quote:

Originally posted by elwayfan:
I've read on this board more than once that those in favor of not moving it back to Lincoln (hypothetically Devaney) say they would rather stay in Omaha than watch some kid get hurt. I must have missed it but when did someone get hurt at Devaney? Not being sarcastic, I just don't recall any injuries....

Taylor McCord of Millard West in '03 or '04 against I think Parham of Westside. Trainer wouldn't let him continue.

I think the only people happy with the Quest is Omaha people. Why wouldn't they be? I like to sleep in my bed too.

The injuries: was I the only one that saw kids thrown into tables at the Quest? How about the concrete floor under those mats. Ask your kids it's much harder than the hardwood.

service: My was fine this year but, the last two I can't say the same. I can live with that, no big deal.

Tickets: That is what really gets me. What was great at the Devaney is the crowds. It was always great to see the support from ALL the towns in Nebraska. As a former wrestler that wrestled at the Devaney I know that you could hear their support in every session. Sadly I am not able to say the same at the Quest. We have all heard of home field advanage. That is due to your fans making a difference in the way you wrestle. I think it was more equal at the Devaney.

The state touney has been set up for Omaha, everyone else is visiting. THE NEBRASKA STATE TOUNEY SHOULD NOT BE SET UP THIS WAY.

Kman pretty much summed up why attendance is dropping . . . "Nobody cares if you don't show up". That in a nutshell is Omaha's problem. They put up a big pitch to move it there & then drop the ball when it comes to the welcome mat. In this era of cities doing almost anything to keep businesses from relocating through tax breaks, hiring incentives etc. The big O has taken the mass of Nebraskans that follow & support high school wrestling for granted. Those same Nebraskans are now voting with their feet.

The old saying that "You only get one chance to make a first impression" is in play here. MECCA's over the top Nazi-like tactics in '06 started the downward trend. Jacked up Hotel rates (50-100% in many cases), jacked up concession prices, parking prices & availability, (can't wait for them to build the new baseball stadium in the parking lot) & the scheduling of multi-regional events that overload the lot capacity are just a few of the complaints that are not going away.

As to the safety issue, that, while PC was more of a Ross Perot "for the children" wing of the initial sales pitch than from an actual dire unworkable need. Most wrestlers will tell you that throwing a mat over a cement floor is not an ideal situation when it comes to safety. The NSAA just announced the new sites for the volleyball championships next year & used the anticipated loss of attendance as a reason for NOT moving them to Grand Island. If the downward trend continues in Omaha with wrestling, other sites WILL be considered.

I understand the frustration of the hotel issue but I would be shocked if the same thing wasn't going in Lincoln during the state tourney. It's a simple supply and demand issue, no, it's not fair but if people keep paying the rates, nothing will change. This isn't an Omaha exclusive practive folks, it happens at every travel destination that is supporting a major (I'll use the term loosely in this event) sporting event. Surely those who followed the Huskers while they were going bowling experienced the same thing? Feel free to voice your displeasure, but I don't think this board is the medium to do so.

I love the Qwest. However, if increasing attendance is the primary goal of this tournament, as so many on this forum seem to indicate, and "outstate" people are the key to that, as those same folks claim, then move the thing to Kearney and let's find out.

Nevertheless, I am going to adopt an Angrybilly analogy about Lincoln:" No Sargent cheerleaders. No attendance. The great Devaney boycott continues."

quote:

Originally posted by dswitz:
I love the Qwest. However, if increasing attendance is the primary goal of this tournament, as so many on this forum seem to indicate, and "outstate" people are the key to that, as those same folks claim, then move the thing to Kearney and let's find out.

Nevertheless, I am going to adopt an Angrybilly analogy about Lincoln:" No Sargent cheerleaders. No attendance. The great Devaney boycott continues."

dswitz nice analogy about Lincoln, go back and read what I told Mr. Pokorny he was upset about the cheerleaders not leading the parade and I just stated what I was told. I am glad that you love the Qwest center, it is a wonderful building. Your response is what is typical about Omaha and that is you don't care how the outstate people are treated as long as your happy. You would think the Omaha chamber of commerce would put out a flyer to all of the teams letting them know hotel info, eating establishments and places to go and see but that takes to much work even though Lincoln did it every year. You can't deny attendance is down and that is sad.

