Group Dual Results

[broadcastsport]

Joe,

 

Would it be possible to group the dual results by 'Date' and then by 'Actual Location'?  It's almost impossible to garner complete team scores for a Super Dual!  We have to keep checking back every day to try to find new scores, and then we can't always tell if that is from a certain Super Dual or just a head-to-head dual around the same time.

 

We're still missing scores from events that took place over a week ago.  How can the media help promote the Sport of Wrestling, without some help from the wrestling family itself?

 

Having been around tournaments of many different sports, we can't understand how difficult it could be to post the official bracket on-site and expect each team to take 5 minutes to post their scores before they leave.  For heaven's sake even elementary-level baseball teams can make this happen!

 

[GrecoCoach]

Oh boy, I get a chance to rant about something 

 

You make it sound like getting results to the media (I'm gonna focus on newspapers) as such an easy process.  When I was a head coach up until 2 years ago, I hated the newspapers.  My AD required the coaches to send our results, and if we didn't we would hear about it.  [side Note: Posting on IndianaMat was not required.]  A new publication that I had never heard of sent my AD an email to badmouth me about how all of their readers (~50) were "demanding" wrestling results.  That was a fun meeting with my AD.

 

I understand that newspapers are struggling in this digital age.  But if I didn't basically write the article for them, then no details would be published.  One paper that I had sent multiple very detailed results to never printed a word of any of them.  So I stopped sending them info, but then my AD was contacted that I didn't send results for a tournament.  Another fun meeting with my AD.

 

Wrestling coaches want to get their wrestlers recognized.

Newspapers need information to publish.

Somewhere in between there is something missing that is frustrating for coaches and shows the downfall of print media.

[Y2CJ41]

I can't update the database to reflect this big of an overhaul during the middle of the season. 

 

I would love to go to something like what John Harrell has for football and basketball, but that would require 300+ coaches to send in their schedule in a common format. 

[Fabio Jr.]

We are discussing updates and changes to improve but as Joe mentioned to do so in the middle of the season just sets us up to fail.

[decbell1]

I can't update the database to reflect this big of an overhaul during the middle of the season. 

 

I would love to go to something like what John Harrell has for football and basketball, but that would require 300+ coaches to send in their schedule in a common format. 

We are years away from this, but it will happen. Some day.

[broadcastsport]

Oh boy, I get a chance to rant about something 

 

You make it sound like getting results to the media (I'm gonna focus on newspapers) as such an easy process.  When I was a head coach up until 2 years ago, I hated the newspapers.  My AD required the coaches to send our results, and if we didn't we would hear about it.  [side Note: Posting on IndianaMat was not required.]  A new publication that I had never heard of sent my AD an email to badmouth me about how all of their readers (~50) were "demanding" wrestling results.  That was a fun meeting with my AD.

 

I understand that newspapers are struggling in this digital age.  But if I didn't basically write the article for them, then no details would be published.  One paper that I had sent multiple very detailed results to never printed a word of any of them.  So I stopped sending them info, but then my AD was contacted that I didn't send results for a tournament.  Another fun meeting with my AD.

 

Wrestling coaches want to get their wrestlers recognized.

Newspapers need information to publish.

Somewhere in between there is something missing that is frustrating for coaches and shows the downfall of print media.

I didn't say it was an easy process.  But then neither is cutting weight or wrestling 5 matches a day when you are hurting.  But anything worth doing is worth doing right.

 

The folks in the traditional newspaper business have deadlines to meet, so it's much easier to publish information that flows to them.  I once asked an AD to add me to the list of media that he sent results to, and was told that it was the media's job to go to the events and get their own information.  I guess he thought the newspaper had enough staff to attend every event at every level for each sport being played by at least his high school!   So when a large tourney or invitational was held, other area schools got their athlete's efforts listed, while that AD's school never did.

 

There's a reason that basketball gets their results, at least varsity events, publicized; the coaching staff has come to understand the need to self-promote their own program.  And I get a little weary of hearing about being short-staffed, and not enough time.  I would venture to bet there is at least one parent connected with every team out there, that would love to help his kid and their teammates get the attention.  It doesn't take a parent with the right last name, you can probably think of a couple pain-in-the-behind parents already that would do it if you would entrust them with the opportunity.  It would involve giving up some control and entrusting possibly untrustworthy helpers, but sometimes, as my dad always said, "if you make someone else important they just might return the favor."

 

It's just very frustrating for us that try to provide results to your fans, when we can't get results!    If a newspaper doesn't get the info, they just don't put anything in the paper.  But I enter all of the events scheduled for 35 of our surrounding schools into a proprietary database.   Then every night I output a list of every event scheduled for that day, and include team results for each event that I can find somewhere or leave a big blank for that event.  The winter season is easier than fall or spring, but if each school has 3 boys and 3 girls basketball teams, a wrestling team and a boys and girls swim team, that makes 9 teams per school.  Of course not all of our local teams have freshmen teams and/or swimming, but if they did that would be 315 separate teams to track results for!    Most of the times each of those teams is playing a team from another of the same 35 that we follow, so that only means the equivalent of 150 events x a couple of times a week. 

 

I glad that I don't have all of the responsibilities that you as coaches have, but if you look at the media outlet-to-number of teams around, we can use a break.  If you create a group fax list or group e-mail list with any media company that asks for your results, you only have to do the list once, and then each one gets your results.  But if we don't get any results and have to contact coaches for every sport at every school within our coverage area, it won't and hasn't been getting done.

 

Wrestling can present another challenge because of all the super dual and other round-robin type tourneys.  If a super dual has 6 teams involved, it is very easy, to just assume that each team wrestles all of the other 5.  But for larger events, we have no idea which teams will actually face each other.  Even having that extra piece of information would help a lot, so we wouldn't be scouring the internet for scores of a match-up that never happened.  Since I think most of those matchups are planned out before the actual day of the event, why can't the meet coordinator just send the information packet that gets sent to the competing schools to IndianaMat.com? 

 

Twitter has been a tremendous help with gathering scores, so we don't have to constantly call AD's or coaches for in-progress scores for our scrolling ticker.  Maybe you could ask a parent or bored sibling of a wrestler to tweet results for you.

 

I thought trackwrestling was supposed to solve some of this mess, but last weekend, I used it for a local super dual and several team scores were missing and others were wrong, even as far as listing the wrong winner.

 

If it would help to have online input forms for tourney brackets and/or regular dual events, if Joe's guys don't have the time, we can activate the ones that we used in the past at broadcastsport.net  

Edited December 15, 2016 by broadcastsport

[warsawwrestling]

Trackwrestling is as only as good as the help putting in the information at the event, but help is hard to find most of the time. Usually get straightened out a few days later.

[SamDad]

I wish Indiana mat would use more animated gifs like broadcastsport does.

[Y2CJ41]

Here you go Sam

 

[broadcastsport]

I wish Indiana mat would use more animated gifs like broadcastsport does.

We'd prefer results over animated gif's.

[Y2CJ41]

If you have a good enough proprietary database you should be able to put in some additional algorithms to add or update the event or location. 

[warsawwrestling]

I only understand about every 3rd word of that!

[broadcastsport]

If you have a good enough proprietary database you should be able to put in some additional algorithms to add or update the event or location. 

I do but it's like was said about TrackWrestling, you have to enter data to get any output.

Trackwrestling is as only as good as the help putting in the information at the event, but help is hard to find most of the time. Usually get straightened out a few days later.

By that time the interest in that event has waned significantly.