The Future of Rose Bowl Field
The recent news in this publication concerning Rose Bowl Field has created some lively—and important—discussion on Facebook as well as other places I’m sure.
Some believe it would be a good idea to at least begin looking at the possibility of building a new football stadium for Monticello High School while others believe the long, storied history of Rose Bowl Field should be preserved.
In some ways this plays off my column in the April 20 issue where I focused on whether new always means better. To me, a new stadium simply cannot replace the decades upon decades of tradition at Rose Bowl field where region and state football titles have been won.
I’m not exactly a young person anymore but Rose Bowl Field has been around well before I arrived on the scene. I’ve witnessed my share of games there through the years and certainly one can feel the history upon entering the gates.
It would truly be a shame if the stadium were put aside for a new location. Even if there was a promise of maintaining Rose Bowl Field that does not always happen in other counties when new stadiums are constructed.
Not too long ago a friend sent me a picture of the previous football stadium for Warren County High School. It had not been maintained and the passage of time had seen trees, tall grass and other decay take over the once proud facility. If it weren’t the goalposts, which still were in place, it would have been hard to tell that football was actually played there once upon a time.
With the tradition of Rose Bowl Field, I think the best approach would be to renovate it and continue to use it. There’s certainly nothing wrong with helping stadiums keep up with the times. That doesn’t take away from the decades of tradition and history.
However, we should think long about completely abandoning something which has been a part of local athletic history for so long. It would be a true shame to see it crumble under neglect.
•Speaking of football, the recent spring games for college teams have me looking ahead to the 2017 season.
For football junkies like myself, there is always a countdown on to a new season when we find ourselves looking at April on the calendar.
Who will be the national title contenders this fall? Something tells me the usual candidates will be there again, including Alabama. Many University of Georgia fans are anxious to see if the Bulldogs can make big strides in year two of the Kirby Smart era.
For Georgia Tech, coach Paul Johnson’s triple option will continue to be a force compiling tons of rushing yardage. I know many UGA fans who are still hot about the outcome of last season’s game between the schools.
We’re still about four months away from the start of the new season but the countdown clock can’t run out quick enough for many of us. In the coming weeks I’ll break down who I think will be the top contenders for a national title in 2017 and how the teams in our state (including those beyond the big two) may do when all is said and done.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.