Sights, sounds and texts from Hershey

What would Hershey have without Hershey Park? Applebees.

What would Hershey have without the Giant Center? An empty lot.

As my years progress here in the sweetest place on earth, I become more sour at this depressing playground during the PIAA wrestling tournament.

Outside of Houlihans restaurant, which is really the only attraction I look forward to on my stay here, everything else in this area is an absolute bore (and people complain about the Lehigh Valley!)

So here are some of the observations and one liners from Chocolatetown USA.

* When you iron your favorite button down shirt in your hotel room, the last thing you expect is for a burn stain from the iron board cover to seep through onto your actual shirt! Thanks for ruining my clothing Best Western.

* Hollywood Casino would be better off called Junior Varsity Casino. Do the people who run this place understand anything about the Hollywood lifestyle they brand themselves after? I have more fun in my house washing dishes.

* I have a picture of Stacy Keebler as my desktop background. The guy next to me on press row has Jordan Oliver as his desktop background. You fill in the blanks.

* Text message - Me: Your buddy is scarfing down those boxes of popcorn. Anonymous: I know. He has spit and popcorn all over his laptop. It's gross.

* Photographer: "Can I sit next to you?"Writer: "No." Photographer: "How about on your lap?" Writer: "Ok."

* "What do you think Todd Kindig has in that book bag?"

* I consider myself to be more of a reserved individual when it comes to public displays of emotion, but Council Rock South's coaches are the total opposite. After defending state champion Billy Rappo (113) luckily squeaked out an overtime semifinal victory Saturday morning, the CRS coaches jumped around like they just won $380 million dollars. One of them even pulled off a triple lutz, just like former Ukrainian figure skater Oksana Baiul, after Rappo won. I don't mean to knock anyone celebrating, but c'mon man. You didn't see Bethlehem Catholic coach Jeff Karam breakdancing when he crowned three state champions.

* Speaking of Becahi, there wasn't one person I talked to during the tournament that said they liked Becahi. Whenever I would say Becahi, people would throw their glasses against a wall and try to double leg me. No matter what your opinion may be of Becahi, it's pretty sad and pathetic to see grown men act like they got a dose of revenge on an enemy whenever a Becahi kid lost. I guess it's easier to make excuses for your own mistakes and blame Becahi for everything that's wrong in the world, rather than look at your own program and identify what's really wrong.

* Can anyone please tell me who drinks Jack Cuvo's bottled water? Is this stuff straight from his kitchen sink?

* It's always refreshing to talk to wrestlers who aren't crying after they lose a tough bout, but Whitehall's Matt Bonshak showed he is everything his head coach talks about. Maybe Bonshak is still naive to the whole state wrestling scene, but it was nice to actually talk to a young man, rather than a young boy, who has perspective on life. At the end of the day guys, it's just sports.

* Lastly, the new PIAA format for the championship rounds was heavily debated over the weekend. Some coaches liked the idea of having all the wrestlers competing for medals battling at the same time and some obviously were not happy. One coach used the word "disgusting" to sum up how they threw the medal winners in the back of the arena, compared to on the Giant Center floor like in years past. PIAA officials said this is a test run on how the championship rounds were operated and will be under review by a steering committee following the event. It's fair to say that change is always difficult, especially when you're dealing with wrestling fans.

* On that note, goodbye Hershey. Hello Key West.