(12-24-2013 01:16 PM)westernwilly Wrote:  [b]I really do not get it.
Why do you think that most of us would rather go see images like these over Baseball?

You're the only one posting these, ass.hole.

Maybe if Daniel Bryan was there...

(12-24-2013 07:01 PM)JSF Wrote:  Maybe if Daniel Bryan was there...

YES!! YES!! YES!!

(12-23-2013 09:31 AM)DrTorch Wrote:  It happened w/ a wrestling match

http://www.centredaily.com/2013/12/08/39...helps.html

So, please tell me again why it's so important to have baseball for the MAC? It's time northern teams recognize that some sports are more suited to their clime than others. (UWisc did). Whether that's hockey, wrestling, lacrosse (it's not lacrosse, btw) or something else...doesn't matter.

Time to make good decisions. Time to make innovative decisions.

When does baseball season start next week

(12-24-2013 01:16 PM)westernwilly Wrote:  I really do not get it.
Why do you think that most of us would rather go see images like these over Baseball?

You don' t have to get it. The fact that 10,000 plus got it at PSU says lots of people enjoy wrestling. MMA has probably helped improve interest as well. Lots of pros are former NCAA wrestlers. Hope we don't have to choose between the two becuase both sports are exciting. Hell, I follow rock climbing and Ride and Tie. I just love sports.

Count me in as somebody who would love to see the MAC invest more in wrestling and hockey (at the expense of baseball). Though Title IX will make it impossible for both to happen.

For a school like Akron, I guess it could be possible to drop baseball, which is a dead-end program (especially trying to compete with Kent ... one of maybe 5-6 northern schools that can compete at a national level) and pick up wrestling.

Kent also has a wrestling program, and a very good one at that. But unlike baseball, there is more than enough talent locally to support 5-6 D1 teams. For example, Ohio has six of the top 38 high school wrestling teams in the country this year (4 of which are within an hour of Akron or Kent). And that doesn't include another 5-6 schools (3-4 more from the Cleveland-Akron area) that could be in the top 100.

It's mind-boggling to see Akron continue to invest in a baseball program, when the area probably doesn't have any local top 100 programs nearby, and the little talent that is produced goes either the SEC/ACC rout (a couple to Kent or Big Ten), or straight to the MLB draft.

It doesn't make sense.

bopol brings up 2,200 to see Akron-Kent last year at Canal Park in baseball. That's a complete abberration, and do the Aeros (Rubberducks) even give the schools the facility rent-free? Maybe rent free, but I'm guessing they are then taking the concessions. Whatever, I guarantee, an Akron-Kent wrestling dual would draw way more than 2,200 at either the JAR or MAC Center.

It's crazy to think that arguably the biggest hot-bed for high school wrestling in the country (Cleveland-Akron-Canton) has only two Division I programs (Kent State, Cleveland State). If you include Youngstown, the area has four D1 baseball programs (Kent, Akron, Cleveland State, Youngstown State) despite producing maybe a handful or so legit D1 baseball players a year, but still only has two D1 wrestling programs.

Not just Akron, but the state of Ohio produces enough high school wrestling talent where, with the investment, where all the Ohio MAC schools could field respectable programs. That could elevate some of the non-Ohio schools, specifically, NIU, etc., that are also in wrestling hotbeds. Keep Missouri and Northern Iowa in the league, and it could be a very good wrestling league, and easily the best men's sport the league offers.

But the Ohio MAC schools still continue to invest in dead-weight baseball programs, even though wrestling is worst-case an equal drain on the budget resulting in better national results than what baseball does. Best case, these schools could (and probably will) be a less drain on the budget and be more competitive nationally than what their baseball programs are.

(12-27-2013 03:09 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  Count me in as somebody who would love to see the MAC invest more in wrestling and hockey (at the expense of baseball). Though Title IX will make it impossible for both to happen.

Both to happen at once?

Why not add women's hockey to offset mens?

Quote:Kent also has a wrestling program, and a very good one at that. But unlike baseball, there is more than enough talent locally to support 5-6 D1 teams. For example, Ohio has six of the top 38 high school wrestling teams in the country this year (4 of which are within an hour of Akron or Kent). And that doesn't include another 5-6 schools (3-4 more from the Cleveland-Akron area) that could be in the top 100.

You are forgetting PA programs too. PA has an outstanding HS wrestling history.

However, it's tough to get a wrestling program going. The talent at the top is rarefied. Scholarships are limited. Depth is hard to come by, and development is a challenge.

I say that b/c

Quote:bopol brings up 2,200 to see Akron-Kent last year at Canal Park in baseball. That's a complete abberration, and do the Aeros (Rubberducks) even give the schools the facility rent-free? Maybe rent free, but I'm guessing they are then taking the concessions. Whatever, I guarantee, an Akron-Kent wrestling dual would draw way more than 2,200 at either the JAR or MAC Center.

Is not a given. Even good matches like IL v Wisc have attendances that are in that range.

Quote:It's crazy to think that arguably the biggest hot-bed for high school wrestling in the country (Cleveland-Akron-Canton) has only two Division I programs (Kent State, Cleveland State).

And yet Cleveland St is pretty poor. So that hotbed is not the answer by itself.
(I'll also add that Ashland has a Div II program. I don't know how many scholarships they offer, but it is significant. I saw IU wrestle Manchester on BTN, and Manchester is Div III.)

I say that b/c the MAC needs to be strategic about any of its plans. If it's wrestling, then it needs to be strategic and bring in OkSt, UO and ISU, and get a MAC tournament in Chicago, Oklahoma and Cleveland.

Quote:Not just Akron, but the state of Ohio produces enough high school wrestling talent where, with the investment, where all the Ohio MAC schools could field respectable programs.

I'm not sure about that. And not every HS wrestler is keen to go on to the college level. It's pretty brutal. Many elite wrestlers get there by pushing their body to the edge...and some fall over w/ serious injuries.

But, if it's wrestling or hockey, then it would be Akron and Toledo adding (reinstating) programs...and that's viable.

Quote: That could elevate some of the non-Ohio schools, specifically, NIU, etc., that are also in wrestling hotbeds. Keep Missouri and Northern Iowa in the league, and it could be a very good wrestling league, and easily the best men's sport the league offers.

I agree. NIU and Buffalo, competing against top programs, could raise their programs. A tournament w/ OkSt, OU, Missouri, CMU, UNI and improved Kent, NIU, Buffalo, and EMU teams would draw well in Chi, Cle, OKC, and Buffalo. That's not a bad rotation.

Quote:But the Ohio MAC schools still continue to invest in dead-weight baseball programs, even though wrestling is worst-case an equal drain on the budget resulting in better national results than what baseball does. Best case, these schools could (and probably will) be a less drain on the budget and be more competitive nationally than what their baseball programs are.

I agree that the ROI looks better for wrestling than baseball.

"I'm not sure about that. And not every HS wrestler is keen to go on to the college level. It's pretty brutal. Many elite wrestlers get there by pushing their body to the edge...and some fall over w/ serious injuries."

And some are playing other sports such as football, which they find has no shortage of scholarships at the next level and a potential career beyond that.