Biggest irritations from watching this tournament

[therod]

ESPN announcers were in love with Kyle Dake.
They couldn't get enough of him. If he was at matside, in a hallway, in the stands, in the bathroom stall, they had a camera on him with the guy with the mike at his side.



They picked a wrestler going into his match and literally rooted for that guy throughout his match. It made me root for the guy who was his opponent. Most apparent was the Dean / Brown match. One of the most even matches during the whole tournament. You would have sworn that Dean was in total control of that match. You would have thought that Brown was pure evil. You would have felt really bad for Browns family if the were forced to watch and listen to those guys on t v. No respect at all for Brown. Maybe that was because Dake was rooting for his guy Dean.



During the Evans / Brown match, Evans get really deep in on a single leg. I thought Brown would be surely taken down. Before you saw the ending of what happened they immediately cut to the stands to showy Evan's family jumping in jubilation.. I assumed Evan's got the takedown. Completely surprised that Brown got out of it (in a good way). Why would they cut away at the least opportune time. If the situation was reversed would they have cut away to show Brown's family? I could understand after the takedown they would cut but to decide at that moment, give me a break.


3. In the earlier stages of the tournament after Penn State advanced all the wrestlers to the second rounds someone said maybe we should show a little love to Penn State. No bias there. It was that way for all the teams other than the big three and Cornel. Every wrestler that took part in that tournament deserved the same respect. In my view it was tough to listen to those guys with the mike. One thing I did enjoy was laughing at the guy doing the interviews. The lack of respect the winners gave him. Maybe for the exception of Dake who seemed to love the attention? Oh yeah, how could I forget about the Baldwin character with his fifteen minute interviews during the matches. I know I could go on but time to get ready for church. Thank for allowing me to rant.

 

[ptomaselli]

I tend to agree. This was Stieber's tournament and they kept Dake-ing the crap out of it. I mean Dake's a great kid and wrestler and I like what he is about. But cutting to Dake every time was a bit nauseating on ESPN's part and detracted from the wrestlers actually in the tournament.

 

[manmythlegend1]

Originally posted by therod:





ESPN announcers were in love with Kyle Dake.
They couldn't get enough of him. If he was at matside, in a hallway, in the stands, in the bathroom stall, they had a camera on him with the guy with the mike at his side.



They picked a wrestler going into his match and literally rooted for that guy throughout his match. It made me root for the guy who was his opponent. Most apparent was the Dean / Brown match. One of the most even matches during the whole tournament. You would have sworn that Dean was in total control of that match. You would have thought that Brown was pure evil. You would have felt really bad for Browns family if the were forced to watch and listen to those guys on t v. No respect at all for Brown. Maybe that was because Dake was rooting for his guy Dean.




During the Evans / Brown match, Evans get really deep in on a single leg. I thought Brown would be surely taken down. Before you saw the ending of what happened they immediately cut to the stands to showy Evan's family jumping in jubilation.. I assumed Evan's got the takedown. Completely surprised that Brown got out of it (in a good way). Why would they cut away at the least opportune time. If the situation was reversed would they have cut away to show Brown's family? I could understand after the takedown they would cut but to decide at that moment, give me a break.


3. In the earlier stages of the tournament after Penn State advanced all the wrestlers to the second rounds someone said maybe we should show a little love to Penn State. No bias there. It was that way for all the teams other than the big three and Cornel. Every wrestler that took part in that tournament deserved the same respect. In my view it was tough to listen to those guys with the mike. One thing I did enjoy was laughing at the guy doing the interviews. The lack of respect the winners gave him. Maybe for the exception of Dake who seemed to love the attention? Oh yeah, how could I forget about the Baldwin character with his fifteen minute interviews during the matches. I know I could go on but time to get ready for church. Thank for allowing me to rant.

I agree with almost everything, but I have to disagree with Baldwin.. I think it is great for the sport to have a recognizable semi-celebrity showing an intelligent view point of the sport. It can only help give it more legitimacy to the main stream public and possibly grow the marketability. I agree at times he was long winded but I think all in all it is great for the sport...I would love to see Iron Chef Simon there next year(I know he is a huge supporter of the sport). Maybe Someday it can grow on ESPN and we can get some top tier celebrities involved?? There have to be a some out there who love the sport and participated at younger ages? This can only be good for Wrestling!!

