Mikey has a story up at NWImag.com

Stu Pospisil also has an article up on The OWH site.

What do you think Rocker, will NSAA now actually grant a coach's pass to ALL wrestling coaches It is something that should be seriously looked at. Allocating coach's passes was also a by-product of the limited Devaney floor space. Its always been a huge injustice to many that have truly earned the pass, then end up having to buy their own ticket.( and find another way onto the floor )

quote:

Originally posted by TK:
What do you think Rocker, will NSAA now actually grant a coach's pass to ALL wrestling coaches It is something that should be seriously looked at. Allocating coach's passes was also a by-product of the limited Devaney floor space. Its always been a huge injustice to many that have truly earned the pass, then end up having to buy their own ticket.( and find another way onto the floor )

Let's hope so.

I would think with the space issue now a non-issue they would be more lenient with passes. I can see limiting it to 3 or even 4 (2 Coaches in the corner for the 119# and 125# that end up wrestling at the same time) but I'm sure they won't go for "ALL" Coaches!

For the record, not all western fans are against the move to Omaha. This is a done deal for two years. Time to quit complaining and look for the positives. I really doubt if the tried and true fan will care that the drive is 50 miles further. I know I won't.

Was asked to move this by Mr. Ryan.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Ryan:
It is interesting for me to read posts by people who I assume are wrestling coaches complaining about the move to a new arena. When I see those posts that the home town folks won't follow the teams and give them support at state I wonder why not. I'm sure they have heard you gripe and complain since the possibility of moving the tournament came up so they are convinced they should not even travel in the general direction of Omaha.

For as long as I have been involved in wrestling I've noticed one constant. About 25% of coaches work their tails off to try to take their programs to the top while the other 75% gripe about everything and try to pull the top programs down to their level. Perhaps you should talk to the track coaches in your school. Every spring Burke Stadium is packed with fans from all over the state. Do the track coaches tell their fans the state meet is in East Benkleman?

Also moved panther's reply.

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Originally posted by panther:
You dont think a few Omaha folks would complain if they moved State Track to Lincoln, or another city?

quote:

Originally posted by Bronco:
I am from Clarks and I do recall a few cases where kids had gotten money or clothing stolen out of lockers. However, there was never anybody that got mugged at the Clarks Invitational. Once again, I am from there and have attended this meet for the past twenty years. Nobody has been mugged EVER in the town of Clarks. I think you need to reword your post. This is getting comical.

I mean no disrespect towards the people of Clarks rather pointing out a fact that crime is everywhere not just Omaha. It could have been kids from one of the out of town schools that jumped our wrestler, but it did happen. Our wrestler was somewhere he was not suppose to be, he was walking to the convenience store when he was jumped.

I take a bit of offense to Mr. Ryan's post. In two years I have helped build a team up to where we ended up with a 16th place finish this year at state. This may not sound impressive to you, but it was their highest finish in ANY sport for 10 years I was told and they are 0 for their last 26 football games or something like that. Granted, I was lucky enough to have some kids that had talent and would work if you they just had someone to get it out of them, but I do not think I am pulling them down by any means. This last year I had a kid set school records for takedowns and wins in a season placing 4th at state. In his two years of high school before I arrived he was 10-39. Of all the junior high and high school kids I have coaches every single one has improved from the previous year both years I have been there even if it is only from winning no matches one year to 2 junior matches the next year and 4 varsity matches this year, and I am just as proud of each and every one of them. So, please do not try to make correlation between wanting the state tournament to be one place or another and quality of coaching if you do not have evidence to back up your hypothesis.

Cant wait to get some suite tickets. You think they will be selling beer in the suite. They did for the big 12 wrestling championships.

Red Rocker I also take offense to Mr. Ryans statement. I have been a head coach for six years in that time we have had 3 state champions, 13 state medallist, 22 state qualifiers and 2 top state top 10 finishes, in the 10 previous years we did not have a state medallist, we had 17 state qualifiers. Why did things change, well I put the time into it, I attend youth tournaments, I go to camps I try to get parents involved. Now you blast me because the people of my town don't like Omaha, well I don't see Omaha supporting our town either. They call us hicks and say we live in the middle of nowhere, they gripe that we don't do much that is productive for society, they criticize us while they think they are high and mighty. Don't blame outstate state for hating Omaha, because Omaha has alienated us for years.

so true

Peace

Deano

I'd like to address the small town vs. big city issue if I may.

