View From The Matbird Seat

By Bruce Bartels

I am just about to give myself a new title—“Crown Prince of Procrastination.” I can find plenty of ways to point my finger to try to explain my tardiness in writing a season wrap-up column. I could blame my almost yearly visit to Fort Myers to stay with my brother Jim and get a preseason look at the Minnesota Twins. That pushes me back a week or two. Or, I could blame The Guillotine moving away from print copy and transitioning online. I used to cut out a copy of the print deadline dates posted in the upper left corner of my computer screen. With no paper copy of The Guillotine, there is no print deadline—and no sharp stick prodding me! I could go on with my long list of excuses, but now that I am at the keyboard, I might as well get going.

I usually do a quick review of the state tournament along with my suggestions for improvement. With the tournament moving to Wednesday through Saturday, plenty of readers did that for me on “The Forum.” Still, I have my own small list of suggestions. There is always my annual proposal that the press sections be moved from the two ends of the arena to the two sides. It would certainly make viewing all matches easier, as you would never be looking at a bout four mats away.

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View From The Matbird Seat

By Bruce Bartels

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was assisting in filling out weight certification forms for a local team. Now, as I settle into the Matbird Seat, I notice a couple more pages of the calendar, and it is the last day of the regular season, and as we glide into the week, it is the postseason. I’m guessing a few seniors, looking at the reality of the passing of time, are saying as I am, “Where did the season go!”

Advice to seniors: live these next couple of weeks to the fullest. You never get them back. And for underclassmen, “the day after your last match can be the start of your next season.”

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View From The Matbird Seat

By Bruce Bartels

Good January Day, Matbird readers. Wow, it is cold outside today. My pickup truck measured a -14 around 6:00 am when I trekked the four miles to town for a quick workout. Gotta remember the sage advice, “this too shall pass!” It has taken a long time to climb back up into my perch on the Matbird Seat. Purchase a new MacBook, and all the apps I used on the old one seem to have changed. It is cold, but the days are finally growing noticeably longer.

Didn’t know if I would put out a column this season. The demand for one has been underwhelming. But with the new calendar, I started thinking about New Year’s resolutions. I really have not made many for myself, but I have been thinking of some for some members of the wrestling community.

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View From The Matbird Seat

By Bruce Bartels

Last-minute packing going on here as tomorrow morning, I fly out for a week in Fort Myers with Brother Jim and Konnie. Hope to enjoy some warm weather and sunshine. Here? It’s windy and cool, and in southern Minnesota, schools have closed. The new Mrs. Bartels, Lynnae and I stopped and traded in some Petty Brothers Meat Raffle cards for some great steaks to grill while down in FLA. I’ve found those plastic cards melt on the grill!

College Musings

The State Tournament is history, and so are the Big Tens. Great being there for the former and watching the latter from the comfort of my chair. Now hoping to be able to pull in some place to watch the Division I’s. We always have high hopes for our Gophers and have no trouble pulling for the Big Ten against the world. As this is my last column of the season, I will be going back and dragging up comments from past columns.

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View From The Matbird Seat

By Bruce Bartels

A number of weeks ago, I was speaking to a wrestling team, and I mentioned to them that they might just notice time passing faster during the next month and a half. When wrestlers are lined up for weight certification, it looks like the distant future when the regular season ends and Section duals and Individuals start. Now, Section duals are done, and coaches, parents and wrestlers are asking themselves, “Where did the season go?” It has happened to me as well. I look at my list of possible column topics that have been sitting by my laptop for some time, and suddenly, there is a sense of urgency!

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View From The Matbird Seat

By Bruce Bartels

I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a 42nd volume of “The Matbird Seat,” but a few texts suggesting topics I could cover stirred the old journalistic juices enough to get me thinking there might be enough material in my idea folder to punch out another column. I nixed the two ideas. One was an idea about a family of generational wrestlers. I felt this fell more into the realm of feature writer Brian Jerzak. The other had to do with team and staff etiquette during the National Anthem. Though I haven’t always avoided controversial subjects, I decided to pass on this one. But I do have a short list of topics in my idea folder.

Rule Changes

At last season’s end, I predicted that the scoring changes in college wrestling would probably make their way into high school wrestling, which is here. We now have three-point takedowns and 2, 3 and 4-point near falls in high school wrestling. It came a lot sooner than change usually comes, but it is here. With it, the emphasis on wrestling in the neutral position has increased, and the number of points scored in pinning situations seems to be more obvious to fans. Another effect is that more matches are ending in major decisions and in tech falls. This, in turn, should be shortening the length of time for wrestling events.

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