Why not more in attendance?

badgerjohn · February 24, 2014, 02:09:07 PM

Quote from: Spartan on February 24, 2014, 01:47:44 PM
Quote from: badgerjohn on February 24, 2014, 07:44:17 AM
I suffered thru the 18 minute drive Friday and Sunday and I did NOT get booted out either time

Were you the one that got booted out during the UW OSU Dual?

not me,,,,, I slipped the security guy a $20 and he let me stay

dad 2 5 · February 24, 2014, 04:40:20 PM

We usually get to all the Friday night home matches and some of the Sunday's. We planned on Friday this weekend but had an ill family so I needed to stick is out at home. Looking forward to the B1G championships. We will be there.

Musky Hunter · February 25, 2014, 11:46:12 AM

i was not trying to offend anyone. this is the first year i have attended the duals and they are awesome. coming from a guy that came into this year knowing zippo about wresting it just shocked me the lack of fans in the stands. i thought there would be kids running around all over at these things. i guess football and basketball do dominate college sports. still love watching this badger team compete on the mat. i would think a home crowd advantage could be huge like it is in the other sports. not even cheerleaders? are other venues the same way? i have never been to any other college wrestling meets except iowa. which was a recruiting trip years ago and they took us to a wrestling meet. that was awesome. just wish they could pack to old barn to support this team.

Manty77 · February 25, 2014, 03:54:25 PM

Quote from: hasbeen132 on February 24, 2014, 12:30:52 PM
manty you could sit on the other side for awhile

Yeah, generally is a lot more room over there.

badgerjohn · February 25, 2014, 04:44:45 PM

Quote from: Musky Hunter on February 25, 2014, 11:46:12 AM
i was not trying to offend anyone. this is the first year i have attended the duals and they are awesome. coming from a guy that came into this year knowing zippo about wresting it just shocked me the lack of fans in the stands. i thought there would be kids running around all over at these things. i guess football and basketball do dominate college sports. still love watching this badger team compete on the mat. i would think a home crowd advantage could be huge like it is in the other sports. not even cheerleaders? are other venues the same way? i have never been to any other college wresting meets except iowa. which was a recruiting trip years ago and they took us to a wresting meet. that was awesome. just wish they could pack to old barn to support this team.

Build it and they will come! Several years ago (2007) the Badgers avg attendance was in the top ten in the country for duals. I've been to many away duals and trust me it's embarrassing what some of the competition only draws. 1800-2000 puts you above all but a hand full of schools. Sunday was 1445.

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/022807aaa.html

UW Ranks Tenth in Season Attendance (from 2007)

ON WISCONSIN
The No. 8 Wisconsin wrestling team ranks 10th in the nation in wrestling attendance with an average crowd of 1,333. Wisconsin drew a season-high 2,220 for its dual against Illinois on Feb. 11 at the UW Field House. It is the first known time the Badgers have made the top-10 in attendance rankings.

Iowa leads the nation in average attendance with 7,327 per home event. Oklahoma State is second with 3,749, while Minnesota and Penn State round out the top-five with averages of 3,509 and 3,475, respectively.

Other Big Ten teams making the list were Michigan at 13th with an average of 1,159, Ohio State at 15th with 1,064 and Illinois at 16th with 935.

UW had five home dual meets this year, including four Big Ten battles. In addition, three of those meets saw attendance top 1,000.

The Badgers, currently 19-3 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten, head to the 2007 Big Ten Championships this weekend at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. Check uwbadgers.com for the latest updates and scores.

davebrandvold · February 25, 2014, 09:25:48 PM

Zeke and St. John went at it the entire match. They both were constantly hand fighting and putting pressure on each other. Zeke wore St. John down and struck with a cold blooded single in the third and was within one second of riding time. When the best wrestle the score will seldom be 6-5, it comes down to the best move and 6 minutes of wearing an opponent out.

Distance is a problem for Badger wrestling without premiere programs being within an hour. Gophers have great HS wrestling within 30 minutes of the Pavillion. We do need bigger crowds and right now the Badgers are putting one fantastic team on the mat every week. In the Big Ten a similar schedule in football would be hosting Alabama, LSU, and Fla State within a month.

A group of ten year olds will become much better wrestlers if they become fans, watch the best, and not wrestle in every Sunday tournament in the area. There is plenty of time for matches but few opps. to see the best in the nation. My 3 1/2 cents.

imnofish · February 25, 2014, 09:36:03 PM

I wonder if more fans would attend if Bucky took some of the matches on the road. For example, why not wrestle a match at UW-EauClaire, or other campuses with wrestling programs? Give more people a chance to see a college match without traveling 4-6 hours, then promote the heck out of it. If the new fans enjoy it, maybe more of them would be willing to travel to Madison in the future.

MNbadger · February 25, 2014, 09:50:24 PM

Well said Dave. We have to get the young guys to be fans for many reasons, mostly for them. They will get better watching the best and as you said, it won't kill them to miss a tournament to watch the high quality wrestling offered.

