quote:

Originally posted by NWI:

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog:
You state a chip on my shoulder, well let's see you get 1 chance to make a good 1st impression and Omaha and the Qwest blew that in 2006. I know change is difficult, however it would have been a heck of a lot easier if Omaha would have given a darn about landing the tourney in the 1st place. I remember a certain Omaha radio show making fun of outstate Nebraskans in 06 and the Omaha folks thought it was hilarious and now people are talking with there wallet and what to the wrestlers get a half full arena with no energy. Do you remember Devaney on Friday night where you couldn't even think because it got so loud and now you can hear coaches plain as day from the floor because there is not the enthusiasm or school spirit that once thrived at the State tournament. There is a major problem and all anyone who lives in or near Omaha can say is times change, that is not a solution that is part of the problem accepting a mediocre state tournament instead of trying to find viable solutions to get the fans back.

Where do I begin???

First off -- if you're letting Todd and Tyler determine your perception of how Omaha people look upon people from out of town in general, and wrestling fans in particular, then there really is no hope for you. Those two clowns have long since outlived their relevance and appeal only to morons who still think fart jokes are funny. If THAT is how you think all Omahans think about our sport and people living west of Lincoln...I really don't know what else to tell you.

The bottom line here is that you and those who share your disdain with having to drive an extra 50 miles are STILL unhappy with the fact that we are no longer wrestling at Devaney. You STILL believe that wrestling in a tiny (by comparison), ill-suited arena is better than the infinitely more spacious Qwest Center. And I realize you don't want to admit it, but times DO change, and change has come in the fact that we now have an arena in Omaha that is better suited for our state tournament than the Devaney Center. If the day comes that the movers and shakers get things together and build an arena comparable to that located 50 miles away, THEN you can get all hot and bothered about moving things back to Lincoln.

Tell you what, Craig -- rather than continuing this going-nowhere argument, I'm going to offer you a challenge . . . how about listing some suggestions you would have for, as you say, trying to find viable solutions to get the fans back. Other than moving the tournament back to Lincoln (which is NOT a viable option until a comparable-size arena is in place), what can Omaha do to get those of you who have a problem to come back and support the state's best wrestlers and create the kind of atmosphere these kids undoubtedly deserve?

And to help move the process along, here are three things you can go ahead and assume are NOT going to change, no matter how much you complain about them:

-- Concession stand prices (go to any other big-city arena in the country and you'll understand why)

-- Parking charges (ditto)

-- Higher hotel rates (this just in...EVERY hotel does this when a big-ticket event comes to town. Rates double and triple during the College World Series, they doubled during the recent NCAA basketball tournament, and this is standard operating procedure within the hotel industry. I don't like it any more than you...but those are the facts)

Now...taking those unplayable cards out of the deck, what can Omaha do for you? Or, to paraphrase Jerry McGwire's plea to Rod Tidwell:

Help Omaha...help YOU.

Suggestions you bet Mikey,

1. The Omaha Chamber of Commerce can get off there duff and send out flyers to each school listing affordable hotels close to the Qwest and while there at it they can list eating establishments that are affordable to teams and fans.

2. You keep listing parking and I don't know of to many people that gripe about parking.

3. The Qwest needs to loosen up some of there rules as this is a HIGH SCHOOL event and along with that goes school spirit. At least let people hang signs or banners in the concourse areas to make it feel like a High School event.

4. Don't let ticketmaster give the best tickets away to walk ups, each team should get a certain portion of there tickets down in the lower bowl for Friday nights matches and Saturday's matches.

5. Quit booking something after the tournament every year and rushing teams out of the arena.

6. Quit stealing suckers from little girls on Valentines day, what's next you can't bring in a baby bottle for an infant.

7. You mention hotel prices BULL, Lincoln did not fist the consumer period. Most of the hotels that teams stayed at in Lincoln were within $10 a room on price, the hotels loved to have you there and wanted you back. You can still go to Lincoln during state volleyball or basketball and find a hotel close to Devaney ie. Cornhusker Hwy for $75 a night or under and the same can't be said for Omaha and don't give me the drive farther out stuff either because that doesn't fly. I didn't stay out at a hotel by Highway 2 when it was in Lincoln, I stayed at one that I could be at weigh-ins in 10 minutes.

