Rating Tulsa - How'd they do?

[Warm Up Champ]

Lots of gloom and doom from many leading up to the tourney.  Lack of lodging, lack of food/drink nearby, pricey flights, etc, etc.

Now that is over what are your thoughts?  How was the arena, the town, the overall weekend experience?

[Fudge Tunnel]

Arena - 5/10.  Old building, bad food, not letting us know who's on what mat, tiny big-screens.  Ease of beer access is the only reason the rating is as high as it is 

The town - 2/10.  I'd give it a 1/10 if it wasn't for the lack of traffic

Overall experience - 8/10 (because of the great wrestling, and my son going to his 1st NCAA's and having a blast)

Edited March 20, 2023 by Fudge Tunnel

[BobDole]

Arena 4/10- Been attending for the last 16 years and by far the worst arena as far as space in the back. The floor space was great as there was plenty of room around the mats. Floor space is the only reason the arena got a 4.

Town 3/10- I think Tulsa is a place you need to have experience in to get the lay of the land. Closing off streets around the arena was weird especially when most people are using GPS to get around. It was hard to get to your specific lot if that is what you were looking for. Downtown didn't have much past the couple bars right across the street. 

Hotels/Restaurants 4/10- Hotels were suspect and luckily I got into a decent one. Way too many Super 8's and not enough Holiday Inn Expresses. I only ate three meals out, but the food wasn't anything to write to mom about.

Wrestling 10/10- Exciting tournament from the starting whistle to the last. 

Weather 1/10- Horrible weather, cold, windy, ugh.... come on Oklahoma get that together.

It was better than expected, but somewhere I think would be better if I had been Tulsa before knowing all the nooks and crannies to find food and lodging.

[KCMO2]

Should have hosted Big 12's this year, and Natties next.  Would have given them more than just 2 weeks to get the kinks ironed out.

[Show_Me]

Agree with the majority of points made by Fudge Tunnel & Bob Dole.  I have attended every NCAA dating back to 2000 & Tulsa would be in my “Top 3 worst” for overall experience along with Auburn Hills & Des Moines.

I really hope it doesn’t return to Tulsa.

[nhs67]

Maybe it is just me, but I try to make the best of everything.

Add in that I have been to most of these towns fot competitions and for business purposes and that gives me that much of a leg up on you gents who have not.

To me this was right up there with the 2016 MSG Snyder over Gwiazdowski and the 2017 St. Louis Nickal over Dean for my favorites since probably Sanderson winning his 4th.  

The 11/10 for wrestling more or less overshadows anything else.  I didn't get too drunk and was able to attend with both my sons and son-in-law this year.

Next time it is in Tulsa y'all need to hit me up because if you're complaining about the food then you aren't doing it right.

[nhs67]

Oh, Arena 5/10, Town 2/10 (not built for this tournament right now)

[Offthemat]

The arena is downtown with limited walk-to accommodations.  Probably built with shorter, garth brooks concert type events in mind.  Most of Tulsa’s offerings are driving distance from there. 

[Quaker118]

The NCAA gets a zero for not getting the brackets printed correctly. They had time to make the adjustments after guys dropped out. It's the NCAA tournament for G-d sake! A total embarrassment. 
The wrestling gets a 10. The venue gets a 5. The Bob Dylan museum the main attraction. 

[ionel]

43 minutes ago, Quaker118 said:

The NCAA gets a zero for not getting the brackets printed correctly. They had time to make the adjustments after guys dropped out. It's the NCAA tournament for G-d sake! A total embarrassment. 
The wrestling gets a 10. The venue gets a 5. The Bob Dylan museum the main attraction. 

Folks still use printed brackets?  

[PortaJohn]

On 3/20/2023 at 5:00 PM, BobDole said:

Arena 4/10- Been attending for the last 16 years and by far the worst arena as far as space in the back. The floor space was great as there was plenty of room around the mats. Floor space is the only reason the arena got a 4.

Town 3/10- I think Tulsa is a place you need to have experience in to get the lay of the land. Closing off streets around the arena was weird especially when most people are using GPS to get around. It was hard to get to your specific lot if that is what you were looking for. Downtown didn't have much past the couple bars right across the street. 

Hotels/Restaurants 4/10- Hotels were suspect and luckily I got into a decent one. Way too many Super 8's and not enough Holiday Inn Expresses. I only ate three meals out, but the food wasn't anything to write to mom about.

Wrestling 10/10- Exciting tournament from the starting whistle to the last. 

Weather 1/10- Horrible weather, cold, windy, ugh.... come on Oklahoma get that together.

It was better than expected, but somewhere I think would be better if I had been Tulsa before knowing all the nooks and crannies to find food and lodging.

This review wont help you on the campaign trail

[Offthemat]

29 minutes ago, ionel said:

Folks still use printed brackets?  

You got a link?

[Southend]

Again, how did this po dunk town get an NCAA’ event? The wrestling community deserves better!

[ionel]

38 minutes ago, Offthemat said:

You got a link?

trackwrestling.com   

[LJB]

3 hours ago, nhs67 said:

Maybe it is just me, but I try to make the best of everything.

Add in that I have been to most of these towns fot competitions and for business purposes and that gives me that much of a leg up on you gents who have not.

