thanks,,i appreciate the quote

Just a couple of things.

First to the popularity of wrestling. I think in all honesty and this is just what I get from others when I ask them why they don't watch wrestling. The number 1 quote I usually get is "Its so boring to watch" & "I don't understand it" The next popular quote which I absolutly hate is when someone says "I can't stand watching two sweaty guys laying all over each other" or "Wrestling is Gay" I never really have understood why some people have such biases toward this sport just becasue there is physical contact. You know football players grab each other too, but im not going to get into that. When I was in high school I went to just about every single basketball game both boys & girls, firstly because I wanted to support our teams and secondly because most of the games were entertaining. And just about everyone else on our wrestling team did the same But it was almost never the other way around Basketball players wouldn't come to our wrestling Duals and we only had 2 home duals a year! This upset me very much becuase we were the two time defending state champions and we had problems filling up half the gym but the basketball game would be completly full and they only won 5 games a year out of 25. People can be very unintelligent when it comes to things like this but oh well.

Second

I don't really want to put down the idea of a split state but I don't really think we have the resources to make a change. By resources I mean people who are willing to help out during the tournament. I wouldn't be against trying it for a year but im pretty sure that it would just upset a lot of people.

Nigel, I think wrestling is a little more difficult for the general sports public to watch if they do not have a background in wrestling. If you don't understand something you are probably going to find it boring. Maybe some things should be done to speed up the action and possibly your idea of a high school freestyle season could do that.

But the big key to me is having more kids participate. The longer they participate the more interest there will be both from them and their family members and even some friends of their family. I had no interest in wrestling before Jacob started six years ago other than if there was a Dan Gable or Cael Sanderson type story being reported. Now I go to high school events even though I have no family participating and we had tickets this year for the NCAA event in Kansas City. We even stay now after Jacob is done at big events Wichita, Subs, District and State to watch other wrestlers on the team. I try to search the newspaper first for wrestling news during the season. This did not happen overnight. It took several years of Jacob's participation for my family to develop that type of interest. But this is the type of interest that needs to be developed by more of the general sports public in wrestling. This is why I believe the more kids we can get to try wrestling and the longer we can keep them and their families involved the better wrestling will be. Participation is the key to increased popularity.

As far as your last point, yes I can see that is a stumbling block for those tournament workers. I think you are right that those like myself who are strongly advocating this need to step up and help if a change is made. Like I can offer to work a table or something during the sessions my son is not involved in. Coach Roberts is coaching and would have a difficult time probably doing anything else during the tournament. It might help the Topeka tournament workers some if they were not doing the Nationals the next weekend. I also feel that someone in Topeka has lobbied for the tournament. They want it there. Maybe some organizations that really benefit from having it in Topeka every year need to step up and get some more workers from their organizations to help at the tournament. I'm thinking about the hotels and restaurants. The Topeka effort should not just come from the wrestling community. I would be in favor of the Topeka clubs that are heavily involved in the work getting a generous share of any tournament profits if they are already not getting a good share of the tournament profits.