8. Let's have a true parade of champions again, one that makes the hair on your arm stand up. What we got is 1/2 the song and hurry up and get out.

Now I know some of the things is the NSAA and it's rules however you can't tell me that Omaha has done everything in it's power to make this a grand event.

You mention Todd and Tyler and let's see if a bunch of Omaha people came out to central Nebraska for a reason and a local DJ said here come the criminal element the Omaha people woulnd not be offended even if off handed. Heck Don Imus stated stuff off handed on the air and most people blew it off, except for the people it effected.

Craig...going through your list, here are some points and counterpoints:

1. That is a great idea and one that the Chamber probably is dropping the ball on. I will say, though, that there are some great eating establishments that are just a short walk away from the Qwest Center, including a Little King AND a Subway in the Old Market. When I worked downtown, I frequented both establishments regularly.

2. Parking has long been a gripe among those outside Omaha, thus the listing. Given the choice of paying for parking in a cement parking lot at Qwest and trying to squeeze in somewhere in a muddy craphole by Devaney...do we even NEED to discuss this???

3. If I understand how things work, Qwest is obligated to show advertising on their video strips along the outer bowl, which is part of the reason they do not allow banners. And with all the advertising spread out within the concourse, I'm not sure where you could find space for all those banners.

4. I'm with you on Ticketmaster taking all the good seats. The problem is, Qwest is contracted with these rapists and this is a problem at ANY arena where Ticketmaster is the ticket outlet (which is just about EVERY arena in the country). I don't know if the NSAA and Qwest can do anything to stop Ticketmaster from continuing this practice.

5. This wasn't a problem this year from what I recall. I know the first two years, ESPN selected Creighton for a Bracket Buster game and they had to tear down and set up in a short time for that broadcast, which really sucked for our tournament. Creighton does have a lease with the city to use the Qwest Center, which is why things were the way they were the first two years there.

6. I don't have an answer for this one...unless the little girls had really big suckers that security thought might be a security risk. All it takes is one huge sucker hurled from the upper bowl...

7. With state wrestling and a major volleyball tournament going on at the same time in the convention hall, you would think hotels would be more competitive with their pricing. I don't have an answer for why Omaha doesn't do what you say they have done in Lincoln. I will bet you, though, that if and when Lincoln does build a new arena, you won't find a cheap hotel room in Lincoln during state wrestling.

8. This is an NSAA issue and they keep dropping the ball on this. They really under-utilize the tools they have there, not only for the Walk of Champions, but for using the scoreboard to update completed matches, providing other tournament-related info, etc.

As for your comments about radio stations...I don't know every radio personality in the state, but I'm 99.9 percent sure even the most outrageous morning team in outstate Nebraska would never think of lowering their level of intelligence down to Todd and Tyler's level to play the "here comes the criminal element" card.

quote:

Originally posted by NWI:
Craig...going through your list, here are some points and counterpoints:

1. That is a great idea and one that the Chamber probably is dropping the ball on. I will say, though, that there are some great eating establishments that are just a short walk away from the Qwest Center, including a Little King AND a Subway in the Old Market. When I worked downtown, I frequented both establishments regularly. There is also a Spaghetti Works, Famous Dave's and an Old Chicago in the Old Market, and some small mom-and-pop bar and grills that offer good food at cheap prices.

2. Parking has long been a gripe among those outside Omaha, thus the listing. Given the choice of paying for parking in a cement parking lot at Qwest and trying to squeeze in somewhere in a muddy craphole by Devaney...do we even NEED to discuss this???

3. If I understand how things work, Qwest is obligated to show advertising on their video strips along the outer bowl, which is part of the reason they do not allow banners. And with all the advertising spread out within the concourse, I'm not sure where you could find space for all those banners.

4. I'm with you on Ticketmaster taking all the good seats. The problem is, Qwest is contracted with these rapists and this is a problem at ANY arena where Ticketmaster is the ticket outlet (which is just about EVERY arena in the country). I don't know if the NSAA and Qwest can do anything to stop Ticketmaster from continuing this practice.