We are from Omaha and we stayed in a hotel and we had no problem. Bulldog try this novel concept, shop around I promise you'll find a better deal. Tell me how you had traffic problems? It is all interstate except 2 or 3 blocks to the parking lot. Look into hotels in bellevue, they are right down the Kennedy freeway and are fairly quick too. The problem here is you don't want do anything that would require you to work and find a better hotel or a faster route. I can get anywhere in Omaha in 15 mins. That is because you can get on the interstate on just go. Here is a little secret for you so called hillbilly, all the streets here run east-west or north-south, and if you have found one that doesn't you aren't even headed toward the qwest. Attendance is down because of on simple reason. People here in this state are fans of their kids, which is fine but they are not fans of the sport. If you are a true fan you would go no matter where it was. You don't like the prices at the qwest, eat before you get there. Don't like the prices to park, carpool and park a couple of block away and it is free. If you want something to benefit you try something different and look for alternatives. By the way did you see the train at the qwest? just like thee devaney but nobody had to stop for it. If the state tournament was in Kearney or North Platte I would still go, maybe if people didn't boycott things before they came things could be different.

quote:

Originally posted by miracle worker:
We are from Omaha and we stayed in a hotel and we had no problem. Bulldog try this novel concept, shop around I promise you'll find a better deal. Tell me how you had traffic problems? It is all interstate except 2 or 3 blocks to the parking lot. Look into hotels in bellevue, they are right down the Kennedy freeway and are fairly quick too. The problem here is you don't want do anything that would require you to work and find a better hotel or a faster route. I can get anywhere in Omaha in 15 mins. That is because you can get on the interstate on just go. Here is a little secret for you so called hillbilly, all the streets here run east-west or north-south, and if you have found one that doesn't you aren't even headed toward the qwest. Attendance is down because of on simple reason. People here in this state are fans of their kids, which is fine but they are not fans of the sport. If you are a true fan you would go no matter where it was. You don't like the prices at the qwest, eat before you get there. Don't like the prices to park, carpool and park a couple of block away and it is free. If you want something to benefit you try something different and look for alternatives. By the way did you see the train at the qwest? just like thee devaney but nobody had to stop for it. If the state tournament was in Kearney or North Platte I would still go, maybe if people didn't boycott things before they came things could be different.

I know my way around Omaha, my fans don't and there lies the problem. Shop around for hotels you say well we did and they bumped there rates just like the one we stayed at. I like our location as it only takes 3-4 minutes to be in the hotel parking lot, however we will be looking elsewhere next year for cheaper rooms. Now just like the previous poster you are badmouthing outstate Nebraska and there fans because they have a problem with Omaha. The Qwest center is a wonderful facility and the tournament is well ran, however Omaha needs to embrace it and the incoming fans not call us hillbillies.

Bulldog, I said so called hillbilly, I will say that we went out for something to eat saturday between the cons. finals and the finals and we had to go all the way to Zio's to find a place to eat. The sports bar across the street from the qwest was full and the waitress said "we had no idea what was going on" Now not only was the state tourney going on but there was like 300 volleyball teams there as well, so I will give you that some people need to be aware of what is happening at the qwest if they what to profit from it. As far as being from out state, we had people at our hotel from Mullin and I have no problem with out state fans. My problem is still the fact that people in this state want something and if they get it they find a way to complain about it. People complained how the Devaney had to close the doors because of the fire marshall, but yet they won't come to Omaha because they feel like omaha doesn't want them. My suggestion to you is get a hotel now and then in the fall try and get another hotel and then play the rate game with them. Look in CB, Bellevue or west O, you can find a better place to be and it will make Omaha seem more inviting to you.

Bulldog, I'm sorry I should of been like Ricky Bobby and said "with all due respect you Hillbillies"

"We are from Omaha and we stayed in a hotel" No wonder rooms are hard to find! Which exit did you use to leave Saturday between sessions because we were told by security that you would have to pay to get back in if you left.

