My Letter to the TSSAA

[reftn]

Coach Blair,

Why should a private citizen be doing all of the "LEG WORK" for the TSSAA? Being that the employees of the TSSAA are receiving a salary they are the ones that should be spending their time checking on cost & speaking with the Nashville Sports Council to try and make the state tournament the premier state wrestling tournament in the USA. Let's be honest with each other and tell the truth. No offense to you but for various reasons the TSSAA State Wrestling tournament is not as good as it was 25 or 30 years ago and from the outside looking in the TSSAA only cares about the almighty dollar.

Its always been that way.  Not speaking for Joe, but Jim Morgan and his crew ran it in Chattanooga.  And to Joe's credit (along with several others I'm sure) it runs just as smooth.

[Sommers]

Hey Chattanooga Toranado Wrestling, I simply stated I enjoyed the UTC experience, as far as individuals. As far as where our wrestlers sleep, not sure how much of a factor that comes into play. Ryan certainly has displayed some success since the move, CBHS, Ravenwood, Beech, Blackman, and Wilson Central, but not sure the venue has played a major part in that.

 

3 hours each way for Memphis teams as compared to 5 may be appreciated. Not sure hotel rooms are a problem. +'s & -'s

[rlwest40]

Its always been that way.  Not speaking for Joe, but Jim Morgan and his crew ran it in Chattanooga.  And to Joe's credit (along with several others I'm sure) it runs just as smooth.

Leg Work

 

Its one thing to host the tournament and do all of that leg work.

 

Its totally different to do all of the other leg work that is clearly the job of TSSAA officials. Phone calls, crunching numbers, etc, etc.

[cobrakid8]

For years when it was at UTC from time I wrestled till the time I was going to school at UTC after I came home from MTSU volunteers did most of the work with the state tournament, including me. I would be interested to hear from Coach Blair what your vision was when doing all of this and getting the Ag Center? Was it strictly to get it out of Chattanooga ? save money for the TSSAA? best atmosphere for the state title? The double elimination part was crap on TSSAA's part they could have done it at UTC as there was plenty of wasted time on the schedule from them and the venue was plenty big enough to get a few more rounds in within the time of the tourney. Again I don't care if it ever came back to Chattanooga, but I want to understand if just getting out of Chattanooga was the reason we are stuck in a subpar venue? Coach Blair I would be more than happy to travel on my own dime if you can talk TSSAA into spending a few dollars to get a platform to put the mats on and I will help carry them in and set them up so the kids can have a better atmosphere for all their hard work. And please don't take this wrong Coach Blair you have and continue to bust your butt for Tennessee wrestling so I was just wondering if this was your vision when you did all the work to get it at the Ag Center? Thanks!

[WrestlingGod]

You guys are missing the point of me posting that on here. This is a group effort. I've started the process of getting prices from Bridgestone and Municipal but it's a process. I'm not an English major, there's things in this letter I need help with . Add? Subtract? Tell me what you guys think should be done to the proposal.

[rlwest40]

I honestly admire your effort and wish you nothing but luck with your letter.

 

I've learned that this TN forum is a completely different beast than most other states'. You must be prepared for attacks. Trash talk is much more preferred than thoughtful debate, I've recently been experimenting with pairing the two methods in an effort to get a point across to a larger demographic.

 

If you make suggestions on this board to stimulate thought and conversation on how the sport can be improved then you will be attacked for whining by those who feel threatened by change or those who do not want things to change or improve because of selfish reasons. You will be told to stop whining and step up and do the work yourself to make the change you want to see.

 

If you step up and try to actively make a change and unite the wrestling community into one voice to represent the many ideas that are suggested on this board then you will be criticized as well for your efforts. This thread is an example and proves that.

 

My suggestion is to expect this type of response and hopefully you won't be discouraged. I also suggest creating a new thread to invite thoughtful debate and discussion on ways to improve the sport in TN. It could serve as a tool to collect ideas and recruit help in proposing the message to the powers to be. I would not submit the proposal in haste. Hopefully that thread would break Sommer's copy and paste thread records since it has the potential to bring much more value to the sport. It would be nice to see the theme of this forum make a turn in that direction.

[silverpie]

I've started the process of getting prices from Bridgestone and Municipal but it's a process.

