Bulldog: Off the top of my head I can think of quite a few motels that are close. Within sight of the Quest Center, down Abbott Drive toward the airport are: Country Inn, Ramada Inn, Sleep Inn, Super 8, Holiday Inn Express and Wingate Inn. The 72nd street exit has 5 or 6 Motels including the Holiday Inn covention center that is huge. That exit is about 6 or 7 miles from the Quest.... about a 10 minute drive. I'll assume that the hotels at the casinos are off limits but they are also close.

Hey Shannon,

I didn't hear you comment about the fact that we are the only state around that can't follow the federation guidelines. Shouldn't that be the least a state tournament should do? Colorado has the Pepsi center, and the people I talked to out there love it. Iowa is moving to a new state of the art center....the list goes on and on. Any way you look at it, the floor space at Devaney does not meet our needs and it never will. And you talk about seating.....give me a break. If you have to get up and go over to the A side to coach a kid during the semi's, good luck finding a place upon your return. Devaney was upgraded to meet the needs of Nebraska Basketball. It has NO flexibility for something like wrestling. QWEST, on the other hand has a huge floor and can accomodate tons of configurations. So, all in all, I think I could argue that Devaney doesn't and can't meet our needs.

On a parking side note. The QWEST steering committee measured distances from parking to the entrance (during the semi finals). In less distance than most people were parking during the semi's, you can find free parking near the QWEST. This is a fact if you do a little research.

Also, the QWEST committee has access to 460 total slots should they need them (for schools, admin, etc).

I think the bottom line is human nature here. People are afraid of what they don't know or don't understand. Omaha frightens people, change frightens people and the unknown frightens people. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't move forward. Once this thing is moved, I don't see a lot of people wanting to move back to a lesser facility. They certainly didn't want to move back to pershing.

I love it (in all likelihood) thats great. Your right you did not see me at the BOC meeting just like we did not see you at Brutes!

That last post was dumb just thought I was being challenged a little Im sorry for being stupid.

Some comments on a few items that have been discussed here.

Gas.

Using round numbers we are looking at 50 extra miles each way. For arguments sake lets say the vehicle gets 10mpg that’s 10 extra gallons of gas and even at $2.50/gallon you are looking at an additional $25.00.

Motels.

A simple internet search will bring up 30+ motels within 5 miles of downtown Omaha with a price range from $45.79 up. Click here for just one of the many sites available.

Mat/floor Space.

Not even a question as far as I’m concerned. With 6300 more square feet available at the Qwest Center with an 8 mat set up this is a no-brainer. Regardless of what happens at any local or even district tournament I think we can agree that at the biggest and most important event of the High School Wrestling season, we should have FULL mats available for the athletes to compete on without worry about a scorer’s table, bleachers or another mat being too close. If I remember correct, with the 8 mat set up at Qwest, there was 5 feet BETWEEN the mats.

Safety.

While Mr. Tenopir states, "I think that issue has been blown out of proportion", I would respectfully disagree. Safety of the participants should be paramount. You cannot convince me that the current set up at Devaney is even comparable to what the set up would be at the Qwest. While one can coach their wrestlers to wrestle in the center of the mat, the fact of the matter is that the majority of matches are wrestled closer to the edge of the mat than the center which brings the other mats, bleachers and scorer’s tables in to play at Devaney.

Tradition.

While there is something to be said for tradition, remember it was tradition to have it at Omaha Central before they moved it to the Coliseum and it was tradition to have it at the Coliseum before they moved it to Pershing and it was tradition to have it at Pershing before they moved it to Devaney. IMHO, it’s time to start a new tradition. I liked what someone posted on another thread, something along the lines of it’s not the 4 walls that make the tradition it’s the people inside the 4 walls.

Coach/Wrestler Seating.

I doubt there could be anything worse than the seating for Coaches and Wrestlers at Devaney. Not to mention the mess on the floor trying to get to a mat to wrestle or coach. Even on Thursday and Saturday morning it is entirely too congested. While I have not seen it specifically addressed, I’m reasonably sure it has been.

Finally, thanks to all for keeping this debate civil. It's enjoyable to read about a topic that has so many sides to it without having to sift through a flame war to get to the good stuff.

Cyotte...you're forgiven. And had I not been laid up with a bad back last weekend, I would have been there.

Grapplin...I was thinking about this issue this morning after chatting with Red Rocker, and I think you hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph. The biggest obstacle here is the concept of change. Familiarity breeds a lot of things, and the fear of moving to something that would be bigger AND better for our sport seems to be the biggest concern here.

I wasn't involved in the sport when the tournament moved from Pershing (or the Coliseum) to Devaney, but I'd be willing to bet there were those who resisted that change 30 years ago, and once they got used to the DSC, all was good. I'm sure that this will take place once Qwest host the tournament a couple of years (assuming, of course, the NSAA green-lights it this afternoon...which I'm not putting ANY money on, considering this board's past track record on using logic in making its decisions).

I've said this several times and will say it one more time -- it is not a Lincoln vs. Omaha issue, despite what the Lincoln business community thinks. This is a matter of giving 896 kids the best available facilities to battle for a state championship.

If Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney or even Mullen builds something bigger and better than Qwest, I'll be the first in line to say let's move it there. The DSC can not safely hold this tournament any longer and Omaha's facility is the only one that can.

