No Stage for state finals

The OHSAA needs to do a better job of bidding/pricing jobs. They are being robbed. They could purchase the materials for that platform and have it built for much cheaper than that. Then they could store the purchased materials locally for peanuts and basically just pay labor costs to put it together every year, only having to swap out minimal materials.

Honestly, you could frame a small home for cheaper than that.

Btw, with knowledge of these numbers... can you tell me what profit the OHSAA collects from the State tournament? Don't forget to include their new sponsorship deal with Rudis, and their profits from the video streams.
Let’s talk about profits from streaming - there was a sports bar literally a 4 minute walk from the Schott that had the matches live streamed. There were two big screen TVs. The manager said they paid $15 to stream it. This is really poor business practice by Flo. PPV prices are generally 500X more expensive for businesses. For example, an MMA fight that costs $50 to purchase at home would cost an owner $2500 to play at his/her sports bar. The manager even told me I could tell him which of the 10 mats I’d like to see and he could switch it for me. I could have hung out there all weekend.
 
In terms of the session four and session five turnaround ... this year session four ended 30 minutes later than it did in previous years, even with starting 30 minutes earlier. In previous years, when the stage was being assembled, it was just getting finished as people were being let in the facility, which was one hour before the ceremonies associated with the finals started. Had they done a stage this year, there would have been a 30-minute push back in terms of letting people into the facility. Without the stage being constructed, it is certainly possible that you could see the schedule pushed up 30 minutes to one hour in length come next year.

I am aware there are conversations about changing venues starting with the 2025 state tournament, Ohio State has the contract through next year (2024). A change in venue would mean going back to Thursday through Saturday, along with pushing the season end date up two weeks in most likelihood (i.e. same as state swimming). That being said, the parking situation at the prospective new venue (Rocket Mortgage Field House) would be even worse than the one at Ohio State.
 
In terms of the session four and session five turnaround ... this year session four ended 30 minutes later than it did in previous years, even with starting 30 minutes earlier. In previous years, when the stage was being assembled, it was just getting finished as people were being let in the facility, which was one hour before the ceremonies associated with the finals started. Had they done a stage this year, there would have been a 30-minute push back in terms of letting people into the facility. Without the stage being constructed, it is certainly possible that you could see the schedule pushed up 30 minutes to one hour in length come next year.

I am aware there are conversations about changing venues starting with the 2025 state tournament, Ohio State has the contract through next year (2024). A change in venue would mean going back to Thursday through Saturday, along with pushing the season end date up two weeks in most likelihood (i.e. same as state swimming). That being said, the parking situation at the prospective new venue (Rocket Mortgage Field House) would be even worse than the one at Ohio State.
However there are plenty of Hotels , Bars and Restaurant's within minutes of Rocket Mortgage. Many walking distance .
 
In terms of the session four and session five turnaround ... this year session four ended 30 minutes later than it did in previous years, even with starting 30 minutes earlier. In previous years, when the stage was being assembled, it was just getting finished as people were being let in the facility, which was one hour before the ceremonies associated with the finals started. Had they done a stage this year, there would have been a 30-minute push back in terms of letting people into the facility. Without the stage being constructed, it is certainly possible that you could see the schedule pushed up 30 minutes to one hour in length come next year.

I am aware there are conversations about changing venues starting with the 2025 state tournament, Ohio State has the contract through next year (2024). A change in venue would mean going back to Thursday through Saturday, along with pushing the season end date up two weeks in most likelihood (i.e. same as state swimming). That being said, the parking situation at the prospective new venue (Rocket Mortgage Field House) would be even worse than the one at Ohio State.
Deal.
 
When Title IX passed, many very short-sighted and lazy ADs cut men's non-revenue generating programs rather than figure out how to grow women's sports and make it work. Wrestling was one of the most affected sports by that thinking.

Saying "because we added girls wrestling, we can't afford..." is the same lazy thought process. Try to bury girls wrestling by blaming it for poor management and turning wrestling faithful against girls. Make it work. It's not that hard.
 
Let’s talk about profits from streaming - there was a sports bar literally a 4 minute walk from the Schott that had the matches live streamed. There were two big screen TVs. The manager said they paid $15 to stream it. This is really poor business practice by Flo. PPV prices are generally 500X more expensive for businesses. For example, an MMA fight that costs $50 to purchase at home would cost an owner $2500 to play at his/her sports bar. The manager even told me I could tell him which of the 10 mats I’d like to see and he could switch it for me. I could have hung out there all weekend.
Compared to ticket prices, parking, and $37 water :), $15 is a deal!!
 
When Title IX passed, many very short-sighted and lazy ADs cut men's non-revenue generating programs rather than figure out how to grow women's sports and make it work. Wrestling was one of the most affected sports by that thinking.

Saying "because we added girls wrestling, we can't afford..." is the same lazy thought process. Try to bury girls wrestling by blaming it for poor management and turning wrestling faithful against girls. Make it work. It's not that hard.
I wasn't crazy about the girl's being added to the boys tournament, but it ended up being pretty awesome. The OHSAA can do a much better job putting the tournament on, in general. However, it was nice to see the girl's so excited and involved. I have changed my stance on that issue. They are all kids, let them all enjoy the glory. Clearly, their road is much easier than the boys, but I don't think that's as big of a deal as I was making it out to be. I enjoyed watching everyone.
 
