If you don't want to hear me complain about this year's State Tournament I advise you to look away now. Really there are better things you could do with your day. LOOK AWAY!
This years State Tournament shall henceforth be referred to as A Series of Unfortunate Events.
SCHSL should be ashamed. You added an extra division because of football. We get that. Its stupid, but whatever. 5 classifications is highly unneccesary in this state, in this sport, and for the Anderson Civic Center, but this what what we were given. Wrestling always gets shafted in this state. This is no secret. Football is King, ALL HAIL.
You had A WHOLE FREAKING YEAR to plan this. You could have done it properly but NOOOO. You pooped the bed. I don't even think you care. We were in a sub-par venue, this is no surprise, we have always known this venue is not good for a State Wrestling Championship. It has a very limited amount of seating, no room for warm-ups, and is overall very awkward. I'll get to my main point now.
THE FINALS. It's not rocket-science, people. You have 1&2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A. That equals 4 mats needed for the finals (look at me, I did some math. YAY). WHY THE HECK would you have the matches scattered like a chess board across the 6 mats you had out? With all of the people there to help is it really that difficult to roll up 2 mats, move the 4 remaining to the center and wrestle the matches on those mats? NO. Instead you leave 2 empty mats to be filled up with wrestlers (most of whom weren't competing in the finals, I might add), fans, lazy refs and the like. Oh, but "If you are going to be on those mats you MUST kneel". PATHETIC. Who is going to make them? You and what army? So the people sitting on the sides in the bleachers can essentially only see two mats at a time, the mat closes to them in the center and the mat on the far side of the arena on the same side. KEEP PEOPLE OFF OF THE MATS, Stop wrestling if you have to. People paid to see wrestling. Some just enjoy watching it and when they aren't focused on a specific mat they deserve to be able to see all of the matches. Show some respect to the wrestler's who busted their tails ALL SEASON to make it to that moment. Everyone should be able to see them win or lose, triumph or defeat. They earned that time in the "limelight" and that is what it should be. A SPECTACLE, not a DEBACLE.
THE "PARADE OF CHAMPIONS". That was the worst parade I've ever seen. BAR NONE. You pull these kids away from their warm-ups, to have them line up and come out, turn the lights off (just like in years past. HERE WE GO! The 2017 State Finals YEAHHHHH! So excited. I usually tape this on my phone every year because it is so cool. The lights are off, the wrestlers are hyped, the crowd is energized. All of the parents are anticipating the names being called out, the records being announced, the wrestler shaking his opponents hand, the crowd cheering as they return to their spot, bouncing on their toes, ready to perform. Ready to win. But this, this year was a Series of Unfortunate Events. No fanfare here. The lights come on as soon as the wrestlers are paraded out, the refs get their awards on the side where we can't even see them, and then you send the wrestlers walking off wondering what the heck all of that was about. Nice Job.
I was hoping it would get better but it didn't. You set up 3 podiums and only used one. HA! The one you used was in front of the grey mat, crowded with people. BUT YOU MUST KNEEEEL. Yeah. Right. You barely finished announcing the weight classes and placers before the other wrestlers were on the podium. When wrestling began again some matches were already into their second minute before they were introduced. So disrespectful. Names were flubbed, some downright the wrong wrestler announced (this happened multiple times).
I feel bad. I feel for the wrestlers and for the fans. I understand 5 classifications (4 state matches for each weight class) is alot. I understand that the finals already took a while to begin with, and if done properly could have taken even longer. BUT, these wrestler's didn't choose to add another classification. They chose to practice, to dedicate, to sacrifice to get to that State Finals match and they deserved all of the fanfare as the State Champs had before them. We should do better for them. We should do better for the sport of wrestling. For the fans, for the parents, for the coaches who sacrifice alot to mold these kids into better wrestlers and awesome young men.
SCHSL, just do better. Listen, learn, improve. Hopefully I can say next year that this year was just a fluke. Hopefully....
This years State Tournament shall henceforth be referred to as A Series of Unfortunate Events.
SCHSL should be ashamed. You added an extra division because of football. We get that. Its stupid, but whatever. 5 classifications is highly unneccesary in this state, in this sport, and for the Anderson Civic Center, but this what what we were given. Wrestling always gets shafted in this state. This is no secret. Football is King, ALL HAIL.
You had A WHOLE FREAKING YEAR to plan this. You could have done it properly but NOOOO. You pooped the bed. I don't even think you care. We were in a sub-par venue, this is no surprise, we have always known this venue is not good for a State Wrestling Championship. It has a very limited amount of seating, no room for warm-ups, and is overall very awkward. I'll get to my main point now.
THE FINALS. It's not rocket-science, people. You have 1&2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A. That equals 4 mats needed for the finals (look at me, I did some math. YAY). WHY THE HECK would you have the matches scattered like a chess board across the 6 mats you had out? With all of the people there to help is it really that difficult to roll up 2 mats, move the 4 remaining to the center and wrestle the matches on those mats? NO. Instead you leave 2 empty mats to be filled up with wrestlers (most of whom weren't competing in the finals, I might add), fans, lazy refs and the like. Oh, but "If you are going to be on those mats you MUST kneel". PATHETIC. Who is going to make them? You and what army? So the people sitting on the sides in the bleachers can essentially only see two mats at a time, the mat closes to them in the center and the mat on the far side of the arena on the same side. KEEP PEOPLE OFF OF THE MATS, Stop wrestling if you have to. People paid to see wrestling. Some just enjoy watching it and when they aren't focused on a specific mat they deserve to be able to see all of the matches. Show some respect to the wrestler's who busted their tails ALL SEASON to make it to that moment. Everyone should be able to see them win or lose, triumph or defeat. They earned that time in the "limelight" and that is what it should be. A SPECTACLE, not a DEBACLE.
THE "PARADE OF CHAMPIONS". That was the worst parade I've ever seen. BAR NONE. You pull these kids away from their warm-ups, to have them line up and come out, turn the lights off (just like in years past. HERE WE GO! The 2017 State Finals YEAHHHHH! So excited. I usually tape this on my phone every year because it is so cool. The lights are off, the wrestlers are hyped, the crowd is energized. All of the parents are anticipating the names being called out, the records being announced, the wrestler shaking his opponents hand, the crowd cheering as they return to their spot, bouncing on their toes, ready to perform. Ready to win. But this, this year was a Series of Unfortunate Events. No fanfare here. The lights come on as soon as the wrestlers are paraded out, the refs get their awards on the side where we can't even see them, and then you send the wrestlers walking off wondering what the heck all of that was about. Nice Job.
I was hoping it would get better but it didn't. You set up 3 podiums and only used one. HA! The one you used was in front of the grey mat, crowded with people. BUT YOU MUST KNEEEEL. Yeah. Right. You barely finished announcing the weight classes and placers before the other wrestlers were on the podium. When wrestling began again some matches were already into their second minute before they were introduced. So disrespectful. Names were flubbed, some downright the wrong wrestler announced (this happened multiple times).
I feel bad. I feel for the wrestlers and for the fans. I understand 5 classifications (4 state matches for each weight class) is alot. I understand that the finals already took a while to begin with, and if done properly could have taken even longer. BUT, these wrestler's didn't choose to add another classification. They chose to practice, to dedicate, to sacrifice to get to that State Finals match and they deserved all of the fanfare as the State Champs had before them. We should do better for them. We should do better for the sport of wrestling. For the fans, for the parents, for the coaches who sacrifice alot to mold these kids into better wrestlers and awesome young men.
SCHSL, just do better. Listen, learn, improve. Hopefully I can say next year that this year was just a fluke. Hopefully....