5. This wasn't a problem this year from what I recall. I know the first two years, ESPN selected Creighton for a Bracket Buster game and they had to tear down and set up in a short time for that broadcast, which really sucked for our tournament. Creighton does have a lease with the city to use the Qwest Center, which is why things were the way they were the first two years there.

6. I don't have an answer for this one...unless the little girls had really big suckers that security thought might be a security risk. All it takes is one huge sucker hurled from the upper bowl...

7. With state wrestling and a major volleyball tournament going on at the same time in the convention hall, you would think hotels would be more competitive with their pricing. I don't have an answer for why Omaha doesn't do what you say they have done in Lincoln. I will bet you, though, that if and when Lincoln does build a new arena, you won't find a cheap hotel room in Lincoln during state wrestling.

8. This is an NSAA issue and they keep dropping the ball on this. They really under-utilize the tools they have there, not only for the Walk of Champions, but for using the scoreboard to update completed matches, providing other tournament-related info, etc.

As for your comments about radio stations...I don't know every radio personality in the state, but I'm 99.9 percent sure even the most outrageous morning team in outstate Nebraska would never think of lowering their level of intelligence down to Todd and Tyler's level to play the "here comes the criminal element" card.

I'm going to give my views on a few things:
First of all I live in a small town of around 750 people in NE Nebraska. We are a class D school.

Prices at Qwest: Concessions could be considered as too high if you were forced to buy them. Instead of asking the question, Why do they charge $5 for a 32 oz Coke maybe ask the question why did I pay $5 for a 32 oz. Coke. It was my choice after all. It's like saying you had to pay too much for a new car. No one made you buy it.

Attendance: Are the numbers really down? At the beginning of the season we started with 10 wrestlers and were hoping to qualify at least 6 to 8. I was in charge of getting the orders placed for the tickets for our fans. With the orders they put in I placed an order for 71 tickets. We had a few injuries and such so we wrestled with 6 - 7 werstlers at most meets and when Districts came around we qualified 4. After districts we were still scrambling for more tickets and ended up having 82 fans down at the state tournament. I felt that was pretty good for only 4 qualifiers but our fans love wrestling and like to go watch our home town kids compete. So maybe the attendance is a grass roots thing that each school needs to tackle rather than an Omaha or Qwest thing.

Wrestlers: My son was a Freshamn this year and for the last 3 years he was the student manager. When I first told him that the State tourmaent was moving to Omaha he said well that sucks. I wanted to wrestle at Devaney. Well when he qualified for State and stepped out on the mat on that Thursday afternoon it didn't matter to him where it was. He was down there competing with the top four from D-2 and the best wrestlers the other 3 distircts sent. He was ther to "RUN" at the Qwest (a saying our wrestlers have before districts, their goal is to "Run at the Qwest) and compete in the Nebraska State High School Wrestling Tournament.
(The kids do comment about how great the showers are at the Qwest)They say it's the best showers they have ever used.

Everyone has to make a choice. It may not be where you think is best for what ever reason. It personally doesn't matter to me. What matters is that OUR wrestlers have a place to go and find out how they measure up to their peers.

quote:

Originally posted by BarryLotion:
I'm going to give my views on a few things:
First of all I live in a small town of around 750 people in NE Nebraska. We are a class D school.

Prices at Qwest: Concessions could be considered as too high if you were forced to buy them. Instead of asking the question, Why do they charge $5 for a 32 oz Coke maybe ask the question why did I pay $5 for a 32 oz. Coke. It was my choice after all. It's like saying you had to pay too much for a new car. No one made you buy it.

Attendance: Are the numbers really down? At the beginning of the season we started with 10 wrestlers and were hoping to qualify at least 6 to 8. I was in charge of getting the orders placed for the tickets for our fans. With the orders they put in I placed an order for 71 tickets. We had a few injuries and such so we wrestled with 6 - 7 werstlers at most meets and when Districts came around we qualified 4. After districts we were still scrambling for more tickets and ended up having 82 fans down at the state tournament. I felt that was pretty good for only 4 qualifiers but our fans love wrestling and like to go watch our home town kids compete. So maybe the attendance is a grass roots thing that each school needs to tackle rather than an Omaha or Qwest thing.