In terms of the session four and session five turnaround ... this year session four ended 30 minutes later than it did in previous years, even with starting 30 minutes earlier. In previous years, when the stage was being assembled, it was just getting finished as people were being let in the facility, which was one hour before the ceremonies associated with the finals started. Had they done a stage this year, there would have been a 30-minute push back in terms of letting people into the facility. Without the stage being constructed, it is certainly possible that you could see the schedule pushed up 30 minutes to one hour in length come next year.

I am aware there are conversations about changing venues starting with the 2025 state tournament, Ohio State has the contract through next year (2024). A change in venue would mean going back to Thursday through Saturday, along with pushing the season end date up two weeks in most likelihood (i.e. same as state swimming). That being said, the parking situation at the prospective new venue (Rocket Mortgage Field House) would be even worse than the one at Ohio State.
I have serious doubts about the potential fit for this tournament at Rocket Mortgage Field House. Go to their website's event calendar and try to find how many 4-day stretches on a Weds-Sat they have in February and March, there was one this year. They are the home to the Cavs and the Lake Erie Monsters. The tournament requires a minimum of 4 days (1 setup day, 3 competition days) and that's before even factoring in the fact they cannot accommodate a 10-mat setup which would extend the amount of event time to potentially 4 days.
 
I was at the tournament. There is still an unnecessarily long break between sessions 2 and 3. I assume you weren't there, because they most certainly could have shortened that break and wrestled another round. Especially since we are only talking about the consolation semis (with 10 mats on the floor).

I didn't say that all proceeds from the revenue streams go directly back into wrestling, or that streaming is unique to wrestling. I am saying that they are generating more revenue, why are they looking to cut corners to save even more money on a tournament that was profitable before it was generating more revenue? Let's not forget the revenue boost from adding the girls without having to pay any more for a additional venue.

As far as the dates. People have reported on here that it cost less for the OHSAA to have tournament Fri-Sun than it did for Thurs-Sat. Is that not true? If that isn't true, then I'll accept it. That could be false information, and also isn't incredibly relevant to the discussion.

With the "mega-profit", again, you are hanging onto semantics. We know this year will be a larger profit than last year. We already know the tournament was profitable before. The question that was left unanswered still stands. At what point does providing a great experience for the kids factor in?
To answer your final question, I would argue that the tournament does provide a great experience for the kids, arguably the best tournament experience of all OHSAA tournaments. 112 out of 896 participants (12.5%) get to participate on the stage. To imply that a tournament without the stage "doesn't allow for a great experience for the kids" doesn't hold any water.
 
Yes it is cheaper for Sunday rather then Thursday, the main stage issue was the time because it was thought the turn time wouldn’t be great enough with the girls being added. There was plenty of times between the last two session to put up the stage, those stages are made for quick up and down like at a halftime performance. I have knowledge and very good knowledge that the Cavs nigh be hosting a state tourney in the future. Ohio state will do whatever it can to deter the OHSAA from using the Schott, they don’t want the events there.
What specifically is cheaper about the Fri-Sun schedule versus the Thu-Sat schedule? It sounds like we have conflicting "facts".
 
To answer your final question, I would argue that the tournament does provide a great experience for the kids, arguably the best tournament experience of all OHSAA tournaments. 112 out of 896 participants (12.5%) get to participate on the stage. To imply that a tournament without the stage "doesn't allow for a great experience for the kids" doesn't hold any water.
Lost....... This years event was a failure in excellence. You are out of touch.
 
Rocket Mortgage can put ten mats down, at least as I've been told. The reason it's only 8 for NCAA is because of the length of the mats.
state wrestling requires the following down a row: 6-30-6-30-6-30-6-30-6-30-6. That is 186 feet long.
for the NCAA tournament, they use mats with 36 foot circles plus six feet of restraint on each side, 48 feet times 4, which is 192.
if I am not mistaken, an ice rink is 200 feet long.

What's less expensive about Friday-Sunday vs. Thursday-Saturday is the facility rental cost being more on Thursday in comparison to Sunday.
 
Rocket Mortgage can put ten mats down, at least as I've been told. The reason it's only 8 for NCAA is because of the length of the mats.
state wrestling requires the following down a row: 6-30-6-30-6-30-6-30-6-30-6. That is 186 feet long.
for the NCAA tournament, they use mats with 36 foot circles plus six feet of restraint on each side, 48 feet times 4, which is 192.
if I am not mistaken, an ice rink is 200 feet long.

What's less expensive about Friday-Sunday vs. Thursday-Saturday is the facility rental cost being more on Thursday in comparison to Sunday.
The OSU not fully supporting the wrestling community is worrisome. Time for someone to check in with the powers to be.
 
