Merrillville Semi-State

[stevens103]

y complain every year when u kno its not going to change ???

[midget5589]

y complain every year when u kno its not going to change ???

cuz hopefully it will change if enough people complain, and because its ridiculus considering all the surronding places that are far more capable of hosting the event

[Joker]

Yes there are plenty of places that could accomidate the crowd but what we need is a school and administration that are willing to take on the big responsibility of hosting the semistate. It is easy to say that it should be moved but until someone comes up with a legitimate plan to host the tournament it will not change.

[Scardy94]

Very true Joker. Why not have it at Valpo University and have multiple schools help out? Heck I dunno.

[MISHCAVEFAN]

I have traveled thousands of miles over the years to watch the Cavemen wrestle, but have never been to the Merrillville SS.

Every year I think about it.............. then I read this thread.

 

[shortstack]

Crying is correct. Every year the same old B.S. about too crowded or the people running it are rude. I never have a problem there. I get up early, drive over and find a nice seat, sit back and enjoy the show. The A.D. and the assistant A.D. are both very nice ladies so, if you have a real complaint and can talk to them without yelling I am sure they will listen. Last year I saw them taking great care of an older man with a walker. Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo, stay home and cry.

[listenup20]

Crying is correct. Every year the same old B.S. about too crowded or the people running it are rude. I never have a problem there. I get up early, drive over and find a nice seat, sit back and enjoy the show. The A.D. and the assistant A.D. are both very nice ladies so, if you have a real complaint and can talk to them without yelling I am sure they will listen. Last year I saw them taking great care of an older man with a walker. Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo, stay home and cry.

 

You must be from Merrillville - they are the only people the 2 "ladies" are nice to.  Plus, you must get to sit in the "reserve" Pirates Cove. 

[Boot]

I never had a bad experience, went for 14 years driving almost 100 miles. The directors were always nice and there was rarely a glitch. Maybe I enjoyed it because I went to see some great wrestling and didn't expect box seats with a recliner.

[cobra413]

Doesn't the Mishawaka fans rope off a whole section just for them at the Al Smith??  I don't hear anybody crying over that.

[brickyardbrawler]

wow are u kidding me merrillville semi-state is the best if u all just man-up and get there early enough to reserve  a seat. u might be alright and they usually have good intros. i think its a fun atmosphere  its more a a wild crowd when ur close together

[Ice135]

We have no hope of getting the SS moved from Merrillville til Qualizza leaves!  Hopefully, the AD at EC Central can get something going and SS moved there.  Also I love paying five bucks for a piece of Caesar's pizza when it costs five bucks for the whole pizza.  Can't leave to go get something to eat cuz you won't have a seat to come back to.  You'd be lucky to get back in the door. 

[cobra413]

We have no hope of getting the SS moved from Merrillville til Qualizza leaves!  Hopefully, the AD at EC Central can get something going and SS moved there.  Also I love paying five bucks for a piece of Caesar's pizza when it costs five bucks for the whole pizza.  Can't leave to go get something to eat cuz you won't have a seat to come back to.  You'd be lucky to get back in the door. 

 

First Qualizza not going anywhere, and do you honestly think that Merrillville is the only school that makes money off their concessions.

[Regionrat1]

wow are u kidding me merrillville semi-state is the best if u all just man-up and get there early enough to reserve  a seat. u might be alright and they usually have good intros. i think its a fun atmosphere  its more a a wild crowd when ur close together

 

Ya deem hobart fans secure one of does lower corner balconies.

 

When Im dare I tink i doin a confined space entry like at da mill !! I tink da excitement and da great crowd would be great a bigger venue since da region is da greatest spot grapplin in da state !!!

[Zen_Wrestler]

Merrillville is a horrible place to host Semi-State!  Some people (guess who) running the tournament are the  most arrogant people you will ever meet.  The show is ABOUT this person... just ask 'them. ' Coaches are not welcome in the hospitality room after the morning meeting.  The venue is awful and has NO business being the site of the semi-state.  The wrestling staff as Merrillville is awesome and they in no way have any responsibility to the poor choice of venue.  It is a disgrace considering the other venues on semi-state weekend.    I have only been present at two different venues... Ft. Wayne and Merrillville so I really shouldn't compare it to the rest of the state.  There is no area for wrestlers to warm up, very little fan seating, terrible vantage points, poor hosting, uhh.... I could go on.... and on...

[Bomber]

Evansville has one of the nicest semi states I have ever been too.   Roberts Stadium, and boy they know how to put on a great show! ;D

[CoachRyan_Delta]

We'll send some seats over from the Fort Wayne Semi-State... there's always tons left.

