Venue still an issue

[texas23]

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/fe...py-clarksville/

 

 

Ward Gossett

 

 

 

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ??” While Clarksville High School coach Jeff Jordan was complaining about Chattanooga officials at the state dual wrestling championships, Chattanooga teams were complaining about Clarksville.

 

???Not one time have we wrestled in the state duals where we didn??™t have a Chattanooga official,??? Jordan said. ???All I ask for is to be fair. I mean of course I??™m biased, but I just want it to be a level field. I hate to say anything about the officiating, but it just wasn??™t level.???

 

Jordan??™s comments followed his Wildcats??™ 38-28 quarterfinal loss to Cleveland and only fueled fires that have been burning for several years. He and Cleveland coach Heath Eslinger were involved in a heated exchange during the meet, and Eslinger had to discourage several of his fans from further discussions with Clarskville fans after the meet.

 

The Cleveland coach had talked earlier in the week about the state duals being in Clarksville and didn??™t mince words.

 

???It??™s the most asinine thing that (the state duals tournament) is in Clarksville,??? Eslinger said. ???In the early (19)90s the tournament was on a rotation. If you do that, it??™s fair. We??™ll probably wrestle Clarksville Friday night on that far corner mat right in front of their fans.

 

???We had been scheduled in another year to wrestle on another mat and wound up wrestling there. It was home cooking, which I don??™t have a problem with in a tournament during the year, but this is the state tournament and there??™s no room for it.???

 

No team is more familiar with Clarksville than defending champion Bradley Central, which has had its share of duels with Jordan??™s Wildcats.

 

???Move the tournament if there??™s a better facility,??? Logsdon said. ???We used to rotate it, and I think a lot of people liked it. We wrestled McCallie in the finals at Germantown in 1993 and Father Ryan in 1994 at Bristol, and we hosted it in 1995 and 1998. Believe me, I liked us sleeping in our own beds and our fans having to drive across town rather than across the state, not to mention the monetary advantage.

 

???I don??™t mind to travel. We??™ll take our turn, but that way nobody has an unfair advantage every year.???

 

Father Ryan hosts the Division II duals and the Purple Irish have no less of an advantage, according to McCallie coach Gordon Connell.

 

???To wrestle there is a huge advantage for Father Ryan,??? Connell said. ???I know we moved it from Clarksville so we could incorporate Division II-AA teams. I would like to see (the tournament) moved if we could have a neutral site, but (Father Ryan) is no different than Division I where Clarksville has a huge advantage.???

 

Soddy-Daisy coach Steve Henry added balance to the perspective.

 

???It is an advantage to Clarksville for them to have the tournament,??? Henry agreed, ???but when Clarksville ??” Artie Manning ??” took it over, the state duals were in bad shape and Artie and his group have taken it to the next level. From that standpoint, Clarksville has done a great job.???

 

Science Hill High has made nine straight trips to Clarksville from Johnson City.

 

???Anybody that says Clarksville is in the middle of the state has never made the trip from Science Hill,??? Hilltoppers coach Jeff Price said. ???We??™re treated well in Clarksville, but it does beg to question how much of an advantage it is.???

 

The state duals have been in Clarksville for 10 years, and the tournament has become one of the Wildcats??™ fundraisers, earning them a minimum of $5,000 per year.

 

???We use it as one of our builders for the year, and it??™s good enough where it??™s worthwhile,??? said Manning, who is highly respected in wrestling circles.

 

While Manning doesn??™t mind that Chattanooga hosts the traditional tournament, he doesn??™t want to see both in Chattanooga.

 

???Middle Tennessee is not equipped to deal with the traditional state tournament, but the duals ??” you make sure it gets started, that everybody is comfortable and that nobody gets hurt,??? he said. ???I don??™t think that everything should be in Chattanooga. That isn??™t sacred ground. If they move the tournament somewhere in Middle Tennessee, that??™s fine.???

 

The TSSAA doesn??™t have any problem with Clarksville, according to new assistant director Mark Reeves.

