Wrestling Blogs - Mike Tamillow

I ask myself that sometimes. What if I were Gable? What if I came into a program that was failing by my standards? What if it was up to me to create a system better than any other system? I have no precedent. I don't know exactly where to go or what to do. I don't know who to go to, who I can count on. All the people I count on may have their own failures but they may have something they are very good at. Would I know what to take and leave the rest? Would the culture… more »

It happens. A while back Mitch Hull was telling me a father called in and wanted to know what he could do so his kids would be Olympic champions. His children were 3 and 5, and Mitch described how ridiculous the question was. And I agreed, it is completely ridiculous. But I’ve also been to little kids tournaments and I understand how serious some parents take it. Chances are those two kids are going to get some serious beatings unless they get good. So I’m going to tell you the secret to success. Someone on Flo said that I was… more »

A few years ago I thought that I could just ignore my aches and pains. My plan was simple: by the time I’m 40 it will be the year 2026. If I learned anything from Hollywood movies it is that either the world as we know it is going to end before 2026 or medical science will become so advanced that I can just get full body reconstruction. I determined that I could just keep pushing through minor issues until I turned 40 and then I could just get them fixed. I started to realize I might have been wrong… more »

I made some rules for myself yesterday. I've been living out at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for nearly nine months now. I tell myself that I'm going to do everything I can to get to be the best in the world but sometimes that isn't enough to keep me on track. When there aren't a lot of training partners out here it's easy to get disheartened. That's been an issue with freestyle while I've been here. There are so many different factors - money, loyalties to college teams, training partners or coaches, more personal freedom, families and… more »

I just review video with the Luchador now. It's close enough to competition time that the only thing that will make much of a difference is strategy. Suprisingly enough I get the day pass that larry didn't expect me to get but Brian informed me about. However, Larry's other coach wants him to go in and work with some of the other nations wrestlers at the competition venue. This is better for Larry anyway, as much as I can review general stuff with Larry, the best strategy will be tailored to his opponents and the only way to know what… more »

I get back from the workout and what do I see. Cartan tours is selling a ticket. I haven't been to an event yet. And what is this one. BEACH VOLLYBALL. While I was in the storm on the great wall I met a guy that had some video blog thing going on for MTV or something. He said beachvollyball was the most fun. Heck yeah it was. All our professional sports, that's what this beach vollyball game was like. It is fun lots and the guy doesn't think I'll make it so I buy it for face value. Face… more »

Yeah so It was a great day being a tourist. Now I get a day pass. I already figured this one out with Larry. Someone told Larry who told me and so yeah it's a done deal. NOT. Funny deal. Mexico keeping an agreement. Yeah so they still bother lying to larry and saying I was on but got bumped off at the last minute which was really polite of them. They could have told me the truth and said 'We actually don't care about you or how larry does' Yeah I don't give up. I got taught a few… more »

Brian doesn't understand the concept of money in China. Let me make something very clear. Money in China isn't money in the United States. The mosty accurate way of measuring gold standard is not big macs. It's not the exchange rate, which right now is 1:6.85. The best standard is the hour wage stardard. Why? because this is another way of measuring the GDP of any given country. I tried to explain economics to chinese people but it is tough. Now a chinese teacher makes 300 USD per month. An american teacher might make 2000 to 3000 USD per month.… more »

I was supposed to get into the village. Plans don't always work out. I take the seven thirty shuttle to get there. I get up at six forty. *Now let me be very clear about something. I get so little sleep compared to what I need that this is a workout in itself. I like to come on here and write so that people who are interested can read, but frankly it's for myself. I wrote about five single spaced journal pages a week on top of the blogs I wrote, on top of my homework and wrestling a week… more »

...I think that's how you spell his name... well he's my new roommate. Half japanese coaching a mexican polevaulter by the name of Giovanni. I get back from this great wall experience and I find him in my room to my surprise. He speaks fluent japanese and he seems to know everything shady that the mexican team is likely to pull. His guy is one of Mexico's really legit contenders for a medal. And by legit contenders for medals I mean he has vegas odds of winning the gold at 1/25. But he's only about 5 inches away from the… more »

