Huge props to Kansas City for NCAAs

[Dark Energy]

Hoping the championships are held here more.  A lot more.  Great setup.  Low cost.  Arena was outstanding.  Central.  Lots of food and drink around Arena.  Free tram to get you to fun area with more good food near river.  
 

City was clean.  People were nice.  All around great.  Really hoping this city gets the event more often.

 

[VakAttack]

[MidwestMan]

Thanks for posting this comment.  I'm looking forward to hearing what others think about the facility and overall experience.  I'm from the area and know what we have, and most definitely biased.  Just good to hear from people that have been to several other host cities and venues to see how we stack up.

 

[VakAttack]

I've been to only three tournaments, but this is by far my favorite host city.

[Dark Energy]

@MidwestMan- hoping others there do chime in.  I thought the whole setup was awesome.  Arena was really impressive.  Food lines were not long.  Prices for food in arena were ok but better than on have seen elsewhere.  Great special effects s in arena.  Bathrooms kept clean and stocked (from what I saw).  
 

Local restaurant food prices well less than East coast.  Had some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had.  And I’ve had Italian.   Many places to hang out close to arena.  

Need to get back to get to the WWI memorial and museum.  Looks amazing.

I could go on … 

 

 

[The_KC_Godfather]

4 hours ago, Dark Energy said:

@MidwestMan- hoping others there do chime in.  I thought the whole setup was awesome.  Arena was really impressive.  Food lines were not long.  Prices for food in arena were ok but better than on have seen elsewhere.  Great special effects s in arena.  Bathrooms kept clean and stocked (from what I saw).  
 

Local restaurant food prices well less than East coast.  Had some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had.  And I’ve had Italian.   Many places to hang out close to arena.  

Need to get back to get to the WWI memorial and museum.  Looks amazing.

I could go on … 

 

 

Now I have to hear which Italian restaurant…?

[Scouts Honor]

4 hours ago, Dark Energy said:

@MidwestMan- hoping others there do chime in.  I thought the whole setup was awesome.  Arena was really impressive.  Food lines were not long.  Prices for food in arena were ok but better than on have seen elsewhere.  Great special effects s in arena.  Bathrooms kept clean and stocked (from what I saw).  
 

Local restaurant food prices well less than East coast.  Had some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had.  And I’ve had Italian.   Many places to hang out close to arena.  

Need to get back to get to the WWI memorial and museum.  Looks amazing.

I could go on … 

 

 

mm italian!

where did you go? 

[feet2back]

18 minutes ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

Now I have to hear which Italian restaurant…?

Hearing Casey's Pizza

[The_KC_Godfather]

I’m guessing Garozzo’s. Owner grew up on the hill in St. Louis, which has the best Italian food in the US west of Jersey…

[Dark Energy]

40 minutes ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

I’m guessing Garozzo’s. Owner grew up on the hill in St. Louis, which has the best Italian food in the US west of Jersey…

Winner winner.  Good people as well from my conversations with a couple of them.  

[Show_Me]

15 hours ago, Dark Energy said:

Hoping the championships are held here more.  A lot more.  Great setup.  Low cost.  Arena was outstanding.  Central.  Lots of food and drink around Arena.  Free tram to get you to fun area with more good food near river.  

City was clean.  People were nice.  All around great.  Really hoping this city gets the event more often.

Agree 100%.  My 21st NCAA & this year was arguably the best I have personally experienced.

[KennyEBHS]

I have been there twice for the championships and it is the best venue. Everything is walking distance. Let's see how difficult Philly will be next year. The city is not easy to navigate.

[MinnesotaMustang]

I agree - Kansas City was awesome. Power and Light district made for a great time and some pretty interesting people watching Saturday night post-finals (if you were at Big Sky, you know what I’m talking about). Tons of hotels within walking distance. The scooters, the trolley, etc. all made it great. 

While I was most excited for the bbq, my favorite spot had to be Town Topic. Ended up there every day. Great burgers, heard the breakfast was excellent as well  

After eating at most of the bbq places that were recommended my rankings are as follows:

1. LC’s

2. Jack Stack

3. Q39

4. Char Bar

5. Joe’s KC BBQ 

[flyingcement]

17 hours ago, VakAttack said:

I've been to only three tournaments, but this is by far my favorite host city.