Wrestlers: My son was a Freshamn this year and for the last 3 years he was the student manager. When I first told him that the State tourmaent was moving to Omaha he said well that sucks. I wanted to wrestle at Devaney. Well when he qualified for State and stepped out on the mat on that Thursday afternoon it didn't matter to him where it was. He was down there competing with the top four from D-2 and the best wrestlers the other 3 distircts sent. He was ther to "RUN" at the Qwest (a saying our wrestlers have before districts, their goal is to "Run at the Qwest) and compete in the Nebraska State High School Wrestling Tournament.
(The kids do comment about how great the showers are at the Qwest)They say it's the best showers they have ever used.

Everyone has to make a choice. It may not be where you think is best for what ever reason. It personally doesn't matter to me. What matters is that OUR wrestlers have a place to go and find out how they measure up to their peers.

Great post. I wonder why your wrestlers and fans have such good attitudes and aren't mistreated at Qwest. Maybe it's because you come to the state tournament expecting for things to go well instead of complaining all year and looking for fly specks in the black pepper so you will have something else to complain about.

I hope to see your son on the top step of the medal stand in the future.

Former Speaker of the House(US)Tip O'Neill said "All politics are local" BarryLotion's post just proved that.

Lincoln hotels don't raise the prices??? Apparently you don't read the paper to often, when USC came to town, hotel rooms that you speak of where $300 a night with a friday, saturday, sunday stay over required. If that isn't gouging, than I don't know what is.

They said the cheapest rooms out there were $225 a night. Now I don't know what your paying for your hotel rooms, but I can find you a great hotel in Omaha for cheaper than that.

We have offered staying out in Papio, Millard...you want to stay 10 minutes within the distance of the Qwest??? Well be willing to pay for a hotel 10 minutes within the Qwest. No one forces you to stay there, but you choose too.

quote:

Originally posted by ElGrande:
Lincoln hotels don't raise the prices??? Apparently you don't read the paper to often, when USC came to town, hotel rooms that you speak of where $300 a night with a friday, saturday, sunday stay over required. If that isn't gouging, than I don't know what is.

They said the cheapest rooms out there were $225 a night. Now I don't know what your paying for your hotel rooms, but I can find you a great hotel in Omaha for cheaper than that.

We have offered staying out in Papio, Millard...you want to stay 10 minutes within the distance of the Qwest??? Well be willing to pay for a hotel 10 minutes within the Qwest. No one forces you to stay there, but you choose too.

I have yet to see Lincoln ream the consumer during a state tournament. Better yet they give teams a break! You bring up the USC game for Lincoln well lets see there are 80,000 fans in town for what is billed the game of the decade for the Huskers and yes the hotels raised there rates, however the hotels all didn't make a killing because I got a room at midnight for $62. Here is the problem when a school calls for a rate they get the price jacked up in Omaha and that isn't the case in Lincoln.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Ryan:

quote:

Originally posted by BarryLotion:
I'm going to give my views on a few things:
First of all I live in a small town of around 750 people in NE Nebraska. We are a class D school.

Prices at Qwest: Concessions could be considered as too high if you were forced to buy them. Instead of asking the question, Why do they charge $5 for a 32 oz Coke maybe ask the question why did I pay $5 for a 32 oz. Coke. It was my choice after all. It's like saying you had to pay too much for a new car. No one made you buy it.

Attendance: Are the numbers really down? At the beginning of the season we started with 10 wrestlers and were hoping to qualify at least 6 to 8. I was in charge of getting the orders placed for the tickets for our fans. With the orders they put in I placed an order for 71 tickets. We had a few injuries and such so we wrestled with 6 - 7 werstlers at most meets and when Districts came around we qualified 4. After districts we were still scrambling for more tickets and ended up having 82 fans down at the state tournament. I felt that was pretty good for only 4 qualifiers but our fans love wrestling and like to go watch our home town kids compete. So maybe the attendance is a grass roots thing that each school needs to tackle rather than an Omaha or Qwest thing.