*I'm going to catch up quick. Read any if you like. Don't if you don't. 18+ The great wall is well... great. It winds all the way around all the mountain ranges we can see. From the great wall we can see the cities all around china. There are lifts on the way up, which we end up taking all the way down afterwards. Larry is getting some nice shots of him taken. Some of him walking up the stairs of the great wall and others where he is hanging over the edge of the great wall, and in the… more »

Telemundo set up an interview with larry for 9:30 a.m. the next day. To do it we are supposed to go to the great wall of china. I think Larry should get a practice in in the morning so I head down in a cab at 7. However Larry takes far too long and then decides he doesn't want to do it. It's his journey so I say ok. I'm just here to help him out, it's his journey. We have breakfast and then I head down to find the telemundo guys while Larry gets some errands done before meeting… more »

There is a shuttle that leaves to the wrestling facility every hour at the :20. We took the 4:20 shuttle and got there by five. However, I can only take this shuttle one time if I have a day pass and then I have to go around the whole venue just to pick up my passport. At that point I have to leave because I can't get in again. We jump on the bus to the arena with the mongolian womens team and some dutch swimmers. Larry has to change into his singlet when we get there. I think it's… more »

I got a day pass into Olympic village the next day. I wake up at 7 A.M. and jump on a 7:30 bus with the Mexican team. They are speaking spanish the whole ride and I can understand a little but not very much. When I get to the village we are all a little confused about which way Mexico's building is. Finally we get to the building. It takes a while to go anywhere in Olympic village since it is so spread out. When I have to meet up with Larry I'll call him from outside the village and… more »

I still couldn't get a workout with Larry in the third day I was here. He was arranged for a workout at one of the facilities though. However, he told me that absolutely no one from any country came in to work out when he was set to. Frustrating, because I was brought to be his training partner and coach. Most Olympians want to schedule their own workouts with their own workout partners. If he can't find a workout partner it's not their business to get him a workout. I looked at a few rooms to wrestle in that we… more »

My hotel is straight up next to the ghetto. I walked across the street to check out some shops the other day. The first one I looked in was a bike shop. Nice stuff, I considered buying one except I would hardly use it. Then I walked into the next shop and turned out it was a sex shop. In both shops the guys were sleeping in a bed in the back. Which helped me to realize, this is their house. The dude lives in a sex shop! what a sweet life.. not. And if you think this is not… more »

I met up with Larry the night after I got in. I took a bus to a train to another bus, the whole process was incredibly confusing, just to get to the olympic village. I realized that even though it only costs about 80 cents to do it that way, the 8 dollar cab ride is much nicer. I carry around several maps with me any time I go out. I point at the map where I want to go. If it's a cabbie he starts driving, If it's a person he will point - most of the time, sometimes… more »

I absolutely love the food here. Duck, goose, rat, dog, squid, whatever it is.. you name it, I'll eat it. In fact I'll do you one better - don't even name it, you don't even need a picture of it. If it gets handed to me it is getting devored. My first day here I entered a nice resturant. It was very large and spread out and yet there were only 2 other groups inside besides me. If I wanted to go out with a girl on a romantic date I would have chosen this place. It seemed upscale, plenty… more »

I finally got to the hotel last night and settled in. I had no idea who determined what. I just kept handing my sheets around to one person and the next and the next. There are several people that speak bits of english here. English is probably the most international language. It's worth having as a secondary language because economies of english speaking countries seem to do well. But even still the english I hear is primarily 'hello', 'yes', and 'please take a seat' which reminds me of Chris Hansen in to catch a predator. I know it's meant to… more »

I got here at 3 P.M. That's Beijing time. It's thirteen hours ahead of us and the flight was 13 hours. So I landed a day and 2 hours ahead of when I took off. When we landed I followed everyone. It was confusing - there were a few security checks, the baggage claim, and then I was all by myself to figure it out. I played the clueless foreigner. I asked people for help, kept my words to a minimum and pointed to names and pictures. It made it even more confusing that the only language I speak is… more »

