Tiger Dude
08-24-2005, 10:01 AM
Showdown may move from Kyle
Bryan, Consol consider playing annual game at home stadiums
By LARRY BOWEN
Eagle Staff Writer
Officials at A&M Consolidated and Bryan high schools are talking about moving their annual football game from Kyle Field to the home stadiums as early as next season, Consol athletic director and head football coach Jim Slaughter said Tuesday.
Slaughter said he believes Texas A&M University officials would rather not host the game at Kyle Field, where the Crosstown Showdown has been played for the last 15 years.
"I really believe [Texas A&M officials] would like to get us off that field, and I can understand it," Slaughter said. "I'm talking to Bryan about going home-and-home."
A spokesman for the A&M athletic department said university officials are willing to continue to host the football game.
"Whether it is swimming and diving, football or basketball, as long as we do not have a conflict in our schedules, we are looking to help the high schools," said Alan Cannon, A&M's associate athletic director for media relations.
"I think it's great for the community to come together. I think it's great for those football players to be able to say they got to play in the largest stadium in the state of Texas right now."
Bryan athletic director and head football coach Marvin Sedberry said he would prefer to play at Viking Stadium and at Tigerland Stadium.
"I'm not knocking A&M, but I'm all for the home-and-home situation and using our own field," Sedberry said.
"I think Kyle Field is a great place to play, but I don't look at it as a neutral field. It's right there at Consolidated's back door. To me, they're playing at home, just not at their home facility."
The Crosstown Showdown at Kyle Field has been played on Thursdays during the weeks when Texas A&M has home games and on Fridays when the Aggies have road games.
This year's game has been moved up a day to Thursday, Nov. 3, despite the fact that A&M has a road game at Texas Tech on Nov. 5.
Cannon said the game was moved to Thursday because athletic department staff members who work the event have to leave Friday morning to assist the Aggie football team on its trip to Lubbock.
Slaughter and Sedberry said they're not opposed to playing Thursdays, something their players occasionally do when they are up against teams that share stadiums, such as Harker Heights and Killeen Shoemaker.
The main concern about moving the game to the high schools' home fields is the limited seating. Viking Stadium has a capacity of 10,800, and Tigerland has a capacity of about 5,500.
Recent Bryan-Consol games have drawn crowds estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 at Kyle Field, which has a capacity of 82,600.
"Kyle Field is a great venue to play in, but at the same time, if we fill our stadium up and there are people hanging off the rafters, that's also a great atmosphere," Slaughter said. "You put 5,000 in our stadium, and it seems like it's a million.
"I wish we were better equipped for it. There's a lot of problems that have to be hashed over, but if we didn't have Kyle Field, we wouldn't have any choice."
Consolidated senior football players Ed King and Matt Johnson both said they favor leaving the Crosstown Showdown at Kyle Field.
"It would be very sad if they didn't play there," King said. "The atmosphere there is great when the whole lower deck is full. I loved playing there last year."
Johnson said he enjoyed it, too, but said he can see a benefit to taking it home.
"If they move it to our field or Bryan, there would be so much energy because both of them would be completely filled, standing-room-only," he said.
Because of rain, the Crosstown Showdown's possible impact on Kyle Field's grass playing surface has been a concern in recent years. However, none of the Bryan-Consol games has been moved for that reason.
"If there's bad weather, then I could see them having a concern about the field," Sedberry said. "The one area you can control is your home field."
All but one of the 17 football games between Consol and Bryan have been played at Kyle Field. The series began in 1986, when the Tigers played their home games at Kyle Field. The Tigers visited Viking Stadium for the 1987 game.
Since the series resumed in 1990, all of the games have been played with Kyle Field as a neutral site and the teams alternating as designated "home teams."
Bryan, Consol consider playing annual game at home stadiums
By LARRY BOWEN
Eagle Staff Writer
Officials at A&M Consolidated and Bryan high schools are talking about moving their annual football game from Kyle Field to the home stadiums as early as next season, Consol athletic director and head football coach Jim Slaughter said Tuesday.
Slaughter said he believes Texas A&M University officials would rather not host the game at Kyle Field, where the Crosstown Showdown has been played for the last 15 years.
"I really believe [Texas A&M officials] would like to get us off that field, and I can understand it," Slaughter said. "I'm talking to Bryan about going home-and-home."
A spokesman for the A&M athletic department said university officials are willing to continue to host the football game.
"Whether it is swimming and diving, football or basketball, as long as we do not have a conflict in our schedules, we are looking to help the high schools," said Alan Cannon, A&M's associate athletic director for media relations.
"I think it's great for the community to come together. I think it's great for those football players to be able to say they got to play in the largest stadium in the state of Texas right now."
Bryan athletic director and head football coach Marvin Sedberry said he would prefer to play at Viking Stadium and at Tigerland Stadium.
"I'm not knocking A&M, but I'm all for the home-and-home situation and using our own field," Sedberry said.
"I think Kyle Field is a great place to play, but I don't look at it as a neutral field. It's right there at Consolidated's back door. To me, they're playing at home, just not at their home facility."
The Crosstown Showdown at Kyle Field has been played on Thursdays during the weeks when Texas A&M has home games and on Fridays when the Aggies have road games.
This year's game has been moved up a day to Thursday, Nov. 3, despite the fact that A&M has a road game at Texas Tech on Nov. 5.
Cannon said the game was moved to Thursday because athletic department staff members who work the event have to leave Friday morning to assist the Aggie football team on its trip to Lubbock.
Slaughter and Sedberry said they're not opposed to playing Thursdays, something their players occasionally do when they are up against teams that share stadiums, such as Harker Heights and Killeen Shoemaker.
The main concern about moving the game to the high schools' home fields is the limited seating. Viking Stadium has a capacity of 10,800, and Tigerland has a capacity of about 5,500.
Recent Bryan-Consol games have drawn crowds estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 at Kyle Field, which has a capacity of 82,600.
"Kyle Field is a great venue to play in, but at the same time, if we fill our stadium up and there are people hanging off the rafters, that's also a great atmosphere," Slaughter said. "You put 5,000 in our stadium, and it seems like it's a million.
"I wish we were better equipped for it. There's a lot of problems that have to be hashed over, but if we didn't have Kyle Field, we wouldn't have any choice."
Consolidated senior football players Ed King and Matt Johnson both said they favor leaving the Crosstown Showdown at Kyle Field.
"It would be very sad if they didn't play there," King said. "The atmosphere there is great when the whole lower deck is full. I loved playing there last year."
Johnson said he enjoyed it, too, but said he can see a benefit to taking it home.
"If they move it to our field or Bryan, there would be so much energy because both of them would be completely filled, standing-room-only," he said.
Because of rain, the Crosstown Showdown's possible impact on Kyle Field's grass playing surface has been a concern in recent years. However, none of the Bryan-Consol games has been moved for that reason.
"If there's bad weather, then I could see them having a concern about the field," Sedberry said. "The one area you can control is your home field."
All but one of the 17 football games between Consol and Bryan have been played at Kyle Field. The series began in 1986, when the Tigers played their home games at Kyle Field. The Tigers visited Viking Stadium for the 1987 game.
Since the series resumed in 1990, all of the games have been played with Kyle Field as a neutral site and the teams alternating as designated "home teams."