Point taken, however, if you look at where the tournaments are actualyy being held, the 20 miles....well lets just say it this way. Ames is 4+ hours from La Crosse, which is where I am from, and where we are having states this year. Jimmy has his in the eastern part of Illinois, so I am certain that the distance between the 2 will be similar. the greater Minneapolis/St Paul area is again a 3+ hour venture to Ames. I am not saying that it would have been better to compete with one state versus the other. My point is that they seem to just do what is best for Iowa and only Iowa. And lets be honest here, is the late annoncement and booking the same weekend as 2 of their largest neighbors really good for their own players? Not to mention thae fact that it does nothing for players from other states that want to travel or to help grow the game.
Jimmy(IL), Jeff(MN), and I (as well as countless other PTOs) work together to plan our tournaments around each other as best we can. This way we can each get the maximum attendacne possible, as well as giving all of the players in everybody's area a chance to travel to other events, should they choose to do so. Is there going to be overlap?? Of course. But being as they booked so late, they had a choice of who to overlap with. Choosing MN and IL over Nebraska?? Not sure if that was good for them. If they had decided to be in the loop from the get go, it would have been far easier to have everyone's input and pread the overlap as far as possible. They not only choose not to contact anyone, but wont even acknowledge other states existance. The fact that these guys cant give players straight answers, and blatently lie to everyone via their facebook is appauling.
@TAndrewT Please dont take this as shots towards you. I know who you are irl, and I have nothing but respect for you. I am just saddened and angered at the whole situation.