Wrestling Blogs - Mike Tamillow

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 to do is to watch them or wrestle with them. I watch video for a few hours while I am at the Olympic Village, then we sauna and I give Larry a massage after. Part of the reason I'm here is to make sure Larry is relaxed and not focusing too much on the pressure too far ahead of time. Larry leaves for the practice venue and I go home.

I spend the evening and the next day chilling out with brian and checking out some stores. I'm exhausted anyways so this works well for me. I find another custom tailor shop and see what they will offer me. After I offer them a price too low. Then the guy tries to explain it to me. He adds up what I think the cost of the materials should be and a tailor. Without even including the transportation, shop space, ect the price seems to low. While I am trying to figure all this out I have the most confused look on my face. I realize that all the workers in the store are looking at me with either a big smile on their faces or are laughing... At this point I would like to thank Jake Herbert for always laughing at me in college to help me get prepared for the real world... Yeah yeah yeah, I make a lot of mistakes which is why God created erasers and lieing. If you make a mistake you can just lie your way out of it. Most of the things I say shouldn't have any credibility because I change my mind whenever I realize that maybe the other side is actually right. But that's what wisdom is, over time you stop trying to understand eveything and accept it. I'm too young to be wise, for now I'll make foolish mistakes. The tailors who were making my custom suits even come to my hotel to do the second fitting since they didn't have it when I stopped by their shop. So I have to say they are doing their job well. On a side not I don't think people here understand english well and yet they wear shirts with english sayings on them. It reminds me of my friend who has a tatto that says 'strength' on his arm in chinese...sure it does, haha. I saw a girl with a shirt that said 'Little a** Jail Bait" And I died laughing. I don't think she knows that's not even possible because in China there is no age of consent, you have to be 12 to get married. (But they are so modest it's tough to get a 22 year old to even dance with you) I also got a blinking hat that says 'Porn' with a star that blinks. It's in honor of my boy Kenny Jordan.

Larry calls me up that night and tells me I have a day pass for the next day. I go over the next day and it's all set. As I'm walking in I see Henry on TV and call Larry over. After we see him win we find out it was his semifinal. Henry is one of my favorite US wrestlers. Whenever I go to the training center I see him working longer than anyone else, perfecting his stuff. And he is generally just a nice kid. Larry says Henry is ten times the Mexican he is after watching the semis. Larry and I go over many of his opponents video and discuss the others. We leave for practice and continue to go over the strategies he will take to beat certian individuals.

Brian asked me a few times what The Luchador's chances are. I have to say that he does have a chance. The way the qualifiers and tournement work, there are several people that slip in because someone great who already qualified beat out someone good. Then that guy doesn't qualify and a realitively random person does. Also, countries only are allowed one wrestler and the strength of competition within a country is sometimes stronger than that between countries. It's as if you create qualifying tournments to a major high school national tournement but then say "Only one guy per state can qualify" but still those states can bring guys to eliminate decent wrestlers at qualifying tournements. Look at a 32 man bracket with only one PA, OH, CA, NJ, OK, IL, MI, IA, MN, and then arrange it without seeding but a random draw. It changes everything.

I get up early this morning to go to the Men's wrestling. It's the first wrestling comptition I've seen. There is a lot of great wrestling and some amazing action in matches. I just want to let Ben Askren know - I teach this really good high school takedown camp. It's pretty much just singles, doubles, high crotches, and a little defense. It normally is like $400 but since you're an olympian and I can tell you could really use it, I think I'll let you come for $200. Watching Bousaviar Satiev is awsome but he looks like he's 40 and sometimes he wrestles like it. He will stand stright up and do whatever he wants whenever he wants. AND IT WORKS. I tell the Luchador if I wrestled him my plan would be to take cheep shots until he got pissed at me. Yeah he's good. I pick up my three custom suits after and they look amazing. One is a Dragon design and when I wear it Snoop Dog will get jealous