I'm using my ten-minute writing today to offer my criticism of last night's Beat The Streets events at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden which I attended:
Setting aside the wrestling—which was terrific—Beat The Streets was run as amateurishly as I’ve ever seen at a supposedly big time sporting event. On my ticket and everything I read online said the event would begin at 6:00; the wrestling didn’t start until at least 7:05. The event should have opened up with a big match (to get the crowd going), then followed with the high school matches. Any excitement or momentum for the event at the end of one match was wasted by the long delay before the start of the following match. The lack of space beyond the mat was a joke and twice, at least, risked serious injury to wrestlers. The match announcer was buffoonish, repeated obvious wrestling rules that surely everyone in attendance knew, and made a few comments that bordered on sexist. Robbie Smith, who could have been a good emcee, was given little direction or purpose. There was little, if any, special attention paid to the wrestling luminaries in attendance (like Dan Gable, etc.). Too many times the PA system cut out or the microphones didn’t work so you could not hear what was said about a match or between matches. This was not an inexpensive event to attend and its importance as a way to showcase our sport cannot be understated. The crowd was great and Jersey-biased, and the athletes certainly lived up to their obligations; Beat The Streets did not.
#beatthestreets #btsnyc
Setting aside the wrestling—which was terrific—Beat The Streets was run as amateurishly as I’ve ever seen at a supposedly big time sporting event. On my ticket and everything I read online said the event would begin at 6:00; the wrestling didn’t start until at least 7:05. The event should have opened up with a big match (to get the crowd going), then followed with the high school matches. Any excitement or momentum for the event at the end of one match was wasted by the long delay before the start of the following match. The lack of space beyond the mat was a joke and twice, at least, risked serious injury to wrestlers. The match announcer was buffoonish, repeated obvious wrestling rules that surely everyone in attendance knew, and made a few comments that bordered on sexist. Robbie Smith, who could have been a good emcee, was given little direction or purpose. There was little, if any, special attention paid to the wrestling luminaries in attendance (like Dan Gable, etc.). Too many times the PA system cut out or the microphones didn’t work so you could not hear what was said about a match or between matches. This was not an inexpensive event to attend and its importance as a way to showcase our sport cannot be understated. The crowd was great and Jersey-biased, and the athletes certainly lived up to their obligations; Beat The Streets did not.
#beatthestreets #btsnyc
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