Spring game outside of Tally

Common refrain in Tally.....the area wants the economic benefit of FSU...but has a LONG history of not supporting FSU in state, legal, and local matters.



http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/04/10/opinion-keep-home/82864372/


"By all accounts, Florida State’s annual spring football game Saturday was a success.
A record crowd of 49,913. Chamber of Commerce sunshine.
Many players, specifically the young quarterbacks, made favorable impressions and no significant injuries were reported.
It was exactly how Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher wanted to end spring practice.
There was just one problem.
The game was played in Orlando and not in Tallahassee.
That made it different for everyone.
Of course, renovations at Doak Campbell Stadium forced the Seminoles to take their spring game to the highway.
FSU last traveled for its spring game in 2004, to Cox Stadium, 4.5 miles away, due to construction on the University Center that surrounds Doak Campbell Stadium.
FSU explored different in-state sites for Saturday’s game before it settled on the Citrus Bowl, 256 miles away.
It was a smart decision, expanding the Seminoles’ brand and providing an exciting opportunity for the team and its supporters.
Orlando is centrally located in the state and serves as an easy access point to FSU’s contingent of fans across I-10, I-75, I-4 and I-95.
It was expected to help recruiting, too.
Prospects who may not have been able to travel to the Panhandle for the game may have had the chance to make it to Orlando.
The NCAA granted FSU a waiver that allowed it to follow the same protocol at the Citrus Bowl with recruits and their families as it is permitted at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Most spring games are quickly forgotten, and Saturday’s probably wasn’t any different. But the glorified intrasquad scrimmage served a purpose.
Fisher wanted to see how his team's younger players responded while playing in front of a large crowd for the first time.
He pointed out the game was a chance for players to go through preparation for a road game. Not just any road game either. FSU opens the 2016 season against Mississippi Sept. 5 in the same stadium. In fact, the Seminoles play four of their first six games on the road.
Those are all wonderful reasons how FSU benefited from its two-day trip from Tallahassee to Orlando.
But it sidesteps the most important reason why FSU, as it has indicated, shouldn’t make this a habit.
Selfishly, the spring game is our game.
FSU recognizes the value of its loyal hometown fans and others who make the trek here for April football.
And those same fans later carry that support into autumn’s regular season where the stakes – and costs – are higher.
A then-record crowd of 40,631 filled Doak Campbell Stadium for the 2012 spring game. Local businesses, retailers, vendors, hotels and others have benefited from dollars spent by crowds of all sizes over the years.
That’s a welcome component to the economy, but our reasoning doesn’t carry a price tag.
The spring game at Doak Campbell Stadium is the best chance for hometown fans to connect with their hometown Seminoles before anyone else."