NCAA Tournament Coverage

DocWrestling · March 22, 2014, 11:56:48 AM

To me this has been the best NCAA tournament yet thanks to the expanded ESPN coverage and use of trackwrestling.

ESPN has done a great job with coverage of every single match and tones of great TV coverage. The truth is they probably spent more hours on wrestling than any other sport's NCAA tournament. I was able to watch matches at work and at home. They have covered the individual aspects as well as making the team race exciting with constant updates and discussion.

Trackwrestling allows the same with up to the minute match results and team scores the ability to sort by looking at text results for rounds and sorting team results.

This kind of coverage inherently educates more fans and brings more into the sport especially NCAA wrestling which most of the even diehard wrestlers do not follow. I have a house full of middle school boys who are seeing wrestling for the first time and thinking it is pretty cool.

imnofish · March 22, 2014, 12:11:11 PM

+ 1,000,000...

Yes, this is a great improvement. Happy to hear that the kids are getting into it!

ankle pick · March 22, 2014, 12:50:19 PM

I agree, great coverage! If only we could get local media to care as much about wrestling.

imnofish · March 22, 2014, 01:04:20 PM

Quote from: ankle pick on March 22, 2014, 12:50:19 PM
I agree, great coverage! If only we could get local media to care as much about wrestling.

No kidding. Eau Claire television news stations had ZERO coverage of NCAA wrestling last night.

Houndhead · March 22, 2014, 01:25:27 PM

The coverage of the Big Ten championships by the states largest newspaper was pitiful, as is their coverage of the badgers in the NCAA.

MarkK · March 22, 2014, 06:44:35 PM

I have to agree A to ESPN for their coverage. It was and is great. Couldn't get much better, but I hope they keep working on making it better.

woody53 · March 22, 2014, 07:29:22 PM

What did I miss ? They didn't start at 125 ?

woody53 · March 22, 2014, 07:49:47 PM

Who of us knew that they were starting at a different weight than 125 tonight?
Sorry, If you knew that, shame on you for not letting others know.
Rant off.

Recon · March 22, 2014, 08:00:11 PM

I don't think they announced the weights until the start of the broadcast. It sets up the team race at the end best.

As for coverage, this year has been great. They are doing a great job broadcasting every match, having it on ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPNU. It is nice to have some former greats providing some commentary. Adam Amin isn't very good with the play by play IMO, but he tries...and may be more familiar to non wrestling fans. Quint Kessenich is good, but I think Shane Sparks is much better in that role. Definitely plan to send ESPN a complimentary email this year. Hopefully ratings are good for them.

stp · March 22, 2014, 08:13:11 PM

Quote from: woody53 on March 22, 2014, 07:49:47 PM
Who of us knew that they were starting at a different weight than 125 tonight?
Sorry, If you knew that, shame on you for not letting others know.
Rant off.

All the young people knew hours before. My niece read it on twitbookmyfacespace or something like that

woody53 · March 22, 2014, 08:15:41 PM

Well tell us us old farts !

stp · March 22, 2014, 08:25:15 PM

Admit I'm cheering against the B10 here. Can't stand how Delgado wrestles.

woody53 · March 22, 2014, 08:34:56 PM

Hate that the winners from the Big Ten are getting the reputation as defensive wrestlers. We need to attack !

Harris · March 22, 2014, 09:30:50 PM

Just went to espn.com and sent them a message thanking them for covering the ncaa national wrestling championship. This is exactly what the sport needs! I think the announcers and staff at espn have done a great job building the excitement throughout the coverage.

crossface21 · March 22, 2014, 10:43:37 PM

Quote from: Recon on March 22, 2014, 08:00:11 PM
I don't think they announced the weights until the start of the broadcast. It sets up the team race at the end best.

As for coverage, this year has been great. They are doing a great job broadcasting every match, having it on ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPNU. It is nice to have some former greats providing some commentary. Adam Amin isn't very good with the play by play IMO, but he tries...and may be more familiar to non wrestling fans. Quint Kessenich is good, but I think Shane Sparks is much better in that role. Definitely plan to send ESPN a complimentary email this year. Hopefully ratings are good for them.

They decide what weight to start at about 90 minutes before I believe. I found the starting weight around 6pm by going onto trackwrestling. There was one tweet about it on twitter. Besides that, I couldn't find the info anywhere else.