
South Alabama's Mitchell center is a nice, big arena that would not be a bad location.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not hating on Birmingham.
I just think that giving everyone a fair chance in the traveling would help out.
I want to wish all area teams best of luck this week as until Wednesday when we meet again, God bless.
Adam Robinson is sports editor of The Brewton Standard. He can be reached at 867-4876 or by e-mail at sports@brewtonstandard.com.