 

Consider contacting the Metro schools as part of it. The Williamson County schools have some special privileges at the Ag Expo, and Metro  may have some at Municipal.

[reftn]

Leg Work

 

Its one thing to host the tournament and do all of that leg work.

 

Its totally different to do all of the other leg work that is clearly the job of TSSAA officials. Phone calls, crunching numbers, etc, etc.

If the Williamson Country schools are willing to do that, why does it concern you?

[reftn]

Is it the opinion of the board that TSSAA work off of a break even basis?

[reftn]

You guys are missing the point of me posting that on here. This is a group effort. I've started the process of getting prices from Bridgestone and Municipal but it's a process. I'm not an English major, there's things in this letter I need help with . Add? Subtract? Tell me what you guys think should be done to the proposal.

I think I can help you find the per day cost of the municipal auditorium.  My guess is you will be around $5000 per day, according to a buddy of mine. 

 

You wont get parking (that belongs to the city).  You may get concessions or can be negotiated.

 

Perhaps you could charge $20 per day per cooler.  You will have to be very creative.

 

The problem you will run into is entities such as TSSAA work off of projections.  They project to make, lets say, $50,000 for the state tournaments, clear.  These projections are usually made based on previous years averages, new revenue streams, and so on.  From there they base their fiscal budgets going forward.  So if TSSAA clears $45,000, it reflects a $5000 loss, though there is no tangible loss, but reflected in the budget as such and must be made up for elsewhere.

What I am saying is that it makes changing things difficult once hard numbers are established.  I am sure when Williamson County proposed the venue change, they crunched a lot of numbers, including the loss of the Chattanooga wrestling community.  But a free facility can overcome a lot of sin.

 

The direction would be to demonstrate to TSSAA there is little to no downside and a tremendous upside to moving the venue. 

 

Bringing in a corporate sponsor to underwrite the cost of renting any of the sites mentioned would be a step in that direction.  If Chattanooga could accomplish that in Chattanooga with someone like BCBS, who is located there, or another such corporation that would be a start. 

 

You have to overcome the free venue I think before you can consider a next step. 

 

It might be easier in Nashville to find corporate sponsorship for a Municipal Auditorium.  But then the city of Chattanooga might be more encouraged to get involved as losing the state Wrestling Tournament had an impact on the city economy more so than Nashville that likely wouldn't be felt nearly so much.  Going to those city leaders with hard numbers would surely help.

 

I have sat down and dealt with Mark Reeves on a number of wrestling issues and have found him reasonable with my thoughts and proposals (normally representing others besides myself), so from that standpoint we have opportunity to make improvements.

[rlwest40]

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Edited February 12, 2014 by rlwest40

[cobrakid8]

Is it the opinion of the board that TSSAA work off of a break even basis?

Yes if they are truly in the sport to promote and help Tennessee sports and not make money than yes they should run very close to breaking even! At UTC they were bringing back around 75-80 after expenses which again included crap like at that time TSSAA officials to stay in a very nice hotel get free rental cars and travel expenses. They still do that now while they live in and around Nashville, but with a free venue I am sure they prob have more margin than they did with UTC or I would hope since their expenses with it being in Nashville should not be as much as in Chattanooga. They really should have no more than 20k at most after everything there including better medals and a new venue. They lost Chattanooga fans which are sorry more diehard than most other state fans, but fr me its not because its in Nashville it's because the venue sucked and I could not with my asthma stay there any longer and am not wasting my time doing it again. It was stated the same in that guys lost from 2011 about air quality conditions but again the state don't care more worried about getting something from free than a kid having a asthma attack and maybe losing a match because of it! Again I am fine with having it in Nashville for the wrestlers and their families but the venue sucks plain and simple. Again it's why I asked Coach Blair in another post what his vision of having it there was because if it was simply to get it out of Chattanooga for selfish reasons and nothing was looked at in regards to air quality, uneven mats and absolutely no good atmosphere for a showcase event, and no shower facilities, they did a great disservice to wrestlers for having it moved just to get it out of Chattanooga. They can do all the leg work in the world and not to have a vision for the future of those problems has really taken away from the wrestling product. Again these are my opinions and until or if ever the Ag Center starts to charge than it will never move TSSAA is all about the almighty dollar and nothing more, again the TSSAA would have them wrestling in a dirt field just to not have to pay for a venue!