Where is the annual Cow Palace Complaint thread?

[mat73557]

Shouldn't we have many pages by now? I actually thought they did a better job this year with the end ceremony.

 

I do wish the other medalists got some additional recognition though.

[fooseball96]

I think everyone just gave up because it seems its not moving anytime soon.

[rgiii]

They don't listen or care what anybody wants.

[Sommers]

Didn't hear many complaints this year. No allergy issues that I'm aware of.

 

Raised mats during the finals with bleachers for families, asst. coaches, perhaps cheerleaders first few seats & former MOW's + Showers and...

 

http://visibledisplay.com/jumbotrons/?gclid=CjwKEAiAx4anBRDz6JLYjMDxoQYSJAA4loRmhzXNQq_xLe6waU4drQBoFQgEZNew045iIZUsI_MwTRoClfTw_wcB

 

And Som's okay... Better with a Grand Championship in the McKinzie Round House!!!

[cbg]

Didn't hear many complaints this year. No allergy issues that I'm aware of.

 

Raised mats during the finals with bleachers for families, asst. coaches, perhaps cheerleaders first few seats & former MOW's + Showers and...

 

http://visibledisplay.com/jumbotrons/?gclid=CjwKEAiAx4anBRDz6JLYjMDxoQYSJAA4loRmhzXNQq_xLe6waU4drQBoFQgEZNew045iIZUsI_MwTRoClfTw_wcB

 

And Som's okay... Better with a Grand Championship in the McKinzie Round House!!!

If the D2 schools are truly starting to attend the national prep school championships @ Lehigh I for one don't feel as if those kids will wrestle in any type of state grand championship.

 

With regards to people bashing the T$$AA for allowing the state wrestling championships to be hosted by the Cow Palace what else is there to say. The place is not sanitary and has no showers for the wrestlers or officials. This just demonstrates to the public, wrestlers, officials and coaches that the TSSAA only cares about the bottom line and contributes little to make wrestling better in Tennessee. The reason that people have stopped voicing their disgust with the Cow Palace is they now know that the TSSAA is not going to change anything and we are all forced to wrestle the state championship in a substandard facility.

Edited February 17, 2015 by cbg

[russianbear]

I'd agree one reason there aren't as many complaints is because it's just the same redundancy falling on deaf ears. I was told directly to my face (I won't name names) by someone with intimate knowledge of the situation that 2015 would be the last year the event would be at the Cow Palace. Looking back perhaps that was just a short term solution to quite the noise.

 

Last spring (after the tournament) WRCB News Channel 3 in Chattanooga did an excellent story about the conditions of the TSSAA State Wrestling Championships. The last part of January (a few weeks back), I was contacted by Vince Lennon (newscaster who did the story last year) about visiting the site in advance and doing a follow up story. Unfortunately I was informed just prior to the event that his 'superiors' cancelled, citing no particular reason as to why.

As for the allergies not being as bad, I'd have to disagree. I still have a headache as do several parents and spectators that attended. One difference being people know what to expect, but there was a slight improvement with the floor covering. Apparently every three years or so the AG Center replaces the covering with new. 2015 fell at the right time. There also seemed to be a slight improvement with the temperature, especially Friday morning.

Of course it's about money, that's the only reason the event is held where it is. Maybe people are either completely naive or honestly believe non profit organizations don't make money.

Edited February 17, 2015 by russianbear

[WrestlingGod]

It doesn't matter, none of it does. The T$$AA has proven that our voice doesn't matter. They don't care about the kids, they don't care about the families, their health or their general well being. They only care about putting money in their pockets. The uprising will never be as big as it was last year and here we are a year later no better off.

[russianbear]

 "The uprising will never be as big as it was last year"
 

 

I agree with you. The only foreseeable way to get it moved is for the media to expose the unsanitary conditions for all to see (embarrassment) or for some type of legal reason.