[XCard]

I am probably going to lose all my cool points but here we go.

 

I figured I would take some time to add my opinion on some of the grumblings about the Merrillville Semi-State.

 

1a. NO WHERE TO SIT!

          I really can not argue the fact that it is pretty tight during the first two rounds of wrestling, but once the bleachers come out for the Semi's & Finals, it really is not that bad.  I have payed attention to this over the last few years and actually have noticed quite of bit of room toward the top of the bleachers.  There is really no way to solve this beside competly rebuilding the Merrillville gym and adding more seats.

 

1b. MERRILVILLE HAS THERE OWN SECTION!

          They are the host school of the tournament and I believe they should have their own section.  I think it would be hard to find any school that would not have a section for their own school if they were hosting a tournament.  Take a look up there next Saturday & you may be suprised to see that they are just as packed as everyone else is in the gym.  Besides, no one compains about Mishawaka claiming their annual spot right there on the northwest bleachers year in and year out, or how about Portage which I believe is usually at the southwest corner, or how about the Hobart section that gets the lower end of the southeast pirates cove, or how about CP.....I could go on but I think everyone gets the point on this one.

 

2. OVERPRICED CONCESSIONS!

      Well I really have yet to attend a tournament where some items prices are a little questionable.  This concession stand is a big source of revenue for them during this tournament.  If it's that high to you, you can simply elect not to patronize their concession stand.

 

3. NO COOLERS IN THE BUILDING!

      This was actually not always the case, but unfortunately sometimes everyone does not know how to clean up after themselves and a rule such as this has to be implemented to prevent this from happening.

 

4. HOSPITALITY ROOM NOT AVAILABLE!

      This tournament has the potential to have 74 teams represented, and with the addition of the 4th place qualifier, quite possibly will be pretty close.  Let's say only 60 teams are represented.  So let's say each team gets 3 passes ( Head Coach + 2 Assts.) which people will complain that more should be handed out.  That is 180 people they have to prepare for, this is not including Officials and Tournament staff.  I think that is pretty hefty price tag to accomadate that many people.

 

5.  ACTUAL RUNNING OF THE TOURNAMENT

      I do not think there should be any gripes about this.  The Merrillville staff has always done an excellent job at running the tournament and keeping it moving along.  When those bleachers actually do come out for the final two sessions, you are right there on top of the action.  Heck, I think guys have actually landed in the front row at times.  The feel of the spotlight matches for the final session is similar to that of the finals.  As da rat would say " sum tuff region wrasslin!"

 

I am usually not this long winded but since the "something has to be done about the sectional scoring" thread is gone, I figured I give this one a shot.  I am not saying that I am against a different venue for the Semi-State.  There have been some very good locales mentioned in previous posts.  We have to remember though that it takes a lot of time, effort, volunteers, and responsability to pull off this tourney.  I am not saying that no on eelse could do it, and maybe they deserve a shot, but as the old saying goes, The grass is not always greenier on the other side.

[royboy74]

Xcard,

 

I am probably going to lose all my cool points but here we go.

 

I figured I would take some time to add my opinion on some of the grumblings about the Merrillville Semi-State.

 

1a. NO WHERE TO SIT!

           I really can not argue the fact that it is pretty tight during the first two rounds of wrestling, but once the bleachers come out for the Semi's & Finals, it really is not that bad.  I have payed attention to this over the last few years and actually have noticed quite of bit of room toward the top of the bleachers.  There is really no way to solve this beside competly rebuilding the Merrillville gym and adding more seats.

 

You failed to mention that basically 2 of the mats are not even fully visible even if you do have a seat.

 

1b. MERRILVILLE HAS THERE OWN SECTION!

          They are the host school of the tournament and I believe they should have their own section.  I think it would be hard to find any school that would not have a section for their own school if they were hosting a tournament.  Take a look up there next Saturday & you may be suprised to see that they are just as packed as everyone else is in the gym.  Besides, no one compains about Mishawaka claiming their annual spot right there on the northwest bleachers year in and year out, or how about Portage which I believe is usually at the southwest corner, or how about the Hobart section that gets the lower end of the southeast pirates cove, or how about CP.....I could go on but I think everyone gets the point on this one.

 

Ummm OK.  Look at the other semi-state venues.  Only one of the other semi-states, New Castle, is held at a high school and it has the LARGEST HS fieldhouse in the WORLD.  I have never been there for a semi-state, but I have been there for middle school duals qualifiers, and I can tell you that it is HUGE and you can see all of the mats clearly from every seat.  The remaining 2 semi-states are at Roberts Stadium and Allen County Coliseum.  Never been to either of these places, but based on feedback from other people on this board it sounds pretty nice to me.  Probably because there isn't a high school with enough space to adequately support these events.  I highly doubt that anyone would need to rope off a section at the other venues. 