Right now, wrestling and baseball are the only sports being considered for a change of venue (although boys golf may be split between Kearney, North Platte and Lincoln). I see pros and cons for both Lincoln and Omaha for baseball, and it wouldn't surprise me to see baseball go to Lincoln if wrestling goes to Omaha. Once baseball adds a second class (which could happen very soon), you'll see state baseball in both cities.

You will NOT see basketball leave Lincoln because Qwest has college hockey playoffs during those two weeks, and even if it were open, I would say keep basketball in Lincoln. Lincoln does a fantastic job hosting state basketball and volleyball, and those sports should never leave the capital city (although we did some quick math yesterday and came to the conclusion the Qwest Center could actually hold four tournaments simultaneously with its floor space, so Omaha could use Qwest and the Daub Dump (Civic Auditorium) for all six classes.

That's all I got...gotta hit the road...

RR,
I could not agree more with your civilaty comment. And to HB, that is a direct reflection of the changes you made. THANKS!

I will still take the Vals though over the Gyros!

"Finally, thanks to all for keeping this debate civil. It's enjoyable to read about a topic that has so many sides to it without having to sift through a flame war to get to the good stuff."

Hey Rocker...your mama wears army boots. So there...nyahh.

Sorry, just had to say that...

I agree with you Doug. Devaney is not the best. Qwest will probably be better.

But having to 'get up' and go over to the A side, isn't that the same as 'getting up' and going to the mats on the B side? except your walk is a little longer?

I do agree that Devaney is not the best yet again. I think Qwest will be better, IF there are seats for coaches and wrestlers down on the floor area. At NCAA's in an arena of similar size, there were not seats until later rounds when mats had been removed.
I also agree Devaney was not made for wrestling.

That is good that they have 460 slots. And your comments about the parking near Qwest were what I was trying to ask in an earlier post. We just need to know where all of this stuff is. I don't want to have to learn on the run, while making my wrestlers late for a session.

I also agree with your statement about fear. I can handle finding new ways to do things. My biggest fear is that the things that need to be worked out will not be, and things will be a mess for a few years. Which isn't to say that they won't be great eventually. I just want to make sure that things are done similarly so that we can have the best experience for these kids, the years that it is at qwest.

In other words, lets not be guinea pigs for two years figuring out the best system.

Rocker, also, the mileage and lodging argument will basically be a wash. Because, yes some of us will drive more, but there will be many that drive less to omaha. Including the MANY omaha area schools. Plus, the NSAA payouts should not change much, because of this fact. They may be larger to some schools, but smaller to many others.

HB, Rocker

Any word yet, I'm ready to reserve rooms in the Big O if Qwest gets it.

Not a thing yet...

Vote 6-0 to move to Omaha.

Excellent move by the NSAA.

HB you might think it is excellent, but my team just lost half of it's fans who would support us in Lincoln but would not go into Omaha for love or money. Two years ago we had a set of parents who would not go to watch there son at state track because Omaha scared them. Sad Sad day for outstate Nebraska wrestling.

Yes it's pretty scary up here in Omaha compared to that peaceful city of Lincoln. I've been mugged more times than I can remember and I usually get carjacked at least once a week. Ahh shoot, I gotta go, a man with a switchblade is after me! Lock your doors, hide the women and children!

HB you can put all of the sarcasm you want but the truth be told more outstate Nebraskans don't like or trust Omaha than do. I hope for the sake of my wrestlers everything is as great as you make it out to be because I will still be coaching in 2 years if it isn't and it gets moved back to Lincoln but they won't be wrestling and it would be a shame for them to have an awful state wrestling experience.

That's the point Bulldog. Neither you or I know exactly how this thing will turn out so why not keep an open mind like most of us on here? The tournament wasn't going to stay in the Devaney center forever. The sport is growing in popularity and it was time to say goodbye to the Devaney just as it was time to say goodbye to Pershing long ago. Someday this tournament will move away from the Qwest Center and there will be people that fight the change as several are now. I guess I'm kind of a glass half full person. Can you be?

Scared? Scared of what, something bigger than your surroundings? The western half of Nebraska really do not know how "scary" Omaha truely is, head out to western Omaha, see how scary that kid hopping out of his daddies Lexus is...

HB and other Omaha people. It is not that fact that Omaha is in worse (because I would have to agree that their is no difference) but the perception of many western Nebraskans who have never or seldom been to Omaha that it is a scary place, and I bet it does keep a number of fans away.

Again I would like to point out that a gym floor is just as hard as a scorer's table. If a ref stopped the match early that is a referee mistake and sometimes you have to roll with the punches. I did trip on the overlapped mats one time checking in for a match. It probably cost me the match.

I hope everything works out well for in Omaha. I am not totally against it, I just do not see a reason to risk it not being well run for a couple of years if it was not bad before.

I was coaching this last year during the semifinals and I was able to find a seat in the front row of the coaches section.

I have a handicapped friend with cerebral palsy that walks with canes and at the CWS last year they would not let us use a handicap spot at Rosenblatt and we had to walk half a mile through hills with brick streets and he almost fell twice. So, I guess I will be pushing for the CWS in St. Louis since they have a bigger venue and more parking. Who cares about tradition anyway?