[devil58]

bball fan is right. Money is the reason. Ashland can offer more money to schools than they would generate if they hosted the game, and they jump at the opportunity to make a quick buck.

Also, in reference to the facilities, a new $5 million dollar project for the renovation and upgrade of Putnam Stadium has been approved and will implemented over the next several seasons.

I agree with your statement that it is about money but I'm not so sure about the bolded...Ashland makes more money because they don't have to pay the travel expenses they would have to if they had to travel to Pikeville but I believe Pikeville would probably make more money for themselves if they hosted the game...I know Pikeville probably gets more financial incentive to travel here each year compared to a normal home and home series but Pikeville would surely clear more $$ if they hosted the game...Pikeville has played Ashland 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years and it is always at Ashland I believe...Pikeville has a nice football facility that could handle the crowd I'm sure...Ashland fans don't travel like they used to...There are probably reasons we don't know why they agree to traveling to Blazer each year rather than hosting every other year...Raceland does the same thing...Maybe its about that "Tomcat Tradition" and getting to play at "Historic Putnam Stadium" as all the Raceland fans profess on that other site that many of us used to roam...And, maybe it is to get a little extra $$ coming in to help with the cost of the much needed stadium renovation project...Maybe it's both reasons, neither of them, or something else???

Give A.D. Mark Swift credit...There have only been 3 seasons in the last 10 years in which Ashland has hosted only 5 of their 10 regular season games as most teams do(5 home/5 away)...Most years he manages to get them at least 6 regular season home games and in 2004 he got them 7...He's not holding a gun to these teams' heads to get them to agree to play only at Ashland...They have to say yes...Many of us may not understand why they do it and we honestly don't need to...At the end of the day, if both programs are happy with the arrangements then that's all that really matters...