[bigdaddywrestler]

The cow palace it a terrible place to have this event. If for no other reason than the shower situation. These wrestlers and officials are on these mats all day rolling around and if you don't have a hotel or live close you have to drive (in our case) an hour or more home just to get a shower absolutely ridiculous. And for the allergies part of it. My son has had a flare up since Friday. My son made it to the finals and it would have been nice to at least have been able to get on the floor to take pictures of the podium or to have watched the match up close. As for the T$$AA we brought 3 people for three days at $10/person=$90. Plus $5/day parking=$15. That's a minimum of $105 if you don't buy anything. No water, food, t-shirt. Which I'm sure is impossible. I'm sure someone could crunch the numbers based off of the number of wrestlers over the three days and what the T$$AS made would blow the wrestling community away! This isn't right!

[maj]

The cow palace it a terrible place to have this event. If for no other reason than the shower situation. These wrestlers and officials are on these mats all day rolling around and if you don't have a hotel or live close you have to drive (in our case) an hour or more home just to get a shower absolutely ridiculous. And for the allergies part of it. My son has had a flare up since Friday. My son made it to the finals and it would have been nice to at least have been able to get on the floor to take pictures of the podium or to have watched the match up close. As for the T$$AA we brought 3 people for three days at $10/person=$90. Plus $5/day parking=$15. That's a minimum of $105 if you don't buy anything. No water, food, t-shirt. Which I'm sure is impossible. I'm sure someone could crunch the numbers based off of the number of wrestlers over the three days and what the T$$AS made would blow the wrestling community away! This isn't right!

 

It appears cost was the main issue with some but the costs would likely have been the same or greater at any other venues. UTC wrung every nickel out of you and were about as friendly as the IRS while they were reaming you. The concession stands at UTC were over priced and to make sure you had no choice, the gestapo would perform cavity searches as you entered the building to make sure no one, wrestlers included could bring in so much as a pack of gum. Between the security crap and having a couple of tournaments delayed to accommodate womens' basketball games I was thrilled when the tournament moved. I had a somewhat unique perspective as this was my first visit to the " cow palace " in 4 years. In my opinion there have been major improvements since my last visit. Adding womens and small school divisions put a bunch more butts in the seats. Crowds were good and unlike the first year the venue did not in any way seem too large for the event. The floor was vastly improved over the first couple years, clean and level, temperature was about right. Facility seemed clean and staff friendly. Place was orderly without feeling like one was in a banana republic surrounded by surly security.

 

I also like being able to view all the mats while moving around the arena, one couldn't get from one side of UTC to the other without missing a lot of action.

 

Cow palace not perfect but again , getting better. Some minor suggestions: It would be a little bit of nothing to post the paper brackets on the wall in multiple locations and the big screen could use some work on making bout #s easier to read. I wasn't the only one who found it easier to walk behind the screen and read the info backwards rather than try and squint to read the thing. I would like to see a dedicated warmup area for the wrestlers, should be enough room for a mat to be left open for guys to loosen up before matches.

 

All in all, I had no real complaints about the ag center this year. UTC took the state tournament for granted and didn't deserve to keep it. Central location works for most in the state, in summation, Tennessee wrestling could do a lot worse than this locale.

[cchulk]

Be careful what you guys wish for. When we have to move for 'unsanitary conditions', we may be forced into a place with less room, more expense for parking, less parking, no coolers allowed, no outside food, expensive concessions, and still no showers. By the way, who doesn't have showers where they stay at night? We us Kennedy body wipes during the day. Please tell me that you guys that are so worried about showers at least use these since you are so concerned.

[mat73557]

I honestly thought the tournament was overall pretty good.  I didnt notice any real problems with dust and allergies and my son showered every day before and after too!

 

I thought the finals were much improved over last year and by getting there early, we had a decent view of all four mats.

 

Improvement ideas:

 

There is still room for improvement on the surface.  I noticed the grade was off in the center and in a couple of other spots.

 

The wrestlers need more room to warm up.  Warming up on carpet is not a great idea.  There needs to be a larger area with a wrestling surface for the guys to warm up.

 

The finals were nice, but I still miss the parade.  The guys who place 3rd through 6th get almost no recognition once their medal match is over.

 

I miss the champions all getting one picture after the finals are over, and I miss getting to go on the floor and mingle with all the wrestlers once everything is over.

 

JMHO