 

???We??™re tremendously pleased with Clarksville. They make it a great place,??? he said. ???There hasn??™t been any discussion of rotating the tournament since I??™ve been there and no alternative sites have been brought to our attention, but we??™re always open.???

 

To which Science Hill??™s Price responded, ???We have a great place ??” six mats in the main gym and another three in the auxiliary gym and plenty of space for people to sit.???

[Ibleedpurpleandgold]

Same crap every year. There really is no such thing as a neutral site. Even if you held the duals at UTC or some other university, the university would still be located in some part of the state that gives geographical preference to somebody and people are still going to complain.

 

Clarksville does a great job hosting the duals every year. When schools host tournaments for the first time, it's typically disorganized and chaotic. Wouldn't that be the case if the duals were rotated from location to location every year?

[texas23]

Same crap every year. There really is no such thing as a neutral site. Even if you held the duals at UTC or some other university, the university would still be located in some part of the state that gives geographical preference to somebody and people are still going to complain.

 

Clarksville does a great job hosting the duals every year. When schools host tournaments for the first time, it's typically disorganized and chaotic. Wouldn't that be the case if the duals were rotated from location to location every year?

 

 

 

I think you have overlooked the comments regarding the mat that seems to always host the home team. I think the coaches making comments are not asking for it to be at UTC or Johnson City, either rotated or a neutral site that you would not have the host school choosing mats , etc.

 

Same crap every year because the same issue seem to surface every year I guess.

[10-2-4]

Same crap every year. There really is no such thing as a neutral site. Even if you held the duals at UTC or some other university, the university would still be located in some part of the state that gives geographical preference to somebody and people are still going to complain.

 

Clarksville does a great job hosting the duals every year. When schools host tournaments for the first time, it's typically disorganized and chaotic. Wouldn't that be the case if the duals were rotated from location to location every year?

 

 

No. Numerous sites around the state host dual or individual tournaments with 20 to 30 teams participating every year. It is rediculously unfair to host the tournament in the same location every year for all of the obvious reasons. The tournament should be rotated - West, Middle and East TN. The same goes for the individual. TSSAA will just take the easy way out so long as everyone lets them. We have at least three locations that come to mind in the TriCities area alone with an excellent place being Freedom Hall in JC. But even as an excellent place for the tournament, it shouldn't be held there every year either.

 

West TN - identify the locations you have that can help to host these tournaments! There must be a number of places in Memphis, Jackson...

 

That having been said, the Clarksville site is overcrowded and hot. The teams when not wrestling have nowhere decent to relax, that is of course except for the Clarksville team which doesn't even have to warm up on the mats with everyone else. They come marching in just before the start of their matches from their own facilities. Real fair!

[BayouBear]

Both tournaments should be in Chattanooga.

[retired rebel 64]

This is the whinest article that I have ever read associated with wrestling. I mean are you kidding me?!?! Everyone else in the state has to travel to Chattanooga every year. Talk about home field advantage. The chattanooga wrestlers sleep in their own bed every night of the traditional state tournament, and lets not forget, wrestling is an individual sport first. And please tell me that some one is not saying that the TSSAA is not being biased to anyone other than East Tennessee. I still don't understand why Independence and Bradley were set to meet in the Semis. Quit crying East Tennessee, when it comes to wrestling, the TSSAA is looking out for you first.

[10-2-4]

This is the whinest article that I have ever read associated with wrestling. I mean are you kidding me?!?! Everyone else in the state has to travel to Chattanooga every year. Talk about home field advantage. The chattanooga wrestlers sleep in their own bed every night of the traditional state tournament, and lets not forget, wrestling is an individual sport first. And please tell me that some one is not saying that the TSSAA is not being biased to anyone other than East Tennessee. I still don't understand why Independence and Bradley were set to meet in the Semis. Quit crying East Tennessee, when it comes to wrestling, the TSSAA is looking out for you first.

 

 

Your right! It isn't fair for the traditional trny to be in Chatt. every year and I said that. It should rotate as well. What part of the word "rotation" don't you understand? From what you wrote it sounds like you think Chatt. is in East TN. Maybe you need to look at a map.

