By STEVE KRAUSE
Let’s go back to 2004, when the old Manning Bowl was razed once it was condemned. The decision to tear it down was not universally supported. In fact, some people were very upset that the venue that was the site of such local history would be destroyed and would have preferred a renovation.
Then came all the different zigs and zags that went with getting the building of a new facility funded. That didn’t always go smoothly. But those who were involved saw the project through and we ended up with the beautiful multi-use facility we have today.
Lynn was prescient in building the new Manning Field (I wish they’d go back to calling it Manning Bowl, but I understand it’s not shaped like one, the way it was before. But still …).
Over the last decade, similar multi-use surfaces have sprung up in Revere, Marblehead, Salem, Peabody, Danvers, Lynnfield, Gloucester and Austin Prep, just to name a few. There will soon be the same types of facilities in Swampscott, Winthrop and St. John’s Prep.
What makes Manning a cut above some of the other facilities is its seating capacity. It may not have the number of seats that allowed it, in its heyday, to host concerts by the Rolling Stones, Motley Crue and Aerosmith. And if the next Harry Agganis ever comes along, there may be an issue getting all of the fans who used to crowd that place to watch him into the new stadium (though I didn’t hear anybody complaining when Dick Jauron, closest we’ve come to a Harry-caliber athlete in the last 50 years, was playing at tiny (by comparison) Blocksidge Field. And Dr. Deering Stadium in Danvers had no problem accommodating all the fans who flocked to see Mark Bavaro in the 1970s either).
Today’s capacity is considerably less than the 21,000 back in The Day (somewhere near 4,000 is more like it) but it’s still more than most of the other facilities. And that’s why it continues to be a magnet for post-season tournaments the way neighboring Fraser Field has become a go-to venue for tournament baseball.
From Thursday to Monday, Manning was the site of 16 north sectional boys and girls soccer games, including all eight North finals. In addition, the field will host Division 1 Eastern Mass. finals tonight, and four state finals Saturday.
And believe it or not, the facility is still very much in play for the Division 1 football state championship game between Everett and Xaverian. There’s goods and bads to this scenario. The bads come with parking issues and the fact that Everett has to employ the use of every bus in Eastern Massachusetts so all its fans can travel with the team (a good thing, but the buses create huge traffic issues when they’re all lined up at the end of the game).
But the goods … understand that Gillette Stadium is cavernous. You could have 10,000 people sitting in that place and it would have the sound, and feel, or an empty stadium.
Perhaps you won’t be able to fit 10,000 people into Manning Field, but the ones fortunate enough to go will be much closer to the action, and it’ll have the sound, feel and excitement of a true high school athletic event.
It hasn’t been determined yet. But I hope it ends up happening, and that the St. Mary’s and Marblehead Super Bowl games are early enough in the day so I that can get back to Lynn in time to see Everett-Xaverian. Fat chance of that happening, but I can hope.
It’s not really appropriate to get political in this space — or, at least, to shill for one point of view or another shamelessly.
However, something caught my eye Tuesday. It was a Facebook post of someone who is in the coaching and officiating fraternity making a ha-ha out of building a wall. The post I saw was a reaction to it, in which the poster thought that anyone who is in a position to work with, or influence, kids should probably not be so cavalier about something that’s such a sensitive sore spot with some people.
I’d have to say I agree, even though most of us, yours truly included, probably post things that we’d be better off keeping to ourselves.
Agree, disagree … it doesn’t matter. Just remember, please, who’s watching.
Question: Do you believe in Karma? Do you think Bill Belichick violated the unspoken rules of Karma when he wrote his love letter last week to Donald Trump? And that just like John Lennon once wrote, Instant Karma got him with that loss — and horrible play-calling — Sunday?
I definitely believe it.
Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].