To answer your final question, I would argue that the tournament does provide a great experience for the kids, arguably the best tournament experience of all OHSAA tournaments. 112 out of 896 participants (12.5%) get to participate on the stage. To imply that a tournament without the stage "doesn't allow for a great experience for the kids" doesn't hold any water.
Did you seriously just use quotations around a phrase that I didn't even say and then argue against it? You made those words up, bud.

What I said was, as we were discussing all of the ways that the OHSAA is cutting corners and making alterations to save money and secure more of a profit, "At what point does providing a great experience for the kids factor in"?

If you don't realize the difference in what I actually said versus the phrase that you fabricated, I'm not sure we can have an actual discussion.
 
Did you seriously just use quotations around a phrase that I didn't even say and then argue against it? You made those words up, bud.

What I said was, as we were discussing all of the ways that the OHSAA is cutting corners and making alterations to save money and secure more of a profit, "At what point does providing a great experience for the kids factor in"?

If you don't realize the difference in what I actually said versus the phrase that you fabricated, I'm not sure we can have an actual discussion.
That ship sailed. One question, Is OSU unwilling to work with OHSAA? Need to start asking questions.
 
If we’re talking about using Rocket Mortgage Arena in Cleveland, then, can we talk about Nationwide Arena in Columbus?
Are the costs gonna be the same?
Do the Blue Jackets keep us from renting it?
I would feel bad for the Cinci folks.
It should stay central IMO.
Don’t see the tournament leaving OSU. Too much work involved for the OHSAA to make a change like that.
 
In terms of the session four and session five turnaround ... this year session four ended 30 minutes later than it did in previous years, even with starting 30 minutes earlier. In previous years, when the stage was being assembled, it was just getting finished as people were being let in the facility, which was one hour before the ceremonies associated with the finals started. Had they done a stage this year, there would have been a 30-minute push back in terms of letting people into the facility. Without the stage being constructed, it is certainly possible that you could see the schedule pushed up 30 minutes to one hour in length come next year.

I am aware there are conversations about changing venues starting with the 2025 state tournament, Ohio State has the contract through next year (2024). A change in venue would mean going back to Thursday through Saturday, along with pushing the season end date up two weeks in most likelihood (i.e. same as state swimming). That being said, the parking situation at the prospective new venue (Rocket Mortgage Field House) would be even worse than the one at Ohio State.
I really love the Schott. I mean, I’ve been to probably 100 indoor and outdoor arenas in my life and so far that facility has to rank #1 out of all of them in terms of how well it’s designed for a place that holds over 15K people. I really hope they can figure out a way to keep it there. I’m willing to pay significantly more per ticket to keep it there.
 
If we’re talking about using Rocket Mortgage Arena in Cleveland, then, can we talk about Nationwide Arena in Columbus?
Are the costs gonna be the same?
Do the Blue Jackets keep us from renting it?
I would feel bad for the Cinci folks.
It should stay central IMO.
Don’t see the tournament leaving OSU. Too much work involved for the OHSAA to make a change like that.
I thought the same thing. What about Nationwide Arena?

OURWAY state championships were held there in 2007 and 2008 (or close to those years). They were part of the Arnold. First year was a complete disaster, ended around 2am after starting at 8am. College tournament shoved in the middle of the OURWAY. Cool thing - Arnold came and spoke right in the middle of the mats. Of course that stopped everything for 20 min or so.

Second year was awesome, no college tournament and the arena fixed every single issue from the first year.

Not sure if its a cost thing? Plenty of rooms and places to eat in the Arena District. Would make a great weekend visit for out of towners.
 
Keep in mind girls basketball and boys basketball had been married to OSU for decades and decades, first St. John then the Schott. They recently moved to UD Arena and it’s a great venue (I went to college at UD).

I think it’s less loyalty to OSU than mat space. Can you imagine how nice it’d be to go Th-Saturday mid to late February? I’d travel to Alaska for that.
 
All for the perception to the rest of the country that the OHSAA is politically correct and a pioneer and leader in the equality of boys and girls wrestling.
No matter the cost to boys wrestling in Ohio, the OHSAA will be perceived as a “leader in equality and fairness” for girls.
If you think this is the only thing that the boys state wrestling tournament will lose, then you are mistaken.
Be sure to let the “Association” know this weekend that girls wrestling has not “earned” the right to have what the boys have earned from decades of hard work.
You should probably concentrate on whatever program you are coaching at the moment.
 
If Nationwide was to be a willing partner, then the event could be in play to be held there.
The limited conversation I have been privy to on this indicate that the Cavs/RMFH are more willing to be partners than the Blue Jackets/Nationwide.
OHSAA Hockey (OLib State Champs!) was at Nationwide this year, same weekend as Wrestling…not sure about future dates, but assume it’s close to same?
 
OHSAA Hockey (OLib State Champs!) was at Nationwide this year, same weekend as Wrestling…not sure about future dates, but assume it’s close to same?
The point I think people were making about Nationwide is to push the wrestling tournament to the week before the Arnold Fest. I'm not sure if that would work given the dates that Nationwide would lose for CBJ games, but that was the presumed theory.
 
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