To me this was right up there with the 2016 MSG Snyder over Gwiazdowski and the 2017 St. Louis Nickal over Dean for my favorites since probably Sanderson winning his 4th.  

The 11/10 for wrestling more or less overshadows anything else.  I didn't get too drunk and was able to attend with both my sons and son-in-law this year.

Next time it is in Tulsa y'all need to hit me up because if you're complaining about the food then you aren't doing it right.

i have not eaten well since leaving tulsa 10 years ago...

 

[Offthemat]

32 minutes ago, ionel said:

trackwrestling.com   

Printed brackets?

[ionel]

5 minutes ago, Offthemat said:

Printed brackets?

Ctrl P

[Idaho]

Tulsa was alright....I traveled around and saw what there was to see. Kind of a spread out city. I don't think I would ever go back. Wrestling was great. My seats were really good so I am not sure that I cared too much about the arena itself. It was pretty fast to get checked and get inside. Food was expensive like everywhere. Fan expo was decent. 

[ionel]

13 hours ago, Southend said:

Again, how did this po dunk town get an NCAA’ event? The wrestling community deserves better!

So the tournament should only be held in big blue states and big blue cities.  Folks in smaller cities, towns & rural America shouldn't be part of our sport.  How about enjoying discovering the diversity of this great country.  I remember going to National Duals (yes before Carl & Tommie nixed it) in Cleveland, fighting a major snow storm to get there, lots of snow and very cold, we basically went from small hotel room to arena & back, we didn't care, we went to watch wrestling not eat at 5☆ restaurants.

Maybe we should just rotate the tourney between Tokyo & Delhi, Chicago & NYC seem small to me.  :(

[82bordeaux]

I didn't have a huge issue with Tulsa except for the cost of air fare. It was ridiculous. And there needs to be more accommodations within walking distance of the arena. I found sufficient places to eat/drink without extraordinary wait times. The people of Tulsa were extremely friendly. That was nice to experience. And if you ever go to Tulsa, have breakfast at The Cherry St Kitchen. I'm sad that my flight was too early Sunday to have my third breakfast in a row there.

[Wrestleknownothing]

36 minutes ago, 82bordeaux said:

I didn't have a huge issue with Tulsa except for the cost of air fare. It was ridiculous. And there needs to be more accommodations within walking distance of the arena. I found sufficient places to eat/drink without extraordinary wait times. The people of Tulsa were extremely friendly. That was nice to experience. And if you ever go to Tulsa, have breakfast at The Cherry St Kitchen. I'm sad that my flight was too early Sunday to have my third breakfast in a row there.

Did you try Dime Store in Detroit for breakfast last year? If so, how did it compare to The Cherry St Kitchen? I ask because I was very impressed with Dime Store.

https://www.eatdimestore.com/

[Danny Deck]

14 hours ago, Southend said:

Again, how did this po dunk town get an NCAA’ event? The wrestling community deserves better!

They bid on it. 

Bids will open up again soon. If you want something different, I suggest you email the sports commissions in the cities you think it should be in along with the coach and AD for the school that makes sense to host it there. Should be a relatively easy case to make to the sports commission as it's roughly a 20 million economic impact.

[82bordeaux]

1 hour ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Did you try Dime Store in Detroit for breakfast last year? If so, how did it compare to The Cherry St Kitchen? I ask because I was very impressed with Dime Store.

https://www.eatdimestore.com/

We didn't eat anywhere in Detroit. Our suite had food included and it was outstanding. On St Patty's Day they had corned beef and cabbage, shepherd's pie, etc. Other days carved prime rib, and so on. This in addition to pizza/wings/dogs/etc the entire time.

[Formally140]

3 hours ago, ionel said:

So the tournament should only be held in big blue states and big blue cities.  Folks in smaller cities, towns & rural America shouldn't be part of our sport.  How about enjoying discovering the diversity of this great country.  I remember going to National Duals (yes before Carl & Tommie nixed it) in Cleveland, fighting a major snow storm to get there, lots of snow and very cold, we basically went from small hotel room to arena & back, we didn't care, we went to watch wrestling not eat at 5☆ restaurants.

Maybe we should just rotate the tourney between Tokyo & Delhi, Chicago & NYC seem small to me.  :(

Calm down. Big venues/events need the appropriate facilities and environment. NCAAs is a social event for the wrestling community.. not just a wrestling tournament. Many people get to see other people they haven’t seen or talked to in a long time. It being an “event” is what makes it special. 
 

Wanting a location with adequate much less actually good.. and most importantly.. ENOUGH hotels, bars, and food venues.. isn’t “dissing” on blue collar republican America the way you’re trying to say.. especially because Ohio and Missouri aren’t what one would call “blue” states…. and everyone was happy with those venues. 

 

 

[HighCrotch86]

Venue: I thought the venue was great.  Easy to get around and it's relatively new.  
Tulsa: Tulsa was cool!  Parking wasn't bad.  Plenty of brewpubs in the area. More than enough hotels and things to see and do. I drove, so I don't have an opinion on the flight options. Killkenney's (sp?) was a great spot for St. Patty's Day!
Event: I assume the NCAA handles the programming for the sessions, etc.  It was all pretty standard.

Overall, I enjoyed Tulsa more than some of the other places that I've traveled to for NC's over the last 30 years.