“Down South, football is a really big deal”, said Jennifer Gray, the chairwoman of Vote for McKinney’s Future. Apparently, football down South is such a big deal, voters of McKinney, Texas just approved a $63 million budget to build a high school football stadium. The 12,000-seat facility and event center attachment will be the third supersized high school stadium in Texas. In Allen and Katy, Texas there is already two mega high school stadiums each over 10,000-seat capacity and combines costs of more than $122 million in project development. For your reference, this size stadium is comparable to Madison Square Garden! Opponents of the McKinney project are accusing the town of being in a status race with Allen and Katy. In an article with the New York Times, Mike Giles, a leader of Grassroots McKinney and a non-supporter of the stadium, claims, “we’re kind of like the poor boys on the block. They look down and they see Allen”. Opponents have also argued that this project prioritizes sports over academia. It is presumed the hype and buzz surrounding the stadium will inevitably overshadow the importance of learning amongst students, teachers, and parents. But on the contrary, it is predicted the McKinney project could dramatically increase the number of high schools in the future and even have a substantial economic boom in the city. Mostly the people of McKinney felt a stadium of this magnitude would appropriately symbolize the city’s ambitions. Clearly, when it comes to football Texians are very ambitious!