 

[Cowbell Man]

The closer you get to KD, the farther you prefer….. but Quint Kessich (sp) never seemed to catch the body language of "beat it" from KD. I don't know Logan, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to equate KD's personality to him. I don't even know why we needed to see a PIP of KD during the Stieber match. And someday, maybe, someone will grasp that growing from 141 to 165 isn't impressive on any level. I didn't hear a mention that Pat Smith one 4 titles over 5 years at the same weight because he didn't grow. He's the only guy to do that….I'm pretty sure everyone I know grew in college.

Or from any wrestler. He asked at least 1 too many questions to everyone but Logan. Gadsen did everything he could to say "Dude…..can I leave now?" In the process we ended up with comedy "I gotta go get some ice cream"

This was Stieber's tournament and I did like the stories from Billy Baldwin on Gwiz, another fun wrestler to watch.

I agree it was a bit weird that Gabe Dean seemed to be wrestling no one.

And just before it all ended…the Lehigh Valley's great gift to wrestling was thrown almost perfectly by Moisey! Hello Cement!!

The finals productions are getting better I think. There is good explanation of rules and pop up boxes with rules in them. We have to be mindful of the casual fan because they are the key to making the sport grow.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

One comment from me, and I only say this for that match because it was the only one I actually saw the "keys to match for", but the key for Habat was to (paraphrasing) defend, and the key for Houdashelt to "create havoc". Seriously? Does anybody know those guys? Anybody watching with a half of a brain would know that the opposite was the truth, that the 2-1 match played into Houdashelt's hands, whereas a high-scoring match favored Habat.

I didn't hear the audio, as I was in the arena, so I sincerely hope that was a graphics mix-up.

 

[Cowbell Man]

Actually, the graphics were opposite like that a couple of times. It confused me too. They carried a "(quote)" but it was used either 180 degrees or kinda attributed to the wrong wrestler.

I just think there was miscommunication between the analyst and the graphic's person and they weren't reviewed.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Originally posted by Cowbell Man:
Actually, the graphics were opposite like that a couple of times. It confused me too. They carried a "(quote)" but it was used either 180 degrees or kinda attributed to the wrong wrestler.

I just think there was miscommunication between the analyst and the graphic's person and they weren't reviewed.

I wasn't aware of anything else, probably because I was in the arena watching and covering the wrestling, and not the ESPN production. I do want to watch the final when I finally get home, just to get a feel.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

cowbell - you're from the Ithaca area

By the way, my first illegal drink was at the Rongo. Spent some great times at Camp Barton.

Anyway, I wonder what else you can tell us about Dake. It's easier to say this when he doesn't wrestle for us, but I've never taken a shine to him. Kind of a cocky douche it seems. The worst was dealing with the Taylor/Dake friends pablum from ESPN in 2013. It didn't strike me at all that those guys were close - maybe when they were kids, but not in college.

 

[Cowbell Man]

Re: cowbell - you're from the Ithaca area

Originally posted by Chickenman Testa:
By the way, my first illegal drink was at the Rongo. Spent some great times at Camp Barton.

Anyway, I wonder what else you can tell us about Dake. It's easier to say this when he doesn't wrestle for us, but I've never taken a shine to him. Kind of a cocky douche it seems. The worst was dealing with the Taylor/Dake friends pablum from ESPN in 2013. It didn't strike me at all that those guys were close - maybe when they were kids, but not in college.

The Rongo…..did you have a Suffering, Dying or Dead Bastard? Probably not for your first one…lol. And Camp Barton was pretty cool too. Did you grow up here too??

KD: Best just to say how important first impressions are. The Taylor Dake thing, they were close as kids, but I have the same collegiate interpretation as you. Noticed DT tweeted a Logie Bear congratulations last night.

