Everyone talks about wrestling and how to improve it. Everyone has their two cents. Wether it is rules, promotion or the system, everybody has an opinion. One thing really rings true...we need to support our wrestlers financially. I have to say that Mike Novogratz and Dave Barry are trying to create that support structure. They have created a fund that directly goes to our wrestlers. Everyone agrees that our wrestlers shouldnt be monieless. Everybody agrees that if they were supported more financially we may be able to retain more of them. This is our chance to do what is right. Time to put our monies where are passion is. Im not a rich dude by any means but I like what they are doing. Im going to be a part of supporting our athletes, even if it is just $20. This is not the end all and be all....but this is a first step in the right direction. These guys need commitment from our community. Our athletes shouldnt have to sacrifice their monetary future by competing. If they take a chance to become the best in the world and succeed then we owe it to them to back them up financially without any strings attached. Lets support wrestling and build a financial incentive for our elite members. This is no doubt a step in the right direction for wrestling. [Click here to properly incentivize wrestling]
World Team Trials was a 1000x better that it was out of Vegas. Kudos to the USA Wrestling staff and decision makers on choosing Council Bluffs. The venue in Council Bluffs was awesome...perfect size to grow into. (Looking ahead, my prediction is that Omaha is going to be one of the all time great places to hold NCAAs next year.) Although everything didnt run smoothly with the Trials, I really liked what I saw as a concerted effort by USA Wrestling as to take chances on doing something different to improve the event.
Obviously some logistics need to be worked out with the running of the event. A lot of people complained about getting out at 10pm. Some people complained about the breaks. Some people complained about how Finals were run with an announcer talking to the winner of one weight class right next to another final in progress. The fact is people will always complain. I just hope that USA Wrestling can continue to make decisions not based on the lowest common denominator of what will get the least complaints but an ultimate vision they have for improving the event. When you break things down to the lowest common denominator you have what we had in Las Vegas....blah. There are no doubt improvements in the event but it is an iterative process. The important thing is that USA Wrestling made some mistakes because they were trying to improve the event...making mistakes are in many ways paths to improvement.
I loved the singer for the national anthem. The guy was really unique and sang it in a really different way with a lot of passion. For some people it wasnt their cup of tea but for me it was great and memorable. I believe having more passion and memories at the event is always a good thing. I know he is a different experience but I hope he becomes the mainstay and I know I will look forward to his performance every time.
I think it is clear to say that Darrion Caldwell is the real deal. I doubted Darrion in March. Leading up to last weekend I learned my lesson from doubting him in March. Even so, I didnt really know if Darrion Caldwell would have a chance to place in this tournament with just a couple weeks of freestyle training in the last 4 years. Never again will I think twice. He is a real and present threat! Right now he has surpassed Jake Herbert as the most exciting wrestler to watch (sorry Jake). The whole audience just gravitates to his mat. I think that him and Frayer got a match that was taken out of their hands by refs. It was a disservice to both athletes.
One thing that Darrion didnt do was let his match up to chance with the ball grab game. You know who else doesnt leave their matches up to chance with Ball grabs?...the Russians. Just ask JoeFlo. He went there last year for their trials and didnt even know the ball grab game was the new substitute for flipping the coin until nearly the end of the tournament. There was just so few matches that went to the ball grab game. It was ridiculous how many balls were grabbed from the bag in Council Bluffs last weekend. Even the Omaha reporters next to us couldnt believe that wrestling worked on chance. I dont think that the rules need to change again, I think our offensive skills as a country need to improve. Either that or if a match has more than one ball grab both guys end up losing causing complete havoc on the bracketing system.
Greco rules improved tons! Kudos to Fila for making Greco an actual sport again instead turning it into one big ball grab game. Greco was really exciting and interesting this weekend!
Overall last weekend was great. Remember lets financially support those who take a chance at greatness and achieve! A donation big or small will let our athletes know that we value them winning Gold! I know I do. [Click here to properly incentivize wrestling]
