PHOTO BY SCOTT EISEN
Everett fans enjoy watching their Crimson Tide defeat Xaverian Saturday at Manning Field.
By SCOT COOPER
LYNN — Aside from a few parking complaints from late-arriving Everett and Xaverian fans, Saturday’s MIAA Division 1 Super Bowl game between the two schools was a smashing success.
That was the case even though the Everett fans who piled into Tony’s Pub and other area establishments after the game were a little happier than their counterparts after the Crimson Tide pasted the Hawks, 21-7.
Rich Avery, in his first year as the facilities manager for the Agganis Athletic Complex, which contains both Manning and Fraser fields, said it couldn’t have been a better day to showcase the facility and the city of Lynn.
“Overall, everything was fantastic,” he said. “We had a great crowd — close to 6,000 came to see the game — and things went off without a hitch.
“Everyone was enthusiastic,” he said. “Kudos to the Lynn Police, who had a great traffic plan in place. If you weren’t familiar with the area, and got here close to game time, it was tough to park. But other than that, everything was fantastic.”
Taking the advice of predecessor John Kasian, Avery eschewed bringing in temporary stands for potential overflow crowds. Between the bleachers and additional places to stand, most everyone had a place to see the game, he said.
“The only thing I think I would do differently is to open another concession stand,” Avery said. “We had two going, and we could have opened another one. We sold (more than) 100 pizzas and boxes and boxes of hot dogs, as well as hot drinks and water.
Avery said the two stands did more than $3,500 in sales.
“Everybody involved helped to make it a huge success,” Avery said. “I think Lynn put on a great show for everybody. Throughout all of the MIAA playoff games we hosted (in both football and soccer), it was a great, great thing for the entire city of Lynn.”
The spillover effect on local businesses was evident, Avery said.
“I heard from owners of establishments around the field, and they said they were packed with people,” he said. “It was a great chance to get people to Lynn so we could show them what we’ve got. And I certainly think we showed them on Saturday.”
Public address announcer Brian “Bubba” Barrett was sure to bring his “A-game” to the event.
“I’m a Lynn guy, I work the clock over at the Connery Rink, and did the clock for English basketball, but this is a big deal today, you want to do your best, raise your game and represent all the best things in the city of Lynn,” Barrett said. “We’re excited everybody’s here, everyone wants to do a great job and have more big games at Manning Field.”
Jim Beliveau, who also does PA at the field, was taking tickets and working security.
“This was a huge day for the City of Lynn, and I can tell you that the city of Lynn delivered,” Beliveau said. “We had one guy at a nearby lot charge 20 dollars a pop for parking, other than that, everybody worked to make this a great event in Lynn and it was.
“Kudos go out to Dave Raymond and my son Ryan for the work they put in, everybody involved with this did a great job.” Classical’s Jack Stafford, who has been behind the concessions counter all season, was there Saturday too.
“We sold a ton of water, which is kind of surprising for such a cold day,” Stafford said. “Of course we sold a ton of pizzas, packages and packages of hot dogs, and gallons and gallons of hot chocolate.”