Why wrestling is more important than basketball

Ok... not really.

The Idaho State basketball team announces a few changes to its 2008-09 schedule on Wednesday, two of which involve bumping the final two home games of the season into the tiny confines of Reed Gym, and out of the Mummy's Tomb-like environment of Holt Arena. The reason is the Idaho High School Activities Association's state wrestling tournament is that weekend, and if you've ever been to that, you know it's fitting into Reed Gym about the same time a sumo wrestler fits into a Geo Metro. Check out the official Idaho State release here.

A lot of Idaho State people are upset by this. During the Doug Oliver era, the team played all its home games in Reed Gym. That was ok, because the team wasn't good enough to draw crowds large enough to fill 3,000-seat Reed Gym, much less Holt Arena. Joe O'Brien took over three years ago and one of his first decisions was to move the team back in the Minidome, and he's been able to bring out teams capable of filling it. So it's a safe bet Joe O'Brien isn't a happy camper. Kellis Robinett, the Idaho State Journal's ISU basketball beatwriter, certainly isn't happy. You can read Kellis' opinions here.

Let me tell you why I think this is not just a good thing, but a great thing. I go to Idaho State, I work at Idaho State, I'm an avid supporter of all things ISU sports, and there are few people in the Western Hemisphere that would be happier than Mitch Worthington if those last two games, against perennial power Northern Arizona and perennial not-such-a-power Sacramento State, actually meant something. Way more than Reed's capacity of 3,000 people will want to come to those games.

However, high school sports make up the backbone we build our communities on, and on this side of the state, wrestling is more popular than high school basketball, and it takes a close second to high school football. Having covered more than a couple of these tournaments, both in Holt Arena and at Nampa's Idaho Center, I can almost guarantee the state wrestling tournament will bring in more fans than any basketball game that didn't feature the Bengals hosting Duke or UCLA. As stated in the release in a quote by ISU AD Jeff Tingey, the local hotels and restaurants -- most of whom pony up sponsorship dollars for ISU athletics every season, knowing a majority of the programs will finish in the lower half of the Big Sky Conference and have a hard time attracting crowds -- make huge dollars off this tournament. The amount of money they'll make off this is much, much larger than anything it would pull from a ISU regular-season basketball game, and I'd use "much" seven more times if it wouldn't look completely asinine.

A college is not just supposed to be part of the community, and sometimes, the cornerstone of the community, but it's supposed to give back to the community. Would the Idaho State basketball players, especially senior and Pocatello native Matt Stucki prefer to play what might his final home game in Holt Arena? Sure. But that would force the wrestling tournament over to Nampa, and not only would take tens of thousands of dollars out of the local economy, it would also make the IHSAA think twice about bringing the tournament to Pocatello in the future.

Good for Idaho State making the right decision.