State Duals Attendance

[BayouBear]

Just an observation............

 

I have no idea of the actual attendance numbers at the State Duals but it certainly looked as if the overall attendance numbers were down from last year. They certainly were down for the finals. As a regular attendee, I'm always mystified why the entire tournament is not Standing Room Only. I can only venture to guess the weather concerns deterred some from Chattanooga this year and most of the McCallie fans left before the finals.

 

I'm guessing Clarksville's gym holds about 1200 people. Think about that for a second. The four best teams in state can't fill a 1200 seat gym. There were 1200 people at Bradley-Soddy in Bradley's gym. There were 1000 people plus another "who knows how many" turned away at the door for the Baylor-McCallie match.

 

There has been speculation for several years that the Bradley-Soddy and Baylor-McCallie matches be held at McClellan Gym on the UTC campus for one night of "rivalry" wrestling. There have been estimated attendance numbers of anywhere from 1500 to 5000 people. Even the lowest estimates is enough to fill the CHS gymnasium.

 

Even with the weather...without a doubt...the majority of the fans were from Chattanooga. This leads me to ask why the tournament is not held in Chattanooga? Before any Clarksville people go off on me...this isn't about Clarksville. This is about the level of support the State Duals gets from the rest of the State. CHS does a wonderful job of hosting and I know of no one from Bradley who has had a significant complaint in all the years we've attended.

 

I read posts on the board frequently about moving the Traditional Tournament out of Chattanooga. I always shake my head because the topic that should be discussed is moving the State Duals to Chattanooga. Why? Because it's Chattanooga area fans that support both tournaments. Move the State Tournament out of Chattanooga and watch the attendance go down dramatically. It's obvious that most of the wrestling fans in this state live in the Chattanooga area. If the tournament moved, some of those folks wouldn't be able to come. If anyone were to respond that those fans would be replaced by Middle or West Tennessee fans, I'll say hogwash. All you have to do is look at the State Duals. Where are those fans?

[maj]

QUOTE(BayouBear @ Feb 5 2007 - 02:17 PM) 826359288[/snapback]

Just an observation............

 

I have no idea of the actual attendance numbers at the State Duals but it certainly looked as if the overall attendance numbers were down from last year. They certainly were down for the finals. As a regular attendee, I'm always mystified why the entire tournament is not Standing Room Only. I can only venture to guess the weather concerns deterred some from Chattanooga this year and most of the McCallie fans left before the finals.

 

I'm guessing Clarksville's gym holds about 1200 people. Think about that for a second. The four best teams in state can't fill a 1200 seat gym. There were 1200 people at Bradley-Soddy in Bradley's gym. There were 1000 people plus another "who knows how many" turned away at the door for the Baylor-McCallie match.

 

There has been speculation for several years that the Bradley-Soddy and Baylor-McCallie matches be held at McClellan Gym on the UTC campus for one night of "rivalry" wrestling. There have been estimated attendance numbers of anywhere from 1500 to 5000 people. Even the lowest estimates is enough to fill the CHS gymnasium.

 

Even with the weather...without a doubt...the majority of the fans were from Chattanooga. This leads me to ask why the tournament is not held in Chattanooga? Before any Clarksville people go off on me...this isn't about Clarksville. This is about the level of support the State Duals gets from the rest of the State. CHS does a wonderful job of hosting and I know of no one from Bradley who has had a significant complaint in all the years we've attended.

 

I read posts on the board frequently about moving the Traditional Tournament out of Chattanooga. I always shake my head because the topic that should be discussed is moving the State Duals to Chattanooga. Why? Because it's Chattanooga area fans that support both tournaments. Move the State Tournament out of Chattanooga and watch the attendance go down dramatically. It's obvious that most of the wrestling fans in this state live in the Chattanooga area. If the tournament moved, some of those folks wouldn't be able to come. If anyone were to respond that those fans would be replaced by Middle or West Tennessee fans, I'll say hogwash. All you have to do is look at the State Duals. Where are those fans?

 

 

 

It ( the duals tournament ) should be held in Chattanooga. I am guessing more than a few people (fans ) have voted with their feet and said no more to the cramped conditions at Clarksville. It would be refreshing to see TSSAA actually promote, or at least not hinder the sport of wrestling rather than adhere to some sort of inane fairness philosophy to geographically split the tournament sites. The Clarksville staff does an admirable job in hosting the event but the event has long since outgrown the venue.

[mtnman]

It would certainly be more $$ for TSSAA as far as gate.

[MatWizard87]

the clarksville booster was trying from the end of last wrestling season throughout this one to try and get the event at APSU and still run the show. But APSU wasn't as cooperative as UTC is with the State Individual. If anything they could use it as a chance to show off their campus and maybe even get people from across the state to think about attending college there after high school.

 

I agree this year the tournament attendance seemed a little low, most likely due to the weather.

 

Now we can only wait for the complaints about the bathrooms to start showing up. .

 

i also think that the traditional tournament should stay in Chattanooga, i know when it came that time of the year, traveling to somewhere else was way more fun than staying home. Going to the individual tournament and seeing the city and campus is probably what got me to decide on attending UTC.

[suddensam]

How many mats can Clarksville get on the floor? If attendance is a problem wouldn't it be better off it it was at least held in Nashville or Chattanooga where there is a larger fan base? Did snow cause the numbers to be down? What are the opinions about how Clarksville High School host's the event?

[cbg]

It was reported by someone on this message board that the crowd for the Montgomery Bell Academy vs Father Ryan dual had over 1900 fans and over 500 watching the match on www.schoolsportsradio.com

[Seaglefan]

QUOTE(cbg @ Feb 5 2007 - 03:45 PM) 826359408[/snapback]

It was reported by someone on this message board that the crowd for the Montgomery Bell Academy vs Father Ryan dual had over 1900 fans and over 500 watching the match on www.schoolsportsradio.com

 

 

I do think Clarksville did a wonderful job hosting the tournament. Very nice facility and friendly people. The only down fall is the seating there is just not enough of it. Even with the lowere than usual in attendance we were still packed in like sardines.

[Lucas is my idol]

I do think that Nashville has a large enough fan base to support the State Duels or Individual State.

[LovinIt]

I agree the only problem was the seating, not enough. I don't understand why they will not allow you to use the stairs, but insist you walk over the fans sitting in the bleachers to make you way to the restroom. No hand rails make it rough on all of us grandparents.

[BayouBear]

QUOTE(Lucas is my idol @ Feb 5 2007 - 03:51 PM) 826359419[/snapback]

I do think that Nashville has a large enough fan base to support the State Duels or Individual State.

 

 

 

 

Where were those Nashville fans this past weekend? It's easy to say there is support but the proof is in the number of butts in the stands.

[Lucas is my idol]

2" of snow makes it hard for those of us who do not have a dog in the fight to make our way there.

[kdxdude]

I know this is the same thing we say every year about Clarksville having the State Duals, "too crowded". My Mother went to the State Duals this year to watch her Grandson in his final State Duals tournament. Afterwards, she made the comment to me that if the Fire Marshall was asked to come in they may not be holding that tournament there. I had never paid attention to how many elderly folks have been there in the past but she pointed it out to me that if there had been a fire she thought it would be doubtful that everyone could make it out safely. Just my .02.