 

2. OVERPRICED CONCESSIONS!

       Well I really have yet to attend a tournament where some items prices are a little questionable.  This concession stand is a big source of revenue for them during this tournament.  If it's that high to you, you can simply elect not to patronize their concession stand.

 

OK... so your solution is to not eat.  Take the questionable prices from the other concession stands you have seen and double them at Merrillville.

 

3. NO COOLERS IN THE BUILDING!

      This was actually not always the case, but unfortunately sometimes everyone does not know how to clean up after themselves and a rule such as this has to be implemented to prevent this from happening.

 

Sad but true fact of life... people are pigs.  They still leave a giant mess from their concession stand items, but somehow that is tolerable.  I think the reasoning for this is 1) Boost concession stand revenue.  2) There isn't room for the coolers because the venue is too small.  So the elite athletes I guess should fill up with pizza and hotdogs and the other concession stand crap.

 

4. HOSPITALITY ROOM NOT AVAILABLE!

       This tournament has the potential to have 74 teams represented, and with the addition of the 4th place qualifier, quite possibly will be pretty close.  Let's say only 60 teams are represented.  So let's say each team gets 3 passes ( Head Coach + 2 Assts.) which people will complain that more should be handed out.  That is 180 people they have to prepare for, this is not including Officials and Tournament staff.  I think that is pretty hefty price tag to accomadate that many people.

 

I think the amount of money made that day should more than justify the "hassle" of having to run a hospitality room. 

 

5.  ACTUAL RUNNING OF THE TOURNAMENT

       I do not think there should be any gripes about this.  The Merrillville staff has always done an excellent job at running the tournament and keeping it moving along.  When those bleachers actually do come out for the final two sessions, you are right there on top of the action.  Heck, I think guys have actually landed in the front row at times.  The feel of the spotlight matches for the final session is similar to that of the finals.  As da rat would say " sum tuff region wrasslin!"

 

The tournament is run efficiently in terms of time.  You failed to mention that there is pretty much no place for the wrestlers to warm up because the venue is TOO SMALL!

 

I am usually not this long winded but since the "something has to be done about the sectional scoring" thread is gone, I figured I give this one a shot.  I am not saying that I am against a different venue for the Semi-State.  There have been some very good locales mentioned in previous posts.  We have to remember though that it takes a lot of time, effort, volunteers, and responsability to pull off this tourney.  I am not saying that no on eelse could do it, and maybe they deserve a shot, but as the old saying goes, The grass is not always greenier on the other side.

 

I'll take my chances at a BIGGER VENUE!  This is not intended to be a knock on the Merrillville wrestling program at all.  I just want to be able to get a seat and watch ALL of the matches and let the kids have enough room to do their thing (warm up and bring coolers). 

 

[coltfan64]

I too get there early and get great seats.  Never a problem.  If you get there after 8:15 you are screwed.  I am extremely glad they don't allow coolers.  That would just mean fewer seats.  It may be small, but I bet no other semistate has seating 5 feet from the mats.  My seats are always excellent.  Crouded but excellent.  Semis and finals are very comfortable.  I smuggle in food and don't pay their prices.  It may suck in some respects, but I wouldn't go to any of the other sites no matter how comfortable it is.  The competitive environment at Merrillville is unlike any wrestling tournament I have ever been to.  Even at the State finals, as a spectator you are so far removed from the action it is not the same as at Merrillville.  I totally disagree with the statement that Lafayette Jeff would be a good venue for this event.  The lower level would be closed off completely.  They too, only have bleechers on two sides of the gym except very small sections on the other ends.  The seating is not good.  Spectators sre seated too far from the wrestling.  I really don't think that Jeff's upper sections would hold any more than the Merrillvile Gym.  I am from Lafayette, and trust me, the people at Jeff most definitely wouldn't be a whole lot more courteous than the two power hungry ladies at Merrillville.  That's my input, not that anyone asked.

 

[XCard]

Gonna try the quote thing too.

 

royboy,

 

 

Xcard,

 

I am probably going to lose all my cool points but here we go.

 

I figured I would take some time to add my opinion on some of the grumblings about the Merrillville Semi-State.

 

1a. NO WHERE TO SIT!

           I really can not argue the fact that it is pretty tight during the first two rounds of wrestling, but once the bleachers come out for the Semi's & Finals, it really is not that bad.  I have payed attention to this over the last few years and actually have noticed quite of bit of room toward the top of the bleachers.  There is really no way to solve this beside competly rebuilding the Merrillville gym and adding more seats.

