greengrass: To me, the choice between the "private field model" that we see predominantly in the upstate and the "municipal field model" we see a lot elsewhere in the state is a no-brainer. CESA pays for their multi-million dollar field complexes and then works hard to host tournaments that in turn bring business into their surrounding municipalities, counties, and the state of South Carolina. I was once privy to the financial models and can tell you that the state of South Carolina, and even more the upstate, gets a lot more than they have given in terms of CESA bringing in money.
By the way, the former CSC (now part of CUFC) was the first midstate club I was aware of that pioneered building their own fields. Of course, when Richland County chose to invest to create fields that are effectively managed by the private club, my only reaction was "...hey, those guys are smart...".
While as Emerson noted a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, an unfoolish consistency tends to be the mark of integrity. I'd like to actually see some of these folks who are being critical apply the same degree of consistency to whatever club they like to the clubs that they don't like.