Wrestlers: My son was a Freshamn this year and for the last 3 years he was the student manager. When I first told him that the State tourmaent was moving to Omaha he said well that sucks. I wanted to wrestle at Devaney. Well when he qualified for State and stepped out on the mat on that Thursday afternoon it didn't matter to him where it was. He was down there competing with the top four from D-2 and the best wrestlers the other 3 distircts sent. He was ther to "RUN" at the Qwest (a saying our wrestlers have before districts, their goal is to "Run at the Qwest) and compete in the Nebraska State High School Wrestling Tournament.
(The kids do comment about how great the showers are at the Qwest)They say it's the best showers they have ever used.

Everyone has to make a choice. It may not be where you think is best for what ever reason. It personally doesn't matter to me. What matters is that OUR wrestlers have a place to go and find out how they measure up to their peers.

Great post. I wonder why your wrestlers and fans have such good attitudes and aren't mistreated at Qwest. Maybe it's because you come to the state tournament expecting for things to go well instead of complaining all year and looking for fly specks in the black pepper so you will have something else to complain about.

I hope to see your son on the top step of the medal stand in the future.

So sorry to dissapoint you Frank but in three years my team has placed 2nd, 6th and 3rd at State at the Qwest Center and the atmosphere still stinks. The kids are getting short changed by a Lawrence Welk type enivironment but oh well Omaha is happy right!

[/QUOTE]

So sorry to dissapoint you Frank but in three years my team has placed 2nd, 6th and 3rd at State at the Qwest Center and the atmosphere still stinks. The kids are getting short changed by a Lawrence Welk type enivironment but oh well Omaha is happy right![/QUOTE]

It doesn't disappoint me in the least that your teams have finished well at the state tournament. I root FOR wrestlers; I don't root AGAINST anyone or any team.

I quote from your post a few posts above this one, "You get 1 chance to make a good 1st impression and Omaha and Qwest blew that in 2006". You started your tirade against the Qwest as soon as it was announced in April, 2005. How can you imply that your 1st impression was formed at the 2006 state tournament? I live in Omaha and I, like most Omaha fans, share your concern about the Lawrence Welk type environment. If I started listing world problems, in order of importance, on a yellow pad I'd run out of paper long before I got to Lawrence Welk. But I'd still like to see it improved. You seem to think that when Qwest was awarded the contract the Omaha City Council and MECCA (the organization that oversees Qwest) went into emergency session to plan how to make life miserable for you and angrybilly. Omaha and Qwest don't plan the Parade of Champions. That is a planned by NSAA. I have written many posts in which I begged the high school wrestling coaches to unite, decide the direction you want the wrestling program to go, and then meet with NSAA and help plan the future of Nebraska high school wrestling. Have you done anything to get this off the ground? Have you ever seen anything improved by complaining? In an earlier post you talked about 6,000 fans that didn't show up. How many of those do you think you personally influenced to stay away? In 2005 did you go to your fans and wrestlers and let them know that they had a chance to participate in an historical moment in Nebraska high school wrestling? They would have a chance to be part of the first tournament held in a spacious new arena where every corner of every mat could be seen from every seat in the house. I hope that was the case but it's difficult for me to believe that you are as positive in Sargent and Burwell as you are negative on this forum. Good luck to the Horns & Dogs. (Great name. Isn't it amazing how a little thing like that can be a unifying factor?)

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Ryan:

So sorry to dissapoint you Frank but in three years my team has placed 2nd, 6th and 3rd at State at the Qwest Center and the atmosphere still stinks. The kids are getting short changed by a Lawrence Welk type enivironment but oh well Omaha is happy right![/QUOTE]

It doesn't disappoint me in the least that your teams have finished well at the state tournament. I root FOR wrestlers; I don't root AGAINST anyone or any team.