[texas23]

This is the whinest article that I have ever read associated with wrestling. I mean are you kidding me?!?! Everyone else in the state has to travel to Chattanooga every year. Talk about home field advantage. The chattanooga wrestlers sleep in their own bed every night of the traditional state tournament, and lets not forget, wrestling is an individual sport first. And please tell me that some one is not saying that the TSSAA is not being biased to anyone other than East Tennessee. I still don't understand why Independence and Bradley were set to meet in the Semis. Quit crying East Tennessee, when it comes to wrestling, the TSSAA is looking out for you first.

 

 

 

talk about crying...Independence did not even place, they helped prove that the placement in the bracket was fair.

[WrestlingGod]

Ive said this before and I'll say it again, Murfreesboro. Put it at the Floyd Stadium at MTSU. I think that would be the best spot for it, right in the middle of the state. Not in Chattanooga, down the road from all the top schools in the state.

[Grinder157]

talk about crying...Independence did not even place, they helped prove that the placement in the bracket was fair.

 

You're right, Independence didn't place and I am also guessing you didn't watch Independence wrestle either. Whether or not we placed, the bracket placement was not correct and anyone that pays close enough attention to this sport and understands what is going on knows we were not in the correct spot. No big deal though we fought the best we could against Bradley and lost it after that. Forfeits or not, we wrestled Bradley tough and in my opinion tougher than any team in the state this year and we had an emotional let down after the match. I take full accountability for not having us ready for Clarksville but we had our kids believing we could beat Bradley and they were so pumped for it and then we lost. It was a tough lesson to learn as a new coach and as a young team. It was a tough match to rebound from and with sickness and injuries, Clarksville was too much for us to handle last night. We didn't have the gas to get past them and it showed. We put everything we have into trying to beat Bradley and my kids wrestled tough. To say that we proved the placement in the bracket was fair..... well that is crazy and your opinion. I could go on and on about how we defeated different teams on the bottom side of the bracket but when it is all said and done, it just does not matter one bit. We by far had the worst placement in the bracket and we were 100% placed in that spot and could not do anything except do our best. All we can do now is learn from our experience in Clarksville and go back to work on Monday. But to say we proved out placement, well I guess you're right, we were seeded 5th and we weren't suppose to place anyways then.

[digi]

You're right, Independence didn't place and I am also guessing you didn't watch Independence wrestle either. Whether or not we placed, the bracket placement was not correct and anyone that pays close enough attention to this sport and understands what is going on knows we were not in the correct spot. No big deal though we fought the best we could against Bradley and lost it after that. Forfeits or not, we wrestled Bradley tough and in my opinion tougher than any team in the state this year and we had an emotional let down after the match. I take full accountability for not having us ready for Clarksville but we had our kids believing we could beat Bradley and they were so pumped for it and then we lost. It was a tough lesson to learn as a new coach and as a young team. It was a tough match to rebound from and with sickness and injuries, Clarksville was too much for us to handle last night. We didn't have the gas to get past them and it showed. We put everything we have into trying to beat Bradley and my kids wrestled tough. To say that we proved the placement in the bracket was fair..... well that is crazy and your opinion. I could go on and on about how we defeated different teams on the bottom side of the bracket but when it is all said and done, it just does not matter one bit. We by far had the worst placement in the bracket and we were 100% placed in that spot and could not do anything except do our best. All we can do now is learn from our experience in Clarksville and go back to work on Monday. But to say we proved out placement, well I guess you're right, we were seeded 5th and we weren't suppose to place anyways then.

 

well said!!

[countrypk]

I just want to get this straight; Jeff Jordan has perpetual home court advantage and also wants to pick his own referees? Seems very reasonable to me. Can the TSSAA also reward them an extra 6 points per match for the incovenience of sleeping in their own beds?

 

Maybe the TSSAA will be awarding a new trophy next year: The Jordan Whining Award. He has set the bar incredibly high.