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Wednesday, July 08, 1998 Page: 1B
Money deemed big factor for PIAA
Third hearing on the governing body for high school sports has much
discussion on decisions to hold state championships in Hershey rather than in
Altoona or at Penn State.
By TOM HOUSENICK
Times Leader Sports Writer
ALTOONA- Tom Bradley thought being a proper host for the PIAA Football
Championships was about service, reliability and performance.
Instead, the public relations director for the Altoona Area School District
found out it was about money.
That was the consensus during Tuesday’s Senate Special Committee on
Interscholastic Athletics hearing at the Altoona Ramada Inn. It was the third
in a series of hearings scheduled to discuss the operations of the PIAA, the
state’s governing body for high school athletics.
After serving as host for the state football finals for the past six years,
Altoona lost the bid in January for the 1998-99 championships to Hershey
Resort and Entertainment Co.
“Our prime objective was to create a great experience for the players,
coaches, fans and media,” Bradley said. “There were no corporations profiting
from (hosting the championships).”
The relationship between the PIAA and HERCO, a private corporation,
continues to come under scrutiny by the 10-member senate committee. The fact
that both are represented by the same Harrisburg-area law firm highlights the
skepticism surrounding the PIAA’s decision to award the state football finals
to Hershey.
Hershey also serves as host for the PIAA’s two other major
revenue-generating championship events- basketball and wrestling.
“Honestly, we didn’t see it coming. Every indication we had from
discussions with (PIAA Executive Director Brad) Cashman was positive,” Bradley
said.
While serving as host, the Altoona Area School District spent about
$500,000 to improve the parking situation and the press box at Mansion Park.
According to Cheryl Ebersole, director of the Allegheny Mountains
Convention and Visitors Bureau, Altoona contracted corporate sponsors to cover
the PIAA’s cost of renting Mansion Park at Cashman’s request.
“We went to the private sector of Blair County and contracted 19 private
businesses who were willing to commit as sponsors for the next five years,”
Ebersole said.”
After the 1996 state football championships, the PIAA continued to delay
the start of the bidding process and eventually held off until after the 1997
finals.
Hersheypark Stadium had undergone several much-needed renovations,
including the installment of a new grass surface that was supposed to hold up
under heavy use in poor weather. The new surface apparently survived heavy
rains during the 1997 football and soccer playoffs.
“It seems (the PIAA) was waiting to see if the new turf held up before they
made their decision,” Bradley said. “Still, we felt we would get the contract,
just not for the five years we wanted.”
Late additions to a list of criteria set up by the PIAA began to spell
things out for Bradley and Ebersole.
“Some of the criteria seemed tailored toward Altoona, toward our
strengths,” Bradley said. “However, they came back with two requests- a report
on the weather conditions in early December dating back to 1988 and the number
of municipalities of at least 10,000 people within one hour’s drive of the
site.
“I started to see the writing on the wall.”
Sen. James J. Rhoades, R-Mahanoy City, went down much of the list of 24
criteria for those potential host cities for the PIAA Football Championships
and felt it was obvious Altoona had met the requirements.
The PIAA’s decision to continue its relationship with HERCO for the state
basketball and wrestling championships also were discussed with, among others,
Tim Curley, Penn State University athletic director; and Norm Palovcsik,
principal at Bald Eagle-Nittany High School, who also was a state wrestling
champion and head coach.
Curley emphasized Penn State’s continued interest to host both winter
sports championships at the newly built Bryce Jordan Center, which has hosted
the Big 10 wrestling championships, NCAA women’s basketball regional events,
NCAA gymnastics championships and NIT basketball regional games.
“The biggest concern was the lack of lodging in the (State College) area,”
Curley said of past discussions with the PIAA’s executive director. “Some
problems we may have had with the Big 10 schedule may have had a bearing on
the decision (to extend the PIAA’s contract with Hershey through the year
2000), but I felt we could have worked that out.”
Sen. Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, attempted to shoot down Cashman’s theory
that there is an insufficient amount of lodging in the State College area by
reminding the committee that Penn State will host Big 10 football powers
Michigan and Ohio State for games that will draw 103,000 fans, in addition to
entertaining Iowa and other national wrestling powers.
“How can (Cashman) say there isn’t enough hotel availability when these
people keep coming to Penn State and finding housing?” Jubelirer asked.
Palovcsik addressed the safety issues of Hersheypark Arena, including the
lack of a warmup area for the wrestlers, the crammed three-day wrestling
championship schedule and inadequate locker facilities.
“In 1994, before the Bryce Jordan Center was built, I sent out a survey to
all of the member high schools regarding the sites for the wrestling
championships,” Palovcsik said. “Of the more than half that responded, there
was a resounding desire to move the wrestling championships back to Penn
State.”
Palovcsik said the PIAA’s comment regarding his survey was that too few
responded to give it any validity.
Hersheypark Arena’s locker rooms amount to little more than a changing area
and there is no place for wrestlers to stretch before competing. And, the
scheduling problems- which include 6 a.m. weigh-ins and 8 a.m. matches- figure
to get worse next year, when seventh- and eighth-place matches are added.
According to Palovcsik, 208 wrestlers will compete in 780 bouts on four
mats next year in Hershey. Penn State has the capability to use eight mats,
have other workout areas and full locker facilities for the athletes.
“I’ve been to wrestling championships in seven other states,” Palovcsik
said. “The only other state that does it like Pennsylvania is Ohio. But they
have three classes and a bigger tournament. They use six mats. The sessions
don’t start until 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and they don’t last as long as ours.
“There’s a large auxiliary gym at Wright State University for the athletes
to warm up and one ticket gets you into all sessions. They run the tournament
without regard to ma