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Tidbits from Lincoln

RoarLions1

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2012
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After a crappy travel day, I just got home a few hours ago. Ice & snow in Chicago, one plane replacement, wind conditions in State College and a slit landing tire (that needed to be replaced) caused missed connections, three flight changes and I still ended up taking an Uber from Pittsburgh to State College area just to get home before the sun came up. This is a recap of our trip from a tired old man.

THE WRESTLING
Second-to-none, overall the wrestling was fabulous. Aside from 20 or so medical defaults (14 of which I believe were in placement bouts), it was thoroughly enjoyable. Every team except Michigan, where every wrestler met or exceeded their seed, had a few disappointments and a few results where they were delighted. Happens. Our guys wrestled well overall, eight meeting or exceeding seed, two falling below their seed. Not to focus on those two, every loss is painful for every wrestler at the time, and six of our guys faced at least one loss during the weekend. Back to the room, final preparations, then on to Detroit.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS
The support for our wrestlers is amazing. I had the good fortune of hanging with many of the parents at times over the weekend, also got to see the support between wrestlers, and on and on. For the parents too, competitions are a bit of a roller coaster, so it is good for all the parents to be together in the stands. It's family, no question.

LINCOLN & THE PEOPLE
Loved our stay. The hotel was great, but it was the people that made the trip even more fun. We were treated well everywhere we went, food was great, and everything was within an easy walk. Plenty of opposing fans everywhere, as the arena appeared to be one-third (probably more) Nebraska, one-third Iowa, and one-third all others. Penn State traveled well, but we didn't have the presence of Nebraska and Iowa.
When out and about, even in the hotel, we met the nicest "fellow wrestling fans", with many of the conversations with Hawkeyes and Huskers. To the person, the shared love of wrestling showed through and the respect for opposing fans was great to see. It was the antithesis of HR, honestly and truly.

THE ARENA
Awesome facility (Pinnacle Bank Arena), but my one major disappointment of the weekend was the bout scoring. This was my 11th Big Ten tournament, and the worst in that regard. Only on the mat kiosk could a fan keep up with bout scores, and several were too far away or cocked in a way that they were hard to read. The jumbo-tron overhead had nothing all weekend, and the information strip all the way around the arena only had the wrestlers listed (no scores -- EVER). It was challenging.

MISCELLANEOUS
-- One team went home happier than the others. Michigan wrestled one heck of a tournament.
-- Next time, I'm flying to Omaha and driving to Lincoln.
-- Iowa fans were really upset after the tournament was over. At the hotel bar, and at dinner we sat with and among Iowa fans. They did not hold back their anger and disappointment for the team's medical forfeits. I can't repeat what some said.
-- Met Willie at Buzzard Billy's (great restaurant, btw) after the finals. We had a nice Penn State group there, and he started several "WE ARE" chants, just for kicks.
-- Penn State fans were upbeat and really positive after the tournament, all looking forward to NCAA's.
 
-- Next time, I'm flying to Omaha and driving to Lincoln.
Very sorry to hear about your travels back. For future refrence, we flew in/out through Omaha and it was a breeze. Not because I had any inside info, but because we had more options and, even with the rental car cost, was considerably cheaper than Lincoln. (It may have also helped that our departure was later in the day Monday, so we avoided that awful early Monday morning weather.)

Also agree on all points about the jumbo-tron. To much valuable real estate wasted by showing the four bouts instead of the items you noted. Especially since the video of the bouts wasn't any bigger than what we could already see live...
 
Very well stated Roar!! I am a Hawkeye fan and always read your boards but never post. I did get to have a few cocktails with some PSU fans and had an awesome visit to say the least. The MFF were extremely disappointing. The NCAA needs to figure out a solution for this and soon! Best of Luck see y'all in about 9 days.
 
Easy way to deal with MFF’s... you lose 5-10 positions on seeds. Pretty simple. Drop seeds no matter who you are. Why would anyone not wrestle if healthy? I hope we aren’t going into “Opt Out” mode like in bowl games....
 
Easy way to deal with MFF’s... you lose 5-10 positions on seeds. Pretty simple. Drop seeds no matter who you are. Why would anyone not wrestle if healthy? I hope we aren’t going into “Opt Out” mode like in bowl games....
if you weigh in and then mff it is a loss on your record match or tournament.
 