For most of my soon-to-be 39 years, I have lived in small towns all over the state. I've lived in villages of less than 1,000 to towns the size of Fairbury and York (which, compared to Omaha and Lincoln, are quite small).

The first time I drove in Omaha, I was petrified. I had driven in Lincoln numerous times, but had never managed the streets of the Big O. After the first couple of times, I had no problems so long as I knew exactly where I was going. Most of the time it was to and from my hotel and Burke Stadium for state track, although I was able to drive into downtown for concerts at the Daub Dump (Civic Auditorium) and to Rosenblatt for Royals games.

For those of you who will be driving to Omaha for state wrestling, it is not all that difficult to get there if you know which exits to take and follow the signs accordingly. And driving in Omaha, compared to driving in Lincoln, is actually an easier gig to handle. I've maintained that driving Omaha in rush hour traffic is actually safer than driving in Lincoln at almost any time, day or night.

I will grant Bulldog and the other good people out there in small-town Nebraska this -- there are those in Omaha that DO have that "hicks in the sticks" attitude, which, in all honesty, is the flip side of the negative attitude you folks have about big bad Omaha. But I think you will find that when you do go to Omaha -- and don't tell me for one minute that the true wrestling fans of your communities won't do it, because we all know better -- I think you will find the vast majority of the people of that city to be welcome and willing to help you should you lose your way.

I have said it a million times, and I will say it again -- this is not a Lincoln vs. Omaha issue. This is a facilities issue, and Qwest fits the bill for the needs of this tournament. If the day comes when Lincoln, Kearney or even Sargent builds the kind of facility that can provide the best safety considerations for our wrestlers, not only will I support the move there, but I will help load the U-Hauls to move that mats out there.

It is my somewhat-educated guess that, two years from now, we will all be wondering what took so long to move the tournament out of the sardine can that was the DSC. It served us well, but the ever-improving quality of this sport in Nebraska requires a bigger, better and safer venue.

And if anybody needs directions, give me a yell. I'll be happy to lead the convoy into town.

Mikey, I have moved mats with people of your...ehhem...physique before and I think I will volunteer to go ahead and move them instead. We don't need the tears in the mat from being dropped on the concrete outside.

Wow! Bulldog, you are a good man but what has Omaha done to you to get you so upset. I have lived half my life in rural Nebraska on a farm and half my life in or near Omaha. Omahans have far more respect for rural Nebraska than rural Nebraska has for Omaha. Like NWI says, this is not Omaha vs the state. It is the Devaney Center vs Qwest.

MM -- what are you talking about? Put the edge of the mat on top of my "dunlop belly" (because it done lopped over my belt line), and I can go all day.

With frequent breaks for doughnuts and coffee, of course.

The crime thing is blown out of proportion. Yes it increases, but I don't think it is any where near "exponentially".

Did some research last night and came up with this from County by County data from 2003. You can see that while Douglas County (Omaha) does have the highest rate of crimes per 1000 people, it is only .16 higher than Hall County (Grand Island) that has only 11.39% of the population and .2 more than Lancaster (Lincoln) that has only 54.7% of the population. Below is listed the top 10 in crimes reported/1000 people.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Red Rocker,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Red Rocker,

LOL....I'm taking my Head Gear and going home.....geeeezzzz get over it...if you all think Omaha is this Great Big Giant City you need to get out more. This is wonderful for everybody, and safer for the Competitors.

quote:

The first time I drove in Omaha, I was petrified.

Most of the comments I've read perpetuate the "hicks in the sticks" theory.

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if you all think Omaha is this Great Big Giant City you need to get out more.

Omaha is a large city, so what Try driving or getting around in St. Louis, Houston, San Francisco, New York City... you know how you do it? You get in your vehicle, you get on the road... paved roads and streets and highways... they are paved in Omaha, just like out in the sticks. Stop signs look the same, traffic lights have the same three colors (red, yellow, green - for those really in the sticks).

As far as the crime, don't stop at those stop signs and after parking... get out and run!