Best Press Box Food For College Football In the Nation?

I might have missed it but I didn't see Penn State on the list. The quarters are cramped but there is always an abundance of quality grub.

 

Seriously? That's a pretty silly attitude. If you have some noble prinicple against paying, fine. Starve, if you want.

But it should be an option for the rest of us who prefer not to work on an empty stomach.

 

I remember LSU having a hell of a spread.

 

I don't see how it's silly at all. Why should teams and schools be making a profit off people who are only at the stadium because they are doing their job? It's completely wrong.

 

OK, fine. Let's say I don't disagree that it's wrong.

So what? You would rather a team offer nothing, and force people to starve or hit the concession stand (where, guess what, they're still making a profit off you)?

That's the very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Again: If you'd rather starve, you don't have to pay for it. But to say "give it to us free or go fuck yourself" is a silly attitude to take.

 

Yes, I would. At least they aren't openly trying to make a profit off you. Give it to us free, give the proceeds to charity or go fuck yourself. Those are the only acceptable options to me.

 

And that's incredibly silly.

So let's say you're covering a high school game, which generally does not provide free food. You haven't eaten dinner. You will seriously ignore your hunger pangs instead of buying a hot dog?

Yup, silly.

Here's another question: Why should your sources be obligated to buy you a meal? It's good PR, sure. It's a nice gesture. But why should it be mandatory?

When you're talking about smaller colleges and minor sports, a season's worth of free food for press box folks and other hangers on would probably bankrupt the program.

Yet another point: Who says the teams that charge are making a profit?

I cover a professional team. I've been told that the catering company charges the team $25 a plate to feed people before the game. It is still free for us, but I wouldn't complain if they started to charge us $5 a plate to offset some of the cost.

That's what we have expense reports for. It should be up to YOUR company to pay for meals while on the clock, not the team you cover. They don't owe you squat.

But feel free to continue holding your breath until you turn blue. Let me know how that works out for you.

 

I have no problem with the way it's done at a high school. There is no food offered, and no attempt to make a profit off the media. It's the exact same as the general public, which is fine by me. And yeah, I'll be honest, I probably will ignore my hunger and not buy anything. I'm cheap like that.

Again, I didn't say that they should be obligated to provide a meal. If they don't want to provide any food at all, fine by me. But if they provide food, it should either be free, or every cent of the money should go to charity.

At small colleges, it doesn't bankrupt the program. I cover a Big Sky school. There has never been a thought to charging anything. I would guess that each week, the press box meal costs them about $100-200. That's $1000 or less for the season. I think they can afford that. Amazingly, their meal has been better than the Big 12 school I used to cover. Go figure.

And yes, I would complain were I in your situation, because it's just wrong. There should be no charge at all for anything to do your job. It should be free, a charitable donation or there shouldn't be food at all. Trying to make any kind of money off people who are only there to do their job is wrong.

 

Aren't you the same guy on another thread saying you'd pay for your own travel/hotel room in order to cover your beat? If so, your arguments are all over the place.

I agree it shouldn't cost you money to do your job. But it also isn't up to a third party to give you a handout. Your company should pay for your meal, if there is a charge. Just like your company should pay travel expenses while you're on the road.

 

I ate press box food because it was available at mealtime, and I was hungry. If it was free, I was grateful. If it cost money, I paid, or rather, the paper did. How is that even an issue? The ability of newspaper people to make huge deals out of minutiae never fails to amaze me-even when I do it.
BTW, I should point out that the spread at BC football games was always more than decent. Chowder and/or chili, plus salad, sandwich fixings, and for night games, an entree.

 

If the Cotton Bowl were every week, I'd be a body double for Fat Bastard in the Austin Powers movies now. They sling some mean chow.

 

As noted earlier, FB, the best spread I've ever experienced. Simply a media culinary orgasm.