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An Uber from Pittsburgh to SC? Ouch. Was that cheaper than an one way rental? Or nothing available?
I'll share the whole story. After two flight changes while in Lincoln, we managed to get to Chicago around 6:45pm. The Chicago to State College flight was also delayed (scheduled to depart at about 6pm), so we hoofed it two concourses and were rebooked to State College, with 5 minutes to spare. A 10pm arrival was the plan. We approached the runway at St. College airport, and were literally almost touching down when the nose went up and we didn't land. Pilot came on and said we were being diverted to Pittsburgh due to high winds in the State College area. Once in Pittsburgh, we were told they were refueling and would attempt another trip to State College. After about an hour and a half, we were told to disembark, that the tires had two gashes (upon inspection) and needed to be replaced. Spare tires were in Chicago and would not arrive until morning. The plane was grounded for the night! Our choices: get a room and wait until Tuesday or get an Uber. It was approaching 1am, and the rental car places were closed. Four of us called for an Uber, and after about 15 minutes, one driver finally took the ride. It was $280 to State College from the Pittsburgh Airport. I was home at 4:10am, and with my car still at the Harrisburg airport. Picked it up this afternoon. There's actually more to the story, but you get the gist. It's humorous now that I'm home.
 
I'll share the whole story. After two flight changes while in Lincoln, we managed to get to Chicago around 6:45pm. The Chicago to State College flight was also delayed (scheduled to depart at about 6pm), so we hoofed it two concourses and were rebooked to State College, with 5 minutes to spare. A 10pm arrival was the plan. We approached the runway at St. College airport, and were literally almost touching down when the nose went up and we didn't land. Pilot came on and said we were being diverted to Pittsburgh due to high winds in the State College area. Once in Pittsburgh, we were told they were refueling and would attempt another trip to State College. After about an hour and a half, we were told to disembark, that the tires had two gashes (upon inspection) and needed to be replaced. Spare tires were in Chicago and would not arrive until morning. The plane was grounded for the night! Our choices: get a room and wait until Tuesday or get an Uber. It was approaching 1am, and the rental car places were closed. Four of us called for an Uber, and after about 15 minutes, one driver finally took the ride. It was $280 to State College from the Pittsburgh Airport. I was home at 4:10am, and with my car still at the Harrisburg airport. Picked it up this afternoon. There's actually more to the story, but you get the gist. It's humorous now that I'm home.
Ouch. That's a long night. That's actually a lot cheaper than I would have guessed for the Uber ride.

I can't believe they let the plane begin approach then turn them away.
 
Ouch. That's a long night. That's actually a lot cheaper than I would have guessed for the Uber ride.

I can't believe they let the plane begin approach then turn them away.
As a pilot - I would think that the diversion was likely the pilots decision to return because he wasn’t comfortable with the approach.
 
As a pilot - I would think that the diversion was likely the pilots decision to return because he wasn’t comfortable with the approach.
We were never told, but did know there were wind warnings in Centre County until 1am. Not that it matters at all, our pilot was a ‘she’, and met with us after de-planing.
 
After a crappy travel day, I just got home a few hours ago. Ice & snow in Chicago, one plane replacement, wind conditions in State College and a slit landing tire (that needed to be replaced) caused missed connections, three flight changes and I still ended up taking an Uber from Pittsburgh to State College area just to get home before the sun came up. This is a recap of our trip from a tired old man.

THE WRESTLING
Second-to-none, overall the wrestling was fabulous. Aside from 20 or so medical defaults (14 of which I believe were in placement bouts), it was thoroughly enjoyable. Every team except Michigan, where every wrestler met or exceeded their seed, had a few disappointments and a few results where they were delighted. Happens. Our guys wrestled well overall, eight meeting or exceeding seed, two falling below their seed. Not to focus on those two, every loss is painful for every wrestler at the time, and six of our guys faced at least one loss during the weekend. Back to the room, final preparations, then on to Detroit.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS
The support for our wrestlers is amazing. I had the good fortune of hanging with many of the parents at times over the weekend, also got to see the support between wrestlers, and on and on. For the parents too, competitions are a bit of a roller coaster, so it is good for all the parents to be together in the stands. It's family, no question.

LINCOLN & THE PEOPLE
Loved our stay. The hotel was great, but it was the people that made the trip even more fun. We were treated well everywhere we went, food was great, and everything was within an easy walk. Plenty of opposing fans everywhere, as the arena appeared to be one-third (probably more) Nebraska, one-third Iowa, and one-third all others. Penn State traveled well, but we didn't have the presence of Nebraska and Iowa.
When out and about, even in the hotel, we met the nicest "fellow wrestling fans", with many of the conversations with Hawkeyes and Huskers. To the person, the shared love of wrestling showed through and the respect for opposing fans was great to see. It was the antithesis of HR, honestly and truly.

THE ARENA
Awesome facility (Pinnacle Bank Arena), but my one major disappointment of the weekend was the bout scoring. This was my 11th Big Ten tournament, and the worst in that regard. Only on the mat kiosk could a fan keep up with bout scores, and several were too far away or cocked in a way that they were hard to read. The jumbo-tron overhead had nothing all weekend, and the information strip all the way around the arena only had the wrestlers listed (no scores -- EVER). It was challenging.

