Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion High School CONTACT KU TODAY! ANOTHER $26.67 MILLION!

Coach Neil,

You are correct we will probably continue to get responses like this for a while. This is not going to be easy. They are just giving the company line answers right now. But you are also right that if we just keep after them, that sooner or later they will have to listen. They have to realize we are serious and our interest is very strong.

I used to have a job where I got called on by salepeople all the time. I had some that got my initial NO and they never showed up again. I also had some who would come to face that NO ten times or more. Who do you think eventually got me to buy?

In my years of advocacy I have learned that once a form letter starts going out that people are starting to make a difference and being heard. Here is a copy of the letter I just received.

Mike,

Thank you very much for your interest in Kansas Athletics. Obviously, our recent announcements concerning ESPN and adidas have all of us excited about the future of our program.

While we appreciate your desire for us to add additional sports to the 18 already represented by the outstanding student-athletes at the University of Kansas, at this time we are in no position to implement new programs. It is imperative that we get our current programs on solid ground prior to even contemplating adding new sports.

We never want to be in the situation of a few years ago when programs had to be dropped due to lack of financial support. Ultimately, we look forward to the day when we will be able to implement new programs.

If you have additional questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you again for your support of Kansas Athletics.

Sincerely,

Brandon Macneill

Mike Furches and Sean McCarthy, we need to get our group started. Mike Juby has given me an enthusiastic go ahead and offered help from the USAW Kansas if we need it. He has already started that by sending word out to all the Officers and Directors of our intention and desire to organize a group. I have already received an offer from one of the Officers to do that. So we need to set up an initial meeting. Mike, it might be best to have it in the KC area but I am open on this. I am sure Sean would be willing to travel for the meeting too. For that matter if the initial meeting is smaller less than 15-20 people, we could have it at my house in Overland Park on a Saturday or Sunday. Mike and Sean you two need to get in touch with me to tell me what is best for you on an initial meeting. If anyone else really wants to be part of this committee from the start let me know. Thanks, Vince

I love the sport of wrestling and I love Kansas wrestling. I've sat back and watched this forum grow from the first post. My ONLY dissagreement is this. We as a state don't even begin to support our teams that we have. I know in Southeast Kansas we have a NATIONAL CHAMPION juco team and how many people come to support? How many people bought shirts from them to help pay for their team rings that they earned and deserve?? I know I have and did, but as all of you are mentioning in this KU post, one person cannot do it alone. I am not saying I am the only one, but still. Lets start packing some college gyms around the state. Labette, Colby, Neosho, Hays, Neuman... etc.. Lets take care of the kids we have then other schools will see that and start to add programs. Lets watch RPW and make it a household name. I believe wholeheartedly in wrestling and wrestling in Kansas, but lets help some kids out.

I don't disagree with that. We should be supporting wrestling at all levels including high schools and smaller colleges. I think that type of support can also be a byproduct of this new committee. But it is still every important for us to bring NCAA Division I wrestling to Kansas. Call me a dreamer but I eventually want to see it at Kansas University, Kansas State University, and Wichita State University. No reason in my book why someday we can't have the same situation as Oklahoma where they have strong football, basketball and wrestling teams at their major universities. I believe a strong NCAA Division I team can only help create more interest at the local high schools and smaller colleges too.

If he was a basketball player at Iowa chances are he hates wrestling because he couldn't get a woman off the competition field.

Everyone who has been posting on this topic and has expressed an interest in getting involved in the effort, please read Sean McCarthy's announcement of our first group meeting. The details can be found in the Breaking News Section of the Home Page.

Also if you are already in the process of writing petition letters to the various parties listed, please mail the letters as Sean suggests and send Sean a copy at the address provided. Yesterday I read this advice on writing a Congressman on themat.com and I think it would be applicable for the Chancellor or Athletic Department too. This advide is from Lawrence Rudner, Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation:

"Your letter should go to your Senator or Representative and should be no longer than one page: two brief paragraphs are best. Identify yourself, your affiliation, and your major concern in the first paragraph. You should describe why the concern is important and worthwhile in the second paragraph. End with your postal address. Keep it concise!"

From the forum homepage:

Please do not post the same message in multiple forums.

Richard: On your request I deleted that post. I know we are not suppose to do that. I started doing that when I first introduced this topic because I felt it was important to try to get as many of the Kansas wrestling community involved in this effort to get a NCAA Division I wrestling team at a Kansas university. I know that I used to spend all of my time on the Kids Forum and would rarely visit the high school, freestyle, college or women's forums. I still think it is important to recruit new people from our entire Kansas wrestling community into this effort.

I agree though that it clutters the forums. I will stop putting the same post on more than one forum. Mike Juby is generously letting us report much of our current action on the Breaking News section of the Home Page so it is less necessary to use the individual forums for this purpose.

Thank you for keeping in line on this policy.

