Is it just me?

[lookleft goright]

Or are things getting silly? I just saw Ramos give a tour of the facilities at UNC. Are you kidding me? Not only do they have huge weight room and huge cardio area. They have a recovery center where the guys can get 3-6 items a day. Juice, Gatorade, smoothies, sandwiches etc. Then they have a relaxation room with a fireplace and couches etc. The word pampered and spoiled come to mind.

I am guessing that the Hawks will have some this their facility and tOSU already has some of that along with Mich. and some others. It sure seems like it costs more anymore to attract the kids to the program and the small schools are not going to have much of a chance in the future. Something about it just does not seem right to me. Am I too old fashioned or just seeing clearly?

 

[moosemonster]

I have never thought of wrestlers as pampered.

 

[IRONBIRD]

I am with you on this, it is way out of control. I know it is not the same , but was looking at the Alabama Football facilities and had to laugh!

Their budget was 88 Million! The lockers have an overhead shelve for the shoulder pads with a air vent built in to dry them!!!

Certainly a l o n g way away from DII Wrestling back in the day. We would jam 15 Wrestlers coaches and gear into a Dodge passenger van and travel all over the place.

We did get $5 a day meal money if it was an over night trip

 

[crablegs1]

Or are things getting silly? I just saw Ramos give a tour of the facilities at UNC. Are you kidding me? Not only do they have huge weight room and huge cardio area. They have a recovery center where the guys can get 3-6 items a day. Juice, Gatorade, smoothies, sandwiches etc. Then they have a relaxation room with a fireplace and couches etc. The word pampered and spoiled come to mind.

I am guessing that the Hawks will have some this their facility and tOSU already has some of that along with Mich. and some others. It sure seems like it costs more anymore to attract the kids to the program and the small schools are not going to have much of a chance in the future. Something about it just does not seem right to me. Am I too old fashioned or just seeing clearly?

This is not new. These kinds of facilities have been around, even for wrestling, for over a decade. I wrestled at a very small D1 program 10 years ago that had a small lounge with coaches/TVs and a big weight room with unlimited Gatorade, chocolate milk, and snacks. I visited several other schools before I committed and they all had these types of facilities.

 

[rustynailhawk]

13-14years ago in college, I was friends with a lot of the Iowa team. I was able to go in the tunnel and back with them and wait for a talk with Z after the dual. They had a buffet type thing with fruit and stuff but nothing fancy about it.

 

[sdvike]

A good coach can take some of that luster away but yes hard for most to compete with for the top recruits.

 

[SPOONER]

We're looking to spend $20M+ on a wrestling facility and this is just now occurring to you?

 

[artradley]

Universities have lots of money but they can’t pay their athletes. So lavish them with perks.

 

[Tcalumet]

I have never thought of wrestlers as pampered.

Yeah we need to step up our game here for sure. These guys are putting their bodies through hell daily - providing a “spa like” environment to heal in or recooperate isn’t a bad thing.

 

[Exo]

I realize this isn't apples to apples but a few years ago on ESPN I believe, they did a behind the scenes walk through the Kentucky Men's Basketball facilities. It was simply unbelievable. It looked like the accommodations of a Saudi prince. There may have been more money spent on the leisure rooms than the training rooms.

That kind of stuff would be hard for any 17-18 year old to turn down, granted you have to be the best of the best to even be considered to attend Kentucky but still.

So yeah, this new facility will be worth the money IMO.

 

[lookleft goright]

We're looking to spend $20M+ on a wrestling facility and this is just now occurring to you?

So I am a slow learner.

 

[Toughawk]

While the vents for the shoulder pads may seem lavish, it probably is more to do with them being clean and preventing skin funk. I think that is a great idea.

 

[pennstaterincarolina]

I’ve worked out in the UNC facility a bunch. It’s pretty awesome. Certainly a big selling point for all their Olympic sports. Still, hard to see it outweighing program tradition/success though. Maybe it factors in when comparing with a school of a similar tier. Doubt it outweighs the interest from a Brands, Sanderson, Ryan, Koll, etc. no matter how good their facilities are.

 

[IRONBIRD]

While the vents for the shoulder pads may seem lavish, it probably is more to do with them being clean and preventing skin funk. I think that is a great idea.

Come on!!! I have never heard of or have seen anything like it! Football has been around a pretty long time too!!!

I do get the idea of these over the top facilities to draw in kids. the question is, what is next??? You going to have a massage parlor so they can have their tushy rubbed!!!!

Pleased google some of these big programs, it is getting stupid!!!

 

[Toughawk]

Come on!!! I have never heard of or have seen anything like it! Football has been around a pretty long time too!!!

I do get the idea of these over the top facilities to draw in kids. the question is, what is next??? You going to have a massage parlor so they can have their tushy rubbed!!!!

Pleased google some of these big programs, it is getting stupid!!!

I'm not saying things are not over the top.

Remember the smell of a jr. high or high school football locker room?

The most skin funk issue I've ever had in my coaching career came when the football team did not clean their pads and put them in the storage area where our HVAC stuff sat and then that air was pumped into our room. We had issues we'd never had before and cleaned multiple times a day.

If I were a betting man, I'd put money on it that it is for sanitary reasons.

 

[burk11]

Real quick a show of hands, how many of you guys have ever been in, or even seen the wrestling room in the old field house of the University of Iowa? Third floor, north side, up three flights of stairs (newbies need to visit). How many national champions came out of that room? What it lacked in class and style, it made up in character!

 

[Themanintheyellowhat]

Real quick a show of hands, how many of you guys have ever been in, or even seen the wrestling room in the old field house of the University of Iowa? Third floor, north side, up three flights of stairs (newbies need to visit). How many national champions came out of that room? What it lacked in class and style, it made up in character!

I loved that room. It was disgusting!

 

[thom67]

Been there as my brother wrestled there.

 

[SansSouci]

Iowa doesn’t need facility’s like that. Just bring back rubber sweat suits and invest in four garbage cans for each corner of the room to dump sweat, spit and puke in. I’ll pay for the upgrade.

 

[OldDKL]

Our high school coach took us there to watch practice one day. I remember the Banach's getting in a fight and Gable making them hit the heavy bag. It was nicer than our high school room at the time. Now my high school has a room that is way bigger and nicer. Are the wrestlers better? No. That was a different time. Almost all the wrestlers were kids who grew up on family farms, throwing hale bales and castrating pigs. There was an toughness that came from getting up early on a winter morning and going out in the cold to do chores. Recreation was pheasant hunting until your fingers were numb and you could no longer feel your face, not playing video games. The hero's of the high school were the varsity wrestlers and if you qualified for state you were treated special by everyone in the community. Now wrestling has to compete with other activities, sports and entertainment for attention.

 

[grapplefann]

Or are things getting silly? I just saw Ramos give a tour of the facilities at UNC. Are you kidding me? Not only do they have huge weight room and huge cardio area. They have a recovery center where the guys can get 3-6 items a day. Juice, Gatorade, smoothies, sandwiches etc. Then they have a relaxation room with a fireplace and couches etc. The word pampered and spoiled come to mind.

I am guessing that the Hawks will have some this their facility and tOSU already has some of that along with Mich. and some others. It sure seems like it costs more anymore to attract the kids to the program and the small schools are not going to have much of a chance in the future. Something about it just does not seem right to me. Am I too old fashioned or just seeing clearly?

I see things the same way, so you must be very old . . .