MISCELLANEOUS
-- One team went home happier than the others. Michigan wrestled one heck of a tournament.
-- Next time, I'm flying to Omaha and driving to Lincoln.
-- Iowa fans were really upset after the tournament was over. At the hotel bar, and at dinner we sat with and among Iowa fans. They did not hold back their anger and disappointment for the team's medical forfeits. I can't repeat what some said.
-- Met Willie at Buzzard Billy's (great restaurant, btw) after the finals. We had a nice Penn State group there, and he started several "WE ARE" chants, just for kicks.
-- Penn State fans were upbeat and really positive after the tournament, all looking forward to NCAA's.
I can’t imagine what an Uber ride from Pittsburgh to SC cost.

Edit: I see that now. Did you take any tolls? Seems pretty light to me. Gas, time, wear and tear. The person has to come home too.

I live in Pittsburgh and would have helped out folks in a bind just to talk wrestling for a few hours in the car. I once was stranded in Philadelphia coming home from Portland, Maine and the person I was working with had her daughters minor surgery in the morning. While we were waiting for hotel vouchers, a guy said I just got a one way car rental back to Pittsburgh airport. We hopped along and I talked to him about diamond drill bits for 2 hours on the turnpike until he finally fell asleep. My boss was out in 15 minutes. I pulled into the airport as the sun was rising.
 
Last edited:
We were never told, but did know there were wind warnings in Centre County until 1am. Not that it matters at all, our pilot was a ‘she’, and met with us after de-planing.
Thanks for the correction on the proper pronoun!
 
After a crappy travel day, I just got home a few hours ago. Ice & snow in Chicago, one plane replacement, wind conditions in State College and a slit landing tire (that needed to be replaced) caused missed connections, three flight changes and I still ended up taking an Uber from Pittsburgh to State College area just to get home before the sun came up. This is a recap of our trip from a tired old man.

THE WRESTLING
Second-to-none, overall the wrestling was fabulous. Aside from 20 or so medical defaults (14 of which I believe were in placement bouts), it was thoroughly enjoyable. Every team except Michigan, where every wrestler met or exceeded their seed, had a few disappointments and a few results where they were delighted. Happens. Our guys wrestled well overall, eight meeting or exceeding seed, two falling below their seed. Not to focus on those two, every loss is painful for every wrestler at the time, and six of our guys faced at least one loss during the weekend. Back to the room, final preparations, then on to Detroit.

SUPPORT SYSTEMS
The support for our wrestlers is amazing. I had the good fortune of hanging with many of the parents at times over the weekend, also got to see the support between wrestlers, and on and on. For the parents too, competitions are a bit of a roller coaster, so it is good for all the parents to be together in the stands. It's family, no question.

LINCOLN & THE PEOPLE
Loved our stay. The hotel was great, but it was the people that made the trip even more fun. We were treated well everywhere we went, food was great, and everything was within an easy walk. Plenty of opposing fans everywhere, as the arena appeared to be one-third (probably more) Nebraska, one-third Iowa, and one-third all others. Penn State traveled well, but we didn't have the presence of Nebraska and Iowa.
When out and about, even in the hotel, we met the nicest "fellow wrestling fans", with many of the conversations with Hawkeyes and Huskers. To the person, the shared love of wrestling showed through and the respect for opposing fans was great to see. It was the antithesis of HR, honestly and truly.

THE ARENA
Awesome facility (Pinnacle Bank Arena), but my one major disappointment of the weekend was the bout scoring. This was my 11th Big Ten tournament, and the worst in that regard. Only on the mat kiosk could a fan keep up with bout scores, and several were too far away or cocked in a way that they were hard to read. The jumbo-tron overhead had nothing all weekend, and the information strip all the way around the arena only had the wrestlers listed (no scores -- EVER). It was challenging.

MISCELLANEOUS
-- One team went home happier than the others. Michigan wrestled one heck of a tournament.
-- Next time, I'm flying to Omaha and driving to Lincoln.
-- Iowa fans were really upset after the tournament was over. At the hotel bar, and at dinner we sat with and among Iowa fans. They did not hold back their anger and disappointment for the team's medical forfeits. I can't repeat what some said.
-- Met Willie at Buzzard Billy's (great restaurant, btw) after the finals. We had a nice Penn State group there, and he started several "WE ARE" chants, just for kicks.
-- Penn State fans were upbeat and really positive after the tournament, all looking forward to NCAA's.
Roar goes to Lincoln and all I got was a photo! Thanks pal!
 
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