 

You failed to mention that basically 2 of the mats are not even fully visible even if you do have a seat.

 

Come on royboy, I thought that was understood based on the picture bigfan posted  ;D

 

1b. MERRILVILLE HAS THERE OWN SECTION!

          They are the host school of the tournament and I believe they should have their own section.  I think it would be hard to find any school that would not have a section for their own school if they were hosting a tournament.  Take a look up there next Saturday & you may be suprised to see that they are just as packed as everyone else is in the gym.  Besides, no one compains about Mishawaka claiming their annual spot right there on the northwest bleachers year in and year out, or how about Portage which I believe is usually at the southwest corner, or how about the Hobart section that gets the lower end of the southeast pirates cove, or how about CP.....I could go on but I think everyone gets the point on this one.

 

Ummm OK.  Look at the other semi-state venues.  Only one of the other semi-states, New Castle, is held at a high school and it has the LARGEST HS fieldhouse in the WORLD.  I have never been there for a semi-state, but I have been there for middle school duals qualifiers, and I can tell you that it is HUGE and you can see all of the mats clearly from every seat.  The remaining 2 semi-states are at Roberts Stadium and Allen County Coliseum.  Never been to either of these places, but based on feedback from other people on this board it sounds pretty nice to me.  Probably because there isn't a high school with enough space to adequately support these events.  I highly doubt that anyone would need to rope off a section at the other venues. 

 

Can someone help us out with this one?  Neither of us have been to the other Semi-States so we are both kinda of guessing here about the whole host school having their own section discussion.

 

 

2. OVERPRICED CONCESSIONS!

       Well I really have yet to attend a tournament where some items prices are a little questionable.  This concession stand is a big source of revenue for them during this tournament.  If it's that high to you, you can simply elect not to patronize their concession stand.

 

OK... so your solution is to not eat.  Take the questionable prices from the other concession stands you have seen and double them at Merrillville.

 

Come on royboy, are you telling me that based on that quote from me you got that my solution was not to eat?  :-\

 

3. NO COOLERS IN THE BUILDING!

      This was actually not always the case, but unfortunately sometimes everyone does not know how to clean up after themselves and a rule such as this has to be implemented to prevent this from happening.

 

Sad but true fact of life... people are pigs.  They still leave a giant mess from their concession stand items, but somehow that is tolerable.  I think the reasoning for this is 1) Boost concession stand revenue.  2) There isn't room for the coolers because the venue is too small.  So the elite athletes I guess should fill up with pizza and hotdogs and the other concession stand crap.

 

1) Not a bad idea. 2) Correct does take away from seats, but coolers were allowed in certain areas in the past but again, sad but true fact of life.....people are pigs.

I would imagine those elite athletes have already come up with a way to sneak in their elite food.  ;D

 

4. HOSPITALITY ROOM NOT AVAILABLE!

       This tournament has the potential to have 74 teams represented, and with the addition of the 4th place qualifier, quite possibly will be pretty close.  Let's say only 60 teams are represented.  So let's say each team gets 3 passes ( Head Coach + 2 Assts.) which people will complain that more should be handed out.  That is 180 people they have to prepare for, this is not including Officials and Tournament staff.  I think that is pretty hefty price tag to accomadate that many people.

 

I think the amount of money made that day should more than justify the "hassle" of having to run a hospitality room. 

 

Many of these are ex wrestlers who realistically you have to count them as 1 1/2. So you would actually be feeding......270 people.  8)

 

5.  ACTUAL RUNNING OF THE TOURNAMENT

       I do not think there should be any gripes about this.  The Merrillville staff has always done an excellent job at running the tournament and keeping it moving along.  When those bleachers actually do come out for the final two sessions, you are right there on top of the action.  Heck, I think guys have actually landed in the front row at times.  The feel of the spotlight matches for the final session is similar to that of the finals.  As da rat would say " sum tuff region wrasslin!"

 

The tournament is run efficiently in terms of time.  You failed to mention that there is pretty much no place for the wrestlers to warm up because the venue is TOO SMALL!

 

You know what I forgot to mention that there is pretty much no place for wrestlers to warm up.

 

I am usually not this long winded but since the "something has to be done about the sectional scoring" thread is gone, I figured I give this one a shot.  I am not saying that I am against a different venue for the Semi-State.  There have been some very good locales mentioned in previous posts.  We have to remember though that it takes a lot of time, effort, volunteers, and responsability to pull off this tourney.  I am not saying that no on eelse could do it, and maybe they deserve a shot, but as the old saying goes, The grass is not always greenier on the other side.

