i get goosebumps everytime i watch it

Great shots! agree. Goosebumps everytime.

I got goosebumps at Devaney. Nothing against the kids, but empty seats and a ring of Burger King flames around the arena kill it for me.

If you only got goosebumps at Devaney and not at the qwest, no offense, then you're holding yourself back. Each year back to the qwest it feels more like home for the state tourney, and believe me, in the beginning I was against the move. The NSAA and the Qwest staff have made a few changes each year that helps it keep getting better. For example, the had the heat on this year! I was actually hot on the floor and my wrestlers were actually breaking a good sweat when warming up! We complained about it being cold, they listened. I also love the fact that Friday night and Saturday, if I want to sit down and watch (which I did little of since I was fortunate to have a bunch of guys wrestling all the way through ) I didn't have to have a little card to get in and I didn't have to sit on someones lap. Now I know some of the qwest staff sometimes rub us the wrong way, but for the first time this year, I noticed many of them going out of their way to be not only kind but they were actually interested in the wrestling. Several of them would stop me to ask how our kids were doing and who we had next round! The guy that kind of oversees or watches the coaches area is a really cool guy and still recognizes us even though we haven't seen him in a year. I had an issue at first because I bought a bottle of water and they took the lid! I know why but I explained it was for my wrestlers and pleaded my case. The guy said "sorry, it's the venues orders.....but if you happen to find one down at the end of the counter, I'd pick it up if I were you, as he "dropped" one at the end. I found that very cool, he stayed out of trouble, but was still accomadating. I'm sure there are some bad stories from the other side, but I can tell you this, the kids I'm coaching now don't remember the Devaney, and the qwest is where it's at for them. Just my 2 cents and wanted to say something positive about the venue.

I had a similar issue/result with a water bottle.The person was trying to be reasonable and help. The prices are rediculous. Nothing compared to the Parade at Devaney, and I still hate the Qwest for state wrestling. I hope if it never goes back to the Devaney, Lincoln builds their new facility.Maybe get in a rotation at least.

Just curious of how other states do this? Does anyone shut off the lights and spotlight the parade?

This is from Ohio. It would be awesome if NE could spotlight our athletes like this. It gets really good at about 11 minutes in.....

http://videos.cleveland.com/cl...e_wrestling_par.html

Ohio has the finals of their state tourney at night, which is something I'd gladly welcome. The atmosphere would be 10x better if people were able to get primed during the day.

The only issue I have with the Qwest is having an event (Creighton basketball) follow immediately after. They are in such a hurry to push people out-we had two cleanup people with vacuums waiting to clean out the broadcast booth before they had started to hand out the 145+ medals. And that's fine but if we wanted to stay and do some recap or post tournament broadcasting, we wouldn't be accommodated.

To Eagle1,
Coach, I could not have said that better myself. The two Qwest staff guys that were working on the end near the announcer booth were cool guys as I saw the one nearest always talking to the wrestlers, telling them good job on winning or other things.
Great job by your kids and I hope the kids (and you and your assistant coach) shave their heads. Although it was funny seeing you with that type of hair.

DONT GET ME WRONG LINCOLN NEEDS TO GET GOING ON THE EVCENT CENTER THEY WANT TO BUILD. QUEST IS NEVER FULL FOR ALL THE ROUNDS AND FOOD AND STUFF IS WAY TO HIGH PRICED. SORRY NEEDS TO BE MOVED IN MY EYES. BUT I WOULD HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH MOVING IT BACK TO Devaney WAS NICE PLACE BUT IT IS TIME TO BUILD NEW AREANA.

If anyone thinks that a new arena in Lincoln will somehow magically change things, you're fooling yourself. They will be looking to have the same or at least similar number of seats, therefore no more of a "packed" house than what we see now, concessions won't be a lot different and it will never be the same atmosphere as "The Bob" no matter where it is held save moving it back to Devaney.

Personally, I don't care where it is held as long is there is room to get 8 full mats on the floor similar to how it is done now. It will be interesting next month to see how the NCAA handles things and lays things out on the floor of the Qwest and if the NSAA takes any of those ideas and incorporates them into the State Tournament.

Oh, and TRUESPORTSMAN, please turn off your caps lock, it makes your posts very hard to read!

sportsfan, shaved it this morning! The old haircuts were results we made with the kids districts week. The kids started doing theirs 3 years ago. A lot of teams do something those two weeks, I guess I don't care as long as they come to wrestle and behave properly.

Am I wrong or did they not used to turn the lights down in Lincoln, that had a much bigger effect.....that needs to come back...

I think the attitude of the qwest employees was a lot better than in years past. I also had some of them interested in how things were going for the wrestlers as well as concerned about the overall atmosphere for the coaches. It isn't the same as Devaney, but it is ultimately up to the fans to create the atmosphere for the most part. In my opinion, having the finals in the evening and dimming the lights or doing something extra or new would help improve things.

i still miss the signs and team banners the things that made devaney great.
concrete and scrolling ads for catsup dont provide the atmosphere
as for the fans making the most of it kinda hard when your hands are tied and big brother is watching just waiting to pounce.

We have a volunteer coach from the West Coast and he said that our tourney is a degradation to the wrestlers and feels that we could do tons more during the tourney. He said that they constantly talk up the tourney or happenings as the meet progresses in his home state. He called it a "disservice" to wrestling in Nebraska. He stated they make sure it is the event of events when going on.....I too believe that much more could be done and personally don't feel there is enough bells and whistles for the tourney. Maybe the media can jack it up if it is really important to them as far as coverage goes and bringing the sport into the limelight.......but the powers that be could do a much better job.

What time where the finals at and what was the attendance?

what about the fact only 38,000-plus made it to the tourney and 51,000-plus made it to Devaney?

I think that the economy is playing more of a roll on the attendance vs. the quest factor. I know we scaled back the past 2 years in what we spend and this year we didn't attend Saturday but watched at home because of finances. I don't think though that the prices would be much differant if Lincoln built an arena. More than likely the days of cheaper affordable concessions for state wrestling is done.

I admit though that I am a master at sneaking in things at Quest. I miss the $1 ice cream malt cups that Davanney had. Even though I took snacks into both places it is critical for survival at Quest and Davanney it was just because I had little kids. Its amazing how much weight I loose at Quest just between the gate and the seat and it isn't the walking or the steps that does it for me. ;-)