WaltHarris
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It's that time of year again. The time when the IHSAA decides to cram thousands of fans into the Cracker-Jack box that is Merrillville's gym. This has nothing to do with the staff at Merrillville. But that gym is way too small. The other 3 individual SS are at a collegiate area, at pro hockey coliseum and the largest HS gym in the US. So where should we move this event to in your opinion. From wikipedia: The largest high school basketball gyms in the United States refers to gymnasiums primarily used by secondary schools for basketball purposes. Most of the school gyms are located in the state of Indiana. A 1998 New York Times article reported that 15 of the 16 largest high school gymnasiums were located in Indiana. With 5,382 arena-style seats, the Glenn M. Curtis Memorial Gymnasium in Martinsville, Indiana was Indiana's largest when erected in 1924. The top eleven in total seating capacity are as follows: State City Venue Capacity 1 Indiana New Castle New Castle Fieldhouse 9,325 2 Indiana Anderson Anderson Wigwam 8,996 3 Indiana East Chicago East Chicago Central Gym 8,296 4 Indiana Seymour Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium 8,110 5 Indiana Richmond Tiernan Center 8,100 6 Arizona Chinle Wildcat Den 8,000 (approx.) 7 Texas Dallas Alfred J. Loos Fieldhouse 7,500 8 Indiana Elkhart North Side Gymnasium 7,373 9 Indiana Michigan City "The Wolves' Den" Gym 7,304 10 Indiana Gary West Side High School Gym 7,217 11 Indiana Marion Bill Green Athletic Arena 7,054
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In four decades of watching Indiana wrestling, this is in the top 2 worst situations I have ever read about. Want to solve this problem? Get on the 5 pm news. And get a story in the paper. Bad PR is the #1 issue for the ISHAA. They have plenty of bad PR already and they are terrified of getting more bad PR. There have been bills in the State Legislature within the last 12 months to essentially overthrow the IHSAA. The Jay County situation could be the thing that puts such a bill over the top. I hope to high heaven that someone stops the money train greed at IHSAA.
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I coached high school wrestling from 1972 - 1999 in Indiana. The last 10 years that I have been 'out' of wrestling have been the best and most relaxing years of my life. I would encourage as many of you coaches as possible to exit the sport of wrestling asap. I still love the sport and read this messageboard. But the way wrestling is run by the IHSAA and a small group of coaches at several elite programs ruins the enjoyment for the rest of us. IHSAA charges an arm & leg to enter events, then claims poverty at every turn. They keep the SemiState at Merrillville despite the fact the gym is way too small. It seems like weight and seeding exceptions are made regularly for the elite programs. But if you are a small school with just 1-2 excellent wrestlers, your kids get the shaft. I rarely post on this board. However, I read it daily and I consider myself a historian this board and the old one. It shines the light of truth on the jackals at the IHSAA and their hypocrisy (see, you guys now have succeed in getting me fired up!). Occasionally, I read great posts and copy them to a disk. There have been several posts along this line in past years. I will see if I can dig some of them out.
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Why is Greco state at the Pig Farm again (Indiana State Fairgrounds West Pavilion)? Gosh, I thought we were done with that joint. Having a wrestling tournament, let alone a state finals, in that barn where swine and cows go to the bathroom straight onto the floor cannot be heathly. Indiana must look like total hillbillies to people outside our state. And why on the same weekend as the kids state finals? We had a good thing going with greco state having its own weekend and a respectable venue. I have know idea if the participants will plummet or not, but my gosh we can do better.