I quote from your post a few posts above this one, "You get 1 chance to make a good 1st impression and Omaha and Qwest blew that in 2006". You started your tirade against the Qwest as soon as it was announced in April, 2005. How can you imply that your 1st impression was formed at the 2006 state tournament? I live in Omaha and I, like most Omaha fans, share your concern about the Lawrence Welk type environment. If I started listing world problems, in order of importance, on a yellow pad I'd run out of paper long before I got to Lawrence Welk. But I'd still like to see it improved. You seem to think that when Qwest was awarded the contract the Omaha City Council and MECCA (the organization that oversees Qwest) went into emergency session to plan how to make life miserable for you and angrybilly. Omaha and Qwest don't plan the Parade of Champions. That is a planned by NSAA. I have written many posts in which I begged the high school wrestling coaches to unite, decide the direction you want the wrestling program to go, and then meet with NSAA and help plan the future of Nebraska high school wrestling. Have you done anything to get this off the ground? Have you ever seen anything improved by complaining? In an earlier post you talked about 6,000 fans that didn't show up. How many of those do you think you personally influenced to stay away? In 2005 did you go to your fans and wrestlers and let them know that they had a chance to participate in an historical moment in Nebraska high school wrestling? They would have a chance to be part of the first tournament held in a spacious new arena where every corner of every mat could be seen from every seat in the house. I hope that was the case but it's difficult for me to believe that you are as positive in Sargent and Burwell as you are negative on this forum. Good luck to the Horns & Dogs. (Great name. Isn't it amazing how a little thing like that can be a unifying factor?)[/QUOTE]

For one I have never said don't go to state to anyone. We had 112 people in our section this year which isn't to bad. I am not against having state at the Qwest for the thousanth time, I want improvements and they won't come without griping. I want what is best for the kids and that is a safe environment and a memorable experience. The Qwest most definetely meets those, however it could be better. Who in there right mind would not want the Qwest's seating and room for the wrestlers and mats, but try to picture this having those plus the environment we had at Devaney. The Qwest will have to loosen up some rules and we can get there. Now on to everything outside of the Qwest and wrestling, Omaha can do a better job of communicating with visiting teams letting us know where the affordable hotels are close to the Qwest and good eating establishments close to those hotels.

quote:

Originally posted by Bulldog:

For one I have never said don't go to state to anyone. We had 112 people in our section this year which isn't to bad. I am not against having state at the Qwest for the thousanth time, I want improvements and they won't come without griping. I want what is best for the kids and that is a safe environment and a memorable experience. The Qwest most definetely meets those, however it could be better. Who in there right mind would not want the Qwest's seating and room for the wrestlers and mats, but try to picture this having those plus the environment we had at Devaney. The Qwest will have to loosen up some rules and we can get there. Now on to everything outside of the Qwest and wrestling, Omaha can do a better job of communicating with visiting teams letting us know where the affordable hotels are close to the Qwest and good eating establishments close to those hotels.

Would love to see the letters you have sent to the NSAA, the Omaha World Herald and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce regarding these issues. Or even better the proposal you and your AD have put together to present to the NSAA to be voted on.


Oh, yeah, there aren't any. You would rather gripe and whine to the maybe 300-500 people who read this forum rather than do something that might actually have a chance to make an impact. Sorry to bother.

I've gotta agree with Bulldog. I've never liked the Qwest.I get the same feeling walking in as I do when I visit a hospital.Two words that come to mind are 'institutional' and 'antiseptic'. There is no character or history.I attended the most recent Big 12s in Gallagher Iba in Stillwater.It is old, and outdated, but I was in awe of just being there.You could feel the history.I'll never like qwest, but dont see it changeing as the venue anytime soon.I actually feel bad for the guys on out team that qualify now, as they'll never get to experience state wrestling in lincoln.
BTW, the whole 'safety' card is way overplayed.In a PC world, where slipperyslides,climbing ropes, and swingsets are 'too dangerous' to be allowed to be in existance,God forbid that a couple kids bang together while participating in athletics.The fear of injury was a trump card played to perfection by people that wanted to wrest away the state tounament from Lincoln.It worked.