I will say my son and I have a lot of fun wearing DT and PSU gear in places that other's are not allowed to do so…..lol

 

[Chickenman Testa]

My dad went to Cornell Vet School

He was an Assistant Scoutmaster for an Ithaca troop and they always went to Barton. At the time, the camp would bring Ithaca resident Rod Serling in to tell ghost stories at the Point - how amazing would that be. I remember campfires on the beach at Barton and how the shale rocks would explode.

My Philly area troop would go to Barton because of my dad's influence. We were one of the few non-NY troops to be there. Great memories - loved hiking about the falls - there were great natural water slides up there.

 

[El-Jefe]

Biggest irritation from watching this tournament

Ohio State winning.

 

[Dungeon Yankee]

Re: Biggest irritation from watching this tournament


that is how I felt. anybody but ohio state

 

[BruceK-PSU83]

Overall I will say that ESPN's coverage was pretty darn good, though they laid on the Logan Steiber theme kinda thick IMO. The coverage of all 8 mats on ESPNU was excellent IMO. That said, however:
I have always maintained, and continue to do so, that the interviews of wrestlers immediately coming off the mat are among the worst in sports and should be discontinued. Most guys are stilled amped up after 7 minutes of battle and are often out of breath, which makes for a bad interview. Throw in the asinine questions (e.g., "What was your mindset going into the 3rd period"? or "What were you thinking when you got that late takedown"?) and the fact that most guys want to tell the interviewer to pound sand, and the result is usually a very bad product. Yet ESPN continues to jam microphones in the face of these guys as they come off the mat. It's absurd.The cut to the Iowa crowd when Evans got Brown's leg was ridiculous and, obviously, very poorly timed. Amateurish.The Kyle Dake conversations were okay IMO, and I don't dislike the guy like others on this board appear to. However, there were too many KD segments and they lasted too long. Moderation, please.I didn't object to the Billy Baldwin segments, and a some were fairly informative. A couple were maybe too long, but that's a minor complaint. And I agree with the poster who said that Baldwin helps legitimize college wrestling to the masses.

This post was edited on 3/22 9:24 PM by BruceK-PSU83

 

[lionlover]

Re: Biggest irritation from watching this tournament

Originally posted by El-Jefe:
Ohio State winning.

Then again, seeing Iowa get denied a championship was compensating value. I feel bad for Josey Whales Arizona Chief and a few others. But, I am not enamored with most other Iowa fans because of their arrogance. So...Go Buckeyes and Eastern Wrestling!

 

[Cowbell Man]

Originally posted by BruceK-PSU83:
Overall I will say that ESPN's coverage was pretty darn good, though they laid on the Logan Steiber theme kinda thick IMO. The coverage of all 8 mats on ESPNU was excellent IMO. That said, however:
I have always maintained, and continue to do so, that the interviews of wrestlers immediately coming off the mat are among the worst in sports and should be discontinued. Most guys are stilled amped up after 7 minutes of battle and are often out of breath, which makes for a bad interview. Throw in the asinine questions (e.g., "What was your mindset going into the 3rd period"? or "What were you thinking when you got that late takedown"?) and the fact that most guys want to tell the interviewer to eft off, and the result is usually a very bad product. Yet ESPN continues to jam microphones in the face of these guys as they come off the mat. It's absurd.The cut to the Iowa crowd when Evans got Brown's leg was ridiculous and obviously, very poorly timed. Amateurish.The Kyle Dake conversations were okay IMO, and I don't dislike the guy like others on this board appear to. However, there were too many KD segments and they lasted too long. Moderation, please.I didn't object to the Billy Baldwin segments, and a some were fairly informative. A couple were maybe too long, but that's a minor complaint. And I agree with the poster who said that Baldwin helps legitimize college wrestling to the masses.

Wanna make a splash in NYC next year. Set aside 30-40 tickets for superstars. Get them to talk about it in advertising. Make sure there are some females too. WTH…Taylor Swift is from Reading area….surely she knows something about wrestling. Time to pull in some more casual fans.

And….can we have a high profile programming lead in that has a bigger audience than arm wrestling? That's not helpful for ratings.

 

[PSU Mike]

^^^my takes as well^^^

It's hard to grow the sport without changing some things, and I'd rather see these attempts at marketing than radical rules changes that would make it a different sport.