Musky Hunter · February 25, 2014, 10:04:15 PM

Quote from: davebrandvold on February 25, 2014, 09:25:48 PM
Zeke and St. John went at it the entire match. They both were constantly hand fighting and putting pressure on each other. Zeke wore St. John down and struck with a cold blooded single in the third and was within one second of riding time. When the best wrestle the score will seldom be 6-5, it comes down to the best move and 6 minutes of wearing an opponent out.

Distance is a problem for Badger wrestling without premiere programs being within an hour. Gophers have great HS wrestling within 30 minutes of the Pavillion. We do need bigger crowds and right now the Badgers are putting one fantastic team on the mat every week. In the Big Ten a similar schedule in football would be hosting Alabama, LSU, and Fla State within a month.

A group of ten year olds will become much better wrestlers if they become fans, watch the best, and not wrestle in every Sunday tournament in the area. There is plenty of time for matches but few opps. to see the best in the nation. My 3 1/2 cents.

Great post.

hammen · February 26, 2014, 06:37:33 AM

Well said Mr. Brandvold, I couldn't agree more, especially on the last part.

Briopiate · February 26, 2014, 09:37:24 AM

I asked my young son weather he wanted to go see the Badgers wrestle the Hawkeyes or wrestle himself in the Sauk Prairie youth tournament. He chose The Badger Dual...though he was disappointed he didn't get to see his wrestling idol beat up on Ramos, he was pretty jacked to see the Jordan match.
I think our young wrestlers can often learn a lot more from watching the elite wrestlers wrestle than from a youth wrestling tournament. I know, taking my son to the duals since he was a toddler, that he gets to know who the wrestlers are, so he's become a fan. That's helped him really get in to watching the matches and learning how to become a better wrestler himself. He's developed quite the mat return after watching both duals this weekend.

Can't wait for the Big Ten and the world team trials in the spring.

Gutwrench · February 26, 2014, 12:26:13 PM

Quote from: imnofish on February 25, 2014, 09:36:03 PM
I wonder if more fans would attend if Bucky took some of the matches on the road. For example, why not wrestle a match at UW-EauClaire, or other campuses with wrestling programs? Give more people a chance to see a college match without traveling 4-6 hours, then promote the heck out of it. If the new fans enjoy it, maybe more of them would be willing to travel to Madison in the future.

I'm sure there are many reason's why this isn't done more often, but I don't know why it couldn't be done once in a while. I think wrestling in Green Bay would be a great location. Wrestle Michigan or Mich. State there, and maybe you'll even pull in a few fans of those programs from the UP as well. Also imnofish's comment about promoting the heck out of it is key.

mlantz · February 26, 2014, 07:18:37 PM

Quote from: Chinpin on February 24, 2014, 10:21:00 AM
Quote from: badgerjohn on February 24, 2014, 07:44:17 AM
I suffered thru the 18 minute drive Friday and Sunday and I did NOT get booted out either time

Hey, John: did you hear the "dialog" reportedly going on between the Iowa Broadcasters and some of the fans? Would appreciate your take.
Also, some moaning on this side of the Mississippi about Zeke and STJ not wrestling until the end of the 3rd period. Again, would like to hear your description of the match. Go Badgers!

I live in IA and talked with a guy at work who had listened to the IA broadcast on the radio. He said it was just hilarious, he could hear Ironside arguing/making comments about the fans on the radio. I guess he was saying stuff like these guys are clueless. He is really very entertaining to listen to and was one of my favorite Hawkeye wrestlers. And I'm not a Hawkeye fan.

imnofish · February 26, 2014, 10:05:08 PM

Quote from: Gutwrench on February 26, 2014, 12:26:13 PM
Quote from: imnofish on February 25, 2014, 09:36:03 PM
I wonder if more fans would attend if Bucky took some of the matches on the road. For example, why not wrestle a match at UW-EauClaire, or other campuses with wrestling programs? Give more people a chance to see a college match without traveling 4-6 hours, then promote the heck out of it. If the new fans enjoy it, maybe more of them would be willing to travel to Madison in the future.

I'm sure there are many reason's why this isn't done more often, but I don't know why it couldn't be done once in a while. I think wrestling in Green Bay would be a great location. Wrestle Michigan or Mich. State there, and maybe you'll even pull in a few fans of those programs from the UP as well. Also imnofish's comment about promoting the heck out of it is key.

How about holding a meet at UW-EauClaire? It's centrally located in the northern third of the state, with the potential for drawing many wrestling fans for whom the trip to Madison is not always practical.

Fan1966 · March 03, 2014, 12:15:17 PM

Quote from: imnofish on February 23, 2014, 09:27:30 PM
My back is sore from sitting in the bleachers all yesterday at sectionals. Didn't feel like driving 4 hours (sitting) to watch a match (sitting), then drive back 4 more hours (sitting). I know I would enjoy being there, but getting there and back is just too much of a PAIN.

I have not been able to get there the last couple years. After coaching there many times and feeling the excitement in the arena, I could not disagree more. It is the journey, You have to embrace it to enjoy it. The fact that it is four and a half hours away makes it worth getting away in my opinion. Call me crazy, but it is one of the best ways a person could enjoy a long weekend. Looking forward to this coming weekend as I get to attend!