Football press boxes
Nov. 5, 2008 @ 2:50 p.m. by Joannaby joanna
This is a completely self-serving post. I admit it. But it’s a topic I think about every week — press box chairs.
Let me say right now that I’m delighted to have any space in any press box. It’s nice to be able to keep stats while sitting at a hard surface of some kind, and the people inside are usually wonderfully enjoyable to talk about.
But the press box chairs must come from the 1940s.
I’m not kidding. I was at Collegiate last night, and I’ve mentioned this to the guys before — how is it that those old, raggedy chairs are still in that press box? It’s the same at Derby. A lovely, huge press box, with seats that just really don’t fit in there.
At Garden Plain, they gave me a rickety stool that I was so scared I was going to break – simply because it would be fodder for those press box guys to make fun of me about for the next 50 years of my life.
Really, I’m not complaining, I just find it funny. I wonder where the heck those chairs come from and if anyone even thinks about them. And why should the? They’re used about 4 or 5 times a year.
ProudDad says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Now we know why you wanted the bond issue to pass! :)
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joanna says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Ha! Funny. I don’t think new chairs are in the bond issue. And that doesn’t really help me at Garden Plain and Derby….
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Hovpen says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Go to Hutch, they will spoil you. :)
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mrcontroversy says:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I’d settle for shelter at Northwest, getting rid of the oil drums at Heights, and an elevator at Carpenter :)
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spauly says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
You know one of the coaches with you in the press box at GP is the Shop teacher. So, I’m sure he can probably have the kids make you a new one or can revamp the existing ones if you mentioned it to him.
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new and improved vonerich2000 says:
November 5th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Its an interesting way to torture sports writers who say negative things about their programs. :)
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JMJ says:
November 6th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
As a stringer for a paper in South Central Kansas, I have had some pretty interesting assignments at small schools.
One year in Udall, I ran a splinter halfway up a fingernail in the pressbox that was completely all bare wood inside. Of course, the game didn’t stop for me to try and dig it out so I had to man-up and work through it.
Dexter is a fun place to cover football as well. The south end of the press box is closed and unless you are sitting directly in the middle of the press box (which is reserved for the timekeeper and PA guy) you have to stand and peer out the window on anything inside the 30-yard line… good times.
Caldwell put the pressbox on the East side of their football field for some reason and early in the season the sun is directly in your eyes during the first half of games and real early in the season it can be over 100 degrees in there.
But you know what?? I wouldn’t change a thing about covering small town sports…. it’s absolutely the best!!!
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Hovpen says:
November 6th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
LOL, Been to all those. But doesn’t Dexter field run east and west and the press box sit on the north side?
Did Udall get a new ladder. I think I broke their old one once.
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JMJ says:
November 6th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Hovpen-
Dexter’s field runs north and south and the pressbox sits on the west side. It has a crazy ladder that you have to climb to get up to the pressbox and can be a challenge since I usually bring a briefcase with me.
Udall’s was either rebuilt or new (I assume it was new) because it still had the new lumber smell to it. Hopefully they didn’t have to rebuild it because you busted the ladder….lol. BTW, Udall’s field runs east and west with the pressbox on the south.
I would be interested in how many fields do run east to west as opposed to north and south because of the prevailing winds can be a huge factor in games.
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Jim Cross says:
November 6th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Love small town games. Back when McCracken was the defending 8-man Champion, at that was a long time ago, the Press Box was the back-end of a 1962 Ford Pick-up. Card table and two chairs. You know I loved every minute of the game. Geneseo was another great place. They would pass around the Schnapps. One bottle for each half.
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Joanna says:
November 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Jim, I love it when you post. What a great story.
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JMJ says:
November 6th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Jim-
I say we bring back the old days!!!
LOL
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Jim Cross says:
November 6th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
East-West fields: Goodland, Colby, Norton, Beloit, Hill City, Victoria, Soloman and I think Garden City. There are probably more, but I am like those press-box chairs, I am from the 40’s and can not think right now.
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Hovpen says:
November 6th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Did Dexter redo their field? Cause I remember the sun being on my right early, although I couldn’t actually see it due to being in the second row. The ladder was a pull down, and if it was down, you couldn’t step to the right without “droping out”
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sptrsfan says:
November 6th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Hovpen you need to write a book about pressboxs with your humor it would be a Bestseller lol Upsets Happen lol
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EastWest says:
November 7th, 2008 at 2:00 am
More east-west fields: Downs, St. John, Newton, Goessel, Ell-Saline, Carpenter Stadium in Wichita, Garden Plain, Cheney to name a few
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bucocatfan says:
November 7th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Next she will want potpourri and candles in the press box.
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JMJ says:
November 7th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Hovpen-
I don’t know if Dexter moved the field as I have only been doing their games the last 3 years.
The ladder is one of those attic type pull down things though and as you go up you have to position yourself kind of sideways to make it through the hole. It’s one of those places that you just stay up there even through halftime because you don’t want to have to negotiate that ladder too many times.
I haven’t heard yet how they are going to schedule their home games next year when they combine with Cedar Vale. Should be interesting.
One other press box story, I was covering an Ark City game a couple years back and one of the assistant coaches in the press box was so angry the way the defense was playing that he was swearing loudly and the radio guys had to tell him to quiet down because the foul language was going over the airwaves. After getting glared down by the asst coach, the radio guys just went back to calling the game just a bit louder and with little or no spacing between comments to shield the listeners from the spicy language.
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Joanna says:
November 7th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
bucocatfan — I am pretty annoyed when I go into press boxes and ONLY find a chair and a table. I mean, where’s the bon-bons and where’s the manicurist in the corner? Good Lord, don’t I deserve such perks?
Ha!
As I said, I’m just glad to have a place to be. Those chairs I’ve mentioned? I sit in one, but there’s usually at least 3-4 other people in the press box — affiliated with the home school, mind you — who are sitting in similar conditions.
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Hovpen says:
November 8th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Joanna: chuck says he’ll bring the chair.
sptrsfan: If I write a book, it will be about concession stands, not press boxes. Either that, or excuses wanna be athletes have for missing practices. I had a friend I taught with once who had like three boxes of excuses for missing PE class.
JMJ: A lot of schools have coaches like that. I’d just let him air it out, then take the tape to a board meeting, but then, I’m the guy when I worked where you are, that if a coach didn’t call in a score and box for the paper by a certain time, I’d call the principal or superintendent. Only takes one call to get cooperation. Only problem I had after the first month was waiting on Les to get the laundry done and all his athletes tucked into bed at Sedan. He wouldn’t call until he knew everyone was taken care of on the team. I respected that.
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