I'll see you there next year man.  Philadelphia 2025 - Saturday night is my 40th birthday.  I've already convinced a few others to join me (guys who have very limited understanding of wrestling, but love sports in general and drinking)

[VakAttack]

13 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

I'll see you there next year man.  Philadelphia 2025 - Saturday night is my 40th birthday.  I've already convinced a few others to join me (guys who have very limited understanding of wrestling, but love sports in general and drinking)

Definitely! 

[Gantry]

Concur with everyone, so much to do near the arena and it was a fantastic venue.   Getting in and out of the venue was easy, as was trying to pee after the session when 293874398789 other people need to do the same.  No crazy lines for food or drink, etc etc. 

Heck, even Ubers after sessions wasn't too bad - we had a BRUTAL wait in the cold in Tulsa that forced me to drive there and deal with parking the rest of the trip. 

Edited March 25 by Gantry

[Dogbone]

Agree, I thought KC did a great job and hope they get in the regular rotation.

Not KC related, NCAA Championships suggested changes:

- Put the video reviews on the jumbotron.  

- I'm a fan of the independent review but they need to speed it up.   Let them look at it 90 -120 seconds from different angles and have them score the match as they see it.  If it's not clear then no change.   Also, there should be no need for back to back challenges. 

- Can we please stop doing all of the 7th places matches at the same time, then the 5th, then the 3rd?  Let's go back to weight by weight.  Don't hold matches if its a time issue. 

Edited March 25 by Dogbone

[Winners Circle]

1 hour ago, Dogbone said:

Agree, I thought KC did a great job and hope they get in the regular rotation.

Not KC related, NCAA Championships suggested changes:

- Put the video reviews on the jumbotron.  

- I'm a fan of the independent review but they need to speed it up.   Let them look at it 90 -120 seconds from different angles and have them score the match as they see it.  If it's not clear then no change.   Also, there should be no need for back to back challenges. 

- Can we please stop doing all of the 7th places matches at the same time, then the 5th, then the 3rd?  Let's go back to weight by weight.  Don't hold matches if its a time issue. 

I agree. 3 mats. One for 3rd, one for 5th, one for 7th. Run the whole weight class at the same time.

Also, I can't be the only one. But there is absolutely NO need to start that session (5) at 10:00 AM. Wrestling was done by 12:30 and then a 5.5 hour break before finals. Start it at 11:00, just like the other two previous days. Done by 1:30. There's a reason why session 5 is the most skipped session. People are hungover and 10:00 AM is too early. Period.

[BobDole]

1 hour ago, Dogbone said:

- Can we please stop doing all of the 7th places matches at the same time, then the 5th, then the 3rd?  Let's go back to weight by weight.  Don't hold matches if its a time issue. 

That's an ESPN thing with the hard time slot they have.

[Winners Circle]

Agreed. My 8th championships. This one was best by far. I'd be more than ok with it being here every year. 

[Dogbone]

8 minutes ago, BobDole said:

That's an ESPN thing with the hard time slot they have.

I assumed this was probably the case. 

If they only have a 2 hour window then my only counter would be that ESPN doesn't need to come in for the start of consi-semis. Wait until the consi-semis are over (hold matches until 11:00) to go live to the world when the medal matches start.   

 

[BobDole]

42 minutes ago, Dogbone said:

I assumed this was probably the case. 

If they only have a 2 hour window then my only counter would be that ESPN doesn't need to come in for the start of consi-semis. Wait until the consi-semis are over (hold matches until 11:00) to go live to the world when the medal matches start.   

 

The end time is the issue, not the total time. They needed to be done by noon and couldn't go over.

[Dark Energy]

46 minutes ago, Dogbone said:

I assumed this was probably the case. 

If they only have a 2 hour window then my only counter would be that ESPN doesn't need to come in for the start of consi-semis. Wait until the consi-semis are over (hold matches until 11:00) to go live to the world when the medal matches start.   

 

Wow.  You were really hung over eh?

[Silver]

Great place, I've been going since 93 I would go back here many times over.

[BarSeries]

Do you think US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be rescheduled soon? (was supposed to be there in 2020)