30 Days and Counting

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

OK, let's start today with the fact that when I committed to doing this daily blog about the start of our high school football and basketball show on KLAC 570 AM, I didn't know it would take so much time...or should I say getting the show ready wouldn't allow me to write as much as I would have like.

The ten days on the road was grueling, and today I felt a tremendous amount of pressure as we began reading over our lawyers' investor documents for High School Sports Entertainment LLC, which is the company that will oversee High School Football America and High School Basketball America.

Our law firm is Hahn & Hahn in Pasadena, California, and they're doing a great job of getting everything set-up the right way from the start, which means a lot, especially to the investors that we're talking with.

Setting-up our operating agreement is taking the most time with the document currently at 38 pages in length.  The good news is were's finished with the Subscription Agreement and the Investor Qualification Statement that goes to every one of our investors.

Today was also spent waiting to hear the answer from one of perspective sponsors.  While we didn't get the "full yes" we were looking for, we do know that we'll have things finalized next week, which will be a real game-changer when it comes to the other sponsors we're talking with.

Now that gets me to one of the big hurdles we are having to clear in the race to our August 11th show...advertising budgets.

We got the go-ahead to do our shows on KLAC 570 AM on February 13th, which isn't a big deal, except when you realize that 2012 advertising budgets were established back in the last two quarters of 2011.  That meant we had to get creative and rely on several close friends in the business to get in-front of sponsors, who would be able to find money for this year.

The good news is, we've been able to find sponsors that can adjust and find money for this season. We should know within the next 7-10 days the fruits of our labor.

Now on to the fun stuff....

On the drive back to Chicago, we were able to make a couple of detours to take some pictures of three old high school football stadiums.

Berwick's Crispin Field

The first was Crispin Field in Berwick, Pennsylvania.  Crispin Field is the home to the Berwick Bulldogs, who were one of America's first national powers.

Crispin Field - Berwick, PA

Berwick, under head coach George Curry, won three "mythical" national titles in the 80's and 90's.  Curry, who is Pennsylvania's winningest coach is actually back coaching the Dawgs after a brief retirement, and you can listen to my recent interview with this charismatic coach on High School Football America by clicking here.

 Crispin Field, which was built during the Depression, has seen a lot of success with six state titles.  The field itself sits across the street from a now empty plant that was home to the American Car and Foundry that closed its doors in 1962.  At its peak, American Car and Foundry employed 10,000 workers.

In Berwick's heyday, nearly all 10,000 residents showed-up for home games in the 8,000 seat stadium, which currently is getting a new press box in time for the 2012 season.

Sharon High School's Tiger Stadium

This next picture is from Sharon High School in western Pennsylvania along Route 80 along the Ohio border.

Home grandstands at Tiger Stadium

The Sharon Tigers have a proud winning tradition with only three losing seasons since 1981 and two appearances in the state's championship game, including a 27-7 loss to Berwick in the 1994 Class AAA title game and a 43-7 loss to Berwick in the 1995 championship.

I'm still waiting for someone to get back to me, so I can give you the exact date of when Tiger Stadium was built.  However, I can tell you that it probably dates back to the 20's or 30's because of the concrete home grandstands that you can see in this photo.

BTW...I love the old school goal posts at Sharon!

Paul Brown Tiger Stadium - Massillon, OH

Our final stop may be the mecca of high school football stadiums, and it's home to another bunch of Tigers - the Massillon Washington Tigers in Massillon, Ohio.

Paul Brown head coach
at Washington
1932-1940

It's called Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and it has stood the test of time with over 16,000 permanent seats.

The Tigers are America's 4th winningest high school football program and have been playing in this stadium, now named after their legendary coach Paul Brown, since 1939.

Built in 1939

Paul Brown, who the Cleveland Browns are named after, won six Ohio state high school football championships from 1932 to 1940.  His overall record was 80-8-2, which included four losses in his first season with the Tigers in 1932.  From 1935 to 1940, Brown's teams outscored their opponents 2,393 to 168.

16,000 permanent seats

Also during his time with the Tigers, Brown, who is a Massillon Washington alum, is credited with creating the "playbook" and being the first to send-in plays from the sidelines to his quarterback using hand signals.

I could go on-and-on about Coach Brown, who most know as the guy that led the Browns to ten straight NFL championship games, but it's Brown's high school story that I love and that's what High School Football America is all about - telling you stories that you may not know about.

Talk with you tomorrow.

Jeff