Bulldog, you have to quite blaming Omaha, the people of Omaha, and the Qwest for what you perceive as a bad experience. BarryLotion had the best post here yet. The tournament experience is what you make of it and how you promote it amongst your fans. We have had more than four times the number of fans this year attend the state tournament than over the last year at the Devaney. Every year since I took over I have promoted the ticket sales and every year it has grown. We even saw our fan base grow each year at the Qwest.

Panther, sorry you feel that way. Every one of our kids were very excited and loved their experience at the state tournament at the Qwest. I wrestled in Lincoln, coached in Lincoln, and coached at the Qwest. I am excited every time we step into the state tournament no matter where it is. Yes, different feel and experiences, but still great experiences. I choose to enjoy and dwell on the positive.

I talked to someone that works for the Qwest Center and the Qwest Center has very little to do with the operations of the state wrestling tournament.

No way can how the parade of champions is run be blamed on the Qwest. It is completely up to the NSAA to do what the wish with the parade.

You cannot blame the Qwest totally for not being able to hang banners. Yes, with the current agreement the Qwest will not allow banners. However, the NSAA can put it in their contract to allow banners as long as they do not cover the advertising signs (just like at the Devaney). Just look at what the NCAA did for the basketball games; they actually covered the advertising signs. It was in the contract and in order to get the games they must agree to that. The NSAA can do the same.

As far as prices, they are not that much different than going to a Husker game and certainly cheaper than most venues around the country. If you don’t want to pay the price then plan accordingly. I have been to many different event centers around the country at wrestling tournaments and rarely purchased food on the site because of the prices. Don’t give me the poor farmer excuse, I have a father and brother that still farm and with $5.00 corn prices they are doing just fine.

If you really believe Omaha is the only town in Nebraska to raise hotel prices you really need to take the blinders off. The previous example of Lincoln raising the hotel rates for the USC game proves it there. You say they won’t do it for the high school events. I find that hard to believe if they have a high demand for rooms. You may have found cheaper prices in Lincoln for the state tournament, but there have also been several examples on this site of people finding cheaper prices within 10 minutes of the Qwest during the state tournament. As far as other towns in Nebraska “gouging” people on hotel rates. The hotel I am staying in for the Huskerland tournament in Kearney is charging a premium price for the rooms the weekend of Huskerland. The person I talked to at the hotel did admit they are raising their rates because there are a lot of people in town that weekend. Can you believe it; they are gouging a kid’s event!

You want the Omaha Chamber of Commerce to distribute information. When did the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce do it? I am sure if you call them they would be happy to send you all the information that you request.

You say the Qwest did not care about the state wrestling tournament because they scheduled other events the same night. How quickly we forget. The Devaney did the same. For example, the last year at the Devaney we were rushed out because they had a basketball game that night. In fact, we were treated far worse at the Devaney.

I will be happy to explain. The last year at the Devaney our team finished second. We were picking up our runner up trophy while they were tearing down the mats around us and trying to chase us out. I told them that we will take a couple of minutes to take a few pictures besides they had not even handed out the state champion trophies yet. When we finished we were waiting by the lower north pass gate for one of our wrestlers to finish showering because he was a 189 lb. state champion and with all the awards he did not get a chance to shower yet. One of the Devaney personnel told us we must leave. I explained that we have a kid showering and did not want to walk out without him. He did not care and in fact as he turned away he made a derogatory comment about wrestlers. If you don’t believe me I have witnesses.

Now at the Qwest last year when they had the Creighton game later that evening they also asked us to hurry up. Although I thought the Qwest personnel handled it much better. This time we were picking up the state champion trophy. They left the mats down for us and allowed us to finish taking pictures before they removed the mats. The amazing thing is at the Devaney you pick up the mats and you have a basketball floor ready to go, but at the Qwest they must bring in piece by piece the floor and put it together which takes much longer. We got rudely pushed out of the Devaney, but only encouraged to hurry up at the Qwest.

