MN struggles

TLV · January 03, 2016, 01:03:31 PM

They have great facilities. The JRob camps which are held not only at UM for the intensive one, but around the country attract recruites. Eggum is a World Silver medalist. JRob is a spokesman(outspoken, really) for college wrestling. They have a great Club program, formally known just for GR but now doing FS as well. UM does everything right and is supported by the U and AD.

littleguy301 · January 03, 2016, 11:06:02 PM

Quote from: Ghetto on January 03, 2016, 12:09:07 PM
Right LG. They are reloading. We are in agreement on that.

You have more knowledge than I do of that program. What is the key? Is it JRob? The assistants? The facilities? What?

Combonation of all of these plus their social media department is the bomb!

Remember in the metro area there is almost 4 million people and the campus is located right in the middle of it and it has a very nice feel and is pretty cool campus now that the football field is right niext to the wrestling, hockey, basketball and most of the college dorms.

It also doesnt help they have the wrestling club PINnicle with Brandon Paulson, Jerod Lawerence and other former olympic and gopher wrestlers running it. Plus many former wrestlers are living in the area doing there own thing with wrestling.

To be honest it is a great set up to say the least from all angles.

MNbadger · January 04, 2016, 06:33:10 PM

Actually, the Twin Cities/metro area population is acout 2.9 million I believe. (from 2013).
I struggle to understand why more people do not attend the Badger meets. Even considering that the Madison-metro area has close to 900,000 which is one third of the TC area attendance should be better. If you go to Gopher matches you see plenty of fans from a long, long way away.

imnofish · January 04, 2016, 09:47:46 PM

Quote from: MNbadger on January 04, 2016, 06:33:10 PM
Actually, the Twin Cities/metro area population is acout 2.9 million I believe. (from 2013).
I struggle to understand why more people do not attend the Badger meets. Even considering that the Madison-metro area has close to 900,000 which is one third of the TC area attendance should be better. If you go to Gopher matches you see plenty of fans from a long, long way away.

Madison is located on the bottom end of the state, so way too many people couldn't attend a meet without staying overnight. Twin Cities area is more centrally located and it borders Wisconsin in an area with a lot of enthusiasm for wrestling. Those people can scoot over the border and watch a good college meet, then scoot back across and sleep in their own beds. Why drive several hours and probably pay for a hotel room, when you are busy and watching your budget?

MNbadger · January 04, 2016, 09:59:56 PM

I get your point Fish but when I go to the Gopher matches I see plenty of fans from 3 hours away (observed on Sunday matches mostly).
There are lots of people within 3 hours of Madison.

imnofish · January 04, 2016, 10:06:12 PM

Quote from: MNbadger on January 04, 2016, 09:59:56 PM
I get your point Fish but when I go to the Gopher matches I see plenty of fans from 3 hours away (observed on Sunday matches mostly).
There are lots of people within 3 hours of Madison.

Yeah, but how many of them are wrestling fans? I honestly think the major difference is that Minnesota is much more invested in the sport. Having a college program that has repeatedly done well, along with media which actually pay attention to it, doesn't hurt, either.

MNbadger · January 04, 2016, 10:22:08 PM

Agreed. Then it comes to the question of how or can you change that. I pm'd LG on this very subject. In my opinion, we as a group do not support our sport like other sports and we do not support our sport as strongly as we think we do. Again, just my opinion but it comes from more than a few years of experience and observation.

imnofish · January 04, 2016, 10:45:22 PM

Quote from: MNbadger on January 04, 2016, 10:22:08 PM
Agreed. Then it comes to the question of how or can you change that. I pm'd LG on this very subject. In my opinion, we as a group do not support our sport like other sports and we do not support our sport as strongly as we think we do. Again, just my opinion but it comes from more than a few years of experience and observation.

I think the lack of a professional wrestling league (the real kind) keeps the sport in the shadows, for most of the public. Not having the pro version is good for the authenticity of the sport, but the low visibility (compared to other sports) results in many fans losing track of wrestling after their kids graduate from high school. With a lack of media exposure for college wrestling, many participants even stop following it after they graduate from high school. If a guy played basketball, football, hockey, etc., he can still watch the sport on television, despite the demands of his career, family life, etc. Ex-grapplers don't have that opportunity. My son and I talk about this. He has loved wrestling since he was a toddler, but he seldom has time to even go to a high school match these days and there are few opportunities to watch it on tv. I think your assertion that we don't support wrestling as strongly as we perceive is spot-on. Look at how few guys spend any real time on here discussing it. Where is our (collective) enthusiasm? An entire state should generate more than this.

TLV · January 05, 2016, 05:06:26 PM

I go to UW-M meets, get there late and get a first row seat right next to the mat on the north side of the field house. 250 show up. i go to UM and I get tickets in advance and need field glasses to see the wrestling mat. WTH?

Why the difference in culture? Why don't UW "fans" support like UM "fans" do??? There is simply no comparison. Im 210 miles from the field house and 245 from UM.

imnofish · January 05, 2016, 08:30:03 PM

Quote from: TLV on January 05, 2016, 05:06:26 PM
I go to UW-M meets, get there late and get a first row seat right next to the mat on the north side of the field house. 250 show up. i go to UM and I get tickets in advance and need field glasses to see the wrestling mat. WTH? Why the difference in culture? Why don't UW "fans" support like UM "fans" do??? There is simply no comparison. Im 210 miles from the field house and 245 from UM.

The difference? Perhaps too much beer and cheese?

littleguy301 · January 05, 2016, 11:35:22 PM

Quote from: MNbadger on January 04, 2016, 10:22:08 PM
Agreed. Then it comes to the question of how or can you change that. I pm'd LG on this very subject. In my opinion, we as a group do not support our sport like other sports and we do not support our sport as strongly as we think we do. Again, just my opinion but it comes from more than a few years of experience and observation.

I feel that MN does a good job growing the sport I really do.

When you go to a Gopher Dual, you seem to get very invovled and I certainly enjoy the people I meet or sit by. Good deal to say the least.

MN is more of a media gig. They have some awesome tunes, have guess coaches, have intermission activities, good selection of food (for guys like me

), easy in and out for most fans, might have to walk a tick but the parking is good, right on campus so you get more students most walking distance, they have more interaction with the team and fans.

Also being such a big metro area, they still have former wrestlers that are around and in attendance, easy assess to those former wrestlers, good twitter from what I have been told, facebook and such.

Not sure why MN has a much larger crowd just giving examples.

I think it all comes done to marketing and the location is very good for a huge population to attend.