Richard:

I just add one other item of explanation as to why I have used more than one forum for the same basic message. I feel very strongly about this issue that Kansas should have at least one NCAA Division I wrestling team. It bugs me enough to work very hard to try in some way to make it happen. It motivates me enough to want to be willing to contribute time and money to make it happen. I firmly believe if we could get the entire Kansas wrestling community motivated in the same way to make it happen that there is NO WAY IT WOULD NOT HAPPEN! I would just love to see everyone as bothered by our current status as some of the people that are working with this new advocacy group for Kansas Division I wrestling.

So anyway I think my intentions are for a good purpose but my forum execution is probably not good. I agree that I need to start operating more within the forum rules.

From the Wichita Eagle:
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/columnists/bob_lutz/qa_forum.html?forumId=868

Q.

Kansas nationally has had tons of talent leave the state to wrestle for other programs and have come up with multiple All Americans in DI, DII, DIII, NJCAA, Women's and NCWA in the last 5 years. To boot they have won at least 1 individual National title in each division, so when will the DI schools in Kansas get on the ball and keep the talent home?
Swayz, Chapman,KS 5/28/05


A.

Wrestling is not regarded as a revenue sport by the Division I schools in Kansas and to start a wrestling program would also mean compliance with Title IX, another roadblock in any such effort.
Bob Lutz 5/28/05

We may not get anything helpful from Bob Lutz (whom I assume is a Wichita Sportswriter), but what I like is it shows that Swayz is being active in the effort. I think it would be good to get some reporting in Kansas sports pages about the lack of a NCAA Division I team in Kansas and our current efforts to establish a team at a Kansas university.

I also think the more people we have being active like Swayz is, the more likely that this will eventually happen. It can be something small things like alerting a local sportswriter to our cause or writing a letter to the AD, Chancellor, Board of Regents, Governor, Kansas government representative, etc., or getting a petition from Sean McCarthy and getting about 20 to 100 signatures. I really think the little things will add up and build momentum.

Please go to the College Forum and the topic:"KU It Is Time To Add Wrestling and read my post concerning the Rainy Day Fund topic on the Basketball Forum of this website:

http://boards.kusports.com/

I am going to duplicate this post on the Kids forum to reach everyone possible. I hope the forum moderators will forgive me.

u had some pretty positive comeback from that post on there furches.

I'm still at it but I love this reply better than Bob Lutz's: http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/qa_forum.html?forumId=1707


Q.

With 2 high school All Americans this year in the metro area plus several college All Americans in wrestling throughout the country from Kansas and 2 new college programs in Wichita alone there has been very little coverage of wrestling. Wrestling is 5th in Kansas in terms of high school participation which ranks well above gymnastics which someone was crying about, so where is our fair shake?
Swayz, Chapman,KS 6/02/05


A.

I think your definition of "very little coverage" and mine are probably different. I would guess that we devote more coverage to wrestling than all high school sports except football and basketball. Of course, with boys and girls basketball in the same season, it can appear that wrestling gets the short end of the stick. But this season we began a weekly high school wrestling notebook, covered the best Thursday duals and were at weekend tournaments more often than not. Then we cover the heck out of the state tournament. I think one thing that hurts wrestling coverage in Kansas, not just at The Eagle, is the lack of Division I wrestling programs in the state. Makes it much tougher for us to keep up with the state's best wrestlers once they get to college.
Kirk Seminoff 6/02/05

I think that it's safe to say there will be no wrestling program in Kansas at the division one level anytime soon.

i agree but it would be cool if there was.

If everyone believed this and consequently became apathetic about the effort, then it will not happen. In my opinion, it is going to take contributions from the entire Kansas wrestling community to one day make it happen. There is a group of us that firmly believe that wrestling in Kansas would benefit immensely if a Kansas university would add Divison I wrestling for Men and Women right now. And yes, Afternoon Delight, it would be very cool if it happened. Imagine if we had been able over the last three or four years to have just shot up to Lawrence, Manhattan or Wichita to watch Zach, Joe J, Shawn, Matt, Scott, Justin and the rest of our Division I contingent go against the top talent in the country. What if one of our Kansas schools had recruited Cael Sanderson?

billy_mcjackson_ripjc, everyone who is actively involved in this recent renewed effort is realistic about difficulty of this endeavor. There are many professional people involved in this effort. We realize how long it has been since there was Division I wrestling in Kansas and how many wrestling programs have been dropped since 1972 due to budgetary and Title IX reasons. We were told by Gonz Mendina at our last meeting in Overland Park that it might take up to ten years to make it happen. I believe that our group is committed to that type of long term effort. Several people have put in some time and personal expense into this effort already.

I guess what I am saying is that throwing water on the fire is not going to be helpful. Why don't you try throwing another log on the fire instead?

Edited: By the way, even though we realize that it might take up to ten years of effort to make it happen, we are all hopeful that it will be a lot sooner.

It's official Lutz is an idiot...totally contradicting a fellow writer of articles being written...this was announced a while back wasn't it that Newman will have Women's wrestling?

Q.

I know Mark Stovall is the men's wrestling coach for Newman University, but who is taking over head coaching duties for the new Women's wrestling program at Newman?
Swayz, Chapman,KS 6/01/05


A.

Women's wrestling? I wasn't aware Newman was going to offer women's wrestling. But I'd pay to watch.
Bob Lutz 6/03/05