When team is not team
I've received a few calls from people upset that we did not run the full wrestling summary for some of this week's dual meets. The reason is simple: the team portion of the season for the Washington-Greene County area ended with the WPIAL Team Tournament finals.
Anything after that is a scrimmage.
If a school wants to wrestle during the layoff, it's OK with me. I don't understand how the PIAA can allow dual meets to take place after the wrestling team season ends. The PIAA does not allow this in any other sport that I know of and it makes no sense to me that coaches see these matches on par with regular-season bouts. They are not. There are no section ramifications, the atmosphere surrounding these bouts is not the same, and coaches are quick to hold wrestlers out if they are slightly injured or ill, something they wouldn't do in the team season.
I know there is a long break between a school's last scheduled dual meet and the individual tournaments, but that's a problem you should address with your athletic director. I think the delay is stupid, unnecessary and unfair to wrestlers. Does basketball take a 2 1/2-week break between its regular season and playoffs? No. No sport does.
I feel bad for coaches who are struggling to keep wrestlers from weight problems with such a long layoff. I also understand they need these scrimmages to keep them sharp before the individual postseason. But that doesn't make them any more than scrimmages.
Anything after that is a scrimmage.
If a school wants to wrestle during the layoff, it's OK with me. I don't understand how the PIAA can allow dual meets to take place after the wrestling team season ends. The PIAA does not allow this in any other sport that I know of and it makes no sense to me that coaches see these matches on par with regular-season bouts. They are not. There are no section ramifications, the atmosphere surrounding these bouts is not the same, and coaches are quick to hold wrestlers out if they are slightly injured or ill, something they wouldn't do in the team season.
I know there is a long break between a school's last scheduled dual meet and the individual tournaments, but that's a problem you should address with your athletic director. I think the delay is stupid, unnecessary and unfair to wrestlers. Does basketball take a 2 1/2-week break between its regular season and playoffs? No. No sport does.
I feel bad for coaches who are struggling to keep wrestlers from weight problems with such a long layoff. I also understand they need these scrimmages to keep them sharp before the individual postseason. But that doesn't make them any more than scrimmages.
posted by Joe Tuscano at
5:33 PM
5 Comments:
Joe,
As much as you talk about promoting this sport all you do is cast negative critisim about it. Wrestling is a totally different sport than any others. It cannot run the same because there is no other one like it. You have problems with anything about it. If you dont like the sport then you should either quit blogging about it or promote it positively.
Instead of focusing on the negatives, how about do your job to promote it.
Because no Washington/Greene couty schools didnt qualify, you have nothing good to say about the sport or the format that it is run. No matter the format there will still be flaws.
Is this blog to promote the sport or just your own personal place to complain. Do the coaches and wrestlers a favor and do your job respectfully.
I've been covering wrestling for nearly 30 years at this newspaper and I've written hundreds of stories that put the sport and its athletes in a favorable light. The problem with you is that you only remember the negative ones.
I would point out the feature in Sunday's paper on Skylar McCall of Jefferson-Morgan as a positive story promoting the sport.
Part of my job in covering the sport is to point out the problems and offer ways to change them. If I didn't care about the sport, I wouldn't be critical. If I didn't want wrestling to become better, I would simply say or write nothing and let it quietly slip away.
Wrestling is different to some degree than other sports but that doesn't mean changes have been helpful. There are problems that are being ignored.
The sport needs to find a way to attract athletes so dual meets are not filled with forfeits.
The sport needs a better seasonal schedule so there is not a 2 1/2 week delay from the end of the regular season to the beginning of the individual postseason.
The sport needs to run its tournaments in a more fan-friendly way so the people paying for tickets know what's going on.
I'll bang the drum for these changes, and others, as long as I cover the sport. If you think that's being negative, then so be it.
Others might see it as champion a way to make it better.
The reason we remember the negative articles is because that has been a majority of the articles lately. I will give you credit that their not all negative. But the past few weeks has been articles about the state of Wash High, problems at the Tri-County Tournament, your personal problems with the WPIAL team tournament format, and your dislike for the PIAA team tournament.
You talk about why to promote the sport in one breath and then rip it apart in another. Maybe we should put you in charge of the steering commitee and see how easy it is.
Coaches dont have to wrestle after the team tournaments but they choose to so they can keep the kids sharp.
No system will ever be perfect and you are entitled to your opinion but it might be a better idea to have less negative comments.
I disagree. Good Joe Joe.
...And I won't swear on your blog...
joe you are getting very negative about wrestling in your old age. Hang up the pen!
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