 

I'll take my chances at a BIGGER VENUE!  This is not intended to be a knock on the Merrillville wrestling program at all.  I just want to be able to get a seat and watch ALL of the matches and let the kids have enough room to do their thing (warm up and bring coolers). 

 

I gotcha royboy, BIGGER VENUE. I did say I was not against a different venue.  Just saying that I think the Merrilville Semi-State venue takes a beating this time a year and I was just try to generate some discussion on the topic rather than completely bashing it.

 

 

[Joker]

I think it is nice to have the fans right next to the action in the semis and finals. Also a nice touch with the spotlight for the finals.

 

Xcard, maybe they can hire the tournament director from the e.c. sectional to run the semistate ;D

[Ice135]

I think it is nice to have the fans right next to the action in the semis and finals. Also a nice touch with the spotlight for the finals.

 

Xcard, maybe they can hire the tournament director from the e.c. sectional to run the semistate ;D

Sounds good to me!!!

[That Guy]

great wrestling trumps ***potty mouth*** gym anyday  so lets just enjoy it

[Regionrat1]

I am probably going to lose all my cool points but here we go.

 

I figured I would take some time to add my opinion on some of the grumblings about the Merrillville Semi-State.

 

1a. NO WHERE TO SIT!

           I really can not argue the fact that it is pretty tight during the first two rounds of wrestling, but once the bleachers come out for the Semi's & Finals, it really is not that bad.  I have payed attention to this over the last few years and actually have noticed quite of bit of room toward the top of the bleachers.  There is really no way to solve this beside competly rebuilding the Merrillville gym and adding more seats.

 

1b. MERRILVILLE HAS THERE OWN SECTION!

 

iT must be da new  kinder gentler politacally correct X-CARD !! 

 

To put like a true region Rat !! Da place sucks for a fine exibition of da region wraslin !!!

 

          They are the host school of the tournament and I believe they should have their own section.  I think it would be hard to find any school that would not have a section for their own school if they were hosting a tournament.  Take a look up there next Saturday & you may be suprised to see that they are just as packed as everyone else is in the gym.  Besides, no one compains about Mishawaka claiming their annual spot right there on the northwest bleachers year in and year out, or how about Portage which I believe is usually at the southwest corner, or how about the Hobart section that gets the lower end of the southeast pirates cove, or how about CP.....I could go on but I think everyone gets the point on this one.

 

2. OVERPRICED CONCESSIONS!

       Well I really have yet to attend a tournament where some items prices are a little questionable.  This concession stand is a big source of revenue for them during this tournament.  If it's that high to you, you can simply elect not to patronize their concession stand.

 

3. NO COOLERS IN THE BUILDING!

      This was actually not always the case, but unfortunately sometimes everyone does not know how to clean up after themselves and a rule such as this has to be implemented to prevent this from happening.

 

4. HOSPITALITY ROOM NOT AVAILABLE!

       This tournament has the potential to have 74 teams represented, and with the addition of the 4th place qualifier, quite possibly will be pretty close.  Let's say only 60 teams are represented.  So let's say each team gets 3 passes ( Head Coach + 2 Assts.) which people will complain that more should be handed out.  That is 180 people they have to prepare for, this is not including Officials and Tournament staff.  I think that is pretty hefty price tag to accomadate that many people.

 

5.  ACTUAL RUNNING OF THE TOURNAMENT

       I do not think there should be any gripes about this.  The Merrillville staff has always done an excellent job at running the tournament and keeping it moving along.  When those bleachers actually do come out for the final two sessions, you are right there on top of the action.  Heck, I think guys have actually landed in the front row at times.  The feel of the spotlight matches for the final session is similar to that of the finals.  As da rat would say " sum tuff region wrasslin!"

 

I am usually not this long winded but since the "something has to be done about the sectional scoring" thread is gone, I figured I give this one a shot.  I am not saying that I am against a different venue for the Semi-State.  There have been some very good locales mentioned in previous posts.  We have to remember though that it takes a lot of time, effort, volunteers, and responsability to pull off this tourney.  I am not saying that no on eelse could do it, and maybe they deserve a shot, but as the old saying goes, The grass is not always greenier on the other side.

[Y2CJ41]

The Fort Wayne semi-state ALWAYS has a hospitality room!  A few years ago they were facing the probability of not having one due to the cost, so they had to move it to a different area in the coliseum so they didn't have to have it catered by the coliseum.  Coaches get paid very little and having donuts, coffee, drinks and some cold sandwiches are the least the host school could do.  Coaches also want a place to get away and relax without wrestlers or parents and a hospitality room is great for this.