but in kearney or GI do they have an arena with the same size as the arena being built here in omaha? just think how crowded it is at lincoln, we wouldnt want it any more crowded would we?
BW, the whole move to omaha is done and finished. It cannot be announced yet, but the deal is sealed. Omaha came up with a sweet deal for the NSAA. Not to mention that the seating is over 2000 more. and what about appropriate space on the floor for wrestlers and coaches. so book it!
if you want to see how a state tourney is ran, go to the barn in Des Moines and see how close the fans are to the action and how the coaches and wrestlers have room around the mat and they also have more warm-up space downstairs in Vets then Devaney does. When you go down to Lincoln there isn't any space for anyone, circles almost touch and mats go all the way to the bleachers, I know in some cases matches could be decided by this factor alone.
But you can bet when it is, the NSAA will move it in a heartbeat.
As for moving it west - it's a great theory and it would be nice to have the tournament more centrally located. The problem is - and this has been talked to death - there is nothing in central Nebraska that can hold this tournament.
Kearney's arena seats 5-6,000 at most. Even if you do half at the convention center and half at UNK, it takes away from the flavor of the tournament and is not economically feasible in the long run.
There is nothing in Grand Island, North Platte or anywhere else in the state that even comes close to providing available space for it. Now if somebody were to build a 20,000-seat arena in the Tri-Cities area, then we'd be talking something completely different.
At this point, the NSAA has not had a formal presentation made from Omaha, although there are talks going on. I would count on a formal presentation sometime this spring at the earliest, and the tournament could move to Omaha as soon as 2004, although I would be more inclined to see it going in 2005.
Whenever it happens, it will be a welcome change from Devaney, which no longer can safely hold this tournament and the growing fan support that it has developed.
maybe nobody is saying anything on the surface, but inside trading is going on and this thing is a done deal. if you talked to those on the inside, you would understand. formalities are just that........ welcome to omaha!
The biggest drawback to Devaney at present is the lack of handicap seating. I realize that the seating in B10 is better than the raised platform on the floor like it used to be, but with 20 ? HCP seats in a stadium of that size is not reasonable. We ordered 2 HCP tickets for state and got none. Now, grandpa who has one leg is going to have to sit in the small seats with no leg room like the rest of us, and the steep stairs may even stop that from happening. I hope the Omaha Convention Center can handle this issue better.
In the late 1960s, the state track meet was held in Kearney, a great location for those of us out west. Unfortunately, not enought seating capacity, motel accomodations, etc. etc. Unfortunately, wrestling's success (including the success of the USA and Nebraskaland youth programs) will cause the same problem soon in wrestling. Although most out here would prefer Lincoln due to its familiarity, distance, and traffic, the eventual move to Omaha is inevitable. Although Omaha is only an hour from Lincoln, Lincoln is easily the preferred location for most in the far west.
Posted