I wanted to write down some of the things that have been going on in Beijing. First a little background: I got here the tenth, two days ago. I'm here with Larry Langowski Mendoza or L.L. Mendoza "The Luchador". I wrestled with Larry a lot the spring of my freshman year. He's tough to wrestle and tough to score on but like everyone else still has plenty of things to work on. Hopefully we can improve on the few things and strategize to find a way to bring back a medal. He is wrestling for Mexico and they are paying… more »

This is my last blog post. I’m retiring this blog now. However, there is a slight chance that that retirement will end up like Michael Jordon’s retirement (where it tries out for baseball and stars in a movie, then goes back to blogging, then retires again and then comes back as a blog in Washington, D.C.)

With that out of the way I’d like to talk about losing. The first thing I would like to mention about losing is that it sucks. Hands down, losing sucks. It always has and always will. Losing is necessary in… more »

I’m done with classes. Completely finally done with every class I’ll ever have to take. Grad-school, haha. I finished my last test today and I can say I made up the rules on how the world works. I was actually in a huge rush getting all my stuff together and taking care of all the last few things I needed do, so I didn’t get to study at all. Also I had been sick lately with a severe case of Senioritis . SO needless to say I couldn’t study at all (and hardly could make class, since my case of… more »

I’m so over it. After sixteen years of wrestling repetition seems to be an overwhelmingly emphasized subject. Do this. Ok now do it again. Ok now do it forty more time. Now do it EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Haha, ok it’s not that bad, but really now, is it necessary? What makes someone a great wrestler… repetition? coming in every day to wrestle? Pushing yourself to the limit everyday, despite injuries and illness? I’m over it.

There were several wrestlers on my youth team that did gymnastics before they ever started wrestling. From… more »

I hate naming my posts by topic. I know it makes it hard to categorize and remember but you’ll just have to read all of them if you want any bit of wisdom I have to offer. How do you even explain to someone why A Treatise on ‘Watchamacallit’ is an article about position? This week I mean it, I’m going to talk about hiking, I’m also going to talk about the difference between the terms ‘position’ and ‘technique’.

My high school speech teacher told me all analogies are false. That’s a pretty bold statement. Since… more »

Can you do me a favor? I want you to look at your palms. Keep looking at them and try to roll them outward or over the top. (Opposite the direction they are supposed to go until you see the backs of you hands) Keep rolling them as far as you can until you reach your limitation. Relax, take a second, breathe deep. Get ready for round two. Now I want you to flip your hands over and look at the back of your hands. If you’re anything like me than you know the back of your hand… more »

I’ve always been good at math. I’m probably one of the few people that actually enjoys it. Wait…I hate the math, but I like the understanding behind the math. For example, last week’s blog I tried to solve how much a casino makes of a billion dollars of blackjack bets. I did the wrong equation. If the casino wins 51% then I have to consider both the casino and the individuals playing blackjack putting a billion dollars up. The casino should leave with 51% of two billion dollars or twenty million more than it invested.

Before going… more »

This article is meant to answer one simple question: Do rankings mean anything?

It’s pretty common to hear “rankings don’t really mean anything” from almost everyone. On the other hand it’s also common to get congratulated on being ranked highly. And then I have to start to dig into the deep philosophical question of ‘what really matters in life?’ I want to avoid the deep philosophical question in this case. Therefore I will focus simply on one answer to the question ‘what matters in life?’ and that is the bottom-line, winning. (Deep down I’m very shallow)
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I figure since I’m on a roll giving out useless advice I might as well give out dating advice. I should warn you, my dating advice in many cases might get you slapped.

I’m going to tell you how to make sure you get a date:

A huge problem guys have in getting dates is they get a girl’s number and either talk to her a few times and never meet up with her again or she doesn’t pick up and they never even get to talk to her. There’s also the three-day… more »

My least favorite position to be in is probably on my back. But I’m getting a little more comfortable there now. I used to avoid being on my back as much as possible. I would never sleep in any position that I might be giving up back points from or lie in a position that I could easily be pinned in. Doing that is just asking for someone to jump on top of my chest, stick a half in and start spreading rumors that he pinned Mike Tamillow.