South exit, and we walked downtown and there where a lot of people downtown, so I'm thinking others had the same idea. We stayed in CB because we wanted our kids to be focused just on wrestling and we could also control what they do every night.

Hotels..yes prices are going up.

Traffic..none to speak of. I got to and from qwest in 5 minutes or less from the back lot.
at Devaney, we had to leave an hour or more early because Lincoln in messed up.

Restaurants...pretty good.

Prices at Qwest... too high. $7 for a small brisket sandwich. too much.

But, you guys are all missing the point. The reason the attendance is down is because half of the contestants are from one team. Each of the kids that gets pulled out of Friday nights action takes 10 people with him.

Until there is more competition for Skutt and South in A and B, you take away a great deal of the people from the top population centers.

Nobody cares because everybody knows who is going to win.

I really think this has something to do with it. Plus the attitudes of some people about Omaha and the attitudes of some omahans about outstate people. but I believe those are secondary factors.

forgot, 2 out of 3 on the seats.
Decent first year, bad second year, great third year.

I suppose we could consider ourselves lucky compared to Iowa. When they moved the state tournament to the new Well Fargo arena they went to a 4 day tournament to help pay for the cost increase. They only have 3 classes!!!

seats: really bad all 3 years.

I was sincere about the first paragraph of my post; let's move it to Kearney and test this thing; I'd sign a petition to that effect.

The second paragraph was sarcasm which would have been considered funny if said by "Larry the Cable Guy."

Low attendance could be attributed to poor vision. Those patrons of wrestling that sat in the nosebleed sections may have developed severe eye strain attempting to read their program. It is hard on the eyes to move from squinting in the dark while filling in the bracket to scanning 8 mats in an attempt to follow all the action. With poor vision, finding cheap hotel rates on a computer and reading restaurant menus becomes nearly impossible. I say the Qwest should either provide flashlights for the "cheap seats" or pay for our lasik surgery.

quote:

Originally posted by dswitz:
I was sincere about the first paragraph of my post; let's move it to Kearney and test this thing; I'd sign a petition to that effect.

The second paragraph was sarcasm which would have been considered funny if said by "Larry the Cable Guy."

dswitz -- I thought both paragraphs were funny, actually...

At the end of the day, there are some irrefutable facts that have to be faced:

1.) The Devaney Center is a dead issue. It is antiquated, from the floor space to the parking to lockerrooms, it had long passed its feasibility for hosting the State Tournament.

2.) The whole "$7 is too much for concessions" and "parking is expensive" and "hotels are charging a fortune" is a pointless argument. Welcome to the real world of supply & demand. All of the prices charged by Qwest are in line, and in many cases less expensive, than arenas of comparable size and amenities across the country. Go to St. Louis & drop $8 on a beer, $6 on a hot dog, $15-$20 on parking, and guess what - same thing applies in KC, Denver, Oklahoma City, the list goes on and on. It's 2008, not 1988. The only sensible argument I have heard in combating high hotel prices is to shop around. There are more than enough rooms in Omaha to accomodate everyone. Granted, you may have to stay out in West Omaha (scary with all of it's shopping malls & traffic lights), but you will pay for the convenience of staying closer to the Qwest Center, especially when we aren't the only game in town (volleyball tournaments, conventions, etc... all taking place at the same time). You have to decide what is more important to you - convenience or cost.

3.) At the end of the day, the inconveniences of the Qwest aren't about you, they are about everyone. I truly appreciate the searches at the Qwest. Why? I don't know, maybe because people are becoming slightly unhinged lately (killing people at a mall, on college campuses, at high schools, need I say more?). If it inconveniences all of us for that 30-45 seconds they need to look in your bag/purse/jacket/whatever, too bad. I'll take the inconvenience everyday of the week.

4.) This is the State HIGH SCHOOL Wrestling Tournament. It is about what is best for the athletes, not you the fans, which is how it should be. Are you inconvenienced because you have to pay to park? Did you expect it to be free? You don't like paying for hotels that are new and located extremely close to the event? Last I checked, all of those 4- & 5-Star beauties that I have heard people rave about by the Lincoln Airport were no where near the Devaney Center. You get what you pay for, so be careful what you ask for.