I have also found the staff at the Qwest far friendlier than the Devaney. That was one of the things I first noticed the first year at the Qwest. Remember all the stone faces and how they checked for your band even though they probably saw you a hundred times that weekend at the Devaney. They were not that strict at the Qwest, in fact the probably were too lenient because I saw teams that should only have two coaches have three and even four coaches on the floor . I even heard about one class A team having six coaches on the floor. And how about in the stands if for one moment you stopped on the stairway, at the Devaney, to talk to someone immediately someone in a striped suit would ask you to clear the aisle. I never had that happen at the Qwest.

To say that the people of Omaha do not accept the rural people and treat them rudely could not be further from the truth. How is it possible that people come from all over the country and come all year long rave about how friendly the people of Omaha are, but three days out of the year the people of Omaha turn rude? To say Omaha does not respect and treat rural Nebraska very well is completely false and in my opinion it is the opposite. I grew up on a farm and have many family and friends that are farmers or from a small town. I work in Omaha and the people of Omaha rarely speak badly of rural people. I have experienced far more people in rural areas speak badly and stereotype the people of Omaha than the other way around. You do not have to look any further than this site to prove that. Outside of dswitz having fun with you one time you rarely if ever see anyone bashing rural people, but look at all the posts putting down Omaha and its people.

Sorry about the long post, but I was staying out of this as much as I could because there were many good responses and finally could not hold back anymore. I am just getting tired of the unjust bashing Omaha and its people are getting. Bulldog, I am not bashing you, in my experiences I just have a different opinion. In general Omaha people are good people and very accepting of others visiting the city.

Ok,
I've stayed out of this completely because wherever the tourney is, I'll be there. I do feel the history and feel will come back, just takes time. The only thing I will say, and I'm not bashing, but I do feel someone,(not sure who's in charge of this) needs to do a better job of informing Omaha businesses of at least what is going on that weekend. The hotel we stayed at is about 20 miles from Qwest, prices weren't bad, but if we checked anywhere closer it doubled in most cases. Anyway, our hotel gave all our kids passes to the Golds Gym a few blocks away. So, we took them down there between sessions, etc. to get a little workout. The guy at the desk asked "what are you guys in town for?" I told him State Wrestling. He said "State Wrestling? I didn't know that was in Omaha!" Now I realize this could be an isolated case, but come on. And badger, the hotels in Lincoln did send stuff out to schools as well as restaurants. I used to get all kinds of advertisements from buffets to movie theatres. Again, with some small adjustments, I do think it could still turn out good. And as far as the Qwest personnel being friendly, I don't think so. Heck, this year, we were on deck on mat 5 I think it was, and I stepped around the corner to use the restroom. When I tried to come back in the guy told me I couldn't because they wanted traffic flowing only one way. I told him we were about up on the mat not 10 feet away, and he still made me walk all the way around and back. Sorry, but that's rediculous.

I have just gotten permission to post on the forum, though I have monitored huskermat for some time. I have kept up on this post because of it's meaning to me. For a long time, I was very upset with the NSAA for allowing the move from Devaney to Qwest. I, like Angry Billy, vowed to boycott! I am from rural NE and loved the atmosphere of the Devaney during state wrestling. My school helped to run the state tournament back in the day, and all of the champions brackets stenography was done by my coach's wife. So I have many fond memories of state wrestling, as a helper, spectator and participant. Now that my boys are involved in wrestling, they want to go to the state tourney. It doesn't matter where it is or what the costs are going to be, I can't replace the experience of sharing that with my boys. I hate the costs associated with state wrestling, or national wrestling tournaments for that matter. I truly believe that the feeling that the Devaney offered was superior to what Qwest has, but that was for me. My boys have been to both as spectators, and don't have an opinion other than they got to see their friends and idols wrestle at state. Of course Dad pays the fees, and they're only concerned with who is wrestling on what mats and when. I think that Qwest can and will be all that we want for our state tournament, but agree that there are many areas for improvement. As far as the costs, its called capitalism. I have gotten very good at staying with relatives in Omaha, bringing cold sandwhiches and taking long walks to avoid paying parking fees, and will continue to take my boys to the state tournament because of the experience we share as a family. Wish hotels were cheaper, food less expensive, tournament location closer, better parade of champions, etc. Maybe some of the people associated with running the state tournament will see this post and take these ideas to heart. Good posts.