Like I said I’m getting better at it.… more »

I accidentally rented “The thin blue line” and “Twelve angry men” a few weeks ago. In my mind our justice system lost all credibility. If you don’t know what either of those movies is about, the thin blue line is a documentary on a murder case in Texas where and innocent man gets convicted. Twelve angry men is a classic movie worth watching. In both movies witnesses testify things that couldn’t have possibly been true

It seems odd that anyone could remember something that didn’t happen. Actually it shouldn’t at all. How many times arguments have been… more »

I’ve got a homework assignment for anyone who’s reading this. I want you to pick out a teammate and talk to him two times, once when he wins and once when he loses. When he wins a tough one I want you to say: “You know that other kid made a lot of mistakes, you got really lucky. The ref gave you all the calls. It was nice you slipped away with that win, but don’t expect it again. On the up side you hit one nice double.” When he loses a tough one I want you to say, “You… more »

I have to admit it; I never actually reached level 70. In fact I didn’t even reach level 30, I got stuck on level 24 and ended up quitting when I got a life. So I have to admit, Dustin Fox, you own me in World Of Warcraft. Heck I didn’t even know how to use my animal ranger skills until you told me. I’m considering trading my life in to get started again so beware.

World Of Warcraft is a lifestyle; it’s a world that a computer made. I’ve taken several classes in the past few… more »

Somebody should have told me I lost this week. I don’t think I would listen anyways. After losing midlands I just wasn’t that bothered. There is a general distaste for second place. People who take second place usually turn out even less satisfied than those who take third place. As far as I’m concerned, it would have been nicer to get a bigger award. That’s pretty much it.

So I guess what I’m writing this week has very little to do with wrestling. Or maybe it has everything to do with wrestling. Why? Why should anyone wrestle? more »

I made a mistake this year. I should’ve bought new running shoes. I had a nice pair last year. They were a little old and worn out since I took them from my dad. Eventually they got so beat up that I had talking shoes and had to toss them. When the school year started I was given the standard issue shoe. No matter what size I got, the shoe didn’t fit. My foot cramped up and I couldn’t run more than a mile. I’ve probably run a total of 40 miles this year. I love running. I made a… more »

Oh my god you aren't actually going to click on this are you? Don't get fooled by it. The post is clearly a fake. I bet when you click on it nothing comes up at all. Or maybe it sends you to some you tube video of a midget dancing. I certainly wouldn't click on it if I were you.

Oh you fool!

Yes, this is my fake blog post. I actually have nothing important to say this week. Happy holidays to everyone and you can keep reading if you like. I know it's… more »

Hard work is a cure all. When I have problems I don't talk about them, I work out. That's what guys do.

But seriously, hard work is definitely not a cure all. In fact sometimes working hard just creates more problems. There are tons of hard workers in sweatshops. The harder they work the more they get trapped in helplessness. When I face difficulties, I come up with a good well-planned and well-timed solution. But usually I cry them out before doing that.

What I want to focus on is working smart. What exactly… more »

Disclaimer: Before reading this article I think you should know that my last girlfriend dumped me because "I don't listen to anyone and I do whatever I want". Don't take anything I say literally and certainly don't adhere to my advice.

I have some issues with authority figures and authority in general. I believe the true intent of school is not increasing knowledge and understanding. Think about it now as I describe it. You go to school, teachers get you in lines, they tell you what to do, they train you, when you fall out of line… more »

There is something you're always supposed to do whenever you start something new. I know this. What it is I can't quite say. I think it's take a shower, yeah definitely take a shower. Before you get into a new relationship, the start of a new season, or even when you just want to start your homework you got to do this one thing. Sometimes I forget to shower. That's why I'm going to take one right now.

Ahh.. much better. While I was taking a shower I realized that it wasn't taking a shower that you… more »