It's about time!

[Baby Arm!]

5A title games to be at predetermined sites

By MATT WIXON / The Dallas Morning News

Class 5A state football championship games will be played at predetermined sites for the 2006 and 2007 seasons after gaining approval from the University Interscholastic League legislative council Monday.

The ruling will change the practice of the participating teams' coaches determining the site and time of Division I and II championship games. In the past, coaches would meet after the state semifinals and agree on a neutral site or decide by coin flip.

The legislative council stipulated Monday that the sites for the championship games be determined by the UIL. A committee appointed by the legislative council chairman will determine specifics such as game time, ticket prices and reimbursement for travel expenses.

The committee will be chosen in the next few weeks, UIL spokesperson Kim Rogers said. She said the goal is to determine the sites of the championship games before the start of football season.

With four teams making it to the playoffs from each district this season, the Division I and II championship games will be played on the same day. The UIL needed to ensure those games would be played at the same site, Rogers said, so it could seek a television contract for both games. The UIL's contract with Fox Sports Southwest ended after the 2005 season.

In the past, the Texas High School Coaches Association opposed anyone determining a game's site and time other than the coaches involved. THSCA executive director D.W. Rutledge could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but Hebron coach Brian Brazil said he knows some coaches will be concerned.

For example, Brazil said, a North Texas team could be forced to play a team from South Texas at the Alamodome or Reliant Stadium.

But Brazil, whose team won the 4A Division II title last season and is moving up to 5A this season, said he likes the new rule.

"If you know before the season where the championship game is going to be, I think it's fine," he said. "It's kind of like in college last year, when everybody was trying to get to the Rose Bowl as the national championship game."

Coaches will still select sites and times for Class A through 4A championship games. But the legislative council approved a rule Monday stating that a school cannot be forced to flip a coin for a playoff venue that cannot accommodate its fans.

Last season, Highland Park wanted to play its championship game at Texas Stadium, but lost a coin flip to Marshall, which wanted to play at the 12,000-seat Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler.