Eating at high school games

You're probably referring to the MAIS Overall, which does in fact lay out a really good spread for the hospitality room. The MHSAA? Cookies and chips at halftime and between games only.

 

Yeah, the MHSAA tournament spread is a joke. Especially when you have to deal with the humorless assholes whose sole purpose in life is to keep you out of there in the 10 minutes you have between games.
I was speaking more generally, though. Every Christmas break and district tournament has some sort of pot luck spread that the booster club whips up. It must be part of the rules for hosting the thing. Some are nothing more than a plate of cookies and some awful chips and nacho cheese, but some are insanely good. We have one daylong event every year that gets catered by a local BBQ joint.

 

Our local high school has a basketball tournament in mid-January that's about 60 years old or something. They take incredible pride in having the best hospitality room in any sport, of any school in the region. For the entire week, booster club members cook up incredible food for this. The room is open to coaches, administrators, officials, media and people who work the tournament. Think they get decent coverage from the media?

Same school brings in about 15 pizzas to the press box from a local restaurant for every home football game. Then they make several announcements throughout the game, thanking them as a "press box sponsor." I'm sure it's an even tradeoff at the end.

 

Every state high school association I dealt with were, for the most part, jerks.

 

I rarely ate at prep events. I usually felt like I didn't have the time to be waiting in line, etc., and wanted to use halftime for the restroom and going over stats, and such, or even, at times, sending what I had so far, if an event was likely to run late. (We had a couple pass-happy schools where that was almost guaranteed, and reporters would be fighting over the usually single near-by phone connection at the end of the game).

There was always much more time, and it was much easier, to eat at college and pro events. Food is often provided separately for you, so you don't waste time waiting in lines, and if you don't want to keep your own stats, you don't usually need to, and working is just an easier, more organized process.

 

I didn't read through the whole thread so excuse me if this has already been mentioned. But when I covered high school sports in Texas, food was never an issue. The second game I ever covered there, the lady told me that there was gumbo, rice, hush puppies and sweet tea on the floor up. Most places had a really good spread. Some places had basic deli sandwiches and chips. One stadium did popcorn and soda and any real food we had to buy on our own. But generally speaking, the food is good in TX. Some smaller schools get a local restaurant that sponsors the team to cater food for the game.

 

Plano schools spreads were impressive. The most memorable for me, though, was Sherman -- small town, small press box, but great hospitality, a delicious sack meal, snacks. The town had shut down and the stadium was at full capacity.

 

Dude sounds like a total clown. I try not to have to buy food at a game because I don't usually fancy paying $4 for a Chick Fil-A sandwich, which I've done before, but sometimes your day gets screwed up and you've got no choice but to grab something at the game.

Pregame hospitality, rare though it is, is where it's at. Most of the high schools in the county I cover will send up a couple of pizzas, a handful of burgers or a Chick Fil-A nugget tray to the press box for football. You're pretty much on your own for the other sports.

A local barbecue joint sponsors the county's Christmas basketball tournaments, a girls' tourney the week before Christmas and a boys' one the week after. I spend all of December counting the days to those hospitality rooms, because they go all out.

 

Any NFL teams still have beer in the media dining room? Jets used to, but don't remember it being there at Giants games. Halftime for Jets games it was hot dogs and Budweiser.

 

Never take free food.

 

I agree, but that ship has sailed.

 

So if there's only free food, offer to pay and if they don't take the money then don't eat?